Japan: My Favourite Ramen Place in Akihabara

My favourite Ramen shop in Japan! I know it's unrelated to my blog, but I was just thinking about it today at work and I had to share it!

Super tasty Ramen, nice and thick and boy the broth is the best I have ever had! I'll try to find photos of it and post it up tonight!

View Larger Map

Spaghetti with Pork & Beef Meatballs



Cold and windy nights are always great tied in with some hearty food! This dish best served with some wine too! Probably not the healthiest dish ever, but it is not as bad as you think it is!

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti or Fettuccine (whatever is in the pantry will do)
• 5x Fresh Tomatoes
• 4x Pieces of Sun-dried Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1x Jar of Pasta Sauce (yes I was lazy, I usually would make it from scratch)
• 1/2 of Red Wine (some cheap stuff will do)
• 250 grams of Pork Mince
• 250 grams of Beef Mince
• 1x Cup of Bread Crumbs (I used whole grain ones)
• 2x Eggs
• 1/2 Cup of Chopped Salami (Anything with good flavour will do)
• 1/4 Cup of Grate Cheese(s) (I just grated anything I found in the fridge, NFI what they were)
• 1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
• 1x Tablespoon of Mix Herbs
• 1x Teaspoon of Parsley (Fresh is better)
• 1x Teaspoon of Oregano (Fresh is better)
• 10x Garlic cloves, chopped up finely (Adjust to liking, I like HEAPS!)
• 1x Pinch of Salt and Pepper
• 1x Teaspoon of Chilli Flakes
• 2x Table spoon of Olive Oil

Method:

Combine all the non pasta sauce ingredients, i.e. everything excluding the pasta, pasta sauce, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, wine and save like 5x cloves of chopped garlic for the sauce.

Mix the load with your hands or with a wooden spoon if you fancy. Once ingredients are all mixed thoroughly, roll into gold sized balls. Heat up a decent sized non-stick pan and fried all the meatballs, making sure they do not stick together. There's no need to cook them thoroughly, so remove once brown. Now add in the rest of the garlic, fried with the meatball oil/residue till brown, add in tomatoes, add in wine, pasta sauce and then simmer with the meatballs placed back in. Simmer until thicken to liking, flavour with some pepper and some salt and more herbs.

 

You guys all know how to cook pasta, no need for instructions :)

Serves: 6?

Time: ~1 hour (rolling up balls are boring)

Cost: $25 (provided you go to a butcher not a supermarket!)

Pho - Vietnamese Beef Soup with Rice Noodles

A nice and tasty dish best served when it is freezing. I often crave this at least once a week no matter where I am, or what I am doing. This meant I just had to learn how to make it, so with some researching and speaking to my aunty it turned out to be quite easy, although quite time consuming and best made a day before serving.

A quick fact, this dish is Vietnam's most famous which is ironic because the country is blistering hot!

Ingredients:

(Soup)

• 5kgs of beef bones (I used Ox tails and shoulder bones)
• 1x piece of tripe (optional, but I like to keep it authentic)
• 250 grams of tendon (optional, but I like to keep it authentic)
• 1kgs of Beef Balls
• 1kg flank (make sure it has nice fatty bits in it)
• 2x Pho satchels (contains: star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds, other shit)
• 2x roasted onions
• 1x whole ginger root, squashed
• 1/2 cup of fish sauce
• 2x table spoons of sugar

 (To Serve)

• Rice Noodles, preferably fresh, not the dried shit you find in your supermarket, FRESH people!
• Hoisin Sauce, a fermented bean sauce used as a dipping sauce
• Hot Sriracha Chilli Sauce, a really hot chilli sauce, fantastic mixed with the hoisin
• Slice beef scotch fillet
• Fresh bean sprouts
• Thinly sliced onions
• Chopped Corriander
• Chopped Shallots, scallions as you Americaaaannns call them :)
• Asian basil
• Asian sawtooth basil
• Lemon or Lime

Method:

Soup: Launch all the bones, onions, ginger, pho satchels into around 8 litres of water and bring to a hard boil for around 15 minutes. Scoop off the layer of fat, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 5 hours to maximise taste. After the simmer period, scoop off the fat once again. Now add in the 1kg flank (whole), beef balls, tripe, and tendon, cook for around 45 minutes with the heat on medium. Once done, remove the tripe, tendon, flank making sure the tripe and tendon are soft. Begin to flavour the soup with fish sauce, and sugar. You will find out that the soup itself it quite tasty after adding the fish sauce, add sugar to balance out the flavour. You might find that adding some salt to it as well will make it taste better along with the fish sauce.

Once the soup is complete, and you're ready to serve. Slice up the flank, around 5mm thick, chop up the tendon into nice bite size chunks, and as for the tripe into strips.

To serve, layer the bowl first with rice noodles (makes sure you nuke them so they're hot), layered with bean sprouts, thinly sliced onions, shallots, basil, sawtooth basil, then the tendons, beef balls, flank and lastly the raw thinly sliced scotch fillet. Bring the soup to a boil and pour on top, this will cook the raw beef. Serve with some lemon squeezed over and with the hoisin and the hot chilli dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Serves: 10+

Time: ~ 6+ hours

Cost: $60

Spiced Chicken with Prosciutto Skewers



Quick and easy, especially after work when you're tired and lazy. I came up with this idea when I was strolling through Coles during my lunch break.

Ingredients:

• 1x Chicken Breast (half it they're huge)
• 4x Slices of Prosciutto cut into strips
• 1x Tablespoon of Paprika
• 1x Tablespoon of Mild Curry Powder
• 1/4x Teaspoon of Cumin Powder
• 2x Tablespoons of Dry White Wine
• Pinch of Salt & Pepper
• Mixed Salad
• 1x Cucumber
• Garlic Flakes
• Chilli Flakes
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Chopped Prosciutto
• Tzatziki Sauce

Method:

Chicken Skewers: Cube up the chicken breast into nice bite sized chucks. Place into bowl and mix with paprika, curry powder, cumin, wine, oil, salt and pepper and leave it to sit in the fridge for around 1 hour (great time to duck off to the gym). Remove from fridge and place onto skewers with prociutto, i.e. for every piece of chicken there should be one piece of prociutto. Heat up the grill or BBQ and cook until nice and golden/crisp.

Salad: Add into a bowl the mixed salad, chop up prosciutto into small pieces, add some salt & pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic flakes, chilli flakes and mix thoroughly. Once nicely mixed, add in chopped cucumber.

Once chicken skewers are cooked, serve with warm pita bread, tzatziki sauce. Fantastic!

Serves: 2 with Pita Bread and Salad

Time: ~25 minutes

Cost: $15

Rare Sliced Beef Rump with Garlic, Sesame and Dark Soy

 

 

 

Simple lazy dish I knocked up after work mid week. It's healthy enough once you combine it with some veggies and eaten with whole grain rice!

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of Beef Rump (the leaner the better for your health)
• 2x Garlic cloves, chopped up finely (dried garlic is fine too, just use 2 teaspoons)
• 1x Table spoon of Dark Soy sauce aka Kecap Sauce
• 1x Pinch of Salt and Pepper
• 1x Teaspoon of Chilli Flakes
• 1x Splash of White Wine
• 1x Table spoon of Olive Oil

Method:

Quite easy and quick, combine all ingredients together and leave to marinate for around 1 hour. Remove, heat up a non-stick pan and fry at maximum heat for around 2~3 minutes each side. Reduce heat to half and cook either side for another 2~3 minutes. Remove from heat, plate it and wrap it up with foil. Leave to sweat.

Plate up rice and chop up some fresh veggies. Slice beef into 4mm strips, layer onto dish and drizzle with sauce.

Serves: 2 with rice

Time: ~20 minutes

Cost: $15 (provided you go to a butcher not a supermarket!)

I'm still alive :)

Been a while since I've posted, but 2011 is here and hopefully my cooking will be back on track. Fast food, take away, dining, 2.5 weeks of ramen doesn't do good on the flab!

Stay tuned, lets see what I can whip up this week!

Braised Chicken Using Fish Sauce & Dark Soy Sauce

Simple and quick recipe for those who have no time like myself. Tasty and great served with rice and some chopped up cucumber drizzled with soy sauce and some chilli if desired.

When I was younger mum always made this for me, since I always asked for it.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of Chicken Breast chopped up in any size or shape you want
• 1x Chilli chopped up
• 2x Cloves of Garlic minced up (optional)
• 3x Tablespoons of Thicken Dark Soy Sauce (Kecap sauce)
• 2x Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
• 1x Tablespoon of Peanut Oil or any other oil
• Pepper to Taste
• 1x Cup of Chicken Stock

Method:

Heat up a wok, add in oil garlic, chilli and chicken, fry till nice and brown. Add in fish sauce and dark soy followed by the chicken stock. Reduce heat, simmer until thicken and serve!

Serves: 4 with rice

Time: ~20 minutes

Cost: $15

Baked Crumbed Rosemary Garlic Chicken with Chinese Vegetables I Found in the Fridge

Ingredients:

• 1x Butterflied Chicken Breast from your local butcher
• 1x Cup of wholemeal bread crumbs
• 6x Cloves of garlic (I love garlic!!)
• 1x bunch of rosemary
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil
• Chicken Stock
• 1x Cup of light creme
• Some dry white wine
• 1x chopped white onion

Method:

• Cut breast in half, then dry with a paper towel. Remove excess fat if desired.
• Cover the brest in olive oil and salt and pepper and leave to sit in the fridge
• Using a mortar and pestle. Combine rosemary leaves (discard the stem), garlic, breadcrumbs, some olive oil, some more salt and pepper to taste and smash it to bits.
• Smear the breadcrumbs all over the chicken, make sure it covers the entire breast and leave to sit in the fridge. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
• Start with the sauce, add into a hot pan some olive oil and then garlic, onions and cook till translucent. Add in the wine and watch it flame up, ohh yeah :)
• Add in stock & creme, reduce
• Add in salt and pepper to taste, I suggest making it a tad strong
• Pop chicken into oven whilst sauce is thickening, bake for around 20 minutes or until cooked
• Serve with some vegetables (I found this in the fridge pre-cooked lol)

Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $15

Pan Fried Rump With Seeded Mustard Served on Brown Rice

Summer's not to far around the corner people, enough with the hearty food time for serious healthy food! High in protein, low in fat, great amino acids and iron, none other than BEEF! When buying meat, never EVER buy it from a supermarket, support your local butcher and get it there. Firstly the meat is fresher and secondly cheaper, not to mention there are usually less or zero preservatives.

To make it even more healthy, I decided to serve this on a bed of brown rice rather than mash or white rice.

Ingredients:

• 1x kg of Rump
• Salt & Pepper to rub over steak
• 2x Tablespoon of Olive oil
• 1x Teaspoon of Oregano (optional)
• 2x Cups of Brown rice
• 2x Teaspoons of seeded mustard
• Instant gravy (I'm being lazy, was a quick meal, usually I would make my own)
• 3x Cloves of Chopped Garlic
• 1x Chopped Spanish Onion
• Some cheap wine to de-glaze the pan

Method:

• Cook the brown rice before you do anything, it takes much longer to cook in the rice cooker (mine has a mode for brown rice, w00t!) If you don't have a rice cooker, hit up the web on instructions
• Dry the rump with paper towels, transfer onto a place and rub with salt and pepper & olive oil
• To make 'lazy gravy', add some olive oil to a pot and carmelize the onions & garlic, then add in instant gravy mixture, reduce heat and leave to simmer
• Heat up a non-stick pan and add in the 1x tablespoon of olive oil, cook the rump on high heat around 2~3 minutes each side or until nice and coloured. Reduce to medium heat and cook either side until done to how you like it
• Remove the rump, and cover it up with foil and let it rest
• Increase the heat again and add in splash of wine to de-glaze the pan (this is where it flames up and really impresses chicks!)
• Add in the 'lazy gravy', mix and scrap off all meaty bits left on the pan, reduce heat and simmer until thickens up, remove and then transfer to gravy jug
• Portion rump, and plated up
• Add 1x teaspoon of mustard to each piece of rump and smear over with a butter knife
• Serve with gravy over the rice & meat...

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (excludes cooking rice, my cooker takes 1 hour)

Cooking Time: 15 minutes (meat & gravy)

Servings: Two

Cost: ~$15

Lamb Chop Ratatouille without Zucchini

 Decided to make Ratatouille on the weekend and went shopping for the produce in Canley Heights. Turns out asian stores do not stock zucchini, so that was a fail. On the upside dish turned out fantastic nevertheless and Brooke enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

• 4x Lamb Chops (leave fat on if desired, also can use lamb cutlets)
• 2x Cans of Roast tomatoes (can roast your own if you have time)
• 1x Eggplant (cubed in nice chunky sizes)
• 2x Onions (diced, not too finely)
• 4x Cloves of garlic (diced finely, you can use less, I just love garlic)
• 2x Cups of button mushrooms (cut into quarters or however you like them)
• 1x Cup of beef stock
• 1x Teaspoon of Paprika
• 2x Teaspoons of Oregano
• 2x Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to Taste

Method:
Combine cracked pepper, salt, paprika and oil to lamb chops and leave it to rest in the fridge whilst preparing the vegetables.

Heat up a heavy base pan, add olive oil and brown lamb either side. Do not cook lamb at this stage, ideally you would want to spend around 1~2 mins either side on high heat, remove lamb, and leave to rest.

Immediately turn out heat and add in onions, garlic, eggplant and cook till nice and coloured. Add in mushrooms, then everything else. Leave to simmer for around 15 minutes or until thickens. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

Once base is complete, add in lamb stir and cover the lamb. Immediately close the lid and turn off the heat and let it sit for around 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with some nice crusty bread or even on its own!

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time:  25 minutes
Servings: Two
Cost: ~$15

Steamed Spare Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce & Ginger

Great food on those cold nights where you're craving something warm and tasty. These ribs are best served with some piping hot rice and some chopped cucumbers to soak up the sauce. Best thing is, this meal can be knocked up really quickly and left to cook unattended whilst you get up to kinky shit or shower.

Ingredients:

• 2x Strips of Spare Pork Ribs, cut up
• 2x Tablespoons of Black Bean Sauce & Garlic
• 1x Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
• 1/2 cup of Dry White Wine or Chinese Rice Wine
• 1x Tablespoon of Soy Sauce
• A Shit Load of Pepper, well as much as you want really :)
• 2x Tablespoons of Corn Starch (Plain Flour is fine too)
• Handful of sliced ginger

Method:
Combined everything together in a mixing bowl and leave to sit in fridge for 1~2 hours if desired. If you're in a hurry there's no danger in not. Setup the steamer with water and bring to a boil.

Whilst the steamer is heating up, heat up a wok or pot and add some olive oil, fry up the contents until all liquid has solidified then immediately transfer contents into a bowl then into the steamer. Steam for approximately 20 minutes, or until cooked.

Serve with some veggies, even preserved veggies and piping hot rice.

Time to Prepare: 10 minutes
Time to Cook: 25 minutes
Cost: $8 (meat only, assuming you have everything else)

Fried Fish with Lemon Grass & Chilli

 

Simple, quick dish I knocked together and smashed down before I hit the gym. It's packed full of protein and it quite healthy when cooked with olive oil. The presentation sucks, I know!

 

Ingredients:

• 1x Barramundi Fish Fillet (Other Fish will also do)
• 4x Table Spoons of Minced Lemon Grass
• 4x Chopped Chili
• 1x Teaspoon of Salt
• 1x Tablespoon of Fish Sauce (Make Sure It's an Asian Brand)
• 1x Tablespoon of Olive Oil

 

Method:
Cut the fish in pieces (if you like) or leave it whole, rest it aside. Combine Lemon Grass, Chili, Salt, Fish Sauce, and Olive Oil into a Pestle & Mortar or Blender, then mix and bash the ingredients till it's combined well. Try NOT to turn it into a paste or some sludgy green shiet. Apply to all of the mixture to Fish Fillet and let it sit in the fridge for around 15 minutes. Using a Wok, add liberal amounts of Olive Oil, roughly 1 cm in height, the ideally covering the fish.

 

Fry the fish until golden brown on each side, then rest on paper towels. Drain oil using a strainer to collect fried bits of lemon grass and chili, this will be used as the garnish and also packs heaps of flavour.

 

Serve on a bed of rice and some chopped up veggies such as tomatoes, cucumber, etc.

 

Time to Prepare: 15 Minutes
Time to Cook: 10 Minutes
Cost: ~$10 (Fish, Lemon Grass, Chili)

My Version of Vietnamese Lemon Grass & Red Chili Chicken with Beans

Simple and quick meal that would put a smile on many faces. This meal is best cooked using an Asian iron wok, the ones you see in Asian restaurants, if not available a thin saucepan would do the trick too!

Meal is great served with plain rice or even some nice crusty bread, but to keep it more authentic, I suggest rice :)

Ingredients:
- 1x Chicken Breast
- 3x Lemon Grass Stalks
- 5x Red Chili
- 2x Onions
- 5x Gloves of Garlic
- 1x Tablespoon of ABC Dark Soy
- 2x Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
- 1x Cup of Chicken or Pork Stock
- 1x Teaspoon of Pepper

Time to Prepare: 25 Minutes
Time to Cook: 20 Minutes
Cost: ~$12 (Chicken, Lemon Grass, Chili)

Crumbed Chicken with Creme Cheese Garlic Coriander Stuffing

This idea was inspired by my last attempts of making it but I think this time it turned out better.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts
• 200g of Creme Cheese
• 50g of Butter
• 2~3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• a bunch of chopped coriander leaves & steams
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Bread crumbs
• Olive Oil
• Cooking Twine
• Veggies to steam
• Cream
• Milk
• Chicken Stock
• Dry white wine

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins in the oven or until cooked (Chicken) 15 mins (sauce)
Cost: $10 (had most of the ingredients in the pantry)

Apple Basket Thingos

Brooke made this, I take no credit :/
But it was yummy :)

Rustic Chicken with Herbs

Great for a cold night ontop of rice or some bread for dunking, serves easily 4+

Ingredients:

• 4x Chicken Marylands from local butcher, don't go to a supermarket! it's rip and it's not fresh
• Small button mushrooms
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Leek
• Cream
• 2x cups of chicken stock
• Garlic
• Tarragon
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Pepper

Preparation Time: 30 mins (Wash/Chop/Chop Chicken/Peel)
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours (Fry chicken/Simmer)
Cost: $15.00

Simple Tomato Soup with Mint

Tomato soup, simple and great as a starter on a cold autumn day, serves 4~6 depending on portion size.

Ingredients:

• 2 kgs of Tomatoes (roast them till soften in the oven)
• Handful of mint leaves
• Chicken stock
• Raw sugar
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Cracked pepper
• Cream to serve (optional)

Prep Time: 15 mins (Depends how fast you can chop)
Cooking Time: ~1 Hour (Roast/Simmer/Blender Sexy Time)
Cost: < $8.00 (Includes stuff lying around the house)

My Take on Chocolate Fondant

I usually don't like to bake nor do I like to make desserts, but I gave it a go when Brooke asked me to make her dessert. Didn't turn out so bad!

Used a recipe from Donna Hay but added extra egg whites to make it more fluffy (well I think it does right?)

Here goes:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 500 grams of dark cooking chocolate
• 100 grams of unsalted butter
• 50 grams of plain flour
• 50 grams of caster sugar (normal is fine too)

Melt the shet together on top of a saucepan with water and stir it in well, then baked for around 9 mins each and left to cool. I did trial is a few times before I got it right.

Bolognese made from SCRATCH! with Whole Meal Spaghetti

Bolognese made from scratch, started around 4:00 pm, didn't eat till Underbelly started, how good was it? Anyways, fresh, bolognese sauce made from scratch is so much nicer than the stuff in jars. Made using around 2kgs of tomatoes, 3x diced spanish onions, 4x carrots, 1x garlic, 1/4cup of olive oil, fresh basil, oregano, 1x chilli, 2 cups of red wine, pepper, sea salt, parmesan cheese, 2x cups of beef stock & beef mince.

Served with wholemeal spaghetti, damn that stuff takes long to cook!

Time to Cook: 4.5 hours

Cost: $22

My Version of a Shepherd's Pie :)

Tried to do something different with the pastry, turns out I didn't use enough.. but hey I know for next time :)

Pie made from scratch, with cauliflour mash, peas, carrots, beef mince, red wine, spanish onions, garlic, grated parmesan cheese, beef stock, black pepper, sea salt, butter & cauliflour.

Time to cook: 1.5 hours
Cost: ~ $15.00