Australia Part IV: Snacks

Woe is me. I ate my last tim tam today. Why don't we have tim tams here in the states? Chocolate mousse sandwiched between two chocolate wafers covered in chocolate. Chocolate mousse light and smooth, wafers crunchy and crispy, chocolate just enough to melt on your fingertips to be licked last, they are perfect. Above is a picture of some of the other snacks as well as a bag of honey soy chicken flavored potato chips and sweet chili & sour cream potato chips that made it home in my luggage.

I snapped this picture coming home one night after partying in Kings Cross. Oooooh baby you are burgerlicious.

Australia Part III: oh Kebabs how I miss you!

All over Australia you will find kebab restaurants. Thank goodness for you Turkish folk who decided to immigrate to Australia because these were THE MOST delicious kebabs I have ever had! Damn these were good. It's better then anything I've had hear in the states because they do it up a notch. Thanks to the Malaysian and Thai influence, yes I'm thanking you personally, thank you thank you thank you, you can order sweet chili sauce or hot chili sauce in your kebab. I highly recommend the sweet chili sauce. It pairs so perfectly with the lamb meat. They also toast the entire wrap in a press just like a panini so it's hot and crispy when you eat it!!!! If that doesn't put you over the top then I don't know what will. How come people didn't think of this sooner? Isn't everything better toasted and crunchy?


This place is open late at night in Sydney and they have some good lamb kebabs! There's also a place that has only chicken kebabs but it's pretty kick ass. It's this tiny place in the Ultimo area right before the bridge that leads you into the Darling Harbour area. I wish I had a name or a picture to show you.

This place has the best beef and lamb kebab in Cairns, Australia. So good that we created a song for it. "beef and lamb. I dream all night about that beef and lamb.", sing to the melody of Day n Night by Kid Cudi.

..stay tuned for more Aussie eats because I'm not done!

Australia Part II: Laksa Love for Malaysian Food

Something that really surprised me about Sydney is how diverse and multi cultural it is. I was even more surprised to see so many Asians living there. The Asian population there is also really diverse being made up of Malaysians, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Samoan. This is clearly evident in their food. I came home with a bag of honey soy chicken flavored chips and sweet chili & sour cream chips that are really yummy. I wish they had it here in the States.

Before my trip I did a little research on what to eat in Sydney and many of the food forums pointed at Malaysian food. I love Malaysian food but in my honest opinion you can't find great Malaysian food in New York City. Surprising isn't it since we have every type of people you can imagine and every type of food that comes with them! It's not bad. But it's not great. The Malaysian food here just tastes like Chinese food.

they have lotsa laksa! teehee!

According to Wikipedia which is the know all of the world, "laksa is extremely popular in Australia". So when my hosts asked me what I wanted to eat in Sydney my first response was LAKSA! They took me into Chinatown to Market City Mall where I had the best bowl of laksa I've ever had. Laksa is a coconut based curry noodle soup which is from Malaysia and Singapore. The balance of coconut in the soup is perfect. Topped with puffed tofu, scallions, fried shallots, and a dallop of sambal chili paste I can't imagine anything better.

After eating laksa we went to get Emperor's Cream Puffs. Very similar to the egg shaped cakes I used to get in Chinatown here in NYC after Chinese school as a kid, Emperor's Cream Puff's are filled with warm pastry cream.


There's always a line in front of this little window where these tiny cakes get churned out of a conveyor belt. Thank goodness my hosts warned me how to eat them because the filling was piping hot! What a great ending to our first night in Sydney.


On my third day in Sydney, after a looooooong day of walking around the Sydney Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium I had dinner at one of the best Malaysian restaurants in town, Mamak. At Mamak my two hosts, travel buddy, and I PIGGED OUT! The table next to us kept staring at us. Maybe it's because the three of them shared one dish of fried chicken, a bowl of rice, and a dessert roti while our table of four was running out of room to put our dishes. The food was spicy and it didn't help that I was drinking a hot pulled tea! But who cares it was so good! We ordered the plain roti, roti filled with lamb, chicken satay, beef satay, a fish curry, a lamb curry, Nasi Goreng- Malaysian style fried rice with eggs, prawns, french beans, assorted veges, topped with fried shallots, Kangkung Belacan- stir-fried water spinach with chillies and shrimp paste, 4 bowls of rice, 4 teas, and Roti Kaya- filled with a traditional spread made from pandan and coconut with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert! Everything was delicious!

making roti is like making pizza!

The best handmade roti, voted best in town, and I agree.
Served with two curry sauces and spicy sambal sauce.

Kari Ikan- a tangy fish curry cooked with fresh tomatoes, okra, and eggplant

Kari Kambing- spicy lamb curry slow cooked until tender

Murtabak Roti- filled with spicy lamb, cabbage, eggs, and onions.

Teh Tarik- classic sweetened Malaysian tea stretched for a frothy topping


The Aftermath
Some of the dishes are missing because there was no room.
Others had to be stacked!

Market City: Happy Chef
9 - 13 Hay St
Haymarket New South Wales 2000, Australia

Mamak
15 Goulburn Street
Haymarket Sydney 2000
T: +612 9211 1668 F: +612 9211 1669

...stay tuned for more Aussie eats!

Australia Part I: Sydney Fish Market

I'm back from a 10 day vacation in Australia and I'm going through some serious vacation withdrawal syndrome. I spent 4 days in Sydney and 4 days in Cairns and 2 days on an airplane. Let me tell you it was all amazing! Although I could have skipped the awful airline food. Delta food is crap. (I guess it matches their service) But Qantas was pretty good. They even handed out ice cream bars!

The food in Australia is so good I don't even know where to begin to tell you all about my eating adventure! I'll start with the first place meal I had after a long 23 hour flight. After dropping of my stuff at their house my wonderful tour guides, Howie and Cathy, took me to eat at Sydney's Fish Market. From 1945- 1999 all seafood that was to be sold in New South Wales Australia had to be sold through Sydney Fish Market. Now the fish market is a privately owned company but the seafood is still as fresh as you can get it. Many restaurants get their stuff from the market, notably from Claudio's Quality Seafood. I was in heaven. I have never seen such a big variety of fish, clams, oysters, shrimp, crabs, lobster, and seafood that I don't even know what they are called. It was so good that I had lunch/breakfast there 3 times during the 4 days I was there.

Claudio's is to me like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory is to Charlie. Ecstasy! I was walking around with mouth agape and eye's twinkling. Everything was fresh, big, local, colorful, exotic, delicious, and cheap!

Scallops from Tasmania

Fish Roe

Bay Bugs

Oysters the size of my hand!

The raw oysters were the best part of my trip! I had Australian Pacific oysters, Sydney rock oysters, and extra large Tasmanian oysters. I had oysters to the point that I didn't want to even think of oysters anymore. But now my mouth is watering just thinking about them. What I wouldn't do for just another dozen. The freshness and price of their oysters beat anything I can find in here in New York.

A dozen oysters plus a plate of salmon sashimi plus a freshly cooked big mud crab cooked Singaporean chili style was my breakfast before my flight from Sydney to Cairns. Gluttonous! People were staring but I don't care. I think they were just jealous.

On my last day I went to Claudio's and had a dozen oysters and a couple of their biggest prawns already cooked to eat there as well as some prawns to bring back home to cook for my hosts. I simply sauteed the prawns with lots of garlic, salt and pepper and they were delicious! So sweet and good. Sucking the head of the shrimp was the best part!

The Singaporean Chili Mud Crab was from Christie's Seafood. At Christie's you can buy their already prepared food such as lobster tails with mornay sauce or fish and chips. But I recommend you pick up some of their fresh seafood sold by the pound and bring it to their kitchen and have them prepare it anyway you like. I splurged and had a big mud crab cooked with Singaporean Chili Sauce. Oooooh was it finger lickin' delicious. The crab was very meaty!

Look at the size of this claw!

The good man shucking oysters at Christie's Seafood
He must do a thousand a day!

Sydney Fish Market
Locked Bag 247, Bank Street
Sydney, Pyrmont, NSW 2009, Australia
(02) 9004 1100

Claudio's Quality Seafood

Cnr Jones & Gipps Sts

Pyrmont NSW 2009, Australia

Get Directions

(02) 9660 5188

Christie's Seafood

Pyrmont New South Wales 2009, Australia

Get Directions

(02) 9552 3333

I don't know what kind of crabs are in this picture. The top left one has claws the size of a giant turkey drumstick. The other three have bodies the size of both of Dolly Parton's boobies put together!

I don't know what it is but it's huge. I'm guessing abalone.


...Stay tuned for more Aussie eats!

Brownies for Bill

This July 4th weekend I went upstate to visit Bill who loves my brownies. I'm sure if I came brownieless Bill would have sent me back home! My ideal brownie is a little bit of everything - chewy, cakey, fudgey, moist, soft, crusty on top, and melt in your mouth. I want everything, that's just the type of girl I am! I'm still in search for the perfect recipe but this one comes pretty damn close. Everyone loves this brownie. It's fudgey, light, and melt in your mouth.

Almost Perfect Brownie

Butter 1 lb
70% Bittersweet Chocolate (use Valrhona for the best results) 1lb
Eggs 8
Salt 1 t
Vanilla Extract 1 T
Granulated Sugar 400g
Brown Sugar 400g
All Purpose Flour 230g
Cocoa Powder (Valrhona) 75g

1. Melt butter and chocolate together over bain marie.
2. Whisk together eggs, salt, vanilla x, and both sugars. Whisk into chocolate.
3. Whisk in flour and cocoa powder.
4. Pour into a buttered half sheet pan with parchment. Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 1 hr.
5. Allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight and then unmold and cut.

Options: Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the brownie before you put it in the oven. Add 1 t of mint extract instead of vanilla extract for a mint chocolate brownie. Add both chopped walnuts and dried cherries that have been stewed in some orange juice into the batter.

Horny for Corny

I once went on a date with a guy because his pick up line was "Hey, do you like corn?". Heck yea I like corn! And he took me to eat the yummiest corn I've ever had. Too bad the date was a dud. Here is my list of the top 3 best places to eat corn!

1) Cafe Habana

17 Prince St (& Elizabeth St)
New York, NY
212-625-2001

-must get their Grilled Corn Mexican style with cotija cheese, chili and lime. Delicious! Get two each!

2) Havana Central

22 East 17th St (btwn Broadway & 5th Ave)
New York, NY
212-414-4999

151 W 46th St (btwn 6th & 7th Ave)
New York, NY
212-398-7440

-get their Mazorca de Maiz Estilo Havana (Havana corn on the cob) that comes covered with garlicy butter, lots of parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and cuban spices. Sinfully delicious.

3) Go to your local farm and pick your own corn. It doesn't get fresher than that! Corn that is picked fresh off the stalk is so tender and sweet you can eat it right then and there without cooking it!



Don't be afraid of these animals that you may encounter in the corn fields. They love their corn too.