Creamy garlic and prawn risotto

I'm love love loving my new Thermomix! Risotto in less than 20 minutes - yes please! I think I've only bothered to make risotto once ever before in my life and because that took almost 2 hours (and tasted kinda average *shhh*) I never made it again. 

Cue the Interwebs and Thermomix users on blogs, websites and forums - talk about recipes galore! Amongst the lot -  whole heap of risotto variations, including chorizo and capsicum, mushroom with macadamia cheese, light lemon and chicken, leek and garlic. I could have kept reading for hours but kept coming back to a recipe on Full Little Tummies for a creamy garlic and prawn version - *YUMMMMMM*

Being a newbie with the machine, I was a bit overenthusiastic with the stock and accidentally put a bit too much in. I also added some spinach in to bump up the veggie content.

The result was a slightly watery risotto (don't look too hard at the picture) but it still tasted amazing!

Definitely one to make again :)

Pad Thai Pum Style

I recently went to beautiful Phi Phi island with Fezbola for a bit of R&R but after a couple of days of lounging by the beach and pool, Fez had had enough and was getting mighty restless. Me, I could lounge about doing nothing for weeks on end, but I was unfortunate (stupid!) enough to get a bit of sunburn on my shoulder so we decided to make the most of our last day and signed up for a cooking class at Pum's Cooking School. We'd discovered it as we wandered the streets of Phi Phi and after some googling and reading great reviews about the Phuket branch, we signed up for a 1.5 hour class called Pum's Little Lipstick - just the right amount of time before we had to jump on a ferry.

Source: http://th.pumthaifoodchain.com/cookingschool.html

Class was great - and it really opened my eyes as to how simple Thai cooking can be. I have always had a mental 'block' if you will about Asian cooking and how you need a million and one ingredients and sauces and bits and bobs. I was in fact so sold on what we did that I cam away from class with not just the small complimentary booklet of recipes you get as part of the class but also 2 additional cookbooks by Pum!

Lazy? Yes please!

This was the book that really caught my eye - it covers a lot of my Thai favourites, including Pad Thai which I decided to have a go at. It hadn't been covered by the class but it looked simple enough. Before starting though I needed to stock up the kitchen - the only Asian-y thing in the pantry was soya sauce, so a trip to the local Asian grocers was definitely required.

Lo and behold, $70 later

I also bought some huge king prawns (a few more than required by the recipe - because who doesn't love an extra prawn or three) and got down to business.

After doing a few things I had never done before (buying a savoy cabbage (I failed and got a green one instead), pre-soaking rice noodles, de-veining the prawns, making an omelette in a wok), I managed to come up with what I think was a pretty good Pad Thai - check it out!

Ta-dah!

I was pretty pleased with the result, especially the prawn omelette on the top. Super tasty.

Feedback was positive - but I was told that the green beans recommended by the book didn't really suit the dish and maybe bean sprouts might have been a better option. I'll be making it again so I'm happy to give that a bash next time round.

I also need to work out how to use fewer dishes because I hate washing up!

Toastbox Toastbox how I love thee....

When I moved over to Hongkers, I thought that I would be inundated with all sorts of Asian foods and would be spoilt for choice. That definitely has been true, however there is a part of me that just wants some decent Malaysian grub and it's been a struggle to find some.

I don't think that's too much to ask to have some decent Malaysian fare over here seeing as KL is less than a 4 hour flight away - Melbourne is a 9 hour flight away and the Malaysian food there is pretty darn good! Admittedly most food is good in Melbourne but c'mon... I'm in Asia!

After several failed attempts (Festival Walk food court - you should be ashamed of yourself!) I discovered Toastbox in HK! Hurrah hurrah! Not only does it serve up decent versions of my standard Malaysian favourites like Nasi Lemak and Hainanese Chicken Rice, but feast your eyes on this lovely creation!

That's right baby, Milo sprinkled over condensed milk on thick toast!!!
YUMMO!!!
A piece of Malaysian goodness amidst all the HK misses. Happy sigh.

(We'll just pretend that it isn't a Singaporean company... shhh...)

Posh Fast Food

I've noticed that certain chains of restaurants are marketed differently in various countries, and Pizza Hut is no different. The Pizza Hut in Australia is pretty standard from what I recall (it's been a really long time since I've ordered anything from there). Decor is basic and you have your usual fare - pizza, pasta, garlic bread, soft drinks.

In Hongkers, it's a lot more upmarket - classier furnishings, a line to get in (but I think that applies to most eateries in HK) and quite a comprehensive menu featuring pizza, pasta, garlic bread, soft drink, but also various salads, stuffed chicken wings, soups, entree platters and exotic beverages. What really pushes it over the top though is the dessert.

Who would have thought Pizza Hut served something like this??


There are even customised Pizza Hut skewers for the fruit. :D

Blog Poll and the Results

I haven't blogged since December - terrible I know - and other than the standard reasons of lack of time and general malaise, I found that the more I didn't blog, the harder it was to come back to it because I felt like I had to play catch up for the things I missed. Obviously the longer I'm slack the more there is to write about, which then makes me feel more reluctant... and so cycle goes.

Also, since relocating to Hong Kong, I've done absolutely zilch in the sewing stakes. I know the blog is called 'SuBoo: sewing and stuff', and a lot of 'stuff' has been happening, but I somehow feel guilty about neglecting the first part. It's almost like I feel like I'm lying if that makes any sense.

So. To just get over it all, I used Facebook Questions to see what my friends thought about it all.

The results were interesting - and the friends who read my blog most regularly and also have blogs of their own were the ones who wanted me to play blog catch-up (totally understandable!), but after having the question up for voting for a week, the winner was option 1 - 'Pretend the last 4 months didn't exist and start new posts from today'.

Am I relieved? If I'm being honest, yes! 4-5 months is a huuuuge effort to catch up on and I'm pretty sure I mentioned the word 'malaise' previously somewhere... so from this post onwards, I'll be posting a little more about 'stuff', and who knows, some of the stuff that happened earlier this year might make its way in here...

Thanks for voting peeps!

A week of lunches

Before I arrived here, I asked my friends what there was to do in Hongkers.. and it was pretty much the answer across the board - eat and shop.

Seeing as I am currently in no mental state to shop - still traumatised by the big pack - and I pretty much have to eat, I thought I'd share a week of my lunches. Well technically a working week as I only took photos of my lunch at the cafeteria at work.

Monday: Roast Duck and Char Siu on Rice. I was impressed by the price (HKD21) but I've had better in a lot of other places
Tuesday: Baked Pork Chop on Rice in Tomato Sauce. One of my favourite dishes back home and this didn't disappoint. For HKD24, it was filling, tasty AND super speedy (unlike the usual 20 minute wait for it to be baked)
Wednesday: Daily Thai Combo. There's a variation on the Thai combo every day in the cafeteria. HKD35 gets you soup, spring rolls, fried rice, fried chicken, lemongrass pork and rice puddings (with corn inside which was unexpected). Great value and very yummy.
Thursday: Black Pepper Beef and Fried Egg on Rice. I was very happy with this coz there was so much sauce! I love it when my rice gets all mushy and tasty *slurp*. The sausage looks a bit odd I know but it was delicious. The iced lemon tea and soup were part of the HKD35 set meal.
Friday: Thai Pineapple Fish Set. The cafeteria sure does Thai food well! I wasn't that hungry but I finished most of it before I realised. Pity the layer cake was bland. It looked deceptively flavoursome. HKD32.
Awesome food at awesome prices at work! Admittedly I think I will get sick of eating this sort of food day in day out, and there are a few other options such as a salad and sandwich bar, a Japanese place and a Western deli-type counter, but since it's all new to me, I'm really enjoying the food. The added bonus is that these 5 lunches have worked out to be a little less than AUD20 with the current exchange rate. YAY!

PS - Hopefully I'll have better photos now as I've finally upgraded to the iPhone 4 - you can see that Monday and Tuesday's photos are a lot darker due to the older phone but they improve from Wednesday onwards.

A Great Start

So the move to Hongkers is finally happening. After a week of delays that I suspect have given me a white hair (eep!) I got myself a ticket and made my way to the airport early on a Sunday morning.

I checked-in, went through immigration and after the pain of packing, decided I didn't need any more things, so I wandered through duty-free towards my gate with the hopes of just relaxing on a chair somewhere when look who I bumped into:

Why good morning to you too Mario!
That really perked me right up - I sure do love a bit of Mario so I figured it was a good sign that my new adventure was going to be great! I didn't know the half of it though - within the hour, I was upgraded to business class!

Credit goes to a very very nice person who happened to be working behind check-in
I've only been in business class once ever before, but this was a whole different experience because Cathay's business class are diagonally aligned pods that fold all the way down into a bed, with high 'walls' for lots and lots of privacy. Especially great for single travellers!

There's even a footrest - yay
I settled in and decided that I was going to stay up to check out what they would serve for breakfast and lunch - plus I didn't really want to sleep too much even though I was super tired since I needed to be up and ready for work the next day without being jet-lagged.

Here were the breakfast offerings:

Juice, fruit and a croissant (which was a bit cold and tough unfortunately)
Mozzarella, basil and tomato fritatta with chicken sausage, bacon, sauteed kipfler potatoes, spinach and mushroom - yummies
For lunch:

Starter: Smoked salmon, grilled scallops and marinated baby octopus with mixed salad - very tasty but looking at the octopus grossed me out a bit so I tasted a bit then left it
Main: Lamb korma, turmeric rice and vegetable jalfrezi - not bad but by this stage I was pretty full so I only had a bit
Dessert: Port with a big slice of strawberry and pistachio cheesecake
To finish off: Another glass of port and a praline (pity it was only one)
By now I was ready for my nap but I still forced myself to stay awake a bit longer and watched a couple of movies, Get Him to the Greek (better than I expected) and The Other Guys (highly entertaining). Yes I like mindless comedies, especially when on a plane :)

I finally succumbed to a bit of shut-eye before waking up to an announcement that we were about to land. Oh and before I forget - the best bit! I got a cute toiletries bag with the standard socks, eyemask and toothpaste/brush, with a couple of mini Murad products included.


I think it was one of the best flights I've ever had! If I was rich, I'd be flying business class all the time! I guess I can keep dreaming right? ;)

iPhone Snapshots - November 30

Anyone remember having these as a kid?

There's just something about the texture and flavour of these jelly cups that I love :)

Neckie the giraffe

Now my previous post about soft fill was probably a bit mysterious, but all for a good reason. I was making a surprise for Frannie for her birthday! Seeing as she reads this blog regularly I didn't want to give the game away.

I had already gotten her a copy of the super awesome Zakka Sewing craft book but if time permitted I was going to try to make up a Mrs Perkins giraffe for her since I really didn't want her stealing mine.

It was a bit of a mad rush - and gee those horns always get me - but I made it!

Girl or boy? Hmmm...
I wasn't sure if the giraffe was going to be a boy or a girl so I picked fairly neutral colours - beige with a light white pattern for the body and a very pale turquoise for the feet and horns.

Matchy-matchy
Can you see a bit of a colour theme happening with the wrapping paper? I've never felt quite so coordinated ;)

I added a bit of the matching ribbon around the giraffe neck (gifts should be at least partially wrapped don't you think? heehee) and we were ready to go.

After a rather lovely meal at Maze (thanks again Frannie!) the gifts were opened.

Hurrah! New friends!
Coined with the apt name of Neckie, it was decided that she was a female giraffe. Although it wasn't my intention, Ray pointed out that Neckie was really channelling Tiffany & Co, what with her (almost) duck egg blue ribbon and mane colouring.

What can I say? The girl has high standards ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRANNIE! x

***EDIT - click here if you want to see how Neckie is settling in to her new home***

iPhone Snapshots - November 3

Afternoon tea in the office, thanks Tammy!

Dinner at Orita's

I don't usually write about food on this blog - even though I love love LOVE to eat it - usually because I'm too lazy but this time I thought I would take a leaf out of Pooey/Frannie's and Mally's book and give it a bash. Also it was an 'occasion' dinner so all the more reason to blog I say!

Excuse the shoddy dark photos - my iPhone 3GS needs an upgrade methinks.

I've been on a bit of an eating plan recently in an effort to learn portion control, but I made an exception today so I could enjoy dinner at Orita's. Orita's came highly recommended by a workmate and I'm always a fan of Japanese food so I was ready and raring to go.

Unfortunately for me, I think my portion control diet has really worked, because the 2 arancini balls and mushroom tapas I had at a housewarming earlier in the day had me absolutely stuffed! Nevertheless, yummy Jap food was calling to me and I wasn't about to ignore it!

After making our choices and ordering from their fusion menu, we were given a complimentary starter of Japanese potato salad on a prawn cracker. Doesn't look like much but who doesn't love potato salad - and the addition of the crispy base sure didn't hurt. Yums!

FREEBIE STARTER: Potato salad on a prawn cracker
Next up was the Appetizer platter for 2 that I had eyed on another table as we walked it. I hadn't had raw fish for over 4 weeks so that was definitely on my list of things to eat. The dish came not only with a few slices of sashimi but also lobster sushi rolls, tempura prawns and the most tender beef cubes that melted in your mouth. Highly recommended but I wanted more raw fish!

ENTREE: Assorted Appetizer Platter (Share for two)
I was pretty full by then but mains were to come. We decided to share the 2 so we could enjoy both the lobster tail and wagyu steak - and this is where I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I thought perhaps it was just my full tummy tricking me into thinking the steak could be tastier but no, it was agreed that although the meat was nice and tender (which was to be expected since it was pretty much the most expensive dish on the menu!) it just wasn't that tasty. I think there should have been a bit more sauce provided. Boo. The lobster was decent - it tasted like lobster so no complaints there.

MAINS: Wagyu Steak and Grilled Lobster Tail
After the slightly underwhelming mains, I wasn't sure that dessert would be up to scratch, but then again I figured I probably wouldn't notice since I hadn't had anything overly chocolate-y for awhile.

I was right - the Chocolate Mousse Cake was very well received by my tummy!

DESSERT: Tempura Ice Cream with Fruits Sauce and Chocolate Mousse Cake
I must admit I had some reservations about the Tempura Ice Cream - I figured it was just glorified fried ice cream that could be purchased in any Asian restaurant for dessert but I was pleasantly surprised. The batter was light and almost fluffy - nothing like the heavy crusty batter on standard fried ice cream.

Overall dinner was good - great company and conversation - and great appetizers and desserts. I think we both agreed the mains were average for the price so if I did go back there again I think I would either order a larger appetizer platter or go for more sushi - the quality of the fish on the platter was fantastic *slurp*

Dinner was followed up with a viewing of the romantic classic The Expendables.

All in all a great night out.

I can't even knit

But I totally have to buy this book!!

Cuteness overload!!

iPhone Snapshots - June 3

Joy cupcakes during the previews for Sex and the City 2, Melbourne

One of the things I miss about London...

Lucky for me I got my grubby little hands on this pack courtesy of Frannie. It was delivered along with a bunch of other goodies, including my Cath Kidston iPhone case, a matching bag, and several cardis from Primark.

YAY for Frannie!

iPhone Snapshots - May 22

Afternoon Tea at the Tea Room @ NGV, Melbourne

iPhone Snapshots - April 10

South Melbourne Market, Melbourne
Fruit and basket purchased from the Market and arranged at home as a gift for a new Mum and Dad in hospital.

Easter Monday Macaroons

I thought I'd take advantage of the long Easter weekend to do a bit of catching up with friends, so Kimba and I nominated Easter Monday as our day of baking macaroons. I had had a very yummy one from Laurent when I went up to Sydney last week but it was a reminder that regardedless of where you are, if you want to eat a good macaroon, it's going to cost, so I thought it'd be great if we could just bake them up at home.

I had heard that making macaroons wasn't difficult *YAY* but making good macaroons was *eep*. Armed with that bit of information, we went into it knowing that at the very least, we'd have something edible!

Kimba found a couple of recipes online and printed them out, and with a bit of guidance from our own personal masterchef Cindy, we decided to combine the recipes and go with 2 batches - chocolate and vanilla - partly because they are generally liked flavours but mainly because we didn't have the ingredients to make orange or raspberry ones (we're maybe not so great with the forward planning).


The frothy peaks of whipped egg whites... so shiny!
As we progressed, we had some surprise visitors drop in so our group of 2 bakers and masterchef doubled in size - perfect timing to help with the various stirring, mixing and piping jobs that were available. No work no food!


Sifting the almond meal
Following the instructions, we piped out our macaroon mix to a 1.5cm ball size, expecting them to expand.


Masterful piping
They did not.

As they were baking and not expanding we decided to take sizing into our own hands and piped out the next lot into (rather large) escargot shapes which once baked, looked a lot like... well escargot shaped baked goods.

After the macaroons had cooled and we had whipped up the butter icing for the vanilla macaroons and the ganache for the chocolate ones, assembly began. As you can see from the pictures, visually our mini-macaroons looked almost like the real things but they were a little over-baked (I suspect due to their small size they baked a lot quicked than we expected), so they weren't too chewy on the inside.


Our pretty mini-macaroons. Almost perfect!
Our giant escargot-style macaroons were very goo-ey, but pretty much went the other way and didn't have the firm, slightly crunchy outside that we were hoping for, but they sure tasted good!


Our escargot macaroons. It was pointed out that the chocolate ones bore a rather strong resemblance to something stinky...
Considering it was a first time effort, we were pretty happy with how they turned out, especially since we pretty much had no idea what we were doing. Lots of lessons learned for next time - and lots of happy full tummies in the meantime.

Greedy

Is it bad that I want Stylish Dress Book 3 when I have both 1 and 2 as well as a few other Japanese pattern books plus a million other patterns I haven't touched?

Posts from make something and verypurpleperson are really not helping me in any way...

Toad Cakes

Well, that's a literal transalation of 'kuih kodok', or as we called it in my family 'goreng kodok' (fried toads), which is a something my Aunty Catherine used to cook up when I was a lot younger. It is also known as 'cekodok' and 'cokodok' and probably a whole bunch of other variation that I haven't heard of. It's actually a type of fried banana fritter where the banana is mashed up instead of being cooked whole. The only thing it has to do with toads however is the fact that the finished product ends up shaped a little like the amphibian so you can stop feeling a little grossed out :)

After buying a big bunch of bananas and having too many slices of birthday cake recently in the office (I don't know why half my team was born in February) I found myself stuck with 4 large bananas that were at least half black on the outside. Half black = a lot sweeter than normal, but too mushy to eat. I refused to throw them away and decided to 'recycle' them into something else yummy to eat. The standard banana muffins/bread/cake wasn't appealing to me, and for some reason I suddenly got hit with a craving for some goreng kodok.

Unfortunately I had a couple of things going against me:
1) No recipe
2) No ingredients (other than the bananas)
3) No deep-frying experience (and slightly scarred from seeing the results of a wok of oil overturning on someone - eek!)

Armed with just my blackened bananas, I did some research online (I so love technology and my iPhone) and found a few recipes (seasaltwithfood, Best Recipes, Foods and Travel, ptitchef) that looked like they might work. After a bit of umming and ahhing, I put together a trial recipe using the least amount of ingredients possible and a little extra sugar (I find Australian bananas nowhere near as sweet as the ones I ate growing up in the tropics).

I also made sure that I bought an appropriate oil for deep frying (sunflower in this case) and sussed out the dos and don'ts of deep-frying for safety reasons. One of the things I learned was that pouring the leftover oil down the kitchen sink was a no-no. Good thing I looked this up - last thing I need is a clogged sink!


The mixed batter


Sizzling away


The finished product - YUM

I thought they turned out pretty well for a first effort - I'm glad I put in a little extra sugar to compensate for the slightly less sweet Australian bananas.

I got four thumbs up from my two guinea pigs so I'm happy :)


Here's the recipe for those of you who are interested:

SuBoo's Goreng Kodok
Makes approx 12-15

Ingredients
* 4 big ripe bananas, peeled and mashed up
* 1 1/2 cup plain flour
* 2 1/2 tbs caster sugar
* 1 egg
* Sunflower oil

Method
1. Place all the ingredient (except the oil) into a mixing bowl and mix until well blended
2. Heat up a wok and add in the sunflower oil for deep frying.
3. When the oil is appropriately hot, take a heaped tablespoon of batter and place into the wok - try to keep the batter together so that it makes a flat oval 'patty'
4. Fry until golden brown, turning the patty evenly.
5. Once fried, use a slatted ladle to lift the kodok out from the wok onto a plate lined with paper towelling.
6. Dab the tops of the kodok with paper towelling to remove access oil.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

It's arrived!

After seeing several mentions of this book being released, I decided that I needed to get it ASAP. I found the other two Built By Wendy books very clear and easy to read (and I can finally put the 2nd one to use now that I have my overlocker *hurrah*) so I ended up placing an order from The Book Depository a week ago.

Here it is freshly opened from its cardboard packaging.

I know what I'll be doing this lunchbreak.