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.