Soyfoo Anh Long is a tofu shop on the vertiginous northern edge of Braybrook that drops into the Maribyrnong river valley, amongst the wrecking yards that advertise on hastily scrawled “Cash For Cars” signs stapled to a power pole. Their precast concrete panel factory was once neighboured by a business called “Hair Extension Online” who… Continue reading Soyfoo Anh Long, Braybrook
Category: Chinese Food
The cuisines of China
How Google Recipe Search ruins food: hoisin sauce edition.
Because I’m a food idiot, I like making sauces from scratch. Why not hoisin sauce? With a general knowledge of what’s in hoisin sauce (it’s soybean paste-based and has historically followed Cantonese migrants around South East Asia), I Googled “hoisin sauce recipe”. Here’s what was served up: 6 out of 9 based on peanut butter,… Continue reading How Google Recipe Search ruins food: hoisin sauce edition.
How the Michelin Star became the kiss of death for Hong Kong’s street food
[link_content]Global Voices on How the Michelin Star became the kiss of death for Hong Kong’s street food[/link_content]
May contain traces of glutton.
Spotted on a packet of pork and cabbage dumplings, Footscray
Indentured Labour: Camy Shanghai Dumpling House’s secret, part 2
Last time that I mentioned Camy Shanghai Dumpling House, I conjectured that the popularity was due to its open secret status and cheapness. At least now we know where the cheapness comes from: not paying their staff. From the Herald-Sun: Mr Chang worked 13-hour days from 9.30am-10.30pm with only five-minute breaks, which had to be… Continue reading Indentured Labour: Camy Shanghai Dumpling House’s secret, part 2
“It’s a minefield even for Asians”
I had dinner on Saturday at Poon’s Chinese Restaurant in Barkly Street, Footscray. It was the worst Cantonese meal that I’ve eaten in Melbourne. The service was gracious and friendly considering that they were packed and it was dirt cheap. The meal was a mistake but not an expensive one and it filled me with… Continue reading “It’s a minefield even for Asians”
Xiao Long Bao in the Gastrodesert: Little House, Bundoora
I think that it was Australian food writer John Lethlean who labelled the region north of Heidelberg in Melbourne as a gastrodesert. On the surface, it’s gastronomically grim up north; the oleaginous wasteland of charcoal chicken and Smorgy’s. People speak with fondness of shopping mall food courts and premixed bourbon and cola. If Stuff White… Continue reading Xiao Long Bao in the Gastrodesert: Little House, Bundoora
Four Seasons Claypot Rice
Tasty lens flare When there is a queue of twenty people out the front, take the hint. It is either very good or super cheap. Most of the time, I have a plan to eat my way around but after knocking back a handful of dumpling meals, I was satisfied by Hong Kong. This opened… Continue reading Four Seasons Claypot Rice