Archive for August, 2006In the last couple of weeks I’ve had emails from people recommending vegetarian / veggie friendly restaurants around Sydney (Maya Masala and Maya Da Dhaba on Cleveland St., Peace Harmony on King Steet and the Nepalese Kitchen in Surry Hills). Bring it on! Promise I’ll make a special effort to review Maya Masala and Peace Harmony in the next month or so. If you want to send a tip email me at veggiefriendly[at]gmail[.]com. Â
V Rating: Super V Cabramatta was the location for our excursion today to celebrate my 35th birthday. As the centre of Sydney’s Vietnamese community, Cabramatta offers food and shopping possibilities which are unmatched. The prevailing ethic is one of vibrant entrepeneurship – best summed up by the epithet on the gates to the city as you enter the pedestrian precinct: To be renovative and integrate.
Once regarded as a honeypot for drug addicts, polite Sydneysiders tend to still avoid Cabramatta – but to do so is really to miss out on one of Sydney’s best kept secrets. It is likewise with the restaurant An Lac on John Street, Cabramatta’s main shopping strip. One of at least three nearby Vietnamese vegetarian restaurants, I think we’ve eaten there every time we’ve taken the trip to Cabramatta over the last few years. An Lac is a simple family restaurant of the wholly authentic Vietnamese kind. The first thing to notice is that each table is set with condiments and cutlery, kitchen-style. While most of the clients are local Vietnamese folk, the menu makes concessions to the occasional English-speaking guest with the inclusion of English names for the dishes and short descriptions of each of the ingredients. Jasmine tea is provided as a courtesy to guests in thermoses which sit on each table.
We chose the stuffed tofu with chinese white cabbage in a brown savoury sauce, the imitation roast chicken with dried lily flower black fungus and our favourite for the afternoon, vermicelli with chopped-up spring rolls, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint and a traditional sweet vinegarette. Each dish was beautifully done – but the vermicelli was truly exceptional.
Halfway through the meal I pondered aloud whether this was the best vegetarian restaurant in Sydney. There is no doubt that it is a strong Super V. The whole meal came to $21.70, which left plenty of money for the shopping trip – among Cabramatta’s dynamic blend of fruit, flower, clothing and bric-a-brac shops jammed closely together in the tight arcades that come off John Street. KP’s mention of the Summer salad blogging event has encouraged me to post a recipe for my very own Long, Green and Pointy Salad, which is so simple and so yum. Ingredients
Method Drop the corn cob in boiling water, and while that’s cooking, blanche the asparagus (drop into boiling water for 2-3 minutes and then refresh immediately under cold running water). Then blanche the beans (gives these at least 3 minutes to boil), and snow peas (a bit less than 2 minutes). When the corn is cooked, refresh that under cold water too, and cut off the kernels. Then you can either arrange the snowpeas, asparagus and beans neatly onto plates, and toss a handful of corn kernels onto each plate, or just mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Add salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic and oil or vinaigrette. Variations Add slivers of roasted green capsicum (bell pepper) for some additional flavour, or substitute broccolini for the asparagus. Enjoy! AC Over in sunny California they’re hosting a summer salad blogging event. I’m contributing my favourite salad - chickpeas, red capsicum and parsley in a sesame and lemon dressing.
Ingredients 250g dried chickpeas / two cans, drained Method Cook the chickpeas / open cans and drain. Finely chop capsicum, parsely and red onion and mix well. In a cup, combine 1 tablespoon each of sesame oil and lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, mix right through the salad. Enjoy. The Verdict OK - so I’m biased but I think this salad rocks. The sesame oil and lemon give the dressing a warm zing. The chickpeas soak in the flavours, while the capsicum, onion and parsley retain their fresh taste. It’s a good choice for vegetarians because you get protein and fibre from the chickpeas, iron from the parsley, and vitamin C from the capsicum. For a healthier version leave out the sesame oil. It still tastes good. Because it’s such a simple salad it’s easy to substitute or add your favourite ingredients. I’ve used coriander instead of parsley, and sometimes make it with cherry tomatoes. On Friday I was surfing the net when I hit upon a food blogging event hosted by Owen at Tomatilla. It’s called Paper Chef and is modelled on everyone’s favourite Japanese cooking show, Iron Chef. The idea of Paper Chef is that anyone can nominate an ingredient. The day of the event, Owen randomly selects three items plus a fourth ‘topical’ theme ingredient. Everyone hits kitchen stadium and has a weekend to come up with a dish. This time around the ingredients were cherries, peach, and a new / rediscovered herb. The theme ingredient was something hot / spicy (because of the sweltering temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere).
Ingredients 1/4 cup white wine vinegar 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup brown / unrefined sugar Small bag dried peaches, cut into about 1.5 cm pieces 10 cherries, stoned and cut into quarters 1/2 teaspoon dried cinammon 3/4 onion, minced 1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger Handful finely chopped fresh mint Method Add all the ingredients bar the fruit and mint to a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Stir as needed. Lower the heat and let it stew for about five minutes. Add the fruit and mint. Let it reduce until there is almost no water left. Stir occasionally. If the peach hasn’t softnened, add a little more water until ready. While chutneys are often served with a hot curry, I The verdict I’m not a fan of chutney - it’s often too overpowering or sweetly jarring for my tastebuds. However, cooked from scratch and eaten fresh I really liked it because the flavours were real and had depth. The dried peach has a lovely naturally sweet flavour, without being too sickly. The cherries gave the chutney a fresher sweetness, and a beautiful maroon hue. I also added a bit of cinammon to bring out the flavour of the fruit. For my rediscovered herb I used fresh mint. Even though mint is a really common herb with a gorgeous aroma, it’s always an aspirational ingredient for me. On the rare occasion that I buy mint, it languishes on my window sill until it’s so wilted I have to throw it out. It’s not that I don’t like it, so much as it doesn’t quite work with the foods I routinely cook. I’m a huge fan of bitter, creamy goats cheese and love to pair it with a dry, rough biscuit and a sweet topping. Normally I use quince paste, but it worked equally well with the sweet fruit chutney. All up, I was surprised at how easy it is to make chutney. The base ingredients are all common items that most people will have sitting around in kitchen cupboards. Then you basically add whatever ingredients you like for the main flavour - fresh or dried fruits, tamarind or vegetables.
V Rating: VV Today my lovely boss A. suggested we go out for lunch. I directed her to Asuka, then coyly confessed that I’d left my purse at home. Oops! Asuka is tucked away in a small mall behind the Shelbourne (but don’t hold that against it). The roof slopes, the pipes are exposed, and patrons cram in. The staff are Japanese and the menu is displayed in Japanese and English on the walls. So, y’know, it’s authentic in a Tokyo street kind of way. Like most Japanese restaurants, many of Asuka’s dishes are based on meat and seafood. However, there are some vegetarian bento boxes (agedashi tofu box and potato croquette bento box), and interesting noodle dishes. I was hopeful that the soy ramen noodles in a soy based sauce would be vegetarian. Apparently they weren’t, although I’m still not sure if the waiter and I just misunderstood each other. He did confirm that the baby buk choy, vegetarian tempura and wild grass udon were all safe for vegetarians. Faced with a choice like that, who wouldn’t have the wild grass for lunch. I’m not sure what the ‘grass’ was. It was like a combination between snake beans and morning glory. But it tasted good! I enjoyed the noodles. The broth was light and not too oily and there were lots of tasty ingredients like sliced garlic, seaweed, shallots, ginger and other shoots. To wash it down I had a calpis (insert giggle) water. A. and I agreed it was like lemonade creaming soda. Officially it’s a mix of water, non fat dry milk, and lactic acid. That tastes like vanilla yoghurt. And has health properties. All good. Asuka is a good, cheap choice for lunch in the city - but go early because it fills up real quick.
V Rating: V-ware Surry Hills is the one part of Sydney that reminds me of Melbourne. There’s funky designer shops, left-leaning arts and music festivals, and slinky laneways hiding a multitude of great bars and restaurants. It’s the last part that Sydneysiders struggle with. We’re not big on subtlety, and don’t understand why you’d locate a place to be seen somewhere that people can’t see it. Perhaps that’s why half of my dinner group, including moi and my taxi driver got lost trying to find Lo Studio (why would it been down a deserted street opposite a vacant lot??) Even when I was standing in front of the address (literally) I didn’t trust my eyes. It looked like the front doors of an understated New York apartment block , and there was just a staircase without a hint of a name, or restaurant, in sight. Upstairs it’s a different story. There’s a slightly formal lounge bar to the right, and a spacious fine dining restaurant on the left. The restaurant has an oblong shape and has a lot of floor space. The decor is minimalist. The walls are painted stark white, interrupted only by large dark windows overlooking the small, dark street. The floor is carpeted, keeping noise levels in check, and there are comparatively vast stretches of space between the tables. Along one wall is a huge wooden bar, well-stocked with good wines and a range of liqueurs. I went to Lo Studio for a farewell dinner. Because we were a large group we had a set menu, which included one vegetarian entree and one vegetarian main. Neither are vegan. I don’t know if this is indicative of the usual menu - probably best to call ahead and check. The vegetarian entree was a caprese salad with fresh tomato, thick swathes of milky boccocini and ribbons of basil. This is one of my favourite salads - I love its simplicity, and the contrast between the rich, warm taste of the tomato, and the almost bland, soft boccocini - and Lo Studio did it well. My main was risotto with asparagus, peas and shaved, salted ricotta. The sauce was creamy and filled the bowl, giving the risotto a light, liquid consistency. The set menu also offered vegetarian sides like rosemary roasted pototaoes, of which I had Based on the set menu I wouldn’t recommend Lo Studio to a party of vegans or vegetarians, but as the solo vegetarian I had plenty of food to line my tummy. |
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