Stomachs Eleven Christmas Dinner 2012

There is no doubt that good food can create a happy gathering, but good company is vital. Friends and laughter can make any meal special. Our band of travelling appetites, otherwise known as Stomachs Eleven, assembled at the home of Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin' over the weekend for our annual Christmas dinner.

The theme for tonight, Pig Flyin' said, would be The Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as The Vigil or La Vigilia. It's an Italian Christmas tradition, celebrating Christmas eve with a feast of seven different seafood dishes.


Prosecco with pineapple and rosemary sorbet

We started with glasses of sparkling prosecco, poured over balls of sweet and refreshing pineapple and rosemary sorbet.


Parmigiano reggiano truffle popcorn 

A huge tin of parmigiano reggiano truffle popcorn was provided for snacking, and proved dangerously addictive. Hot kernels of popcorn were tossed liberally in melted butter, truffle oil and a mountain of finely shaved reggiano cheese.


Table centrepiece of fruits and vegetables

The table centrepiece was a rustic display of fresh fruits and vegetables. The ribboned orange added a festive touch, but it was hard not to admire the simple beauty of fresh zucchini flowers and vibrant red and white borlotti beans coupled with the sweet fragrance of donut peaches.


Sydney rock oysters

Our seafood bonanza began with fresh oysters - Pacific oysters may be large and creamy but the briny intensity of Sydney rocks will always win my heart.


Pacific oysters


Slicing the kingfish pastrami


Kingfish pastrami on air baguettes

Thin shavings of homemade kingfish pastrami (made using a modified recipe by Mark Best) are draped over homemade air baguettes, hollow torpedos that splinter into a thousand crunchy shards with one bite. It's a variation on the El Bulli dish, where lardo has been replaced with kingfish.

The air baguettes were made using a Sardinian pizza base recipe that is traditionally baked to a puff. It's wonderfully light and crisp, and a perfect complement to the salty sweet kingfish.


Sarde in saor - Venetian sweet-and-sour sardines with pine nuts, dill and pickled onions

We move onto sweet-and-sour sardine fillets, a Venetian specialty of sardines dressed with toasted pine nuts, olive oil and dill served on a bed of pickled onion ribbons.


Scampi crudo with ocean trout roe and capers 

Raw scampi is one of my most adored treasures in the world. Here it's an edible artwork with curls of scampi patterned with mounds of ocean trout roe, tomato, capers and micro herbs.


Olive all'Ascolana crumbed olives with anchovy stuffing

Crumbed deep-fried olives stuffed with anchovies provide crunch and a salty hit.


Insalata ala 'esqueixada' or torn salad or raw marinated baccala (or bacalao salted cod) with onion, olives, tomatoes and cucumber

The torn salad is a rustic assembly of salted cod with onion, tomatoes, olives and cucumber. It's the first time I've tried salted cod soaked but raw, and there's something quite comforting about the simplicity of this dish.


Calamari stuffed with cannellini beans, rosemary and its own tentacles 

Calamari can be a tricky beast to cook, but when it's done well, it's wondrous. Here the calamari has been stuffed with cannellini beans, chopped boiled eggs and its own tentacles, then chargrilled until just cooked. The calamari is amazingly tender, enhanced by a smoky caramelisation of the skin.


Fior di zucca ripieni con il quattro formaggi - deep-fried zucchini flowers with four cheeses: reggiano, pecorino sardo, ricotta and gorgonzola picante

What better enticement to eat your vegetables than to deep-fry it?! The zucchini flowers have been dipped into a slow rise yeasted batter that deep fried to an ethereal crisp. Hidden inside the flower is a luxurious stuffing of four different cheeses: reggiano, pecorino sardo, ricotta and gorgonzola picante.


Unrolling the rotolo

The rotolo, Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin' explain, is a dish they both enjoy but rarely find in restaurants. It's easy to understand why when you see the work involved to create this rolled pasta 'sausage'.


Slicing the rotolo

A large sheet of homemade pasta is needed to roll up with a filling. The entire thing is then wrapped in muslin cloth and boiled until just cooked.


Rotolo di pasta con ripieno di zucca - homemade pasta stuffed with charcoal roasted pumpkin and dressed with hazelnut, fried sage leaves and burnt butter

The resulting pasta slice is elegant but also nourishing. It's like a pasta pudding, with the soft pasta sheets and nutty pumpkin filling yielding easily against the gentle nudge of fork. A garnish of deep fried sage leaves and toasted hazelnuts add texture, and the burnt butter sauce gives an extra level of richness.


Granita al cetriolo - cucumber granita with homegrown lemon verbena and pineapple sage

We cleanse our palates with cucumber granita, the delicate crystals pepped up with homegrown lemon verbena and pineapple sage.


Snapper in fig leaves and foiled leeks on the barbecue

An enormous New Zealand snapper wrapped in fig leaves had gone onto the barbecue a few courses beforehand. Three whole leeks wrapped in foil keep it company.


It's a spaceship. No, it's a Kamado grill

The Kamado grill is Pig Flyin's latest acquisition and by all accounts, it's set for some overtime during the coming summer.


Pesce alla griglia - charcoal grilled New Zealand snapper wrapped in fig leaves

The charcoal grilled snapper is revealed with a flourish and many exclamations over its generous size.


Serving the snapper

The flesh is sweet and firm, smoky from the grill and delicately flavoured from the wrapping of vine leaves.


Charcoal roasted leek

The charcoal roasted leek is soft, smoky sweet, and I'm a sucker for the caramlised outer layer which is chewy but caramelised like a vegetable candy.


Spiced poached white peaches with polenta olive oil cake and fig leaf ice cream

There are six desserts, Pig Flyin' announces as we're clutching our stomachs. We are alarmed but also not surprised. Pig Flyin' never does anything by halves!

Desserts commence with a blushing white peach, spiced and poached resting on a tile of polenta olive oil cake. The fig leaf ice cream to the side is a revelation, made using the younger leaves of a neighbour's tree (the same one used for the snapper). The ice cream tastes like figs but without the cloying sweetness, and the inclusion of yoghurt provides a gentle tang.


Melanzane al cioccolata - Eggplant and chocolate dessert

Dessert number two is an eggplant and chocolate dessert, a favourite with locals along the Amalfi Coast throughout the long hot summer. It's not as strange as you might think, with the creamy nutty bitterness of the eggplant played off against layers of chocolate sauce and sweetened ricotta. It also looks just like a Christmas yule log!


Eggplant and chocolate slice with double cream and hazelnuts


Panforte al cioccolata with figs, walnuts, hazelnuts and honey

Homemade petit fours include a rich panforte made with figs, walnuts, hazelnuts and honey.


Wafer con creme ananas - pineapple buttercream wafers 

There are also sunshine bursts of yellow with pineapple buttercream sandwiched between layers of wafer.


Amarena cherries - sour Italian cherries bottled in syrup

The Amerena cherries are the only thing not homemade tonight. They're sour Italian cherries, usually grown in the Bologna and Modena regions of Italy, and are wickedly sweet.


Sfogliatelle alla ricotta

And finally, finally, we finish with homemade sfogliatelle, amazing flaky pastries that crunch as loud as a potato chip. Sfogliatelle means 'many leaves' or 'many layers' and the extreme flakiness of this delight is thanks to lots of soul giving lard. Stuffed inside is a pocket of ricotta, semolina and citrus. The recipe Pig Flyin' used is here.


The Pig Flyin' pine Christmas tree

What will you be eating this Christmas? I have dinners with friends and family ahead - not all of them necessarily fancy, but all celebrating the people we love and cherish.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone! Enjoy the feasting ahead and remember there's always room for second dessert. I see pavlova in my future, and lots of it!


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Stomachs Eleven Christmas - 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008

Thanks again to Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin' for the incredible feast. More pics of the behind-the-scenes prep can be seen on Pig Flyin's Instagram.

Step-A-Side Diner, Cabramatta

All aboard the ex-Melbourne train carriage

EDIT: Step-A-Side Diner has closed

Food trucks might be honking their way all over the city but you’ll have to hustle out west to find Sydney’s only diner in a train carriage.

It’s a dream come true for father and daughter team George and Francesca Papas, who converted the decommissioned train carriage into an American-style diner. A Melbourne train car was chosen over a Sydney one because of its longer length and single-decker set-up. It took a heavy-duty crane to position the carriage, now permanently parked on the corner of the Hume Highway and Cabramatta Road.


Original seats and hanging straps inside the converted train carriage

Most of the carriage's fittings are original, from the leather straps hanging overhead to the seats (re-upholstered) along the edges.


The jukebox 

Old movie posters and vinyl records plaster the carriage walls and there’s a vintage jukebox ($1 a play) with classics from Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis. You can even sit in the driver’s seat at the front and play with all the controls. Go on. You know you want to.


The train drivers seat

Service is all smiles – George mans the grill and Francesca is a cheerful sight on the floor. The crowd is mostly young adults, families or curious locals. You won’t need a train ticket but you will need to wear loose pants – the servings are yabba-dabba-doo American-sized.


Owner George Papas on the grill


Burgers and po' boys on the pass

The menu is mostly drawn from burger territory, spanning the standard hamburger to the monster-sized Step-A-Side Burger groaning with two hefty 180-gram patties. You can mix things up with a veggie burger, barramundi burger or the wagyu steak burger, but it’s the roo burger that’s been a surprise hit with locals. Beetroot is an option with everything – anything less would be un-Australian.


Wagyu steak burger $17


Cheeseburger 120g $11.50 with bacon $1


Prawn po' boy $14

The po’ boys are big enough for two, served on a nine-inch baguette that either comes with chorizo or prawn, a cheeky mix of fresh prawns with frozen school prawns. The hot dogs ($5) are also massive.


Creaming soda spider $6.50 and vanilla and chocolate milkshakes $5

A creaming soda spider will take you straight back to childhood, or share a chocolate milkshake just like in the movies.


Burgers, buns and hotdog rolls on the grill


Lunch dockets


Desserts and shakes

Finish on a sweet note with fluffy, golden, freshly made waffles, a peach Melba or the perennial crowd favourite, the banana split. It’s covered with sprinkles, slivered almonds, chocolate syrup and a cherry on top, of course.


Banana split $9.50 


Waffle with maple syrup and ice cream $9.50 




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Step-A-Side Diner CLOSED
40 Roebuck Street, Cabramatta, Sydney
(corner of Hume Highway and Cabramatta Road)
Tel: +61 (0)423 333 675

Opening hours:
Sunday to Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday to Saturday 11am-12 midnight

This article appears in the December 2012 issue of Time Out Sydney in my monthly Food & Drink column Eat This! [Read online] 

Read more Time Out Sydney reviews

Naruone, Sydney

Korean fried chicken. Hello.

Is there a more perfect dish than fried chicken? You say deep-fried poultry. I say protein crunch from the gods. It's no secret that fried chicken and I are mates from way back. Hunting down the best fried chicken in Sydney is a personal quest of mine I take seriously. And often. Which is how I ended up eating fried chicken at Naruone three times over the course of two weeks. Just to make sure.


Diners inside Naruone

Naruone is easy to miss on the stretch of Pitt Street known as Koreatown. Nestled beneath a hairdresser and next door to a Nepalese restaurant, you'll have to look for the stairs to get into the basement level of this restaurant. Inside it's brightly lit and buzzing with Asian uni students.


Banchan complimentary side dishes

The pictorial menu makes ordering easy and service is typically fast and furious. "Ready to order?" your waitstaff will ask in greeting, within minutes of you sitting down.

Complimentary dishes of banchan will kickstart your appetite while you wait for your food: pickled bean sprouts, sweet tofu and several variations of kimchi spicy pickled cabbage.


Mini size steamed pigs trotters $18

Steamed pigs trotters are slightly drier and chewier than we expect, but the marinade is rich with star anise and there's a satisfying textural contrast between meat, tendon and skin.


Sizzling stone pot bibimbap $14

We also give the bibimbap a whirl, a rainbow of cooked beef, lettuce, cucumber, carrot and sprouts arranged around a shimmering fried egg.


Crispy rice action

It's worth forking out the extra two dollars to get the stone pot version because it means the huddle of rice will crisp up into a golden disc at the bottom. The standard version comes in a normal bowl without the rice crust reward.

Pierce the egg yolk so it spills forth with sunshine, add a dollop of the supplied gochujang sauce and toss everything round until you have "mix mix rice", or bibimbap, its literal translation.


Cold buckwheat noodle soup $12

On my second visit it's a hot night so the cold buckwheat noodle soup is just the kind of refreshment we're looking for. Cold soup might not sound appealing, but this clear broth is sweet and lightly salted, scattered with a confetti of sesame seeds.

The buckwheat noodles are a little tricky to untangle, particularly because the noodles are cold and stuck together, but they're nutty to taste, and still have some bite.


Bulgogi hot pot $38 small

The bulgogi hot pot comes on a portable burner, a cauldron of stock brimming with ingredients. It only takes a few minutes for the broth to start boiling furiously, and then it's each person for themself to plunder its depths. The thin sweet slices of marinated beef tend to clump together, but there's plenty of other treats to discover, like enoki mushroom, silky tofu, carrot, garlic chives and fat chewy rods of dduk rice noodles.


Napa wraps with boiled pork and kimchi $36

It's a roll-your-own affair with the napa wraps served with boiled pork and kimchi - not hard to manage but a little tricky if there are a number of you and this dish is way down the other end of the table.

Things get a little fancier than your standard bossam affair, with the pork slices heated gently on a steamer at your table. This creates a hot and cold contrast of steaming pork and wilted garlic chives against the cold spiciness of kimchi cabbage, all wrapped up in a crunchy cabbage leaf. It's a fun dish but I prefer the version with raw oysters in the kimchi.


Braised beef short rib $19 small

On my third visit we attack the braised beef short rib - cooked but perhaps an hour from fall-off-the bone. What it does bring is plenty of chilli - the double chilli warning on the menu should be heeded with caution. It won't blow your head off immediately, but the cumulative burn effect will be felt once you have a few mouthfuls of beef, vermicelli noodle and spicy lava broth.


Naruone dining room

But what about the fried chicken? I hear you ask.



Fried chicken and fried chicken with sweet and spicy sauce $33 half & half 

HAAAAAA-LLELUJAH.

Bring in the choir because this KFC is worth singing about. There are three types of Korean fried chicken: plain fried chicken, with sweet and spicy and sauce, and plain with spring onions. Let's not talk about the boneless version. Any fried chicken worth eating is on the bone, right?


Fried chicken with sweet and spicy sauce and fried chicken $33 half & half 

If you can't decide, the half-and-half option gives you original ($30) and sweet and spicy ($32) on the same plate for $33. The sweet and spicy seems to vary in its heat factor - on my first visit it was mild and overwhelmingly garlicky; on my second visit the chilli was amped up considerably.

The sauce is sticky and viscous and guaranteed to make a mess of your fingers. Freeze-dried garlic chips for garnish will keep any vampires at bay for at least a week.


Fried chicken with spring onion $32

The most popular dish on tables around the restaurant is this one - the fried chicken with spring onion provides the crunch of original with a mountain of palate cleansing spring onion, ideal for recovery and renewed appetite.


Max draft tap beer $7 for 500ml

Beer is also good for this.


Korean fried chicken

And the verdict? The sound of satisfied silence is all the proof you need, punctuated only by the audible crunch of nobbly batter, and maybe a sigh as you meet the juicy flesh underneath.

It's the gravelly batter that makes this so good, and the lack of oily residue is impressive. The chicken stays crunchy until the last piece on the place, whether that takes you three minutes or thirty.

Is this Sydney's best Korean fried chicken? It has the crown. For now.




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Naruone
Lower Ground, 375 Pitt Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9261 2680

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 11am-3am
Sunday to Monday 11am-10pm


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Korean fried chicken - Hello! Kyochon, Chatswood