A.Wong

A.Wong, Victoria

I can be quite opinionated when it comes to eating Chinese food outside of China. For many years I refused to eat in any high end Chinese restaurants in London, solely because I knew I would be able to stuff my face with cheap and authentic food the next time I went back to Hong Kong. I know it is a very stupid stance, and I am working on it. I have improved over the years, and although I still have a mental barrier against places like HKK and Bo London, I have finally found a middle ground for this ridiculous dilemma – ‘fancy’ dim sum.

I used to have dim sum every Sunday when I was growing up. We would order a table full of dim sum – steamed, fried, boiled, baked, until there was literally no more space on the lazy Susan and we had to start stacking the bamboo steamers on top of each other, like this. But we would always finish ALL of the food. On occasions like this in London, where the main purpose of the meal is to catch up with family and friends, and the price should be reasonable enough for us to order whatever we want, I would go to Crispy Duck in China Town or Dragon Castle in Elephant and Castle. Both cost around £15 per head including Chinese tea and service.

I only discovered ‘fancy’ dim sum - the kind available at higher end Chinese restaurants - in this country a couple of years ago. They tend to be £1 to £3 (per portion) more expensive than my usual dim sum outlets, but the final bill is rather reasonable compared to the full a la carte menu offered at dinner. My favourite dim sum place in London - Princess Garden of Mayfair - is a great example. For around £20 per head, you get a more delicate touch to the food, space between tables, and more attentive service (Mr Noodles has blogged about it here).

An interesting find recently was A.Wong in Victoria. They do regional Chinese dishes in their a la carte menu, and they also have a short dim sum menu available at lunchtime. Here, unlike the traditional format of three or four pieces of dim sum per portion, you order by individual piece. I was sceptical about it at first, but I found that the size of each dumpling is noticeably bigger than most restaurants, so that somewhat justified the price (from £1.30 each). And traditions aside, this approach works brilliantly with solo or small group of diners who want to try different items on the menu.

We ordered almost one of everything on the dim sum menu, and a few starter dishes from the a la carte. I cannot praise the steamed dumplings highly enough – fresh prawns mixed with pork fat were generously stuffed into the siu mai and topped with a piece of pork crackling. The translucent har gau was lightly covered with subtle citrus foam which was just enough to make my tongue tingle. And the xiao long bao with truffle and Yunnan mushroom was cleverly topped with black vinegar soaked tapioca.

The real triumph was the beancurd cheung fun, filled with crab meat with a layer of crispy bean curd sheet between the filling and the rice skin. The texture was excellent and was further enhanced by the clam and crunchy deep fried garlic toppings. That was a steal for £3.50. The crispy baked char siu bao was a replica of the Michelin starred version found at Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong. Both are filled with a hearty portion of roast pork, but I prefer A.Wong’s version as it was less sweet.

Not all dishes worked quite so well, though. I found the combination of deep fried quail egg and spring onion and ginger dip unusual. It was not unpleasant, but the ingredients did not seem to complement each other either. The 63 degree egg was perfectly gooey in the middle, however the supposed tea smoked flavour did not come through.

The bill came to £30 each on our first visit including tea, service and way too much food. We were more sensible (15 dim sum items and a plate of fried beef noodles between two) on our second visit, which brought the price down to £22. With the friendly front of house and quality of the ingredients, I thought that was very reasonable.

A.Wong is no traditional Chinese restaurant, but I would not classify it as fusion Chinese either. Although certain modern western cooking techniques were used, it is more like a development of Chinese cuisine itself, and I think it is quite a fascinating one.

A.Wong

Century Egg And Pork Congee

My parents moved to Tuen Mun for a while when I was small. It is a town near the sea in the North West of Hong Kong. I have quite a few childhood memories from there, as it was the place where I first went to school, learnt how to ride a bike and owned my first pair of roller skates. Like many other Asian parents, my mum would arrange extensive activities for me to attend after school - singing, ballet, swimming, pretty much everything I am not good at now. Sorry mum!

There was a congee breakfast place that my dad used to take me to almost every day before school.  I would always share a bowl of century egg and pork congee, and a plate of deep fried dough with him. The owner’s wife recognised us as regulars so she would always give us a bit more century egg in our portion. Sometimes we would also have a small plate of soy sauce fried noodles with beansprouts instead of the fried dough, but only if I was very good. 

This is a cheat congee recipe as I used frozen cooked rice to speed up the cooking. The proper way (according to me) of cooking congee, is to marinate washed rice grains with sesame oil and salt the night before, and then boil in water or stock for at least 1.5 hours until the desired consistency is achieved. I like mine thick and heavy.

I used pork shoulder in this recipe because I like to have a bit of fat in my meat. Traditionally we use lean pork (瘦肉), like loin, which is poached until tender and then shredded to mix into the congee.

Century egg and pork congee

Serves 2

2 Century eggs

250g Pork shoulder

300g Cooked rice (frozen)

1.2l Water

Thumb sized piece of ginger, cut into short and thin strips 

1 Stalk spring onion, roughly chopped

For the pork marinade:

1 tbsp Soy sauce (this will make the congee looks a bit brown, you can use 1tsp salt instead)

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 tsp Cornflour

0.5 tsp Sugar

Pinch of white pepper

Cut the pork into small slices and then mix with the marinade, set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Put the rice and water into a medium saucepan, bring to the boil. Keep boiling at a medium high heat for around 10 minutes. Do not leave the pan unattended as it may overflow. Add the pork and a couple of ginger pieces to the pan, and then turn the heat down to medium low. Put the lid on but leave a small gap between the lid and the pan by using a wooden spoon or chopstick. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into small pieces. Add half of the century egg pieces to the congee. Simmer for further 15 to 30 minutes, depending on what consistency you are after. The longer you leave it, the thicker the congee will become.

Use a ladle to serve the congee in a large bowl, and then put the rest of the egg and the spring onion on top to finish.

Tofu With Century Egg

凉拌菜 - literally means cold-mix dish, and they are very popular in the summer. They are normally appetisers consisting of blanched vegetables or cooked meat, which are mixed together with nuts and herbs, to be served at room temperature. Both jellyfish with sesame oil and "bang bang chicken" are types of 凉拌菜.

Soft tofu is perfect for making these cold starters. It can taste great by just adding ingredients as simple as chopped preserved vegetables, spring onion, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce and sesame oil. I am using century egg as the main topping in this recipe, and adding extra crunch with some celery. Soft tofu generally does not require cooking, but I would always blanch it whole in hot water for a few minutes before using it. You can also steam it.

Tofu with century egg

Serves 2

1 Century egg

300g Silky soft tofu

1 stalk of celery, cut into short and thin strips

A couple of Celery leaves

1 stalk of Spring onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds

2 tbsp Soy sauce

1 tbsp Sesame oil

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into 8 segments. Place tofu on a serving plate. Carefully arrange 6 segments of the egg on top of the tofu. Chop the rest of the egg into small pieces.

Place the celery on top, followed by the chopped century eggs and sesame seeds. Add soy sauce and sesame oil, and then sprinkle the spring onion and celery leaves to decorate. Heat vegetable oil over a high heat, and then add a splash to finish.

Spicy version: Add 1 tsp ground toasted Sichuan peppercorns and 1 chopped red chilli on top of the century egg. Add 1 tsp of chilli oil together with the soy sauce and sesame oil for extra heat.

Steamed Eggs With Century Egg

Steamed egg (蒸水蛋) is one of my favourite comfort foods. It only takes little time to prepare, yet is so satisfying. To me, the perfect wobbly steamed egg has an egg to water ratio of 1:1.5. The easiest way to measure this is to use the egg shells so you do not have to use scales. I use warm water in the recipe, as this is the way I was originally taught, and the result is always better (more smooth) than using water at room temperature. Boil a kettle full of water and then leave it to cool. Put your finger in the water, if it is warm but not painful then it is good to use.

Steamed eggs with century egg

Serves 2

4 Medium eggs

1 Century egg

12 Half egg shells of warm water

Pinch of salt

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 stalk Spring onion, roughly chopped

2 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into 8 segments. Arrange the slices evenly in a steam proof dish (at least 3cm deep).

Beat the eggs in a bowl until the white and yolks are fully combined. Add warm water and mix well. Add sesame oil and a pinch of salt, give it a stir. Pass the egg mixture through a fine sieve to get rid of any bubbles, and then pour it onto the century egg slices. Cover with cling film.

Place the dish on a rack over a wok of boiling water. Put the lid on and then turn the heat down to medium-low. Steam for 15 minutes. If the centre is still runny, steam for further 3 to 4 minutes.

Add soy sauce to the steamed egg and then sprinkle some spring onion on top. Heat vegetable oil over a high heat, and then add a splash of the hot oil to finish.

Variations: add salted egg (金銀蛋) , or replace century egg with soaked dried scallops (瑤柱), or just simply plain steamed egg. Best served with rice.

Century Egg 皮蛋

I have been asked so many times over the years by my non-Chinese friends, ‘Why do Chinese people eat century eggs?’. Looking at one, the shell looks just like a normal duck egg, but after removing the shell, a black jellified oval ball emerges. If I had never seen one before, I would be horrified too. I was introduced to it when I was little, probably around three, and I was not quite intelligent enough to know that a black egg is actually quite ‘unusual’. My dad used to take me to a local congee breakfast place almost every day before school. There was no better breakfast in the whole world than a bowl of pork and century egg congee(皮蛋瘦肉粥), and a plate of deep fried dough(油炸鬼).

While the gelatinous egg ‘white’ of a century egg does not taste of much, its creamy yolk carries quite a distinct metallic flavour. The classic way of serving it is cut in half, topped with pickled ginger slices as a cold appetiser. I am going to share some of my favourite century egg recipes with you in the next few posts. You are going to try them, yes?

Happy April!

First of all I have a new blog header! Yes I have finally ditched my burger and chips photo, which was taken at the Spotted Pig in NYC a few years ago. This new header was designed by the super talented ShuHan – the creative brain behind the beautiful blog MummyICanCook. I adore the simplicity of her style so I asked her to design a new blog header for me as a favour (and also because I won’t be able to afford her when she becomes famous!). She drew a few samples for me and I chose the one with a pair of red lips about to eat a dumpling, which sort of fits in with my blog title, don’t you think?

Another piece of good news is my Hong Kong style cocktail buns gained a few seconds of air time during Paul Hollywood’s Bread show on BBC2 last Monday. My local baking group BandOfBakers was contacted by the production team to take part in the ‘Enriched bread’ episode. A few members including me had to bake some bread to take with us, so I made cocktail buns. It was quite hilarious to see them on TV, but at the same time I could feel a sense of achievement emerging. I felt like I had done something for Hong Kong. If there was a cocktail bun ambassador, it would be me.

I saved the biggest news till last - I have been shortlisted for this year’s Pink Lady Food Photography Award! With over 5000 entries, I am one of the seven finalists in the ‘Food For Sale’ category. How great is that? I could not believe it when I read the email, and only when I stood in front of the print at the Mall Galleries in London, I started to realise that it was real. Even though I did not win a prize, seeing my name on the wall, and gaining recognition for something I love to do, was an immense feeling. All the winners and finalists’ photos are exhibited at the Mall Galleries, London from 24th April to 28th April 2013.

And it is sunny in London! Happy all round :)

WeFeast

Tobacco Dock, London

The Long Table was the first night market I visited in London. I would never have thought people in London would queue up in the cold, on a rainy day, to go to an uncovered venue for food. Not everyone loved the idea but there was certainly enough demand to start the ‘night food market trend’. And a few other bigger food markets such as TheStockMKT and WeFeast have proven to be highly successful since then.

A few weeks ago I went to WeFeast at Tobacco Dock – a converted warehouse in Wapping. The venue was 80% covered, and set up with several communal tables. More than 20 street food vendors had participated in this event. They were evenly spread out on the ground and first floors, leaving plenty of room for the guests to explore, and more importantly to form queues. At first I found the entry fee a bit pricey (starting at £8 + booking fee), but in return we got a line-up of some of London’s best street vendors and restaurants. Together with the entertainment and the very helpful on-site staff, the price seemed reasonable.

So, as the name of the event stated, it was a feast so we ate a lot. Besides my favourites - Elliot’s Café, Bone Daddies, The Bowler and Pizza Pilgrims - I also had my first tastes of Patty and Bun, Meringue Girls, The Last Days of Pisco and Hix Fish Dog. Among those, the sea bass ceviche by The Last Days of Pisco and the ginger and rhubarb Eton mess by the Meringue Girls were the real highpoints of the night. I even convinced Pizza Pilgrims to make me a custom oyster pizza. I know it sounds disgusting but with the addition of nduja it tasted SO GOOD.

Full set of photos here. Keep your eyes peeled for the next Feast!

WeFeast

From Kowloon To Kolkata

Darjeeling Express

A couple of weeks ago I was very lucky to be invited to a supper club that I had been longing to go. I first met Asma - the chef behind Darjeeling Express, at the press night of the Sunday Feast event in summer 2012. I remember we were all busy preparing canapés in the kitchen at the School Of Wok, and how I managed to snatch a portion of her delicious prawn curry before it was served to the guests. So when I found out that she and Wen - one of the founders of the Edible Experiences website as well as an excellent cook from a Hakka background - were joining forces to cook up an Indian-Chinese feast, I just could not say no.

The menu of the night was based around the China Town ‘Tangra’ in Kolkata, India. The Hakka community moved there over a century ago, where the Chinese food served in the cafes and restaurants has been slowly adapted to the local’s palette to become an unique Indian-Chinese cuisine.

We started the meal with ‘Thunder Tea Rice’ - garlic rice topped with pickled vegetables, tofu, nuts and a savoury herby tea dressing. The rice was served at room temperature and was relatively light and refreshing. I mentioned to Wen that I wished I could have something like that for lunch at work, and coincidentally she said that the dish is actually widely popular among office workers in Singapore. We had Asma's lemon chicken next. Thankfully it was nothing like the dish you find at Chinese buffet restaurants. It was a plate of beautifully charred chicken pieces, soaked in lemon juice before serving. Think gently spiced chicken kebab with a dash of lemon juice.

Wen's mushroom fritters were all freshly fried, a fiddly job to do in a domestic kitchen, especially for 24 diners! I loved the idea of sprinkling ground Sichuan peppercorn and salt on top of them. The smell of the toasted Sichuan peppercorns and the fried wild mushrooms was incredible. We also had some prawn spring rolls, followed by green chilli beef and Hakka noodles.

The real highlight of the evening for me was the fried cauliflower with a sticky red chilli sauce. Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables, I normally like it roasted with cumin, or fried with minced pork and chilli oil. I saw Asma preparing it earlier in the evening, shallow frying the cauliflower until golden. The sauce was added afterwards. There was just about the right amount of chilli in the sauce so it was not too spicy. I cannot wait to try recreating this dish at home!

Even though we were now all stuffed, Wen brought out the last main course - Hakka basin feast. Yes it was a dish with the word 'feast' in the name. We have a very similar dish in my hometown of Yuen Long in Hong Kong. It is traditionally served during celebrations where normally no less 10 ingredients are used. Meat, seafood and vegetables are cooked separately and then layered on top of each other in a huge container (as big as a basin, therefore the name) and then simmered until serving.

I have a weak spot for glutinous rice desserts, and Wen's Muah Chee with black sesame seeds was full of wonderful chewiness. We ended the meal with a plate of colourful spiced fruits prepared by Asma.

The evening was relaxed and fun. I had dishes that I had not even heard of before, as well as some familiar ones that tasted completely different from what I expected (in a very good way). I am not sure when Asma and Wen are going to do this again but I only had one thought when I walked out of Asma's beautiful home - I will be back for a full-on Indian night. And you should be too.

Announcement: I am thrilled to announce that Asma and I are going to do a collaboration in May. Our night will feature both Indian and Chinese dishes - each section of the menu featuring two related dishes, but cooked in completely different ways. Find out more on the Edible Experiences website if you are interested!

Greenberry Café

Greenberry Café, Primrose Hill

A few days ago I suddenly realised that I had not written a restaurant post since September last year. I thought about writing about ramen but there are quite a few out there (see here and here), so I am going to leave it short and sweet - I LOVE BONE DADDIES. That is all.

But today I would like to share with you a very enjoyable meal that I had earlier this year at the Greenberry Café, Primrose Hill. I first met the head chef PC a couple of years ago at The Long Table. At that time he was about to embark on a culinary trip around the world. His impressive experience at some of the best restaurants in London (e.g. Chez Bruce, Cinnamon Club and Claridge's) had given me much anticipation for his return so I could try his food. Coincidentally I also know Hannah - a Leith’s trained chef who also works at the café - at a Jewish supper club she used to run at her home in Islington last year. She is renowned for her love of cakes, and she is very good at making them. Her strawberry cheesecake was so good that my husband ate three slices at her supper club.

I went to the Greenberry Café with my girlfriends for a late Sunday lunch. The café was very easy to find, but somehow one of us managed to get lost and only got there an hour after our booking time! It was a very busy Sunday afternoon, thankfully the staff were very understanding and we were given the menu and some Japanese pickles while we waited. The menu could be a little overwhelming at first – there were bar snacks, breakfast, "traiteur", a la carte and desserts, all on one page. But each section was well thought out to cater for guests visiting at different times of the day. We were encouraged to mix and match, from classic British bites to interesting international dishes like ceviche, miso aubergines and soba noodles, which I was pleasantly surprised to see on the menu.

We started the meal with some light dishes and cold meat plates. Among the starters we were most impressed by the house cured spice beef. It came in relatively thick slices with a few gherkins on the side. The beef itself was dark and rich, the slight chewiness gave each mouthful an extra meaty sensation.

Top: Endive, Roquefort and pecan salad. Middle: Terruel Lomo D.O.P. Bottom: Spice cured beef.

Because we were extremely hungry when we ordered the mains, we all opted for the heavy dishes on the menu (we even did a ‘go-large’ on the miso aubergines!). I ordered the roast cod, and adored it. The flesh was cooked just right with a lovely silky texture, which together with the gentle sour note from the tamarind puree made for a highly addictive dish, and I just wanted more. Another highlight of the meal was the pulled pork bun. The pork was heavily seasoned but not overly salty. Eating the bun was a messy job but it worked in my favour as I could just nibble the flakes off my friend’s plate when she was not looking.

Top: Miso glazed aubergines and smoked aubergine relish. Second: Pulled pork bun. Third: Salt beef sandwich. Bottom: Roast cod, quinoa and tamarind puree.

We were all full up by the time we finished the mains, but it would be foolish to miss Hannah’s desserts. So we ordered the two most tempting desserts to share between six of us – an apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream and a St. Emilion au chocolat. And yes we chose well. SO WELL. The pastry of the tatin was beautifully brown and crispy. It was a hearty portion but soon demolished out of greed. The St. Emilion au chocolat is a no-bake chocolate cake, think heavenly rich dark chocolate mixed with crunchy marcaroon.

It was a busy Sunday so the service was a little slow at times, but nonetheless the staff were cheerful and accommodating. Considering the amount of food we ate, the bill of £25 per person including service seemed very reasonable to me. It is the kind of place I feel I could drop in any time of day just for a cup of coffee or a pastry, a light lunch, or for a mid-week night out. I just wish it was closer to home!

Greenberry Café