It’s unbearably hot, isn’t it? I can’t believe that I’ve just come back from sub-zero temperatures, to THIS: humid 30+C sun, glancing off asphalt and concrete to bring you waves of pure heat torture. I had meant to make this delicious sounding Duck with Baby Beets and Rhubarb Chutney recipe, but really, who can be stuffed turning the oven on in this weather?
The answer? We make it a weeknight duck salad instead!
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WOOOOOOOOO!!!! I’m so excited to finally be releasing my first Periscope recipe – it’s taken a crazy amount of planning, but we’re finally ready to kick off!
This week is all about ‘Straya, mate, as we make a Kangaroo Burger, complete with beetroot and bacon, because how else would you have your burger? Kangaroo can be a slightly gamey meat to eat, which makes it perfect to take on heavy hitting spices and flavours! It’s also crazy lean, which just begs for some added fat.
Bacon fat? Why yes, don’t mind if I do.
But wait, there’s more! I’d love to see your versions of this recipe and what you think of it! Take a photo and remember to tag @TeaForTammi or Wusthof Australia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and we’ll share our favourites! We’ll be Periscoping and sharing a recipe every week, so don’t worry if you’ve arrived here fashionably late to the party. Simply join us 6:30pm (Sydney time) every Wednesday for more delicious food, and follow @TeaForTammi to get notified when we go live!
It’s been disgustingly hot, hasn’t it? And you know it’s bad, when the lovely manager of Busshari, Yuko, apologises profusely for the heat and assures you that the air-conditioning is indeed running, as you walk in the door. I can see what she means though – no sooner had I positioned myself at the counter, I was covered in a sheen of sweat.
DAMN YOU AND YOUR CRAZY WEATHER SYDNEY!
Needless to say, it was a really good time to be eating cold food – Yuko suggested the Seafood Sashimi and Seasonal Vegetable Salad, Soba and Somen, and we were definitely not going to turn that down.
Ocean trout belly nigiri, $8 for 2pcs
Toro nigiri sushi, $12 for 2pc
Seafood sashimi and seasonal vegetable salad, $27
Deep fried flounder, $28
Grilled Scampi with sea salt, green tea oil, $26
Soba & Somen, $20
Chilled green tea soba and Somen with shiitake mushroom, prawn and radish wasabi
Matcha Ice Cream
If you truly do eat with your eyes, then the food at Busshari is an exquisite feast. Everything came out looking stunning – piles of food artfully arranged on stone plates that conveyed a modern Japanese aesthetic.
Ocean trout belly nigiri, $8 for 2pcs
Toro nigiri sushi, $12 for 2pcs
We started with pieces of Ocean Trout Belly Nigiri and Toro Nigiri Sushi. Tender melt-in-your-mouth slices of fish are wrapped around 2cm-wide batons of rice, forming the perfect mouthful. Unctuous, luscious, and luxurious, these easy bites were a great start to our evening.
Seafood sashimi and seasonal vegetable salad, $27
Then we got a bit more stuck in with the Seafood Sashimi and Seasonal Vegetable Salad. Whoever said that salads were measly rabbit food clearly had not seen this salad before. A veritable mountain of salad leaves were thoroughly covered in a sweet/savoury dressing, and adorned with a variety of fresh, sliced fish, assorted seafood, and finished with a nest of white radish and a Renkon (lotus root) chip. It was refreshing, simple, and oh so filling. Order to share, or as a main on a hot day. Either way, win-win.
Deep fried flounder, $28
The salad was immediately followed by another ‘wow’ dish: the Deep Fried Flounder. Pieces of fish are lightly battered and fried, and set on the crispy bones of the flounder bent into a graceful arch. I didn’t eat the bones this time – didn’t want to seem unladylike – but Yuko tells me that 1 in 3 customers down the whole thing, bones and all!
Grilled Scampi with sea salt, green tea oil, $26
And then, we indulge my obsession with shellfish: the Grilled Scampi with Sea Salt and Green Tea Oil was soft and buttery, although I was missing any noticeable flavour of green tea. But really, we all know that I’d eat shellfish done any which way, so really, no loss there!
Soba & Somen, $20
And then the last savoury dish – Soba and Somen. Chilled green tea buckwheat, and wheat noodles are arranged in a waterfall, with little pots of sauce that you dip the noodles in and slurp up. The shiitake mushrooms – served on the side – were the best bit of this, though. Slices of rehydrated mushrooms are marinated in a sweet soy mixture, and the result is a meaty, moreish bite. So good.
Matcha Ice Cream
And just when we thought that we couldn’t eat any more – who am I kidding? We were that full by the time we finished the salad – scoops of creamy matcha ice cream come out, anointed with sweetened red bean paste. Not quite the best of all the matcha ice cream I’ve had – ahh Meiji you maker of addictive frozen desserts – but it was pretty good, especially when you can get it for free!
Food: 1/1
I know that it’s hard to comment on the service because I was dining as a guest, but from my vantage point at the counter, it did genuinely look like everyone was having a great time. Waters were consistently getting topped up, and orders were flying off the pass at lightning speed…did I mention that this was also one of the calmest kitchens that I’ve had the pleasure of watching? We felt like we were in very good hands, and it was an absolute joy.
Service: 1/1
Busshari is not where you go for a night out that’s light on your wallet, much like the rest of Potts Point. Not that it’s particularly taxing either, but $27 for a main-sized salad – even though it’s got lovely slices of fresh seafood – still would have me hard pressed to slap the “bang for your buck” label on it.
Seafood sashimi and seasonal vegetable salad, $27
Still a nice restaurant for a classy dinner out, though. A worthy choice, especially if you’re in the area.
Value for money: 0.5/1
I guess “casual” would be the best way to describe both the cuisine style and the crowd. There certainly wasn’t the hushed quietness of some Japanese restaurants I’ve been to, but Busshari also weren’t going out of their way to emulate the hipster crowd of the inner city. Go for a relaxed evening…because sushi and chill, right?
Vibe: 0.5/1
I do absolutely feel like we were thoroughly spoilt by Chef Nobu – who has been at Busshari for the whole 10 years they’ve been open! – and the Busshari team. Chef steadily worked through the many orders that were coming through on the printer, expertly handling the many varieties of fish that they kept on hand.
If you’re into your sake, they also have a Yuzu sake in stock that is so deliciously light, it’s like drinking juice. Highly recommended, if you’re of the Sake persuasion. Trust me, you’ll want to be.
And don’t forget to flash your Washoku Lovers membership when you go to get a free scoop of matcha ice cream! Don’t say I don’t hook you up! ?
Bonus Points: 0.5/1
Washoku Lovers is a free membership programme that gives you perks to many Japanese restaurants in Sydney! We also have visited other restaurants participating in the Washoku Lovers programme, like Tamagetaya and Manpuku Ramen! To find out more about the programme and sign up, visit www.washokulovers.com.
Time just flies, doesn’t it? Australia Day is almost upon us, and we know that you’re not truly ‘strayan until you fire up that barbecue! Well, while most people will turn to a really beautiful cut of meat, it can get really expensive budgeting a steak per person for 20 people. (I don’t know about you, but I can eat a kilo of steak in a sitting easy! I usually try and bring my own meat to a barbecue, obvs.)
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Foodie friends are the best. They feed you, they eat with you…and they don’t judge you when you decided to eat a crap ton of sugar and call it dinner.
In fact, they’ll do it with you.
Selection of Macarons
That’s pretty much what happened when Simon, Christine and myself went to the opening night of Passion Tree at the new The District Dining in Chatswood. We pretty much had a “give me one of everything” moment, and it’s no child’ s play, let me tell you that much.
And it didn’t help that I was prepping some food at home before the event and only had roast chicken skin to eat. Yes. The whole chicken.
ARE YOU PROUD OF ME NOW MA?? ARE YOU PROUD OF ME???!!!
Green Tea Bingsu
Anyhoo, you know how sugar always seems like a good idea as a kid because you pretty much don’t remember the crash afterward? Like how women who go through childbirth supposedly have some sort of amnesia that makes that forget the worst of the ordeal?
Yeah. No such luck here. We knew we were heading straight for a sugar crash, and we were going down in a blaze of glory.
Original Honey Toast
We started off with macarons, which were surprisingly good in texture, but lacking in the flavour department. And in the age of Adriano Zumbo, there’s no reason to have bland macarons. The Chocolate didn’t much taste like chocolate, and the Blueberry left us scratching our heads wondering what we just ate.
The Jasmine was the best of the lot, bringing out lovely floral notes that made a macaron refreshing. Salted caramel and Strawberry came a close second, with actual oozing strawberry sauce coming out of the bright pink macaron.
We then had the Green Tea Bingsu, which is a Korean dessert made of finely shaved ice and topped with all sorts of ingredients, from fruit, to cereal, to ice cream. yes, it IS customary to have ice cream on top of your shaved ice, and don’t let anybody tell you different.
Unfortunately though, this was no Kanzi cafe and its towering pile of melon and snowflakes. In this case the actual shaved ice was not quite finely shaved enough, and somehow managed to be a touch watery. The green tea ice cream was quite nice but not especially so, and the cereal and azuki toppings made it all like a Japanese parfait. So points for that.
The Original Honey Toast gallantly rode in and saved the day – crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside toast (or should I say, loaf) was drizzled with sauce and covered with ice cream and whipped cream. And a blueberry sauce on the side, just for funsies. I really enjoyed how the really absorbed all of the melted ice cream and sauce while retaining its crunch, and it gave me the same warm, fuzzy feeling like when you dip garlic bread in soup. But sweet.
Think about it. Yeah, you know that feeling.
Frozen Blended Drinks (Turkish Delight, Chocolate and Green Tea)
And this point we were about to keel over in a sugar crash so large it would reduce any rational adult into a floor-lying-air-kicking tantrum, so we decided to wash it all down…with sugary ice blended drinks.
DO. NOT. JUDGE. ME. JUST DON’T.
The Turkish Delight was my favourite of the lot, with actual Turkish delight pieces in the rose and chocolate flavoured drink. Colour me impressed. And pink. Like the colour of Turkish delight. It did get a touch cloyingly sweet about halfway through, but that may just be influenced by the fact that we were already hitting that wall of sugar rush. Just maybe.
Smores Waffle
And you know what the treatment is when you hit a wall where you think you can’t go on any more? You push past the pain. It’s exactly like running. Or an all you can eat.
Same same, really.
So we head right back down the rabbit hole with waffles.
Caramel Popcorn Waffle
We were pushing past that wall so hard, we ordered two waffles. TWO. Take that, sugar crash. The S’mores waffle was a diabetes-inducing Nutella-marshmallow-strawberries-and-cream, while the Caramel Popcorn was a more straightforward caramel sauce/popcorn/cream sorta deal.
The S’mores coulda really don’t with some actual blowtorching of the marshmallow – rather than just the pillowy white gooey state it was in – Aqua S style. And no Nutella. Please no Nutella. It just pushed it over the top, and gave me that sticky peanut-butter-on-the-roof-of-your-mouth sticky feeling. Caramel Popcorn was heaps better, but really should be enjoyed without cream.
Repeat after me. Whipped cream does not make everything better.
I like that Passion Tree joins the ranks of other late night dessert cafes like Max Brenner and Oliver Brown without completely cornering you into the chocolate corner. It may be sacrilegious to say, but I don’t always want chocolate in my dessert, thank you very much. Sure, it’s not crazy amazing in terms of the food, but with a tiny kitchen just for assembly, it’s really more about giving you a bright space to have a seat with your friends and while the night away over some sugar. And I think they’ve done that nicely.
Not everyone can be a Cafe Creasion, you know.
No, like cardiac-arrest-literally.
Gelato Messina’s Dessert Bar in Darlinghurst has always been OTT in their creations, but when you have a collaborator like ex-Hartyard Andy Bowdy, you know that you’re in for a real treat. Or a sugar spike so high it can hold its own against the statue of liberty.
Now I am not a sweets person, not by a long shot, but when I do, I like to go all out. And the Rocher Ferrero certainly fits that description: hazelnut and chocolate come together in a soft serve swirl covered with so many shards of wafer and chocolate that you don’t know where the crispy ends and the rich gelato begins.
We honestly couldn’t finish the cone between us two, which seems like such a waste of good food, but truly, I don’t think we were robust enough to finish this cone.
On a serious note, it was well executed, and the whole thing actuslly tasted like a Ferrero Rocher on steroids, which is no easy feat. The staff were polite and efficient, and I really like how they tried to make use of a tiny space to at least give you a place to stop and enjoy the dessert masterpiece you’ve just purchased.
Salads aren’t always green. And you know what, some of the most delicious salads I’ve had, have been far from green.
The banana flower, for example, is an amazingly fresh ingredient that has astringent notes, making it a great base for toppings like shrimp, garlic and fried eschallots. At Spice I Am, it was a lovely pile of sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy, and all the goodness inbetween. A little pricey, though, at close to $30, but an incredibly satisfying solo lunch.
Definitely inspires me to maybe create some of my own…with less detriment to my wallet perhaps? I might sound cheap, but I still am trying to justify dropping a cool $30 for lunch when Haymarket is right around the corner. Maybe a trip to Campbell street is in order?
Maybe when I feel less poor. Haha
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For as long as I can remember, I’ve absolutely loved sushi. My mum held sushi making parties for all our friends and neighbours, and I had HEAPS of fun rolling these delicious bites, and eating my own work!
Rolling your own sushi can seem really daunting, but I promise you with the right technique and just a little bit of practice, you can also hold your very own sushi parties!
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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.
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Image Source: Nicolee Camacho
Coming from a hot, humid country like Singapore, I’ve been through so many instances of racoon eyes where my makeup just doesn’t hold up to unladylike amounts of sweat and errands. So I’ve adapted and tweaked my makeup routine, so that today, I can get dunked in a pool of water, and my makeup will still stay on!
But really, don’t dunk me.
