Category: Chinese

Categories
Chinese Groceries

Xibei Crispy Spiced Pork Roujiamo 西贝 放心早餐 酥皮腊汁肉夹馍 – Grocery Review

Whilst Xibei (西贝餐饮), one of China’s largest restaurant chains is embroiled in a nationwide scandal involving the overreliance of pre-packaged, frozen, and parcooked ingredients in their restaurants, I have no problem enjoying their deeply and obviously and intentionally pre-prepared roujiamo.

I found this microwave, airfry, and eat roujiamou at a local Chinese grocery store a couple of months ago, before all the controversy. It is made by Xibei’s 西贝 放心早餐 divison, focused on heat-and-eat breakfast foods. This particular roujiamo (酥皮腊汁肉夹馍), purchased for around $6, was really good.

The filling is advertised as having greater than 50% meat by mass, and encompassing a mixture of 30% fatty and 70% lean meat. Both these claims appear likely to be true, as I found the filling to be both meaty and tasty, with the other 50% made up of spices, capsicum, chillies, and other vegetables.

The mixture of the fatty and lean pork was excellent, producing a melt-in-your-mouth texture whilst retaining a degree of bite and chewiness.

The pastry, cooked in the prescribed method of microwave then airfry, was thin, crispy, and not at all too bready – more than can be said for some of the lesser restaurant roujiamos I’ve had and reviewed on this blog.

I honestly think this $6 roujiamo is superior to a good number of restaurant alternatives, and would not be that offended if it were served in one.

Sadly on a subsequent return to the grocery store this was nowhere to be found.

Until we meet again.

Xibei Spiced Pork Crispy Roujiamo (西贝 放心早餐 酥皮腊汁肉夹馍)

UPC: 6978181690362

Categories
Bakery Chinese

Savoy Cake 風月堂 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

Savoy Cake Shop has been the go-to for our family birthdays since the early 2000s, making an appearance at almost every single family event throughout my childhood and my adulthood. The reach of their taro cake is absolutely inescapable in our extended family and probably, I assume, many families of Chinese descent in the Sydney region.

I ordered a couple of cakes from Savoy, not by choice but out of obligation, for a recent family birthday.

The taro cake ($45 – 6 inch) is primarily made of soft and light chiffon, fresh cream and a taro cream both between the layers of sponge as well as on top. This cake epitomises the concept of ‘not too sweet’ while still being flavourful, and in my old age I have started to see why my family always went back to it, even though as an unprofessional food blogger I am required to sample the many cakes of Sydney.

I was advised by my family that I would have to order ahead of time in order to get fruit on the cake, however even having done so, this cake lacked fruit. It turns out that not only does one have to order ahead of time but also specifically mention fruit in the comments in order to get fruit on their cake, which is upsetting.

The second cake I ordered against my parents’ wishes was the matcha cheesecake ($49 – 8 inch). Two cakes was too many for our small family gathering, but I really felt the need to try something different – so the internet could know. The green tea cake was not bad, but much weaker than many cheesecakes I’ve had, and definitely the lesser of the two.

Most importantly I didn’t quite enjoy the texture of it, particularly the bottom 50%, which though appeared macroscopically the same tasted and felt much breadier and drier than the top, I assume due to to a settling process during production. My family pretended to enjoy it but it certainly wasn’t as enjoyed as the OG.

風月堂 Savoy Cake
254A Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134


Categories
Chinese

My Aunt’s Handmade Noodles 胖姨儿手工拉面馆 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

We waited in line for about 20-30 minutes, after 8PM on a weeknight, for a couple of bowls of pretty good noodles. Luckily, our time in line was not wasted, with a supply of complimentary plum juice and an Anki MCQ deck of recent vintage. In retrospect, this line is also probably where I got a viral URTI just before my exam, leading to a practical learning point about the hypothalamic set point.

The Biang Biang Noodles, Four-in-One 四合一面 （宽面）($17.90) were pretty good, coming as a large portion with a perfect ratio of topping to noodle. The noodles were ultra broad and chewy, though could only be moderately coated by the sauce unlike some other highly-coated competitors. While this was a good bowl of noodles, and somewhat of a staple that can be eaten over and over again, I would hesitate to really elevate my praise of it to that of one of the greats.

The Lamb stir fried shredded noodle cakes 羊肉炒饼丝 ($20.90) was an absolute mountain of a plate. Loaded with shredded noodle, lamb, egg, and a bit of vegetables, it was all stir fried together to achieve a level of yellow-brown normally confined to UK cuisine. The flavour was subtle on first bite, but as I began to eat more and more mouthfuls it seemed to build upon itself, like amiodarone inhibiting its own metabolism, until a high tier of umami enjoyment was achieved. For those wondering, the lamb was not very ‘lamby’, and game-hesitants need not avoid.

The lamb stir fried noodles were only made better through the addition of the bonus toppings, chilli oil (which was delicious, and not very spicy) and evil green garlic (known to me for many years from the short videos of recipes involving water specifically from the Mississippi River, but not tasted until now), which added a nice tang and cut through the oiliness of the dish.

A bean curd side was also included, though it was not fantastic nor something I would’ve paid for.

Overall I had a pretty good meal, although again I have to wonder why a restaurant would offer a 5% discount for cash payments. Has this always been happening or have I only begun to notice it recently?

Categories
Chinese Groceries

Ruyee Golden Potstickers with Chives Egg and Dried Shrimp (黃金鍋貼 韭菜鸡蛋虾皮) – Grocery Review

Straight off the heels of having tried the Chive and Egg Dumplings from Ruyee, here are my brief thoughts on their Golden Potstickers with Chives Egg and Dried Shrimp (黃金鍋貼 韭菜鸡蛋虾皮). Dedicated readers do not have to fear, for these quickly jotted down thoughts will not interrupt the usual posting schedule.

These are clearly smaller than the previously reviewed egg and chive pockets. The photo on the packet has them being cooked still stuck together as a batch, though they did not come this stuck together in the packaging.

Though the supermarket I brought them from advertised them as chive, egg, and prawn, I could not appreciate any prawn whilst eating them, and a subsequent a close reading of the packaging revealed that the prawn was only dried prawn.

I’m open to any suggestions about how to de-carbonise the sides of my stainless steel cookware. Barkeeper’s friend doesn’t get rid of all of it, so often I find it’s less drama to just use carbon steel.

All faffing aside, these were only fine. The wrapper to filling ratio I felt was weaker than that of the ‘pockets’, and given the choice of the two I would choose those instead.

Ruyee Golden Potstickers with Chives Egg and Dried Shrimp (黃金鍋貼 韭菜鸡蛋虾皮)
9369999096892

Categories
Chinese

Chicken Number 5 – Haymarket NSW Restaurant Review

For dinner on our wedding night, my new wife and I had the Signature Crispy Nuggets ($10.50) from Chicken No. 5. She chose the 中辣 spice level, and I spent our brief waiting period trying to convincer her that she had made a terrible mistake, and that 中辣 was in fact “Chinese person spicy”, rather than “medium spicy”, and would in fact be too spicy for her.

The chicken was pretty good but not particularly memorable. We enjoyed the brisk service, and sitting by the outside gas heater as we ate.

The spice level was indeed just a medium spicy – certainly more of a Taiwanese fried chicken than a Sichuan fried chicken. My wife informed me as I was writing this post next to her, that she hadn’t understood my joke about the spice level until now.

Chicken Number Five Darling Square
9 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000