EoMEoTE #7: bill's corn fritters

there once was an egghead called bill
his eggs mixed with cream gave me thrills
his corn dipped in batter
was good but what matters
is he must learn to use CAPITALS!



I'd been meaning to make this for ages ever since I spotted pinkcocoa's efforts here in October 2004. So in an apt non-planned reciprocal arrangement, this entry for the 7th End-of-Month-Eggs-on-Toast-Extravaganza is for you pinkcocoa.

Bill Granger's Corn Fritters:
(from Sydney Food and cheekily cut-and-pasted from pinkcocoa)

1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh corn kernels, cut from the cob
1/2 cup diced red capsicum
1/2 cup sliced spring onions
1/4 cup chopped coriander and parsley
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and paprika into a large bowl, stir in sugar and make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine eggs and milk. Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. The batter will be quite stiff.

Place corn, capsicum, spring onions and herbs in a mixing bowl and add just enough batter to lightly bind them (about 3/4 cup). Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a non-stick fying pan on medium heat, then drop in 2 tablespoons of batter per fritter and cook 4 fritters at a time. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the underside of each fritter is golden. Turn over and cook fritters on the other side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm while cooking the remaining batter.

Notes from Bill: The fritter batter can be kept for up to 3 days, but do not mix the batter with the vegetables more than an hour before you're ready to cook, or the fritters will be soggy.

Check out the full wrap-up of eggs-on-toast entries hosted by the co-creator herself, Jeanne here

Related GrabYourFork posts:
bills Darlinghurst
bills Surry Hills (breakfast)
bills Surry Hills (dinner)
bills Woollahra

Dine & Dish #2: Queen of Cuisine

When Sarah announced that the second theme for Dine & Dish was Queen of Cuisine, I applauded. About time we heralded and celebrated the culinary paid efforts of females in the hospitality industry.

Until I stopped to think about how many restaurants I knew of--off the top of my head--that were fronted by females. Um... Kylie Kwong and her Billy Kwong restaurant. And... errr... ahhh...

A little more research and I've come up with Vanessa Martin from Il Piave, Karen Martini from Bondi Icebergs, Jane Booth of Booker's Cafe and Elaine Lee from the Westin's Mosaic restaurant.

And these are all great female chefs. At fantastic restaurants. The upper echelons of dining experiences... and er, monetary extraction. But is that the sum total?

As pointed out by Keith Austin in the SMH here:

"...of the 62 Sydney restaurants awarded chef's hats in the Good Food Guide 2004 only three had kitchens led by women."

He quotes Jane Booth as saying:

"Lots of young male chefs don't like being told what to do by a woman, they find it very difficult. I just think you've got to be really strong, just got to keep telling them that that's the way you want it done. You've got to believe in why you're there and why you're in charge. You've got to believe in yourself, I guess."

Is it any surprise that the female chefs who do survive the notorious entrenched sexism, channel that determination to the very top? Where are all the female head chefs in local restaurants; middle market eateries; pub bistros? It seemed that every kitchen I looked into over the past couple of weeks was filled with males!

I know there are more female head chefs out there. And I'm sure there are plenty more female sous chefs, chef-d-parties and demi-chefs.

So instead I'm celebrating all the women who toil over hot stoves or chopping boards or kitchen counters, not just the ones at the top. I'm saluting the friendly Vietnamese lady who satiates my bun mit cravings, the Chinese women who stand all day hand-making dumplings at Mother Chu's, the Turkish mothers who roll out moutains of gozleme at every outdoor event in Sydney, the females who work out the back for all the guts and little of the glory.

So this is a non-entry entry. On the one hand, I feel compelled to shake Sydney by the shoulders and demand more female chef profiling and a less testosterone-fuelled kitchen. On the other, I say meh, maybe we should relish men slaving away in the kitchen for a change =)

Check out the full wrap-up of Dine and Dish Queens of Cuisine here.

Upcoming events

It's been lamented by many a foodblogger that we really do require more event reminders.

So here's a quick snapshot of upcoming events both online, on The Box and out and about in Sydney's autumnal sunshine...

FRIDAY 27 MAY 2005
Feast - 7.30pm-8.00pm on SBS
"This eight-part series is a lush and colourful glimpse into Indian culture, food and customs, presented by English-born chef, Barry Vera. Vera savours the delights of simple street food and the amazing variety of tantalizing regional cuisine. From a Sikh temple kitchen in Delhi, where up to 70,000 meals are served each day, to a tribal desert village in Rajasthan, a traditional village wedding in Ghanerao, to a heady cardamom auction on the Malabar coast, to Mumbai's chaotic beach carnivals, and the eerie silence of a salt mine in Baap Rin; Vera immerses himself in the diverse cultural influences that make each area of India so distinct. The series is produced by Mike Dickinson. (From Australia, in English)"
- from the SBS website

Sydney Writers' Festival
Free and ticketed events all weekend

SATURDAY 28 MAY 2005
Ashfield Gourmet Food and Wine Market
St. Johns Anglican Church Grounds (Bland and Alt Streets), Ashfield
11.00am - 4.00pm
2nd and 4th Saturday of every month

Sydney Writers' Festival
Free and ticketed events all weekend

Iron Chef - 8.30pm-9.15pm on SBS

SUNDAY 29 MAY 2005
Italian National Day celebrations
Sydney Italian Festival
Wharf 8 Hickson Road, Sydney
From 12noon

Sydney Writers' Festival
Free and ticketed events all weekend

MONDAY 30 MAY 2005
Dine & Dish #2: Queen of Cuisine
Celebrate women working wonders in your local retaurant/cafe/eating establishment and make use of an excuse to eat out!

TUESDAY 31 MAY 2005
End of Month Eggs on Toast Extravaganza #7
Get your eggs on, in or near scorched carbohydrate for the biggest anti-event online!

SATURDAY 4 JUNE 2005
Campsie Food Festival
Beamish St and Anzac Mall, Campsie
10.00am-4.00pm
Performance by Diesel 12.15pm-1.15pm

Pyrmont Growers Market
Pyrmont Bay Park opposite Star City Casino
7.00am - 11.00am
1st Saturday of every month

SUNDAY 5 JUNE 2005
Primo Italiano Stanley Street Festival
Stanley Street, East Sydney
11.00am - 5.00pm

Markets websites:
Sydney Markets
Aussie Fairs
Australian Markets and Fairs
Australian Markets and Fairs / NSW

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Campsie Food Festival 2004
Pyrmont Growers Market, April 05
Pyrmont Growers Market, March 05
Pyrmont Growers Market, February 05

Crystal Seafood, Strathfield

Out for a family and friends meal, we found ourselves at Crystal Seafood in Strathfield. With a strong multicultural mix of locals (almost half its population was born overseas), Strathfield is overflowing with Chinese, Korean and Sri Lankan eateries and shops.


I've been to Crystal Seafood twice before for yum cha. Both times I was rather unimpressed with both quality and service. But we thought we'd give it another go. This time for dinner.


The place is almost full, and it's only 7pm on a Wednesday night. Families of three generations take up most of the bigger tables and there's a happy cheerful buzz to the place.

We end up getting the Chinese banquet. An indecipherable scribble of dishes equating to roughly about $38 per person. Ah... why not... sure beats having to make painful menu decisions.


House soup (pork and vegetables)

This one's okay. A little heavy-handed with the sugar and disappointingly cloudy (someone wasn't watching the pot!). Not enough meaty bones to scavenge on either =(


Steamed scallops with ginger and shallots $28.80 per dozen

Ooh hello! *Excited hands clap with glee*


I'll have the two biggest ones please!
...Pretty please?


Unfortunately I found my scallops a little over-cooked a rubbery. As always though, the sweet soy sauce marinade was very good. Next time I must be more assertive and nab the leftover sauce before it's cleared away--perfect for drizzling over my rice.


Lobster $40 per half kg

Normally when we go out for Chinese we order crab. With ginger and shallots. And extra e-fu noodles.

However the special menu was lobster, and sure it's easier to eat, but it's not as tasty a crab. The flesh isn't as firm nor as sweet. And the whole thing is drenched in some crazy Chinese-style mornay sauce.


Chinese bread rolls

Ahhh now these I did like. I've never had these before but they were most delicious! Inside is a steamed wad of Chinese bread "spaghetti". The bread is light and fluffy and ever-so-faintly sweet. You can get this type of bread very easily in the chiller section (or on the counter) of most Asian grocery shops.

However the best bit was that the whole bread roll had been rolled in some type of egg-flour batter and then deep fried to a golden crisp brown. Kind of reminiscent of the coating on pluto pups I guess (in a good way!).


This stuff was perfect for mopping up that creamy "mornay" sauce.


Fillet steak with black pepper sauce

Typically sweet and heavy on the bi-carb *shudder*
But good for those who like fillet steak this style I guess.


Stir-fried baby bok choy

Yum. Vitamins!


Pork spare ribs Peking style

Ooh back to deep-fried goodness.

These had a healthy handful of rock sugar but (*sigh* like a lot of things in my life) strangely addictive.

Until your teeth started to hurt.


Silver perch with ginger and shallots $28.80 per kg

The guest of honour. What a pity it tasted like whoever cleaned it had burst the gall bladder *weeps* I love steamed fish but all I could taste for much of this was metallic displeasure.


Prawns steamed with egg white and vegetables

This was good. Although apparently they had run out of scallops so they served it to us with prawns.

Steamed egg whites with seafood and vegetables is such an unknown pleasure. Healthy, cleansing and very tasty.


Red bean soup

We tucked into our red bean soup and waited with greedy expectation for our little platter of Chinese pastries and biscuits, as promised on our menu.

But none came.

Only the plate of fruit. Which was good, but we needed closure! Sugary closure!

We made polite enquiries only to be told that "You took too long to eat your meal and now we've run out of pastries."

Full stop.

Riiiight. No offer of compensation. A replacement dessert? Extra fruit? Reduction off the bill?

Nope. Nada. Nothing.

Which pretty much summed up the level of service all evening really. We had to almost stand on our chairs to get our rice bucket delivered; to ask for an extra fork (we ended up getting it ourselves); to get our rice bucket refilled.

So it wasn't the greatest dining experience.
Which left me very disappointed, as I do like to find great suburban restaurants.
I like supporting Mum-and-Dad style eateries.
I like the option of parking.
I like eating in the suburbs.

Maybe this one's out for a duck.

The pictures look good though...


Crystal Seafood Restaurant
Shop 29 / 11 The Boulevarde, Strathfield
Tel: 02 9763 7738

Park your stubbie

I've set up an Australian Food Bloggers ring.
Get on board!

And for those non-Antipodeans playing at home, why not stake your location on my Guestmap ?

IMBB#15: Marshmallows rolled in toasted coconut

This fifteenth edition of Is My Blog Burning is being hosted by Elise from Simply Recipes, who set the theme as gelatin, pectin or agar.

As Elise mentions, gelatin immediately brings to mind the glorious 1970s --yes, we're always a bit behind Down Under--when a fish memorial made of aspic brought gasps of delight from assembled dinner party guests.

Dodgy cheap cheesecakes aside, gelatin still figures highly in the recipe archives of today. Bavarois... panna cotta... it was less than three years ago when an internet gelatin recipe contest brought in 42 entries from around the world.

In our quest to find the most gasp-inducing gelatin recipe, let's not forget the basics. Let's not deny the glorious combination that mere water, gelatin and sugar can create. Light, fluffy and (dare we mention) fat-free, marshmallows are what every kid is convinced that clouds are made of. Jammed onto branches and roasted over campfires; plonked into steaming mugs of toe-warming hot chocolate; or drenched with chocolate and pronounced as Rocky Road; marshmallows are portable, versatile and finger-lickin' good.



Marshmallows rolled in toasted coconut
4Tbs gelatine
1 cup cold water
4 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp lemon juice
250g toasted coconut

Sprinke gelatine over cold water and set aside.
Pour sugar and boiling water into a large saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring water back to boil and add gelatin water mixture.
Boil steadily (uncovered) for about 20 minutes.
Allow mixture to cool to lukewarm.
Pour mixture into a large bowl.
Add vanilla and lemon juice.
Whisk with a electric mixer on high speed until very thick and white.
Pour into two 20cm (8") square cake tins which have been rinsed with cold water.
Allow mixture to set.
Cut into small squares with a wet knife and roll in toasted coconut.

Variations:
Add red colouring to make pink marshmallows.
You can also try flavourings of coconut, coffee, strawberry, hazelnut etc as desired.

Check out the full wrap-up of entries by Elise, from Simply Recipes.

Ben Lee @ The Metro, 18 May

He may have been the unfortunate cuckold of her, but Ben Lee is as placid as ever, imploring the sell-out crowd at The Metro that We're All in This Together.

With a set largely off his latest album Awake is the New Sleep, Ben did relent with an audience-loving Cigarettes Will Kill You. Without doubt the highlight of the evening was his rendition of Kylie's Confide in Me.

Check out the SMH gig review here.


New Buffalo

Lemon sour cream cake recipe

I would have missed this 8th Sugar High Friday event had I not been browsing The Delicious Life late on Thursday afternoon. What? An SHF event is due in 24hrs? *yelp* *panic*

This month's host, Alice, chose citrus for this edition's theme... lemon, limes, oranges etc. Hmmm.. what to make, what to make. Until --inspiration! I'd only just been commenting on Niki's blog about her sour cream chocolate cake with raspberries. I mentioned my favourite lemon sour cream cake, to which Niki insisted I post the recipe. Well hey hey hey, talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Quick nip up to the shops, back home and wham bam, three hours later, the house was filled with that wonderful aroma of butter, sugar and lemon swirling intoxicatingly from the oven. It smelt so good I wanted to bottle it. But hey, why not make your cake and eat it too...



Lemon sour cream cake
From the Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook

250g butter
2 tsp grated lemon rind
2 cups caster sugar
6 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup self-raising flour
200g carton sour cream

Grease a deep 27cm round cake pan, line base with paper; grease paper.
Cream butter, rind and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs one at a time, beat until combined.
Stir in half the sifted flours with half the sour cream.
Then stir in remaining sifted flours and cream.
Stir until smooth.
Spread mixture into pre-prepared pan.
Bake in moderately slow oven (160-180C / 325-350F) for about 1.5 hours.
Stand 5 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.

Keeps for one week.


I put extra lemon rind for bonus tang. This cake is super super moist although my cake never quite turns out like the one in the picture (theirs looks a lot more buttery and finer in texture). I also should have dusted this lightly with icing sugar but we'd run out and the clock was ticking.

This is a failproof way to get a moist rich cake that keeps very well. But then, what would you expect from a cake that has this much fat and cholesterol in it? Hush hush. Let's not talk about that for the moment. Just put the kettle on, settle into your favourite lounge chair and... enjoy. Just keep the defibrillators on standby.

For all the tart and tangy entries around the world, check out the full wrapup of entries by Alice from My Adventures in the Breadbox.

What's cookin', good lookin'

Ok so this is a very overdue post, but the results for the Does My Blog Look Good in This #5 were posted by Ronald on Monday last week.

With a completely new format (five judges) and new criteria (Aesthetics, Eatability and Originality), the standards for this foodie photo comp has definitely been lifted a notch or two.

Congrats to all the winners:

Esurientes - co-winner Aesthetics (go the Aussies!)
A:45 E:44 O:30 - Total:119

Il Cavoletto di Bruxelles - co-winner Aesthetics (yum!)
A:42 E:41 O:32 - Total:115

The Confabulist - winner Originality (err tasty!)
A:27 E:12 O:50 - Total:89

A La Cuisine - winner Eatability and overall winner (choca-licious)
A:44 E:45 O:35 - Total:124

As for my Tetusya-inspired sushi pic, the judges awarded
A:38 E:37 O:37 - Total:112 (woohoo)

Check out all the entries and final scores here.

And PS. Ronald is looking for new hosts for the next DMBLGiT.

China Noodle King

China Noodle King is a relatively new addition to the dumpling dragstrip of Sydney's Chinatown. Jammed in amongst nameless travel agents and internet cafes on the Railway Square end of George Street, it's only the picture menu taped to the wall which attacts your passing attention.


Does it pass the Step Over the Threshold Test though...
No nonsense food photos --check
Three-word menu descriptions --check
Laminate tables with DIY condiments and chopsticks on every table --check
Locals inside eating --check

Looks good.
We're going in.



Wild jujube drink $3.00
Tasted like grass water to me. Buffalo grass. But the person who ordered it liked it (getting the bottle open took us ten minutes alone though... those old fashioned ring pulls were phased out for a reason. They just snap off and leave you frustrated. And still thirsty!).


Fried pancake with spring onion $3.80
A little oilier than we prefer, and not quite enough spring onion. But still good.


Stretched fried noodles with beef and vegetables $7.80 (large)
Simple but tasty and delicious.



Fried dumplings with pork and leek filling $7.80 for 16

Now this is value-for-money. Who needs mascots and booth seating? We just want dumplings. And lots of 'em. Not quite as tacky in texture as I would've liked, but really, $7.80 for 16? You can't say a cross word.

This is no-frills, family-run, ambience-free eating. Chairs scraping on bare floors. Giant red hearts sticky-taped to the wall. Menus in plastic sleeves so wrinkly you can barely see past all the reflections.

Just what we love.


China Noodle King
800 George Street Haymarket Sydney
Tel: 02 9212 4944

Cafe Joy, Haymarket

EDIT: Cafe Joy has closed

Cafe Joy sits on the corner of Quay and Thomas streets. Students are constantly sitting at the window counters digging into their meals, and most impressively--I would note as I walked past--they had a bottle of my favourite sambal asli chilli sauce on every table (Cap Ibu Jari Jempol).

So I really really wanted to like this place. It was cheap. It was relatively unknown. It was filled with Indonesian uni students.


Nasi Tim Ayam $7.90
Hainam chicken rice with mushroom and chicken served with soup


Nasi Rawon $8.50
Tasty tender diced beef cooked in East Javanese-style black soup


Bakmi Komplit $8.50
Indonesian-style chicken noodle served with fried wonton and beef balls in soup


Beef balls in soup (served with the bakmi komplit)

After visiting here twice though, I've yet to be convinced. I had the nasi tim ayam on my first visit, and found the rice rather soggy and flavourless.

I was bubbling with excitement when I ordered the nasi rawon on my second visit. The picture out the front had a black, opaque soup, seemingly rich with flavour. Alas my soup was merely tinged with brown, very salty and I found my beef a little tough and stringy, rather than "tasty and tender". My dining partner's bakmi komplit looked a lot more appetising (darn it, don't you hate it when you get order-envy?).

The food here reminded me of home-cooked meals. Simple, uncomplicated and far blander than I expected Indonesian food to be. Maybe that's the appeal for the Indonesian students here.

Perhaps I don't appreciate good Indonesian food. Maybe I've missed the point. But despite the name, there's no joy for me here I'm afraid.


Cafe Joy CLOSED
8 Quay Street, Haymarket Chinatown
Tel: 02 9212 1991

Saint Honore Cake Shop, Haymarket

If there's a favourite Chinese bakery item I have, it's definitely the humble but gloriously tasty cocktail bun.



The cocktail bun, or gai mee baau, is a long sweet bun always marked with two pale stripes and usually scattered with a handful of sesame seeds. More importantly, they're filled with an addictive coconut mixture, the ingredients of which I've never quite been able to ascertain. But think butter, sugar, egg and lots of dessicated coconut and you get the picture.



So why is it called a chicken tail bun? I'd love to know. Some Chinese women I spoke to thought the signature stripes looked like a chicken's tail. Or perhaps the name came about because they were commonly served at cocktail parties, and the pre-requisite martini glasses look like cock's tails.

But whatever the reasoning, I can't speak about cocktail buns without mentioning St Honore Cake Shop in the same sentence. For it is here where the cocktail bun reigns supreme.

I'm a cocktail bun fanatic. I've done the taste tests. I've tried cocktail buns across Chinatown, Burwood, Ashfield and even Hong Kong, and none come close to the perfection that is the St Honore cocktail bun.

For it is only here that the filling is at its eggy and coconutty best. And they give you lots of it too. None of this stingy smear of filling. And all for an economically satisfying 80c.

It used to require a health-conscious resolve of steel to resist the allure of the St Honore cocktail bun, especially with the sugary just-baked aromas wafting from the warming ovens in the arcade corridor. The tiny shopfront was always chok-a-block with hungry students, kids and parents embroiled in a not-so-subtle brawl over elusive tongs and trays.



But guess what. St Honore have finally completed their renovations. Having operated out of makeshift even pokier premises down the arcade for the past month, the new revamped, bright and modern cake shop opened late last week. The back kitchen has been knocked out, completely opening up the shop and allowing, yes, a walk-in capacity without the need to stick your elbow in someone's face.




Good luck and prosperity flower arrangements for the store's opening


The new drool-inducing shop frontage on Sussex Street



There are plenty of other tasty cakes available here of course, including Mexico buns, mango pancakes, floss buns, daan tarts, eggy sponge cakes, swiss rolls and sticky glutinous rice dumplings. If savoury is more your weakness, there are curry puffs, bbq pork buns, frankfurt buns, shallot buns and even sticky rice parcels.

Even more surprising is that prices seem to have remained the same. Maybe they'll be hitting us with the subsidy for the cost of overheads in about three months, but for now, the cocktail bun is still a mere 80c.

Of course we had just one thing in mind when we visited.

Cocktail buns.
And yes, check out the trendy new carrier bags too.




View Larger Map

Saint Honore Cake Shop
427-429 Sussex Street, Haymarket Chinatown Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9281 1628