If You Find Yourself in Vancouver's Chinatown...

I'm going to keep this brief because I have dumplings to eat. 

This picture makes me laugh.
No time to wait for the ciggy break to be over, we've got food to eat!

Chances are if you are visiting Vancouver, you're going to pay a visit to Chinatown--It's Canada's largest, and one of the most historic Chinatowns in North America, so not to be missed. Sure you'll find the gate and visit the classical gardens, but let's be honest; you came here to eat. 

There are so many places to eat, the range and variety of food is abundant, and there are really no bad options. On an average day we're looking for authentic (non-fusion), big flavours and bang for our buck. We can talk dim sum and cocktails later.

So, if you're out for a wander and looking to do a bit of a food crawl, let me share a few north stars that will guide you through Chinatown.

Stop One: T&T - Char Siu Bao/ BBQ Pork Bun

Get a couple of these hand pies (of the Chinese persuasion) for your initial walk about. The whitest, fluffiest bread wrapped around sweet pulled pork will be the warm hug you didn't know you needed. Honestly, we generally just pop into T&T Grocery (conveniently located across from a parking garage and the Sky Train) and grab a couple of these bad boys before even getting on with our day. If you're feeling weird about starting off at a grocery store, I get it. We also have been known to stop in at New Town Bakery.

Tyler's Pick: Pan-fried pork and chive dumplings.

New Town always has a huge line-up down the sidewalk.
If it were me, I'd skip the bao at New Town and fill up on egg tarts.

Stop Two: Chinatown BBQ - Wanton Mee 

Chinatown BBQ has some of the best Hong Kong style BBQ meats in town. Think Peking duck, soya chicken, char siew and all the other favourites. Their ginger-scallion sauce is above the rest and really makes the dishes POP! If you have to choose just one dish, we love the wanton noodles with BBQ pork, dry or in soup - you can't go wrong. The soup feels like a nourishing broth with the freshness of ginger on the side, while the dry noodles have just enough dark soy sauce to give them a tangy sweetness. Our go-to on an all-too-frequent rainy Vancouver afternoon.

Tyler's Pick: Anything with a hefty spoon of their ginger-scallion sauce and chilli oil to give it a kick. 

Stop Three: Money Foods Enterprises - BBQ Meat and Butcher

Next, you're going to want to toddle your way over to Gore & Keefer. Right on the corner is a butcher (the one with all the meat hanging in the window next to the fish market). Go in and grab yourself some rice and a good portion of crispy pork belly, roast duck, char siew...basically meat, it's a butcher. Get it to go, and pay in cash because there is no other option. Aptly named, this place is money. 

Tyler's Pick: 5 bucks worth of char siew, barbecue sauce dripping pork wrapped in brown paper, the perfect pocket food.

Stop Four: Kent's Kitchen - The General Cafeteria Line-Up 

Kent's Kitchen is one of Tyler's picks. The food is good, the price is right, and the authenticity takes him right back to Malaysian lunches at the Chinese food court. Cash only, you can walk right in and choose noodles or rice and point to a couple of dishes to plop on top. You'll end up with a container of something yummy that is in the ballpark of about 2kg of food and you'll be working on it for the next couple of days...yum! 

Tyler's Pick: The spicy pork neck, beef with broccoli on a pile of rice noodles.

Nothing fancy, but so so good!

Mary's (Cinnamon) Rolls

Over two years ago, we went to a brunch and had amazing cinnamon buns. Like any pastry-lover would, I procured the recipe. Since then I've been persistently threatening to make them, to no avail. So after years gone-by, including 11 weeks in COVID limbo, we finnnnnaaalllllyy have some ooey-gooey deliciousness! 

Using the recipe from Lil Luna.com, I was feeling confident. Anchorman Ty, who was feeling especially Saturday-night-self-isolation-bored and coupled with general disbelief that this moment was actually, finally happening, will be debuting his short film in this year's Cannes Film Fest. 

For those who are interested in an advance screening... 

Recipe: Butter Chicken Masala

I've always liked to think of myself as one day becoming the type of person who cooks, shares and holds onto recipes. Currently, I am not someone who does even one of those tasks. About twice a year my Mom gets a phone call asking for the recipe to her chocolate chip cookies, and even that can yield iffy results. So in an attempt to be the Betty Crocker adult I have idealized (cue eye-rolls for gender role stereotypes), I give you the recipe for Butter Chicken (or paneer) Masala!

 Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
2 green chilies
1 tsp red chili powder
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped&pureed
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 cup full fat milk
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
250grams cooked chicken or paneer
Toasted cashews to garnish

Method:
1. Blend onion, ginger and garlic into a paste. Set aside.
2. Blanch and puree the tomatoes. Set aside.
3. Heat cooking oil and butter in non-stick pan on medium heat.
4. Saute onion paste and bay leaf until light golden brown- approx. 4-5 min.
5. Add green chili and red chili powder. Saute for 30 seconds.
6. Add tomato puree. Cook until oil separates from the puree- approx. 3-4 min.
7. Add coriander powder and garam masala powder.
8. Add milk, water and salt. Cook until oil separates on the surface- approx 4-5 min.
9. Add chicken or cheese. Cook until gravy is desired consistency- approx 2 min.
10. Garnish with fresh cream and toasted cashews.
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To someone such as myself this recipe seems a bit ambitious, but trust assure, it's well worth it!
Seriously though, if for nothing else, make this dish to emulate Emeril with all those spices; "Bam!" a little chili, "Bam!" some coriander.

What's the worst that can happen?!
Happy Birthday, Ty -_-

Plate Culture: Indian Cooking Class

Tyler and I are always in search of our next meal. Criteria; It needs to be big in flavour and bang for our buck. In Kuala Lumpur there is no shortage of restaurants that fill the bill. However, it's no secret that around the world, my kitchen of choice is the extremely convenient, transient and ever-local, Casa de Tyler. Tyler is amazing at using a variety of spices, fusing the best flavours from different cuisines and recreating world-dishes at home. One of the trickiest dishes to recreate at home has been (North in particular) Indian curries. Up until now, Chef Ty has done a great job with various curry dishes....but there has always been something missing from the spice equation. (His words, not mine. I would NEVER bite the hand that feeds me, figuratively or literally). So, this past weekend Tyler and I finally took an Indian cooking class.

Similar to the TV show 'Come Dine with Me', where amateur chefs host diners in their homes for an evening, Plate Culture invites customers into individuals' homes to have a private cooking lesson, share in their company and enjoy authentic cuisine. Having found our wonderful Chef Shamini online, we were eager to find the missing link to a perfect curry. We made several dishes that were all different, equally colourful and impressive...if I do say so myself. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon; slowly cooking and chatting about Indian food and culture, learning about the different spices and pastes (some of which we had previously been using incorrectly), and finally enjoying the fruits of our labour in a full blown Indian mid-day feast! Check out the goodness;

South Indian chicken curry, spicy pumpkin, prawn sambal, raita and chai tea served upon a banana leaf~ holllaaaa

 Although the highlight for Tyler was the chicken curry, mine was, hands down the ever popular paneer (cheese) butter masala. I know this is not a notable achievement for over a billion people, but for us this is a major culinary milestone. Yes, we can now make butter chicken in our house, probably everyday.

Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
2 green chilies
1 tsp red chili powder
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped&pureed
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 cup full fat milk
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
250 grams paneer
Toasted cashews to garnish

Ok so I know it seems like a lot of ingredients and a labourous dish to make, but Chef Shamini made it seem so easy (even at times with a sweet little babe on her hip)! We are super confident we could do it again... and plan on it. As Tyler already makes a great bbq chicken tikka, we are excited about some curry-filled patio evenings with our fellow spice-route lovers. Until then we are looking forward to our next visit with Shamini, where we will add to our repertoire and figure out some breads for dipping!

***Please note that although I have consistently used 'we' in this blog post, it is most definitely meant as the 'Royal We'. Tyler is the King of the Kitchen in our house. I on the other hand, rarely wander over to that corner of our studio apartment.