Blog

Guide to photography: Bowl of Fruit!

Photography May 11, 2015 1 Comment

Maybe I’m being cocky, but I think I’ve come a long way since my first food photo with a tiny Canon Ixus 5 point-and-shoot. I LOVE taking photos of food – not just because I’m Asian! – and there is just so much going on behind the scenes when trying to create a beautiful food photo!

It can be hard to know where to start though, and one of my favourite ways to learn about styling, is to study photos that I find beautiful, and copy these techniques in my own photos!

This week, it’s all about this simple but gorgeous photo I found at Cooking Pleasure. It’s essentially a bowl of fruit – nothing too exotic that you can’t find in your local supermarket – but it’s so beautifully styled and photographed that I can’t stop looking at it! Here’s why this photo is this week’s photography inspiration!

Restaurant review of Osaka Bar, Potts Point!

Kushi Kushi Koo! Osaka Bar, Potts Point

Review May 10, 2015

I remember when I was little, and my dad and mom brought me to Disneyland. It was late, and we had been on every ride I was allowed to go on as a 4 year old. We had met all the characters, taken all the photos, and I was hungry. My mum disappeared into the crowd and came back with a small plastic box. Inside, lay kewpie-mayo-smothered slices of California Roll.

I didn’t know it then, but that was the beginning of my love affair with Japanese food.

It’s this love affair that has brought me to Osaka Bar, in Potts Point, where Chef Kazu aims to bring Osaka soul food to Sydney. Chef Kazu descends from a long line of Japanese chefs, and began his own cooking career as an apprentice washing dishes. He then progressed to “utensil cleaner” before even being allowed to prep food. It took him 5 whole years to progress to filleting fish, and about 19 years ago, he decided that he wanted expand his horizons and see the world. And in Australia, “the people were nice and the weather was good“, so he stayed.

Osaka Bar represents a lifetime of feeding people and wanting to make them happy. Chef Kazu wants to serve food from his heart and hometown, all in a quaint eatery in Potts Point!

Okonomiyaki

Ikayaki – savoury squid pancake

Takoyaki – Japanese balls made with wheat flour, octopus and pickled ginger

Kushi Katsu

Osaka is famous for street food, and this is where Osaka Bar shines. Their Kushi-Katsu – not to be confused with Kushi Age, as I’m empathetically informed by Chef Kazu – is an amazingly addictive array of skewered items, coated lightly in a thin beer batter, and then crumbed with panko, Japanese breadcrumbs made from flaked white milk bread. The pork, tenderised only with the back of a knife, is my absolute favourite, followed closely by the melt-in-your-mouth salmon belly.

The Okonomiyaki is also delicious – a tender Japanese savoury pancake with thin crispy slices of pork, and crunchy cabbage. And lots of Japanese mayo, of course.

And if you’re too hungry for smaller bites, they have some pretty rad mains too!

Osaka Style Unagi Sushi

Lamb Cutlet with Sanjoku Sauce and Mentaiko Mash Potatoes

The Lamb Cutlets with Sanjoku sauce were served with a side of mentaiko mash, which totally stole the show. Mentaiko is a spiced and salt cured cod roe that adds this mind blowing depth of flavour to the creamy mash.

Kakuni Pork

And the rich, sweet, salty Kakuni is a tender cube of pork belly that would be so comforting with a bowl of rice. Chef Kazu even puts his unique spin on it, adding red miso to the braise to add body.

But really. It’s pork belly. We’re just improving on perfection.

Osaka Bar gives you a vibe of being welcomed into Chef Kazu’s family dinner table. This hilarious, charismatic chef is right there in the open kitchen, welcoming guests and perfecting every dish that goes out. Sure, it’s not Japanese fine dining, but that’s exactly where the beauty lies. There’s a lot of heart and passion, executed with skills that only years of experience can pull off.

Looks like we might be spending more time in Potts Point!

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Osaka Bar.

Osaka Bar
Shop 15 Llankelly Place, 24-30 Springfield Avenue
Potts Point, Sydney
Phone: 02 8970 1143
Website: http://www.osakabar.com.au/

Review of Boon Cafe/Jarern Chai, Haymarket

Having A Chat: Jarern Chai Boon Cafe, Haymarket

Review May 8, 2015

Thai food is just as vibrant as its culture: a sophisticated balance if salty, sweet, sour and spicy, Thai people
have been instilled with this ability to create explosive flavours in stir fries, soups and stews, that keep you coming back for more.

In Sydney, Chat Thai has been hailed as one of the most authentic, with matriarch Amy Chanta at the helm, leading her team of Thai born and bred chefs and food staff. The recipes come from their family tables, which adds a certain sense of history to the menu. But Thai ingredients can be hard to source, and the list can be as long as your arm.

Well, with Jarern Chai, you can get all your questions answered.

Jarern Chai/Boon Cafe share the same space on Pitt Street in Haymarket. Boon Cafe has a bit of the hipster coffee vibe, but with a menu full of comforting Thai favourites. Now what I really wanted was the Intestine dish that I saw on Instagram, but because life isn’t perfect, it wasnt available and I had to settle for Duck Noodles instead.

#FirstWorldProblems am I right?

Duck Noodle Soup – Roasted five spice duck egg noodles with goji berry, thai basil, and chilli oil

The soup, like all soup I’ve had at every incarnation of Chat Thai, is legit. Savoury and tangy, this broth was laced with goji berries and topped with chunks of duck, egg noodles, and bean sprouts. My only complaint though? At $14, it was a wee bit expensive for a bowl of noodle soup in Chinatown.

It’s friggin student central, man. I can turn a corner and find something similarly decent for cheaper.

Otherwise, the service was friendly, and the atmos was relaxing. Nice for a leisurely catchup, but not if you’re tight on the purse strings!

This meal was independantly paid for.

Boon Cafe at Jarern Chai
425 Pitt Street, Chinatown
Sydney, NSW
Phone: 02 9281 2114
Website: http://booncafe.com

The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Exercise!

Exercise Health and Wellness May 8, 2015 2 Comments

This may be controversial to say, but I HATE EXERCISE. It’s true. I keep trying, you know, but nothing ever makes up for the sweat, tears and injury…and that’s just from personal trainers. For a while I went to the gym 5 days a week as part of a pact with Yina, but the moment we started living in different countries, I stopped.

But running on the treadmill like a hamster in a wheel isn’t the be all and end all to exercise (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Nope, there are many more fun ways you can get your move on, and before you know it, you would have hit the daily recommended amount of activity, all without breaking a sweat.

5 Winter Beauty Favourites: Plum

Beauty Inspiration Review May 7, 2015

It’s easy to fall into a rut with makeup. Often, I find something that works, and I just keep going back to the same products over and over again, neglecting my ever-growing box of “makeup I’d like to try”. I usually go with gold and peach – all that warm Asian skin tone – and sometimes, stronger colours like Plum remind me of my goth teenage days, never to be repeated.

I burned all the photos for a reason!

I do, however, love a statement lip, and after trying out a couple of lippies in deep plum, I’m absolutely LOVING this everyday Maleficient look. Because villainesses need a little love too!
Read More

Duck schnitzel lolipops/ Pickled kohlrabi + tarragon mayo

Explosion on the palette: The Powder Keg, Potts Point

Review May 6, 2015

A good restaurant is more than good food. Good food is a given, sure, but a great restaurant transports you into another world, and presents, just for the couple of hours while you’re there, relief from your everyday life. The team works together to create a little drama, a little theatre, and if done right, just a touch of magic.

So when we are greeted by a large smoke-clouded cloche that obscures a beautiful cocktail, we know we’re in for one hell of a ride.

A photo posted by Tammi Kwok (@teafortammi) on Apr 19, 2015 at 4:58am PDT

Clockwise from top left: Gin and Tonic on tap, Nettle Gimlet, Strawberry Smack, Gunpowder Plot, Volcano Punch

With a name derived from the early origins of gin, you just know that the bar menu is well stocked with inventive cocktails that showcase just that. Grant Collins – expert mixologist and once named World’s Best Bartender – provides a unique perspective on these alcoholic beverages. Here, alcohol is not a short road to blinding drunkedness, but instead is meant to be savoured. The Gunpowder Plot is a heady mix of gunpowder tea spiked gin, syrup, dandelion and burdock bitters, and fresh citrus, with just a hint of smoke laced through the foam from the smouldering twigs. So full of flavour, and lacking that acrid burn of alcohol in the back of the throat from cheap gin. It was absolutely delicious.

Also surprisingly smooth and clean on the palette was their Gin and Tonic, ON TAP. Yes, this amazing concoction, so often maligned by cheap bars and inexperienced bartenders, is available on top. Mind blown.

Sphere of gin and apricot liquor

Gin is also clearly an influence in the menu, put together by Chef Elijah Holland. What started as an interest in gardening and horticulture as child, soon blossomed into an expertise in foraging, and a creativity when it comes to cooking with the seasons. By beginning with the foraged fruit and veg, before moving on to the proteins, Chef EJ – as he is affectionately known – has crafted an earthy array of dishes that have strong Nordic and European influences.

Oysters, Gin and Tonic Sorbet, Cucumber, Foraged Violets and Sea Lettuce

These fresh oysters, topped with cucumber, Gin and Tonic Sorbet, and foraged violets is their most popular dish, and with the fresh ingredients cutting through the briny flavours, it’s easy to see why.

Duck schnitzel lolipops/ Pickled kohlrabi + tarragon mayo

Quail Scotch egg/ Smoke potato + crispy pancetta + mushrooms

Even the deep fried bites have a certain lightness about them. The Duck Schitzel Lollipops, crumbed and fried, are balanced with pickled kohlrabi and tarragon mayo, and the Quail Scotch Egg carried the crunch of the crispy pancetta, and a mild tang of pickled shimeji mushrooms. The mushrooms, cooked lightly in a pickling liquid before being left to ‘do its thang’ for about a week, didn’t dissolve into mushiness like you would assume, and instead provided a fairly firm texture that more than held its own.

Sauteed Foraged Pine and Slippery Jack Mushrooms

Speaking of mushrooms, we were also treated to this one off dish of Sauteed Foraged Pine and Slippery Jack Mushrooms. Wild mushrooms, garlic, butter? YES.

Roast snapper/ Horseradish + lemon + buttermilk + silverbeet

Pastrami pork fillet/ Crackling + barley + apricot + black garlic

Peas/ Woodside goats curd + cucumber + mint

The mains for me weren’t quite as exciting as the bites. Maybe we were getting full at the time – we were very spoiled with LOTS of food – but the larger plates lacked some of the delicate balance that was present in everything else. The Roast Snapper had a beautiful garlic silverbeet condiment with a pickled cherry tomato, but it didn’t, for my taste, make up for the inherent dryness of snapper due to its lean meat. The Pastrami Pork Fillet was paired, rather impressively, with house-made black garlic – a testament to Chef EJ’s technical skill – but again, there was such leanness that it lacked the sense indulgence of the dishes that came before.

Negroni Ice Cream Sandwich

But this sense of opulence certainly came back with the presentation of not one, but two amazing desserts.

A photo posted by Tammi Kwok (@teafortammi) on Apr 19, 2015 at 5:05am PDT

Sponge, lilly pilly jam, mascarpone, plum and ginger sorbet, and blueberry dust made from freeze dried blueberries

The Sponge, Lilly Pilly Jam, Mascarpone, Plum and Ginger Sorbet and Blueberry Dust shows a skilful mix of technical skill and creativity, and presented a riot of fruity, refreshing flavours and contrasting textures that kept you coming back for more. I must admit that even thought we were bursting to the brim, I still scraped the bottom of the plate in a rather unladylike way because it was just so delicious.

And it turns out that this passion for food that Chef EJ has doesn’t just start and stop with The Powder Keg. He reveals that spear fishing and barbecuing ranks amongst his favourite ways to eat at home, echoing the same approach to food and nature that he has brought to The Powder Keg.

Oh, and when I asked about a dish that didn’t make it to this amazing menu? “Yabbies, smoked yabbie consommé,charred fennel, pickled apples, pine oil”, he says, and I wish I hadn’t asked because now I just know what I’m missing out on.

Definitely worth a trip back to explore the rest of the menu, including the Butchers block – our board of in house made charcuteries, pickles, ferments, preserves, bread, which seems like an underrated dish, but comes as a recommendation from the chef himself.

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of The Powder Keg.

The Powder Keg
7 Kellett St
Potts Point, NSW 2011
Phone: 02 8354 0980
Website: http://thepowderkeg.com.au/

Prawn Paste Chicken (Har Jeong Gai) Recipe

Singapore Family favourite: Prawn Paste Chicken Recipe

Food Recipe May 6, 2015 13 Comments

It’s funny how smells and memories work. There are so many stinky things in the world that I associate with deliciousness – durian, fish sauce, sauerkraut, blue cheese…all these smells make my mouth water and my tummy rumble, even though there are some who would turn their nose up in disgust. I guess it comes from growing up in Singapore. Once you start associating stinky with delicious at a very young age, you start getting very excited to try the weird and wonderful. And hey, if nothing else, it’s a great ice breaker at a party.

Fermented shrimp paste is one such favourite that really baffles my friends. This stuff hits your nostrils the moment the seal on the jar is open, and has a somewhat sour/salty aroma that is quite similar to fish sauce. But add that to chicken and the deep fryer? And you’ve got prawn paste chicken (had jeong gai), a local favourite that graces almost every special occasion, family gathering, and children’s birthday party.

Trust me, this stuff is freaking delicious.
Read More

The importance of aftercare: the Samsung Experience disappointment.

The Importance of Aftercare: the Samsung Experience Store and NX3000 disappointment

Photography Tech May 5, 2015

After 10 months of a beautiful, productive relationship, my Samsung NX3000 dies on me. Like completely spazzes out, and kicks the proverbial bucket, right in the middle of dinner. Now, you might say, “But it’s under a year old! Just get it fixed under warranty!” And you’d be right.

See, when the NX3000 first came out, it wasn’t available in Australia, so I took the gamble and bought the camera in Singapore, from a reputable store. I knew that the warranty wasn’t applicable in Australia, but I figure that I could at least pay to get it serviced here, right?

I didn’t know how wrong I’d be.
Read More

Review of Three Williams, in Surry Hills

Narnie-a: Three Williams, Redfern

Drive-by Eating Review May 4, 2015

As a kid, I’ve never been big on sandwiches. Not even really today. It’s always been too dry, too plain, too…meh. And everytime I keep trying, I always find myself pulling it apart and having just the filling on its own.

Well unless it’s a darn special sarnie. A Narnie, perhaps?

First of all, I absolutely loved the filling to bread ratio. Most times, theres always too much bread, but here, there was a flavour explosion of meat, pickles and sauce, stoically head together by the robust Naan bread, as opposed to the more frail, hole-y white varieties. The meat was a touch drier than I would’ve liked it to be, but I’m just nitpicking, because the sauce more than made up for it.

And don’t even think about trying to take it apart with a fork and knife – owner Glen Bowditch admonished me (with good humour) the moment I even thought to try the ladylike approach.

Fantastic energy and team, and great menu. Definitely worth a revisit.

This meal was independently paid for.

Three Williams
613a Elizabeth St
Redfern, NSW 2016
Phone: 02 9698 1111
Website: http://www.threewilliams.com/

Top 6 Tips for Photographing Kids! Photo by Gebala on Flickr

Top 6 Tips to Photograph Children!

Photography May 4, 2015 4 Comments

For a long time, I was the only one of my family to move to Sydney. Most of us live in Singapore, with one cousin I’m very close to in Melbourne. Soon, the next generation came along, and the reality of being a long-distance aunt means that the kids aren’t as familiar or close to me as I’d love for them to be. It’s even harder because I just love capturing moments in photographs, and it’s a little hard to do when the kids are a little wary of you.

Sometimes, it can be hard when photographing kids, especially when they’re not feeling cooperative, or they’re just a little shy. I didn’t want to miss out on these fleeting moments with my family, so I had to figure out what to do, fast!

Here’s what I’ve learnt: my top 6 tips to photograph children!

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Osaka Bar.

Osaka Bar Shop 15 Llankelly Place, 24-30 Springfield Avenue Potts Point, Sydney Phone: 02 8970 1143 Website: http://www.osakabar.com.au/