Melbourne Eating: HuTong Dumpling Bar

  

So, how do HuTong Dumpling Bar's dumplings compare to those of the global dumpling champions, Din Tai Fung? Whose xiao long bao reigns supreme?

HuTong Dumpling Bar in Melbourne city was the first stop on our Melbourne eating tour.  Fresh off the plane, we checked into our hotel, then made our way down Bourke Street to Market Lane, whose other famous inhabitant is Flower Drum, Australia's most lauded Chinese restaurant.  HuTong is more of a contemporary casual place. 

I'd heard first-hand about how good the food is here, as well as reading about HuTong's popularity in food blogs.  So I was a bit surprised to see that it was almost empty when we arrived. After we were seated by the window and given menus, we were told the kitchen was closing in 5 minutes.  Because fog in Melbourne had delayed our flight a bit, it was now 2.25pm and I hadn't realised the restaurant closes before re-opening at 5.30pm.  So I didn't have much time to ponder which dishes to have.

I quickly pointed to Spice Roast Beef ($11.80) and Shredded Turnip Pastries ($6).  The waiter said that the beef was served cold, is that alright?  Yes, I said.  The beef was indeed refrigerator-cold, and a bit dry, but tasty - a bit like corned beef.  The turnip pastries were brilliant, piping-hot spring rolls filled with Chinese turnip ('lor bak') - greasy and good.

Of course, we also had the xiao long bao soup dumplings ($9.80 for eight pieces).

The dumplings contain minced pork and mushrooms, very finely ground so that it's almost like a soft paste. The dumpling wrappers were a bit hard and 'plasticky', like they'd been sitting around for a while.  They tasted alright; given that the weather was cold and I was hungry, they filled the spot.  HuTong's dumplings are not as finely wrapped as Din Tai Fung's, although there is a good amount of soup in the dumplings that is heated to the requisite tongue-searing temperature. The dumplings are served with shredded ginger (unpeeled!) and black vinegar for dipping.

I would have liked to have tried more dishes, but the kitchen had closed by this time.  You can see into the kitchen from the front dining area, and the chefs clothed in black had indeed downed tools.  The waitstaff were relatively friendly though we felt a bit rushed when ordering and eating, but that was our fault for arriving so late.

The Vibe: For our first meal, HuTong was reasonable. The dumplings at Din Tai Fung are more delicate, in my opinion. Apparently, the noodles at HuTong are worth trying, so I'll have to order them next time. Just need to arrive before the kitchen closes.

HuTong Dumpling Bar is at 14-16 Market Lane, Melbourne, Vic.
Ph: 03 9650 8128
There is also a branch at 162 Commercial Road, Prahran, Vic.

After leaving HuTong, we turned a corner and found ourselves in a laneway covered with 'street art'.  This laneway was different, though, as it led to The Croft Institute, a trendy bar. But it was way too early for it to be open. And besides, I didn't want to dirty my boots by venturing into that manky laneway.

But I had other things on my mind, like where to eat for dinner. I had been unsuccessful at booking for Movida, but the lady I spoke to on the phone had suggested Movida Next Door. With meal strategies swirling through my brain, I snapped a few photos (to show I'd been there) and made my way back to Bourke Street, plotting and planning my next dining move...

Coming soon: Melbourne eating adventures

Excitement! Weight gain! 

I've just spent 3.5 days on a tour of Melbourne's fabulous eateries du jour!

Yes, I've just returned from a couple of days on a personal eating and shopping trip of the lovely southern capital of Melbourne.  It lived up to its reputation as a centre par excellence when it comes to good restaurants and top-class shopping.  Not that I shopped that much, mainly window-shopping, though I bought a Gordon Ramsay cookbook on sale, and a couple of pairs of owl socks (socks for making owls, that is).

I also showed immense self-restraint after eating at some popular restaurants and cafes.  I'll post about them in more detail soon, after sorting through the photos and memories. 

Here is where I ate:
Day 1: Hutong Dumpling Bar, Movida Next Door
Day 2: Cumulus Inc, Coda
Day 3: Chadstone Food Court (indifferent raisin toast), Shoya
Day 4: The Hardware Societe

I was also a frequent visitor to Brioche in Queen Street, a wonderful source of mid-afternoon baked snacks.

Please stay tuned for more, coming soon!

Apricot madeira upside-down cake from missing magazine

A weekend afternoon is spent baking an old-fashioned cake. What's not to like?

I like it!

I realised recently that I don't bake many cakes. Mainly because, with just 2 moderately hungry people in the house (and one ravenous Tabitha cat), a large cake won't get finished in one day, and most cakes are best eaten the same day.  That's why I bake cookies. Hello cookie...

Then I felt like something old skool. Something that would make me feel like an honorary member of the Country Women's Association.  This recipe from super food ideas magazine ('only $2.95!') fits the bill.  And if you'll bear with me, I will tell you a story.

Well, I made this lovely apricot upside-down cake that the CWA would be proud of . The photos turned out quite pretty, too. Then I uploaded the photos to this blog I have, with the recipe to be added another time.  A couple of days later, I couldn't remember where the recipe was from (I hear shouts of "super food ideas!" and "he's behind the tree!" in the background).

I swear I went through every one of the 50 or so magazines that are strewn around my dining table and living room. Still couldn't find it.  Then a couple of weeks later, I spy the brightly coloured cover of the missing magazine, peeking out from under some (unpaid) bills.  The rest is history. The End.

Apricot Madeira Upside-down cake

serves 8

Ingredients

Topping

800g apricot halves in natural juice
200g butter, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated orange rind
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup toasted flaked almonds

Method
1.  Preheat oven to 180C.  Grease a 5cm-deep, 20cm base square cake pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.
2.  Drain apricots, reserving 1 cup of juice.  Pat apricots dry with paper towel. Arrange cut-side up in the pan.
3. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, caster sugar and orange rind until pale and creamy.
4.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine.  Stir in half the flour. Stir in half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.
5.  Spread mixture over apricots.  Smooth the top of the batter. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Stand in pan for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, place icing sugar and reserved juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Boil without stirring for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture thickens.
7. Turn the cake out onto a plate. Pour over the sugar mixture and sprinkle with almonds.
Recipe adapted from super food ideas (August 2010)

Good ol' country ingredients, including tinned apricot halves, flour, raw caster sugar, eggs, butter, orange zest and flaked almonds

The apricot halves are placed in the base of the baking tin and the batter is smoothed over the top.  The baked cake is tipped out of the tin when cooked (hence the 'upside-down'!)

The cake is topped with flaked almonds and the syrup.

A moist, delicious cake.

Honorary member of the CWA?  Nah, how about life member??

Eating our way through Cabramatta with Betty and Jen

 Among the many events in the Crave Sydney International Food Festival (throughout October) are tours that explore the fascinating food culture of Sydney.  And one of those tours is organised and run by Jennifer Lam of Jenius and the I ate my way through company.

The 3-hour tour, called 'I ate my way through Cabramatta', takes you through the bustling arcades, streets and shops in Sydney's Little Vietnam.  Jen is assisted by Betty Pham (of Betty's Bites), and Betty led the tour we went on this Saturday.

Believe it or not, I'd never visited Cabramatta before - I lived near neighbouring Liverpool until I was 5 years old, but back then (in the Dark Ages), it was just another Australian suburb.  These days, Cabramatta is the hub for all things Vietnamese, and that includes groceries, fresh produce and, of course, restaurants.

Let's start the tour in the No. 1 Shopping Centre:

 There are a couple of fruit and veg shops here, a fishmonger, florist, butcher and food court. The quality of the vegetables is amazing, and so cheap. Makes me wonder why you can't get such great produce anywhere else, ie. near where I live.

Then you step out through the carpark area at the back into another arcade:

 Huge number of jackfruit and durians for sale - and the durians were massive! Betty gave a great commentary on the produce for sale, including ways of preparing and cooking them.

Then we stopped for a quick bite (pre-lunch):

Tan Viet restaurant is famous for its crispy chicken, and it lived up to its reputation. The chicken can be ordered with a number of accompaniments, and we had it with tomato rice, egg noodles and clear soup and bean sprouts. The queue of diners out the front is a sign that this place is gooood!

But there's more... we strolled down John Street to our next dining destination.  Here are some of the shops along the way:

Heaps of dress shops, fabric shops and cute children (children not for sale).

Lunch #2 is at Bau Truong:

 Another fabulous restaurant, and the dishes that Betty ordered were a fantastic selection of typically fresh and delicious Vietnamese cuisine.  We had prawn and pork with green papaya salad, prawn and beef rice paper rolls, deep-fried beef rolls (you wrap them in the lettuce and herb leaves), beef with green mango salad, Vietnamese pancake with yellow beans and pork rice paper rolls.
And yes, that's a big menu.

The tour winds up with a visit to a couple of grocery stores and a dessert stop:

Typically, the stores also stock kitchenware, joss sticks, prepared food to take away, and drinks.  It's a great chance to buy some of the foods and ingredients that we'd come across on the tour, and to check out the cool products (Barbie soda, anyone?).  That's Jen, me and Betty in the pic above.

The tour was a wonderful way to experience Cabramatta. Coming from someone who had not visited before, it's almost like being in another country.  Betty and Jen are knowledgable and passionate about the area and Vietnam in general. And they do know all the best places to eat and the dishes you must try.

Details of the I ate my way through Cabramatta tours can be found here.  They run on selected weekends in October and cost $55 per person (food is paid for separately).  You also get a groovy hessian market bag and a copy of Jen's book.
Excellent value and experience!

And finally, after marvelling at the beautiful green mango salad at lunch, I wanted to try it at home. Betty helpfully pointed out that you can buy peeled and sliced packs of green mango (comes with chilli salt). I also got some spiced pork roll embedded with chilli and herbs.  Dinner is ready:

For the green mango salad, I made a dressing of grated palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, crushed garlic, chilli and hot water.  Really delicious and salty, sour and sweet at the same time. A fine way to end our local tour of Vietnam.

Another fine Mess - Apricot and Turkish delight

 Turkish delight - one of the Middle East's most wonderful inventions!

I know that some people can't abide Turkish Delight's sweet, fragrant stickiness, but I love it.  There are several different flavours available, and I always get the rose.  This brand of Turkish delight is made in Australia (by the Real Turkish Delight company) and it's particularly fine, with a clear, vibrant coral pink colour.  It looks brilliant with the apricots in this version of Eton mess.

Apricot and Turkish delight mess
serves 2

Ingredients
100g mascarpone
50g Greek yoghurt
25g icing sugar
1 medium store-bought meringue, broken into pieces
6 apricot halves, chopped (if using tinned apricots, drain before using)
3 cubes Turkish delight, chopped
2 tblsp pistachios, chopped

Method
1.  Combine the mascarpone, yoghurt and icing sugar in a bowl and stir until well combined.
2.  Fold in the remaining ingredients and gently mix together.
3.  Divide the mixture between 2 small bowls and sprinkle with extra pistachios before serving.

Recipe adapted from BBC GoodFood (UK)

 Ingredients (clockwise from left): rose Turkish delight, big meringue, tinned apricot halves, pistachios, Greek yoghurt, mascarpone.  I also used the icing sugar that covered the Turkish delight.

 Serve the mess in glass bowls to show off the fabulous colours.

And the mascarpone and yoghurt are refreshingly light and not-too-sweet.

Let's Do Lunch 2010 at Aria

It's October.  It's the Crave Sydney International Food Festival. It's Let's Do Lunch!

Aria Restaurant is always a popular spot for the Let's Do Lunch event.  And with almost a full house on the first days of the event, the kitchen and waitstaff at Aria already had the lunch routine down pat.

There was a queue waiting to be seated at 12pm when my lunch companion, Caroline,  and I arrived.  Short wait to be shown to our window table (Circular Quay view) before we decided to have the Let's Do Lunch special, with a glass of Brown Brothers savagnin (white wine) for Caroline and San Pellegrino sparkling mineral water for me ($35 each, for the main and a glass of wine, water or beer).

I like how you get bread and amuse bouche included:

Two mouthfuls of a rich, intensely flavoured Gazpacho to start. With grain bread with butter.

The featured main dish this year is a roasted fillet of Wild River barramundi, on a bed of crab and pea risotto. The fish was wonderfully moist, and hot (nothing worse than a cold fish!). The risotto had a good flavour, but was more al dente than I normally like.

We also shared a side of green beans with pears, walnuts and Roquefort (extra $14):

The Roquefort cheese was amazingly good, and the beans were crisp and moreish. The pear appeared to have been marinated (or was it actually quince?).

Dessert is an extra $20. There is a great selection of desserts, including a selection of cheese.
We went with the oeufs a la neige.

This was a beautiful plate of poached meringue, saffron cream, orange sorbet, chopped pineapple and ginger, and sesame seed wafers. Quite a strong scent of saffron in the bright yellow smear of cream, while the oeufs (meringue) were soft and melt-in-the-mouth.

Desserts are a highlight at Aria, I've found.  And as our waiter said, they are made for sharing. Caroline also had a flat white (around $5), though they didn't have the soy milk version she asked for.

As I mentioned before, the operation for Let's Do Lunch at Aria is like a well-oiled machine.  We were served by around 4 different, very efficient waitstaff during our 1 hour lunch. A bit rushed, but nothing to complain about.  The setting is also fantastic, and it's fun to gaze out the window at the camera-toting tourists strolling along the waterfront. Just as long as this camera-toting diner can have a lovely meal and dessert and take some pretty pictures.

My visit to Aria last year for Let's Do Lunch can be seen here. See if you can notice the similarities between the 2009 main dish and this year's...

 Aria is at:

1 Macquarie St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: 02 9252 2555

Lord luv a duck! Duck ragu pasta

I think I’ve eaten more duck in the past few months than I have in my entire life. Duck breast here, duck breast there, Peking duck legs everywhere. I had thought that my duck-eating phase was over, but then some duck that had been lurking in the back of the refrigerator somehow waddled its way to the front…

For this duck ragu pasta recipe, I used some overlooked duck shanks from the Luv-a-Duck people that I’d picked up at the Good Food and Wine Show (note to self: must write about that fine event *I am super bad!*). Yes, there are things called duck shanks – they are like a smaller, cutdown drumstick (on the bone), and they do have a bit of meat on them. The Luv-a-Duck ones are marinated and pre-cooked, and just need to be microwaved before using.

If you don’t have pre-cooked duck on hand, you can pan-fry some duck breast or duck legs in some butter and olive oil until cooked, then shred the meat off the bones for this tasty recipe.

Duck Ragu with Pappardelle

serves 2

Ingredients

200g cooked duck meat, shredded
1 tblsp olive oil
3 slices pancetta, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
10g porcini mushrooms, soaked, drained and chopped
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup (125ml) dry red wine
400g canned diced tomatoes
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
Pappardelle pasta and grated parmesan, to serve

Method
1.  Heat 1olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add pancetta, onion, garlic, carrot, celery and bay leaves to the pan and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until they start to colour.
2.  Add the duck to the pan together with the porcini, then add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the red wine and cook for 2-3 minutes until the liquid has reduced slightly.
4.  Add the diced tomatoes and chicken stock, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 45 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
5.  Season the sauce to taste, then serve the ragu with the pappardelle and parmesan.

Recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including pappardelle, pancetta, dried porcini, bay leaf, onion, celery, carrot, tomato paste and diced tomatoes

Very rich and tasty duck pasta, with grated parmesan cheese

 

And it has some vegetables as well, for the vege-conscious.