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Cheaper cab sauvs

As the popularity gap between shiraz and
cabernet grew wider in the steroid-driven,
bigger-is-better days of the past decade, as
many cabernet producers and regions tried
to out-shiraz shiraz and lost their way.
Cabernet should taste like cabernet with ripe
blackcurrant fruit and an elegant structure
bound when young by tight, finishing
tannins. Thankfully, cabernets are now
offering better quality and price value than
they have for many years, much better in
many cases than similarly priced shirazes.
TAYLORS
2014 Promised
Land Cabernet Sauvignon
Rating:
Multi-regional
13.5 per cent alc/vol., $14
Briar and berry fruit nose with plenty of
sweetish berry fruit flavours on a soft and
rather one-dimensional, mid-weight palate
that doesnt have much carry through but
would be fine with pasta in a cream sauce.
HARDYS
2014 Horseshoe Row
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rating:
McLaren Vale, SA
14 per cent alc/vol., $18
In true McLaren style, this is darker, richer
and rounder than the Taylors and more
complex with chocolate and aniseed
characters supporting the ripe fruit and
good, mouth-puckering tannins on the finish
that would cut through the fat and char of
barbecued lamb chops.
XANADU
2013 Next of Kin
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rating:
Margaret River, WA
14 per cent alc/vol., $18
Margaret River is widely regarded as
Australias premium cabernet region and
Xanadu as one of its foremost producers.
You wouldnt know it with this wine, which is
little more than a soft, easy-drinking drop
with some fruit sweetness its only appeal
making it OK as a simple backyard quaffer.
JACOBS CREEK
2013 Double Barrel
Cabernet Sauvignon
Rating:
Coonawarra, SA
14 per cent alc/vol., $25
The PR hype says the innovation of
finishing the wine in matured Irish whisky
barrels provides a subtle but discernible
influence. That aside, theres plenty of
sweet fruit and vanillin oak on both the
nose and softly rounded palate with equally
soft tannins on the finish along with the
slightest hint of Tullamore Dew. Good with
a lamb and potato Irish stew.
GRAEME PHILLIPS

Banking on banquets
MYU Easy Bites, Shop 2/93 New Town Rd,
New Town
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 5.30pm-8pm
Phone 6228 7777
Malaysians have never been known for their
presentation, says restaurant owner Ian Chan.
You might be in the dingiest place, but if
the flavours are good then you have a line out
the door.
Chan and his wife Leng Chungs small
restaurant, MYU Easy Bites in New Town, isnt
dingy but it would be easy to miss except
for the constant flow of people in and out of it
from opening to close, Tuesday to Saturday.
Its clear this is a locals haunt with seating
for just 28 people. The aroma on entry is
striking: the smell of pounded spices, homemade stocks and pastes, garlic, ginger and
onion predominantly Malay Chinese but also
other Asian flavours, referencing the couples
cultural origins and friendship circles.
Ian was raised in Cabramatta [in Sydney]
and all his friends are Vietnamese, he grew up
eating a lot of Vietnamese food, Chung says.
So theres some of that influence in his
food. Its generally food we love to eat.
The food they love most, as a rule, is
home-cooked, made with fresh ingredients
and similar to what they grew up with.
Their ever-changing menu features the
traditional, banquet-style food Chans
grandfather cooked in Malaysia, as well as
Chungs mums Chinese Cantonese soups
and dumplings.
People want home-cooked meals, but you
dont get that. You get the mass-produced
things, things that people dont need to prep
for, Chung says.
For us, its like a food philosophy. People
who come into your restaurant should
experience something about you that is
handmade and fresh.
The couple encourage their guests to
try new food such as pigs tails, by providing
complimentary tasting plates.
Its nice to break out of the traditional
mould of what people think Asian cuisine is,
Chan says.

SLOW AND STEADY: MYU Easy Bites chef Ian Chan believes in taking the time to do things traditionally. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

So, alongside traditional offerings such

as dumplings and vegetarian spring rolls,
theres also lamb cakes. For mains, there is
beef rendang, duck curry and chicken and rice
served in a clay pot (which is recommended
for children).
Theres also Chans black vinegar pork hock
with ginger a Chinese dish, traditionally
served after a woman has given birth to help
heal her body and the prawn and fish ball
noodle dish, KL Hokkien Mee.
I do a lot of banquet-style food, and a lot of
people say, Ive never had this kind of banquet
food, Chan says. If you go to an Asian
restaurant, you will see sweet and sour pork,
but thats not a banquet menu. A banquet
menu should have symbolic meaning. So for
instance, pork is a measure of wealth.
Preparing everything by hand and doing

things traditionally takes time, which is partly

why the pair leased a small place away from
the hustle and bustle of Hobarts city centre.
They moved to Tasmania from Sydney
three-and-a-half years ago determined to slow
the pace of their busy working lives and start
a family.
Any pace is OK for us because we are so
used to a fast pace. This pace is extremely
quiet, says Chung, formerly restaurant
manager at Sydneys Star Casino.
She now looks after their two-year-old
daughter Brianna while managing the
restaurant, taking orders, serving tables and
making dough-based dishes.
We dont turn over tables. People come in
and enjoy themselves they can stay for as
long as they like. Its not a fast-paced place.
PENNY McLEOD

THE GRILL with IAN CHAN

What are you trying to achieve?
Delicious food. We dont really do this for
money there are small margins involved.
If you make delicious food and someone
compliments you, youve done your job.
Your go-to ingredients? Spices,
especially ginger, garlic and spring onion.
Theyre the base for most of our dishes.

All-time favourite cookbook?

Old-school Cantonese cookbooks and
my mother-in-laws Chinese herbal soup
book. Cantonese people always have
to have soup. Herbal soup is meant to
protect you, warm you up and detox you.

Favourite weekend brunch?

My favourites are mushroom, eggs,
spinach and fermented shrimp with rice.

Hot local tip?

Lansdowne Cafe, in West Hobart, for
comfort food. And Berta, in North Hobart,
for Italian French food. I had lunch at
The Texas Pantry [in Moonah] recently it
was amazing and something different.

Groundbreaking chefs of today?

David Chang, a US author and TV
personality who is also the founder of the
Momofuku restaurant group, which has
restaurants in New York and Sydney.

Favourite food spot besides Hobart?

Lao Village, Western Sydney Fairfield
the food is amazing. And Ester in
Chippendale, in Sydney its creative and
ground-breaking but also traditional.

Biggest food-related indulgence?

Pho dac biet, aka special beef pho, and
Mojitos made from 10 cane rum.
Biggest food influence?
My grandfathers banquet menu and my
mother-in-laws southern Chinese cuisine.
Your Last Supper?
Butter, coconut and pandan jam on toast.
Most memorable meal?
Getting some hawker stall food in Penang
[in Malaysia] with my family and sitting
under the coconut tree with a soft ocean
breeze and watching the traffic buzzing.
Life couldnt get more beautiful.
Turn to page 26 for Ian Chans
recipe for KL hokkien mee

tasweekend

SEPTEMBER 26-27, 2015

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