Full 360

This is not a review or a recipe post.

In a month a half's time this blog will have done a 360, a full cycle. The very reason why I started blogging was to document and share the great foods of Hong Kong, which explains the weblink name, Honkiememories, for the blog. And during the 2 years that I have been posting here I have learnt and discovered so much about food. About my passion, although there were times where I hit the blogging wall and have only recently gotten back into it.

Needless to say I'm incredibly excited. The thought of the shopping and food is driving me through this exam period. However things in HK aren't very cheap any more, especially since the exchange rate has dropped =[ Meaning I'll have to work extra shifts at work and save up more.

I'll probably blog as often as I can in HK so I don't end up with a backlog of posts. So if you're interested, come and check every now and then over summer or you can look at my Hong Kong posts from the start of the blog. However, I'm considering to end this blog after the trip. It just feels like I've accomplished what I want with the blog.

Please drop a comment if you have any good suggestions on where to eat in HK, or what foods are must eats.

Malaysian Festival QV Market

On Sunday, at Queen Victoria market was the Malaysia Festival which mainly consisted of delicious food. There weren't many stalls, I would say 15 or so including a chorizo and churros one, a takoyaki one and a few tornado potato ones. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll probably realise 80% of the time I eat out it's Malaysian food. It's no coincidence, I love the cuisine. 

Curry Puff $2

From the stall that sold the satay, I really wish I looked at their stall name because their satay sticks were sooo good. The curry puffs, crisp but nothing spectacular inside. Not saying it was bad but the quality of the other foods on offer were just so high. 

Assam Laksa $5 and Teh Tarik $3

I was expecting a msg flavoured soup with soggy mushy noodles but this was good quality assam laksa. The noodles were very springy still except the fork provided were incredibly inappropriate as the gaps between the prongs were a lot thinner than the fat noodle. But the noodles weren't the highlight of this dish, it was the soup. They were definitely not stingy on the ingredients, plenty of fish and spices, giving the soup a massive punch of flavour. The teh tarik was decent but not amazing as it wasn't very "pulled" but had a strong tea flavour. The bag it came in was like in true Malaysian style. There was more in the bag than in the picture, it was just too tempting before I took a picture. 

Satay $10 (for 10)

Best satay I've had in Melbourne hands down. They were done on charcoal which gave it that delicious smoky flavour. The beef had a little fat on it which made it even tastier whereas the chicken was leaner but still incredibly delicious. The satay sauce was the proper stuff. A little part of me cries every time I read a satay recipe that only uses a jar of peanut butter and coconut milk to make satay sauce, it is so much more. Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, spices all combine to make an incredibly delicious sauce. The pressed rice cakes were great for soaking up the rest of the satay sauce. This satay reminded me a lot of the ones from Mamak in Sydney. 

The charred crispy bits =]

Most definitely coming back next year. Hopefully they promote it a bit more as I only found out from the boy who got an email from the Malaysian club at uni. There were a few flyers up at uni but they weren't very noticeable.

Eating Out: Menya [City, 3000]

We were originally planning on going to Coconut House but as we were walking there we remembered that Menya was only a few doors down. With Malaysian and Japanese my two favourite cuisines we were faced with a dilemma. The prices at both are about the same ($8-$10) and meals come out very promptly. The difference is Coconut House is more flavour packed whereas Menya has much larger portion sizes. 

Curry Katsu Don $8.50

Likes:

+ One whole crispy pork cutlet

+ Very Japanese curry

+ Tender vegetables

Disikes:

- The large portion size felt like a waste as it was impossible to finish

- The pork coating was very salty

Oyako Don $8.50

Likes:

+ Heaps of egg, chicken and crunchy veggies

+ Nice sweetish sauce

Dislikes:

- Lacked seasoning (I think more sauce would have made it even better)

Food: It’s decent but nothing incredible, usually Japanese has very distinct flavours and good seasoning. Just felt lacking here.

Service: You get led to your table, you order +pay at the counter, grab a number and the meals will come out promptly. Tea and water are all self service.

Environment: A rather large restaurant for the city and clean but you’re still packed like sardines and during lunch it runs at full capacity.

Value: I challenge anyone to finish 2/3 of the rice, an impossible feat unless you are starving.

Eating Out: Ajisen Ramen [Glen Waverley]

85 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150

This post is about a month late =S Been soo caught up in other things (*ahem* tetris addiction).
If you haven't heard Ajisen has also decided to join the Asian empires in Glen Waverley. Has anyone else realised that every restaurant has more than one location in Melbourne? (Petaling Street, Ampang Tofu, RaRamen, Claypot King, Crazy Wing, Monga Dessert)

Like usual all the floor staff speak Chinese, it's incredibly cramped and noisy.

Ajisen Ramen+Corn
For some reason it's cheaper to get the Ajisen Ramen and add corn for $0.50 than to get the Corn Ramen which is a $1 more than the Ajisen Ramen, it applies to all the additional topping and it's just the exact same thing.

Likes:
+ Springy noodles
+ Large serving
+ Decent soup, I think better than Ramen Ya but still not a good tonkotsu.

Dislikes:
- Barely any meat
- No menma (my favourite)


Gyoza Ramen
Nothing special, very average gyozas.


Kari-age
Massive chunks of chicken with a weirdly yellow batter. Nothing special yet nothing bad either.

Food: 7/10 Can't really say anything bad about it (except for generous msg use), but also nothing particularly special. Standard ajisen.
Service/Environment: 7/10 Very cramped but decent renovation.
Value: 7/10 The most basic ramen is under $10 so it's alright however it is the only shop that does it in the area so that must be accounted for. They have entree+ramen deals for around $15 which is what I got. Be warned that it is quite a bit of food. The 2 of us had a bowl of ramen each and shared an entree and left quite full (and we went after an afternoon of badminton and ultimate frisbee)

Verdict? I wouldn't go out of my way for it, if I happened to be in the area and felt like ramen then I would go, otherwise I'd probably pass. Remember it is the only place in the area that does tonkotsu ramen.

The end of Yum Cha Inn

Uncle has decided to close the chapter of Yum Cha Inn so in the last few days of their business I had to visit one more time and eat my favourite dish, Curry chicken wrapped in bread. I had many other favourites but they were dishes that I could either get at other restaurants or there could be a chance that I could eat again at some family gathering. The curry chicken wrapped in bread was something that I have not found here yet, a Malaysian dish that some Malaysian friends have never even heard of, and not a dish that my uncle (or anyone) would probably make for a family gathering because of the amount of effort and time required to make it is quite ridiculous unless you’re making more than one at a time.

It was a bittersweet moment you could say, knowing that it would probably be the last time I’ll ever get to taste the dish until I travel to Malaysia and try to hunt for a place that sells it. I guess roti chanai will have to suffice until then or possibly brioche dipped in Malaysian curry chicken.

I do admire my uncle for being able to manage the restaurant and work 7 days a week for around 4 year s definitely requires an immense amount of motivation, passion and dedication. I question myself whether I would have the same drive to keep on making dim sum everyday for lunch service for longer than a month let alone a few years. There’s no doubt my uncle deserves to take a break.

Just an inspiration. 

P.S The restaurant has been bought by the Chinese Crazy Wing chain. They make the chilliest thing I have ever tasted, it was unimaginably chilli. However I tried it at the one in the city not Glen Waverley. 

Sorry

Been neglecting my blog a bit recently

But I've started a new job and it's really eating up my time and energy

Uni + work + homework + 3 hours travel time every day = dead teenagefoodie

Working at a "fast" food restaurant has been an experience.

I'm starting to get sick of the food that I used to love. 

I thought it would be more systematic than it is.

But I do love the rush you get from that super busy moment and trying to get all the orders under control.

My birthday was a week ago and I just went out for hotpot with friends.

Probably the last hotpot for the year as it's Spring now and getting warm. 

Went out for dinner with family to celebrate both Dad's and I's birthday.

Nothing particularly special.

The photography club at uni had a food workshop on food photography run by a food blogger which I was so excited about

However I didn't manage to get my hands on a ticket

And was pretty upset about it.

Hopefully they have a similar event next year. 

That's all for now.

I'm typing this in my class

Cooking: Olive and Rosemary Focaccia

This is not only simple but the result is amazing. Soft fluffy bread. Except I didn't realise how much it'd rise, next time I'll spread it over two trays. I've changed the steps a bit as there really isn't a point in preheating your oven 2 hours before you need it.

Recipe from Life Magazine (Sunday Age) by Karen Martini

Ingredients
600g bread flour
7g dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
40ml extra virgin olive oil
250ml water (doesn't need to be warm)
160g olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped.
flaked sea salt

Method

1. Mix flour, yeast and salt in an electric mixer (dough hook). Add in eggs, oil and water. Mix for 10 minutes on medium speed. Don't worry if there are little bits of flour that don't stick to the main ball, it'll stick by the end of the 10 minutes, and if not it really doesn't matter that you're missing tiny bits of flour. 
2. Turn out dough and knead into a smooth ball. Put it back into the bowl and cover with clingwrap. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
3. Line a baking tray.
4. Once risen, tip dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold in most of the olives and rosemary. Place it into the prepared tray and press it out. Let it prove for an hour. Preheat oven to 200 degrees with 15 minutes left to prove. 
5. Snip the top if you want for a textured surface. Drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle with flaked salt and remaining olives. 
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cooking: One chicken chicken soup

I actually used Karen Martini's recipe that was in The Sunday Age's Life magazine earlier this year. However there are just too many ingredients and steps. The concept behind it is all you need, change it to suit your fridge/taste.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

vegies of own choice (carrots, celery, onion...)
salt and whole peppercorns
herbs of you're choice (thyme/rosemary)
2 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
 a few mushrooms of choice (choose strong flavoured type eg porcini, shiitake), rehydrated if dried and diced.
150g pasta, optional if you want to make chicken noodle soup
frozen peas, corn, optional.

Method:

1. Remove the two breasts off the chicken. Chop up all the vegies however you like (not too small as they will cook for a while). Place the chicken carcass with the legs still attached, vegies, a few peppercorns and herbs in a stockpot. Fill up with water just enough to cover and simmer for 45 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile cook the shallots and garlic in some oil until cooked then cool. Dice up the chicken breasts roughly and place into the food processor with a generous sprinkling of salt. Blitz for a minute until it is quite gelatinous, add the cooled shallots mixture and mushrooms. Blitz again until combined. Set aside. 
3. Skim the soup of oil. Then take the chicken out and place the pasta in. Shred all the meat on the chicken. Set aside.
4. Add the frozen corn and peas, bring back to the boil. Drop spoonfuls of the chicken mince mixture into the rolling boil soup. Cook until the meatballs are floating then add back in the shredded chicken. Taste and season accordingly. 
5. Serve.