Golden pan fried dumpling (Gyoza)

As promised, I have made my first set of Gyoza following the visit of "Harajuku Gyoza" and decided to share the experience with all of you ^^


Ingredients:
1/4 Cabbage
1 spring onion
250g pork minces
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
About 25-40 dumpling skin (can be purchased from Asian grocery - see image below, or made from scratch)
1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil

For the mixture:
Grated garlic..........1/2 tablespoon
Salt...........1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Sesame oil..........1 tablespoon
Oyster oil..........1/2 tablespoon

For the crispy skin (This is the key point if you like it crispy):
Water..........100cc
Flour..........2 teaspoon

*Recommend to do this step just before you need to use it

Serving:
25-40 dumplings (depending on how much fillings you use for each)

Level:
Easy

1. Chop up the cabbage (optional: you can mix in some salt), wash and then squeeze them dry.
2. Chop up the spring onion and mix with the cabbage.
3. Squeeze the pork minces a bit with your hands and then combines with the cabbage, spring onion and the mixture (from ingredients).
4. Now here's the fun part, let's start making some dumplings!!! You can watch this short clip below that I've made for a simple tutorial.
(make sure you don't put too much filling in each one ^^")




Did you enjoy that??? Repeat the process and look how many wonderful dumplings you can make!

Ta-Da! They are all ready to go!

5. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, and pan fry the dumplings until the bottoms are turning gold. (I like to cook in sets of 8 or 10)

It's gold!!!!

6. Now do the mixture for the crispy skin (from ingredients) and pour it into the pan. Then put the lid on immediately and leave it for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

7. After 5 minutes, open the lid and put a few drops of sesame oil, then wait until all the liquid evaporates.

8. It's done! Ready to serve!! Oh, don't forget your sauces!! I've used Soy sauce, Vinegar and Chilli oil here.

This is a really simple recipe and yet tastes really good as an appetizer/entrée dish. When you finish the dish, the bottom should be quite hard and it will make a loud crackling sound when you bite into them...Mmmmm...


Thanks for reading and enjoy the dish!! Also, any comments or suggestions are welcomed ^^

Waitan - Media Launch Party Oct 2013 (含中文简介)

WAITAN: A NEW CONCEPT IN LUXE ASIAN DINNING WHERE EAST MEETS WEST AND OLD MEETS NEW LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Located at the heart of Sydney Chinatown, Waitan has emerged in Oct 2013 with a promise to deliver the ultimate Asian foodie experience. Waitan is the first Australian venture for Asian hospitality groups, Xiang Er Qing and Tung Lok, with Patrick Tian as the local managing director and Aaron Ching as the Chief operating officer. Together with over $10 million spending and a stunning 2,500sqm venue, Waitan has certainly set its impression to bring a new and exciting vibe to the old Chinatown.

"My Hunger will go on" was really grateful to be invited to this party at Waitan, and we knew what we were going to see on the night would be amazing and memorable. We arrived just before the sun went down, and there we saw the colourful Lamborghinis sitting glamorously at the entrance and attracting many attentions from the public. At that instant, we couldn't wait to walk up the red carpet and check out this new giant inside Chinatown.

With an overwhelming crowd, rows of red lanterns and the traditional antiques, we felt that we have been teleported immediately into the old Shanghai back in the 1930s where it was known as "The Paris of the East, the New York of the West".

If Shanghai in the 1930s represented an era of class, style, elegance, romance and the classics, this world-class interior designed by Thuan Teh (previous works including Chef's Gallery and boutique hotels of The Kirketon and The Diamante) has certainly brought it all back. Waitan consisted of main dining hall with an exhibition-style kitchen, intimate laneway, 14 private dining rooms, Waitan's O Lounge, and even member-only spaces like the Library.

On every corner of Waitan, you can find statues that resembled people from ancient China. With a combination of red and blue lighting shinning down on them, it almost felt like they were to come alive in any minute and enjoy a delightful meal with you.

Going into the bar inside Waitan and staring at this faux opium bed, it reminded me of all the movies and dramas I use to watch about old Shanghai when I was a kid. My impression of nights in Shanghai was full of neon lights, melody notes floating inside the Paramount nightclub, gangsters with money to burn on cigars and beautiful women, and wealthy ladies walking on the street with Qi Pao and short curly hair. The voice of the live music band has dragged me back to reality from the chain of thoughts, and I quickly took a snap of this dark, mysterious, yet addictive scene. I wondered if the illustration on the wall was to depict a deep sea, where people drown themselves into their most fascinating dreams.

With John Rankin (worked for Quay, Astral and Sean's kitchen) taking on the lead of the kitchen, Waitan will offer something different to the crowd, something that redefines your expectations, and bring back the "French Gourmand tasting menu with a unique eastern twist".

With these in mind, we took a journey around the kitchen area to find little surprises that Waitan seeks to offer, and we spotted fresh oysters, fried buns, spring rolls, prawn sticks, Wagyu beef buns and the famous Peking duck pancakes.

The master Peking duck chef Mr Yuejin Ma has been flown to Sydney for this special night at Waitan, and prepared these ducks pancakes from the signature oven to please the crowd. We constantly heard "Mmm this is really good!", "I love it!", "Absolutely amazing!" phrases from the crowd, I guess a bunch of exclamation marks just popped out of everyone's head.

We loved the traditional dark wooden tables and chairs, the silky cushions full of flower patterns, and the flawless dinnerware.

If these weren't exciting enough, an amount of $10,000 will buy you a VIP ticket to access the second floor members-only areas, where Sydney's largest circular table measuring 5.2m is located, and the $50k bottle of cognac will be available to indulge.

This venue at Sydney Chinatown will be the first of an international chain of Waitan restaurants, the second of which will open in New York next year. There are two more planned for Australia including another one in Sydney and one in Melbourne.


用了千万*资金打造的Waitan，2013年十月在悉尼中国城开幕了。Waitan拥有占地两千五百平方米的豪华场地，其中包括了十四间私人包间，展览厨房，酒吧以及VIP会员专区等等。主厨是曾在Quay, Astral, Sean's kitchen工作过的John Rankin, 这让人很期待Waitan会带给我们什么惊喜。当我们走进Waitan时，感觉像是穿越时空来到了三十年代的旧上海，每一个角落都散发着古典美与神秘的气息。 在酒吧里还摆设了模仿旧时代的鸦片床，不由让人想起了那个灯红酒绿，纸醉金迷的老上海。当晚我们品尝到了生蚝，炸虾棒，Wagyu牛肉包，北京烤鸭等等的精致派对美食，值得一提的是Waitan的特殊烤鸭炉和准备了三天的烤鸭，很让人惊叹不已。如果这些惊喜还不够，Waitan还有会员费一万块*的VIP专用区，包括图书馆和悉尼最大的圆饭桌，人们还可以品尝到Waitan价值五万块*的白兰地。然而，这只是Waitan的一个开始，第二家Waitan餐厅准备明年在纽约开幕。(*澳币)


Again we are really thankful to be invited to this great event, and we can't wait to visit here for a delicious meal soon!


Address:
405 Sussex Street Sydney

Phone number:
02 8218 1000

Opening time:
Mon - Sun 6pm - 12am


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Old town - Hong Kong cuisine

We have randomly come across this restaurant in Chinatown, and we noticed it specifically said it was Hong Kong cuisine.

We walked inside and found ourselves being teleported to the busy streets in Hong Kong. The BBQ duck hanging on the hooks, the small metal chairs and the wooden decorations have all reminded us of Temple Street in Hong Kong.

We remembered the restaurant (Tsui Wah) displayed on the sign inside this picture on the back of the wall (our favourite restaurant), and of course the lovely beauty store of SaSa lying everywhere in Hong Kong.






Apart from all those nostalgic moments, we spotted a lot of familiar dishes on the menu. Both of us picked the Hong Kong milk tea (cold = $3.50, hot = $3.00) and enjoyed it slowly while waiting for other dishes to arrive.


Curry Beef brisket with noodle in soup $9.80

Originally Bun thought it was curry beef noodles, but instead the noodles and curry beef came in separate bowls. We found the noodles and soup were too light, and the curry couldn't match really well with them.

Peking duck with bun (2pcs) $8.00

No doubt the look of this entrée immediately reminded us of the pork buns from Ippudo. The soft and thin bun hugged onto the piece of duck tightly along with spring onions and sauce, and the oil on the duck skin felt like it's about to explode and shoot out. Yeah, no kidding it was absolutely delicious! The moment the duck arrived our mouth, our lips were immediately moisturized by the dripping oil. It was such a surprising little dish, something different with the usual Peking duck pancakes.

Mini BBQ pork rice $5.80 (limited time from 2.30pm - 5pm)

One unique thing we found out about this place was that they offer mini dishes for a limited time in the afternoon. The bowl was quite small, more like kids' size, but I found they were good enough to fill in the hungry stomach in between lunch and dinner. I picked this BBQ pork rice, where I got 7 pieces of decent sized BBQ pork, small amount of vegetable and white rice underneath. The BBQ pork was juicy and tasty, and it really satisfied me as I was not hungry enough to eat the full size of that dish at the time.


If you haven't been to Hong Kong, try this place and you will get the feel of what some of the typical restaurants looks like in a street setting. They also offer Yum Cha dishes, range of desserts and beverages, and as well as selling little traditional Hong Kong sweets at the front of the restaurant. We liked the idea of Mini dishes, and the staff members were generally friendly.



Address:
10 Dixon Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Phone number:
02 9426 4888


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Shancheng Hotpot King and LNC Dessert House (Chinatown)

After such a long summer, we decided to go there once again to murder ourselves. The reason why I said that was because Shancheng Hotpot King is probably the spiciest, most authentic, and tastiest hotpot place that we can ever find in Sydney. It's located in Chinatown, but it's a bit hard to spot as it's not on the street, so you have to walk inside the tunnel once you see the sign to reach its entrance.



When we got there, they were renovating with all the hammer sounds around the back. The place looked so much better than our last time there. The furniture looked new and shinny, the room was bright, and the colours seemed to glow even more.



Not to mention they replaced the paper menu with ipad menu! How awesome!! Although the only thing was that we found some bits were not translated to English, but I suppose you can always ask for help (Be aware some staffs may not be as attentive and helpful as the others especially at night time).

These were what we have ordered...some crab balls, fish fillets, noodles, and lots of beef and lamb rolls! (My favourite!!!) God I was fully staring at them when they arrived!



We ordered half pot base, purely because we might die after too much spicy tastes. Although in the end, most of our foods went into the spicy side, leaving the chicken soup base quite empty. This was $15.00 and I strongly recommend it if you want to try both flavours. You can pick the level of chilliness and peppery taste, we picked normal and it was already quite suicidal. We still haven't dare to try any higher levels yet (they have 4 levels and our one was 2nd lowest), maybe one day when we build enough courage?!



Oh look at that beauty!!! NOM NOM NOM! I'm drooling when I stare at this picture...however, we could only eat here probably once or twice a year. The reason? Because our stomachs never liked extreme chilliness, and it did create a bit of tension every time afterwards. Be prepared for an odd feeling in the stomach and burning sensation on the lips and throat if you are going to pick spicy base! (But it was all worth it!!! I think our bill was just under $60 with 2 drinks)


Address:
Shop 8a, 363 Sussex St Sydney

Phone number:
02 9267 6366

Opening time:
Mon - Sun  11.30am - Midnight


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After those extreme burning feelings, we decided to cool down with some desserts...

We arrived at this little dessert shop, and found many different desserts on the menu...


Sago coconut milk with mini balls & Ice cream  $7.50 (extra topping from 50c each)

Bun picked this one and I thought it was better than mine (>.<) We loved how the little balls swam and floated inside the bowl of coconut milk, they seemed to have fun until we gulped them down. They tasted just like jelly, or those pearls inside bubble milk teas. We loved the chewiness and enjoyed fitting many of them in the mouth at once.


Bossa Nova $8.00 (Chocolate and Vanilla gelato with fruit salad base, topped with whipped cream & chocolate sauce & poco sticks, sprinkle with choc chips)

This was what I picked, although it looked nothing like what was on the menu...I loved the Chocolate gelato and these toppings. Now I think about it, I should have eaten the fruit salad first. The reason was...after you ate the Ice cream, the fruits tasted extra sour!!!

(PS. If anyone is interested, they give you a reward card where you buy 10 desserts to receive one for free - conditions apply)


Address:
Shop 12/339 Sussex St Sydney

Phone number:
02 9283 3823

Opening time:
Sun - Thu  12 noon - Midnight
Fri - Sat  12 noon - 2am


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It's probably not the best combination to have something so spicy and followed by something icy, but we didn't really mind if it was once in a long time. Shancheng Hotpot King is something I'd definitely recommend for all the people who love extreme chilli foods, and LNC Dessert House is somewhere you wanted to go for a wide variety of desserts. On a late night in Chinatown, you just can't help it but wander around to new places, as you'll never know what kind of little surprises you may find.