BBQ Chicken Bun

Sometimes when I give home made food to the relatives, they ask me why I go to all the trouble to make them when I can buy them outside at a small cost. There are many reasons I make my own dishes, such as creating a taste unique to me, or substituting healthier ingredients, not just the cost. But if I were to calculate the cost of these char siew baos (strictly speaking they are BBQ chicken buns), then I would be in front. Each bao costs around $3 in the stores, and the total cost of making them is less than $6. They are easy peasy to make too!

First attempt at char siew bao

My shortcut method to achieving smoky BBQ flavour for the bao filling is to buy a roast chicken from the shops, dice up the breast meat and stir fry it with chopped onions, bottled char siew sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil, add some frozen peas and there you have the filling all ready for use.

The dough takes a little bit more effort:
3 1/4 cups bao flour
2 teaspoon insant yeast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons cooking oil

Knead until elastic and proof in greased bowl, in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down and divide into 12 portions. Put filling in the middle of each portion and pleat close. Steam.

Mr Hendricks Cafe, Balwyn

Holiday times are the best when one loses track of all time. I am happiest when the hours and the days blend into one time zone called 'holiday'. You can dress in pyjamas in the afternoon, eat breakfast food at any time of the day, and be blissfully unaware of which day it is of the week. Unless of course, it is the day before you are meant to go back to work...

The happy memories of holidays is perhaps why I quite like the idea of brunch. When I can wake up late, potter around the house, have brunch and do nothing taxing on the mind or body for the rest of the day until dinner.

On one of these rare relaxing weekend, we went to Mr Hendricks in Balwyn for brunch. As it is every weekend, it was very busy at the cafe. Some of the customers had come from the gym, still in their exercise lycra. Some were having a catch up with their girl friends. Some were single diners, just enjoying their meal while keeping up to date with news. How about us? We were catching too, catching Pokemon. It was the height of the Pokemon craze and we were finding new places to go to so that we can kill two birds with one stone - enjoying a new restaurant and advancing on the Pokemon ladder.

We ordered the salmon, dark rye bread, poached eggs and bearnaise sauce; and pulled pork burger with honey glazed sweet potato.

Overall we enjoyed both dishes but with minor mismatches of taste - the sweet potato was coated with sugar which was unnecessary that made it too sweet for our liking, and the bernaise sauce in the salmon dish inexplicably tasted a little like plastic.

Pulled pork burger

Salmon breakfast

The BBQ Joint, Croydon

It seems like American style burgers and BBQ restaurants are popping up like mushrooms all over town at the moment. The discovery of The BBQ Joint in suburban Croydon was very pleasing, like receiving an ang pow during Chinese New Year even though one is married (married people do not receive red packets during CNY, no matter how young at heart they may be). 

The BBQ Joint is located next to a small reserve and you can purchase your lunch in the restaurant and they will pack it in a picnic basket so that you can enjoy it with Mother Nature. This is a good idea during warm sunny days. The restaurant also offers outdoor seating for those who have missed out (I only saw one picnic basket during my visit).

Although it was warm and sunny when we visited, we sat indoors in the comfort of the air conditioned interior. We decided to order the lunch special and 250g pork belly on our visit. Besides meat dishes, the restaurant also serves their delicious smoky barbequed meats in wraps and in burgers.
 

I enjoyed all items in the lunch special but I loved the corn cakes! It was buttery and crisp on the outside. It was so delicious I almost ate all of it, none for Gaz! Also on the plate was grilled peppers, sauerkrat, smoky American sausage and pulled pork.

We also enjoyed the pork belly. It was not overly fatty which was good, but still had the tenderness of pork belly and a nice smoky flavour.

Another plus for this restaurant is it's long opening hours. It is not easy to find a non-Asian restaurant that is open late for lunch, but the BBQ Joint is open from 11:30am to 9:30pm on Fridays and weekend (to 9pm on Sunday). It is only open for dinner on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Rice Paper Scissors, Liverpool St CBD

In our office, one of the tasks that fall on the Graduate's lap is coming up with ideas on which restaurants to try during the week. The importance of this task cannot be underestimated, because a bad selection is considered a strike against the poor Graduate. Each Graduate in our team have had their moments of quiet desperation as they trawl endlessly on Zomato to research a restaurant that serves food meeting our taste and budget.

On this ocassion, G has recommended Rice Paper Scissors located at Liverpool St in the CBD. This is a small restaurant with a few tables and bar seating but the food that is churned out from the kitchen is big in flavour.

The restaurant offers a deal of 5 dishes for $59 between two persons. We ordered the lamb ribs, fried chicken wings, crispy barramundi salad, pork belly and soft shell crab baguette.

The stand out dish among the five was the lamb ribs. It was so deliciously tender and full of flavour that we wished there was a bottomless plate of it. The portions of each plate is not big, but I would say that it is just enough for two persons (think two lamb ribs per person, 1 baguette per person, 3 chicken wings per person etc). If you were starving, then you would probably have to order another couple of dishes.

So what does G get for making the right recommendation? Nothing, it just adds to the pressure of continuing with the winning streak...

 Lamb Ribs and Fried chicken wings

Soft shell crab baguette

Pork belly

Crispy barramundi salad

Tim Ho Wan, CBD

No introductions needed for Tim Ho Wan, the only Michelin starred Cantonese dim sum restaurant. Ever since it received it's star, I had wanted to try it out. At one point, I had the crazy idea of flying over to Hong Kong just to eat there. Fortunately, Gaz successfully dissuaded me with other holiday plans and restaurants that was a better use of funds.

After years of waiting, Tim Ho Wan has finally opened in Melbourne. Even then, we waited until the hype had died down a little, and the line at the front of the restaurant subsided a little.

My first impression of the restaurant was of a Western fast food joint. Cramped space, uncomfortable chairs, order slips, call button for the staff. I would not have minded it if the price was reflective of the overall environment (the price of each dish is more expensive than the average yum cha restaurant that offers full service).

Unfortunately the food is not reflective of the star it received nor the price charged. Only the BBQ pork bun stood out but even then the filling was little and skimpy.

BBQ Pork Buns

Prawn paste with fish maw

Prawn dumplings

The prawn paste with fish maw and prawn dumplings were both traditional HK yum cha dishes but did not stand out. I would not have guessed that the restaurant won a Michelin star if I had not been told. Of course, it was the original restaurant in Hong Kong that earned the star, not this one in Melbourne. But I had expected the standard to be more or less the same. Maybe I should make the trip to HK after all.