I’m not sure how much stock I ended up using exactly, it all depends on how consentrated your stock is too begin with. I like to reduce my stocks by quite a lot as it makes for easier storage and you can make the stock as strong as you like depending on what your making.

Next time I make chicken stock I’m going to use a method to get crystal clear stock that I saw Heston Blumenthal use on ‘In Search Of Perfection’. You make the stock as you normally would, add a little gelatin to the liquid and freeze it. Once it’s completely frozen you take it out of the freezer place it in a colander and allow it to melt through a muslin cloth or a filter-coffee paper. It works because the gelatin molecules cross-link and in effect create a “filter” that traps particles. When you freeze a gelatin gel and defrost it, it will weep liquid. This is called “syneresis”. Right…..

Chicken & Sweet Corn Soup

For the stock

1 whole chicken
1 whole onion (washed & skin left on), quartered
2 whole carrots (washed & unpeeled), cut in half
3 stalks celery (with leaves), cut in quarters
1 whole head of garlic (washed & unpeeled), cut in half
A small handful of whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon of kosher salt (or more depending on taste)
A handful of parsley

Add all of the ingredients with enough water to cover the chicken into a large stockpot & simmer for 1 hour.

Remove the chicken & transfer to a chopping board to cool.

Remove the all the meat.

Add the remaining bones, carcass etc… back in the pot & simmer the stock for an additional 2 hours.

Strain all of the contents of the pot through a fine mesh strainer, saving the stock & discarding everything else.

Skim the fat off the surface (this is easier to do when cool).

Let the stock cool to room temperature & refrigerate, or freeze until ready to use.

For the soup

1L chicken stock

Chicken meat (above), shredded

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated

2 tablespoons cornflour, disolved in 1/4 cup water

1 x 420g can creamed corn

1 x 300g can corn kernels, drained

100g shaved ham, shredded

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

6 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Place the stock, soy sauce and ginger in a large saucepan over a low heat.

Add the cornflour mixture, stirring until the stock thinkens slightly, 2 minutes or until hot.

Pour the egg whites gradually into the soup, stirring for 2 minutes or until white ribbons swirl though the soup.

Remove from heat, and add half the spring onions and sesame oil.

Serve with the remaining spring onions spinkled on top.

Been here heaps of times, hands down best dumplings I’ve have in Melbourne. The service has significantly improved and is up to standard now. It’s packed every night of the week so it’s best to try and book.

Pan Fried Dumplings

Shao Long Bao

Dumplings in Hot Chili Sauce

Scallop & Eggplant Hot Pot and Crispy Fragrant Duck

Bean Jelly with Cucumber Salad

Hot & Sour Noodle Soup with Tofu & Mushroom

Chilli Noodle Soup with Pork & Peanuts

175 Russell Street, Melbourne

03 9654 2828

My friend and I arrived at Dainty Sichuan at around 7 o’ clock last night. He is travelling through India for a couple of months at the end of the year and is currently in training to increase his chilli tolerance. It was super busy but we managed to get a table for two with a wait of only 10 minutes. The waiter brought us three menus, one of which was full of big shiny pictures – we ordered of this one. We got a Tsingtao beer which by the end of our meal was deliciously sweet, and look over the huge menu. There were so many dishes I wanted to try but due to the serving sizes I knew, that unfortunately, I just wouldn’t be able to fit it all in. We eventually decided on the ‘Tofu & Chilli Greens’ and the ‘Spicy Fish & Pickle Hot Pot’.

The ‘Spicy Fish & Pickle Hot Pot’ had long pieces of thinly sliced fish, bean sprouts, picked cabbage and whole Sichuan pepper corns swimming in red chilli oil. This dish was amazing, hot and full of flavour, but not so spicy that it spoils your meal. The pepper corns if bitten into have a strange raw heat that makes your mouth tingle and feel a bit numb. The ’Tofu & Chilli Greens’ had slices of fried tofu and chopped dried chillies mixed through tasty greens.

I think the hot pot had a 1 chilli rating so it is possible if you don’t like too much chilli to get a meal and enjoy it here.

Dainty Sichuan is my new favourite Chinese restaurant and I can’t wait to go back and try some of the other appetising dishes I saw on other people’s tables. 

Tofu & Chilli Greens

Spicy Fish & Pickle Hot Pot

I’ve been to Dainty Sichuan twice since I this post and here are the delicious dishes we ordered. I am going to stick to a 1 chilli rating from now on, we tried the ‘Chilli Baby Squid’ which was a 2 and really struggled.

Cumin Chilli Spare Ribs

Chilli Baby Squid

Ma Po Tofu

26 Corrs Lane, Melbourne

03 9663 8861

Monday-Friday 12:30pm-9:30pm

Saturday-Sunday 2:00pm-9:30pm 

Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day (zSHARE)

I’ve been to Spicy Fish quite a few times before but I generally order the same Ma Po Tofu which is is a spicy Szechuan dish made with marinated pork, mashed black beans and bean curd. It is a great dish and the best I’ve had at any restaurant - I get mine without pork though. I recommend getting it with rice and a side of cucumber.

But when I went with a friend last week we both decided it was time we tried something new. It was a very late lunch, it had been pooring with rain and was freezing outside so we were up for a big hot meal. We started with a ‘Lobster San Choy Bao’ each which was surprisingly really tasty. We also ordered a ‘Scallop & Eggplant Hot Pot’ which was great. It had a kind of sweet slightly thicken Szechuan chilli sauce and both the scallops and the eggplant were well cooked. When we were about half way through eating the claypot the waiter brought out our ‘Fried Soft Shell Prawns with Hot Szechuan Chilli’. It looked very impressive. It had about 30 little chillies surrounding the prawns and although the batter was a little heavy it was still very good. If you avoid eating the whole chillies the heat from the dish is a pleasant. We ate so fast and there was so much food that we couldn’t finish and ended up leaving a lot.

Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of all the dishes. For now you’ll just have to trust me. And anyway ugly looking food can be delicious too.

All up with drinks I think it was about $35 each but they have huge menu and you can get a good meal for around $10.

Spicy Fish is located near the beginning of Chinatown (Swanston Street), looks very bright and clean for a Chinese restaurant and has plastic food in the front window.

219 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

03 9639 1885

Sunday-Thursday 11:30am-11:00pm

Friday-Saturday 11:30am-2:00am

Lou Reed – Perfect Day (zSHARE)