A Table For Two

Return 2 Paradise, Hamilton Island

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:54:04 GMT

Hamilton Island

The Reef View Hotel

Levitating at Hamilton Sailing Yacht Club

Sunset at One Tree Hill

Igers sharing tips on mobile device

Koala cuddling time before dinner

The swimming pool at Qualia resort

A special meal at Qualia resort

Beetroot, goats curd and walnut

scampi, pumpkin and sweetcorn ice cream

A friendly wildlife finds its way to the table.

Samara Weaving & Rob Moore

Samara Weaving

White sand

Luisa Brimble

Chinese supermodel Li Ya Hong

Leave nothing but footprints at Whitehaven Beach

Rob (@bobby_j)

Lindy and Michael Klim

Seafood lunch at Chalkie Beach

Local muddies

Prawns and Scallops grilled to order

Flower arrangement and table setting with Stephanie (@stephanierobiningram)

Our final BBQ dinner on the beach

If you have been following my instagram then you'd have known that I just spent the last weekend in Hamilton Island. Hamilton Island's Ultimate Instameet is back for the second year round and I was very lucky to be invited as one of the ambassadors to join a strong contingent of forty plus igers to return two paradise for a weekend of feasting, watersporting, relaxing and most importantly, instagramming.

The weekend was truly a memorable one, met so many nice people and made new friends, and strangely it didn't feel awkward to take photos of anything and everything with your mobile phones as everyone was taking twice as many photos than I did! I had to admire the pro-igers who actually taking instagram to a new level, creating beautiful images in their own styles, and some will even only post images on instagram at certain time so they know when to get more 'likes'. All in all, it was great to mingle with them and learn a few things by trying out a few different photo apps.

We did so much in the short three days, or should I say not doing much but just relaxing on the beach? The Whitehaven Beach was just as pristine and stunning as I remembered, snorkelling and finding nemo was always a highlight, then I even went jetskiing for the first time! It was thrilling but I was a bad driver and got thrown over into water - twice! The feast on the island were simply incredible, a dinner at the luxury Qualia resort, a seafood feast on the Chalkie Beach and to our final BBQ dinner on the beach - eaten but not forgotten.

Anyhow, here are a few images that sums up my weekend in Hamilton Island. Enjoy!

Thanks to @sophiehgbaker, @LuisaBrimble, @stefanierobiningram, @bobby_j, @paulyvella, @mattglastonbury, @miaglastonbury, @markseabury, @megansnedden, @tj_edwards and many more other igers for a fantastic weekend!

[A Table For Two was invited to Hamilton Island as the ambassador of Return2Paradise Instameet event]

Snap me happy!

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:30:15 GMT

It has been a little snapping crazy here at ATFT HQ. Funny how suddenly all photoshoot projects are happening at once and finding time to update the blog is almost impossible. Currently I am shooting two cookbooks back to back and having a stressful but fun time. But I am sure once the storm has passed, I should have some free time to breathe again and wind down a little bit before the next storm hits.

I am actually very much looking forward to some down time this weekend as I have been invited to join the Ultimate Instameet in Hamilton Island. I believe when you instagram enough of your baby, dog, flower, sunset and not to mention your breakfast, lunch and dinner, then I am sure someone will notice and actually invite you to paradise and sip cocktail. It is quite daunting to see the other instagrammers who got invited to this event have over 125,000 followers... and then me... a modest 3000 plus. I guess I will just have to be that token asian who takes photo of food this whole weekend.

On another news, I now have a little "food section" in the Home & Decor magazine Malaysia, where I will share a couple of my favourite Malaysian recipes for six issues. In this current May issue, it is all about using dry Chinese ingredients in cooking, for eg ikan bilis (anchovies), lap cheong (Chinese sausage), dried shiitake mushroom, goji berries (wolfberries), dried chillies and a lot more. And I simply have to share two of my favourite Malaysian dishes, the Chilli Pan Mee and the Lor Mai Kai (glutinous chicken rice). If you want the recipe, make sure to go and grab a copy of the magazine, there is also an i-mag version available on ipad that you can download.

In the mean time, for those who are interested in my Food Photography Workshops, please make sure to visit this page and register. I foresee we are getting very close to run a workshop in Perth real soon! Looking forward to be the other side of Australia!

Until then, I shall check in with you all from the sunshine Hamilton Island, in my swimmers, with a snorkels, and hopefully sneak in a few cocktails in between. Please do follow my instagram if you want to know all the mischiefs I will be getting up to in Hamilton Island.

Ciao!

Up, up and away in Hunter Valley

Wed, 08 May 2013 07:28:02 GMT

No doubt, Hunter Valley is a wine region and true that you do need to be somewhat into wine to really enjoy and appreciate this wine country. I've been to Hunter Valley numerous times and seriously thought that I'd only need to visit this region a couple few more times then I am done, I'd have seen it all and no need to come back again. Unless your name is James Halliday and have visited all 125 wineries in the region, if not then my friend, there are still over 6,000 hectares of vineyards for you to unearth.

Our recent visit to Hunter Valley was more than just wine and food. This time, we also got to discover the oldest wine region in Australia from a different perspective and learn about the early beginnings of Hunter Valley. Everything is a little bit different from how you'd imagined to spend a weekend in Hunter Valley, we even found our own little piece of Tuscany outside Rome.

Tower Lodge

Tower Lodge is a boutique retreat nestled amongst the Tower Estate property and vineyard in Hunter Valley. As part of the world's most prestigious hotel group Relais & Chateaux, you just knew you'd be treated like a Roman king and queen as soon as you step inside the hotel. The lodge comprises only 12 luxury guest rooms including two suites, guest dining room, bar and lounge room, gym and a roman spa bath for weaken souls, and the Mediterranean inspired central courtyard where guests can enjoy breakfast and take in the tranquil surrounding.

Our room is not shabby, not shabby at all! Andrea Bocelli's powerful voice was echoing through the stereo from wall to wall as we entered our room. The Mediterranean theme carries on with intricate decor in the room, terracotta tiled floor draped with Persian rug, furniture covered in rich fabrics, antiques and China dotted around the room, even our ultra comfort king size bed has a bed head plastered with a profile portrait of a Roman's historic figure.

The attention to details in the room is remarkable, Molton Brown amenities never fails to make me a tad special. But if there is one thing what I think can be improved is to have free Wi-Fi access in room. As I would have loved to be able to get online rather than only available in the lounge and the lobby.

We had a few hours to kill before dinner, so I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the lodge and got myself lost in the shades of Tuscan red.

As I walked through the corridors, I really felt like in a film set, imagining everyone should be wearing white togas, lying on the day-bed, drinking red wine out of goblets and getting fed with a bunch of grapes. Spartans battle in the courtyard for entertainment perhaps? Or maybe not. But all this food talk is making me hungry, time for dinner me think.

Robert's Restaurant

There is a fine dining restaurant in the Tower Lodge called Nine, as it is housed underground nine feet below the surface in a sandstone cellar. However, we wouldn't be dining here tonight as a table was already booked for us at Roberts, which is also located within the Tower Estate compound, walking distance from the lodge.

The name Robert Molines is no stranger in the Hunter Valley. He is the pioneer of the culinary scene who helped to shape the dining experience here in this wine region. Roberts was his first restaurant but had moved on over a decade ago and Molines at Tellvera Grove is now his new playground. Without changing the restaurant name, George Francisco is now the Executive Chef at Roberts, leading a team of passionate chefs to create a fine dining experience of modern European cuisine.

This restaurant itself is actually filled with history. As we opened the front door and stepped inside, we suddenly found ourselves inside a slab cottage, which is dated circa 1876. There is a lounge room where guests can enjoy a quiet drink in front of the fireplace, a bedroom which is now a private dining area; but somehow these empty rooms have an unsettling eerie feeling to it.

The main dining area at the back is a new extension to the cottage, a huge open space built almost entirely in timber gives the atmosphere a country comfort, a perfect spot for wedding reception.

L to R: Capsicum tomato gazpacho with basil oil; Tower Estate Hunter Valley Moscato

Two glasses of Tower Estate Moscato arrived at the table as soon as we seated, followed by amuse bouche of warm capsicum tomato gazpacho with basil oil to open up our appetite.

Beef Carpaccio - red capsicum mayonnaise, olive, organic Arugula and Parmesan Beignets - 28.00

Charred garam masala scented Foie Gras - 30.00

We started the meal with entrees of beef carpaccio and charred garam masala scented foie gras. The wafer thin raw beef slices were velvety smooth served with rich red capsicum mayonnaise that had a subtle heat kick, and I simply adored the parmesan beignets that had gooey and moreish innards with crispy crusts on the outside.

Instead of goose liver, I believe the foie gras was simply duck liver coated in garam masala ground spices then charred to a blackened exterior. The richness of the liver lighten up with tangy cinnamony candied lemon peels and spiced jus, whereas pea shoots and rose petals added colour and texture. But how I wished I had a slice of toast to spread the liver on it.

L to R: Tower Eastate; Roulade of duck breast and Jamon - 43.00

Our meal tonight was accompanied by Tower Estate Pinot Noir from Tasmania that had the complexity of all spice and cherry to go with some red meat and the roulade of duck breast and jamon was a good choice. The duck was cooked to a perfect blushing pink, the sweetness of the tender duck meat was elevated with pickled baby beetroot and the creamy aioli.

Mandagery Creek Venison - 45.00

I purposely ordered the Mandagery Creek venison to go with the wine, it is a match made in heaven. The gamey red meat was meltingly tender, served on a bed of glazed savoy cabbage, while sweet potato crisps added crunch. There were also a couple of pillowy agnolotti made with pumpkin foraged from the garden that worked extremely well with the venison.

Two petite cream filled profiteroles were brought out to us as a little break to slow down the pace before hitting the home run with desserts.

Caramelised pineapple and passionfruit creme brulee Napoleon - 16.00

It was a little difficult to grasp the concept of a creme brulee in a Napolean mille-fuille style. Between the layers of thin pastries were thick slices of passionfruit creme custard, torched to a caramelised charred exterior. I really wish I could crack a toffee window into shards with the spoon like how you would with a creme brulee, nevertheless the passionfruit custard is creamy and smooth, and we wiped the plate clean.

'For chocolate lovers only' - 16.00

A dessert that named 'For chocolate lovers only' no doubt is deliciously sinful. The chocolate cake itself was comprised of chocolate ganache, cake and mousse, overlapping into seven layers of textural wonders. A heavy dose of chocolate heaven to conclude our meal this evening.

Our waiter offered us coffee to cap the night off, which to be served at the lounge room in the cottage where we can chillax in front of the fireplace. We asked her jokingly whether this place is haunted, immediately there was a twinkle in her eye and we were probably not the first to ask the same question.

Apparently the cottage is haunted by a lady called Elizabeth who still moaned over the loss of her child who was drown in the bath tub. The restaurant staffs have encountered a few phenomenons happening in the cottage, they came to work in morning and found the fireplace has been lit up overnight and set the fire alarm off, picture frames being knocked down off the wall and the occasional laughter echoing through the wall.

The spine shivering stories made our walk back to the lodge in pitch black a hell lot spookier. It would be an early night for us as the alarm was set for a 5am wake up call and ready for our next adventure, up in the sky!

Hot air balloon flight with Balloon Aloft

The 5am wake up call was brutal, but the thought of floating in mid air at 3,500 feet high was hard to resist. We made our way to Peterson's Champagne House to check in with Balloon Aloft. I am not lying if I wasn't feeling a bit anxious about open air flying inside a tiny woven cane basket, carries by nothing but a giant balloon! But I knew I was in good hand especially Balloon Aloft has over 30 years flying experience in Australia to reassure us that safety comes first.

After a short safety briefing, we were also given a few instructions on how to jump onboard once the balloon is inflated as you definitely do not want to miss the flight. Guests' participation were strongly encouraged to help setting up the balloon - we pulled, we stretched, and then someone volunteered to hold the chute as the balloon being inflated by industrial fans.

Hot air was pumped into the balloon from the ferocious flame shot out of the propane gas burners, eventually the balloon started to tilt on an angle and straighten up. "Climb onboard now!" As our pilot yelled out, everyone quickly climbed over the basket within a short time frame and we were off!

Our balloon slowly hovered over the misty lake was simply magical!

As our balloon slowly climbing to a higher altitude, it offered a spectacular view of the sunrise over the horizon. Suddenly the whole valley was woken up and came to life; misty fog slowly dissipating, roos were hopping in the woods looking for morning feast, tiny humans were out jogging and golfing. There is no steering wheel, our balloon just glided in the mid air and let the wind took us far and high.

There was absolute silence when we were floating at 3,500 feet high; no wind, no chirpy birds, but only the sudden bursts of roaring flames now and again to keep the balloon aloft and also keeping us warm. It was so serene and peaceful.

The basket can hold up to 16 passengers plus the pilot, it was actually quite cosy with no much room to move. Everyone was also quite transfixed with the incredible panoramic view of the valley, it was exhilarating and I was literally in cloud nine.

We spent almost an hour in the air, as the wind took us a lot farther than we had anticipated. The Balloon Aloft convoy followed us from the ground until we found a field that was safe for landing. Air vents on top of the balloon were opened to release hot air and slowly we were descending with a thud as we touched down. I was super impressed by our pilot's wind navigation skill and landed us safely, as it could ended up horribly wrong tangling at the power lines nearby by a tiny miscalculation.

Hopping out of the basket was just as funny and awkward as hopping in, eventually both feet touched the ground and I could let out a sigh of relief. We all joined effort to fold the balloon into a flat pack, all nicely fit into a trailer and towed away.

If only you could hear my tummy by now, you would know is brunch time!

Peterson's sparkling bubbly were poured, hearty hot full breakfast was served. I scoffed down within seconds, I felt elated and content, it could be the sparkling or it could be the flight, but either way, my head was still in cloud nine, imagining myself as the little fat kid in the Pixar film 'UP'.

[to be continued...]

Tower Lodge (Inside Tower Estate complex)
6 Halls Road, Pokolbin, NSW 2320
P: 02 4998 4900

Roberts Restaurant (Inside Tower Estate complex)
Halls Road, Pokolbin 2320
P: o2 4998 4998

Opening hours: Lunch Sat - Sun, Dinner seven days

Balloon Aloft P: 02 4990 9242
Operates daily

[A Table For Two visited Hunter Valley as the ambassador blogger for Wine Country Tourism]

Crouching Shandong, Hidden Sichuan, In Melbourne

Thu, 02 May 2013 03:46:30 GMT

As Shandong Mama chucks a garlicky hit, Dainty Sichuan retaliates back with a potent fiery chilli kick - no one loses, everybody wins.

As Chinese from mainland China are fast becoming the number one globetrotters, and according to Australia immigration's statistic, Chinese is also now the top 3 nationality that conferred as Australian citizens at 8%, after UK and India. The migration brought diversity to the culture, and no doubt including the food itself. While there are still sweet and sour pork or beef in black bean sauce lurking around at every street corner, many Chinese are now opening restaurants that offer authentic local cuisines from different regions and provinces of China; and good thing is - Australians embrace it all wholeheartedly. My last trip to Melbourne had me sampled two of the most talked about Chinese restaurants in this city, and I can see why all the ravings when I walked out both restaurants, clutching my stomach either in satisfying pain or in contentment.

Shandong Mama

Officially opened in January this year, Shandong Mama uses its social media power and already fast becoming a popular dumpling haunt among food lovers despite its shy location inside Midtown Arcade on Bourke Street. The old saying of "when a Chinese restaurant that is full of Asians must be good" could be stereotypically proven wrong here, as I found there was actually more anglo-Australians than Asians having lunch at the restaurant when I was there. The skeptics will immediately jump into conclusion that the food must be designed for the western palates. Well, the answer is "no". 'Mama' will serve you authentic home-style Shandong cuisine; the food that she grew up with - no more, no less.

Meiyan 'Mama' Wang, opened the restaurant with her uncanny lookalike daughter, Ying Hou, hoping to share their love of Shandong food with friends and family. Wang is originally from Yantai, a fishing town on the Shandong peninsula where undoubtedly seafood is their specialty. That explains a lot why the fish dumplings is the signature dish here at Mama.

Sweet and sour shredded cabbage salad - 4.80

The menu is quite extensive, from dumpling assortments, staple of rices and noodles, to little plates for sharing; Mama has you covered. Sweet and sour shredded cabbage salad is a refreshing appetiser with crisp shredded wombok dressed with sesame oil which adds aromatic nuttiness to the salad.

Black Fungus tossed in Aged Vinegar, Sesame Oil and Garlic - 6.80

Shandong cuisine is also well known for its flavour derived from garlic and shallots and this dish is definitely not going easy on the garlic department. Black fungus salad does have a very similar flavour profile to the cabbage; frilly black fungus are crunchy, tossed in aged vinegar and sesame oil, but it is the garlic breath that lingers on.

wasabi spinach salad - 6.80

Suffering nasal congestion? No problem, Mama's wasabi spinach salad will sort you out in seconds. Don't be fooled by the simple stir fried of luscious green spinach; each mouthful is a slow gassy heat punch of wasabi that pushes up the nasal and makes your eyes watered.

DARYL - Noodles with Seafood & Vegetable Gravy - 11.80

"Daryl is quite a dish, isn't he?"

We are convinced to try this new noodle dish on the menu, a bowl of al-dante house made wheat-flour noodles is served with toppings of prawn, green bean, mushroom, pork, black fungus and egg in a gravy sauce. Mama has to make the noodles and the broth every morning to create this signature dish, it is ultimate comfort food made with love. She told me that she would much prefer to make the noodles by hand but it would be too time consuming and hard work to make such large quantity for the restaurant. Thanks to modern technology, the noodle is now kneaded by machine but Mama will still roll the dough out and cut into noodles herself.

Fish dumplings - 14.80 for 10 pcs

Dumprings!

And finally the piece de resistance, Mama's famous fish dumplings is quite something else. Most mornings you will find Mama at Footscray or Springvale markets sourcing the finest ingredients for her dumplings. She prefers to use mackerel for her fish dumplings despite costing a little bit more, but it is the fish that can produce dumplings that are very similar to those back at home in Shandong in terms of flavour and texture.

The dumplings are plump, the fat belly filling with the medium thick dumpling skin resembles a fat fan-tail goldfish. Each dumpling is filled with mackerel, coriander, ginger and chives, all mixed by hand into a fish ball paste like texture, springy and soft. Each bite is a pillowy warm hug from Mama herself.

Mama also revealed that sometimes she has to bring some of the ingredients back to Australia from mainland China as she believes they are much better quality. She laughed that it is always so tedious and embarrassing to go through custom with all the ingredients, but there's simply no other way. Things Mama has to do for perfection.

Shandong Mama Inside Midtown Arcade
200 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC
P: 03 9650 3818

Opening Hours: Daily, 11am - 9pm

Dainty Sichuan Food - Melbourne CBD

Not to be mistaken as the original Dainty Sichuan that is located in South Yarra, this sister restaurant situated right bang in the center of Melbourne CBD is just as feisty. Sichuan cuisine is notoriously well known for its excessive usage of chilli pepper and numbing Sichuan peppercorn in dishes, one must endure the most painful experience to really understand and appreciate why Sichuan food can be so delicious yet addictive.

I meet up with Sarah for lunch but the idea of having spicy hot Sichuan food on a scorching hot 38°C Melbourne summer day possibly isn't the smartest thing to do. As we are sitting down at one of the many booths in the spacious restaurant, I immediately noticed one of the diners who just finished his meal looks like he is in a hallucinatory state with rosy cheeks and sweaty foreheads. Oh boy, I am so going to burn in hell, I thought to myself.

Most of the Chinese staffs here are uni students and many of them can hardly understand English, but the pictorial menu booklet is straight forward enough. A chilli rating system on each dish posted as a warning on how much spicy hotness can one handle. We ask the waitstaff which one is their signature dish that we must order, she points at the 3-chilli-rating dish which literally covered in dried chillies and tells us that it won award many years ago, I assumed she meant it was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation. We order it anyway.

A jug of soy milk drink to share among the three of us and we are ready to play with fire!

cumin lamb skewers - 24.80 (a dozen)

First to arrive at the table was a dozen of cumin lamb skewers. The lamb skewer is meaty and heavily seasoned in cumin and other spices, the meat has some chewy resistance from the grill as expected, then dressed in chilli oil to give the dish a lips numbing two chilli rating.

Kung pao chicken - 19.80

Pow! Pow!

Another two chilli rating dish, the Kung Pao (or gongbao) chicken hits you left, right, front and centre with its chillies. The portion size is overwhelming, a generous amount of sweet caramelised tender chicken pieces stir-fried with dried chillies, shallots and crunchy peanuts. At this point, there is already a burning sensation in my body as I wipe the dews of sweat off my forehead, keeping my cool.

Dry stir-fried beans - 19.80

The dry stir-fried beans with minced pork offers some relief from all the spicy hot dishes. Despite the menu says dry stir-fried, after some research looking at a few Chinese recipes of this dish, I believe the only way to achieve a glossy blistered skin while still keeping its crunch is by deep frying the beans in hot oil. It is deliciously salty, sweet and addictive.

fish flavoured eggplant - 17.80

The fish flavoured eggplant is a must order dish here at Dainty Sichuan. Yu Xiang (鱼香), despite the term literally meaning "fish fragrance" in Chinese, it actually referring to the seasoning mixture originated from Sichuan cuisine. This 1-chilli-rating vegetarian dish is lot more complex than it looks, perfectly cooked eggplant that is soft yet holding its shape, doused in a thick sweet chilli sauce that makes it mildly friendly to most palates.

Chong Qing Chilli Chicken - 25.80

The recommended dish finally takes the centre stage on our table. The Chong Qing Chilli Chicken makes my eye watered and my lips quivered, just by looking at it. There is a huge mound of dried chillies studded with Sichuan peppercorns on the plate, we have to dig through all the chillies with our chopsticks to reveal tiny chopped up deep-fried chicken pieces hidden here and there. It is a dish best enjoyed slowly, gnawing on the tiny bones and sucking out the salty chicken meat, let the fire burns from inside out and enjoy it, as there is no turning back now.

It is definitely a 3-chilli-rating of regrets the day after. You've been warned.

Dainty Sichuan Food Level 2, 206 Bourke Street,
Melbourne,VIC
P: 03 9650 2188

Opening hours: Daily 11.30am - 3pm; Sun - Thu 5-10pm; Fri - Sat 5-10.30pm

[A Table For Two visited Melbourne as a guest of Tourism Victoria]

PROFILE - John Marshall

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:39:21 GMT

John Marshall of FRUGII

Very exciting to announce that I am going to have a new feature on A Table For Two called 'Profile' - where I will talk to people who are working with food, or simply passionate about food. No matter whether is a chef, farmer, butcher, food photographer, food blogger or simply a home cook, they all have their own stories to tell.

So let me introduce our first profile - John Marshall, but Canberrans simply known him as Mr Frugii. Whilst John is still working full time for the government in the IT sector at the capital city of Australia, he still manage to find time to experiment and churn up the extraordinary gelato flavours in his underground laboratory at home. John has already made over hundreds of flavours combination in his ice cream, I've personally tried blue cheese, cloves, peanut butter and bacon, just to name a few quirky ones. Laksa flavour also made it into the 'what the?' gelato flavour list, and then there is also roast potato by request.

"Roast potato, possibly the weirdest flavour I've ever done for a wedding", John claimed.

However, in my opinion, the humble chocolate gelato is the king of kings. There are simply no shortcuts when comes to making the the gelato and John goes all the way back to the roots for perfection. Cocoa beans are sourced from USA and arrived at his doorsteps still intact in pods, then through a long process of drying, roasting and grinding, eventually the cocoa nibs are a river of lusciously smooth chocolate ready to be churned into gelato. Without artificial food colouring, the chocolate gelato may look a little pale and not as rich, but the decadence chocolate flavour remains in its purest form.

If you want to taste John's creation, then look out for the Frugii stall at Capital Regional Farmers Markets every Saturday and the Old Bus Depot Markets every Sunday. In this case, Canberra - 1, the rest of Australia - 0.

And here is a little video from my recent visit to Canberra and had a chat with John Marshall, Mr Frugii himself.

You can find Frugii at: Capital Regional Farmers Markets - every Saturday
Old Bus Depot Markets - every Sunday

Maltesers & Jaffas Cake

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:33:26 GMT

What is your favourite candy snack at the cinema?

Honestly, I am not a big fan of salty popcorns that comes in massive bucket! It is bit like eating styrofoam sprinkled with salt - the more you eat, the drier and saltier it gets and then you have to compensate it with a jumbo Coke which costs an arm and leg. You have to admit the candy bar at cinemas ain't cheap! You can easily spent over $20 just for a coke and a bag of lollies, I am sorry if I have to buy it from the supermarket and then sneak it into the cinemas to be more economical. Okay, <end rant>.

Anyway, I do love Fantales whenever I go to cinema. We would be chewing the extremely chewy toffee that threatens to pull out all the tooth filling, and had a quick trivia round from the wrappers before the movie starts. Maltesers and Jaffas are also two of my favourites, rummaging through the lolly bag in the dark and trying your best not to annoy the others in the cinema, and only to find a few missing balls under the seats after the movie ended, wasted. But what can be significantly better is to combine Maltesers and Jaffas and turned into a cake!

As promised, here is the recipe for the Maltesers and Jaffas Cake. The cake itself is just a simple Devil's Food cake, a recipe I adopted from the kitchen goddess Nigella Lawson. But the chocolate cake recipe is a keeper, the batter actually is quite watery and I was worried that the centre of the cake will not be cooked, surprisingly it turned out perfect and the cake texture is light, soft and fluffy. The buttercream frosting is pretty straight forward, just by adding chocolate into a normal buttercream recipe. Then that's when the fun begins to arrange tiny little balls of Maltesers and Jaffas all over the cake. I mean, you don't really have to use Jaffas if you don't like them, I thought a touch of red colour will make the cake a little prettier. I also know you actually can get white chocolate Maltesers, so that will work well too!

However, I do have to admit that this cake is pretty decadent and without any other flavours incorporated into it, it can be very sweet. If I do it again, I think I will add a layer of raspberry jelly in the centre to offset the sweetness. The Pom and I had only about a quarter of the cake on the first day, and another quarter the day after. We simply couldn't finish such rich cake and decided to cut a big chunk and gave it to our neighbour. By day three, the cake started to get a little dry, but still good, soft and fluffy.

Oh by the way, if you are going to make this cake, make sure to get the "party bucket" of Maltesers, because you will need LOTS OF IT! It is definitely a fun cake to make, but you've been warned.

Maltesers & Jaffas Cake

Devil's food cake (adapted from Nigella Lawson's)
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda 50g cocoa powder
100g dark brown sugar
250ml boiling water
125g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
500g Maltesers
200g Jaffas

Chocolate buttercream frosting
200g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
300g icing sugar
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Sift flour, baking powder and bicarb into a mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Put cocoa and dark brown sugar in a heat-proof bowl, pour hot water into it and start stirring until no lumps and all sugar has dissolved. Set aside until the mixture has completely cools down before moving to next step.

3. Beat butter and caster sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy. Then turn speed down to low, add vanilla extract and then break the eggs into the mixture, one at a time, stirring after each addition until fully incorporated. Immediately add flour mixture into the wet mixture in three batches.

4. While the mixer still running on low speed, pour the chocolate mixture into the batter, keep stirring until homogenous.

5. Heat oven to 180C (350 Fahrenheit). Grease a springform tin and line with baking paper. Pour the cake batter into the tin and transfer to oven, bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake and comes out clean.

6. Remove cake from oven, set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from tin and let it rest on wire rack until it has completely cool down.

7. To make the chocolate buttercream, melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a double boiler. Once all chocolate melted, set aside to let it cools down. Beat butter with a stand mixer until pale and fluffy, turn the speed down to low, add icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time until all fully incorporated. Once the chocolate has completely cool down, slowly pour it into the buttercream, keep stirring until combined.

8. Slice the cake in half lengthwise, then spread about half of the buttercream on top of one half of the cake. Use a cake spatula and spread the buttercream evenly to achieve a nice smooth flat surface. Then place the other half of the cake over the top. Now, spread the remaining buttercream all over the cake, top and side. Make sure the buttercream is about 4-5mm thickness so the candy will stick to it.

9. Then stick Malterser and Jaffas candies on the cake in pattern however you like it.

Serves 10-12

Flourless Orange Cake

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:07:40 GMT

Food Photography Workshops

Not only that I made the flourless chocolate cake to spoil the ladies at the Food Photography Workshop in Daylesford, I also whipped up a flourless orange cake for the food styling session. Speaking of workshop, not sure whether you are aware that I will be running Food Photography Workshops in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and also Perth. If you are interested, then you can register here for either beginners or the food styling workshops. So far, we are having a good numbers of people registered in Perth, so is very likely that I will be going to Western Australia for our next workshop! Yay! Now, I know some people hate that And I actually already started looking at venue for the workshop in Perth so I will inform everyone who has registered once we have a venue and date set. So stay tuned.

Culinary Tour to Malaysia 2013

On another news, I am getting very excited about our Culinary Tour to Malaysia in November this year! This time we are very lucky to have Jackie M as our guest chef, can't wait to see her whisking up a few Malaysian specialties in the historic city of Melaka. If cooking, eating and travelling are what you passion about, then I can guarantee you that this will be one of the best food tours you'd have ever experienced. Here I have compiled a little video of our food tour last year, just some snippets of our happy times in Malaysia.

Have You Eaten? Cookbook in US

And last but not least, "Have You Eaten?" cookbook has finally reached the US shore! You should be able to find it in major bookstores and also on Amazon US of course. And don't be alarmed if you find the cover is a little different with a bowl of Assam Laksa instead of my mugshot on the cover, the food cover is actually just a dust jacket and the hard cover inside is exactly the same as the AU version. So yes if you are looking for the book in US, please do look for the cover above. Here is a little nice write up by Grant Butler on The Oregonian about the cookbook!

As for those who lives in UK and Europe, you should be able to find the book in bookstores as well. Alternatively, you can order online at book depository or Amazon UK (only 1 left!)

Okay, back to the cake. This is seriously a fool-proof gluten-free flourless orange cake that everyone should bake it at least once in their lives. I've seen many versions of this cake, one by Gordon Ramsay and another one by Nigella Lawson, but with her naughty style, the flourless cake is lusciously blended in with chocolate. The cake itself is pretty dense and moist, and pretty good on its own to serve with a dollop of clotted cream or creme fraiche. But since we were using the cake for our food styling workshop, so we had to decorate it to make it looked good. It was just a simple spread whipped cream on top and garnished with candied orange slices. If you want to be a little bit more fancier, I probably would have toast some pistachio nuts, chop them up and sprinkle all over.

Now, where's my cup of tea to go with a slice of cake?

Flourless orange cake

2 navel oranges
5 large eggs
250g almond meal
200g caster sugar, plus 110g (33/4 oz/1/2 cup) extra
1 teaspoon baking powder
250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) pure cream (or pouring cream)

Candied orange slice 1 orange
1 cup sugar
water

1. Put oranges in a saucepan and fill enough water to cover them, bring to the boil then lower heat down and simmer for 2 hours until the oranges are soft. Drain and allow to cool, then cut in half, remove the pips and place them in a food processor, blitz them into puree.

2. Put eggs and sugar in a mixing food of a stand mixer, using a whisk attachment, beat the mixture until well combined and sugar has dissolved. Then switch to a pedal attachment, add orange puree and stir on low speed until combine. Add almond meal and baking powder while continue stirring until the mixture is homogenous.

3. Heat the oven to 175 C (374F), line a springform tin with baking paper then pour the mixture into the tin, bake in oven for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake and comes out clean. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from tin and rest it on wire rack until it has cool down completely.

4. To make candied orange, cut orange into thin slices about 3mm thickness. Put them in a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to the boil then drain. Fill the saucepan again with water, bring to boil again. Turn heat down to and let it simmer for 15 minutes or until the orange is tender when tested with a fork, the peel should be a little translucent. Add sugar, stir until sugar has dissolved and let it simmer until the sugar syrup has reduced to a few spoonfuls, about 40 to 60 minutes. Use a fork and carefully remove the orange slices to a baking tray lined with baking paper, keep them separate and let them dry for an hour.

5. Pour cream and the extra caster sugar into a mixing bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Once the cake is completely cool, spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake, then top with candied orange slices.

Reuben Hills - Surry Hills

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:25:52 GMT

I do like Surry Hills and its vibrant community - the mix of students, professionals, gays and hipsters do play their parts to contribute to the exciting food scene here. Restaurants and cafes are abundant, but more importantly if you are a coffee drinker like myself, then you will never have trouble to find a good cup of coffee almost every corner of the street in this suburb. They are not just cafes serving coffees, good coffees need good coffee beans and also good baristas to brew them - and the only way to achieve that is to roast their own beans on the premises. Reuben Hills does exactly that.

Reuben Hills is already packed with office workers and creative types by the time I arrive at 12.20pm, but lucky enough to score the last two seats at the communal table right at the back of the cafe. It does have its advantage to sit at the back with the roller door up, which opens the space out to the laneway that offers a breath of fresh air.

Sadly now I just feel like I have slept with Steve Buscemi, even though he told me his real name was Brad Pitt.

Flat white - 4.00

I order myself a cup of coffee to kill some time while waiting for my lunch date to arrive, but the menu itself is enough to keep me entertained. "Really fucking great what?".... "NOT a reuben?"... and "Doggs breakfast?", these are just a few wacky names on the menu. Yes, there are a couple of "fucking" on the menu enough to make it PG15+ rated.

The flat white costs a little more than the usual $3.50 but they do know their coffee here. The robustness and smooth finish on every sip is well worth every penny. But then, I am also a sucker for a good latte art. If you are serious about coffee, they even offer a weekly public coffee cuppings on Friday at 10am.

Really fucking great Fried Chicken w/ chilli - 16.00

I'd define the menu as an all-day brunch menu with a touch of Mexican flavours which covers light brekky from yogurt, rice pudding to something a little heavier like sandwiches, fried chicken and tacos. I like fried chicken, but when it is boldly stating "Really fucking great Fried Chicken" on the menu, it is crying out loud to be tasted, and tested.

Inside the red plastic serving basket are strips of chicken breast, deep fried in a spicy coating of batter which is more of a soft skin rather than the earth shattering crunch that I was hoping for. Even though the chicken is a little on the greasy side, the overnight marination offers a surprisingly tender and succulent breast meat. Two dipping sauces of chilli mayonnaise and herb & chilli salsa, pickled jalapenos and a squeeze of lime juice instantly offers a Mexican twist to the fried chicken.

It is good, not great; and definitely not "fucking great".

the NOT reuben wagyu salt brisket on rye - 16.00

Next item we share is wagyu salt brisket on rye bread. I refuse to use the word 'reuben', because as the menu suggests, it is NOT reuben. And so, thin slices of slow-cooked wagyu brisket are drenched in pickled slaw that threatens to drip everywhere, I can't really taste the presence of manchego as it says on the menu, horseradish cream is also very subtle, overpowered by the slaw.

Chorizo Grits - 15.00

The most disappointing item that we order is possibly the chorizo grits. From the name itself, we were expecting a puddle of soft grits with slightly charred grilled chorizo on top, but we seriously thought the waitress has brought us the wrong dish as it comes as a bowl of nachos. There are shards of tortilla corn chips dressed in salsa and avocado, as we dig deeper to discover cubes of chorizo buried in black beans mash covered with white queso fresco sauce. So, no grits, but nachos; and we eat it anyway. If it's called nachos, I probably would have considered it as one of the better nachos I've tasted, but sadly now I just feel like I have slept with Steve Buscemi, even though he told me his real name was Brad Pitt.

Reuben Hills 61 Albion St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Sydney

Opening Hours: 7 days 7am - 4pm

Snacking under $10 in Melbourne City

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:52:09 GMT

Lunches under $10 don't have to be dull sandwiches with dry chicken breast meat, plastic cheese and wilted lettuce leaf wrapped in cling film. Similar to Sydney, Melbourne is a culturally diverse city and we are absolutely spoiled for choice when comes to food options. So there are really no excuses to spend the money and not get the most out of it. Accompanied by Phil Lees from Tourism Victoria, I was led through laneways and arcades, and we snacked our way through some of the best eats under $10 this city has to offer, all within walking distance.

Banh Mi - N. Lee Bakery Cafe

Banh Mi needs no introduction, this French influenced Vietnamese baguette sandwich has taken over the world by storm over the past years. Queueing for a good banh mi is not unheard of, and that's exactly what we wanting and willing to do at N. Lee Bakery Cafe on Little Collins Street, along with a horde of lunch goers from the nearby offices. There was quite a production line behind the counter, with 6-7 ladies making banh mi nonstop to orders.

While the Bánh mì xíu mại (pork meatballs roll) tends to be the public choice, our basic original Banh Mi wasn't too shabby either. Even though the filling was a little skimpy, but it was that airy yet crusty blistered baguette itself that makes this bakery on top of his game. While many moan about the 50c inflation that it now costs $6.00 for a Banh Mi, I reckon Melburnians will flip tables and smash windows when they find out it actually costs a whopping $8.00 in Sydney CBD.

N. Lee Bakery Cafe Unit 2, 422 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 6am - 4.30pm
Sat 8.30am - 4pm

Steamed buns - Wonderbao

Maybe is just me, but I feel like singing the theme song of Wonder Woman every time I hear about this place - Wonderbao. Bao, in Chinese literally means 'wrap', which is also used to describe this thousand years old street food from China - a soft steamed bun filled with savoury or sweet fillings inside. But it is undeniably that David Chang of Momofuku was the man who put the traditional open-face Gua Bao on the chart of food trend of this decade.

Wonderbao is well hidden in an arcade where a secret laneway that only the nearby RMIT students would know how and where to find 'em buns! You can either eat it inside the tiny shop with only about six stools along the bar table, or better still, learn your 'Chinese squat' and enjoy the bao on the kerbside outside.

The open-face buns are being the most expensive on the menu at $3.80 each and the cheapest is custard or taro bun at $1.70, you can easily smash a few of these babies without over the $10 budget. While the roast pork belly gua bao is easily a crowd pleaser with fatty slices of roast pork belly (sadly no cracklings) sandwiched with cucumber, pickled carrots, daikon and a sweet hoisin sauce, I absolute adored the traditional flavours of braised pork belly gua bao, with pickled mustard, coriander and crushed peanuts. The vegetarian option of fried silky tofu gua bao might not have that same intense flavours like others, but there is always a bottle of Siracha hot sauce at arm's reach to save the day.

Wonderbao Shop 4/ 19-37 A'Beckett St
(easy access through Literature Lane off Little La Trobe Street)
Melbourne, VIC 3000
(03) 9654 7887

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm
Sat 11am - 4pm

Burger - Mr Burger

And then, we have the food trucks. From movable locations to a semi-permanently stationed spot, Mr Burger now has up to six trucks travelling around Melbourne to get your heart and artery pumping from chasing after a meaty burger. If chasing after food trucks is not your thing, then you can always find them tucked away inside a converted warehouse right across the street from Queen Victoria Market Deli.

The menu is simple, two choices of the classic 'Mr Burger' for $9.00 or 'Mr Meat' with the extra bacon and different sauce for $10, there is also 'Mr Veg' for non-meateaters. The burger comes wrapped in al-foil, sandwiched between soft brioche bun is a juicy beef pattie that actually packed with big flavours. Messy fingers with juices running down both hands was definitely a good sign of a delicious burger being well devoured.

Mr Burger Food Truck Opposite Queen Victoria Market
Off Therry St, North Melbourne. Look for the signs.

Opening Hours
Tue 11am-6pm
Thu-Fri 11am-6pm
Sat-Sun 11am-4pm

Gelati - Gelateria Primavera

Despite its real name is Gelateria Primavera, most Melburnians would refer this place as "that gelato shop at Spring St Grocer" or simply "Grocer". Because once you have tasted their gelati with the most unorthodox and unusual flavours ever churned by the human kind, whatever this shop name is, isn't important anymore. Inside the pozzeti at the counter are some of the weirdest gelati flavours you can imagine. All flavours sound so wrong but seem so right - peach and basil, chilli salted caramel, if papaya, ginger and tangerine is a little tongue twister, then goat's curd with olive jam and rosemary itself is enough to be considered a meal in liquid form!

But it was "that notorious gelato" with a light green hue and a subtle hint of funky aroma that blew me away - behold... the Gorgonzola gelato. Each mouthful made my tastebuds turned upside down, it was a weird sensation of sweetness followed by the salty blue cheese flavour. The blue cheese can be overpowering after a few mouthfuls, a drizzle of acacia honey from Rooftop Honey did wonders by balancing out the flavours with its sweetness.

One thing you need to know about this place is that the gelati menu changes frequently, all depends on what they can lay their hands on. Just choose the weirdest flavour on the menu, pay $6.50 for a medium cup and let your imagination runs wild.

Gelateria Primavera
Spring St. Grocery
157 Spring Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
P: (03) 9639 0335

Opening hours : Mon to Fri 7am - 11pm
Sat & Sun 9am - 11.30pm

[A Table For Two visited Melbourne as a guest of Tourism Victoria]