Glenny Kebabs, Glen Waverley MELB

Working till late often limits one's food option because not only is eating late unhealthy but it would be highly unlikely for anyone to be in the mood for appearing/sounding presentable. Having said so, I would compromise healthy eating when I feel the need to reward myself. Meh to rocking up anywhere presentable.

Located just next to the Caltrex station on Springvale road, the entire kebab concept heavily reminded me of my student days, pigging out late post-studying. The brother and I were pretty clear on what we wanted but stumbled when asked if we would like to top our meal with cheese at no extra cost. Yes please.

As for the sauces, we opted for the favourite chilli, garlic, tomato and barbeque combination.

The verdict? I liked how the meat was thinly shaved, making it easy to chew, and fries were crisp as opposed to soggy. This is definitely the ultimate late night cheat meal in my books and one that although my poor metabolism is unable to cope often, it would be something I don't mind having as a treat after a crappy day. Or post partying, if I ever do that ;)

 

Pie Face, CBD MELB

A random detour post-work as I was feeling extremely peckish and felt the need to reward myself especially after such a long week's shift of 9 to 10 hours on my toes.

I initially planned on just having a sausage roll but the poor shop assistant may have heard me incorrectly and picked the wrong one. To save him the hassle of unpacking, I merely asked him to add the one I wanted on top of that order.

One was a beef sausage roll and the other must be, I believe, a plain pork sausage roll. Wouldn't say the filling wowed me in any way and felt as though there were more fillers in it as compared to real meat.

Both sausage rolls tasted pretty similar and I suspect, the same filling was probably used in both situations.

Spicy pork bulgogi and stirfry beef with gai lan recipe

Maintaining the experimental momentum and being clueless as to what to do with the remaining gochujang sitting in the fridge, I stumbled upon a spicy pork bulgogi recipe via Maangchi. Without further delay, I then found myself heading into the butcher, asking for a decent cut of pork neck to be sliced as thin as possible.

I have marinated the meat for a few days and have adjusted the proportion of each individual ingredient to my liking:)

Ingredients:
1 apple, roughly chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tbsp gochujang
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
A pinch of pepper
1kg pork neck, thinly sliced

1. Blitz all the above ingredients in a food processor until it appears to have sauce like consistency.
2. Mix with the wet ingredients and massage into the meat pieces. Allow to marinade for at least a day.
3. Fry the marinated pork in a pan until cooked, serve garnished with spring onions and a bowl of steamed rice.

On a separate note, have also made a simple stir fry beef with gai lan dish, prepared in 15 minutes:)

Ingredients:
Rump beef, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp of ginger minced
Gai lan, cut into easy to eat sized and lightly blanched
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

1. Quickly fry beef for about 30 seconds on medium heat and set aside.
2. Fry garlic and ginger until it is golden brown in colour before tossing in beef pieces.
3. Add oyster and soy sauce and continue to stir for about a minute before tossing in gai lan.
4. Allow an additional 2 minutes of cooking time before serving with steamed rice.

Braised turnip with minced pork recipe

A random recipe that I have put together to literally feed my sudden craving for radish. Not a common ingredient in my household and having paired it with minced meat, it became a very easy dish to digest. Do give this a try for a quick, simple fix:)

Ingredients:
1 turnip, cubed
500g minced pork
8 dry shittake mushrooms, soaked in water and cubed
5 cloves of garlic, minced
Ginger, minced
Spring onions

Marinade:
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
sesame oil
pepper

1. Mix the meat and mushrooms together with the marinade and allow to sit for at least 3 hours.
2. Fry the minced garlic and ginger in sesame oil until it appears to be golden in colour before tossing in the minced meat mix.
3. Fry until the meat appears to be almost cooked before adding in the turnip pieces.
4. Add about 1 cup of chicken broth and allow to simmer for around 10 minutes.
5. Add a splash of dark soy sauce to the mix and give it a good stir.
6. Thicken the mixture with some good ol' cornflour solution.
7. Serve with warm rice.

Chinese style fish fillets with tofu recipe

One of my favourite recipes that is quick and easy to whip up, not to mention healthy too. One can use whatever veggies are available in the pantry be it corn, beans, carrots and the list goes on.

Ingredients:
Fish fillets, cubed
A packet of firm tofu, cubed
2 carrots, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
A knob of ginger, minced
Spring onions, sliced into thick pieces
1/2 cup of homemade chicken broth
Soy sauce & dark soy sauce to taste (about 1 tbsp of each)
Cornflour for thickening the sauce

1. Lightly coat the fish fillets with plain flour and pan fry until cooked. Set aside
2. Fry ginger and garlic with a bit of sesame oil until it appears golden. Toss in carrots and chicken broth.
3. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, add tofu cubes and spring onions.
4. Add soy sauce and season to taste.
5. Add cooked fish fillets and depending on the thickness of the gravy, adjust amount of cornflour solution so that the gravy won't be too thick.
6. Serve with warm rice.

Sweet and sour pork meatballs recipe

As much as I like having a meal outside, I find that cooking at home has it's own strangely satisfying pleasures added with the fact that I can control my calorie intake for the day. Not one to rest on my laurels with simple recipes, I decided maybe, just maybe, I should learn to appreciate quick and easy meals more for the sake of convenience (and my sister's sanity).

A popular item in every Chinese restaurant, this is a very easy dish to recreate and one can easily adjust the amount of veggies to your liking. I have used Rasa Malaysia's recipe for this and made slight modifications to the amount of sauce ingredients I have used:p

Ingredients:
500g minced lean pork
1/2 tsp five spice powder
Knob of ginger and some garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate minced pork with the above ingredients and set aside until ready to cook (don't leave it for too long tho!).
2. Shape into round shapes and pan fry them. I find this version a lot healthier compared to deep frying the meat. Adjust amount of garlic and ginger to your liking, there is no right or wrong way of doing this.

Sweet and sour sauce:
60g tomato sauce
1 tsp white vinegar
40g sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Sugar and salt to taste

1. Cube/ slice capsicum, pineapples, onion, tomatoes and other veggies that you like and pan fry them for about 5 minutes until the veggies appear to be slightly softened/ blistered from the heat.
2. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and allow to simmer in a pan until it appears to be slightly thickened.
3. Mix 1/4 tsp of corn flour to 1/4 cup of water and add to sauce to thicken it.
4. Add cooked pork meatballs into the sauce and stir until meatballs have been evenly coated by the sauce.
5. Serve with steamed rice.

Japan: Convenience store hyped

Landed in Narita airport late evening and by the time the sister and I managed to check into our accommodation, it was close to 9pm. Too late for a proper meal, we walked around the neighbourhood and went into a convenient store.

Convenient stores are where locals can be seen picking up a snack or meal, along with other necessities, in the nick of time. The sister and I have visited both Family Mart and 7-11 for supper. Priced about ¥100-¥200 cheaper as opposed to eating at a sit in restaurant, portion size is reasonable and taste is agreeable.

Cashiers usually offer to microwave your food for you at no charge. Choose from bento boxes filled with rice, chicken and a bit of pickles to takeaway containers of noodles or for a lighter meal, perhaps a savoury bun or an onigiri (rice ball with filling). For completion, milder content alcoholic beverages are readily available or for tourists like me, a refrigerated green tea drink will do the trick. 

Review: Feastively

Now that the temperature has dropped significantly and the daylight is shorter, it is almost too easy to fall into a bad eating pattern without a second thought. I, for one, am extremely guilty of this and tend to binge on unhealthy food in the form of sugary, decadent cakes or the ever popular bowl of instant noodles.

Jun, the co-founder of Feastively, introduced me to a different world of food delivery which aims to straighten out us busy career minded souls' priorities aka looking after our own well being. Food was delivered straight to my work place and all the contents had been neatly packed, along with a sheet of instructions and a mini ice bag to keep the ingredients cool.

On the left was the bulgogi kit which consisted of a small serve of kimchi, julienned vegetables, marinated beef and rice. The right side holds the ingredients for making chicken korma such as a can of coconut milk, chopped shallots, marinated chicken, a packet of vegetables and basmati rice.

Each box of food was enough to feed two medium sized individuals. Bulgogi kit took me approximately 10 minutes to whip everything together and I even managed to prep an extra serve of steamed vegetables too. Chicken korma took a good 15 minutes as the meat had to be cooked thoroughly and probably best to leave it to simmer in the sauce anyways :p

And voila, food served in the blink of an eye. All in, the prep work was taken out of the entire cooking equation, making it a lot easier for time constricted individuals to prepare a healthy meal. Flavours were good and probably a lot more healthier compared to a regular takeaway or dining out in a restaurant, at a fraction of the price too.

Would I recommend this to someone who's just moved out of their parents nest and have no time/ cooking skills? Yes by all means :)

Simply Spanish, South Melbourne MELB

Winner of an acclaimed international paella cooking competition held in Spain, Simply Spanish won the crowd over with their version. Heavily publicized soon after, the restaurant's business boomed tremendously and the already busy paella cook servicing customers outside the restaurant became even more overwhelmed by a new crowd wanting to sample their paella.

Seafood paella - I have had my fair share of paellas whilst in Spain and am happy to admit that this is worth the wait. Traditional paella ingredients are rabbit meat/ bones, a little bit of chicken, all engulfed by the aromatic saffron, contrary to what we may find in many Spanish restaurants. Whilst what I had may not be an original reiteration, it was still extremely flavourful. Each grain of rice had been slightly softened by a rich stock, accompanied by a generous amount of seafood pieces.

Ah, another excellent reason to wake up early on a Sunday morning.

Sushi Sushi, Chadstone MELB

When Chadstone opened its newly renovated doors to consumers last year, I decided to head over on my weekend off. Boy, was that a big mistake.

Not only did parking proved to be a challenge on its own but finding a place to eat is yet another task to accomplish, except it was much more difficult that the previous mission. Just about every restaurant or cafe was full of customers and there's even a queue patiently waiting to get a table.

And so, I made my way to a takeaway sushi shop located in the older side of Chadstone which was not overly busy due to its highly efficient self service concept.

Sushi pack - sushi packs start from $12 upwards and comes with the usual side of pickles and salad. We decided on one that had a good mix of salmon sashimi, chicken karaage rolls and nigiri pieces. Quite a decent feed.

Also had an extra serve of seaweed salad and salmon nigiri.

Lastly, we each had a piece of aburi scallop nigiri that had been glazed with a sweet teriyaki sauce.

In short, for a quick fix, this takeaway place is pretty decent. Select your preferred sushi option followed by making a transaction at the till and off you go. Happy days.

Aug - Sep mobile uploads: fruit/vege bowls, ice cream and ramblings

This is a massive throwback blogpost for the August's mobile upload edition. I have been extremely preoccupied and completely missed the deadline. Fast forward, I have also missed the September version. Such is life.

As most of you may be aware, I have been trying hard to stick to a clean eating diet and have stuck to using my one bowl method for portion control. There were a few ups and down moments as you may see from the following pictures - I am trying to find a balance between my old and new eating habits.

I love my fruit smoothie bowls topped with granola and oats but let's be real - there's way too much sugar from the fruit and granola, in it to be considered a healthy and filling meal. It does fix my sugar cravings but not a substantial habit for sure.

My veggie bowl proved to be a much more satisfying feed. I have my usual avocado and spinach at the side and the last veggie to go in depends entirely on what's on season and what I feel like having. Kale, mushroom, cauliflower and the newest experimentation with capsicum.

Bonus points for being able to use different marinades and seasonings for the chicken.

Was down with a cold and decided on increasing my vitamin C and antioxidant intake so voila, a blueberry smoothie with grapes and granola.

W

Also tried making a smashed avocado topping with eggs, avocado and blanched spinach. Served atop a cruskit but I ended up crushing the cracker into smaller pieces and tossing it into the avocado mix.

Canned tuna is another great alternative to chicken breast although I would think twice about microwaving it due to its fishy scent. Fishy taste can be eliminated by squeezing a bit of lemon on top. Oh and don't forget to add freshly cracked pepper and salt for seasoning:)

I was craving for croque monsieur and decided to make it at home using freshly baked croissants from Agathe patisserie. Bechamel sauce made from butter, flour and milk. Spread evenly in a halved croissant before stuffing it with a decent cut of ham. Bake for 10 minutes at 140C. Delicious.

Rekindled a love for reading. Not too sure if the Little Paris Bookshop was suitable for me but oh wells, did remind me about my French trip.

Money bags are beancurd skins stuffed with meat/seafood filling. Is this an Australian thing or am I missing something from my heritage?

Striped top - ZARA, skirt - Topshop, Trench coat - Topshop, red scarf - vintage, Shoes - Adidas. Classics to stick by when one is short on time or can't be too bothered to browse in the closet.

After a stressful week, I needed a treat. Hence a carrot cake muffin for breakfast before heading to work on Saturday.

Connoisseur ice cream on special in the supermarket. Time to stock up for summer?

Always had a fancy for Starbucks and Gloria Jean's, probably because it was something I wanted as a teen but never did due to how costly it was back in Malaysia. Still get the same goosebumps whenever I enter any of their outlets and cheesecake always seems to be the flavour of the day when that happens.

Working in retail has its perks in the form of free samples.

The best stabilizing sneakers around.

My favourite picks from French Connection's spring campaign.

Tested this out and true enough, it was chewy and verging on the softer side of the scale.

Minion days.

Ending this post with my recent lot in the form of Connoisseur's most popular ice cream flavour - matcha.