Moving out! - Peakhurst, NSW

There's been a slight slowdown of posts lately and there's a very good reason for this....it's because I've just moved out of home! For the first time in my life, I've branched out on my own and started living independently from my family. Aside from not initially having electricity, gas or internet for the first half of my first week...I think I did well! Just before I moved out though, the parents decided to give me a proper send off by cooking all of my most requested dishes. Although they didn't explicitly specify that it was for me, when every dish is your favorite, it's pretty obvious.

The way my family interacts is weird one: we don't really verbally show any affection towards one another. Instead, you learn to take in little hints here and there and slowly, you pick up how to interpret each other's true feelings and motives, That night, it was very obvious that my family loved me very much and were feeling sentimental. My dad cooked up a storm as per usual but he made sure that each and every dish was one that I would thoroughly enjoy and remember...I'd always appreciated that about him.

As with most Chinese banquets, there's no particular order in which things come out. Instead, everything is laid onto the table as they become ready and you just dig in when we all come to the table. With that in mind, I'll speak about the dishes in no particular order. Firstly, dad prepared oysters two ways: deep fried and steamed with ginger and spring onions. I love oysters in all shapes, sizes and forms but I have to admit, fried is probably my number 1 most beloved way of consuming these bivalves. A super crunchy exterior coats the piping hot and creamy oyster flesh which makes each bite a hazard and a joy. The steamed oysters were also amazingly fresh tasting and delicious...the aroma and taste of fresh spring onions and ginger complements the oysters so well.

Aside from the oysters, dad also made XO sauce pipis served with a side of crispy egg noodles. On a normal day where my appetite has been piqued, I can single handedly down a whole dish of these with no issues...that's how much I love XO sauce pipis. Adding in the carby, chewy noodles makes the experience so much better as the crispy exterior clings to the sauce and makes it easier for you to sop up that hot and spicy gravy.

By the time I'd gotten around to gorging on the third item, I was most definitely getting full. Still, my stomach will always make room for Peking Duck. I recently had an experience where I had authentic Beijing style Peking Duck with my friends and for some reason...it just didn't taste right. It's something about how Cantonese chefs do this dish that make it so, so good...it's probably the grease but I'm not complaining. Juicy, succulent slices of duck in the perfect ratio of meat to crispy, spiced skin wrapped in a chewy, doughy chinese flour tortilla and consumed with slices of cucumber and hoisin sauce. When I was a kid, there was no greater joy to me than to eat out with friends and family and be able to get parental approval to eat the two or three extra plates of Peking Duck wraps. I still feel the same nostalgic happiness when my dad decides to make this for me.

Not to disappoint the other family members, dad also decided to make steamed fish (his favorite). There's something rather elegant about this dish's simplicity: it really is just a fresh fish that's steamed and then served with ginger, spring onions and special soy sauce but it's just irresistibly good. I'd never really learned to appreciate this dish until I started dating the Mrs...fish can sometimes be very hard to appreciate (especially for picky eaters) since they can be "fishy" and boney but when you have something as fresh and delicious as this...you learn to get over it.

As if there wasn't enough food already, dad also decided to make Chinese style braised pork as well as a dish of woodear mushrooms marinaded in a chinese chilli vinaigrette.  The pork was tender and fall-apart which made it wonderful to have with rice. The accompanying veggies were also great in that they soaked up all that braising liquid and added a layer of flavoring. The woodear mushrooms were crunchy and fresh and the vinaigrette was super appetising which worked really well since it cleansed the palate and allowed you to consume more delicious food.

When reminiscing about this meal (that occurred a week and a half ago), I find that I'm filled with a sense of regret and sadness. Regret in that in my time at home, I'd never been able to verbally show or even just tell my family how much I appreciated their support, kindness and care for me and sadness in that although I can always head home and have the same kind of meal every Tuesday, that familiar care-free feeling will forever be lost to me as that chapter in my life closes and a new one starts. But with that sadness, I'm also filled with a sense of excitement and renewed energy with the upcoming events that are about to unfold. For now: I'm proud to announce that chopsticks headquarters has officially moved and settled into North Parramatta. 

Family Potluck - Bexley, NSW

Earlier today, the Mrs and I posted an entry about our visit to Cafe Oratnek, well...that's not all we did (ate) over the weekend. Aside from enjoying a beautiful brunch, the Mrs and I had been invited to attend a potluck hosted by one of my close family friends. For the uninitiated, a potluck is an event or meal where each guest is in charge of contributing one dish. I quite enjoy our semi-regular potlucks as our families have always been close friends (our fathers all worked together at the same restaurant for many, many years) and as a result of being so close to the dining scene, our love for the culinary is equal to each others.

I decided that I'd take this opportunity to try an idea that's been floating around my head for a while: yakiniku tacos with radishes pickled in rice vinegar and asian inspired chimichurri. To make the dish, I marinated a couple of beef flank steaks in a house made yakiniku marinade overnight. The marinade is just equal parts cooking sake and soy sauce cooked with onions, garlic, sugar and honey (next time I might even try to add some fruit like apple or nashi pear in for some acidity). For the pickles, I sliced radishes on a mandoline slicer and pickled them in a rice vinegar pickling liquid overnight. Finally, I made the chimichurri out of the white parts of some spring onions, some garlic cloves, italian parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a green chilli. Overall, I was very pleased with the result. I would have preferred to use a more tender cut (such as harami/skirt steak) and maybe marinade it for less time but the interplay of the sweet and crunchy pickles and the spicy, herby sauce made for an excellent party dish.

My friend decided to make ribs and takoyaki (a weird combination I know, but it worked). The ribs were very tender and flavoursome which really reflected the amount of effort he put in to make the ribs. It would have been even better if it was warm enough to have a backyard barbeque where he could have put some smoke and charcoal on it. My friend also took the opportunity to try out various ideas for takoyaki flavours. My two favorites of the night were the XO takoyaki and the truffle aioli takoyaki. Being that the takoyaki was already very creamy inside, the addition of the tobiko and aioli really pushed it to a new level of decadence....a must try for any truffle fan. The XO was also really nice as the chilli oil from the XO sauce melded with the batter to create a ball of spicy goodness.

Another friend also took the time to make a pot of spicy napolitana penne. Although she did indicate that it wasn't her intention to make it as spicy as it was, we were all really glad that it came out the way it did because it was deliciously appetizing. As with any good chilli dish, the heat built up with each mouthful which made you want to eat more. Additionally, some other friends made quiches in potato cups. The quiches were perfectly contained in nice, crispy and carby cups which made them rather delectable treats.

For dessert, we were served lemon curd cupcakes and a chocolate tart. The lemon curd cupcakes were amazing and had a perfect balance of creaminess to tartness. It really was a wonderful way to cut through the intense flavours we had earlier in the dinner which was great because it gave us the ability to kick on and eat the decadently rich chocolate tart. Topped with sliced strawberries and shavings of white chocolate, this chocolate tart was all manner of lovely. Honestly, I probably hoarded half the tart to take home because it was that good.

I truly love the way our families have remained so close and still somewhat regularly find the time to get together and enjoy some great food. I genuinely hope that even as the Mrs and I move further to the west, our ties will remain strong and we still find the time to get together and cook up a storm.

Mister's test kitchen - Mothers Day

To cook for someone is to show them you love them, that I firmly believe in. My mother and father fostered my absolute obsession for food by cooking delicious and irresistible dishes for me and in turn I've picked up their way of expressing affection. I fondly remember a time when I was first dating the Mrs, I had cooked vegetarian lasagna for her. I remember this because I believe this is what won her over, not because the lasagna was good (at least I don't remember it being good but she seemed to love it) but because she watched me carefully assemble it and present it to her.

That's why almost every mothers day, I roll up my sleeves and cook a feast for dear mother chopstick (though I have to admit I'm just as excited to cook as it's an excuse for me to test out my ideas). This year I decided to do a four course meal: Prawn Bisque, Seared scallops w/ kombu butter, Braised octopus w/ spiced carrot puree and finally, steak with red wine jus.

I started really early (much earlier than I probably needed to but I prefer being ready to being flustered) and decided the first thing I would make was the soup.

I'm rather proud of my bisque as it's one of the dishes I've gained my father's professional approval on. If a chef you respect says your soup is good, it probably is. It really wasn't hard to make: Peel the prawns and retain the shells so you can fry them up with celery, onions and carrots. Make sure you fry them up real good, then it's just adding a cup of dry white wine, lots of vege/fish stock, sweet paprika, a can of peeled tomatoes and then reduce. Once you're about to serve then add the cream.

Yes....bubble away, my pretty.

Added puff pastry for good measure. For HK people, it just kicks it up a notch.

Look at all the goodness.

You know you want it

The scallops were a bit more difficult in that I needed to prepare the kombu butter ahead of time. For that I followed Dan Hong's recipe: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/grilled-king-prawns-kombu-butter. After you make the kombu butter, just keep it cold until you need it.

When it comes time to serve, just sear the scallops in hot oil. Easiest was is 2 min on one side and a minute on the other. Finish with the melted kombu butter and garnish with aonori.

Dish I was most proud of that night.

The octopus is where I believe I made major errors. Firstly, I tried to braise it in a pressure cooker. Learn from my mistakes: do NOT pressure cook it. Octopus will get heaps rubbery under pressure. It's one of those things that will take a really slow simmer to get right. Second error: I didn't add the right ingredients to my braising liquid. My liquid consisted of red wine, thyme, garlic cloves, bay leaves and honey...and that was it. This meant the end result was rubbery octopus that was too intense in the red wine flavor. Next time I'll add some fruits (limes/lemons & oranges) as well as a lot of water to thin out the braising liquid. Puree was fine though.

The final course of the night was the steak which I cooked in my stainless steel frying pan. The reason I used this pan instead of the griddle pan was because I wanted to get a pan sauce going. After you sear the steaks and get them to your desired done-ness, take them out and rest them on a plate (Absolutely crucial to rest steaks). As they're resting, soak up some oil out of the pan if you have too much and then add dry red wine to flambe it. This will deglaze the bottom of the pan and allow you to scrap off all the fond. Add a couple of cloves of garlic with the skin on and some thyme. As the sauce reduces, you'll be left with this amazing sauce to cover your steaks in. If the sauce is a bit too intense, try thinning it out with beef stock.

Look at that wonderful steak.

Overall, I would say my night was a success. I'm still a little devo I didn't do more research into the octopus before I attempted it (thereby wasting all those naturally delicious octopi...sorry guys!) but as everyone's been telling me, 3 out of 4 dishes is pretty good.

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.