Coffee on a rainy Saturday - The Coffee Club

Although it was raining and stormy this morning (which is Saturday), I still had to get up early for a group meeting at Uni...which is sad...but anw, after all the hard work, we (me and my group partner) decided to have a quick lunchtime at The Coffee Club in Macquarie Shopping Center. Just a few steps away from the campus, getting cozy and chit chat away, shouldn't be better!

There weren't too many people when we arrived, although it was lunch time. I got myself a Cappuccino with a Smoked Salmon & Light Cream Cheese sandwich. The sandwich was quite good, very fresh ingredients with good seasoning. However, the coffee wasn't up to my expectation. It tastes bland, despite its nice presentation.

My friend chose Hot Mocha and one slice of lemon cheesecake. I tried the cake and loved it! The sourness of lemon curd lifted up the creaminess of the cheese. A brilliant choice to have with coffee! However, again, the mocha wasn't that good compared to the cake. It's weird, since I know that The Coffee Club has good food, but since it's named as 'coffee', the coffee should be up to some standard, shouldn't it? And it wasn't cheap...but it might be because of the franchise?!

p.s. we couldn't wait to tuck into the food, so sorry for not taking photos of them this time. But they taste good, seriously!

Thai cuisine at Satang Thai

Since I have friends who are also enthusiastic foodies, we are really keen on trying out different cuisines. This time, the theme's Thai food. There are so many good Thai restaurants around Sydney: Chat Thai, Sailors Thai (previously called Oy), Spice I Am, Yok Yor, just to name some! Luckily enough because one of my friends is from Thailand, so we got great food guide from him!

We went to Satang Thai Exclusive in Central (Sydney) for a quick dinner before heading to Event Cinema. In fact, Satang Thai actually has 2 different stores - one sells takeaway food (called Satang Thai Takeaway) and another one is the Exclusive. They're on the same street!

It was Thursday night and the restaurant was packed. We had to queue up for about 15 minutes. We got eight people and decided to have all kind of meat (e.g. pork, chicken, beef, duck) and also seafood! My friend made some suggestions and we were more than happy to try on those. 

The food arrived shortly (about within 15 minutes). They were served with steamed jasmine rice. Our first dish was Yum Neua - the beef salad with spicy sour dressing. The crispiness of the veggie and tenderness of the marinated beef make a good combination. However, nothing special, to be honest...

The main dishes came at once. We got Sweet chilli fish, Panang - Chicken Curry, Chilli Duck and Keang Som Cha Om - a kind of soup. Thai food's quite spicy and salty (that's why you usually eat them with jasmine rice) so you should prepare! 

The sweet chilli fish is quite tasty! The fish is deep-fried to golden and drizzled with Thai sweet chilli sauce, garnished with baby sprout and carrot. The skin is really crispy while the fish is still moist and tender. I can taste the saltiness of fish sauce, the sourness, sweetness and a hint of spices in the sauce. 

The Panang - Chicken curry is my favorite dish of the night! The chicken is so moist, soaked in creamy, smooth, nutty curry sauce. Everything is so well-seasoned! I just love it! 

Chilli duck is another great dish at Satang Thai Exclusive. It's stir fried duck with Thai chilli sauce and fried Thai basil leaves. The dish looks so appealing and we couldn't wait to tuck in! I especially love the deep fried basil leaves! So creative and yummy! And look pretty on the plate too. 

We also ordered a soup for the meal. It's called Keang Som Cha Om. The soup is quite spicy and hot (we were warned at first), containing egg cake, prawn and mixed veggies. I didn't enjoy it much since I can't have too spicy-hot food. I prefer my mom's veggie soup instead (lolz)

The whole meal costs us around $100 (for 8 people). Looking at the generous amount of those dishes, it's quite cheap actually! Not a fancy, fine dining Thai restaurant  for special occasion, but a good idea for weekday dinner with friends or family. 

Satang Thai Exclusive 

Address: 204/107 - 121 Quay Street, Haymarket, NSW

Phone: (02) 9212 5885

Mochi - Japanese rice cake

According to Wiki (this's just a personal blog, so I guess it's ok to use wiki info haha), Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice (not to be confused with gluten) pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, Mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time. Similar snacks are prominent in Hawaii, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

Hmm...talking bout the taste of Mochi...it's hard to describe. It tastes quite bland at first, but then, when you get the taste of the filling, it sweetens thing up. Mochi has a weird texture, delicious and kind of gummy and odd. But, they are delicious! Trust me! And they also look so cute. 

Here are some photos of the 'real' Japanese Mochi that I got from the Internet. 

You can buy Mochi from most of any Asian grocery shops in Sydney (I see so many of them in Chatswood, China Town, Eastwood, Bankstown, just to name some). However, I do not really like the taste of those, quite too sweet for my palate. And then, I started looking around the Internet and found this super easy, simple but tastes delicious recipe. Was successful after the first attempt - which is unnormal to me! So I'd like to share with you. All you need is some basic ingredients (that you can find at any Asian grocery shops around the town) and a mixing bowl, a rolling pin, plus a steamer! 

This is my home-made Pandan Mochi with green/mung bean filling

Ingredients

• 300 glutinous rice flour
• 60g rice flour
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (optional), can substitute with 1/2 cup milk
• 200ml hot water
• 3tbsp sugar (optional)
• 160ml evaporated milk (optional, if not using, add more water to the mixture)
• 240ml fruit juice (optional, depends on the taste you want to make, e.g. strawberry, orange, mango)
• Filling as desired (e.g. red bean paste, black sesame paste, mung bean paste, ice-cream, etc)
• Butter/Oil (any kind except Olive oil) to grease

Note: Traditionally it was made from cooked glutinous rice pounded intensively while adding a bit of water between each pound. 

Method

1. Mix glutinous rice flour, rice flour and sugar into a big mixing bowl.
2. Dissolve sugar in 200ml hot water. Add in the evaporated milk (if using). Pour this into the flour mixture and mix till smooth and well blended. Stir in the fruit juice (if using - here I'm using pandan leaf juice). Strain if mixture is lumpy.
3. Pour batter into a greased tray/bowl and steam on high heat for 30 minutes. 
4. Remove from steamer and stir the cooked dough with a plastic knife till smooth. Leave aside to cool.
5. Filling: you can buy the filling from some Japanese grocery stores. Otherwise, you can simply create your own filling! Here I'm using mung bean (since there's still some left in the kitchen), you can choose to make red bean (highly recommended to combine with greentea/matcha flavoured pound), black sesame, etc...there're heaps of recipes show how to make the filling paste around the Internet!
6. How to: 

• Dust your hand with flour
• Take a small piece (18-19 grams each piece) of cooked dough and flatten it into a round disc - not too thin (about 1-1.5 cm)!! *Tips: to avoid stickiness, you might use some cling wrap to cover the surface of your bench/chopping board, then cover the surface of the dough ball with another piece of cling wrap before rolling it out
• Wrap in the filling as desired (using a teaspoon to put some fillings in the middle of the dough 'disc')
• Seal the edges tightly and gently shape them into round balls (using your palms). Do this quickly so the dough doesn't get too cold. 
• Once finished, wrap up mochi balls individually tightly.

The inside look (with green/mung bean filling) - I love the taste!

Almond Friands Recipe

It's the only dish I will miss after dinner. As my 'families' (overseas friends) love it, as we discovered this recipe together whilst trying to make it one weekend. You have to love it especially when it's your own creation!

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 cups sugar

 1 cup plain flour

 1 cup almond meal

 5 eggwhites

 melted butter

 1 tsp vanilla extract

 flaked almonds

Method:

STEP 1	Preheat oven to 180 . Grease eight 1/2-cup (125ml) capacity friand or muffin pans and place on an oven tray.
STEP 2	Combine icing sugar, flour and almond meal in a medium bowl. Add eggwhites, butter and vanilla; stir until just combined. Spoon among pans. Sprinkle with almonds.
STEP 3	Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centres comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes; turn onto a wire rack.
STEP 4	To make syrup, use a small, sharp knife to scrape seeds from vanilla bean and place in a medium saucepan. Add bean and sugar; stir to combine and break up seeds. Add water and place over lowheat. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 3-5 minutes or until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Pour hot syrup over friands. Set aside to cool.

WOW~That's it! We finished! As I am most definitely not the best chef, my friends helped me finish it and they provided the script for the recipe (as I am hopeless at this stuff also!).


Hope everyones enjoy it and checks it out for themselves!!!

Would You Like a (Skinny) Margarita With That Sun?

So, as I drive home after a day at work with the window's down, on a Friday, with 30 degree temperatures, a smile lights up my face as it is that time of year again.

The time where it is gorgeously hot with a warm breeze at night, and what a better way to say hello to the weekend then a margarita on the balcony, soaking up the sunlight before it fades into night.

What is that I hear you say? Summer is approaching and you are wanting to watch your waistline? Not a problem! A recipe I have dug up called "Skinny Margarita" is only 118.4 calories, compared to your usual 311 calories. BRILLIANT! Just what every woman wants to hear right?!

So how do you create some of this magic? Well, it is simple! Right in the vicinity of your home!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of lime juice 
• 1 cup of water
• 20 drops of stevia
• 6 oz tequila
• 2 oz fresh-squeezed orange juice
• Ice
• Salt for the glass rim- for an extra touch!

Steps:

1. Make a pitcher of margaritas by stirring all the ingredients together and taste it to alter sweetness levels
2. Add an additional (optional) stevia
3. Serve in your salt-rimmed glass over ice!

Serves: 4 glasses

Too easy right, all within 10 minutes and you could be looking at this on your balcony too, but actually enjoying it!!

Bring on summer (and that slim waistline at the same time too)!!!

Tea for Two at T2

A sunny spring day. A cup of tea. And a chat with your mates. That makes a perfect day. Plus a fact that tea is healthy! *I'm just trying to be fun*

T2 has been one of my favourite outing place, especially when I want to slow down, sit back and relax with some special friends. Its unique design, unique menu and friendly staff are the reasons why I keep coming back times after times. 

T2 Tea House has two stores, one in Macquarie Shopping Center and another one in Hornsby which I have never been at. 

The look from outside, through the glass walls

The very first thing that attracted my attention when I first came into the Macquarie Tea House store was the Japanese looking lady on the wall decoration. It gave me the feeling that I'll be served with tea in Japanese style - which is not true...kinda confusing...but anw, now I get used to it, after the 3rd time visiting the store. 

The warm color, stylish and cushiony chairs will surely make you feel like home. 

Different chair and table settings (btw, they're having High tea)

An interesting thing at Tea House is that it looks like a shop where the waiter/waitress will come to your table and take your order, but in fact, it's not! At my first time, I was sitting at my table, waiting for like 10 minutes, hoping that someone would come to me and ask to take the order. Until I saw a lady at the next table came to the counter and ordered her tea.

Another cool thing is that you will receive an empty teapot from the cashier after paying. Then, you'll bring this empty teapot back to your table and wait until the teapot is replaced with your tea. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, it's a good idea to go through the menu to decide on what to try at your next visit! They have a set drink menu written on a blackboard above the counter, with a variety of new teas everyday. 

Sweets, salad, scones, cakes, etc 

Their delights include a range of cakes, pastries, sandwiches, salads, sweets and of course, tea. The tea is served in a Victorian-styled teapot or polka dotted ones, with unique traditional and contemporary tea cup. 

This time I get myself Crème Brulée tea and one caramel macaroon. 

And it tastes like Crème Brulée which is awesome! I can smell the caramelized aroma and feel the sweetness when slowly sipping the tea. This makes a perfect combination with the macaroon and gives me so much joy.

However, I must say I'm not a true tea drinker. So I'm quite happy with what I get here. If you expect some real, authentic, English tea experience, I suggest you might want to try somewhere else...

T2 Tea House
Address: Level 4, Shop 440 - Macquarie Shopping Center
Tel: 9888 3665

'Fro-yo'- A Global Food Craze of 2012

What is 'Fro-yo' you may ask?

Well, that is a good question. We are all well aware that you can walk into your local supermarket of convenience store and be sure to find a tub of frozen yoghurt ice-cream in the frozen section. It was introduced in the 1970's in New England, North-East USA by H.P Hood as Frogurt.

So what is so different about 'Fro-yo' if the idea of frozen yoghurt has been around for over 40 years?

As the world is slowly becoming more health-conscious and aware of obesity's consequences such as diabetes, froyo can be best described as a 'healthy' alternative to ice-cream.

(I say healthy in inverted commas, due to the fact that you can choose toppings for your froyo such as crunchie chocolate, oreos, M&M's and so forth. Although there are fruits available also as toppings.)

Moochi

-@Moochi, the original Froyo store in Sydney (Strathfield)

One of the first things you will notice walking into Moochi at Strathfield (now in the City CBD and Chatswood also), is the vibrant pink walls behind all of the counters, creating a young and energetic atmosphere. 

At Moochi, you can choose between froyo flavourings including Original, Pomegranate, Watermelon and Green Tea. Although not having a specific 'Moochi' flavour, tasting like froyo which you can get from any other store, the consistency and smooth texture never fails. 

Froyo at Moochi starts off at $3.90 for the small size, with each topping as an extra 50c. You can also order bigger sizes if going with more people, which ends up being more economical. 

-Moochi: Pomegranate Flavour with strawberries, blueberries & marshmellows

Around Sydney

From Chatswood to Bondi, to the City CBD to Parramatta, froyo stores have hit the city, with choices of all sorts from a different array of flavours and toppings, to self-serve or serviced stores. The competition is on, like never before, particularly in Bondi and Chatswood, as there is a minimum of two froyo stores within a distance of a 1km radius.

-@Noggi, Original Flavour with choc chip bites, cereal flakes & fruits

Prices vary around the city, and you can find yourself paying up to $5.60 for a regular sized froyo with toppings included.

Around the World...

Just when I thought this was only infiltrating Sydney, as my friends travelled abroad over the Sydney winter break to escape the cold to places all over Europe, I find myself most definitely surprised when my friends send me photos of them eating froyo in other countries!

From Spain, to London, to the Greek Islands, it was almost a trademark that was being established, all over Instagram, Facebook & Twitter; people uploading photos of their froyo in the gorgeous sun of Europe! 

I certainly hope this craze doesn't fade away any time soon as I await my turn to travel abroad and also enjoy some froyo somewhere in the mediterranean!! 

N2 Extreme Gelato - Stressed backwards is Desserts!!!

Last night, I went to the city with my friends for a catch-up dinner. After having some Thai food at Central, we decided to walk to Darling Harbour for some coffee - nice work out after dinner!

And fortunately, we ran into this little ice-cream store called N2 Extreme Gelato (Chinatown, Sydney CBD). I have been seeing a lot of my friends been at N2 and actually became a fan on their Facebook official page (lolz)...We didn't have any intention to get some ice-cream (since we were about to have some coffee)...However, I was just so excited and couldn't let this perfect chance go by. So were the other girls - seriously, who can deny a scoop of ice-cream for dessert?!

The front cabinet caught my eyes with full of oversized science-lab flasks with flavours and colors

The little shop was packed with excited customers (just like us) watching every movement of those 'scientists' through the glass display walls. And it doesn't look like a normal ice-cream  store (in a positive way)! Fog is everywhere and the creation of those goodies is like making magic! Dry ice and maybe...liquid Nitrogen (I'm trying to be a geek here lolz but this's what I heard from Masterchef) are used to make yummy ice-cream from fresh ingredients. You will have to wait quite a while but it's totally worth it! And you might not even notice since there are so many cool things happening around the store (I was so busy watching those 'scientists' lolz)...

Candy coloured KitchenAids, waffle cones, lab flasks, paper cups and cool 'liquid Nitrogen fog'!!!

We came around 9pm. Some of the flavors were sold out (but I'll definitely come back to try next time because I really want to try the 'cough syrup' flavor). They have Butter Popcorn, Berry Blue, Coconut & Tea and Earl Grey Caramel just to name some.

Creative blackboard Menu - $6/scoop 

I got 1 scoop of Earl Grey Caramel served with waffle cup while my friends got Butter Popcorn and smoothies. I didn't try those but they gave a lot of compliments. After 2 minutes of waiting or so, my Earl Grey Caramel came out, looking fresh! The ice-cream gives me a real taste of tea (Earl Grey's tea, fair enough!). Not too strong. Overwhelmingly fresh and a hint of French Earl Grey tea. Just so sensational! And the ice-cream is really smooth, soft, creamy and silky. It is so big that you really don't need two scoops. But you have to lick it fast since it melts quickly!

Earl Grey Caramel on waffle cup 

$6 for one scoop of ice-cream! Kinda expensive, but it's freshly made, and totally worthy as a whole experience


Address: Lot 43, 1 Dixon Street, Sydney, NSW (upper end of Dixon Street)
Opening hours: 14:00-23:00

Food For Thought

Thought of the day for food....

I battle what I feel to be an ever-ending war between my mind and stomach about wanting certain foods, that are not particularly the best to have, especially late night studying for university exams!

I found this table which has proven to be rather trust-worthy (based on social experiment on myself of course) and interesting. Where our minds have such an awareness of foods, but however the chemicals it requires are depicted to the brain in what seems to be the most unhealthiest manner, even when there are plenty of other alternatives. 

It was not until this year, after leaving school last year, that I have really had a conscious awareness of foods and appreciated them a little bit more, especially the good foods (or junk) that have had to be cut out of my diet.

I find this table as rather an alternative to the saying that you are what you eat, because you are essentially fooling your mind into thinking it is consuming for example a salt saturated heavy food such as chips, when you are just eating a nice piece of fish.

An interesting read and definitely something to keep in mind when next hungry and ready to binge!

"https://twitter.com/Thyme_forfood" OR @Thyme_forfood

Chiffon Cake Recipe

I started baking when I was having my first summer break back in Uni Year 1. We were having a Christmas lunch at my uncle's house and I got nothing to bring, so I decided to bake a cake - brilliant! It was just a chocolate mud cake with some decorations, quite simple. But everyone loved it and made so many compliments...and that was my starting point. 

It is a great feeling sharing your food with your beloved and see how much they enjoy it. 

Today is an amazing recipe from Savourydays - Chiffon cake. This cake is so well-known for its fluffy, light and soft texture - 'like you're having cloud, it melts in your mouth'. It's a quite challenging cake. I've been trying countless times before I can actually bake a proper one. But this cake deserves that much effort, seriously! My family loves the strong flavor of coffee, but you still can substitute with pandan, orange, lemon, anything that you can think of...give it a try and you won't regret! 

Ingredients (20 x 20 cake pan)
1. Egg Yolk batter

• 4 egg yolks (50g/e)
• 20g sugar
• 40g all-purpose flour
• 40g corn flour
• 45ml milk
• 35ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon coffee powder

2. Egg White foam

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 40g sugar

Method
1. Egg Yolk batter

• Heat up the milk in the microwave with coffee powder (50sec), mix well. Set aside.

• In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar with a hand whisk till sugar dissolved.

• Stir in oil and milk-coffee.
• Fold the flour into the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Set aside.

2. Egg White foam

• Beat the egg whites with hand mixer/stand mixer at medium speed until frothy (2-3 minutes). Slowly add in sugar and cream of tartar while beating at high speed.

• Beat until the egg white is stiff and shining but not dry (about 3 minutes).

3. Preheat oven at 175 degrees Celsius 

4. Use a spatula and gently fold 1/3 of the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture (meringue). Do it thoroughly.

5. Gently fold 1/2 of the remaining egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do it clockwise and very gently, about 5 rounds. 

6. Fold in the rest of the egg yolk mixture. Do it clockwise and very gently, about 3 rounds. 

7. Pour into an ungreased cake pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Once cake is cooked (insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean), remove immediately from the oven and invert the pan onto wire rack. Let it cook before removing cake from pan. 

*Note: 
1. Try to use the fresh eggs if you can2. Step 4 - 6 is really important, try to do it gently and do not fold too much (2-3 rounds for each step should be enough). 

"https://twitter.com/Thyme_forfood" OR @Thyme_forfood

When Food Unites Us To One

A blog of three Australian university students, all bought together by the love and passion for food of different cuisines and times, from all around the world, but eaten and experienced in Sydney.

This blog will follow us on an adventure as we share recipes, stories and foods from anywhere in Sydney that have made us melt on the inside, and perhaps drool on the outside.

As food is such a vital aspect of our lives, it is incorporated in a huge aspect of socialising, being social beings. This consequently invites us to broader our palettes and experience new foods and tastes of all colours, textures and countries, which will be shared with you.

So here is to the first thought for this blog, which will be the basis of our posts and new journey we start:

"Chefs, authors, musicians, actors, poets, so many of us have very strong feelings about food.  Why is food so emotional?  Scents of food stir up childhood memories, cooking for and feeding someone is one of the sweetest gestures in the world, even watching someone eat can be a delight.  Food and love are undeniably connected."

To the foods which have been a favourite for years, and for the ones that will cause a new obsession and mouth-watering experience!

Note: we will also be intertwining our journey with the use of twitter! Follow us!!

"https://twitter.com/Thyme_forfood" OR @Thyme_forfood