Ding Tai Fung Sydney Restaurant

Hi All

For anyone who is familiar with the name Ding Tai Fung (DTF for short), it should bring up memories of yummy dumplings in many shapes and sizes, delicious noodles swimming in their perfect broth and the experience of queueing up for a table, similar to our previously reviewed restaurant MAMAK SYDNEY. Originally from Taiwan this chain of restaurants operates globally specialising in their dumplings which are made in store.

Unlike our visit to Mamak, we arrived at our restaurant near the end of the night at around 8:30pm, unsurprisingly the queue which we expect and love was nowhere in sight. Personally I was shocked, DTF is one of those restaurants where you would expect a queue no matter the time. As such, we got immediately and we were advised by our waitress that our first order will also be our last.

Flicking through the colourful menu, we were greeted with several pages of dumplings followed by the several pages of noodles and appetizers and finally the colourful desserts. As many might know, the pictures are sometimes are not a very good indicator to how it actually might plate up especially in the case of Chinese cuisine ( have you noticed that many of the Chinese restaurants do not actually offer any pictures in their menus?).  The dumplings which were on offer ranged from their signature XiaoLongBao or steamed pork dumplings to their crabmeat dumplings, which were highly recommended by one of our group. We opted to try every sort of dumpling there was on the menu. The servings were in either 6-8 pieces depending on the type of dumplings. I also ordered a serving of noodles in the chili broth to go with our dumplings.

The dumplings arrived on our table in their bamboo steamer boxes and by the time they all came, our table was literally piled up with dumplings. To enjoy them to the fullest, I would suggest dipping the dumplings into a mixture of vinegar and soya sauce, this can be done by adding them to the little plate with the ginger shreds in it. As their xiaolongbao are so popular amongst the group i decided to grab one first, with the first bite, the soup which is in the bun spills out, this is the best part of the bun incidently, which is why i decided to eat the bun off the spoon, rather than the customary chopstick only route.

The noodle in the chili broth arrives shortly and one taste of the soup tells me its good, the soup is hot, but it also has flavour. I also tried the other dumplings which were there, the pork and vegetable one was also a standout as was the crabmeat one which my friend recommended.

When all the dumplings were finished, I was surprised to find that I was full after consuming 10 dumplings in addition to my noodle soup and its 8 dumplings.

For anyone craving for some amazing dumplings at a reasonable price, one should visit Ding Tai Fung, and be prepared to wait in queue.

Visit Here for some pictures from their official site.

Home-made Chinese food~

Hi, everybody!

I'd like to share dinners made by ourselves this year....

These are all traditonal and simple Chinese food, mainly rice and cuisine, sometimes also porridge...

See following photoes, how do you like it?

         

Nasi Lemak

Hi, today we got one more Malaysian dish for you. It is called Nasi Lemak or if we directly translate it to English it is called "FAT RICE". Hahaha.... 

We don't know what Nasi Lemak called in English, but it is basically a dish that contain fragrant coconut rice accompanied by an ensemble of sambal, peanuts, crispy anchovies, cucumber and hard-boiled egg. It is highly unlikely you will get fat if you eat it. Well, maybe you will get fat if you consume it in a large amount. ; p

Regardless how bad it is sound in English, Nasi Lemak is still a nice dish. Usually in Malaysia, we consume it as breakfast. However, this food is so popular, that now we can get it anytime. So, if you want to try this Nasi Lemak, the nearest you can get is at Mamak Restaurant, Sydney or, you can do it by yourself. Here is the recipe on how to do Nasi Lemak. 

Ingredients:

Coconut Milk Steamed Rice
2 cups of rice
3 screw pine leaves (tie them into a knot- does not matter if you do not have it)
Salt
1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size)
Some water

Tamarind Juice
1 cup of water
Tamarind pulp

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies sambal)

1/2 red onion
1 cup dried anchovies
1 clove garlic
4 shallots
10 dried chillies
1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar

Other ingredients

2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:

1. Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the screw pine leaves(if you have) into the rice and cook your rice.
2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.
3. Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and deseeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
4. Slice the red onion into rings.
5. Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
6. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
7. Add in the onion rings.
8. Add in the dried anchovies and stir well.
9. Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
10. Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.
11. Cut the cucumber into slices and then quartered into four small pieces.
12. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
13. Serve with cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.
14. And voila, we get a dish of Nasi Lemak.  

So, here is the brief recipe on how to do a Nasi Lemak.  Hope you enjoy the dish and enjoy our post on this topic. Feel free to comment. Ok, until the next post. See you again

ABC

Hi all, today's Malaysian drink delicacies is ABC or air batu campur. Yeah. it sounds so easy to make and it tastes like no other drinks in the world! It is easy as easy as ABC! It is sweet and delicious, and if you need to quench thirst, ABC would be nice to drink! It is primarily made of ice, syrup, sweet corn and evaporated milk. It is so refreshing!! Well, try it for real so you can brag about it later =)

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Ingredients:

Shaved ice

Peanut

Evaporated milk

Red-kidney bean

Cocktail

Grass jelly

Multi-coloured syrups

Chocloate syrups

Sweet corn

Ice cream

ABC

Directions:

Put peanuts, red-kidney bean, cocktail, grass jelly and sweet corn in a bowl. Shape the shaved ice like a mountain on the previous ingredients. Then pour lightly the multi-coloured syrups, chocolate syrups and evaporated milk. Last but not least, put ice cream on top of i!

Voila! It is done!

Don't forget to try, peeps!

Good day!

History of Chinese food

Today let's talk about something about Chinese food, mainly, the history of it.

Chinese food now holds a popular place among the entire population of the world. You can find a Chinese restaurant in every major city and in many smaller areas of the world as well. 
 od?

The history of Chinese food is an interesting one. Unlike many cultures the Chinese believe that the preparation of food is an art and not simply a craft. Don't you think most of Chinese food looks pretty beautiful and attractive? 

 

The art of cooking Chinese food can include dishes and food preparation techniques which are difficult to develop and may require the expertise of a chef with lots of experience. One such technique is noodle pulling (scroll down to the bottom of the page to learn more about this technique). Noodle pulling requires skill and lots of practice and results in a delicious noodle dish.

Chinese food and the way it is prepared is very much influenced by the two major philosophies, which influence the entire Chinese culture. These dominant philosophies are Confucianism and Taoism. Both have these philosophies have influenced the way that the Chinese people cook and the way that they enjoy their food. 

Want to know more about Chinese food? OK, follow us~~

Have a nice day!! 

Acar (Pickled Vegetables)

Hello everyone!
Are you all hungry? Well, today's post entry is going to help you to prepare appetizer! Acar or known as pickled vegetables are one of the most famous Malaysian appertizers. It is delicately fine and healthy appertizer to be served during lunch or dinner. It is worth trying!

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Ingredients: 

1 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 sugar

1 tbsp lemongrass, chop fine

1 tbsp galangal, chop fine

3 cloves garlic, whole

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp turmeric (either fresh or powder)

1 tsp chilli paste

1/2 cup carrots, julienne

1/2 cup cucumber, julienne

1/2 cup cauliflower, broken into florets

1/2 cup shallots, whole 

Directions:

Bring vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds and water to boil. Add lemongrass, galangal, garlic, turmeric and chilli paste and simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots and cauliflower, simmer for 3 minutes. Add cucmber and onions. Allow to cool and then refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. Drain and serve cold. 

Acar! YUMMY!

Good day, peeps!

Mamak Sydney Restaurant

Hi all!

Today's entry, we would like to share some experience at Mamak Sydney Restaurant. Some of us had the opportunity to taste the food there. In Malaysia, Mamak restaurants served Indian Malay cuisines like curry and roti or chappati, biryani rice and Kandar rice.

We arrived there at 5.10 p.m because the restaurant opens at 5.30 p.m every Friday and Saturday. Why do we have to wait much earlier? Well, some of our friends reminded us to come early if you want to get a table straight away after you stepped into the restaurant. There is always a line up outside the restaurant and thank God, we are the second ones to queue up.

After we meticulously read the menus given, we decided to have cendol, teh tarik and chicken murtabak. Honestly, the food is really nice as the taste and texture is so close like you can get in Malaysia itself! The price is reasonable and affordable. Sadly, the ambience is poorly comfy because the place was so noisy and we couldn't have a relax conversation.

Here are some pictures we took just for our blog! =)

Teh Tarik - $3.50

Cendol - $5.00

Chicken Murtabak - $10.50

Mamak Sydney Restaurant

Front view - some people were waiting and queuing to be served.

For more information, http://www.mamak.com.au/press-reviews-and-articles.html

G'day people!
Till then!