Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner, 2 February 2011

On Chinese New Year’s Eve it is the ‘Family Reunion Dinner’. It is an important family tradition and every year on New Year’s Eve my family gets together for a big feast to celebrate the coming of the New Year. Last night we had dinner at the Northbridge Chinese Restaurant on Roe Street in Northbridge.


There are a number of dishes that are always served in the banquet to symbolise good luck, health and prosperity. 


The banquet starts off with Yusheng, a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It consists of strips of raw fish (salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments. Eating this salad is said to bring good luck and success for the new year. Everyone has a hand in tossing the shredded ingredients into the air with their chopsticks while saying various "auspicious wishes" out loud.

Lobster served with noodles as noodles represent longevity/long life.

Vegetables which embody the freshness of "evergreen" with seafood (cuttlefish and scallops).

Prawns for liveliness.

A whole chicken which has been served chopped up. Note: you have to have a whole chicken not half as it symbolises family togetherness and wholeness.

Eating fish to symbolise abundance and excess for the new year. For added symbolism, the fish is served whole, with head and tail attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year.

Halfway through our meal dancing dragons come through the restaurant.

The dragons go around to each table and diners give them a ‘lai see’ (a red envelop filled with money) as well as rubbing the head of the dragon for good luck.

My dad giving a ‘lai see’ to a dragon across the table.


The big feast happens on New Years Eve because on New Years Day it is a custom to begin the first day of the New Year eating vegetarian food. My mum tells me it's to cleanse our bodies and provide it with lots of nutrients. My Burmese friend told me that the Burmese have their own New Years celebration in mid-April and it is a custom on their New Years for people go around spraying water on each other. Water is symbolic for washing away past misdeeds to start the New Year physically and spiritually purified.


When my mum was buying some food at the vegetarian market on James St, Northbridge the owner told her that eating vegetarian on New Years Day counteracts the effects of excessive eating of meat during the year. It is considered fortuitous for garnering good karma by refraining from eating anything that has been killed on New Years Day.


The Chinese are superstitious and certain customs are followed for the Chinese New Year. A day before the New Year my mum gives the house a thorough cleaning to sweep away all the ill fortune/bad luck from the previous year and make way for the fortunes of the New Year. On New Years day we are not allowed to sweep the house as it is feared that good fortune for the New Year will be swept away. The other day I was telling my manager about this custom at work and she told me that her cleaner was coming around to clean her house that day and about 10 minutes later her cleaner had called and asked for the day off to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

My favourite custom is the giving of money in special red envelopes “lai see”. The amount of money given in a red envelope depends on how old you are and your relation to the person giving it to you. Money filled red envelopes are given out to children/unmarried individuals by parents, grandparents, relatives and close friends (so I will continue to receive lai see until I get married).

Happy New Year - Gung Hei Fat Choy!

Bring on the year of the rabbit.

Din Tai Fung, Sydney

Dumplings are universally appreciated. How can you not like eating dumplings? Little morsels of delicate dough filled with a stuffing of ground pork, seafood and vegetables - it’s a delicious treat.


While in Sydney last year, I wanted to consume some dumplings. With some of the best Chinese restaurants in Australia, this would be the city for me to eat some awesome dumplings.


I found out about Din Tai Fung in the Gourmet Traveller 2011 Australian Restaurant Guide under the Best Chinese section in Sydney and marked it down as a place to visit to for dumplings. Din Tai Fung is located on the first floor of the World Square Shopping Centre. When you arrive at the top of the stairs there is a sign out the front of Din Tai Fung that claims that they have the world’s tastiest dumplings.

Din Tai Fung is a legendary Taipei, Taiwan based global chain, renowned for its dumplings, especially ‘xiao long baos’ (steamed soup dumplings). There are over 40 Din Tai Fung outlets around the world. The thought of a franchise is enough to send me walking in the opposite direction. To me franchises are all about quantity over quality (supersize me please?!), economies of scale (i.e. getting food out there with the least amount of effort and cost) and the addition of more salt/fat as a substitute for taste. But Din Tai Fung is not your typical franchise, on their website it states that “At Din Tai Fung our dedication to our products far exceeds our interest in profit margins. To us, our customers’ expectations will always take priority over profits…What customers want is to satisfy their palate and if this isn’t satisfied, no matter how cheap the prices may be the food will not be worth eating. At Din Tai Fung, we have insisted on remaining true to the original taste.” Din Tai Fung strives to provide quality food and the queues out the front show that the food delivers. This is a place that people keep coming back to again and again. Renowned chef Anthony Bourdain has said that he would travel half way around the world for a soup dumpling at Din Fai Fung. The Hong Kong Din Tai Fung branch has even been awarded 1 Michelin Star.


What’s also good to see at Din Tai Fung is that there are a lot of Asians dining here. That’s one of the most important judges of a good Chinese restaurant. A place where all its own people will eat at. Din Tai Fung may be a franchise but it ain’t no Wok in a Box.

You can watch the dumpling production system through a huge glass window out the front. It’s fascinating to watch all the dumplings made right in front of you with such skill, precision and efficiency. There is a careful division of labour in the production of the dumplings. There are people lining baskets ready for steaming, people making the dough while others stretch it and cut it into discs, others pull, roll, fill, twist and crimp. There are people loading the baskets and steaming the dumplings on top of a steel table with holes that shoot out bursts of hot steam. I imagine that these guys turn out hundreds, maybe even thousands of dumplings a day.

The division of labour is important for increasing productivity. It is a process whereby the production process is broken down into a sequence of steps and workers are assigned to particular steps.

Adam Smith was an 18th century Scottish moral philosopher who is widely cited as the father of modern economics. His work The Wealth of Nations is considered one of the most influential works on economics ever published and begins with a discussion on the division of labour. The first chapter opens with the statement “the greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgement with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour." To illustrate this idea Smith describes the extensive division of labour for the manufacture of pins. One worker could probably make only one pin per day. But if ten people divided up the eighteen steps required to make a pin – one man draws out the wire, another straightens it, a third cuts it, a fourth points it, a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head, to make the head receives two or three distinct operations etc etc. together the workers could produce up to 48,000 pins in one day. 


The division of labour multiplies productivity. By focusing on a particular task you become more specialized and efficient at it, time is saved from not having to switch tasks all the time, and the machines and tools used evolve in line with the division of the production process. For example, it was interesting to see how the dumplings were steamed at Din Tai Fung using what appears to be steam vents on top of steel tables. These steam vents would have no other use than for steaming dumplings, there would certainly be no wok action on the vents. The way that the dumpling production system is divided shows that the steam vents were designed for a specific step of the production process.

The dumpling production system at Din Tai Fung and the organization of kitchens in general, provide a good example of the idea of division of labour that Smith advanced.

Inside the restaurant the space is very sleek and modern, adorn with red walls. Red is used a lot by the Chinese because it symbolizes good fortune and joy. On one wall there is a huge installation of steamer baskets to remind you of what you are here for.


Dumplings!


I ordered some steamed crab meat and pork dumplings. Each dumpling is sealed with the signature 18 folds and weighs in at around 21 grams.

I love xiao long bao dumplings because each dumpling comes with its own soup inside the dumpling. The proper way to eat these dumplings is with a few shreds of ginger and a little black vinegar/soy sauce mixture. The skins of the dumplings at Din Tai Fung have a perfectly light texture. As you bite into the dumpling the soup bursts through with flavour and salivates your tongue, preparing you for the filling which is subtle but delicious.

If you are wondering how the dumplings can contain soup, well the minced meat filling has little cubes of gelatinsed pork stock worked into it so that when the dumplings are steamed, the stock cube liquefies and fills the dumpling with soup. Genius isn’t it?


There is a huge menu with a variety of dishes on offer. I also ordered the fried pork chop and braised beef noodle soup.


I found the fried pork chop really tasty and the braised beef noodle soup had chunks of fall-apart beef in a black broth which was very flavoursome, with little spice and gingery elements. I especially enjoyed the texture of the noodles because they were nice and firm but easy to bite into and draws in the flavour of the soup.

I also ordered the lychee mint drink. The lychee and mint was a surprisingly good combination for a drink, it tasted great and was a very refreshing drink.

The food at Din Tai Fung is good value and another highlight of Din Tai Fung is that the staff are very friendly and the service is fast.

Mrs S, Maylands

I like things that make a place unique, I like paying attention to little details, I like the use of recycled materials…


As I sat down waiting for my friends to arrive I cast my eyes all over Mrs S and little things would catch my attention – the old fashioned scales with complimentary lollies, the use of old Little Golden books to peg pages of the menu into, the mismatch of retro recycled chairs at the table that I sat at, the interesting ceiling light structure, the selection of classic books on the bookshelf behind the counter including Larousse Gastronomique, the art deco styled walls, the little metal saucers of salt and pepper…before I had even eaten anything I already knew that I would like this place. All these little things added character to this place but it was not overdone. Things like this may go unnoticed by a lot of people but I adored it all.

I had organized to have brunch with some friends on a Sunday at Mrs S at around 10:30am. At this time Mrs S was still quite busy and we had to share the long table in the middle of the café with others. 


At Mrs S you order all your meals at the counter. Our drinks came out together while we waited for our breakfast dishes to arrive. I had some freshly squeezed apply juice and my friends had coffee and iced coffee. My friend said that she liked it when her coffee came out first because she liked enjoying coffee on its own before eating. I am not a coffee drinker but my friends reported to me that the coffee at Mrs S was very good.


All our breakfast dishes came out at the same time. I don’t mind when some dishes come out first and others later as long as they all come out within a reasonable time, as I can understand how chaotic it can get in the kitchen sometimes, especially when it’s busy. But it’s always nice when it appears that an effort has been made to make sure that all the dishes arrive out together.


Mrs S has your standard selection of breakfast dishes with a twist. 

I ordered the field mushroom, house baked ricotta and pesto and ciabatta toast, plus bacon. I loved the addition of the pesto and baked ricotta in the mix. I thought that the bacon was really well cooked, it had some nice charring around the edges with the right amount of crispiness but it was still succulent. A lot of the time when you order bacon for breakfast it can come out a tad on the dry side and/or burnt so that it’s not as enjoyable to eat. You could also tell that the ciabatta toast had been freshly toasted right before it landed on your plate. There have been a number of times when I have had breakfast and the toast has been a bit hard and it feels like it had been taken from a whole pile of pre-toasted bread that has been sitting on the counter for a while.

My friend was quite intrigued by the coconut bread, citrus curd and fresh fruit option. The dish came out with a beautiful array of fresh seasonal fruits, the coconut bread had a caramelized exterior, and citrus curd and yoghurt was drizzled over the top. My friend said that it was delicious but she felt that she was consuming desert. There are quite a few other breakfast dishes on the menu which cater for people who have a sweet tooth. 

My other friend had the standard free range poached eggs on toast. For some people nothing beats ordering the classic poached egg breakfast. It can be hard to replicate perfectly poached eggs at home. My friend has resorted to hard boiled eggs on toast for breakfast at home, but she boils the egg for around 4 minutes so you would get the effect of running yolk that you can dip toast into (aka egg soldiers style). The verdict on the poached eggs was good.

We found the staff friendly and attentive, they even asked if we were enjoying our meals but in a way that felt like they meant it.


My first experience of Mrs S has left me with the view that it will be one of my favourite breakfast places in Perth. Breakfast is a simple meal, it’s one of those meals that most people can cook, anyone can put together their own big breakfast at home but its one of those meals that everyone loves to go out for, especially to catch up with friends. It’s really nice to enjoy a breakfast that has been cooked for you, especially one that has been cooked well and tastes as good as the ones that Mrs S have on offer.


Mrs S also has an amazing array of baked goods at the counter. I was so full and satisfied with my breakfast that I didn’t feel the need to have dessert. I am looking forward to my next visit to Mrs S for a sample of their sweets.

One Year Old

On this day a year ago I created this food blog. One year later I have posted 103 entries and have had over 7600 pageviews.


When I started this blog I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do with it. I enjoyed reading other peoples food blogs so I though why not start my own as a way to record recipes that I cooked and share them. The best feedback that I have received has been when friends tell me that they have been inspired to cook some of the recipes on my blog.

I had no idea who or how many people actually read my blog but a few months ago blogspot install a stats feature and it was nice to know that I have had quite a few hits. According to my blogspot stats, the majority of the people who read my blog are from Australia, followed closely by America, and the 5 most viewed pages are - 


• Paella and Spanish Flavours 
• Confusion of Fusion Food – Vietnamese Spaghetti Bolognese 
• Canh Chua – Vietnamese Hot and Sour Soup 
• Xintiandi on Francis Street 
• Comfort Food #2 – Rice Congee and Pressure Cooking 

In May I tried to start another food blog called Stuff Foodies Like. Between May and June I blogged 14 points and then sort of plateaued….I came to the realisation that food blogging takes a lot of my time and it’s a lot of work trying to keep up two but in 2011 I will try to update Stuff Foodies Like a bit more.

In July I went on a holiday to Japan for 3 weeks, during our trip I took photos of almost every meal we had. I think that over 70% of my photos from Japan were of food. When I got back home I tried to organise all my photos into blog entries, here are some of my favourites –


• Nara temples and local cuisine 
• Okada, Chicken, Ocean and Mountain (best meal in Japan!) 
• Weddings, parties, anything… 
• Western inspired concoctions 
• Useful signage 


(All my Japan blog posts can be found under the ‘Other’ tab)

When I first started blogging, a friend recommended that I create a twitter account and use it as a way to promote my blog. I was pretty adverse to this idea at first. I already had a defunct myspace account and a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Did I really need to become sucked into another social networking vortex? I didn’t really ‘get’ twitter either. After a long while I came around to the idea of twitter and in August I started a twitter account http://twitter.com/blueapocalypse so that whenever I blogged I could tweet it too. My blog stats reveal that Twitter drives a lot of traffic to my blog. Twitter has also been a great way to connect with other Perth food bloggers and find out the latest food news as I follow many chefs and food publications.


In November 2010, I got a bit more serious and bought my own domain name www.blueapocalypse.com


(If you want to know why I am called the Blue Apocalypse. Read the 'About Me' section.)


As well as posting recipes I have tried to incorporate some of my other interests into food blogging. I studied politics and economics and wanted to somehow include some economic and political ideas into food and cooking. From time to time I have found a way to make it work, I have also incorporated some scientific theories.


• Donkey voting and burgers 
• Occam’s Razor and Pasta 
• The law of diminishing marginal utility and umami 
• Chaos Theory and macarons 
• The Harm principle and Pho service 

I studied game theory at uni and have been trying to think of ways to incorporate it into my food blogging. Maybe this year I will find my Nash equilibrium.


Looking back over the past year I can’t believe how much I have kept up with this blog. Food blogging has become a part of my life, I have become one of those annoying people that take pictures of food all the time… “No you can’t eat anything until I have taken a picture of it.”


If you are reading Food Endeavours of the Blue Apocalypse, thanks :)


All I ever really wanted was an opportunity to tell people to stop bastardising stir fries!