Some say Enoki can be eaten raw, but I always cook. Even for the salad, I cook them to give enough heat to kill bacteria. Using Sesame Oil to fry them give a nice flavour and I like this method better than microwave or blanching. Makes 4 Servings Ingredients Enoki 200gSesame Oil 1 tablespoonSalt 1 …
My children have been always creative and they enjoyed making Gingerbread Men when they were young. To decorate the Gingerbread Men, they used icing, chocolate chips, ‘Smarties’, lollies, etc. One day I made a Gingerbread Man’s mouth (lips) using sliced red lolly snake, and that upset my son so badly. He removed the red lips …
Everyone’s favourite dessert ‘Apple Crumble’ can’t be easier than this. All novice cooks should try this recipe and gain your confidence. I always use Granny Smith apples for this dessert. Granny Smith apple is originated in Australia and it is one of the most popular cooking apples. It gets soft quite quickly and you don’t …
I love Portuguese Egg Tarts. When I tried it for the first time at a local community market, I fell in love with it instantly. I wanted to make them by myself. I found many different recipes and methods on the internet, but I decided to use my own custard recipe and create my own …
This is everyone’s favourite side dish. I cook it especially when we have roast dinner. Cauliflower, such a delicious vegetable, is so tasty when mixed with creamy cheesy sauce. If you don’t have time, just pour the sauce over the cooked cauliflower and serve. This dish is good enough without being baked. Makes 4 Servings …
I grew up in a subsidised public housing which was a very tiny house with a small back garden, where there was a fig tree. I enjoyed the fresh fig fruit from the tree and my mother used to make fig jam and preserves. This is why fig is always special fruit to me. And …
This is a very popular stir-fry dish in Japan. It’s a dish consisting of vegetables, pork, prawns, squid, etc. stir-fried and thickened with potato starch. The dish is called ‘Happō-sai’ (八宝菜) in Japanese and that means ‘Eight Treasure Ingredients’ as the number eight is the lucky number in our culture. This is my family’s recipe …
Vegetable Soups are easy to make and warm us on cold days. My mother used to make Creamy Potato Soup for my sisters and me. I simply added Cauliflower to that soup. The texture is lighter than her Potato Soup and I like this soup with freshly cracked Black Pepper. Again, I don’t use Oil. …
‘Crostata’ is Italian baked tart. The reason why I call this tart ‘Crostata’ is because a photo of ‘Hazelnut Crostata’ taken on a street in Florence had inspired me to create it. My shortcrust pastry is super-easy as always. Using ready-made Sweetened Chestnut Puree (Cream or Paste), this crostata can be made so easily. If …
If you like ‘Edamame’, you would like these soy beans. They are ‘Roasted Soy Beans’. Toasted or roasted soy beans are the essential food for a seasonal even called ‘Setsubun’ in Japan. February 3rd, which is the eve of the first day of spring, people in Japan scatter roasted soy beans inside and outside their …
I like rustic biscotti baked in the traditional way without any butter, oil or milk. It is so easy to make and we can create our own variations by adding nuts, fruit and flavours of our choice. However, I haven’t found any simple and easy recipes that don’t require weighing. I don’t like weighing ingredients. …
The sausages in Japan are mainly European style smoked sausages. I came across uncooked raw English style sausages in Australia for the first time. I recommend to use smoked sausages for this dish. I use Kransky sausages that are commonly available in Melbourne where I live. This curry flavoured potato salad is one of my …