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!