Claypots and Herbal Soups at First Taste

We have one of those daggy "bag bags" you stuff all your supermarket shopping bags into for use later.  When I got back from an extended overseas trip recently, literally every third bag in the bag bag was a plastic bag from Nhu Lan.  It transpired that Mr Baklover had subsisted almost entirely on banh mi or Vietnamese rolls - and the fact that he got a bag from them each time meant at least two banh mi per session.

I mention this because a food blog is by its very nature a subjective record of one individual's tastes and opinions.  If Mr Baklover were to write a food blog, it would probably be a Nhu Lan greatest hits interspersed with the occasional souvlaki from Stalactites.  But for better or worse, this is my blog and therefore a record of merely what I like - not at all a definite judgment on restaurants, dishes or cuisines.

We had planned to visit the new Chilli Padi in Flemington but due to my epic food blogger fail (forgetting to charge my camera battery), I pleaded my friend to come home for a beer while I charged up and then we headed for closer territory - First Taste in Footscray, a southern Chinese claypot rice and herbal soup restaurant.

First Taste have a number of branches across Melbourne and Sydney and are really popular.  The windows in the Footscray branch are somewhat blacked out by large-scale images of their dishes but as we dined, the door constantly swung open, admitting couples and families hungry for something warm and comforting.

Ginseng Stewed Black Chicken Soup, $5.80

The menu of Chinese herbal soups is quite impressive, with pigeon, pear & white fungus, even frog fat.  Black chicken is a Chinese herbal ingredient that is thought to be very restorative, particularly for a woman who has just given birth.  You can see the tiny blue-black skinned chickens for sale in the chicken shops in Footscray market.  Apparently they are silkies, small, fluffy white chickens (see an interesting New York Times article here).  The flavour was great and you could really taste the fresh, clean ginger.  However, the meat was still in the pot and it had that scummy, brown-feathery look that meat gets when you cook it for stock.  I love my stock but I hate the collapsed vegetables and gross, flaccid carcasses I have to dispose of.  The meat in this reminded me of that - I much prefer to use bones for my stock, drain, even strain through muslin (aka old baby wrap) to get rid of all the brown floaty bits before poaching fresh meat eg chicken breast in it if I want to have chunks of meat in my soup.  So this was a bit of a fail for me.

Coconut and Herbs Stewed Crocodile Meat Soup, $6.90

We also tried crocodile with coconut.  This broth was really intriguing - it tasted somewhere between pork and seafood.  I think the coconut was sweet coconut juice rather than milk.  I liked its flavour a lot.  The crocodile meat was very oily and rich, similar to eel.  It had a good flavour but had so many tiny shards of bone that stuck in your teeth that we got put off.  Thankfully these soups had nice little lids so we did not have to be the embarrassing gweilos who did not finish them - at least until we were safely halfway down Hopkins Street!

Quail with rice, $8.80 (add Chinese sausage, $2)

The main attraction here is claypot rice.  Searing hot stone bowls of rice arrived at our table, a toasty aroma emanating from them.  I went with quail with optional added Chinese sausage ($2).  The quail was tasty but after the bony soup, I was a bit boned out and didn't persist with teasing all the meat off the tiny quails.  I did like the Chinese sausage.

X.O.Sauce Hand-made Prawn Ball with Rice, $8.80

These prawn balls were quite tasty, obviously home made, dressed with XO sauce.  XO sauce is seen on menus at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and I absolutely love it.  It's a total umami overload (umami being the elusive, savoury "fifth taste" of Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, meat stock and MSG).  It's made with small, dried seafood like tiny scallops and prawns, chilli and garlic as well as Chinese air-dried jinhua ham which is like prosciutto.  The name XO comes from XO cognac as it was thought to be very special like that particular brand of drink.

Chinese Broccoli, $4.50

We also shared a bowl of Chinese broccoli or gai larn, well-cooked and dressed with a thick sauce that seemed quite mild, thick and beany compared to the classic oyster sauce.

The claypots were well made, the rice having crusted perfectly, lifting from the bottom with lots of toasty crunch.  I just was not mad on the whole thing, though.  It was quite dense and filling and actually pretty plain.  It reminded me of a Chinese version of Aussie pub grub - simple, slightly stodgy, filling food that isn't going to win any prizes for originality, but that is what you want.  Notably I do not eat much pub grub or much other heavy, filling fare - my palate is heavily skewed towards fresh, light Vietnamese, Malaysian and South Indian flavours.  So I was not rapt with my soup and claypot, but that is not to say you will not love them.  I know plenty in the area do including a reader, Monica.  So go try them out - if you are not a fan, there is always Nhu Lan up the road for a banh mi.  Say hi to Mr Baklover at the counter.



First Taste
104-106 Hopkins Street, Footscray (map)
Phone:  9689 4274

Wheelchair Access
Step.

Shanghai Dynasty

UPDATE:  Shanghai Dynasty no longer does yum cha!!!!  SOB!!!!!!

Isn't it funny when you have interstate visitors and you haul them around doing all the things in Melbourne you think they want to do, but you yourself never do?  Go down to St Kilda beach, go up the Rialto, go walk along Southbank, ho hum.  When we have visitors here a while back we took them to yum cha in Chinatown and it was so bad I wish I had showed them the real Melbourne and driven to Gold Leaf Sunshine, made them walk 20 minutes from the only parking spot we could find, crammed them into the waiting area eyeball to eyeball with the lobsters, before pillaging each cart filled with fabulous, authentic dim sum.

That was why when Penny said she had found a great yum cha place in the city, I could not wait to check it out.  Shanghai Dynasty is on the second floor of the new centre that is on (I think) the old Village Cinemas site in Bourke Street.  China Red is on the ground floor as well as Dragon Boat (AVOID, AVOID)

Take the escalators up and it is as if you have been transported to a casino on the Las Vegas strip.  Opulence everywhere - filigree-encrusted grandfather clocks, diamantes, chandeliers galore.

 

Faux bronze statuettes of horsemen with bugles, Versace-esque medusa heads, marble columns, naves and apses and everywhere staff in natty livery dashing about with walkie talkies.

 It seems so old world Europe - seemingly so un-Melbourne - yet I love it!

Mantou

These are plain buns made of a similar dough to char siu bao, deep fried and served with condensed milk.  They were very naughty - the most processed white flour with a fried, crunchy exterior, dunked in fatty, sugary milk.  I was keen to try other more highly flavoursome things but the kids liked them.  First time seeing these at yum cha.

Prawns in beancurd

Love this dish and this was a fantastic version.  Prawns are rolled into neat packages with beancurd skin which when fried becomes crispy like pastry with the soft, sweet prawns inside.  I may be wrong but I believe this wrapping is the skin formed when soy milk is boiled (just like the skin on your truckstop latte - mmm, not!)  There are also steamed versions which I am not a massive fan of.

 Tofu with enoki mushrooms

Fantastic dish!  Little tofu lifeboats, bundles of enoki mushrooms lashed to them with a nori strip.  A fabulous textural contrast between the soft tofu and the pleasantly stringy mushrooms - and when I say "textural" it is not a euphemism (as it it often is) for bland.  Fabulous!

Salt and pepper squid

Pretty much perfect - soft and juicy squid in light, non-greasy batter, covered with that fabulous sprinkle of garlic, chilli, spring onion and all the little crispy battered bits that sloughed off.  Mmm!  This was more your classic restaurant style - I do like the other versions I have had at Gold Leaf in particular where the legs are less battered and there is no (albeit delicious) garlic/chilli sprinkle.

Sticky rice

I get the sticky rice just about every yum cha and don't really know why.  The kids are never conned that it is fried rice as I always claim and I don't really love it that much myself.  This was the sticky rice turning point - best I have ever had - no kidding!  Each grain was separate, not mushy, nestled with plump pieces of Chinese sausage and umami-rich dried prawns.  So fabulous - I would go there just for this.

Har gow

Plump - check.  Juicy - check.  Delicate - check.  Har gow are a yum cha classic and are said to be a good benchmark dish for a yum cha restaurant as they are hard to not make mushy.  These passed the test with flying colours.

Cha siu bao

Every kid's favourite and big kids too.  Normally there are only two per basket.  I wish Shanghai Dynasty was around when we were little, because being one of three meant that we always had to get two baskets of cha siu bao which would make four and would inevitably lead to a fight over who got the last one.  The dough was soft, delicate and fragrant and the filling very carefully made - the hoi sin flavour was actually very light, they tasted more like pork buns than BBQ pork buns.  Nevertheless, a shining example of good bao.

Cheong fun

Perfect prawn cheong fun, wide rice noodle sheets flopped around a filling to make delicate rolls.  These were well-made, not at all mushy and absolutely delicious.  I love the thin, sweet soy dressing.  Have a look at cheong fun in Macao here on Half-Eaten.

 Stuffed mushrooms

These were very well-executed - button mushrooms stuffed with tender prawn mince, steamed and served in a thick garlic and butter sauce.  The sauce was not to my taste, maybe because it was so divergent from the rest of the Asian flavours.  I think this is one of Shanghai Dynasty's signature dishes though and Penny gave it a big thumbs up, so try it and see what you think.

BBQ pork pastries

No kidding, these were the best BBQ pork pastries I have ever had.  The pastry was incredible - so flaky, literally melt-in-the-mouth, like a savoury yo-yo biscuit (I am sure the result of copious quantities of lard).  Tucked inside like a bulging wallet, the filling was warm, sweet BBQ pork, this time with a real cha siu/BBQ flavour that the bao earlier lacked.  Despite all of these rich ingredients they managed to taste so light.

High chair at Shanghai Dynasty!

Excuse all the superlatives - the bling did not get to me, rather, it was in fact a truly fantastic yum cha experience.  This is the Melbourne branch of the original Shanghai Dynasty, a famed Cantonese restaurant in Shanghai itself.  The service was great - there are two yum cha sittings, 11am and 1pm, which makes it less of a bunfight.  Don't be intimidated by the decor - there is no dress code as such and they are very kid friendly.  Even the prices were a surprise, standard to supreme from $4.80 to $9.80.

Shanghai Dynasty is a winner for yum cha - they have the full package.  I say, it may be baroque, but don't fix it.



Shanghai Dynasty
Address:  Level 1, 206 Bourke St, Melbourne (map)

Phone:  9663 7770
Yum cha $4.80 to $9.80

Wheelchair Access
Lift to first floor
Mention when booking as squishy and busy?

Lebanese pizzas at Amanie's Bakery

I first discovered Lebanese pizza when I was studying Arabic at a primary school in outer suburban Melbourne.  A Saturday morning "ethnic" school ran out of there each week and I had been placed into Year 9.  If you thought high school was awkward, try being 23 years old and in a class full of 15-year-olds for whom Saturday Arabic school is the definition of pure torture.  The classes were good, but what truly kept me going back was the canteen at break time.  Parents would lug bulging cardboard boxes into the playground and line them up on card tables.  Everyone would forget how much they did not want to be there and rush to form a long, jostling line.  In the cardboard boxes lay pocket after pocket of warm, savoury Lebanese pizza, each wrapped in a single square of greaseproof paper.  There were only two choices - cheese or za'atar, a special herb - and they were ridiculously cheap.  I could never decide which to get so I always got both.  Those pizzas, eaten on an old bench seat under a peppercorn tree, are still the best Lebanese pizzas I've had in Melbourne.

Sadly I no longer attend that Arabic school and am none the wiser where they sourced their pizzas from.  The biggest choice of Lebanese bakeries or makhaabiz (singular: makhbaz) is in the northern suburbs but we have a few options here in the west.  There's the bakery at the Circle in Altona North, a small range at Babylon as well as Al Nada in Spotswood, but none are really a match with what is on offer in the north.  That is, until I found Amanie's.

This is a very traditional Lebanese bakery dealing in man'oush or Lebanese pizza.  There are a few classic types and they are always insanely cheap.  The owner here is really lovely, very friendly.

There will be some pizzas ready-made and lying behind the counter, often protected by a long sheet of paper.  Make your selection and they will be placed deftly on the floor of the long, flat oven using a special long-handled slidey tool.  They seriously only need 1 or 2 minutes before they are piping hot - the oven is kept at such a scorching temperature.

This is one of my all-time favourite drinks - I only know it by its Turkish name, ayran.  It's the original drinking yoghurt - thin, salty yoghurt that is tangy and surprisingly refreshing.  You can make it easily at home but it's somewhat of a tradition to always get it when I have Lebanese pizza.

Jibnee (haloumi cheese), $3

The mothership Lebanese pizza pie.  Salty, rich, creamy, almost squeaky on the teeth melted haloumi cheese, sometimes with a little butter, soft and melty in a delicate bread pocket.  Sometimes the dough can be way too heavy or there is too much cheese (sounds strange, I know, but haloumi is pretty intense) but Amanie's was 100% perfect.

Sbanegh ma'a jibn (spinach and cheese), $3.50

This was a perfect example of what is actually one of my least favourite pies.  Often the balance is not quite right - there's too much spinach which gets bitter and overpowering, or the bread becomes wet and claggy from the wet vegetables.  This really was excellent, though - tender, just-cooked spinach with just enough mild feta-style cheese.  The plain spinach is also really excellent - it doesn't have any cheese but the spinach is sweated with onion and allspice and is so tasty and healthy.

Lahmi (meat), $3

Another classic done superbly.  A flat disc of dough is thinly topped with a lamb mince and tomato mixture that is heavy on the onion and allspice.  Indeed, allspice is probably the most used spice in Lebanese cooking - something I found quite remarkable at first as I always associated it with cakes.  Traditionally this is sprinkled with lemon juice and chilli powder before folding in half.  There is always some on the counter; just ask them to add it!

Za'atar ("oregano"), $1.80

The original and always the best.  Za'atar is both the name for this indigenous Middle Eastern herb, a kind of local oregano/thyme often translated into English as one or the other.  Here za'atar means the spice blend made with the dried herb, sesame seeds, salt and the optional addition of other spices such as lemony sumac berries or cumin.  Here it is smoothed onto a simple circle of dough along with olive oil.  At around $1.50 each, this is probably the cheapest lunch in Melbourne.  They can be filled with tomato, cucumber and other salad items to make a sort of wrap.  We like to use them as pizza bases!

Kishik, $4

I was so excited I mistakenly ordered this instead of shankleesh which is a spherical, aged feta-style cheese, rolled in herbs, that is quite delicious when smooshed onto a pizza.  Kishik, it turns out, is a fermented and dried grain/yoghurt product that is then rehydrated as a kind of porridge or paste.  It tasted to me a bit like mashed potatoes.  It was sprinkled with raw onion, lemon and chilli.  I wasn't really a fan but it was fun to try something different.

Toum, $3

Wait til you try this.  It is Lebanese aioli or toum and it is totally divine.  Silky, garlicky, rich yet light.  Amazing!  This is eaten lots of ways including with grilled meats or just as a dip.  It apparently keeps up to a month if you use a clean spoon to take some out each time.  We ate it with fresh Lebanese bread from Amanie's - speaking of which, Lebanese bread really should be eaten that day or the next day in a pinch.  When fresh it is so fantastic, chewy yet light, and is a million miles away from the horrible stale specimens the supermarket sell up to five days past when they were baked.

I am so stoked to find such a wonderful Lebanese baker so close to home.  Now the only question is deciding which pizza to choose.  You can always try the Mr Baklover special - take za'atar pizza, open, insert cheese pizza, close.  Eat.  Genius!

Amanie's Bakery
Shop 4, 280-284 Main Road East, St Albans (map)
Phone:  9364 5333
Hours:  Mon - Sat 7.30am - 7pm, Sun 7.30am - 5pm

For more Lebanese delights, check out Sydney-based Fouad's modern as well as traditional takes on the food of his homeland, augmented by his gorgeous photos and cheeky style, at thefoodblog.com.au.

Wheelchair Access
Level entry

I'm very happy to be participating in From Cup to Crop, a new initiative by Plan International to raise both awareness and funds to fight hunger in the developing world.  You can either take part in the Cup to Crop Challenge - living on $3 for food per day, one day per week for one month or choose to donate $3 on top of your bill at participating venues.  That $3 will feed a child for a staggering 10 days!  As my contribution, I pledge to donate $3 for every meal I have out over the campaign month, 14 March to 14 April.  I will keep a tally at the bottom of each post and perhaps you too could consider supporting From Cup to Crop.

Pane e Latte and Blu Cow Deli

Sometimes being disorganised is a good thing.  If I had been better prepared that one day, I would have stopped at Cavallaro's for a goodie box of biscotti or even baked something myself.  Instead, perpetually late, I rocketed down Ballarat Road wondering if a packet of Mint Slice from 7-11 would be too embarrassing to bring to this friend of a friend's house.  Impatiently drumming my fingers on the wheel, suddenly I spied a promising sign and quickly hung a left.

That's how I found Pane e Latte, tucked behind the Deer Park main drag.  It conceals a fabulous range of delicately and lovingly crafted cakes and biscotti to rival even Cavallaro's.

Everything is made on the premises in the kitchen behind, visible through large windows.  We got chatting to the lovely owner and she said they are just about function, not style.  The decision to provide a retail outlet was an afterthought but in fact I love the style they have come up with - the polished concrete floor and lots of sparkling stainless steel and glass, brightened by the shabby chic chandelier.

Biscotti of every shape, texture and filling are for sale - soft chocolate sandwiched between shortbread hearts, decadent chocolate logs sliced into fat discs, delicate crostoli covered in bubbles, some of which pop to provide little craters for icing sugar.

There are entire cakes as well as individual portions, even rum baba bobbing in a jar full of syrup.  The prices are staggeringly reasonable.  A whole apple pie for $8.60, huge biscotti napoletani for $2.80.  Mixed biscotti are sold by weight for $45 per kg.

A box of love for about $10.  The cigars were unreal, filled with a soft, creamy, white chocolate-like creme.  The horseshoes were so short and crumbly, their little legs and backsides dipped in dark chocolate.  Swoon!

His black shirt dusted in flour, the baker deftly prepared great coffees, a steal for $2.80.  Strong and rich, they went perfectly with the rich pastries.  We spied loaves of bread rising in the kitchen and were directed to the other half of the family business, Blu Cow Deli across the parking lot opposite.

If you have been searching for that elusive amazing western suburbs delicatessen, this might be it.  A range to rival King & Godfree - San Daniele prosciutto, incredible salamis and amazing cheeses.  Proper pasta and kitsch Italian bath products make this a western suburbs mini-Mediterranean wholesalers.

And there was the bread we had spied - big hearty sourdough loaves of all permutations.  What a struggle to choose just one!

Dark rye sourdough.  Actually quite light in flavour but a gorgeous texture, soft yet dense but in a cakey way - quite like mud cake, in fact.  Delicious and a very western suburbs $4.20!



Pane e Latte
Shop 6&7, 1-5 Canterbury Road, Deer Park (map)
Phone:  9363 0422

Blu Cow Deli
809 Western Highway, Deer Park (map)
Phone:  9363 1428

Wheelchair Access
Call to confirm.

The new Phu Vinh

Not long ago Phu Vinh, Footscray's much-loved noodle bar tucked into the side of Footscray market, reopened with a swish new look.  Gone are the faded pictures of Phu Vinh's classics which used to abut the ceiling, and the tables and chairs got a snazzy overhaul.  Most controversially, as well as their old menu of selected classics, the new menu is much bigger with stir-fries and noodle dishes.  The real question on everyone's lips is whether any of Phu Vinh's culinary lustre got buried in the rubble of the reno.

  

Bo Lan Bot Muoi Ot, $14

If this Bo Lan Bot Muoi Ot or flour coated beef with salt and chilli is indicative of the calibre of dishes we can now expect, I am a post-reno convert.  Oh my God - I seriously daydreamed about this dish for the next few days!  Very tender beef pieces, fried in a light, almost eggy batter and tossed quickly with vegetables in a simple mix of salt, black pepper and chilli.  It doesn't sound like much but the ingredients were quality and the execution perfect.  With steamed rice and a sprinkle of fish sauce - unreal!!

Fried rice with salted fish, $11

I love this home-style dish - white rice tossed with chicken, egg and just a touch of dried, salted fish, crumbled or chopped into tiny pieces, giving it a fantastic aroma and unparalleled umami flavour.  You will also see vermicelli versions around town and they are also fantastic.

 

 Bo kho, $9

This is a favourite of Kenny's and George's - a rich beef casserole or soup.  Phu Vinh's version was made with beef ribs and big wheels of carrot, the beef shredding effortlessly from the bones.  I am pretty new to this soupy style of bo kho, my main experience being with the other thicker, perhaps more French-influenced syle (as made by Billy's dad as well as Tan Truc Giang).  This was much more like a soup and I think would have been better with rice noodles rather than our choice of bread roll.  Still, the broth was very rich, complex yet genuine with hints of tomato and cinnamon.  It came with a small dish of delicious chilli salt for dipping the beef.

Banh canh tom thit, $9

My new noodle obsession and hangover cure-all.  Banh canh, literally 'soup noodle' are very thick, chewy noodles very similar to Japanese udon.  Here they were in Phu Vinh's classic stock, garnished with sweet lettuce, garlic chives, spring onion and coriander.  The toppings were superb, really fresh - juicy pork mince, tender pork neck, a delicate butterflied prawn and a very fresh boiled quail's egg.  Liver may or may not feature depending on who is in the kitchen.  The broth is rich and quite punchy - I really do heart Phu Vinh's soup.  Carlin, I did ask them if they had pho as per your tip but they said they did not :(

Bun nem nuong, $9

Did Phu Vinh do bun (rice vermicelli) salads before?  Anyway, this was really very good.  Nem nuong are grilled minced pork patties or kebabs.  I have had both the coarsely minced pork style of these and the more processed, spongier style and both are great.  This was the springy, very finely minced style, scented with lemongrass and lots of lovely grilled meaty flavour.  The bun noodles were perfect with super fresh bean sprouts and other vegies.  It was very simple and quite delicious.  Phu Vinh do love sweet chilli and this did come with some drizzled on top as well as a bowl of the classic seasoned fish sauce dressing.  Just dig your chopsticks in, mix it all up and dig in.

There are still so many goodies to explore at Phu Vinh.  The best thing is, many of the big-menu restaurants have great dry stir-fried or BBQ dishes but unremarkable soups.  Because Phu Vinh was a soup and noodle place first, they have those basics down and can only get better.  Good on them for the gorgeous new reno and I hope it helps them attract some more of the evening crowd.  Reader Melissa sums it up perfectly:  No tissue box on the table but the pho and spring rolls were just as good as before. Hooray.

Phu Vinh
93 Hopkins Street, Footscray (map)
Phone:  9689 8719
Hours:  7 days from 9 am

Wheelchair Access
Level entry - bit squashy inside