Tan Viet Noodle House: The cult of crispy skin chicken

It's been named the best of its breed. It elicits drooling at the mere sight, sound and particularly smell. It inspires pilgrimages out west to Cabramatta. The signature crispy skin chicken at Tan Viet Noodle House is a dish of cult status, and deservedly so.

Crispy skin chicken with tomato rice at Tan Viet Noodle House, John Street, Cabramatta

We've hit Tan Viet Noodle House for a late lunch post shopping in the fun and curiosity-filled arcades off John Street. It seems the way to go actually, because there were no waiting queues and many free tables at 3.30pm in the colourful and surprisingly spacious restaurant.

The menu isn't overwhelmingly huge, but with the crispy skin chicken options laid out on the first page, there's barely a need to go further.

Crispy skin chicken with egg noodles in soup

The crispness of the glistening, burnished chicken skin is something that makes you smile – it's paper thin and cracks audibly on bite. Its taste is pure chicken skin, with the fat layers often found on chicken thighs completely rendered.

And meanwhile, the chicken flesh beneath the glorious skin remains moist and juicy, enhanced by a dunk into the nuoc mam chilli dipping sauce on the side, and for me, a touch of hot English mustard.

The egg noodle option includes a huge bowl of thin, yellow noodles in soup with wilted lettuce and shallots, served with a pile of raw bean sprouts and fresh herbs, with chilli and hoisin sauces as condiments.

Crispy skin chicken with tomato rice and pickles

I opt to have my crispy skin chicken maryland with orange-red-hued tomato rice, with the set also coming with refreshing pickled cabbage and carrot, and a bowl of clear soup.

Black herbal duck with egg noodles

There are options aside from the crisp skin chicken, if you can resist the allure of that skin. The dramatic black herbal duck is a particularly enticing menu item, also offered as an egg noodle option.

The duck maryland is poached with dried shiitake mushrooms and a heady array of Asian herbs and spices, with the distinct flavour of anise. Fall-apart soft and quite rich, the duck sits atop a stack of dry egg noodles with fresh coriander, while a dark herbal broth, that has to be good for you, is served alongside.

With hordes of diners worshipping at the cult of crispy skin chicken, this is one ritual pilgrimage I can happily incorporate into my life.

Cabbing it for a day - Part II

Street mural in Cabramatta

Continuing on our Cabramatta adventure, I'm impressed with the sheer number of grocery related stores on or near the main road. Arcade after arcade jam-packed with fruit and vegies, butcheries, fishmongers and Asian grocery stores. And, of course, snacks, drinks and Vietnamese fare to tempt the hungry - or in our case, even not so hungry - shoppers.

Array of toppings for che - dessert drink

Custard puffs

These freshly made custard puffs come out of a revolving black metal contraption which is a childish joy to watch. The machine dispenses batter into little rectangular cups, cooking to a golden brown and somehow mysteriously baking gooey custard within. This warm box provides us with the fuel to browse numerous arcades and the occasional 'specialty' clothing store.

Banh tet and other glutinous rice goodies for sale

Jackfruit

Live yabbies

Funny-looking pomfret fish

If I didn't know it before, I certainly know now: it's custard apple season. I spotted boxes upon boxes of the knobby green fruit in my grocery traversing, ending up with a kilo or two myself to lug onto the train back home. I also sample a custard apple smoothie-like drink, highly recommended by the travelling companion. It's an icy blend of custard apple flesh and simply divine, playing on the creaminess of the custard apple with just the right amount of sweetness.

It leads us right to our next meal at the little restaurant and drinks shop tucked neatly at the end of one of numerous arcades. Like many others, they have cling-wrapped takeaway boxes of food displayed at the store front - and in hindsight I realise this caters to the non-Vietnamese speaking customers, as same language communication proves a slight challenge.

Wrapping and condiments at Que Huong, John Street, Cabramatta

There's a workstation of rice paper rolls in fresh production at the arcade-facing front of the store, but I'm keen for a deeper probe into traditional Vietnamese cuisine. A few more recommendations, pointing, quizzical looks and broken sentences - and we're ready to roll.

Goi du du - Vietnamese green papaya salad

First up is a salad of shredded green papaya, marinated Vietnamese beef jerky I'm told, Thai basil, peanuts and a fiery sauce dressing not unlike nuoc cham. It's sweet and sour but halfway through the chilli overwhelms all the crunchy papaya and soft, flavour-packed lumps of jerky. My tender burning lips are thankful for the soothing custard apple drink.

Banh khot - savoury coconut pancakes with prawn

I can hardly contain my delight and reignited appetite when the banh khot are delivered to our table. To be eaten packaged in the earlier butter lettuce leaves, mint, Thai basil and bowl of nuoc cham dipping sauce, I forgo the offer of a demonstration from companion dearest, confident that I can get food in my mouth without too much trouble. After burning my fingers on the first scorchingly hot piece - even through the lettuce - and dripping sauce, losing mint leaves and generally making a mess of the table, I think perhaps there is an art to eating finger wrapped items.

Banh khot with prawn and shallots

These little yellow discs appear to be deep fried or similar, having crispened edges and blackened shallot pieces. The tiny prawns are cooked in their shells, adding an extra hit of crustacean flavour. The pancake itself is lightly scented with coconut and is slightly glutinous. I adore the crunch of the thinner outer edges whereas the centre is soft and light, and wrapped in lettuce with loads of mint and basil, I'm yet to decide whether the dish is healthy or not. Not that I really care when it's so much fun to create and devour.

The banh khot are deceptively small but filling, the starchy pancake probably doing its work here. We head out of Cabramatta stuffed, laughing and laden with bags of groceries. I won't go as far as to say it was a strenuous day of eating and shopping but we were both beat by sunset and almost glad for the 40+ minute rest back to Central station.

Cabbing it for a day - Part I

Weekend and holiday road trips were quite frequent in my household as a child and I could never contain my excitement of knowing we'd left the city upon the first sighting of a cow. Standing or laying about, serenely chewing on grass, it was literally the signal of greener pastures and the beginning of weekend or holiday adventures.

Ripping the sheltered inner city (and surrounding suburbs) roof off for a day, my adventure-beginning signal is probably the 40+ minute train ride out of Central station. Passing suburbs like Merrylands and Fairfield, it was very much "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." I'm guilty of being somewhat insular in my traipsings, with still so much to see and do about my sheltered comfort zones.

Pailau Gate in Cabramatta

I'm adventuring with a more experienced Cabramatta tourist, whose memory of the area and grasp of the Vietnamese language is blushingly adequate. We depart Cabramatta train station in search of food, in particular a yum cha restaurant of experiences past. It's a few twists and peers into arcades before the restaurant is spotted.

Vinh Hao BBQ Restaurant, Hughes Road, Cabramatta

Our sub-optimal dining time means the restaurant is almost empty, but the owner insists that we get the yum cha experience rather than ordering straight off the menu. In what quickly resembles yum cha deja vu, a waitress brings trays and a bamboo steamer-laden trolley to tempt the tastebuds.

Rice noodle with prawn

Having being liberally doused with soy sauce table side, we dig in to the stickily soft noodles. The prawns star with their firm texture against the oversteamed rice noodle. The soy sauce is sweetly satisfying, playing condiment to other dishes as well.

Chicken feet

The chicken feet also seem to have received an oversteaming treatment, although possibly to their advantage. The bones and tendons almost fall apart - perhaps a sin for others but I like the hard chewing work taken out for me - kept together with a big-hitting, chilli-abundant marinade.

Scallop dumplings

We've elected scallop dumplings over having both them and prawns as we have ideas of snacking throughout the rest of the day. The skin on the dumpling is sadly all gooey starch and the filling is a bit of a mixed bag: some scallop, prawn and other minced ingredients.

Pork dumplings

The pork dumplings look rather plain, stretching out their egg pastry skins. The filling is a little floury, a little vegetable-y but pleasant enough smeared with lots of chilli sauce.

Eggplant with fish cake

And just as we thought we were done, the waitress brings over a tray of richly caramel-looking braised eggplant. Eggplant has been underrated and undereaten by me in the past, but I'm looking to rectify that problem by ordering it whenever possible these days. This version is quite good, the eggplant having been fried in oil to a soft, mushy inner and crisp skin, embedded with a bit of fish cake. The accompanying sauce is garlicky and would have been nice with hot steamed rice.

So starting on a familiar note in an unfamiliar area, we've mapped - in mind at least - the rest of the days plans which may or may not include sweets, drinks and another meal; groceries and colourful plastic items abound; a Muriel's Wedding moment; and sleepy train rides home in the next Cab-bing post.