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!

FeedTheTang In Twenty Twelve

A slightly late round up of 2012. My personal highlight of 2012 was definitely the launch of my supper club - FedByTang. I had lots of questions when I started seven months ago. I was worried that the location would be a problem, what if no one wanted to come? More importantly, what if no one liked my food? Hmm... Did I say I am a worrier? Well there was only one way to find out, so I just went for it. It was a pretty nerve racking moment when I read the first review, so it was such a relief to find that it was positive! I have also met many lovely people via my supper club, and it has given me the opportunity to do things I never would have done otherwise. I am not going to bore you with details, but I will mention a couple below.

Back in February, I took a one day course making petit fours at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. It was quite an intensive course as we had to make macaroons, chocolate mousse, pistachio and almond financiers, chocolate and raspberry cakes, and creme brulee all in one day (from 8:30am to around 4pm). The chef was very knowledgeable and we were encouraged to do everything ourselves. I was quite pleased with my raspberry macaroons, although I have only successfully made them once since...

Le Cordon Bleu Paris
One day petite fours course 160 euros (2012)

We took an extra couple of days to stay behind. One of the most memorable meals I had this year was at a tiny bistro called Le Timbre. I rarely go for the same kind of meat twice but I could not resist the sound of crispy pig’s feet with red cabbage and black pig with winter vegetables. The meal costed around 25 euros each for three courses, which was very reasonable for Paris. Booking is a must.

Le Timbre

In April I took a food photography course ran by the well regarded food photographer Paul Winch-Furness. We shot around the Maltby Street Market and then had lunch at Bea’s Diner. Here are a couple of my favourite shots:

More photos here, Paul’s PhotoPopup course

We spent 4 days in Lisbon for a friend’s wedding at the end of April. I loved the trams, the hills and of course the Pasteis de Nata (Portugese custard tarts).

At the beginning of the summer I went to the Bea’s crawfish boil at Maltby Street Market. We swallowed 10 trays of crawfish, potatoes, sausages and sweet corn (+ lots of margaritas) that night. I hope they will do it again next summer as it was so much fun.

More photos here, Bea’s diner

Just before the Olympics kicked off, we went to Barcelona to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. I remember sitting in the hotel room trying very hard to understand the inside jokes of the opening ceremony. Then suddenly the Queen jumped out of the helicopter, and nothing seemed to matter anymore.

In August I was invited to be one of the guest chefs at the Global Feast - a 20 night dinner party held at the Stratford Old Town Hall, featuring dishes from all over the world. For the Chinese night, I made soy sauce infused soft boiled eggs, crispy roast pork and a tofu and shallot canapes. Main was Sichuan peppercorn duck breast with stir fried Chinese broccoli and black fungus. It was not easy to cook for so many people but the hard work had paid off as I got a mention in Hot-Dinners!

My little brother left London for good early in September, to return to Hong Kong. We used to go to our favourite lunch spot, City Caphe, once a week. Sometimes we would eat in, sometimes we would just chat while waiting in the queue. Oh how I have missed those days.

But not long after he moved back I went back to Hong Kong myself for a three week holiday. We also went on a short family trip to Seoul during my visit. Seoul is not really an established food destination compared to other Asian cities such as Tokyo, Taipei or Hong Kong, but it’s an interesting city to visit nonetheless thanks to the abundance of K-pop, kimchi, soju and cosmetics shops.

One of the happiest moments came later in the year. I paired up with the Plusixfive supper club to hold a Singaporean/Hong Kong night at the School of Wok in Covent Garden. We had fun cooking, singing, and dancing in the kitchen. Our guests were well fed and we both felt that we had achieved something incredible that evening. One of my favourite reviews of the event is written by @Ailbhetweets. Loved the illustration of my steamed sea bass dish.

A few memorable meals I had in London this year, thanks to:
The Corner Room (remains my all time favourite)
Upstairs At Ten Bells
Dabbous
Sushi Tetsu
Kitchen Table At Bubbledogs
Ben Spalding At John Salt

Pretty good year huh? May there be more happy food adventures in 2013! Happy new year!

FedByTang

FeedTheTang was born eleven months ago. I shamelessly joined the food blogger world and never looked back. I know I have not been doing a very good job of keeping my blog up to date during the last couple of months, but I was not just sitting around doing nothing! Actually I have been busy planning and testing recipes for my next adventure *drum roll* – FedByTang, my very own Chinese supperclub \o/

If you do not know what a supperclub is, read this.

I remember booking my very first visit to a supperclub at City Caphe via the Edible Experiences website - which I came across by following Wen, the co-founder of Edible Experiences on Twitter. The night was casual and fun. I got to meet other food lovers, and sample dishes that were specially created for the event. Since then I have become a regular on the Edible Experiences website, searching for the latest popup and supperclub events in and around London.

The idea of setting up my own supperclub came after I attended London Foodie’s Japanese home cooking night. He served up traditional Japanese dishes, many of which simply cannot be found in an ordinary Japanese restaurant. That got me thinking, most people are only really familiar with the staples of Chinese food, such as roast meat and dim sum. Possibly more adventurous diners may have tried Sichuan, or other regional cuisine. But what about the type of food that I grew up eating in Hong Kong, such as dai-pai-dong’s (open air restaurant) stir fried dishes or the wonderful seafood that we eat when we are celebrating?

So here we go, FedByTang is going live on 7th July. My menu features fresh and tasty traditional Chinese home cooking, with a few unique creations thrown in along the way. Here is a sample menu:

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Chinese soup and nibbles
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Soy sauce fried prawns with chilli, ginger and spring onion
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Triple cooked mui-choi pork belly
Mouth-watering chicken
Stir-fried vegetables
Pan fried sea bream with Chinese chives
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Dessert and Chinese tea
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Interested? Click here to find out more! I will post updates and information of any upcoming events on the FedByTang Facebook page.

If you are thinking of setting up a supperclub, I suggest you read ‘OK so you wanna set up a supperclub’ by the host of the well-established Singaporean supperclub PluSixFive. More importantly, get in touch with Edible Experiences. There are already more than 800 food and drink experiences listed on the site, including a wide range of activities like cooking classes and guided food walks.

As with my blog, I am not sure where this supperclub will lead me. I just know I am dead excited and cannot wait to feed you all :)

Japanese Home Cooking Supper Club

The London Foodie Supper Club

Towards the end of my second year in university, I applied for a year-long work placement in Japan. For the interview, I had to do a presentation to a group of serious-looking, straight faced Japanese guys. Needless to say I was extremely nervous, so I thought my chances were doomed. It was not until I got my ‘special activities’ visa from the Japanese embassy, that I realized I was actually leaving London for Japan.

Living in Japan was totally brilliant - I got to try broccoli ice cream in Okinawa, see the amazing ice sculptures in the Sapporo snow festival, and visit the Ninja museum in Iga (East of Nara) - but this all came at a price. I had a limited monthly allowance, so I only allowed myself to go out for a meal once every two weeks, and occasionally travelled to Tokyo to queue up at the popular ramen restaurants (regional ramen restaurant rankings are published weekly in Japan). During the week I would wait for the daily supermarket sale, usually after eight o’clock in the evening, to get the discounted fish and meat to make donburi for dinner.

I used to live here and my flat was tiny!

I was very lucky to make some good friends at the company I worked for. They taught me how to speak Japanese, and invited me to meet their families. It was such an amazing experience to sit round a table with a Japanese family, and have a home cooked meal together. We had different parties - temaki (hand roll sushi), sukiyaki (thin sliced beef cooked in mirin and soy sauce), yakiniku (barbeque meat), nabe (hot pot) and many more. Since my parents were far away (and I could not afford many luxury meals myself!), I always treasured the ‘family time’ in Japan.

That was why The London Foodie’s (Luiz) latest supper club ‘Japanese Home Cooking’ really caught my eyes.

We arrived at Luiz’s beautiful home in Islington around half an hour before the official start, and there were already a few people mingling in the lounge. It was the first ever supper club I had been to that was hosted in somebody’s home, so I was a bit anxious about breaking things or spilling drinks on the carpet. Luckily my silly self consciousness was soon offset by trays of mouth-watering maki.

After the drinks, we were led to the dining room where several nabe were setup on the tables. The ingredients - clams, pork belly, daikon, prawns and vegetables - were perfectly arranged in the pot. Luiz chose nabe to kick start the meal, because it is a dish for sharing so would help to break the ice. What a thoughtful idea.

Udon noodles were added to the broth after the food in the pot was cleared. The broth contained all the flavours from the meat and seafood, so it became lusciously rich and sweet.

We had some salmon sashimi while waiting for the nabe to cook. It was prepared in the ‘South American Way’, served with avocado, crème fraîche and a yuzu dressing.

There was a small break after the nabe, so we took a sneak peek at the kitchen.

Back at the table, arrays of main courses had arrived. The fillet of beef used in the tataki was of a high quality, it remained very moist even though it was served at room temperature. The creamy sesame was light so it did not overpower the beef, a perfect dish after a relatively heavy nabe.

You can find nasu dengaku in most of the Japanese restaurants in London. Unfortunately I have found most of them rather dry, with the ‘miso’ poured over the cooked aubergine like a sauce. It was a very clever move from Luiz to use baby aubergines, they are easier to cook through, and I could taste the white miso throughout instead of just on the surface.

We also had stir fried green beans with Japanese fish cake, takikomi gohan and tamagoyaki. The spicy sauce which came with the beans gave the dish a lovely kick, I could just eat that with a bowl of rice all day long.

Takikomi gohan is a rice dish cooked with sake, soy sauce, carrot, mushroom and chicken. Each ingredient was carefully seasoned to create a beautiful balance.

The main courses ended with grilled layers of sweetened egg, which required a huge amount of skill (and patience!) to master.

The dessert was a madeleine with a trio of homemade ice creams - green tea, black sesame and red bean.

During dinner, a guest at our table asked ‘So is this what Japanese people have for dinner at home?’. I answered ‘Yes!’ without any hesitation, as Luiz’s food had brought back the memories of all those heart warming meals I had in Japan. Not only had he showcased his culinary skills in the supper club, he had also reminded us that Japanese cuisine is a lot more than sushi, tempura and gyoza.

The London Foodie Supper Club

City Caphe Supper Club

City Caphe, Bank

City Caphe is my new favourite lunch spot in the City. It is a nice little Vietnamese cafe located right in the heart of the City on Ironmonger Lane, run by a lovely lady called Julie Vu. The cafe menu ranges from the ever popular noodle soup Pho and Bue Hue, healthy vermicelli salad Bun, the hearty Vietnamese baguette Banh Mi, and the colourful rolls Cuon. If you have been following my tweets, you would know my favourite is the Bun Bo Hue - spicy beef noodle soup. Totally worth the twenty minutes queuing during lunchtime.

I was very excited when I found out about the two-night special supper club co-hosted by City Caphe and Banhmi11. With both teams offering their expertise on Vietnamese cooking, with Banhmi11’s modern twists and City Caphe’s French-inspired dishes, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Green mango, pomelo and sun-dried squid salad

Pan-fried scallop on lotus roots chip

I used to eat pomelo a lot when I was a kid, especially during mid Autumn festival. I remember we used to make a lantern from the pomelo skin. It was nice to see it being used as an ingredient for a dish, its refreshing taste went well with the dried squid, which could be quite fishy on its own. The scallop was pan-fried on the shell, giving it a beautiful charred look on the outside.

Prawn banh xeo

Fish Q roll

The banh xeo was not as crusty as I would like, but the prawn and vegetable filling was scrumptious. The slight disappointment was soon lifted by the bouncy fish q roll. The fish was bursting with herbs, it was perfect with the light fish sauce and mint dressing.

Bun rieu crab noodle soup

Oven-baked sardine in lotus leaf

Most of the guests on our table were pretty full by the fourth course, we all went into shock when we saw the generous portion of the crab noodle soup, which could be a meal on its own. The highlight was the specially made fish broth, it was totally different from the one I usually get in the bun bo hue at lunchtime. The last savoury course was the sardine. It was wrapped in lotus leaves together with chopped garlic and bay leaves, then baked in the oven.

From left to right: Che troi nuoc mung bean dumplings in ginger syrup, Durian ice-cream

Durian is not too everyone’s taste, but I love it. I think the chef had toned down the durian flavour for the first timers. The bean mochi-like dumpling and the ginger syrup was a sweet and warm ending to the night.

This was the first time I had attended a supper club. The experience was unique, and I got to meet some new people over great food. Julie, Anh, Van and their teams had done a great job on creating an amazing evening for all the diners. I hope to see some of the dishes from the supper club appearing on the regular menu soon :)

City Caphe

Banhmi11