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

Purple Sweet Potato Mochi

One of my favourite Asian desserts is mochi - glutinous rice cakes with a sweet filling. In particular, there is a Japanese company called Mochi Cream, who sells a wide variety (15+) of flavoured mochi. My favourite ones are peach/blueberry yoghurt, green tea and cherry blossom. A few years ago they went global and opened a branch in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. But unfortunately on my last trip to Hong Kong I found that it had closed, so I do not think I can have mochi cream again any time soon…

So I have decided to make my own, using the purple sweet potato puree recipe from my last post. Making the mochi dough is very straight forward, but shaping is not. You have to seal the opening while the dough is still warm, so the sides stick together without leaving a line. The ones I made tasted good but they were certainly not as pretty and neat as those by Mochi Cream. More practise is needed!

Purple sweet potato mochi

Makes 10

220g Glutinous Rice Flour

15g Glutinous Rice Flour (for dusting)

110g Caster Sugar

200ml Full Fat Milk

150g Purple Sweet Potato Puree

1 tsp Icing sugar

1 tsp Vegetable Oil

Combine 220g glutinous rice flour and the sugar, and then gradually add the milk. Mix until the batter is smooth. Oil a plate with vegetable oil, and then evenly spread the batter on it. Steam the mixture on a medium heat for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, divide the potato puree into 10 portions. Cook 15g glutinous flour in a microwave on full power for 50 seconds. When the dough is nearly done, dust your hands and work surface with the cooked flour.

Leave the dough to cool for a couple of minutes so you can handle it with your hands. Use a circular cookie cutter (I use 68mm diameter) to cut the dough, and then gently pull the side of the skin outwards so it is thicker in the middle.

Place a portion of the puree in the middle of the skin, fold it in half without squashing the puree. Repeat on the other side. Seal the opening by grabbing the four corners together, then twist and cut off the end. The closing should face downwards. Dust the mochi with icing sugar to finish.