Utensils (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

When thinking of utensils, I tend to think more of knives, forks, spoons and chopsticks over such as pans and pots. But since the online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines utensils as "an implement, instrument, or vessel used in a household and especially a kitchen", I'm going ahead and putting up photos of the kind of vessel in which super delicious clay pot rice is cooked (along with toppings like Chinese sausages, pork spare ribs and salted fish).

Although its name sounds generic, clay pot rice actually is a beloved Hong Kong specialty dish that's considered particularly suitable to eat in winter -- and one that, for all of its being a budget food (we're talking around the high teens to low 20s in Hong Kong dollars per pot (i.e., about US$2-3), has famous fans including Anthony Bourdain.

It's with a bit of foodie pride that I have to say that my mother and I discovered the Four Seasons claypot rice eatery years before Mr. Bourdain. (It helps that the place is not so much near Temple Street but in the same area as the invaluable Broadway Cinematheque.) In fact, when we started eating there, it actually was a dai pai dong with tables on Temple Street itself.

These days, however, the Four Seasons has moved indoors and one street away (to the east) from Temple Street. However, the woman who ran the stall and now the indoor eatery -- I'm sorry but "restaurant" still does seem too fancy a word for the place! -- is the same friendly soul who recognises and seems very happy to see my mother each time she visits (though, alas, she can't seem to remember me!)... ;b