Kimchi Soup (Kimchi Jigae)

“There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can.” Laurie Colwin, 'Home Cooking' (1988)

I hate to admit this, but winter is just around the corner. How I wish autumn can just stay a bit longer. So when the air begins to take on a chill as winter approaches, how do we keep ourselves warm? Wear thicker clothes? Tick. Wear jacket? Tick. Heater? Tick. Snug under the blanket? Tick.

How bout a bowl of steaming hot soup? BIG TICK!

There's nothing like sipping a bowl of hearty, thick and rich soup to keep us warm right down to the bones. As a fan of korean food, I keep myself warm with one of the most popular korean soups, Kimchi soup (Kimchi Jigae). This soup is reallly appetising and very easy to make as the kimchi does most of the flavouring for you. It tastes best if it's cooked along time but it's understood that some of us don't have the time as we usually cook after work. So just cook it as long as you can.

The measurement below is for a medium sized pan.

KIMCHI SOUP

Ingredients:

- 500gm packed Kimchi (can be found in Asian/Korean grocery)

- Silken tofu

- Pork Belly (sliced very thinly)

- 4 cloves garlic (minced)

- 1/2 sliced onion

- 1 tbsp cooking wine (I used Japanese Mirin)

- 1 tbsp  Korean chilli paste

- 2 tsp soya sauce

- A handful of spring onion (chop as desired size)

- 1 tbsp cooking oil

- 1 1/2-2 tbsp Korean bean paste ( I was running out of this, so I used the japanese miso, it tastes similar)

- water

- 2 Tbsp korean dried chilli flakes or chilli powder (optional)

- Fresh chinese cabbage (optional)

Method:

1) Heat up the pan until hot, add in the cooking oil , then add in the pork belly and onion. Stir and let the fat render out of the pork, add the kimchi and garlic. Saute until it fragrant. Then add in the bean paste/miso, cooking wine, Korean chilli paste, keep stirring for another 5 minutes. Then add in the water and make sure to add in all the juice from the kimchi.

2) Bring soup to boil, add the optional Korean chilli flakes/powder and cabbage. Turn down the heat and let it simmer until pork and kimchi are tender.  If you find the soup is not salty enough, you can use the bean paste/miso until you get your desired taste.

3) 10 minutes before serving the soup add in the tofu and leave it to simmer.

4) When you are ready to serve, add in the spring onions and give it a quick stir.

5) Serve along with steamed rice.

Yes, there's something magical about this hearty soup. The warmth that fills your stomach, to your house and your heart with comfort.

 

The Razors Edge Restaurant, Enmore

 "A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness". (Elsa Schiapirelli)

On Saturday, my friends and I dined at The Razors Edge Restaurant in Enmore. This small and cosy restaurant serves an International fusion dishes with French, Japanese, Asian and Modern Australian influence. No doubt the food is exquisite, service is delightful, there are some disappointments too. The major disappointment is the kitchen was really slow, we waited almost an hour for the entree to be served, unless you have a great company to dine with, it might be quite dishearten to have to wait for so long. 

The main dining room is elegant, it resembles a Parisian Bistro with its dazzling chandelier that softly radiating the small but yet intimate dining room. We were seated at the courtyard which has a rather fine ambiance too. The staffs were very professional and friendly, they politely apologised to us for taking so long to serve the food.

One of the reasons we chose this restaurant is because we wanted a nice BYO restaurant.

The Oysters were really fresh. This entree was definitely a Japanese influence, it is really interesting to have the creamy rock oysters topped with salmon roe and wakame seaweed, the splashes of mirin certainly added more kicks to this appetizing entree.

One dozen rock oysters $31.90

The Pork Belly Roulade was rubbed with Italian herbs and almond paste, rolled with sundried tomatoes and fennel then toasted with a balsamic vinegar and orange glaze. The meat was deliciously savoury without being overly fatty. It was a really unique taste and the crispy skin was to die for.

Italian Pork Belly Roulade $16.80

I was told that Kangaroo meat is really good, but I never try it before. So we decided to order one to try. The slices of kangaroo fillet were dusted with cajun spices then lightly seared served with black bean, tomato, capsicum, corn, lime and coriander salsa and topped with sour cream. Having this entree was a novel experience! This aromatic and tasty dish was definitely a dish that you wouldn't want to share with anyone.

Cajun Kangaroo Medallions $16.80

The obvious chinese influence main of The Orange Glazed Duck Breast was marinated in honey, orange juice, and olive oil pan seared, served with salad of chinese cabbage, crispy noodle, snow peas and shallots dressed, with soy and sesame vinaigrette. This might be quite a common dish, but it was a succulent, tender and perfectly cooked duck.

Orange Glazed Duck Breast $29.90

I ordered the Roast Poussin with Catalan Sauce. It was a whole roasted spring chicken on a chunky Spanish sauce of chick peas, chorizo sausage, capsicum, black and green olives, almonds, tomatoes and currants cooked in white wine with garlic and smoked paprika. This is another interesting tasty dish, it is a dish that dances with flavours.

Roast Poussin with Catalan Sauce $29.90

The Fillet Mignon was the table's favourite, three of my friends ordered this eye fillet steak wrapped with Bacon, served with a salad of fresh beetroot roasted in Marsala wine, juniper berries and baby english spinach topped with onion relish and crumbed feta cheese. As requested, the beef was cooked perfectly pink, although it might be slight dry as there's not much sauce to go with the steak, however as my friend said, "They are playing with our taste bud!". The combination flavours of everything was again...unique.

Fillet Mignon $32.80

Although the rating for entrees are slightly higher than the mains, all three main dishes were still delicious.

However, I'm sad to say that the creme brulee was a failure. The sugar was overly burnt and what meant to be a smooth creamy pudding like custard was too watery, the brulee wasn't set at all and it tasted pretty bland too.

Creme Brulee  $12.80

However, I do like the other dessert that we had. It was Cinnamon - Orange Chocolate Mousse. It was a rich mousse  of  semi sweet chocolate, honey, cinnamon and grand marnier topped with fresh orange. As a big fan of cinnamon I absolutely enjoyed this rich but not overly sweet mousse, but my friends thought the cinnamon was too strong.

 Cinnamon - Orange Chocolate Mousse  $12.80

Even though there were some dissapointments, It was still throughout unusual and throughout enjoyable.

The Razor's Edge Restaurant

129 Enmore Road, Enmore

Sydney NSW Australia

Ph: (02) 9557 5867

Indo Rasa, Kingsford

"Indonesian Food varies by region and is based on Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. That is why Indonesian Food is rich in flavours and scents, very delicious and could really blow your mind away!" (Tatie -Tasty Indonesian Food)

I can still remember exactly how Kingsford was like when I came in 1996 to visit my brother. The main street was dark and there was only one Indonesian restaurant in this suburb. It was "Hopeng" (in english means Best Friend), but the Kingsford today has totally been transformed, the main street (Anzac Parade) is filled with endless shops' neon lights and eager diner and with its large Chinese and Indonesian community, it's not a surprise that this place is dominated by Chinese and Indonesian restaurants.

Indo Rasa is a new Indonesian restaurant that has just opened a few weeks ago. It is certainly a great addition to Kingsford's already impressive list of Indonesian restaurant. The interior is cosy and the food is Indo-authentic. There are lots of varieties to choose from the menu too. I absolutely love all the food we have ordered. I'm sure this will be the first of my many visits to this restaurant in the future.

Some Indonesian sweet and savoury cakes on sell at the counter

The Indo Rasa fried rice is aromatic and smoky...it's simply delicious. But most importantly the rice is not sticky, there's nothing worse than a sticky and soggy fried rice. We also ordered an extra sunny side up on the side to compliment this irresistible fried rice.

Nasi Goreng Indo Rasa $10.00

I ordered the Nasi Uduk Komplit and was thrilled when the waitress served up the food. There was a mixture of fried chicken, marinated beef, chilli egg, giblet with sambal vegetable and the fragrant coconut rice. Not only everything tasted good, the serving was generous too.

Nasi Uduk Komplit $11.00
This is available in yellow tumeric rice as well.

Ayam Kalasan (fried marinated  chicken) is a deep fry chicken cooked using traditional spices, eventhough the chicken size is slightly smaller than Ayam Goreng 99, but this sweet and tender chicken is deep in flavour.

Ayam Kalasan $6.00

Next was the Soto Ayam. This Javanese originated chicken soup has bean sprout, vermicelli and shredded chicken, topped with belinjo cracker. This is a famous Indonesian soup that is flavoured using tumeric and some other spices. The silkiness of the vermicelli contrasts the crunchy bean sprouts. The aromatic of the spices and the shredded chicken combine everything in a wholesome way.

Soto Ayam $8.00

Next we had their Terong Belado (Stir Fried Eggplant in Chilli Sauce). Don't be intimidated by the colour of the red chilli sauce, it is actually not as spicy as it looks. Belado is an aromatic tomato based chilli sauce.The deep fried eggplant has a soft and juicy texture in the inside and crispy on the outside. The impressing aroma of the chilli sauce makes this a perfect dish to have with rice.

Terong Belado $10.00

Then we had the deep fried giblet and liver as a side dish. Special mention has to be made to their Sambal Terasi, which is the most Indonesian-treasured condiment to heat up and boost one's appetite even more. This spicy condiment has a very strong pungent smell from the shrimp paste, but this is a must on dining table in Indonesia. I was more than happy when I tasted their version, as it's probably the most authentic one I've tried in Sydney.

(Top) Deep Fried Chicken Giblet and liver $2.00

(Bottom) Complementary Sambal Terasi 

Great food, great place and great service. Will this be in my favourite restaurants list? Yes, it will.

Indo Rasa

Shop 1, 309 Anzac Parade

Kingsford NSW 2032

Ph: (02) 9697 2003

Zozo Korean Restaurant, Sydney CBD

"The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had".  ~Author Unknown

This month has been a special month for me. I had so many visits all in just this month. Not only I get to catch up with a cousin that I haven't seen for years, a visit from my beloved sister from Melbourne, I get to catch up with my college buddy too.

I believe everyone has a college buddy. A friend whom you spend your college days with, sitting next to you in classes, goes lunch with you everyday, study and doing projects together.  

So this college buddy of mine (PS) who live in Melbourne came down to Sydney last week. We decided to meet up at World Square in the city. To my surprise PS has contacted another college friend to meet up too. I was so delighted to see another old friend.

 

It was a very cold windy Friday, so we decided to have some Korean food. I walked pass Zozo all the times, but never had a chance to try it because there's always a long queue, but last week we patiently waited for a table.

We ordered a seafood pancake to share. It was a decent pancake, not the best but not the worst.

 

Seafood Pancake

We were seated outside which was really cold, so we ordered a spicy seafood hotpot. Again, this is another decent hot pot which is  similar to what you find in other Korean restaurants, but it was a great choice as we definitely needed the hot soup to warm us up. But it was pretty good value as there were heaps of seafood in the soup for $40ish

Spicy Seafood Hot Pot

Then, this is the dish of the day for me, Chilli Chicken with Cheese. This chicken and cheese combo was served on sizzling hot plate. It was so tasty...it's definitely the dish that deserve the Ooohhs and the Aaahhs from the table. There was some korean rice cakes inside too. The combination of the sweet and spicy chicken, chewy rice cakes and melted cheese was just fabulous!

Chilli Chicken and Cheese ($25)

(This dish will be enough for 2 ppl)

Then there was the combination BBQ. This was the table's favourite, not that I don't like, I do think it was really good too. The marination was really tasty and the beef's texture was fairly good. There were mixture of BBQ chilli chicken, beef slices and beef ribs.

 Combination BBQ $44

(This dish will be enough for 3-4 ppl)

A great meal and a great catch up...what more can I ask... 

Zozo Korean Restaurant

World Square
Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph (02) 9267 8040

 

GrandTaipei Bakery & Ganache Chocolate, Melbourne

Sweet Treat From Melbourne
 
"It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man." - Miranda Ingram

It has become a tradition that my sister will buy me my favourite swiss rolls from Grand Taipei Bakery (Melbourne) whenever she visits me. I fell in love from the first time I had a mouthful of this cotton soft Swiss roll, it is by far the best swiss roll I had. It's so soft with just a little cream in between that allows you to eat more. 

There are many delicious flavours to choose from. There are chocolate, strawberry, butter, blueberry, taro, durian, pandan and coffee. There's no way I can choose which flavour is the best, I just love them all. But this time around my sister bought me mixture of 3 flavours. If Swiss Roll is your thing, then you gotta get some when you are in Melbourne.

From top: Strawberry, Pandan and Coffee Swiss Rolls

Not only my sister brought me swiss rolls, she brought 4 other heavenly cakes from Ganache Chocolate. It has been a very very sweet weekend for me. There's no disappointment but lots of enjoyment on these melt-in-your-mouth cakes. I think most of the cakes in Ganache Chocolate are mousse cakes and every single one has its own distinct character and flavour. But one thing in common for all the cakes is...it is rich...very rich....

If I'm not mistaken below is called Triple Chocolate Mousse, layer of white, milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate cake at the bottom.

Triple Chocolate Mousse $7.00

Below is Hazelnut Fan Slice, I like this the most out of the four, maybe because I like hazelnut. It has layer of rich hazelnut mousse with crispy bottom where you find bits of Ferrero Rocher and chopped hazelnuts.

Hazelnut Fan Slice $7.00

Below is Swiss Truffle Mousse. Another rich chocolate mousse in the inside and bittersweet chocolate ganache on the outside.

Swiss Truffle Mousse $7.00

Last one is slightly different. It is Spring Lime & Cassis. After three very chocolatey cakes, this is a more refreshing one, still very rich but it's slightly sour with tasty lime flavour.

Spring Lime and Cassis $7.00

And....I woke up  in the morning with Chocolate hang over...

Grand Taipei Bakery

594 Station Street

Box Hill, VIC 3128

Ph: (03) 9898 8866

Ganache Chocolate

250 Toorak Rd

South Yarra, VIC 3141
Ph: (03) 9804 7485

Ginger & Spice, Neutral Bay

"Although there is a great deal of controversy among scientists about the effects of ingested food on the brain, no one denies that you can change your cognition and mood by what you eat". (Arthur Winter)

Over the weekend, I get a visit from my favourite person in the world....My Sister!!!

I have been anticipating her visit for months and finally last Saturday she came from Melbourne, but just for one night. So I've been thinking where to bring her and her fiance for dinner. I gave her a few options and she picked Ginger & Spice at Neutral Bay. What a great choice!

Ginger & Spice has been one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney. It's a place where I would go back again and again, ordering the same dishes again and again.

This restaurant serves a truly authentic Singaporean cuisine and you won't believe how fast their service is, it's almost like magic, once you made your order, the next thing you know is the food is in front of you. I have to apologise that I totally forgot to note down the prices for the dishes but the price range for main is around $20-ish

Hainan Chicken rice is the house specialty, the chicken is silky and what really outstanding is the chicken breast is so soft and tender. I don't usually like chicken breast because it tends to be quite dry, but not the case here.

 Half Hainan Chicken

You can either order a plain steamed rice or chicken rice. We will never go pass the chicken rice here, it's full of chicken flavour/essence.

Chicken Rice

Ngoh Hiang (Pork Rolls) is made from minced pork and prawn filling wrapped in bean curd skin. It is crispy on the outside and juicy inside, There's a strong fragrant of the five spice powder and it comes with a sweet dark dipping sauce that is perfect for this dish. Their  Ngoh Hiang is easily the best in Sydney.

Ngoh Hiang

 Stir Fry Kangkung (Water Spinach)

Don't underestimate this simple looking dish. It's Deep Fried Squid with Kecap Manis (sweet soya sauce).  This squid is a bomb! It's so cripsy and the balance of the kecap manis, chilli and tamarind really add to the perfection on this dish.

Deep Fried Squid with Kecap Manis

The Singapore Hokkien Mee is divine! It's flavoursome, the gravy is so deep in flavour. It's almost like I'm eating noodle that made out of crab. I absolutely adore this noodle. But if you don't like seafood, then this  is definitely not for you. For seafood lover, this is a must try!

Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee

Finally, dessert...we order the Ice Cendol and Bubur Cha Cha to share. 

Ice cendol is a heavenly dessert with a mix of shaved ice with coconut milk, brown sugar, red beans and some stringy green strands that made from green bean and pandan leaves .

Bubur Cha cha is warm coconut milk served with sweet potato and taro pieces. 

Ice Cendol and Bubur Cha Cha

What great about this restaurant is the food and service are always consistent every time we come back. And one of their signature dishes is the fried oyster pancake, which is a popular dish in Singapore/Malaysia, but unfortunately they only serve this dish on weekdays. Booking is definitely essential on the weekends and one thing to note is this place only take cash.

Ginger & Spice

240 Military Rd
Neutral Bay NSW 2089

Ph: (02) 9908 2552