Tag: NZ

{NZ} My Kitchen Part 2

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Remember my post on My Kitchen that had all the vegetarian Taiwanese food? This amazing place is also known for their meat-y delicacies and they are also equally mouth-watering! I’m sure if you’ve been to Taiwan, you know will know that they are well known for starters (小吃).

Pig’s ear! It’s stewed till the outside is really tender and the middle is really crunchy! It’s the fav of my parents and my hubs! It’s something you either like it or hate it I suppose. But in my family, we love it! hehe Mum said my grandma use to cook this but she doesn’t anymore. That explains why my dad loves it so much! hehe

Pan fried dumplings! I do love my dumplings. With lots and lots of vinegar! (: This came after our main for some reason and we were SO STUFFED. but still finished them all. haha

I ordered minced pork rice (卤肉饭)! I absolutely loved it! Worth every penny too! Just $4.95 for this small but mighty bowl of yumminess!

The hubs ordered the deep dried chicken cutlet. It was really crispy and was really well seasoned. It brought us back to Taiwan when we had the deep fried xxx-large chicken cutlet at the road side. This definitely came pretty close!

Mummy ordered braised pig trotters! Just looking at the photo makes me miss my grandma’s pig trotters even more! But these were really good too. Not too salty and the trotters were really tender, and the gravy. I could just have the gravy and rice to be honest. Think I might make some soon. haha

Dad had the dry noodles with mince. This sound and look ordinary but with the addition of the mince (similar to the rice) it was delicious. Could do more of the sauce though, cause it turned out a bit dry. The crunch of the zucchini was genious though. Added a bit of freshness with every mouthful! (:

The portions are really huge and we obviously didn’t learn from our first visit here and share our mains. haha Got too excited and just wanted to try everything on the menu! hehe Definitely a place you should try when you’re around the area!

Cooking in NZ : Courgette Polpette

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As a way to say thank you to my uncle, auntie and cousins for their kind and awesome hospitality. The hubs and I decided to cook dinner for everyone. There were 11 of us that night and needless-to-say I was quite worried with how the menu would turn out. Mum was super worried that there won’t be enough food. But of course, there was always WAY too much!

We were quite daring to try one of the recipes that we saw on a cooking show at Paihia a couple of days before the scheduled dinner – courgette polpette. Simply put, cheesy courgette balls! haha As funny as that sounds, it tasted surprisingly good!

               It wasn’t heavy even though there was quite a bit of cheese added, I didn’t cook the courgettes till they were overly tender, I preferred mine with a bit of crunch! But might actually be easier to roll and combine them when they are softer. haha. Personal preference! (:

Courgette polpette (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in River Cottage Everyday)

2 tbs olive oil

3 medium courgettes, finely diced into cubes

1 egg, beaten

2 tbs grated cheddar

1/2 ball buffalo mozzarella, diced

50g breadcrumbs

1 tbs chopped parsley

Ground black pepper, to taste

Steps :

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the courgettes for about 10 minutes, until tender and golden. Set aside to cool it a little.

3. Combine with all the other ingredients to make a thick, sticky mixture. Season with black pepper.

4. Take a heap teaspoon of the mixture and roll them into balls. Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 mins or until it starts to brown. Serve them warm or cold. With bread or with salad. ENJOY!

ps : it’s vegetarian-friendly too! (:

{NZ} Puhoi Cottage Tea Rooms

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Puhoi Cottage Tea Rooms

50 Ahuroa Road, Puhoi

Tel : 09 422 0604

Web : http://www.puhoicottage.co.nz/

I love traditional tea rooms. Those that have been there for a very long time, with really rich history and recipes that have been around for ages. I absolutely adore such places. The Puhoi Cottage Tea Rooms is one such place! It has been around for 40 years and is one of the oldest tea rooms in New Zealand! Highly recommended for their lovely scones, I just couldn’t wait to try them!

When we got there it was a cute little cottage with both seats inside and outside. With the sun shining above us, we just had to sit outside to enjoy the heat and greens.

There were even chickens running around us. Cheers to animals in the wild! (:

When we arrived, we were greeted by the owner, David, who was strumming jazz and blues on his guitar and singing for his guests! They had a whole range of different homemade cakes and savouries and hot drinks to go along. The devonshire tea/coffee set came with one large scone and a hot drink. Scones along are $5 each. May seem a little much for a scone, but you will understand why when you see the size of them!

We were warned! hehe Knowing how big the scones would be, we ordered 3 sets of scones and a serve of carrot cake for the 6 of us! (:

How glorious do those scones look? They were fresh from the oven, and served with freshly whipped cream and beautiful jam. The scones were so huge that they took up more then 1/3 of the tray! My face just instantly lit up when the tray arrived.

A mouthful of yumminess!

Beautiful carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. You could really taste the cinnamon in this cake and absolutely loved it! Was slightly moist which is how I love my cakes. hehe Gorgeous!

We had an absolutely amazing time and we were so full when leaving the tea room. (: Happy bellies, definitely!

{NZ} My Kitchen Part 1 : Vegetarian

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I don’t know about you, but Taiwanese food has always been a favourite in my family. There was a period of time we went to Taiwan at least once a year. And when we are there, we would always eat till our hearts content! Especially the street food that you can get at the night markets. Simply delicious!

After days of western food, I think we were craving for something asian so my cousins brought us to My Kitchen! The good thing about Taiwan restaurants/cafes is that they cater to vegetarians as well. Which was awesome! We ate so much, we were stuffed by the time we were done with our starters. haha But the food was too good to not finish (of course the mr had to finish half of my food for me haha).

i was never a big fan of century eggs. I use to only like them in my porridge when I have dim sum. But I tried a dish a while back with toufu and a century egg sauce and totally loved it! When my cousins ordered this, I couldn’t be more pleased! It was delicious! I wanted more!

Thai style deep fried toufu! This was super yummy too! Just didn’t know whether it fits the Taiwan street food theme. I guess smelly toufu would fit more, but thank goodness they didn’t order it! haha Nonetheless, the toufu was super crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Went perfectly with the sweet and spicy sauce!

This was a childhood favourite of mine. Fried mantous with condense milk! No one at the table tried it before. I was so super excited when they placed this on the table. I was practically grinning! haha They seriously compliment each other. If you haven’t tried this, PLEASE DO! Hot and crispy man tou with sweet condense milk.

mmm. just thinking and looking at it makes me salivate!

It’s vegetarian braised mince pork rice (素卤肉饭) ! It was so so good! And only $4.90NZD! Delicious (:

This is my braised mock beef noodles (红烧牛肉面) and the soup was really herbal and perfect for a cold day. The noodles were endless and of course the mr had to finish it for me. haha

 Mummy’s mince mock pork noodles! This was a little ordinary compared to the rest. Loved the addition of fresh cucumber and carrots though!

The Mr ordered the pork chop set which came with braised mince pork rice and three side dishes. Doesn’t that pork chop look amazingly similar to the real ones we usually have? So so amazing!

The portion sizes were all really huge here so if you want to try more dishes, I suggest sharing the mains instead! Unless you’re a big eater or have someone who would finish up everything, like me! haha Stay tuned for the non-vegetarian meal we had at this place next! (: