Dear Julia
I don't know about you, but for most of my life when I would say I feel like Chinese food, that actually meant I felt like either sweet and sour chicken or pork, or chicken chop suey, with chow mein (noodles), and some spring rolls and a fortune cookie.
We get so stuck into these habits where we try one thing, like it, and then that is all we eat from that take away or restaurant for the rest of time.
Last year though, I was fortunate enough to be invited by to go up for a trip to Joburg (Johannesburg) by my Fiancee's parents.
There they have a flat which they stay in, because they often have to travel there for business, and literally a block away from that flat is a lovely Chinese restaurant.
They had been there before, and met with the manager, and on her recommendation they had tried some different things there at the restaurant and had really enjoyed it, so on our trip, they insisted on taking us there to try the food.
Again what they did was ask the manager if she could please recommend some things that we should try.
This woman was amazing! She asked us some questions about what types of flavours we usually like, what our feelings are about different meats, how we feel about hot spicy foods, etc. From our answers, she came up with the recommendation that we eat family style, and that she would bring us some options to all try together based on our answers.
The meal that night then came into being as the most amazing Chinese meal I had ever experienced. This is the night I had my first pot sticker! It was a beautiful pan fried pork dumpling. The wonton wrapper encasing the pork was soft and silky, but with a slight crunch where it had come into contact with the pan, and the pork inside was amazingly juicy and tasty!
The pot stickers were dipped into a garlic soya sauce which paired so well with the pork! I was in love! Other dishes we had that night included peppery beef stir fry, pecking duck with pancakes and plum sauce, sweet and sour fish, and chocolate and banana spring rolls with red bean paste!!
My favourite meal of the night though HAD to be the little pan fried pork dumplings, and it has become my mission to find the beauties at the same quality somewhere here in Cape Town.
The closest I have found so far were at Jade Court.
My Fiancee and I had a lovely meal at Jade Court (Tygervalley Waterfront) where he went for the cholesterol friendly option of a sushi platter, and I went about trying to recreate some of my lovely experiences of the Chinese place in Joburg.
I had myself some pan fried pork dumplings, and decided to try out the deep fried prawn wontons as well.
The deep fried wontons I can assure you are worth it! lovely mouthfuls with sweet prawn inside and crispy! The pan fried pork dumplings and their garlic soy dipping sauce compared with the Joburg restaurant in flavour very well. The pork inside was moist and juicy and had the same lovely saltiness as the Joburg ones, so on the flavour front, spot on.
However I am still in search of a pot sticker to match the texture I experienced in Joburg. I found in comparison the dumpling was a little chewier not the silkiness of the wonton wrapper I had experienced in Joburg, but I can definitely say that I'd go back and have them again, and again and again!
Sincerely
May Marjoram
I don't know about you, but for most of my life when I would say I feel like Chinese food, that actually meant I felt like either sweet and sour chicken or pork, or chicken chop suey, with chow mein (noodles), and some spring rolls and a fortune cookie.
We get so stuck into these habits where we try one thing, like it, and then that is all we eat from that take away or restaurant for the rest of time.
Last year though, I was fortunate enough to be invited by to go up for a trip to Joburg (Johannesburg) by my Fiancee's parents.
There they have a flat which they stay in, because they often have to travel there for business, and literally a block away from that flat is a lovely Chinese restaurant.
They had been there before, and met with the manager, and on her recommendation they had tried some different things there at the restaurant and had really enjoyed it, so on our trip, they insisted on taking us there to try the food.
Again what they did was ask the manager if she could please recommend some things that we should try.
This woman was amazing! She asked us some questions about what types of flavours we usually like, what our feelings are about different meats, how we feel about hot spicy foods, etc. From our answers, she came up with the recommendation that we eat family style, and that she would bring us some options to all try together based on our answers.
The meal that night then came into being as the most amazing Chinese meal I had ever experienced. This is the night I had my first pot sticker! It was a beautiful pan fried pork dumpling. The wonton wrapper encasing the pork was soft and silky, but with a slight crunch where it had come into contact with the pan, and the pork inside was amazingly juicy and tasty!
The pot stickers were dipped into a garlic soya sauce which paired so well with the pork! I was in love! Other dishes we had that night included peppery beef stir fry, pecking duck with pancakes and plum sauce, sweet and sour fish, and chocolate and banana spring rolls with red bean paste!!
My favourite meal of the night though HAD to be the little pan fried pork dumplings, and it has become my mission to find the beauties at the same quality somewhere here in Cape Town.
The closest I have found so far were at Jade Court.
 |
| Pot stickers (pan fried dumplings) and Wontons |
My Fiancee and I had a lovely meal at Jade Court (Tygervalley Waterfront) where he went for the cholesterol friendly option of a sushi platter, and I went about trying to recreate some of my lovely experiences of the Chinese place in Joburg.
I had myself some pan fried pork dumplings, and decided to try out the deep fried prawn wontons as well.
The deep fried wontons I can assure you are worth it! lovely mouthfuls with sweet prawn inside and crispy! The pan fried pork dumplings and their garlic soy dipping sauce compared with the Joburg restaurant in flavour very well. The pork inside was moist and juicy and had the same lovely saltiness as the Joburg ones, so on the flavour front, spot on.
However I am still in search of a pot sticker to match the texture I experienced in Joburg. I found in comparison the dumpling was a little chewier not the silkiness of the wonton wrapper I had experienced in Joburg, but I can definitely say that I'd go back and have them again, and again and again!
Sincerely
May Marjoram
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