Wednesday 27 June 2012

Brussels sprouts you say

I grew up hating Brussels sprouts. I think this was maybe the fact that they were always overcooked (sorry mumsie...), and I unfortunately carried this dislike for these cute little fairy cabbages into my 20s. It was only earlier this year when some the topic came up when spotting them on the menu at Gorski and Jones with some work friends that I plucked up the courage to revisit them once more. I feel like an idiot for not trying them sooner, they were really delicious.
So this winter, we have a crazy little community of these baby sprouts sprouting up all over the garden. Seeing as they look like freakish cartoon trees, it only seems fitting that we try something a little freaky: this raw brussel sprout salad from My Kitchen: Real Food from Near and Far by Steve Parle.

Brussels sprouts were sliced on the mandoline and then shocked into crispyness in an ice bath. Teamed with parmasan, olive oil, lemon juice and some seasoning we had a really great salad.





















Verdict: Crispy, good acidity, generally delicious.
Would we make this again?: Sure, it would be a great side or would be excellent on it's own as a fresh starter or salad course.

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Steamed buns - ah Momofuku

The Momofuku book has been a bit of a bible to us, it caught us on the start of our ramen obsession, which has lead us to visit nearly every restaurant in Melbourne that has ramen on offer.  Then it lead us directly to the cinema to watch the cheesy Brittany Murphy flick Ramen Girl.  What we've drawn from this sensory ramen overkill is that nothing beats David Chang's ramen recipe.  This however is a wildly under-researched statement to which I think only a couple of trips to Japan, and then New York will sort out.  Only then will it be fair to make our verdict on our best ramen.

Enough about the AMAZING ramen.  This post is about the steam buns we made.  Another of our regular recipes in the momofuku cookbook.

At their happiest - steaming away.

A little different from the filled steamed buns in that the dough is rolled flat and folded, a little duck fat is smeared in between, so when steamed it is easy to pull them apart to fill.

Filled with some slowed cooked pork belly, spring onions and hoisin sauce.












Ahh, just dreaming about the day we get to go to Momofuku in New York.  Even though they have just opened a restaurant in Sydney, it feels like cheating on the experience by visiting the distant cousin.  We would way rather save it up for the David Chang foursome in New York.


Verdict: Amazing, always good.  And such a versatile thing to mix and match the fillings.
Would we make this again?: Yes, all the time. And as it makes such a large batch its a good thing to freeze some down, just to re-steam at a moments notice.  If only we had more freezer room!