Quite often, fusion dishes can be very off-kilter in terms of ingredients clashing and jarring once tickled your taste-buds. On this occasion, I was faced with a dilemma of choosing between something traditionally British of the roast variety, or to have something Chinese to see in the New Year. I chose to try and sate both needs in one dish and think it came off rather well. The dish is essentially roasted beef sausages (you can use roast beef – which would probably be just as satisfying), with a giant Yorkshire pudding and oriental greens in a spiced gravy. Trust me, it worked. What you Need (to make two portions): 4-6 Beef Sausages 1 pak choi, washed and shredded 2 stems of celery, chopped coarsely small handful of Mange Tout 1 green pepper 1 red chilli, sliced finely 1 clove garlic, chopped finely or minced For the batter: 150ml whole milk 3-4 eggs pinch of sugar pinch of salt 110g of plain white flour 1 tsp szechuan pepper ½ tsp black pepper Beef Dripping and vegetable oil for cooking For the Gravy: Stock made from the vegetable off cuts (100ml) 1 beef stock cube 2 bay leaves 2 tsp dark soy 1 tsp light soy 1 tsp szechuan pepper ½ tsp Chinese five-spice 1 tsp rice vinegar additional water or stock to loosen as required What to do: 1. Prepare the Pudding batter at least 90 minutes before cooking, combine all the ingredients and fold into one another without being too rough, once homogenised, leave in the refrigerator for at least 60 mins. Take this out and allow to reach room temperature before cooking. 2. Roast the sausages in the oven at 225 C until dark brown, set aside or leave in oven to cook with the Yorkshire puddings which are ready around 20-30 minutes after putting in the oven at the highest setting, ensuring the pudding trays are hot before adding the batter – this is crucial!! Use a liberal amount of beef dripping and the vegetable oil in the pudding trays, heat these up on a hob until smoking and ensure they are hot all over before adding the batter mix equally between two 6-7” pie dishes/pudding trays. The puddings are done once they have risen and are dark brown and golden all over where you can see. 3. Stir fry the vegetables, doing the celery first over a medium heat in a pan or wok, add the garlic and chilli followed by the other vegetables one at a time, not over cooking and allowing them to retain a crunch and freshness. Add the pak choi last, turning off the heat and immediately place a lid over the top, allowing the vegetables to steam. 4. Pour the stock (made from boiling the offcuts of the vegetables and the bay leaves for 15 mins if you don’t have prepared stock) into a saucepan and simmer with the stock cube, soy and szechuan pepper until reduced and thickened, you can use a roux or browning to thicken the sauce if you want plenty of gravy. Turn off the heat once your preferential consistency is almost reached and add the rice vinegar and five spice, stir these in whilst the gravy is still hot and serve immediately by pouring over the sausages, veg and pudding. Satisfyingly earthy, meaty, tasty and fresh. Enjoy and feel free to share any anecdotes of attempts below the line! Pedro. x
3 Comments
Following many visits to Matou, eating well-cooked food and staring across the River Mersey, I decided to take the latest visit as an excuse to assess with intent. The location of Matou is undeniably an attractive one, sitting proud on the Pier Head where a Chinese Restaurant atop a ferry terminal building once stood. The plush and comfortable surroundings within Matou and along with an unadulterated view of the 3 graces from its balcony make an excellent place to await a table with a drink or two, with no mean competency in the cocktail department from the bar. Perhaps this behaviour is best reserved for better evenings when the Atlantic is forgiving and the sun is shining. Dark wood, brushed steel, occasional mosaic tiled pillars and no small amount of glass to afford the estuarine vista are the order of the day in Matou; splashes of colour are here and there giving a strangely relaxing ambience to the restaurant. The service was good, although having to squeeze onto a table not designed for our party was a little uncomfortable, with booking a table one should not really have to deal with a chair placed at the end almost as an afterthought; playing footsie is not really at the forefront of my mind whilst eating out. The broad menu is daunting for those of an indecisive nature, courting the influences of China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam; this can lead to some difficulty with less opinionated dining companions. Within the starters are a number of soups, platters and small plates; which provided our group with deep fried calamari, a warming coconut based seafood broth, chicken strips cooked in salt and pepper and Sui Mai. All were to all intents and purposes, cooked excellently with the calamari seasoned well, soft and no hint of rubber band with a clean snap from the tender and sweet squid. The chicken was tender and juicy within a crisp and grease-free batter. Alas there is no true blast of flair within any of the dishes in this area of the menu, no spark of innovation or push from the kitchen to hoist the menu beyond the above average. The main courses indeed cover the usual Asian menu staples of curries, noodles, sweet and sour salads, steak and fish cooked in fragrant or pungent styles yet it all feels somehow undeniably safe. The presentation is excellent, although perhaps some of the faded logos on the plates are best consigned to retirement. Speaking of the specific dishes, the steaks ordered within the party were cooked perfectly, Sirloin and Fillet cooked respectively in soy, chilli and coriander and a peppercorn sauce are strong dishes to compliment a menu with a little more adventure than could be advised here. The steaks were both succulent and smoky-sweet benefiting from the fresh Asiatic flavour combinations, a clean dipping sauce with the sirloin to cut through rich fat flavour. Other dishes were met with pleased hungry silence and a raised smile, none moreso than the Korean Duck cooked to a slight pink sweetness, alas there was no adulation. The one true highlight of the menu was the Penang spiced Lambshank nestling between green shards of crisp pak choi and daring us to tease it from the bone; all nutty sweet sauce with just a buzz of chilli heat drizzled over the heavy and comforting tang of slow cooked lamb. A hint of umami creeps through the sauce in the form of a gentle pulse of fish sauce or shrimp paste. By the arrival of the desserts, leaving enough time to enjoy the Mersey view and the busy Wirral docks, some slight fatigue had set in from the relatively generous portion sizes, leaving the feeling of apprehension as the plate was delivered. The banana fritters with a delightful brandy snap basket full of vanilla ice cream were warming, crisp and caramel sweet as to really upset one’s dentist. Alas the cheesecake presented as a tropical fruit encore was little more than a wholesale bought vanilla cake sitting on chocolate smears and dressed in mango puree, something of a cop out at this stage of a meal.
Whilst an overall pleasant experience, it somehow feels like an opportunity has been missed, the location and setting lays out a scene for something potentially explosive. A solid standard of cooking and slightly elevated prices for similar dishes elsewhere leave the feeling of Matou falling somewhat short of a mark it has set itself through endeavours elsewhere. Pedro. ------------------------------------------- Matou Pan-Asian Restaurant, 2nd Floor, Mersey Ferry Terminal Building, Georges Parade, Pier Head, Liverpool L3 1BY Web: http://www.matou.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/matourestaurant Telephone: 0151 236 2928 |
Archives
April 2022
Archives
April 2022
Click ^ the RSS Feed to follow me
Categories
All
|