Food For My Belly

In July, I made my way up to Sydney specifically for the Game of Thrones Exhibit. I may have waited 10 hours in line just to sit on the Iron Throne and enjoyed the "Ascend the Wall 4D Experience" but it was worth it as I made new friends. Who knew that friendship could blossom from spending 10 hours of waiting in line with random strangers :) I am definitely a Melbournian at heart and always will be but I love spending weekends in Sydney when I get the chance. Why? The food. It's always about food when it comes to me. If I am not already eating or have just finished a meal, I am already thinking of what I will be eating next. On my recent weekend getaway to Sydney, I managed to try some new food joints but also, visited my oldies but goodies. If you find yourself up in Sydney any time soon, try dropping by these places...you will not regret it!

The last time I was in Hoi A n, I did a cookin g class with Red Bridge Cooking School. It was my very first time doing a cooking class anywhere in the world be sides in my own kitchen with my mum when I first started learning the tricks of the trade. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from a cooking class but I did not enjoy the the one at Red Bridge. The person who thought us how to cook was kind of rude and h e wasn't very helpful either, he got sl igh tly frustrated when we did not do it correctly the first time . Also, I fel t like the who le cooking experience was very rushed and at the end of it all, he didn't even give us the recipes! This time around, I did a bit more research and thoug ht that I would like to try another cooking class but with Ms. Vy :) Sh e's like the backbone of Hoi An's food with so many rest aurants to her name like her famous Mo rning Glory Restaurant, The Market, Cargo Club, Mermaid and many more. Unfortunately, her coo...

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" - St. Augustine If you asked me if I would go back to Hoi An even though I have been there twice, my answer would be yes. There are other parts of Vietnam that I have yet to explore like Sapa, Hue or the Mekong Delta but Hoi An is a place that I love revisiting over and over again. Why? The people are friendly (minus the ones who hassles you about where you're from and if you want to see their shop), the town is lively but very peaceful, you can get clothes tailored at a fraction of the price of what you would pay back home AND most of all, THE FOOD. I love eating, I think that's pretty clear. The food in Hoi An is amazing, majority of their restaurants serve amazing local cuisine and you can never leave without trying the staples; Cao Lau, Mi Quang, and White Rose. Before I embarked on my second trip to Hoi An, I did plenty of research online on which were the "must visit" restaurants ...

Pete and I were invited to a friend's place for dinner. They were cooking the main and I had the choice of picking between entrée and dessert. I chose entrée. As most of you already know by now, I am not a keen baker and my baked good are never quite right so dessert was not really an option for me. I wanted to make something easy which did not require much cooking so I browsed through the coles magazines that I had in my room and found this recipe. INGREDIENTS 200g rice vermicelli noodles 2 small carrots 1 lebanese cucumber 1 red capsicum 500g cooked peeled prawns 1/3 cup basil leaves 1/3 cup mint leaves 1/2 cup coriander leaves 1 cup bean shoots, tails trimmed 1/3 unsalted roasted cashews DRESSING 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce 1/4 cup lime juice 1 small red chilli, finely chopped 1 small garlic clove, crushed Place noodles in a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 mins, then drain into a colander...

The boyfriend and I have been watching a lot of Luke Nguyen in the past couple of weeks and after every episode, it made us hungry. It also made me want to cook the dishes he made on his show.  So...two Fridays ago, I made one of his dishes. Surprisingly, it turned out better than I expected, it was very fresh and the green papaya was crisp combined with all the different herbs made it oh so much healthier to eat :) One downside was that we underestimated how spicy my garden chillies were and was suffering for a bit. INGREDIENTS 1 green papaya (180g), peeled & finely julienne 200g cooked pork belly, finely sliced 200g cooked medium tiger prawns, peeled, de-veined and sliced in half lengthways 5 green mint leaves, finely sliced 5 Asian basil leaves, finely sliced 5 perilla leaves, finely sliced 5 coriander leaves, finely sliced 1 tablespoon fried red Asian shallots 1 tablespoon crushed roasted peanuts 1/2 teaspoon fried garlic chips 1 chilli, chopped 3 tables...

This is one of my favourite dishes to cook; lots of preparation but it's simple, quick, healthy, and tasty...and the best of all, everyone always enjoys it :) It's Vietnamese rice paper rolls!  Since I have home stay students living with me (most of them mainly from China), I always try to make sure they experience things/foods that they don't normally get back in their hometown. And rice paper rolls are always a good way of getting everyone to have a bit of fun in making their rolls :) The bunch that is eagerly waiting to start eating :) The spread; herbs, carrots, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, prawn, beef, and my special homemade dipping sauce :) When we have rice paper rolls for dinner, I stick to the above ingredients as it's simple enough and healthy. Yes, there are a lot of different herbs on either side of the photo but I absolutely love them and they're good for you!  The special sauce that I make consist of mixing shredded pineapple, hoisin sauce...