Shinji by Kanesaka at Raffles Hotel

There are some restaurants that are so established, they really do not need additional plugs. And then there are those that are so established but inspire so much enthusiasm that the plugs just keep on coming. Shinji by Kanesaka at the Raffles Hotel belongs to the latter group.

To celebrate my thirtieth birthday, Ed secretly arranged a dinner at Shinji. I had just returned from Shanghai that afternoon, where the meals were heavy and mostly inundated with chilli oil. To be honest, I was looking forward to a simple and light dinner. So when Ed said that we had a dinner appointment he had arranged, I almost begged him to cancel it so that we could have something my body and palate would find more agreeable. He eventually managed to convince me to stick with the plan. Thankfully, he did.

The counter seats allowed us a full view of the chefs' deft execution. The chef, Kenji, who attended to us was most hospitable, making us feel at ease from the moment we took our seats. To start off the meal, we had a bowl of salmon roe marinated in a light yuzu dressing. It was so fresh and had such incredible balance of flavours - just the right amount of citrus notes from the yuzu to highlight the saltiness of the roe. That was enough for me to decide that we should not wait too long to return to Shinji.

The salmon roe was only the start of a multi-course meal featuring a mixture of sashimi, cooked items, sushi and fruit. There were many memorable flavours, such as the spanish mackerel nigiri sushi with finely shredded shiso leaf, and the uni rice with minced tuna belly and salmon roe (yay! more!). Ed couldn't can't seem to stop raving about the sushi rice. But perhaps one of the most surprising was the tuna cheek. Growing up, my parents always reserved the fish cheeks for my brother and I because they were deemed the best part of the fish - soft and flaky. But that barely prepared me for the richness of the tuna cheek that was as buttery and rich as Otoro. This was probably my favourite dish of the night.

The steamed abalone was a close second though. I have a soft spot for abalone, which may explain why Ed decided to make abalone porridge for my birthday last year. When we do spoil ourselves with the occasional can of abalone, we usually eat it straight from the can, thinly sliced and with a squeeze of lemon. Needless to say, this version at Shinji was far superior.  The 8 hour-long steaming not only preserved all its flavour, but also made it incredibly soft to the bite.

 Clockwise from bottom right: Steamed abalone, mantis shrimp, 

grilled snapper sashimi, assortment of vegetables in dashi stock

Ed and I were particularly appreciative of the fact that the place was not fussy about decorum. Towards the end of our meal, the chefs even surprised us by donning traditional japanese face masks and singing a birthday song. The entire experience was centred around the food and our comfort. Again, I am really thankful Ed managed to convince me to stick with his plan. Next time, there will not be much convincing required.

Prawn Briyani

Ed and I are pescetarian...ish. This was a recent development after our Grand Aussie Tour, so we've had to explain the reason for this switch many times in the last few months. This explanation usually follows a meek, almost reluctant request for more pescetarian-friendly dishes to be ordered. And it always starts with The Time We Went To The Petting Farm. To cut the long story short, we find them too precious to demand that their lives be given up just to satisfy our wants. 

That being said, we are pescetarian-ISH, which means we try not to be too strict with our diet if it is inconvenient. At communal meals, we eat only the seafood and vegetables, unless there is leftover meat. It is one thing not to want to take life, but quite another to waste it once it has been taken. 

With this new diet though, our options are definitely more limited. For Ed, who possibly loves Indian cuisine more than any other cuisine, it means not being able to eat his favourite briyani because it is usually available only with chicken, mutton or beef. Personally, I am barely affected because my perfect Indian meal is simply a vegetable set (i.e. free flow white rice and the two vegetables of the day) with a side of sotong (aka squid) in black sauce. If I'm feeling particularly hungry, I'd add a fish cutlet. And as I like my vegetables light, crunchy and not drenched in a heavy sauce (as is usually the case in Northern Indian cuisine), I have a particularly soft spot for Karu's Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant along Upper Bukit Timah Road. I think they probably realised that their free flow cabbage was getting such a following that it should always be one of the two vegetables of the day, which is a little ironic but I'm not complaining. That was a slight digression, but I couldn't help inserting a plug for Karu's. 

Anyway, given how this new diet has prevented Ed from getting the full Indian experience, I'm sure you can imagine how incredibly excited and pleased he was when he chanced on a recipe for Prawn Briyani. We were doing some quiet reading in bed when he startled me with his sudden exclamation, and promptly saved the recipe onto my iPad for me lest I forget.

It looked delicious, so I surprised Ed with it one night when he returned home after a night class. To be fair, the recipe was really easy. The only time-consuming part was possibly peeling and de-veining the prawns. But seeing Ed's face morph as he realised what a treat I had prepared for 'supper' (at 1030pm, yeah I know, really bad habit), made that little effort absolutely worth it. 

One of the tweaks I made to the recipe, as suggested by Ed, was to make a quick prawn stock from the prawn shells to cook the rice in. (This suggestion almost brought me to tears! Oh how far my dear sous chef has come from those days when the only method of cooking he was familiar with was boiling [insert blank] in plain water.) That might explain why the briyani I made turned out much deeper in colour than the one in the original recipe. Considering how little stock I needed to cook just 1.5 cups of rice, I had to boil down the stock so it became incredibly concentrated and full of flavour. The other tweak was to simply use a fish curry powder in place of the tumeric powder, which I had just run out of. And because I used chilli padi in the paste for the prawns, I figured the meal wouldn't be complete without a cool cucumber recipe. The author provided a kachumber recipe, but I kept it simple by mixing diced cucumber with mint, finely diced shallots, and adding some vinegar and salt to taste. It provided a much needed refreshing contrast to the heat and spice in the Prawn Briyani. This combination of recipes is definitely a keeper, and even seems like something I can prepare in larger quantities quite easily! A huge plus when thinking of what to bring to your next potluck, perhaps?

Prawn BriyaniServes 2-3 Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rice (basmati preferred)500 grams large prawns, shelled and de-veined (reserve the shells, including heads)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon fish curry powder

1/4 cup packed with chopped coriander

1/2 - 2 chilli padi, depending on your tolerance for heat

1 piece of ginger, about 3cm long

3 cloves of garlic

5 tbsps of oil

1 medium-sized shallot, chopped

1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

1/2 cinnamon stick

30 grams butter

1/4 tsp whole cloves

5-6 whole green cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

1 sprig of mint, chopped

water

Method 

For prawn stock:

Over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp of oil in a medium-sized saucepan that can accommodate all the prawn shells. 

Add prawn shells and fry until the shells turn red. 

Add enough water to cover the the shells and turn down to low heat as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

For rest: 

Add the salt and fish curry powder to the prawns and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Using a food process, blend the peeled ginger and garlic, and coriander and chilli until it forms a paste. Add a little oil if the paste is too dry and needs some help to be processed into a smoother paste.

Heat 3 tbsps of oil on medium heat in a small saucepan.

Add peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and 1/2 bay leaf. Fry until fragrant, approximately 2-3 minutes.

Add chopped onion and fry until light brown, stirring constantly. 

Add half the paste and fry for another minute until fragrant.

Add prawn stock and bring to a boil. 

Simmer until you have just enough prawn stock to cook the rice as you normally would. But err on the side of adding less water as briyani is usually more dry. 

Wash the rice and use the prawn stock in place of water to cook the rice as you normally would.

Add butter, mint and 1/2 tsp salt before cooking the rice. 

Just before it is time to serve the dish:

Over high heat, heat 2 tbsps of oil in a frying pan large enough to accommodate the prawns and still have some space between prawns so that the prawns don't end up steaming. 

Add the remaining paste to the frying pan along with the rest of the bay leaf. Fry until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the prawns and fry until they just turn pink all round, about 3-5 minutes. 

To serve, top a generous helping of rice with the prawns and serve with a cucumber salad. 

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Cool Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced

5 mint leaves, chopped finely

1 small shallot or 1/2 medium-sized shallot, peeled and finely diced

1 tbsp white vinegar

Salt

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and add salt to taste.

The Best Way to Cook Cauliflower

I first tasted this revelation at Artichoke, a Middle Eastern cafe and bar which serves hearty and comforting food. It was at a wedding celebration of two of our closest, smartest, grounded, unfussy and kindest friends. 

Approaching the buffet spread, my eyes actually glazed over the Roasted Cauliflower. They looked like knobbly brown and white bits. Without any garnishing, they certainly looked pretty plain. It wasn't until Ed told me how fantastic the Roasted Cauliflower was that I discovered how delicious those little knobs were. They tasted almost meaty! 

Being a very hardy vegetable which keeps up to a week in the refrigerator, I often reach out for it while grocery shopping. Having something that can be pulled from the refrigerator and placed on the table in half an hour is incredibly handy for nights when we're up late and feeling peckish.

The preparation is so simple that it feels almost silly having a recipe at all... so I shall have none. I simply tossed the raw, chopped up cauliflower in a generous amount of olive oil, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I serve it warm after roasting it in the oven at 200 degrees celcius for 20 - 30 minutes, or until it has nice brown edges. 

Hokkaido Milk Bread with Vanilla Condensed Milk

When I was writing the previous post on Cilantro Flatbread, I lamented how long it took to bake regular bread. But as I was typing the post, it crossed my mind that I should really exploit all the free time I finally have on hand to attempt the holy grail of baking (to me).  

While the thought was just lingering at the back of my mind, a newsletter from food52.com popped up in my email inbox with a recipe for Hokkaido Milk Bread. The name brought forward images of white fluffy pillows with a sweetness I could almost already taste. And I knew I had to make it. 

The recipe made reference to 'Christine's Recipes' but had some distinct differences, like the proportion of ingredients and the use of softened butter instead of melted butter. The adapted recipe seemed less fussy as well, recommending an overnight proofing in the fridge to split the work into two parts. Having lent my Kitchenaid to my sister-in-law for a bit, I had to knead the dough by hand and was therefore glad to continue the next day. 

The outcome was very rewarding, and probably a little more dense and chewy than the original recipe intended. It was really, really delicious. Since I split the dough into four separate mini-loaf tins, I had to exercise immense self-restraint to NOT bake (and immediately devour) every single bundle of dough. I even dug into the depths of my generosity and shared some with a couple of friends I met for tea today. And in the spirit of experimentation, I even have one tin in the freezer waiting to be tested in the oven in a couple of days' time. 

While these could have been eaten neat, I happily paired it with my other new found fetish - homemade condensed milk. Who would have thought it would be so simple (just three ingredients! although it does require two hours of slow simmering), and so much more delicious than the canned version? Tasting the condensed milk for the first time was like tasting homemade marshmallows for the first time - the processed and readily available version was the only version I grew up eating and already tasted pretty darn good to me, but the homemade version was so much more nuanced in its flavours and won my heart very quickly. It made perfect sense that anyone would fiddle around with a very troublesome and sticky egg white and sugar mixture than just make a quick run to the supermarket for their marshmallows. Given how simple it is to make condensed milk - no special equipment needed either! - it makes all the more sense to give up the canned stuff and stick to only homemade condensed milk in future.

I use the recipe from this gorgeous looking food blog, but used half a vanilla bean in place of the quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract. I'm not sure what the equivalent would have been (nothing on the internet seems to be able to authoritatively recommend a substitution ratio either), but I would use the same ratio if when I make it again in future. 

It has been a while since I felt this ripple of pride in something I've made. It has even gotten me excited about waking up earlier to have breakfast!  

Click here for the very detailed milk bread recipe.

Vanilla Condensed Milk

Makes 1.5 cups of condensed milk

Ingredients

3 cups full cream milk

1 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean 

Method

Mix milk to sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. 

Split the vanilla bean into two, lengthwise. Using the back of your knife, scrape the seeds from the pod and add to the saucepan. * 

Stir gently until the milk comes to a boil, then turn down the heat to low.

Simmer the mixture for two hours, or until the mixture has halved.  

Pour the milk through a sieve, into a sterilised glass container and let cool to room temperature. 

Keep in the fridge and try to keep your hands from it.

*You may also add the pod into the mixture if you like, but I usually throw mine into an existing bottle of rum stuffed with other empty vanilla pods for my personal bottle of ever-intensifying vanilla extract.

Crazy about Pasta, Tomatoes and Anchovies

I've been cooking pasta quite frequently for lunch because it is a quick and easy dish to prepare, allows me to use up leftover bits of ingredients lurking in the fridge, and since I discovered the wonders of anchovies. I can't seem to resist buying pasta every time I walk down the pasta aisle, especially since the variety available in the supermarket has really grown over the years. So this recent pasta phase has proven useful in clearing the many stashes of dried pasta that have been accumulating across the kitchen. 

Along with buying too much pasta, I usually obsess over making sure I have at least a couple of cans of diced tomatoes in the kitchen. Ed knows my obsession very well and knows better than to stand between me and a shelf full of canned tomatoes ON SALE. I can't help it that they are so incredibly handy to have around for last minute pasta sauces or late night gazpachos. But I do admit that it is ridiculous to have anxiety attacks over whether I need to replenish my stock. I think my all-time high must be 6 cans of tomatoes... just hanging around. I fear my latest anchovy phase might join the ranks of canned tomatoes. 

But they really are just. so. incredible. I add only just enough to get the umami kick and this almost imperceptible layer of flavour that leaves people wondering and wanting more. It is like I have finally discovered the magic ingredient (that is not msg) to bring my pasta dishes up one notch. 

Inspired by the amazing mushroom pesto pasta I had in Perth, I concocted something similar from white button mushrooms, hand-chopped cilantro and parsley, mixed with minced garlic, a generous dollop of tahini, and some anchovies of course. I also added some minced beef to the mix for the protein. This was delicious, especially with a heavy-handed scatter of parmesan. 

It also kept surprisingly well in the fridge. The next day, I just added a little more olive oil and some water, reheated it over the stove and added some chilli for a good spicy kick. (Pictured below) I reckon it tasted even better than the day before! Overnight pasta usually gets too soft and even mushy, but the Bavette held up superbly. (Another reason to stock up?)

Unsurprisingly, I also made a tomato-based pasta. I combined just a few simple ingredients - minced pork, anchovies, canned tomatoes and parsley. A deceptively basic dish that was so good I could eat the sauce on its own. 

The many dishes one can come up with, with just those few staples is endless! Okay, maybe not endless, but surely plentiful. And then today, fate led me to this recipe for a Chinese Sausage Carbonara aka Lap Cheong Carbonara. Maybe lap cheong will be my new fetish? 

Cilantro flatbread

I love the idea of making bread, I really do. The image of a smooth ball of dough slowly rising in the oven, and eventually splitting apart to unearth more doughy goodness... is very alluring. 

But almost all bread recipes require a fair amount of forward planning. By that I mean you have to start hours in advance so that the dough has enough time to relax and grow. Skipping this step would be disastrous as the yeast needs time to work its magic, creating many tiny little pockets of air. 

Then comes flatbread to the rescue. A work of art that delivers all the starchy deliciousness you are looking for, but which can be done in under half an hour.

And since I often have all the ingredients necessary, these can be made even for a quick supper - delicious with tzatziki or hummus. This is so easy I actually look forward to making it. And I give this many bonus points because Ed always asks for seconds when I make this. 

Cilantro Flatbread

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Makes 8 flatbreads

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup (or more) plain whole-milk yogurt

Olive oil (for frying)

Method

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Stir in cilantro. Add yogurt and stir with fork until small clumps form. Knead mixture in bowl just until dough holds together, adding more flour or yogurt by tablespoonfuls for soft and slightly sticky dough. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead just until smooth, adding flour along the way if the dough is too sticky, about 1 minute. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into ball, then roll each dough piece out on floured surface to 4 1/2-inch round. Brush large nonstick skillet generously with olive oil; heat over medium heat. Working in batches, add 3 dough rounds to skillet; cook until golden brown and puffed, adjusting heat to medium-high as needed to brown evenly, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer flatbreads to platter; serve warm.

Tomato Anchovy Pasta

Talk to any Chinese home cook, and chances are that they will admit to having cooked a noodle soup dish to finish up leftover bits of ingredients in their refrigerator. Like fishballs, tofu, bits of mince meat, or limp and almost yellowing vegetables. I am no exception. This was a useful skill I picked up from my mum and frequently practised in my university days. 

Ed is very (sensibly) particular about not wasting food and gives me plenty of grief when he sees me throwing away anything from the refrigerator. Not that he would stop me - moldy anything is impossible to salvage - but a brief lecture would usually follow. Sometimes I resort to throwing it away secretly and hope he never notices. That works... sometimes. 

It does not help that I love cooking a variety of cuisines. This means that while I have a few lady's fingers and tomatoes left over from the Indian fish head curry dish I made the day before, I also have a few stalks of italian parsley (from making a Spanish octopus salad) or dried shrimp (from the Peranakan rempah udang last week). It would require a really creative person to come up with a dish that can combine all of them. Alas, I am no such person, but I do my best. 

This is where pasta - the Italian equivalent of the Chinese noodle - comes in. While thinking about what to cook for lunch today, I rummaged through my refrigerator for some inspiration and found a small tin of anchovy fillets - a tin I had originally intended to use on some pizza one day. A day which never came about. Combining it with the few lonely stalks of italian parsley and half box of cherry tomatoes seemed like a delicious flavour profile for a pasta dish, and it was!

I had never cooked anchovy fillets over direct heat before, since I always eat mine grilled whole on pizza, or neat if they are simply pickled instead of cured. (I really adore pickled anchovy, which can usually be found near the deli section of supermarkets. I'm salivating just thinking of it now.) So I didn't expect the cured anchovy fillets to melt into the sauce, but it made for an incredibly delicious sauce packed with the tang from the tomatoes and salty fermented flavour from the anchovy. I was very pleasantly surprised by how well all the ingredients came together, and will definitely make this again. 

Tomato Anchovy Pasta

serves two

Ingredients

160g dried short pasta 
(I used a mixture of casarecce and fusilli, both of which had similar cooking times.)

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
A 55g tin of cured anchovy
200g cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
A tablespoon of chopped italian parsley (or more, if you wish)

Method
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente, keeping some of the pasta water. (Be generous with the salt. I use 1.5 teaspoons for every litre of water.)

While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add sliced garlic - it should sizzle gently the moment the garlic hits the oil.  
When the edges of the garlic are turning brown, add anchovy fillets. Feel free to mash it up. When the anchovy fillets are starting to break apart, add cherry tomatoes and stir to combine. 

When cherry tomatoes have softened slightly (they should still be able to hold their shape and yield slightly to pressure), turn down the heat to low, add drained al dente pasta to the saucepan and toss until pasta is well coated in the sauce. Add reserved pasta water if necessary i.e. if the pasta seems a little dry. 

Garnish with italian parsley and serve warm. 

Rempah Udang

Since getting home from our two month escapade, I've been cooking far more often than when I had a regular job - double the joy there. It is truly blissful to feel inspired to cook fish head curry simply after seeing a really handsome piece of fish head, AND have the luxury of time to do it that very day. Or to be able to take all afternoon making prawn mee even though a good bowl is just a few minutes away. 

Since I left my job, many have asked me how I have been occupying myself. I suppose this curiosity is natural, since I used to spend a good 50 - 60 hours a week at work. The best part of having all that time is that I now have the time and energy to reconnect with old friends, and deepen relationships with people who matter. How better to start than with my own family. 

One of the items on my to-do list, crafted when I was still in Australia, was to finally attempt Rempah Udang. Spending an entire afternoon doing that with my mother was exactly how I envisioned my first foray into Rempah Udang to go. 

Using my trusty go-to Peranakan cookbook by Philip Chia, we mixed, chopped, pounded, steamed, fried, and rolled our way to many irregularly shaped and sized banana leaf parcels of glutinous rice and dried shrimp deliciousness. It was also a great learning process for my mum and I as we got better with each new parcel we created. We found it a real challenge to ensure there was just the right amount of glutinous rice (read: not too much)  and dried shrimp (read: as much as possible), while still ensuring the shrimp was fully encased in the glutinous rice. We might need a few more rounds to nail this, but it was certainly good enough to give away to friends and family. But the best part of it all really, was spending all afternoon in the kitchen with my mum, the way we used to do when I was just a wee girl helping her prepare the Saturday dinner. 

Rempah Udang

Makes about 30 parcels

(Recipe from Peranakan Heritage Cooking, comments in italics mine)

Ingredients

Banana leaves as needed 

(I bought $1 worth and it was more than enough)

Dried bunga telang

(These are flowers to dye the glutinous rice blue, but they are more for its aesthetic value. I omitted them since they are quite difficult, but not impossible, to find.)

Water as needed

600g white glutinous rice, soaked for 4 hours

250ml coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon salt

60 bamboo cocktail sticks

200g dried shrimp, rinsed and drained

4cm bulbous end of lemongrass

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

200g shallots, peeled

2cm knob of tumeric, peeled (or 1 tsp ground tumeric)

2 tablespoon cooking oil

2-3 tablespoons dried chilli paste (see recipe below)

100g grated skinned coconut

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon sugar

Method

Wipe banana leaves clean, scald in hot water or over an open flame to soften the leaves and prevent them from tearing when folded. Cut to obtain about 30 square sheets, each at least 9cm x 9cm. (You may want to cut them only when you are rolling them, so that you can adjust the size of each sheet to your preference.)

Place dried bunga telang in a bowl with 100ml of water. Leave to soak for about 15 minutes or longer if you want a deeper blue. Strain to obtain water for colouring. 

Rinse and strain the glutinous rice. Place on a steaming tray. Mix coconut milk with 50ml of water and salt. (The recipe called for 100ml of water, but the glutinous rice was more stodgy than I would have liked it.) Pour over glutinous rice. Using a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of blue colouring randomly on rice to colour it in patches.

Steam rice for about 45 minutes or until rice is tender and cooked. Set aside to cool. While rice is cooling, prepare filling.

Heat a wok and dry-fry dried shrimp until fragrant. Leave to cool, then grind until fine using a mortar and pestle or blender. 

Using a mortar and pestle or blender, grind lemongrass, garlic, shallots and tumeric into a paste. (For all my pounding needs, the Ultrapride does a fine job.)

Heat oil in a wok and add ground mixture and dried chilli paste. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add ground dried shrimp and grated coconut. Stir-fry until golden brown. Add salt and sugar.

To make parcels, spoon 2 tablespoons of cooked glutinous rice on a banana leaf square and press it down lightly. Spoon enough filling in a line along the middle of the rice, then roll banana leaf up neatly to get a cylindrical parcel. Secure open ends with cocktail sticks. Repeat until ingredients are used up. 

Grill parcels for 1-2 minutes or until leaves are lightly browned just before serving.

(For chilli paste: soak dried chillies in hot water for 30-45 minutes, drain well and grind finely into a paste.)

The Grand Aussie Tour

With some (okay, a lot) of time on our hands, Ed and I thought we would take a not-so-short trip to unwind, recharge and reflect. We contemplated numerous options - we ruled out Europe since we'll be heading in that direction next year for some work; we considered Alaska but got freaked out when we read that we'd have difficulty booking accommodation and especially renting a car if we hadn't already done so at least three months in advance; and we would have done a Grand South-East Asia trip if our friends did not remind us that we could always visit various parts of our neighbouring countries over many short trips given how accessible they were from Singapore. 

After much contemplation, and fighting our inner desire to go to the less travelled path, we chose Australia. Neither of us had been there much in our adult years. We thought we had plenty of time, but it turns out the two months was just enough to scrape the surface of the huge and beautiful country. We went there with certain expectations but had them surpassed and lapped, and achieved more than what we thought we would.

There are plenty of guide books and internet resources for places to spend the night in, things to see and food to eat in Australia. We found ourselves visiting Urbanspoon very often when deciding where to eat (nearby) for crowd-sourced reviews and ratings, and were recommended Beanhunter for the coffee-joint equivalent. They gave more up-to-date information such as the opening/closing hours or whether the standard of the food dropped. 

There were still a few things that really stood out to us. These were places we would certain return to in future when we visit Australia again. 

Perth - City

Eat: The Mushroom Pesto Papardelle at Cantina 663 (663 Beaufort Street) was sublime. It was packed full of flavour from the generous serving of mushrooms and pesto, which had plenty of flat-leaf parsley (one of my favourite herbs). I licked the plate clean. It helped that the restaurant had a really cool, laid-back vibe. We saw lots of pate going to other tables, which we would probably have ordered if the portion was not so gigantic. But what a happy problem.

Adelaide - Kangaroo Island and Barossa Valley

Clockwise from top left: Koala at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, Snake skin and Kookaburra at Radical Raptors, and Seals at Seal Bay Conservation Park

See: Kangaroo Island isn't teaming with kangaroos but there are plenty of wildlife to occupy your time. Just a short 45 minute ferry ride away from a jetty south of the city, it was definitely worth a journey down. 

Eat: There's something particularly gamey about the pork in Australia that made us avoid it. But when we were told that the pork belly at Cafe Y (Barossa Valley) was wood-fired and cooked over two days, Ed was intrigued and ordered it. I'm so glad he did because it was divinely tender with a delicately sweet glaze, and none of that gaminess. The manager, Elias, was also beyond hospitable and entertained us with stories of the resident geese and chicken. He also recommended getting some of the 20 year-old muscat from the Yaldara Estate just next door. We couldn't be happier with our purchase.

Melbourne - Phillip Island

See and Eat: Having had very little luck in previous fishing trips, we were slightly hesitant about going fishing for trout albeit at a farm (Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker Farm). But they couldn't have made it easier with their indoor pond. We succumbed to the indoor experience after braving the winds (since this was in winter) for about half an hour with nary a bite. They helped with everything, even casting the line which was easier said than done. We couldn't even hook the live bait of earthworms! Overall, the experience was seamless, and the fish tasted incredibly sweet. But I couldn't help thinking how unlucky those two specific trout were that morning. 

Tasmania - Hobart and Launceston

Eat: On our first night in Tasmania, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal at Garagistes. We were incredibly fortunate to have entered early as the restaurant was almost fully booked. Sitting at the bar, we had a great view of the entire food preparation area. We could fully appreciate the precision required in the plating of each dish, and the effort put into ensuring the flavour of each component of the dish was exactly as intended. The service staff were also particularly attentive and hospitable.

See: The photo says it all. Just a short car ride away from the town, a breathtaking view awaits. If you're lucky, you may even see snow!

Stay: Relbia Lodge was a lucky find. While we usually stayed in the heart of town, I decided to take a risk with Relbia Lodge after seeing the stunning photos on their website. It turned out to be just a relaxing 15 minute relaxing drive away from town and a really stunning piece of property. The interior was very tastefully done and more importantly, had an incredibly well-equipped kitchenette. Our hosts, who stayed just up the road, also made sure we were comfortable while still respecting our privacy. 

Sydney

See: The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) is hard to miss amidst all the tall and cold buildings. It was such a great respite from the noise and rush of the streets; and a treasure trove of cafes and boutiques to browse at your own pace. The detail in the architecture is also worth a few moments of awe.  

Eat: With an incredibly high rating on Urbanspoon, and just a hop and a skip away from where we stayed, Buffalo Dining Club was an easy decision to make. We ordered their gnocchi and cacio e pepe. Both were flawless and left us both full but wanting more. This was definitely a place I would return to, despite the slightly curt service. 
We definitely enjoyed our time in Australia thoroughly, but after two months away from home and our two lovely cats, we were eager to stop living out of a luggage. And now we're home, and I could not be happier.  

Brain Broth

The actual name of the recipe is 'Brain-Boosting Broth', and I wouldn't have chanced upon it if I did not end up with much more fennel than two people could consume (courtesy of my mum who got an incredible deal at Pasar Bella).

Wanting to find a way to use up more fennel (there was only so much fennel salad we could eat in a week), I went to my usual trusty source - Epicurious. The recipe looked simple enough, so I used the largest cast iron pot I had and set to work. It smelt and tasted delicious - the sweetness from the vegetables, warmth from the fennel and earthiness from all the herbs came together very well. I used it as a base for a risotto on one night and froze the leftover. 

When Ed was feeling peckish this weekend, I made a pasta soup out of it and added some diced green peppers and fresh dill. Good for the body, good for the brain. Also good for the wallet. 

Brain-Boosting Broth

Ingredients

8 quarts water

3 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 white onions, coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 bulbs fennel, coarsely chopped

1 parsnip, coarsely chopped

12 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

Stems from 1/2 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 bunch green onions, green and white parts

1 stalk fresh lemongrass, cut in half lengthwise

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 cloves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn down the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours.

Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve. Use immediately, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Deconstructed Chocolate Ice Cream

Ed had been sick the past week and was ordered by the doctor to rest at home. In need of a perk-me-up after a miserable lunch of instant noodles (albeit two packets worth), he rummaged through the refrigerator and found some Chocolate Sorbet I made using a recipe from David Lebovitz, as well as a packet of Hokkaido milk we bought on a whim because we were curious about its taste (and whether it was worth its cost). Thinking of an affogato, I suppose, he combined both and voila - Deconstructed Chocolate Ice Cream. He excitedly shared this bit of news with me while I was buried in emails at work and I couldn't wait to try it when I returned. 

It was indeed delicious down to the very last drop of chocolate milk it ended up in. Although I'm not sure if the Hokkaido milk made much of a difference. I think some full cream milk would work just as well. 

Deconstructed Chocolate Milk

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water

1 cup (200 g) sugar

3/4 cups (75 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Full cream milk

Method

1. In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk for 45 seconds.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it's melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.
3. To serve, scoop as much chocolate sorbet into a glass, and pour as much milk as you like. (I find the ratio of 2:1 of chocolate sorbet:milk works well.)