Hiatus no more

School's out, work's over, I really have no excuse to not blog now.
Will soon be embarking on a long overdue holiday, and special foodie project with a good friend.
Not to mention the Melbourne weekend... expect a post in the next week.
In the meanwhile, check out my twitter: /yygall
See you soon!

Creatures of habit

I am very much a creature of habit. Most of the time, rather than try out new places and new dishes, I will stick to regularly frequented spots ordering more or less the same things. Waqu was one of those establishments which I watched open and prosper, always wanting to venture in but never doing so.

Until last night.

One of the worst things about living alone is the going out part. Especially for food. Asking for a table for one serves as a constant reminder of singlehood and loneliness. Having someone to share the experience with becomes much appreciated.

Winter menu

Waqu introduced their winter menu earlier this week. After a mostly positive degustation experience at Quarter Twenty-One (which I am yet to write about), degustation has become the new favourite food "treat". Having a job also helps pay for it.

course 1. amuse: hoji tea infused duck & pork terrine
eggplant puree, rhubarb compote, wine vinegared beetroot, green-pea puree with puff pastry

Infused lightly with the scent of Japanese hoji tea, the duck and pork terrine offered interesting textural contrast. Between the tenderness of the meat and the crunch of nutty crumble, the rhubarb and beetroot cleansed the palate with a note of sharp acidity. The puff was delicious with the green-pea puree, but offered little against the terrine.

course 2. soup: roasted kabocha pumpkin soup
black lentil, truffle oil powder, cheddar cheese mash potato, pumpkin sheet

Pumpkin soup is one of my own signature dishes, and not something I would order at a restaurant. The pumpkin base was sweet, but didn't taste very roasted. Against the yellow of the soup, the black lentils offered a little visual play: a savoury dish looking like, well, passionfruit pulp. The mash was pillowy and creamy, I would have been very happy with it as a side by itself. The truffle oil offered a scent of truffle and "luxury", although I must admit, like with foie gras, I don't see what the fuss is about.

course 3. sashimi: hiramasa king fish sashimi
with cuttlefish ceviche, strawberry coulis, daikon radish mandarin vinaigrette

After tuna, kingfish is my favourite sashimi fish. This was ultra fresh, slightly oily on the palate; with the sauces it was exceptional. The cuttlefish was crunchy and bouncy, marinated to perfection. The daikon salad was brought to new heights with the light citrusy vinaigrette and thin slivers of shiso leaves.

course 4: entree
pan fried scallop
brushed squid ink sauce, squid ink cube, braised renkon root, parsley foam

The scallop scabbed from my dinner companion was cooked perfectly: seared and caramelised on the outside to a golden brown, soft and medium rare inside with just a blush of peach. The squid ink was not as strong as I anticipated, with just a hint of saltiness to balance the dish.

poached+fried spatchcock
coconut miso sauce, red curry croquette, herb bouquet 

Juicy and soft, the poached spatchcock breast was well cooked and well presented. Against the crunch of fried panko, soft red curry innards and creamy coconut miso sauce, the textural and flavour interplay is why Japanses fusion remains my favourite kind of modern cuisine. Against the breast the fried spatchcock thigh was not as brilliant, but nonetheless still tasty and well executed.

course 5. main
ossobucco alla giapponese
savoy cabbage wrapped miso-braised veal shank, roasted portobello mushroom, baby carrot tempura

Visually stunning, the ossobucco didn't completely disappoint. The sides, though, were better than the protein itself, according to my dinner companion. Although the best part, she said, was certainly the marrow. Overall, the sides were delicious, but slightly underseasoned.

pan fried ocean trout
clam fennel sauce, tomato chutney, yuzu mousse, panko & garlic pate filo

Perfection. The fish tasted as lovely as the presentation. Crispy skin, slightly translucent and pink through the middle, it was balanced by the sweet and tangy sourness of the zucchini with tomato chutney and yuzu mousse. Against the clam and fennel sauce it felt a bit too heavy and salty. I was wishing for more mousse and more chutney until the very last bite.

course 6. dessert
gateau chocolat, semi-freddo, persimmon mousse, meringue sticks

I totally ate this in the wrong order. Delicious as all the elements were, going from chocolate cake to semifreddo to persimmon mousse was so not the way to go. Nonetheless, great execution, though the mousse was more icy than anticipated. The anglaise and citrus syrup provided a nice refreshment.

Service was largely attentive, but there will always be the one waitstaff who somehow gets onto nerves. Not only was the soup completely messy on the plate, it was slammed down onto the table. Rather than introducing the dish, she talked at us in this very antagonising way. Same happened with the sashimi dish - slammed down in front of me while I was trying to get my menu and camera out of the way (I now have a large greasy corner on my copy of the menu thanks to the "incredible" service). Fortunately the other waitstaff did make up for her mistakes; they were very attentive with water, and friendly explanations, without being too in-your-face.

Overall, it was certainly worth the $60 per person. I'm glad that I finally ventured into this restaurant I've always wanted to try. Will I venture alone, though? Probably not. This is definitely one to share with the special few only.

Waqu Modern Japanese dining

308 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest

Ph: (02) 9906 7736

Hiatus

The food blogger in me has been forced to hibernate for the rest of the year. Expect a return in late 2011... it'll be bigger and hopefully better.

Beef it up

It has been exactly three months since the photos in this post were taken. More than anything, I think it shows how much of a procrastinator I am.

Having had the summer break routine massively altered by my internship, instead of spending three months travelling around Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan and Japan, I spent 10 days in Hong Kong and Taipei with my parents and the rest of the time behind a desk. It was great...financially. I was ready to quit after 10 days of reading case judgments word by word then endless guides and rulings. Until they finally got me a computer...but that's another story.

Back to the trip. And more importantly, the food.

We arrived in Taipei on the Friday of their Election Weekend. Yes, it deserves to be capitalised, because it was a massive election-all levels of government from their Parliament to their local lizhang, which takes care of the local "li", which is literally a collection of streets. Their campaigns, clearly, are very different to ours. Posters, flags, people bowing and giving you freebies like biscuits and tissues with flyers on the streets. Lots of loudspeakers blasting slogans and pre-recorded messages from the candidate. If you're lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the candidate waving to the "crowds" from their "box". By the morning of Election Day, though, all of that had gone, and the city of Taipei plunged into a bit of an eerie, quiet state of nervous anticipation.

(And yes, Lian Shengwen was shot the night we arrived in Taipei. We actually went past the candidate's office about an hour before it happened.)

Apart from that, Taipei was still exactly the same. We've visited so many times we don't need maps to find our way around anymore. Though that could be attributed to our Taipei routine...

First stop: Yong Kang Street


Ah, the home of Din Tai Fung. It's not hard to find: just look for the street next to that famous XLB restaurant. As much as I love my XLB we gave it a miss this time, heading straight into the depths of Yong Kang Street for our other food favourites.

Entree: shallot pancakes

Yong Kang Street is a place we visit without fail on every Taipei trip. And this particular street stall gets my attention every time. But it wasn't until about a year ago when we finally tried their shallot pancakes, after about 10 years of nagging from me (goes to show how willing my Dad is when it comes to trying food he has no interest in). Fluffy, crisp, slightly chewy, and not in the slightest bit oily, they are almost roti-like in thinness of the layers but fragrant with young and finely chopped shallots.

Main: Yong Kang Beef Noodles

Taking a right turn at the shallot pancake stall, opposite the local primary school is the usual second stop where we get some awesome beef noodles. Taiwan is renowned for their beef noodles...and beef noodle obsession. Yong Kang Street has some of the best, and Yong Kang Beef Noodles is one of our favourite. Their beef noodles come in two "flavours": the clear style and the red braised style. Personally, I prefer the latter for its heartiness and richness, but the former is excellent also.

Before the noodles arrive, a trip to the side dishes trolley must be made. If the beef noodles is the moon, then the side dishes are most certainly the stars that complete the sky. The dried bean curd and bamboo shoots are definite must eats. And the eggplant... melt in your mouth, simply exquisite in texture, with a good kick of spice and heat from the chili and garlic.

The noodles come with large chunks of braised beef and tendons. The noodles are slightly chewy, with a whiff of fresh flour, flavoured with the full bodied beef soup. Both meat and tendons are awesomely tender, and completely soaked with flavour. Don't be stingy with the preserved vegetables that sits on each table: it is like that final dusting of icing sugar that just elevates the experience. It adds sweetness, tangyness and the texture of crunch. To cut the richness further, add a dash of vinegar.

Dessert: Taiwan-style "ice"

Ice Monster used to live opposite the shallot pancake stall, until the owners decided to get divorced. And man it turned messy. Now, the same address houses Yong Kang 15 (the store's address...literally) which sells basically the same menu as Ice Monster. On past occasions I have tried their strawberry ice and mango ice (much awesomeness), this time I went for the golden sweet potato and black sugar caramel jelly ice instead. The black sugar jelly was the best part: so hard it was bouncy, but just sweet enough to let the molasses taste shine through. The ice cream was a bit on the grainy side, but had an interesting texture that had chunks of real sweet potato. Not bad, but I'll stick to my strawberry and mango ice next time. If there is a next time...

Yong Kang Street, Da'an district, Taipei city 台北市大安區永康街

檢視較大的地圖

Yum Cha with a view

Hong Kong, arguably, has some of the best food in the world. It has, I believe, the best yum cha in the world, too, but finding the ultimate yum cha restaurant is a task harder than first thought. What I have found, though, is probably one of the better ones, with prices similar to what is being paid in Sydney (at places like Kam Fook and Marigold), but with much, much higher standards.  Not surprising, because yum cha is a popular breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch option, with at least 2 or more restaurants offering yum cha within the same shopping area--a lot of shopping centres, especially those along the MTR line, are interlinked. Competition is fierce, especially during non-peak periods (before 11am and after 2pm), and with frugal housewives and pensioners on the hunt for great deals, prices are kept low too, without too much sacrifice to quality. Come weekends, though, most families will look for quality--yum cha, in that sense, would be a family treat, and sometimes an opportunity to catch up with extended family and friends. With the economy on the rise, more and more people are now looking for higher quality, and willing to pay the premium for both food, service and ambience.

Cuisine Cuisine (國金軒), located at one of the most highly sought real estate in Hong Kong, the IFC at Central, meets this demand. With views of the Victoria Harbour, the chic interiors and smartly dressed waitstaff reflects the philosophy behind the food: traditional Cantonese food modified to suit the modern palate...and sometimes, the budget. Yum cha is no budget affair here: one of the regular dim sum offerings is abalone siu mai, where chunks of abalone is mixed in with the usual pork and shrimp filling, topped with a reconstituted, dried abalone the size of a fingernail. More regular fare is offered too, made to the same standard of excellence. 

 The seasonal menu

Once seated, tea is ordered and appetisers served. Also on the table are the chili oil and spicy soy, both house specialties. Dim sim is made to order, and a few moments is usually given before the waitstaff approaches again.

First to arrive is the steamed BBQ pork buns (叉燒包 Char siu bao). White, fluffy, and piping hot, each one is split into almost perfect halves. The buns are soft, light, and with just the right amount of chew, encasing a sweet-savoury filling of char siu that actually tastes of meat.

One of the modern reworkings of a yum cha classic is the steamed vegetarian rolls in tofu skins (蒸腐皮齋卷). Topped with a thickened shantang broth, it is light but packed with umami, the interplay of textures of the tofu skin, carrots, mushroom and shaved asparagus lettuce (萵筍) is a reflection of both skill and thought in this healthier version of the classic pan-fried vegetarian rolls that proliferate Sydney yum cha.

Mini char siu pineapple buns (迷你叉燒菠蘿包) is the fusion of the steamed BBQ bun with another Hong Kong favourite, the pineapple bun. The egg and sugar topping on the soft buns, cracked under the oven to resemble the exterior of a pineapple (hence the name) brings out not only the sweeetness of the char siu filling, but also the umami of the pork itself. It has become a favourite dim sim at yum cha, and the version at Cuisine Cuisine is one of the best in town.

Prawn dumplings (蝦餃 har gao) is a perennial favourite. Beneath the translucent skin lies a filling of fresh prawns and bamboo shoots, with the smallest amount of pork to bind it all together. The contrast of the chewy skin and the slight crunch of the filling is perfectly complemented with a small dab of the chili oil. A good prawn dumpling should have 18 pleats, the skin should not break when poked lightly with chopsticks, and offer a degree of resistance on chewing. This, I'd say, satisfies all three requirements.

Spring rolls (春捲) have been experiencing a renaissance in the dim sum world. Many newer restaurants now offer versions that are slender and long, rather than short and stumpy, with a filling of prawn paste that is, well, quite bouncy. Lightly fried, the skin is earthshatteringly crunchy and textural contrast with the prawn paste filling makes this one of the best reworkings I've tasted.

Siu mai (燒賣) is another yum cha classic. Hand minced pork and prawn is mixed in with chopped shiitake to make the filling, topped with roe before being steamed. Texturally, the filling is not as soft and dead as the ones made with machine minced meat, with small pockets of diced meat in the filling that actually lets you taste exactly what you are eating. As only the freshest meat is used, having not experienced the snap chill as Australian meat does, the pork and prawns exhibit extra umami from the freshness.

The stir-fried beef rice noodles with abalone sauce (鮑汁濕炒牛河) provides the carbs for the meal. I wouldn't say it is brilliant--the beef had too much bi-carb in the marinade (good quality beef shouldn't need any with a good chef). Nonetheless, it was still tasty, with the unconventional addition of compacted tofu skin which soaked up the abalone sauce.

Sure, similar, if not the same dishes can be found in Sydney for around the same price (25AUD per person). But the quality of food and service would be vastly different. And with the dollar nearing parity, it makes a lot of sense to save up for a trip to places like Hong Kong where the currency is pegged to the greenback, and splurge there instead.  

Cuisine Cuisine

3101, Podium level 3,

IFC Mall, Hong Kong

Ph: +852 23933933

Bookings essential for yum cha.