Where I Ate Last with Tony Astle: Gochu

This week Tony Astle ate at Gochu, a new Korean restaurant in Auckland’s Commercial Bay. 

He sampled the Waiheke Oysters Te Mataku, the Tuna crudo with chojang and pickled nashi, the crispy eggplant with doenjang glaze, tofu cream, topped with sesame, and the chargrilled pork belly with a chilli apple glaze, brussel sprouts, and tofy cream. 

 

Recipe of the Week: Pea and Ham Soup

Ingredients: 

1 large bacon ham hock 

3 large onions, peeled and roughly diced 

5 litres fresh chicken stock (can use convenience product) 

500 g green split peas 

500 g yellow split peas 

 

Method: 

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy based pot.

2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. 

3. Reduce heat to a light rolling boil/simmer. 

4. Cook for about 3 hours, until the meat on the hock falls from the bone. 

5. Stir often during cooking, the soup can catch and scorch on the bottom of the pot. 

6. Remove the ham hock. Remove the skin and discard. 

7. Slice or dice the meat and add back into the soup. 

8. Bring back to the boil. Cool. The soup can be frozen. 

9. When reheating (from frozen) defrost, and add milk or cream to achieve a smooth consistency. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Finding the hidden gems of the hospitality scene. Where I
ate last with Tony Astell on Kerry Wood of Mornings.
Good morning, good morning, good morning, Tony. Lovely to have
you with us. And you've got the pe and ham
soap on our website.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Oh forced me into it, I did.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
It's iconic.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
It sort of sort of massaged me into doing it,
so I thought, oh my god, I made about twenty
liters of it.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Bust.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yes, I've give them the recipe and it's a big
it's quite a big recceee, but it's well worth doing
because it freezes perfectly.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
It does. I think it even tastes better with the reheating.
Just a thing on the split peas. Do you soak
them first?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
No? Not in this, not with this No. I think
if you read the recipe, I put everything to the place.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yes you did. I was wondering that.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
And it's the you've got to keep an eye on
because the split peas actually go thick, yes they do,
and they do catch, so you've got to keep stirring.
But you know, it's not a hugely exits. It's a
cheap thing to do. I mean one hamhock, a big
one of bacon one, Yeah, a kilov and there's about
five liters of water or stock, and you've just got

(01:05):
to keep an eye on it.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
But a bay leaf, would you put bailey?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
You put whatever you want into it.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
But it's and I was just wondering about the farting.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Well, that doesn't matter. I mean just got outside.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
I just wondered if there was a flatulence prevention step
that perhaps.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Could well, I don't know, you're the doctor, not.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Plug maybe Oh good Lords Warehouse pay and Ham's soap.
Oh god, that is a winter hug. That's what. That's
one of the only redeeming factors of winters p and
hand system.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Those damn they put the price of it. I had
to pay twelve dollars or for a baconhock seven dollars
about two weeks ago. So I want to know why,
because they're already done.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, it's like the shin on the bone, you know,
that's gone up phenomenally, and oh oxtail that's gone up.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh that's just ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
It is ridiculously priced. All that's gorgeous to a noxtile soap. Anyway,
where did you eat last?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Okay, I've been there quite a lot of times actually
to go to it's my sort of go to go
to restaurant being Korean.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
What differentiates Korean from say, Japanese Chinese.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, this one here is it's pretty fusion wise, right,
but it's you know, you could be in a Japanese restaurant,
but this one actually, their flavors are amazing yep. And
they've been there. It's up in Commercial Bay and they've
been there a long time yep. And it seems to
be it's suddenly getting busier and busier. But you know

(02:35):
at this time, I mean we were there on a
Friday night and it was quite quiet, which really worries
me about the restaurant seen.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
At the moment, well with some of the iconic ones
that I mean.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
I looked across at Ahi and that was very quiet.
Just not good at the moment. But these people are
well worth. It's well worth going to them. And it's
it's casual yep. But the flavors are amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
What are the flavors of Korean.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
There's a lot of well there's a lot of paste
type thing, but chili yep. Not over the top. Yeah,
I mean I had mindo. We always go there and
we always have the Wayhiki oysters, which is you know,
it's called timataku, which their oysters are amazing. They're a
deeper oyster. They were absolutely beautiful. But they actually do

(03:18):
it with a spice. I actually are from the natural
but they do nashi pear and thing with that one.
But their tuna crudo is absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
That looks starting with the pickled nashi and.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
It's absolutely beautiful and it's I mean, I gave that
a though tick. There's no doubt about that and it.
But then we asked for the for the another one
off another menu, and the chefs sort of decide, oh,
I don't think you can have one off another menu.
But I sort of said, well, you know, if you've
got it all ready, why can't we have it? And

(03:51):
that was on a special menu and I said, well, sorry, yeah,
it's going to go rotten if I don't need it,
so why can't I have it?

Speaker 1 (03:57):
That really annoys me when people do that.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think the chefs so mean. You know me, I
was probably the most one of the world's they're autocratic, Yeah, yeah,
you think. And anyway, we send a message to him saying, look,
excuse me, why can't we have it. In the end,
I'm probably sorry we did have it because it wasn't
as good as the other one. But okay, I don't know.
I think she has have to intermingle a little bit,

(04:20):
and they've got to actually get as the customer asked
for something and should be doing. I mean, things are
tough at the moment. Don't push your customers the way.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Exactly it was like we were. It was somewhere once
opposite and shorten strip. When I was doing really steady
cook and asked for baked beans. No, they don't come
on till a liven and it's like there's a can
and it can open the bloody thing and eat them.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
It's not hard. No, I mean, chefs get a little
bit up themselves. But I mean I know about all that.
But the best dish on that whole menu that I
have all the time, a lot of people don't like it,
is the crispy egg plant. I love crispy, believe because
it's nice and soft inside. But it's got this beautiful,
almost like a toffee on the outside. It's unbelievably beautiful.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
That's exactly as it should be, lovely silken texture on
the inside. Once you get through the bike and it's.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Because a lot of people, you know, they ruin eggplant
or overgene. But this that's a definite four ticker as well.
And the octopus is my other one that I go.
They actually probably do some of the best octopus. It's grilled,
but it's all spicy in Auckland. However, this time was
a little bit tough. But I must say the service

(05:24):
has gone down a little bit, but they've got huge
problems at the moment getting start exactly anyway. Get the
lady that was looking after was absolutely amazing. However, it
took me thirty five minutes to get my negroni and
that's very annoyingful. So they've gone from a four to
a three. You know, service is important and you know
when you sit down you need a drink. Well I do,

(05:46):
and I think you used to, did I still remember
before we used to bounce on the table.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
I haven't abandoned drinking altogether, I mean at the moment,
I have, but thank you so much, Tony Estill. Let
go to the new Korean restaurant. A commercial bay sounds
absolutely gorgeous. The p and Ham soeper is on our
website and We'll leave you with Bonnie rate and something
to talk about.