Figs deserve stuffing like Hugo deserves a slap

My book club met last night to discuss our latest reading experience - The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Opinions of the book ranged from loving it to hating it, and it is filled with characters that you'd happily punch in the face so it was a lively discussion. As per usual the talking was interspersed with much eating as we all enjoyed the dishes that everyone had brought along to offset their opinions, be they sweet or sour.

Bookclub table of delights - chocolate fudge, stuffed figs, upside down cake, chocolate brownies, nibbles, spiced nuts, vegies, hommus and tahini, felafel, beetroot dip, cheese and crackers, Turkish bread, olives and a selection of wines.

My brain has been taking its sweet time returning to me from Melbourne these past few days, but luckily my daydreams yesterday started to shift from tennis back to food, and inspiration finally struck about what dish I should bring along - dates stuffed with blue cheese, and wrapped in prosciutto. It is not such a stretch to go from daydreaming about tennis to daydreaming about dates - have you noticed that tennis players are some of the few male athletes that have decent attributes in this area?

As it turned out, the shop that I went to get supplies only had small, disappointing, un-tennisy dates so I had to re-evaluate my recipe and got some dried figs instead. They also had gorgonzola on special so that made my cheese decision for me.

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Pull my Pork

Oh dear, I seem to have lashings of delicious pulled pork leftover from Mum's party, whatever shall I do? I think I'd best have something to eat whilst I consider this dilemma..

After my sister told me that she had put leftover pulled pork to delicious use by making some nachos with leftover corn chips (from the platters I forgot to photograph), cheese, tomatoes, sour cream and avocados turned into guacamole, I thought I might continue this theme and make some pork enchiladas for dinner. It was a pretty hot, muggy day (yay! Summer is coming!) when I was mulling this over though, and instead I decided to freshen up this idea and make a Mexican themed kinda san choy bow dish instead.

Mexicana san choy bow?

I guess I should start at the start and let you know how I made these lashings of pulled pork to begin with. I'd been eyeing off a few pulled pork recipes over the past few months, waiting patiently for the opportunity to make one of them. I knew that this opportunity would somehow involve my sister, given her love of the pig and his many delicious incarnations, so when we thought we needed another 'manly' dish for the party, I jumped at the chance to get pork pulling.

The piggy process

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
From Rosa's Yummy Yums, adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
(note: I followed this recipe and had heaps of spice rub leftover, even after using two big leg roasts, so I'd recommend either making less, or keeping some aside so you don't contaminate it when you're rubbing the pork in case you don't need to use it all)
1 Tb ground black pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tb chilli powder
2 Tb ground cumin
2 Tb dark brown sugar
1 Tb dried oregano
4 Tb paprika
2 Tb table salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
1 Tb ground white pepper
Pork of your choice - the recipe says to use a 3-4kg bone-in pork shoulder, but Rosa used pork neck with success. I actually used two decent sized bone-in leg roasts (they only just fit in the slow cooker!)
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional - I didn't use)
Few cups of BBQ sauce (see recipe below)

Method
1. Mix all spices in a small bowl.
2. Massage spice rub into meat (you might want to use some gloves!). Wrap meat tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. I left mine overnight, and the recipe says you can leave it up to 3 days if you want.

That's a one-a spicy pork-a roast!

3. Unwrap roast and place it in slow cooker. Add liquid smoke, if using, and 1/4 cup water (we used around 1/2 cup). Turn slow cooker to low and cook 8-10 hours, until meat is fork tender.

Falling off the bone goodness

4. Transfer roast to cutting board, and discard liquid left in the slow cooker. Pull the pork by tearing it into shreds with two forks. Discard the fat.

Pull it now, pull it good, pull that pork just like you should

5. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and add enough BBQ sauce to coat it all, then heat for 30-60 minutes or until hot (you can leave it in there longer, just keep the slow cooker on).
6. Serve however you like - we've discovered it's great in buns, nachos and lettuce cups :)

Hot tasty buns!

BBQ Sauce
From taste.com.au

Note: I tripled this recipe and it was the perfect amount of sauce for the two big leg roasts

Ingredients
2 Tb olive oil
1 small onion, peeled, chopped
2 garlic cloves
300g can peeled tomatoes, drained
2 Tb tomato puree
1 Tb brown sugar
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
1 Tb sweet chilli sauce
2 Tb white wine vinegar
1 Tb Dijon mustard

Method
1. Place the oil in a saucepan over low heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened slightly. Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until thickened slightly. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Place in a blender and blend until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Overall notes:

• The pork was super spicy when it was cooked, but the BBQ sauce really took away most of the heat, so don't be too alarmed when you taste it out of the slow cooker and it's a little tongue-burny (you will not be able to resist eating some when you remove it to pull it. It just looks too delicious).
• I'm sure that shop bought BBQ sauce would be fine to use, but make sure you get something half decent.

We didn't manage to use all the pork before our guests started getting too full, so we had quite a lot leftover. Oh deary me, what a terrible, terrible shame. We ate some in a delicious leftovers lunch the next day, and there was still enough left to leave a big container with my sister and brother-in-law, and bring a couple of containers home with me. One of these containers got used in my clash of cultures dish, and the other waits tantalisingly in the freezer.

Mexicana San Choy Bow

Mexicana San Choy Bow

Ingredients
Leftover slow cooker pulled pork
Sour cream
Cos lettuce leaves, washed, dried and sliced into cups
Grilled vegetable salsa (such as this recipe)
Guacamole (such as this recipe)

Method
Bung it all on a plate and enjoy, spooning a bit of everything into a lettuce cup, rolling it up, making sure you have the plate sitting underneath to catch any spillages, and chomping it down. I'd recommend matching these with a summery cerveza or some sangria.


Come to think of it, this isn't such a clash of cultures, as I'm reminded of the ceviche lettuce cups I made for Easter lunch. Anyway, it was incredibly tasty and prompted my housemate to declare me the best housemate ever. Hey, it may have just been the pork talking, but I'll take such declarations however I can get them. I may even share the other container of leftover pork with her, though that may have been her dastardly plan all along!

Ginnie Joan's Swanky Speakeasy

It was a hot day. It's always hot in Gero, and today it was blowing more hot air than the mayor on election day. I was sitting at my desk with a pitcher of melted ice, sweating like a hungry fat guy at a hot dog stand where there are only two weenies left.. and he’s third in line. The door squeaked on its hinges and I looked up to see her walking in, the kind of broad that could get a guy into five types of trouble.

"Ginnie Joan's another year old this year, but this time it ain't no ordinary birthday," she said, "We gots to celebrate this one with a bang, and I hear you're the girl to help us do it."

"So what if I am, doll face. I ain't got the time, and you ain't got the dough," I replied, wiping the sweat off my brow and looking around for fall to appear.It was hotter than a $3 radio at an all-night pawnshop but this dame was cool as ice. She reached into her bag and tossed two parcels across the desk before moving to the door, arching her back against the frame "There's plenty more where that came from. You've got two days to get back to me, and keep your trap shut," she said before slinking out.

I picked up the parcels, looking inside and groaning like a cheap plastic chair at an all-you-can-eat buffet. This broad had my number all right - wholemeal pizza dough and freshly made too. I poured the pitcher over my head before picking up the phone and admitting surrender.

When my sister first approached me with her idea of throwing a 1920s/30s themed party for our Mum's milestone birthday this year, I knew it was going to be a night to remember. If you want a cool party organised, just ask my sister (only, you might not want to ask her right now or she might punch your nose flatter than a pancake driving off a cliff). Contrary to the above gumshoe, I eagerly jumped on board and soon we were watching old movies for ideas (watching Kevin Costner in fast forward doesn't make him any less annoying), making many a list and madly emailing each other even more than usual.

Keep your greasy mitts off my Ginnie Joan dollars!

Before too long, invites were sent out to the lucky chosen ones, giving each guest a moniker to use for the evening, and some Ginnie Joan dollars to use in case they need to bribe their way in past The Enforcer (my brother-in-law).

The Enforcer's shift at the speakeasy began early, shifting and moving the usual furniture out of the way to make room for the hired tables and chairs, the "band" and the piano. The band were an unusually quiet lot, but they made up for it by looking the part, framed by red curtains and gold chandeliers. The band and curtains were made by the speakeasy's artist-in-residence, my sister, who also happens to moonlight as a fine little moonshine brewer.

Just some of Ginnie Joan's posters and magazine covers

A couple of pinboards covered in photos of Ginnie Joan throughout the years, and a few photoshop-dodgy-ed up posters later, and we had the swankiest speakeasy this side of Chicago.

The band for the evening, and some Ginnie Joan moonshine

The food preparation began weeks ago, with my sister and I making all the freezable items in advance and storing them safely away until the big day. My sister put in some mammoth baking days for this, and soon we had a chest freezer filled with tasty treats. Cooking the fresh food involved two pretty solid days of cooking before the party, and by Sunday we were knackered but it was totally worth it.

The party was fantastic, with around 60 guests in attendance. I was so impressed by the effort that everyone went to with their costumes! I would love to put up some photos of us all but I'm not so sure everyone would be cool with me sticking their mugs up here so you'll just have to imagine how awesome us ladies looked with our drop-waists and tassels and fishnets and feathers and the men in their dapper suits! I had bought myself a nice feather boa to complete my outfit, but ended up leaving it out in fear of a guest choking on any stray feathers (the mob doc was outta town that weekend).

The night's savoury menu at this lavish juice joint consisted of:

• Selection of cold platters and dips (which I largely forgot to photograph!!)
• Party eggs (also totally forgot to photograph!)
  
• Smoked salmon and caviar blinis (kinda forgot to photograph)
  
• Assorted sushi rolls
• Salt & pepper squid
• Lamb koftas with yoghurt dipping sauce
• Mini quiches - ham, cheese & chives and sundried tomato & feta
• Spicy chicken sausage rolls
• Spanakopita triangles (made with puff instead of filo... don't tell George!)
  
• Spicy pulled pork buns
• Butter chicken pastries
• Mini beef & Guinness pies

No recipes in this post I'm afraid, but perhaps I'll write some up in the near future.

Pastries being warmed, ready to go out on platters to the hungry masses

My only evidence of Party Eggs, and a Caviar Blini

Assorted sushi rolls

Salt & pepper squid, butter chicken pastries, my only evidence of the platters, spicy chicken rolls and the sundried tomato & feta quiches

Spicy chicken rolls, sundried tomato & feta quiches, lamb koftas, beef & Guinness pies and spanakopita triangles

The spicy pulled pork process - rubbed with spices, after being very slowly cooked, pulling it all apart to be put back in slow cooker with homemade bbq sauce, then making the buns!

Spicy chicken rolls, ham cheese & chives quiches, spicy pulled pork buns

We were serving for a good solid couple of hours, before people started admitting defeat and we thought we'd let them rest their bellies in readiness for dessert. The rest period included some entertainment in the form of The Godfather theme being belted out on the piano, and a skit including some of the town's hottest young flappers showing off their dance moves. While all this was going on, my sister and I busily finished off the final touches to the birthday cake we'd been working on for a couple of days by this stage, and arranging the other desserts (provided kindly by some of Mum's sisters) on trays.

In addition to that slice of beetroot chocolate cake that I bought at the Subi Farmers market last week and stored safely away in the freezer for our coeliac guest, the other desserts were:

• Date slice (no photographic evidence at all! Trust me it was lovely!) (thanks Aunty R!)
  
• Banoffee pies, with a twist (thanks Aunty S!)
• Chocolate and raspberry tarts (thanks Aunty T!)

A chocolate tart, and some banoffee pies (mmm gotta love a twist that involves Cherry Ripe)

Now, the birthday cake/s was a labour of love. My sister came up with the overall design, and then got to work making the key component - an incredible fruit cake (man it's a tasty cake... I was lucky enough to score a big chunk to bring back to Perth with me, and every day is a struggle to stop myself from eating the whole thing.) I meanwhile put myself to good use by sourcing all the icing paraphernalia from various cake decorating stores. Of course, there happened to be a statewide shortage in the ready-to-roll icing we wanted, but I just hit up Jimmy the shoeshine boy for the info I needed. For the right price, Jimmy could tell you were to find a needle in a haystack, and where it had been 'til now, and he sure as hell knew where in town had some o' that fondant. (The Yellow Pages and many phone calls may have also possibly yielded the same information).

The cake process began on Friday with the baking of around 70 cupcakes - chocolate in black paper, and vanilla in white paper. We then got onto decorating the fruit cake. Neither my sister nor I had ever used fondant before, so we were incredibly apprehensive and had visions of it cracking horribly as we tried to roll it on and having to cover up our mistakes with lashings of ganache or icing sugar or just doing the Charleston in front of it to distract people. After watching a few youtube videos to get the process clear in our minds, we got started and it ended up being remarkably straightforward! Luckily the cake was lovely and goopy with all the booze in it, so it was quite easy to get the surface nice and level by plugging any little holes with pieces of extra cake before we did the rolling, and before long we had a mighty fine looking fondantified cake.

Making and decorating the central fruit cake

The piano decoration on top of the white fondant layer involved a bit more work, and I was able to put my engineering skills to good use by drawing up a template to cut the black icing to. Once the black squiggle and black keys were in the right position, we made the lines between the white keys with pieces of licorice before adding some black musical notes, placing some ribbon around the bottom and high-fiving each other a few times.

The high-fives may have been a little premature, as we then spent the rest of the night decorating the cupcakes with alternating black or white fondant, and musical notes. We also decorated some cupcakes to spell out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", and saved four in each colour to place some gold candles into.


So, while others were shimmying up a storm outside, my sister and I arranged the cake and cupcakes on the previously prepared cakeboard (made and painted by The Enforcer, I believe, and finished off with the musical score by my sister). It was while doing this that I thought that perhaps we should check if the board actually fit through the door. Mild panic ensued until The Enforcer used his rifle as a ruler and confirmed that it would indeed fit safely through the door. Candles were then lit and the cake made its way out to the lady of honour!


Following much gorging of cake and cupcakes and pies and tarts and slice, there was only one duty left of the evening... selling the post-dinner cigars and cigarettes...

Cigars? Cigarettes? Humectant 420?

Big cheers for my sister for organising one hell of a party, and very big thanks to all who attended and helped that classy broad Ginnie Joan celebrate her birthday in style! Happy birthday Mum!

Pork and fennel are BFF

So, I had a nice big hairy fennel bulb sitting in the fridge, waiting to meet that special someone. This particular fennel bulb was pretty special, having been brought all the way to me from my friend's garden far, far away, so I wouldn't be happy with it settling for just anyone. Luckily I had some nice pork loin steaks sitting in the freezer just waiting to come out and play. I'm not a huge fan of aniseed, thus I didn't want the fennel to take over the relationship so I decided to throw a few other ingredients into the mix to keep the fennel on its toes. It's hairy toes.

The result was a beautiful open romance of a really delicious dinner that I shall be making again for sure!


Warm Pork and Fennel Pasta Salad

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 pork loin steaks
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
1/4 small red cabbage, sliced thinly
Good handful of baby spinach leaves (sliced in half if big ones)
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 red capsicum
1 orange
Handful of shelled broad beans
Few capers
Good handful of bowtie pasta
30 mL orange juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 Tb wholegrain mustard
salt and pepper

Method
1. Roast the red capsicum, remove the skin, slice into strips and set aside.
2. Segment the orange, set aside.
3. Cook the pasta until al dente, refresh under cold water and set aside.
4. Fry the pork steaks until done to your liking, then allow to rest before slicing into strips.
5. Make the dressing by combining the orange juice, olive oil, mustard and some salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.
6. Add some olive oil to a hot frying pan, and sauté the red onion until soft. Add the fennel and broad beans. Once all softened, add the red cabbage. Saute all until done to your liking. I like to have my cabbage softened a little, and some colour to everything else. If you want, add the pasta and pork back into the pan to warm them back up a little.
7. In a large bowl, combine the pork, fennel, onion, cabbage, spinach leaves, capsicum slices, orange segments, pasta and capers. Toss gently.
8. Add your dressing to the bowl, or serve the salad and then drizzle the dressing over the top. Garnish with a few little fennel hairs.

Phwoar, Phi Yen

I'm lucky enough to have some of Perth's best Vietnamese (in my humble gaijin (what's the Vietnamese equivalent of gaijin? (how many brackets within brackets can I have before it gets too confusing?)) opinion) within a short stroll from my doorstep at Phi Yen in Northbridge. My parents are in town this weekend, so I got to share this delicious knowledge with them for lunch today. After a nice walk up Lake Street, admiring the terrace houses and dodging the skip bins and flying brick dust from renovations we arrived and were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant - perfect for eyeing off everyone else's dishes and getting enough natural light for my photographs.

The lunch menu is different to the dinner menu and offers quite a range of soups, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and an intriguingly named "Delights" section which holds the entrée (appetiser for you North Americans) style dishes. There was no way I was leaving without having some sort of rice paper roll, so I started with the Delights section. Mum and I soon decided to get both the roasted duck and vegetarian rice paper rolls, while Dad chose the crispy wontons with minced shrimp and pork.

Hòanh Thánh Chiên (crispy wonton made up with minced shrimps, minced pork, garlic, green onion and egg, served with plum sauce) $6.20

Dad enjoyed his wontons, which looked nice and crisp, but was not much more forthcoming with adjectives so I'll leave my commentary at that.

Gỏi Cuốn Chay (vegetarian rice paper rolls made with tofu, mint, rice stick, lettuce and bean shoots, served with hoisin sauce) $6.20

The last time my sister was in town we shared a serve of the vegetarian rice paper rolls and could not stop exclaiming over the deliciousness of the dipping sauce (hoisin, with sliced chilli and crushed peanuts) served with it. We were almost in fisticuffs over the last dribbles, and I'm glad that the sauce was as giddily tasty today as it was when she was in town. The rolls themselves were so fresh, with refreshing crunchy innards, and the rice stick also made them quite filling.

Vịt Quay Cuốn (roasted duck rice paper rolls with vegetable) $7.50

Inside the delicious duck rice paper roll

I was a little sad when I saw that the roasted duck and vegetable rice paper rolls were not served with the addictive hoisin sauce, but after biting into mine I discovered why - they have their own internal sauce! Yeah! Okay so the term internal sauce may not take off in reviewing circles but these babies were tasty. Tender pieces of tasty duck meat, surrounded by internal sauce (woo!) and fresh salad, encased in soft rice paper.

Mì Xào Vịt Quay (egg noodle stir fried with shredded roast duck and vegies) $16.00

Dad's roast duck egg noodle dish came out while Mum and I were still making our way through the rice paper rolls, but luckily I managed to snap a photo before he got stuck in. It was a generous serving size, and packed full of slices of duck meat. He really enjoyed it, apart from a few large pieces of coriander stem, of which he is not a big fan.

Cơm Tấm Bì Sườn Chả Trứng (broken rice with flame grilled pork, pork strips, fried egg, pate, pickled vegetables and fish sauce) $11.20

I'm really glad that Mum and I decided to share a main dish after how filling the rice paper rolls were, and we were quite excited about seeing what the broken rice would be like. We were not disappointed when all three components of the dish came out - the main plate of food, a soup of broth, and a sweet chilli fish sauce. At first we were a little perplexed as to how we were going to share the pork chop, particularly as we didn't have a knife, but it was so tender that we were able to tear it apart with our forks and spoons. The pork itself was absolutely packed with flavour. The pork strips and rice were also tasty, particularly with a drizzle of the sweet sauce. The egg was cooked very nicely, with some ooze to the yolk. The pate was also really tasty, with a strong yet not overpowering chicken flavour. Finally, the pickled vegetables were very refreshing. The dish is visually interesting, the flavours all worked really well together and I think $11.20 is great value for such a tasty, filling dish.

The Phi Yen website showcases a few of their dishes, and when I'd read about the broken rice dish on there earlier today it said "ask us how the rice is broken". So, after telling our waitress how much we enjoyed the meals I decided to do just that. She couldn't tell me! My Dad suggested that it's lower grade rice, broken during processing/transport and just talked up to be an interesting ingredient. Initial googling seems to support this theory, though the broken grains would also have a different texture which would lend themselves more to certain dishes as compared with whole grains. They remind me of steel cut oats, my breakfast of choice, so lower grade or not, they're alright by me.

After finishing our meals we eyed off the dessert menu, which was filled with Azzura Gelati products, but we were all so full we couldn't possibly fit any of the treats in. Next time, tummy, next time.

Phi Yen is a popular place, and although we didn't need a booking for lunch it got quite full while we were eating. I'd definitely recommend booking if you were planning on going there for dinner.

Oh and one last thing.. Phi Yen have also recently opened up another store in the food court at the new shopping centre in the city - enex 100. Despite living within walking distance I don't frequent the city all that often but I'm loving this food court already, and there are still more restaurants to join the party. No Hungry Jacks or Subway to be seen at this classy establishment, it's actual "proper" restaurants such as Phi Yen, Cimbalino, Maya Masala and Matsuri that are opening up little outlets in here to offer a nicer food court experience than squeezing your way past teenagers lining up at Red Rooster (surely the school holidays must be over soon?).

Phi Yen
205 Brisbane Street (cnr Lake St), Northbridge
Phone: 08 9227 1032
Website: http://www.phiyenrestaurant.com.au/index.htm
Email: reservation@phiyenrestaurant.com.au
Hours: Open 7 days for lunch and dinner

Ha-lu-lujah

Spring has sprung! Well, technically spring has sprung, but somebody better get Spotty to go tell Mother Nature because it doesn't quite feel like it yet. Regardless, a friend and I thought we'd celebrate spring's arrival the best way we knew how - some good old fashioned eatin'.

Another friend recently told me about a Japanese restaurant called Ha-Lu up the northern end of Oxford St, almost where it meets Scarborough Beach Road. I can remember that there is a pet shop, an op shop, and I think also a sex shop of some sort up there, but I had no idea that a Japanese restaurant was hiding up there too amongst the dog biscuits and old copies of National Geographic. After checking out their website, and indeed confirming that was where they were located, I was very curious to check it out.

According to their website, the dining style at Ha-Lu is "izakaya style", which "encourages social interaction around the table, with the idea of a number of dishes to be ordered and shared. Most diners will order two or three dishes per person to be placed in the middle and tried by everyone at the table. Various dishes will arrive as soon as they have been prepared by the chef ensuring the highest quality of freshness and flavour".

I called to make a reservation the day before we wanted to eat there, and requested a table for 7:30. The softly spoken girl who answered the phone asked if I could instead make it 7:15, which puzzled me a little but I agreed to. As it turns out, I managed to get away from work at a reasonable time and we actually arrived at the restaurant at 7:00, which didn't cause any problems (apart from me saying we were early for our 'appointment' rather than our 'booking' or 'reservation'.... I think I've been seeing too many doctors lately!).

The decor inside is quite modern, with a few nice touches such as fabric hangings to walk through to get to the toilets. No cool Japanese touches in the toilets though I'm afraid - the toilet itself was totally analogue.

After checking out the sashimi of the day - salmon, tuna and kingfish - we spent some time going through the rest of the menu. It really is quite interesting and had a number of dishes and ingredients that I was unfamiliar with. The waitstaff were all absolutely lovely, and very happy to explain anything to you. We eventually settled on some miso soup ($2.50), sashimi of the day ($18.00), agedashi tofu ($8.50), octopus kara-age and lotus root hasami-age ($12.00), spicy ginger pork ($14.00) and Patagonian toothfish nitsuke ($18.00).

Miso soup $2.50

There's something about drinking miso out of these little wooden bowls that makes it taste better, I think. I really should buy myself one for home, as my coffee mug doesn't quite have the same effect (despite being beautifully decorated by my goddaughter's crayon expertise).

Sashimi of the day (salmon, tuna and kingfish), with tiny tiny shavings of carrot, zucchini and spring onion $18.00

The sashimi was wonderfully fresh and thickly sliced, and went down an absolute treat. The tuna was so creamy I could have eaten all three pieces but I value my friendship with my dining partner and restrained my chopsticks. The super thin curls of carrot, zucchini and spring onion were also nice and fresh.

Agedashi tofu (deep fried silken tofu served in a Tentsuyu dashi broth) $8.50

This dish was intriguing to behold, as all the little feathery pieces of thinly shaved something (I mean the tan coloured light-as-a-feather things - not sure what they are?) continued to 'flap' in the air after the dish was placed down, and looked exactly like a swarm of little moths had latched onto the tofu. Silken is the perfect word for this tofu, though you could also say 'goopy, but in a great way'. The coating around each piece was very light, but due to the silken texture of the tofu inside it was much easier to pop the whole thing in your mouth instead of trying to break it into pieces.

Octopus kara-age and lotus root hasami-age (octopus kara-age served with deep fried lotus roots with Tsukune mince fillings and a Ume plum sauce) $12.00

The ocopus pieces were well seasoned, hot and crunchy, and not at all tough (mind you, they were pretty small, so toughness wouldn't have caused too great an issue with chewing anyway). When our waiter brought this dish over he told us that the sauce was a plum sauce, but it's not sour because they put something special in it. We were intrigued, and I'm not sure why we didn't ask what this special something is. It was actually quite sweet, and paired well with the fried morsels.

Spicy ginger pork (sautéed sliced pork belly with homemade spicy kimchi pickles and ginger soy sauce) $14.00

Although I'm not a fan of eating fat, and admit to picking out the bigger bits of it before eating my pieces of pork, I really liked this dish. The sauce surrounding the pork belly was deliciously yet lightly spiced, and I used more than my share of the cabbage to mop up the leftover dribbles. The mayonnaise remained untouched by either of us. Poor mayo.

Patagonian toothfish nitsuke (succulent and tender Patagonian toothfish simmered in a soy sauce and dashi broth) $18.00

I don't think I've had Patagonian toothfish before, and although I liked it I don't know if I'll have it again as I've just learnt that it is fished by trawling. I found it very soft and quite fishy in taste, which suits me but may not be everyone's cup of broth. The broth itself had an interesting flavour - the first adjective that comes to mind is "dirty" which clearly isn't a terribly appetising word but I'm not sure how else to describe it. It was a nice dirt, I can assure you.

I wasn't quite full after having more than my fair share of these dishes, so quickly agreed to having a look at the dessert menu when it was offered. It is a pretty limited dessert menu, and didn't take me long to choose the "chocolate berry sundae" ($9.50), which I asked to not have any cream in, although my friend made up for this by ordering the "home made cream caramel" ($7.50).

Home made cream caramel $7.50

He enjoyed the creme caramel, saying it had a nice flavour and texture. I was more concerned with the cute little dish it came in, which he posed perfectly for the photo :)

Chocolate berry sundae $8.50

And, I've saved the best photo for last! Check out this for a crazy sundae. Coco Pops? Cornflakes? It was a bit difficult to eat at first, given how full the glass is (with coco pops!), and I sadly lost a raspberry to the table. Hiding down the bottom was more icecream and berries, and thick chunks of chocolate. I wasn't feeling particularly breakfasty so I did my best to dig around the cereal but ended up eating quite a lot of it anyway and I guess it added a nice crunch.

The service was fantastic, really friendly, helpful and efficient. Overall I really enjoyed our meal here, and am looking forward to going back to try all the other dishes that caught my eye but weren't the chosen ones this time (although I'm not sure I'll be trying the "deep fried crumbed camembert cheese served with blueberry sauce"). They also have a smaller takeaway menu, and quite a few people came in during our meal to pick up takeaway bento boxes.

I would definitely recommend booking a table, as we went on a Tuesday and it was pretty packed, with some tables turning over a few times while we were there. Although, if you just rock up and have to wait for a table, at least you can amuse yourself browsing in the sex shop or reminding yourself what you look like in flares.

HA-LU
Shop4, 401 Oxford Street, Mt Hawthorn
Phone: 08 9444 0577
Website: halu.net.au
Email: info@halu.net.au (email responses are generally within 24 hours)
Hours: Dinner from 6pm, 7 days a week

Yum yum dim sum

I have a confession to make. I am 27 years old and only had my first dim sum experience in May of this year. I blame this gaping hole in my culinary appreciation entirely on the fact that I grew up in the country, where this cuisine was found only in the hearts and minds of those who had experienced such delights in the big smoke.

I have to admit the whole dim sum thing intimidated me a little. All those dishes I was unfamiliar with, no menu to tell me anything, not knowing what to do or how to act, and the knowledge that chicken feet were somehow involved.

My sister was in the same boat, really keen to try dim sum but not quite sure how to go about it. We were both therefore very excited (and relieved) when an opportunity came up when she would be in town on a Sunday, and two friends of mine who were seasoned dim sum aficionados were available to join us for a feast and show us the ropes. We were given our instructions on where to meet, and could hardly wait until the big day arrived!

As I've mentioned before, asking people where to go in Perth for dim sum results in no-two-alike answers. Adding to the confusion is the fact that noone really seems to know the name of the places they go to, only vaguely where they are related (generally in relation to well known places in Northbridge).

So on this fateful Sunday, off my sister and I went to 'Jade something' on Francis St opposite the tax office. Turns out it was called Jade Chinese Seafood Restaurant, which made sense when we were greeted with tanks of crabs and fish as we entered. We ended up having an amazing feast, and were incredibly grateful to my friends for completely taking charge of the food selection and leaving us free to gobble and gorge until we felt ready to explode.

Since that day which changed our lives forever, my sister and I have been back to Jade Somethingorother four times, as we liked it there so much and are not quite yet confident enough to try our hand at any other locations. We've been refining our dish selections with each visit, always trying new things but there are also a few dishes which have made it onto our permanent rotation. These are dubbed "every time dishes" and cause our eyes to glaze over whenever they are spoken of.

Feeling like we are now getting the hang of this whole thing, we felt confident in successfully introducing dim sum to my brother-in-law who was also lucky enough to be in Perth this past Sunday. It took a bit of work teaching him that the whole thing was more of a marathon than a race, particularly when you are trying not to get impatient waiting for that particular dish to go past on a trolley, but I think he now realises why my sister and I have declared that every time she is in Perth on a Sunday, she and I will be gorging on dim sum.

Our first dish last Sunday, and one of our "every time dishes" was prawn rice flour rolls. We love these slippery little suckers, and are getting more adept at eating them with every visit. The sauce that accompanies them (some sort of soy mixture?) pairs perfectly. Simple yet delicious.

Prawn rice flour rolls

Another "every time dish" is fried squid tentacles. They are generally a little tough, and can sometimes require the use of molars to bite through, but they more than make up for this with flavour. They're really well seasoned, and are always hot and crispy. I like to dip them in the chilli oil for a bit of extra bite. Tip: there are always at least a few that are attached to another one, so you get two tasty morsels without looking greedy ;)

Fried squid tentacles

The next dish we tried was a new one for us, and I'm really glad we were tempted by the steaming hot crispiness of them! The crispy prawn wontons were packed with delicious, well-cooked prawn meat and the plain mayonnaise served with them added a nice coolness to the hot crunchy wonton.

Crispy prawn wontons

Inside the crispy prawn wonton

Next up was another "every time dish", sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf. It's like Pass the Parcel unwrapping the leaf to reveal the sticky rice present, and then finding the tasty pork meat, and also sometimes sausage, hiding within the rice. Well, it's like Pass the Parcel without the passing bit. And it's not really a parcel.

Sticky rice hiding away

Sticky rice, waiting to be devoured

Another first time dish was next, in the form of scallop dumplings. These were great, being packed with very tasty scallop meat. A potential try again dish for sure.

Scallop dumplings

Next up is the "every time dish" of choy sum in oyster sauce. It's really nice to have some fresh greens to somewhat counteract the fried and doughy dishes, and it is always cooked such that there is still a bit of bite to the stalks.

Choy sum with oyster sauce

The healthy greens were followed by the not so healthy dish of soft shelled crab, which we had not tried before. It was quite nice, particularly with the really flavoursome addition of fried shallots and chillis, but overall was very oily and we probably wouldn't order it again. It also cost $14 which is quite expensive compared to the standard dishes.

Soft shell crab

Up next was my sister's favourite dish - steamed bbq pork buns. These are so soft and light and fluffy and delicious! I also have a new found appreciation for them after seeing how they are made on MasterChef, although seeing just how much sugar is in the buns was quite alarming.

Char Siu Bao - steamed bbq pork buns

Last time we were at Jade we spied the fried whitebait after we were too full to have any, and I was determined to try them at our next visit. So try them we did, and somewhat enjoyed them, but like the soft shelled crab we found them quite oily (especially after having already eaten the crab) and it is unlikely we'll be shelling out the $14 for them again. It was a little strange eating them, as the batter almost entirely overrode the taste of the fish, and it was only a little fishy aftertaste that actually let you know you'd just eaten any fish at all.

Fried whitebait

My next dish is to be found on the "wibbly wobbly trolley", as we've christened it, and made it onto my "every time dish" list after our last visit. Sago pudding with a little tinned fruit. I'm such a sucker for anything coconutty, and I love sago pearls, so this suits me perfectly. No grass jelly with mine though, thank you!

Sago pudding with tinned fruit

My sister also decided to try the mango pudding off the wibbly wobbly trolley this time, and it was also very nice! Chunks of mango ran through the sweet pudding, and I was most upset when I went back for a second spoonful and accidentally flicked it onto the table (which by this stage was showing very clear signs of a feast having taken place). I wasn't quite game enough to apply the 5 second rule, and left the morsel languishing in the grease and crumbs.

Mango pudding with tinned fruit

Keeping with our transition to dessert, we moved onto custard buns, well and truly an "every time dish". Oh yes, these are tasty. When we first tried them we were a little hesitant, as they're not exactly the most attractive of things and look quite doughy and heavy. The trolley girl who offered them said they were a speciality of the restaurant, so we took a punt and tried them. They have remained a solid "every time dish" since that visit. We were surprised upon our first bite, as they are much lighter and softer than they look. Lovely sweet custard baked on top and hiding in the middle, we have to stop ourselves from moving onto dessert too early just to get stuck into these.

Baked custard buns

Our last dish is a sometimes dish of mine, but my sister doesn't share my appreciation. I therefore got to eat one and a half of the three we got on this visit, although we almost didn't get any. After spending some time gazing expectantly around at all the trolleys, I eventually asked one of the girls to get me some, only to be told that they had run out. While discussing my sorrow at this turn of events with my sister and brother-in-law, my sister and I both spied another girl coming out of the kitchen holding a plate of them! While exclaims of "hey! There are some!" were still coming from our mouths she high-tailed it to our table and presented me with their hot sesameness, apologising for the confusion. There's something I really love about the combination of the crispy sesame outer shell with the glutinous inner core.

Sesame balls

The service at Jade is good, although I'm obviously not able to compare it to other dim sum restaurants around town. Food is offered politely, and explanations given if asked for. They are also quite efficient in bringing specially ordered dishes out to you if you can't see what you'd like on any of the trolleys.

We have tended to get there reasonably early on our visits, as my sister tends to be driving back to Geraldton that day and keen to get on the road sooner rather than later. If you arrive earlier than 11am you should not have any problems in getting a table. From around 11:30 onwards it gets quite busy, and when we've left around 12 on some visits there have been hordes of people waiting for tables. Some days have been noticeably busier than others, and there is the trade-off of getting there early to easily secure a table and having to wait for certain dishes to come out, so I guess I'll go no further than to recommend you arrive whenever you feel like it.

On our four visits to dim sum, we've averaged the cost at around $20 per person. Due to the couple of $14 dishes with this particular visit it ended up being substantially more expensive, but at least it was a good learning experience! Our next visit will involve at least one $14 dish, but we are torn about whether we will try the roast pork or the duck. And perhaps we'll try those chicken feet next time too.

Oh and if you do go there, check out the calculator they use to add up your total bill at the end of your meal. Not pocket size, that's for sure.

Jade Chinese Seafood Restaurant
40 Francis Street, Northbridge
Phone: 08 9228 9619
Hours: Mon - Fri 10:30am - 3pm; Sat - Sun 10am-3pm; Daily 5:30pm-10pm