Spicy-Ganza

Good news for those who like extremely spicy stuff, this SzeChuan Style Spicy Hotpot will surely spice up your whole dining experience! We actually visited the place before the university's break actually started, partly to celebrate the break if the semester, and the upcoming Mid-Autumn festival, kill two birds with one stone! HAHA

It was a tiring day as it was studio's submission and presentation that day, but anyway, managed to get through it, and we ended up in the city. Despite the down pouring rain, nothing could stop us from getting to out destination, do anything for food! HAHA

Well, as soon as we were there, it was clear that the restaurant is not only known to us, check out that crowd, it was the same condition throughout the night, and even when we were about to leave, that was like around 10-ish, there were still some occupied tables in the restaurant. Something you will not find much in really Aussie-restaurants! I think it is an Asian thing! HAHA

We ordered this noodle, which I forgot what the name was, but it was really good! The noodles were soft and tender, with some elasticity upon biting it! And this soup was oily with a mild spice in it, it just goes slurp... down the throat! DELICIOUS!

Now I did mentioned Hotpot did I? In Malaysia we call it steamboat, but what ever it is called, that night's pot/boat was really nice! Now for those who are mad for spicy stuff, just go for the whole spicy pot, not necessary to take this Ying-Yang pot, though the original soup was really nice as well. But yeah, if you are looking for a cough or an excitement of spice in every mouth-full of food you take, go for the spicy one, the spiciest of spicy hot pot I have ever taken I reckon!

Now, obviously hot pot involves a lot of meat-eating, so really sorry for the Vegans, despite the fact that See Kuan was complaining that there was not enough vege and greens, most of us just kept eating and eating, stuffing the face with meat, ah, carnivorous meal!

What is the point of coming out to eat and not having a group picture? The whole point of eating, is to get together! HAHA... Su Sheng from left, Min Sean, Lee Shean, Kum Tak, ME, See Kuan, Wen Liang and...eh..where is Xiao Pan?

Haha, will not forget you Xiao Pan, need a special photo to show how cute you are! Haha, should have taken a special one with you only though... :p

Another group one, food food food, people people people...

Now a special one with See Kuan, hehehe :p

Lee Shean was shocked when See Kuan took a photo of her taking the delicious noodles mentioned earlier, good one See Kuan!

Wondering why is he sleeping? He didn'y sleep for two days straight! I rather finish and wrap up my work as soon as possible next time, two days! Can you imagine?

Another sneaky one by See Kuan, she is good at it! But seriously, what am I looking at?.... Looking forward to come back again! Go find out about it dear readers! The name of the shop is ShanCheng Hotpot King, we went to the one near market city, there is one at Hurtsville...Enjoy!

Mini Wine Drumsticks

I picked this recipe from my mom, simply because its simple to prepare and everyone just loves it, give it a try, I made it a couple of times since I came here, and almost all who tried it liked it...

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
600g Mini Chicken Drumsticks
10 tbsp Chinese Shao Xing Rice Wine
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder
25g Lily Flower Pods (pre-soaked for at least 15 minutes)
25g Wolberry Fruit (pre-soaked for at least 15 minutes)
25g Black Woody Fungus (pre-soaked for at least 3 hours, slice to desired shape and sizes)
10g Red Dates (pre-soaked for at least 15 minutes)
50g Chinese Black Shitake Mushroom (pre-soaked for at least 3 hours with warm water, slice to desired shape and sizes)

Method
1. Marinade chicken drumsticks with 3 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp
sesame oil, 1 tbsp light soy sauce and black pepper powder. Leave aside to rest for at least 30 minutes. ( I did mine for 2 hours plus)
2. Mix the remaining seasoning (except the wine) with lily flower pods, wolberry fruit, red dates, black woody fungus and shitake mushrooms. Leave aside for 15 minutes or so.
3. Heat up a steamer, lay drumsticks at the bottom of a bowl or plate, top with the remaining ingredients, place in steamer as soon as water boils. Leave to steam for about 20-30 minutes. Done. Mix well before serving hot. (Add soy sauce and not salt if the dish is not salty enough)

Mid Autumn Experiment!

This was my first time baking mooncakes, and seriously speaking, it ain't that easy! But it was a lot of fun! I literally baked until 2.30am yesterday (first time staying up for baking and not architecture! laughs*), and was thinking of whether or not to make another set of recipe, but at the end of the second recipe, my brain was really urging me to go to bed already, hence, I had to stop and clean up the mess, looking forward to the next mooncake baking session!

I actually used 2 different recipes yesterday, one was gathered and improvised from heaps of websites on the internet, the other was improvised from Su Yin's (hopefully this is enough to address your works >.<). Anyway, the first one resulted in a darker mooncake skin colour, while Su Yin's was lighter in colour, so it really depends what type of outcome the chef prefers... ^^

Well, considering it was my first time baking mooncakes, far away from home, I reckon the results were really satisfying (without any special utensils, it was tough!), especially when I saw those mooncakes come out from oven, and even more when I bite them! laughs* If you asked me whether all the attempts went successful, I would say, NO! but this is the advantage of blogging, I don't have to show everything! XD

Check out a few of them in Detail (first time using this word out of architecture lol)

Who can miss out pig faces during occasions like this XD Oink Oink, shrugs*

Nemo's friend, hahaha, the idea stroke me as the ingredients were running out and I was working on the last piece of dough I had made.

I wanted to make a Lotus Flower initially, but obviously it didn't turn out as expected, but hey, it's still looks like a flower, of some sort. lol

Fish swimming around lotus in white pond* painted by Archicook! Hahaha

Ok, ok, I do miss home, partly because there is Sarawak Pineapples back home! The darker skin colour is due to the use of the other recipe, not because it's over burnt...

I wanted to make rabbits like Su Yin did, but the dough I used turned out darker, made them look like mouse instead... >.<

Finally got it RIGHT!!!

I have been trying out how to work this self-created recipe right a few times, and yesterday night was really a rewarding experience as I finally got it right!

Ingredients: (serves 1 big eater)
3pc Middle Cut Bacon

25g Black Woody Fungus (finely chopped)

3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

3 petals large Chinese Cabbage

2 tsp Sugar

2 tsp dried Oregano
Pepper and Salt to taste

Method:

1. Steam the Chinese cabbage for about 5 minutes or until just slightly soft beforehand, leave to cool.

2. Meanwhile, chop the black woody fungus and garlic, mix well, season with sugar, oregano and pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Lay one piece of cabbage on a dry surface, top with bacon, spread over with some pepper, add about 1tbsp black woody fungus mixture on top, roll over, make sure the wrap is tight, hold with toothpick.

4. Repeat with the other two pieces of cabbage and bacon.

5. Place the wraps in a roasting bowl, cover with aluminium foil. Place bowl on top of a tray filled with some water. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 250 degrees Celsius.

6. Remove bowl from oven, remove aluminium foil, put bowl into oven again (without the tray) and roast for 5-10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Done.

The picture shows how it looks like after the final roasting process, I personally like the 'slight;y-burnt' effect that the roasting gives. But remember don't overdo it, it will taste weird. I are my warps with a simple spaghetti dish, give a good drizzle a spicy chili sauce, it literally brings the entire dish to another level of enjoyment!

Cabbage Soup

Now I know that the name of the post does not sound interesting, but I had really tasted a few times these very simple cabbage soup that others just cannot seem to make them taste good! Please try this recipe, I think it will taste good for most people...



Ingredients: (serve 5-6)
1/2 Chinese Cabbage (about 375g)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
8 Chinese Shitake Mushrooms(pre-soaked for 3 hours, diced)
1 Brown Onion (can use more if desired, diced)
1 Egg
5 large bowls of water
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Salt, Sugar and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. In a pot, dry toast brown onion and mushroom, add sugar and salt to brown and bring out the flavour. Add oil and stir fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add in the stems of the Chinese cabbage first, followed by light soy sauce, fry for a minute or two, add water, cover with pot lid and bring to boil.
3. Add in the cabbage leafs upon boiling, cover and bring to boil again. Turn to low heat and braise for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and mix well.
4. Before serving, turn to high heat, bring to boil. In a bowl, break and egg, get pour in a ladle-full of soup, stir and mix well before adding back as soon as possible into the pot of soup. Done. Serve hot.

Steamed Pork Ribs with Fermented Black Bean and Wolberry Fruit

I remember back in Malaysia there when I use to visit any Dim Sum stores for morning yum cha sessions, there would always be this dish on the selection tray, but in most cases I would take this dish, as I thought there was nothing special about the dish, might as well get other dim sums. But now when I am here in Australia, I just couldn't help to miss that particular dish ( I did try it for once or twice). Hence, when my friends asked me to make something out of the pork ribs they bought, this dish came straight into mind, and guess what, my friends liked it! Haha



Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
800g Pork Ribs (try American Pork Ribs, that is what it is called in Australia)
50g fermented Black Bean
50g Wolberry Fruit
10tbsp Chinese Cooking Shao Xing Wine
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
3cm Ginger (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Black Pepper Powder



Method:
1. Chop the ribs into desired sizes, I did mine 1cm slices, as the meat that I used was not American Pork Ribs, more of pork rib meat. If you are using American Pork Rib, it should be about 3cm copped cutlets.
2. In a bowl, mix shao xing wine, sesame oil, ginger, salt, dark and light soy sauce together with the ribs. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour. I did mine 2 hours plus.
3. Soak the wolberry fruit and fermented black bean separately, drain the water before cooking, mix into the mixture earlier.
4. Steam for at least 15-30 minutes, depending on bowl or plate size, and the steamer size, but 20 minutes should generally be sufficient to get all the ribs cooked thoroughly. Serve hot.


Note: Stir and mix all the ingredients well upon removal from steamer.

Simplest Pasta Dish

To those who think that making pasta is a big hassle, I reckon this dish would change your view. I made this during a lovely afternoon a few days back when I was busy rushing for my studio submission and presentation. Hence, I guarantee, this one is really easy to make, and taste really good!



Ingredients: (serves 1)
150g spaghetti
3 cloves Garlic (coarsely chopped)
1 tsp Dried Oregano leafs
1 tbsp Butter
5 Fresh Basil Leafs (can use more, finely chopped)
3 tbsp Extra Light Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste


Method:
1. Boil a pot of water, add dried Oregano leafs and a pinch of salt, followed with spaghetti and cook until desired tenderness. Remove from heat, drain water and add butter to melt, mix well.
2. In a sauce pan, dry-toast the garlic, add olive oil and salt, sautee over low heat, stir in cooked spaghetti and mix well. Stir in fresh basil leaf before right before removing from heat. Done. Serve hot or cold. Top with any extra sauce but it is delicious enough with the salted olive oil.

Italian Angel's Hair, Japanese Style?

What do you do with heaps of seaweed, miso paste, and only Italian Angel's Hair in your cupboard? Haha, check it out!

Ingredients: (serves 1)
200g Angel's Hair Pasta (pre-cooked in hot water, stir in some butter after removed from water)
25g Dried Seaweed (pre-soaked in water until soft)
5 bunch of Parsley (more or less to personal preference)
3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Spanish Red Onion (Coarsely sliced)
1 tbsp Light Olive Oil
2 tbsp Miso Paste
2 eggs
1/2 cup Water
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Sugar
Few Shredded Cheese

Method:
1. In a heated wok, dry fry garlic and onion, add pinch of sugar and salt to brown, followed by olive oil to saute.
2. Stir in seaweed, stir fry for a minute or two, and add in pasta. Stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Add water, followed by miso paste. Continue to stir fry for about 5 minutes, stir in some shredded cheese, make sure the sauce does not dry off. Done.
3. Serve on a plate, top with two half-boiled eggs (add a very egg-gy flavour to the whole. Mix with roughly chopped parsley, adds another layer of aroma to the pasta. Enjoy!

Note: There is no meat in this dish, so pure Vegans, you know what to do twist about to make it to suit your diet! =)

Apple and Bacon Roll with Cinnamon Honey Sauce

FEELING STRESSED! The assignments and the submission to meet next week is simply driving my nerves to breaking point! Everyone in the household is under immense pressure and we hardly talk as everyone is thinking of their work and their progress. How to overcome that?

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!!!

Now here's something really worth thinking about, I reckon cooking is really theraputhic, anyone with me? Making something simple everyday gives you certain sense of achievement! >.< In addition to that, you (well at least myself) get feel relieved and happy deep inside when you see something nice created with your own hands. (This reminds me of Su Yin's cakes) But anyway, check out the recipe...



Ingredient: (serves 1)
1 strip Middle Bacon
1/2 a Large Apple (use Royal Gala if red or Granny Smith if Green) (diced, or cut into chunks)
2 stick Celery (coarsely chopped)
2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Butter
1/3 cup water
Few Basil Leafs (coarsely chopped, add some to pot of boiling water)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Place bacon strip in a pot of boiling water, leave to braise for 3 minutes or less. Remove from water. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes.
2. In a bowl, mix all apple chunks with 1tsp cinamon powder and the rest of basil leafs. Lay bacon on dry surface, place some apple chunks on top of bacon and roll over carefully, hold with toothpick if neccessary. Roast in preheated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes.
3. Melt butter in a saucepan, add the remaining apples and sautee for a minute or two, add water, bring to boil, turn to low heat and slowly stir in honey.
4. On a plate, place chopped celery, top with roasted bacon, pour over with honey apple sauce. Done. Serve hot or cold.

Finger Food Anyone?

Another dish I would like to introduce, also involves white raddish and tofu, it is easy to make, and meant to be served as finger food, or as entrees before starting on main dishes.

Ingredients: (makes 12)

1/3 White Raddish (about 100g) (finely sliced to form thin-circle slices)

100g Fried Tofu Puffs (Cut diagonally)

3 tbsp Soy Bean Paste

1 tbsp Chili Sauce

1 pc Dried Chili (seeds removed and finely chopped)

1/2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1/2 tbsp Sugar

Bunch of Parsley

Method:

1. Steam the sliced raddish and tofu puffs for about 10 minutes or more, or until the white raddish slices are soft and tender.

2. In a bowl, mix soy bean paste, chili sauce, dried chili, light soy sauce and sugar together, leave aside.

3. Lay the white raddish slices on a plate, preferably two slices each patch (beware of how hot the raddish is). Give each patch a teaspoon full of the mixed paste.

4. Top with parsley and a tofu puff each. Done.

Note: This is a complex taste dish, each bite of each serving should result in an intense flavour of the mixed paste, the sweetness of the raddish, and the strong scent of the parsley. The tofu is to compliment the intensity of the bean paste. You can use mint instead of Parsley.

Everyone Loves Miso Soup

I have not been posting for some time since the last post I made, thanks to all the assignments and pressure from my courses. Well, thanks to the 15th day of the Lunar Calender, which I usually would take the dinner's responsibility for that particular day. So I made 4 dishes yesterday, quite unusual for 3 eaters, but it was fulfilling. Haha. There are two dishes that I would like to introduce from yesterday, hopefully everyone like it as we did.

Well, everyone likes miso soup, and would probably would know how to make it, 'you only have to chuck in the miso paste! What is so hard?' Haha. To certain extent, I do agree with that, but let's try adding something extra to it, and still maintain (or enhance) the sweetness of the soup.

Ingredients: (serves 2-3)
50g Seaweed (pre-soaked in water until soft)
1/2 White Radish (about 150g) (coarsely chopped)
3pc Soft Tofu (about 250g) (cut into small cubes0
5 big bowls of Water
4 tbsp Miso paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Miso Paste, fresh Parsley and some Bonito

Method:

1. In a pot, boil water together with radish, turn to low heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add miso paste and simmer for another 5 minutes.
2. Add seaweed, turn to high heat and bring to boil, turn to low heat again and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn to high heat again when adding the tofu cubes, allow to boil for another 5 minutes or until tofu are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer soup into a bowl, sprinkle with some bonito flakes, add a dash of miso paste (about 1/2 tsp), garnish with some parley leafs. Done.

Note: Add water as required if the radish stalk reduces to much.

The Tofu Bakar I missed...

It was another day sharing dinner at John's place, and I was really wondering what I should cook. I went to the grocery shop walking around, it was as if I did not know what I wanted to cook, but I actually already have something in mind, in fact I was just walking around trying to find something else that might change my mind, which I have to confess, nothing did! Haha

Anyway, I reckon it is probably due to the fact that I am deeply missing home! (the food especially! XD) Anyway, life has to go on, I saw this dried tofu that was almost like those 'Tauhu Bakar' back home, certainly there's a difference, but "it would do", my little mind whispered that moment. Well check out the recipe, it's not hard, after being twisted by my creativity, I think it does not at all look like the original 'Tauhu Bakar', but again, "it will do, I am fine with it... XD"

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)

500g pre-fried tofu (available at Asian stores)

300g Cucumber (about 3 of it, skinned and finely chopped)

50g Skinned Peanuts (toasted and crushed)

2 tbsp Anchovy Sambal Chili Paste

3 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Sugar

Method:

1. Half the tofu lenghtwise, then further half top and bottom, and diagonally across to form two traingular pieces. Lightly wipe the tofu pieces with some sea salt on each sides, grill for about 5 to 8 minutes on each sides.

2. In a bowl, mix the anchovy sambal paste, sugar, dark and light soy sauce. Heat the mixture in a saucepan and bring to boil.

3. Place the cucumber in the middle of a plate, arrange the tofu pieces around, sprinkle with crushed peanuts and pour sauce over, serve hot preferably. Enjoy!

Note: The original version would be to sandwich the cucumber in between two tofus (the content scooped away before grilled), sprinkled with peanuts and top with the sauce.

A simple dish - Texture or Aroma?

I shared dinner over my mates place yesterday and I cooked this dish. It was a simple one, but they were wondering what was the main structure of the dish, I wanted to explain to them in detail, but wonder would they understand. But anyway, let's check out the dish first.

Ingredient: (serves 3-4)

1kg Garlic sprouts (soaked and chopped into 2cm pieces)

50g Fried Gluten (soaked until soft and tender)

50g Peanuts (skinned, toasted until crispy)

30g Salted Black Beans (rinsed, drained and set aside)

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder

2 pc Ginger (finely chopped)

2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

Water as needed

Method:

1. In a wok, heat vegetable oil, add in ginger and garlic and fry till aromatic. Stir in garlic sprouts, stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

2. Add in gluten, fry for another 2 minutes, add light soy sauce and continue to stir-fry.

3. Stir in salted black beans, continue to stir-fry, add water bit by bit if the wok is too dry. Stir in the black pepper powder by now, followed by the toasted peanuts, stir-fry for another minute or two.

4. Give the wok a good drizzle of sesame oil right before removing from heat and serving. This is the important part where every ingredient in the wok get a bit of the sesame oil taste, if you think 1tbsp is not enough, add more to get a stronger taste, do not add water after adding the sesame oil, add before if necessary. Serve hot.

Well, if you look at it, there's really nothing hard about the dish, and too simple that there is no main structure some people reckon? Well, the main structure, I say, would be the texture of biting the food. Imagine the crunchiness of the toasted peanuts and the tenderness of the other ingredients in your mouth, it pushes you to bite and crunch a but, but out of it, you get this rich texture of biting...

On the other hand, there is this subtle taste of sesame oil in the ingredients. As you bite, there should be a mouthful taste of sesame oil in it, not forgetting the taste of the ingredients themselves. The latter should be unleashed in a series of biting, after the sesame oil's taste is passed. So, a bit too hard to imagine? Try it yourself! Haha

The Classy Lidnt's

It has been some time since I posted on some nice places to dine and hang out. But the fact is, I have been around visiting some really nice restaurants, but most of the time the laziness just drives me away from posting them.... =)

However, a visit to Lindt's Cafe at Darling Harbour yesterday really urged me to post it straight away this morning. Thanks very much to fact that this fellow Taylorian senior that came to Sydney from Canberra, we get to visit this wonderful place. The night actually started with a dine out at Takeru's, it's really a good restaurant I reckon. But I will leave that for another day, this post is about Lindt's!

Well, after our dinner, fellow Hong Leong actually suggested to have a coffee or something, to get everyone sat together, and talk and chat a bit in a warmth environment. We actually spent sometime sitting around Darling Harbour waiting for Hong Leong's mates before going there, so time was actually running out as we arrived there about 11pm. (It closes at 12am!)

Goodie! The wait and the walk was worthwhile after all. The cafe was classy and elegant, with all the glossy finishes, advocating it's sense of class and prestige. In contrary to Max Brenner's at Paddington, this is indeed very different! Wondering why there is no picture to compliment what I am talking about? They do not allow it! What a waste! But in a way, hey, come and have a look for yourself! XD

Check out their Hot Choco! Free from Max's funky and 'at the face' attitude! Frankly speaking, all the things here focus more on quality and class, which I think in a way ties them down a bit on the more formal and serious approach in presenting their products. Having said, it does not mean it is on the downside! Seriously, their choco is quite good!

Looks like those drinks you get at the Mamak's back in Malaysia? No it's NOT! You can't call the waitress 'tangachi'! lol Anyway, what you are looking at is Fui Kiat's Iced Choco, he said it is too sweet, not sure about that, I only tried a scoop! Haha. For those who visit there, I do recommend the Iced Choco or Mocha with Ice Cream, or simply the hot choco, the latter is a lot more fun!

Check out Wen Liang's Mocha, the presentation is not bad, thanks to those Barista skills! Again, this is not teh tarik with choco flakes on top!

Now I mentioned about the Hot Choco which is more fun... Hehe I ordered Rich Dark as usual, personal preference! XD Check out the outcome just below!

Tadahhhh! How is it? Not bad I reckon! ^^ Self-taught! Thanks to my visits to Max! Haha the next time, I'll attempt the leaf motif, if I succeed in doing so, they should give me a Barista cert!

Tasting time! Yummy! ^^ Seriously, you cannot compare the Lindt's and Max's. They are way too different, even the quality, aroma and texture of the choco is different. They are both good, in their own way, I reckon. But if you ask around, I think most people still prefer Max, sorry Lindt, no offence! I still like your choc! Haha