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 ^^

Harajuku Gyoza

Hope everyone had a fantastic New Year's Eve! It is 2014 now, can you believe it???

On this particular night (still in 2013 ><), me and Bun walked pass this restaurant called "Harajuku Gyoza" at Potts Point. What comes into your mind when you thought of "Harajuku" (a place in Tokyo)? The first thing come up to my mind is fun, a place that's full of creativity and vibrant culture, and somewhere with loads of unique surprises. So when we saw this huge Kawaii ("cute" in Japanese) dumpling character on its exterior wall, we thought it would be cool to check it out!

The restaurant is actually in "Izakaya" style (a casual Japanese place for after-work drinking, usually attended by businessmen), with a bunch of bar chairs surrounding the centre (cooking area) and a few tables scattered around the room. The whole restaurant was mainly decorated in black and red colours, giving that modern and mysterious feeling. The staffs were very friendly and attentive (notice the kitchen staff doing the "peace sign" in the last picture? LOL), and the food actually came pretty quick.

We found those photos printed on the plates :)

Here are the sauces of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil. I prefer to use these separately although you should combine all 3 together to get the best flavour.

Pork Belly Kakuni $13.00

This is one of their popular dishes, and it came in 4 chunky pieces on the plate. Our first impression of this dish was...SO JUICY! It was absolutely fulfilling. We loved how the fat took up half or more of the proportion, yet the whole bite didn't feel too oily at all. It was a really good dish to accompany a bottle of beer too!

Pork Gyoza (poached) 5pcs $8.00

Since we were getting the Lobster Tail Gyoza as grilled, we decided to pick a poached set of Gyoza. This little dish of Pork Gyoza certainly allowed us to enjoy and appreciate the ultimate combination of the sauces. Personally, my favourite is still the chilli oil ^^

Lobster Tail Gyoza $12.00

The name attracted our attention, as we were curious of what it would taste like. We found the lobster tail was a little bit light in terms of flavours, although it was nice and chewy. To us, we probably still preferred Gyoza with whole loads of meat + vegetable inside, so we actually liked the pork Gyoza more than this one.


This will be a pretty cool place to hang out after work for drinks, or for those who don't have too much time and just wants to fill the stomach in a rapid speed. I loved how they can incorporate such a cute dumpling character to be the logo of the restaurant and how creative their Gyozas were. For a personal comment: I think the grilled Gyoza always tasted more interesting than the poached version!


PS: For our next post, I will write about my first home-made Gyoza with recipe (Yes, thanks to the inspirations from Harajuku Gyoza!!!) ^^


Address:
9-15 Bayswater Road, Potts Point NSW 2011

Phone number:
02 9356 3834

Opening time:
7 days - midday to late for lunch and dinner


View Larger Map

Zilver Yum Cha (Groupon Deal)

On last weekend, we decided to go Yum Cha. So before we head out, we spotted this $35.00 voucher on Groupon. It's a 10 course meal for two at Zilver, so we figured it was a pretty awesome deal!

Zilver was awarded the "Best Yum Cha" in 2012 "I Love Food Awards" and featured in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. We thought this would be a good chance to finally visit this hidden gem in Haymarket, and we were amazed to see the incredible amount of people even at 1.30pm.

WOOOHOOO! VIP Seats?!!?! LOL



Here's a full-shot of our food for the day, I just totally enjoyed the outstanding colours when they were combined together.



Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce (1)

This was the first dish and it was served to be shared between two people. These vegetables always gave me nostalgia as I use to eat them when I was still a kid. I love the oily leaves and the crunchy stems, as they had a taste that reminded me of family.



Prawn dumpling (1) (top) and Chives dumpling (1) (bottom)

How could you say you've had Yum Cha without having one of those classic prawn dumplings? They were no doubt one of my favourites! I loved how this filling was completely satisfying, with that bite sunk right into the juicy and transparent prawn. As with the Chives dumpling, I wasn't really a fan of Chives...but I actually quite liked this one! Maybe because the clear skin just went so well with the filling, in which made me enjoy it just like all others.

MUHAHAHA! Close-up shots!



BBQ pork bun (1) (top) and Signature custard fondant (1) (bottom)

I was telling Bun how much I loved this photo above, the yellow colours just contrasted so well with the white buns! I can't believe how fresh both of those tasted, it was simply amazing. The custard inside that soft yellowish coat was absolutely stunning, and it was sweet and mushy just as it should be. I also loved the moment when I split that pork bun and watched the steams squeezing out, the filling was very flavoursome.

Staring at these pictures made me wanting to have them all over again!! ><



Crispy prawn pie (1) (right) and Chicken spring roll (2) (left)

We get 1 extra spring roll per person (YAY!) and this was the plate that was full of fried goodies! Mmmm, we couldn't wait to land our fingers on them...The spring roll was more crispy than we thought and the filling was just to the right amount. However, I still loved the crispy prawn pie more, just because it's prawn :P but also the skin was fried differently with a louder crunching sound.

Nom Nom Nom....!!



Chicken dim sim (1)

It's Dim Sim time! This was probably my least favourite dish if I had to compare it, not because it doesn't taste good, but just not as special as the others. Also I think by the time I reached this dish, it was getting a bit cold already...


Note: Actually there was another dish of Coconut Jelly, unfortunately my brain and stomach must've died by then and forgot to take an individual picture of that...-__-"(top left corner of the picture with all the dishes) Although I can tell you that the coconut flavour was strong, just the way we loved.



Stir fried noodle with soya sauce (1)

Our last dish of fried noodles came not long after we finished everything, although we were pretty much dead already by that stage. So unfortunately, we were only able to finish half of this plate, but the taste was pretty good! The portion was certainly enough to share between two people! Just that I found the noodles gone a little soggy...


We were so pleased with this Yum Cha meal, and it was great to see that Groupon often have these sorts of deals. Hopefully we could find some more similar deals in the future! It was certainly worth it!


Address:
Level 1/477 Pitt Street, Haymarket NSW

Phone number:
02 9211 2232

Opening time:
Mon - Sun 11am - 3pm


View Larger Map

Din Tai Fung (World square - CBD)

If you love steam buns, you should visit Din Tai Fung. It’s a steam bun paradise, where they are made with perfect measurements and unforgettable tastes.

How many of you went inside on your first visit and started staring at those decorations on the wall? I know I did. You simply can’t ignore the steamers, in various sizes, facing the customer tables to form a unique pattern. As well as the multiple number of spoons stuck onto the wall and almost seemed like tadpoles swimming in the pond.

Hot and sour soup (small) $5.80 (regular) $9.80

We chose the small bowl of hot and sour soup to start the meal, it immediately aroused our appetite with its thickness and blast of flavour. One spoonful after another, the small bowl of soup was gone after 5 minutes. 

 Shanghai style drunken chicken $10.80

Now if you are a fan of the typical Chinese cold dishes as appetizers, you might enjoy the drunken chicken. But for me...I never understood the art inside the liquor-flavoured chicken, so my first bite was full of bitterness that froze onto my tongue.

Fried calamari with dipping sauce $9.80

Oh the fried calamari, how unusual to select this on the table inside Din Tai Fung? But it turned out quite tasty. The golden crust combined flawlessly with the sauce, and the calamari was very easy to chew and swallow.

Shrimp and pork Wonton with Tangy sauce and Dry noodle $13.80

At first we thought this was going to be chilli by the scent, but it ended up not as chilli as we thought and you can probably survive even after drinking the whole bowl of soup. What I discovered was a strong taste of Chinese prickly ash or something similar, it gradually burns onto your taste bud.

Steam Pork dumpling (6pcs/8pcs) $10.80/$12.80 – made to order

Finally, the legendary steam buns have arrived. We felt like the wait took a century, but good things always come last right? You have to becareful with the way you use your chopsticks on this one, the weight of the broth inside the buns cause it to wobble as you pick them up. When it lands safely onto your spoon, get ready for the ultimate pleasure. You can bite a small hole and drink up all the broth, and then gulp the whole bun when the broth is almost drained.

One thing we always notice are the waiters, they can carry so many layers of steamers in one go. You just want to hold your breath as they walk pass by you with the top layer sliding off the edge by 1cm!

The other thing about Din Tai Fung is that you can see the actions for making steam buns, every staff seems so dedicated to their work. Suddenly it makes you feel special, knowing the fact each of these buns are made thoroughly just for you.

In the end you may find Din Tai Fung is a little bit expensive comparing to other similar places, but I would still recommend you going there at least once, and just for the steam buns!



Address: Level 1, Shop 11.04
644 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone number: (02) 9264 6010

Opening hours:
Lunch
Mon-Fri 11.30am - 2.30pm
Sat-Sun 11am - 3pm

Dinner
Mon-Wed 5.30pm - 9pm
Thu-Sat 5pm - 9.30pm
Sun 5pm - 9pm

View Larger Map