Jian Tai Zi - Castle Hill, NSW

I recently read an article about how Shanghai-nese food is taking over the food scene in Sydney...which, in my opinion isn't entirely true but we're definitely seeing the impact that this distinctive cuisine is having. Areas where there are a larger demographic of Chinese people (Chatswood, Hurstville, Eastwood, CBD) seem to be benefitting the most from this with places like New Shanghai, Taste of Shanghai and Chef's Gallery opening their chic new eateries. But even with new Shanghainese restaurants opening up, I've still always found it difficult to find a good xiao long bao in the West...that was until the Mrs introduced me to Jian Tai Zi at Castle Hill.

Located in a small arcade just outside the Piazza, this restaurant looks like it could seat no more than 20 people but if you stumble upon this little gem and decide to dine in, you're in for a treat. Their menu is short, sharp and sweet with anything to you'd typically find in your local Shanghainese restaurant to satisfy your cravings. Trying to impress the Mrs, I tried to order with my limited Mandarin only to confuse the staff serving us (he understood what we wanted but I was so bad that it took him a much longer to register it all)

After a short wait, our orders arrived one after the other, the first being the Sliced beef noodle soup. Tender, fall apart slices of five spice marinated beef sitting on top of a sweet yet savoury broth with abundant noodles to slurp down. I really loved how appetising the soup was and how well it complimented the springy noodles. If you like a bit of spice, add some of the chilli bean paste provided as a condiment.

The second dish to come was the chilli oil dumplings. These are the Mrs favorites as no matter where we go: if this is an option, she will order it. They certainly do it well here: the dumpling skins are the moderately thick meaning they give a bit more bite and spring. The filling is really well seasoned and compliments the vinegar and chilli oil really well...there so much to be enjoyed in the simplicity of this dish.

At this point, the Mrs and I were already getting very full but when the last dish arrived at the table, we just couldn't help but demolish it. The pan fried pork buns are normally quite hazardous to consume as they contain scolding hot soup inside which may squirt in a random direction if the bun is not opened up and allowed to cool down. Our favorite way to eat this bun is to open up the top of the bun with our chopsticks and to pour the black vinegar directly into the middle. The combination of dough, meat, soup and vinegar makes each bite more delightful than the next.

I'm really rather glad the Mrs introduced this place to me as I'd always been looking for a great dumpling joint in the west to indulge my occasional cravings but I'd never been able to find one that lived up to my standards. It's great to know that if I'm ever in the area and I'm craving dumplings, they won't be too far a drive for me to get to anymore.

Yang's Food Truck - Pitt St Mall, Sydney CBD

Sometimes, it's rather difficult to be someone's partner. This is especially true when it comes time to decide what to eat. Both sides will try to gauge what the other wants and neither will be able to appropriately reach a compromise because both sides want to make the other happy. This is exactly what happened the other night. The Mrs asked me what I wanted for dinner out of two potential choices she gave me (dumplings or Malaysian) and I chose the one I thought she wanted...turns out she wanted Malaysian after all. This wasn't to say we didn't have an enjoyable first dinner...but it did mean that she was still in the mood for some Malaysian food.

Luckily, as we were shopping at Pitt St Mall, Yang's food truck rolls up and starts preparing for service. I jumped onto the opportunity straight away as I'd always wanted to try Yang's (also...rather convenient that we just so happen to want Malaysian as well). After a very short wait, the blinds go up and service began. The queue progressed really quickly and the food even quicker than that which is actually rather surprising because from experience, food trucks take a while. Even better when there's plenty of seating around!

Despite us having a full meal already, we still decided to order a feast as this was such a rare opportunity that we just couldn't pass it up. The mrs opted for the MFC slider and I ordered the soft shell chilli crab and prosperity slider (we also got drinks...milo dino and teh tarik). The Mrs has a knack for picking really great malaysian dishes and this is no exception. The perfectly fluffy and sweet milk bread sandwiched a delightfully crispy and juicy fried chicken fillet. The spicy slaw which was generously piled on top of the meat gave it a really hot and spicy kick. 

The prosperity slider brought back fond memories of late nights in Hong Kong over Chinese New Year. The double meat patty (cooked to perfection with a pink centre) paired well with the black pepper sauce which kicked up the umami tenfold. I also really appreciated the raw onions which provided the crunch that the slider needed. Finally, the crab was crisp and the sauce was incredibly spicy but appetising, though I did find myself feeling slightly bowled over by the  amount of grease consumed as aggregately over the three dishes.

I can probably say that we won't be doing double dinners again any time soon (our waistlines won't allow it) but for a rare treat, this experience was definitely well worth it. Thank you Yang's for filling our bellies with scrumptious Malaysian delights.

Mister's Test Kitchen - Gyoza Night

Now I know, I know....I couldn't keep my promise.

Although I have a very good reason! My long time phone: the Samsung Galaxy S4 died on my over the weekend so I spent it organizing a replacement and what better replacement than the newest Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge! So convenient that the latest version comes out just as my old one gives out on me. So with this brand new smartphone and a decent 16MP camera, expect better quality photos from now on!

So first post tonight will be from the backlog. A while back I was craving dumplings and since I had recently depleted my supply of gyozas, it was time to restock! Now make no mistake, making gyozas is no easy task. All the prepping and wrapping takes one full day so if you're going to make them, commit and make a LOT. The rest can be frozen and cooked up whenever your cravings hit.

So we start by shopping for ingredients, most of which can be sourced from your asian grocers. luckily, I live in a predominantly asian area so ingredients were easy to get. For this recipe, I chose to go with a more traditionally Japanese approach (though the dumplings did originate from China anyway but that's besides the point) so I chose to use pork mince, cabbage, spring onions, garlic and ginger....oh and round gyoza wrappers.

For the seasonings, I used sake, soy sauce, sesame oil a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt and pepper. Important point to remember: chop the cabbage roughly and salt it to bring out the moisture. Afterwards, wring out all the water and you'll make sure the gyoza doesn't end up too wet on the inside. Do NOT blitz it....whatever you do, do NOT use a food processor for the cabbage, if it gets chopped up too much, it'll be heaps gritty and detriment the texture. And don't mix the mince too much!! If you do, the meat will clump up into a meatball once it's cooked and you don't want that. What you want is a loose and moist filling that doesn't stick to the wrappers. You'll know what I mean when you cook it.

Fill the wrapper with a little more with a teaspoon of filling, tab a little water on your finger and wet one side of the round wrapper then fold in half.

Now comes the hard bit, pleat on one side. I'd LOVE to describe how to do it but you learn by watching. So either find yourself a Chinese grand-mama and learn off her....or Youtube it, much easier. Repeat until you run out of wrappers. Also make sure you place them onto a nice floured tray or plate. Separate them and put them in the freezer once you've finished one plate. The freezer will firm up the dumplings making them much easier to cook later on.

To cook, heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan and line the pan with the dumplings (flat side down). Pan fry them a little until the dumplings brown a bit on the bottom. Once they've been browned sufficiently, pour water into the hot pan until the dumplings are half covered and then cover the pan with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium and let it steam until fully evaporated. Afterwards, its just fry them some more until they're crispy again and voila!

                                                                Dumplings for days.