EASY TAKOYAKI RECIPE!!!

yum yum for my tum tum
one of my all time favorite Japanese foods
enjoy!

WHAT IS TAKOYAKI EXACTLY?

Takoyaki*, or たこ焼き, is a very popular Japanese snack food . To put it simply, takoyaki is a battered, pan-grilled, octopus dumpling. 

TAKOYAKI INGREDIENTS & SUPPLIES

-Takoyakiki (Takoyaki pan)
-Takoyaki probes
-Takoyaki batter
-Chopped Tako (Octopus)
-Pickled Ginger (Benishoga)
-Negi (Green Onions)
-Ebi (Dried Shrimp)
-Tenkasu (Tempura Scraps)
-Katsuobushi (Fish Shavings)
-Okonomiyaki Sauce

Takoyaki in Ten Easy Steps

Step 1. Oil your takoyaki pan
Step 2. Add takoyaki batter- Using a ladle, pour takoyaki batter into each of the takoyaki pan wells.
Step 3. Add tako (octopus) to each well.
Step 4. Add benishoga (pickled ginger) to each well.
Step 5. Add negi (green onions) to each well.
Step 6. Add dried shrimp (ebi) to each well.
Step 7. Add tenkasu (tempura scraps) to each takoyaki well.
Step 8. Add another layer of takoyaki batter- You can be generous with the batter this time. Even if the wells overflow with batter, it’s okay.
Step 9. Do a bit of takoyaki surgery- Use the takoyaki probes to “section off” wells, and shape the takoyaki into their characteristic spherical shape.
Step 10. Keep turning the takoyaki until the dumplings are golden brown.

Optional
Add okonomiyaki sauce to really bring out the takoyaki’s flavor. You can garnish the takoyaki with katsuobushi, かつお節, fish shavings.

Source: Takoyaki Recipe

Exchange in Japan; What to eat?

Recently, my friend Yolanda came back after a semester of living in Japan. She had such a good time there!
Today, Yolanda is gave me an insight as to what type of food she ate on a day-to-day basis in Japan!

Everyone say hello to my friend Yolanda! She is currently studying a Bachelor of International Studies in Japanese at Macquarie!

Yolanda said:

"we had things like hamburger, pizza, miso, sushi/sashimi, hmmm

and when we had international food we week we had things like meat loaf and some other dishes"

Thank you for that Yolanda! Sounds Delicious!

Fake Food

Who would of known plastic can make your mouth water?

Restaurant display case (1)

If you've ever visited a Japanese restaurant either in Japan or in Australia there is a large possibility that you've seen plates and bowls of food in glass displays near the entrance of these premises and just wanted to eat them all up. FYI they're plastic. Too real right?

They even have plastic displays of simple sandwiches (2)

These fake food displays are usually made of plastic and should depict exactly how food would look like when served to you. I've heard in some cases, if you receive food that doesn't look exactly like the display, it is taken back and you are given a new plate/bowl of food that looks exactly the same, but of course real.
As restaurants' dishes vary in size and image, plastic food displays are in most cases custom made for each restaurant. Its so crazy how they can make it look so real. Apparently some manufacturers cook the plastic pieces in the actual sauces and such to make it look even more real. More and more asian countries are now also using this technique to lure customers into their restaurants which has thus caused the increase popularity in the plastic-food making craft.
Its crazy how real these displays look. But remember they're fake. hahaha :)

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A Japanese food adventure in the heart of Sydney!

My friends and I often savour Japanese food from different places whenever in Sydney, but who can blame us? Japanese food is just too tantalising for our taste buds, I'm sure the vast majority of you guys would have to agree!

Here are a few images to show you guys the delicious Japanese food I have had lately!

Berry Sparkling Japanese Jelly Alcohol, Perfect and Sweet!

Japanese-Styled Chicken Meatballs with Miso Soup!

Nabe; Hotpot with friends at Daruma in Sydney!

Teriyaki Chicken Ramen! 

Mochi, Black Sesame Ice Cream and Green Tea Pudding

Green Tea Ice cream and Green Tea; Perfect!

Pepper lunch! Japanese-Styled Sizzling Chicken Curry with egg! Yummy!

Tempura, Crocodile Karaage, Okonomiyaki and Agedashi Tofu

Japanese Sake, Taiyaki, Green Tea & Vanilla Ice Cream with Mochi!

With Friends at Mappen!

Udon with Chicken Tempura

Green Tea and Red Bean Sundae at Mizuya!

GUYS! If you are yet to try Japanese food, now is the time to start!

It is amazing!

Kiiko from Kansai!

Hello everyone;
I don't know if most of you guys are aware but Japan being a slim and long country separated into different islands means that a vast majority of the country have different cultures from each area.

My good friend Kiiko is from the Kansai region, she is from Osaka, and if you look closely, she is from the region with number 27 in the above map.

SAY HELLO TO MY FRIEND KIIKO!

Isn't she cute?

Anyway, today Kiiko has given me various insights on what is good food in Japan!
Everyone, excited?
I know I am!

Kiiko's Top 5 Favourite Japanese food:

1. Sushi

2. Sashimi

3. Takoyaki

4. Doria

5. Ramen

What Kiiko says Top 5 Famous Food in Osaka is:

1. Takoyaki

 

2. Okonomiyaki

3. Kushikatsu

4. Yakisoba

5. 551Butaman

Top 5 Japanese food Kiiko Loves to Make:

1. Nikujaga

2. Japanese Curry

3. Shogayaki

4. Oyakodon

5. Takoyaki

                              Thank You Kiiko for giving us a wonderful insight about Japanese food!

Source: Map
Food

Japanese Dining with a Twist!

If you guys are anything like me, I love karaoke; and when I say that I love karaoke, I mean it.
My karaoke habits have become so bad that i'm at karaoke like once a week.
A few weeks ago, I went two days in a row. It's getting out of hand. But it's my hobby so what can I do?
Before this gets too out of topic, I'd like to get onto what I was originally going to talk about.

JAPANESE DINING WITH A TWIST!
When I say this, I mean Karaoke + Japanese food all at once!
it's almost like a dream come true!

Want to know where this amazing location is? IT'S EASY! Just next to Town Hall Station!
Mizuya Japanese Restaurant and Karaoke

	614 George St, Sydney, Australia 2000 My friends and I, as university students have been recently frequenting this place because of this amazing deal!

When we saw this deal, we got super happy!

3 Hours of Karaoke with $20 worth of food, per person is a bargain! It was like paying for food, with free karaoke!
AMAZING RIGHT?
I recommend all of you guys to come and enjoy this special deal, don't forget your student cards!

With friends taking advantage of Mizuya's amazing student deal!

Want to see some of Mizuya's amazing food?

Pomegranate with coconut milk smoothie, so delicious!

Doesn't this look amazing?

Karaage fried chicken with miso soup! yummy!

Mizuya's dessert platter; need I say more?

Green tea and red bean sunday! Too good and out of this world!

I really recommend everyone to come to Mizuya and try this deal! Karaoke + Japanese food is the perfect mix! Hurry everyone!
Till next time!

Source: Mizuya Facebook Page

Sydney Restaurant Review

There seems to be a Japanese restaurant in every street in Sydney. But in most cases they're not authentic Japanese. There have been a number of times when friends and I have walked into a authentic looking Japanese restaurant and realize the people that own/run the restaurant are not Japanese at all. Thus we've made it our goal to find the best authentic Japanese restaurants in Sydney. Today I'll be reviewing 1 of the most authentic restaurant and/or izakaya (Japanese style pubs that serve food. Most popular for after-work gatherings.) in Sydney.

Front view of Daruma Restaurant (1)

Daruma 

Daruma is an Izakaya style restaurant situated minutes walk from Central station. It's location is at a very convenient area of Sydney, but the restaurant itself is inside a plaza, thus it may be difficult to find among the city's hundreds of buildings.

Daruma serves various Japanese dishes from karage (fried boneless chicken) to ramen. 

My meal : Hamburg Curry & Gyoza

We've visited Daruma twice as a group and both occasions had great food for a fraction of a price of a large pizza. During our first visit we all tried various types of Japanese curry. They offered chicken curry, pork katsu curry, hamburg curry, tempura curry, etc. Name the type of curry and I'm pretty sure they had it. I tried the hamburg-curry, which I earlier posted my own recipe of, and a side of gyoza (dumplings). The between ordering and receiving is next to none. Food got out to us within 10-15 minutes of ordering. I was surprised when I first got my meal at the size of the serving. It was a pretty hefty size compared to the mere $15 or so I paid for, which was great. The gyoza were crunchy on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside. They weren't too salty which I loved as I find salty filling quiet unappetising. Ohh and did I point out that side are all $3 each. CHEAP! The hamburg curry was delicious. The hamburg itself was moist and not too salty. The down side for me was the curry. I like my curry with a bit of bite, but this one was very mild, hardly any spice to it. But overall a great meal. One thing I was most happy about was that water was free. hehehe life a poor university student. --"

As Daruma is an izakaya style restaurant, various alcoholic drinks are available. But during this visit we didn't order any. Good girl right? hahaha

We loved our last experience at Daruma that we decided to dine there again, but this time we had a good reason for going, Anna won 3rd prize at the Japanese Speech Contest.

So this time, we all decided that we'd try their 'famous' shabu shabu. There were a good number of people there that night that had the same thing as us, I guess that's why it took much longer to receive our meal.

Shabu Shabu

So shabu shabu is basically, a Japanese variant of a hot pot were diners cook their own thinly sliced meat and vegetables in the hot broth. This is usually eaten in a group, so the price is much dearer than other dishes. 

We ordered the shabu shabu with 2 large plates of pork, 1 large plate of chicken, 1 plate of mixed vegetables and 6 serves of rice (Shabu shabu was shared between 6 people). Altogether it got to about $90, but this included various alcoholic drinks we also ordered. So we all paid about $15 each. 

For the price, the food was definitely filling. Once the first batch of meat and vegetables had been cooked, another batch had to be added to the broth before we could continue eating. The food was delicious and good food for value.

Overall if you are a typical university student, like me, looking for great Japanese food but on a budget, Daruma is definitely the place for you.

Location: ✰✰✰

Japanese Authenticity: ✰✰✰✰✰

Taste: ✰✰✰✰

Cost: ✰✰✰✰

Overall: ✰✰✰✰1/2

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[Essentials]

Chopsticks

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 Chopsticks are the most frequently used utensils for most Asian countries and Japan is no different. A pair of these babies are never far when food is present. 

Although they are one of the most frequently used utensils in Japanese homes and restaurants, many foreigners that either visit Japan or Japanese restaurants in Australia have no basic understanding of the proper usage and etiquette of chopsticks. 

In this post we will teach you the proper etiquette of eating with chopsticks.

10 Most Important Things to Remember Whilst Using Chopsticks

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1. Never look for contents in the soup using chopsticks.
2. Never play with chopsticks during a meal.
3. Never pick up food by stabbing with chopsticks.
4. Never lick the tip of chopsticks.
5. Never pull or move plates and bowls around using chopsticks.
6. Never stand chopsticks up in rice.
7. Never shovel food into your mouth from a bowl using chopsticks.
8. Never hold chopsticks together as you would a knife.
9. Never point chopsticks towards other people.
10. NEVER PASS FOOD WITH YOUR CHOPSTICKS DIRECTLY TO SOMEONE ELSES CHOPSTICKS.

Now that you're equipped with new knowledge about eating chopsticks, why don't you try them out during your next meal at a Japanese restaurant or dinner party at a Japanese home. Remember before starting any meal you must say "Itadakimasu" which means "I'm gratefully thankful" and after the meal "Gochisosama Deshita" which means "Thankyou for the meal". 

See you next time. ^^

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You don't need a plane ticket to Tokyo to enjoy Japanese food!

Yep. That's right. You read correctly. Japanese food is everywhere!

Sydney being an extremely multicultural city means that food from different cultures are widely available! The best thing about that is that Japanese food is everywhere!

Here are some of my top recommendations for delicious Japanese food in the city!

1. Oiden
537-551 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000

Oiden is a self-serve Japanese bowl-bar type of restaurant.

2. Sushi Rio
339 Sussex Street  Sydney NSW 2000

If you want freshly made, hand-made sushi for a cheap price of $3 for any plate; this is the place for you!

3. Ichiban Boshi
2/500 George Street  Sydney NSW 2000

If you're after delicious noodles with delicious rice dishes, this is definitely the place for you!

4. Takeru
10/339 Sussex Street  Sydney NSW 2000

Casual Japanese dining sounds good to you? Takeru is perfect to tantalise your tastebuds!

5. Daruma
Level 1, Prince Centre, 8 Quay Street
Haymarket, NSW 2

Izakaya - A Japanese restaurant and bar. Daruma is the place to be for the feel of an authentic Japanese izakaya!


HOPE YOU GUYS VISIT THESE PLACES!

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