Star House Chinese restaurant

Growing up in a Chinese family, I daresay I have been subjected to quite a number of traditional Chinese dishes from simple homecooked family meals to fancy celebratory affairs. After years of living in Adelaide, it dawned on me that there are in fact, 2 obvious types of Chinese fares that one may stumble upon at Chinatown which are either Mandarin/ China inspired dishes or Cantonese/ Hong Kong inspired fare. I am a fan of the latter, which brought me to Starhouse Chinese restaurant.

We got here on Sunday night and were lucky to be secure a table despite the huge turn-up at the restaurant, mostly families. I may be biased here but I find that their interior appears to be more welcoming and classy, perhaps due to the good positioning of the tables (a little more privacy in some parts of the restaurant). If you are organizing a dinner event, I highly recommend coming here (but do make reservations!).

We received complementary Chinese type of chips, which is customary in most Chinese restaurants here. I used to binge on these whenever my family and I go out for restaurant dinners in Malaysia!

Roast duck with plum sauce ~ I am obsessed with roast duck despite it not being something that I crave for as a kid. The duck's skin is crispy and the meat is still moist and juicy. Having said that, I found some parts to be a tad dry, possible because the thin layer of meat was near the bone and consequently, dried up in the roasting process. But never mind that, we did get decent sized pieces of duck flesh which we happily dipped into the slightly tangy and sweet plum sauce. Delicious:)

Steamed barramundi with ginger and shallots ~ one of my favourite's at Starhouse. Their concoction of ginger, shallots and soy sauce is somewhat unique and really marinates the fish well. I would love to get my hands on their recipe but I doubt that's going to happen unless I volunteer myself for kitchenwork! The fish is taken out from the fish tank and is freshly prepared. I could eat this with steamed rice all day.

Abalone with sea cucumber and broccoli ~ we decided to try something a little different for a change and ordered this as it was a special occasion. I hardly eat abalone or sea cucumber and am afraid I can't give a reliable verdict of this dish. However, I found that the abalone was thinly sliced and well coated with the gravy that it is drowned with:)

I can't really say much about the service here as we did arrive when the restaurant was packed full of patrons nor can I recommend coming here for yum cha. I am open to suggestions so please do drop me a comment in the comment section:)

 

Chocolate and hazelnut babkha recipes

Yet another attempt at baking bread and fingers cross all will rise to the effect (get it?:p). Have got myself a new bottle of dried yeast as I figured that the remaining few sachets of yeast that I had had already expired and are not as effective for producing fluffy bread. I am so obsessed with the recipes provided by Gourmet Traveller right now. Most of the ones I have tried are foolproof while the ones that did not turn out well probably needed a few adjustments to recreate the beaut as seen on their website!

Ingredients (recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller):
180ml lukewarm milk
14gm dry yeast
110gm caster sugar
485g plain flour
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
210gm softened butter
100m hazelnuts
100gm dark chocolate
Egg wash for brushing

Mix the milk with the dry yeast and sugar and set aside until it appears foamy (about 5-7minutes). Add 75gm of the flour, mix to combine, before slowly adding in the eggs, egg yolk, remaining sugar and a pinch of salt.

Use a low speed to mix the above ingredients whilst slowly adding in the remaining flour until it is well combined. Incorporate about 150gm of small butter pieces and beat the dough until it appears shiny and elastic. Set it aside to double (about 1 hour at least, depending on your surrounding temperature).

To make the hazelnut spread, toast hazelnuts and process it with the remaining butter to achieve a smooth spread (a bit like Nutella, in my opinion). Have omitted this step as I did not have any hazelnuts to spare because they are so expensive at the moment:(

Knockback the dough after it appears to have doubled in size and divide into 2 equal portions. Spread hazelnut spread and scatter chocolate chunks around it (have just used a mixture of almonds and chocolate for mine!) . Roll the dough and allow to sit for about 30 minutes.

Give the dough a good brushing of egg wash before sending it to the oven at 180C for about 20 minutes or until done.

It was steaming hot and oozing with chocolate-y goodness when I sliced into it, such simple pleasures in life:)

The Aviary Dessert Kitchen

Have been to Aviary on more than a couple of visits and with every visit, it is lovely to sample new additions to the menu. I was surprised when my parents said that they would like to join us "kids" for an after dinner sweet treat so we figured might be worthwhile popping by since it is located pretty close to where the sister and brother resides.

We were comfortably seated within 6 minutes of waiting. I would make booking arrangements on weekends, especially if I am planning to drop by with a large foodie group!

Cookies and cream cake ~ delicious! Not only does it look too pretty to eat but it does have a nice balance of cookie and cream incorporated into it. Doesn't the drizzle of cream all over the cake looks inviting?

Forest gump ~ a display of various flavours and textures of chocolate on a plate. To be honest, I was not overly blown out by it's serving size, considering that it costs about $10 but I would definitely consider getting it if I have had a fulfilling dinner. The brother was able to taste the contrasting textures on the plate (a blend of smooth cream and chunks of chocolate) but again, did not satisfy any chocolate craving that he had, in his opinion, that is.

Macaron flower pot ~ this is possible one of my favourites here and it is a must have when I am feeling moody (or not!). I like the rich cake that sits as the base and the fine biscuit crumbs that cover it just goes so well with it! The macaron was a bonus, in my opinion. Highly recommended:)!

Shiratama zenzai ~ green tea and black sesame ice cream with sweetened adzuki paste, fresh fruit and glutinous rice dumplings. This is a very Asian inspired dish and gotta admit that Aviary does produce some tasty ice cream flavours. Would be nice to have this in summer!

October food haul

I can be quite a quirky shopper when I am at the supermarket or local grocer, especially when I see something new that catches my attention. And so...I have decided to come up with a monthly blog post to share with you my latest discoveries in the food industry so that you can be updated with what's new on your supermarket shelf.

I hardly spend money at the cinemas, particularly on popcorn as it is an inexpensive snack that can be easily prepared, with minimal fuss (in my opinion that is). Walking in the David Jones food hall can be dangerous as I soon found out about this popcorn brand and flavour that originates from America. Imagine all the sinful snacking pleasures combined in a humble little piece of corn kernel. Yep, it became irresistible. Caramel, chocolate and a drizzle of icing on just about every corner of the popcorn. Was very addictive and I found it hard to stop nibbling away. Note to self, probably something that I will have as a one-off affair as it has a lot of sugar in it!

So the sister and brother were in central market one day and bought me a huge turkey leg to have for lunch over the next couple of weeks. As random as it seems, this piece of meat costs about $6/kg and fed mum and me for at least 4 lunches and 3 dinners. I used the "pretty" slices for sandwiches and the shredded bits to be added to my pasta/ fried rice dinner.

Matale Chocolate ~ I was fortunate enough to get my hands on these chocolate bars all the way from Melbourne and have to admit, I liked the bean to bar concept that is relatively new here in Australia. The owner purchases small quantities of cocoa beans from the farmers (which can be a tad costly) and then proceeds to testing, sorting, roasting, cracking, winnowing, stone grinding and tempering them..talk about hardwork! On the plus side of all the tears and sweat that goes into each bar of chocolate, this concept will , hopefully, enable farmers to reap a more sustainable financial flow rather than relying on the input provided by larger companies. The chocolate bars that I got snapped with a delightful sound (always a good indicator for well-tempered chocolate). Both of these bars were not excessively sweet and had a nice aroma of chocolate. Also, they are both dairy, nut and gluten free so thumbs up for those with nut and dairy allergies:) Always nice to know that nobody gets singled out on all things chocolate!

Parade Thai

After a long hiatus from reviewing restaurants/ cafes, I am finally back to routine with a backlog full of reviews to share. First up is Parade Thai, one of those restaurants that are conveniently located nearby but I have not visited at all (shame on me).

The family and I dropped by for an early lunch and wasted no time browsing thru their menu. We were a little overwhelmed by the choices available but opted to have a few lunch specials, just for variety's sake.

Tom yum soup with seafood ~ not too bad at all compared to the other restaurants that I have been to. Tangy, sweet with a touch of spiciness to it.

Special fried rice with crab meat ~ a rather simple type of fried rice with not much green vegetables involved. Rice was fragrant and had a good portion of shredded crab meat tossed into it.

Spring rolls with plum sauce ~ I am not usually a fan of ordering entrees at restaurants but a change is good at times. The plum sauce complimented the crispy spring rolls quite well and these spring rolls were generously stuffed with condiments.

Green chicken curry with rice ~ I like sampling Thai curries because each of them have certain characteristics that can convince me to have a second visit. This was a mild curry with subtle hints of basil leaves in it. Quite aromatic and every grain of rice was utilized to soak up any drops of the gravy.

Pad kee mao (drunken noodles) ~ one of the items that I must have at any Thai restaurant. The dish had a balanced flavour profile. Not excessively sweet, salty or sour and the noodles were well coated with the sauce used to cook them. I found large chunks of chicken thrown in, which is always a good sign:)

Pad Thai ~ not bad at all. Just enough tomato sauce used to prepare this dish, with a few bits of nuts added for that extra crunch.

Overall, we found this restaurant authentic, not pretentious, despite the hefty price tag attached. It does cost slightly more compared to other Thai restaurants (we were lucky we had a discount voucher from the Adelaide Entertainment book) but then again, what is quantity compared to quality?

Caramelized balsamic onion jam recipe

So..here's a continuation of yesterday's easy-to-make crowd pleasers but this time, with a savoury twist to it. I am not a huge fan of preparing savoury dishes as I'm not good in it (my sense of taste is just too quirky). I have, however, been meaning to have a handful of savoury finger food recipes, just in case I have to attend a potluck party.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups onions, roughly chopped
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the onions in the olive oil until it appears translucent, approximately 10 minutes on a medium heat. Once it appears to have slightly browned, add your water and continue to simmer until it softens, which takes another 8-12 minutes. Proceed to add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, thyme and seasoning. Allow to simmer for another 7 minutes. Remember to taste as it can make a huge difference. I have added another 2 more tbsps of vinegar as I liked mine to have a robust acidic taste to it (but it depends on what you feel like!).

I have cooled mine in the fridge overnight and the very next day, blizted it in a food processor so that it will be more spreadable.

Added them to some mine tartlet shells and topped with a dollop of cream cheese before baking it in the oven at 150C for 10 minutes.

Strawberry jelly slice recipe

Looking for a simple recipe to please an unexpected guest? Or something that is sufficient enough to feed a mob of hungry people? My friend, you have come to the right spot because in fact, I have discovered yet another amazing Aussie treat that is so simple to make and the only difficult thing about it is having the patience to allow it to set in the fridge!

Ingredients:
395g condensed milk
A box of jelly (any flavour!)
100g butter
A packet of plain biscuits (any type really!)
A tbsp of gelatin

Process your biscuits and butter in a food processor until it resembles fine crumbs. Line the bottom of a tray with the crumbs and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Second step would be to prepare the condensed milk jelly layer. Dissolve the gelatin in sufficient amounts of water (as per directions on the gelatin box). Pour the condensed milk "jelly" on the biscuit layer and allow to set for at least 1 hour. Prepare the jelly according to the instructions on the packaging and allow it to cool! Yes, it has to cool down otherwise it will melt the condensed milk layer (one of those silly mistakes I make!).

Isn't it a pretty sweet treat?:) I was sold after making it once and had to make it again! I'm sure both kids and adults will fall heads over heels for them:)