Chanhouse

January 31, 2025

   

We enthusiastically accepted our friend Nat's invitation to join her and Ben at Chanhouse to try their special yum cha menu in celebration of Lunar New Year ($48 per person). Chanhouse was barely on our radar; it's a vegan, allium-free and alcohol-free Chinese restaurant in a modest shopping strip within residential Doncaster. Inside it's cute and comfortable, and we were happy to put ourselves in their hands with the set menu.

   

The staff rapidly served a first pot of Chinese tea and kept it replenished throughout the meal. Shark fin-style soup followed soon after, gently salty and flecked with tofu threads.

   

Then came plump crystal dumplings and steamed siu mai stuffed with mock pork, both tender and savoury.

   

I think I clapped my hands at the arrival of the turnip cake, with its thin crisp char on the outside and soft, velvety centre - this one included a bit of mock ham.

   

The fried dumpling was my favourite dish of the night - the golden-fried exterior gave way to a thick rice dough layer with a real chew to it, then a molten mock meat centre. It had a surprising sweetness to it!

   

The sweet & sour fried gluten was a novel rendition for us - the gluten was very soft, airy and absorbent, the least dense mock meat I've ever encountered. It had soaked up much of the sauce, which was translucent and brightly tangy.

   

The salad prawn rolls were crunchy-battered, Nat's favourite of the night as they brought her back to the seafood sticks she enjoyed as a youngster.

   

I was more fond of the fried taro dumplings with their delicate, lacy shell and sweet starchy centre.

   

By this time I was very satisfied, and it was difficult for me to imagine digging into the rice rolls. These tender layered pillows went down surprisingly easy thanks to a dark, mushroomy sauce and we cleared the plate.

   

The finishig jellyish ginger cake was more texture than flavour, and a little fruit was the best possible way to cap off an incredible feast. We were all delighted by this meal and the friendly, well-coordinated service we received. I'm looking forward to any opportunity we get to try Chanhouse's standard a la carte menu.

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Chan House

21 Rosella St, Doncaster East

8806 9056

Lunar New Year menu

https://chanhouse.tuckerfox.com.au/

Accessibility: Chanhouse has a narrow, shallow ramp on entry. Furniture is regular height with backed chairs with a mixture of dense and generous spacing throughout. We ordered at the table and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Tofu Shoten

January 18, 2025

   

I've been following Tofu Shoten on instagram since they were based in West Melbourne and I'm embarrassed about just how long it's taken us to visit. In the end we found the ideal time for it: a sunny Saturday, peckish for an early lunch, with bags and list ready for some grocery shopping.

   

As their website so succinctly puts it, there's "tofu for home and snacks for now". Making great tofu is where it all starts, then that process generates soy milk, which might be flavoured with red sugar, black sesame or matcha, and okara, which is mixed into biscuit sandos in a rotation of flavours. Tofu is packed up for sale at varying densities; sometimes smoked, fried or formed into savoury balls. Soft tofu is made into desserts and the scraps are transformed into tofu donuts. Everything is connected and everything is tofu! Many, but not all, things are vegan and gluten-free and the labelling is pretty clear.

   

While Tofu Shoten doesn't offer any seating, those of us ordering snacks for now can ferry them just a few steps north to the public seating along the side of the Brunswick Library. Our two hot parcels of tofu nuggets ($10 each) had us both ecstatic - the nuggets are soft-centred (but not entirely silken), golden-fried on the outside, and generously dusted in the most exquisite, gently-spicy seasoning. The accompanying vegan tartare sauce I chose ranks among my all-time best tartare experiences; Michael's mango sweet & sour sauce was also excellent. The nuggets' one challenge is that they're a bit too large and hot to eat in a single bite, and a bit too delicate and hot to bite through and hold half of.

   

For dessert, Michael had eyes only for the donuts ($5 each) and chose black sesame over kinako (roasted soybean powder). He described the donut as dense, filling and only subtly sweet (all intended as compliments).

   

I took my time over a hojicha tiramisu ($9) which layered chocolate sponge and chocolate soy milk mousse. The infusing hojicha (roasted green tea) was pretty subtle but I was delighted by the neat layers of contrasting texture and clean, true flavours.

   

We packed tofu balls ($4 each) and some jiggly smoked tofu ($11) into our bags and they later made their way into a huge batch of vegan char kway teow.

We love the Tofu Shoten ethos and we love their variety of foods! They'll definitely become a feature of our weekend errand runs.

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Tofu Shoten

6b Saxon St, Brunswick

https://tofushoten.square.site/

Accessibility: There's a narrow, flat entry and moderately narrow, flat interior bordered by display cabinets. All food and menus are visible from standing waist height. We ordered, paid and picked up our food from a low counter. We didn't seek out toilets.

Florentine slice

January 4-5, 2025 

   

Michael did some baking for work that left us with half a box of cornflakes. Once some spare time opened up on our summer break I was ready to do some baking of my own, and recalled that my mum had one or two cornflake-based recipes from the Beautiful Biscuits cookbook on regular rotation. When I opened up my op-shopped copy I learned that, in fact, cornflakes are one of the feature ingredients that the book is indexed by and there were six options to browse. I chose the Florentine slice - having had great success with a modernised, vegan version in the past couple of years I was ready to briefly revert to an older style.

As I often do, I made substitutions to suit what was already in my pantry - dried currants instead of sultanas, and salted roasted peanuts when unsalted were specified. I scaled the recipe to neatly use up the cornflakes on hand but have written up the original quantities below. I think I spread my reduced quantity over approximately the same-sized baking tray and as a consequence my slice was rather thin - the original intention is probably a slice 1.5-2 cm thick while mine was half that.  

Then there's the chocolate - even allowing for my quantity adjustment, I think there should be more of it and I've noted that below. The recipe has this slice constructed upside-down, with the melted chocolate being spread thinly across the papered tray and then the cornflake mixture pressed on top of it and baked! I suppose it might yield a smooth chocolate side, but the spreading seemed fraught and I was very unsure about baking the chocolate. I had good results baking the slice right-way-up, chocolate spread after baking, and that's the method I describe below.

Baking Florentines to just the right texture can be a challenge but this recipe worked well, with condensed milk acting as an easy binder and the cornflakes caramelising gorgeously under its glaze. I didn't much like glace cherries as a kid but I've unexpectedly developed a nostalgic fondness for them and I'm glad I used them here.

   

Florentine slice

(slightly adapted from a recipe in
The Australian Women's Weekly The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits)

3/4 cup sultanas or currants

2 cups (160g) crushed cornflakes

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

1/4 cup chopped glace cherries

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

185g dark chocolate, melted (consider increasing this)

Line a 19cm x 29cm walled baking tray with baking paper. Preheat an oven to 180°C.

In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients except for the chocolate. Press the mixture into the baking tray, using the back of a spoon to even it out and smooth it over as best you can. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the cornflakes have started to brown and smell great.

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method, then spread it evenly over the top of the slice. Allow the slice to cool and the chocolate to set before slicing and serving. 

Microwaved miso noodles

January 4, 2025

   

We had an 18-year break between microwaves, and just acquired a new one at the end of 2024. Johanna's post about microwaving udon noodles with miso and edamame arrived at the perfect moment, bringing together ingredients that we love to eat, all stored conveniently in the freezer and pantry and then heated in a matter of minutes. 

We ate our noodles with leftover sesame carrots and sliced satay tofu from the supermarket. Our primary adjustment was to use a little less miso as we found our first batch a bit too salty. There's plenty of flexibility in this recipe to throw in other frozen or leftover veges and sprinkle over seasonings - I'm sure we'll eat this recipe any number of ways throughout this year.

 

Microwaved miso noodles

(slightly adapted from a recipe we found on Green Gourmet Giraffe,

where it's credited to Okonomi Kitchen)

250g udon noodles, frozen or refrigerated

1/4 cup frozen edamame

1 scant tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 teaspoon tamari

1 teaspoon golden or other sweet syrup

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

anything you might like to sprinkle over: sesame seeds, shichimi togarashi, fried shallots, etc

Place the noodles and edamame in a microwave-safe container with a lid and a vent to let out steam, and microwave for 2.5 minutes. Stir in the miso, butter, tamari, syrup and garlic and microwave for a further 2 minutes. Stir again and serve, sprinkled with whatever you like.

where's the best in 2024?

   

Ima Asa Yoru

Having caught up on my 2024 blog posts, I'm ready to enter our favourite experiences of the year into our where's the best? page. The first, sad task is to delete any past faves that have permanently closed. In 2024 we said goodbye to a number of beloved veg*n businesses: the decades-old Shakahari, compact cuties New Day Rising, the Fitzroy outlet of mock meat maestros Vegie Mum, the comfy Carringbush Hotel, and our local lolly-pink vegan dessert nook Gloria. This Borderland have given us warning that 2025 will be their last year of trade, and there are rumours that Girls & Boys will soon be lost from the Vegie Bar empire, so we've still got a chance to appreciate them one last time.

We've had new experiences to recommend across all meals of the day: Holy Crumpets, Sani and especially Ima Asa Yoru in the morning; Luke's Bakery for banh mi; Super Norma for fast and fabulous pasta; Makan for a Friday night in the city; Veggie Chef and Vegan Heaven for meat mocking good times; Joanne's Pizzeria and Roti Road for the obvious. We've expanded our icecream adventures to the freaky Fluffy Torpedo and Filipino Kariton Sorbetes. We've seen old favourites in new light, adding cheap eat Mankoushe to our breakfast line-up, day-time diner True North to our low-cost dinner options, and marvelling at Etta's new chef and menu.

   

carrot peanut satay ramen

Over the past few years our home cooking seems to have mellowed, shifting towards simpler dishes. We've made repeat batches of carrot peanut satay ramen, cheesy baked rice cakes & kale, gochujang vodka rigatoni, seven spice chickpea stew, and peanut cucumber noodles. I can't help noticing how many of these recipes make use of Lunar Mart's excellent noodles, rice cakes and gochujang. I revisited nib & peel biscuits and gave them a proper post; I'll probably bake them again when my name rolls around on my workplace morning tea roster. Our most memorable bigger project was cascatelli with mushroom ragu, and I was also refreshed by the sweet/savoury blend of sautéed rhubarb & fior di latte dressed in peppercorn oil.

I've already got some 2025 eats that I'm excited to write up, and I've no doubt that there'll be plenty more to share throughout the year ahead.

   

sautéed rhubarb & fior di latte dressed in peppercorn oil