Emperor's Cream Puffs (Chinatown, Sydney)

A walk towards one end of Dixon Street in Chinatown will usually result to the wonderful aroma of sweet custard drifting in the air.  Have a look at the side of the street and you'll probably see people queue up at a small window.  The sign "Emperor's Cream Puff" looks discreet that the only indication that it exist would be the many people waiting to get a hold of these cute and delicious custard-filled puffs.

For 30cents each or AUD$1.00 for four pieces, it is a good deal.

Production of the cream puffs are non-stop.  As long as there are people lining up and ordering, their machine continuously creates one after another.  The cream puffs are given to the customers fresh and hot.

The bite-sized, fluffy cream puffs are filled with smooth egg custard.  I find this quite addicting because it's soft and so easy to eat.

 

If you're in Chinatown, this is one of the food shops worth lining up for.


Emperor's Cream Puff
beside Emperor's Garden Restaurant
96-10 Hay Street
Haymarket, Sydney 2000

Recipe: Beef Bulgogi

While it is easy to find Bulgogi marinades in supermarkets these days, I learned how to make my own Bulgogi marinade last year.  The bottled marinades may be flavourful but in reality, homemade Bulgogi doesn't need to have a strong BBQ-y taste.  Instead, it should have a harmony of balanced flavours that doesn't overwhelm.

For the recipe below, you will need half a kilo of Beef.  Tenderloin, Sirloin or Rib-Eye would be good options.

What You Need for the Marinade Sauce:
4 tbsp of soy sauce
4 tbsp of water 
3 tbsp of sugar 
2 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced


What You Need to Finish Off the Dish:
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 stalks of green onion/shallots, chopped (alternative: white onions)
Salt and Pepper, to add flavour


Optional: 
Mushrooms, sliced
Carrots, sliced


What To Do:

1. Slice half a kilo of beef into thin strips.
2. In a bowl, throw in the ingredients of your Marinade Sauce, then mix it with the sliced beef until well coated.
3. Marinate for at least 2 hours and keep it in the refrigerator. I leave it overnight for maximum flavour. 

You can cook your Bulgogi-marinated beef in two ways:
(1) Grill the beef.  After grilling, transfer to a plate or cast iron plate.  Sprinkle it with shallots and sesame seeds. (see my previous post: Weekend BBQ Party with Friends)


(2) Stir-fry the beef in sesame oil, garlic and onion.  Saute for a while then throw in mushrooms, carrots and green onions.  Add salt and pepper if needed. Once the beef and vegetables are cooked, transfer to a plate or bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds (see photo below).

Note: Measurements of ingredients are based on estimates so these only serve as guides.  If you want stronger flavours, you may choose to add more. The key is to taste as you go along.

Happy cooking!

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Weekend BBQ Party with Friends

We had summer weather last weekend so what better way to celebrate the sun and blue skies by having a BBQ party with friends.  Planned an almost-all-day get together so we can all properly catch up--no special occassion, we simply just want to spend time together.  


While dining out is equally precious, there's something more special and relaxing when get-togethers are done at home where there's no time limit and things become spontaneous.  The adults can be noisy and kids can be rowdy and we can all eat like there's no tomorrow.  The party lasted for seven (7) hours and it was one of the funnest times we've had in a long while.  


The BBQ started at 2:30PM.  Some brought cooked food and some brought stuff to be cooked on the barbie.

The Husbands hovered around the big BBQ Grill and got those pork belly cooked.

 

On the other hand, I hung out by the smaller BBQ Grill and got busy with my Bulgogi-marinated Beef.  (I'll share the recipe later this week).

My Bulgogi only took a few minutes to grill.  Once one side of the thinly-sliced beef is cooked, I flipped it over and sliced it into strips.  

It should look like this once it's done (see photo below). I served it with Kimchi.

Other than the dish I prepared, we had the grilled Pork Belly (dipped in spicy Vinegar), Pancit, Steamed Milkfish and Corned Beef Pandesal (the Pandesal was freshly-baked by one of our friends).  The food lasted us till dinnertime and it was all delicious.

For dessert, we had Chocolate Crinkles (baked also by one of our friends) and Caramel Cake.

No matter what happens, we never forget to take photos, especially the Wifeys...thank God our Husbands always obliged.

Even the kids, had a special "photoshoot" session.  It took a lot of "sit still" and "look at the camera, please?" to get them all together in one photograph, but we sure had a lot of laughter doing this.

Other than spending time as a family, the Wifeys and Husbands get to bond separately.  The Husbands have their time to talk about their stuff and (sometimes) watch a DVD while the Wifeys happily chats away with stuff they care about too.  

And always, we never seem to ran out of things to talk or laugh about.  Our friendship is amazing and truly blessed.  Our party ended with smiles that will last us until the next get-together.

IKEA Brekky & Shopping

I missed having cheap meals at IKEA so when we found a chance to have a short stopover at their Rhodes branch last Saturday, we woke up early and decided to have breakfast there. 

We arrived a few minutes after 9:30AM and the IKEA food hall were becoming busier as early birds like us wanted to have breakfast first before shopping.

The Husband and I each had a plate of their Swedish Meatball Breakfast (AUD$4.95) which had 2 round hash browns, bacon, meatballs, a sausage and egg.  This is the perfect cheap breakfast.  I think this is the cheapest breakfast one can find in Sydney Metro.  

And of course, a glass of long black coffee for me.  It was my first time to try their coffee and it was so-so.  I found it smooth and not as strong and rich as other coffee.

I find it appalling when people leave their plates and leftovers on the table.  IKEA has a designated area where you can place your trays after eating and they have big signs for people to see.  People here are supposed to look after themselves--and this is not just an IKEA thing.  Just a tip if you're travelling in Australia: never assume that someone will clean up after you eat.  Have a look around if there are people cleaning tables and if you don't see one, that's a sign that you should clean up after eating.

Anyway, we enjoyed our IKEA brekky and yes, we were very full from all the meat we had that morning.  With the little time we had (we had a lunch party to attend), we made an almost swift pass inside the store.  There was no urgency to buy anything but we looked at some stuff closely such as bookshelves, bed sheets and kitchen equipments.  


We're about 25 minutes away from an IKEA store so we always have this blue IKEA bag inside the car so we're always ready to shop!

My favourite space in store would have to be the kitchen area, particularly the storage solutions sections.  We don't buy everything but I like looking at their products because it gives me ideas on proper storage in the home.  

We bought a few items: A red container storage box for our vanity area, a small cutlery organizer (for my chopsticks and Korean cutlery), spice jars, clothes pin dryer, a small lamp (for our photography) and scented candles (which I always buy whenever I'm there).

I also bought a new cream-coloured throw.  We already have one but in preparation for winter, we needed a thicker throw.  We were very happy to find this dotted black and white pillow cases on sale for only AUD$2.00 each.  I've been on the lookout for pillow cases that can match a set of bed sheets I found in Myer years ago (they were on sale too!).  The bed sheets and quilt cover are in shades of grey and midnight blue.  When we got home, I put them side by side and it matched!

The one thing that amused us was finding a glass tea kettle.  We recently bought a glass kettle (will share later) and when we saw this, we just can't let it go.  It matched our glass kettle and double wall glasses too.

A 30-minute brekky and an hour of shopping at IKEA surely made the start of Saturday a happy one.  


IKEA Homebush Bay Drive
Entry via Rhodes Shopping Centre
1 Oulton Avenue
off Homebush Bay Drive
RHODES NSW 2138
Store:
Mon - Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 9am - 7pm
Restaurant:
Mon - Fri 9:30am - 8:30pm
Sat - Sun 8:30am - 6:30pm

Now Open: IKEA Tempe
634-726 Princes Highway
Tempe NSW 2044 
Store:
Monday to Friday:
10am - 9pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 7pm
Restaurant:
Monday to Friday:
9:30am - 8:30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:30am - 6:30pm

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Avoid Tummy Troubles During Travel

Part of the joys of travelling is to indulge in different cuisines.  In my list, food comes second as to why we travel that's why my Husband and I also list down the food we want to eat at a certain place during our travel preparations.


Our preps also involves preparing our tummies for the food we may eat or drink during travel.  No one wants to be sick during the holiday, right?  


I have a simple tummy prep before travel and that is to eat yogurt.  Eating yogurt for a few days before travel helps as the healthy bacteria in yogurt is a powerful tool for staving off tummy troubles.  We usually have yogurt at home anytime of the year but I make sure that we have more yogurt intake before we travel.

During travel, we still eat yogurt at least once a week or drink Yakult to keep our tummies healthy.


Not into yogurt?  My Husband doesn't like yogurt very much.  Although he tries, he just can't finish a small tub.  So instead of forcing him, we also buy Yakult which he loves.


Lactose intolerant?  Get yourself a "probiotics" capsule from the pharmacy or health food store.  A good probiotics capsule should contain various strains of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium logum.  

Here are a few tips from HCF fit@wwwell on how to avoid tummy troubles during travel:

Don’t let illness spoil an overseas trip. There are some simple precautions you can take to help avoid tummy troubles abroad. 

Traveller's tummy can take the form of diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, or all three. According to Aussie Travel Advice, recent statistics suggest around 20% of travellers will lose at least one day of their trip to illness. This is due to unfamiliar germs infecting the digestive system.


Minimise the risk of tummy trouble by:

• Avoiding uncooked meals in developing countries. If you can't boil, peel or cook it, eat something else instead

• Avoiding seafood, it's a major risk in many countries

• Avoiding pre-cooked food. Hot food should be steaming all the way through

• Choosing thick-skinned fruit you can peel

• Avoiding dairy unless you can drink canned milk or you know it has been refrigerated

• Sticking to bottled beer and wine rather than mixed drinks

• Washing your hands regularly. Consider taking alcohol-based hand-wash with you.

Rules for water:

• Avoid tap water in developing countries

• Boil water for over a minute before drinking

• Buy iodine tablets to purify water before drinking

• Use clean water to brush your teeth

• When buying bottled water, always check the seal is intact.

Don't hesitate to see a doctor if you become ill and symptoms persist.

Happy Wednesday!