Dulcineasdiarycontinued: Thursday Night 4th July & Friday Night 5th July 2019

It has been a while since I wrote about these markets which are open during the day and into the late evening most Thursdays and Fridays at Chatswood Mall.

This doesn't mean I haven't been paying them a visit every now and then. These days it mostly about the variety of food and drink stalls as well as the live entertainment and less about the nik nak stalls.

It was quite busy on Thursday night probably due to late night shopping and the start of school holidays.

I don't normally eat out twice in a row in one week at these markets but I was craving something different.

On Thursday night it was a toss up between a $5 single serve of Japanese chicken curry which is one of my favourites or a $5 sesame leaf fish cake on a stick. I chose the fish cake and it was yum. For people who have never tasted sesame leaf it is an acquired taste which I just can't describe. Maybe "earthy"? "woody"? I rate the fish cake 8/10. Also available prawn cake on a stick or an Asian equivalent of a cheesy dagwood or corn dog - ie a smaller deep fried fat battered frankfaut or sausage oozing with melted creamy cheese on a stick ( Quite popular with younger Asians however not for me).

On Friday night I tossed up again between a single serve of $5 Japanese chicken curry or to try some Malaysian style yam cakes, coconut & pandan pudding and caramel rice pudding. I chose the latter. What did I think of each of them? Well it was a mixed response.

I started off tasting the Malaysian desserts - the caramel rice pudding and the pandan coconut pudding which came in a cardboard box with 2 slices of each. I didn't mind the caramel rice pudding and it was nowhere as sweet as a modern version of a caramel rice pudding. There was a layer of unflavoured white fine grain glutinous or should that be gelatinous rice pudding on the bottom with an equal layer of very smooth brown slightly sweet gelatinous caramel on top. I loved the contrast in colours and the eveness of the layers of rice pudding and caramel. I also loved the contrast in texture between the rice pudding and caramel. It was quite a nice dessert as it was not an overly sweet. The caramel was very smooth which I loved which was like a jelly. Asian desserts are notorious for being unsuitable for the Caucasian palette including mine. Being Asian I grew up with my mum always creating Asian desserts and I really disliked them preferring a creme caramel or panacotta to the above Malaysian desserts. Now after retasting them decades later I am prepared to give a selection of them another chance however the coconut pandan pudding I purchased was a complete fail as an Asian dessert for a Caucasian palette. Pandan leaves are naturally green in colour and they are used not only to colout Asian desserts but to flavour them. Again very difficult to describe and an acquired taste. This pandan and coconut pudding was not sweet and had no particular familiar flavour and was a jelly layer on top of a coconut cream layer - both pretty bland and textureless. The coconut layer was smooth but I just didn't like this dessert. There was a very strange uami after taste which I can only describe as fish sauce or shrimp paste gone really wrong - very off and off putting in a dessert. It seem the cook or chef that made these desserts had used the same knife to slice something very savoury before using it to slice up this dessert without cleaning it in between. YUK!!!! I could not finish this dessert - it went in the bin. Rating of the caramel and rice pudding 7/10 & pandan and coconut pudding 2/10.

Finally the yam cakes, well what can I say - it was just yum. Rating 8/10. I loved it and had been eyeing it for a while to purchase and try. I should have just purchased 2 boxes of these for $10. They are similar to the taro potato or turnip cakes my mum used to make. They are a steamed slightly dense cake which is usually made with glutinous rice flour and water with Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage - for flavouring and which I am not a fan of), garnished with finely diced shallots chillies and other condiments. They can be eaten sliced cold ( like I did) or hot by pan frying them with some dipping sauce eg soy or dumpling sauce even some dark coloured vinegar. These yam cakes I purchased were packed with flavour with a list of ingredients my mum would have included only a handful of. So good I think I will eat them again from the markets!

Photos below