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Archive for the ‘Food & Friends’ Category

Newington Armory

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , on July 18, 2011| 37 Comments »

We spent a few hours yesterday morning exploring the Newington Armory at Sydney Olympic Park.

Formerly RANAD (Royal Australian Naval Armament Depot), this 52 hectare site offers wetlands, heritage buildings, and an opportunity to take a close-up look at some very large and intimidating naval weaponry.

Guided train tours are available on Sundays…

Every building on the site was numbered, and each was separated from its neighbour, either by distance or by large earth mounds or concrete walls, for protection in the event of an accidental explosion…

The train passed briefly through the Narawang Wetlands…

…before stopping at the armaments display…

Nameplates from the ships HMAS Anzac, Tobruk, Derwent, Vendetta and Bunbury were on display…

More information is available here:

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Segway rides are also available at the Newington Armory, and we went on a thirty minute fun ride after the train tour.

These expensive machines ($9,000 each) can get to speeds of 22km/hr and are very intuitive to ride.  The staff were patient and helpful, and great care was taken to ensure everyone rode safely, even as we were racing around at speed through muddy trenches and over hilly mounds.  The segways really are an all-terrain vehicle…

Segways aren’t legal on roads or footpaths in Australia, so this is really the only want to try them out!

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Finally, the Birds Australia Discovery Centre at the Armory is streaming live coverage of a nesting pair of sea eagles.  It’s quite addictive viewing!

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There is much more to see and do at the Newington Armory, and Sydney Olympic Park in general.

We’ll definitely be spending another day there, perhaps to join in one of the free birdwatching tours, or to visit the art gallery, or maybe just to explore the wetlands further!

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Japanese Noodle Bar Manmaruya

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , on July 11, 2011| 45 Comments »

I don’t post a lot of restaurant reviews here, mostly because we don’t actually eat out very often.

When we have a hankering for Japanese food though, we almost always eat at Manmaruya.  This very reasonably priced noodle bar began as a single outlet in Campsie, and has now expanded to include stores in Hurstville and Ashfield.  The food is always consistently good and, according to our Japanese friends, very authentic.

The Ashfield restaurant has only been opened a couple of weeks, so we headed out last night with the boys and my parents to try it out.  I clicked happily away with my pocket Lumix, which coped brilliantly with the lower light and managed to take all these photos flash-free.

There was so much salad on the table – almost every dish came with its own serve…

The  Salmon Avocado Sushi Fusion ($12.80) is a new dish to us – the sauce is a light mayonnaise that perfectly complements the other ingredients.

Endamame was just $3 a bowl – we ordered two…

Small Man always has Teriyaki Chicken Don ($12.80)..

I ordered a Kabayaki-Eel Bento Box ($18.80), which came with rice and miso soup.  The set included gyoza, seaweed salad, green salad and salmon sashimi as well..

Big Boy had a Pork Katsu Bento Box ($15.80)…

My dad had the Pork Sho-yu Ramen ($9.80)…

…and Pete had the slightly more extravagent Cha-Shu Ramen ($12.80).

Both ramen and udon noodles are available, in either pork or chicken soup bases.  The extensive menu offers about twenty different noodle soup options…

The menu also offers a variety of ways to customise your meal – you can add a side order of dumplings and salad, or extra ingredients in your soup, or purchase a mini ramen set with your main meal for an extra $5.

There is also a cheaper lunch menu, with smaller box meal sets available around the $10 mark.  And if you bring kids to lunch, you can purchase a mini ramen for them for just $3.  Great value for fresh, delicious food!

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Japanese Noodle Bar Manmaruya
217 Liverpool Road
Ashfield   NSW  2131
Tel. 9799 6889

Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30 pm – 9.30pm
Closed Tuesdays

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Spices

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 6, 2011| 46 Comments »

Once upon a time, spices were worth more than gold.

Great wars were fought over them, trade routes were forged to supply them, and for many years they were exclusive to only the wealthy upper classes in Europe.

How times have changed!  Every two years, I replenish all my spices with a visit to the Aum Spice Centre in nearby Croydon (many foodies insist this should be done every six months, but I can’t bear the wastage).  The photo above shows most, but not all, of the spices and ingredients I was able to buy for $60.

I bought raw peanuts and urud dal for lemon rice, and white sesame seed for dukka and bagels…

I always use a lot of coriander, both seed and powder, and needed more star anise, turmeric and cinnamon for my new curry powder mix.  I also bought a packet of caraway seed to make harissa…

My all-time favourite chillies are these dried Kashmiri ones. I keep trying more exotic varieties, but I always come back to these simple chillies, with their gorgeous redness, moderate heat and sweet flavour. And at $3.50 for 200g, they’re an absolute bargain…photo below is about 20g or 35c worth…

I buy Kashmiri chillies in dried pods, flakes and powder…

On a whim, we picked up some pomegranate powder.  It wasn’t expensive, although I’m not sure what to do with it.  Any suggestions?

Asian junk food is quite irresistible – Malaysian tapioca chips and locally made bhuja mix – both hot and spicy.  The red bits in the bhuja mix are slivers of dried chilli!

I’m well and truly stocked up for the coming year.  And as both our sons have recently developed a palate for hot food, I’m anticipating lots of curries and spicy dishes in the near future.  Off to check out Mamta’s Kitchen now for inspiration!

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Aum Spice Centre
19 The Strand
Croydon NSW 2132
(02) 9744 1177

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Saturday Happenings

Posted in Food & Friends, In My Kitchen, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 3, 2011| 56 Comments »

If I get to spend Saturday playing in the kitchen, the whole week that follows is much easier, in so many ways.

Ingredients are prepared, treats and loaves are baked, and frankly, I’m just a nicer person for having had the chance to unwind.

Yesterday, I messed around with making my own Malaysian curry powder…

Here’s my final blend…

  • 150g coriander seed
  • 40g fennel seed
  • 25g cumin seed
  • 25g white peppercorns
  • 5g black peppercorns
  • 25g dried Kashmiri red chillies (seeds removed)
  • 10g Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 20g ground turmeric
  • 5g cardamon powder
  • 1 star anise
  • 5 cloves
  • 10cm piece cinnamon

I pounded the star anise, cloves and cinnamon with a mortar and pestle, then roasted them with the coriander, fennel, cumin, peppercorns and whole chillies in a dry wok for a few minutes until fragrant.  The mix was blitzed in a large food processor and then combined with the chilli powder, turmeric and cardamon powder.  As the mixture was still quite coarse, I ground it down further in small batches in a coffee/spice grinder. A handful of dried curry leaves was added at the end.

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We made seven and a half litres of stock (beef, chicken and fish), following the instructions in this great YouTube clip – it was nice to give the old pressure cooker a workout…

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A discussion with Linda about sourdough bagels inspired a batch…

I’ve written two bagel posts in the past – a step by step tutorial on yeasted bagels and one on sourdough bagels.  The links are here:

Yeasted Bagel Tutorial
Sourdough Bagels

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I turned a couple of experimental loaves into dry breadcrumbs – the slices were dried in a 100C oven for two hours until crisp and then whizzed in the food processor.  Crumbed flathead fillets are one of Small Man’s favourite meals…

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And finally, I made a rabbit pie for dinner, although I didn’t get to take a photo before Big Boy tucked in!

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Anything exciting happening in your kitchen this weekend?

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Black Salt

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , on July 2, 2011| 59 Comments »

My friend Moo is always sending us interesting things in the mail.

This was his latest discovery – Swedish black salt flakes.  The huge crystals of sea salt are coloured with vegetable carbon, and shine like black onyx…

I indulged five grams of crushed crystals into yesterday’s batch of sourdough ciabatta – mixing some in with the dough itself and sprinkling the remainder on the top of the loaves prior to baking…

The finished loaves don’t really taste all that different (perhaps marginally a little saltier from the topping), but they are visually appealing…

A little of the black colour remained in the dough, giving a slight marbled effect to the crumb…

As always, it’s enormous fun to play with new ingredients! Thanks Moo!

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