In my CSA delivery this week, I was the proud recipient of a bunch of super sized green onions. These are not your grocery store variety; these are mutant weeds. What to do, what to do…
This is the first batch of green onion pancakes. I still have half the bundle left. I think I need to more finely chop my green onions, as they look more like dumplings. But still tasty. 葱油饼 Chong yao beng, in Cantonese. This is pretty close to the recipe I used.
When it comes to Chinese food, I have my list of usual suspects: Cantonese, Hong Kong style cafe and occasionally Westernized. I’ve tried a bit of Szechuan and it’s a little too spicy. It was interesting to find something different in Yunnan food. Yunnan cuisine takes strong influence from Szechuan and a host of other cuisines. There is liberal use of chillies, mushrooms, fungus and flavorful meats.
I’ve not had Chinese food like this anywhere. One of my favorites was the deep fried taro roll with black sesame seeds. I suspect it might have been a dessert but we were served it as an appetizer. A few of our dishes were liberally laced with fresh and dried chillies, but they were easy to avoid. I enjoyed the wood ear fungus salad “mok yee”. The mushrooms and dried vegetable in the dry beef dish were nicely spiced. The twice cooked pork had some fatty roasted pork, some lean slices and tofu. There was also squash that was fried tempura style which was good. We were all full but just had to try the dessert, the pineapple rice. It was served warm. That too, was really good.
We arrived early so there weren’t too many people. Service was very attentive and we chatted with the chef owner. As the evening progressed, the service slowed a little but they were nice enough to flag us down when we forgot our leftovers.
There is so much more to try so I am definitely returning.
I got bored of the usual version. So I decided to add some curry. The Glico curry sauce is a quick way to add some flavor. I used my recipe below, in lieu of the regular seasonings. I dissolved two blocks of the curry in boiling water and topped it off with random dashes of soya sauce and fish sauce. Even omitted the egg and corn starch and it was the perfect texture.
Next time, I think I will try it with a Thai spice blend or maybe an Indian version with lentils.
http://officebroccoli.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/wor-tip/
I’m always looking for new things to try. I am very unfamiliar with Taiwanese food so I went to satisfy my curiousity. Unfortunately, I did not have a photo taking device, so a description would have to do.
Lazy Monkey is a tiny, family run cafe. It looks like a place where Asian high school kids hang out to do their homework. Well, they were doing just that and Sir Winston Churchill is across the road. If you like bubble tea, this is the place for you. Being neither a high schooler nor a bubble tea lover, my friend and I sampled the regular courses.
I just had to try the chicken hearts. They came broiled, six to a skewer, with a light dusting of salt and pepper and a subtle taste of five spice. Who ever thought chicken hearts could be tasty. Next time will have to try the gizzards.
My friend had the egg wrap with curry rice. The curry reminded me of Japanese style curry. It was a good foil for the hearty serving of rice and egg.
I had the Hakka style pork. The tender pork slices were served over rice with a black bean style sauce. The pork was nicely salted and seasoned. There also was a hard boiled tea egg on the side. It was a substantial meal for lunch. Our main courses were served in takeout containers which I found a bit odd.
They had some rather interesting things on the menu, such as coconut thick toast. With vanilla ice cream. I’m trying to figure out if that is a dessert or snack item. I’d like to come back for the salted fish and curry casserole.
Classic Chinese food. In more ways than one. Place is outdated and kind of a dive. Food is delish and service can leave a lot to be desired. If you speak their language, you get good service. Enough said. The seven of us ordered dishes to share. A couple of plates of salt and pepper squid, half a crispy duck, mixed vegetables with noodles, chicken, ginger and pineapple stir fry, pea shoots with garlic sauce and steamed rice. All the food was good, except I did not try the duck. I don’t eat duck. I still think their jiew yim sin yau is the best in town. Service was slow, but I suppose that gave us more time to chat and enjoy the food. They were accommodating in heating up one of the babies’ food.
Potluck last night. What to make…. How about an enduring party favorite – potstickers! Or wor tip in Cantonese.
I don’t really have a recipe for these, it changes every time I make it.
Wor Tip
Makes around 80 dumplings
Shred or chop green vegetables. Peel and grate carrots. Dice the mushrooms. Combine all veggies and meat into a large bowl. Crack egg into bowl, and any combination of the sauce ingredients. Add enough tapioca or cornstarch as you mix to absorb the liquid. Have a small bowl of water on hand. A simple way to make the dumplings is to put about a tablespoon of filling in the wrapper, use your finger to dab water around the edge, and fold in half. It can also be done as I have, with fancy folds. Click here and skip to 2:13 for directions. Place them on a cookie sheet as you go.
When ready to cook, coat a frying pan with oil. If fancy folding, arrange the dumplings in a circle and next to each other. Put the pan on medium heat and wait until the bottoms start to crisp. Using a tablespoon, sprinkle water over the top so it steams. Be careful, it will spatter! Cover with lid. The dumplings are done, when the skins look shiny and the water is absorbed. May need to sprinkle more water as you go.
You can also pan fry them, or pan fry and steam if they are folded flat. It is also possible to boil or steam them. In that case, they are called jao zhi. Serve with Chinese red vinegar, 3:1 soy sauce and rice vinegar, or 1:1:.5 soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. And chili sauce to taste.
They were popular; the first dish to go.
It’s Friday night and there’s no food in the fridge. Still looking for a good Chinese delivery. Decided to try Oriental Palace as the ratings on Urbanspoon were very good. Ordered at 6:30, told the wait was an hour. Reasonable. We were about to call them again after an hour and a half. Then it arrived.
The food was pretty good. It was hot, tasted fresh; was not over salted or greasy. We ordered grilled pork and vegetable dumplings, three kinds of seafood with bean curd hot pot and stir fried mixed vegetables. Being cheap, I made my own steamed rice while waiting. The dumplings I could tell were from frozen and commercially made. The wrappers were thick. The Szechuan chili oil was a nice touch. Both the seafood and stir fry were tasty although there was more bean curd than seafood.
I can forgive the transgressions with the food but not the delivery time. Better to tell us an hour and a half rather than an hour. Will look for amother Chinese delivery.
I’m pretty sure this restaurant is flying under the radar. High expectations because of it’s pedigree, but not a whole lot of buzz. The reviews I read were mixed. I can definitely say that the food was fantastic.
There were three of us and we ordered for sharing. The server was helpful in suggesting dishes to balance our selections. The smoked cod taro tacos were bursting with avocado flavor with a touch of heat. The cod got a little lost in the dance . The tuna and watermelon ceviche was exceptional. Strong spicy flavors with delicate watermelon to stave off the heat. Did I tell you I like my food a little spicy?
The dungeness crab salad was a good way to tone down the tuna and the tacos. The most interesting thing was the toasted burdock root on top. The dish was not flashy, but did the job of cooling off my taste buds for the next dish.
The dumplings had strong flavors of and mushroom and sausage that reminded me of a Chinese style chicken and dried mushroom dish. The dehydrated tomato slice was a nice textural contrast.
I really liked the gravlax for both the presentation and taste. The seaweed, capers and creme fraiche were a nice contrast the salmon wrapped in tamago. They were served with a side of buckwheat pancakes and lime in cheesecloth to squeeze over the salmon.
I did not try the short ribs as I do not eat beef that is not hormone and antibiotic free. The roasted potatoes however, were hot and very tasty. Ditto with the rare marinated beef. The beef was served with a side of cheese toast.
Dessert was complimentary. Although I was too full to eat another bite, I had to sample. There was a Chinese style sesame ball filled with peanut satay on a caramelized miso sauce. The sesame ball was a bit rubbery and difficult to share, but I haven’t had one that wasn’t. Also fruit salad topped with a minty panna cotta which was very good.
Strong complex flavors that flowed well from one dish to another. Possibly too strong for some, but that’s the way I like it. This is one of the best Asian fusion restaurants that I have ever tried. Service was attentive even when they got busy. Attention to detail such as wiping off the table between dishes and providing fresh cutlery between courses.
Atmosphere is upbeat urban. Hallway to the washrooms is rather eclectic.
