Behind The Scenes at David’s Restaurant & Redbean Kitchen + A Giveaway

Unlike the few open plan, full food porn in view kitchens, at most restaurants, you only hear the clanging, yelling and the usual hoo haa that goes on in the action room before your glorious meal arrives. I’ve done the odd waitering and kitchen hand job when I was younger, so I know first hand about the pressure of getting those dishes out on the pronto.

Note: this is NOT a paid advertorial. I was contacted a while ago about whether I was interested in showing a behind the scenes video on David’s Restaurant and Redbean Kitchen. I was more than happy to write about them as both blog posts have been sitting in my drafts for some time anyways. Plus, it helped that I was already a fan of both.

The two delicious eateries were participating in promoting the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival aka the Moon Festival that was celebrated on September 22. However, I was overseas at the time, so I didn’t get a chance to write a post about it nor did get the opportunity to join the day tour presented by James Lai of Redbean Kitchen at Centro, Box Hill. In this tour, James took a few guests through the fresh produce hotspots including my favourite Yang Yang Asian Grocer- I travel for their forest green bok choy, snake beans and to top up my chocolate and hazelnut Yan Yan supplies. Don’t you just love Yan Yan?!

Although I missed out on the tour, I thought I’d share some  interviews with David Zhou of David’s Restaurant  and James Lai of Redbean Kitchen as well as a look into their kitchens plus some delicious recipes. Better late than never right?!

David’s Restaurant

David’s Restaurant, famous for their Yum Cha, has also been awarded more than several Chef’s Hat in the The Age Good Food Guide. In this video, David Zhou talks about his restaurant beginnings, his views on the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and his Head Chef Yong Feng cooks up a storm in the kitchen.

STEWED PORK IN SWEET SAUCE

Recipe courtesy of David Zhou (David’s Restaurant)
for Centro Box Hill

Ingredients:
Pork Belly 500g (cut it into 3cm × 4cm pieces)
Red fermented bean curd 50g (or red rice, ground into small pieces)
Seasoning:
1. Salt (1 tablespoon)
2. White sugar (3 tablespoon)
3. 2-3 Star anises
4. 2 slice fresh ginger and 5×5 cm spring onion
5. 2 tea spoon of Chinese wine
6. Corn flour 2 teaspoon with 1/3 cup cold water, mix well.

Cooking Method:
1. Add red fermented bean curd into 6 cups of water until boiled. Remove the red
fermented bean curd and keep the ‘red water’.
2. Add pork belly into 6 cups of water until boiled and wash.
3. Add pork belly and above seasonings 1-4 into the ‘red water’ until boiled. Stew
over medium heat till the pork is soft (up to 2 hour).
4. Turn to high heat.
5. Add corn flour water and stir for 2 minutes.
6. Remove and dish up.

“A traditional Shanghainese dish which is rich in flavor, with pork that will melt in your
mouth.” David Zhou, David’s

Redbean Kitchen

I’d suggest you head over to Redbean Kitchen for their finger lickin good Mud Crab. I won’t go into detail about it, but it’s worth the trip. The dangerous thing is that I work just down the road!

In this video, owner James Lai tells us why he started his restaurant, where he goes shopping for his ingredients and a shows us how to cook Chicken with Lemongrass and Coconut milk. Yum!

Restaurant Details

David’s Restaurant located 4 Cecil Pl, Prahran Website

Redbean Kitchen located 430 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn 3122 Website

WIN 1 of 2 Double Passes to see the movie

Life As We Know It!

Life As We Know It , released October 21 and starring Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) and Josh Duhamel ( TV Series Las Vegas) is a comedy about two singles who become caregivers to a baby girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident. The thing is- they can’t stand each other!

To WIN 1 of 2 Double Passes to see Life As We Know It at Village Cinemas, all you need to do is leave a comment telling me what your favourite Chinese or Malaysian dish is. Simple. The winner will be announced via Twitter and contacted by email. You can follow me by clicking here or subscribing via email here.

Competition Closed. Winners Announced!

Congratulations to Katie and Allan who have each won a Double Pass to see Life As We Know It. An email will be sent to you each shortly requesting your postal address. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Terms and Conditions:

Competition ends 28 October, 2010 11:59PM EST. Goodluck!

Open to all Victorian and New South Wales residents at participating Village Cinemas.

Note: this is NOT a paid advertorial. I did not get paid to write this. It is of my honest opinion and pure interest in the topic.  Giveaway and videos are courtesy of MANGO Communications

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