Tofu and Beef Noodles

Ingredients

500g lean beef, cut into strips

2x 300g packets firm tofu, cut into large cubes

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1.5 cm ginger, finely diced

2 medium zucchinis, sliced

2 medium carrots, sliced

150g rice noodles, prepared according to packet

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons chilli bean paste

2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (chinese cooking wine)

1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup warm water to form a paste

1 tablespoon Schezuen peppercorns

2 dried red chillies

Method

1. Heat up the wok and add Schezuen peppercorns. Dry toast until fragrant. Remove from wok, place in a mortar and pestle with the red chillies and pound to a coarse powder.

2. In the same wok, add a little oil, the onions, garlic and ginger. Fry until the onion starts to soften.

3. Add the beef and fry until it starts to brown. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, chilli bean paste, sugar and Shaoxing wine.

4. Add vegetables and fry for 1 minute. Add rice noodles and stir fry for a further minute.

5. Add the cornflour mix and swirl it into the bottom of the wok. Add tofu carefully and stir fry gently for a further 2-3 minutes to heat the tofu. The sauce should start to thicken.

6. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Sprinkle the pepper and chilli on the top. 

Tips

• You can fry the tofu pieces before adding to stir fry if  you want them to hold their shape better and give the dish a bit of crunch. Coat the cubed tofu in flour and shallow fry until they start to colour. Drain on paper towels. Don't add tofu to stir fry, but add on top after serving.
• You can use any other vegetables you like, I only had carrots and zucchini on hand, but any Asian vegetables, broccolli, cauliflower etc will work very well.
• You can also substitute the rice noodles for hokkien, or omit noodles completely and service with rice.

Maedaya

400 Bridge Road, Richmond (03 94283918)

My sister introduced me to this little yet amazing gem of a place in Richmond on Saturday night. It is an izakaya venue; a Japanese drinking venue that serves food to accompany drinks (mainly sake); a bit of a japanese take on tapas or mezze, if you like.


There are two levels; downstairs has a bar stocked to the brim with sake upon sake and has a menu filled with many a small dish option; upstairs is the charcoal barbeque area where you are served raw plates of meat and vegetables that you cook on your own grill. The two levels offer different menus - there are only a few downstairs options that are avaliable upstairs.


We tried the upstairs BBQ. After climbing a few flights of stairs, the upstairs seating area was small, yet welcoming. There are only about six tables seating max 6-8 people each, so I was glad we booked as the place filled very quickly when we were there.


We ordered a plate of beef loin, chicken, pork, cabbage, mushrooms and eggplant to cook on the grill.  For other sides, we ordered edamame beans, 2 chicken breast skewers and a bowl of rice. The waiter brought over the hot BBQ and a pair of tongs, and we got to work cooking the meat and veg over the hot hot coals. Each table comes with a selection of sauces; sukiyaki, japanese BBQ sauce, hot miso mayonnaise, mayonnaise and black sesame seeds that you can mix and match to your taste in order to flavour your bbq'd meats. Each of the meat plates came with four pieces of meat, and the vegies - you get about a handful. It's a good amount, especially for the cost. For example, the beef loin was $9, chicken and pork around $7 each. The edamame beans $2, chicken skewers (already cooked) $3.50.All of the meat is sliced very thinly and cooks really quickly, so you're not left waiting around for it to be cooked. In fact, we were caught out a couple of times when we forgot about the meat cooking and had to rescue some charred bits off the grill. All part of the fun though!


For dessert we ordered the green tea pudding with black sesame icecream (comes with fruit also), plus an extra scoop of green tea icecream. The dessert was absolutely divine, especially the black sesame icecream - so wonderfully refreshing after the salty sauces of the BBQ. And the scoops of icecream were very generous.


For all this food, it cost only $59 in total - we were really stuffed at the end! The staff were amazing - so lovely, quick and attentive. The food was great, and I definately will be back again to try the downstairs menu

Crunchy Tandoori Chicken Balls

I hate cooking every other day besides Sunday.

On Sunday's, I've got the whole day at my leisurely disposal. There's no rush and I have the time to whip up as many wierd, mostly edible concoctions that I want. So, with a jar of half-used tandoori paste that's threatening to commit suicide, I decided to flex my Masterchef muscles.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium onion (peeled, roughly chopped)

3 garlic cloves (peeled)

1 large carrot (roughly chopped)

2 large flat brown mushrooms (roughly chopped)

1/4 cup pearl barley

500g organic chicken mince

3 teaspoons tandoori paste (I used Sharwoods)

1 - 2 teaspoons greek yogurt

pinch salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (approximately)

1 cup polenta (approximately)
oil for pan

METHOD

1. In a stick blender, process the onion, garlic, carrot and mushrooms until they are finely diced. I processed each vegetable individually, though you can probably do them mixed all together to save time. Put in a large mixing bowl.

2. To the mixing bowl add the raw pearl barley, chicken mince, tandoori paste, yogurt and seasoning. I put in quite a bit of chilli as I like spicy food, but you can omit this. I also think fresh coriander would be nice to add (I didn't have any at the time).
3. Use your hands or a fork to mix the ingredients together. I prefer to use hands, so you can feel the mix coming together. The mix will be quite moist and sticky. Add as much bread crumbs as required for the mix to become less sticky, but more tacky. You want the mix to hold together well, yet not be so wet that it sticks all over your hands.

4. On a tray or on the kitchen bench, pour out an even layer of polenta - this will be for rolling the chicken balls in.
5. Use a teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on how big you want the balls to be), scoop a spoonful and roll into balls with your palms. Roll the chicken balls into the polenta so that it is covered all over. You can cover them as thickly or thinly in polenta as you like. I covered mine in just one single, quite light coating.
6. Heat your pan to around medium-high heat. Add oil. I used only half a teaspoon, which I spread very thinly on the pan. You can also use more oil if you intend to shallow fry for a crunchier coating.

7. Cook chicken balls on all sides until cooked and crunchy on the outside. Be  careful not to burn the outside.
8. Serve with greek yogurt as a dipping sauce. Would also be nice with tzatziki, as the fresh coolness of the cucumbers would work nicely with the heat of the tandoori and chilli.

Gluten-Free Berry and Yogurt Cake

I had planned to bake up a Halloween storm on Sunday in celebration of all things spooky and gruesome, but chickened out and instead got stuck into something a bit more wholesome...

2 cups gluten free plain flour (I used 1 cup Aldi GF plain and 1 cup millet flour)

3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
200ml low fat greek or natural yogurt (or any low fat flavoured yogurt)
1/3 cup skim milk
2 large eggs (lightly whisked)
1 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/4 cups frozen blue berries (or any berry mix)

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a loaf pan.

2. Sift flour/s into a bowl. Mix in baking powder, sugar and cinnamon.

3. In a seperate bowl combine yogurt, milk, eggs and vanilla essence.

4. Add the wet ingredients into the flour mix it all comes together. Don't over mix.

5. Gently fold in berries to mix. The mix itself should be quite sticky and thick.

6. Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes. If the cake starts to brown too much on top, cover with foil until it is ready. To test if it is done, insert a skewer; if it comes out dry, the cake is ready.

Notes

• Play around with whatever flours you have at home. I've also tried this with buckwheat flour and you can also use normal flours if you don't want it gluten free. I really liked the above version using millet flour.
• This isn't a sweet cake - it's actually got a very mild sweetness that's balanced with the tartness of the berries and yogurt, so if you want extra sweetness, you could brush the top of the cake with milk and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top, and also ensure the berries you're using are the sweeter varieties.
• Keep checking the cake after it hits the 45 minute mark, as the baking time may vary a bit for you. This cake has taken up to 1 hour in the oven for me before.
• This cake also freezes well.