Sydney Trip Day 1

Went down to Sydney to attend a friend's wedding on the weekend (19 & 20th September). We didn't know what to have for lunch but since my friend was very eager to eat some of her home country food, aka Taiwanese food, we decided to go to Chinatown. She brought us to a place called 'Cho Dumpling King - The taste of Taiwan' and from memory i think i've been there before. The first thing you notice is that the place is really small and packed, with quite a number of people waiting to be seated or for their take-aways. The second thing you notice is the variety of 小吃 (side dishes) which can all be glanced at from the outside. We waited for around 20 minutes until we could finally go in. We ordered a Braised Beef with Rice, Pork Chop with Rice and a Curry Pork Chop with Rice plus Shaken Ice Green Tea. In addition to that, we had a Taiwanese sliced beef and sliced pig's ear as side dishes

I quite liked the Pork Chop with the sour picked veggie as an accompliment, they go very well indeed. The beef was quite soft and tasty but it didn't stand out as much as the pork chop =P Was a bit disappointed with the sliced beef side as we all agreed that i tasted a bit dry!

Cho Dumpling King - A Taste of Taiwan

Beef with Rice

Pork Chop with Rice, Shaken Ice Green Tea (at the back)

After lunch we had to hurry back to the hotel where we are supposed to meet the bride and the groom for a pre-wedding rehearsal. The chapel where the wedding was held is quite small but beautiful (especially the tinted glass).

After the rehearsal we went to a close by suburb...i think it's Kingsford, to have dinner. We went to 'Delicious Chinese Cuisine' and we ordered a 4-people set dinner and a 3-people one. We had seasonal stir-fry veggies, salt & pepper tofu, Hainan chicken, stir-fry squid and string beans with shrimp paste, ShanTung chicken, sweet & sour pork chop, salted fish and eggplant hotpot plus chicken rice and a daily soup. The food was nice and i loved the TOFU! It was crispy on the outside and wonderfully soft inside...the tofu literally melted in your mouth. Yum. Hainan chicken was not as flavoursome as i expected, maybe because i was expecting too much as they claimed to make one of the best Hainan Chicken in Sydney. Overall the dinner was lovely and it turned out to be $8 per person, which is pretty good! I don't think you can get that in Canberra.

Delicious Chinese Cuisine

Seasonal stir-fry veggies

 Salt & pepper tofu *thumbs up

 Hainan chicken

Stir-fry squid and string beans with shrimp paste

 ShanTung chicken

Sweet & sour pork chop

Salted fish and eggplant hotpot

We were all full and satisfied...and tired...

Chorizo Stuffed Crust Pizza

I have never been a fan of pizzas, though my family used to eat them once a fortnight when i was younger. The main reason was probably because i always found the ones from Pizza Hut too oily and heavy and since then, my impression of pizza was always bad. You must asking 'then why are you blogging about a pizza recipe??' Well well...it all started when we decided to make pizza for a friend's farewell and somehow...mysteriously...it turned out quite yummy and nice. The crust wasn't oily at all (in fact, it was crispy) and i didn't feel as if i had just eaten a whole lump of greasy stuff. Anyways, the recipe is not hard but the dough can be time consuming.

Pizza Dough Recipe

- 2 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp of salt

- 1/2 tsp instant yeast

- 3/4 cup of lukewarm water (85 - 90C)

- 3 tbsp of olive oil

Toppings

- tomato paste

- italian herbs

- chorizo (to your liking)

- grated mozzarella cheese

Method of preparation

1. Mix the all-purpose flour, salt, instant yeast and water

2. Add the olive oil and start kneading until it forms a nice and smooth dough (you might need extra flour or water)

3. Divide into 2 portions (this recipe allows you to make 2 pizza doughs)

4. Coat each dough with olive oil and put them each in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and let it sit in room temperature until it doubles in size (~1 hour)

5. Sprinkle the table surface with flour and using a rolling pin roll the dough out

6. Roll until the pizza dough is larger than the pizza pan by 1.5 inches

7. Put the pizza dough on the pizza pan

8. Put mozzarella cheese around the outer edge of the pizza dough and roll the extra dough that is hanging out of the pizza pan inwards to form a crust.

9. Spread tomato base and add some herbs

10. Add the chorizo and cover with mozzarella cheese

11. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes at 200C

12. Cool it down, slice it and...SERVE!

Here some pics of how my pizza turned out

Ooops...the sun light!

Hope you guys will like this recipe, remember that you can always change to the toppings that you like!

Cabanossi Roll - Simple recipe

Been having my own home-made Cabanossi Roll for brekkie for the last 2 days! Sorry...but there won't be any photos because i always make them in a rush. For those who want to try making them, here is the recipe. Trust me, it's very easy and healthy too!

- 1 French baguette (fresh, if possible)

- 1 or 2 Cabanossi, depends on how long your baguette is.

- 1 medium carrot, shaved

- alfalfa, to your liking

- Japanese mayonnaise (Japanese mayo makes a difference!)

- Heinz tomato sauce

- extra virgin olive oil margarine

Method:

1. Cut the baguette in half and spread the olive oil margarine

2. Fill the bread with shaved carrot, then the alfalfa

3. Add some tomato sauce

4. Slice the cabanossi and place them on top of the alfalfa

5. Squeeze mayo on top of cabanossi and then some tomato sauce.

6. Cut it in portions to your liking and ready to EAT!

Hog's Breath Cafe + Cafe Essen

I was supposed to go to Cafe Macchiato for dinner but realised that i was closed! I think i haven't been there for so long that i didn't realise that they are no longer opened for dinner. After a long discussion, we ended up in Hog's Breath Cafe (Bailey's Cnr, London Cct) mainly because it has a nice atmosphere where we can talk for ages! I ordered a Grilled Steak Sandwich ($14.95) and my friend ordered a Chicken Caesar Wrap ($12.95). My steak was rather cooked to well-done when i prefer medium-rare. It was a bit disappointing because i had a better one last time. The chicken Caesar wrap seemed to have a lot of iceberg lettuce in it and very little of the other ingredients; i guess my friend didn't mind since she loves veggies a lot!

Chicken Caesar Wrap

Grilled Steak Sandwich

After the dinner, we went to Cafe Essen (Garema Arcade Shop 5-6, Garema Pl) to have a chat and some drinks. I decided to not order the usual Vienna Chocolate and go for an option under Essen Specialty Gourmet Coffee - the Hazelnut Truffle Latte (it was a 3-layered latte). The drink was quite watery but it still had a chocolate latte with a sweet hazelnut after-taste - not bad, but could have been better. My friend ordered a Cinnamon Frangelico Latte and it had a rich almond flavour, she finished it in no time!

Hazelnut Truffle Latte

Cinnamon Frangelico

The night was enjoyable afterall =)

Random bits from Sydney

Was too excited about the visit to Adriano Zumbo's that i nearly forgot to post about the other places that i ate while my trip in Sydney. Just before going to AZ's, i ate at a cafe in Balmain called 'All about...Romana's Cafe' (260 Darling Street, Balmain). It was a small cafe but i definately liked the half flower pattern glass at the top of the entrance! (i know i can be really random at times...) As i was looking at the menu, something caught my attention instantly - the green eggs and ham...now this is something that you don't find in an ordinary brekkie menu! So...for most obvious reasons, that was the thing i ordered! Basically the 'green eggs and ham' was scrambled eggs with house-made basil pesto, smoked ham and fetta cheese on a toasted sourdough.

All about...Romana's cafe's entrance

The Green Eggs & Ham

The scrambled eggs were quite light and fluffy and i simply loved the basil-pesto in it! i should probably try making it sometime! I would have preferred a hint of olive oil on top of the leaves, so they woudln't be as dry but tastier.

After the visit to Balmain, I was kinda full...very full indeed. So i thought of maybe getting something light for dinner. As i walked pass World Square I saw this long line of people in front of a Japanese restaurant called Miso Japanese Restaurant (World Square, Shop 20 and it is part of the MASUYA GROUP). Apparently its concept is based on Teishoku style dining which is made up of small dishes combined to create a healthy and balanced meal! Since i was still full, i ordered a unagi bento for $16.80 so i could eat later. I was happy with the eel as it was quite tasty and decent in size, overall the bento was very nice and filling (apart from the mayo macaroni)!

Miso's Unagi Bento, $16.80

Happy day with losta eating =9