FeedTheTang

A.Wong

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 16:38:00 +0000

A.Wong, Victoria

I can be quite opinionated when it comes to eating Chinese food outside of China. For many years I refused to eat in any high end Chinese restaurants in London, solely because I knew I would be able to stuff my face with cheap and authentic food the next time I went back to Hong Kong. I know it is a very stupid stance, and I am working on it. I have improved over the years, and although I still have a mental barrier against places like HKK and Bo London, I have finally found a middle ground for this ridiculous dilemma – ‘fancy’ dim sum.

I used to have dim sum every Sunday when I was growing up. We would order a table full of dim sum – steamed, fried, boiled, baked, until there was literally no more space on the lazy Susan and we had to start stacking the bamboo steamers on top of each other, like this. But we would always finish ALL of the food. On occasions like this in London, where the main purpose of the meal is to catch up with family and friends, and the price should be reasonable enough for us to order whatever we want, I would go to Crispy Duck in China Town or Dragon Castle in Elephant and Castle. Both cost around £15 per head including Chinese tea and service.

I only discovered ‘fancy’ dim sum - the kind available at higher end Chinese restaurants - in this country a couple of years ago. They tend to be £1 to £3 (per portion) more expensive than my usual dim sum outlets, but the final bill is rather reasonable compared to the full a la carte menu offered at dinner. My favourite dim sum place in London - Princess Garden of Mayfair - is a great example. For around £20 per head, you get a more delicate touch to the food, space between tables, and more attentive service (Mr Noodles has blogged about it here).

An interesting find recently was A.Wong in Victoria. They do regional Chinese dishes in their a la carte menu, and they also have a short dim sum menu available at lunchtime. Here, unlike the traditional format of three or four pieces of dim sum per portion, you order by individual piece. I was sceptical about it at first, but I found that the size of each dumpling is noticeably bigger than most restaurants, so that somewhat justified the price (from £1.30 each). And traditions aside, this approach works brilliantly with solo or small group of diners who want to try different items on the menu.

We ordered almost one of everything on the dim sum menu, and a few starter dishes from the a la carte. I cannot praise the steamed dumplings highly enough – fresh prawns mixed with pork fat were generously stuffed into the siu mai and topped with a piece of pork crackling. The translucent har gau was lightly covered with subtle citrus foam which was just enough to make my tongue tingle. And the xiao long bao with truffle and Yunnan mushroom was cleverly topped with black vinegar soaked tapioca.

The real triumph was the beancurd cheung fun, filled with crab meat with a layer of crispy bean curd sheet between the filling and the rice skin. The texture was excellent and was further enhanced by the clam and crunchy deep fried garlic toppings. That was a steal for £3.50. The crispy baked char siu bao was a replica of the Michelin starred version found at Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong. Both are filled with a hearty portion of roast pork, but I prefer A.Wong’s version as it was less sweet.

Not all dishes worked quite so well, though. I found the combination of deep fried quail egg and spring onion and ginger dip unusual. It was not unpleasant, but the ingredients did not seem to complement each other either. The 63 degree egg was perfectly gooey in the middle, however the supposed tea smoked flavour did not come through.

The bill came to £30 each on our first visit including tea, service and way too much food. We were more sensible (15 dim sum items and a plate of fried beef noodles between two) on our second visit, which brought the price down to £22. With the friendly front of house and quality of the ingredients, I thought that was very reasonable.

A.Wong is no traditional Chinese restaurant, but I would not classify it as fusion Chinese either. Although certain modern western cooking techniques were used, it is more like a development of Chinese cuisine itself, and I think it is quite a fascinating one.

A.Wong

Century Egg And Pork Congee

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:38:00 +0000

My parents moved to Tuen Mun for a while when I was small. It is a town near the sea in the North West of Hong Kong. I have quite a few childhood memories from there, as it was the place where I first went to school, learnt how to ride a bike and owned my first pair of roller skates. Like many other Asian parents, my mum would arrange extensive activities for me to attend after school - singing, ballet, swimming, pretty much everything I am not good at now. Sorry mum!

There was a congee breakfast place that my dad used to take me to almost every day before school. I would always share a bowl of century egg and pork congee, and a plate of deep fried dough with him. The owner’s wife recognised us as regulars so she would always give us a bit more century egg in our portion. Sometimes we would also have a small plate of soy sauce fried noodles with beansprouts instead of the fried dough, but only if I was very good.

This is a cheat congee recipe as I used frozen cooked rice to speed up the cooking. The proper way (according to me) of cooking congee, is to marinate washed rice grains with sesame oil and salt the night before, and then boil in water or stock for at least 1.5 hours until the desired consistency is achieved. I like mine thick and heavy.

I used pork shoulder in this recipe because I like to have a bit of fat in my meat. Traditionally we use lean pork (瘦肉), like loin, which is poached until tender and then shredded to mix into the congee.

Century egg and pork congee

Serves 2

2 Century eggs

250g Pork shoulder

300g Cooked rice (frozen)

1.2l Water

Thumb sized piece of ginger, cut into short and thin strips

1 Stalk spring onion, roughly chopped

For the pork marinade:

1 tbsp Soy sauce (this will make the congee looks a bit brown, you can use 1tsp salt instead)

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 tsp Cornflour

0.5 tsp Sugar

Pinch of white pepper

Cut the pork into small slices and then mix with the marinade, set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Put the rice and water into a medium saucepan, bring to the boil. Keep boiling at a medium high heat for around 10 minutes. Do not leave the pan unattended as it may overflow. Add the pork and a couple of ginger pieces to the pan, and then turn the heat down to medium low. Put the lid on but leave a small gap between the lid and the pan by using a wooden spoon or chopstick. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into small pieces. Add half of the century egg pieces to the congee. Simmer for further 15 to 30 minutes, depending on what consistency you are after. The longer you leave it, the thicker the congee will become.

Use a ladle to serve the congee in a large bowl, and then put the rest of the egg and the spring onion on top to finish.

Tofu With Century Egg

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:58:00 +0000

凉拌菜 - literally means cold-mix dish, and they are very popular in the summer. They are normally appetisers consisting of blanched vegetables or cooked meat, which are mixed together with nuts and herbs, to be served at room temperature. Both jellyfish with sesame oil and "bang bang chicken" are types of 凉拌菜.

Soft tofu is perfect for making these cold starters. It can taste great by just adding ingredients as simple as chopped preserved vegetables, spring onion, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce and sesame oil. I am using century egg as the main topping in this recipe, and adding extra crunch with some celery. Soft tofu generally does not require cooking, but I would always blanch it whole in hot water for a few minutes before using it. You can also steam it.

Tofu with century egg

Serves 2

1 Century egg

300g Silky soft tofu

1 stalk of celery, cut into short and thin strips

A couple of Celery leaves

1 stalk of Spring onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds

2 tbsp Soy sauce

1 tbsp Sesame oil

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into 8 segments. Place tofu on a serving plate. Carefully arrange 6 segments of the egg on top of the tofu. Chop the rest of the egg into small pieces.

Place the celery on top, followed by the chopped century eggs and sesame seeds. Add soy sauce and sesame oil, and then sprinkle the spring onion and celery leaves to decorate. Heat vegetable oil over a high heat, and then add a splash to finish.

Spicy version: Add 1 tsp ground toasted Sichuan peppercorns and 1 chopped red chilli on top of the century egg. Add 1 tsp of chilli oil together with the soy sauce and sesame oil for extra heat.

Steamed Eggs With Century Egg

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:08:00 +0000

Steamed egg (蒸水蛋) is one of my favourite comfort foods. It only takes little time to prepare, yet is so satisfying. To me, the perfect wobbly steamed egg has an egg to water ratio of 1:1.5. The easiest way to measure this is to use the egg shells so you do not have to use scales. I use warm water in the recipe, as this is the way I was originally taught, and the result is always better (more smooth) than using water at room temperature. Boil a kettle full of water and then leave it to cool. Put your finger in the water, if it is warm but not painful then it is good to use.

Steamed eggs with century egg

Serves 2

4 Medium eggs

1 Century egg

12 Half egg shells of warm water

Pinch of salt

1 tsp Sesame oil

1 stalk Spring onion, roughly chopped

2 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Remove shell of the century egg, and then cut it into 8 segments. Arrange the slices evenly in a steam proof dish (at least 3cm deep).

Beat the eggs in a bowl until the white and yolks are fully combined. Add warm water and mix well. Add sesame oil and a pinch of salt, give it a stir. Pass the egg mixture through a fine sieve to get rid of any bubbles, and then pour it onto the century egg slices. Cover with cling film.

Place the dish on a rack over a wok of boiling water. Put the lid on and then turn the heat down to medium-low. Steam for 15 minutes. If the centre is still runny, steam for further 3 to 4 minutes.

Add soy sauce to the steamed egg and then sprinkle some spring onion on top. Heat vegetable oil over a high heat, and then add a splash of the hot oil to finish.

Variations: add salted egg (金銀蛋) , or replace century egg with soaked dried scallops (瑤柱), or just simply plain steamed egg. Best served with rice.

Century Egg 皮蛋

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:28:00 +0000

I have been asked so many times over the years by my non-Chinese friends, ‘Why do Chinese people eat century eggs?’. Looking at one, the shell looks just like a normal duck egg, but after removing the shell, a black jellified oval ball emerges. If I had never seen one before, I would be horrified too. I was introduced to it when I was little, probably around three, and I was not quite intelligent enough to know that a black egg is actually quite ‘unusual’. My dad used to take me to a local congee breakfast place almost every day before school. There was no better breakfast in the whole world than a bowl of pork and century egg congee(皮蛋瘦肉粥), and a plate of deep fried dough(油炸鬼).

While the gelatinous egg ‘white’ of a century egg does not taste of much, its creamy yolk carries quite a distinct metallic flavour. The classic way of serving it is cut in half, topped with pickled ginger slices as a cold appetiser. I am going to share some of my favourite century egg recipes with you in the next few posts. You are going to try them, yes?

Happy April!

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:08:00 +0000

First of all I have a new blog header! Yes I have finally ditched my burger and chips photo, which was taken at the Spotted Pig in NYC a few years ago. This new header was designed by the super talented ShuHan – the creative brain behind the beautiful blog MummyICanCook. I adore the simplicity of her style so I asked her to design a new blog header for me as a favour (and also because I won’t be able to afford her when she becomes famous!). She drew a few samples for me and I chose the one with a pair of red lips about to eat a dumpling, which sort of fits in with my blog title, don’t you think?

Another piece of good news is my Hong Kong style cocktail buns gained a few seconds of air time during Paul Hollywood’s Bread show on BBC2 last Monday. My local baking group BandOfBakers was contacted by the production team to take part in the ‘Enriched bread’ episode. A few members including me had to bake some bread to take with us, so I made cocktail buns. It was quite hilarious to see them on TV, but at the same time I could feel a sense of achievement emerging. I felt like I had done something for Hong Kong. If there was a cocktail bun ambassador, it would be me.

I saved the biggest news till last - I have been shortlisted for this year’s Pink Lady Food Photography Award! With over 5000 entries, I am one of the seven finalists in the ‘Food For Sale’ category. How great is that? I could not believe it when I read the email, and only when I stood in front of the print at the Mall Galleries in London, I started to realise that it was real. Even though I did not win a prize, seeing my name on the wall, and gaining recognition for something I love to do, was an immense feeling. All the winners and finalists’ photos are exhibited at the Mall Galleries, London from 24th April to 28th April 2013.

And it is sunny in London! Happy all round :)

WeFeast

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:08:00 +0000

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

From Kowloon To Kolkata

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:38:00 +0000

Darjeeling Express

A couple of weeks ago I was very lucky to be invited to a supper club that I had been longing to go. I first met Asma - the chef behind Darjeeling Express, at the press night of the Sunday Feast event in summer 2012. I remember we were all busy preparing canapés in the kitchen at the School Of Wok, and how I managed to snatch a portion of her delicious prawn curry before it was served to the guests. So when I found out that she and Wen - one of the founders of the Edible Experiences website as well as an excellent cook from a Hakka background - were joining forces to cook up an Indian-Chinese feast, I just could not say no.

The menu of the night was based around the China Town ‘Tangra’ in Kolkata, India. The Hakka community moved there over a century ago, where the Chinese food served in the cafes and restaurants has been slowly adapted to the local’s palette to become an unique Indian-Chinese cuisine.

We started the meal with ‘Thunder Tea Rice’ - garlic rice topped with pickled vegetables, tofu, nuts and a savoury herby tea dressing. The rice was served at room temperature and was relatively light and refreshing. I mentioned to Wen that I wished I could have something like that for lunch at work, and coincidentally she said that the dish is actually widely popular among office workers in Singapore. We had Asma's lemon chicken next. Thankfully it was nothing like the dish you find at Chinese buffet restaurants. It was a plate of beautifully charred chicken pieces, soaked in lemon juice before serving. Think gently spiced chicken kebab with a dash of lemon juice.

Wen's mushroom fritters were all freshly fried, a fiddly job to do in a domestic kitchen, especially for 24 diners! I loved the idea of sprinkling ground Sichuan peppercorn and salt on top of them. The smell of the toasted Sichuan peppercorns and the fried wild mushrooms was incredible. We also had some prawn spring rolls, followed by green chilli beef and Hakka noodles.

The real highlight of the evening for me was the fried cauliflower with a sticky red chilli sauce. Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables, I normally like it roasted with cumin, or fried with minced pork and chilli oil. I saw Asma preparing it earlier in the evening, shallow frying the cauliflower until golden. The sauce was added afterwards. There was just about the right amount of chilli in the sauce so it was not too spicy. I cannot wait to try recreating this dish at home!

Even though we were now all stuffed, Wen brought out the last main course - Hakka basin feast. Yes it was a dish with the word 'feast' in the name. We have a very similar dish in my hometown of Yuen Long in Hong Kong. It is traditionally served during celebrations where normally no less 10 ingredients are used. Meat, seafood and vegetables are cooked separately and then layered on top of each other in a huge container (as big as a basin, therefore the name) and then simmered until serving.

I have a weak spot for glutinous rice desserts, and Wen's Muah Chee with black sesame seeds was full of wonderful chewiness. We ended the meal with a plate of colourful spiced fruits prepared by Asma.

The evening was relaxed and fun. I had dishes that I had not even heard of before, as well as some familiar ones that tasted completely different from what I expected (in a very good way). I am not sure when Asma and Wen are going to do this again but I only had one thought when I walked out of Asma's beautiful home - I will be back for a full-on Indian night. And you should be too.

Announcement: I am thrilled to announce that Asma and I are going to do a collaboration in May. Our night will feature both Indian and Chinese dishes - each section of the menu featuring two related dishes, but cooked in completely different ways. Find out more on the Edible Experiences website if you are interested!

Greenberry Café

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:08:00 +0000

Greenberry Café, Primrose Hill

A few days ago I suddenly realised that I had not written a restaurant post since September last year. I thought about writing about ramen but there are quite a few out there (see here and here), so I am going to leave it short and sweet - I LOVE BONE DADDIES. That is all.

But today I would like to share with you a very enjoyable meal that I had earlier this year at the Greenberry Café, Primrose Hill. I first met the head chef PC a couple of years ago at The Long Table. At that time he was about to embark on a culinary trip around the world. His impressive experience at some of the best restaurants in London (e.g. Chez Bruce, Cinnamon Club and Claridge's) had given me much anticipation for his return so I could try his food. Coincidentally I also know Hannah - a Leith’s trained chef who also works at the café - at a Jewish supper club she used to run at her home in Islington last year. She is renowned for her love of cakes, and she is very good at making them. Her strawberry cheesecake was so good that my husband ate three slices at her supper club.

I went to the Greenberry Café with my girlfriends for a late Sunday lunch. The café was very easy to find, but somehow one of us managed to get lost and only got there an hour after our booking time! It was a very busy Sunday afternoon, thankfully the staff were very understanding and we were given the menu and some Japanese pickles while we waited. The menu could be a little overwhelming at first – there were bar snacks, breakfast, "traiteur", a la carte and desserts, all on one page. But each section was well thought out to cater for guests visiting at different times of the day. We were encouraged to mix and match, from classic British bites to interesting international dishes like ceviche, miso aubergines and soba noodles, which I was pleasantly surprised to see on the menu.

We started the meal with some light dishes and cold meat plates. Among the starters we were most impressed by the house cured spice beef. It came in relatively thick slices with a few gherkins on the side. The beef itself was dark and rich, the slight chewiness gave each mouthful an extra meaty sensation.

Top: Endive, Roquefort and pecan salad. Middle: Terruel Lomo D.O.P. Bottom: Spice cured beef.

Because we were extremely hungry when we ordered the mains, we all opted for the heavy dishes on the menu (we even did a ‘go-large’ on the miso aubergines!). I ordered the roast cod, and adored it. The flesh was cooked just right with a lovely silky texture, which together with the gentle sour note from the tamarind puree made for a highly addictive dish, and I just wanted more. Another highlight of the meal was the pulled pork bun. The pork was heavily seasoned but not overly salty. Eating the bun was a messy job but it worked in my favour as I could just nibble the flakes off my friend’s plate when she was not looking.

Top: Miso glazed aubergines and smoked aubergine relish. Second: Pulled pork bun. Third: Salt beef sandwich. Bottom: Roast cod, quinoa and tamarind puree.

We were all full up by the time we finished the mains, but it would be foolish to miss Hannah’s desserts. So we ordered the two most tempting desserts to share between six of us – an apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream and a St. Emilion au chocolat. And yes we chose well. SO WELL. The pastry of the tatin was beautifully brown and crispy. It was a hearty portion but soon demolished out of greed. The St. Emilion au chocolat is a no-bake chocolate cake, think heavenly rich dark chocolate mixed with crunchy marcaroon.

It was a busy Sunday so the service was a little slow at times, but nonetheless the staff were cheerful and accommodating. Considering the amount of food we ate, the bill of £25 per person including service seemed very reasonable to me. It is the kind of place I feel I could drop in any time of day just for a cup of coffee or a pastry, a light lunch, or for a mid-week night out. I just wish it was closer to home!

Greenberry Café

Purple Sweet Potato Mochi

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:18:00 +0000

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.

Purple Sweet Potatoes And Green Tea Swiss Roll

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:18:00 +0000

When I was small, my family used to take me and my brother for barbeques in a country park in 'Tai Mo Shan' (literally 'Big Hat Mountain'), Hong Kong. Barbeque is a very different affair over there. There are stone barbeques and benches in the park, where people sit around, skewer the food on special metal forks, and grill them over a bed of charcoal. I would always start with two Frankfurter sausages (with a coat of honey) and end with a roast sweet potato. Since purple sweet potatoes are more rare and expensive than the normal ones, my parents would buy a mixture of both and then wrap them in tin foil. And if I was lucky, I would get a purple one.

There are not many Chinese sweet potato desserts. The most common one we eat in Hong Kong is called 番薯糖水 (sweet potato sweet soup) – boiled chunks of sweet potato in ginger syrup. However, cakes made from sweet potato are very popular in Japan, and that is where the influence for this recipe came from. A few weeks ago I got hold of some purple sweet potatoes. I baked them in the oven until soft, and then added... erm... condensed milk. I know it is not very conventional, but it tasted damn good. So trust me on this one.

I used the puree as a filling for a green tea Swiss roll, which I made for last month's Band of Bakers ‘Vegetable’ themed event. The green tea is quite subtle in this recipe, just enough in the background to complement the earthy taste of the sweet potato.

Sweet potato puree

Makes around 300g

3 Purple Sweet Potatoes (around 420g)

4 tbsp Condensed Milk

2 tsp Full Fat Milk

Preheat a fan oven to 200C. Bake the whole purple sweet potatoes (skin on) for at least 50 minutes. Use a fork to poke the potatoes to check that they are soft enough.

One by one, cut the potatoes in half, and then use a teaspoon to scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Use the back of a fork to mash the potatoes. Add the condensed milk and full fat milk. Mix well.

Use cling film to shape the puree into a long tube, twist to tighten both ends and then keep cool in the fridge.

Green tea Swiss roll with purple sweet potato puree

Serves 8

Sponge:

6 Medium Eggs (separated)

100g Caster Sugar

50g Self-Raising Flour

10g Matcha Powder

10g Ground Almond

40ml Full Fat milk

1 tsp Icing Sugar (for dusting)

Filling:

250ml Double Cream

30g Icing Sugar

160g Purple Sweet Potato Puree

Sugar Syrup:

20g Caster Sugar

60ml Water

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 25cm x 38cm tin with greaseproof paper. Make the sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water, and bring to boil until reduced by half. Leave it aside to cool.

Beat the yolks with 50g caster sugar until pale and creamy. Add half of the flour, mix well. Repeat for the remaining half. Add the ground almond, then slowly sift in the green tea powder, add the milk to loosen the mixture in between.

Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites at a medium speed until you see lots of small air bubbles. Switch to high speed, and then add the 50g caster sugar, spoon by spoon, into the egg whites. Stop mixing when stiff peaks form. Do not overwork it.

Mix a quarter of the egg white into the cake batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites, a quarter at a time, until fully incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and gently spread out with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove the sponge from oven. Cool it in the tin for a few minutes, and then cool (with the greaseproof paper still in place) completely on a wire rack. Place a piece of greaseproof paper (a bit bigger than the size of the tin) on a work surface, turn the sponge upside down.

Carefully remove the paper on the top. This 'smooth' side is the outer layer of the Swiss roll. Turn the sponge over (i.e. 'rough' side up). Brush the sugar syrup onto the sponge, including the edges.

Whip the fresh cream with icing sugar until soft peaks form, and then evenly spread it onto the sponge. With the shorter side facing you, line the puree around 6 to 8 cm from the bottom of the sponge. Roll the sponge over the puree and carry on until it is done.

Use the greaseproof paper to wrap around the roll, twist to tighten both ends and then put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cut both ends off when ready, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Kung Hei Fat Choi 恭喜發財

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:58:00 +0000

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! I wish you all a prosperous year恭喜發財, good health身體健康, and that all your wishes come true萬事如意!

How are you going to celebrate this 15 day long festival? With food! Before my grandfather passed away and before I moved to the UK, we used to go to his house for almost every meal during the Chinese New Year period. We would only eat vegetarian food on the first day of the New Year, probably because my grandfather believed in Buddhism. I remember he used to make a mountain of ‘Law Hon Jaai’ spring rolls, filled with Chinese mushroom, black fungus, carrot and bamboo shoots - full of crunchy delights that made grumpy little me forget they were meat-free.

I have not been back to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year since I came to live in the UK, and it has been more than 10 years now (I am not old, I just came to live here when I was REALLY young). As the years go by, I tend to make more effort to keep the traditions alive. I guess I am worried that one day I will not care about it anymore, and lose touch with the Chinese side of me. That would be very scary. So this year I followed the tradition to clean the house on the 28th of December (Chinese calendar), and bought some new stuff including pyjamas, socks and bedding to prepare for the New Year. I feel particularly proud of my candy box, obviously koala biscuits are the way forward.

My husband's side of the family was over for lunch on the first day of Chinese New Year. Apart from the must-eat dishes like Law Pak Go, Nin Go and Tong Yuen, I also made a few dishes that carry special greeting messages:

Law Pak Go (Chinese radish/turnip cake) – radish sounds like good fortune in Chinese.

Pork and chive dumplings – the dumplings look like old Chinese currency, symbolising prosperity.

Steamed whole grey mullet – fish sounds like leftovers in Chinese. It is good to have some leftovers every year, as it means we are not lacking anything.

Prawns with salted egg yolks – salted egg yolk give the dish a golden look, a good look understandably.

Clams in chilli sauce – fresh and lively clams give good motivation for the New Year.

Roast meat platter, braised whole chicken with spring onion and ginger sauce, and broccoli with beancurd and Chinese mushrooms – they appear in ALL Chinese festive meals by default.

Fried purple sweet potato mochi cake – no meaning, just something I wanted to make.

Nin Go (coconut and glutinous rice cake) – literally means gaining height every year.

Tong Yuen (black sesame glutinous rice balls) – the shape and the name give the meaning ‘reunion’.

Happy eating in the year of snake! Tssss…

Grilled Eel in Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:58:00 +0000

I never knew that eating eel would cause such a big fuss in this country, until I was introduced to jellied eels. For those who do not live in the UK, this dish consists of chunks of eel boiled in a stock, which is then left to cool and jellify. In my world that translates to EWWW. No wonder eel has such a bad reputation here.

Steaming is the most common way of eating eel in the Tang household. My dad would cut the eel into chunks, marinate it in a garlic and black bean sauce, steam the dish at a high heat, and then finish with a splash of hot oil – a truly delicious dish that I demand to eat every time I go back to Hong Kong. The downside of eating eel this way is the bones, I know that many people avoid eating eel because they are so put off by this. The Japanese people are a bit smarter, they eat them filleted instead. Check out how they do it here.

On our final day in Seoul, we went to an eel restaurant in the Jongno area for lunch. There were several tanks full of different types of live eel outside the restaurant - a promising start. We ordered three eel between five people. Similar to the Japanese method of preparation, they were pinned onto a board, filleted and then grilled on a bed of charcoal. The soy sauce glaze caramelised the skin under the heat to form a golden crispy crust, around the firm and meaty white flesh. The freshness was phenomenal.

As with most of the barbecue/grill restaurants in Seoul, the meal came with a few vegetable sides to eat with the meat. This time we also had some deep fried eel bones. They were wonderfully crunchy!

Eel restaurant

If you are interested in cooking eel at home, you can get them from Billingsgate market or Chinese fishmongers. I have seen them in SeeWoo in North Greenwich. The eel I mentioned above is freshwater eel, please do not confuse it with conger eel which is much bigger.

This is the last of my Seoul posts for now! You can find all the Seoul posts here.

Seoul Cafés

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:38:00 +0000

I like the taste of coffee, but I cannot really drink much due my hyperactive nature. It would only take one shot to send me to restless-land. Despite that, I love going to cafés, particularly the Asian ones. They sell cakes made from light fluffy sponge, layered with fruit or tea flavoured cream. I like to eat them with a cup of rich green tea latte.

We went to a few cafés during our trip in Seoul, here are the two that I really liked, located in my favourite areas Samchungdong and Sinsadong.

Samchungdong is an ‘old’ part of Seoul to the east of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Here you will find a group of traditional houses on a hill overlooking the rest of Seoul, known as the Bukchon Hanok Village. Most of them now serve as guest houses or cultural centers. There are also plenty of little alleyways you can explore in Samchungdong, featuring art galleries, cafés and small shops.

Retrona Pie is a three story café specialising in sweet American style pies. My guide book said the chef was trained in Japan before starting his own business here, no wonder why the pastries looked so immaculately pretty. We ordered a slice of raspberry and green tea pie, and a slice of earl grey and chocolate pie. The cream was light yet full of flavour, just what we needed for a mid afternoon break.

Retrona Pie

Unlike in London, the posh part of Seoul is South of the Han River. Sinsadong is modern and full of trendy and relatively high end shops, and it is also the capital of plastic surgery. It was not hard to notice the advertisements at the station showing the “before” and “after” images. Apart from that, Sinsadong is lovely to walk around with no shortage of good restaurants and bars.

We popped into Deux Amis for dessert after binging on some KFC nearby. It was still very busy even though it was past ten o’clock, I wish London had somewhere like this. We shared a slice of salted caramel and chocolate cake, how cute is the little macaroon on top? My husband was very happy with his pink lychee juice and raspberry sorbet in a sundae glass.

Deux Amis

Ginseng Chicken Soup, Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:38:00 +0000

I had been to Seoul once when I was little. Back in those days my parents were not very adventurous travellers (not with two kids anyway!), so we just joined a tour group - one of those tours ran specifically for Hong Kong tourists, which only took us to Chinese restaurants for most of the meals during the trip. But on one very cold day, when we had just got off the coach after a long drive from the mountains, feeling tired and hungry, we were treated to a local speciality. My parents told me I could have one whole chicken to myself, and wow, I was over the moon. It was served in a black casserole filled with a cloudy chicken stock. I remember scooping out the glutinous rice from inside the chicken cavity, and my glasses steamed up with the fragrance of ginseng. This is one of my earliest food memories.

Tosokchon is a very popular Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) restaurant in Seoul. It is often swamped by Chinese and Japanese tour groups, therefore most of the staff are fluent in both languages. The classic ginseng chicken soup came with a shot of ginseng liquor, some people drink it before the meal but I like to pour it into the stock. The young chicken was stuffed with glutinous rice, chestnuts, ginseng and dates, and then poached in a herbal stock. The sweetness from the flesh was a perfect match for the gentle bitterness from the ginseng.

From a Chinese medicinal point of view, eating ginseng is said to enhance the inner strength of the human body, so we do not become ill easily. I did feel my body temperature boost for a good while afterwards. It is quite hard to bring myself to believe that this is actually a summer dish!

Tosokchon 토속촌삼계탕

After the meal we stumbled into a nearby local market. We saw a herbal shop, countless bowls of pickled vegetables and some spicy fish.

Just a normal day for these ladies, sorting through a huge basket of chillies.

Tongin Market 통인시장

A short 15 minute walk away from Tosokchon, you can find one of the must-visit palaces in Seoul - The Gyeongbokgung palace. Apart from its history and architectural background, the guard changing ceremony was also a highlight of the visit. Check out the stick-on beards!

The beautiful floating Gyeonghoeru pavilion is located at the west side of the palace, where the king used to hold feasts for important guests and officials.

The Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁

Hanu Beef, Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:38:00 +0000

It all started with a photo-envy. I came across this (via @TomEats) when I was looking for restaurant ideas in Seoul. Pure beef porn. I too wanted to have a photo of beautifully marbled hanu beef on my blog. And here it is.

South Korean people take great pride in their beef. Hanu beef is considered a luxury because its price is a lot higher than imported meat, therefore it is generally only eaten on special occasions.

Despite the high price of the meat, the restaurant we visited was relatively basic - it had no menu, and we had to sit on tatami (Japanese style floor with mats). Our host ordered the food by showing a photo of hanu beef on her phone. The waiter smiled, and then the food was on our table within five minutes. You know those places you see in Chinese movies, where the kitchen porter is actually a retired kung fu master? Yes I felt like I was in one of those.

The beef came with kimchi, pickled onions, seaweed, a small spring onion salad and raw garlic. We greased the hot plate by rubbing a piece of beef fat all over it, followed by some garlic. The smell was amazing. We then lightly seared the beef for around thirty seconds each side. The beef did not melt-in-the-mouth as much as the wagyu I tried in Japan, but it was tender with a slight chewiness, a texture I had not come across before.

We also had Gyeran jjim (steamed egg in casserole) – a mild and comforting dish that made all the gluttonous beefy action feel right.

The location of the restaurant is a secret. I also have no idea how much the meal was as we did not pay for it. Sorry!

We were determined to have another hanu beef meal before we left Seoul, but since we did not know where to go we just picked one that was recommended in my guidebook. I was a bit sceptical about this restaurant because 1) it was in Myeong-dong and 2) it had an English menu. But it was all fine when the food arrived. We ordered some beef and pork, all farmed in South Korea according to our waitress. The colour of the beef was not as dark as the one we had previously, maybe not as aged? But the marbling was again insanely good.

Similar to the baby octopus restaurant we visited earlier in our trip, the meat was cooked on a rack placed directly over charcoal. It did not take long for the beef to become charred around the edges. Am I the only one to get overly excited about the sound of oil dripping onto the smoking hot charcoal? *tizzzzz*

During this trip, I discovered my favourite way of eating barbecued meat – wrapped in a shiso leave with miso.

화로이야기

If there is one kind of beef you cannot buy in London, it has to be hanu beef. Definitely worth including one of the hanu restaurants in your eat-list if you are planning to visit South Korea.

FeedTheTang In Twenty Twelve

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:08:00 +0000

A slightly late round up of 2012. My personal highlight of 2012 was definitely the launch of my supper club - FedByTang. I had lots of questions when I started seven months ago. I was worried that the location would be a problem, what if no one wanted to come? More importantly, what if no one liked my food? Hmm... Did I say I am a worrier? Well there was only one way to find out, so I just went for it. It was a pretty nerve racking moment when I read the first review, so it was such a relief to find that it was positive! I have also met many lovely people via my supper club, and it has given me the opportunity to do things I never would have done otherwise. I am not going to bore you with details, but I will mention a couple below.

Back in February, I took a one day course making petit fours at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. It was quite an intensive course as we had to make macaroons, chocolate mousse, pistachio and almond financiers, chocolate and raspberry cakes, and creme brulee all in one day (from 8:30am to around 4pm). The chef was very knowledgeable and we were encouraged to do everything ourselves. I was quite pleased with my raspberry macaroons, although I have only successfully made them once since...

Le Cordon Bleu Paris
One day petite fours course 160 euros (2012)

We took an extra couple of days to stay behind. One of the most memorable meals I had this year was at a tiny bistro called Le Timbre. I rarely go for the same kind of meat twice but I could not resist the sound of crispy pig’s feet with red cabbage and black pig with winter vegetables. The meal costed around 25 euros each for three courses, which was very reasonable for Paris. Booking is a must.

Le Timbre

In April I took a food photography course ran by the well regarded food photographer Paul Winch-Furness. We shot around the Maltby Street Market and then had lunch at Bea’s Diner. Here are a couple of my favourite shots:

More photos here, Paul’s PhotoPopup course

We spent 4 days in Lisbon for a friend’s wedding at the end of April. I loved the trams, the hills and of course the Pasteis de Nata (Portugese custard tarts).

At the beginning of the summer I went to the Bea’s crawfish boil at Maltby Street Market. We swallowed 10 trays of crawfish, potatoes, sausages and sweet corn (+ lots of margaritas) that night. I hope they will do it again next summer as it was so much fun.

More photos here , Bea’s diner

Just before the Olympics kicked off, we went to Barcelona to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. I remember sitting in the hotel room trying very hard to understand the inside jokes of the opening ceremony. Then suddenly the Queen jumped out of the helicopter, and nothing seemed to matter anymore.

In August I was invited to be one of the guest chefs at the Global Feast - a 20 night dinner party held at the Stratford Old Town Hall, featuring dishes from all over the world. For the Chinese night, I made soy sauce infused soft boiled eggs, crispy roast pork and a tofu and shallot canapes. Main was Sichuan peppercorn duck breast with stir fried Chinese broccoli and black fungus. It was not easy to cook for so many people but the hard work had paid off as I got a mention in Hot-Dinners!

My little brother left London for good early in September, to return to Hong Kong. We used to go to our favourite lunch spot, City Caphe, once a week. Sometimes we would eat in, sometimes we would just chat while waiting in the queue. Oh how I have missed those days.

But not long after he moved back I went back to Hong Kong myself for a three week holiday. We also went on a short family trip to Seoul during my visit. Seoul is not really an established food destination compared to other Asian cities such as Tokyo, Taipei or Hong Kong, but it’s an interesting city to visit nonetheless thanks to the abundance of K-pop, kimchi, soju and cosmetics shops.

One of the happiest moments came later in the year. I paired up with the Plusixfive supper club to hold a Singaporean/Hong Kong night at the School of Wok in Covent Garden. We had fun cooking, singing, and dancing in the kitchen. Our guests were well fed and we both felt that we had achieved something incredible that evening. One of my favourite reviews of the event is written by @Ailbhetweets. Loved the illustration of my steamed sea bass dish.

A few memorable meals I had in London this year, thanks to:
The Corner Room (remains my all time favourite)
Upstairs At Ten Bells
Dabbous
Sushi Tetsu
Kitchen Table At Bubbledogs
Ben Spalding At John Salt

Pretty good year huh? May there be more happy food adventures in 2013! Happy new year!

Gwangjang Market, Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 23:28:00 +0000

Gwangjan Market was one of our ‘fuel’ stops on the way to Dongdaemun Market. The market itself is huge with an extensive selection of shops selling textile products. But we were there for the food market. There are two main alleyways in the market crammed with many little restaurants and food stalls. Raw fish, blood sausages, pig’s trotters and some seaweed rice rolls are just some of the items this market offers. If you want THE Seoul street food experience, this is the place to go.

The stalls are mainly run by Korean middle-aged women, who tempt potential customers by waving fried food in their faces. We settled ourselves down with a friendly lady who offered us freshly fried courgette. Later she showed us that she had been in one of the local food magazines, oh bless her.

There was a mountain of jeon in front of us. I recognised most of the vegetable ones and crabsticks. We ordered some essentials (kimchi and beer) to start. The kimchi was very different from the ones I had tried in other Seoul restaurants, it was sweeter and less fermented. It went down really well with the oil saturated jeon. To be honest the food was not very tasty, but this place is great for people watching. I feel the same way about Borough Market, I hate it being so crowded and touristy but I cannot help but love it for its noisy and chaotic vibe.

Gwangjang Market

Eating Barbecued Baby Octopus in Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:12:00 +0000

The Koreans are the kings of extraction fans. They have these metal expandable tubes hanging from the ceilings of barbecue restaurants, the suction is so powerful that not a hint of the greasy smoky smell will be left on your clothes after the meal, even if you are wearing a jumper! Our first meal in Seoul was in a little barbecue restaurant specialising in baby octopus. It was between our hotel and Myeong-dong, not easy to find, but I knew we were at the right place when I saw the wall covered in signed photos of K-pop celebrities.

Ordering was challenging, as everything was written only in Korean. The only preparation my husband did for the trip was to find out the word for beer – Mekju, and used it continuously for the next five days. Also the fact that I was the one who looked oriental had cornered me into doing all the ordering. Luckily there were only six items on the menu. But still, after a few attempts to understand it, we ended up having whatever the table next to us was having. Later I figured out that the first three items on the menu were three different types or parts of baby octopus (KRW18000 each). There was also an assorted plate of baby octopus (KRW26000), fried rice (KRW5000), and soju (KRW2000).

We found out that we had ordered the assorted plate when the food arrived. There were some round-shaped slices (possibly the head), some short tentacles and some long ones, all covered in a vibrant and scary looking red sauce. The plate had ‘spicy’ written all over it. The meal also came with a plate of lettuce leaves, whole green chillies, a bowl of beansprout broth, miso paste and raw garlic slices on the side.

The octopus was cooked on a metal rack placed directly on top of a bowl of charcoal sunk into the middle of our table. Unlike the Korean restaurants in London, you do everything yourself. It was lots of fun cooking our own food, and we got a stern look when we left the food on the grill for too long.

I wrapped the octopus in a lettuce leaf with garlic and miso on top, it was so tasty but O LORD IT WAS HOT! I reached for the beansprout broth and downed it in no time. It was not the tastiest thing (imagine slightly salted warm water) but it did the job. My husband teased me by telling me it was a fingerbowl, and how I was an idiot foreigner. It haunted me for a couple of days, until a friend who lives in Seoul confirmed that they were for drinking from. Phew. I also saw some guests tuck into the raw green chilli by dipping it in the miso, and then followed by a whole shot of Jinro - THAT is the hardest of hardcore eating. I didn't dare to try.

I do not have the address of this place but I have marked the location on Everplaces and it looks like this:

Octopus and strong spice is not the most digestible combination, so consumption of large quantities of Korean rice tea afterwards is highly recommended.

Myeong-dong and mini tips for Seoul

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Some observations about Seoul:

Korean couples wear matching outfits, from top to toe literally.
Teenage girls use their camera phones as mirrors.
No matter what you buy, you get facial masks as a free gift.
Soju (Korean vodka) is cheaper than bottled water.

I wanted to add number 5 - there is no escape from kimchi, but it is not quite true. There was no kimchi in the Korean fried chicken restaurants. Mmm... more about KFC later...

In October I went to Seoul for a 5 day trip, we stayed at the PJ Hotel which is conveniently located in the middle of four metro lines, and a short walk to a touristy shopping area called Myeong-dong. The hotel is modern and clean, and mainly serves Japanese tourists so the service was great (lots of bowing). I cannot tell you how pleased I was when I found a Toto toilet in my hotel room, an instant +10 comfort points (imagine what is like eating kimchi with nearly every meal). Our room looked over a school baseball ground, not exactly the million-dollar city view you would find in one of the big city hotels but somehow heartening.

PJ Hotel

There are some local restaurants near the hotel. We did not get to try any, although it would have been fun for the sake of an authentic experience.

Myeong-dong is everything you would hope for – well, if you like shopping. Apart from a couple of shopping malls, there are also countless of cosmetics shops. They all sell virtually the same stuff, and reappear in every single alley way. DO NOT USE ANY OF THEM AS A LANDMARK. To blend in with the local culture, I bought myself some cutting-edge cosmetics products – snail essence facial masks. Yup you heard me. I also got a poisonous snake mask as a free gift. My skin will be as beautiful as this guy, lucky me!

Besides shopping, there are also many food stalls distributed throughout the main streets in Myeong-dong. The first one we encountered sold these sugar-coated spiral potato crisps on a stick, sausage optional.

GyeRanBang - hot fluffy cake with a whole egg in the middle

Toasted dried squid and sweet potato fries

Poached giant clams

Various fried snacks, including glutinous rice cakes in Gochujang

Myeong-dong Kyoja is a popular dumpling restaurant in the area. It was one of the quickest meals I had in a long time, wow they moved faster than the Chinese! The service was a bit indifferent (towards rude), reminding me of Wong Kei in London’s China Town. The filling of the dumpling is denser, probably less fatty, than those in China. Some claim it was the best meal they had in Seoul, it was decent but certainly was not the best. Wait until I show you the hanu beef...

Myeong-dong Kyoja

Here are my mini tips for Seoul:

Rent an EGG. It is too easy to get lost in Seoul, so the internet can save your life. You can hire a 4G WiFi hotspot called an EGG from Korean network company Olleh, at the airport or other branches in the city. For 8000KRW a day, you can tweet/instagram/facbook anytime you want. You know you want it. And you get a facial mask as a free gift too, obviously.
Take the airport bus. Airport bus is the most convenient way to travel/from the airport. There are more than 30 routes covering most of the hotels in Seoul as well as some of the suburban areas.
Taxis can be cheaper than taking the Metro. Take the grey or white ones, the black ones are for tourists and charge at a higher rate.
Fruit is expensive in Korea, eat kimchi instead.
If in doubt, point. People are generally nice and helpful if you ask nicely. I cannot speak Korean but managed to get what I wanted by just pointing at signs/map/pictures of food etc most of the time.
Read these blogs: TomEatsJenCooks, SeoulInTheCity

Cocktail Buns

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:02:00 +0000

So I went to Hong Kong and Seoul for three weeks in October, blog posts coming soon(ish) I promise. But before that I want to tell you how I coped with nasty homesickness and post-holiday depression - I made bread.

A few months ago I joined Band of Bakers - a south east London baking club. We meet up at one of the local restaurants or cafes for a monthly themed baking gathering. From green tea Swiss roll to strawberry and cream choux buns, it soon became an essential event that I look forward to attending every month. There was a special event in October where the theme was enriched breads i.e. breads that have butter, sugar and eggs. I have never been very good at making bread, me and yeast just do not get on very well… So in order to hide my weakness (not competitive at all), I baked cocktail buns – a Hong Kong classic that no one from the BoB would be familiar with, therefore not knowing how they are supposed to taste. Genius? Yes.

A cocktail bun 雞尾包 is a sweet bun with a coconut filling, topped with sesame seeds and two pastry lines made from butter, flour and sugar. Originally local bakers mixed up leftover ingredients to create the filling, hence the name ‘cocktail’. It is one of the must-eat Hong Kong bakery items alongside egg tarts 蛋撻 and pineapple buns 菠蘿包.

I adapted the recipe from Christine’s blog (an excellent site for various Chinese recipes). She uses a special bread starter called Yudane 湯種, a mixture of hot water and flour, which apparently gives extra sweetness and softness to the bread. I have not tried making the bread without it so I cannot tell you the difference, but the result was very close to the texture I was aiming for. I used my bread machine to knead and raise the dough before shaping.

Cocktail buns

Makes 10 buns

Yudane:

50g Super Strong White Bread Flour

250ml Water

Dough:

350g Super Strong White Bread Flour

55g Caster sugar

5g Salt

56g Egg (beaten)

125ml Full Fat Milk

120g Yudane

5g Instant Yeast

30g Butter (room temperature)

A few drops of vanilla extract

Filling:

60g Butter

60g Caster Sugar

60g Egg (beaten)

80g Sweetened Coconut (shredded)

Sugar syrup:

1 tsp Caster Sugar

2 tsp Water

Toppings:

20g Egg (beaten)

5g Caster Sugar

15g Butter (room temperature)

10g Plain flour

To make the Yudane, mix the flour and water in a saucepan until fully incorporated. Put the pan over a medium heat, keep stirring to prevent any lumps. Remove from heat as soon as the liquid starts to thicken.

Place the Yudane in a bowl and then cover it with cling film. Set aside until it reaches room temperature.

To make the dough, place all the ingredients (except the butter) in a bread machine in this order: milk, egg, Yudane, vanilla extract, salt, sugar, flour and yeast. Set and start the ‘dough’ function of the bread machine, and then add the butter when a rough dough is formed. Let the machine continue the kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Use the ‘raise’ function of the bread machine for proofing (see your bread maker’s instructions for the exact timing). Or you can place the dough in a greased glass bowl, cover it with a damp towel and then proof until it doubled in size.

To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg followed by the coconut. Place the mixture in a square/rectangular container, and then put it in the fridge until the first proofing is done.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. ’Punch’ the dough to release air, and then divide it into 10 small portions, around 75g each. Cover them with cling film and then rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, take the hardened filling mixture out of the fridge, and then cut it into 10 strips.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough (away from you) to a long flat shape, place 1 strip of filling on the top of the dough, and then roll inwards into a tube shape.

Place the filled dough, seal side down, on a greased baking tray (I use a Swiss roll tray). Cover it with cling film and a wet towel on top for second proofing. It normally takes around an hour for the dough to double in size.

Preheat a fan oven to 180C. Make the pastry lines by beating the plain flour, sugar and butter together. Spoon the pastry mix into a small piping bag.

Make the sugar syrup by heating water and sugar in a saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes until the sugar dissolves completely. Set aside to cool.

Brush the dough with egg. Pipe two lines onto the dough using the pastry mix prepared earlier, and then sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Bake the bread in the oven for 30 minutes until golden. Brush the sugar syrup onto the buns, then return to the oven for further 2 to 3 minutes. Rest on a rack to cool down.

Best served while still warm! Enjoy!

Sushi Tetsu

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:56:00 +0000

Sushi Tetsu, Clerkenwell

I have had a few busy months since I started my supper club, and I have really enjoyed seeing my well-fed guests go home with big smiles on their faces! On one hand I am glad it is going well, but I also feel a bit sad that I stopped blogging. I still eat out a lot and take lots of photos, but with so much going on, it is hard to wind down and find the time to write a post. I think I have reached a critical point, where if I do not write a post this week I will fall deep into depression and hate myself. Also my little brother has just returned to Hong Kong for good, so I am feeling a lot more emotional than normal, and need a channel to express myself. So here I am, my first post after so so so long, if you are reading, THANK YOU!

I took my brother to Sushi Tetsu for his farewell dinner. Let me explain why I took him to a Japanese restaurant even though he is heading to the Far East. Choosing a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong is a bit like choosing a Chinese restaurant in London. There are so many of them – you can go to China town for a quick and basic meal, or Hakkasan and Yauatcha for special occasions, but you really have to know where to go when it comes to finding a particular dish you want to eat. For instance, did you know that the best twice-cooked pork dish can be found in Camberwell? For a traditional sushi restaurant, I would say the quality of the fish is responsible for 80% of the taste, and the rest depends on the skill of the chef. So even though the quality of the fish in Hong Kong is generally higher than in London, the skill can sometimes be lacking. I have yet to find a sushi restaurant that is comparable to Sushi Tetsu outside of Japan.

Tetsu offers a very unique experience. To quote my husband after our first visit, 'it is like eating in somebody's home, isn’t it?' Yes, exactly that. Tetsu is run by ex-Nobu chef Toru Takahashi and his wife Harumi. There are only seven seats at the counter, and two small tables next to the entrance serving as a waiting area. There was a bowl of edamame to nibble while Harumi san carefully explained the menu. We went for the omakase (chef’s choice) with a budget of around £70 per head. You can ask for sushi only, or a mixture of sashimi and sushi.

Toru san started the meal off with milder flavour fish – sea bream and turbot. There was no need to add soy sauce or wasabi (unless he asked us to) as he had already done it for us.

Sea bream タイ, Turbot カレイ

Engawa エンガワ is my favourite cut of fish, it is the thin muscle next to the fin of a halibut or turbot, which has a texture between squid and fatty tuna, with a rich flavour. The guests sitting next to us were further down their omakase menu, which meant they had already had a couple of blow torched (Aburi 炙り) nigiri. The wonderful smell of the bubbling fish oil filled the room in no time, I inhaled as much as I could, almost feeling a little guilty for stealing other guests’ food.

Engawa エンガワ, Scallop 炙りホタテ

Yellow Tail ハマチ, Prawn 炙り海老

Tuna 中トロ, Razor Clam 炙りテマ貝

Sardine イワシ, Cooked Prawn 蒸しエビ

Next up was a tuna and pickled radish hand roll. The chef made this temaki using the same cut as the tuna nigiri he had made for us earlier. He first gently minced the fish using a spoon (showing just how tender the cut was) and then chopped it. The soft tuna together with the mildly sweet radish worked perfectly, possibly the best temaki I had ever had.

Razor clam and cucumber roll テマ貝とキュウリ細巻き,Mackerel 炙り鯖

Eel 炙りうなぎ

The final item was the egg. I heard that Toru san spends around two hours every day fter service to make this. These little cubes of eggy cake are light and spongy, slightly sweet, but with a hint of savoury thanks to the addition of prawns.

Sushi Tetsu is certainly not a place I can afford to go regularly, but it really is worth every penny. There were no short cuts, what you get is a combination of very high quality fish, perfectly cooked sushi rice, and lots of care from the chef. If you go there, trust Toru san and tell him your budget, and then let him take care of the rest. You will not be disappointed.

Sushi Tetsu

FedByTang

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:28:00 +0000

FeedTheTang was born eleven months ago. I shamelessly joined the food blogger world and never looked back. I know I have not been doing a very good job of keeping my blog up to date during the last couple of months, but I was not just sitting around doing nothing! Actually I have been busy planning and testing recipes for my next adventure *drum roll* – FedByTang, my very own Chinese supperclub \o/

If you do not know what a supperclub is, read this.

I remember booking my very first visit to a supperclub at City Caphe via the Edible Experiences website - which I came across by following Wen, the co-founder of Edible Experiences on Twitter. The night was casual and fun. I got to meet other food lovers, and sample dishes that were specially created for the event. Since then I have become a regular on the Edible Experiences website, searching for the latest popup and supperclub events in and around London.

The idea of setting up my own supperclub came after I attended London Foodie’s Japanese home cooking night. He served up traditional Japanese dishes, many of which simply cannot be found in an ordinary Japanese restaurant. That got me thinking, most people are only really familiar with the staples of Chinese food, such as roast meat and dim sum. Possibly more adventurous diners may have tried Sichuan, or other regional cuisine. But what about the type of food that I grew up eating in Hong Kong, such as dai-pai-dong’s (open air restaurant) stir fried dishes or the wonderful seafood that we eat when we are celebrating?

So here we go, FedByTang is going live on 7th July. My menu features fresh and tasty traditional Chinese home cooking, with a few unique creations thrown in along the way. Here is a sample menu:

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Chinese soup and nibbles
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Soy sauce fried prawns with chilli, ginger and spring onion
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Triple cooked mui-choi pork belly
Mouth-watering chicken
Stir-fried vegetables
Pan fried sea bream with Chinese chives
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Dessert and Chinese tea
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Interested? Click here to find out more! I will post updates and information of any upcoming events on the FedByTang Facebook page.

If you are thinking of setting up a supperclub, I suggest you read ‘OK so you wanna set up a supperclub’ by the host of the well-established Singaporean supperclub PluSixFive. More importantly, get in touch with Edible Experiences. There are already more than 800 food and drink experiences listed on the site, including a wide range of activities like cooking classes and guided food walks.

As with my blog, I am not sure where this supperclub will lead me. I just know I am dead excited and cannot wait to feed you all :)

Takoyaki

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:10:00 +0000

Takoyaki (たこ焼き) is a kind of Japanese street food, originally from Osaka. Tako means octopus and yaki means grill or fry. They are hugely popular in Japan, especially at festivals. I simply adore the fresh-off-the-grill ones, and the tongue burning centre together with the mayo and bonito toppings make Takoyaki the most delicious ball-shaped food known to mankind.

These super-cute octopus balls have recently landed in London, I have recently had them at The Long Table and from Pom Pom Takoyaki. They are actually very easy to make, provided that you have the right pan. I bought one for my husband a few years ago as a Christmas present, although I am the one who uses it the most ;)

Besides octopus, traditionally pickled ginger, shredded seaweed and tenkasu (deep fried flour batter) are also used as the fillings of Takoyaki. The recipe below is adapted from a Japanese website. I used kimchi in half of the batch to vary the flavours, they were pretty amazing!

To make Takoyaki, first you need to pay a visit to a Asian supermarket for some essential ingredients. Mostly importantly, a Takoyaki pan:

You will also need Okonomi sauce. I called it Japanese brown sauce, which can also be used for Okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake). Mine looks like this:

Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) is the onion skin look-alike stuff that ‘dances’ on top the of the mayonnaise:

I am using frozen small octopus that I bought from a Korean supermarket:

Takoyaki

Makes around 20

10 Tentacles from small octopus (the ‘fat’ end only)
5 stalks of Chives, chopped
1 tbsp Kimchi, chopped
3 tbsp Vegetable oil

Batter:
140g Plain flour
2 medium Eggs
500ml Fish stock

Other:
Katsuobushi, around 10g
Mayonnaise, as much as you like
Okonomi sauce, as much as you like

Fill a small saucepan with water then bring to boil. Simmer the tentacles for 2 to 3 minutes, and then put them in iced water to stop the cooking. After they have cooled down, pat dry with kitchen towel then cut in chunks, around 8mm each.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, add the fish stock and mix well. Add the flour to the mixture in batches, mix until fully incorporated. The resulting batter should be thin.

Coat the Takoyaki pan with oil, and then heat it over a high heat. Pour the batter into the pan, followed by the octopus, chives and kimchi.

Turn the heat down to medium. When the batter begins to solidify, use a bamboo/metal stick to divide the batter into individual square portions. Tuck the corners into the middle of the octopus balls, there should be no batter left on the side when done.

Use the same stick to turn the ball upside down (or at least 90 degrees). You have to be patient to wait for the ‘moment’ where the ball become turnable, if you turn the ball too early, the outer crust will not form properly. It normally takes a good 3 minutes on my gas hob for the first turn. Run a stick along the edge of the ball, it should easily become unstuck when ready.

Repeat the turning process until a beautiful golden crust is formed on each octopus ball. The centre of the ball should be a little runny. Due to the circular ring on a domestic hob, the heat distribution is not even, so you may have to move the pan around to cover all of the balls.

To serve, place eight octopus calls on a plate, then add Okonomi sauce and mayonnaise on top. Sprinkle the chives and katsuobushi on top. Eat immediately!

おいしいたこ焼きを作りましょう!

Tonkotsu Ramen PopUp By Tsuru

noreply@blogger.com (Tang) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:54:00 +0000

Tsuru Sushi, Bishopsgate

I am a huge fan of ramen, especially Tonkotsu. The cloudy white broth of Tonkotsu is achieved by simmering pork bones and vegetables for many hours. Traditionally a soy sauce based sauce and some chicken stock are added to the serving bowl, together with the pork bone broth. The ratio of those ingredients are the best kept secrets of some of the best-selling ramen shops in Japan.

London has never had a proper ramen restaurant before, let alone one serving Tonkotsu. Most of the Japanese restaurants here serve ramen on the side, unfortunately none of them have even been close to what I’ve eaten in Japan. It was a pleasant surprise when I found out Tusru was planning to open a ramen restaurant in London this year, but deep inside I still had doubts as to whether they could meet the challenge to deliver the standard we are all longing for.

Luckily Tsuru have reassured us, the ramen lovers, with a series of ramen events. All four ramen pop-ups - Tokyo Shoyu, Tokyo Spicy, Hokkaido and Tonkotsu, were held successfully at their sushi restaurant on Bishopsgate in the last few months.

I attended the “Tonkotsu 2” pop-up. It was also the first ramen event after the Tsuru team came back from a research trip to Japan. I love the fact that we were given a printed menu with the background of their ramen adventure so far. We ordered a portion of pork gyoza and kara-age (deep fried chicken) each while we were waiting for the ramen.

So here it came. The collagen rich broth and half of a perfectly cooked nitamgo (marinated soft boiled egg) put a smile on my face. Tsuru had nailed the noodles. They were fresh and bouncy, totally different from the brittle ones in Wagamama (sorry I have to mention Wagamama because some people really think their noodles are okay!). The broth however was somewhat different from what I had in Japan before, which was a little darker in colour. Later I found out they used a salt based sauce instead of soy based, explaining the difference in colour. Tsuru is also working on more varieties of ramen toppings. I would love to see some menma (bamboo shoot), black sesame oil and seaweed. Slurp!

I really cannot wait for Tsuru ramen to open. The pop-up event tickets are on sale here. For £10 you get a bowl of ramen and an alcoholic drink. What are you waiting for?

Tsuru