One of our frequent haunts in Sydney is a specialty dumpling shop in Ashfield. That’s what they do best – dumplings, dumplings and more dumplings! This is the place you’d go to satisfy any dumpling cravings you may have. Located at 337 on Liverpool Road, New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant is the joint you should look out for if you’re ever in the area.

This is a great place to take friends for a shared meal as the food comes in small plates. It’s almost like yum-cha, just minus the steaming hot trolleys. The dumplings are made fresh on site and on order, and they also have a wide variety of other Chinese dishes on offer. As this is a typical Chinese ‘fast-food’ joint, don’t expect great service or ambience! It’s noisy, busy and expect to share a table with other patrons!

My favourite dumplings from here are the dangerously scalding hot Pork Soup Dumplings. Encased in a doughy shell is a mixture of pork mince with chives and hot soup. The trick to eating these dumplings without suffering any third degree burns is to pop the dough with one chopstick first to release the hot steam before putting one in your mouth. One must eat these with caution!

I have learnt the hard way with these. They look rather cute and harmless but looks are deceiving! The dough they use on these dumplings is thicker than the usual rice flour version – it’s actually bread-like and chewy. They are first steamed, then lightly pan-fried to brown the base and make it crispy on the bottom which gives it a slightly toasted flavour.

They serve many types of dumplings here. Another version we ordered were the steamed crab and pork dumplings. These are very similar to the ones you’d get as part of a typical yum-cha set and has the original rice-flour casing which is softer and lighter than the casing of the pork soup dumplings. The fillings in these were pretty tasty too but had less of a ‘chivey’ taste compared to the previous ones.

The following dish was pretty interesting. Deep fried salted and spiced fish – served cold. This tasted like they used the Chinese Five-Spice mix as a marinade. The most distinctive taste I could pull from the flavour was Star-Anise. I quite liked the taste of this dish but would have preferred it if this was served hot rather than cold. Tasted like leftover KFC in a sense, besides we were looking forward to something hot.

One dish that I have ordered more than once from here is the Crispy Egg Noodles with Pork, Shitake Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoot sauce. Probably not the healthiest dish, but on the taste scale this one is probably high up on it. The egg noodles are deep fried to a crispy perfection then the sauce is poured over the top – as you have probably already put two and two together, this is a very oily dish!

This next dish was nothing like what was described in the menu. It was called satay lamb, but tasted nothing like satay! It was very garlicky, cooked in a rich soy-sauce and was served with semi-raw onions. The meat pieces were too big for chopsticks (one had to tug with their teeth!) and overall the dish was way too oily. However the lamb was tender and I think this would be better served with rice as a main.

Watch this space for more dishes to come in the future!

Kedai Kopi is a Malay word that translates to Coffee Shop. In Malaysia, these Kedai Kopi do not necessarily specialise in the sale of coffee – most of them actually serve full meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The name Chuan Hin belongs to the Chinese owners of the establishment – so it basically means Chuan Hin’s Coffee Shop. Kedai Kopi is a loose term and can be anything from cafe to restaurant.

When you arrive at this restaurant, you have to go out the back to pick out your own slice(s) of stingray! The stingray here is always fresh and is caught locally around the shores of coastal Sabah.

Kedai Kopi Chuan Hin is situated at a shop lot on the corner of Jalan Lintas and Luyang, in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (a mouthful, no pun intended) and is a popular dining destination amongst the locals. My parents and I have been dining at this restaurant for nearly two decades, and their food never dissapoints. Chuan Hin usually only serves food during dinner time and they rarely open during the day.

The stingray is priced by weight – These two chunks cost around RM25 (approximately $12)

Chuan Hin has two main specialties: grilled stringray in banana leaf, and dumplings. These are two dishes that we always order when we eat there. They also serve a wide range of vegetable stir fries, noodles and grilled beef. The stingray is wrapped in a banana leaf and topped with a mild sambal, then grilled on an open fire to crispy perfection. To top it off, the stingray is drizzled with kasturi lime juice to maximise the flavour.

Grilled to perfection – stingray is one of my favourite fishes because of its soft, tender flesh and crispy skin when grilled. The texture is quite similar to a very tender piece of chicken and doesn’t have an overly strong fishy taste.

A meal for three to four people at Chuan Hin would cost around RM50-60 ($30) and is quite reasonable given the great quality of the food. The ambience at Chuan Hin is not something to write home about but the food certainly makes up for it. Chuan Hin probably does the best stingray in Kota Kinabalu and I highly recommend it!

Kasturi lime goes well with this fish as it brings out the flavour and also adds a tangy hit to enhance the sambal flavours.

Chuan Hin’s other specialty dish – Dumplings. Pictured are the fried garlic-chive dumplings. They also serve a minced pork version. You can choose from steamed or fried dumplings. I personally like the fried ones because they’re crispy on the outside!

A meal at Chuan Hin is not complete with their famous fried vermicelli dish. It’s a combination of vermicelli, fish cake, prawns, chicken, egg, bok choy and bean sprouts. We never order rice when we dine here – it seems that the vermicelli has replaced it!

Last but not least, some greens – A plate of stir fried Cakur Manis (Sauropus Androgynus) with Garlic. Cakur Manis is a rich and sweet leafy vegetable with a crunchy stalk that tastes a bit like spinach.

*BURP*