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 ^^

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


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The Grounds of Alexandria

Landed in the middle of the semi-industrial Alexandria, you saw a huge Warehouse and found out it was actually one of the ultimate destinations for Cafe and bakery lovers. There was The Grounds of Alexandria, with an everlasting long queue and a large garden with grown produce and herbs.

We noticed the bicycle parking spot, but also the parking spot for dogs? I would actually really love to see a cute bull dog sitting there though...

 

This place was vibrant, full of enthusiastic customers sipping away the coffees roasted by The Ground of Alexandria. It could be a quite noisy place for some people, and we pretty much had to talk really loud in there so we could actually hear eachother.

We were sitting in front of the roasting machines, along with constant garden decorations falling into our eye sights.



The Grounds of Alexandria had some really colourful furniture, contrasting with the rusty walls and poles at the background. They even had their own sign post right beside the garden, so it made us felt like we were in some foreign land.



With the menu on a clipboard, cutlery in a tin and water in a milk bottle, we were ready to begin a very exciting Breakfast.

Watermelon, Pineapple and mint juice  $7.00

This was a very interesting drink, as we haven't seen this combination before. The juice turned out to be sourer than we thought, as the Pineapple flavour has beaten the sweetness of the Watermelon. But to our surprise, a thin stream of minty taste rushed into our throats like a snowflake in a cold winter, and then stayed for 5 seconds until it was melted.




Regular Mocha  $3.50

This Mocha was very sweet, with a thin layer of foam and less aroma than I expected. I found it less amusing than the Watermelon juice, but I loved the combination of this drink on a green plate, it was just like a beautiful plant growing happily in the garden.




Turkish Style Eggs (Soft poached eggs in a rich tomato sauce with cannellini beans, spinach, pistachios, labneh yoghurt and toast) $16.00

I picked this purely because of the sound of "beans in tomato sauce", as this was one of my favourite combinations. Also I seriously couldn't resist "poached egg" these days, I felt so much satisfaction as I watched the yolk running out after a gentle poke, and it was almost similar to the feelings of how a kid won a bunch of lollies. I loved the combination of textures with the slippery spinach, the crunchy pistachios and the soft labneh yoghurt, together they lie on the toast and formed an excellent piece of art. Every bit of it fulfilled my desire for a perfect breakfast on a lazy morning, and it had the power to give you plenty of smiles on your face.




The Grounds breakfast board (double smoked ham, avocado, fresh tomato, Persian feta, two poached eggs, house made pesto and toasted sourdough)  $19.00 (with added Bacon $4.50)

Bun decided to order something BIG, and indeed the breakfast board was big enough to fulfil his appetite. The combination of meat, pesto and feta had a pleasant taste on the sourdough, and you could always add Bacon if you felt like more meat. It was a great dish that included a bit of everything, and the portion was very reasonable.

We went to check out the garden after eating, and we found this little piggy lying there with a lazy face. Awwww it was so cute!

I loved these little random decorations around the garden, as they made the garden seemed adorable and lively.

BBQ and Donuts?

The Grounds of Alexandria have grown seasonal produce for their menu, so you could spot a range of different plants inside the garden.



I'd like to end this post with this picture above, as it reminded me of some fairytale. I was so mesmerized by the bottles hanging down from the ceiling, wondering if a strong breeze of wind would make them bump into each other and form some lovely music notes.

We'd say...we loved the food there, the bustling atmosphere and the dreamy garden that felt like a journey of Alice in Wonderland.



Address:
7A/2 Huntley Street
Alexandria NSW

Phone number:
02 9699 2225

Opening time:
Mon to Fri 7am - 4pm
Sat to Sun 7.30am - 4pm
Breakfast:
Mon to Fri 7am - 11.30am
Sat to Sun 7.30am - 11.30am
Lunch:
Mon to Fri  Noon - 3pm
Sat to Sun  Noon - 3.30pm


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