The final stretch

As you probably know I have issues with promises but this one I better keep.

Over the next week or two I'll be doing a 4-part series on my overseas trip then it'll be the end of this blog. I'll try and make them interesting but I've really lost the blogging motivation. I just don't have the will to blog when juggling uni, part time job and sport and whatever else decides to pop up.

MIA much? ASIA TRIP

For the last few months this blog has seen little to pretty much no proper food posts. I haven't been happy with my photos of my cooking, mainly due to my want to just dig in instead and also I've been forgetting my camera when I've been going out to eat, and don't mention using my phone, it's a piece of shit. Wish I could throw it at Vodafone for selling me such a dodge phone, but then all their customers want to do that, it's nicknamed Vodafail for a reason.

Back to food, I've been cooking but nothing really worthy of blogging *ahem supermarket roast chicken for dinner*. And if I'm not eating at home then I'm probably eating at work/sneaking freshly fried chips and then paying the consequence by burning my mouth from both oil and steam burn. But I've found the perfect combination, freshly fried chips with mayo, rib sauce and hot sauce(basting as we call it at work). Sooooo good, too bad customers can't try it.

And I've been working a second job lately (all that shopping and eating in HK doesn't fund itself) that has required me to wake up at 6:40am to get to work at 7:45am. I am most definitely not a morning person which meant a buttered raisin toast sandwich in the car on the way to work, where my brother would drive and I'd hold his sandwich until we hit a red light. (Umm is that illegal? I have an inkling it is).

Otherwise, I'm leaving in 3 days for Beijing, then Tokyo and then to Hong Kong. In my mind I know I should be overjoyed that I'm finally visiting my most wanted to visit country (Japan) at last and not to mention my favourite cuisine but I'm not for some reason. Not even motivated to look up places to eat. I think I've decided this time, I'm just going to not have a 30 dish long list of things I really really want to eat in Hong Kong. Just going to eat local and what I can't get here.

As I was cleaning my room, I found two books on Honkie food that I had gotten for my Vce Chinese Detail Study *shudders* and flicked through them to see if there is anything that I didn't try last trip.

• The book starts with curry fishballs which are pretty much a staple anyways and you don't need to go out of your way for. 
• But the second dish the book looks into is fake sharkfin soup which is actually a proper hawker kind of dish in Hong Kong. I think its all about the texture and treasures in the "little bowl sharkfin soup". 
• It goes on to siewmai on a stick which is usually sold at the same stall as curry fishballs. But what interests me is the more delicate dumplings that aren't done very well here which I'm looking forward to when I have yumcha in HK. 
• A breakfast item, zhu cheong fun, which are white cyclindrical rolled rice sheets the size of a finger drizzled with special sauces (like sesame, chilli and a soy based one). Craving a nice bowl for breakfast.
• Hopefully I get to eat these fishcakes that are sold at the start of the street by distant uncle lives on in a more ruralish part of china. If the stall is still there, they were delicious, a whole bag for like a buck or two aussie.
• Razor clams and small live prawns. Razor clams because they're great for sticking to delicious sauces and we can't get them here and small live prawns that have been poached and dipped into chilli soy sauce because it's one of my favourite foods in HK. So sweet and fresh. 
• Chinese preserved meats especially on claypot rice because the prices here are ridiculous and not to mention the difference in portion size when at a restaurant. 
• Polo (pineapple) buns. Especially with a chilled chuck of butter in the middle of the hot fluffy bun, heart attack but its only once or twice during the trip!
• Egg baked fish intestines, sounds gross but tastes delicious. Supposedly its not very hygienic. 
• Congee for breakfast cos I'm an old grandma. They give you a quarter of a century egg in your congee here, over one whole one in HK, for a third of the price. 
• Prawn eggs mixed in egg noodles? Something like that, looks so delicious, texture wonderland. I'm guessing much like tobiko?
• Fried fish skin with soup noodles. Just try it. 

Thats all that I can think of for now. If you manage to read to this point, you probably want your time back, but at least you know some of the less known deliciousness' in HK. 

It's late at night and I woke up at 6:40am to go to work today, sorry that this post is all over the place. 

Rest assured, there will be a flood of posts in a week or two's time, all about Beijing, Tokyo and HK. 

Due to lack of internet I cannot say when these posts will be up, but I'll hopefully write them up at the end of each day and post them when I have internet. 

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