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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Ethiopian food @ Nyala African Restaurant, Melbourne (Australia)

We met up with some of my Melbournite friends when we were in Melbourne a couple of months ago. We had gone to primary school together in Perth, and we've all since moved away from our home city. One of the things I love about Australia is the multiculturalism which results in a rich variety of cuisines available. I particularly appreciate the dining scene in Melbourne, which seems more diverse than other Australian cities. When one of my friends suggested we met up for dinner at Nyala African Restaurant, I enthusiastically voted "yea" (and no one said "nay"). I've had a bit of exposure to African food previously, but not very much, and I still remember our interesting experience at an Ethiopian restaurant in New York city. Injera, a sourdough flatbread with a spongy texture, made a particular impression on me, and I was please to note that injera was on the menu at Nyala.


I quite liked the African-themed decor of the restaurant, and even the ceiling lampshades had African painting on them. The owners were quite obviously African, which added to the authenticity of the experience. Service was friendly and helpful, and the owner did his best to accommodate my son's allergies (though the poor kid who has severe sesame allergies accidentally touched the tahini dip when he reached for the bread and suffered allergic conjunctivitis as a result). The food was simple and rustic (as one would expect traditional African food to be), but tasty and full of flavour, and there was something on the menu for meat-lovers, vegans and everyone in between. For main courses, Nyala offered combination sets which allowed diners to choose up to four dishes on one plate, and this was a good option for first-time visitors to sample a variety of food.

A combo of all three dips accompanied by mahloul (mountain bread): Tahini (sesame paste, yoghurt, lemon juice and olive oil), deberja (egg plant with turmeric, coriander, cumin, capsicum and garlic blended with natural yoghurt) and lentils (with berbere chilli, onion, fresh garlic and spices) - AU$12.50 for the combo:

Hubby and I went for the Beyay-Netu (Ethiopian Platter), which gave us the choice of any four dishes from both the meat and vegetarian menu, and served with salad and injera. Between the two of us, we ordered eight of the nine dishes from the meat and vegetarian menus. The vegetarian dishes were tasty and richly spiced, and I also enjoyed the two chicken dishes. However I thought that the red meat dishes were quite unremarkable. Looking back at our experience at the Ethiopian restaurant in NYC, I also wrote that the vegetarian dishes were better than the meats - so perhaps vegetable dishes in Ethiopian cuisine are prepared better than the meat dishes. Or perhaps I like vegetables and chicken more than red meat!

Injera, a national dish of Ethiopia. Traditionally, injera would be spread on the table like an edible tablecloth, food would be ladled out on top of the injera, and we would be tearing off portions of the injera with our hands to eat with the food:

My plate: Keke-Wot (split pea with onion, garlic, peri peri and other spices), Kuku Na Nazi (Kenyan chicken curry with coconut and mild spices), Defen-meser (brown lentils cooked with garlic, chopped tomato, tumeric and coriander), and Beg Tibs (marinated and spiced lamb cubes sautéed with fresh tomato, rosemary and white wine) - AU$25 for the combo:

Hubby's choice of four: Doro Dibs (boneless pieces of chicken marinated in herbs and spices, sautéed in mild chilli, served with Nyala’s Awazi sauce), Futari (a Tanzanian vegetarian dish with cabbage, potato, carrot and seasonal vegetable cooked with mild spices, and topped with coconut milk), Nyala special (a traditional Ethiopian stew using lean boneless beef, ginger, garlic and homemade peri peri with other spices) and Domeda (a Gambian dish with beef, smooth peanut butter, potatoes, herbs and spices) - AU$25 for the combo:

I had a great time catching up with old friends (one whom I hadn't seen for over a decade!) over delicious African food.

Nyala African Restaurant
Level 1
356 Brunswick St
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Australia
Tel. +61 3 9419 9128

Nyala African on Urbanspoon

Monday 28 April 2014

The Cinque Terre coastline from the Mediterranean Sea

It's the first day of school after a 2-week term break, and I'm more excited than my son about going back to school! I love spending time with my son, but him going to school for six hours is a blessing for a mum with an infant at home. Hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more on the blog and catch up on that backlog of photos from three trips we took in the past few months!

Continuing on our European vacation last summer, the Cinque Terre is truly beautiful. Hiking between villages was no small feat, and visiting the towns allowed us to experience the uniqueness of each town. Viewing the five villages from the Mediterranean Sea is another way of appreciating the beauty of the Cinque Terre, and that was what we did on our third day in the region. We barely made it on the 10am ferry from Levanto to Portovenere (one of two services, the only one in the morning), and we must have been quite a sight: a 5-months pregnant woman running alongside a man carrying an almost 5-year-old boy to board an already crowded boat. The morning run was well worth the effort, and we could sit back and enjoy the boat ride which took 1 hour 45 minutes. The boat stops at each of the Cinque Terre villages, dropping off those who reached their destination and to pick up others who wished to continue on in their journey south. It was a lovely boat ride, and the Cinque Terre coastline was so pretty.

Approaching the northernmost village of the Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare:

The striking marks on the rockface of the promontory adjacent to the beaches at Monterosso:

The western section of Monterosso, where the train station and the beaches are:

The view north-westwards at the rocky part that separates the two main areas of Monterosso (click image for larger view):

The eastern section of Monterosso, where the clock tower, restaurants and shops are:

Vernazza, looking quite different when viewed from sea than when viewed from the hiking trail:

Corniglia, the village perched on top of a promontory:

A close-up view of Corniglia, taken with the afternoon sun during our return boat trip. This was the only village of the Cinque Terre that we didn't visit due to its higher altitude location:

Manarola and her colourful terraced houses on the rocks:

The famous Via dell'Amore (Lovers' Lane) hiking trail that joins Manarola with Riomaggiore:

The beauty of Riomaggiore is best viewed from the sea:

And then off we sped southwards towards the final destination of the boat ride - Portovenere. This is the view back towards the five villages of the Cinque Terre:

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Roast goose @ Yung Kee Restaurant, Hong Kong

My cousin and his wife were in Hong Kong recently, and requested Chinese food for when we met up for dinner. On another day, I'd brought them to our favourite teahouse for yum cha, and they loved the dim sum and appreciated the fact that it was the oldest teahouse in HK. For dinner, I wanted a restaurant that was similarly a Hong Kong institution, and hubby suggested Yung Kee Restaurant, most well-known for its roast goose. Hubby had eaten with colleagues at Yung Kee, and said the food was pretty good. I, on the other hand, still hadn't been to Yung Kee, even though I've lived here for more than 3.5 years. Yung Kee's history began in 1942 with a poor restaurant apprentice opening his own humble shop who went on to become successful and internationally acclaimed for his delicious roast goose. It is not uncommon for tourists buy roast goose to bring home to share with family and friends (obviously these are not tourists from Australia where there are quarantine and customs regulations restricting people from bringing food into the country).

Roast goose, char siu (barbecued pork), roast suckling pig, roast pigeons and soy sauce chicken by the window to entice pedestrians walking by:

The first floor dining room:

There are four floors of dining rooms in Yung Kee, and I read that the restaurant serves 1000 diners every day, often running out of roast goose by evening. I also read that a few people received terrible service, some complained of inconsistent food quality, and still others moaning about the prices - all quite common complaints for popular establishments running at full capacity. We got excellent service, the food was delicious, and I thought the pricing was quite reasonable for the food quality and calibre of the restaurant. Yung Kee is well-equipped for crowd control, and service was efficient and professional. Other than roast goose, Yung Kee's century egg (aka preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, millenium egg) are also renown to be very good, so I made sure these two items were on our order list.

Century Egg - there is good reason why these are popular! Even hubby who is not a fan of preserved egg (or preserved anything!), said that these were good. I love preserved egg congee, but it would be a waste to use Yung Kee's preserved eggs in congee. The creamy yolk and jelly whites were mild with no sulfuric aroma, and the pickled ginger was a good accompaniment:

Braised Assorted Vegetables with Mushrooms (HK$140) - the obligatory vegetable dish, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the different textures of the mushrooms and fungi in this dish:

Signature Roast Goose (HK$160 for a 2-4 person portion) - glossy, crispy skin and moist succulent flesh. It was an indulgent treat as fat and flavour go hand-in-hand here:

Mixed Barbecued Meats (HK$200 for choice of two) - we chose char siu and soy sauce chicken. The charsiu was lovely, not too fatty and not too sweet, flavouring was just right. The soy sauce chicken had a nice crispy skin, which was a lovely surprise as I was used to soy sauce chicken with soggy skin:

The sweet-cooked beans (not sure what type, perhaps soy beans) under both dishes of roast goose and barbecued meats. Delicious to snack on:

Fried Rice Yangzhou-style (HK$150), with plump and juicy prawns:

The desserts:

Cousin's wife chose Osmanthus Sweet Soup with Dried Longans (HK$38), and they said it was good:

Another of cousin's choice - Chilled Black Sesame Pudding with Seaweed (HK$26). The seaweed didn't really do much for the pudding, both taste and texture:

Hubby ordered Mini Egg Tarts (HK$33 for three). Quite nice, but the consensus at the table was that Luk Yu's one was better:

I wanted Sweet Black Sesame Soup (HK$36), which was a good choice. Deliciously sweet with the fragrance of black sesame:

We had an enjoyable time at dinner, good company and delicious food. The bill came to about HK$250 per person, which I thought was quite reasonable.

[Prices quoted above do not include the 10% service charge.]

Yung Kee Restaurant
32-40 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2522 1624

Hubby and cousin found something in common! Hubby has been using Vibram FiveFingers for the past three years, not just during training, but also everywhere - garnering amused stares and genuine questions. Cousin recently got on the FiveFingers wagon, said it was easy to pack for travelling. Cousin's wife pointed out the girls were wearing sandals, so we had a bit of camera fun outside Yung Kee Restaurant:

Saturday 19 April 2014

Hot Cross Buns II

This weekend I got my Easter baking on, and baked a batch of my Hot Cross Buns. The last time I made these, I noted how crumbly the buns got after more than one day out of the oven, and wondered if using strong flour would make any difference by taking advantage of its gluten-forming properties. For this batch, I experimented with using a mixture of strong flour and plain flour with a 2:1 ratio, as an attempt to improve the texture while retaining a tender crumb. It's still too early to tell if it was a success, as it's only been a few hours since the buns were baked, but the boys enjoyed the buns fresh out of the oven and slathered with butter. The texture was more bread-like than the original recipe, and tomorrow I will find out if strong flour solves the problem of the crumbly texture.

Hot Cross Buns II


Makes a batch of 12 buns, or 16 smaller buns

Ingredients

Dough
2 cups (275g) strong flour
1 cup (150g) plain flour
2 teaspoons (6g) dry active yeast or breadmaker yeast
1/4 cup (45g) caster sugar
2-3 teaspoons ground spice (cinammon, nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (120g) dried fruits (traditionally, currants are used)
1 cup (200mL) warm milk
2 tablespoons (35g) butter
1 egg

Flour paste for the cross
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
1/3 cup (80mL) water

Glaze
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar

Method

If using dry active yeast, it needs to 'bloom' in some sugar and warm water solution (no hotter than what your hand can handle) for 10 minutes until it's frothy. If using breadmaker yeast, you can just incorporate it into the dry mix.

1) Heat the milk gently in a saucepan over medium heat until milk is warm enough to melt the butter. Melt the butter in the warm milk.
2) Measure and mix all the dry ingredients (flour, breadmaker yeast (if using), sugar, spice, salt and dried fruits) together.
3) Add the warm milk mixture, egg and bloomed yeast (if using instead of breadmaker yeast) to the flour mix and mix until dough comes together. Use floured hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough.
4) Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth. (At this stage, add more flour if the dough is too wet, or add more water if the dough is too dry.)
5) Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm, draught-free place (I put it in my oven) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.
6) After proofing, punch the dough down to expel the air, and divide into 12 even portions.
7) Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Shape each portion into a ball and place in the lined tray about 1cm apart. Set the tray aside in a draught-free place for 30minutes for its final rising.
8) In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200degC and make the flour paste by mixing the flour and water in a bowl until smooth. Add more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a ziplock bag and snip off a corner of the bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses.
9) Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25minutes until the buns are done. When they're ready, the buns will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
10) Make the sugar glaze by dissolving the sugar in hot water. Brush the tops of the buns with the glaze while the buns are still warm.

The buns are best when fresh out of the oven. You can freeze some for later.

Friday 18 April 2014

Miso-nikomi Udon @ Yamamotoya Honten, Nagoya (Japan)

One of the food specialties of Nagoya is miso-nikomi udon, hard udon simmered in red miso soup. Yamamotoya is Nagoya's oldest and most well-known restaurant that specialises in miso-nikomi udon, and there are several branches around Nagoya to make it easy for anyone to satisfy their udon craving. The Yamamotoya chain is a regional favourite, popular with the locals and on the tourist radar, so there is sometimes a queue for a table. On the Friday we visited this branch in Sakae for lunch, we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. This is a no-frills place with prompt and efficient service, and we appreciated the refreshing oshibori (wet towel) and free tea service.

Diners enjoying their bowls of miso-nikomi udon:

Kitchen down the back:

Several types of miso-nikomi udon on the menu:

Even though the place was operating full capacity with a perpetual queue, we didn't feel rushed at all - I think it may have something to do with the fact that we had a 4-month-old baby and a 5-year-old boy in our dining party. Many other patrons were in and out with business-like efficiency (back to the office after a short lunch break, perhaps), so those in the line didn't have long to wait. Yamamotoya's udon are handmade thick and long, and served piping hot and slightly chewy in a strong broth made with hatcho miso. Each order of udon included a bowl of rice and tsukemono (pickled vegetables). Plain miso-nikomi udon was the cheapest option available at 892 yen, and it includes the basic ingredients like negi (Japanese leek), kamaboko (fishcake) and a raw egg. There are also miso-nikomi udon with your choice of ingredients like chicken, tofu, tempura or pork. There are options to add on extra rice, pickled vegetables, egg, leek, prawn tempura and even giant garlic. In addition to the miso-nikomi udon menu, there are small and side dishes also available as well as a small selection of Japanese-flavoured gelato, in case that hearty serving of udon was not big enough to satisfy.

Tsukemono (pickled vegetables), which was quite mild and didn't taste very pickled at all:

The earthernware bowl of steaming hot udon:

Hubby's miso-nikomi udon with Nagoya cochin (1680 yen), a famous breed of native Japanese chicken grown in Nagoya, and prized for the large number of eggs laid and tasty meat. The chicken in this dish was lean and firm yet juicy. I would love to eat and compare normal domesticated chicken with Nagoya cochin side-by-side:

I chose the lunch special of miso-nikomi udon with oysters (1890 yen):

Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette) with slices of a type of green pepper that had a surprisingly spicy kick:

On the wall next to our table was a poster advertising "Genki" (healthy) juice. The mixture of green leafy vegetables, green tea and apple juice was shaken, not stirred:

The Genki juice was delicious!

We all enjoyed the slightly chewy noodles served with the robustly flavoured miso-based broth. This lunch was a great start of our foodie experience in Nagoya.

Yamamotoya Honten (Sakae Shirakawa)
1st Floor (Ground level)
Yamamotoya Honten Sakae Building
2-14-5 Sakae
Naka-ku, Nagoya
Japan
Tel. +81 52 201 4082

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Farmers' Market and Domaine Chandon Winery in Yarra Valley, Victoria (Australia)

A couple of months ago, we were in Melbourne for my sister's wedding. Many of our relatives flew in to Melbourne to attend the wedding, and they had a grand time sight-seeing the city on their first trip to Melbourne. The relatives planned a last-minute day trip out to Yarra Valley on the day after the wedding, and since I'd already made my own plans to meet up with hubby's side of the family, I declined joining the group. However, what I didn't know was that there was a surprise proposal planned, and one of my cousins was going to pop the question and ring to his long-time girlfriend while they were at the valley. The proposal was kept so secretive that I didn't find out about it until the morning of the trip! My sister (the bride) was only told about the planned proposal the night before at her reception, and she made last minute changes to her schedule to fit the trip in - and that was how I found out about it the following morning. I guess everyone assumed that everyone (but the lucky girl) knew about the surprise proposal, while my sister and I were busy with the wedding preparations. I really wanted to be there for it, so I briefly discussed our options with hubby, decided that I could bring the 2-month-old baby along with me to Yarra Valley, while hubby and son remained behind in the city to spend time with his side of the family, and off we went on an impromptu visit to the valley! It worked well because I could spend more time with my family, and hubby could spend time with his family (who I had also seen the night before).

Yarra Valley is a wine region about an hour's drive out of Melbourne's CBD, with gorgeous landscapes and beautiful scenery. Our first stop was the Farmers' Market at Yering Station (held on the third Sunday of every month), where there were plenty of delicious baked goods and hot food to eat on site, and many more other food products to take home. Many stalls were offering free samples of their goods, and I wanted to buy everything I tried!

Coldstream apple cider - refreshing and tasty, and the gentlemen running the stall was such a lovely and generous person:

One of my cousin bought hot crepe fresh off the griddle!

I was quite tempted to enjoy one myself:

Hot meat and vegetable pies:

My younger sister asked me to share a steak pie with her. I took only one bite before we got split up, and it was gone by the time I saw her again:

The undercover stalls with lots of yummy take-home goods such as jams, cookies and fresh produce:

After the Farmers' Market, we went winery-hopping and wine-tasting to a few wineries before reaching the picturesque location at Domaine Chandon where my cousin mustered up his courage to pop the question to a very surprised girlfriend!

The landscape at Domaine Chandon winery - picturesque location and delicious champagne:

The vineyard:

The hands of two doctors. She said "Of course yes!"

We bought two types of Chandon sparkling wine to celebrate the joyous occasion - brut (dry) and sweet. Both good, but the sweet wine was more popular:

It was a good but short day trip out to the Yarra Valley:

To visit the Yarra Valley without the hassle of planning, check out Wine Compass for a personalised and fully customisable winery tour.