Long time between post ATM!

 

October 10,

So sorry I haven’t posted for a while, just too busy in life! Having a great big spring clean before moving! Will be back posting more regular once things settle down!

Shitake and Garlic Chive dumpings

Dumping Dough

1/2 cup chinese wheat flour, sifted

1/4 cup potato or corn-starch flour, sifted

pinch salt

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortning

seame oil, for brushing

banana leaves, for serving

 Lime and Soy Dipping Sauce (see basis recipes section)

Filling

12 dried shiitake mushrooms, soakedin hot water for 30 minutes, drained and inely chopped

4 tablespoon galic chives, finely chopped

 4 scallions (spring onionsshallots) finely chopped

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

 1 small red chili, seeded and finely chopped

2/3 finely chopped water chestnuts

 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots

2 teaspoons corn or potato starch

 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teasppn dark seame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a bowl, combine the flours and salt. Mix the water and shortening in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and mix quickly using a wooden spoon. Press to forma smooth white sough. Roll into a thick cylinder and wrap in plastic. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix all filling ingredients until combined. Unwrap and cup the dough into 20 pieces. Working 5 at a time so the dough does not dry out, flatten each piece into a 4 inch (10 cm) round using the blade of a chinese chopper or a palette knife, lightly brushed with seame oil to prevent the ugh from sticking, Divide the filling evenly among the dough pieces. Brush half the edge of each piece with seame oil and fold each to form semi-circles. Crinkle and press the edges firmly together so they stick. Brush eash dumpling with seame oil.  Stream dumpling in a pieace of babana leaf or waxed paper for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Burke Street’s Chinatown

 

It was the discovery of gold in the1850’s which attracted Chinese immigration to Victoria on a large scale. Ships sailed to Australia from Hong Kong with their cargo of men who had come in search of the “New Gold Mountain”. The small but burgeoning Chinese community in Little Bourke Street provided for all the needs of the Chinese diggers – lodgings en route to the goldfields, food, equipment and medicine. In the 1860s many Chinese district associations began to purchase land in little Bourke Street to build clubrooms which would serve as meeting places for the Chinese community. From the early 1870s until the early twentieth century, Chinatown experienced a stage of growth. As gold dried up on the diggings, those who did not return to China went back to Melbourne’s Chinatown which, for those who stayed, represented the only community they had. They found work and established businesses to cater for the local Chinese and non Chinese markets. The 1880s were the days of “Marvellous Melbourne”, the time when industry was booming. Unfortunately in the early twenty century, labour laws combined with the effects of the “White Australia Policy”  plunged Chinatown into darkness. It was no longer the residential haven for the Chinese, as the population declined so did Chinese’s businesses within.  Today, restaurants, cafes and Asian grocery stores dominate the Chinatown precinct. It’s essential character and main focus is along Little Bourke Street from Swanston Street to Spring Street, including the neighbouring laneways and alleys which link the area to Bourke Street and Lonsdale Street. Its cabinet makers and lodging houses may now be long gone but eating houses and top class restaurants now take their place with the streetscape while retaining its wonderful historic character. Chinatown’s atmosphere is bustling  with people, sounds and smells that entice. The only problem being which venue to choose and which alley to wander. At night when the decorative streetlights are illuminated and restaurant windows are ablaze with lanterns, wind chimes and neon lights, this stretch of acclaimed eating is both colourful and enchanting. Chinatown still remains a busy and important social and economic centre for the Chinese Community as it did the gold rush days. and proudly stands as one of Melbourne city’s most popular venues. Throughout the year, there are many traditional festivals and activities, making Chinatown a popular destination in the city centre for local, interstate and international visitor. It is notable the oldest  Chinese settlement in Australia, as well as the longest continuous Chinatown in the western world. The heritage streetscape has been well preserved, with few buildings reaching over three storeys in height. The area is dominated by restaurants from fine dining to laneway and arcade noodle houses, and is home to a number of Asian grocery stores, Chinese medicine and herbalist centres, bookstores, True to its name and predominantly of Chinese ethnicity, you will also find Melbourne’s Chinatown is truly cosmopolitan with a myriad of cuisines like Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Contemporary European and Australian to tempt taste buds. The arches clearly announce the entrance to Chinatown. Arched bookend Melbourne’s Chinatown on Little Bourke St between Swanston and Spring Sts. (see photo)  For those with an interest in Chinese history and culture in Australia, the Museum of Chinese Australian History, (also known as The Chinese Museum for short), it’s in Cohen Place along Jones Lane between Lonsdale and Little Bourke Sts. Ever-changing exhibitions, heritage tours and public seminars are some of the ways by which the museum shares the past, culture, and values of Australia’s Chinese community. In the Chinese Museum  you can learn about the extensive Chinese involvement in the early gold mining days.(see photo)

 

Other Chinese communities within Melbourne

Other than the original Chinatown in the CBD, several newer ‘Chinatowns’ or Chinese communities are found in suburbs of Melbourne, including: Box Hill (Carrington Road). Immigrants from Hong Kong have established there. Centro Box Hill is the primary shopping destination in Box Hill as there are many shops focused on Asian products and services. Similar ,Vietnamese communities can be found in Richmond (Victoria Street), Springvale and Glen Waverley. These areas have businesses owned by ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, with some run by ethnic Vietnamese, and include associations as well as a range of grocers, shops and eateries offering Chinese and Vietnamese food and merchandise.

What is a English Teacake?

 In Australia,  teacakes are a larger sweet cake of the type made with a mixture of flour, eggs, fat and sugar. It is normally served sliced as an accompaniment to tea. Australian teacakes are often sprinkled with cinnamon and fine (caster) sugar, and are often served warm from the oven.  In parts of Australia, the term “tea cake” is sometimes used to refer to a Boston Bun.

 (Refer to Teacake Recipes below.  I used Tea Cake No. 2 recipe while baking the cakes in the photo below. Both recipes are very similar, however made slightly different, giving a slightly different texture, If you have a little time up your hands. bake both and see what one you prefer)

 

In Great Britain, a teacake is usually a light, sweet, yeast-based bun containing dried fruits such as currants, sultanas or peel. It is typically split, toasted, buttered, and commonly served with tea. It is flat and circular, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside. In certain areas of Barnsley, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, teacake recipes omit currants and sultanas. In Kent the tea cake is known as a “huffkin”, which is often flavoured with hops, especially at the time of harvesting hops in September. In Sussex, a luxurious version of the tea cake with added aromatics such as nutmeg, cinnamon and rose water is still sometimes made and called a machete or Lady Arundel’s Machete. . In West Cumbria, some East Lancashire towns and parts of nearby West Yorkshire, a teacake is the name given to a plain bread roll. In this area, the normal “teacake” is referred to as a currant or fruited teacake.

Boston Bun

 1/2 cup mashed potatoes

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups S.R Flour

Pinch of salt

1 cup mixed Fruit

Mix potatoes and sugar to a liquid. Add milk, flour and fruit. Mix well. Bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes.Top with coconut icing.

Tea Cake No. 1

 1 1/2 cups S.R Flour,

2 tablespoons Butter,

2 tablespoons Sugar,

1 egg,

Pinch of Salt,

 1/2 cup Milk,

Beat butter and butter to a cream, add egg and beat well, then the flour and milk until batter is moderately stiff. Bake in sandwich tin for about 15 minutes. Spread with butter, ice with soft icing and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve while hot.

Variation: For apple tea-cake, Cover top with slices of apple. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cinnamon.

Teacake No. 2

 3/4 cup Sugar,

1 cup S.R Flour,

1 Tablespoon Butter dissolved in

1/2 cup Boiling Water,

2 Eggs,

1 teaspoon Corn flour,

Separate eggs, Beat eggs whites until sniff, add sugar gradually then yolks, then flour, lastly liquid. Bake in 20 cm sandwich tin in a hot oven for 20 minutes. Spread topping on top of cake as soon as it comes from oven.

Topping: Mix together 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 tablespoons sugar.

 Next week post:

Chinese Dumplings, and a visit to Melbourne’s Chinatown.

Future post idea’s:

 History and making of Papadum’s, Spring-time celebrations around the world.

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog. my aim in this blog, is to research food items, recipes and customs. I plan to look at celebrations from around the world, the backgrounds and the history. I plan to study the multiculturalism in our wonderful city of Melbourne.   I am hoping to use the beautiful, local, fresh produces to make different foods from around the world.  I am looking forward to discover a wide range of food delights from around the world!I am hpoing to research and learn about different types of food and different cultures as well as more about the world we live in.  Wish me luck!