#like unseasoned chicken. no flavour at all.

[isabellaofparma]

Those About to Die (2024– )

[ozymoron]

i really gotta stop running with the idea that spencer is some average white guy im obsessed with cause hes really not lmao. like personally my definition of some random white guy character is guy who looks pretty average like stock photo kinda guy who has the personality of a piece of white bread which spencer is not lol like he whimpers i think that at least somewhat sets him apart from the random white guy

[docholligay]

Shamash day points: Misc Nominations

Boy do I always have so much fun reading these! Thanks you to everyone who answered. It was hard picking the winners, as it often is, but here they are!

The question was: Tell me about the worst meal you had this year.

1 point to @beefsaladthethirtythird with that's herring under a fur coat! I love herring under a fur coat WHAT DID YOU DO:

For new years my partner and I made this Russian dish called "selyodka pod shuboy", dressed herring salad. It has salted herring, potatoes, carrots, beets and onions,(but we might have left them off), all held together with layers of mayonnaise. My partner put way too much mayo on the salad, and combined with the fatty herring, it was so greasy as to be borderline inedible. Like, it was give-you-GI-issues bad. My partner loves that salad recipe, but she also could not eat more than a little of it. I tried to get through it but it was making me ill after eating so i trashed the leftovers. we made other Russian New Years dishes, and they were all pretty good, but the dressed herring was a no-go.

2 points-- @seolh with the saddest bachelor meal I have ever heard

It's late. I've been at the office for over fourteen hours, but finally I am home. I am hungry but I am also so, so tired. A basic salad sounds like a nice, low-energy idea for food.

I take a chicken breast out of the freezer and put it directly in the oven. It is not seasoned.

I put some lettuce in a bowl. I decide to I am too tired to chop veggies right that moment. I sit on the couch. I sit. I sit some more. I'm so hungry.

I go get the bowl and start picking at the lettuce with my fingers, shoving it into my mouth. It is bland and almost bitter and not particularly pleasant. I continue eating it. Soon, it is gone. The chicken continues to cook.

I just want to go to bed, but I am not sated, and know I need protein. I wait for the chicken to cook. I let it rest. With no seasoning or oil, the top of the chicken breast looks rubbery and a bit shrivelled.

I slice up the chicken breast. I consider attempting to add some flavour, but that's effort. I stand at the corner eating unseasoned pieces of chicken breast. It is not unpleasant, but it is extremely boring. And finally, time for sleep.

…THE worst meal of the year, by far, and I did it to myself!

3 points, @katrani with how did you manage to fuck this up so badly what a wild ride:

….it was actually just this morning. I had bought some ciabatta rolls last weekend, for a specific thing, then because of Reasons couldn't make the thing on the planned night. We had a get-together yesterday, and someone had to spend the night because they were a little too drunk and tired to get home. Perfect, thinks me, even though it is the time of year for jinxes, I still have that bread and can do breakfast sandwiches! Well. Morning arrived, cheerful and optimistic. Even having our first real chill for the year was fine, cause it meant I had been extra cozy and woke up gradually, I felt so rested! Amazing energy levels for cooking! …..the bread had molded. I took too long, and it had been claimed by that stealthy t-rex of modern biology.

This is still okay, muses me, I can find a workaround. Except my fridge and cupboards are emptier than normal, as I'm trying to keep things low so I can scrub everything during an upcoming long weekend. However!!!!!!!!!!! A light! A shining, glorious utility food- I have instant potato flakes! I can very easily make some bullshit hashbrowns!!!! Who doesn't love even a shitty hashbrown patty! And it'll still work as a sandwich kind of thing!!

So I mix the flakes with the smallest amount of water, just enough to make them pasty/battery. I season them, I mold them together, they're sticking as patties fine enough! I heat up the oil, and… they fall apart. So badly. I forgot that the last time I used them for this I had to make them into the mashed potato format and then fry dollops of that. Doing it straight out of the box does not work. Can I blame the heteros for straight out of the box being a terrible idea? Probably not, but it would make me feel better.

Even thinking that okay, it'll be a skillet now, I'll break apart the patties and fry it as lumps of potato batter does not work. They just WILL NOT fry up, the oil soaked into the solid portion a bit too much and now it's not cooking right. Sure, the bottom is crisping, and I can scrape that up and mix it in, but most of it has become just a sludge. A slurry even. Completely unappetizing. I'll have to throw it all out, and borrow someone's rosary or something so I can make proper apologies to the spirits of my fiance's Midwest Irish family for fucking up perfectly good potato product so horrendously.

So all I have to offer my guest, 45 minutes after we've been awake, is some eggs, and they do not like eggs by themselves. My fiance and I eat what I was able to make, and they're well-seasoned, and the texture is actually the best I've gotten eggs to be in a while… but it is poisoned by the shame of not being able to care for my guest, any enjoyment I might have would be a slap in the face to their hunger, a breach of their trust in me to be a proper hostess.

As they were leaving they told me they don't really have breakfast most of the time anyways.

You definitely would have gotten points if you had elaborated at all, @iscahwynn because a 7-11 challenge sounds TERRIFYING

[rain-world-positivity-blog]

im going to bombard you with some random qs if thats ok!

what food do you think iterators and scugs would like if they existed irl?

tulip-anon🌷

Wow! Hi, you’re my first named anon that’s cool! It’s totally okay to spam me with questions, headcanons, positive confessions, OC lore dumps, fic recommendations, just whatever really!

Now, let me think of this a little! (I’ll do everyone I think, for fun~)

Moon - she’s giving me sushi and seafood vibes, but I also think Moon would like herbal teas and stuff too. I bet she’d also enjoy tanghulu (Chinese candied fruit on a stick, very popular in Korea too! My favourite kind is mandarin heheh). I feel like she’d like tuna sushi the most out of all her favourites though!

Pebbles - this guy gives me depressed microwave meal vibes, like sad overdone rustlers chicken burger. Okay but on a serious note Pebbles is a soup guy you can’t convince me otherwise. Give this man his broth! I bet he’d really enjoy a chicken soup with some crusty garlic bread.

NSH - edibles Nah, this man subsides off coffee alone! No milk, no sugar, just coffee. Also a fan of sour candies than make you almost cry. He’d also be the one guy to just make unholy food combinations at 3am, but if we just want to stay simple? Mac n cheese. Can’t go wrong with that!

Suns - spicy food!! They’re the kind to slurp down those super hot noodles that burn your mouth and hurt your tummy and make you cry except their spice tolerance is ELITE! People will be signing away their lives and they’re heaping in more hot sauce. Ramen enjoyer.

Wind - hmm, I dunno about Wind to be honest! Wind does give me simple meal vibes. Probably snacks on those protein bars that taste like cardboard but thinks they taste good. Has cereal for lunch every day and not even the nice kind. Flavourless and unseasoned ass food.

Innocence - cake, macarons, cookies, diabetes. This iterator has never even seen a vegetable.

Sliver - I think she’d enjoy pasta! Like creamy and cheesy pasta. There’s a place near me that does truffle cheesy spaghetti with mixed seafood. She’d like that!

Now for the slugcats, didn’t put that much thought into these just went off vibes 😅

Survivor - marshmallows and white chocolate!

Monk - eats whole lemons on purpose while maintains direct eye contact

Hunter - fried chicken, especially hot wings

Gourmand - Gourm enjoys all food as long as it’s made with love! But homemade bread is the big favourite here!

Artificer - steak. It’s either so overdone it’s charcoal or so raw it’s trying to run away. Depends on the vibes

Rivulet - cotton candy and menthol sweets so minty they burn

Spearmaster - protein shake enjoyer, really likes the shitty banana flavour

Saint - ginger cookies and chocolate chip ice cream

Enot/Inv - monster energy and chilli heatwave Doritos, the meal of gamers

Watcher - since we know little about this guy… untoasted white bread, salted. (I used to eat this… don’t ask)

[benefitscrounger]

i genuinely cannot do this anymore. what in the fuck is a 'woke filling'. what does woke even mean in this context? like sorry people want food with flavour and herbs/spices in it, guess we should all go back to unseasoned boiled meat and veg lest we garner the ire of white middle-class Tories who think a chicken korma is too spicy.

If you write stuff like this you deserved to be attacked on sight.

‘Woke fillings’ should land you with a 18 month ban from electronic devices.

[timetraveltasting]

RYSE OF FLEYSHE (c. 1390)

Since I'll be away this coming weekend, I thought I would fit in a sneaky historical side dish from Tasting History. Ryse of Fleyshe, which would now be known as Rice of Flesh/Meat (the German word for meat is still Fleisch!) is another dish from the Forme of Cury, a collection of recipes that were served to the court of Richard the II of England. It is a saffron rice that was meant to be served with meat, hence the name. Saffron has, historically, been one of the most expensive spices out there, and it remains so today due to the painstaking process of harvesting the threads by hand. Autumn crocus stigmas have to be collected from the flowers, separated from the pistil, and then dried. Unfortunately, in each flower there are only three threads, making for a very slow and delicate job for whomever is harvesting. Still, I bit the bullet and paid the several euros for just a tiny teaspoon of the spice for this dish. I chose to make Ryse of Fleyshe because it seemed to be a simple dish to make, and Max also enjoyed it. See Max’s video on how to make it here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from his website.

My experience making it:

I made a couple small changes to the modern recipe below. I used saffron powder instead of the threads, since I couldn't find the threads in my local grocery store. So, I used a pinch, about a 1/2 teaspoon. I also used jasmine rice instead of white rice, because I couldn't find basic white rice (very confusing, Germany...).

The preparation was fairly straightforward, which I appreciated, but I still made a change or two to the method. Instead of mixing the saffron with only a bit of the almond milk, I mixed all of it together. I don't think this made much of a difference overall. After the boil, instead of simmering for 20 minutes, I only simmered for 15, since my stove runs fairly hot even on the lowest setting and I was noticing the rice at the bottom was beginning to stick to the pot. Luckily, letting the rice steam off-heat for 10 minutes did add some moisture back in. The finished side dish was fairly fluffy with just a bit of stickiness to it, with a lovely golden colour from the saffron. The Ryse of Fleyshe turned out like Max's despite my changes, so I was quite content. As suggested, I served the rice with 'fleyshe' (herb-marinated porkchops), as well as some fried zucchini.

My experience tasting it:

Of course, I tried the Ryse of Fleyshe on its own first, unseasoned. Happily, it did not really need seasoning. It tasted almost buttery, with a slight bit of saltiness. I could also taste a little bit of the saffron and chicken broth, although, like Max mentions, the almond milk is there more for creaminess than it is for its addition to the flavour of the dish. The rice absorbed the juices from the meat very nicely. My husband and I quite enjoyed the dish overall, and will probably make it again (although not too often, since saffron is expensive). Ryse of Fleyshe is fairly unassuming as a dish - it isn't the star of the show - but I can see it complementing quite a few types of meat (more likely red meats). My husband and I agreed that next time we make it, we'll have it with a nice steak, since the rice will mop up the juices nicely. If you end up making it, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!

Links to harder-to-find ingredients:

Saffron

Ryse of Fleyshe original recipe (c. 1390)

Sourced from The Forme of Cury.

Ryse of Fleyshe: Take Ryse and waishe hem clene. and do hem in erthen pot with gode broth and lat hem seeþ wel. afterward take Almaund mylke and do þer to. and colour it wiþ safroun an salt, an messe forth. (Take rice and wash it clean, and put in an earthen pot with good broth and let it cook well. Afterward take Almond milk and add it, and colour it with saffron and salt, and serve it forth.)

Modern Recipe

Based on The Forme of Cury and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.

Ingredients:

A large pinch or about 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

1 cup (235 ml) almond milk

2 cups (350 g) white rice

3 cups (700 ml) chicken broth

3/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Crush the saffron in a mortar and pestle.

Add some of the almond milk to the mortar and let the saffron diffuse for 5 minutes.

Wash the rice.

Combine the rice, chicken broth, the rest of the almond milk, and salt in a pot. After the saffron has diffused, add the saffron almond milk to the pot. Stir everything together.

Set it over high heat and bring it to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit with the lid on for 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice, bedight it with a few extra strands of saffron if you like, then serve it forth.

[elibeeline]

I come home after a tiring shift to what is quite possibly the most intentionally Bland And Healthy meal i've ever had

[bondsmagii]

No, I mean like. Chicken does have its own flavor. But its a very light one. The dishes that have chicken in them absolutely taste different if you don't use the chicken. I tried that once. It is alright but its a food that needs to be added to something else because the way it cooks is weird? I have never tried to explain this before so I dunno how to, but I feel most meat is like that. After all, things like pork and beef and other poultry taste very plain if you cook them unseasoned. I don't think chicken is different than any other meat. They're all pretty plain if they're not properly seasoned so IDK why chicken specifically gets all the flak.

beef needs some flavouring when it’s being made into, say, a burger, but you still eat a burger for that beefy taste. beef can also come as a steak, and a decent steak is perfectly nice to just eat on its own with a few sides; the draw is in the flavour of the beef. beef has a strong flavour all on its own, and it’s nice. it brings something to a dish and it can hold its own. take the steak example -- if someone served you a plain-ass chicken breast with some mashed potatoes and greens, you would probably not be very happy. but if it was a nice cut of juicy steak? that’s a meal.

lamb has its own flavour, and when cooked well it can also hold its own. it has a very distinct and delicious flavour; it’s light and kind of sweet, and while it can be great with sauces and in curries it can easily be lightly seasoned and eaten on its own for the lamb flavour alone. it too can hold its own in a dish, and can be the centrepiece without too much work.

I detest pork and think it’s almost as plain as chicken, but that’s pork chops and the like. gammon is incredible and can be eaten on its own in steak form, usually with an egg or something -- again, you eat it for its flavour, and it’s the centrepiece. bacon is also something that people eat as the centrepiece, because of its own unique flavour.

now, this isn’t a question of if you like it, necessarily. you might hate beef or lamb or whatever. that’s fair enough; this is a question of if you can. and out of all the major meats, chicken is the only one that would probably cause a riot if you slapped a plain piece down on a plate with some veggies and said bone app the teeth. that’s because of all the meats, it’s the most bland, has none of its own flavour, and cannot carry a dish without serious help. 

[excessively-english-jd]

I have a few stories to add to this

1) is that I recently discovered that most people don't get a 'sharp' feeling when they eat too many carrots. That's apparently a me thing. I might be mildly allergic to carrots. Also, apparently, feeling sick after eating more than half an omelette, or eating scrambled eggs more than once every few weeks, is ALSO abnormal and I might have some kind of mild egg allergy too. I am still going to suffer the consequences to eat raw cake batter though.

2) is weirder, and will begin with a story: my fiance makes a brilliant chicken curry. He makes it from scratch, mixing the curry paste, putting it all together using ginger and tumeric and chilis and a bunch of other stuff. I've never been a fan of spicy food, but this DOES smell amazing, and he'd make it at low spiciness just for me, so I ate it, and liked it.

For like 3 years, this man makes me this curry and every time he asks me if it tastes good, if it's alright, if I like it. And usually I nod and say "yeah, it's good". But one time I go "Love, you don't need to ask me every time. It tastes like chicken, and I like chicken. I'm not eating this under duress" and he stops and stares at me and goes "It tastes like chicken?!!"

After some confusion with me saying 'of course it tastes like chicken, there's chicken in it, what are you so confused about?' it turns out that actually, this curry is meant to have flavour similar to its smell. Apparently, this is normal of spicy food. You are meant to taste the curry sauce more than the actual chicken flavour. I, however, cannot. For some reason, despite there being like 8 different spices in this thing - plus the tomato paste, and the coconut cream, which make the bulk of it - it literally tastes of nothing to me. I have been eating this curry for years, and it just tastes of plain, unseasoned chicken, but it hurts. This has been my experience of hot/spicy food for pretty much my whole life.

So, my thinking is, that the reason I've never been a fan of spicy food is because it tastes exactly like regular food, but it hurts my mouth to eat. And when given the choice between "chicken" and "chicken, but painful", I obviously choose "just chicken, thanks".

I can taste some of these flavours on their own (like ginger) so we still have no idea WHY, in this particular combination, my brain and tongue just nope out, but boy was that a bizarre fucking experience to have at age 21.

One absolutely hilarious part of human existence is the repeated incidents of spicy bananas. People who have lived their entire lives up to this point just assuming that a specific fruit or vegetable is supposed to taste bitter, tangy, or spicy, having no fucking idea that all this time, they've been allergic to this plant. Because how would they have known? You learn what things taste like by tasting them, nobody's going to tell you that bananas are supposed to be one of the mildest flavours out there. And people already eat so many things that taste hot, bitter, tangy and tart! Because they like how that kind of thing tastes like!

You can just happily much on a plant, thinking "ah, this angry plant tastes sharp because it hates me. Much like all the other sharp angry plants that people eat because they like the sharp", and it wouldn't cross their mind to think that the plant just hates you, specifically.

[missguomeiyun]

zucchini + spaghetti... pancake?

Back with another creative cooking post! 

I made this yesterday for lunch; inspired by . .. nothing. If anything, the show called “Please Take Care of my Refrigerator” :P I just open the refrigerator & see what I have, then GO!

PS: the amounts below are approximate, & it’s for 1 (Anita-sized) serving.

1/3 of a medium-sized zucchini.

Spaghetti - half my normal serving.

2 cloves garlic & some onions.

The “base” of the dish: 1 egg, 1.5 tablespoon pancake mix, 1.5 tablespoon all-purpose flour, & some water. I added like maybe 3-4 tablespoons of water, started mixing, but it was very thick so I added more water to make a runny batter. But not too runny. .. 

(unseasoned) chicken breast.

I don’t have pics but I lightly sautéed the zucchini 1st (then set aside for later). Then started over with garlic, onion & some olive oil.

Once onions soften, pour in the batter & reduce to medium heat. 

About 3mins later, I noticed the bottom began to change colour & texture, so I added some corn on.

Covered my pan for 2-3mins so the top of the “base” can cook for a bit. Then I layered my zucchini on, followed by spaghetti, & lastly, cheese (I used 2 cheesestrings). 

I put the lid on again for maybe 7mins ish. During this time, I sliced my chicken, which is now cooked. I also washed & sliced a small tomato. 

Ta-daaaa! 

I was worried that the pancake base portion would be stuck to my pan but it didn’t. The whole “pizza” thing slid right off so that was very nice haha I topped it off with some parmesan cheese & ground pepper~

For me, the flavours were good. It’s on the plain side but I think everything worked out. Parmesan is quite a strong cheese so while everything else was kind of plain & unseasoned, the parmesan was present in every bite. 

Here is the cross-section:

Things to improve on for the next one: efficiency lol. This thing took longer than I thought it would & I’m not sure why bcos it didn’t require much cutting or prepping. Just the cooking time, I guess, was lengthy. 

[royalindianrestro]

“The Expat Eaters”- Savoury & Healthy Indian Kids Menus in Singapore

Being a mother; you always want bits of the main food groups- like carbs, protein, dairy (if tolerant) in your kid’s meal. And although there’s no replacement to mom’s magical home-cooked meals, finding a proper kids menu- (if there ever was such a thing) is downright inconvenient.

Majority of the restaurants feel kids want to eat unseasoned meals namely, chicken nuggets or fried fish with chips. And even though they are right, finding a quality bistro in Singapore which packs protein-filled vegetables, exotic ingredients and unique flavours is a big dilemma. 

More so from a mother’s eye, they will straightaway opine- “Why Is Everything So Unhealthy...?” 

Fortunately, despite what the current situation shows, some emphasise on this crucial aspect and look to produce tasty and healthy Indian menus for kids. And though not surprising, many moms (and dads) prefer Indian menus for their kid’s health.

Classic Indian Menu That MOMS With Approve & Kids Will Love:- 

Snacks And Meals For Kids:- 

Panner Pakora:-Tasty pakoras prepared using fresh panner dipped in flour and healthy spices. The Indian food preparation in Singapore is deep-fried, and everyone knows how much kids love fried stuff.

Veg Samosa:-Considered as an Indian twist to the usual puff pastries, this is prepared with mashed potatoes, green peas and other exotic ingredients. This is again deep dried till the pastry gets a golden colour and is served with tasty either ketchup or tamarind sauce.

Chicken Malai Kebab:-Kids who love chicken wings or chicken nuggets will enjoy this Malai kebab preparation. Every bite will present a rich, aromatic taste, as they are prepared using Malai- or White Curd, it also offers a lot of healthy fat to little kids. And when served with finely chopped onions and some drops of lemon juice on the chicken, it will be very hard for any kid (and the parents) to resist.

Lamb Boti Kebab:-Delicious boneless lamp cubes properly marinated with yogurt and rich Indian spices- the dish is perfect for kids and their worried moms.

This particular Indian food preparation in Kallang (or other popular food areas in Singapore) is healthy and packs rich proteins and nutrients in every bite. Plus, they taste amazing! 

Protein-Rich Salads For Kids:-

Tabbouleh:-The preparation includes freshly chopped Lebanese parsley mixed with burghul (also known as crushed wheat), onions, tomatoes, virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

Green Salad: -A classic dish every mom wants their kids to have, especially in the crucial age between 5-10. It consists of the goodness of all the green vegetables, tomatoes and even white curd. The dish is irrefutably healthy, difficult to finish and also very filling.

Fattoush:-This preparation includes freshly chopped vegetables and Arabic toasted bread.

Why Indian Meals For Your Little Kid?

Indian meals naturally consist of essential fibres, vitamins (A, B, C, D, E, K) and minerals (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, etc.).Some Indian menus consist of a balanced meal in the form of pulses, cereals and both cooked and uncooked vegetables.

It also comes with a lot of good fat as some dishes are prepared using Mustard, Ghee, Coconut oil. Nuts and seeds are also amply used in some delicacies.

And importantly, Indian menu items are always easy to digest. They are filling and keeps the digestion better mainly due to the use of fermented food like Raita, Curd, Buttermilk and spices like Jeera, Saunf, Cinnamon, curry leaves etc. 

Each of these consists of medicinal and healing properties and assist in digestive enzymes. Some even believe that curry leaves are good for boosting memory of kids- so that’s that!

In recent times, some Indian restaurants in Singapore have started making waves into the Singapore food sector. They constantly produce exotic, interesting and healthy menus for people of all ages. And since it is already established that Indian meals are healthy for young kids; you can easily order from these bistros.

All that remains is to try em out. So, what are you waiting for? Have at it!

[weederfall18-blog]

Indo Treats At Martabak Cafe, Ultimo

Love Indonesian food and martabak? This quaint little cafe on Harris Street in Ultimo sells sweet and savoury martabak pancakes as well as other Indonesian goodies like nasi lemak, roti and noodles.

It has been years since I had tried a martabak, that spongy, crumpet-like Indonesian treat. And when looking for a cheap and cheerful place to have dinner with Celia and Pete, we decided to try Martabak Cafe after driving past it on Harris Street in Pyrmont.

"You go order," said Celia who was tired and hot. It was an unseasonably and sudden 38C night and there is no air conditioning at Martabak Cafe. At first we are the only people eating but come 7pm when you can park outside other Indonesian families arrive.

I go up to the counter to order and then Celia sidles up beside me. "I came to make sure that you wouldn't order 12 things," she said cheekily. She knows me too well.

I ask for recommendations - it is salad weather but Celia doesn't like the look of the picture of the gado gado so we order a few items from each category including some drinks. They ask us about the sweetness level we want in our drinks which is nice as sometimes they can be too sweet.

Es Cendol $5.95 and Iced Lemon Tea $3.90

We try a few drinks to start with. The iced lemon tea is just what we need for this humid heat although the es cendol with its green pandan tapicoa "worms" and sweet coconut milk woujd serve just as well as dessert.

Ice Durian Drink $6.95

Mr NQN's choice is always the durian shake. Nobody else at the table likes durian except for him and I leave him to it after trying a sip (yes it's pungent and no I did not love it although I don't like durian).

Roti Canai Dengam Kari Ayam Flat bread with chicken curry $12.95

We also order the roti canai with chicken curry. Celia's heritage is Malaysian so she expects the curry to have more punch than it does and to be a darker red in colour from the spices. To me, this is like a mild Thai green curry with a sweetness to it that I like. The roti are quite good although I think I like them a bit crispier and flakier.

Martabak Telur Sapi $16.95

I always feel that if a place has the name of a dish in the title, you should probably order it. There are sweet and savoury martabaks and there is a choice of 4 savoury ones. The beef martabak comes out sizzling hot and crispy wrapped around a beef and egg filling. Savoury martabaks are different from sweet ones which are more spongey and crumpet-like.

Siomay Bandung $12.95

I liked the soimay bandung which is a siu mai dish sort of like gado gado-except with siu mai dumplings and stuffed tofu pieces, steamed cabbage and potatoes in place of crispy vegetables. I particularly like the satay sauce on it.

Mango Shake $6.95

Mr NQN is super thirsty this evening and downs another shake. This time it's a mango shake that tastes like fresh fruit and is just the right level of sweetness.

Ayam Penyet Lengkap $15.95

This plate has a bit of everything. There's East Javanese smashed fried chicken (really just fried chicken, not sure where the smashed comes into it) with tomatoes, cucumber, steamed rice, fried giblets, fried liver and fried egg. They bring this out with a hot sambal paste. Special note must be made of the sambal that they bring by the pot to the table. While the food is actually quite mild, the chilli sambol packs enough fiery heat to have our tongues tingling very nicely. I call it a workout for my tongue.

Mie Goreng Saus Tiram $12.95

The only dish that we left mostly behind is the mee goreng or thickish fried egg noodle with chicken, tomato, meatball, garlic chives. It's not bad but we've had much better noodle dishes.

Chocolate Peanut Cheese Martabak half $12.95

You can get all the sweet martabaks as either a plain or pandan flavoured martabak. We all love pandan flavour, that sweet, rich tropical South East Asian flavour so we pick that along with the filling that has chocolate, peanuts and cheese in it. I love the sponginess of martabak and although some can be quite heavy this is quite light in texture. I love crumpets and that spongy honeycomb pattern although the weirdo in me would probably love this stuffed with honey butter or peanut butter instead.

So tell me Dear Reader, if a place has a dish in their name, do you feel compelled to order it? Have you ever tried sweet or savoury martabak?

This meal was independently paid for.

439 Harris St, Ultimo NSW 2007 Monday Closed Tuesday to Thursday 4–9pm Friday 12–9pm Saturday & Sunday 12–9:30pm Phone: (02) 9566 4178 martabakcafe.com.au/

Source: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/04/07/martabak-cafe-ultimo/

[indiane-touristvisa-blog]

Easy trips: Go on a dessert trail in Mumbai, Maharashtra

GO FROM: All metros GO FOR: The incorrigible sweet tooth

Kick off a tour of Mumbai’s best desserts with a pancake as big as your head. At seafood restaurant Bastian in Bandra, the pillowy disk, sprinkled liberally with dark, milk and white Callebaut chocolate chips, is deceptively light. You’ll need the space for affogatos at nearby Koinonia Coffee Roasters, made with scoops from Bono Boutique Ice Cream’s stable. Start with a cautious bite of the chocolate truffle oil affogato – its silken amalgamation of sweet, salty, acrid and umami is startling. Those less prone to ordering the weirdest thing on the menu can opt for the familiar-yet-equally-engrossing salted caramel or hazelnut options.

Koinonia’s coffees also play match to the bijoux-like bonbons at La Folie Du Chocolat across town, in the heritage Fort district. After two patisseries and a café, chef Sanjana Patel wanted to open a veritable chocolate atelier, and the dusty-rose-and-gold interiors along with her gleaming, complex hemispherical candies say she has succeeded. The Kyoto melds milk chocolate, Yuzu citrus ganache and dry strawberry shards, and the vegan Bali combines coconut water, caramel and black sesame nougatine.

Practise clean dessert eating at Sequel Bistro & Juice Bar next door, the all-gluten-and-refined-sugar-free restaurant’s second outpost in Mumbai. The Raw Avo Mousse reveals its magic at second bite, when you’ve adjusted to the muddy-bitter Peruvian cacao and know to anticipate the tart surprise ending courtesy nubs of freeze-dried raspberry. But, if you can’t have your sweet tooth tarnished by healthy mumbo-jumbo, cut across to Le 15 Café in Colaba for some old-school sinning. Good luck choosing between Justina (warm, moist babka with vanilla cream), Julie and Carla – it’s like picking between best friends, just harder.

To add a shade of discovery to your sugar binge, hail a cab to Bohri Mohalla, a cluster of lanes near Bhendi Bazaar, sacred to the city’s meat lovers for their cheap, greasy – and inordinately delicious – Bohri delicacies. Past the shammi kebabs sizzling on great black tavas, streamers of marinated chicken tikka in shop fronts, and wobbly towers of freshly baked, flour-dusted naans, you’ll find Taj Ice Cream. The Icecreamwala family has been hand-churning ice cream since 1887 at this tiny parlour. The milky, pudding-like treats come in a wide range of seasonal and unseasonal fruit flavours – the custard apple and strawberry are dependably delicious, but the faithful cross their hearts over the fresh Alphonso mango.

Ride the sea link back to Bandra to conclude a sweet day at O Pedro, in the business hub of BKC. Brought to you by The Bombay Canteen team, the modern Goan bar and restaurant has been calibrated for nostalgia in everything from the mumsily swish interiors to a menu stuffed with made-over Goan classics (smoked pork ribs vindaloo, sourdough poee, veg ‘choris’ chilli fry) to the dessert menu by pastry chef Heena Punwani. Here, set your sights on the crunchy-creamy egg custard tarts (` 295), but save the last dance for the serradurra , a traditional Portuguese dessert, layered with orange caramel, orange segments and topped with toasted Marie-biscuit dust – all of which arrive on your palate as a single implosion of flavour and texture. You know in your soul that the countless burpees will be worth it.

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Monday, June 5, 2017

Today was my first day of my plant based diet. To start off the day, I made myself a kale, spinach and banana smoothie. I didn't have a heavy breakfast because I usually don’t eat breakfast. The kale spinach and banana smoothie was good. The bitter taste of the kale was balanced by the sweetness of the banana. The only thing I did not enjoy while drinking this smoothie was the chucks of ale and spinach that were not blended well, but overall the flavour of the smoothie was good. The smoothie itself was filling, but I got hungry around 11 am.

For lunch, I prepared steamed veggies, and fruits. While making my smoothie, I steamed broccoli, corn, and a sweet potato. I did not add any seasoning to these vegetables because I am used to eating unseasoned foods. So, I steamed them and packed them into my container. To add to the steamed veggies, I sliced cucumbers and strawberries as a snack. This meal was able to satisfy me until dinner which is around 5pm.

For the final meal of the day, I made myself a salad. For this salad I cut a few leaves of romaine lettuce, bell peppers, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. As for the dressing, I used olive oil and lemon juice to add a little flavour to the salad. The salad, was very filling, but it felt like it was missing something. I was missing chicken. Usually I have grilled chicken breast with my salads, so this salad felt a little empty.

So, this was my first day of going on a plant based diet, and overall, the meals I had were filling. My mood today did not change, but I feel tired as the day went by. That is all for today.