Kaki Fry

Gaz makes the best kaki fry! He uses the thrice dip method (not a technical term, just something I use to make it sound more scientific than it really is!) which entails dipping a fresh oyster into all purpose flour, then egg, then panko. He then fries it in small batches to preserve the temperature of the oil.

The crispness of the panko and the smooth texture of the fresh oyster is really great.  I really love this dish, and even more so Gaz who makes this dish for me!

Victoria Street CNY Fest

The first day in the year of the Horse will fall on 31st January this year, but there are already CNY festivities going on close to the city. The first off the ranks is the CNY fest on Victoria St, Richmond yesterday. Next is in Springvale, the city and the Glen Waverley each Sunday after the other.

Yesterday was my first visit to the Victoria St CNY festivities, and I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the event and the variety of stalls I found there. The event was held on Victoria Street between Church St and Hoddle St. The trams were diverted to Bridge Rd and the road was closed for the event, leaving plenty of space for the event goers to roam from stall to stall checking out the delicious  offerings available for purchase.

There were grilled pork wrapped in betel leaves, spicy salt squid, fried school prawns, the potato twists that are now a staple for every such events (but personally I think it's so passe!), char tow kway, bbq pork and chicken skewers, sugarcane juice with a touch of kumquats etc. Besides the many Vietnamese food stalls, there was also a stall selling Malaysian food, and one selling Japanese takoyaki balls.

Besides being a foodie heaven, there were fun for the kids at every corner too. There were rides, jumping castles, throwing games, stalls selling toys.

There might have been some entertainment for the adults, like singing or dancing at the small stage between Church and Victoria Streets but as there were limited information on the program for the day, I remain in the dark about it.

Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable day indeed.

Fried Chicken

There are some foods that I just can't go past without wanting to stop, sniff, do a mental calculation in my mind if I can afford the extra kilojoule intake, then ignore that and eat it anyway. Like fried chicken. 

Yesterday we had dinner with the family, and we deep fried taro and sweet potato chips. And since there was surplus oil, we made fried chicken as well. This is probably only the seond time in my life that I have deep fried meat at home. Not that it is a testament to my lack of participation in the kitchen, but it is because deep frying is just so.. messy! So, it is probably good that we fried at my MIL's house... :) 

She marinated the wings with salt, pepper, egg and soy sauce. Southern style buttermilk fried chicken would have tasted wonderful too! I covered it with corn flour and Gaz fried them. Knowing how terrified I get with oil jumping out of the wok and at me, he volunteered for the job... After doing a good job with about 30 wings, I think he can now qualify to work for Colonel Sanders. I wonder if they have staff discounts for spouses?

My Week

It's quite a boring day today for me. Gaz is working, and I am at home. So I use this time to remember the things that have happened during the week.

I received an unexpected parcel from an overseas friend early in the week. It was a beautiful hand made diary, just nice to fit in my bag, and a hand made card. They are such thoughtful gifts from a childhood friend. Thank you, dear Harriet :)

Found out mid week that one of my colleagues will be leaving the team. It is a little sad since we were becoming closer to each other over the past two months.

Had pork belly sandwich in a cafe for lunch. It was awesome! Love the crispiness of the pork belly, but not a fan of the tangy apple slaw in the sandwich. I ate it, fat and all.

We had a farewell lunch at the end of the week for someone who has been with us for more than ten years. Seems like most of the people I have known since I started is slowing leaving. Felt a little nostalgic for the old times when we would cramp together in a small office, have a drink and pull each others legs.

Caught up with family yesterday and even had the pleasure of unwittingly hosting someone's birthday dinner! Gaz's cousin had brought along her friend, who is celebrating her actual birthday in a few day's time, but we thought we would celebrate it in advance with her anyway. I am glad they liked the dishes I prepared, though most of them looked presentable but were not totally edible. Like the okonomiyaki which was a little raw in the inside...

Gaz did the cleaning yesterday, and I did the shopping on Friday and yesterday so all I have to do today is to cook a couple of dishes for our lunches during the week. It's almost like Sabbath for me today!

Food Republik, Box Hill

Gaz and I went to Food Republik in Box Hill for dinner recently. It was surprisingly quiet, even the red velvet rope marking where the queue should be into the restaurant swung pitifully lonely in the wind.

We satisfied our inner glutons by ordering 5 dishes between the two of us. We ordered mee sua with pork intestines, black pepper beef with rice, spring onion pancake with egg, mantou with pork belly, and xiao long bao.

Most of the dishes were quite small, so we had no problems finishing all the food we'd ordered. The size of each dish seemed to have shrunk from the last time we were there. Even the xiao long bao's seemed tinier.

We had to attract the waiter's attention for water, and this was how much water we got. 1/4 of a small cup. 

The mee sua was very tasty, albeit small. For the price ($6) I guess that is an entree / snack size.

There are no pictures of the rest of the food we ordered, because we were too busy eating!