Where I Ate Last with Tony Astle: Grand Harbour

This week Tony Astle ate at Grand Harbour, a Chinese fine dining restaurant with a host of delicious traditional recipes.

He sampled the Pork and vegetable spring rolls, the Xiaolongbao, the spinach and prawn dumplings, and their famous deep fried squid.

"I have consumed many more dishes at this venue. I LOVE the tripe and tendons."

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Recipe of the Week: Cassis Macerated Apples and Blackberries

This week Tony Astle is serving up a recipe for Cassis Macerated Apples and Blackberries, topped with Meringue and Baked.

 

 

Ingredients: 

Fruit Mixture 

1 kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 

170 g sugar 

60 g brown sugar 

350 ml water 

Zest of 1 orange 

200 6 blackberries (fresh or frozen) 

  

Meringue 

235 g sugar 

Half tbsp glucose 

50 ml water 

3 egg white 

  

Method:  

Fruit Mixture 

Combine apples, sugars, water and zest in a pot. 

Bring to a boil but avoid turning the apples mushy. Add the blackberries. 

Cook for 5 minutes. Cool. Then add the cassis 

  

Meringue 

Combine water glucose and sugar in a pan. 

Heat without stirring until it reaches 125 deg C on a sugar thermometer. 

Beat the egg whites, until they have stiff peaks. 

With the beater still running, pour the sugar syrup onto the egg whites. 

Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and thick. 

Note: the meringue can be refrigerated until required. 

  

  

Finishing 

Heat ban oven to 180 deg C. 

In a pan, heat the fruit mix, then fill individual bowls. 

Top with the meringue. 

Bake for about 15 minutes, so the meringue is browned slightly. 

Serve with whipped cream. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Finding hidden Jims as a hospitality scene where I ate
last with Tony Astell on kerry WOODAM Mornings done officially
and properly, and I'm sorry we're going to have to
rattle through, Tony. But even though it's a magnificent restaurant
when I love Grand Harbor and Harbor.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Look, I've been going there forever and it opened, of
course open in the year two thousand and Stephen Channel
and I went to school together on Christy, which is,
oh my goodness. His parents had restaurants down there all
those years ago. Yeah, and anyway, since we've been up here,
I've just been going there, of course with antwine's been
there so long, and we all become great friends. And
it just gets better and better.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
And doesn't it though, And it's always popular.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
And I can't help himself, of course, you know, I
have that little urge to go rush around and have
all that fried stuff. You know. I love those spring rolls,
which is totally nat apparently, and the squid. I love
the squid but there, you know, I've been so many
times of the big banquets there, but yeah, and they're unbelievable,
if you you know, they're quite pricey, but you could
get the best Chinese in the country, and the.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Shared aspect of it too, which is what food's about,
isn't it. It's family, it's sharing, it's tasting something and saying, oh,
you've got to try this, you must try this.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
And the best dish in the whole place, which and
I'll tell you, I've traveled the whole world with Chinese restaurants,
and their soup dump pork soup dumplings are the best
I've ever had. And they're called You've got to actually
say it properly, it's long bell, which is like it's
a little dumpling, but it's got When you put it
in your mouth, after you've dipped it into the ginger

(01:32):
and the vinegar, it just squirts. Yeah, absolute Heavenly consumme
into your mouth. It's unbelievable. And that got four and
a half ticks for me. Now that's as close as
I've ever given. Haven't gone to the five yet, but
that always given. I just go on half in the
minute I walk in there, they go, mister antoine, mister antoine,
and they get them. But they get these buns for
You've got to order them though, because they're unbelievably fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
You will order them in advance.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, I just walk in and just make sure because
they only make a certain amount.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Okay, soup, dumpling, Shu long Bow.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
And that's and they're absolutely fantastic.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
The kids love eating at Young Chatoo and they love
the green great way to get greens into them, the
green beans and the and the garlic and the black beans.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
And you can actually get the vegetables into them because
you know, they cook vegetals and even they're greens. You know,
they are the others unbelievably beautiful, and they're rice dishes
are fans. They're just done properly and the staff are amazing.
I mean, I've been going there for revan. They have
one of the best winelessening in Chinese restaurant in the country,
they Stephen's mad On Wines. You know, it's unbelievably fantastic.

(02:34):
And of course they have another restaurant, Grand Park, which
is I don't think as good as this one. But
my favorite is Grand Harbor, And you know it's in
Customs and Packingham Street in the Aukland CBD.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
And they do they do move people through even though
it's always busy and you might have to wait for
a table. They do move the people through, don't they.
I also love the way, and you've mentioned this that
you love the tripe and the tendons that they eat
the whole animal. They honor the animal by by using
just about every single part of it.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Chinese are great at that. Its loves to tell people that,
I mean, I love the stomachs and things like that too.
Of course I'm a I'm an awful we all know.
But their tripe is absolutely magnificent. And of course that
was a huge sellar at antoinst My father being you know,
a bit of a palm, he used to when we

(03:23):
were kids, we used to hate the tripe because he
used to eat it raw dipped in vinegar.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Holy heck, And that's.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Really pushing it. Yeah, But tripe there is fantastic, and
they've got they've got different types of tripe, and they've
got the there's another one which is all filtery, yep,
and it's a little bit tougher, but it's just the
flavors are amazing.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
What makes the difference between a really really good four
and a half star Chinese restaurant doing Young Chara and
one that's about two or three.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
What's the difference, Well, I think the big difference is
you go to a lot of the little Chinese restaurants.
They're pretty nef really, but and they're very old fashioned,
like sort of Charlemaine and Chopped Sue's and things like that.
But you know, it's just if it's hot for one thing,
if it's good product. I think some of them actually
use stuff that's not quite right, but the top quality, yeah,

(04:11):
the top quality. And Grand Harbor does use good product.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah. And so it's the quality of the meats, the quality.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Of the products, yes, and the fish, like if you
get that whole steam.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Oh yes, conjur unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
But if that's not fresh, it's horrible.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
But so who did the better tripe you or about that?
Excuse me, we're not arguing about that, okay? And what
do you peer? Because I always drink even in the
drinking days, I always had green tea when I had
Young char because I love their their green tea.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
And you have to have that because actually that cuts
any fat out. Yes, and that's why you don't you know,
Chinese do that a lot.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
I wouldn't know how to peer the wine. But I
guess Stephen do say.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Well, yeah, but I mean if you Pino grease or
should bleaze, i'd see seven blanc is not one of mine.
I wouldn't do that with Chinese food, but Pino greas go.
But he's got some very good French ship blees and things.
All they go very well. I might say, how we
are away were the only people drinking wine in the
whole day? Yeah, mind, it was eleven thirty in the morning.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Well, a neat opportunity. And the recipe of the week.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well, it's actually an old it's sole favorite of ours.
It's actually BlackBerry and apple because they're around at the moment.
Granny Smith apples blackberries and I put an Italian meringue
on it and bake it in the oven. It looks
like it's fantastic. You do it, and it does super
pretty doesn't And it's actually a beautiful dish. And look
there's lots of blackberries around at the moment and they're
not too sour. Yeah, and you could do a crumble,

(05:36):
but that was my favorite. It was one of our
big cellars.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
So yeah, flesh crumble.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
A very flesh one, you know, only thirty two dollars
plus GSD at my restaurant, but you're probably do it cheaply.
But then again, I was a little bit exuberant, wasn't i.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
The people have been asking for your pea and ham.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah it's coming, okay, Stay tuned for where I last
with Tony A.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Still lovely to talk Tony as always. Thank you so
very much, Mane