Bento Convenience

Tonkatsu with Miso sauce

What I love about living in the City is that there are so many different options for food, almost 24/7. With wet winter full on in Sydney, today wasone of those days when I just needed some cheering up and it was nearing lunch time. So I called Miso, ordered the Miso Tonkatsu Bento and picked it up in 15 minutes. The beauty of calling for take out, you don't have to wait!

Miso Tonkatsu Bento, AUD 15.90

The tonkatsu was moist and succulent. The top bits were still crunchy but the bottom was a little soggy due to the bento box. The pork was nice and juicy though. I also love the miso sauce. Though I wish there were more.

Salad - I could taste some wasabi on this

The salads and the rest were standard. But I was quite pleased with the tonkatsu it self. So far all the food that I've tasted in Miso have been good quality. Not too authentic or like whoa, but if there's one thing you can count on here, its the standard of its quality. Oh, it's also quite reasonably priced too, for lunch that is. (But it's like that with Japanese restaurants. It's an almost worldwide practice.)

Miso

Shop 20 World Square

Sydney

+61 2 9283 9686

Penne in pumpkin sauce

I read somewhere that Australians don't eat as much veggies and fruits as they should which made me think about what I had put in my stomach recently. Sadly, I cannot list many veggies or fruits. So, I marched to my local groceries to get some veggies to whip out some healthy meal for the day. I decided on garlic shoots and mushrooms.

And here's the recipe:

2 table spoons of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

2 cups of mushrooms (quartered)

1 bunch of garlic shoots (cut in 2.5cm length)

2 cups of penne

2 tea spoon of salt

1 packet of ready made pumpkin soup

parmesan cheese (to taste and garnish)

1. Boil water on a separate pot and put in the salt. After the water starts boiling, dump in the penne and turn down the heat to medium and wait till it boils again.

2. Heat the olive oil on a frying pan and throw in the minced garlic stirring till brown.

3. Throw in garlic shoots and mushrooms, stir till they are a little browned, but not too much

4. Put in the pumpkin soup, stir and taste. Add in salt or pepper to taste if needed.

5. Check for penne and if its ready, strain the water out.

6. Put penne on a serving bowl and pour the sauce on top.

7. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

And there it was, pasta with THREE different veggies... Healthier than what I normally eat for sure.

Gumshara Ramen

Garlic Ramen with soft boiled egg topping, $10.50 plus $1.50

It's been a while since I had a good ramen and I certainly hadn't found one in Sydney yet. I miss Tanpopo ramen in Singapore and their black pig tonkatsu. Anyway, I decided to consult Grab Your Fork for ramen and decided on Gumshara ramen in Eating World Harbour Plaza. The food court was just opening, so I could peruse menu leisurely. I debated whether I should try the pork spare rib ramen which they claim only to serve 20 per day or their tonkotsu ramen. I decided to get the garlic tonkotsu ramen with soft boiled egg topping. After all, its not complete without the egg. I was a little chagrined that it was an add on topping rather than being inclusive. When they serve it to me, they told me that if the broth was too thick or salty, I should let them know so that they can fix it.

The shop, quite slow at 11.45 a.m.

The garlic and tonkotsu smell were really good. The ramen were cooked just nice, not too hard but not to soft. The sliced pork were superb and the menma was crunchy. The broth was quite thick but I didn't mind it, however I did ask them to put more soy sauce. Then again, for those who knows me know that I have a savory tongue, not sweet toothed. Other Sydney food bloggers have mentioned that the soup is collagen rich, I suppose that should make me feel less guilty and think of how great collagen is for me! (strong and elastic skin!)

I loved the big piece of seaweed on my ramen too. So far, this has been the best ramen I have tried in Sydney. Especially with a name like 'Gumshara' which was one of my favorite word in Japan. I can't remember exactly what it meant, I will consult with a friend and get back on this. I think next time I will try the pork rib ramen and their gyoza.

Oh, before I forgot you should check out this video on how the Japanese government has decided to monitor their citizens' waistlines. I just came across it. I was thinking wow, I wouldn't mind eating traditional Japanese food everyday to lose weight. Then it dawned on me, ramen isn't exactly what the Japanese government had in mind for this program!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1hqHo6lyUU&feature=player_embedded#!

Gumshara

Shop 209, Eating World Harbour Plaza

25-29 Dixon st. (Entrance from Goulbourn st or China town area)

Haymarket, Chinatown.

Open Tue-Sun 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Closed on Mondays.

Sick day comfort food

The weather in Sydney this last week has been downright disgusting; cloudy, rainy and windy. I still was caught off guard when I started shivering on Monday night with headache and tummy aches coming soon after. It lasted the whole night, till 5 a.m. and to top if off, my alarm didn't go off at 8 because my phone's battery died. Finally looked at 10.10 a.m. slightly panicky because I had class at 11 but I was totally drained. To save you from a long winded story, I skipped my lecture, went to class, my meeting got cancelled as my professor had an urgent personal matter and a friend was kind enough to drop me home. By that time, I knew I need to make some warm, bland but tasty and comforting food. One thing came to mind, a minced beef soup that I always have at home whenever I felt under the weather.

And here's the recipe:

150 g minced beef

4 cloves of garlic (pressed and minced)

a small bunch of coriander (chopped)

soy sauce

salt

pepper

1 tea spoon of sesame oil

1 table spoon of vegetable oil

3 cups of hot water

1. Place your pot and let it heat for 20 seconds before putting in vegetable oil. Let it heat for another 15 seconds then pop in the pressed and minced garlic stirring till they start to brown and release their fragrant.

2. Get the minced beef in and stir till brown.

3. Pour in water and add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add in sesame oil

5. Add half of the chopped coriander

And, you're done! Just get your rice in a bowl or vermicelli and ladle in your freshly made soup. Use the remainder of the chopped coriander as a garnish. Grab a cup of warm chamomile tea, sit in front of you tv while you eat. Rest and get better.

Back to Basic: Fried egg and sweet soy sauce

I woke up to another rainy morning in Sydney. I had planned on tagging along a friend to Primo Italiano, the Italian Festival in Surry Hills. Well, that plan got scraped so I had to think of what to eat. My fridge has been quite empty since two weeks ago when projects started to pile up and I had been Chat Thai's VIP take out customer (to my opinion anyway).

Thinking back on how much money I had spent these past two weeks in take outs and celebration of getting my NSW driver's license as well as the end of 2 projects, I decided that I need to save up. So, to the grocery I went. Then I had a flash of idea and a sudden craving of a childhood comfort food. Not surprising considering the weather and how exhausted I have been of late.

A peek to my sauce cabinet confirmed that I have some sweet soy sauce. So I took out the pan, butter, spam and egg. Rice cooker cooked Jasmine rice on the side. Ten minutes later, I was in front of my TV with my breakfast and grapefruit juice. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, more heavenly that the taste of warm rice drizzled with sweet soy sauce and freshly fried egg.

If you never try it, you are missing out big time. There's no recipe to this, just get a bottle of sweet soy sauce, fried some egg and eat it with warm rice.

*Note: some people are fanatical about which sweet soy sauce brand, I don't remember what my mom usually use, but I found that this one, ABC brand is quite nice. A little thick to my liking, but it was there.

Happiness is tortilla wrapped cheese and carnitas with guacamole on the side

I woke up today with a hungry stomach and one thing in mind, "burrito". It was a rainy Saturday morning in Sydney. Winter is definitely here. I just didn't want to get out of my warm and cozy bed, but I had to because I had a phone conference with my partner for a project at 10.30 am.I was so determined to have Mexican though, even if I had to go solo. Just after I hung up at 11.30, I remembered that there is one person who would 99% said yes, my new Colombian friend, J. Quickly dialing her number and worked on my most persuasive negotiation skill, ten minutes later I was in the shower getting ready.

We decided to go to MadMex in Darlinghurst as that is the closest Mexican food to our homes. I had to stare at the menu for a while because all of a sudden I wanted everything! Then at the end, I forgo Mexican rice and decided to have quesadilla with carnitas, pulled pork, with salsa, sour cream and picante. Then I decided to get some corn chips with guacamole. I wanted nachos, but it didn't seem that they had it, or I missed it on their menu.

Moments after I brought my chips and guacamole to my table by the window so that we could check out the scenery, my quesadilla came. It was warm and smelled so delicious. It made me miss NYC with its abundance of Mexican food, or even my small town, middle of nowhere university in Pennsylvania where Mexican food was a staple in the cafeteria. Here, Mexican food is what Indonesian food is like in NYC, not widespread.

Anyway, my quesadilla was warm, soft with just the right amount of pork. I was skeptical at first whether it would be enough. However with the chips that I ordered, my stomach was happy and full. It was bliss.

The only thing that I wasn't sure of was the guacamole. I thought it didn't have enough kick, but it was good. The other thing is that it was so expensive! Good Mexican food was never expensive in NYC... Oh well, Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore!

MadMex

241-247 Crown St.

Darlinghurst, NSW 2010

+61 2 9331 7788

Open Daily 11 am-11 pm