Chik's Crib: March 2015

27 March 2015

Gâteau Victoire Recipe

Recipe March 27, 2015 1

Okay, so this isn't the best way to start a recipe blog post. Every time I read a blog recipe, the blogger gushes so much about the recipe, and how it's the most fantastic awesome delicious life-altering cake and how it's so worth dying for!!!! Well, bull. There's no cake in the world that I'll die for. And I'll think less of my life if one slice of cake can alter it.

I still love chocolate cake, though after going through so many chocolate cake recipes in these last few weeks, I need a chocolate-free break. The good thing about trying all the flourless chocolate cake recipes is that I can say my favourite is the Valrhona Chocolate Orbit Cake from David Lebovitz, which has the creamiest, smoothest texture of all the cakes I've made. This one runs a close second, but you can use a mid-tier chocolate for this recipe.

ELEPHANT. Just cause kekekekeke

Coco Lounge

Western Food March 25, 2015 0

I used to have Reverse Sour Grapes Syndrome concerning restaurants. The further they are from me, the more I appreciate their food. After all, if I'm travelling so far for it, it must be good. There's an authentic dim sum restaurant just 5 minutes drive away from my place, but I rarely go there because, "Hey, I can go anytime..." . But with time, laziness descends upon us all, and I'm starting to take a new-found appreciation to restaurants closer to home.

Coco Lounge is one place that I'm starting to wonder why I didn't visit more often. It seems perpetually open, whether you want brunch, dinner or desserts, and it's one of those restaurants that is at least half-filled at any given time. We had brunch there a few months back, and their popularity is indeed well-deserved.

We grabbed a table outside to enjoy the last vestiges of summer, and the table next to us just got their food. I didn't know what drinks they ordered, but with one look, I told our server that I'll have whatever they were having.

Mocha.

Eastern Dumpling House

Review March 25, 2015 0

One of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Melbourne is Eastern Dumpling House, located just a couple of stores down from Mrs Kim's Grill and Huff Bagelry. I don't normally go gaga over Chinese food here, but I was blown away by the quality of Shanghainese pan-fried dumplings here

Their Pan-fried Pork Dumplings (6 pieces) was the best version I've ever had, with a crispy exterior and deeply-flavoured pork broth within. Be careful when biting into these dumplings; don't take a big bite or you might end up scalding your tongue on the soup contained in the dumpling skin. My way is to nibble off a piece of skin, and slowly make my way inwards. It helps if you get a spoon, and pour some of the soup out and let it cool.

I particularly love the sesame-studded bottoms, which gave the dumpling such fragrance.

There were a few other dumplings that were good, but not outstanding in the way the Pan-fried pork dumplings were. I often order another type of dumplings as well (One that comes in 12/15 pcs), and Xiao Long Baos. The xiao long baos are good, but their skins were a bit too thick for my liking when I last tried.

If you can take spicy food, Szechuan Beef with Noodles ($9.80) is particularly outstanding, and surprisingly less spicy than it sounds, considering I'm a noob at spicy food.

Must Try:
Pan-fried Pork Dumplings
Szechuan Beef with Noodles

I tried the nearby Auntie Dumplings, which is more popular online. In my opinion, they have similar standards - almost indistinguishable - except for the Pan-fried Pork Dumplings. The ones here are sesame-studded, which was how I like it.

22 March 2015

Ginger Spice Cake

Recipe March 22, 2015 0

A couple of years ago when I first came to Melbourne, I picked up a bottle of molasses for a couple of baking projects that never materialised. I've been hanging onto the bottle for these two years out of thriftiness, but I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get around to using it. But my Asian thriftiness came through once again, and I was flipping through my recipe archive when I came across this recipe . I never cared much for ginger, but I've made this cake before and I liked it. Several reasons tipped my hand to make this: 1) It's one of David Lebovitz's most acclaimed recipes. 2) J and E hate ginger (but I was confident I could change their minds). And mostly because I really really wanted to use up the molasses.

Maisen Tonkatsu

Travel March 20, 2015 0

There are many good tonkatsu restaurants in Tokyo, but the place that everyone seems to like is Maisen Tonkatsu. There are numerous branches across Tokyo and we headed to the main shop in Aoyama which was located in a convenient location- just a few blocks behind Omotesando Hills and within a walkable distance to Harajuku. It is located near Omotesando station and on exiting the station, there were signs specifically directing us towards Maisen restaurant.

Baci di Dama Cookies (Hazelnut Cookies) Recipe

Recipe March 18, 2015 0

When I was doing groceries last year, I grabbed a bag of Glutinous Rice Flour to make Tang Yuan. I was just about to leave with it when Miss XS told me that Tang Yuan uses Rice Flour instead, and after a long debate, we wounded up with rice flour. Glutinous Rice Flour is the right flour, as it turned out, and I, and several other unfortunate souls, learnt that these two flours are not interchangeable when I made a failed batch of tang yuan.

So ever since that fiasco, I had been wondering what on earth am I going to do with the bag of rice flour that have been sitting in my kitchen and taking up valuable real estate, when I came across this Baci di Dama (hazelnut cookies) recipe.

It's been a while since I touched this tricky recipe, and I hit a couple of snags along the way. But persistence (and stubborness!) goes a long way, and when this recipe finally goes right, it pays off in spades. The hazelnut cookies can be kept for a week at room temperature in an airtight container, but with five of us sitting around the tray, they didn't even last the night.

Most of these pictures here are taken by R.

Baci di Dama

Makes about 45 cookies

Taken from David Lebovitz
Original recipe by Terresa Murphy of La Cucina di Terresa

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups (140g) hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 cup (140g) rice flour (or all-purpose flour)
3 1/2 ounces (100g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
pinch of salt
2 ounces (55g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

STEPS
-Prepping nuts to grind into meal-
1) Toast the hazelnuts in a 325ºF (160ºC) until deep golden brown color and the skins are peeling away, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven.

2) As soon as the hazelnuts are cool enough to handle, rub the hazelnuts with your hands, until the skins come off. Let the nuts cool completely.

If using almonds, they can be skinned by soaking them in boiling water for about a minute. Fish the almonds out and as soon as they’re cool enough to handle, pinch each almond on one side and the nut will just slide right off the skins. (This did not work with hazelnuts, as I learnt the hard way.)

(I tried both using raw hazelnuts and hazelnut meal, and using prepared hazelnut meal really saved a lot of aggravation. In fact, I used shelled hazelnuts the first time I did this recipe, which I had to individually crack before roasting and de-skinning them. Don't be like me.)

3) Put the nuts in the bowl of a food processor along with a tablespoon of rice flour and pulse until they are the consistency of coarse polenta. (The tablespoon of rice flour helps absorb the hazelnut oil released during pulsing)

4. Transfer the ground nuts to a bowl and add the rest of the rice flour (if using all-purpose flour, sift it in). Add the butter, sugar, and salt to the dry ingredients. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together until the butter is dispersed and completely incorporated. The dough should be very smooth and hold together. If not, knead it until it does. Adding a bit of melted butter or a few tablespoons of water works just as well. Use the minimum necessary.

5. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and roll each piece until it’s 3/4-inch (2cm) round. Try to get them as smooth as possible, with no cracks. If the dough is too long to work with as you roll them out, you can cut the dough at the midway point and work with it in batches. Chill the dough logs until firm on a small baking sheet or dinner plate lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Terresa recommends refrigerating them for 2-3 hours; or alternatively, to put them in the freezer for 15 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 325ºF (160ºC) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

7. Working with one length of dough at a time, keeping the others in the refrigerator or freezer, cut off equal-sized pieces using a knife or pastry cutter. The ideal is 5 grams each, if working with a scale. The fastest way to do it is to cut one to the right weight, then hold that one alongside the logs and use it as a template to cut the others. Once you’ve cut a length of dough, shape each slice into a flat hemisphere. Place them on the baking sheet slightly spaced apart.
(These cookies don't spread, so pack 'em as close to each other as you want to.)

8. Continue cutting the dough and rolling it into little balls. Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets in the oven midway during cooking, until the tops are lightly golden brown. (The bottom turns brown before the top; keep a lookout to make sure the bottom doesn't get burnt.) Let the cookies cool completely.

9. In a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate until smooth. Put a chocolate chip-sized dollop of chocolate on the bottom of one cookie (either via a spoon, or a little parchment paper cone) and take another cookie, and sandwich the two halves together. Personally, I prefer just a dab of chocolate with each cookie, rather than making a cookie sandwich. For non-purists, feel free to do the same.

Once filled, set the Baci di Dama sideways on a wire cooling rack until the chocolate is firm.

Storage: The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Protip! Don't waste the remaining chocolate. I usually add milk to any remaining melted chocolate and make hot chocolate.

15 March 2015

Harajuku Gyoza Lou

Tokyo March 15, 2015 0

If you are hunting for one of the best gyoza in Tokyo, you have to give this place a try.

This dimly lit restaurant was crowded when we went on a Sunday night and a snaking queue formed behind us shortly after we arrived. Fortunately, we only had to wait for 15 mins before we were shuffled in to our seats.

The food menu was limited and focused mainly on gyozas, with a small selection of appetizers. After all, they are the gyoza specialists.

We started off with 2 appetisers: Cucumber with miso sauce (250 yen) and beansprouts with minced meat (250 yen). The cucumber, thickly sliced and drenched with miso dressing tasted really refreshing. We enjoyed it so much that we even ordered another serving. However, the beansprouts tasted ordinary and the meat sauce tasted somewhat like Chinese style zhajiangmian.

Umegaoka sushi no Midori

Travel March 13, 2015 0

Sushi Midori is famous for its affordable Japanese sushi and sashimi amongst both locals and tourists. They enjoy great popularity and have many outlets spread out all over Tokyo. The queue system was pretty straightforward and involves pressing for a queue ticket from a ticket machine near the entrance- you have the option of counter/table seating. We reached around 8+pm for a late dinner one day hoping that we will be able to miss the dinner crowd. And boy, were we wrong, and we ended up cooling our heels for over an hour in the freezing Tokyo winter. Complimentary hot green tea was provided outside, but beware that they do run out of cups for late stragglers.

After the long wait, we finally got a table and we settled on the 1800 yen set (approx. S$20) which consisted of a generous assortment of sushi. This set also comes with complimentary chawanmushi-which was really really good and silky, miso soup and green tea.

Intensely Chocolate Italian Molten Lava Cake Recipe

Recipe March 10, 2015 0

We had one of those long extended weekends recently when Labour Day came around. On those rare Sunday nights where we had no commitment early the next day, a few of us were sitting in my room late at 11.30pm searching for any dessert places that are still open. Hey, such is the luxury of having friends with cars. After looking at several dessert options unsuccessfully, I remembered that, why not just stay in and I can wing something up from my repertoire?

Ichiran @ Shibuya branch

Travel March 07, 2015 0

When you ask anyone who’s been to Tokyo recently, the name “Ichiran” invariably comes up. According to many travel sites, Ichiran’s reputation is among some of the best in Tokyo and sets the standard by which other ramen places are compared to.

So, the question is, does Ichiran really lived up to its hype as the nicest ramen in Tokyo? We just had to find out.

Hoa Tran

Vietnamese Food March 05, 2015 0

When Miss XS first arrived in Melbourne five years ago, she wasn't sure what to expect from this city. She was expecting a city though, something with a skyline like the CBD area of Melbourne. Like me, she wasn't expecting a suburban collection of housings and weathered buildings found in Springvale (a nearby Vietnamese town) or Clayton (where our university is). When she first arrived in Melbourne, the first thing she did was to look for home appliances in Springvale. The entire vibe of the town just screamed "run-down-Asian-town". which, as a first impression, tempered her view of Melbourne as a city quite a bit.

Five years later, on her last day in Melbourne, it seems only fitting to come full circle and go to Springvale for a last round of Vietnamese food. Time has mellowed our impressions of Springvale, which is now one of our favourite lunch destinations. What's not to like about simple, honest, authentic, cheap and generously-portioned servings of Vietnamese cuisine?

Flamed grilled meat with vermicelli and salad

27 March 2015

Gâteau Victoire Recipe

25 March 2015

Coco Lounge

Eastern Dumpling House

22 March 2015

Ginger Spice Cake

20 March 2015

Maisen Tonkatsu

18 March 2015

Baci di Dama Cookies (Hazelnut Cookies) Recipe

15 March 2015

Harajuku Gyoza Lou

13 March 2015

Umegaoka sushi no Midori

10 March 2015

Intensely Chocolate Italian Molten Lava Cake Recipe

07 March 2015

Ichiran @ Shibuya branch

05 March 2015

Hoa Tran

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