The cooking, eating and travel blog of a hungry blogger from Sydney, Australia featuring original recipes, interviews and articles on all things food @ Not Quite Nigella

Monthly Archives: June, 2009

China Doll, Woolloomooloo

Posted in Chinese,Eating,Restaurants by cuisine,Sydney - East

“You just don’t know how to hold the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.” A quote from Seinfled is usually how I like to begin my days and on this sunny Winter’s Day on Woolloomooloo wharf, my dining companion Carbon Debit has called me while I am on my way to China Doll for our lunch with Soph. They seem to have lost our reservation. Thankfully, unlike Seinfeld, there is no issue getting us a table outside. We deduce that they probably misspelt it and possibly have it under the wrong name. Seinfeld moment over.

It’s a long time coming this visit to China Doll. It was spurred on by the recent apperance of the chef Frank Shek on the Australian version of Masterchef. I was not an instant convert to the show. I disliked the way they seemed to wring every bit of emotion or tears out of the contestants and play the sappy, emotional music to bring out what little emotion there was. Where was the cooking? Finally after the selection process, they started the real show and I’ve been glued ever since (did anyone catch the appearance of the Brad Pitt of the foodie world Adriano Zumbo the other week?). I’ve even gotten used to George Calombaris’s comments like “make the food look as if it had fallen on the plate like autumn leaves” and now find them endearing. Then there’s Matt Preston’s incongruous pleasure face – you know the one where when he eats his facial expression looks as though he’s repulsed by the food, only for him to say how wonderful it is.

I disgress, we’re back to China Doll on Woolloomooloo Wharf and for the Russell Crowe fans, yes Woolloomooloo Wharf is where his apartment lies (although we miss out on any Russ sightings). This is one of Sydney’s nicer looking Chinese restaurants and when I sit down I see familiar blue and white plates that just happen to be the exact ones that we use at home every day. This blue and white plate pattern is echoed throughout the whole restaurant with a wall in the same pattern and the small version of the plates on the toilet doors.

Our waiter is friendly and comes back a few times for our order as we’re busy catching up. We ask him for the specialties and he gives us about half a dozen and we choose among them. The menu is a pan Asian one with Japanese and Malaysian influences but since it’s supposed to be a Cantonese restaurant we try and go for the Cantonese dishes (with the exception of the sashimi). Service is good throughout the day from him although there is one waitress who seems determined to follow the Chinese waiter’s version of service and without finesse, dumps the plates on the table wordlessly.

Hiramasa Kingfish & Yellowfin Tuna Sashimi w Blackened Chilli Dressing $25

48 comments | June 25th, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Bougatsa – Custard Filled Filo Pastries

Posted in Cooking and Recipes,Other Sweet Things,Perfect Picnic Food

Every cuisine has their late night food. The food that whilst perfectly good during the daytime, tastes even better after a long, late night and is best enjoyed when your memory of it and whoever you kissed is fleeting and when your stomach craves something buttery or greasy to balance the alcohol within it.

Greece’s late night food looks almost too damn pretty to give it a tag of “late night food” (click here for an example of a late night monstrosity I had in Finland called the Kannibal). No greasy kebab or pie, it’s a delicious custard filled filo pasty parcel. I first heard about this from a Greek friend and my interest intensified when I started talking to David Tsirekas from Perama restaurant, a restaurant that I visited only the other night. He’d twitter tempting things such as “making mandarin bougatsa” and I’d be urged to bump this to the top of my “to make” list, a messy scrawled piece of paper that I’ve clipped to my teapot wall calendar. I knew of course that I wasn’t going to make the filo from scratch and my version wouldn’t be as amazing as his but I persevered.

These were very, very good. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to say that they were as good as the ones at Perama but if you want to make your own version at home, say late at night when the clock strikes midnight, these will certainly do. I loved the crunchiness of the buttery, light filo and the softness of the oozing vanilla and lemon custard.

And yep you guessed it. It’s Wallpaper Wednesday! How about some Bannoffee Peanut Butter cups? I’m sure we’ve all made a quick version of this late at night with a spoon, some chocolate and a jar of peanut butter!

So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite late night food either at home or when you are out? A kebab? A pie? A friend used to get the urge to make wedges at midnight. What’s yours?

45 comments | June 24th, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

The 35 course Greek Banquet to end all Banquets! Perama Restaurant, Petersham

Posted in Eating,Greek,NQN's most memorable moments and meals,Restaurants by cuisine,Sydney - Inner West

I don’t quite know what it is about me and Greek food but I adore it. Greek yogurt is my favourite type of yogurt, Halloumi is one of my favourite cheese and Taramosalata is also one of my favourite dips and don’t even get me started on Dolmades or Baklava which are a complete addiction for me. So this Friday night I am anxious. I am crossing from the North Shore to the Inner West during a heinously busy Friday night peak hour. My father was at the helm and we were running frightfully late – not helped by the traffic and my father’s unfamiliarity with the North and Inner West. When I finally get there I am greeted by Davis Tsirekas’s smiling face from the window of the busy kitchen. “Hello darling! Welcome!” he says. He lets me know that they’ve thoughtfully held the hot food (thanks guys!) until I got there.

Perama’s Head Chef: David Tsirekas

It’s a Tweetup arranged by Fridley and consists of hand picked bloggers and a few other tweeters. He and David have planned a special banquet for us tonight. For $50 we get the regular banquet menu plus all wine as well as a range of other courses. David will just keeping cooking things and sending them out to us until we tell him to stop (which is just music to my ears and stomach).

Course 1: Dips (Taramasalata, Tzatziki, Splt Pea). Pic by Betty’s Bites

Warned by many to pace myself for the onslaught of courses to come, I help myself to just a little bit of dip although they are all delicious, particularly the Taramasalata and the creamy Tzatziki which tops all other tzatzikis. David strains the already strained yogurt again and balances it with olive oil which gives it that creamy texture. There’s also smoked eggplant, split pea dip and olive paste which I didn’t get to try.

Course 2:Greek Salad

I have had far too many bad Greek salads in my life, so much so that I don’t usually order them. This is an exception with the creamy feta, spanish onion, fat olives and tomatoes telling you why the salad is so popular.

Course 3:Pickled octopus

Course 4: Pickled mushrooms

Course 5: Pickled cabbage

They’re all lovely pickles but the octopus has to be my favourite. But I didn’t eat too many of the pickles because I knew there was more to come and this was just the start.

Course 6: Zucchini fritters

The moist zucchini fritters signal a start to the hot dishes and the excitement to come.

78 comments | June 23rd, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Pressure Cooking 101: Kick Ass Beans, a simplified cassoulet

Posted in Cooking and Recipes,Dinner recipes,Easy peasy

My mother has been extolling the virtues of her Pressure Cooker ever since she bought it a year ago. Even my father has gotten in on the act echoing every positive point she has made. In a reversal of roles, I listened to them talking about it and smiled and nodded perhaps a little condescendingly and thought how wonderful it was that they got themselves a new toy and never thought much about cooking with it myself. Until Winter hit and it was all about stews and soups. And because I was trying to conserve electricity and make all of these wonderful things in less time, I started to look at the Pressure Cooker in an entirely different light.

I had meant to make baked beans for a while now ever since reading about them on Vogue forum and seeing how some of my very own readers like romaverona had had success with them. I ended up stitching together a few recipes based on what I read and making my own version of baked beans or as it turns out, a simple version of cassoulet. I love cooking with ham hocks as the flavour is wonderful and it’s an inexpensive way to add flavour and meat and the gelatine in them gives the stew or soup a thicker texture. They’re also easily found at the supermarket with a 1kg one being about $4.

The Ham Hock: hmmm looks a little like…

Make no mistake though, these are nothing like the tinned baked beans on supermarket shelves. This is rich as rich can be and as I mentioned before like a simple cassoulet. I remember the first time I had cassoulet at Sel et Poivre. It wasn’t on the menu and yet I saw a table of French being served up huge bowls of this so I asked the waiter as I liked the idea of eating something that was off the menu. They had some left so I tried it and loved it and have always thought in the back of my mind to make it one day. And today when I tasted it I was struck at how similar it was to a cassoulet – albeit a simpler one without the sausages (although you could certainly add a couple of good quality sausages to the mix). The molasses lends it a dark, mysterious caramel flavour and the bacon and ham hock give it a beautiful smokiness. It is very rich though so serving it with some warm buttered bread is quite necessary to counter the absolute richness of the sauce.

But back to the Pressure Cooker. Obviously the biggest advantage is saving time and therefore electricity as they cook in about a quarter of the time. You can also cook your dinner earlier in the day, turn it off, leave the lid closed and when you come home, your dinner will be ready with just a little heating up. This recipe is particularly easy and involves throwing everything into the cooker and then turning it on.

Being a Pressure Cooker virgin I thought I ought to look it up as I know that if you don’t, you could end up sans eyebrows, with food all over your kitchen. These tips are crucial and the most obvious one is to read the manual. In addition to this:

Don’t move the pressure cooker around when it is cooking
Ensure that all of the steam is released before removing the lid
Ensure that the seal i.e. the item most likely to wear out, is in good condition and placed properly around the lid
The pressure cooker always needs some liquid in order to cook properly
Never fill it more than 2/3rds full (keep this in mind when purchasing one)

Of course if you don’t have a pressure cooker you could do this in a slow cooker (the opposite process but with its own merits) or in a foil covered baking tray in the oven.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever had one of those special dishes that wasn’t on the menu? Did you like it?

39 comments | June 22nd, 2009 - 6:00 am | Not Quite Nigella

Kasumi Izakaya Japanese Dining Room, Haymarket, Chinatown

Posted in Eating,Japanese,Restaurants by cuisine,Sydney - CBD and inner city

We often overhear unusual things in public places. Not deliberately mind you, but sometimes a conversation will waft over when there’s a moment of silence and sometimes it’s intriguing so you stop to listen for a bit. We’ve also heard very odd conversations such as the one we overheard at Kasumi Dining Room during our visit. It’s empty save for one table and the music is soft so we can’t help but overhear it.

“What do you think would win in a battle. A Christian animal or a Non-Christian animal?”

I almost spit out my drink chuckling at that. And of course you know the answer they gave right? The Christian Animal would win according to them.

Odd overheard conversation aside, we had been interested in going to Kasumi for a while, over a year in fact ever since we spied it when we dined at Uighur Cuisine next door. Japanese Izakayas are one of my favourite places to eat as they feature small meals of tasty dishes – perfect for someone like me who loves sampling as much as possible. My excitement at visiting an Kasumi Izakaya is dampened when were handed our menus showing a range of set lunches. It seems the Izakaya only comes to life at night.