M's Food Find #78

One of those nights where submission date was near and good food breaks are crucial to the mental well-being. Have been wanting to head down there for awhile now since Alina told me about it... And finally did so with Sam, Mick, Shiyu and Nurun. No reservations taken and will only be served when everyone is there. Dont go on a hungry tummy...and make sure everyone is ON TIME!!!


real crowded and lots of people come in and go with take-aways.

Not a very big place but still sits comfortably with pretty waitresses ;)

Located on Kearns Crescent, just round from a chinese restaurant in Applecross and lots of other food places line this street!

When we finally get round to ordering and our food arriving...

Shiyu's mixed sushi bento.

Part of the bentobox (karaage chicken)

Rice is not included and ordered separately to the bento box.

The top tier of the bento box...

Separate order of agedashi tofu.

A plate of toro salmon sashimi. I was so excited when I saw this on the menu!!! Alas, its a hoax to me. Slices were too thin, and I cant taste any difference... At AUD12 for this plate, I guess I cant expect too much. For sure, wouldnt be ordering it again.

My chilli karaage don was nothing special too...


Nurun's tempura prawn curry. Ordinary...

How the bento box was presented...

We also ordered the assorted sashimi with tuna, prawns, salmon, scallops.

Pretty fresh and sweet. I am not blown away but I concede that it is pretty good for Perth.

The main courses didnt blow us away and we were too hungry to nag at any tiny details. It is pretty standard fare and at slightly above average prices. Nevertheless, no meal is complete without desserts.

One of us ordered the matcha green tea ice cream which comes with a pathetic amount of azuki beans.
The goma/black sesame ice cream which is pretty fragrant and I quite like it!

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com

The STAR of Ohnamiya lies in this green tea panna cotta which I will choose to return for. It packs a solid good green tea punch and the cream is baked to a smooth consistency. The creme also compliments the panna cotta well. It is not too sweet and perfect for all green tea lovers. I was the only one who ordered it (in fact I ordered two desserts). Everyone preferred this and wished they had gotten it.

Well, not a total loss my trip there but without this amazing dessert, I wouldnt be making a return trip anytime soon...

Till my next food find, Mayy xo

M's Food Find #34

I shall take a break from the report that's costing me sleepless nights. I took time out from work and all to meet up with my girlfriends here in Perth. I believe it is the first time almost all of us are meeting together instead of separately. Since Anna has been working in Claremont, she's got new places she wants to check out so she planned this one. Dessert warrants a whole new post on its own so let's get dinner over with. I was a hungry girl after two mid-sems invigilations on one day. Saturday no less. Yes, I know there are better ways of spending the weekend. We waited for Sado Island on Bayview Terrace (behind Subway and Hungry Jacks) to open at 6pm. It is in a little obscure alleyway and I was really quite excited to try it out. Alas, I was fairly disappointed with the service.

Sam ordered the bento set so he got dessert with it: green tea ice cream with strawberries nad melon balls. I didn't take much of it. Shiyu was the happy girl.

That's Anna's teriyaki fish and noodles. It looks pretty good and healthy but well, I am on a major diet cutback after lunch that day.

Nurun ordered tamago sushi for Shiyu and herself. I would say that's a very well done piece of sushi. Fairly authentic. Not much rice involved.

That's my dinner of ebi roll. I know it looks pathetic but it is healthy. The girls each had one too. Share the calories. I was totally saving up space for dessert.

I also shared salmon sashimi with Sam. Pretty fresh but still not the kind I am looking for, the search continues in Perth. It makes me miss Singapore a bit more after each failed attempt.

Salmon, avocado and cucumber roll which came with the bento set.

Sam's bento set which had beef, fish and chicken and a whole bowl of healthy greens. Yums. I took a top view but I still haven't received the photos from Anna. Will add that here once I got it. I just did not want to accumulate on my backlog posts.

The place was apparently booked out for the night and because we waited early, we got to sit in for a quick dinner. There is also a minimum charge of AUD22 per person. Not difficult to get to that amount if you are hungry. Nevertheless, the girls got a bit drama on that since some didn't want to eat. Nurun ordered the plum wine which was alright. Not my kind of thing, but I had a glass for the night. The service was actually not bad but the atittude in the beginning was just well, snobby. Would I return? I guess not. But the company I had that night, was sufficient to make the night alittle less worry-free.

Till my next food find, Mayy xo

Completely Random

Photo credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com
It is so so so HOT and dry and SUNNY out here in Perth today that I get such a headache just being out there. Whoo. Even after a swim in the pools, it is still unbearable. That's why it is so easy to be tan here in summer but when it is winter, I am as fair as can be.

I thought it will be really nice if I could have one of these on days like this. Cool cold shaved ice, so light and yummy. With my favourite juciy azuki red beans. YUM. This one I had back in 2008 in one of the NTU canteens. Green tea shaved ice with condensed milk and azuki beans. Too bad I don't study there, otherwise I will head down there in a heartbeat. Friends studying there in NTU, tell me is it still around? Which canteen is it in?

Kitchen Venture #7: Pan fried basil pesto salmon and Cold Soba part 5

Rightey-o, let's wrap up the Cold Soba series with my very first version and favourite one! It definitely requires more work than the other versions in the previous parts. I would suggest also that you do this on the day you prepare your cold soba. So maybe it is slightly hot, warm soba. But I can always tell you how to make it cold in a short amount of time. Leave it in the fridge on a separate plate on top of ice cubes!

Preparation for the salmon pieces:

1. Salmon with skin on will give you more texture because of the crispy skin at the end of it. Do wash the fish properly and make sure there are no scales left on the skin.

2. Slice the salmon into thick pieces so it retains its juices but will be cooked through. Season with salt and pepper at this point.

3. Chop onions (red or brown doesn't matter, but here I used brown so there will be no colour clash). Not too finely, just so you can have bite and the crunch.

3. Heat up frying pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or butter.

4. Fry the minced garlic until brownish.

5. Add salmon pieces to the hot pan on top of the garlic. Use a pair of tongs or chopsticks to turn them. Throw in onions around it too.

6. While one side is cooking, add a layer of basil pesto (dips are fine) onto the other side of salmon. Once browned, turn salmon pieces.

7. Make sure to also sear the skin side till crispy. You can do this one by one while the other pieces are cooking on the meat sides.

8. Poke one to check if it is cooked through. Once done, use a spatula to push it around and mix the garlic and onions with salmon pieces for a minute or two. Switch the stove off after and let it sit.

Photos credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com
Preparing the plate:

1. Twirl noodles as tight as you can, not in the direct middle of the plate, slightly to the right. It should sit high.

2. Position 4 salmon pieces to the left before adding onion pieces on top of it and a sprinkle on top of the noodles. Pepper to season.

3. Clean sides and decorate with Balsamic Glaze (I used Balsamic Apple Glaze).

4. It is now ready to be served. The balsamic glaze is actually to be eaten and dipped into! If you want the traditional soba soya mirin sauce, it is not difficult to buy a bottle of it. Pour it into individual bowls, only 1/3 of the bowl and add some water. Throw in some spring onions.

Now, it is lunchtime and I am hungry again...Hmmm....I sure hope you have fun with your cold soba noodles and be sure to tell me if you come up with any versions!

Till my next kitchen venture, Mayy xo

Kitchen Venture #6: Poached Egg and Cold Soba part 4

The reason I did not include this in part 3 is because this version needs some cooking and preparation too. Also, there is a new kitchen venture going on here too! Needs to be acknowledged eh?

No prizes also for guessing what is the new kitchen venture. It is poaching eggs! Friends kept telling me their poached eggs turned up lousy and they took ages to make them. After watching Julie & Julia the movie that day, I gathered enough courage to give it a go for dinner that night. All I needed was one egg really. AND I DID IT!!! Succeeded on my first try. I so earned the right to brag. =P

How I did it:

1. Boil water in the pot. Fill to about 3/4 level.

2. Crack an egg into a cup. Get ready a spoon by the pot!

3. Once the water is boiling, lower the cup carefully and slowly near the water surface. Slowly tip the egg into the water, let it slide in. Yes it may burn you so be careful or wear something like a glove. Lower the stove heat.

4. Once in, grab the spoon and keep covering the egg yolk with the swirling egg white. FAST and repeat the covering of the egg yolk just to make sure.

5. Based on judgement, you can watch the egg simmer and boil for however long depending on how you like your yolk runny or cooked through. I like mine runny, I let it boil for about 3-5 minutes before switching the stove off.

6. Grab a skimming ladle sieve and slowly spoon the egg up without the water. Put it over a bowl or cup while you go prepare your noodles or whatever. This should be your last step!

Photo credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com
Eggs aside, you need bacon and ham for this version of the cold soba. The cooking of this ham and bacon can be done beforehand, on that day or days before. So here's really a tip for student or busy people. Like when your ham or bacon is about to expire, chop them up and fry them in olive oil or butter. Let it cool and store them in the fridge. When needed, microwave or heat them up in the frying pan again.

Preparation:

1. Twirl noodles onto the centre of the plate. How? Use chopsticks or fork. Grab amount you want with them and lower it onto whereever you want on the plate. Slowly spin the plate around while you keep the noodles in place. Once you feel it looks good and the noodles are tight enough, slowly and carefully remove chopsticks or fork.

2. Arrange the bacon and ham pieces around the noodles. Pat the top of noodles flat for egg. Make a slight indent.

3. Now carefully lower the egg onto the top of the noodles. (mine slide off, sad.) So I think you need a dent on top, sort of like a volcano shape.

4. Salt and pepper to season. I don't use salt because I feel the bacon and ham are salty enough. You can also add a drop of ketchup on top of the poached egg. Cute.

I want to know how YOUR poached egg experience turned out. I have yet to try it again but I will once winter sets in. It is too hot here now!

Till my next kitchen venture, Mayy xo

Kitchen Venture #5: Cold Soba part 3

So let's continue with our Cold Soba Kitchen Venture. In this post and onwards, the soba noodles are the green tea ones, cha soba. This is my first batch of cold soba actually and turned out way better than the buckwheat ones. That's why I prefer this and kept the best for the last!

Preparing the cold soba noodles is exactly the same as what I posted in the first part. Except I did not add the garlic bits to this batch. So you can really savour the green tea and in my opinion, the green tea soba noodles taste smoother. Maybe it is the brand I used which is actually organic green tea.

For my first version, you will need blueberries, mangoes, sugar and balsamic vinegar.

Photo credits: mayydiaries.blogspot.com
You will need a bit of cooking to prepare this dish. It can be served as an alternative dessert. Something different and you can serve it in very small portions which is really good enough. This is also a pretty seasonal dish because it was springtime and you can get it cheap and very good in the supermarkets here, especially the blueberries. However, in Asia, you can use mangoes on its own too. Do a Mango Balsamic Reduction instead of mango blueberries.

Preparation:

1. Heat the frying pan which should have some depth to it. Not the flat ones.

2. Slice mangos, remove skin and cut it into squares. Throw into the hot pan and let it sit.

3. Add about 2 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar to the pan and use the spatula to push it around so the mangoes are coated properly. Add blueberries at this point too.

4. Let the fruits simmer and vinegar bubble in low heat. Push around at intervals. Mangoes should become gooey and blueberries soft but still retaining the round shape. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar at this point, less or more depending on how tangy sour or sweet you like it.

5. Once the consistency is thick and mangoes have lost their shape, it is ready. Let it sit after switching the stove off. Have you prepared your soba noodles the way you want to serve it? Do that now if you have not.

6. Top noodles with the fruits reduction and let the vinegar seep through. It is now ready to be served. If it is for a dinner party, you can do this step after mian course and perhaps if you want to make it warm, microwave or let it simmer again for a few minutes by turning the stove up.

All these are really just the versions I have tried and I am sure you can think up of so many more creative ones to go with it. Don't be scared. Nothing gained if nothing ventured. ;)

Till my next kitchen venture, Mayy xo