7 things

I’ve been tagged!

Thanks to Sharmi from Neivedyam, Sunita from Sunita’s World and the Cooking Ninja , I’ve been feeling guilty for the whole weekend, not being able to sleep or eat (!!!) due to the remorse that I’ve been carrying around for procrastinating with this tag.

Ok, maybe it’s not that dramatic (just kidding Ladies!) but it has been at the back of my mind!

Coming up with 7 random things about myself wasn’t easy. I tried to make it as “foody” as I could but you know, the stress and old age, my memory isn’t that good anymore! Oh well, here goes:

1. I’m ethnically Chinese but I can’t speak or read a word of mandarin (apart from a very small handful of characters)! When I was little, I hated the mandarin classes in school as well as the mandarin classes that I had to do after school so I never really put any effort in and made every excuse I could to skip the classes.

I totally regret that now because when I go to Chinese restaurants, I can’t read the Chinese menus and am forced to either order what I already know or go with the boring “foreigner” menus. One day, I’ll properly learn to read mandarin!

2. I was a real tom boy when I was young and would climb trees and run around the neighbourhood with all my boy friends (not boyfriends! I was 7 or 8!). However, the only time I liked playing with soft toys (I never liked dolls!) was when my mum made little pandan cup cakes, filling the house with the most beautiful aroma. I then got to have little tea parties with real tea and pandan cup cakes with my soft toys! MMMmmmmm.

3. I like eating ketchup and plain white rice.

4. I’m a danger in the kitchen. I once burnt rice on an electric stove.
About 10 years ago, I was visiting a friend of my mum’s in Bath and decided to make dinner. I had fish, veggies and rice, everything for a nice meal. The only problem was that I had never cooked rice without a rice cooker before. I ended up putting in too much water in the pot so the rice was very very gluggy. Then once the rice was overcooked, I didn’t take it off the stove, which meant that the electric element, continued to cook the rice…until I started smelling something burning!

So much for my cooking skills! I had just made burnt, dry chuk.

My mum’s friend was very nice however and ate the burnt, soggy rice!

5. Another reason why I’m a danger in the kitchen, I forget that I have things on the stove! I once forgot that I was boiling 2 eggs until I heard 2 loud explosions coming from the kitchen! It was the eggs! The water had dried up and the eggs had exploded from being in the saucepan without any water! Quite dangerous!

6. I love chocolate! I can eat an entire mega long (I think they’re 500g) Milka chocolate slab with whole hazelnuts all at once! Without getting sick…and still wanting more.

7. When I was studying in Québec a long time ago, I cooked seeni sambol (Sri Lankan maldive fish sambal) for 8 friends and it was sooooo hot and spicy that we all had what my cousins and I call, “burny” bums, for the next 2 days ;-)

Only 4 out of those 8 are still friends.

Oh, and my husband obviously didn’t mind as he was also one of the 8!


This tag has been going around the food bloggers in the last week so I’m not sure who has and hasn’t been tagged yet. And I also have to tag 7 people! I don’t have that many friends :-(

Ok, I tag:

Tigerfish from Tezcape
MeltingWok
WanderingChopsticks
Argus
Cynthia from Tastes Like Home
Retno from Kedai Hamburg
Judy from Grandmother Stories


Ps.
Oh, and because I really really slaved over this tag, you all have to do it too ;-)

Yum Yum Sup Sup – continued…

Being a Melbournite, I couldn’t resist listing my Top 5 for Melbourne as well. I’ll make it quick and not bore you with long descriptions. Melbourne is definitely foodie heaven and I apologise if any of these places are now outdated, it’s been a while since I’ve been back!

My Top 5 for Melbourne

1. Pathee Thai, Revolver Upstairs
Reasonably priced scrumptious Thai food in a grungy laid-back setting. You have to climb a very steep staircase and head right to the back of Revolver Upstairs, pushing past the cool rock kids sprawled out on worn-out couches. Dig into spicy Thai food while knocking back a cool Hoegarten (on tap!). Lots of vegetarian options!
229 Chapel Street, Prahran

2. Kimchi
GrandmaRibs, hot steaming dumplings, sizzling spicy octopus, all accompanied by several free side dishes including kimchi, beansprouts, and other little savoury salads. Hidden out in modest Carnegie, this place is worth the trip there!
125 Koornang Road, Carnegie

3. Vegie Bar
As the name suggests, this is an all vegetarian place serving creatively assembled vegetarian dishes, wheat and gluten free cakes (it sounds bland but trust me – YUMMY!) and organic wines (EXTRA YUM), amongst other delicious morsels.
378 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

4. Espy Kitchen
An institution, The Espy in St. Kilda has been a stable watering hole for generations of Melbournites. The Espy Kitchen, while not fine dining, serves up solid pub meals from fish and chips to Asian-inspired dishes. Convenient to grab a bite after several pots of beer!
The Esplanade, St. Kilda

5. 7 Apples
Still in St. Kilda, this gelati/ice-cream takeaway is the perfect spot to grab a cool dessert before strolling down the St. Kilda pier on a warm summer’s evening. Choose from flavours such as the basic vanilla to more exciting options like ferrero rocher and apple pie!
75 Acland Street, St. Kilda

I could keep going on here as well, but like I said, I’ll keep it (relatively) short and sweet!

Yum Yum Sup Sup Paris

I’ve been slack and it’s been a while since I was tagged by Tigerfish. I actually don’t eat out that much either, and when I do, I prefer Asian cuisine to Western cuisine as well.

However regardless of cuisine, I like places that basically have a good ambiance, somewhere where you can feel comfortable, where the service is not threatening (ie. they don’t hover over you constantly or do the complete opposite and snub you off), and the price helps as well.

In a huge urban sprawl like Paris, it’s possible to find food to fit any taste and budget, however, it’s best to avoid the more touristy areas when looking for food as the restaurants and cafés there tend to be out to take your euros without providing you with much substance! There are so many restaurants, cafés and brasseries in Paris that it’s probably possible to eat in a different place everyday for a few years (no, I haven’t tried that yet! Maybe when I win the lotto, and then I still have to think about my weight!).

Either way, you won’t find any expensive numerous-Michelin hat type restaurants in my top 5 favourite Parisian list. I like my comfort eating and my comfort food!

My Top 5 Paris

1. Japanese, Japanese and more Japanese! I love my rice, and the unassuming Kunitoraya serves donburi, deep bowls of round grain rice with a variety of tasty toppings such as katsudon, gyudon and tendon. It’s VERY comfort food. This is just the tip of the iceberg rice bowl. If you feel like soba or udon noodles in a rich broth, you can also choose from a wide selection of dishes such as …… Sit at the counter on the ground floor and watch the sweaty cooks at work or in the white-washed basement which gets extremely warm during summer. Prices lean towards the expensive side (9-13EUR for a main dish) but it’s so worth it!Needless to say, this is a popular place so show up early for lunch or extremely late if you don’t want to wait.
Kunitoraya, 39 rue Sainte-Anne

2. With a well-established Japanese community in Paris, and hordes of Japanese business men passing through, rue Sainte-Anne is well-served with several decent Japanese eateries as well as grocery stores. If you’re still on rue Sainte-Anne and you feel like sushi and sashimi, head to Korin, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-extremely-small-hole-in-the-wall sushi bar with even less seating space (if possible) than Kunitoraya. The nigiri here is superlicious (no, it’s not really a word but YUM just doesn’t cut it), with perfectly bite-sized shaped morsels of fresh firm fish delicately sitting on equally perfectly shaped oval portions of packed rice. As with most Japanese restaurants in Paris, several menus comprising of a soup, a salad and a main dish are available.
Korin, 58bis rue Sainte-Anne

3. Say you’re visiting Paris, doing the tourist thing and want a quick but tasty meal for under 10euros. Well, hopefully you’re in the Marais (4th arrondissement) as that’s where you find L’as du Felafel (The Ace of Falafels). These falafels are served in a pocket pita filled with fried chickpea balls and heaped full of salad and sauces. While there is (very limited) seating space, most people opt for the takeaway which results in super long queues on weekends (not sure what it’s like during weekdays). In the streets as you approach the little eatery, you’ll encounter hordes of people wandering around with their freshly deep-fried falafel in overflowing pita pockets, wrapped in foil, with a little plastic fork stuck in the abundant salad. It’s open late for those after-hours munchies. Just don’t forget the wet wipes and tissues to wipe all that hummus off your cheeks and pants (the sauce drips!).
L’as du falafel, 34 rue des Rosiers

4. What would a Top 5 in Paris be if it didn’t actually include a traditional Parisian brasserie with traditional French dishes such as confit de canard (preserved duck), steak tartar (seasoned raw minced meat), pavé de rumsteak (chunk of grilled steak) and salade de chèvre chaud (hot goats’ cheese salad). One of my favourite Parisian brasseries for both eating and drinking is the extremely well-situated (we lived just around the corner) La Chope Daguerre on the pedestrian rue Daguerre in the 14th arrondissement. With friendly waiters (which can sometimes be rare in Paris) and a nice outdoor terrace, drinking here with friends on hot summer evenings is one of those things that I love about Paris. Foodwise, La Chope Daguerre does great traditional French food, and great patates risolées (little bits of diced golden fried potatoes) that sometimes accompany the dishes. I love the chèvre chaud which is usually accompanied with a sweet honey-based dressing that perfectly offsets the saltiness of the goats’ cheese. YUM.
La Chope Daguerre, 17 rue Daguerre

5. With so much for choice in Paris, it was hard to pick just 5 places so I went for another local-just-around-the-corner choice. I love crêpes both sweet and savoury, also known as galettes (buckwheat crêpes) and had to include this place. You could probably find another Parisian restaurant that does better crêpes, but hidden away on rue Daguerre, with a large open-air terrace and creeping vines on sides of the exterior walls, La Belle Ronde Crêperie is another summer evening favourite. I love the simple galettes which can be filled with a number of combinations of ingredients such as ham, salmon, spinach, goats’ cheese, tuna, mushrooms, various types of cheeses (eg. Gruyere, emmental), onions, tuna, chicken, salami, eggs and a whole lot more that I can’t remember right now. If that’s not healthy enough for you, these galettes come topped with salad. As for the dessert crêpes…don’t even get me started ! Just think of any sweet filling and you could probably get it there. Plus, the best thing about it is that after your buckwheat galette, you feel like you’ve had a pretty healthy meal and therefore can allow yourself a hellishly decadent dessert crêpe with chocolate, chantilly (sweetened whipped cream), ice-cream, rum and strawberries or bananas! NB. Don’t forget the cider with your meal!
La belle ronde crêperie, 19, Rue Daguerre

I could go on and on but I’m just making myself hungry and homesick for Paris! Where ever you are, don’t hesitate to share your favourite local haunts!

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the state and country you’re in.
   
   Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
   velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
   LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
   eastcoastlife (East Coast, Singapore)
   Tigerfish of Teczcape (California, USA)
   WokandSpoon (Paris, France…or Frankfurt, Germany)
   
   
2. List your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.
   
   
3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) ..and let them know they’ve been tagged
   
   I’d like to tag (no pressure guys!):
   
   Flog&Rosbif
   I’ve been to Lille but I never know what else to eat apart from moules frites!
   
   thebuddingcook (California (I think), USA)
   Having been to California and absolutely loved it, I want to go back! In fact, I liked the US in general, nice people and huge meal portions!)
   
   Lia from Spices Corner (Abu Dhabi, Emirates)
   I’ve never been to the Middle East!
   
   Lily from Lily's Wai Sek Hong (Denver, USA)
   I’d love to visit Denver, especially in the winter. I’m guessing it’s not just cowboys and rodeos!
   
   Sharmi from neivedyam (somewhere in the USA)
   Like I said, I love the US!

Anyone else, feel free to share as well, just let me know so that I can drool over your top 5 as well!