So far I've avoided making dumplings (of the stuffed variety such as wonton, jiaozi and ravioli) because of they seem like so much effort to do, even with the widely available ready-made wrappers. I love eating dumplings, yet I always avoid buying the prepared ones in the supermarket because I don't know what kind of processed crap has gone into them. When Rob and I recently began doing cooking projects together, making dumplings was one of the first ideas I had because of how labour intensive they are, perfect for when you have extra hands in the kitchen.
This recipe was adapted from Rasa Malaysia's Shrimp & Chive Dumplings recipe, which was chosen because it seemed straightforward and easy to do. We included pork and black fungus in the filling for added protein and texture. The uncooked filling smelled really good as we were making the dumplings, thanks to the fragrant combination of chives and sesame oil. We panfried half of the dumplings and boiled the remaining half, and then we ate the dumplings with two dipping sauces: sweet chili sauce and a soy-vinegar sauce. The dumplings were delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed the fruit of our labour.
Prawn, Pork and Garlic Chive Dumplings
Makes about 25 dumplings
Ingredients
140g medium to large peeled prawns/shrimps
80g minced pork
40g chives, cut into short pieces
5 g dried black fungus, rehydrated and chopped into small pieces
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
a dash of shaoxing wine
some salt and pepper
Wonton skin
oil for pan-frying
Method
1. Cut the prawns into small pieces, about 3 pieces per prawn.
2. Combine prawn pieces, minced pork, chives, and the rest of the ingredients together and mix well. Leave it to marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
3. To panfry:
i) Lay a wonton skin on a flat surface and add a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the skin. Dab some water along the outer edges of the wonton skin and fold the skin towards the middle, sealing tight. Repeat until all the filling is used up.
ii) Heat a pan on medium low heat, and panfry dumplings on one side for a few minutes until golden brown. Turn over to cook the other side.
Filling on the wrapper; and the folded dumpling for panfrying:
4. To boil:
i) Make dumplings by placing the filling on one wonton skin, dabbing water along the edges, and placing another wrapper on top to seal tightly.
ii) Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and put in dumplings one by one. Stir gently to prevent dumplings from sticking together and to the bottom of the pot. Bring to boil again, reduce heat and continue cooking until dumpling is cooked (when the wonton wrapper appears translucent and the dumplings are floating). Remove the dumplings and place in a serving bowl.
Panfried dumplings; and the boiled version:
Enjoy dumplings with sweet chili sauce and/or soy-vinegar dipping sauce (equal parts soy sauce and black vinegar).
Saturday 22 August 2009
Thursday 20 August 2009
Revisit: French Galettes @ Le Bretagne, Tokyo
A friend was visiting Tokyo from Perth, and we met up for lunch on a Thursday at Le Bretagne. She picked this French crêperie from my list of suggestions because French cuisine is sadly lacking in the Perth restaurant scene. I've previously written about our experience at Le Bretagne's Omotesando branch last year, and the same sentiments holds true for this Kagurazaka branch, except without the snooty French waiter. The place was packed at lunch time with some people waiting for tables, and I was glad I had the sense to make a reservation, which is always a good idea if one intends to have a baby as a dining companion. We enjoyed al fresco dining, which is absent from the Omotesando branch.
The food was nice, but not particularly outstanding or tasty. It is relatively healthy and quite filling, and the lunch specials are pretty good value. The lunch time specials are limited to the variety on the galette complète menu, where you get a drink and salad for 200yen extra. One apple cider drink costs around 600yen, so it was a no-brainer choice for me. I got the Scrambled Egg, Cheese, Ham, Mushrooms and Tomato Galette lunch set (1480yen) with amaguchi (sweet) apple cider (2% alc). The cider was quite nice, and I wonder if the other two types (dry and karaguchi (strong) at 5% alc) are also good. The galette combo was quite plain, and I definitely prefer the galette I got last time from the specialty menu.
Salad and Sweet Apple Cider; and the Egg, Cheese, Ham, Mushrooms and Tomato Galette:
I think this would have been a rather ordinary boring experience if not for the company. I had a great time catching up with my friend who I haven't seen for a couple of years.
The food was nice, but not particularly outstanding or tasty. It is relatively healthy and quite filling, and the lunch specials are pretty good value. The lunch time specials are limited to the variety on the galette complète menu, where you get a drink and salad for 200yen extra. One apple cider drink costs around 600yen, so it was a no-brainer choice for me. I got the Scrambled Egg, Cheese, Ham, Mushrooms and Tomato Galette lunch set (1480yen) with amaguchi (sweet) apple cider (2% alc). The cider was quite nice, and I wonder if the other two types (dry and karaguchi (strong) at 5% alc) are also good. The galette combo was quite plain, and I definitely prefer the galette I got last time from the specialty menu.
Salad and Sweet Apple Cider; and the Egg, Cheese, Ham, Mushrooms and Tomato Galette:
I think this would have been a rather ordinary boring experience if not for the company. I had a great time catching up with my friend who I haven't seen for a couple of years.
Friday 14 August 2009
Revisit: Indian @ Nawab, Tokyo
Although my friends A and C have been in Tokyo for a few months now on their working holiday, it has been almost 5 months since we last met up for lunch (which was when I introduced them to our favourite sushi restaurant). Understandably, we've been away on travel ourselves, but we finally decided to make plans to meet up since A's D is also in town visiting. We gave them a few suggestions of good places to eat, and they chose our favourite Indian restaurant. Nawab needs no introduction on this blog because we've eaten here many times before, a testament of our fondness for this restaurant.
We enjoyed the 4-piece Chicken Tandoori (1300yen), Chicken Spinach (1150yen), Lamb Biryani (1150yen) and Dahl Spinach (1050yen) along with Mango Lassi (500yen), and they were all good. One of my friends said that the tandoori chicken was nicer and more moist than the ones she'd tried in Perth, and thinking about it, I agree that most tandoori chicken I've had were usually quite dry and overcooked. Rob said he never before realised how similar the two spinach dishes were (I was puzzled why he'd wanted to order both the dahl spinach and the chicken spinach). The lamb biryani was good, but I reckon that the chicken version is still the nicest one (yes, better even than the prawn biryani too).
Chicken Tandoori; and Chicken Spinach:
Lamb Biryani; and Dahl Spinach:
We also ordered three breads: Onion Naan - served pizza-style (but without the cheese) and was a great accompaniment to the dahl and chicken spinach dishes; deep-fried Bhatoora - also nice to mop up the saucy spinach gravy with; and Rob's favourite raisin- and cashew-filled Mughlai Naan which C absolutely adored. The five of us were all quite stuffed after the meal, and only Rob, C and myself were game to share the coconut-flavoured Kulfi (400yen) for dessert. I forgot to take a photo of it, but there's a shot of kulfi in my post on our previous visit to Nawab.
Like-pizza-but-without-cheese Onion Naan; and Bhatura:
It was great seeing A and C again, and catching up with D who I haven't seen for a couple of years now. They had fun playing with Zak (even though he got a bit grumpy), and I think they liked the food too!
We enjoyed the 4-piece Chicken Tandoori (1300yen), Chicken Spinach (1150yen), Lamb Biryani (1150yen) and Dahl Spinach (1050yen) along with Mango Lassi (500yen), and they were all good. One of my friends said that the tandoori chicken was nicer and more moist than the ones she'd tried in Perth, and thinking about it, I agree that most tandoori chicken I've had were usually quite dry and overcooked. Rob said he never before realised how similar the two spinach dishes were (I was puzzled why he'd wanted to order both the dahl spinach and the chicken spinach). The lamb biryani was good, but I reckon that the chicken version is still the nicest one (yes, better even than the prawn biryani too).
Chicken Tandoori; and Chicken Spinach:
Lamb Biryani; and Dahl Spinach:
We also ordered three breads: Onion Naan - served pizza-style (but without the cheese) and was a great accompaniment to the dahl and chicken spinach dishes; deep-fried Bhatoora - also nice to mop up the saucy spinach gravy with; and Rob's favourite raisin- and cashew-filled Mughlai Naan which C absolutely adored. The five of us were all quite stuffed after the meal, and only Rob, C and myself were game to share the coconut-flavoured Kulfi (400yen) for dessert. I forgot to take a photo of it, but there's a shot of kulfi in my post on our previous visit to Nawab.
Like-pizza-but-without-cheese Onion Naan; and Bhatura:
It was great seeing A and C again, and catching up with D who I haven't seen for a couple of years now. They had fun playing with Zak (even though he got a bit grumpy), and I think they liked the food too!
Thursday 13 August 2009
Haute Chinese Cuisine @ China Blue, Tokyo
I was invited along to dinner with Rob and some of his colleagues a couple of Fridays ago to the one-MIchelin-starred China Blue at the Conrad. Naturally, I had to bring my camera along, and thankfully Rob's colleagues are already aware of my food blogging so it wasn't too awkward for me to take shots of the dishes. The restaurant also didn't mind as long as I didn't use the flash so everyone was happy. I liked how this posh restaurant was fine with kids and babies because our table wasn't the only one with diners under 12 years old. I guess they'd have to be if they want to cater to hotel guests with children.
The main dining room has a cool and modern interior with a gorgeous panoramic view of the Tokyo cityscape through their huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and service was professional and impeccable as one would expect from a restaurant of this calibre. China Blue serves modern-style Chinese cuisine, and the small 1- or 2-portion size for each dish makes it a bit awkward to have a banquet-style meal. That didn't stop us from sharing dishes anyway. The price is on the high end and expect to pay at least 10,000yen per person for a decent meal. We didn't pay for the meal so I don't know how much dinner came to be, but I know we ordered a lot of dishes for six people, along with a bottle of nice Aussie riesling and another bottle of good red wine (I have disliked all the red wines I've ever tried before this one).
Most of the dishes were pretty good, and some were quite outstanding, but there were a few that were quite mediocre. We ordered a few dishes that were marked as 'Chef's Signature Dishes' on the menu, and these ones were really good. I haven't included photos of all the dishes we ate as there are too many, but the following selection are shots of the better dishes of the meal. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact names of the dishes but I'll try to describe them as best as I can.
Entree
1. The Amuse Bouche at the beginning of the meal: some sort of noodles with a type of pickled vegetable in a delicious sesame oil dressing; 2. Pork-wrapped Asparagus - tasted just like pork and asparagus, which is a good combination:
3. Peking Duck Crepe - this was pretty good, both texturally and taste-wise; 4. Hot and Sour Szechuan Soup - I love Szechuan soup, and this was packed with seafood and flavour, simply delicious:
Main
5. Seafood in XO Sauce: choice from three types of seafood, and I chose scallops - beautifully prepared, the scallops were plump, juicy and cooked to perfection accompanied with sauteed greens and mushrooms; 6. Beef with Herbs - also another excellent dish, the chunks of meat were crisp on the outside and gorgeously tender and juicy when you bite into it:
7. This is a Mystery Dish as someone had ordered it but no one remembered what it was. I'm certain it's pork, and it was pretty good. 8. Seafood Fried Mee Suah - Rob ordered this because he likes the meesuah soup my parents and I cook at home. This dish is also a chef's specialty dish, and it was really good! Some of the others ordered two other carb dishes (a yee mein (noodle) dish and fried rice), and everyone agreed that the Mee Suah was the yummiest.
Dessert
Only some of us ordered desserts, but the restaurant served everyone at the table a cup of some sweet apple tea and fried pastry doused in honey. I like unexpected complimentary service like that. I ordered the Lychee with White Tea Jelly and Rob got the Chef's Special which was a tasting selection of six desserts. I liked the Avocado Mousse and the Sesame desserts. The Aloe Vera dessert tasted a bit funny and the Mango Pudding was nice but very generic. The Lychee Jelly was also nice but it was bordering on generic because I couldn't taste the white tea flavour.I can't remember what the remaining dessert was. Thanks to Rob, I now remember what the sixth dessert was, and I even remember the taste. The Tiramisu dessert was slightly bitter with the flavour of espresso, but otherwise was quite forgettable.
Lychee with White Tea Jelly and the cup of sweet apple tea; and the Dessert Tasting Menu:
All in all, it was a good experience (you wouldn't expect anything less from a restaurant boasting a Michelin star) but to be really honest, I personally wouldn't pay that much for a Chinese meal. Thanks to Rob's company, I had the opportunity to see what China Blue has to offer.
The main dining room has a cool and modern interior with a gorgeous panoramic view of the Tokyo cityscape through their huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and service was professional and impeccable as one would expect from a restaurant of this calibre. China Blue serves modern-style Chinese cuisine, and the small 1- or 2-portion size for each dish makes it a bit awkward to have a banquet-style meal. That didn't stop us from sharing dishes anyway. The price is on the high end and expect to pay at least 10,000yen per person for a decent meal. We didn't pay for the meal so I don't know how much dinner came to be, but I know we ordered a lot of dishes for six people, along with a bottle of nice Aussie riesling and another bottle of good red wine (I have disliked all the red wines I've ever tried before this one).
Most of the dishes were pretty good, and some were quite outstanding, but there were a few that were quite mediocre. We ordered a few dishes that were marked as 'Chef's Signature Dishes' on the menu, and these ones were really good. I haven't included photos of all the dishes we ate as there are too many, but the following selection are shots of the better dishes of the meal. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact names of the dishes but I'll try to describe them as best as I can.
Entree
1. The Amuse Bouche at the beginning of the meal: some sort of noodles with a type of pickled vegetable in a delicious sesame oil dressing; 2. Pork-wrapped Asparagus - tasted just like pork and asparagus, which is a good combination:
3. Peking Duck Crepe - this was pretty good, both texturally and taste-wise; 4. Hot and Sour Szechuan Soup - I love Szechuan soup, and this was packed with seafood and flavour, simply delicious:
Main
5. Seafood in XO Sauce: choice from three types of seafood, and I chose scallops - beautifully prepared, the scallops were plump, juicy and cooked to perfection accompanied with sauteed greens and mushrooms; 6. Beef with Herbs - also another excellent dish, the chunks of meat were crisp on the outside and gorgeously tender and juicy when you bite into it:
7. This is a Mystery Dish as someone had ordered it but no one remembered what it was. I'm certain it's pork, and it was pretty good. 8. Seafood Fried Mee Suah - Rob ordered this because he likes the meesuah soup my parents and I cook at home. This dish is also a chef's specialty dish, and it was really good! Some of the others ordered two other carb dishes (a yee mein (noodle) dish and fried rice), and everyone agreed that the Mee Suah was the yummiest.
Dessert
Only some of us ordered desserts, but the restaurant served everyone at the table a cup of some sweet apple tea and fried pastry doused in honey. I like unexpected complimentary service like that. I ordered the Lychee with White Tea Jelly and Rob got the Chef's Special which was a tasting selection of six desserts. I liked the Avocado Mousse and the Sesame desserts. The Aloe Vera dessert tasted a bit funny and the Mango Pudding was nice but very generic. The Lychee Jelly was also nice but it was bordering on generic because I couldn't taste the white tea flavour.
Lychee with White Tea Jelly and the cup of sweet apple tea; and the Dessert Tasting Menu:
All in all, it was a good experience (you wouldn't expect anything less from a restaurant boasting a Michelin star) but to be really honest, I personally wouldn't pay that much for a Chinese meal. Thanks to Rob's company, I had the opportunity to see what China Blue has to offer.
Wednesday 5 August 2009
Hoddeok (Sweet Korean Pancakes) Vendor, Tokyo
After our latest Korean dinner in Tokyo's K-town, we went in search of a hoddeok vendor for something sweet. We had seen a couple of these vendors around the area on our first visit, but we had been too full from lunch to indulge in any of them. This time, we made sure to leave room in tums after dinner (well, Rob did anyway - I was pretty full from dinner). Apparently, hoddeok is a common winter street food in Korea, but these fried yeast pancakes are readily available all year round in Tokyo's K-town. The vendor we found sold three types of fillings: anko (red bean paste), cheese and hachimitsu (honey) - all for 200yen each. The vendor recommended the honey flavour as a good one to try on our first hoddeok experience. You have to buy a token from the vending machine first and then hand it to the vendor to place your order. I guess this system allows the vendor to avoid handling money and food at the same time, hence avoiding food contamination.
The system of ordering from this vendor - make your selection, buy a token from the vending machine, and hand the token to the vendor:
Converting balls of yeast dough into delicious fried pancakes:
The Honey-flavoured Hoddeok was delicious, and very hot as it was served fresh off the cooking plate.
The system of ordering from this vendor - make your selection, buy a token from the vending machine, and hand the token to the vendor:
Converting balls of yeast dough into delicious fried pancakes:
The Honey-flavoured Hoddeok was delicious, and very hot as it was served fresh off the cooking plate.
Monday 3 August 2009
Revisit: Korean @ Kanton, Tokyo
It would appear that we're on a roll with Korean food lately - cooking Korean dishes and enjoying Korean dining. A mere two weeks after our first visit to Kanton, we were back there again, this time for dinner. The main restaurant was fully booked so we were directed less than a hundred meter down the road to their branch restaurant which was still fairly empty as it was before the peak dinner period. Due to the restaurant's popularity, each table had a two hour limit, but I knew we would be done way before that limit because we had a baby with us. On our last visit, we'd purposely avoided ordering dishes that would require cooking at the table because it wouldn't be too safe with Zak was sitting at the table. This time round, we wanted to order one of the cook-at-table dishes, and when our waiter saw our reluctance because of the baby's close proximity to the table, he offered to have the cooking done on an adjacent table. He probably wouldn't have been too willing to make such a generous offer during the dinner rush, and I was glad we arrived early-ish for dinner because the restaurant quickly filled up and was completely full by the time we left an hour later.
Before we even looked at the menu, the complimentary banchan (side dishes) were served. We enjoyed kongnamul (seasoned beansprouts), daikon kimchi, pickled cucumber, kimchi and sesame-seasoned burdock root with konyaku jelly strips. For starters, we got the Kaki Chijimi (1260yen) which I'd expected to be some sort of pancake containing oysters, but to our surprise it was more like kaki furai (fried oysters, a popular Japanese autumn/winter dish). I love oysters for all its rich goodness, and really enjoyed each plump oyster in this dish, but it was quite rich - made all the more so by being fried - and I could only handle four fried oysters (and this is coming from someone who can easily polish off a dozen au naturale oysters!).
The complimentary banchan; and Kaki Chijimi:
For one of our main dishes, we ordered the Habu Samgyeopsal (Herb Samgyopsal) for two people (2058yen), cooked on a hot grill at the table. It came with lettuce and huge fragrant shiso (perilla) to wrap the meat and condiments which included hot kimchi and beansprouts cooked with the meat, ssamjang (a spicy paste), raw garlic, cut green chilli, shredded green onion with sesame dressing and a saucer of salted and peppered sesame oil. It was delicious, but I think we both preferred the Possam we had last time, probably because the summer weather makes it a little unpleasant to eat hot food.
Samgyeopsal - fatty pork cooking on the hot grill:
The first serving of the samgyeopsal, cooked and plated, ready to be assembled and headed for our tummies:
Our other main dish was the Buldak (1580yen), which literally translates to "fire chicken". Given the warm weather, it probably wasn't very wise to order a spicy dish, but I had a coupon that discounted the price of this dish to 980yen and it was something we hadn't tried before. When it came out bubbling in a hot plate with a melted cheese topping, I knew that it would be difficult eating it. The combination of the heat, spiciness and greasy cheesiness in the dish proved to be quite an assault to the tastebuds, especially with the warm weather. Rob and I both felt that the cheese was the dish's weak point, and I think I would have enjoyed it better without the cheese.
Fiery and spicy Buldak:
I enjoyed dinner, particularly the oysters, but perhaps we should put a bit more thought into ordering dishes that would make for more enjoyable eating in the warm weather. We now know what dishes to order during winter!
Before we even looked at the menu, the complimentary banchan (side dishes) were served. We enjoyed kongnamul (seasoned beansprouts), daikon kimchi, pickled cucumber, kimchi and sesame-seasoned burdock root with konyaku jelly strips. For starters, we got the Kaki Chijimi (1260yen) which I'd expected to be some sort of pancake containing oysters, but to our surprise it was more like kaki furai (fried oysters, a popular Japanese autumn/winter dish). I love oysters for all its rich goodness, and really enjoyed each plump oyster in this dish, but it was quite rich - made all the more so by being fried - and I could only handle four fried oysters (and this is coming from someone who can easily polish off a dozen au naturale oysters!).
The complimentary banchan; and Kaki Chijimi:
For one of our main dishes, we ordered the Habu Samgyeopsal (Herb Samgyopsal) for two people (2058yen), cooked on a hot grill at the table. It came with lettuce and huge fragrant shiso (perilla) to wrap the meat and condiments which included hot kimchi and beansprouts cooked with the meat, ssamjang (a spicy paste), raw garlic, cut green chilli, shredded green onion with sesame dressing and a saucer of salted and peppered sesame oil. It was delicious, but I think we both preferred the Possam we had last time, probably because the summer weather makes it a little unpleasant to eat hot food.
Samgyeopsal - fatty pork cooking on the hot grill:
The first serving of the samgyeopsal, cooked and plated, ready to be assembled and headed for our tummies:
Our other main dish was the Buldak (1580yen), which literally translates to "fire chicken". Given the warm weather, it probably wasn't very wise to order a spicy dish, but I had a coupon that discounted the price of this dish to 980yen and it was something we hadn't tried before. When it came out bubbling in a hot plate with a melted cheese topping, I knew that it would be difficult eating it. The combination of the heat, spiciness and greasy cheesiness in the dish proved to be quite an assault to the tastebuds, especially with the warm weather. Rob and I both felt that the cheese was the dish's weak point, and I think I would have enjoyed it better without the cheese.
Fiery and spicy Buldak:
I enjoyed dinner, particularly the oysters, but perhaps we should put a bit more thought into ordering dishes that would make for more enjoyable eating in the warm weather. We now know what dishes to order during winter!
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