Because I'm unable to concentrate on any one topic, I've decided to start using this blog to keep a semi-regular account of my gastronomic adventures.
Well. I say adventures. I'm pretty sure going to a Chinese supermarket isn't actually an adventure.
But gods does it feel like its magic.
The magic shop is one of the nicknames me and my wife have for Wing Yip, the Chinese supermarket down in Croydon. It's also known as the happy place.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we first went there. I'd been there, a long time before, but without knowing quite how to take full advantage. We went there mainly to stock up on sauces but I quickly realised the best way to take proper advantage. And that is starters.
The starters section is undoubtedly the best part of any Chinese menu, which is undoubtedly the best type of takeaway menu. Unfortunately, that stuff gets expensive very fast.
Enter Wing Yip and its big freezer full of takeaway starters.
I forget just how much the big box of sesame prawn toast was, but it was three portions worth for about one portion's worth of a takeaway. What's more, eating them fresh from the oven meant they tasted a hell of a lot better. Ditto with the duck spring rolls. Its made celebrating Chinese new year - by which I mean eating all the Chinese food - a hell of a lot better in every possible way.
I think the only way to get sesame prawn toast better is to be in a good restaurant and get them done really well. That's what we did last time we went to the happy place and popped into Tai Tung, the restaurant next door. The sesame prawn toast there was perfectly crunchy and succulent at the same time. The real big discovery there was cheung fun, a steamed rice noodle roll that was beautifully seasoned and with just the right amount of resistance.
Anyway, that's it for now. In future, there will be recipes, the Jamie Oliver 15 minute meal drinking game, meals around London, all the rest of it... but for now, happy Year of the Dog.
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