Spatula, Spoon and Saturday

This place comes strongly recommended by a friend who lives locally. Who am I to say no to good dim sum! The last time I had some really good dim sum, I was at the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore.

We rocked up at 11.30am after having made a booking on a Saturday morning. Wasn’t really necessary at the time because the place was huge! It was very clean and there was actual linen on the table. According to my friends, real linen means real service. And they were definitely right. The service at Imperial Kingdom was spotless on the day.

Note: I took care to write down the pricing but with quite few dishes I can’t guarantee I didn’t make a mistake.

(pork and prawn dumpling – $4.80)

We were starving and picked out the first thing that came along Pork and Prawn dumplings. They were really good. Perfect balance between the filling and the pastry. It didn’t look interesting but it definitely was good. Recommended.

(Century egg and pork congee – $3.80)

Century egg and pork congee is my favourite dim sum dish. Unfortunately this one was pretty average. Too watery and the taste wasn’t too interesting. I wouldn’t have it again. I would rather concentrate on other yummy things they have.

(a close up of the congee)

A congee is basically a rice gruel dish made with boiling rice in stock until it becomes thick and soup-like. Century eggs are Chinese-preserved eggs. I think they are coated in lime, the egg white becomes jelly-like rich amber colour and the yolk turns grey. It’s good. Some people think it’s disgusting, Josh included. But I’m definitely a fan.

(steamed prawn rolls – $5.50)

Another family favourite – prawns wrapped thick rice noodle sheets topped with seasoned soy sauce. My mum always orders this when we go for dim sum together. The rice noodle skin was thick but this time, I actually liked it. Recommended.

(vegetarian dumplings – $3.80)

Vegetarian dumplings – I think they were quite average. Josh rather liked them.

(the inside of a vegetarian dumpling)

The filling had ‘typical’ Chinese vegetarian things like shittake mushrooms, woodear, firm beancurd and bamboo shoots. You might be surprised to know that in vegetarian does not mean fresh vegetables in some Chinese restaurants. I once ordered the vegetarian combination on at the Shanghai Noodle House thinking it would be mixed veggies but I was sadly wrong. It was a plate of stir-fried dehydrated mushrooms, canned bamboo shoots, wood ear, etc. Not a single piece of fresh vegetable in sight!

(scallop dumplings – $4.80)

The scallop dumplings were very good. Nice juicy filling with perfect dumpling skin. Definitely recommended.

(the inside of a scallop dumpling)

I think the filling also had some minced prawns in it but I honestly can’t remember. This post is about two weeks behind the actual event.

(Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce – $6.80)

Another family favourite: Chinese broccoli (kai lan) in oyster sauce. This is not something I have successfully replicated. I have been assured by a couple of Hong Kong friends that all I have to do is blanch the vegetables in boiling water (that contains some oil and a bit of sugar) and pour bottled oyster sauce on top. And that there is absolutely no trick to it whatsoever. Still failed. Many times! This was well done. Josh really liked it.

(sugarcane prawns -  $4.80)

This was the only fried dim sum we had. We aren’t really a big fan of fried dim sum at all. This one was lovely. It was minced prawn mixture shaped around a tiny sugarcane stick (which we chewed on) and lightly crumbed and fried.

(the fried dim sum trolley)

I took a very rushed picture of the fried dim sum trolley because the size of the oysters just amazed me. And I felt bad asking the waiter to pause. They were quite nice and a couple of them actually smiled! Seriously! Do you even know how rare this is at a Chinese restaurant in Australia?!?!

(steamed pork spare ribs – $4.80)

This was another one of my favourite dim sum dishes. Can’t say I was that impressed with it here though. I found it a tad too oily and I’m used to the slight spicy edge that usually accompanies this dish but it wasn’t. I think I might pass on it next time.

By this time, we were absolutely full. Even Josh had decided that he didn’t want any mango pudding (his favourite) but I think it was due to him seeing this young guy at the next table eating chicken feet. Josh was a bit put off after that. Until of course…

The dessert cart showed up! I mean, have a look! How could you say no?

Carp jelly! How cool is that!

And then we spotted the mango pudding.

(mango pudding – $3.80)

The mango pudding was served topped with evaporated milk. I’m personnally not a fan of evaporated milk on mango pudding and would have done without but this was Josh’s. The pudding was very nice and mango-ey. With realy mango pieces and not one of those icky fake mango flavour. Definitely recommended.

(bean curd with minced prawns – $4.80)

I figured if he could have dessert, so could I. But I preferred another savoury. This was pretty good. I loved the silky egg tofu texture with the flavourful prawn topping. Amazingly steaming hot I almost scalded myself a few times eating it.

(Jasmine tea – $1.50)

Me: What do you think my tea leaves say?
Josh: That you married a handsome man and will live happily ever after!

We were definitely impressed with the place and would definitely go back there. Food was awesome and the service was good. They do charge you for tea but not before asking if you actually want tea. I really hate it when they plonk tea (or peanuts, or whatever) in front of you without asking whether you want it and then charge you for it.

It’s a bit out of our way but it’s definitely no worse than going into the city. And parking is an absolute breeze. Will try not to order so much next time though. Bad idea to go without breakfast!

(Josh: Get the neon sign! Get the neon sign!)

Imperial Kingdom, 546 – 554 Waverley Rd. (cnr Blackburn Rd.), Glen Waverley
Entries from Waverley Rd. and Blackburn Rd.
Yum cha daily

I love the Japanese omelet rice! Of course when we went past a little cafe in Harajuku that specialised in omuraisu, we could not not go in. From my hazy recollection, we were absolutely starving on the day so excuse me for quick, useless photos. I’m pretty sure my hands shook from hunger.

Naturally this was what drew us. The food models. I love Japan for their food models. So we walked down the tiny (seriously you don’t know tiny until you go to Tokyo, and I’m like 5′ 0″) stairwell to a little cafe full of Japanese teenagers. You know, the usual Harajuku crowd. God I love Tokyo!

We were presented with the menu with, thankfully, had pictures on them. I decided on the brown sauce looking one (E). No idea what it was. I kinda thought it was gravy/brown sauce type thing, which I was led to believe to be one of the popular omuraisu toppings.

(Omuraisu with beef and red wine stew – 850 yen)

But I was wrong (naturally). I was correct that it was the standard omuraisu but the brown sauce wasn’t gravy at all. It was beef and red wine stew. I can’t say there was a lot of beef in it (compared to the plastic model). While it was all right, I wasn’t (still am not) a fan of anything red wine-y taste in food. The rice was well made with tomato sauce flavour. The omelet was lovely and soft as it should be.

(my meal – the plastic version)

Josh ordered what we presumed to be the takoyaki omuraisu. I mean, think about it! Takoyaki in your omelet rice. How cool is that?

(Takoyaki omuraisu – 850 yen)

I think Josh won this one. It was absolutely yummy. It was served topped with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed and of course, the beautifully dancing bonito shaving. The most surprising thing was the rice inside the omelet. It had actual tako pieces alongside the usual takoyaki ingredients like ginger, spring onion and cabbage. It was very yummy. Definitely recommended.

(Josh’s meal – the plastic version)

So if you’re ever around there, I strongly recommend it.

Apple Tree, somewhere in Harajuku. I honestly can’t remember where it is. It’s not very far from JR Harajuku though.

PS. I’m so making omuraisu this week! I miss Japan.

I was lazy so I got Josh to make lunch. Since I took over most of the cooking (unemployment, y’know?), I almost forgot what it was like to just sit there and wait for food to appear!

This is how he does a carbonara for two*:

1. 1/2 onion, diced
2. 2 rashers of bacon, chopped
3. 1/2 red capsicum, cut into thin strips
4. 3 button mushrooms, sliced
5. 1/4 cup of white wine
6. 1 egg
7. 1/2 cup cream
8. 1 tbsp of grated parmasan
9. 1 tbsp of grated Colby cheese
10. a pinch of dried tarragon
11. 1 tsp of dried parsley
12. 2 shakes of freshly ground black pepper
13. 200 g. of spaghetti

Cook spaghetti in hot boiling water. Add a bit of olive oil to the frying pan and sautee the onion, bacon and garlic until the onion is softened. Add mushroom and capsicum for a minute or so. Add the white wine to the vegetables and let them steam in the wine for a minute or so. Add cream, tarragon and parsley and bring to boil. Turn the heat all the way down and add in the egg, whisk very quickyly so it doesn’t scramble. Add the cheeses.

Toss the spaghetti through the sauce. Serve.

* Actually that is how he does a carbonara this time. He has a tendency to put in whatever he can find in the fridge. If you’re interested, this is how I make carbonara.

I bought a whole butternut pumpkin a couple of weeks ago and had used up parts of it. But now it’s begging to be used up! So pumpkin gnocchi it is.

This gives you four serves. They are not big serves but because the sauce is so rich, you probably don’t want a lot of it anyway.

(pumpkin pieces in the steamer)

Pumpkin Gnocchi

1. 600 g. pumpkin
2. 1.5 cups of plain flour
3. 1 egg yolk
4. 1 tsp ground nutmeg
5. 1 tbsp of butter

(‘dehydrated’ pumpkin mash)

Cut pumpkin into thin slices and steam them until tender (about 10 or so minutes). Remove the rind and mash the pumpkin with a fork until very smooth in a saucepan. Add butter and nutmeg into the mashed pumpkin. Place on heat and keep stirring the pumpking mash to dry out any water that’s in the pumpkin for about 10-15 minutes. We need to get rid of as much of the moisture in the pumpkin as possible otherwise your gnocchi won’t form properly. Leave the pumpkin to cool, keep stirring if you can so that all the steam escapes.

Once the mash is completely cooled, add an egg yolk to the mash.

Slowly add in the flour and keep mixing with a spatula until the mixture becomes smooth and pale yellow colour.

Once your dough is ready, pat your hand with some flour and cover your work surface with flour. Take a small piece of the dough and roll them up into long shape – size of a small leek. Cut the dough crosswise into rectangular-ish gnocchi pieces. I don’t bother shaping them other ways. Seriously, once they’re covered in sauce, it really doesn’t matter how well shaped they are.

Brie and Walnut Sauce

1. 1/2 cup of walnuts
2. 1 cup of cream
3. 50 g. of brie, cut into small cubes
4. 1 tsp of Vegeta gourmet stock powder (or salt)
5. 2 tsp of fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

Toast the walnut on dry heat for a minute or so. Add cream, brie and stock powder and bring to boil. Add some fresh tarragon if you have any (I don’t but it would have been ace if I do) and leave the sauce to simmer while you cook the gnocchi.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the gnocchi. Once they float, leave them to cook for 1-2 more minutes. Using a slotted spoon, pour the gnocchi straight into the sauce and mix.

As the sauce is very rich, you just want the sauce to coat the gnocchi so use a slotted spoon to fish out the gnocchi from the sauce as well. Serve.

Note: I’m filing this under Pasta but yes I am well aware that it’s not a pasta!

Jacqui had been raving about Dweezil for the past few weeks now. She worked in the area and reckoned the food there was the bee’s knees. She also mentioned nonna-made pasta which sold me. Who am I to argue against a Nonna-made pasta? Plus I ran out of peanut butter and the Carlisle Health shop nearby sold the most yummy fresh 100%-peanut peanut butter.

We arrived at Dweezil in the afternoon, starving. But that didn’t stop me from admiring its warm wooden interior. I loved the way the place was decked out. They had the usual cafe fare like breakfast dishes, toasted foccacia, pastry, sandwiches and various cakes. And of course the daily pasta specials.

After pondering whether I should go for a breakfast dish (as usual) and decided against it (as usual), I settled on the day’s special: Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni. Josh, being a predictable soul, went for the Chicken Puff Pastry Calzone.

(Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni – $10.00)

This. Was. The. Yummiest. Thing. Ever. Served by Nonna herself, I don’t know how else to describe it but it was one of the best pasta dishes I ever had. It’s as good as Pelligrini’s lasagne (which I think is the bee’s knees) except it had ricotta and spinach in it – two of my favourite things in the world.

(Dweezil’s cannelloni – it ain’t pretty close up but it’s beautiful!)

The sauce was yummy. The pasta was yummy. The filling was yummy. Everything was yummy. Jacqui was right.

(Chicken Calzone – $7.50)

(the chicken calzone filling)

Josh’s calzone came with tomato relish. It was lovely. Of course I had a bite. Josh reckons it was ‘better than that chicken pie at that place with the cute waiter.’

(Side salad – $6.50)

We both wanted side salad but Josh’s calzone had an option to include salad and mine didn’t, we ended up with a serve of side salad on its own to share. It was very good. Very well-dressed and the lettuce were beautifully crunchy. I didn’t realise normal iceberg lettuce could be so yummy. I think side salad should be something that makes or breaks the dish and often it’s what I use to determine how good a cafe or a restaurant is. If they do side salad properly, everything is bound to be good.

(Lemon tart – $4.00)

Being greedy guts that we were, we opted for dessert. I went for the lemon tart (How could I not? I was told,  ‘I have the best lemon tart in town’) and a coffee while Josh opted for a hedgehog slice.

(Hedgehog slice – $4.00)

The lemon tart was good though I’m not too sure about best in town but it was yummy nonetheless. Josh liked his hedgehog slice. I’m not a fan and never really found one to be any good anyway. We were served our dessert and I pulled out my camera to take pictures, the waiter/cafe manager saw and said ‘Do you want me to pretty them up for the pictures?’ so I said yes. She came back with coffee beans on the hedgehog slice and lemon slices on the tart with a bit of icing sugar dusted on them. Very creative!

(coffee – $3.20)

It was lovely. The coffee was also very good. I love it when I get a bit of latte art on my coffee. We would be sure to go back when we’re on that side of town again!

Dweezil, 172 Carlisle St., St Kilda