Oasis in the dessert

The Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
special report
taste of Asia good living
Oasis in
the dessert
Sweet treats designed to complement spicy food
attract a following, writes Ellen Connolly.
A
sian restaurants are rarely
remembered for their
dessert menus but a
growing number of
Sydney chefs are successfully
changing that perception, creating
dishes perfectly designed to end a
strong, spicy meal.
At Holy Basil in Canley Heights,
fried ice-cream – a triangular filo
pastry served with ice-cream, fresh
strawberries and caramel sauce –
has become not only a bestseller,
but a drawcard, co-owner Louise
Nguyen says.
‘‘We have found that
many customers are
coming to our
restaurant just to
eat the fried icecream after
having dined on
a heavy meal
somewhere else,’’
she says.
Her husband,
Laos-born chef Tony
Inthavong, has created a
version that is very different in
shape, texture and taste to the
ubiquitous deep-fried ice-cream at
Chinese restaurants.
‘‘The dessert is meant to
complement the spicy Laos food. It’s
sweet, savoury and, of course, cold
enough to temper the spices,’’
Nguyen says. ‘‘A lot of customers now
ask for it to be reserved even before
they order their mains as it’s the first
dish that is sold out.’’ It is also on the
menu at Holy Basil’s city outlet in the
Shark Hotel on Liverpool Street.
The vibrant and unusual flavours
Sugar and spice ... Taiwanese dessert chain Meet Fresh allows customers to
design their own sweet creations, such as the one below. Photo: Steven Siewert
of Taiwan are on offer at Meet Fresh,
an iced dessert house in Sydney’s
Chinatown. Patrons choose from 47
menu items, and can design their
own desserts by choosing either taro
balls, herbal jelly or tofu
pudding, which can be
topped with a range of
Taiwanese delicacies,
among them sweet
potato, lotus seeds,
red beans and
coconut jellies.
‘‘Our toppings – the
majority are vegetables
and beans – are
everyday ingredients
for Asian cooks ... but
for customers who
are unfamiliar with
Taiwanese desserts,
Yum Cha Daily & Chinese Cuisine
Ph 9953 7478 www.lieps.com.au
Shop 6, 332 Military Road Cremorne
Happy birthday Miriam
FREIENG
A
P RK
A small family restaurant specialising
in traditional Cambodian food
Open Tuesday - Sunday
6pm till 11pm
our topping range creates curiosity
and interest,’’ Meet Fresh’s marketing
manager, Katheryn Lui, says. For new
customers who are hesitant about
what to order, Lui recommends the
crushed ice desserts served with fruit
such as mango.
Adventurous types might like the
tofu pudding with lotus seeds,
which combines the silky soft
texture of tofu with crunchy lotus
seeds, she says.
The executive chef of Longrain,
Martin Boetz, says his dessert menu
stays true to the Thai tradition –
‘‘they’re very sweet’’.
‘‘This is because our menu is full of
powerful, spicy flavours – you need
an intense sweetness and some
saltiness after your palate has had
such strong flavours,’’ Boetz says. He
is particularly fond of the individual
layered dessert, which showcases
the Asian ingredients of black rice,
tapioca and custard apple.
‘‘It has all the flavours of Thai
desserts in one glass – black sticky
rice, vanilla tapioca, young coconut
jelly, fresh tropical fruit, and is
finished with a fruit sorbet or at the
moment, as custard apples are in
season, a custard-apple foam.’’
For those who want to step out of
their comfort zone and explore new
flavours and textures of the region,
Boetz recommends the duck-egg
caramel custard, a lush caramel
mixed with fresh duck egg and
coconut cream, which is baked and
served with a coconut biscuit.
Boetz says another advantage of
many Thai desserts is they do not
contain gluten and have minimal
amounts of dairy, making them
suitable for people with allergies.
Some Asian restaurants blend
traditional Asian ingredients with
Western dishes, such as the greentea creme brulee at Mizuya Japanese
restaurant in the city. Owner Jessie
Chau says the texture is the same
but the flavour is not as sweet.
‘‘It has a hint of the green tea’s
sweet bitterness and aroma,’’
Chau says.
At Balmain’s Spice I Am, chef Sujet
Saenkhan designed the cheekily
named Better Than Sex, a
contemporary Asian dessert, that
combines Thai and Western
flavours. Two scoops of pandan
gelato are served on toasted
brioche, and topped with Thai
caramel sauce made from
homemade palm sugar syrup, and a
sprinkling of sesame seeds.
‘‘It’s very rich and sweet. Diners
rave about this one and love the
name,’’ he says.
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