Sydney eateries are tweaking the popular Cantonese tradition of yum cha, with new ingredients, DJs and even cocktails on the menu
SYDNEY eateries are tweaking the popular Cantonese tradition of tea and dumplings, with new ingredients, DJs and even cocktails on the menu.
Sydney Taste
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TROLLEYS are optional, you can have a cocktail with your cheong fun and those delicious steamed parcels are no longer limited to shu mai and har gow.
It is still yum cha, just not as you know it.
Sydney eateries are tweaking the popular Cantonese tradition of tea and dumplings, with new ingredients, DJs and even cocktails on the menu.
Cha Li Boi in Bondi Junction opened three weeks ago and hosts monthly DJ and dumpling dance parties, with vegan and gluten-free options and flavour combinations such as duck a l’orange dumplings and wallaby sui mai.
The eatery is the brainchild of Miss Chu’s Nahji Chu who says she wanted to do something new.
“If you’re doing what every other Chinese food hall does, you’re competing with something that’s existing and that doesn’t make sense as a business model,” she says.
Chu is still refining the concept, admitting it has so far been a bit hit and miss. Diners might like that the har gow are gluten free, but not if it means the dumpling skins aren’t as translucent as they expect. And it’s great that they use fresh Australian rather than frozen Vietnamese prawns, but not at $4 a dumpling.
“People love the fitout, they love the food but I’ve got to decrease the prices,” she says. “I aimed high, using sustainable and organic produce. I thought that the price point was fair. However, I think people expect an Asian eatery to be cheaper so we are bringing the price down by about 5-10 per cent.
While the menu may be modern, the trolleys are old school.
“Trolleys are important, it’s part of the experience, what you go for,” Chu says. “It’s not yum cha without trolleys.”
Chris Yan, head chef at the newly opened Madame Shanghai in Darlinghurst, would love to have trolleys but the space is too small so he’s replaced them with a paper menu with the traditional stamps.
The food offering is a mix of classic options such as barbecue pork bun and vegetable dumplings, xiao long bao, which aren’t usually spotted at yum cha, and Chinese street food.
“The dumplings we do are my favourite ones,” Yan says. “It’s all the highlights from the basic yum cha menu; vegetable, pork, prawn, wonton and spring rolls.
“Xiao long bao takes too much effort — there’s a lot of labour costs — but we must have it because it’s the most popular Shanghai street food.”
He acknowledges that a yum cha menu can be limited, so he has added heartier dishes to the lunch menu.
Classic Chinese dishes have been given an Aussie bent, such as calamari with pepper berry and king prawns with Sichuan bean paste and macadamia nuts.
“I used to work with Kylie Kwong for 16 years and she was a big influence on me when it came to using Australian natives,” Yan says. “It really does work with traditional Chinese techniques and I like to do something new, something exciting. We use pepper berry with chilli for the salt and pepper calamari and instead of peanuts we use macadamia nuts in the king prawns because it’s more flavour and healthier.”
Yan also offers the yum cha dishes on the dinner menu because he believes that dumplings shouldn’t be dictated by time.
He likens a bamboo steamer basket full of dumplings to the Chinese version of an antipasto plate.
“I think people like having something light instead of a big dinner sometimes,” he says. “It’s also very nice to share with your friends.”
TROLLEY TASTES
CHINA LANE, CBD
As well as the favourites, you can get squid ink dumpling with lobster, prawn and cuttlefish and you can swap the pot of green tea for cocktails.
SPICE TEMPLE, CBD
A little more luxe than most, but then you’d expect that of Neil Perry. Think chicken and black fungus dumplings, with the dough coloured with dehydrated spinach and delicate chive and egg dumplings, with scrambled egg and chive inside, which are rolled and pan fried to order.
MR WONG, CBD
The weekend yum cha menu, from 10.30am-noon, is another luxe option. The dumplings, including king crab with golden soup, crystal dumpling, wagyu and truffle puff and prawn toast with foie gras and almonds, are made to order.
SUEY SINS, Surry Hills
Yum Cha Cha, on Saturday’s from noon to 4pm, is a mix of yum cha and recovery session. The trolleyless experience includes yum cha classics such as sui gow and shumai plus more interesting options like mi goreng spring rolls and Nutella wontons, all washed down with cocktails.
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