Sydney Beijing Restaurant

Zen's constant craving for Peking Duck drove him into taking me to Sydney Beijing Restaurant, at Ashfield. We chose the Sydney Beijing Restaurant because after a quick search in Google, we couldn't help but notice the number of Chinese bloggers commenting at this restaurant's similarity to the authentic flavours in Beijing.


This must be the worst tasting salt and pepper squid ever! Way too much batter, the squid was overcooked and tough, and it wasn't tossed in any seasoning!


Sizzling Beef and Vegetables on a pan. I was expecting this dish to be served on a hot pan... but it was literally served on a cooking pan! As with most traditional Chinese restaurants, the food was far too oily. However, Zen and I still fought for the braised eggplant.


The duck soup was compliementary with the Peking Duck. There was plenty of salty goodness from the duck's marinade... but was unfortunately also filled with MSG.


15 minutes after the dishes were served, out came the Peking Duck. It was served with sliced cucumber, a mixture of hoisin sauce and plum sauce, slivered shallots and steamed pancakes. What can I say? I came here for an authentic meal! Did the original Peking Duck really have this much meat still attached to the skin?








I don't know why Zen and I always over-estimate the amount of food we eat. As pretty as these noodles look, I was too full to eat any.



from : http://www.jenius.com.au/2006/08/sydney_beijing_restaurant.php

Duck Duck Soup

Duck Duck Soup

Duck Duck Soup...Stock, Broth and rendered Duck FAT...YUMMM !


what do you do when you bring home an absolutely beautiful whole roasted duck and no one is as excited as you are?...make soup. actually it's a 3 in one bonus. you'll end up with a flavorful soup, rich stock and the always sought after and ever so expensive rendered DUCK FAT.







the broth is fabulous and rich. i like to reduce about half of the pot and keep a bit in the freezer to use with quick sauteed veggies or add into a braising liquid for just about anything. the other half goes into the soup for the night.





i found my beautiful duck fully cooked at my favorite Asian market, 99 Ranch Market in Irvine, CA. i've been fascinated with duck for a while and never tried cooking a whole one myself. #1, they are pretty expensive in regular markets (about 25-30 bucks) and #2 i've heard they are kind of tricky to cook properly. the ratio of fat to meat is not even throughout the body so it seems one must control the cooking to get the perfect roast bird. when i saw this baby hanging in the deli section i was so excited, but immediately knew it would be pricey...not so. the whole cooked duck was only $14.00...i'll take 3 please. no, i just bought one, but you can bet i was back within the week getting another. i made Asian flavor Duck Rillettes with the second. i haven't posted about it yet, but oooh they were delicious.

so, since this duck was ALL MINE i took it apart piece by piece...totally enjoyed and devoured the wings, legs and thighs on their own and set aside the breasts for the soup or stew i knew i had to make with all this ducky goodness. the meat was a little seasoned and the skin was delicious and crispy. after wiping away the carnivorous debris, i was smart enough to keep all the bones and fatty skin from the parts i had eaten and, as you can see, i had the whole body/carcass...head to tail...with all it's flavorful fatty skin and bones. everybody into the pool. what i mean is everything goes in the pot except, of course, the breasts.

DUCK STOCK
adapted from Chichajo @ 80 Breakfasts
original recipe and great blog found HERE

The bones (the whole carcass including head) of 1 Peking Duck (or roasted, as shown)
2 carrots, peeled and cut in large pieces
2 onions, peeled and cut in quarters
2-3 stalks of lemongrass, white part only, bashed
1-2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into rounds
2 jalepeno peppers halved
2 star anise
A few sprigs of cilantro
A few stalks spring onions (I used about 3)
Whole black peppercorns approx. 10 - 15
1/4 cup soy sauce

- Place everything in a stockpot and cover with water. The water should reach about an inch over the duck.
- Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that appears. Reduce to a simmer and cover pot. Let the stock simmer gently for 2-3 hours.
- Uncover pot and simmer for about 30 minutes more to reduce stock. Taste and either adjust seasoning or reduce further to deepen flavor.
strain, but do not use cheese cloth. use a regular fine strainer if you are interested in rendering as much of the duck fat as possible
- Portion as you prefer and let cool. Use immediately or store in the fridge if you’ll be using it in a couple of days…if not, freeze for future enjoyment

don't forget to render the duck fat. i like to pour the stock into 1 qt. containers and let it come to room temp. to let the fat rise to the top. then into the fridge for the fat to solidify. render the fat off each container and put into separate container...microwave the fat slightly back to liquid state and pour into an appropriate size container for storage. this will keep in the fridge like butter or you can freeze it for future use.

 

from : http://julesfood.blogspot.com/2010/07/duck-duck-soup.html

Dinner with Bobby Chinn from TLC at Al Halabi

By the way, this is the one thousandth post on kyspeaks since the inception some five and a half year ago. Been an amazing journey, rest assure there’ll be more to come. A big thank you for all the visits, comments, well wishes, critics, and the occasional “hello” in Real Life ™.

Bobby Chinn on World Cafe: Middle East (photos from TLC)
I’m generally quite content with what I do for a living, but there is a category of people that I’m quite jealous of when it comes to their profession, and Bobby Chinn is one of them.
While I’m sure there are lotsa hardwork and uncertainties, the job of a TV personalities on a food tasting/travel show couldn’t sound more awesome to me. The grass is greener on the other side, always.
Last week I got closest as I’ve been to that “dream” of mine, I got invited to meet Bobby Chinn for his new episods of World Cafe: Middle East.

Bobby Chinn’s exploit in Middle East (photos from TLC)
The series cover Bobby Chinn’s exploit in Middle East. Starting from Istanbul, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, then Damascus and Aleppo – the oldest city in the world, Jordan and the West Bank  with thriving Palestinian food tradition despite the instability, as well as Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt – where Bobby Chinn was born.
The man himself turned out to be quite an entertaining and friendly host despite the very visible effect of jet lag as he just arrived in the morning. Together with Haze, boo of masak-masak, Jovin & her aunt, and other guests, we had a good time while Bobby shared his experiences whilst making this series.
Catch the show on Monday 10pm, Astro Channel 707 TLC

donut thingy with sambosa, salad, some lamb soup
Now lets get on to the food at Al Halabi, shall we?
Al Halabi at Marriot Hotel is probably one of the more up market Lebanese restaurant in the country, with posh decoration of cushions, busy looking tables, a huge selection of shisha pipes, and chandeliers looking like gemstones. A very Arabic atmosphere, other than our group with Bobby Chinn being half Arab, most clients looked like they’re either Persians or Arabs.
The lamb soup was better than the lentil soup I ordered, which tasted like diluted dhal. Salad was refreshing if not a little too sour for some. I didn’t quite enjoy the donut thingy, but the fried pastry (Sambosa vegetable) was rather nice.

hummus & baba ghanoush, fluffy soft bread
This was only the third time I had hummus, but I gotta say the hummus was actually very good! It was a bit like a cross of peanut butter and tofu but with slightly oily texture, in a good way… if that make any sense.
Baba ghanoush, a classic eggplant dip, was a bit more sour and oily (olive oil), I kinda liked it, though not too much. These two goes pretty well with the excellent fluffy bread.

egg plant dish (musaka’a), fried spring chicken, grilled fish
For my main dish, I chose to have the egg plant (musaka’a) with rice. It was quite similar to the Northern Indian’s Baingan Bartha, but slightly less flavorful. Despite the bright color, it wasn’t exactly spicy, just a bit oily and sourish, nothing to shout about.
The other main dishes to choose from were the fried spring chicken (which was reportedly to be decent), grilled fish that were too dry, and grilled lamb (said to be quite tasty).

sizzling grilled lamb, baklava
Dessert came in the form of a very sweet pastry item called baklava - made of phyllo dough and filled with chopped nuts and honey, quite nice. I think I had at least 3-4 of those.

KY eats – Northern Nyonya Food at Peony Garden, Kota Damansara

When I first got the invitation from foodstreet for a food review session from Peony Garden at Kota Damansara, I did some searches on the internet and but was not able to find any blog entries. So I went to the restaurant with Eiling (who is going to give me some golden tickets) having little to expect.
note: tragically, this place is no longer in operation, it was one of my favorites! (20/9/2010)

seven dishes to sample, with original ingredients
As it turns out, Peony Garden serves Northern Nyonya food, which means they are actually from Penang, my hometown. The relatively new restaurant is run by a pair of siblings, Karen and Eugene Chew, whom despite knowing little about blogs and the way of cyber world, were very friendly (especially when we arrived at our common mother tongue, Penang Hokkien).
We were served the unique “green leaves drink” that is made of seven different types of grass and leaves. It tasted pretty refreshing though slightly on the sweeter side. The owners explained to us that many of the ingredients used are sourced from Penang and other states, and Karen cooks everything from scratch, the traditional way, even the sambal is made by pounding fresh chili and shrimp paste by hand.

Penang otak-otak, asam prawn, curry black pomphret, salted vegetable duck soup
We were then served seven dishes, and I recognized what they were instantly without having to be explained! Tau eu bak (soya sauce pork), asam prawn, curry bawal hitam (black pomphret), salted vegetable duck soup, Penang otak-otak, jui hu char (fried sengkuang with dried cuttle fish), and fried spring roll. These are the dishes I grew up with, the memory of mom working in her kitchen flashes back like a tsunami wave, the familiar smell, the sound of sengkuang sizzling in the wok, and how she always peel the asam shrimps for us. I wish mom was here to have this session with me.
In the taste department, the food actually measured up very well. The asam prawn, cooked with asam and dark soya sauce carries a strong and fragrant asam taste that is slightly salty and sourish, complementing the sweetness of the shrimp perfectly. The fish curry is done the traditional way as well, with black pomphret and a generous portion of laksa flower that adds to the taste. There is no substitute with another type of fish as “lemak” (fatty) taste of the black pomphret suits the asam curry best.

soya sauce pork, jui hu char, spring roll
I personally always prefer the Penang style otak-otak, and the version at Peony, though not the best I’ve had, was not bad either. As for salted vegetable duck soup, it might take a little used to if you are not accustomed to it, sourish and slightly spicy, I liked it.
Jui hu char is a dish that is cooked by many Penang family whenever they worship ancestors (don’t ask me why). It is best eaten with some sambal and wrapped with fresh lettuce, much like the way you’d have Korean BBQ meat. The deep fried spring rolls actually shares the main ingredient (sengkuang) with jiu hu char, but served with a unique blend of dark soya source and chili that gives it a pretty interesting taste, in a good way.
If you’ve followed this blog for some time, you know that I am a pork lover. The tau eu bak here was absolutely fantastic, cooked for hours to the very soft and tender texture, the soya sauce is imported from Nothern state to get the taste just right. Coupled with the original sambal, I had to fight with Eiling till the last piece, it was as good as it is sinful.

green leaf drinks, and eiling with the Peony plate
Dishes are priced from RM 8 to RM 20+, pretty decent even though the portions aren’t big. Authentic foods are hard to come by these days, and I don’t think you can get them any more authentic than here. A family run restaurant that prepares everything painstakingly the traditional way. I am sure I will return.

from : http://kyspeaks.com/2008/06/11/ky-eats-northern-nyonya-food-at-peony-garden-kota-damansara/

Salted Vegetable and Duck Soup

This is one of my and my hubby's favourite but I don't wok this often because eating too much salted vegetable is not good for health. It seems that it may cause *gulp* Cancer ~~~

Anyway, eating everything sparingly won't kill lah. Don't eat then will die! hahaha

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Duck, chopped into 2
• Salted Vegetable, sliced into smaller pieces
• 3 chili, seeds removed and sliced
• 2 tomato, halved
• 3 slice Ginger
• 1 whole Garlic
• 1 Pickled Plum (水梅）
• 3 litre Water

How to do it:

1. Blanch duck and set aside.
2. Blanch salted vegetables for 1 minute to cut down the saltiness.
3. Put all ingredients in a pot and boil for 2 to 3 hours in low fire.
4. Serve with rice.

Note:

No seasonings required as the salted vegetables is salty enough, we don't want to have any other health problems associated with salted vegetable, do we? Hahaha!

 

from :  http://wokkingmum.blogspot.com/2007/03/salted-vegetable-and-duck-soup.html

Duck Noodle Soup

Duck Noodle Soup

I walked into the Asian market only needing some tofu but walked out with over $80 of groceries and a whole roast duck. $1.28/lb white peaches, heck yeah! 99c/lb bok choy, yeah I need that too. Whoa, fish sauce is on sale?! Well, I still have some at home but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup right? As for the tofu I needed? Well, I got 2 shapes of deep fried tofu, a pack of pressed, firm, and silken. I had to restrain myself from those damn cute tofu knots.

The roast duck, which was also on sale so how could I not get it, was the highlight of the trip. I brushed the sweet plum sauce on the skin and reheated it in the toaster oven to restore the skin to its original crispness. I asked to keep the head and neck so I could turn it into duck stock. Then, putting that 99c bok choy to good use, I added it to the stock for a simple but perfect lunch - somen, roast duck, bok choy, in a simple duck soup. It's comfort food, Chinese style.

Simple Roast Duck Stock
1 roast duck head and neck and other bony pieces from the duck
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and washed
2 thin slices of fresh ginger
3 green onions, roughly chopped
6 C water
salt and white pepper

Cover the mushrooms with some hot water for 5 minutes, then rinse them under running water to wash off any dirt hiding in the mushroom gills.

Rinse the duck pieces with some cold running water.

Put everything in a large saucepan and simmer for 2 – 3 hours and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Season with salt and pepper.

Duck Noodle Soup
Noodles of choice, I chose somen (I do 2 - 3oz. for a serving)
1 bok choy per person, leaves separated and washed, sliced lengthwise
Roast duck
Duck stock

If the roast duck came with a sweet, honey colored sauce, brush some of that on the skin. If not, thin some plum sauce or honey with a small amount of water and brush that on the skin. Depending on how hot the broiler element gets in your oven or toaster oven, you can either bake at 450 for 5 – 10 minutes or use the broiler for 5 – 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the duck so it doesn’t burn. My toaster oven broiler is relatively weak, so I reheated the duck using the broil function.

Cook your noodle of choice according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water, drain, divide, into bowls and set aside.

Bring the duck soup to a simmer, add the bok choy and cover, cook for about 1 – 2 minutes. You want the bok choy to be crunchy. Make sure it doesn’t turn translucent because that means it’s overcooked.

Pour the soup on the noodles, add the bok choy and duck on top.

from :  http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2009/07/duck-noodle-soup.html

Perak Food -Herbal Duck Thigh Noodles

Bidor is a small town located between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, which is a district of Batang Padang,Perak, Malaysia.

The most famous food will be the herbal duck thigh noodles by one of the eatery naming Pun Chun Chicken Biscuit & Restaurant Sdn. Bhd. This restaurant has been operating for about 70 years and is located at the one and only main street of Bidor known as Jalan Besar.

Besides Herbal Duck Thigh Noodles, Pun Chun is also famous with their sweet snacks which is Sai Mat Kai & Kai Jai Peng (chicken Biscuit).

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits @ Restaurant, Bidor

Herbal Duck Thigh Noodle @ RM 6.60

Duck thigh noodles are served in herbal soup topped with duck thigh which its’ is soft and tender and springy wan tan noodles in a big bowl.

A sip of the soup and you will know why this restaurant has become a favorite spot of the locals and tourist as well. The ingredient used includes dried longan, ginger, goji berry (gei ji) , yu zhu (sealroot). Plus the culinary skills in preparing the duck thigh herbal soup, I guess that is why the rich broth is aromatic, sweet and tasty.

Shujin's Duck Soup

The gon-lo/ dry version of noodles are served with Shujin’s Duck Soup which is the herbal soup is served with one duck thigh. Taste wise, the soup tasted the same as the Herbal Thigh Noodle. You may order the soup separately as well.

Pun Chun's famous snacks product

Now, I know why my sister highly recomended Pun Chun as each time when she goes back to her husband's hometown, she will mentioned it to me! The waiting time for food serve at Pun Chun is lengthy, even it is a normal old looking coffee shop (restaurant), it is all justified by their delicious food. If you happen to travel to the North, do stop by and have a delicious bowl of Herbal Duck Thigh Noodles!

from :  http://ls-lushia.blogspot.com/2008/11/herbal-duck-thigh-noodles-bidor-perak.html

West Africa, Central Asia and beyond.

Uzbekistan Airways serves the finest sausage in coach class, rolling around in a plastic tray. TU-154’s are the finest aircraft out there. From my recent travels to Tashkent.
Almaty’s best Mexican restaurant would benefit from some sensitivity training. You never see this kind of terminology used anymore.


I was in Thailand recently. I found this place in Phuket Town near the Thai Airways office. I like anyplace with “downtown” in the name. It reminds me of Philly. Nice soup, eh?

Below Uighur food at its best in the Green Bazar in Almaty.
It’s still winter in Almaty, and they can still find wild garlic for this plate of lagman. I was going to go in back and help the chef snap the noodles back and forth in the kitchen.
This beshbarmak is the best I’ve ever had. It’s almost as good as the duck soup at the Sang Kee Peking Duck House in Philly.

Awesome plov at the Taiga restaurant in Dushanbe. This is a must, but I forgot the address.



I am finding some unusual items on menus in Almaty.
Just in. Info on high-standard Indian cuisine in Dushanbe and Afghanistan. Aid workers only, please. If you’ve been in and out of Kabul, you’ve been to this place.

Here’s what Dave McNally and I had to say about this critical topic last year.

Check out the Cottage Annex, just down from the Metro TV station. Recently renovated yet under the same customer friendly management.

They have excellent jollof rice, riz gras, and other food available on a more or less random basis from what I can tell.Just be sure to inquire about the load-shedding schedule so you don’t have to chug your icy cold STONE beer just to escape the generator noise.
Way better than Tante Marie
That spicy Ghanaian tomato and onion chutney looks fantastic.
And the portions…the portions are perfect.  Being a sort of health nut these days, I am really counting those calories.  Yet at the ‘Annex’ you can load up on a huge plate (you can even ask that they not put mayonaise on the salad and get a good 2000 or so calories like that.
But it is the ambiance that makes the joint.  A true multi-faceted dining experience.  At one of their two entrances, you can get “brochettes au village” fresh.  Once you walk past the newly erected cinder block wall painted in a tasteful mauve/lemon amarillo color, and enter the serene abode of the cottage you have your choice of the terrace or gazebo dining areas.  The lighting and tasteful display of beer advertisements and subtle messages inviting you to try Maggi products all collide in a gentle culinary train wreck.
What more can I say.  Zagat would give it a 25, easy (ok 24).
But RIP in Accra: The Ethiopian Restaurant. Let’s face it. The now-defunct Ethiopian Restaurant was the best place to eat in Accra. It’s a crime someone hasn’t started another Ethiopian in the city.
True, the Ethiopian joint was delicious.  Maybe some enjeera surrogate food item can be made from flattened banku dough?  Add a few dollops of red-red, minced goat meat, onion+pepper, fried plantain, and possibly a desert of ginger bitters and popcorn.
Somebody slap me if I ever suggest a restaurant in Accra that is not Ghanaian. The European places are one bad meal after the other.
Banku and okra at the Cottage Annex in Labone, Accra, Ghana. I love goat soup.
I hope President Bush got some of this on Wednesday when he was here. The culinary pleasures of banku are really underrated.  It’s amazing that a slightly fermented mass of pounded corn can be so rewarding.Missing Labone chop. I’m going to check out the Ghanaian place in Washington, D.C.

The Ghana cafe in DC has some decent Ghanaian cuisine, but the lack of essential sulfur compounds in the Northeast soils makes the quality of the banku and other corn-based staples less satisfying.  Nutritionally deficient, the colorful decor and somehow lively street ambience can make up for it.  Nevertheless, you will be hard pressed to satisfy your yearning for aptikeshie, humidity, and copious Maggi-motif design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaver_sauce
Check out this Wiki on palaver sauce.

I really miss the Cellsbridge for the chicken and chips. What the hell is a Cellsbridge anyway?
Also, a maquis like this one in Lome.

Peru’s Favorite Foreign Cuisine

Peru’s Favorite Foreign Cuisine

Posted by BrianYarvin, August 7, 2009 at 12:00 PM

As I scan my list of potential and partially written dispatches, I can’t help but notice that about ninety percent of them seem to be in Elizabeth. What is it about that place? It seems a bit rundown, but as our answer to Corona, Queens, it’s got a mighty big role to play in the New Jersey culinary world.

Choy Leng

It's there you’ll find Choy Leng, one of New Jersey’s few Chinese-Peruvian places. Peru, with its huge Asian immigrant population, has had its own version of Chinese cuisine for a very long time, making this hybrid restaurant worth exploring.
There are two words you have to know when diving in; “Chifa,” which means “Chinese-Peruvian cuisine,” and “taypa,” the most famous traditional dish (at this Elizabeth outpost, anyway). It’s like your favorite three or four old-school, pre-General Tso’s Chinese-American dishes mixed together—heaven on a plate, if you grew up with suburban Chinese food in the sixties.

Taypa at Choy Leng

Other items that caught my eye included duck soup, chicken with tomatoes, shrimp with fancy noodles (“fideitos Chinos,” in Spanish) and roast duck with Chinese radish. In addition, there’s a menu that reads like a Chinese takeout place in rural Nebraska—chicken with broccoli, shrimps with garlic sauce, and beef lo mein.
Choy Leng also offers a modest Peruvian menu, with seafood and shrimp soups, ceviches, and Peruvian classic Salchipapas (French fries with chopped hot dog). However, if you’re looking for a more traditional Peruvian meal, check out Don Alex Restaurant on the other side of town.

Chifa Jade

Choy Leng isn’t the only Chinese-Peruvian restaurant. In Paterson, there’s Chifa Jade on Main Street, right at the edge of the Turkish-Arabic strip—yet another mother lode of cheap, wonderful places to eat and shop. (Apparently, nobody in the history of New Jersey has ever thought, “There’s no place to eat around here, I’ll open a Chinese-Peruvian place—they always seem to be near other restaurants.)
Here I ordered Lomo Saltado, an otherwise classic stir-fry with French fries mixed in. What is it about the relationship between Peru and fries? That country has a whole vision of fry that’s completely different than any other. Just as Peruvian was the Chicha Morada—the delicious purple corn drink that came as a beverage choice with lunch specials.

Even more of a surprise than the stir-fried fries was their wonton soup. Yes, I was prepared for the tallarines, the fine round noodles, but the wontons turned out to be first-class Chinese dumplings.
Chifa Jade’s menu lists a whole host of Chinese-Peruvian specialties, using a system of spelling that resembles the Cantonese we saw back in the sixties: Kam Lu Wonton (a fried wonton dish with sweet and sour sauce), Pollo Ti Pac Kay (fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce), Lun Fun Cham Fa (chicken, pork, shrimp and vegetables), and Fun Kin Chon Lon (rolled chicken breast stuffed with shrimp, pork, and asparagus).
These restaurants pose one major problem; they are in neighborhoods so rich with eating possibilities that every meal is tinged with regret. Especially tough for me is the decision between Chifa Jade and Uludag Turkish Grill, right next door.
This New Jersey beat is a real challenge.

from : http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/08/new-jersey-dispatch-elizabeth-perus-favorite-foreign-cuisine-nj.html

Roasted Duck Soup with Lai Fun Noodles

Roasted Duck Soup with Lai Fun Noodles

Actually, this is a leftover noodle dish that is super simple to make.
The roasted duck is left from last night's dinner. When you buy the roasted duck, make sure they give you the sauce that is in it. If they don't want to give it to you, make sure they give you some of it at least - don't let them drain the duck until there is no sauce left.
Ingredients:
1 order Roasted duck + duck sauce
1.5 cup chicken stock
pea sprout
black fungus
enoki mushroom
Lai Fun - I'll get a picture of this up later. It's a thicker version of a rice vermicelli stick.
1. Cook the Lai Fun according to the packet instructions and put into your soup bowl.
2. Get the stock boiling, and blanch each vegetable for about 3-5 minutes each, depending on how much you are going to put in. The fungus needs to be blanched longer. Put aside on a plate. So you can arrange it later.
3. Put the duck and sauce into the soup. You're just heating the duck up, because it is fully cooked.
4. Add the soup to your bowl and arrange vegetables into it. Tada!
Easy eh? Have fun!

from :  http://foodcouture.blogspot.com/2009/04/roasted-duck-soup-with-lai-fun-noodles.html