Traditional Asian Meals at China Bistro

I love folk tales and also love food stories, so when I got an invite from FBAI for Food-bloggers meet at China Bistro with the promise of listening to the stories about terracotta army of the first Emperor of China, King Qin Shi Huang, I couldn’t refuse.

The story starts at the entrance itself where two terracota warriors at the gate and one at the door welcomes you at the entrance.

The interior of the China Bistro at Worli (they have four branches spread across city of Mumbai) is very appealing with chinese paintings on the walls, and the restaurant divided into sections of different shapes and sizes for private dining experience.

I was guided to a well-lit room, big enough to seat 12 people, table arranged with great precision so that one could identify the non-vegetarian and vegetarian from a gold and silver ribbons wound around folded napkin.

The story, as was narrated by Mr.Nikhil, (the party host), was about Chinese Warriors, who tended to be more romantic and had distinct personality as influenced by Confucianism and the same reflected in the way they ate. Their food had earthy flavors that possessed the resemblance to their charm, strength and indignation with the use of spice and local meats. Like their King, they protected their recipes too. China Bistro believes that terracota warriors came to protect these recipes like they protected him in his afterlife, behind his grave.

The secret unfolded as the colorful drinks made their appearance at the tables. I had ordered ‘Watermelon and Basil Mojito’ that I sipped throughtout the meals, crunching on the soft watermelon pieces in between meals. There was a great variety of drinks (Cucumber and Wasabi Mojito, Green Apple and Basil Margarita, blue-moon Martini, Raspberry Mojito,etc and each catered to individual’s palate. Bellini seemed to be the favorite of all (I took just one sip out of curiousity ) and was on our table discussion for the longest time.

I am still relishing on the taste palate that had stumped me on that day. (Okay, I am still drooling) When there is a large variety to choose from, one is confused on which ones to linger on. it is advisable to just take a spoonful of each. We often forget that and start devoring all the dishes in large quantity till tummy protests to stop. But who can resist when the food is tasty?

Yes, I had all these dishes, but was only able to nibble on small portion to get their taste. If I had to go back again, I would order only two starters, my favorite  would be `Korean BBQ chicken’ (the sizzling hot, tender chicken was amazing) and pancake-shaped Boa, that seems to be the latest trend, it was soft and sweetest, it paired wonderfully with BBQ Pickled Chicken.

Okay I was too stuffed and wanted to go for a small walk. A small contest for best photographs and some quiz was held in-between meals for some interaction while we cooled and cleansed our palate with lychee popsicle.

This was followed by dinner of some more food (actually plenty more). Having nibbled on all the dishes, there was appetite for some more. Had I feasted on starters, I would not have been able to enjoy the delicious dinner.  I loved the Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice, it took me back to the memories of my Bangkok visit.

I am not too fond of desserts and did not taste the Thai Guave icecream and Sponge Cake with Caramel Topping, but I think that everybody was too full and were not able to eat/relish the big piece of sponge cake either (such a waste to eat only half and leave the rest in plates)

China Bistro is a good choice for me and I would definitely visit again, I like spicy, delicately cooked and tasty food and the cuisine here did not disappoint……

Product Launch By Godrej Tyson Food

This Wednesday I attended a product launch by Godrej Tyson, India’s premier poultry and vegetarian products manufacturer.

These are pre-marinated chicken foods that serves as instant food when unexpected guests turn up. Just stir fry and they are done.

However, for the housewife who likes to give her personal touch, these can be turned a surprisingly innovative dish. It is not easy to replicate the original taste each time we churn out something new, (personally speaking, I can never reproduce the same taste) but, with its’ marinated standard chicken, there can be some closeness to the original taste.

Mr Arabind Das, (COO, Godrej Tyson Food Ltd) and Chef Micheal Swamy (of MasterChef fame) demonstrated some wonderful dishes during the cook-off.

The recipes were later shared with us.

Recipe: for Pahadi Chicken

Spiced Potatoes with Pahadi Chicken

 

Ingredients:

            2 Sliced potatoes with skin on

            4 pods of Garlic

            ¼ teaspoon turmeric

            ¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes without the seeds

            1 table spoon olive oil

            1 tablespoon butter

            2 sprigs of rosemary

            ¼ teaspoon chaat masala

            1 pkt of Pahadi chicken

Chutney

            200 grams    Mixed berries

            100 grams    Sugar

            100 ml                       Vinegar

            Red chilli        1 nos

Garnish

            Micro Greens

            Fried onion crisps

            Fried tulsi leaves

Wash and slice the potatoes fine

In a bowl mix the chilli, turmeric and oil together

Heat the pan and drizzle a tablespoon of oil on it.

Layer the potatoes on the pan and cook it to a golden brown on both sides

Sprinkle chaat masala over it

Heat oil in a pan and on a slow flame cook the chicken for 8 minutes turning it gently

Layer the potatoes and serve the tikkas on top garnish with fresh basil or toasted tulsi leaves

Recipe: for Achari Tikka

Salad with Asian Balsamic and Panco Encrusted Achari tikka

Ingredients:

            Strawberries

            Mixed lettuce greens

            Arugula lettuce

            1 red onion

            2 tablespoons of Asian Balsamic dressing

            ½ teaspoon sea salt

            ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

            ½ teaspoon pink pepper

Chicken:

            1 pkt achaari tikka

            250 grams Panko Crumbs

            1 teaspoon Pink Pepper corns crushed

            1 teaspoon garlic powder

            1 egg

            500 ml Curd

In a large bowl whisk the egg

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together

Heat oil in a large kadhai

Dip the chicken in the egg mixture then coat it with panko crumbs

Deep fry the chicken pieces for 6 minutes

Remove and serve with Asian salad

Pour the Asian style balsamic vinegar reduction over the salad

Asian style balsamic vinegar reduction

Ingredients:

            1 bottle    balsamic vinegar

            1 litre grape juice

            1 teaspoon pink peppercorns

            1 teaspoon green peppercorns

            ½ kg sugar

            1-2 tablespoons angostura bitters

            6 nos       star anise

Bring all the ingredients to a boil

Simmer and reduce to half

Stuffed flower

This was another interesting creation by chef Micheal Swamy. Fried achari chicken was stir fried, stuffed into zucchini flower, dipped in the cornflour and miada batter and deep fried. I was able to taste and this had very good flavor and chicken was extremely tender.

I am definatedly going to try that…will you?

Dining in missKorea BBQ in NYC

During my one week stay in NewYork city in October 2015, we went to miss Korea BBQ for lunch. My brother and his family are regulars there and they assured me that it was the best restaurant in the town.

I was not disappointed.

How could I be when missKoreaBBQ is named as NewYork City’s ‘Best Korean BBQ Restaurant’ at 2015 Times Square Asian Food Festival

It was freezing outside, and my brother dropped me at the end of the lane, and went to look for a parking place, we walked at a fast pace, stopped to look closely at the attractive food dressing in the window and entered the warm restaurant.

Halloween was just round the corner during that time, so this restaurant too was in Halloween mood

We seated at the far end, cuddled around the fire place that was at the centre of the table. The beauty of Korean cuisine is that the food is cooked at the table itself and you nibble on food straight out of the hot pan.

The romance starts as soon as (banchan) small side dishes start appearing on the table, among which there are lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, green onion salad (called paieori) and sauces.

We started to nibble on side dishes when the waitress arrived, placed a big shiny pan on fire place in the centre of the table. She puts the oil and then the marinated meat and mixed vegetables, stir fried the veggies as we sat munching on delicious kimchi pancake, that was served on our plates. I would highly recommend these pancakes for its texture and flavor.

Soon the pan fried pork belly with vegetables ( Ohsum Bikkeum) were simmering on the center tables and we began to pluck out the pieces of the cooked pork and vegetables straight from the pan. Hot and spicy, they tasted so good.

Kids wanted to eat Yakshu Bulgogi. This is the most popular variety of Korean bbq. Before cooking, the meat is marinated with the mixture of soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pepper. A perforated dome griddles are place over centre fireplace at the table, and meat is roasted over it, while the soup and juices slide towards the cupped edges. You take the pieces of cooked meat, dip into the sauce and savour it.

Since they ordered beef, I did not eat it, but from the contentments (of oohs and aahs) from the girls, I can assure you that it must have been quite tasty. I was then informed that it’s most famous dish ‘Bulgogi’ had won ‘The Culture Trip’s New York Local Favorite 2015 Award.

Steak was another dish I missed out although it looked juicy and tender. There were roasted vegetables like apples and corn paired with this dish.

A vegetarian dish was made for me on another table, I did not watch her make but the sauces were sacculent and tasty

We were in the restaurant for over two hours, eating at slow pace, enjoying every moment. It was warm inside and the food was hot, spicy and tasty. When we got up to go out, we was greeted with strong gust of icy wind, we then realized, that choosing Korean cuisine was a wise decision on a cold day like this…….