Olive bread

This is so delicious! Freshly baked olive bread from the supermarket. Fantastic with cheese or just some good olive oil. Thanks to Tia for sharing with me this yummy find.

Home Made Weekend

I had a very busy weekend. Made some apple crumble (pictured), which was very sweet and oat meal-y. I also made a gigantic shepards pie, so I know what will be dinner for the rest of the week. Also made some burritos with my home made super spicy mexican marinade. The kitchen is a complete mess!

Delicious Dumplings

Chinese Dinner

Went to Hong Kong BBQ for dinner. Girls night. woot. The venue wasn't our first choice, but lets not dwell on such... unpleasantness.

Deep fried pork ribs

Beef in ginger sauce

Chicken and vegetables

Red Bean soup (free desert!)

Food Safari - Breakfast

Had a mini breakfast food safari. I think we were still full from the Thai food the night before, so we had a relatively small meal.

We went to La Case Creole Delicatessen for some coffee/tea and portuguese egg tarts.

Food Safari - Thai

Went to Yim Yam in Yarraville for some awesome Thai. As usual we ordered way too much.

Roti with Satay Dipping Sauce

Thai Milk Coffee

Papaya salad

Vegetarian Pad Thai. This was so popular we ordered two plates of it

Lao Chicken Salad. Very spicy!
Tofu Larb. Also spicy

My favourite curry - Massaman

Even though we were completely full we still had to try some of the deserts!
Walnut Roti. So good!

Steamed Banana dumpling.


I felt so ill after this huge meal. Worth it.

Spice Kitchen

Spice Kitchen has been pretty reliable for lunch. This was the first time back for 2010, and the changes did not go unnoticed. Instead of the usual thali, which was served on a big metal plate with individual bowls for each curry, we now have a plate with everything piled on it. The papadum became soggy, the naan bread was covered in curry and the butter chicken way too sweet. What went wrong?! Now I'll have to find another Indian place, hopefully in time for winter.

Congee

One of my favourites - Congee with pork and thousand year old egg. Delicious!

Home Made: Gravy

Tried to make some gravy withsome left over beef stock. I put in fresh rosemary from my Mother in Law's herb garden, and chopped up mushrooms. Added some flour to thicken and that was it! It turned out very very very salty :(

VIETNAM '09 - '10

Fruit sold on the street-side.
All these fruits had a peel so it was safe to eat. I think it was 5,000 dong a kg which is 30 cents.

A holiday in Vietnam + A holiday in Hong Kong = LOTS of foodie photos!

I went to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hue, Hoi An/Da Nang, Quang Binh & Ba Ria.

I'll be uploading the photos consecutively because there are too many to sort through to put into "themes" eg. drinks, desserts, etc..

From the beginning of this mytical journey....

Breakfast on Cathay Pacific on the way to HK (stop-over)
[fish congee, fruit salad, yoghurt, croissant w/ jam + butter (not pictured....in tummy)]

Lunch on Cathay Pacific (still on the way to HK)
[rice with pork + veggies, salmon salad, Christmas cake]

Breakfast the next day at a hu tieu (noodle) shop on the corner of my aunty's laneway.
[fishballs, tofu, veggie hu tieu]

Hot Vietnamese coffee (fake!)
In Vietnam, there is good coffee (real) and fake coffee, which is made from corn and is incredibly sweet. The glasses are kept in a bowl of warm water to keep it hot while you eat, as it seems everyone has their drinks at the end instead of during their meal.....

Half of the kitchen of the hu tieu place.
The bottom shelf is where they prepare the coffees with the coffee drips alll lined up.

A laneway market near my aunty's house.
It was about 8am or so and it was already bustling (and hot!) The tin roofs did not help the heat either.

Different kinds of tofu at the market.

Fresh fish at the fishmongers.... fresh if you go early. Fly-infested if you go much later, that's for sure.

Pickled cucumbers, carrots and leeks sold in abundence. Apparently no refrigeration is needed until after you take off the rubber-band.

Freshly caught mini crabs.

Slimy fish, just out in the open.

13 types of dried shrimp. Pungent.

Roasted whole eggplants. They were massive.

Froggies!
I ate one by accident at a restuarant a few days later and didn't know what it was because it was smothered in chilli sauce. It was only when i walked out the shop and saw on the front door a large picture of a goofy looking cartoon frog did i realise what i just ate.

All in a day's work...
A household business in peeling over-sized winter melons.

Street-side bakery.
A 3-layer oven FULL of freshly baked Vietnamese rolls ready to filled with delish things. The smell was so wonderful.

The said delish things.
Pickled veggies, pork (meatballs, ham, actual pork meat, etc)
LOOK AT THAT CRUSTY BREAD Y'ALL!

More pictures to ensue, i promise. This is only the beginning.

Chinese New Year

Sun Neen Fai Lok!

Scott and I spent the morning at the temple to score some brownie points with the ancestors, then gave out some lai xi (lucky envelopes) now that we're old and married. We then celebrated the start of the year of the tiger with food, lots and lots of food!


I made some hampers full of asian junk food.

Juicy Roast Duck

Yummy pickled vegetables

Not only was it New Year, but a birthday celebration as well
Chocolate Mousse Cake and...

Icecream cake!