Michelada con Camarones: Our take on a spicy beer cocktail perfect for summer!

Michelada con Camarones is a fantastic Mexican beer cocktail that is almost an appetizer. Spicy, yet cold, with shrimp, jalapenos, beer, Clamato juice...it really has it all and is a true crowd-pleaser at a BBQ or patio party. 

My version adds a couple of unconventional ingredients and kicks up the heat a bit!

Mix:

2 ¼ cups chilled Clamato juice (Spicy or Mild...I of course use spicy)
4 chilled large cans of Corona (or other lager style beers)
½ cup lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. soya sauce
¾ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 grated clove garlic
1 teaspoon Mexican habanero style hot sauce (or other hot sauce). I used El Yucateco Habanero sauce.
1 thinly sliced unseeded fresh jalapeno

Mix it all together in large pitcher.

Pour into large serving glasses over ice and serve with six cooked shrimp around the rim. If desired dip glass rim into seasoning salt or Caesar style seasoning prior to pouring.

This drink is delicious, quite filling, and would be a great lead up to some BBQed steak...maybe topped with some Argentinian Chimichurri grilling sauce!

Everest Hakka House: Hakka style cuisine comes to Etobcioke!

One of the great pleasures of living in Toronto is its truly diverse food "scene". There are, quite literally, restaurants that offer up regional variations from every corner of the world, as well as restaurants that reflect the diversity of cuisine within cultures and nations.

Sometimes, as in the case of the Everest Hakka House in Mimico, they offer what amounts to a fusion of different methods and broader cultures of cooking, in this case of a southern Chinese style of cooking and Indian flavours that many of us are familiar with. There are other Hakka houses in Toronto (though not many), but none in South Etobicoke, my neighbourhood, so I was thrilled when Everest re-purposed itself from a very good Indian restaurant (which they have now moved across, the street, reopened under a new name and greatly enhanced the dishes of...but more on that in the future!), into an Indian variation of Hakka cooking.

Hakka style noodle at Everest

Hakka cuisine is itself diverse. It is both the cuisine of the Hakka people of Southern China, which is closer to what most North Americans would perceive as "Chinese" food, as well as, as is the case with Everest, a type of cuisine that originated in India when restauranteurs of Hakka background added local Indian flavours to their dishes.

Everest did not disappoint! Of a relatively modest size, with a nice front patio, it is nicely decorated and welcoming. It is also very family friendly and the server was happy to accommodate our kids on one visit. 

The food was excellent. The Chili Shrimp with steamed rice was a stand out as were all of the different Hakka style noodle dishes tried. The blends of curry flavours and Chinese style sauces were delicious. Also notable were the excellent spring rolls and the really delightful and surprising Chinese Biryani dishes.

Everest is affordable, with friendly service, and well worth heading to Mimico to try. An evening dinner for two with an appetizer or two and a couple of drinks will run you around $50-60 plus tax and tip. The lunch specials are a steal.

Everest Hakka House is located at 2356 Lake Shore Blvd W., on the 501 Queen Streetcar line, and is a couple blocks east of Mimico Avenue.