Post Holiday Blues @ Four Seasons

Well it’s been a few weeks now since we returned from China and yes I will get around to blogging about it one day soon.

Two Hungry Girls Present Action against Hunger Supper Club

I don’t know if before I was a fan of Supper Clubs or not, or whether I just hadn’t given them a try to say. But after a night with the Two Hungry Girls, I am definitely a fan now.

New Culture Revolution

After many years of abusing my body with very little exercise and a lot of food, my good wife has finally persuaded me to join a gym to try and get healthy and also to shed a few pounds of midriff that has developed around my belly.

Yipin China

I first heard about Yipin China here, and then I kept noticing it as I walked from Angel Station up Liverpool Road to my fave Pizza Pub, which is where we were going to when a last second change of plan saw us opening the door to this wonderful Chinese restaurant.

Hunan Province – Part One - Fenghuang

Hunan Province is famed for many things, but the most famous is being the birthplace of Mao Zedong. I did think about writing something about him, but decided against it, as the subject is just too complicated with too many people knowing a hell of a lot more about him and the history around him than me, So I decided no.

But whatever you think about the man and what history says about him. He has one major claim to fame. His favourite dish of Red Cooked Pork has been renamed in his honour. Mao Shi Hong Shao Rou. 毛氏红烧肉 ….

How cool is that not only to have a dish named after you, but it’s also a bloody good plate of food at that.

Sadly we never had time to visit his hometown of Shaoshan. Which is a shame, because not only could we have visited the house he once lived in, wow, thankfully now preserved as a museum, but we also missed eating at Mao’s Family Restaurant. A small chain selling all of Mao’s favourite dishes, including smoked fish with dried red chilli (ban hou bei yu). But sadly it wasn’t meant to be, as we were in Changsa for only 1 night and itching to start heading west.

I’m pretty sure Changsa doesn’t get that many foreign tourists as we were looked upon with friendly curiosity, especially down some of the back alleys, where old ladies sitting outside gossiping looked at us with surprise, before their faces broke out in large warm smiles.

I didn’t know anything about the food of Hunan, except it was supposed to be hot. Excellent. Hunan and Sichuan foods are compared with each other, but where as Sichuan uses those ohh so lovely palette numbing peppercorns, in Hunan it is just straightforward chilli they use and they use it so well.

One of the major sights of Hunan Province is Fenghuang (Phoenix). A beautiful well preserved ancient town with a history dating back over a thousand years.

The ancient part of the town adjacent to the river that splits the town in two has been spruced up and a lot of the stilted houses have also been renovated.

Domestic tourism in China has exploded since we were last on the mainland 7 years ago, and these old towns that gives a glimpse into China’s wealthy history are inundated with eager tourists wanting to learn more about their history first hand.

Fenghuang is definitely a place for this. It really has everything. Lot’s of history, minority groups, ancient buildings, a lovely river to take boat rides on, and plenty of places to eat and drink.

We had no problem finding food to eat and eat well we did. A lot of it was down to potluck though with a lot of pointing at what other people were eating and what looked good coming out of the kitchen.

This way of ordering never let us down, but I know for certain we definitely missed out on a lot of food we would have wanted to eat.

But this is the problem with not be able to speak or read the language, and not finding any menus in English, and no one to hand to translate. But this is why I love travelling so much.

This is something we would love to change, but it would mean some serious studying and/or moving to China. Now that is one thing we would love to do. One day.

The eating highlight was definitely to be had at the night market. A wondrous sight just outside of the old town. Row upon row of stalls selling everything known to man that can be cooked on an open grill.

The sounds and those smells were a sight to behold. Thankfully in my old age, dementia has not set in just yet and I can still picture the scene, smell the food being cooked, the sounds of those musicians coming around and playing your favourite Chinese tunes for 10 Yuan a pop. I want to go back.

I have a way of choosing where to eat when it comes to street food. Generally its best to choose a stall that is jammed pack with a steady stream of customers, as it means the food is freshly cooked and turned over pretty fast. So nothing hanging around for a long time going off.

Here, every stall was packed. A really good sign. We were waiting for a while for a couple of seats to come free. Thankfully the seats were at the stall of the best grill master at the night market.

We could have stayed there all night choosing a few of these, some of that, a couple of skewers of those, oh definitely gotta have some of them. 3 of the pork skewers. A whole fish, some veggies as well. Choosing was mad.

There was a wide range of food on offer at the night market from fish to vegetables, meat and even pig’s head. We were really tempted to see how they were going to serve it, but we never saw anyone having it. Shame.

Over the 3 nights there we ate at quite a few different stalls, but the best dish we had was a whole aubergine cooked on the hot plate. The Grill Master rubbed it all over in oil, and then ever so gently made little cuts to open it out as it softened and cooked.

After several minutes of this, it was opened up as flat as a fish, and with some chilli oil and chilli powder liberally sprinkled on top, it actually ended up coming to our table looking like a nice fish. It was amazing.

Our other favourite place to eat was a small hole in the wall away from the tourist hordes. For breakfast everyday this lovely lady made us feel so welcome and had a large smile as she cooked our simple rice noodle stir fries. Simple food but cooked ohh so well.

This side of the Fenghuang we were mini stars, with all the locals who were dropping their kids or grandchildren off at the adjacent school, would all said hello to us with their big toothless grins.

We did try and speak to all and sundry, even if it was just a few words and badly pronounced, but people seemed to be patient with us and were pleased that we were making an effort.

The problem was when people tried to speak to us. Those blank looks in our faces must have been a sight to behold.

One thing I regret was not persuading the wife to dress up in traditional minority costume and have her photo taken like everyone else was.

It would have given us memories for a lifetime, even though Fenghuang has given us that already. 

All's Cool @ Chilli Cool

I’ve finally made it to Chilli Cool. Finally I stepped through the door, sat down and ate. Guess what. I never wanted to leave.

I think I’ve found my new fave restaurant in the world. My other one is all the way over in Hammersmith, and shall forever remain one of my treasured places, but it’s just too far away. I need somewhere close, or at least closer to home. Although the Regent is closer, but how many times a week can I eat pizza?

Chilli Cool felt right, the staff were friendly, the menu reads like poetry, the food sent me to heaven. OK slight over exaggeration there. The food was not knock your socks off, but it was pretty damn good, and I got the wife to eat tofu, which after her attempt at eating stinky tofu in Chengdu, she vowed never to touch the stuff again. It was really stinky.

To be honest we were not that hungry, we just wanted a quick bite to eat on the way home, and I didn’t fancy yet more Turkish kebabs or pide. Anymore and I’ll start looking like one. No we wanted something light, refreshing and with a kick.

The restaurant is split between 2 shops. I’m not sure if we were in the new part or old part, but it looked like it had won last prize in an interior design competition. The décor is pretty lame, but we were not here for that. We were here for the food.

We are getting more restrained these days. We are actually able to order enough food that we want to eat, which I wish I’d learnt that trick years ago, as I’ve wasted enough food to feed the 5,000 before now.

So after much deliberation on what and how much to order. We had quite simply a plate of ma po dofu, green beans with minced pork and a bowl of rice. Yes that was it. I know not much, but as I said we were not that hungry, just something to tide us over for the night, and I’m trying to get out of eating large meals at night. I think the waitress was a tad shocked as she said, “Is that all?” but it’s my new regime, and it is kinda working. Sometimes.

The Ma Po tofu was one of the best I’ve had outside China. It beats hands down the crap I eat sometimes form the bad takeaway across from work. The tofu was swimming oh so happily in the chilli broth. It had been given a light dusting of pepper that added another taste to a firm favourite. My mouth slowly became more and more numb as the night wore on. This actually more or less lasted all the way back on the 73 to Stoke Newington. No heat pain, just numbness. Lovely sensation.

This version was the complete opposite of what I normally cook at home. Mine is a tad sweeter, as I use a sweet chilli bean paste, and mine is a lot thicker from mixing in a lot of cornstarch to thicken it up, so this was a lovely change.

This was as close as I remember it from our short jaunt through Sichuan all those years ago, except those versions were seriously hot. But ohh so good.

The minced pork and green beans were our vegetable accompaniment. The pork had been fried to a crispy loveliness, and made some good green beans all the more yummy. I think, unless I am wrong this is translated from Chinese as ants climbing trees. I do love poetic translations in food.

I’m not a big fan of noodles, so I always order rice. I like the way it soaks up the sauce and makes it a great meal in itself. I work with some guys who always order ho fun noodles with everything. I look at noodles as a part of a meal, not as a side. Maybe I need to open my mind a tad, and see how it goes. Sometimes I am a little closed minded.

Why oh why has it taken me so long to walk in through the door and try the food on offer. No idea. But I want to eat everything off the menu.

I am hooked on Chilli Cool and I have no idea why, maybe I just need somewhere to lay down my hat and call it my home

Baozi Inn – A Revisit

It had been a while since I had been to Baozi Inn, but I felt it was due a re-visit to check out how it was faring up.

For a Tuesday night this small joint was heaving to the rafters, which is always a good sign for a restaurant to be full mid week during a recession.

Not much had changed since my last visit a few months ago, the décor is still a little faux, but they do have some lovely green Mao bags and caps hanging on the wall. I must pick one of those up in China later this year.

The menu hasn’t changed either since my last visit, it still has the same Baozi Inn specials. So we ordered a few. First off was the Spicy Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup and a Noodle Soup with Pork Ribs and Mushrooms.

My spicy beef was spicy enough for me, but lacked any real depth of flavour, which is a shame. The beef itself was super tender and full of flavour. The noodles were a little dull but well cooked.

In comparison the pork rib soup stock was pretty bland, but my taste buds were shot by the end of my soup so I can not judge. I was reliably informed that the stock was very well flavoured though. I managed to taste one of the ribs and the meat was falling off the bone, so good.

All in all the Baozi Inn still serves well flavoured and tasty Sichuan style noodle soups for a very good price. Which is probably why it is always packed. Still a winner then. 

Taiwan Tourism Appreciation Lunch @ China Tang

After the nonsense of the Hangzhou Tourism Dinner, my boss owed me a good Chinese meal. Actually the only reason I got to go is because he is in India, and someone from the company had to go and fly the flag at the Taiwan Tourism Appreciation Lunch. Yes me.

I’ve never been to Taiwan, we don’t sell that much of it to be honest, but the European office (who are based in Frankfurt) want to keep us onboard. So once or twice a year they host a luncheon and recently it has been held at China Tang, which is inside the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane. Very posh.

I’ve seen many debates about whether Chinese food can climb the dizzy heights of European food. We all know it can and has been for hundreds of years. It’s just we have got so used to our palettes being over salted, that the delicate flavours of Chinese cooking is more or less lost on a lot of people. This includes me a lot of the time. Plus as with most people in the UK, growing up with cheap Chinese takeaways, these have really put the boot in for 99% of the population taking Chinese food seriously. I know of a few people whose idea of high end Chinese food is at a large buffet restaurant in north London. So does Chinese food work in a 5 star hotel?

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau put on a bloody good show. It was a small affair with only about 20 of us. 6 people from the Tourist office and their PR firm, a couple of guys from Eva Air, a few scrounger traveller journos trying to get free trips out of us tour operators. Fat chance, and a few tour operators who actually pretend to sell Taiwan. A jolly bunch we were.

You can really tell that Capitalist China knows how to play the game better than Communist (?) China. I like Capitalist China.

Walking down through the Dorchester, you can see that it oozes money and sophistication. It really is a lovely hotel. Although I wouldn’t want to stay there. Have you seen the décor in those rooms?

We were to meet in the bar downstairs and do some power networking before the main presentation. Thankfully the presentation only lasted 5 minutes, unlike the Hangzhou one, which lasted an hour. Big difference between Communist China and Capitalist China. I’m liking Capitalist China.

The presentation was short and sweet, and really they hit the nail on the head. For such a small country it has a hell of a lot going for it. Shame I’m off to the mainland later this year. It could have been an interesting trip with a stop over in Bangkok enroute.

After the power networking and short and sweet presentation the lunch was served in one of the private rooms adjacent to the bar. China Tang is a pure Cantonese restaurant and it really showed in the food. We started off with some dim sum. A nice way to kick of an afternoon of eating, drinking and more power networking, and more drinking.

The highlights of the dim sum were the Har Kar. These steamed dumplings were well seasoned and the shrimp really shone through, the skins was very translucent and I’m sure you could have seen through them. I would have looked properly but it popped in my mouth so quickly.

The scallop dumplings were thick, plumpy and had a wonderful scaloppy taste. They were steamed to perfection and were still had a bite to them.

The satay and spring rolls were ok, nothing special and as good as you get in China Town. Yeah, not that impressive.

Next up we had a couple of ducks cooked in the classic Peking style. It was pretty impressive to watch the girls deftly cut those birds down, and at such great speed. The skin was not as crispy as I’ve had it before, but it was good none the less. The flesh was pink and juicy and it went down a treat. I would have eaten more but the old girl next to me was picking all the food up with her hands, and she didn’t look too healthy. She actually reminded me of a mad old cat lady. I declined the offers of more Peking duck.

The mains I guess you could say, or even course number 3 had some classic Cantonese favourites like wok fried prawns, which had a very sweet sauce. Stir fried beef in black pepper sauce. These little morsels were so tender, they literally disappeared as soon as they hit my tongue. The guy from EVA Air was 100% certain they used a tenderiser in the kitchen. Could have been, they were very soft like little morsels of beefy air.

Of course they had the classic sweet and sour pork, with raw peppers and pineapple. A little homage to the cheap and easy Chinese takeaways that have made a good dish so bad. Respect.

I was slightly shocked that this top notch restaurant would serve virtually raw green peppers. Unreal.

I’ve only ever had sweet and sour pork in two countries before. England and China. It sucks in England, and it does at China Tang as well.

All in all the food we had was passable I’m just glad I never had to pay for it. But everyone had a good time, which was it was all about.

So if you’ve been to China and are thinking of going back, then maybe head off to Taiwan for a completely unique experience.

D is for Dim Sum @ The Phoenix Palace

For some of us this was the first time Dim Sum had been eaten like this. But what a place for them to loose your Dim Sum virginity.

I hadn’t really had eaten that much Dim Sum since we were in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. Too damn long if you ask me. Even with the Dim Sum being oh so fashionable recently with every blogger in London eating it on a regular basis, I didn’t go for any. Well I am so fashionable late to the party. As always.

As D posed a problem for restaurants in London, there are not too many Djibouti joints around that I could find. We were thinking Danish, but as two of us were in Denmark the week before, it seemed pointless to do it again for them. So Dim Sum came to mind, well it does begin with a D, ok ok I know it is a bit thin on the ground, but at least now we know this game has very flexible rules.

The Dim Sum menu is pretty good at the Phoenix Palace. It has been a while since I’ve eaten Dim Sum and chosen it from a menu, the last few times in Hong Kong, it has been picked from a trolley, as it was pushed around by old ladies, which is always good fun. So this was a little different.

We went straight into it and ordered several plates straight up. As Colombians out numbered us, a lot of fried food was ordered. As the old saying goes “you can take Colombians out of Colombia, but you cannot take Colombia out of the Colombians.” Well they are creatures of habit, but then again aren’t we all.

I’m not going to talk about all the 18 or so dishes we ordered, but just some notes on the highlights and lows.

Highs for me were the cold duck tongues. So so so good. Not everyone’s favourite I have to admit, but it rocked my world. I’ve actually found a shop selling them on the Pho mile. So some experimentation is gonna happen soon.

The Bar-B-Q Pork and Chicken buns were real winners. Very light buns with super flavourful fillings, just as I remembered them from Beijing.

The beef tripe in ginger was also another great dish. It’s been a while since I’d eaten any tripe, after been triped out in Colombia. It was lush, again not everyone’s cup of tea but it sent me into tripe heaven.

The briny pork croquette was good, but way too gelatinous, but oh they tasted oh so very good. Just had trouble opening my mouth after every mouthful though.

The lows were the so called rice pasta with mixed soyas. None of us got this dish at all. The texture of the rice sheets was too soft and gooey. The soya sauces were a welcome addition to an otherwise dull and unloved dish. Maybe a meaty filling might have provided a welcome addition to it.

We were all pretty ho hum with the mini ribs in black bean sauce. They were really just bone and gristle and not really much of a sauce. A real let down.

We had a lot of fried dishes, which for me was a few too many, pero latinos son latinos.

We shared a few puddings, which were egg tarts, cream custard tarts and a chilled coconut cream. The egg tarts were good, but were warm. I am not a fan of warm egg tarts, I prefer them at room temperature. The pastry was nice and flaky, and the flavour really good and custardy. The cream custard tart or buns threw me straight back to the streets of Bangkok where I used to live on these sweet delights. If I would have known these were on the menu I would have had these from the start and been oh so bloody happy. I made a mental note that I have to return to Bangkok and fast.

All in all the Phoenix Palace gave us a great afternoon of great food, great conversation and a great time.

At £13 or so a head this was a cracking choice and a lot of the dishes did touch our hearts. OK I am now officially joining the Dim Sum party.

Cook the Books : Sichuan Cookery - Hot and Numbing Chicken Slices

I am a big fan of Fuchsia Dunlop. You have to hand it to her, not many people would not only learn how to cook in the Sichuan way, but also learn the language so she could learn how to cook in the Sichuan. Amazing.

I’ve had her book “Sichuan Cookery” for a few years now, and am slowly (too slowly if you ask me) working my way though it.

The food of Sichuan has hooked me, I think it’s something to do with those peppers, they don’t attack you full on, but slowly oh so slowly they work their wonderful magic upon you, and instead of burning your mouth, they numb it. But in a fresh way, not a painful way. Well I do not find it painful, I enjoy the sensation.

I recently made a “master sauce”. It’s three weeks old now, so it will take many more months and uses for it to become how I want it. So after poaching a chicken in it, I let the chicken cool down, then sliced the meat very thinly, as I was a twitching to make this recipe again.

It’s great as a snack or part of an appetizer for dinner with friends. I did however forget to buy the spring onions, they add a good textural addition to the dish.

Hot and Numbing Chicken Slices by Fuchsia Dunlop

300g Cold cooked Chicken meat

4 Spring onions, white part only (if using)

4 tsp White sugar

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

2 – 4 Tbsp Chilli oil

1 tsp Sesame oil

½ tsp Ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns

1. Cut the chicken into thin slices
2. Thinly slice the spring onions on the diagonal
3. In a bowl, add the sugar, then the soy sauce. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the oils and stir.
4. Place the spring onion and chicken slices on a plate.
5. Sprinkle over the ground Sichuan pepper. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and onion slices.
6. Mix the chicken in with the sauce so every part is covered.
7. Eat and enjoy.

Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop - Buy Here

Foto Friday # 32

The thing I love the most about Singapore, is that you can walk into any unassuming restaurant and get a damn fine meal at a reasonable price.

Leong's Legend - The Original

I’m not gonna say too much about the original China Town Leong’s Legends, as I’ve already eaten and blogged about number 2 in this slowly growing chain of Taiwanese eateries. Plus the décor and menu are both the same so fewer words will be written. The only difference is really the vibe. The younger sister has a much better one.

The restaurant is somewhat smaller, but still has the same Song Dynasty drinking den feel and look to it. But somehow it is not as cosy as Continues is. I’ve not visited number 3 in Bayswater, but I’m sure it’ll be the same. But that won’t stop me from going one day soon. Real soon.

We weren’t that hungry so we only had a few dishes to tide us over. For starts we had a basket of Legends Siu Loung Bao. There were 8 of these little dumplings to wet our appetites. They were a mixed bag really. The insides were delightful, the pork was well seasoned and had a good texture. The jelly had melted and provided a soupiness to this dumpling when we bit into it. The only downside was the wrapper itself. It was too thick and almost chewy. Good but not great.

Next up were our mains of hot and fiery beef slices with beef tripe and a spicy pig’s offal dish. Our waitress, bless her, seemed shocked that we would order this dish. She did her best to dissuade us from ordering it, saying that only Chinese people liked it. She obviously had no idea of my obsession with offal. After a minute of this joyful banter she agreed to supply us with their offal dishes. As she turned to leave, she looked back at us and was about to try again but felt maybe we were ready for the good stuff.

Both were pretty damn good. The spicy beef slices with tripe were just that. Pretty damn spicy. Good texture and great flavour with some nice heat thrown in as well. Only downside was there wasn’t enough of it, as we could of eaten that all night.

The spicy pig’s offal came as more of a soup or stew than the previous dish as we were expecting. I think I tasted all bits of the pig there, liver, heart and kidney and all were well cooked and seasoned. It wasn’t that spicy but all can be forgiven as it was a really good dish.

I think word had spread amongst the staff, as they seemed impressed that we had eaten everything. I think they were expecting us to have it sent back and order something else that the other laowai were ordering.

All in all Leong’s Legends is a good restaurant with some funny staff, but somehow Continues has a much better vibe. Well we’ll see with numero tres.

Chinese in Dalston

We seem to be spending more and more time in and around Kingsland Road these days. Well cash is tight and you can eat great food around here for next to nothing. Bonus.

After quite a few visits to Mangal 1 and realising that maybe we don’t really need to try any more Turkish restaurants as none of the ones we’ve tried seem to match up to the dizzy heights that the original Mangal have reached.

I am tempted to try number 2, but it just looks a tad posher without the vibe of the original. So maybe not.

I’d seen and wandered past Shanghai on many an occasion, mainly after coming from somewhere else for lunch or dinner. It always seemed to be on the wrong side of a dinner date.

When I hear one person bleating on about a restaurant I kinda take it with a pinch of salt, but when I hear half a dozen or more folks from different groups telling me how great a place is, I pay a little bit more attention. For some reason within the last two weeks I have been told about the virtues of Shanghai from 5 different people. Maybe I should hold off and eat there.

A recent trip to a small Brasilian shop on Kingsland Road to buy some Guascas for a Xmas Eve Ajiaco (more on that at a later date) brought Shanghai to the front.

We had three or four choices for dinner. 1. Shanghai. 2. Puji Puji, a small Malaysian place that we tried and failed to eat at a week or so ago. 3. Thai Corner Café, where we endured a new mother breast-feeding her baby whilst we were eating. Or 4. The Snooty Fox, which was gonna be their speciality of Chicken and Chips. Yum yum.

As we were so close to Shanghai, and the snow just starting to come down. We headed to this Chinese restaurant. Well it was so close.

It’s kinda trippy when you enter. It immediately reminded me of an old Pie n Mash shop, which I later found out was exactly what it used to be, but it kinda fits as a Chinese restaurant now. Those wooden benches were meant to be sat at whilst eating good Chinese nosh.

We weren’t actually that hungry, but needed something warm and comforting. As it was after dark on a cold Monday night. Their Dim Sum was out the window. I’ve not tried too much dim sum in my life but eating it at night just doesn’t feel right.

So after looking through the menu we ordered just two dishes; Shanghai Beef and Double Cooked Pork Belly. Neither were amazing, but both were cooked well. The pork belly was soft and the fat melted in my mouth. So good.

The beef was nice and juicy and the sauce had a slight piquancy to it. Pretty nice. The only downside really on the food was the quantity of large diced onions in both dishes. Way too many. Thankfully they were cooked and had just a slight bite to them, not like other places I’ve eaten at where they are raw and have been mixed in at the last minute. Yuck.

Too be honest the food did not go below my expectations. For where it is, and for the price I’d say this place is a bit of a star. It’s not gonna win any prizes of culinary highs, but well worth eating at if you are in the area and haven’t eaten at Mangals yet.