Chicken Feet, or Dim Sum-style "Phoenix Claws"

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm a terrible cook, but I definitely lack the balls to be a good one. My grandmothers on both sides are good cooks - they've got the burn scars to show for it. Due to my ineptitude, I've accumulated a few scars as well, but they were mostly from stupid, rookie mistakes like plunging something dripping wet into a wok of smoking oil *shivers*. My paternal grandmother recounted this horrible story of how she got her whole face splashed with hot oil in her youth after carelessly dropping something into the wok from a height. See a theme emerging? I hate hot oil. And, by extension, deep-frying. Which is why I'm so darn proud of myself for these Dim Sum-style "Phoenix Claws".

I'm delighted with the way they turned out. From the acquisition of ingredients (maltose syrup, what's that?) to the dreaded deep-frying part...all those added roadblocks only made the final result appear more impressive. To me, at least. My sisters took one look at the raw chicken feet and refused to touch the cooked ones with a ten-foot pole.

I guess they do look vaguely...grotesque.

Why chicken feet? Well, they've always been a firm favourite amongst the adults in my family whenever we go out for Yum Cha. And since I rarely cook Chinese food for my family, preferring to leave the job for our more seasoned chefs (i.e. the grandmas), I want to make something that's not usually on the weekly menu when I do get the opportunity to wear the apron. I spotted the chicken feet at the Saturday Flemington Markets, and they were so cheap (around $2 a kilo) that I impulsively bought 2kg of them without a clear idea of what I would do with it all. I'm glad these turned out so well, because I still have a kilo stashed in the freezer!

!!!They have nails!!!

Maybe I should have given a warning before that picture. Whoops.

I used to dismiss Chinese cookery as the same old mish-mash of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and spring onions (and, ahem, MSG). Hopefully this won't sound too much like a reflective essay but: my eyes have genuinely, genuinely been opened by trying out Chinese recipes for myself. The careful balance of the "suan tian ku la" (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy) flavours, the use of all parts of the animal, the ability to transform something as unyielding as tendons into this wondrous chewy, gelatinous gustatory delight - it's anything but boring. Far from it. These "Phoenix Claws" weren't perfect, but because I had made them from scratch, and because of everything I've mentioned in this post, they tasted like the best chicken feet dish I've ever eaten. And judging by the way my family polished off the whole kilo I'd cooked, I'd wager that this recipe is a winner :)

Dim Sum-style "Phoenix Claws"

Recipe adapted from Yum Cha !

Ingredients
1kg chicken feet
2 cups vegetable oil (to fry them in)
4 litres water (or enough to cover the chicken feet for boiling)
60g fresh ginger, cut to 2mm slices
6 pieces star anise
1 small bunch coriander/cilantro roots
120g maltose syrup*

For the marinade:
4 tablespoons oyster sauce*
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons shaoxing wine*
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons black bean sauce*
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil*

*Available from most Chinese grocery stores

Method

1. Wash chicken feet thoroughly, and chop off the tips of toes to remove nails. Scrap off any remaining bits of scaly yellow skin.

2. Dry the chicken feet with a paper towel. Toss the chicken feet in maltose syrup (you may have to melt the maltose syrup over heat to soften it) to coat.

Maltose syrup (right) and black bean sauce (left). 

3. Heat vegetable oil in wok over high heat until smoking. Fry chicken feet in batches, until the skin is a nice deep, mahogany colour. 

My ineptitude resulted in some burnt bits, but I simply scraped those bits off and carried on :)

4. In a pot, boil water and add ginger, star anise, and cilantro/coriander roots. Add the fried chicken feet. Bring everything to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes. Drain.

Boiling the fried chicken feet.

5. Combine the marinade ingredients. Marinate the feet overnight, or at least 12 hours. Before serving, steam the chicken feet and marinade for about 15 minutes.

The ULTIMATE Chinese Sponge Cake recipe

Since making my granddad's birthday cake in July last year, I've had two occasions to try my hand at recreating some well-loved Chinese Birthday Cake classics: a taro cream cake for my dad's birthday:

 And mango cream cake for my grandmother's birthday:

Both turned out well...for a cake-decorating newbie like myself. Since I have no plans to open up a professional bakery business in the near future, I'm not too fussed about the uneven frosting, or the wonky piping, or the lopsided look of the finished cake (no doubt due to my rudimentary torting skills). As for the recipient of the cake - I think they were so moved by my gesture that they either ignored or were oblivious to the aesthetic faults of the cakes.

The Chinese-style sponge cake base

If there's a thing more nerve-wracking than cutting up a mango into paper-thin slices, it is the actual making of the sponge cake base. Or indeed, finding a recipe for the sponge cake base. There's a reason the Chinese-style sponge cake is known as "gai don go" or "ji dan gao" (literally: egg cake) - the recipe I chose uses a whopping total of 9 eggs! Imagine the horror of messing up and having to chuck away 3/4 dozen eggs :S Allow me to spare you the anxiety of trawling through the internet and present you with the ULTIMATE Chinese Sponge Cake recipe. No, it's not mine. But I have made it twice already and both times, the result was the lightest, most fluffy sponge cake I've ever tasted, so I do feel some sentimental attachment to it. 

The sponge cake, halved and ready to be filled with whipped cream and mango pulp.

Despite my harping on about it, there really are only two fiddly steps in the recipe: the whipping of the egg whites with cream of tartar and caster sugar (to form a meringue), and the folding in of the egg yolks and flour into the meringue. The air trapped within the beaten egg whites is what makes the sponge cake rise, although the baking soda does play a role. An extremely runny batter is a sure sign that you've deflated the egg whites, and the cake probably won't turn out as spongy as you would like. Just be gentle, and use a rubber spatula to fold in the sifted dry ingredients, and all should be well :D

The recipe I've included below is only for the sponge cake. I shall write up separate posts on the making of the mango and taro cakes.



Recipe for the ULTIMATE Chinese Sponge Cake


Adapted from Chinese Forums; original recipe provided by the user 'purplemama'


Makes one 25cm round cake


Ingredients


1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
9 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup caster sugar (I used some ground-up homemade vanilla sugar)
1/2 cup water, around room temperature
1/4 cup oil (go for something without a pronounced flavour, like canola oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Method


1. Line a 25cm diameter springform cake tin with aluminium foil. Don't grease or flour the foil, since the foil gives the cake something to cling onto as it rises while baking. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius (or 350 degrees Fahrenheit), and place the baking rack towards the bottom of the oven.

2. In a clean, dry bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar, and beat with electric beater or mixer until foamy. Gradually add in the caster sugar while continuing to beat. Beat until egg whites are white and glossy, and stiff peaks form.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, water, oil and vanilla until creamy (you may also use an electric beater or mixer for this step).

4. Sift together the cake flour and baking powder.

5. Whisk the sifted cake flour and baking powder into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk well to stop lumps forming.

6. Add about 1/3 of the meringue (from step 2) into the egg yolk and flour mixture, and whisk in. This is to help loosen the egg yolk mixture.

7. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the rest of the meringue. Fold the two mixtures together with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the lined springform tin. Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour. Cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Once done baking, turn off the oven and open the oven door slightly. Allow cake to cool within the oven for 5 minutes, before removing and letting it cool within the tin for 15 minutes. Remove from springform tin, and allow it to cool thoroughly on a cooling rack.

My Chinese Kitchen, Burwood

Happy Year of the Dragon! I have just returned from a trip to New Zealand, and this is the first opportunity I've had to write up a new post. While touring NZ, we alternated between admiring the truly amazing scenery, and doing outrageous stuff like jet-boating this close to the cut-throat rocky protrusions over a river in Queenstown. And hand-feeding alpacas:

 And posing in vast, open fields:

I have heaps of great photos so I may very well do a write-up of my trip, even though we had very little in terms of interesting eats. Come to think of it, I don't think we had any interesting eats. Thanks to the fact that we signed up for the trip as part of a Chinese tour group, we were forced to eat cheap, bland food for the duration of our time there. Stuff like steamed catfish (which looked deformed and off-colour), fried eggs, and stringy, stir-fried vegetation. Urgh. Therefore, it was with relish that I devoured dinner at My Chinese Kitchen in Burwood. It was the first decent meal I've had in over a week.

We've been here on many, previous occasions, and enjoyed the food immensely on every visit. The dishes are interesting, and the prices reasonable. We always order the Nanjing Duck. Don't be put off by the pallid appearance of the dish. The flesh of the duck is flavourful (and salty! very salty!) with shaoxing wine, soy sauce and sesame oil, and the skin is quite addicting. 

 

Nanjing Duck, half for $13.80 (1/4 for $7.80)

The Pan-Fried Fish with Soy Sauce is our second cold dish. The fish has been fried, and then soaked in a mixture of soy sauce and sugar. Again, a dish we order every time.

Pan-Fried Fish with Soy Sauce, $9.80

Rationalising that I've been living off of catfish for the past week, I insisted that we order the Spice Salt Soft Shell Crab, which arrives piled in a golden heap. The crab has been battered and deep-fried, and is wondrously crunchy without tasting greasy at all - the mark of a deft hand at controlling the temperature of the frying oil. "I've been eating steamed fish all week", I repeated in my mind, as I helped myself to what seemed like half the plate.

Spice Salt Soft Shell Crab, $18.80

The Yangzhou Meat Balls held a high fatty to lean mince ratio, and were very moist and flavourful as a result of it. The braising liquid had infused deep into the meatballs, as well as into the bed of vermicelli lining the dish.

Yangzhou Meat Balls, $15.80

 The Boiled Beef in Spice Chilli Sauce was the only miss of the night. Much too salty and peppery, not to mention positively swimming in thick, starchy sauce.

Boiled Beef in Spice Chilli Sauce, $15.80

If there is a single dish that you must order at this restaurant, it is the Stir fried eel Huaian style. Each, tiny eel has been deep-fried, and then coated with a sticky, sweet and salty sauce. The combination is irresistible.

 

Stir fried eel Huaian style, $22.80

We ordered three steamers of Juicy Buns (aka. xiaolongbao) because they're my siblings' favourite. These ones were juicy indeed, but the wrappers were too thick, in my opinion. 

 

Juicy buns, $7.50 for 8 pieces

The Crispy King Prawn Egg Rolls were beautifully presented, but unfortunately were nondescript in flavour.

Crispy King Prawn Egg Rolls, $18.80

The Steamed Duck with Prawn Dumplings, by comparison, is something I would definitely order again. The duck is covered with the same thick, sticky, and slightly-sweet sauce as many of the other dishes. A ring of prawn dumplings in egg wrappers encircles the generous serving of duck.

 

Steamed Duck with Prawn Dumplings, $24.00

As usual, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we had over-ordered. We were beyond full by this point, but we still had a few dishes to go. Next to arrive was the Pork Ribs in Special Shallot Sauce. The pork turned out to be so succulent and delicious that I polished off a sizable portion despite my ready-to-burst stomach. The ribs are brought to us wrapped in foil, and the waiter pulls apart the meat and soaks it in its own cooking liquid (the "Special Shallot Sauce", I presume) at our table.

Pork Ribs in Special Shallot Sauce, $18.80

 The pork after being pulled apart

Some of us were groaning "no more!" by now, but we still had one more dishes to go. Our final pick for the night was the Steamed Egg Plant with Salted Fish. The salted fish was somewhat stinky. I was honestly too full to appreciate the dish.

 

Steamed Egg Plant with Salted Fish, $15.80

Oh wow. I feel bloated simply writing all that down ;P

All in all, a highly recommended restaurant!

My Chinese Kitchen

195A Burwood Road,
Burwood, NSW 2134

Phone: (02) 9715 6699

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Dear all! Happy Chinese New Year! Or should I say: Happy Lunar New Year :D I've just returned from a sumptuous seafood dinner at one of our favourite Chinese restaurants, and needless to say, I am so full. Except, since it is Chinese New Year's Eve, I have to steady myself for some more feasting once the clock hits midnight. My grandmother is in the process of getting all our dumpling-making supplies ready, and as soon as she gives us the green light, we will start churning out batch after batch of those delicious pork and chives filled babies =D

We also used tonight's dinner to celebrate my father's birthday. I do believe that my pastry skills have gained esteem in my family's estimation, since I was entrusted with making my dad's cake...without my mother rushing out at the last moment and buying another one from the closest Asian bakery in case mine wasn't up to scratch. I kid you not. It's a wonder I still bake around here, the way I get treated xD Lol, just kidding. I don't mind the doubt, because when I do end up pulling off a beautiful cake, the oohs and aahs sound even sweeter to my ears!

Anyone familiar with a certain well-known Asian bakery should recognise the cake as a taro-filled, cream sponge cake. Okay, I won't be coy about it. Yes, I was indeed inspired by Savoy Bakery's delicious taro cake, and tried to mimic their design. But the taro filling was my own invention, and I am very proud of it! I may put up the recipe on here in the future, when I've had some time to think about what exactly went into it. In my haste to get the cake completed, I kind of just threw together ingredients until the filling looked and tasted right. Stay tuned!

(I didn't make the flowers. They were ones I saved from my birthday cake, which I bought from Maria's Bakery Inn in Burwood.)

Check out my sister's cute illustration on my dad's card:

My dad was born in the Year of the Rabbit

I'm being called to go make dumplings! One more picture of the cake:

Best wishes to you all in the Year of the Dragon!

My Hong Kong trip: notable eats! (Part 5)

I woke up surprisingly hungry and ready to eat, despite the meat and sugar feast from the previous night. The perfect solution to my growling stomach = xiao long bao! Lots of it!

And dumplings of another variety: the crispy-bottomed steamed pork buns!

This was also my first time trying a sweet xiao long bao. This batch had a sweet, red bean paste filling:

An interesting idea, but too much sweetness in one go in my opinion.

We got our dumpling fix at King's Dumpling, situated on level 3 of Windsor house. 

Some other dishes we ordered:

Jellied meat (sorry, I don't know the proper name)

Braised pork intestines

Chicken in broth

Beef brisket, sliced thinly and doused with chilli sauce and peanuts

Token greenery

'Crystal eggs': Smoked eggs with still runny insides. Amazing!

Pork cutlet with fried rice

Extra serving of fried crumbed pork cutlet!

Jelly fish and cucumber

Pork belly with chilli sauce

Some sort of cool, crunchy vegetable side dish

A semi-dessert: sticky red rice with glace fruits and beans

After eating, we watched the dumpling experts in action for a while:

Before spending the rest of the day...you guessed it!...shopping :D

We remedied the afternoon low blood sugar blues with frozen yogurt from Yo Mama on the third floor of Windsor House.

There was a choice of either the original frozen yogurt base, or a green tea variant. We ordered three cups to share, and tried out both flavours.

TOPPINGS! Someone went a bit nutso, and chose the unlikeliest of combinations:

Froot loops and mini marshmallows - urgh, my eyes smart from the food colouring

The green tea flavour came out very strongly, but the tanginess of yogurt (which I like) came out more strongly in the plain flavour:

Some sort of jelly, and urgh, those darned froot loops again

Another cup of the green tea!

Mini cubes of brownie and gummi bears(?!)

You'd think that we would be bouncing off the walls by this point, but it just so happened that we found ourselves in a ginormous food hall in the basement level of Sogo at this point...

There were many exciting things to be tried, most of them sweet. I continued with the frozen desserts by getting two scoops of ice cream from Milk Top. In my favourite flavours, of course - black sesame and green tea!

I love the shade of green.

The texture wasn't uber-creamy, but I kinda like it that way when I'm eating "Asian"-flavoured ice creams. 

Prettiness!

I also had a bite-sized Japanese-style cheesecake:

How can something be so fluffy and creamy at the same time?! This was delicious!

And some bite-sized "normal" cheesecake as well:

I really would have liked to try more things, but my pancreas was screaming in protest. So I just looked around some. There was a mochi promotion going on, with free samples to try. Okay, I had some :D

So many beautiful cakes:

And chocolates:

Dinner was quite non-descript. We did have something light and refreshing for dessert, though:

Strawberry cheesecake and chocolate fudge brownie ice cream from Ben & Jerry's

Oops, by "light and refreshing" I was actually referring to this:

HERBAL JELLY!!! Also known as "gui ling gao". From Hai Tian Tang.

This was the last night we stayed in Hong Kong. I felt very sad :(

The final instalment coming soon in Part 6!