Shi Lin

So I checked out our blog and realized we hadn't updated it in a month! Can't believe it's been so long.

When we started this blog, we were really into it! I used to take photos of practically every meal I ate. Chloe even toted around a (heavy, hardbound) notebook wherein she wrote down all her notes about the stuff she ate. We also subscribed to a pretty strict scheduled that outlined post deadlines. So it makes me really sad that this blog isn't really being taken care of! :( It's such a pity because we've both been eating with such graceless abandon. Chloe is back from Oz for a bit and we're going to have a serious meeting about this blog before she leaves. 

Anyway, I was looking through my computer's pictures (yes, it's a slow day at the office) and found an album covering a meal I had at Shi Lin, in the Podium.  I was with Vince that day! (He is now in the States!!! I cannot wait for him to come back home. Why are my friends always leaving!!!!!!)

I didn't want Chinese food, so I got grub from Subway.

Fresh Noodles and Cha Chiang Mien.

I have these friends who are a married couple.

They're off to China for a long-trip mission.

Salute!

Before they left though, they taught me and my friends a thing or two about noodles.

They're wicked easy and heaps tasty.

It's one of the things I cooked for Chinese New Year.

Ingredients

For Noodles:

Plain flour

Warm Water (150ml for every 200g)

Salt (a pinch or two per portion)

For the sauce:

600g pork mince

1 Litre of stock

Cornstarch for thickening

3 tbsp. of cooking oil

3-4 tbsp. of Chinese sweet sauce 

 3 tbsp. minced garlic

1 cup chopped mushrooms

Noodles.

Sprinkle the salt into the flour and gradually pour in the water.

Knead until it comes together.

Not too wet and not too dry either.

Let it rest at room temp for 4 hours or so until it's easy to work with.

Suzhou Dimsum: One of Binondo's BEST Kept Secrets

It's been years since my family has discovered Suzhou, I wonder why I've never properly blogged about it. I had my first real/acceptable/authentic xiao long bao there. I loved it so much, my uncle and I would order a lot of them for lunch. A lot= we wouldn't eat anything else. I find it fantastic that they've opened shop in Greenhills which makes it far more convenient for yours truly!


BTW, for more go to restaurants in Binondo, click here and here!

Specialty Xiao Long Bao- P100 for 4 pieces.
Trust me, 4 are not enough.

Perfect and intricately crafted.

There's a relatively thick wrapper that envelopes the soupy meaty morsel inside. It's tasty and absolutely lovely. More often than not, I wouldn't touch a xiao long bao when I've seen the wrapper broken that's cause all the lovely juice would've dripped out. Now that's a shame.

Crystal Jade, HK

I'm almost FREE. The freedom is SO CLOSE I can practically taste it. :D I'm so LOOKING FORWARD to days of sleeping in, lazy swimming, rearranging my closet, watching movie marathons... Bliss!

So anyway (with no carefully crafted, intelligent-sounding, proper transitional thoughts/sentences, because my brain is slightly fried from all the studying I've been doing + the psychotic, blinding, irrepressible Manila heat) I will now talk about what I'm supposed to. Crystal Jade in Hong Kong! If you haven't gone to Crystal Jade here (in Manila, I mean), you better go! It's an experience like no other. And I'm quite happy to say that the xiao long pao here is as good as the ones in HK! :D But there are quite a few entrees that are available in HK but aren't available in Manila..

Here we go!

I can attest to the validity of this "award."

A Taste Of Shanghai

So this evening, my family and I had dinner at A Taste Of Shanghai in Eastwood. I usually despise chinese food because it just constantly serves as a reminder of Gloria Maris Chinese birthday celebrations. It's never fantastic because my relatives constantly scoop mounds of food on my plate, I never like any single bit of it and yet they constantly insist that I clean my plate. :(

But in this case, I like the food at this place, it's authentic and above all things, awesome.

Pork Dumplings/ Xiao Long Bao

I reckon the pork taste is too intense to the point of revolting, I was thinking probably the meat wasn't fresh enough. The dimsum wrapper is nicely made, it's hand-crafted- how skilled those people are. The juice in the little parcel is savoury and perfect.

Pork Dumpling Buns

These are buns of happiness. It's one of those things that I randomly crave for. It's too good to pass up when you visit this place! The juice within is abundant, you can literally stick a small straw inside and sip all the goodness. The buns are thick and chewy, I'll die of contentment. I burnt my lip and tongue because I was too excited to eat it all up.

Sweet and Sour Fish

I know the fish looks absolutely immaculate. And to even make it even better, there are prawns, peas, and pine nuts too! The sauce was vibrant and inviting, I guess. But for some reason, this dish just didn't work for me.

Honeyed Prawns

Ooey gooey prawns. Is there anything not to like? ABSOLUTELY NOT. These crunchy sticky morsels just kept me heading back for more.

Sweet and Sour Soup

Yet another sour item for dinner. The soup has a rich brown color. It has a bountiful mix of mushrooms, tofu, and bamboo shoot. The balance of sweet and sour elements in this soup are nonetheless, stunning. Adding a bit of black vinegar just enhances the flavors even more!

Szechuan Chicken

Once this dish arrives on the table, the combined aroma of chilli and pepper fill the air. It may be quite intimidating with the scorched chilli but it's wonderful. I absolutely felt the tingling sensation that the Szechuan Peppercorn gave once I ate quite a bit, my gums became a bit numb, but it was just so fragrant and flavorful that I had to have more. On top of that, the chicken was cooked perfectly, it was moist. After this dish, the heat of the chilli and peppercorns just played around in my mouth, it was hot, but positively worth every bit.

A Taste of Shanghai

200 Rowe St
Eastwood 2122 NSW