OK, Candido Miro's olives stuffed with spicy chorizo are good as far as olives go - not too salty or acidic. But where's the chorizo? The bit stuffed inside each olive is far too small to add any flavour. Produced in Spain, a 300-gram tin sells for HK$22.90 from Fresh Mart in Sogo, 555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay (tel: 2833 8338).
I've always thought of oyster sauce as a purely Chinese ingredient, so was surprised to find a Japanese brand. The Sennari Hiroshima oyster sauce (HK$58 for 250 grams from City'super at Times Square, Causeway Bay, tel: 2506 2888) isn't as thick as some brands, but the flavour is good. It contains sugar, Hiroshima oyster extract, soy sauce, salt, wine vinegar, starch, yeast extract and alcohol.
I've found a new type of instant noodle to bring to work. No, they're not the cup-noodle type where you just add hot water. The Koka brand of purple wheat noodles is meant to be eaten cold - which means I can make them the night before and put them in my lunch box. The noodles, which are steamed and baked (most are fried) are firm while the flavouring, which includes sesame oil, soy sauce powder, balsamic vinegar and yeast extract, is well balanced. The packaging says that 'gram for gram, Koka purple wheat noodles give you three times more antioxidants than red grapes'. The only drawback is that one pack is not enough, even for my delicate appetite. They're made in Singapore, and a pack of five sells for HK$29.80 at Great in Pacific Place, Admiralty tel: 2918 9986.
