Menya Ramen

Ramen is a popular talking point with Sydney food bloggers - Grab Your Fork and and several others have reviewed some great ramen bars but as I headed to Haymarket for my ramen fix last weekend I thought I'd thow my two cents in as well.

Menya Ramen is in a little courtyard center surrounded by some great Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants, we are always torn when we get to the little collection of restaurants - dumplings or ramen, freshly made noodles or gyoza. Last weekend the cold wind and an SBS documentary the night before making us nostalgic for our time in Japan sealed it - Ramen!

Menya is owned by the company that runs Koh-ya, a fantastic yakiniku restaurant in Neutral Bay with equally bizarre decor. Koh-ya has brightly coloured bikes hanging on equally bright walls - Menya has a wall covered in a tangle of silver wire. Could be futuristic, could be a fencers worst nightmare.

In true Japanese style you order and pay as you enter the restaurant and then sit on a long communal bench while you wait for your steaming bowl of noodles. We ordered variations on the same thing - Miso ramen and Negi (spring onion) miso ramen. The soup is thick and tasty - with thick slices of tender pork piled on top.


Apart from the many types of ramen served, including spicy tantan men, they also serve several Japanese standbys - tonkatsu donburi (deepfried pork cutlet ricebowl) and unagi donburi (bbq eel ricebowl). I haven't ever got past the ramen but they look good too.

Menya Japan
Shp 8tg/ 8 Quay St Haymarket 2000
(02) 9212 1020

Lemon Butter

Given a choice of desserts I find it hard to go past anything chocolate - ever. One of the only things that gives me pause for thought is a good lemon dessert. Lemon meringue pie, citron tarts - anything really filled with lemon butter/curd.

I used to make lemon butter when I was a kid, not for any dessert just to have a jar in the fridge to spread on toast or white bread with butter. I always used a recipe out of a 70's Time Life cookbook - the same recipe I use now actually modified slightly - I like my lemon butter really tangy so I increased the amount of lemon juice and tripled the recipe to make a full (big) jar. Did I mention that I REALLY like lemon butter?

There are a couple of things to remember when making this recipe - firstly don't be in a rush - if you cook it too quickly it will curdle. Also strain the lemon juice and beaten eggs as you add them to the mixture - this will stop lemon pips adding surprise texture to your butter but also unappealing white streaks of cooked egg.

Lemon Butter

90g (3oz) butter
180g (6 oz) sugar
3 eggs
3 lemons
1 tsp grated lemon rind

Melt the butter and sugar together in a double boiler. Strain in the lemon juice - if you don't like your lemon tart I suggest you start with 2 lemons and add more to taste. Add the grated rind.
Stir till the sugar is dissolved and reduce the heat slightly.
Beat the eggs well - you want to break up any stringy bits and strain into the lemon mixture.
Stir continuously with a wooden spoon - the mixture will curdle if not heated evenly, until the mixture thickens - this can take 10-15 mins. It's done when it coats the back of the spoon in a nice thick layer - it will thicken a little more once cool. While the mixture is still warm pour into a sterilized jar. Sterilizing jar is easy - wash your jar well in warm soapy water and rinse well. Pop the jar into a medium oven for a couple of minutes until dry. Cool before filling.

My Mom makes a fantastic lemon butter variation to which she adds fresh passionfruit when she adds the lemon juice. Reduce the amount lemon when you do this and taste before you add the egg to make sure there is enough sugar.

Enjoy!

Amaretto cocktails

As I've mentioned before my trip last year to the US was a cocktail revelation to me. L.A. Introduced me to the tangy wonders of an apple martini and a very boozy night at a friend of friends brand new bar in Seattle introduced me to amaretto - or more specifically to a cocktail called a bocce ball.
In all honesty my memories of the evening are somewhat hazy - we were given free range at the bar and they had a very impressive cocktail list. I managed to work my way down it to the bocce ball (no it wasn't alphabetical) and was pleasantly surprised. A bocce ball was mix of orange juice and amaretto. I'm pretty sure there was another ingredient but I can't remember what it was - I remember though it was short drink.



I have always assumed that I wouldn't like amaretto because I don't like almond essence or commercial, artificially flavoured marzipan. There is something about the overpowering, cologne scent that has never appealed to me. However after a few drinks that scent wasn't as obvious and I was able to actually taste and enjoy the amaretto. I enjoyed it so much I caught the Greyhound bus the next day with a wicked hangover.

I haven't come across too many cocktails in Australia with amaretto - a good friend of mine gave me a book of cocktail recipes for my birthday which listed an amaretto sour recipe. It's as close to the bocce ball I had in the US as I've been able to find. I've ordered amaretto sours in bars and been given something very different so I'm not sure how authentic it is as a 'sour' but it's delicious

Amaretto Sour

1 part amaretto
1 part lemon juice
1 part orange juice

Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour juice and amaretto into shaker and shale till cold. Pour into a cocktail glass and serve.

Adapted from 'Shaken - 250 very sexy cocktails' by Murdoch books

Cocktail
Amaretto

Sugar High Friday - Ginger

This month's theme for Sugar High Friday - ginger, came at just the right time as we in Australia slipped firmly into winter. Warming ginger is the perfect antidote to cold rainy days - as is a slice of warm Pear and Ginger Upside-down Cake.


The base of the cake is highly spiced and dense like traditional gingerbread - my oven may have been a little too high, the edges weren't burnt but they were a little chewy - but I thought that actually improved the cake by adding another texture. The pear was moist and sweet, I love the slightly grainy texture of cooked pear. This cake is great the next day but it really is at it's best straight out of the oven served with cream.

Pear and Ginger Upside-down Cake

1 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden syrup

3 firm but ripe Bosc pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Whipped cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and spray a deep 20cm cake tin with oil.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda and spices.
Combine the milk and vanilla extract.
Cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and beat well. Beat in the golden syrup.
Mix in the flour and milk alternately beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Arrange the pears in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the batter over the pears.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool 10 minutes. Using small knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Turn cake out into rack and cool slightly.

Serve warm with whipped cream.

(adapted from an Epicurious.com recipe)




Sugar High Friday
SHF
Ginger

Who's your (Beard) Papa?

I have had a very very good day. I was shopping at Chatswood Westfield and walked past a sign near the food court proclaiming "Beard Papa now open on level 3. I literally stopped in my tracks, spun around and headed straight for the down escalator - where ever I was heading totally forgotten.

Beard Papa is a Japanese chain of stores that makes cream puffs. Nothing else but lovely eggy hand sized cream puffs filled with fresh vanilla creme patisserie, light, creamy and flecked with dark specks of real vanilla. They bake every 2 hours and fill the shells when you order so the choux pastry is still fresh and slightly crunchy when you bite into it. Heaven.

I first came across Beard Papa in Kyoto - there was one just outside my local supermarket which tested my will power on a regular basis. They make the best last minute dinner party dessert, I smother them in a rich, warm chocolate sauce and serve.

If you can get to Chatswood and are prepared to take on the labyrinth that is Chatswood Westfield I urge you to seek out Beard Papa and try one of their superb cream puffs. You'll end up taking home a box for sure!

Beard Papa Sweets
K353A (Near General Pants)
Westfield Shopping Centre
1 Anderson St
Chatswood.
Ph: 02 9412 2214

Japanese Convenience Food

I spent a number of years living in Japan after I graduated university - my boyfriend (now husband) and I decided to travel a bit through South-East Asia and then do a 12 month stint teaching in Japan and then travel back through India home. In the blink of an eye 12 months turned in 4 fascinating years as we worked and traveled throughout Asia. We spent nearly 3 years in Japan all up including 2 very special years in Kyoto and an amazing 10 months skiing in Nagano

Japan was a revelation for me - being Australian with so little human history behind us it was mind boggling to walk down a busy city street and then come upon a tiny 600 year old temple still being used everyday. Unlike Australia seasons were distinct and celebrated - as Summer moved into Autumn the hills around Kyoto would start to change colour and the food available in supermarkets and restaurants would change to reflect what was in season. As Autumn became Winter the colourful Autumn leaf designs on the beer cans gave way to snow flakes - everything that could be themed was.

It has just recently started to get colder here in Sydney with beautifully clear sunny Autumn days but decidedly chilly nights. This change in seasons made me a little homesick for Japan so I made pilgrimage to Tokyo Mart in Northbridge to get some essentials for Japanese Winter cooking.

Japanese food is renowned for being complex and quite difficult to cook - and in some cases this is true. However what struck me when I finally decoded the Japanese supermarket was the amount of really high quality package mixes and pre-made products that were available and how widely they were used. My lack of Japanese made these packs essential when we first moved there - the directions were always accompanied by pictures so we could work out how to cook it!

Nabe is a very common winter dish - there are many different varieties from the Chanko Nabe made famous by sumo wrestler to more gourmet seafood style. Nabe is basically a hot pot with noodles, meat balls and vegetables. Nabe is also the name of the pot that you cook it in. In Japan this dish is traditionally cooked at the table on a little gas stove.

I called this post convenience food because the easiest way to make nabe is to buy one of the delicious soup concentrate from a Japanese supermarket. This particular mix is a miso chanko mix - it makes a hearty soup not unlike ramen soup. I also used a tofu mix to make nice soft Japanese style tofu and a pack of fresh udon.

Dillute the soup concentrate 2:1 and pour it into the nabe (or large pot) and bring to the boil. The traditional ingredients are chunks of daikon (white radish), udon noodles,tofu, several types of mushrooms - I used enoki and shimeji, chicken meat balls, shallots and cabbage. You can add anything you like really. To cook just boil all the ingredients in the soup starting with the ones that take the longest to cook like the daikon and chicken till you finally getting to the cabbage.

The tofu is also very easy to make - add the soy powder to water and boil for a couple of minutes. Add the setting agent and pour it into a bowl to set. This is a very soft and subtley flavoured tofu - not like the firmer chinese style tofu you buy in the supermarket.

Take the whole pot to the table and let people serve themselves - it's a very filling meal sure to stick to your ribs - just ask the sumo wrestlers who eat it every day!

Ittedakimas everyone!

Tokyo Mart
Shop 27, Northbridge Plaza
Northbridge
Ph:(02) 9958 6860

Nabe
Tofu
Japanese cooking

Viva Fiesta!

Yesterday was the 5th of May, or Cinco de Mayo. Mexicans celebrate whooping some French butt on this day in 1862. I have quite a bit of time on my hands at the moment and decided to throw my own Tex-Mex Cinco de Mayo fiesta.

As well as more traditional Mexican dishes like enchiladas and plenty of margaritas I wanted to try out some more Tex dishes like ribs marinated with Mexican flavours.

I came across annatto paste while watching 'Once upon a time in Mexico' DVD. Johnny Depps's character has an obsession for a deep red slow cooked pork dish - Puerco Pibil. The DVD has a 10 minute cooking lesson on how to make the perfect Puerco Pibil from scratch -including grinding your own achiote paste. Anaotto seeds are deep red, triangular and very very hard. I had a great deal of difficultly grinding the seeds into a smooth paste and we ended up eating a pretty grainy but otherwise tasty Puerco Pibil.
This time I decided to take the less traditional but much easier route of buying achiote paste from The Essential Ingredient to make my recado (marinade) for my ribs. For two huge racks of pork ribs I disolved 2 cubes of paste in 1 cup of orange juice. I added the juice of one lime and 2 cloves of garlic. I seasoned the ribs with plenty of salt and pepper and then put them in a plastic bag and poured the achiote recado in and left them to marinate overnight in the fridge

While at the Essential Ingredient I came across a can of chipotle chillis in adobo sauce. When I opened the can and the smokey almost dirty, earthy smell wafted out I decided to make a second marinade with them. I blended 3 of the chillis and a little of the adobo sauce with a can of tomatoes. I added some brown suger, salt, garlic and lime juice and marinated the ribs overnight in the fridge.

After barbequing the achiote ribs were tender, deep red and had a tangy flavour - the spicy chipotle ribs were sticky and still had the smokey adobo flavour from the chillis. Unfortunatly the ribs were devoured before I could get a photo -I swear it had nothing to do the margaritas I drank before they were served!

¡Viva México!

Cinco de Mayo
Achiote
Chipotle

Flavour fast - Herbie's

I love taking my time in the kitchen and planning and cooking intricate meals for family and friends. Unless it 6:45 pm on a Tuesday evening and I can barely be bothered to defrost something in the microwave let alone cook a couple of courses. That's when I reach for my handy collection of Herbie's spice mixes.


I'm probably preaching to the converted here, Herbie (Ian Hemphill) has a been an active member of Sydney's foodie scene for around 30 years. I am a more recent convert having only made it to his store during trading hours for the first time last year but since then have made regular pilgrimages to Rozelle. I was a regular visitor to his very informative website before my first visit but it is nothing compared to the sensory experience you get at the store. It is well worth the trip over the Harbour Bridge.

The range of herbs and spices is impressive but it is the wall of spice mixes that gets me really excited. They make everything from Aussie Fish Seasoning to Za'atar. All the mixes come in dry form, the pouches have suggestions on how to use them and/or recipes. But just about all of them are fabulous just sprinkled on meat or fish and then BBQ'ed.


I have tried about 10 different mixes now but the real stand outs for a quick and easy dinner have to be the Cajun Spice Mix, Za'atar and the Balmain and Rozelle Spice.
The Cajun mix is pungent and spicy but still fresh tasting - chicken burns to a beautiful smoky crust when coated to make a perfect Blackened Chicken. Just make sure you open some windows - the smoke makes your eyes seriously water.
I have put the Za'atar on just about everything - meat, fish and vegetables and it's always good. My favourite way to use it is crusted on tuna steaks and lamb cutlets. It has a mild nutty flavour - probably from the sesame seeds with a hint of tang from the sumac.
The Balmain & Rozelle spice was designed to reflect the diverse influences that shape Australian cuisine. It has a strong lime smell and a surprising spicy bite. Very good on BBQ prawns.

Every time I go to Herbie's I come back with something interesting and very very tasty. The staff are very helpful and very happy to open endless sample jars so you can smell the different mixes. They also sell themed Spice Kits which make great presents.


Herbie's Spices
745 Darling Street
Rozelle, NSW, 2039
Ph: (02) 9555 6035

Apple Martini

Until a recent trip to L.A. I was never a big cocktail drinker - red wine, beer and the occasional G&T was about it. We had a 24 hour visit to L.A. on our way through to visit some friends in other parts of America and Canada. My husband's cousin lives there and he took us on a whirlwind tour that started at the Beverly Hills Hotel for breakfast and finished at the W bar with cocktails and George Clooney (no really!)

At each of the bars we visited that night I was presented with a mammoth cocktail menu and was enthusiastically encouraged to try what ever I wanted. I proceeded to try some amazing (and very expensive) concoctions. The stand outs for the night were the raspberry Mojito I had at Palomino and the Apple Martinis at the Living Room at the W Hotel.

The Living Room looked like something on Las Vegas - the TV show - all low couches and even lower lighting. Very glamorous waitresses tried to chase of us reserved tables but the cocktails were divine. After about 3 Apple Martinis I wandered off to find the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom - I swung open the door, stepped out and ran straight into someone coming around the corner. I looked up to apologise and realised I had literally bumped into George Clooney. He was grinning at me with his frighteningly white teeth and beautiful eyes. In an extremely sophisticated fashion, my jaw dropped and I ran away as fast as I could. Hmmm.

I actually emailed Palomino for their recipe and they were kind enough to share it with me. Unfortunately the type of raspberry rum they used is not available in Australia yet - so I haven't been able to make it just yet. I have managed to track down all the necessary ingredients for a wicked Apple Martini though. At the W they used DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker - a bright green tart apple schnapps. I haven't been able to find this in Australia yet but I did find the very similar Sour Monkey Apple Sour from Dan Murphy's.

I modified the recipe slightly after a few tries - most of the recipes I tried were just too strong. I now make them so you can have a couple and not fall over.

Apple Martini

30mls Vodka
30mls Apple Sour
30mls Apple juice
A small green apple

Pour into a cocktail shaker half filled with ice.
Shake and strain into martini glasses.
Garnish with a slice of apple floated on top.

Voila! L.A. sophistication at home.

George Clooney
Martini
Cocktail

Oven Dried Tomatoes

I don't know about you but I find it very hard to walk past the discount table at the fruit and veg shop or supermarket. All those big bags of over ripe squishy bananas for $1 just right for banana bread or in this case bags of very ripe Roma tomatoes. I also like to try to make things you generally buy just to see if I can do a better job than the supermarkets or just to understand the process and see what's involved. Which is why I decided after a successful scavenge at the supermarket to make oven dried tomatoes.

The process itself is really simple, it just takes loads of time. Firstly cut your tomatoes in half length ways and lay them out on a oven tray. Don't cram them on - they need a little space around them or they won't dry evenly. Season them with salt and pepper - in this case I used Herbie's Bush Pepper, it's not terribly authentic but it's a delicious nutty pepper mix. The oven should be turned on as low as it goes, if it's too high they'll cook. Leave the door of the oven slightly ajar and leave them for oh about 12 -18 hours.

This photo is after a full day in the oven and what I'd call semi-dried. At this stage you can cut them into pieces and store them in a vinaigrette dressing for antipasto or salads. They must be stored in the fridge though as there is still enough moisture in them to go moldy.
Finally at about 11pm that night they were done - dry but not crispy. Chewy and intensely flavoured. I sterilized some small jars and stored them under olive oil. If you want to avoid the oil you could pack them in an airtight container and store them in a cool dark spot or in the freezer.

I'm very pleased with my jars and am looking forward to using my tomatoes in salads and on homemade pizza. Next time I'd like to experiment with cherry tomatoes - they would take a lot less time and would perfect to toss in a salad. I'll have to wait and see what's on the discount table next time I go shopping...

A small slice of Orange

Although I am die hard Sydney-ite or Sydneysider now I grew up in country NSW. I spent the first 18 or so years of my life in Bathurst, a town about 3 hours over the Blue Mountains and west of Sydney. I moved away to university and as my family drifted away to other parts of the world I never really went back.

This Easter my husband and I went on a road trip to visit my father and we all spent Saturday in Orange. We drove straight through Bathurst while I nostalgically pointed out places from my childhood. We didn't stop. Unlike Bathurst, Orange has become quite the haven for foodies - it has several 'hatted' restaurants, plenty of artisan producers and about a squillion wineries.

We were especially interested to visit Borrodell - a vineyard and heritage apple orchard. When we arrived we were given a paper carry bag and pointed in the direction of the orchard which is home to a bewildering 170 varieties of apples - some I have seen for sale at the supermarket , most I have never heard of. We were given the run down of what was in there and what we should look for by the owner Harold Gartrell and let loose.

The view from the restaurant and tasting room at Borrodell

We walked very happily in the sunshine munching on apples as we tasted the different varieties and picked some to take home. We tried plenty of delicious apples but the real stand outs were-

Egremont Russet
As Harold explained are ugly little buggers but very very tasty. They are small little apples with a brown textured skin very similar to pears. They are firm and crisp to bite and have a very tangy taste. They have a long shelf life - up to a couple of months without any discernible loss of flavour according to Harold. I don't think they will last that long at our house.
With their firm texture and tart flavour I would imagine that they would be a great baking apple and am looking forward to making a few desserts with them when I get a moment - especially now the weather is cooler.

Five Crown Pippen
A large-ish sweet juicy eating apple. This was not as exciting as the Russet but a great eating apple and a gorgeous looking apple with it's golden green skin with just a blush of red. It has a distinctive base with 5 raised bumps around the core - making a crown shape, hence the name.

Jonathan
These are a common eating apple and available quite widely but I had never eaten one straight off the tree or at the peak of ripeness. These are beautiful apples, they look just like a storybook apple - glossy, perfectly formed and bright red. We could see the trees from the other side of the orchard with their dark leaves and dots of deep red.

We came back to the tasting room laden with more apples than the three of us could possibly eat but at just $4 a kilo we were very pleased with our haul. We sat and tried a few of the wines and watched people arrive for lunch at the vineyard's restaurant. We didn't have bookings and they were packed so after bundling up all our purchases (we HAD to buy the cherry liquor) we dove back into Orange for lunch.
If you are heading to Orange for some wine tasting I highly recommend you drop into Borrodell and check out a dedicated collectors passion.

Borrodell on the Mt
Lake Canobolas Rd
Orange, NSW, 2800