Tag Archives: pork

Melbourne edition: Ezard

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Modern Australian, Food by

There is a reason why some restaurants are highly regarded than others; awarded hats while other are not. Ezard has easily become one of those fine dining restaurants that blew me away (also partly because I went in with zero expectations).

What can I say? The whole dining experience was fantastic:

Great service. From the initial point of contact through to the second we left the restaurant, the staff had been nothing but polite. They paid close attention to us without being intrusive but what made me feel very relaxed while dining was the staff’s sense of humour.

Great food. I would not normally go to a fine dining restaurant to eat Asian-inpsired food. But Ezard takes it to a whole new level which was great because the food was better than I imagined from reading the menu. It’s almost like east meets west but it was certainly geered towards east.

More importantly, both were enjoyed while on holidays.

Entrees

Seared canadian scallops, spiced pumpkin puree, cumin caramel, pomegranate, chorizo and crispy chinese broccoli

Ezard: scallop entree

Slow cooked bangalow pork belly, apple pudding, fennel, white peach and calvados jus

Ezard: pork belly

Mains

Crispy skin baby barramundi with caramelised eggplant, tomato and lime salad, yellow curry dressing

Ezard: Barramundi curry

Master stock fried pork hock, chilli caramel, spicy thai beanshoot salad and fragrant jasmine rice

Ezard: pork hock

Dessert

Tasting plate for 2

Salted caramel parfait, chocolate peanut butter crunch, pressed paw paw and blackberry syrup & pistachio frangipane, crystallised raspberry and tonka bean ice cream

Ezard: dessert tasting plate

Fromage frais and strawberry cheesecake, basil pearls, lime syrup & mango bavarois, slow cooked peach, sesame seed wafer

Ezard: dessert tasting plate 2

Espresso chocolate marquise, soft meringue, raspberry gel

Ezard: dessert tasting plate 3

Too much good food! I think every single item on the menu is worth a try, except for that salted caramel parfait.

Even I was surprised we polished off every single plate.

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Philippine edition: Defining Filipino food

Posted in Filipino, Food by

Some of the food I always ensure I have when I visit the Philippines (description when you click on the individual photos)…

Bouchon Bistro @ Wembley

Posted in French by

I am a big fan of French cuisine. Duck, pastries, frog legs…everything. I will eat anything cooked the French way. So when I saw a voucher for Bouchon Bistro offering $40 for $100 worth of food I jumped at the chance of securing myself a voucher.

Last weekend, L and I finally made it to Wembley along the always busy Cambridge Street in search for this bistro. They open at 6:30pm so when we arrived at 6:28pm the “closed” sign was still displayed on the window. The door was unlocked so we went in anyway and the waitress gladly showed us to our table.

It wasn’t really hard to choose what to order. I confirmed with the waitress that we could have anything on the menu so long as they all come up to $100 worth and we would just pay for the extras.

To start, we were given bread and butter. I cannot even begin to sing my praises for a properly made baguette. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside and the combination of the crunchiness and the softness was perfect, it was tasty, it was warm, and altogether a great bread experience spread with the butter. If I had that kind of bread for breakfast everyday I think every day would be a great day.

Then we were given a free appetiser of oxtail with garlic parmesan and onion cheese. Don’t fret, it wasn’t the tail in a whole piece. It was chopped up, made into a patty and served nicely. The oxtail had a nice crunch to it from what I’m assuming are the cartilages from the tail. A bit strange to the bite but the taste was not too bad.

After the appetiser we had another round of bread and butter because the waitress asked if we wanted more. As it turns out there’s an extra $4.50 charge for another 4 slices of bread.
L and I shared an entree of braised beef ribs in spices and coconut, pine nut, pear and radishes. Very very tasty beef ribs. Like the oxtail the ribs were removed from the bone and shaped so it was easier and less messy to eat. The pear and radishes provided a contrasting palette to the spices used in the beef.
Mains came not too long after we chatted with the waitress. I was aware of some reviews saying that service here is terrible, that customers are not treated with priority and other things like that but I guess we were lucky to have made a reservation for 6:30pm because the restaurant was not full and so they weren’t stressing out just yet. We talked about France with the waitress and she gave us a few tips here and there while I practiced my French with her.
I had panfried duck breast, confit leg and chestnut, coffee crumble and amaranth. The duck breast could have been less rubbery. I asked for a well done breast but it was not as well done as I had hoped for. The confit leg was not the usual confit you’d find in other places; rather this was, again, without the bone and shaped into a cube and not quite as fatty as confits usually are since they are cooked in duck fat. Taste-wise it was so-so. I was a little hesitant with the coffee crumble and amaranth on the side. I tasted it by itself and thought it was weird to have coffee with duck. But spoon a little crumble on top of the duck breast and actually tastes quite nice. The crumble complements the sauce well.
L had the assiette of pork, which was basically pork cooked in different ways. There was the braised pork belly, pork knuckle and pork with quince (to the best of my memory). They were all very tasty with enough spices and sweetness that goes well with pork. I’ve got to say that the pork belly was the best out of plate. Well give L anything pork and she won’t complain.
We were surprisingly quite full even though the servings were small. It was probably from all the bread we ate. But we decided to have dessert anyway. We shared a chocolate mousse with crumble meringue and berries and yoghurt foam with strawberry jelly. It was interesting to say the least. I would rather have the mousse dark and a little less sweet. The yoghurt foam was surprisingly good with the mousse. Sweet plus sour. L ended up having to eat most of it because it was too sweet for my liking.
Overall a good dining experience. I agree with those who say that this place is overpriced. Average entree price is $20 and mains are $40. Desserts are around the $15-$20 mark. It is overpriced because, although food was not too bad, there was nothing really very spectacular about it. I’d probably come back again if they offer deals. An elderly couple beside our table seemed to be regulars here though. They rate the dishes 10 out of 10.
My rating: 6/10

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www.bouchonbistro.com.au

Nem Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Skewers)

Posted in Food, Recipes, Vietnamese by

This is my cheat version of Vietnamese Grilled Pork Skewers. I had this at a Vietnamese friend’s house; loved it so much and asked her how she made them. Turns out she also made it using the cheat version with a pre-mixed seasoning plus additional ingredients to make it more Vietnamese. Oddly enough, the pre-mixed seasoning is a Filipino seasoning for tocino. This is very easy to make once you get the hang of binding the meat onto the skewer. I would grab a 1.5 inch ball of meat then bind it onto the skewer using just my thumb, index and middle fingers. I found that using the whole hand to press the meat against the skewers does not really work well and the meat has to stick to the skewer as close as possible; otherwise it would fall off before you even cook it.

Ingredients

1 kilo ground pork
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 packet tocino seasoning mix (available from Asian grocery stores)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
oil for frying
20-30 bamboo skewers

Method

1. Soak the bamboo skewers in a bowl filled with tap water until ready to be used.

2. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, garlic, peppercorns, seasoning mix, sugar and salt using your hands. Mix until all ingredients are well combined.

3. Bind the meat onto the bamboo skewers. Shape the meat into a 1.5-2 inch ball. Insert the bamboo skewer into the middle of the meat ball. Then gradually shape the ball into a long oval while pressing the meat onto the skewer until it feels firmly attached to the skewer. The meat should not be hanging/falling off when you lift it or move it onto a plate. Repeat until all the meat has been used up.

4. Grill the pork skewers on a BBQ grill (if you have one) or, alternatively, a large non-stick pan. Heat oil in the pan. Cook the meat until well done while frequently turning the skewers to prevent it from burning and over-caramelising.

5. Serve hot and enjoy.

Recipe: Pork chops with raisin and cranberry sauce

Posted in Food, Modern Australian, Recipes by

pork chops with raisin and cranberry sauce

Ingredients

8 pieces pork chops

1/8 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 orange, juiced

2 cups chicken stock

dash of red wine

oil for pan frying

 

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan and pan fry the pork chops until almost well done.

2. In the same pan, add in the raisins and cranberries and sauté for about 1 minute. Then add in the orange juice, chicken stock and red wine. Cook the fruits for about 5 minutes on low heat.

3. Transfer the fruit mixture to a food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth. Or you can use a blender or a hand-held blender if you don’t have a food processor. Pour the mixture back into the pan on low heat. Then add in the pork chops and simmer until well done. If the sauce is drying up or is too thick, add in more chicken stock or water.

4. Serve and enjoy.

 

 

Recipe: Vietnamese pork spring rolls

Posted in Recipes, Vietnamese by

From my kitchen: Vietnamese pork spring rolls

Inspired by the spring rolls I’ve had in Phong Vinh and Viet Hoa, These are actually quite tasty even without the dipping sauce that it usually comes with. I was just going to use hoisin sauce for dipping but even that was not needed.

Ingredients

1/2 kilo minced pork

1 teaspoon mixed spice powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 carrot, chopped finely

1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped

bean sprouts

spring roll wrappers

oil for deep frying

Method

1. In a bowl, mix together the pork, mixed spice powder, salt and pepper. Then cook the pork mixture in skillet until well done. Break up the pork into small pieces while cooking. Set aside to cool.

2. Heat oil for deep frying while you prepare the spring rolls.

3. Once cooled, place spoonfuls of the cooked pork mixture onto the spring roll wrapper. Place about 3-4 pieces of bean sprouts on top of the pork. Fold the edges of the wrapper and roll the wrapper. Brush the last edge of the wrapper with water to seal it. The spring roll should be quite stuffed with filling.

4. Fry the spring rolls until golden brown.

5. Serve hot (with your choice of dipping sauce if you like) and enjoy.

 

 

Recipe: Thit Kho Tau (Vietnamese Pork Stew)

Posted in Recipes, Vietnamese by

From my kitchen: Thit Kho Tau

I was watching Food Safari a few days ago and it came to the Vietnamese cuisine episode. I was very inspired to cook some pho but that was too tasking so I’ve decided to make this Vietnamese pork stew instead. It says that this dish is traditionally eaten during New Year. I inadvertently added an extra ingredient – lemongrass – because I wasn’t paying close attention to the TV but it turned out well. Sweet and fragrant flavours.

Ingredients

pork belly, cut into small pieces

1/2 onion, cut into small pieces

3 cloves garlic

1 stalk lemongrass, white part cut into small pieces

1 stalk spring onion, cut into small pieces

4 tablespoons fish sauce

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

3 tablespoons palm sugar

2 pieces star anise

black pepper

oil

1/2 onion, diced

juice of 1 young coconut

water

8 pieces hardboiled eggs

Method

1. Put the onion, garlic, lemongrass and spring onion into a food processor or blender and blend until almost paste-like.

2. In a bowl, marinate the pork belly with the lemongrass mixture made in Step 1. Then add in fish sauce, light and dark soy sauce and palm sugar, star anise. Marinate meat for at least 3 hours or overnight.

3. In a medium sized saucepan, heat oil and sautee the onions until brown. Then add in the pork together with the marinade. Brown the meat then add in the coconut juice and about 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and lower to medium heat. Skim the fat while it’s boiling. Let the pork simmer for about 1 hour.

4. Add in the hardboiled eggs and simmer for another hour. If the stew is looking a bit dry, add in another cup of water.

5. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy.