Freedom Plaza, John Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/siff
In search for Crispy Chicken
Thanks to 702 ABC Sydney for inviting me along to their live radio coverage of the Cabramatta Allsorts Barbeque as part of Sydney International Food Festival — also thanks to Stewart White for recommending me to them. A 10 am start got me out of bed a lot earlier than my usual weekend routine but it was worth it and I had lots of fun meeting Simon Marnie from 702 ABC, Alvin Quah from MasterChef/Cinnamon Pig and a small group of other friendly food bloggers including Andrew Rose the winner of the 702 ABC competition to become their volunteer SIFF Blogger and Reviewer. In the center marquee of the Fairfield City Council a glorious looking Suckling Pig with perfect crackling was presented by chefs from the Iron Chef Restaurant — apparently it took 24 hours to prepare and cook.
After a quick chat with Simon Marnie about blogging and eating, each of the three bloggers were given $20 to seek out a favourite Cabramatta dish to bring back and talk about. A long standing dish on my wish list has been Tan Viet's signature dish of Crispy Chicken with Dry Egg Noodle ($11) so it was an easy choice for me. Along the way I bought a delicious freshly crushed Sugar Cane Juice ($2.50 small) from Ngoc Duc — so refreshing. Thanks to Danny from Tan Viet for organising their crispy chicken dish on a tray so I could carry back to Freedom Plaza. Even after a bit of a wait the chicken skin remained crispy as hoped and the meat was moist and tasty. The flavoured dry egg noodles complimented the dish nicely although next time I'll be trying the soupy version. While waiting for Simon Marnie to come back on air with us to talk about our dishes I was keen to try the Red Lea's Hot Chips ($5 large) which have also been recommended to me. They're basic chips packed with seasoning but for extra taste there's shakers available of chicken salt and paprika to pour to your hearts content — I think this is why it's so popular.
Other blog reviews:
• Noodlies
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Plenty of authentic eating delights to be found in Cabramatta
CONS: Tan Viet is popular so be prepared to wait for a table
MUST TRY: Ngoc Duc's Sugar Cane Juice, Tan Viet's Crispy Chicken
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Suckling Pig
Compliments of Iron Chef Chinese Seafood Restaurant
84 Broomfield Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
Ceremoniously cutting up the suckling pig which had been prepared for 24 hours
Crispy pork crackling with hoisin sauce and pancake
The chefs of the suckling pig taking a break
$20 will get you ...
Simon Marnie hands me $20 to seek out my favourite dish of Cabramatta to bring back and discuss on radio
Ngoc Duc
105 John Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
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Sugar Cane Juice ($2.50 small)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Tan Viet Noodle House
100 John Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
Signature dish of Tan Viet
Walking back to base with a tray of Crispy Chicken
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Seating
Red Lea
57 John Street, Cabramatta NSW 2166
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Hot Chips ($5 large)
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Sharing the love
Chicken salt and Paprika — pour as much as you like.
A sea of golden fried chicken
Fellow food blogger discoveries
Vietnamese pork chop, fried egg, rice and salad selected by The Gourmet Forager
Vietnamese roll, custard puffs and sugar cane juice, avocado shake and durian shake selected by Grab Your Fork
Meet and greet
702 ABC Radio broadcasting live from Freedom Plaza
Andrew Rose and Me
Thang from Noodlies and Me
Costa from Costa's Garden Odyssey doing a bit of impromptu time keeping
Alvin demonstrating his cooking to the crowd
Cabramatta sights
Peking duck
Taste testing the fresh and exotic Asian greens
Taste testing for the brave
Street side vegetable and herb stall
Packaged sweets a plenty
Local fruit and vegetable shop
Bargain shop of colourful gifts and antiquity
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10 comments:
Wow, what a fantastic review of the day.. don't know how you managed to capture everything. Really great to meet you, and good choice on Tan Viet!
What a wonderful day full of wonderful food. Drooling as I read at that suckling pig.
This looks like a fantastic day! You look so excited with your crispy chicken tray from Tan Viet.
Great post Simon! What an interesting day. Your crispy chicken meal looks delicious - and you met Costa? That's pretty neat :D
Love it, turning on the radio on a rainy Saturday morning and staying in bed and listening to food bloggers on the ABC, can it get any better? Oh yeah, a magical plate of pork crackling appearing in my hand as I contemplate whether it's worth getting up yet!
Looks like great fun!
hi there, hope you don't mind that i included your post in the crave sydney food festival week one round-up of food blogging activities http://tiny.cc/siff-wk1
hi thang, great to meet you too and i'm glad to have finally discovered Tan Viet for crispy chicken :-)
hi sara, one of the best looking suckling pigs i've ever seen.
hi missklicious, it was a combination of excitement and scared because i had to walk all the way back down the road with it :-)
hi louber, yes, that's Costa who i haven't met before but he seems to be a really nice person and a bit crazy too hehe ;-)
hi yaya, i was wondering what we sounded like on the radio. would have been pretty cool to listen to.
hi tina, was a very fun atmosphere and it seemed to all go quite well on the day.
hi anna, thanks for including it in the food blogging roundup. have been busy with heading over to the USA so much appreciated :-)
These barbeques are very popular with people all over the country. No matter where you live, it is a great way to get together with friends and family and eat some really great food.
hi BBQ, i definitely agree it's a great way to get together with friends and family, especially when the food is very yummy :-)
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