Baozi Inn

Sigh. And that is saying something when one starts a blog post with a sigh. I did so much want Baozi Inn to help me recreate some of those Beijing highlights I had been fortunate to experience last year but alas. For a second I wondered if that was an unrealistic expectation though when somewhere says it serves real “Beijing Street Food” then they’ve talked the talk. Now wok the wok, I say.

Dumplings 饺子 & Hotpot 火锅: My kinda comfort food

What do you usually crave for when English skies send down the most annoying feathery raindrops, the type that doesn't stop you in your tracks but frizzes up the hairdo you worked so hard at getting right? This week I've had serious craving for hotpot huoguo 火锅 and my favourite thing to cook in them, home-made dumplings jiaozi 饺子.

Bring Din Tai Fung to London!

Ahhh. It feels good to be back in London. So much is familiar but I've only been back for a while and already I know there are many exciting things to catch up on. And one exciting thing that I must tell you about is Mr. Noodles' ambitious campaign to bring Din Tai Fung to London. I'm thrilled!

(image from  http://eatlovenoodles.blogspot.com)

Originating from Taiwan, DTF is an excellent restaurant chain famous for their Xiao Long Bao. A specialty dumpling, these are famous for a delicate skin (traditionally folded 18 times) carrying a little burst of soup next to a juicy stuffing. DTF also has many other tasty dishes and is an all-round champion for Taiwanese-style Chinese cuisine. 

Why the big fuss about getting them to London? Because London deserves awesome Xiao Long Bao from an expert maker. And so far, I regret to say us Londoners have been denied this privilege. There are some that try but somehow just miss the mark. DTF is across China, South East Asia and with branches in Australia and the United States so it ain't fair. 

If there's fire (and an appetite) in your belly for great-quality dim sum and authentic Chinese food, please add a comment to Mr. Noodles' blog campaign here! You deserve to have these exquisite treats available to you!

Mr. Noodles is the jovial owner of Eat Noodles Love Noodles who lives in London and adores (guess what?) his noodles and dumplings. Hungry Female has indulged in the pleasures of DTF in Malaysia and Beijing  so knows that this crusade is worth it. 

And I also love Jiao Zi 我也爱饺子

Don't we all love watching how jiao zi 饺子 go from random dough shapes, to....

...soft, plump mouthfuls of goodness? I love all forms of dumplings, and in Beijing grew to love the boiled ones the best.

Silk Road

Am just quite amazed at regional Chinese cooking in London, the scene is much more varied than when I first arrived in the UK nearly 11 years ago. You still get ignoramuses who think Chinese is fluorescent sweet and sour rodents and everything is stir-fried, but on the whole the cuisine's reputation in London has come a long way. So much so that I'm discovering Chinese food from my mother-ship I never knew existed.

My new discovery was Silk Road on Camberwell Church Road, and from the outside you never would have thought anything special. Seating is minimal in a bench and table arrangement, it's pretty humble bare bones stuff. It is regional Chinese food from the Xinjiang province, which Google Maps says borders Russia, Mongolia, all the "Stans" and India, i.e. top left China. How representative it is of that region, I won't know for now, though good numbers of mainland Chinese customers when we visited was encouraging.

So you get dumplings and noodles as you might do from other Chinese regions, but the highlights here are the kebabs. Immediately I could see the neighbouring influences to the region's cooking. What looked incredibly measly on their skewers were deceivingly spicy to which I didn't feel I needed more than my helping. Lots of cumin and chilli on lamb, it could have been Indian for all I tasted.

We tried prawn, egg and chive dumplings which must have been handmade due to their irregular shape. Wonderfully tasty and juicy despite not coming a sauce. And ridiculously cheap. For three Great British Pounds buys you ten nice sized dumplings. A prime example of how the Chinese can undercut at insanely good quality.

And lastly the hand-pulled noodles. We had ours with "Mixed Vegetables" that was really just tomatoes, green chilli and cabbage but with oodles of garlic and onion that made a rather good sauce.

Service was extremely attentive and friendly, which is very un-typically Chinese! What an interesting little place. Long may these small treasures bloom and grow in the unlikely dark lanes of mighty London.

Our rather ridiculously cheap bill!