Here we go.

I just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow is the big day.

In the morning my mom and I are going into surgery.

Its finally here and we are both ready.

I cant wait to be through with dialysis. Actually, if all goes as planned, tonight was my last treatment. Giant Yay! Sprinkled with cartwheels! Yay. Yay. Yay.

I am sorry that these past several weeks have been boring around here. But, Im excited just thinking about feeling good again, so it wont be boring for too much longer.

Thank you all for your concern, for your wonderful emails, for your patience, and your prayers. I really appreciate all of it.

My mom wanted to thank you, too.

From my mom

P.S. Ill try to let you know how we are doing through twitter. Big hugs.

Stir Fry Cafe @ Jindalee, Brisbane

A couple of weeks ago, I had the hankering for a good wholesome Chinese meal. One might ask; how would you define "Chinese"?


To me, a good Chinese meal involves sitting on a round table (optional) with a couple of friends or family members with a table of dishes and eating everything with rice. It is basically a typical Saturday or Sunday night dinner with my family especially growing up with a father who for a lack of a better description is a china man when it comes to food (no offence to dad who is probably reading this).


Over the months in Australia, our meals at home have essentially been individual portions or one pot wonders. When we do eat outside, there is only so much two fellows can order.


So I rounded up the friends and I declared, let's eat Chinese!


And so we did without the fuss I expected.


Stir Fry Cafe sounds everything like a dodgy shop that sells perceived Chinese food. Although I was assured by my friend that is would be "chinese" enough. Stepping into the small little shop lot in a quiet and dark area of Jindalee, it reminded me of our eating adventures back in Malaysia where we drive into the middle of nowhere just for a meal.


We were handed two menus, an English and a Chinese one. To those who can read Chinese, all I can say is please order from that one. There are some overlapping dishes but there are clearly some items only written in Chinese, the more authentic ones too.

Low Sui Ngap or basically Ducked cooked in a soy based broth. A generous portion with tender pie! ces of d uck. This was good especially with lots of white rice.

Another delight to behold, the Mui Choy Kau Yoke, pork belly with preserved vegetables. Juicy pieces of pork with plenty layers of fat (usually steamed) together with sweet and salty preserved vegetables.

The Beef Brisket Pot. I understand the more delicious version is the Lamb Hot Pot and I can't wait to get back for some. You can see that the above dishes have the theme of braise and stew, driven by the fact that particular night it was freezing to the bone (I would have never expected to say that since I was drummed into memory by my friend that Queensland was anything but cold). This I believe is also one of those dishes that features on both menu.

However the excitement seemed to have ended just there, when this order of Kung Pao Chicken appeared. We know better than not to order something that could possibly be bastardized but since the waitress recommended it, we ordered and were sorely disappointed. No sight of the dried chili and sticky sweet sauce but we got was a watered down version with a mix of vegetables that weren't meant to be there in the first place.

!

I also don't remember the Mapo Tau Foo being very spicy like the original version is meant to be. What we got was a watered down sauce but thankfully the tau foo remain smooth and silky.

The disappointment continues with the Yu Heung Kei Chi or braised egg plant. The norm is that pieces of eggplant are flash fried and braised with a sauce that is a mix of salty and spicy. This looked like it was braised like there was no tomorrow.

If you read the introduction of the menu, you will learn to know that they is only one chef and no one can be a master of all dishes. I guess the only way is to approach this through trial and error and I am happy to know that I have already gotten three dishes right.

Now to re-visit and get a few more dishes in the bag.

Price are reasonable at around AUD20 per pax.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3.5 stars out of 5stars. Reminds me alot like home cooking and there is nothing like gathering in a group and eating a chinese dinner.

dobos torte

Last week, when it was ninety million degrees in New York City and all the sane people were cracking open fire hydrants, grilling on their roof decks and/or sticking their faces in their wheezing air conditioner units, I looked around my shoebox kitchen, with its half-counter and miniature oven, considered the sheer volume of items left on my to-do that Id never get done and said, Clearly, this is the day for me to make an 11-layer dobos torte. Because my birthday was two days away and that seemed as good as any to sever what frayed tethers I had left to my sanity. [Plus, I already had cleaning help!]

Growing up, my family and I considered the 7-layer cake to be the ne plus ultra of bakery cakes. They were rectangular, filled with a pale, faintly mocha flavored buttercream and coated, top and sides, with a firmer dark chocolate frosting. Ill be the first to admit that their flavor wasnt always spectacular, but did you hear the part about the seven layers? The awesomeness of this trumped all chocolate intensity quibbles. What I hadnt realized, however, is that the historical home of this cake was not (shockingly) a circa-1980s Central New Jersey strip mall bakery, but a Budapest, Hungary ! specialt y food shop where one Jzsef C. Dobos invented it his namesake torte in 1887, which became so famous that the city threw a full scale city-wide fete to celebrate its 75th anniversary. That there is some cake.

... Read the rest of dobos torte on smittenkitchen.com

smitten kitchen 2006-2011. |permalink to dobos torte | 26 comments to date | see more: Cake, Celebration Cakes, Chocolate, Photo

Melina

So many tempting types of honey-sweet, guilty-pleasure treats are showcased here, but a language barrier and the lack of a clear menu kept us from knowing how to narrow our choices.

Baamieh (Persian egg cake) & pistachio butter puff. Starchy and sugary, with all the aromas that swathe Middle Eastern desserts (a hint of yogurt, a splash of rose syrup, a tinge of nuttiness).

This beautifully illustrated menu that explained nothing ...

... and an Arabic-to-English dictionary were our only real guides to ordering.

Iranian Swiss rolls? We'll return sometime to investigate. Ermmm, or maybe not.

Sufficient cookies for an open-house feast to feed a multitude!

Not sure how Melina ever finishes selling its wares, since the outlet is often empty.

Melina Persian Confectionery,

Iranian Fine Pastries & Cakes,

Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara, 60480 Kuala Lumpur.

Midsummer Nights Feast 2011 Master Chef of 5 Elements Master Manabu Ogawa (Japan)

Element: Air
A Breath of Fresh Mountain Air

Master Manabu Ogawa (Japan)
Master Chef of Pirka, Signature Restaurant
Hilton Nikeso Village, Japan

Master Chef Manabu Ogawa is the Head Japanese Chef of Hilton Niseko Villages signature Pirka restaurant, famed as among the finest Teppanyaki restaurants in the region.
He will be flown in specially from the winter resort of Green Leaf Niseko Village in Hokkaido, Japan which was recently acquired by the YTL Group, and will make a special apperance for the first time in Malaysia at Starhill Gallery Midsummer Nights Feast.

Internationally acclaimed as one the great masters of the art of Sushi and Teppanyaki, Chef Ogawa will share his culinary enchantments with a special Midsummer Nights Feast a la carte menu at Gonbei San in Starhill Gallery. Additionally, he will also reveal secrets of his sauces and culinary tips with special master chef classes in Malaysia.

Most uniquely, Chef Ogawa brings him a strong foundation in classical French cuisines from his early career at the award-winning French restaurant Moliere in Sapporo, Hakkaido.

Hence, his Japanese cooking is influenced by classical French traditions with an emphasis on best quality produce of Hokkaido, and he often expresses his! unique cooking style in presentations and sauces that are modern and fused with a French twist!

Its like a breath of fresh mountain air with Chef Ogawas special menu at Midsummer Nights Feast in among Kuala Lumpurs finest Japanese restaurant at Gonbei San in Starhill Gallery.

Awards:
2006 IH Cooking Competition, Hokkaido Chapter Bronze Medal
2006 Shiribeshi Cooking Competition Gold Medal
2007 IH Cooking Competition, Hokkaido Chapter Silver
2007 Shiribeshi Cooking Competition Gold
2007 All Japan Black Box Cooking Contest

AIR MENU

Duo of herb sauted Hokkaido scallop and venison tataki
with seasonal vegetables

Braised daikon and leek meuniere topped with
truffle and miso fragranced foie gras saut

Hokkaido abalone saut with braised sharks fin
and shiso, yuzu fragranced sea urchin sauce

Seared premium wagyu beef with a trio of sauces
and 5 grain Gokokumai garlic rice

OMG! I loved the sound of every dish! A lover of Japanese food, Im really looking forward to this particular dinner myself!

This eight exciting nights of culinary authenticity are now available for booking.
Limited to 130 seats per night at RM385 nett per person;and RM50,000 nett for corporate bookings.

For further enquiries and reservations, please call +603-2782 3855.

For the SPACE Menu by Chef Wai of Malaysia its HERE.

For an idea on Midsummer Nights Feast 2010, check out my experiences below:

Starhill Gallery presents Midsummer Nights Feast 2010 (2 July 9 July 2010):

Link Here

Starhill Midsummer Nights Feast 2010Shook!, Jakes, Jogoya, Gonbei, Village Bar, Pak Loh Chiu Chow & Luk Yu Tea House Special Menus:

LinkHere

Best of Shook! menu commemorating the launch of Starhill Gallery Midsummer Nights Feast 2010:

LinkHere

Midsummer Nights Feast @ Starhill Gallery 2010 Celebrity Chef Stephen Mercer showcasing modern Australian cuisine:

Link Here

Stay tuned to my next few blogposts as I will be sharing more menus of each of the chefs for the whole week!

Fashion Pasta (Jakarta)

Fashion Pasta is a famous Italian restaurant in Bandung, and they opened their first franchise restaurant in Jakarta in the middle of 2011. The owner is Italian, but the management and the cook for the Jakarta branch are Indonesian.

Located in Citywalk Sudirman, it is easily one of the best restaurant in this mall, and I predict it will expand soon to other venues.

The menu, the quality of the food and the prices are very similar to that of Trattoria or PEPeNERO. The main difference I found is that the interior design of Fashion Pasta is cozier and more modern. In that sense, it looks like Sopra, in Pacific Place (much less expensive though).

We tried the following dishes:
Brushetta Pomodoro e Basilico (Rp28k++)

Pizza ai Funghi (Rp45k++)Minestrone soup (Rp35k++)Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Tonno (Rp46k++)

The food was good considering the price. I would have liked my pizza to be a little more crusty, but it was fresh, and much better than in other restaurants in Jakarta. I had only one bite of the pasta, which seemed a bit dry, but tasted fine. Nothing to complain about concerning the minestrone and the bruschetta.

Overall: Recommended. Fashion Pasta is not a fine dining restaurant, but they serve very decent food at a fair price. They use fresh (organic when possible) ingredients in all their preparation and their dough is home-made, I only wish more venues in Jakarta could adopt the same principles.

Opening Hours:
Everyday from 10am to 10pm (midnight on weekends). It is quite small so make a reservation if you come with a large group during peak hours.

Fashion Pasta
City Walk 1st floor unit 5.
Jl. KH Mas Mansyur No. 121
Tanah Abang
Central Jakarta 10220

Phone number: +62-21 2555 8972 or +62-21 2555 8973

Do you like Italian food? Check my article Italian Restaurants in Jakarta on this blog.

Hunan Kitchen (Chinese food)

Hunan Kitchen is one of the best value-for-money Chinese restaurants I found so far in Jakarta. It specializes in Sichuan cuisine, best known for its use of spices, herbs and plants.

Located in Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown, in a gloomy street full of massage parlours, bars and karaokes, it is also walking distance from Jayakarta Hotel and Hotel Mercure Kota. It is quite authentic I thought. Actually, there are a few other Chinese restaurants in the area, and after my positive experience in Hunan Kitchen, I intend to come back and try some of them.

Hunan Kitchen looks new from the outside, and it seems quite popular with the Indo-Chinese community. Inside, there isn't anything fancy, but it is clean. You also have an army of waiters, efficient and friendly.

The menu contains a great variety of dishes, and you would have to be very picky if you don't find something you like. Apart from the usual dishes made of chicken, beef, pork, fish or duck, you also have turtles, jellyfish, frogs, etc... We decided to try a few things:

An! gsio Beb ek Xiang Xi (Rp88k): A full duck red-cooked in a pot with spicesUbur-Ubur Saus Pedas (Rp29k): Jellyfish in spicy sauceTumis Kodok Kuali (Rp49k): Stir-fried frog legsSayur Lokal Baby Kailan (Rp27k): Baby Chinese brocoli (Kai-lan) pan-fried

We were all extremely satisfied with our food, which is very rare. I am normally not a fan of spicy dishes, and it was the first time I tried jellyfish or frog legs, but the cooking was so great that we finished everything up in no time. This restaurant is a top address in Jakarta.

Overall: Hunan Kitchen serves authentic Chinese food at a very moderate price (less than Rp100k for a meal including drinks). It is recommended for anyone interested in the food more than the atmosphere. For clubbers, it stays open until late (4am), so you can visit it just before you go to home.

Opening Hours:
Everyday from 11am to 4am

Hunan Kitchen
Jalan Mangga Besar 1 St. No. 6! 1 (cross ing with Jalan Labu)
Mangga Besar Village, Taman Sari District, Jakarta

Phone number: +62-21 6252666