Jilin Family is one of a few restaurants in Sydney that serves food from Jilin in Dongbei, China. This means dishes that you won't find anywhere else, from the giant simmering iron pot to finely sliced crispy pork in a lightly tangy vinegar sauce and plump dumplings with Northeastern Chinese sauerkraut. Come along and find out what Jilin food is all about.
I'm always looking for fun places that offer unique cuisine in Sydney and after our visit to Pretty Chef in Petersham was such a hit with you Dear Readers, I decided to go on a quest to try as many regional Chinese restaurants as possible. That led me to Jilin Family in Chatswood. They're known for their giant iron pot cauldrons with simmering pots of food with chicken, oxtail and goose. Jilin is a province in Dongbei in North Eastern China and shares a border with North Korea and Russia. The food is hearty and filling with generous portions. It has influences from Han Chinese, Manchu and Korean cuisine with pickled vegetables, stews and meats all designed to get the people of Jilin through long harsh and bitterly cold winters. Pickling is an essential part because of the long winters.
Booking is definitely recommended especially on a weekend. When I rang to book a table they asked if I wanted to pre-book an iron pot. These start at $128 and are designed for 4-5 people. After consulting with my friends Queen Viv, Miss America, Carmen and Matt we all decided to pre-book the most popular iron pot, the chicken and mushroom. I leave a $50 deposit and we're on our way. The staff are very friendly through phone calls and text even when I ask lots of questions about the menu.
We arrive at 7 pm on a Saturday night. There is just one street sign and the actual restaurant doesn't have a sign in front of it just a series of photos and specials and a butcher style door with plastic strips. We walk in past these and you could easily think that you had hopped on a plane and landed in China. The atmosphere is convivial and lively. "This is a real vibe," says Queen Viv. Carmen and Matt arrive shortly after and then Mr NQN goes to find Miss America who was dropped off by a taxi at the wrong spot.
They point us towards a table and in the centre of the table is a lid underneath which our iron pot is bubbling away already cooking. A staff member brings a bowl of dough, shapes six large balls of dough and slaps them against the side of the pot before replacing the lid, warning us not to touch the edges as it is hot. She returns to check on this a couple of times and about 10 minutes later our buns are ready and she adds a tumble of fresh coriander to the dish to finish it off.
The stew has a cockerel, hazel mushrooms from north east China, potatoes and a rich sauce. Our waitress scrapes each bun off and places it on our plate and then we help ourselves to the rest with the gigantic ladle. The sauce has a great depth of flavour and the potatoes are tender and the chicken is tasty but my favourite bits are the chicken bones that can be a challenge to eat but they absorb the sauce perfectly. The hazel mushrooms are native to the virgin forests of Northeast China (Dongbei) and have an earthy, rich flavour and are like little twisted ropes. The buns are made with cornmeal so they've got a denser texture. In Northern China they consume less rice than in Southern China as the north's cold, dry plains are good for growing wheat and as a result they use wheat, corn and sorghum.
The rest of the dishes are ordered via a QR code on the table. A little warning the menu is large and there are photos but nevertheless it can get a bit overwhelming. Luckily, I'm with Queen Viv, Miss America, Carmen and Matt who pretty much just are happy to go along for the ride. I end up adding seven dishes and then being told that it's too many by the staff but a quick calculation shows that even if we get the dishes it will still add up to $300 and that is $50 per person and we will also end up with some pretty tasty leftovers.
The first item to come out is the sweet potatoes that are gloriously sticky and toffeed. The waiter actually stops to let us know that we have to eat these soon otherwise they will set hard and be almost impossible to break apart. We quickly take a piece. The potatoes are more like yams or cassava and are coated in a sticky toffee coating. They're more like dessert but very interesting and we actually really enjoy these especially Mr NQN who ends up polishing most of the plate off.
Next to come out is the onion salad with strips of pressed tofu, coriander stalks with dried chilli and sesame oil dressing. It's such a simple sounding dish, but the sesame dressing really brings it all together and makes it so moreish.
A plate of vegetables comes out next and this is a request from Queen Viv. There's Chinese cabbage, black wood ear mushrooms and sliced carrot and it is very deceptively simple but tasty. In fact I keep going back for more of this.
Suan tsai or suan cai is Northeastern Chinese sauerkraut. This lightly fermented cabbage is paired with sweet potato noodles (like noodles in Japchae). It's slippery and delicious with a light sourness to it and a favourite dish at the table.
They also use this Northeastern Chinese sauerkraut in dumplings along with pork. These boiled dumplings come 14 to a serve with a soy chilli sauce and are tasty with a slight sourness from the Suan Tsai.
The next dish is one of the most popular items that they have which is the crispy pork or Kwow Pao or Gua Bao Rou that originally comes from Harbin in China. This is very thinly sliced pork dipped in a sticky flour batter and deep fried until it's super crispy on the outside. The sauce is a light tangy vinegar sauce that really lifts it and it's similar to a sweet and sour sauce. This is a favourite dish at the table.
We also try the crispy fried pork with vegetables that is like a traditional sweet and sour pork. It's not bad, but it needs a bit of seasoning and isn't quite as interesting as the other dish.
At 8:15pm they call for last orders and the crowd has dispersed. There's no dessert on the menu, not that we have room for it. But we pack up what we have left over which is actually quite a lot and take it home for delicious leftovers!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Dongbei cuisine? Would you pre-order the iron pot?
This meal was independently paid for.
Jilin Family Restaurant
The Regency, shop 5/18/26 Anderson St, Chatswood NSW 2067
Phone: 0430 612 588
Open 7 days: 11:30am-3pm, 4:30-9:30pm
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