Pineapple Tarts 凤梨酥 Recipe

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

I love pineapple tarts, especially home made ones! Just to think about that lovely sweet and sour filling wrapped around by a melt-in-your-mouth pastry already makes me drool.

J and I have been wanting to make some pineapple tarts for quite a while and, after x months, we finally made it! Mission accomplished, in a way. Making pineapple tarts are certainly fun but at the same time, tiring and time consuming. Poor J had to cut up the pineapples and make the pineapple filling, which involved 1 - 1.5 hours of non-stop stirring. The sad thing? Two medium pineapples only yielded a minuscule amount of pineapple filling (fine, not that little...but you get the point). Making the dough was certainly less tiring and easier too. The most fun part was actually making the pineapple tart, i think i got a bit carried away and made a little chick (ate it before i could take a snapshot of it)
The finished product was very delicious and fragrant; all the effort put in was certainly worth it!

Pineapple Tarts Recipe (makes around 25)

Pineapple Filling:

- 2 pineapples, finely grated
- 4 tablespoon caster sugar

1. Slice and grate pineapple until fine. (If you have a food processor, use it!)

2. Strain the grated pineapple. (If you have a metal sift, that'd help!)
3. Let the pineapple simmer in a wok until dry
4. Add sugar and stir till the pineapple becomes thick, dry and sticky

Pineapple Tart Dough:
- 350g plain flour
- 1 tablespoon custard powder
- 250g butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 40g icing sugar
- pinch of salt

1. Sift flour, custard powder, salt and icing sugar together

2. Cut butter into cubes and add them to the flour mixture. Using your hands, mix the ingredients until you reach a crumbly consistency.

3. Add in yolk and keep working on the dough until you get a smooth and soft dough (make into a ball)
4. Rest the dough at room temperature for at least 30 minutes

Pineapple Tarts
1. Divide the pineapple filling into roughly 25 portions and roll them into balls
2. Do the same with the pineapple tart dough, each ball should weigh ~22g
3. Flatten the pineapple tart dough until it's enough to wrap the pineapple filling in it

4. Mould it into a rectangular shape and using a fork, draw lines on top of the rolls. Do the same with the rest of the dough and filling.

5. Put the pineapple tarts onto a baking paper-lined tray and brush them with beaten egg yolk. Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before storing them in airtight containers.

Finished!

All you have to do now is to sit back and enjoy them. Share these lovely goodies with friends and families during this Chinese New Year Season! *putting them in nice containers make great gifts too! ENJOY~

The Scholar Chinese Restaurant - Revisited

Sorry guys for the lack of post, I've been busy and tired with work. I still am tired but i managed to get my act together and post about The Scholar Chinese Restaurant (23 Woolley St, Dickson (02) 6257 9983) again. I know i've blogged about The Scholar before (yum cha post here and dinner post here) but this post comprises of more dinner dishes than the previous one as it was taken during a friend's birthday dinner party. We ordered a fair bit of dishes so sit back, relax and prepare for the long list of dishes to come...

Starting with the meat and seafood dishes:

- Crispy Duck with Plum Sauce: the duck skin was crispy, the duck was tender and just can't go wrong with the plum sauce!

- Eggplant and Salted Fish Hotpot: a classic Chinese dish, goes well with rice.

- Lamb Cutlets: i am not a fan of lamb so i only took a bite; it was a bit dry for my taste.

- Steamed Barramundi: it was steamed in the Chinese way with a lot of thinly sliced spring onions and soya sauce. The fish was done well resulting in a soft and tender texture.

- Duck Tongue Hotpot: i know that the idea of eating duck tongue is rather freaky but if you think about it, it's not as bad as eating scorpions, ants, flies...right? I tried one (and more later) and it was surprisingly tender and packed with flavour! Worth a try.

- Wasabi Steak Fillet: probably one of the popular dishes of the night. Tender pieces of beef cooked with wasabi to give that 'kick' to the dish. Recommended *thumbs up

- Chicken cooked with shallots & ginger Hotpot: i didn't particularly like this dish as it was a bit salty and the chicken was dry.

- Pork belly braised in tomato sauce: the meat was very soft and it's the type that just melts in your mouth. The sauce is tasty and makes you eat an extra bowl of rice.

Tofu and vegetable dishes...

- Thousand Layer Tofu: it's a nice dish but it is getting a bit overated (for me, at least) since i nearly have this dish whenever i go to The Scholar. If it's your first time there, give it a go!

- Stir fried Kangkong with Fermented Beancurd: i love this combo but unfortunately i couldn't really taste the fermented beancurd.

- Stir Fried String Bean: a lovely dish with hints of garlic and chilli.

The dinner finished with a complimentary desssert: Goji Berry Jelly and Sliced Oranges - i like goji berry jelly as they are lightly sweet and refreshing; it was good but i still prefer the one i had at Tim Ho Wan (HK). 

The great thing about dining with a lot of people is that you get to try a fair bit of dishes at one go. Overall the birthday dinner was nice and enjoyable and the service was great!

Rasa Sayang (Dickson)

Not long after trying Nyonya, we decided to give Rasa Sayang (43 Woolley Street, Dickson (02) 6249 7284) a go. It is a Chinese-Malaysian restaurant that looks suspiciously dark from the outside with a bright red neon sign - a bit intimidating...which is why i never tried Rasa Sayang all these years. As soon as you step in, however, you get a completely different feel. The restaurant feels warm, cozy and has a nice Chinese-Malaysian-restaurant-style decor.

We ordered three dishes (plus a dessert) which was more than enough for two people and extremely filling! We got Itek Panggang (Roast Duck a la Kuala Lumpur style, served with chilli plum sauce), Kedah Beef Curry (Tender Beef curried in chilli, lemon grass, crushed salted beans and tomato) and Eggplant Sambal. The roast duck was beautifully done, soft and tender inside with a very crispy skin outside - recommend it! I wasn't too fond of the beef curry, mainly because of its texture which was a bit thick and concentrated. Don't get me wrong, the flavours are nice...i just prefer smoother curries. The last dish - Eggplant Sambal - was very yummy (despite it being oily) and something for a change!

 Itek Panggang

 Kedah Beef Curry

Eggplant Sambal

For dessert, i ordered a Gula Melaka because i just couldn't get enough of it when i visited Nyonya (as you already know). I was hoping that it would bring back that deliciousness experience that i had or better. However, when the dessert came...my heart sank. It didn't look nearly as nice as the one i had in Nyonya but i decided to put the looks aside and leave it to the taste. It was alright but there wasn't enough palm sugar syrup and thus, it felt like i was eating sago drowned in coconut milk.

The dinner at Rasa Sayang was a pleasant one and NOT scary or dodgy like i thought previously (i even thought i would be kidnapped if i ever ate there a few years ago). The staff is very attentive and polite, making sure that you have a good dining experience. The highlights for me were the roast duck and the eggplant sambal - give it a go too! I might be back to try other dishes =)

Nyonya

Recent addition to the collection of Tuggeranong restaurants is Nyonya (Shop 13A Hyperdome - (02) 6293 3733). The restaurant features a modern and simple decor and specializes in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. The owner is very friendly and he even gave us a free dessert (Gula Melacca) and a Roti Canai (yey!) - that's because the restaurant had just opened.

The dishes that we ordered were mainly Malaysian, as the Chinese dishes did not really appeal to us. We started with some Roti Canai and to my delight, they are made on spot. The roti was light and fluffy, served with their lovely home made sambal, dal and sugar. Loved the sambal!

Next up were the noodles, the Seafood Laksa Lemak and Char Kway Teow. My first impression of the laksa was that its portion was quite generous and it was truly seafood! By that i meant that it wasn't consisted of crab sticks and fish balls but of fish fillet slices, prawns (lotsa them) and calamari. The Char Kway Teow was alright but way too spicy for my liking and for that reason, i didn't really like it.

Seafood Laksa Lemak

Char Kway Teow

We also ordered some dishes to go with rice including the No.1 Hot Pot, Assam King Prawns, Hainam Chicken (with rice), Loofah with Garlic and Kangkong Belacan (water spinach stir fried with spicy shrimp paste). We ordered No.1 Hot Pot thinking that it would be something 'cool' but it was just like a combination hot pot (with a bit of everything). The Assam King Prawns tasted good and the sourness was well balanced; it went well with the rice and i just couldn't get enough of it!

I really liked the Hainam Chicken as it was soft, smooth and tender - even the cucumbers tasted nice! This could be nicest Hainam Chicken in Canberra so far, worth trying! Sadly the chicken rice wasn't as good as i expected it to be; i think they might have used some sort of Hainam Chicken rice pre-mix condiment.

Loofah with Garlic was awesome and i loved that subtle sweetness in the loofah. If you prefer something that is full of flavour with a hint of spiciness, try Kangkong Belacan - a Malaysian favorite! *thumbs up for both vegetable dishes!

No.1 Hot Pot

Assam King Prawns

Hainam Chicken

Loofah with Garlic

Kangkong Belacan

For desserts, we ordered the Symphony of home made ice cream which consisted of home made durian ice cream, sweet corn ice cream, banana ice cream and mango ice cream. I am usually not a fan of durian, but the taste in the durian ice cream was alright and bearable. I liked all flavours and the banana ice cream stood out the most because i wasn't expecting it to be that nice and so un-artificial! The sweet corn one was good as well and it even had some corn kernels in it. Gula Melaka (sago pudding) was delicious! I liked how the palm sugar syrup oozed out of the sago pudding blending nicely with the coconut milk around it...definetely worth a try.

Symphony of home made ice cream

Gula Melaka

Overall, the dinner was good with some hits and misses. The service is friendly but still needs a bit of work. For me, the desserts and the Hainam Chicken were definitely the highlights of the dinner. 

If you are looking for a friendly and casual place to have a meal with family and friends, Nyonya is the place to go.

HK: Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty Shop

- Visit Tim Ho Wan.

Ticked.

There i was (with my lovely auntie and grandma) waiting outside Tim Ho Wan along with another 30 or so people on a hot and humid Saturday in Hong Kong. Docket 173 seemed to take forever to be called although the lady at the tiny counter did tell us to come back after an hour or so. Acting in disbelief, i refused to leave hoping that somehow we wouldn't have to wait that long to be seated. I was wrong, we ended up waiting an hour and a half to be seated in a minuscule table for two (yes, the three of us).

Why all the fuss?

If you are not aware, Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialty Shop (Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok) has been awarded a Michelin Star and it is the World's Cheapest Michelin Starred restaurant. The shop is humbly decorated with a few Chinese calligraphy writings hanging on the wooden walls and a few awards that the restaurant has won. The shop is tiny and only fits 20 people comfortably but on the day that i went, there were a total of 30 people in there. Our table was so small that i barely had space to take photos and eat - my chopsticks would literally touch the wall as i ate. Was it worth it though?

We got a few dishes including the must-order Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns, Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow), Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings (Siew Mai),  Liver Rice Rolls, BBQ Pork Rice Rolls, Mango Pudding and 杞子桂花糕 (Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly). I didn't manage to take photos of all the dim sums as they were arriving too quickly and we had to finished them quick to make room in our tiny table.

I really liked the Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns. They came out pipping hot and the thin layer of sweet buttery topping was perfectly crisp. The Honey BBQ Pork filling was delicious and the three of us just loved the buns. Highly recommended.

The Shrimp dumplings were a bit of a disappoinment as the skin wasn't as thin as i was expecting but the shrimp filling was still good and fresh. The Siew Mai was alright but not outstanding.

We also ordered the Liver Rice Rolls and BBQ Pork Rice Rolls. The rice flour sheets were thin and soft but  unfortunately there wasn't much filling in the rolls. It was the first time that i 've had liver filling rice rolls and i have to say that it was interesting (okay) but i still preferred the BBQ Pork rice rolls, which was lovely.

Liver Rice Rolls

As a sweet treat we ordered the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly and the Mango Pudding. The Mango Pudding was too sweet for me and it didn't have a nice and smooth texture. On the other hand, i S-I-M-P-L-Y loved the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly because they had the perfect level of sweetness and were deliciously refreshing. This is probably the best Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly that i've ever had (we ended up ordering 2 more servings to take-away) - please let me know if there is another place with awesome Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly too!

All the dim sums from Tim Ho Wan range from HKD12 - 20 (AUD1.71 - 2.85) and that is a bargain for a Michelin Starred Restaurant. As a whole, the quality of the dim sums are good with some being more outstanding than others. I highly recommend ordering the Crispy Honey BBQ Pork Buns, BBQ Pork Rice Rolls (or Liver Rice Rolls for a change) and the Goji Berries Osmanthus Jelly. I would definitely go back for more of those buns and also to try other dim sums. Was it worth it? For me, yes...despite the wait and the crammed table, we all ended up enjoying some delicious and cheap dim sums!

HK: 翠華餐廳 Tsui Wah Restaurant

After the first round of shopping in Hong Kong, Mom and I decided to take a break and have lunch at Tsui Wah Restaurant (77-78 Parkes Street, Jordan). Tsui Wah used to be a very small tea house that was first  opened in 1967 and have now become a corporate group with 18 restaurants across Hong Kong and Shanghai. Mom told me that she used to come here after school and it was a popular destination for many Hong Kong celebrities.

Tsui Wah Restaurant is a Cha Chaan Teng; this is a common term used to describe Chinese Tea Restaurants found in Hong Kong that serves affordable meals from Hong Kong cuisine or Hong Kong-style Western cuisine. Tsui Wah has a simple yellow-themed decor and what stands out for me is the yellow and white jigsaw puzzle wall and the cute coffee cup. 

Mom ordered a Tender Pork Ribs with Vermicelli in Tom Yam Gong Soup (HKS32 - AU$4.50) and i ordered a Hainanese Chicken Rice (HK$50 - AU$7.15). The Tom Yam Gong soup tasted nice and it even came with prawns and fish cakes. The ribs were tender and loved chewing on the soft bones.  

I enjoyed my Hainanese Chicken and i think it was a pretty good value for money. The portion was pretty generous and the chicken was tender, soft and very tasty. The hot chilli sauce and the ginger sauce complemented well with the chicken and i also liked the picked vegetables (the ones that are marinated in vinegar). The meal also came with a bowl or rice and a traditional Chinese soup (not the msg kind!).

It was a lovely well-spent lunch with Mom and definitely got my energy bar 'maxed up' for the second round of shopping!

Canton Chinese Restaurant

Decided to stop by Queanbeyan for a meal on a Saturday night and we ended up dining in Canton Chinese Restaurant (232 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan - (02)6297 5246) upon the recommendation of a friend whose dad is the head chef. It's a little family restaurant that specializes in Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese cuisine and to my amazement it's been around for more than 27 years! The petit restaurant has simple Chinese paintings and colourful lanterns as decorations which makes the restaurant quite cute. In addition to that, the staff is really friendly and courteous which makes the overall atmosphere quite pleasant.

We ordered a Seafood Laksa and a Tofu Goreng. The laksa was nice and the amount of seafood in it was quite generous; it contained mussels, squid, fish, prawns and fish balls - the only criticism was that the Laksa wasn't salty enough.

Seafood Laksa

I ordered the Tofu Goreng because it seemed different and also because i've never had this dish before. I quite liked the dish because the tofu was beautifully crispy and golden on the outside and silky on the inside. Eating the tofu with the peanut sauce, cucumber and snowpeas was very nice indeed. I think i had almost 3 bowls of rice...the sauce it's very addictive, i must say. 

Tofu Goreng, before and after mixing.

To finish our meal we ordered a Toblerone Cheesecake. The Toblerone taste was subtle but nice, the cheesecake had a soft texture and it wasn't too sweet -which is how i like my cheesecake.

Toblerone Cheesecake

Bookings are recommended as the restaurant is quite small. They also have the option of take-away or home delivery, if you prefer.

Chinese Hot Pot Gathering

Although winter hasn't hit Canberra yet, on occasional days it does feel like one. Canberra is a funny place and sometimes, you can even experience extreme cold and hot temperatures on the same day. It wasn't extremely cold on this particular day that we decided to have a Chinese Hot Pot (also known as steamboat or chinese fondue), but it was cold enough to have a hot pot happening. Hotpot is usually a good way to gather people around the table and have conversations while waiting for the food to get cooked. It brings me back fun memories of when I used to have hotpot with my family during winter times; i even remember that we had a round hot plate around the pot in which we would 'grill' some beef balls and crabsticks - they did turn out nice!

In Chinese hot pots there is usually a metal pot of stock in the middle of the table that is constantly simmering while ingredients are added into it (in batches). Preparations are pretty straight forward and the most time-consuming part will be figuring out what soup base you want, what ingredients to get and physically go and get them. A Chinese hot pot usually consists of (but not limited to) a soup base/stock, thinly sliced meats, asian meatballs, asian greens and some sort of noodles. This is a list of what we got:

The ingredients

The pot full of mixed meatballs

My humble bowl of food...which doesn't look all that attractive =P

Chinese Noodle Restaurant (Sydney)

Where to go for a decent and filling lunch if time is not on your side?

Head to Chinese Noodle Restaurant  which is just next door to Menya located in Prince Centre (8 Quay Street). Don't underestimate the restaurant by its looks, although i'll have to admit that hanging grape clusters from the ceiling is not the most attractive type of decor...ever. It has a very high turnover of customers daily and that is because their service is very quick. Don't even think about spending an hour or so chatting with your friend over lunch, as soon you step in the restaurant you are expected to adopt the mechanisms of a robot and do what everyone else is doing: order, eat, pay and get out. You'll be more amazed to find that the whole process doesn't take more than 20-30 minutes!

We were there about 1.30pm, so it wasn't as packed and we got a table straight away. We placed an order for half a portion of pork and chives dumplings, beef stir-fried hand made noodles and some chinese pastry thing with pork and chives filling. All the dumplings and the noodles are made on the premises and from scratch. Awesome! Oh, i forgot to mention that the portions are big which explains why we only ordered half a portion of dumplings.

My humble cup of tea before the food arrived

Left: Pork & Chives dumplings  Right: Chinese Pastry with Pork & Chives Filling

Beef Stir-fried hand made noodles!

The food was nice and i think my favorite dish was probably the noodles...i just love hand made noodles (as mentioned here as well)! I also enjoyed the Chinese Pastry dish but i would have preferred if the filling wasn't exactly the same as the dumplings. Overall it is a good place for a fast and inexpensive lunch (i think all up was around $20+). Saves you time, money and keeps you (very) full with smile on your face. =)