Tag: chinese food

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Foodie Friday: Dan Dan beef Jianbing

Foodie Friday

The latest street food obsession to hit Australia is ‘The Bing’ or Jianbing – a Chinese crepe-like pancake that’s packed full of delicious savoury fillings and is traditionally served for breakfast. And to celebrate the current wave, Australian Beef has teamed up with MasterChef 2018 alumni and street food Instagrammer Brendan Pang to bring you a version of the delicacy that combines spicy, peanutty, aromatic mince with a crisp egg pancake.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

Dan Dan beef mix

  • 400g beef mince
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing wine
  • 2 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp five spice powder

Filling

  • Vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 4 cos lettuce leaves
  • 4 tbsp peanuts, roasted and chopped

Spicy Peanut Sauce

  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Jianbing batter

  • 1/3 cup millet flour (or fine cornmeal)
  • 1/3 cup white flour
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • 3/4 cup water

Method

  1. Place all jianbing batter ingredients, plus 1/2 tsp of salt into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
  2. In a wok, heat vegetable oil over medium heat and brown the beef. Add hoisin, shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce and five-spice powder. Cook until all the liquid is evaporated. Set aside.
  3. Place all spicy peanut sauce ingredients into a small bowl and mix well.
  4. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and brush with vegetable oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, pour in 1/4 of the jianbing batter. Working quickly, swirl the pan to spread the batter as thinly as possible and cook for 1-2 minutes. Pour 1/4 of the beaten egg mix over the crepe, spread quickly and evenly with a spatula, sprinkle with a little spring onion and cook 1-2 minutes until egg is set.
  5. Flip the crepe and spread the top side with a generous spoonful of the spicy peanut sauce. Place a cos lettuce leaf in the centre and top with dan dan beef mix, cucumber slices, and roast peanuts.
  6. Fold in half twice and serve immediately. Repeat with remaining ingredients

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Chinese restaurant interior wows at Queen Chow, Manly

Don’t get me wrong, there’s something I love about a traditional Chinese restaurant interior. The paper lanterns, the waving cats, all that red (which I usually HATE in interiors!). It’s familiar, nostalgic and, like the menu, you know what you’re getting. I also have a penchant for today’s trendy and aesthetically slick Asian eateries and Manly’s new Queen Chow, the latest restaurant on the increasingly impressive Northern Beaches hospitality scene in Sydney, is definitely an example of the latter. The food looks pretty good too…

Yes, Merivale have done it again!

The exciting Cantonese concept on Manly Wharf opened last week, headed up by the dynamic duo behind Queen Chow Enmore, Patrick Friesen and Eric Koh. Friesen’s vision for the menu is classic neighbourhood Cantonese that celebrates great Australian produce. Inspired by the way that Cantonese food is recreated around the globe and using the best of what our country has to offer, Friesen hopes to add to the ever-evolving mosaic of what it is today.

“We want to create a place that echoes the sentiment of neighbourhood Chinese restaurants of years past, where people come often and with the people they love the most. Your local Chinese, with all the favourites, cooked beautifully,” he says. Like Queen Chow Enmore, he has taken inspiration from the tastes and aromas of Hong Kong’s famous dai pai dongs, but this time served with a beachside sensibility and plenty of Australian seafood on the menu.

Guests can start with a variety of flavour-packed appetisers – oysters with native finger lime, handmade wonton soup and BBQ Peking duck pancakes with cucumber, leek and hoisin – then indulge in some of Australia’s finest mud crab, lobster and pippies, wok-fried with XO, or Singapore’s black pepper sauce. There are half shell scallops with XO vermicelli, garlic butter king prawns and black pepper Moreton Bay bugs – all best enjoyed with Queen Chow’s special fried rice and juicy Asian greens on the side.

Queen Chow Manly will also embrace the nostalgia of local Chinese restaurants that dot our landscape, evoking rich food memories of sticky honey king prawns, Mongolian lamb sang choi bao, and deep-fried ice cream with butterscotch sauce. Enmore’s signature BBQ platters of roast duck and honey glazed char siu pork will also make an appearance. Who else is drooling about now?!

The dim sum menu has been expertly crafted by Koh, highly regarded as one of the greatest dim sum masters in the world. Bringing with him 35 years’ experience including tenures at Mr. Wong and London’s Michelin-starred Hakkasan and Yauatcha, he has made the artistry of dim sum his life’s work. He will be feeding Manly’s hungry masses his famous steamed, baked and fried dumplings, including scallop and prawn siu mai, prawn har gau, jade seafood, wild mushroom, pork xiao long bao and egg custard tarts.

The drinks list takes inspiration from the flavour of Friesen’s food and uses fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices found in the kitchen. Curated by Franck Moreau and Adrian Filiuta, the wine list is relaxed and approachable, with a selection of over 200 classic, organic, biodynamic and premium wines from Australia and around the world. There is a natural focus on Riesling and lighter style reds to befit the waterside setting.

Elegant yet casual, and drenched in natural light and spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, the space itself bares the bones of the original Papi Chulo restaurant, while deep green timbers, dark woods and marble bring it into a new era. Three group tables are fitted with a much-loved throwback, the Lazy Susan. A zinc clad oyster bar takes pride of place next to the kitchen, while the live fish tank greets guests on arrival.

Queen Chow Manly, 22-23 East Esplanade, Manly, Tel: 02 9114 7341

Prefer to stay home and cook your own? Try this Adam Law recipe for steamed chilli and lime fish.

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Recipes

Foodie Friday: Spring roll bowl

This fresh-tasting weeknight meal is like a deconstructed spring roll in bowl form.

Ingredients

For the peanut sauce:
5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 cup (155 g) creamy peanut butter
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs lime juice
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp. chilli flakes

2 tbs canola oil, plus more for frying
8 wonton wrappers
salt
250 g shiitake mushrooms, brushed clean, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 tbs. soy sauce
250 g rice noodles
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 head cos lettuce, shredded
1/2 cup (15 g) mint leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup (15 g) basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 cup (90 g) chopped roasted peanuts

Method

1. To make the peanut sauce, in a small bowl, stir together the ginger, garlic and peanut butter. Stir in the soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in enough water to achieve a thick pourable consistency. Set aside.

2. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, pour in oil to a depth of 1 cm and heat until hot but not smoking. Add the wonton wrappers and fry until golden brown and crisp, about 1 minute per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the wonton wrappers to a plate and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.

3. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the 2 tbs. oil. Add the mushrooms, garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the soy sauce, toss to coat and cook 1 minute longer. Keep warm.

4. Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain, transfer to a bowl, add the vinegar and toss to coat.

5. Divide the noodles among 4 bowls and top with the mushrooms, lettuce, mint, basil, carrots and cucumber. Garnish with the wonton wrappers and peanuts. Drizzle with the peanut sauce and serve. Serves 4.
 
–From the Williams Sonoma cookbook One Bowl Meals

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Foodie Friday: China Diner’s Fried Rice

This fried rice with prawn, egg and sweet Lap Cheong pork sausage is a favourite on the menu at Bondi and Double Bay restaurant China Diner. My mouth is seriously watering right now!

Ingredients

  • 50g prawns 
  • 15g beans, sliced 
  • 1 egg 
  • 50g Lap Cheong sausage 
  • 150g cooked rice
  • Soy sauce
  • Salt
  • Ground white pepper
  • Pickled mustard green 
  • Sliced shallot 

Method

Make sure you save some of your boiled or steamed rice from the night before. For best results, leave uncovered in the fridge overnight.

The ingredients above are just some options. Feel free to change to chicken or duck and you can change any of the quantities to whatever you desire on the day.

We make our own Lap Cheong sausage at China Diner but you can buy at any good Asian super market. The same goes for pickled mustard green.

In a hot wok, add the prawns and fry, then add beans. Make sure to get heat into the ingredients then add the lightly beaten egg.

Add the Lap Cheong.

Now add rice and the secret is trying to get the “breath of the wok” into the rice. It’s that slightly charred/smoky flavour that is essential to most wok fried dishes.

Add a drizzle of soy. Your rice should be dark, it’s a complimentary flavour.

Use a little bit of salt and some ground white pepper.

Add the pickled veg.

Taste for seasoning.

Scoop into a bowl and garnish with sliced shallot.

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