Asian Garden Market Graze + Giveaway!

Disclaimer: I was invited to this complimentary preview of the Asian Garden Market Graze by Centro

I have been living in Australia for the past 15 years with my family and as my family are passionate about cooking, particularly Asian food, the Box Hill market is a very familiar place to me. Mind you, I've never personally shopped much here myself, especially in the more recent years. My parents still come by, probably once a week at least still! 

So although I am somewhat familiar with Box Hill market, and where things are, I was still quite intrigued when I was offered a preview of the Asian Garden Market Graze event for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (which has passed already). A tour and a meal by James Tan, restauranteur extraordinaire? Sign me up!

We gathered at our little meeting area, set up next to Grain Asian Cafe, one of the busiest cafes in the market. Although that didn't stop the manager trying to come over and tell us to do a write up about them! 

The itinerary of the day was an hour long tour around the market, before settling down into lunch. 

It was an absolute pleasure meeting James Tan, soft spoken but smiley and with a lively look in his eyes, he enjoyed nothing more than talking food! And why not? He's got quite a history with it, haven opened a number of restaurants including The Mandarin Duck and Magic City, but also consulted for Mandarin Hotel around South East Asia, showcasing his cooking at numerous 'Chef's Table' promotions. What an honour to be getting served a meal by him!

James commented that 20 years ago, he would have never shopped at Box Hill, it was a bit seedy, a bit grungy, but now Box Hill Market is one of the busiest food markets in Melbourne! It has 25 million customers every year, and I don't doubt that this number continues to grow. It's the sort of place where shops don't often change hands, and are owned by the same people for many, many years. 

Box Hill has thrived as a produce market, because the shopkeepers, and their customers, want the top quality produce, but are also incredibly price conscious and therefore, very competitive. Which basically means that it's good for us! 

We got a peek at everything, from the dried herbs and Chinese medicine stalls, where you can buy things by the kilo, or pre packed if you're a little unsure, to the fresh produce, the meats and even the sweets. I will never cease to be amazed by the things that Asians seem to discover we can eat. Sun dried crocodile meat anybody? 

I think what I enjoyed most about James taking us around the market, was being able to meet the managers of the stores, find out their stories and the general emphasis on developing a relationship with the people you buy from, which I thought was wonderful. 

I think maybe from having lived in Hong Kong before, my impression of Asian storekeepers was that they're kind loud, maybe a bit brash and to a little kid, a little bit scary. But this trip around Box Hill showed exactly the opposite. All smiles, a little camera shy and entirely accommodating to any requests or questions we had. 

The manager of Central Meats has been there for 8 years, it's where we got our wagyu for lunch, from Sher wagyu, the first breeders in Australia (Victoria?) to trace the genetics of their cow back to the oldest breed in Japan. 

Mandy looks after one of the poultry shops, which even stock some crocodile should you be in the mood for that!

Elaine owns the Fish Market stall and has been in her spot in Box Hill for 30 years, originating from Singapore, before migrating to the states for a bit and then settling in Australia. Whilst there is a beautiful spread of seafood out, with the fish looking all gorgeously fresh, she still keeps some of the higher value stuff out back, so it's always worth asking if you don't see what you're after straight away!

Although Yang Yang, an Asian grocer, is the highest turning Asian grocer in Victoria, James personally shops at Tan Hung Asian Grocery. It's family run and owned, and he generally finds them more accommodating, turning to them to look for fresh coconuts for us to drink afterwards! 

If you're looking for something on the run, the food court offerings in Centro are actually pretty decent, with stalls offering freshly made steamed buns, and all sorts of Asian nibbles such as tripe and ox tongue! Or crepes. That's only if offal is not so much your thing. 

Totally didn't realise I could get tendon on a stick in the food court. Excellent...

After our market tour, we took our seat back in front of our little demo kitchen, which was an interesting experience. I loved the blatant curiosity that people in the centre had, with many coming up to the table to look at what we were eating, or poking their noses over our shoulders to have a look at the menu. Kind of a weird experience, but kind of cute at the same time!

Watching James Tan plate and prepare our food was a rather zen like experience. I'm not sure how he was so calm as I'm normally like a hurricane in the kitchen, running around from pantry to stove to computer. However with James, it was a rather tidy and efficient affair. 

Rock lobster with jellyfish salad, with a bit of palm sugar, chilli and lime was just perfect for the warm summery Saturday it was. Sweet and refreshing, the small handful of rocket underneath gave a nice roundness to the otherwise light flavours. Beautifully balanced.

We were then teased with beautiful inch thick slabs of Sher wagyu, and drooled over the beautiful marbling. 

Served with Asian mushrooms and a light dose of sake, soy and truffle oil, our pieces of wagyu were perfectly pink through the middle. Just totally dreamy and tender pieces of meat, with again, delicate and elegant flavours, although earthy and rounded as well. I was honestly amazed at how well balanced James had balanced all the flavours out. 

I love watching chefs have a good time with whatever it is they're making!

For dessert we had a black rice pudding with fruits and coconut anglaise. Apparently, or so James tells us, black rice was only served to royalty! Or maybe he's just trying to impress us lady bloggers? Hmmm. 

Regardless, this is one of James's signature dishes, dating all the way back to the 80s for him. It was served  warm, and whilst I'm quite fond of black rice dessert dishes, I adored this interpretation. The black rice was gorgeously nutty, whilst the abundance of glazed fruits gave it a lovely sweetness. I especially enjoyed the addition of ginger, which gave it an additional warmth. The coconut anglaise was so smooth, not overly sweet or overpowering. 

Some of the other bloggers commented that it tasted like an Asian version of Christmas pudding…that'd be about right!

I very much enjoyed the tour and the meal we had with James Tan, and getting to learn more about the market a little more intimately. Although the event for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival has already passed (the event sold out!), Centro is planning to make this a bi-annual event so keep an eye out for another tour sometime in August at http://www.centroboxhill.com.au/ if you'd like to check it out!

Don't forget to check out The Pink Leopard and Second Helping's posts about the tour as well!

In the meantime…I have a little giveaway for you guys! It's been a while since one of these happened, let's see if I remember how this goes!

GIVEAWAY!

Centro Box Hill is kindly offering a $100 EFTpos voucher. ONE HUNDRED DOLLA! (I'm Asian, I'm totally allowed to do that.)

This EFTpos voucher can be used in any of the stores in Centro Box Hill that accepts EFTpos, which is just about all the stores and the fresh food market retailers! 

You could spend it on clothes, or maybe just treat yourself to some extra nice produce for a special meal. Sher wagyu anyone…?

To enter, simply leave me a comment before Wednesday the 13th of March midday, and let me know your favourite ingredient to cook with and you'll be in the draw! I like to keep it simple folks! Make sure you leave me a working and active email that you check regularly, as I will need to contact you if you win and get your address so your voucher can be sent to you! 

And with that, happy commenting guys! 

Just a few extra things! This giveaway is limited to residents in Melbourne, one entry per person and more comments does not give extra chances to be in the draw! If you are drawn as winner and do not respond to my email for your address within 3 days I will be contacting the next person drawn to offer the voucher to.

UPDATE! THE WINNER IS...



Ross Shaw! Congrats! Will be in contact with you soon! :)

Babu Burger with Balls

I've fallen into the busy trap again. Work all day, run out most nights to one event or dinner or other such thing, come home, sleep, repeat. Don't get me wrong, I do love being busy, better busy than bored is a saying I tend to use, but I hate when I'm struggling to find evenings to fit in with Brad. 

So I've been noticing the past few weeks, Brad has actually been suggesting we go out and get dinner a little more often than he used to, when we do have the time. Or well, he used to always say that he's happy to go out or stay in, not really siding one way or the other, but lately, it's more just 'I'm happy to go out'. 

You have to watch out for those small things! 

Naturally, I have been taking advantage of this, but being aware that our America trip is on the horizon, have been keeping our eating out adventures on the more low key side, which suits him better anyway! 

One of these dinner excursions was out to Babu, or the full name, Babu Burger with Balls. Alliteration rocks! I had spotted this burger joint when we walked by it on the way back to the car on our visit to Yellow Bird, and as stupid as it is, loved the bearded hipster logo. I know, I shouldn't like anything hipster, as hipster is so blase these days, but I can't help it. Shush.

I was amazed it was actually table service upon walking in, I had thought it would have been smiler to Grill'd (on the other side of the road no doubt), but nope, sit down, receive a menu, chill out. 

I kind of loved the concept at Babu, you can construct your burger (or set of balls) yourself, deciding on the size of the patty (150g, 220g or 300g) and all of the fillings. Each burger already comes with lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion, but with a giant range of additional fillings, it took forever for Brad and I to decide what to put in each of our burgers! 

First thing first though. Wedges. Awesome. Was full after the burger but couldn't stop eating them!

In my excitement in 'designing' my own burger, I totally forgot to request a gluten free bun. Doh! Nevermind, sacrifices can be made! I got a 220 gram piece of beef (as I thought I was hungry), with caramelised onions, blue cheese and mushrooms. Um. Why have I not realised how amazing blue cheese is in burgers before? I recoiled in sheer delight at the sweetness the blue cheese gave to the beef, yelling at Brad why he hadn't told me of this before (not that it was his fault, but I felt the need to blame someone) and promptly devouring all of the deliciousness. 

The burgers at Babu are made of steak quality Victorian beef, that's minced and handmade daily on site, and for me it shows, I had my burger cooked medium (I think?) and I loved how it was still pink, juicy and so sweet inside. Although the meat itself wasn't too seasoned, I just really enjoyed how beefy it was in general. Mmm. Cow.

Reckon my burger was a handful? Want to see a 300 gram-mer? Yeah you know you do.

Brad thought he was hungry. Thought he was. But I guess neither of us really anticipated exactly how big the 300g burger would be…with an egg, and beetroot and I'm not sure what else he put in there.

Kind of beastly. It's like an inch and a half of burger. I couldn't stop laughing.

I laughed even harder when he actually constructed the burger and made the leaning tower of beef. 

Brad being a bit stubborn as he is, ended up finishing it all but was convinced we was going to give birth to a cow by the end of the night. And I thought I was a whiner! 

We both really enjoyed Babu and the offerings there, it made for a slightly nicer 'date' environment than Grill'd might and I personally enjoyed the flavours and burger customisation quite a lot, although I guess some people might prefer just to show up and not have to think too hard. 

Our meal, with two beers, came to about $55 or so, which I thought was pretty good value, considering how much beef was in our burgers and all the toppings we had as well, so would only be more than happy to visit again. 

And although both of us were groaning of cow induced fulfilment, I still marched us down to Hobba (in an attempt to work off what we ate) to tuck into a hokey pokey ice-cream sundae with banana and peanut brittle caramel. 

I think Brad had two bites. I ate the rest. Being a fatty is so good some nights….

Babu Burger with Balls

156 Chapel Street

Windsor 3181

View I'm So Hungree in a larger map

Tasmania - Port Arthur

After attending Brad's friend's wedding in Launceston in December, we jumped into our hired car, and drove through the midland highways to get to Port Arthur, around 3 to 4 hours away. 

Port Arthur is a pretty small town on the Tasman Peninsula, there's not much around here, but it is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas, as it is part of the Australian Convict Sites. Between 1833 and 1853 the meanest of the British convicts were sent here for heavy labour at the granary.

 

It's much nicer these days, and not as inescapable as it was for the convicts back then. Brad and I only stayed two nights here, as we didn't expect to really need much time, nor expect to do much. However, when checking into Taranna Cottages, the owner pointed out loads of interesting hikes and additional historical sites we hadn't even considered or thought of. We didn't even make it around the whole of the peninsula as we were quite content being busy with just the side we were on! 

Be warned though, if you don't have Telstra, you won't have any cellphone coverage whilst in Port Arthur. Both our phones (we are with Virgin) only had SOS available! But having said that, it was super nice being able to unplug from the world for a little while. 

We stayed at Taranna Cottages, at around $100 a night, I was incredibly happy with what we got. Great location, super cosy, rustic and incredibly spacious! 

It was so cold, especially in the evenings while we were there, that both nights we (or actually just me, Brad tried to help but I was far better at it!) made a fire in the fireplace. 

Glass of wine, bit of trashy tv, wooly blankets and a roaring fire. Really, there's no better way to end your day. 

It's even nicer when you keep the fire going all night, and as you bundle under the covers to sleep, there's still a warm amber glow and gentle crackle as the fire very slowly fizzles out. 

The next morning we went to the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park, which was literally just 500 metres down the road from us. 

It seemed a bit expensive to get in, at around $30 a person, but I was surprised at the value I got out of it. We ended up spending 3 to 4 hours quite comfortably here and we got some amazingly up close encounters with the devils and a range of other local wildlife, I went wild with my camera! Watching the devils feed is mildly grotesque (wallaby head anybody?) but absolutely hilarious as well, as they chased each other around the habitat for ages!

It's sad to know that the devil population is struggling, due largely to the facial tumour disease which is incredibly contagious and spread most commonly by the devils biting each other. The tumours then develop on the devil's faces and make it difficult to eat. They usually die a couple of months later, due to starvation. When watching the devils interact at the park, it's easy to see how it can spread so quickly, as they do have short tempers and a tendency to bite each other to communicate quite frequently. 

The devils at the park are fortunately all very happy, and money from the entrance fee goes into research projects to hopefully solve the problem.

Now if you're ever out in this neck of the woods, you absolutely must go visit this one food truck, for possibly some of the best fish and chips I've ever had. 

I know, I didn't believe it either when the owner of Taranna Cottages told me about it, but with a claim like that I had to at least try them right?

DOO-Lishus, located in Doo Town (I'm dead serious), in the carpark of the Pirates Bay Blowhole/Fossil Bay lookout, is the fish and chip truck with all your fresh and local seafood needs covered. If nothing else, you really just need to drive through Doo Town to have a chuckle at all the pun inspired businesses. Dr Doo-little anyone?

Oysters. Half a dozen. $6.50. I couldn't believe it. They were cool, so sweet and so fresh. I couldn't believe how delicious they were. So I can't believe I didn't have more, especially when they were that cheap. What the heck was wrong with me?!

Maybe I was too busy tucking into scallop pie, that was warm, with flaky pastry and delicious curried scallops inside. I'm not into meat pies (I know so un-aussie of me), but I do love this ocean inspired pie!

Am I missing something? Oh, fish and chips. Duh. Delicious. Not your typical beer battered fish, instead they were kind of bread crumbed I think? Made me think of a chicken schnitzel. It was crispy on the outside and lovingly moist on the inside. Loved. 

Can't leave without dessert. So pile on that berry puree and ice-cream on top of those berries and let me pretend that I'm healthy because fruits are good for you right? 

Fossil Bay is beautiful.

Port Arthur, the convict heritage area itself, is fascinating. A lot of the buildings remain and you have to wonder how people could be so inhumane to other people. The cells that the convicts were kept in were absolutely tiny! The 'quiet' prison is particularly confronting, as it houses a single cell where convicts could be put in to be completely deprived of all their senses. Three doors sealed this room so no light could get in, the walls were so thick so you couldn't hear anything, I couldn't walk all the way in as it totally creeped me out. Legally, they were able to keep men for a month in here! A whole month!

Conveniently they built an asylum next door and ferried those that did go pretty crazy over. Hmmm. 

There's a lot more stories, but far too many for a single blog post. Worth a visit? I'd reckon, we spent about half a day there, although if we had more time, I'm pretty sure we could have filled it comfortably as well. 

We made a friend on the way out at the carpark!

Before we left, we stopped by the Federation Chocolate factory, where you can get loads of samples of some of their goodies. Family owned, they've been making chocolate at this factory since 2004. Their apple flavoured chocolate is particularly intriguing! 

All up, I really enjoyed Port Arthur. As mentioned earlier, it was kind of nice not to be able to check on social media, see what the world was doing and just enjoy each other's company a little bit more. It was interesting to see some of the convict history and learn more about the country's caucasian roots, as well as learn about the wildlife. 

Unfortunately in Port Arthur (or at least on the east side of the island) there's not a whole lot going on with food, apart from the amazing fish and chip truck which I dream fondly of. We did have a funny encounter at Fox and Hound though, which we went for dinner one night. I asked what flavour ice-cream they had for dessert and was told they don't have any flavours, just 'plain ice-cream'.

Plain ice-cream? God, I laughed so hard. Vanilla is a flavour now, come on!