Chinese food with a Jamaican twist

Residents of paradise seem to like Chinese food, and many Chinese restaurants and eateries are found in Kingston. Among them, Jade Garden is my most favourite, and probably the most expensive. It is on the top floor of the Sovereign shopping mall, and the dining hall is surrounded by large windows that provide a good view of mountains. Today, I had...

Steamed Black Bean Rib, from their daily Dim Sum menu. Very tasty.

Steamed tofu stuffed with shrimp. This is what I was craving for today. Delicate, warm, soft and light, it's my comfort food.

Baby pak choi sauteed with garlic. I always order this in a Chinese restaurant. I feel energized after eating this, just as Popeye would when he eats spinach. It is not on the menu at Jade Garden as often is the case with other Chinese restaurants elsewhere, but if you ask, they should be able to make it for you very easily as long as they have pak choi. Fortunately for me, pak choi is widely available in paradise, and you can find it in any market. Chinese people began settling in Jamaica long time ago in the mid-19th century when they came as indentured labourers, and probably they brought pak choi with them.

If you'd like to know a bit more about the history of Chinese people in Jamaica, read Out Of Many Cultures: The People Who Came - The Arrival Of The Chinese in the Pieces of the Past series of the Gleaner. The series is also published as a book, and it is available from Amazon.com here.

This sauce, which is soy sauce with chopped hot peppers in it, is always served in a Chinese restaurant around here. I have never seen it in a Chinese restaurant elsewhere, and I think it is very particular to Jamaica, though I am not certain since I have never been to China. It is very hot, and although I rarely use it, residents of paradise seem to put it on everything.

Delightful food with a great view does not come very cheap. The steamed tofu was 1300JMD (US$18.50), sauteed baby pak choi 1200JMD (US$17), and steamed black bean rib 400JMD ($5.50), all before taxes.