DIY Barbeque

Lamb, lebanese eggplant, yoghurt and parsley

I am very into DIY lately. It started as a way of killing time while I was at home sick for a few days - I bought fabric and hand-sewed a dress. It was a great success, except for one little detail: I couldn't sit down in it. (Not a big deal, I've worn it to two parties, who needs to sit down anyway?) I have learnt my lesson though - don't make a short, tight-fitting dress with a non-stretchy fabric like silk.

I've since upgraded to my mum's old sewing machine and have made two more garments which I would proudly wear. I like to think I've mastered the skill of picking the right fabric for the desired style. So why not expand into bigger projects? Surely Dan and I could concoct an amateur DIY barbeque on our balcony. Guess what? It totally worked!

It's not difficult at all to make a small barbeque out of things you can find at home. We used:

Two bricks to prop it up...

A tray from our oven with a wire rack (incidentally, I also use this to cool baked goods on)...

Firelighters...

And firewood, chopped into small bits.

Place firewood and about four firelighters in the centre of the tray and carefully light. It will take a while for the firewood to set on fire, give it about 20 minutes. Spread the firewood out into an even layer.

You can cook with flames or wait until the flames go out and use the residual heat. We used the flames for a chargrilled taste.

Place the wire rack over the fire. You can prop it up with oven-proof dishes. We used two ramekins.

"Please, feed us..."

Meanwhile, prepare your food.

I tossed diced lamb and onion in a Masterfoods herb rub (it tastes good, shoot me) and olive oil and arranged them on wooden skewers (soaked in water for half an hour). I also cut some lebanese eggplants lengthways and rubbed the marinade on them.

Meat touching flame, caramelising, fat dripping off into the fire and cooking back into the meat...

It got dark pretty quickly so I had to take a crappy nighttime photo, but my god it tasted good. Slightly crunchy chargrilled crust, tender medium-rare meat inside, smokey-woody taste - need I say more? It was pure rustic heaven and a fucking delicious spread.

Of course, use your common sense and be very careful with fire. We brushed away anything flammable from the corner we put the barbeque in, brought out a jug of water with us and used oven mitts. You also need to think about the surfaces around the barbeque (i.e. I wouldn't do this on a wooden floor or next to a tree). Otherwise, happy barbequing!

Mother's Day Vegetarian Banquet

Cooking up a feast for my mother is no usual challenge. You see, she is vegetarian and doesn't eat onion or garlic. This year, I didn't want to just bake a cake or make something bland tasting. So I took a leaf from the MasterChef book (so to speak) and looked back to my childhood.

Growing up, my mum often served tofu, eggplant and lotus root at dinner. It's funny how foods I used to take for granted I now find really interesting and fun to cook. The best part of the banquet was that I got to teach my mum new flavours for vegetarian cooking as well as it being an homage to the food of my childhood.

I decided to make an entrée of agedashi tofu with a red papaya salad, a platter of lotus root, eggplant and cucumber salad, and a soy and sweet ginger soup for dessert.

Agedashi tofu with red papaya, chili and sweet spicy Asian dressing

This was so amazing. The tofu had a light crispy outside and an almost silkened inside. The freshness of the papaya perfectly set off the sweet, spicy and salty dressing. I would've been happy if this was the only thing I'd made!

1 packet momen tofu
½ cup potato starch
Vegetable oil for frying
½ red papaya
½ carrot
1 long red chili
1 long green chili
Luke Nguyen's Vietnamese dressing (I took out the garlic)

Heat oil in a deep-fryer or a deep wok to roughly 170°C.

Cut tofu into 16 pieces and coat with potato starch (try to pack on as much as possible for extra crispiness).

Drop each piece gently into the oil down the side. Fry until lightly brown. Drain on paper towel.

Thinly slice papaya and chilis and julienne the carrot. (I julienned mine very roughly!)

Arrange tofu and salad on plate and drizzle the dressing over.


From top to bottom: caramelised lotus root, eggplant salad and cucumber salad (recipes courtesy of Kylie Kwong)

An interesting ingredient used in the first two recipes was the shao xing wine. I had never heard of it but when I smelt it, I recognised it from my grandparents' cooking. It's a very pungent rice vinegar wine, used in dishes affixed with the word "drunken". When cooked, it has a very unique sour flavour that goes incredibly well with vegetables. I did have a bit of trouble finding this in the Asian grocery store though. The bottle doesn't actually have "shao xing" written on it - it's all in Chinese! I would suggest either looking on the little shelf tags in the vinegar section or asking someone.

Eggplant is great for such intense flavours because it soaks it all up. I stir-fried my eggplant (instead of steaming) and I added chili and coriander. The end result was a piece of eggplant that was so delicious and firm enough for it to feel a bit meaty.

Caramelised lotus root

I'm not too sure how readily available fresh lotus root is in Sydney. Kylie Kwong recommends Randwick Oriental Supermarket in Kingsford for fresh Chinese ingredients, and they do stock lotus root. I remember that my mum sometimes used pre-sliced and frozen lotus root, so that's what I got from my local Asian grocery store.

Lotus root has the most interesting texture. I would liken it to water chestnut, but less smooth. The strange and robust texture goes really well with the sweetness. Because it's cooked on high heat for about 10 minutes, it creates this brown, sticky and caramelised sauce.


Cucumber salad

I love how simple and refreshing this is after sweet, sour and spicy. Even though the dressing is hot and sour, the juicy cucumber cuts through it all and balances out the flavours.

For dessert I wanted to make a tofu pudding (dao fu fa). I used to love it at yum cha. It's meant to be a really wobbly pudding (wobblier than panna cotta) in a sweet and warm ginger soup. However, my pudding didn't set in time so I served it as a rich soy milk soup with the ginger syrup swirled through. It was still really cute (especially in my new pink Marie Claire ice cream bowls!) and YUM, so I wasn't too bummed about it not being perfect. But not to worry, I'll try it again and share the recipe next time.

I hope everyone enjoyed Mother's Day!

Spice Temple, Sydney CBD

10 Bligh St, next to Rockpool Grill & Bar
Modern Chinese restaurant
Reservations taken online and on 02 8078 1888 3 weeks in advance

A 2009 addition to the Neil Perry empire, Spice Temple gives a modern twist on old world China and its cuisine. The whole experience carries an air of mystique. The entrance is neatly tucked away like a secret nightclub - only if you look closely do you realise that the electronic billboard is a hidden door that opens up to reveal a dimly lit stairwell. The spiral stairway is shabby chic, like an old warehouse, with odds and ends placed haphazardly on landings.

Yellow Gold Oolong, $5

At the bottom we are led to our table, walking past evocative portraits of Chinese women and into the main dining area enclosed in wooden vertical venetian blinds. Each table has a low-hanging pendant lamp concocting the feel of candlelight and secrecy. The decor exudes Chinese glamour circa 1960 (I feel as though I could be Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love with red lipstick and a cheongsam) and New-York-esque trendiness.

Hunan meringue: citrus vodka, limoncello, grand marnier, mango mousse and vanilla lemon foam, $17. Consume quickly before the meringue settles.

Steering away from typical "Cantonese fare", the menu is a hit for me. I am reminded of my grandparents' cooking and eating at family friends' homes but there is a pronounced difference: the flavours are sharper, more distinct, and the ingredients are incredibly fresh. We decide to go the banquet menu ($69 per person) between the three of us and see how the night unfolds.

First up was cabbage and radish pickle cucumber with smashed garlic (unfortunately, the photos are too blurry to post) - clean, crisp flavours.

Tofu and preserved egg with soy chili dressing

This was beautiful. I love, love, love slippery tofu with chili. The preserved egg was surprisingly light and had a jelly texture.

Steamed eggplant with three flavours: garlic, coriander and sweet pork

The eggplant was actually served with the garlic, coriander and sweet pork on top, separated, and the waiter folded it all together for us at the table. This really was a nice touch - we got to see what was in the dish and appreciate that each dish was served fresh.

Fried squid with whole five spice and dark chili paste

Steamed Blue Eye fillet with salted chili black bean

Hot, sweet, sour and numbing pork: chili, sugar, black vinegar and Sichuan peppercorn

We were wondering why it was called 'numbing pork' and we soon found out why - it numbs your tongue! However, this dish was so much more than just spicy pork. It had an initial crunch like caramel popcorn (it was even as sweet as caramel popcorn), it melted on the tongue and the flavour of the pork came through and finally, the spicyness gradually set in.

Stir fried David Blackmore's wagyu brisket with baby eggplant and chili

Stir fried amaranth with garlic

Watermelon granita with ginger syrup

This was so lovely. The granita tasted like really fresh and sweet watermelon, then at the bottom were fresh pieces of watermelon in a sweet ginger syrup.

The portions may look small but don't be deceived like we were! The dishes were aplenty and accumulated to about two hours of non-stop eating. For $69, this was really great value. Also the service was amazing. The waitstaff were very attentive and helpful with the dishes. After dining like this, it's hard to walk back up the stairs and rejoin the real world.