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The most epic farewell: Pan Asian CNY Peking Duck / Suckling Pig Fest

The most epic farewell: Pan Asian CNY Peking Duck / Suckling Pig Fest

January 24, 2011 by · 10 Comments

Pan Asian
(03) 9533 7022
267 Chapel Street
Prahran, 3181
Pan Asian on the Web

If I had planned better, this post would have been up while I was driving towards my new home. But I didn’t plan it better. So as I write this, I am now sitting in my new home, having got my internet running (was the 2nd thing I did, right after sorting out the kitchen!) and my iMac back out of its box. (Complete with the brand new smell. Ahhh)

And if you haven’t been catching up with the news on twitter, I have moved. This time, it’s to Murrayville. Where? I hear you ask. Don’t feel bad for asking; before I took this job, I didn’t know where this place was either!

Murrayville is a tiny town (350 people only!) that is very close to the South Australian border. It is 10 minutes from the SA border, 20 minutes from the nearest SA town (where I get my groceries from) and about 2.75 hours from Adelaide. Unfortunately that also means that it’s almost 7 hours away from Melbourne, so my trips to Melbourne will now be restricted to only school holidays. Adelaide on the other hand, I’ll be there quite often! So fellow Adelaide foodies, please do share where are your must-eats and I’d love to meetup and catch up over a cuppa too!

But this post isn’t about all that. This post is actually about one of the many farewell events I had before I left Melbourne, but it takes the crown as being the most epic one. There can never be more than enough reasons to celebrate the eating of peking duck and suckling pigs but my imminent departure was one of the many reasons to have a #duckfest and for that I am very thankful and appreciative towards Pan Asian and Robert and Li who have become people I look forward to chatting with everyday in my life. Thank you.

Under the experienced guidance of Anna (the original host of #duckfest) and Penny (the Queen of Pork), the first #duckfest2011 took life and became a reality.

It was a night not to be easily forgotten: the whole restaurant was closed for this private event. #duckfest saw 70 people attending this event; to think the first #duckfest had 30! Perhaps one day, we will hit 150. Many friends whom I’ve met through this food blogging shindig were present and who wouldn’t be on a night that promises to dish up Peking Duck and Suckling pig? It was a merry night.

The night started with a CNY standard. Yu Sheng, or Lao Hei. ( You might remember my post about making my own Yu Sheng ). It didn’t have the same variety of ingredients that mine had, but for a simplified version, it was incredibly tasty and seeing as CNY this year I will be at work in my new job, I was thankful for the chance of being able to toss myself some luck.

Anybody who eats Peking duck often will know what the meaning of these condiments mean. It means Peking duck is next! There was even pickled vegetables. An interesting addition as I’ve never had pickled veges with my peking duck roll before.

Peking duck!!! While it is not comparable to Simon’s, it was still one of the better Peking duck I’ve eaten. For a restaurant that doesn’t specialize in them, Pan Asian did fantastically well!

The Duck Salad followed. This dish was made famous by a small typo by Anna, who wrote Suck Salad instead of Duck Salad in her email invitation to everybody. And thus the hash tag #sucksalad was born to commemorate the night. Following the appearance of this dish, several tweets containing a photo of it and the hash tag of #sucksalad appeared! The joys of dining with food bloggers!

Speaking of dining with food bloggers, I heard from Li that the attendees from the night who weren’t food bloggers were astounded by the flurry of camera activity that appeared around them whenever a dish came out. It’s such a lovely buzzing energy, I absolutely adore it.

The duck consumme was next and it was very light and very refreshing. Much like a cleanser. But the problem with light items in such a heavy menu is that they tend to become unmemorable. And this soup became it.

There was suckling pig that followed, but my photos of it are deplorable. But while the pork itself was juicy, tender and incredibly yummy, the skin was a spongey mess. I do have to point out that it wasn’t a chef’s mistake. It was an incredibly humid night (94% humidity!) and the crackling didn’t take too well to that. Oh well.

The last savoury course was stewed pork legs with leeks alongside Bak Kwa. How I love Bak Kwa! Om nom nom!

I don’t take good photos when I’m high on life, laughter and good food apparently. By this time, my photos were coming out terrible so do pardon the terrible photo of the extremely yummy dessert. Matcha Cupcake with a hidden mochi, alongside a mandarin sorbet with haw flake made up the delightful dessert platter, and while many agreed that the cupcake was just a touch on the dry side, the flavouring more than made up for it. It was an explosion of flavour and I drank in the green tea to my heart’s delight. The mandarin sorbet had the oranges dancing on my tongue, and I could have licked the plate clean if I wasn’t conscious enough to realise I was still in a very public place. Ahem.

It was an incredible night. I had so much fun, met so many people : both old and new friends and had the time of my life both chatting and eating. There were many folks who I haven’t seen for awhile and was very thankful for the chance to catch up before I ran off to my newest adventure. So Thank you to Robert and Li, Anna and Penny!

Pan Asian on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Bloggers Unite, Chinese, Melbourne, Prahran Tagged With: , , , , , ,
Review: Simon’s Peiking Duck Restaurant – Blackburn / Box Hill South

Review: Simon’s Peiking Duck Restaurant – Blackburn / Box Hill South

January 16, 2011 by · 9 Comments

Simon’s Peiking Duck Restaurant
197b Middleborough Rd
Box Hill South, 3128
(03) 9898 5944
www.simonpeikingduck.com

Between this year and last, I’ve eaten more Peking Duck than I ever have in a lifetime.

And I couldn’t be happier.

But when word got out that Simon, the Duck Nazi who was previously the mastermind behind the peking ducks at Old Kingdom had set up his own restaurant, I was immediately raring to go.

The restaurant itself has a nicer and cleaner fit out than Old Kingdom. It does boast the round tables that I so adore, but they have no eftpos or credit card facilities. And there’s no ATMs either on that strip of shops, so bring cash and be prepared. The dinner session is split into two: 6pm session and 8pm session. On the day I went, the 8pm session was full but the 6pm session had at least 3-4 tables empty. But which lucky person finishes work before 6?

The service was a bit on the not-so-good side. Possibly the lack of English fluency had to do with it but it took 3 waiters/waitresses before the message that we’d like to order was conveyed across. But that was the only frustrating bit of the night. Once we got the service to understand that we were hungry and wanted food, they were quick with bringing it up.

I was quite impressed when I noticed that Simon himself was servicing the floor. He came to our table and demonstrated how to wrap up our pancakes to form the peking duck roll, and then proceeded to distribute the duck skin amongst the diners. Except it was done with quite a flourish and who knew dead and cooked duck could fly? He pretty much frisbee’d the duck pieces to each diner’s plate and didn’t miss a single one. Colour me impressed!

And how was the duck? Hands down, the BEST in Melbourne. And having gone through multiple #duckfest, that’s a huge claim. But it was juicy, it was succulent, it was tasty, it was mouth-watering and it was incredibly appetizing. Oh lord help me but I’m drooling just thinking about it and I’d love me some duck right now

We ordered 3 ducks between 9 people, but I reckon we could have up’d it to 4 ducks and still be able to devour everything. The pancake was impossibly thin and yet it was so soft and had a good bite to it. How do you do it, Simon? I’d love to know!

If I had to complain, then I’d say there’s a tad too much meat on the duck pieces. The aim is to eat the skin after all, so why so much meat came with it?

The soup, unfortunately was nothing to write home about. It was pleasant, but nothing mind-blowing. The noodles were handmade noodles but you are given the opportunity to pick the noodles of your choice when you order. These were nice. The noodles had a good bite to them and it tasted good. Still nothing mind-blowing but definitely more memorable than the soup.

Overall, it was a really pleasant night out. I don’t actually know what else is on their menu – if there’s anything else on the menu. But why would you go to Simon’s restaurant and not order peking duck? He is the Duck Nazi after all!

If you have the chance, do head over there. Remember to place a booking tho – and to bring cash!

Simon's Peiking Duck Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Blackburn, Box Hill, Chinese, Melbourne Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
Review: Lunch at Pan Asian

Review: Lunch at Pan Asian

November 15, 2010 by · 13 Comments



Pan Asian recently opened its doors to the lunch crowd on Chapel St and seeing as I had a lunch time appointment in the area, I was quite keen to try it out.

If you have never been to Pan Asian then it’s about time you changed that. The exterior of the place looks somewhat daunting, with its tinted glass and if you peep in, the fancy looking interior makes one feel that this is an amazingly fancy place with prices way higher than the wallet could handle. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

My dining companions were kind and generous enough to allow me to photograph their lunches so I’ll try to show the varied range of lunch items up for offer in this short review.



The Chinese Crispy Pork Belly Baguette with apple and cucumber, and light hoisin dressing ($12) was Violet‘s order. It does make you think immediately of Earl Canteen’s version of the Pork Belly, since Earl seems to have redefine Pork Belly Baguettes, but this was somewhat different. I wasn’t too fond of the baguette, but I do generally dislike baguettes as I find them a tad too hard and too chewy.

The Pork Belly did have a nice crisp skin but the flavours in the meat was the stand out of the dish. The burst of flavours, so refreshing and yet so interestingly asian played on the tongue. Unfortunately, it is then washed away by that baguette. Did I mention, I don’t like baguettes? Violet on the other hand, found it lovely. She loved the baguette and loved every bit of it, but it was rather huge for just one of her. But at 12 dollars? A bargain.



Sarah ordered Thai street style beef salad with cherry tomatoes and spanish onion ($12) and while I didn’t get to taste this, I was quite taken by the vibrant colours that just brought the dish to life.



Jimmy’s choice of the Chicken curry with rice had me wondering why it was only a mere $10. That’s bargain like you wouldn’t believe, especially on Chapel st.



Here’s my own lunch of Hainan poached chicken with ginger shallot salsa and fragrant lemongrass chilli sauce and rice ($11). Beautifully poached chicken, every bit as greasy as you’d want your Hainan chicken to be, with the only disappointment being the rice not being the same Hainan rice I was hoping it’d be. But the absolutely amazing lemongrass chilli sauce had me craving for more, and every day that I am there, I pester, nay, beg the kitchen for the recipe. At $11, I’d be there every single day if I could.



Pan Asian also serves the beautiful cupcakes from Sugadeaux and let me tell you, they are divine. I was quite lucky recently to have received cupcakes from the beautiful Sugadeux for winning her twitter competition and I was in cupcake heaven. You haven’t tasted an amazing cupcake, till you have tasted a Sugadeux cupcake, let me tell you that.

The dessert platter shown above was given to us as a complimentary gift from the owners of Pan Asian.

All in all, an amazing experience. Don’t like the stern exterior and fancy interior turn you away. Take a step in and embrace the vibrant colours that dance on the walls of Pan Asian, and ask the owner, Li, to tell you the stories of the beautiful girls who adorn those drawings. Take a look at the chandelier and marvel at the fact that it’s mostly made out of mixing bowls of various sizes and salt and pepper shakers. One thing to note however, that you shouldn’t be heading over to Pan Asian looking for authentic Malaysian/Singapore/ Thai food. The food is asian inspired and resonates strongly with the asian flavours and textures, but it isn’t authentic in the strictest sense of the word, but I often think that the ‘authentic’ debate is a slippery slope to nowhere anyways. But this is hardly important.

What is most important, is to enjoy your lunch. This is Chapel St, after all.

Pan Asian on Urbanspoon

Pan Asian

(03) 9533 7022
267 Chapel Street
Prahran, 3181
Web: Pan Asian

Filed Under: Chinese, Malaysian, Melbourne, Prahran Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
Review: Yumcha at Gold Leaf Restaurant @ Springvale, VIC

Review: Yumcha at Gold Leaf Restaurant @ Springvale, VIC

October 19, 2010 by · 21 Comments

Following the most recent #duckfest at Gold Leaf Restaurant in Preston, I heard many fantastic reviews about their Yum Cha sessions.

So at the first opportunity possible, I booked my usual Yum Cha buddies in for a session at Gold Leaf Restaurant.

It was a Sunday afternoon and the queue was astounding. To say it was ‘out the door’ was an understatement. There were even chairs outside of the restaurant for people to sit while waiting their turn. It made me very thankful that I had made a booking. Stepping in, I was amazed by the amount of people in the restaurant. Clearly, the yum cha sessions were popular.




We sat down at our table and waited for the first trolley to come by.

And waited.

And waited.

And…. waited.

Don’t get me wrong, I do realise that this was a very large restaurant. But having a mere 4-5 trolleys going around to feed the masses of people who had gathered under that roof with one sole purpose which was to eat? Surely there’s something not quite right with the maths there. As we watched, growing hungrier and hungrier by the minute, each trolley was held up at each table for at least 15-20 minutes. No wonder it took so long for the trolleys to get anywhere!



At long last, we were given food. Maybe the wait had been too long and we were just so hungry. But the dumplings were absolutely delicious. Worth the wait? I’ll grudgingly say yes. But I’d rather not have to wait, thanks. The Har Gow was flavourful and juicy and the Century Egg Porridge beautifully smooth and filled with generous helpings of century eggs.




Prawns were massive and juicy, perfectly cooked and most importantly, the food here wasn’t dripping with oil and grease. (Another local restaurant’s dumplings had oil dripping off it – quite off putting).




Those egg tarts were amazing. So was the mango pudding. And the tau huey was just to-die-for. It was done in the manner that I love best : warm with a tinge of sweetness and ginger. Heavenly!

So other than the miserably count of trolleys that seem to magically pass us by, the food was fantastic and the service pretty decent. A little pricier than the Yum Cha I’m used to but for the quality of food? Oh hell yeah.

Of course, I can’t vouch for every Gold Leaf there is out there and there’s quite a few branches! But if you are heading for their Yum Cha sessions, do book ahead so you aren’t stuck waiting outside on chairs. Who knows till when you’d have to wait for!

Gold Leaf

(03) 9540 3933
Springvale
46 – 58 Buckingham Ave
Springvale, 3171

Gold Leaf on Urbanspoon

Filed Under: Breakfast, Chinese, Melbourne, Springvale Tagged With: , , , , ,
July Cookoff: Recipe – Ban Mian

July Cookoff: Recipe – Ban Mian

October 1, 2010 by · 3 Comments



Originally I had wanted Celina to try pulling her own hand-pulled noodles. But that was a big ask and a tad ambitious. We settled for something a little less demanding and went with Ban Mian.

Recipe from Penny @ Jeroxie with the change to make it Vegetarian friendly.
I’ll only share the recipe for the noodles here, as we used a vegetarian soup base for the soup. If you’d like the full recipe, please visit Penny’s blog.

Ban Mian

Ingredients for Noodles

250g of flour and extra for dusting
Pinch of sea salt
60ml – 80ml of water
1 tbsp of oil
1 egg

Method

1. Pour the water into a bowl.
2. Add flour and salt. Mix until it looks a little stringy.
3. Make a well and add the egg and oil. Knead the dough until it comes together.
4. Add a touch of water if required. Continue kneading until it is no longer sticky.
5. Wrap in cling film for about 20mins.
6. Once fully rested, boil the soup base and start pinching the dough and throwing it into the rolling hot water.



Having grown up eating this, I’m sad to say that vegetarian ban mian just doesn’t cut it for me. So while the soup base wasn’t quite reminiscent of Ban Mian, the noodles themselves were pretty good. Especially impressive given that this was Celina’s first time making any sort of noodles from scratch. Big round of applause for the lady!

And while it wasn’t authentic, it was still incredibly tasty, and some days you gotta sit back and stop being a stickler for authenticity especially when things are tasty. Sometimes, it just doesn’t matter that much.

Besides, it’s not everyday I get to enjoy home made Ban Mian in the comfort of my own home. So I deem this a Success!

Filed Under: Chinese, Cooking, Cooking & Baking, Malaysian, Monthly Cookoffs, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,
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