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This has been the dish of the month for me. I've made these mushrooms at least five times since the start of August, and I've enjoyed it as a side dish, a light lunch and even added it to my instant noodles for a touch of "gourmet". I made a big batch of it which has lasted up till now (there's still some left in the fridge) and have been spooning it liberally on almost anything I can think of. Last night, I made some sushi for the kids and had leftover rice, which I mixed through with some XO sauce. Tasty! I also used the XO sauce in cooking Mapo tofu (instead of using hot bean paste) along with some diced chinese mushrooms. It's a wonderful condiment which I've also used to spruce up some boring fried rice from the Chinese takeaway. I never knew how to make XO sauce until I found it in Gary Mehigan's new book "Favourites", and it was the first recipe I bookmarked to try (among many others). I thought it was the perfect recipe to try, a...

  I honestly think that Australia might have the highest consumption of laksa per capita compared to other countries. There's probably more laksa varieties in Sydney than there is in Singapore, and IMHO, they taste better too. But let's not go there. What fascinates me is that many Australians have come to embrace Asian food as part of their regular dining and grocery options. Take panko crumbs for example. The word panko doesn't sound the least like it's something edible, though it is an ingredient that is commonly available and used here. Why go for regular breadcrumbs when you can have super light and crunchy panko? Don't these crunchy crumbed deep-fried prawns look lovely? That's the beauty of panko crumbs. Looks good, tastes great and sounds earth-shattering (okay, maybe that's a little too much). They are quite simple and easy to prepare, though I won't lie - I took a while to peel, devein and prep the prawns. But it's all worth it in the end, ...

There are some things in life that just can't wait, like these beautifully  charred pork dumplings (or gyozas) topped with okonomiyaki sauce , mayonnaise, spring onions and bonito flakes. I was getting my regular TV fix of Destination Flavour Japan last week, and as I watched Adam Liaw flip over a pan of crisp charred dumplings onto a plate, I couldn't help but imagine how tasty those gyozas would be if I could just have a bite. Gyozas are similar to Chinese potstickers (guotie), though their Chinese counterparts usually have thicker skins and are slightly bigger. Both are usually served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce, sometimes with chilli oil and shredded ginger too. By the way, check out these dancing bonito flakes below! I've never made gyoza wrappers from scratch before, though they are really good because you can roll them out thinly and they get nice and crisp after frying. If you can't spare the time to make them, store-bought...

  My father-in-law used to tell us (over and over) that his record for eating oysters was forty in one sitting. Look out Adam Richman ! You may have a contender here. I guess if it's a buffet and oysters are the most expensive item on the table, then of course you'd want to get your money's worth. I just remembered that my father used to think along the same lines. When I was a kid, we used to make short family trips to Singapore. He said that whenever we have one of those pricey buffet lunches at the hotels, he usually tries to eat more oysters because they were the most expensive item. The thing is, he didn't even like eating raw oysters, though I think he's grown to enjoy them a bit more over time. As for me, I love oysters, whether they are crumbed and deep-fried, in an omelette, or just served natural. When we had guests over for our Wining and Thai-ning lunch party, I made a quick and simple Thai style dressing to go with the oysters. It turned out wonder...

  A few weeks ago, we had a team lunch at Tony Roma's, and naturally at some point, we talked about food, allergies, cooking etc. My boss then posed a question on what was the best meal we've ever had. I couldn't think of a particular "best meal" because eating is not just about the food, but the experience and atmosphere as well. So, my response was more around my most memorable meal, many years ago when I first had deep-fried herb-crusted lamb's brains at Ginger Nuts (what a funky name!) at Port Fairy, a charming fishing village at the end of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. I will never forget that experience, and boy, did they taste good! I later recalled another favourite food memory at La Boheme , a restaurant in Balmain that serves European cuisine and where I fell in love with the roast pork and dumplings. I have to admit that the dish wasn't much to look at and I was a little sceptical at first. There were some thin slices of pork ...

  So, I googled " game meat " and according to Wikipedia, " Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport".  I never knew that duck was considered game until someone told me that it is not commonly served or eaten in the United States for that very reason. Well, it makes sense now that I recall seeing duck hunting on TV (specifically the old Looney Tunes cartoons featuring Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck - rings a bell?). Maybe because I've grown up eating a lot of Chinese roast duck (and Peking duck during special occasions), and so I can't say that it tastes gamey at all. Or maybe duck just tastes best when it's roasted until the fat has rendered and the skin's gone all thin and crispy. The only thing I don't like about duck is that it's really boney and fatty. If you buy half a roast duck, you'd end up with half of it being bones and fat. The meat and skin however is very tasty. ...

There's been all this hype over kale chips, and how they taste like potato chips, except that they are loaded with vitamins and minerals. I finally bought some kale from the supermarket last Sunday and was pretty excited to make these. It's really easy. Roughly tear up the kale into pieces, and then wash and dry them thoroughly. Lay them out on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch salt. Be careful not to put too much oil or salt, because the kale will shrink to a quarter of its size and you don't want to end up with oily salty kale chips (now how did I know that?). Bake them in the oven at 180C (350F) for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through. They will be turn translucent and crispy, and they really taste almost like potato chips! And totally guilt-free! PS: These make a good substitute for crispy seaweed, the Japanese or Korean type that comes in individual packs and taste so umami with flakes of MSG all ove...

  A few weeks ago, I posted a recipe for Mutter Paneer  on my blog, and if you saw the last photo in the post, you would have noticed a plate of unidentified crumbed stuff next to the mutter paneer. Well, I can now reveal that the foreign object that was the subject of curiosity was really crumbed oyster mushrooms! Deep-fried curry-crumbed oyster mushrooms, to be exact. And the things you learn about oyster mushrooms when you're trying to find some inspiration to write about them. Did you know that oyster mushrooms  may be considered a medicinal mushroom since it contains statins which work to reduce bad cholesterol? Wow, that puts eating deep-fried oyster mushrooms into perspective. More for me please! The latin name for oyster mushroom is Pleurotus ostreatus ,  which literally   means "sideways oyster", and refers to the oyster-like shape of the mushroom, plus the fact that the stem grows sideways relative to the cap.   These crumbed...

I made these deep-fried curry puffs over the weekend when we had friends over for lunch (I figured just serving chicken rice might not be enough). As usual, I posted photos of these on facebook and a friend commented that it was his favourite. Actually, he thought that these were " gujia ", which I later found out through Dr Google that it was a type of sweet Indian (Rajasthani, to be specific) deep-fried pastry filled with nuts, dried fruit or coconut. Mmm...this sounds like something right up my alley (and something for me to experiment with next!).  In fact, if you think about it (or do a bit of research), there are many versions of these pastries around the world, like empanadas for example. The name " empanada " comes from the Spanish verb empanar , meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas, which are prevalent in Latin America, are pastry turnovers filled with a variety of savoury (or sometimes sweet) ingredients. The variant of these stuffed pastri...

Ever since Jamie's Italian opened a branch in Sydney, I've only been there once, with three other friends. I had the Buffalo Ricotta ravioli with lemon and mint, which in all honesty, I thought was a rather confusing dish because as I was eating it, I kept tasting Lemon Curd Tart, and wished it was served as a dessert instead. If it was intended to be a main-and-dessert all in one, it certainly achieved its purpose. I suppose we had higher expectations for the food, as we found that the other mains were either underseasoned or lacking in flavour (we must have caught the chef on a bad day). That explains why I never went back again. Well, not until Ms L told me that the crispy polenta chips at Jamie's Italian were very, very good. I did want to go back just to try them, but the rest of the girls weren't really keen on going back just to have a small bowl of overpriced chips.   So, I did a bit of research and stumbled upon quite a few recipes for...

The inspiration for this dish came from the fabulous dinner I enjoyed at Sailors Thai a few nights ago. There were ten of us and we must have ordered about half of the entire menu. Everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing over the myriad of dishes that were a fusion of contemporary cuisine with traditional Thai-style flavours , served in a fine dining setting. I loved every single dish we ordered, with the exception of the dessert platter which was quite a let-down considering that there are so many other Thai desserts I can think of that should have made the menu. Anyway, that was soon forgotten by everyone after a few glasses (and bottles) of dessert wine (we had the Botrytis Semillon which was wonderfully sweet and intense with a pleasant finish). One of the entrees we enjoyed was the grilled tajima wagyu beef with charred tomato, chilli and fresh prawn sauce . Now, I'm not sure what "prawn" refers to but I'm guessing that perhaps it's referring to shrimp past...

  I first tried malai kofta at this Indian restaurant called Curry at the Rocks in Sydney, and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was, given that I'm not a big fan of vegetarian-type dishes. My colleague who introduced this dish to me explained that malai koftas are deep-fried potato balls served in a creamy sauce prepared from boiled milk, spices and fresh cream. The first thought that came to me was "I have to make this at home!", and so I looked up some recipes on the internet to get an idea of the basic ingredients that went into this dish. The koftas are usually made with mashed potato and paneer (an Indian cottage cheese) which are formed into balls and deep-fried until they form a crisp layer. The sauce predominantly comprises tomatoes and cream, but I decided to substitute part of the tomatoes with roasted red peppers instead. I was quite happy with how the dish turned out, which I think it was pretty successful for a first attempt. I a...

Peas have usually been an afterthought for me. I always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer that I use when I need to add a splash of  colour to my food ( e.g. fried rice and pasta dishes), or when I have no other fresh vegetables on hand and peas are the closest substitute. I've never really considered cooking a dish of peas before, because, really, don't you just toss them with butter, salt and pepper and serve them as a side? Or mash them up and make mushy peas? Well, I came across some recipes for "Petits pois à la Française", which I thought sounded very..... French and exotic! It means French-style baby peas , usually cooked with butter, onions, stock, lettuce and sometimes bacon. It sounds like a simple dish, but it tastes absolutely amazing ! I didn't have any lettuce, and so I substituted it with brussel sprouts instead (love love love!) which turned out so perfect especially with the butter and bacon combination.  Look...

I stumbled upon this recipe for pea and basil soup while I was searching for ways to use up the half tub of bocconcini and half bunch of fresh basil that I had in the fridge from two nights ago. I never thought that peas and basil would go together, and was curious as to how it would taste. Well, it's no fancy soup, but it tastes fantastic especially where you get the sweetness from the peas combined with the fresh and bright flavours of the basil. And it doesn't stop there. Top it with some creamy baby bocconcini and bits of roasted red bell peppers and that makes a complete meal that's great for all seasons. I can unshamedly admit that I polished off two bowls of soup for lunch today, and even my four-year-old enjoyed it (albeit in small amounts). This is a really easy recipe, and like most soups, the base is simply garlic, onions and chicken stock, and to that, you just add peas and chopped basil, blitz it and stir through some cream. The bocconci...

I first saw the recipe for these famous Japanese deep-fried chicken wings on Just One Cookbook , and was immediately drawn to the pictures of crispy  wings coated in sweet and sticky soy sauce. I don't make deep-fried wings very often, but with this one, I had to make! Indeed, these twice-fried wings were crispy and finger-licking good. We polished off the entire 2 pound batch of wings within minutes, and we were left craving for more. They are fantastic when eaten with white rice as it counteracts some of the sweetness from the glaze on the wings. Out of curiosity, I decided to do some research on the internet on Nagoya style chicken wings, and noted that they were commonly referred to as Tebasaki wings, which are seasoned fried chicken wings. I decided that since I was going to do some deep-frying, I might as well try out another recipe which I saw on Cooking with Dog . This version of the recipe is more savoury and spicy (from the garlic ...

Brussel sprouts are DELICIOUS ! I just thought I should mention that first before you skip this post. I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten them, and it's just one of those vegetables that I just don't think about, and is easy to miss at the vegetable section of the supermarket because they don't sell a lot of them. They are also seasonal and are usually available around autumn to early winter in Australia. We were hunting high and low for brussel sprouts last December as we wanted to serve them for Christmas lunch, but they weren't in season then.  And so, when I came across them a few weeks ago at the supermarket, I was thrilled and grabbed a pack immediately.   I have never cooked brussel sprouts before this, but I've heard from G that they are great deep-fried and served with bacon. Well, I happened to have some maple syrup in the fridge and I thought, why not serve it with maple syrup instead? Anyway, maple syrup and bacon go together, so...