Foreign Correspondent: Duck King, Dubai

While happy to tread through a myriad of dining experiences around the world, wandering gastronomes occasionally crave the very best of their own cuisine.

And even though I ate my way through half of Shanghai in search of the same, the best hand-made Chinese noodles I've had were found in a tiny cafe in Burwood, New South Wales! Let's see what some fellow foodies have to say about Cantonese food in Dubai...

"You all know how much we love authentic Chinese food & am constantly on the hunt for quality Chinese restaurants here.

One glance at the menu & all was ok. You can just tell whether it's authentic Chinese food by the type of dishes. In this case it's Cantonese which is more familiar to us & our preferred Chinese flavour. The interior of the restaurant is contemporary, light, clean & stylish with open kitchen stations and an elevated view overlooking Jumeirah Beach Park & Beach Road. The service was a bit eager and formal, but a welcome change compared to the indifferent service attitudes at numerous Dubai eateries. We were advised that they have only been open for a month so perhaps the over-enthusiasm will settle down in time.
We started with three dim sum dishes of siew mai (partially wrapped dumplings of mushroom, chicken), har gao (white translucent dumplings of shrimp), and cheung fung (steamed soft folded rice paper roll with diced duck, although we did order minced beef). All dishes were freshly steamed in a separate kitchen station and absolutely delicious.

We couldn't go to the Duck King without, naturally, sampling its namesake meat.
We ordered a two combination BBQ platter consisting of roast duck & char siew BBQ chicken. Oh the duck! Crispy crispy crackling skin, succulent moist fragrant meat. Duck is one of my favourite luxurious meats & have craved a properly roasted Chinese-style duck for months. The chicken was less successful, a bit too much sauce and paled in comparison to the duck. Another winner was the stir fried asparagus with garlic. The stalks still had that slight satisfying crunch and the necessary glossy sheen to the asparagus. I was advised that this was a sign of a skilled chef to be able to lightly coat the vegetables without it wallowing in a pool of oil on the plate.

We were both overwhelmed by the dim sum & main dishes, but of course, there is always room for sweets. I was reluctant to order a dessert of my own, but after browsing the dessert menu, my dear husband advised that he would gladly eat both portions & I could just have a bite to taste. So we ordered an intriguing dish of avocado, banana & red bean rolls wrapped in stringy pastry, deep fried to a golden crisp and served warm with vanilla ice cream on the side; as well as a lemon jello consisting of a scoop of tangy lemon sorbet balanced on top of assorted diced fruits suspended in pale yellow jelly. Both desserts were surprisingly successful and the fried red bean rolls were boldly declared as the 'best dessert he had ever eaten'. I questioned his statement quite seriously as we have eaten in a number of outstanding reputable restaurants in several countries, let alone the high calibre of fine dining food options in this city. But I was left sipping my jasmine tea in amazement as he confirmed his allegiance to the red bean rolls.

Duck King, operated by the Bin Hendi group, is not a fine dining Chinese
restaurant & thankfully the prices are quite reasonable. A serve of three siew mai dumplings is about Dhs 20, a bowl of sliced duck noodle soup is about Dhs 50, & the two BBQ combination platter was Dhs100 & enough for two to trhee diners. I would assume the seafood dishes to be more expensive. Given its location & neighbouring eateries in the Plaza, we may not have tried this restaurant at all except for a high recommendation from a colleague who has already eaten here twice. The restaurant will deliver, but unfortunately they don't have take away menus or have an online menu yet."

Duck King http://www.binhendi.com/v2/duckking.htm&gt
Level 1
Beach Park Plaza (opposite Jumeirah Beach Park)
Jumeirah Beach Road
T 04 342 8041
Open 7 days 11am to dinner

If you'd like to ask "Cookie" about living and eating out in Dubai, please leave a comment :)

Happy New Year...with oliebollen

The last two weeks have been spent holidaying around WA with family visiting from Queensland. We decided to spend the last lazy day of 2009 at Floreat Beach. Next time you're thataway, swing past the Kiosk for some fresh, crispy fish n chips, their smoked chicken and roast pumpkin salads.

Afterwards, what to do! We decided to spend the afternoon making oliebollen, during which we rang my (Dutch) mother-in-law, who was delighted and promptly asked us for the recipe!
We told her to google it, but here's our recipe, modified as we went.

15 minutes prep time, 60 minutes rising time, 15 minutes cooking time

INGREDIENTS
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tspn yeast
1 1/2 cups warm milk (375ml)

3-3 1/2 cups flour + pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten

approx 100 grams dried fruit of choice
(I used sultanas n apples)

Icing sugar
Oil to fry (I used 2L canola in a large pot)

METHOD
Warm oven while preparing ingredients.
In small bowl, dissolve sugar, yeast and milk. Let sit for 3 minutes. Switch oven off, place bowl in oven for 5 minutes to rise.
Place flour and salt in large bowl, form a well, add yeast mixture.
Work dough gently, gradually mixing in flour and eggs.
Dough should be easily moulded with spoons; add flour if yeast mixture was very liquid.
Cover bowl with damp towel and leave to rise in warm place (1 hr or till doubled in volume).
Heat oil in deep pot.
Punch down dough and mix dried fruit through.
Make balls about 2 T large and fry till brown (abt 10 mins on largest gas burner turned to medium heat).
Drain on paper towels and dust / roll in icing sugar to serve.

We put them in brown paper bags and made the family eat them outside! Oh what sticky happiness, I love being able to draw from a mixed heritage for holiday traditions!

That's my 'oliebloggin' for the morning :)
Do try, apparently it's traditional to make them till the 6th, not just for new year!