People often hear Cabramatta and think of gang wars and heroin shakes (yes, I've been asked if Cabramatta actually sells heroin shakes. No, it does not). A lot has changed since the 90's, and mind you that was almost 20 years ago! Today it is known as a hustle and bustle Vietnamese community with great cheap eats. On the other side of Cabramatta station away from the crowds is Iron Chef, a yum cha and Chinese restaurant which my family and I frequent. The food is always fresh and just does it for us.
My bestest friends, whom I met up with in Europe, had just arrived home after a long 4 month trip of barely any Asian food. Of course our home town was the best place to get our Asian fix, and you can't ever go wrong with yum cha.
Fung jao
Steamed chicken claws with chilli black bean sauce. Def not one for the light hearted, but a very common dish found at yum cha restaurants in Aus and in Asia. The sauce makes it more bearable and it's quite a fun dish to eat.
Pai gwut
Pork spare ribs with garlic and black bean sauce. Juicy pork pieces that are very flavoursome and would be happy with this dish, some veg and rice for dinner.
Har cheung - steamed flour rolls w king prawns
Steamed flour rolls with king prawns are a must have at yum cha. With a silky pastry dipped, or drenched, in some light soy and lots of chilli sauce it's a whole lot of slurpy goodness. There are also other variations of this with different fillings, such as, bbq pork, beef mince and plain vegetarian.
Goa choy gow
Fried calamari
Crispy fried tentacles lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Sometimes they can be a bit chewy and oily, but perhaps we went during a good day because it was fresh, crispy and very had to resist.
Ja leung - steamed flour roll w dough fritter
Similar to the king prawn version except filled with dough fritter. This is made to order as if the dough is kept wrapped in the flour rolls then it will go soggy and loses its appeal. The garnish of spring onions and dipped in light soy sans chilli, this is one of my favourite dishes. The soft silky roll and the crunchy fritter is a match made by the food gods.
Ham soi gok
This must of been our lucky day at yum cha! All the food was fresh and hot, including this deep fried footballs filled with pork mince and seafood. The dough is crunchy and gooey and sweet, if you haven't tried one I urge you to. The combination of textures and flavours makes this another favourite.
Siu Mai
Who goes to yum cha and not order siu mai? No one, that is who. Pork and prawn dumpling wrapped in wonton style wrappers, this staple dish will always be on the table and no one will ever complain.
Har Gow
Large king prawn filled dumplings wrapped in a silky clear pastry. Best eaten with soy and lots of chilli. Some times they can be over steamed causing the pastry to stick to each other and the dumpling to fall apart, but today was not one of those days.
Choy sum
Chinese brocolli wok cooked and served with oyster sauce(?) and soy. Sometimes a bit oily, but at least we are eating our veg.
Steamed custard buns
They didn't have any mango pancakes left so I settled for some steamed custard buns. They are very hot and can burn your tongue though, so be warned! The bun is soft and fluffy and the filling of custard oozes out as you break the bun in half. It is also not too sweet and sickening.
It it a lot more easier to find parking being on the quieter side of Cabramatta. They have their own private car park, but if it is full there is a multi level that has opened up in Fisher Street that is free for the first 1-2 hours I think. The staff can be a bit pushy sometimes trying to make us order dishes we don't want, however the service is quick even on busy days. On weekends the line up could be up to 2 hours but because we had lunch on a weekday only half the restaurant was filled. The bill didn't total to too much from what I recall considering how much we ordered (there was multiples of one dish as well), and I left with a yum cha baby.
Labels: food