I don’t think my love for Japan, it’s people and especially the food is a secret.  Many years ago when I started to pursue my love of Japanese food, by learning how to prepare it for myself at home, it was a struggle to find the appropriate ingredients.  Luckily, there are now many Japanese grocery shops around Sydney and many basic staples are available in your local supermarket.  How far we have come.

Many years ago when I would originally see the word ‘sake’ in the ingredient list of recipes, I would run out and try and source a bottle of drinking sake (Nihonshu).  Then one day, in my lounge room, Tetsuya Wakuda shared something with me.  “This is cooking sake, you don’t use the sake you drink when cooking’.   Maeve O’Meara then turned to him, nodded her head, and said she didn’t realise there was a difference.  I do love Food Safari.   Like Maeve, I had no idea there was a difference until that moment either.

Ryorishu is the Japanese word for cooking sake and literally means ‘cuisine alcohol’.  You generally don’t drink ryorishu straight, it isn’t enjoyable as a drink.  It is milled differently to drinking sake, there is a lower milling rate of around  80-90%.  Milling removes fats, proteins and amino acids that lead to unwanted flavours and aromas in the brewing process.  A lower milling rate means it isn’t as refined in taste as a drinking sake, but the bolder flavour lends itself much better to cooking.  It doesn’t get lost amongst other ingredients like soy sauce, sugar etc.  Ryorishu does have an alcohol content, the one in my cupboard is rated at  14-15% alcohol.  Therefore salt is added to the ryorishu (usually about 2% to render it just undrinkable), which allows supermarkets to sell it. Read more →

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Happy Australia Day!  What could be more Australian than lamb on Australia Day?  You could add a breakfast of Vegemite on toast.  Chug back a few VB’s on the day, even with breakfast if that’s your thing.

My mum and Mac adore lamb, Josh is quite fond of it too, even Ms Lily has a bit of a love affair going with lamb.  I have a secret, I don’t like lamb, actually like is too soft a word, I hate lamb.  I do like lambs in their living form, they are so cute as they frolic around the paddock.  Butcher one, cook it up and my love goes out the window.  I’m not too fond of Vegemite either, and detest beer.

Some would consider that I am very un-Australian for hating the big three; lamb, Vegemite and beer.  But what really makes you a dinky-di Aussie anyway?

I think I am the perfect example of what makes you an Aussie.  I was born here, so instantly have my papers in order.  My mother’s side are Irish/English and came out here when Australia was discovered/stolen/overtaken/settled (not getting into that mind thought right now) to start a new life.  My father’s side came to Australia a little later to escape the horrors of World War 2, settle and make a new life.  Unless you are native Australian, you were either born here or came here to better your life and that of your family.  Actually those we consider native Australians also came here, and we have to assume their agenda was also to better their lives. Read more →

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Happy Halloween everyone!

Whenever Ms.G’s announce that they are putting on a special Saturday lunch, I am probably one of the first to call the Merivale booking centre to make a reservation.  It has become a tradition for Josh and I to have a ‘mummy & me’ date, and enjoy the surprises that Head Chef, Dan Hong, comes up with.

Normally I don’t see the actual menu for these events advertised before the actual day.  This time the menu was posted on the Merivale website.  I had booked at least a month before I saw this.  When I did, I had doubts on if I wanted to actually attend the seven course, $75/head lunch.

I kept thinking to myself, and reassuring Josh, that Dan loves playing on words and what is written isn’t necessarily what we will get.

Oh how I was wrong ………….. Read more →

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Paul’s ‘famous’ Hamburgers has been around for ages.  Since 1957 actually, when Paul and Katina Zerefos established a mini-market/milk-bar and burger shop on the present site.  Today only the burger shop remains.  Did you know that Paul actually never made a hamburger?  It was his wife Katina that devised the famous burger recipe.

Katina and her children were the driving force behind the burger shop.  Originally it was only burgers that were made, they specialised in them.  Eventually the menu expanded to include milkshakes, hot chips and their signature freshly ‘squeezed’ pineapple crush.

It has been a long time between visits to Paul’s, many years, well over ten.  When we first moved to The Shire 20 years ago, Paul’s was our go to burger joint.  We really loved the burgers, but then something happened, in 1998 new owners took over.  We ventured back a couple of times but the burgers were never the same, so we stopped going. Read more →

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Did you watch the opening ceremony for the Olympic games last weekend?  Were you up bright and early to watch it live from London?  Not me, it would have to take something a little more special to rob me of a sleep in on the weekend.  Instead I decided that watching the replay in the afternoon was a far more sensible option.

The sensible option also meant I could try out a recipe which I thought would be perfect snack material for watching television.  Perfect for Sunday football or any sport watching, perfect for a movie or movie marathon, and hit the spot while watching Olympic games opening ceremony.  Fish and chips may be very British, but who needs fish when you can have BACON! Read more →

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Josh and I found ourselves yet again at Ms.G’s for another March into Merivale event, ‘The Morning After the Night Before’.  We were there the previous Saturday for ‘Milk Bar Memories’.

Even though neither of us were suffering from a hangover, both of us were looking forward to discovering what delights Dan Hong and Jowett Yu had lined up for us.  The menu reflected what Dan and Jowett craved themselves when hungover.  $50/person for five courses, including a drink on arrival, either an Ocean Mary, fruit smoothie or a glass of sparkling white. Read more →

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I have fond milk bar memories.  Who wouldn’t when you grew up right next door to one.   It was owned by an Italian family which we were close to.  Every afternoon before walking through our front gate after school, I would call in to the milk bar.  I would purchase a paddle pop or a mixed bag of lollies.  Sometimes I would splurge and buy a chocolate milk shake.  As we were neighbours and friends, they were always generous with the lollies.  I would hang out in the milk bar on the odd occasion and ‘help out’.  I was probably more of a hindrance than a help. Read more →

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The boys are in love with the hot dogs that you can get at El Loco.  Actually most people I know that have tried their hot dogs love them.  I decided to re-create them at home.  Not completely the same but they are really tasty and extremely easy to make. Read more →

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MOS Burger (Mountain Ocean Sun) is a Japanese fast food franchise.  In Japan it ranks second to McDonalds.  The first store to open in Japan was back in 1972.  The company has a focus on fresh and healthy food served with a smile.

You may find it a little strange, being the foodie that I am, but on past visits to Japan I have never visited MOS Burger.  Let’s face facts, I generally only have a few days and in that short space I have a hard enough time getting my fix of yakitori, soba, katsu and sashimi, just to name a few.  I have nothing against burgers, but when in Japan there is just so much more to eat. Read more →

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