Grab Your Fork: A Sydney food blog: July 2011 Sydney restaurant reviews | travel

Friday, July 29, 2011

The Good Kitchen, Hurstville

The Hong Kong cafe is where cost and efficiency are valued over décor and conversational niceties. Expect your order to be taken within two minutes of being handed the menu and your food to arrive shortly after.

For my Eat This! column in the July issue of Time Out Sydney, I headed to Hurstville where comfort food equals pan-fried spam, condensed milk on toast and the calorific glory that is French toast with peanut butter.

Eat this...

French Toast with peanut butter

WHAT IS IT?
It's the sort of snack that would make Elvis go weak at the knees. Two slices of soft white bread are slapped together with peanut butter, dipped in egg and then pan-fried to a rich golden hue. It’s a little oily, especially with the extra dab of butter on top, but the insides are soft, fluffy and deliciously eggy ($3.60).

French toast with peanut butter $3.60

WHERE DO I GET IT?
The Good Kitchen, a busy Hong Kong café (or cha chaan teng) serving Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. It’s always chaotic during weekends, jammed with families and couples chattering loudly around tables or booth seating.

Baked Portuguese pork chops with spaghetti $8.80

WHAT ELSE?
Steak with pepper sauce on rice ($12.50) and baked Portuguese pork chops with spaghetti ($8.80) are a glorious mishmash of east and west. Au gratin is the order of the day, with pork chops and spaghetti swaddled beneath a thick blanket of cheesy white sauce, grilled until brown on the edges.

The comprehensive menu runs through the usual suspects of stir-fries, congees and hotpots. Fried glutinous rice ($13) is a satisfying mix of sticky rice with slivers of omelette, mushroom, shallots and lap cheong pork sausage. Dig into the garlic chives with pork blood and pork skin ($10.80). It’s one way to increase your iron levels.

Fried glutinous rice $13

Baked Portuguese pork chops with spaghetti $8.80

Pork hocks in hot pot $11.80

Lunch meat and egg sandwich $4

Condensed milk and butter toast $2

ANY DRINKS?
Absolutely. Instant coffee mixed with tea ($2.70) is a Hong Kong favourite, or curl up with a cup of hot Ovaltine or Horlicks. Hot lemon Coke ($3) is worth ordering, a bubbling elixir of soft drink boiled with fresh lemons.

Hot coffee mixed with milk tea in Hong Kong style $2.70

Lemon coke hot $3

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The Good Kitchen

171 Forest Road, Hurstville Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9579 1688

Opening hours

Monday to Friday 10am-10pm

Saturday and Sunday 9am-10pm

This article appears in the July 2011 issue of Time Out Sydney in my monthly Food & Drink column Eat This!

More Time Out Sydney reviews:
Akash Pacific Cuisine, Liverpool (Fiji Indian cuisine)
ATL Marantha, Kensington (Indonesian fried chicken with edible bones)
Balkan Oven, Rockdale (Macedonian burek)
Durban Dish, Baulkham Hills (South African cuisine)
Hijazi's Falafel, Arncliffe (Lebanese breakfast)
Island Dreams Cafe, Lakemba (Christmas Islands cuisine)
Kambozza, Parramatta (Burmese cuisine)
La Paula, Fairfield (Chilean empanadas, lomitos and sweets)
Sea Sweet, Parramatta (Lebanese sweet kashta cheese burger)
Sizzling Fillo, Lidcombe (Filipino pork hock crackling)
Tehran, Granville (Persian cuisine)
Tuong Lai, Cabramatta (Vietnamese sugar cane prawns)

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posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 7/29/2011 12:11:00 am

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Din Tai Fung, Sydney

Half the fun of dining at Din Tai Fung is the chance to watch the dumpling makers in action, clearly visible through the glassed-in kitchen out the front. There's always something to look at - from the man stretching a skipping rope of noodles by bouncing it effortlessly onto the metal bench; to the secret huddle of staff deftly folding dumplings in the corner; to the man checking the bamboo baskets of dumplings, cloaked in dramatic clouds of steam.

Dumpling production line

Four of us were headed to see Mary Poppins, and it seemed only fitting that our pre-theatre dinner involved a performance as well. The no-bookings policy means there's often a queue for a table (and you won't be seated until everyone in your party has arrived) but I'm quite happy to while away the time with my nose pressed up against the window, watching the white uniformed staff in the kitchen undertake their tasks with single-minded seriousness.

Separating the wonton skins with a flick of the wrist

There is plenty to marvel at, including the casualness of a staff member separating a pile of wonton skins by flicking their fist. It's like watching a magician perform a card trick, as the skins fan out perfectly - and she's not even looking at her hands as she works.

Weighing out the pastry dough for dumplings

Din Tai Fung take their dumpling-making very seriously. The pastry dough for each dumpling must weigh between 4.8 and 5.2 grams. The xiao long bao dumplings, for which they are famous, must measure exactly 6cm in diameter, have precisely 18 folds and weigh between 20.6 and 21.4 grams.

Folding wonton dumplings

Making siu mai dumplings

Dumpling teamwork

Handbag storage

We eventually make it into the bustling dining room, filled with the clatter of chopsticks and a constant tide of waiters delivering dishes to hungry diners. A portable carry-stand for keeping our handbags off the floor is opened with a flourish by our efficient waiter, and a silk chaircover is wordlessly placed over the jackets hanging on our chairs to protect them from accidental spillage.

Shrimp and pork siu mai $9.80

We start with the shrimp and pork siu mai, a little saggy in posture, but they stand up well in flavour, the soft pork mince topped with a layer of finely diced prawn.

Pork chop deboned, Taiwanese specialty $8.80

There's a significant difference between the menu photo and what eventually arrives when we order the Taiwanese specialtydeboned pork chop. The photo is a vision of golden crunch, but we end up with a rather greasy looking sodden pork chop that tastes much the same. It's heavy on the tongue and lingering in oily aftertaste.

Silken tofu with pork floss and century egg $7.50

Much more delightful is the silken tofu with pork floss and century egg, a textbook example of triumph with simplicity. The cool block of slippery tofu is a textural contrast against the fluffy wads of sweet and salty pork floss and the puddle of sweet soy. Wedges of century egg add richness, the jellied whites tinted a glossy amber with a pungent yolk of grey that is sulfurous yet alluring.

Steamed pork xiao long bao soup dumpling $10.80

A steamer of xiao long bao soup dumplings arrives with snaking plumes of steam. The dumplings here have an elegance to them, with their thin skins and delicate pleating. We lift them gently with our chopsticks, watching the delicate parcels sag ominously with the weight of hot soup inside.

Eating a soup dumpling requires care and attention. We transfer the dumpling to a spoon, take a small bite from the side and slurp up the hot sweet broth inside. The dumping is then best dipped in a mixture of soy and vinegar, accenting the gentle flavour of the pork filling and the slippery smooth dumpling skin.

Braised beef soup served with Shanghainese noodle $15.80

Braised beef soup is a dark broth that is filled with a huddle of thin hand-pulled noodles and thin slices of cooked beef. A sprinkle of shallots adds lightness to this simple but winter-warming dish.

Chi jiang Shanghai noodle served dry with minced pork and diced dried bean curd $16.80

Chi jiang Shanghai noodles is one for the saucy fans, drenched in a thick bean paste gravy swollen with pork mince and cubes of tofu. It's salty, sweet and a little umami too, and leaves you licking your lips for more.

Mango pudding with fresh mango $7.80

We couldn't leave without a spoonful of sugar, could we? Our sweet tooths all emerge for dessert, starting with a vivid mango pudding in sunshine yellow. The mango is a little tart - even with a thimble of evaporated milk on the side.

Triple strawberry fantasy $9.80

Triple strawberry fantasy certainly makes our eyes widen when it lands on our table. It's a bright red concoction of shaved ice drenched in strawberry syrup, crowned with a scoop of strawberry ice cream and surrounded by fresh strawberry halves. Globs of strawberry jam and rivers of evaporated milk make this a sweet and icy cold finish.

Golden red bean bread $5.80

If deep-fried is more your calling, the golden red bean bread is for you. It tastes like a slice of white bread rolled up with red bean paste and deep-fried until crisp, the ends coated in a crunchy layer of sesame seeds.

Steamed mini black sesame bun $1.90 each

The steamed mini black sesame buns are probably my highlight though, petite rounds of soft sweet bun stuffed with a paste of nutty black sesame paste. It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

View Larger Map

Din Tai Fung

World Square Shopping Centre

Level 1, Shop 11.04, 644 George Street Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9264 6010

Opening hours:

Lunch

Monday to Friday 11.30am-2.30pm

Saturday and Sunday 11am-3pm

Dinner

Monday to Wednesday 5.30pm-9pm

Thursday to Saturday 5pm-9.30pm

Sunday 5pm-9pm

Monday, July 25, 2011

Stomachs Eleven: Bone marrow, pig's trotters Pierre Koffmann and truffled hens

If you ever have a bone to pick with someone, make sure it's a marrow bone. It was this sight of marrow bone towers that excited me most when I arrived at the home of Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin' for our latest Stomachs Eleven adventure.

Appetisers to start

The members of our merry dining crew have all been terribly spoilt by the generosity of Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin'. Our original aim was to rotate as hosts for roving dinner parties, but lately it's all been about Chez Pig. Pig Flyin cooks with such selfless generosity and unparalleled effort that we can never resist another invite. And it always beggars belief that Pig Flyin' is an entirely self-taught cook who works in IT.

Surprises in the kitchen

What's most impressive about a dinner with the Pig Flyin's is how organised they are: every dish has been pre-thought with multiple components ready and prepped. Dinner service operates like a well-oiled machine, and by the time we finish one course, there's only a ten-minute wait until the next one. We all take turns to wander in to help, and there's never a sense of panic - just relaxed joviality that puts everyone at ease.

Ortiz anchovies on toast with homemade onion jam

A platter of Ortiz anchovies on toast make for the perfect canape for arriving guests to nibble on. Pig Flyin' had picked up a tin of these premium hand-filleted sardines at the recent Simon Johnson sale, and the flesh and tasty of these was superb - delicately firm and gently salted. Pig Flyin' served these with his homemade onion jam, adding sweetness.

Ortiz Filetto di acciughe del Cantabrico in Olio di Oliva

Homemade brioche with foie gras torchon and mustard fruits 'fascinator'

Slices of homemade brioche stuffed with foie gras torchon were an impressive sight. Inspired by this dish from Next restaurant by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, Pig Flyin' had spent several days and attempts trying to recreate this dish. To stuff the brioche, they used small pieces of wooden dowel to make a hole inside the bread. Mrs Pig Flyin' laughed as she described their trip to Bunnings where they had to work out the best-sized dowel to buy, and how they convinced staff to cut each piece into shorter lengths.

The foie gras was whipped and then transferred to a piping bag to pipe into the hollowed-out brioche. A 'fascinator' of mustard fruits provided the ideal complement to this rich mouthful.

Foie gras with apple two ways and foie gras 'snow'

Foie gras snow is what you get when a block of frozen foie gras and a grater meet. It was a late-minute inspired idea by Pig Flyin' when he realised he had forgotten to defrost the foie gras, but it works brilliantly, melting on the tongue like the fluffiest snowflake.

Beneath the foie gras snow we found cubes of buttery foie gras and two styles of apple: tiny apple cubes and wobbly apple jelly. I am not lying when I said people were fighting to lick the serving plate clean. I was one of them.

Roasted bone marrow with smoked salt and parsley salad

I've always loved bone marrow - is that not the sole reason to eat osso bucco so you can score the marrow prize? Roasted bone marrow has always been on the menu at the famed St John by Fergus Henderson but Pig Flyin' assures me you don't have to travel to London to savour this dish.

To roast bone marrows, Pig Flyin' suggests you clean the bones as much as you can and then soak them in cold water in the fridge for a night to leech out any blood. Bake in a 180C-200C for about 25 minutes or until the marrow starts to pull away from the bone.

There are few things that will make you as giddy with joy as digging into a marrow bone and savouring the rich and fatty pleasures within.

Homemade mini brioche loaves with store-bought sourdough served with smoked butter

Spaghetti with mullet bottarga and a slow-cooked 65C egg

Bottarga is the word for cured fish roe and is sometimes known as the poor man's caviar. The entire roe pouch is dried and cured in sea salt for several weeks.

Grating the mullet bottarga over the spaghetti; whole smoked mullet roe bottarga

I was fascinated as I watched Pig Flyin' grate smoked mullet roe bottarga over freshly cooked spaghetti.

Spaghetti with mullet bottarga and a slow-cooked 65C egg

Spaghetti with mullet bottarga was simple yet elegant, a tangled nest of spaghetti drizzled generously with extra virgin olive oil and crumbs of mullet bottarga. The bottarga has a smoky saltiness, the hard little crumbs reminding me of salted duck yolks but fishy. On top is a slow-cooked 65C egg, and we break through the soft egg white to find a sticky runny yolk that coats the pasta deliciously.

Chestnut soup with confit duck and whipped smoked cream

Winter is the time for chestnuts but noone talks about how hard they are to peel. Chestnuts would feature in two of our dishes tonight and Mrs Pig Flyin' confesses she spent six hours over two days peeling chestnuts in front of the television!

The chestnut soup is glossy and silky and incredibly fragrant. An island of whipped smoked cream provides a touch of luxury, and at the bottom of our cups we find shreds of rich confit duck.

Salad course with home-grown leaves from the garden

A salad course on its own seems a little unusual to Australian palates, but this is very common on French menus. We welcome the chance to clean our palates, especially when we realise most of the salad greens -- curly watercress, rocket, fennel fronds and radicchio -- have come straight from the backyard garden.

Pig's trotters Pierre Koffmann with king oyster mushrooms and confit chestnut

It's about this point we are starting to feel our bellies distend and yet still the onslaught of incredible dishes continues. The Pig's trotters Pierre Koffman is a signature dish by Pierre Koffman that was adapted and made famous by Marco Pierre White at Harvey's in 1980s. This dish is a test of patience and endurance, involving braised trotters that are deboned and then stuffed with sweetbreads, morels and chicken mousse.

To say this dish was amazing would be a gross understatement. If you want to see how the process on how this is made, you can watch Marco Pierre White cooking this dish for Raymond Blanc here (fast foward to the six minute mark and continue with part two). You can also check out the step-by-step attempt by food blogger, Trotters and Tales.

Three shades of white: braised fennel, baby turnip and baby leeks

Our vegetables were a tribute to winter, with three shades of white provided by braised fennel, baby turips and baby leeks. These were all cooked sous vide, a process that Pig Flyin' says is ideal for speed and efficiency.

Poussins en demi-deuil en-croute - truffled hens cooked in crust

Oh yes, it didn't stop there. Mains were an alternate drop, and while half the table received the pig's trotter, the other half was gifted with a truffled hen parcel.

Spatchcock stuffed with WA truffles

Inside the dough crust was a spatchcock stuffed with West Australian truffles. The crust, Pig Flyin' explained, helps to keep in the truffle aroma, and creates a juicier cooked bird. The only difficulty they encountered was trying to the keep the truffles in one piece as they were pushed down beneath the skin.

Truffle-stuffed spatchcock with mashed potato and baby turnips

The spatchcock was succulent, moist and deliriously decadent with truffle. We even nibbled on the dough crust and found it to be tasty too.

Apple tarte tatin

Dessert was apple tarte tatin, cooked ahead of time and waiting patiently on the side counter. Caramelised apples and flaky pastry are a match made in heaven.

Canelés homemade by Mr Egg

A plate of canelés were handed around and I admit I didn't believe it at first when I told they were made by Mr Egg. Canelés are one of my favourite treats, custardy baked pastries with a dark and chewy caramelised crust. The mixture is made from milk, flour, sugar, rum and vanilla.

These were better than any I've had before, with a thick sweet crust that demanded to be slowly savoured.

Beetroot pate de fruit

Beetroot pate de fruit were made on a whimsy by Pig Flyin' (as you do) when he picked up a heap of beetroot on special. The beetroots were juiced, combined with pectin and then poured into molds until set. The jellies were dipped in sugar just before serving, and the beetroot flavour in these came out remarkably well, a compelling mix of earthiness with sweetness.

Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese with charred fresh dates, vanilla-poached tamarillo,
green apple straws, mustard fruits, nasturtium leaves and rosemary flowers

We finish with two cheese boards, each presented with the artistic flair of a hatted Sydney restaurant. Fourme d'Ambert is a striking blue cheese, one of France's oldest that is said to have originated in Roman times. The piquancy of the blue marries brilliantly with fresh dates, charred with a blow torch so it is caramelised and smoky.

Whipped Saint Angel triple cream brie with Italian artisan crackers,
green apple straws, mustard fruits, brioche crumbs and nasturtium flowers

I'm also enamoured by the Saint Angel triple cream brie, whipped until light and fluffy. We take our time to enjoy the brie on crunchy shards of artisan crackers, sweetened with green apple straws and nuggets of chopped mustard fruits.

Thank you Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin'. My stomach salutes you.