Sugar's Sweet Blog

Etch Restaurant

2012-02-14T15:43:00.001+11:00

Etch Restaurant

One day before New Year's Eve, six pretty and hungry bloggers met up at Etch for the farewell of Miss. J who was moving to Melbourne *weeps*.

We had the tasting menu/degustation which includes 6 courses, amuse bouche and pre dessert for $90 (I think it's $100 now after the new year).

Etch Decor

I really liked the vintage farm styled decor with a touch of elegance.

Of course, we didn't forget to order drinks as well.

Flower Fizz $18

Hibiscus flower, rose syrup with sparkling wine. The hibiscus flower looked like a pretty little fish swimming in the pink coloured wine. The flower was surprisingly juicy and sweet, like biting into a crunchy mangosteen.

Ginger Mojito $18

White rum, lime, mint and ginger.

2009 Pemberton Picardy Chardonnay $15

Amuse Bouche

Chilled tomato consommé with tomato jelly and coriander. I remember fishing out the little cubes of tomato jelly. The taste is very subtle but fun to eat. Most of the tomato-ey taste is in the consommé.

Endive Salad, Pea Shoots, Walnuts, Orange, Creamed Taleggio

A tasty, salad with taleggio cheese to balance out all the healthiness.

Yellow Fin Tuna Carpaccio with Gazpacho Vinaigrette

A refreshing and colourful entree to tantalise your taste buds in preparation for the heavier dishes to come.

Baked Snapper, Squid, Cauliflower Bhaji, Curry Emulsion

I was kinda scared of this dish at first because it reminded me of the curry sauce I had at The Devonshire (the only dish I didn't like there). The curry emulsion was light, unlike what I thought it would be and went well with the juicy baked snapper.

Caramelised Pig's Head, Crispy Prawn, Granny Smith with Cider Vinegarette

This is the part where I start to get a bit full and so I get more picky with my food. The caramelised pig's head was a bit too oily for my liking but was neutralised with the granny smith which I wish they provided more of.

Crispy Lamb Belly, Slow Roasted Rump, Peas, Artichoke and Mint

Not a big fan of lamb because most of the time it has a gamey taste. This one was not, fortunately.

Pea Risotto with Smoked Swiss Brown Butter

Miss. J doesn't eat lamb so this was her chosen replacement. I had a spoonful to taste and god, I wish I got it too. The risotto was very creamy and flavoursome with a rich aroma of smoked brown butter.

Pre Dessert

A pre dessert served on a slate slab containing a petite orange maracon, orange jube like jelly with orange syrup.

Caramel Date Tart, Burnt Butter Ice Cream, Earl Grey Tea Syrup

We were all eyeing the lolly tray as extra dessert after the degustation but everyone was near bursting so that was a fail plan :( Oh well, next time!

Etch Restaurant

Location: 62 Bridge Street, Sydney 2000

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 12pm - 3pm, 5pm - late, Saturday 5pm - late

Phone: 02 9247 4777

Website: http://www.etchdining.com/

Hemingway's Manly

2012-02-06T19:08:00.000+11:00

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may realise that most of my food outings are located in the CBD. One friend said that anything beyond the harbour is considered far for me...which is true :P

I forgot what got into me that day but I went to Hemingway's Manly for dinner. Usually, I hate the beach. I'm one of those typical fobby Asian girls that would like to keep themselves as pale and as far away from the sun as possible. Oh, I also hate how sand gets stuck to your skin and leave their presence in the car.

Now that I look at it, Manly's not that bad. At least during the sunset when there's no sun, with silhouettes of pine trees in the foreground and beautiful orange clouds floating above .

Manly Beach

Hemingway have their own unique way of presenting their menu. The menu is stapled inside books labelling as 'Food' and 'Liqour'.

Hemingway Menu

Their dinner menu is served upstairs between Wednesday to Saturday and bar food is avaliable downstairs everyday after 4pm.

Bloody Mary $12

No. This is not a drink. It's a drink inspired entree consisting of cool gazpacho on the bottom, bouncy jelly, bread, white anchovies with a hint of piquillo to tingle your taste buds.

Chips $6

Hand cut chips with tomato and date relish. One reason that I went to Hemingway is to try their chips degustation but the waitress told me they stopped doing it 2-3 months ago. You don't know how upset I was with the news and couldn't get over it all night.

Corn $6

Charred sweet corn with lime butter, manchego cheese and black salt.

Mac 'n' Cheese $16

Four different types of cheeses covering the pasta and sprinkled with truffle.

Inside shot

Three Little Pigs $24

The piggie's three different cuts: belly, morcilla and tail with cauliflower, apple, sprouts, cider.

Milo $10

Chocolate marquise, milo, milk, coco pops, vanilla, salted caramel. The salted caramel was still warm when served...*drools*

Hemingway's Manly

Location: 48 North Steyne, Manly NSW 2095

Opening Hours: 8am to midnight (10pm on Sundays), 7 days

Phone: 02 9976 3030

Website: http://www.hemingwaysmanly.com.au

Sydney Food Bloggers' Picnic 2012 and El Loco

2012-02-01T12:52:00.000+11:00

My Fairy Bread

Sydney Food Bloggers' Picnic 2012

Hello hello~its that time of the year again where all the food bloggers gather and create a massive eat fest in the heart of Centennial Park. (yah, I just had to put my food as a first photo LOL!)

Crazy Amounts of Food!

The picnic was hosted by Suze and Helen. It was a lot of fun and despite a forecast of 90% precipitation, it didn't rain till we've all packed uped and left.

Seafood Paella by Raff

Delicious Beef Baguettes by dear Vivian

Simon Food Favourites created wonderful drinks and cocktails on a popup stand :D

Desssertsssssssssssssss!!

Bacon Wrapped 'Bits' by Lateral Eating

Surplus amounts of cakes

I didn't take a lot of pictures this year cause I was too busy eating! Things I loved the most are Rhonda's cream puffs, Gook's canapes, The Way it Crumble's flame scorched marshmallows and the delicious donut puffs in a shoe box by a mysterious creator.

Now, I forgot to take photos of humans but I yoinked pics off other people with me in it mwahahahahaha! (with permission of course).

Me and Christine (photo by Christine)

Ayana, Me, Vivian and Karen (photo by Shanshan)

Group Photo by Simon The Heart of Food

Spot me? :)

After a relaxing afternoon in the sun, we headed off to El Loco for...more food. x_X

El Loco

It was when we got on the bus that it started to pour. Really damn hard. I was drenched and drippy by the time we reached there but my whiney self was quickly diminished when the bartender passed me a drink.

Pink Cuco $13.50

El Locos house slushy of El Jimador Tequila, pink grapefruit and lime juices, homemade coriander and raw ginger syrup.

Loco Rojo Magerita $13.50

Freshly pressed beetroot and lime juices shaken with Herradura Reposado, pomegranate and grapefruit bitters, lime zest sea salt rim.

One of each taco $5 ea

Carne Asada – lemongrass beef, salsa verde

Al Pastor – spit roasted pork, pineapple salsa

Camaron – prawn, salsa verde, pico de gallo

Queso de Soya – chilli marinated tofu, pico de gallo

Pollo – chicken, sweet corn salsa

Secret taco

Corn Chips with guacamole and salsa $5

Fattest.Churros.Ever. $12

El Loco

Location: 64 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: 02 9211 4945

Opening Hours:

Monday & Tuesday 12pm until late
Wednesday 12pm-1am
Thursday - Saturday 12pm – 3am
Sunday 12pm -10pm

Website: http://www.elloco.com.au

New Year's Eve at Sokyo

2012-01-09T18:13:00.002+11:00

★Happy New Year everyone!★

I hope it started with a ❈BANG❈

Terribly sorry about my lack of posts....been MIA for 3 weeks! *slaps self* I've been partying here and there during the holidays and sleeping my life away when there's nothing on.

Went to Sokyo for my New Year's Eve dinner with a free flow of Moet throughout. Watched the fireworks, then crashed at my hotel room with the Big Bang Theory running in the background.

New Year's Eve 2011/2012

So the guests at Sokyo were give a little thing to take home. The fellas had a blinged up hat...

Whoot hat!

...and the ladies had a fancy mask.

Mask :D

This was taken with the same phone, at the same time but oh the colour difference! Amazing what lighting can do aye?

Free flow of Moet and Chandon

Your lipstick stains, on the front lobe of my left side brain

I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I left you go and blow my mind

Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every dream I dream

I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind...

~Hey Soul Sister by Train

...I hope you would see this and still remember what it means.

Chef Chase Kojima

I was super lucky that Chef Chase Kojima's station was directly in front of me.

So after much anticipation, the dishes came out. To my sad revelation, the dishes were shared amongst two and quite a small serving. What was more disappointing was that we had six people on our table and we only received two plates which is one between three!

They only started to give us one between two after we complained on the third course but we didn't get extra replacement dishes for the previous two :(

Tai Yuzu Honey

Tai sashimi, onion slithers, capers, yuzu honey with crunchy miso. Fresh and thinly sliced tai (sea bream) served in a puddle yuzu honey which resembles much like a ceviche.

Tai is crowned the King of fish in Japan and translates to 'auspicious' and 'celebratory' thus this fish is very commonly served during celebrations like New Year or birthdays.

Ocean Trout Wasabi Salsa

Ocean trout sashimi, chilli threads, yuzu and pickled wasabi salsa.

John Dory Truffle Cloak

Three slices of steamed tender John Dory with scorched cabbage and tuffle yuzu soy topped with threads of saffron to garnish.

Lamb Chop Maple Miso

Grilled lamb chops with maple miso and burnt baby eggplant. I'm not a huge fan of lamb so not much comment on this but I do like how they wrapped the chop with lamb skin for easy holding.

Chef's Assorted Mixed Sushi

Baby sushi rolls with tuna, sushi of kingfish, baby sushi rolls of chicken with avocado and sushi of salmon.

Yamazaki Caramel Macchiato

Coffee ice cream, coco nibs and whisky foam. Nothing beats a little bit of alcohol in your dessert/coffee.

Green Tea

You gotta end a Japanese meal with a cup of freshly brewed green tea.

Fireworks time!!

How was your New Year folks?

Sokyo

Location: Level G, The Darling, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Opening Hours: Lunch Thurs-Sat 12pm-2:30pm, Dinner Mon-Thurs 6-10:15pm; Fri & Sat 6-11:15pm

Phone: 1800 700 700

Website: http://www.star.com.au/dine/signature-dining/sokyo.html

Christmas at Shangri-La

2011-12-19T14:56:00.001+11:00

Love Martinis?

Love Chocolates?

Love Cake?

If you said yes to the above, this is for you. From 14 December till 25 December 2011, you can enjoy a Gluhwein Martini with a dessert platter in the Lobby Lounge at Shangri-La for $25pp.

In the set, you will get a Gluhwein Martini with 4 specially prepared cakes served on a frosted perspex slab.

Gluhwein Martini Set

Gluhwein Martini

A deliciously sweet martini with Absolut vanilla Vodka, cranberry juice, reduced Gluhwein and orange zest granish. I don't usually like martinis because I think they are very bitter but this one is sweet and fruity with a faint vanilla aroma. It got my tick of approval.

Gateau Opera

The cakes served was similar to the ones from this year's Sugar Hit. This Gateau Opera has already made an appearance in October containing layers of Kahlua soaked sponge with hazelnut chocolate crunch and coffee butter cream.

Chocolate Bavarois

This cake was also in the Sugar Hit but I am very glad to see it again as it was my favourite. The cake consists of a ring of jaconde sponge with a smooth mousse like filling with a mini pipette filled with raspberry coulis inserted to the dessert which meant to be squeezed into the centre. I squeezed in the rapsberry coulis and it exploded on me with the forces of air blowing the cocoa powder everywhere :(

Rice Pudding and Vanilla Slice, Whisky Candy Bar (Behind)

The vanilla slice cake was a variant of the pistachio slice served for the Sugar Hit. Vanilla sponge with a white chocolate and rice pudding bavarois, pistachio glaze and a decorated piece of white chocolate to finish.

The whisky candy bar is a nicely textured cake with a crispy feuilletine base, topped with whisky infused chocolate. The feuilletine base was so crispy that for a moment I thought I was eating pop rocks!

Merry Christmas Folks!

They even have Merry Christmas written in chocolate! :D

Walked past Town Hall on the way back and wheeeee! Light show!

Sugarpuffi attended the Christmas at Shangri-la 2011 courtesy of Crystal Ling.

Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La

Location: 176 Cumberland Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 7am - Late , Sun 8:30am - Late

Phone: 02 9250 6144

Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/sydney/shangrila/dining/restaurant/lobbylounge

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

2011-12-05T17:00:00.001+11:00

PIGGIE BUTT!!

Teehee! :D

Pig on Spit at Xanthi

Btw, I'm soooooooooooooooooo sorry for the late post! Let me redeem myself by showing you my feeble attempts to photograph things other than food...FAIL! Pictures are taken in my community garden :)

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

Anyway, back to food. Had lunchie with my favourite girls at Xanthi on one rainy/cold/windy day but our love of food let us braved the harsh conditions.

Xanthi Menu

Xanthi is a new restaurant now open in Westfield Sydney that serves authentic Greek food with lots and lots of ouzo :D The interior decor is filled with Greek elements and I'm in love with this lamp!

Greek Lamp

We started off with some complimentary sourdough with olive oil.

Complimentary Bread with Olive Oil

Greek Lemonade (Gozoza) $4

Ouzomezedakia - Small Sharing Plates

Tarama Dip $7

Tarama is a salted and cured cod roe which gives it that prettily pink colour. The dip is accompanied with three crisp bread with butter, sprinkled with black and white sesame.

Greek Salad $12

Cucumber, tomato, black olives, fetta, capsicum, Spanish onion, dried oregano with Elea Creta extra virgin olive oil.

Honey Peppered Figs $7

Dried figs prepared in a pepper, honey, balsamic vinegar and spice syrup.

Fried School Prawns $9

School prawns tossed in a honey, fish sauce, sesame seed and flaked almond dressing. This is some great tasting prawns! The prawns are fried till super crisp and the shells are coated evenly with sweet sweet honey. It's like eating crunchy toffee but prawns! Tis crowned my favourite dish of the day.

Zucchini Fritters $8

A mixture of shredded zucchini and haloumi with dill, mint and parsley.

Apo Tin Plastira - From the Wooden Board

Pork Belly Baklava $18

Shredded pork belly with a date and pistachio filling and crackling served with a date and mastic sauce. This is a little different from other savory baklavas I've tried as the bottom of the roll contains date and pistachio filling making it sweet, complimenting the pork really well and adds an extra juicy touch to the overall texture. Another of my favourite dish from Xanthi!

Apo Tin Souvla - From the Spit

250g of Pig $40

Meat from the piggie we've seen from the first picture...I'm sorry to eat you little buddy, but you're delicious!

Yia Tous Latreis Ton Glykon - For the Lover of Sweets

No meal is complete without dessert! You should see the horrid face Miss. J made when I suggested 3 desserts instead of her proposed 1. I won. Naturally.

Byzantine 'Ekmek' $12.50

The peasants of Byzantine Constantinople roasted sliced sweet sour dough brioche, served it with kaymaki (clotted cream) and a spiced honey syrup. A super fat slab of yummy brioche with cream. Bliss.

Caramel Baklava Ice Cream $13.50

Sliced layers of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce and baklava. Oh this baby is awesome! It's like an ice cream cake, Greek style! filled with a layer of pistachio crumbs and drizzled with caramel sauce...*drool*

Garden of Aphrodite $15

Such a pretty dessert consisting of sheep milk pudding served with raspberry and beetroot gel. Fresh mandarin segments, crystallised rose petals and ouzo meringues with a dusting of pistachio and dark chocolate powder.

Baroque Bistro

There was also a cheese market that day at The Rocks so I braved the rain, again, to have a look at my beloved cheese but it closed early due to the rain! Argh! To soothe my broken heart, I rewarded myself with 5 macarons from Baroque Bistro<3

Macarons from Baroque Bistro $2.50 ea

They are like, so awesome.

My favourites are the salted caramel and rosewater :D

Xanthi Bar and Restaurant

Location: Level 6, Westfield Sydney, Corner Pitt Street Mall & Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Friday - Saturday 8am – midnight, Sunday - Thursday 8am – 11pm

Phone: 02 9232 8535

Website: http://www.xanthi.com.au/

Baroque Bistro

Location: 88 George Street (corner of Hickson Road) The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday Midday - Late, Sunday Midday - 4:30pm

Phone: 02 9241 4811

Website: http://www.baroquebistro.com.au

The Trip DVD Giveaway

2011-11-22T16:36:00.001+11:00

Hai all! Yes, it's time for another giveaway! Yay!

Madman is releasing the hilarious new Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon film, 'The Trip' on DVD and Blu-Ray on 2 November 2011. In celebration of this awesome release, Madman Entertainment has kindly supplied ~~Three~~ (Thank you for the extra copies Madman!) FIVE copies for my lovely readers ^-^

Two friends, one week, six restaurants and the journey of a lifetime.

After Steve (Steve Coogan) is commissioned by The Observer to review half a dozen restaurants, he decides to plan a trip around the North of England with his food-loving American girlfriend. But when she decides to leave him and return to the US, Steve is faced with a week of meals for one. Reluctantly, he calls Rob (Rob Brydon), the only person left he can think of who will be available on short notice.

Over the course of six meals at six different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, the brilliant comic duo freestyle with flair, driving each other mad with constant competition, all the while riffing hilarious impressions of iconic actors including Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Al Pacino.

Oh bromance! :p

Directed by the award-winning Michael Winterbottom, 'The Trip' stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in a laugh-out-loud British comedy about the importance of friendship, fame and great food.

I watched the trailer and omg it looks hilarious and filled with lots of yummy food!

Official Trailer

Want a copy? Well here is your chance!

1. Simply write a comment below and tell me, if you can go to anywhere in the world, where would you choose as your one stop fine dining destination.

2. *****PLEASE EMAIL me a copy of your comment to sugarpuffi@sugarpuffi.com . Blogger does not let me see your emails so I cannot get back to you if you don't do this. *****

3. Like Sugar's Sweet Blog on Facebook and/or follow @sugarpuffi on Twitter.

4. Entries closes at 11:59pm, 30 November 2011.

Thank you Madman Entertainment:

Last giveaway winners:

Janny
Jackie
Lily
Vivienne
Ben

Congratulations all!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-11-14T13:46:00.001+11:00

So ~~recently.~~..ok not recently (so sorry about the late post!!), I've received a massive package from Cadbury Kitchen filled with their new 'Real Chocolate' baking range goodies. The whole range is now available to purchase.

Cadbury's New 'Real Chocolate' Baking Range

In the package, I've received:

- 1 Block of Cadbury Dark Baking Chocolate

- 1 Block of Cadbury Milk Baking Chocolate

- 1 Packet of Cadbury Dark Baking Chips

- 1 Packet of Cadbury Milk Baking Chips

- 2 Bourneville Cocoa Powder in different sizes

The range have this 'Cocoa Meter' on the packaging with each cocoa bean indicating 20% cocoa solids. So the more beans, the bitter the taste. Super smart idea in my opinion because you will have a clue on what you are getting.

Soooo.....what can I do with so many baking chocolate? Make chocolate cupcakes of course! You've already had a sneak peak in my previous blogversary post and doesn't it look so pretty? :)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from cooks.com

Makes 12 large cupcakes or 24 small cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcake

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling

250g cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from allrecipes.com

250g cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

What you need:

You may notice my sugar jar was still full and was empty on the panna cotta post :p

My pretty heart shaped silicon moulds

Chocolate Cupcake

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda.

2. Stir in oil, milk, vinegar and vanilla and mix until blended.

3. Pour batter into prepared cupcake moulds, filling until 2/3 full.

Fill moulds to 2/3 full

Cream Cheese Filling

1. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.

Cream cheese mixture

2. Beat in egg, sugar and salt with the cream cheese.

This is like...insanely delicious!

3. Add in chocolate chips and mix gently.

4. Drop a heaping teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture into each cupcake.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Tada!

*P.S: if you want it more chocolatey, then half the cream cheese filling.

*PPS: if you love cream cheese, continue on with the vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in butter until creamy.

3. Mix in vanilla, then gradually stir in the sugar.

Add strawberries and icing sugar to decorate if you wish.

Verdict: I used the Cadbury Bourneville Cocoa Powder and Dark Baking Chips to make the cupcakes. The chocolate flavour was nice and the choc chips really retained it's shape while baking as claimed. Would I go out and buy more? I would.

Sugarpuffi's Birthday Dinner at Momofuku Seiobo

2011-11-09T15:52:00.000+11:00

Ahh...it's that time of the year again when I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I get to be showered with prezzies and good food. Sad because I am yet, another year older *weeps*.

I have been dying to try the renowned Momofuku Seiobo which is the first and only restaurant by David Chang outside of NY but it came with an exxy price tag of $175pp. Ouch! Hey, it's my birthday! We can let it slide this time, ok? Ok. :D

The tasting menu consists of a whopping 15 courses. I starved myself for the entire day to fit everything in and even then, I was on the verge of throwing up.

Sous Chef Chase Lovecky

Sake: Kameman Shuzo, ‘Genmaishu,’ Junmai Genmai-zake (Kumamoto) $125/bottle

No celebration is complete without alcohol! At least not mine! We had a bottle of sweet sake made from brown rice which is very rare as they usually make it from white rice.

Snacks - Dehyrated Shiitake Chip, Deep Fried Nori, Mochi Ball

The first course is a share platter amongst two. The shiitake chip had a very nice fungi aroma and was paper thin and crisp. The mochi ball was gummy and tasted similar to Korean rice cakes.

Steamed Pork Bun - Pork Belly, Cucumber, Hoisin

The infamous pork bun that everyone is talking about. The pork bun came with a little bottle of Sriracha sauce if you like it a bit more spicy. The bun was super soft and fluffy. Twitterverse said it tasted like a 'baby' ROFL! Sounds a bit gory but I think that analogy works.

Kingfish - Warrigal Greens, Furikake

A clean and tasty dish with fresh kingfish, warrigal greens stem and coulis then sprinkled with furikake.

White Asparagus - Marron, Szechuan Pepper

One of my favourite dish of the night. The marron was so tender that it almost melted in my mouth. The lightly pan fried marron went perfectly well with the earthy flavours of the caramelised spring onions and white asparagus.

Beef - Radish, Fermented Black Bean

My initial thought was "Oh! A radish salad" but how wrong could I be. Hidden underneath the radish flower arrangement were cubes of charred wagyu beef in a puddle of burnt watermelon oil and fermented black bean. As strange as the dish sounds, it was delicious.

Hidden Goodies!

Eel Dashi - Hailstone Radish, Chive Blossom

Eel Dashi - Eel with Apple Gel and Apple Powder

This came with the eel dashi and looked like a little cannoli. The eel acted like the pasty shell and held the apple gel inside. The dish was a combination of salty and sweet and it tasted a bit weird on its own. When mixed with the eel dashi, it had a nice balance of salty, smokey eel flavour with a hint of apple coming through.

Spanner and Swimmer Crab - Butter, Pepper, Biscuit

I really liked the juicy, fresh spanner crab but the sauce was a little too salty for my liking. Unfortunately, my brother found a long piece of crab shell in his dish and the person responsible got told off which I felt a bit bad for. The crab Yorkshire pudding on the other hand, was perfect and soft.

Egg - Toasted Rice, Brown Butter

The egg pudding reminded me of the steamed egg custard my mum used to make when I was little. This was slightly different however, as it was coupled with melted brown butter instead of soy sauce. The toasted rice brought out different textures to make the dish more interesting.

Hand Torn Pasta - Goat Cheese, Chilli, Mint

Another dish that brings back memories! This time, the hand torn pasta made me think of wonton skins :P The little dish had many elements; hand torn pasta on the bottom, melted goat cheese, pickled tomatoes, fresh chopped chilli and topped with deep fried basil. A very Italian inspired dish and tasted divine!

Pink Snapper - Broccoli, Horseradish, Potato

I have to say this is the best snapper I've ever had! I normally don't like 'Western style' cooked fish because I found it dry and flavourless but this is totally the opposite. The snapper literally fell apart with a jab of the fork and packed with flavour. It is sided with grilled broccoli, broccoli puree and topped with potato crumble.

Lamb Neck - Daikon, Pickled Turnips

After just learning about the lamb neck during a Lamb Masterclass at the Eat Drink Blog Food Blogger Conference 2011, I appreciated this dish a little more.

The lamb neck came out prettily pink and tender. On the side, it had a daikon puree and pickled turnips. If you have been reading my blog long enough, you should know I love pickled stuff and this turnip is pickled alright! It was sweet and sour; just the way I like it.

Pecorino - Honey Licorice, Bee Pollen

Shaved Percorino cheese with hidden honey licorice on the bottom and topped with bee pollen! The elements in the dessert are meant to be mixed together. I had issues with the licorice department but the honey flavours helped a lot. I really enjoyed the bee pollen and it wasn't 'waxy' as I initially thought it would be.

Wattle Seed - Malt, Crispy Skin

The most amazing dish of the night! It had the wattle seed in two forms: one is a wattle seed meringue which was soft and chewy and the other was dehydrated making it hard and crunchy. The malt icecream was next and finally topped with...get this, crispy milk skin! I have no idea how they made it but omg it was just awesome.

Miso - Pickled Strawberry, Toasted Rice, Mochi

White miso icecream with toasted rice, mochi cubes and pickled fruit. The idea of miso icecream was interesting but sadly didn't wow us at the table. Both the miso icecream and toasted rice was salty and the fruits was not sweet enough to balance out the flavour.

Petite Four

A slow roasted candied pork shoulder was presented to our table. Petite four. Er...WTF? THIS is a petite four? It sure looks like a main to me but you can never expect the ordinary from David Chang.

Four rolls of hot towels came along with this 'petite four' indicating it was meant to be eaten with our hands. The hot and steaming pork was crazily succulent, tender and sweet as all the flavours has been infused into the meat. The skin was perfectly caramelised with the fat layer underneath had oil trickling off my hand. It was definitely the most interesting, most filling, most artery clogging and biggest petite four I've had!

Momofuku Seiobo

Location: Ground Floor, The Star, 80 pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat Dinner Only

Reservations: https://reservations.momofuku.com/login.aspx?unit=7

Website: http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/seiobo/

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

2011-11-04T18:52:00.000+11:00

Ello~long time no blog...again. Been extremely busy lately and didn't have time to whip up a blog post. Doing a super quick post about an equally quick vanilla panna cotta recipe. Yes, I do ~~cook~~...make desserts :)

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Macerated Strawberries and Strawberry Coulis

I also took some photos of the flowers in our community garden. I love flowers, I love natural sunlight yet I'm hardly ever awake during daylight hours on a weekend so this is a very rare occasion! The photos fail, I know. I'm just glad I have more skill in food photography than scenery/landscape.

Alright, alright. Here is the recipe.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes 6 small ramekins

Ingredients:

Vanilla Panna Cotta

300mL thickened cream
30g sugar
3/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons of gelatine powder

30mL cold water

Macerated Strawberries and Coulis

1 punnet of strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

The ghetto sugar jar strikes again!

Vanilla Panna Cotta

Heated cream and sugar

1. Heat the thickened cream and sugar in a saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

P.S DON'T USE A WHISK! My bro insisted so I lost the battle :( It will create air bubbles and it will show!!

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small bowl and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Lightly oil the ramekins

3. Lightly oil 6 small ramekins. If you have a pretty cup, you can just use that and eat straight out of the cup and there is no need for greasing.

4. Pour gelatine into the cream and sugar mixture then stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

5. Divide the panna cotta mixture into the prepared cups then chill until firm. Mine took 4 to 6 hours so if you are pressed for time, you can make this the day before.

6. To unmould, run a sharp knife around the edge of each panna cotta and place each onto a serving plate. Garnish as desired.

Macerated Strawberries and Strawberry Coulis

1. Wash and place strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl and let it chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

2. Heat strawberries and sugar in a medium sized pot on low heat until syrupy. Crush some strawberries to speed up this process but keep some whole strawberries as garnish.

3. Chill macerated strawberries and strawberry coulis in fridge then serve with the panna cotta.

Is it jiggly?

Hell yes it is!!

Jiggly Panna Cotta