Recipe: Omurice

Fried rice is one of those dishes that every Asian seems to know how to make. It's easy, quick and versatile. Omurice is a Japanese style dish of fried rice wrapped in an omelette. There aren't many places around Sydney that serve omurice and some that do don't make it that well. From reading recipes online it seemed pretty straightforward so I decided to make it myself.

There wasn't really much cooking involved this time since I used leftover rice and store bought roast chicken. I would've liked it if I added a bit more mixed vegetables but I underestimated how much rice there was. There's always a pack of frozen mixed vegetables in my freezer for the convenience and those lazy days when I feel like having vegetables but don't want to wash, chop and cook.

The recipe has a higher vegetable to rice ratio than what is in the photos. I have also tried this using brown rice. It will taste the same but the rice may be a little chewier.

Ingredients (4 serves) 

• 4 cups cooked rice 
• 1 onion diced
• 1 tsp ginger finely cut 
• 2 cups mixed vegetables 
• 1 cup roast chicken 
• 2 tbs tomato sauce
• 1 tbs soy sauce 
• 4 eggs 
• 4 tbs milk 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

On medium-high heat saute the onions and ginger until the onions start to brown. Add in the rice and heat with occasional mixing for 3 minutes to allow the rice to dry off a little. 

 Mix in the vegetables and roast chicken. Turn the heat down to medium and add the tomato sauce and soy sauce. Mix well until all of the rice is coated in sauce.

Set the rice aside in a bowl. Wipe the pan clean to cook the egg. Cook the eggs one at a time with 1 tbs of milk for each egg. On medium-low heat pour in the egg mixture and cook until the base is set but the top is still runny. Add in a quarter of the rice to one side of the omelette and fold the other side over. 

If you are unable to fold the egg in the pan, slide the unfolded egg and rice onto your plate and then fold it with your hands. 

Serve with your choice of vegetables. 

Recipe: Tuna Penne Pasta with Scrambled Egg

Sometimes I get pasta cravings and today was one of those days so I decided to make tuna penne pasta with onion, tomato and water chestnut scrambled egg.

Scrambled eggs isn't something you'd usually see paired with pasta but I like my eggs so I thought why not give it a try. I used wholemeal penne to see how it differs from non-wholemeal pasta. Taste wise its similar but in terms of texture, it is a bit more grainy that normal pasta. According to the nutrition panel it has more fibre too with 9 g per 100 g of pasta.

I also found frozen water chestnuts in my freezer so I decided to add that to my egg as well. Water chestnut is an Asian vegetable with a crisp texture and a subtle sweet taste. I didn't know until I searched it up but water chestnuts have antioxidant properties, and are a source of vitamin B6 for brain and immune health, potassium for regulating heart rhythm and lowering blood pressure, and manganese required in bone formation.

This dish is very versatile. You can leave your scrambled eggs plain or use other ingredients like mushrooms or chives. I just used what I found in the kitchen. You can also leave out the tuna if you like and there'd still be plenty of egg to be mixed in with the pasta.

Ingredients

• 70 g penne pasta (I used wholemeal this time)
• 2 water chestnuts diced 
• 1 small tomato diced
• 1/2 onion diced 
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs milk 
• 1 x 95g tin tuna (flavour of choice)
• salt to taste
• Pepper 
• Thyme (dried or fresh)
• Rosemary (dried or fresh)

Cook pasta according to pack. Drain and set aside. 

Whilst the pasta is cooking saute the garlic and onion on medium-high heat until the onions start to brown.

Add the tomato, water chestnut and a splash of water (~ 2 tbs). With occasional stirring, let the tomatoes cook for about 3 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated. Season with a bit of salt and a sprinkle of thyme.

Beat the egg together with the milk and add to the pan. Turn the heat down to medium and keep stirring until the egg is cooked. 

Assemble the pasta, tuna and scrambled egg to your liking. I had the pasta on the bottom, then I added the tuna and mounded the scrambled egg on top. Sprinkle with some rosemary and pepper to your liking. 

Everything mixed together :)

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

I like my food. I like it even more when it's cheap and tasty. Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet is a small fast-paced restaurant located on Dixon St. Here they offer a very extensive range of Taiwanese snacks and meals, most popular of which seem to be the you tiao wrapped in egg pancake or green onion pancake.

Today, for two people, we ordered two hot soy bean drinks, you tiao with egg pancake, green onion pancake with egg and a beef and vegetable noodles. I don't remember how much they were individually but all together it was only $25.90. Yep cheap and tasty.

First to arrive is the hot soy bean drink which comes in a large bowl. It's lovely and smooth with a good soy flavour. The hot drink has no added sugar which is why I prefer it over the cold drink which is sweetened.

Next to arrive was the you tiao in egg pancake. I don't really understand why people find the you tiao so good. It was soft and didn't have much taste. I much rather have the egg pancake on its own which by itself was good. The egg pancake is a thin crispy pancake base with egg and spring onions on top. 

The green onion pancake with egg was actually very similar to the egg pancake but only this time the green onions are in the pancake and not the egg. This pancake is a bit thicker than the egg pancake but I felt was a also a little more oily. Taste wise, the green onion pancake edges towards the salty side of things but it was still enjoyable. 

Lastly, the beef and vegetable noodles. I wasn't in a soup mood so I opted for the dry version which had a savoury-sour vinaigrette-like sauce instead. Mixed together with the pickled vegetables and generous amounts of refreshing bean sprouts there was excitement with each mouthful. Underneath all the bean sprouts were slices of melt-in-your-mouth beef and a few stalks of choy sum. A minor let down were the noodles themselves which were a little soft, but apart from that it was a pretty good bowl of beef noodles.

Mother Chu's is a great place for a quick lunch. Service isn't top notch but they make up for it in the price and the food.

Trying Out the Chia Pod

The Chia Pod from The Chia Co. is a relatively new product on the market. Chia seeds are gaining recognition as a superfood so I wanted to try it out. I bought the vanilla bean flavoured pod from Woolworths for $3.70. They come in cute 170g snack sized portions with a little spoon so its perfect to have on the go. 

The Chia Pod had a gel like consistency making it a little difficult to scoop at first but it was definitely quite fun to eat.  The chia seeds themselves provide a nice crunch. As you could see the Pod is packed with chia seeds and speckled with vanilla.

I like that these pods only have 4 ingredients and no added sugar. Even without sugar the Chia Pods have a subtle sweetness from the coconut milk. The use of vanilla bean paste also gives it a pronounced vanilla flavour that blends well with the cinnamon. 

So why are chia seeds so good for you? According to The Chia Co. chia seeds are an excellent source of fibre, omega-3 in the form of alpha linoleic acid (ALA) and omega-6 in the form of linoleic acid (LA), as well as containing all eight of the essential amino acids (protein building blocks that our bodies can't make themselves). Looking at the nutrition information, this is indeed the case. One Chia Pod already meets the recommended 2g/day of ALA and is approximately one-sixth of the recommended fibre intake (25-30g/day).

Overall, the Chia Pod is a simple, nutritious and filling snack that is great to have on the go. I would very much like to try the other flavours if I come across them another time.

Recipe: Cheesy Baked Tuna Sandwich

I love the weekends. They give me time to be creative with my food. I was really craving egg and cheese and the first thing I thought of was a sandwich, but then that seemed really boring. Then I remembered I had a mini baking dish I bought from Daiso and that sparked the idea of a baked sandwich. 

I filled my sandwich with diced carrot and tuna. I like canned tuna, its so convenient and tuna is a great source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is good for your cardiovascular health, improving learning and memory, and has anti-inflammatory effects in the body. However canned tuna should not be eaten too regularly to avoid the build up of mercury in the body. 

This baked sandwich is super easy to make. Just chuck everything in a baking dish, bake it until the cheese turns golden and you've got yourself a delicious cheesey topped sandwich with a crisp crust and moist tuna filling. 

Ingredients

• 2 slices of wholegrain bread 
• 1/2 a carrot, diced
• 1 can (95 g) of tuna, drained (I used John West Naturally Smoked)
• 1 egg
• 1 slice of cheese (I used a reduced fat cheese)
• 3 slices of tomato 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. 
2. Cut the bread into quarters, this would make it easier when eating. Place one slice of bread at the base of the baking dish. Add half of the diced carrots and then the tuna. Place the second slice of bread on top.
3. Crack the egg into a bowl and add the remaining carrot. Cut the slice of cheese into little pieces and add this to the egg and carrot bowl. Lightly whisk the egg. 
4. Place the tomato slices on top of the sandwich and pour the egg mixture evenly over the sandwich. Bake the sandwich for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese starts to turn golden. 

When pouring in the egg, I let a bit run down the side so the edges and the bottom slice could soak up a bit of the egg. It is also nice to sprinkle a bit of pepper or rosemary when eating this to add an extra level of flavour. 

Recipe: Banana, Honey Oat Pancakes

Who doesn't love a stack of freshly made pancakes in the morning? Last weekend I was in the mood to whip up some pancakes, but not just ordinary pancakes, I made them entirely out of oat flour (from blended oats).

Having studied nutrition at uni, I have learnt that processed white flour isn't exactly the best of ingredients to be using. Being highly processed and refined, white flour has most of the nutritional value stripped away leaving you with something that has quite a high GI. GI is how much your blood sugar level rises after a meal. Something that is high GI will raise your blood sugar levels quickly but then it will come down more quickly too so you feel hungry sooner. Oat flour on the other hand has a lower GI giving you a slower and more steady rise in blood sugar so you feel fuller for longer.

I have made pancakes with normal white flour before and there is nothing wrong with that. I understand that not everyone will have oats or oat flour on hand all the time. It's just that using oat flour is a good substitute to add more nutritional value and lower the GI of your pancakes.

I am also mildly lactose intolerant so I used soy milk in this recipe but you could use normal milk or any other milk alternative.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup soy milk 
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 a banana (optional) 
• 2 tsp honey (optional)
• Toppings: 1/2 banana, 1 strawberry, honey (or any to your liking)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender to make your batter. 

Heat a pan on medium heat and add a little oil. When the pan is hot, pour in your batter to whatever sized pancakes you like. When bubbles appear, flip the pancakes and heat the other side for 30 sec - 1 minute. Repeat with the rest of the batter. 

When the pancakes are done serve them however you like, whether its with fruit, honey, syrup or yoghurt. This time I stacked them up with slices of banana and strawberries and finished off with a drizzle of honey. 

I love this recipe since its so simple and versatile. The banana and honey in the batter are optional. Leave them out and the pancakes are still nice and fluffy, or you could experiment with other flavours. 

Autolyse Sydney - Lower Ground, Central Park

I went to try out Autolyse today, a recently opened artisan bakery which also serves hot food. Everything on their menu is under $15 so it won't chip away too much from your wallet. I've been scrolling through countless Instagram photos of this place and was pretty excited about their Seafood Bouillabaisse ($14.90).

The Bouillabaisse itself was nice but I felt like it could have been a bit warmer. Despite that it still tasted pretty good. The broth had a rich tomato flavour with some celery and carrot pieces. There was a decent amount of seafood including mussels, prawns (large ones at that), salmon pieces and calamari rings (but unfortunately, I only got one little ring in my bowl).

All the dishes at Autolyse are served with a generous portion of their sourdough bread. It was fun just ripping through it and dipping it into the broth. I loved the crusty exterior and the bread centre was stretchy and pillowy.

The highlight however was the little serving of rouille (the small plate of orange sauce behind the baguette). Boy was that rouille amazing! Give me that by itself and the baguette and I'd be just as happy.  

Seafood bouillabaisse served with a baguette and rouille ($14.90)

My friend ordered the chicken, duck and pork sausage cassoulet ($14.90). Like my bouillabaisse she also would've preferred it a little hotter. This was a more hearty dish with plenty of meat and white beans.

I also ordered a cappuccino but since I'm not a frequent coffee drinker I'm not too sure how to comment on it.

Cappuccino ($3.50)

Autolyse also has a range of sweet pastries and cakes ($7.50 a slice) which I'd like to try next time. As well as pre-made sandwiches ($8-$9.50) for those wanting some quick lunch on the go.

Overall, my experience at Autolyse was a good one. They have a large seating area and the food came out really quickly. It's a nice place to come with a couple of friends to have a chat over lunch and coffee.