What’s in a wok?

Chinese home kitchens typically aren’t heavy with gadgetry. You will normally find a sizeable round chopping block, an all purpose meat cleaver, a fruit/paring knife and, at the centre of it all, a wok. A wok which preferably comes with a lid.

Woks can be used for essentially every type of Chinese cooking method – stir-frying, pan-frying, deep-frying, boiling, stewing, braising, steaming, smoking (the latter two are when the lid comes in handy) – hence their importance in the kitchen. As a result, the desirable features of a wok include even heating and having steep and deep sides to prevent spillage when cooking, as well as for practical spacing issues on the stove.

In a space-tight city such as Hong Kong, it is common for home kitchens to have two-burner gas stoves which sit atop a section of purposely low kitchen benchtop. The wok lives permanently on one of the burners because why would you need to put it away when you’re using it every day? And although I have a four-burner cooktop in my current kitchen, I still need to be mindful of large woks which can effectively invade the space of other burners despite it being positioned on only one of them!

My maternal grandfather had a small wok which was coveted by all family members. It heated up quickly and was relatively light, and had become blackened through being well-seasoned over many years of use which rendered it non-stick. It was narrow in diameter and had a rounded bottom which fit perfectly into the stove burners. This was inherited by an aunt of mine but sadly it had to be retired a couple of years ago.

Modern woks, such as the Anolon one pictured above, conveniently come with a non-stick coating which does away with the seasoning process and means little or no oil needs to be used when cooking. Well, unless you’re deep-frying, of course! They also tend to have a wider flat area at the bottom compared with traditional woks, which means you can still fry “flat” things (like eggs, crêpes, pancakes, etc) without everything pooling in a pit. At 30cm in diameter the Anolon wok is at the upper extremity of my ideal size, only because I have small hands and wrists and have trouble balancing anything larger, although the rubber-coated handle which is ingeniously taller than it is wide aids with its grip.

And grip is important when cooking things such as the stir-fry below, so that you can slide it out onto a plate when done rather than having to lift it out in sections and lose heat from your cooked dish.

Stir-fried bitter melon with egg (涼瓜炒蛋) (serves 2-3 as part of a meal)

Bitter melon is something I didn’t learn to appreciate until a few years spent living in Hong Kong. It was rarely available in Sydney during my childhood, although thankfully this is not the case now. Cantonese cuisine features melons/gourds from summer through to autumn, whilst the colder months are spent eating green leafy vegetables. Blanching the melon slices prior to cooking helps to temper the bitterness, and cooking it with egg adds a creamy sweetness.

Ingredients:

·         1 medium-sized bitter melon

·         2-3 eggs, lightly beaten

·         small chopped chilli, XO sauce (optional)

Method:

1.      Halve the bitter melon lengthwise and remove the seeds and soft inner pith by scraping with a teaspoon. Cut the melon into thin (3-4mm) slices.

2.      Heat a wok over medium-high heat and add the bitter melon. Pour enough freshly boiled water over to cover the melon slices. Add 1 tsp salt and stir until dissolved. Once the bitter melon slices take on a bright green colour, strain and set aside. Discard the cooking water.

3.      Return the wok to the heat and wipe dry the inside with a paper towel. Return bitter melon to the wok and stir-fry briefly with ½ tsp salt. (Chopped chilli and XO sauce, if using, can be added to the melon at this point in time.) Pour over the egg and let cook until starting to set before turning over, in sections – it does not have to be neat or kept in one piece like an omelette. Continue to flip and turn until the egg is cooked then slide onto a plate to serve.

Mademoiselle Délicieuse received an Anolon Advanced 30cm Open Stir-Fry pan for review courtesy of Kitchenware Direct as part of this post.

happy cooking!

Food bloggers’ dinner at Garfish Manly, 14 March 2011

The weather had taken a cool turn during the day and the wind was picking up. The sky was greying and I started to suspect this was some cruel conspiracy of nature, as my last visit to Garfish Manly had been met with similar weather conditions. All we needed now was some rain.

photo supplied by The Digital Marketing Agency

Luckily the rain held out and the skies stayed clear enough for us to admire the relaxing ocean views from Garfish Manly’s private dining room, where a group of Sydney food bloggers are gathered for a tasting of Garfish’s autumn menu. Glasses of ‘Geppetto’ brut help to warm us up as well as break the ice for those who don’t know each other.

Canapé-sized versions of entrée dishes are served to showcase greater variety alongside the Three Ponds semillon, a variety of wine for which I’m gaining an increased interest in recent years. Cubes of ‘Treacle cured yellowfin tuna’ are a deep maroon hue and are dusted on either side with bonito powder, negating any slippery textures when placed in the mouth. Mistress, my date for the evening, hits the nail on the head when she describes its complex flavours being akin to Chinese master stock. The ‘Atlantic salmon tartare’ contrasts the tuna with its bright shades of orange and coral. Delicate diced salmon is served on ceramic soup spoons, concealing Persian fetta which offers creaminess, with fennel confit, citrus dressing, an orange segment and salmon roe providing refreshing crunch. ‘Crisp fried zucchini flowers’, served with a sumac dipping sauce, hold centres of smoked hiramasa kingfish which are pleasantly meaty and a change from the usual soft, mousse-y fillings. I do miss the crunch of the mini-zucchini stems which are normally attached to the flowers however.

Conversation halts when our entrées of ‘Seared Hervey Bay scallops with fennel remoulade, orange reduction and bacon crumbs’ are presented and paired with ‘The Zeppelin’, a fruity Riesling from South Australia. We are told the fennel remoulade is dressed with lemon juice which seems to temper its aniseed undertones. Its crunchiness contrasts well with the plump and smooth scallops.

Wafts of shellfish aroma fill the dining room and we are completely silent as we tuck into ‘Prawn and scallop cannelloni with white beans, grilled cherry tomatoes, Avruga caviar and shellfish bisque’. The prawn and lobster bisque is fragrant and light, unlike most which are thicker and creamier, lending itself well to the steamed – not braised, nor baked – cannelloni with housemade pasta. This is also where the sourdough on our table becomes a handy tool for mopping up the beautiful bisque.

Our assiette of desserts consist of a slow-baked hazelnut pavlova which is wonderfully chewy in the centre, a smooth nougat and honey semifreddo with passionfruit coulis, and a baby version of Garfish’s signature Belgian waffles served with caramelised banana and rum & raisin ice-cream. Paired with the not-too-sticky dessert wine, Cookoothama botrytis semillon, it is a sweet end to an enjoyable evening.

Earth Hour 2011

This Saturday, apart from the New South Wales state election (don’t forget to vote!), it is also Earth Hour. As per last year, all Garfish restaurants will be participating by offering a dine-by-candlelight experience which adds a romantic touch to the underlying environmental cause.

Mademoiselle Délicieuse and Mistress dined as guests of Garfish Manly and The Digital Marketing Agency. Thank you to the lovely waitstaff and to executive chef Stewart Wallace for taking the time to introduce each of the dishes to us.

Garfish Manly

1/39 East Esplanade (cnr Wentworth St), Manly NSW

Tel: (02) 9977 0707

Opening Hours:  Mon-Sat  12pm-3pm (lunch)

  5:30pm-10pm (dinner)

                        Sun  12pm-3pm (lunch)

                                5:30pm-9pm (dinner)

happy eating!

The difficulties of running a local café

Monsieur Poisson and I have been frequenting a local café by the name of Houlihans for about 9 months now and have observed its changing tides. It’s in a high traffic area near two entranceways to a major shopping centre, close to buses and a train station, and so is in an easily accessible location. But for whatever reason, it has had to shrink its menu and make major changes to its opening times in the short-ish time following its revamp from its previous owners under the same name.

It really affirms the idea that there are many hurdles to running a small eatery, despite it being the dream of many food-lovers, and that a lot of dedication is required. Despite there being good food on a reasonably-priced menu, current owner and barista Anthony has had to give up notions of introducing a tapas and cocktail menu for evenings and, in more recent times, opening during the evenings altogether. It turns out that the time, effort and outlay of costs for staff and operating are simply disproportionate to the returns.

And this is despite serving juices and soft-drinks which are 30-50% larger than most cafés yet charging similar prices, as well as tasty fare such as the Wagyu burger below. It’s around $16 from memory and the sizeable damper roll is packed with a thick, juicy patty along with plenty of other fresh fillings and comes with a choice of shoestring fries or salad.

For the same price there’s also a grilled chicken or Moroccan lamb burger (pictured below) on offer. Served on the same damper roll, the lamb burger is less meaty than the Wagyu but is more saucy with the inclusions of babaganouj and yoghurt with again a choice of salad or fries on the side.

The food servings are generous and the place is often full of people at weekends enjoying brunch or lunch, but I’m not around to see what business is like on weekdays. Anthony’s talking of adding scones and cakes to the menu which, of course, I’m most looking forward to but whether it catches on with the local crowds is another matter.

So if there’s a small local eatery that you like, make sure you support it by eating there and telling people that you know about it! And, if you happen to be in Chatswood, drop in to say hi to Anthony – he makes a mean coffee and is the only café that serves Campos in the immediate area.

Houlihans

Shop 5, 376 Victoria Ave (entrance on Anderson St), Chatswood NSW

Tel: (02) 9415 3300

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7:30am-4pm

                        Sat  8am-4am

Sun  8am-3:30pm

happy eating!

Slow-cooked eggs and a bit of scientific fun

Eggs are amongst the first things I learnt how to cook. Boiling eggs is a good place to start – there’s no oil and no stirring, just a pot of water and an egg. Learning how to time an egg for soft/hard-boiling is another matter, and something which we try to perfect as we get more adventurous/picky with our food.

My mother recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong and presented us with an electric thermos kettle at Monsieur Poisson’s request. As the name suggests, it is an electrical device which is a hybrid of a thermos and a kettle. It boils the water for you and keeps it warm. Our poor stainless steel kettle is now wallowing in self-inadequacy in the corner of our kitchen, unsure of what to do with itself in the face of such competition. These hybrid devices have been available throughout Asia for many years where it is common practice to drink warm/hot water in any type of weather. What I didn’t know was that it can keep the water warm at a selection of temperatures. Constant temperatures! You probably know where I’m heading with this now.

So upon waking one fine Saturday morning, and with things such as eggs, ham and bread in our fridge to be used, it struck me that there is a 60°C setting on our new thermos kettle. The device manual suggests that 60°C is best for making up babies’ formula, whilst 80°C is best for green tea. There has been much discussion about the merits of cooking proteins sous-vide at lower temperatures, and especially so with eggs. And whilst I am able to boil, fry and scramble eggs without too much difficulty, poaching eggs is one of the cooking skills which remains elusive to me. There have been a number of attempts over the years, each resulting in some degree of failure.

Having tried slow-cooked eggs at places such as Koi, I was excited at replicating the smoother-than-tofu silken texture of the eggwhite enveloped around a perfectly runny yolk which bursts with a soft prod. The prospect of perhaps using the thermos kettle to poach eggs would be a convenient alternative to using a cooking thermometer (which, in any case, I do not own) and having to regularly check on the water level as well as temperature during the cooking process. Granted, the thermos kettle does not have a gauge of any sort to indicate an exact water temperature within, but I reasoned it would be good enough for my purposes. So in went four eggs for an hour – at which point is great to go and take a bath/read a book/do absolutely nothing – and then…

Success! *happy dance*

Perfect sprinkled with some salt and pepper, there is a myriad of ways you could serve the eggs apart from on toast. The possibilities to me are now mind-boggling and I bet Panasonic never intended for its thermos kettle to be used in this manner!

happy cooking!

Kashiwa Yakiniku, Japanese BBQ Restaurant

Food-blogging, or indeed photographing your food, can be a funny thing. The practicalities of finding a safe place for your camera to sit whilst enjoying your food is one matter, and looking back at your food memories fondly to relive the meal are another.

Except in this case, where we went to a Japanese-style barbeque joint. And (vegetarians, beware!) the photos are pretty much all of raw meat! In this instance you are not visiting a place for their cooking skills, although there are of course cooked items on the menu to be enjoyed, but rather the quality of the produce, the marinades and sauces used, and the service.

The pork neck (pictured above, top left) has an excellent ratio of meat to fat with the fat crisping up to a bouncy sort of crunchiness when cooked, but without any greasiness. The scallops (top right) require some seasoning but I do like how they come with the roe attached. Mushrooms (bottom left, foreground) are expensive at $3.80 for only 4 of the little guys, but the ox tongue are thinly-sliced and grill up to be crispy. The ‘Wagyu short rib’ (bottom right, foreground) is tasty from the soy marinade and tastes like beef jerky once cooked, whereas the ‘LA short rib’ is meatier in flavour being attached to small pieces of bone and mildly sweet from the use of honey. ‘Miso Chicken’ (unpictured) is sadly a little lacking in miso flavour.

Butter corn (unpictured) is well seasoned and provides some crunchy relief in amongst all our meat. As does the tofu seaweed salad which awakens the senses with a rather tart dressing! Mistress and Monsieur Poisson share the yukke which they report as being creamy and rich (and not frozen, heh), whilst I sit to one side and watch their consumption of raw meat.

Things which will impress you about this place are the fact that coals are used for the cooking process, resulting in a most smoky flavour, but there is no need to dread that clinging post-barbeque burnt stench because their downward-adjustable exhaust fans are most effective.

For me, it also proved to be a relaxed à la carte experience versus the somewhat rushed feeling of all-you-can-eat versions with time limits. And with getting older and not being able to consume as vast amounts of food (Damn you, slowly metabolism!), this is much kinder to the stomach. Make sure you make a reservation though, as it is cosy and seating is limited.

Kashiwa Japanese BBQ Restaurant

7A Falcon St, Crows Nest NSW

Tel: (02) 9906 7393

Opening Hours:  Tues-Sun  11:30am-2:30pm (lunch)

    5pm-10:00pm (dinner)

                        Mon  CLOSED

happy eating!

Epicure Recipe Cards #32 & #12: Scallop Ceviche, Sesame Butterfly Prawns

Plans to prepare a simple, light and refreshing dinner isn’t always as easy as it seems. Whilst the cooking process may be straightforward and economical time-wise, the whole background planning and procuring of ingredients can be quite the opposite. When cooking seafood, and especially in the case of the ceviche below, not only is fresh quality produce important for taste but also for hygiene.

I forewent my local fishmongers and headed to the dedicated seafood section up the back of Paddy’s Markets at Haymarket, after having had brunch with Laura near-ish by. I was in complete disbelief when I found them hosing down the floors and preparing to close when it was only 2pm on a Sunday! This led to a trek around various fishmongers around Chinatown where I was successful in my quest for non-frozen scallops (roe attached!) and prawns.

Ceviche doesn’t involve cooking as such, but merely some slicing, mixing and steeping. In hindsight I sliced some of the scallops too thinly – perhaps due to being a tad excited about using my small, sharp knife for the first time – which resulted in the thinner slices being more “cooked” by the lime juice than desired. However the overall texture was quite interesting – soft on the inside, yet soft and sealed on the outside through the acidic action of the lime juice and reminding me of something which has been poached. I didn’t use the herbs specified in the recipe only because I don’t generally use herbs in my day-to-day cooking, which would mean a sad, slowly wilting bunch or two of them giving me guilty looks every time I opened the fridge door. (I really should research and invest in growing my own herbs in a planter box on the balcony. Tips appreciated.) Taste-wise I’m sure they would’ve added a fresh and fragrant dimension.

The scallop roe, which is not used in the ceviche, was put to good use Nigella-style and pan-fried in a little butter and olive oil with garlic – absolutely heavenly squished onto warm and slightly crusty bread rolls. Although I’m pretty sure my doctor would be less than impressed by this method of not letting the scallop roe go to waste. Hmmm.

The prawns required a little more work; needing their heads removed (Off with their heads!) and to be de-veined as well as being split down the middle with – yay! – that small knife again. But after that it’s easy with just a brushing of oil and sprinkling of sesame seeds and salt before popping them under the grill to curl and brown ever so slightly.

Enjoy the last of the warm(er) weather and enjoy these dishes sitting in the long, slanted shadows of late summer evenings. Glass of chilled wine in hand, optional.

Scallop Ceviche (serves 2-3 as a starter)

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         6 large sea scallops

·         half an avocado, peeled & finely diced

·         2 tbs each of coriander and mint leaves (optional)

·         3 tbs lime juice

·         2 tsp caster sugar

·         ½ tsp flaked sea salt

·         1 tsp olive oil

Method:

1. Clean and trim the scallops, removing any roe. Slice each scallop horizontally into 3 or 4 thin slices. Arrange on a platter in a single layer.
2. Combine the lime juice, sugar, salt and oil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour this over the scallops, ensuring each slice is covered and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3. To serve, transfer scallops from steeping mixture and arrange on a plate. Lightly toss the avocado and herbs (if using) in the steeping mixture and arrange in a mound on top of the scallops.

Sesame Butterfly Prawns (serves 2-3 as a starter)

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         12 medium-sized raw prawns

·         1 tbs sesame oil

·         2 tbs white or black sesame seeds, or both

Method:

1.      Remove prawn heads, trim legs with scissors and leave the remaining shell on. Cut in half lengthwise down the underside (leg side), leaving them joined at the tail end and press to flatten a little. Arrange on a lined baking tray with the flesh side facing up.

2.      Heat an overhead grill to around 200°C. Brush prawn flesh with sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little salt.

3.      Place under the grill for approximately 3 minutes until prawns are slightly curled and lightly browned.

happy cooking!