Mum's cooking

"Home cooked meal is the best because it's full of love and nutrition".  

Today's post is about my appreciation to mum's cooking, not only to my mum, but to all the mums/dads out there that always try to provide a homey comfort to their family simply by cooking a meal.

The world's best meal for me is definitely my mum's cooking, because it's full of love. Mum's cooking always shine as the best. Today is my first night without my parents' company (after one and a half month) as they left Sydney this afternoon. It was hard to come back to an empty house once again. I know I'm going to miss their company and of course my mum's cooking too. 

I believe my love of food came from my mum, she introduced me to the wonderful world of food. I still remember when we were young, she tried to handmade everything we wanted to eat just because it's healthier, from donut to burger, from biscuit to cake. She also taught me to be creative (not that I am), as she invented so many dishes that only can be found in her kitchen.Thanks to mum, I grew up to appreciate food even more, both the enjoyment of it and the social aspect of it. 

 Only in my mum's kitchen: Radish & Shrimp Ball

 One of the great things about mum's cooking is, there's never rush or panic. She always make it looks so easy.

Giorgios, Melbourne

THE  MOST UNFORGETTABLE MEAL IN MELBOURNE

Finally, I'm back!!! Having been missing in action for so long, I'm finally back with this very special post. The main reason for my absence is due to the hectic workload during this financial year end, where I unwillingly put a temporary stop on my food/culinary adventure. But, I was lucky that even during this busy season, I managed to fly down to Melbourne last week to witness and celebrate my sister and her fiance's ROM (Registration of Marriage). I couldn't ask them for a better place to celebrate their special day. Giorgios is one the few places where I like almost every single food being served. Of course, the credit goes to my sister and her now husband, who picked the perfect selection of food for us to choose from.

My sister told me that she always come here for their dessert and after savouring them...I fully understand why.

Starter: Freshly Baked Garlic, Herb & Cheese Foccacia

A crispy mix of garlic and herb bread is always a great starter for Italian food. As a garlic lover, I really like the heavy flavoured garlic and cheese combination.

Selection of Entrees

Entree 1: Salt and Pepper Squid

The squid was lightly fried, marinated in lemon pepper served on iceberg lettuce, spanish onion, tomato, carrot and aioli. The squid was soft, with the perfect amount of salt and pepper that wasn't over powering. 

Entree 2: Vegetarian Thai Rolls

The rice pastry of the spring rolls is perfectly thin and crispy, with savoury filling of julienne vegetables, rice noodles and Thai spices. 

Entree 3: Souvlaki Mezza

The cubes of lamb are marinated with Mediterranean herbs, garlic, spring onion and served with fetta, diced tomato, black olives and cos lettuce with pita bread. For a lamb eater, you will definitely appreciate the tender lamb that's bursting in flavour. 

So far, the selection of entrees have been pleasant, I was looking forward for the next course.

Selection of Main course

Main 1: Spatchcock

We were impressed by the generous size of this twice cooked whole organic chicken. The moment this dish was placed on the table, we found the aroma really alluring. With the marination of paprika and lemon, the flavour was second to none. Served on the side were kipfler potatoes, orange, red onion & mixed Asian cress salad with orange jus.

Main 2: Prawn Risotto 

Cooking risotto is never simple, it requires perfect skill and a bit of practice to achieve the perfect texture, I dare say the risotto here is perfectly cooked! And Giorgios has make its mark by choosing the best type of rice for cooking risotto, the Aborio rice. This rich and creamy risotto was cooked with shallots, cherry tomato, napoli & marscapone. I also found plenty of tiger prawns in it. As much as I like to finish the whole plate, It was absolutely impossible. The serving was HUGE!

Main 3: Eye Fillet Steak

This was the highlight of the lunch for me and my husband. When the steak was served, I could smell the strong aroma of truffle. The truffled mash potato with char grilled vegetables were really delicious. The highlight was not only the truffled potato, but also the tenderness of the beef and the exceptional flavour of the porcini demi glaze sauce that drawn out the best of the beef. 

Selection of Dessert

Dessert 1: Pear & Lime Tart

The tart has a soft, smooth and tangy lemon filling. The balanced palate of pear and lime flavours, with a sensuous sweetness of the fruits left my mouth feeling refreshed.

Dessert 2: Tiramisu

When done correctly, Tiramisu makes a very impressive dessert. I found the mascarpone cream here really light, which is always a good thing.

Dessert 3: Sticky Date Pudding

Now, the highly recommended dessert by my sister, also her favourite here. The sticky date pudding was served warm with butterscotch sauce & double cream. I couldn't agree more with my sister. Their sticky date pudding is no doubt one of the better one I have ever had.This winter favourite cake reminded me to the one I had at Zellini's cafe in Randwick (Sydney). The moist muffin-like pudding is accompanied with the perfect butterscotch sauce that has a hint of salty after taste. This is one of those times when I couldn't stop stuffing myself until I clean the whole plate.

Gosh, what have I done? I can barely move after the meal.

Apart from my mum's cooking, this is undeniably the best meal I had lately.

Thanks to my beloved sis and her hubby for this wonderful meal. 

This has been the most unforgettable meal I had in Melbourne.

"This post is especially posted for you guys!

Hope you guys have a Happy Marriage!!!"

You can find out more on their menu here

Giorgios 

1235 High Street

Armadale- 3143

VIC, Australia

Ph: 03 9822 4664

Ocean Room, The Rocks

"The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet." (Judith Martin)

The first time I came to Ocean Room was probably five or six years ago, as far as I remember I had a pretty good experience back then. I've recently found out that the restaurant has been newly renovated end of last year, this has inspired me to come back even more. 

The moment I set my foot in, I was charmed by the beauty of the curvy ceiling and wooden chandelier that made of over thousands of hanging wooden tubes. I absolutely loved the theme and the blending of colours, it was simply astonishing. In addition to the elegant dining room, we were lucky to be seated in front of the floor to ceiling window with a magnificent view of Sydney's iconic Opera House right in front of us. We couldn't ask for a better place to bring our parents for a dining indulgence.

Ocean Room is a Japanese restaurant with a twist. The chef cleverly designed the food with traditional Japanese approach that combines with a contemporary culture.

Natural Oyster

We picked the green shio basil sorbet and salted konbu sauce to go with the oyster. These icy cold oysters were really fresh and appetising. I could almost taste the purity of the oyster. It was so delicious that it left me wanting for more

Natural Oyster  $4.5 (each)

Japanese Tapas 1: Tuna Cornet

The marinated blue fin tuna tartare was wrapped in nori rice cracket cornet. The tuna tartare was really soft, it kind of melt in your mouth. The rice cracket cornet tasted like the Chinese egg roll. I thought it was a good match and it certainly made a good entree.

Tuna Cornet $5 (per piece)

Japanese Tapas 2: Soft Shell Crab Taco

The spiced soft shell crab was served with pickled vegetables and wrapped in a crispy taco shell. This was the favourite entree of the night. The crispiness of the taco and the crunch of the spicy soft shell crab, with a dab of mayonnaise and salmon roe is the perfect example of a modernised approach to the traditional deep fried soft shell crab.

Soft Shell Crab Taco  $6 (per piece)

Entree 1: Wasabi Prawn

The crispy king prawn was served with wasabi aioli and petit wasabi croquette. It was a decent entree with a very light wasabi flavour aioli to complement the crispy prawn.

 Wasabi Prawn $19.00

Entree 2: Tuna Creation

We were told that this is the Ocean Room's signature dish. It consists of five different types of tuna (cut into cubes) with five different condiments. The staff explained that each condiment is designed to complement each type of tuna. Because we ordered  this to share, I only get to try the 'Fresh raw akami with black salt, jalapeno and yusu zest'. It was certainly different to what I've tasted before and my dad absolutely loved the 'Marinated akami with truffle salt, fried garlic and fresh chilli' that he had.

Tuna Creation  $23.00

Sushi Roll: Tassie Roll

A crispy ocean trout sushi roll, topped with ocean trout sashimi and roe.

 Tassie Roll  $15.00

Main 1: Chilli Baby Snapper

The roast chilli spiced whole baby snapper was accompanied with micro herbs and dressed with shallot oil.  Even though the meat was cooked perfectly well, but I thought the flavour was pretty mediocre, it was nothing unexpected. I was expecting  more, I was expecting to be blasted away by the fish.

Steamed rice is available for $3.00 per bowl

 

Chilli Baby Snapper $39.00

Main 2: Aburiyaki Wagyu

Thank goodness! I thought I will be dissapointed again, but the wagyu had me blasted half way to the moon! The Wagyu Harami was divine and the meat itself was sweet. This was definitely the highlight of the night. A dish I would come back for. We were given a small charcoal grill to further cook the wagyu to our preference.

 Aburiyaki Wagyu  $45.00

Main 3: Shiogama Pork

This was the last dish we had. The pork belly was tender and tasteful, served with spicy Korean kochuajang sauce, pickled nashi pear and citrus. 

Shiogama Pork $37.00

There's certainly a plus and minus in terms of the food, but Ocean room is certainly a fabulous restaurant with a view to die for.

Ocean Room

Bay 4 - Ground Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal
Circular Quay West, The Rocks

Sydney NSW 2000

PH: (02)9252-9585 

Soto Ayam Medan (Medanese Style Chicken Soup)

 

Medan Must Eat - Soto Medan

After a long day at work, all I can think of is going home for my Mum's delicious Soto. Soto is a traditional yellow soup commonly found in Indonesia. It has a strong distinct flavour mainly from Tumeric and other spices. However, different regions have their own version of Soto. Some of the popular soto are Soto Betawi, Soto Madura, Soto Bandung and Soto Medan (All named after the geographic regions where they were originated from).

I personally think Soto Medan is the best among all, not because it's coming from my hometown, but because it has a hint of coconut milk inside which gives an extra richness to the soup, without being too heavy or fatty. The typical meat used in Soto Medan is either chicken or beef.

 My mum is a non beef eater, so the choice of meat is obvious...

Soto Medan is never complete without Perkedel (Indonesian potato croquette). Perkedel is a fried potato cake made from mashed potato, chopped celery and some other ingredients. Beef is commonly added in preparing Perkedel too. It's very simple to make and is an excellent side dish/appetiser.

 Perkedel (Potato croquette)

Even though I don't have my mum's recipe here, I managed to find the recipes of Soto Medan (here) and Perkedel (here) for you guys. Do try these delicious Soto Medan and Perkedel at home. They make the perfect lunch/dinner dish during a cold winter day.

 Soto Medan (chicken)

 

Soto can be served with vermicelli, but I still think the best way to eat Soto is to have it with plain steamed rice plus some crackers on the side.

Steamed Yam Cake (Taro cake)

One of My 'Must-ask-mum-to-prepare' food

Steamed Yam cake is a traditional Asian savoury cake (known as kuih) that is made with fresh yam (taro) and served with ground dried shrimp, fried onions(shallots), spring onions and fresh chilli/chilli sauce (optional). This has been one of the local's favourites among the Asian countries and it is also one of my 'Must-ask-mum-to-prepare' food when my mum is around.While typing up this post, my mind is filled with all kind of local kuih that I could devour back home. But this purple colour cake should satisfy my craving temporarily.

  The Plain Steamed Yam Cake

The difficulty of preparing this cake is getting the right texture, it should be just firm and slightly sticky (it can't be too soft nor too hard). Mum's version of yam cake always come with her homemade chilli sauce that goes perfectly well with the cake.

 Ground Dried Shrimp (Pan fried)

Homemade Fried Onions (shallots)

I always wonder how mum always get it right because her recipe is always based on estimation only. I guess it all comes with experience. Finally, the easy and fun part is assembling the cake. First, place the cake on the plate then garnish it with generous amount of ground dried shrimp, fried onions(shallots), spring onions and chillies/chilli sauce. 

I need to apologise for not posting the recipe, because mum's recipe is all based on estimation, so if you are interested in savouring this mouth watering cake, why not try googling it online. I'm sure there's plenty of recipes available for you to try =)

After assembling the cake (without the chilli sauce)

After assembling the cake (with chilli sauce)

Hope this post will give you some inspiration for your next visit to the kitchen!

Next time, I will try to prepare this cake myself too.