Hamburger Steak Bento

I stored two pieces of cooked hanbagu. I made it in different sauce. 

Simmer the hanbagu pieces with Japanese Tonkatsu Sauce (similar to HP Sauce), tomato ketchup and balsamic glase in 1 tablespoon each.

This sauce makes the meat pieces very rich and tasty when they are served in cold as bento.

I added boiled egg, skewered cucumber, tomato and cheese, and apple. Mr. Husband sent me a text message of "it was OISHII!! (delicious)" from his office.

A Japanese Housewife Style Fish&Chips

Got very beautiful large pieces of plaice. I like meuniere of white fish with soy and butter sauce. If it is served with potato, Mr. Husband calls "Fish and Chips". 
In this recipe, I use only two tablespoons of olive oil and tiny amount of butter. This Fish and Chips is quite healthy though it is rich enough to satisfy male stomach. 

Got nice seasonal broad beans so I added them to the sides!

 Ingredients

• 1-2 pieces of Plaice
• 1 baking potato
• 6-7 pods of broad beans
• 1 teaspoon of Caper
• 1 clove of garlic
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons of cornflour
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Directions

1. Season plaices with salt and pepper (I stored tale parts to freeze. Too much portion is not visually good, also it is unhealthy!)

 2. Boil potato in a big deep pan for 6-7 mins until it is cooked into halfway. Take them out using a net and remain the pan boiled

 3. Boil broad beans in the same pan for 2-3 mins

 4. Heat up a large frying pan at small temperature, add olive oil and fry the potato slowly such as for 10 mins. In the last 2 mins, raise the heat at high temperature to make them crispy. Once they are done, place on the kitchen paper to oil

 5. Cut caper and garlic into small. Fry broad beans, caper and garlic together in the same pan used for potato for 1-2 mins. Take them out and wipe the pan roughly with kitchen paper

 6. Dust plaices with corn flour. Heat up the pan at high temperature and load the plaices in the way that the skin side is facing down. Cook the side for 3-4 mins

 7. Turn plaices over to the other side and cook them for 3-4 mins

8. Serve the plaice topped with butter and soy sauce together with potato, beans and a slice of lemon.

I also made green salad while boiling potato. 

Nicely goes with chilled white wine.

Total time to prepare: 35 mins

Total cost: 4.6 pounds (3.4 for plaices, 0.2 for potato, 1 for other veggies)

Drakes Restaurant in Woking

As Mr. Husband became a member of City Car, we need places to explore.

Drakes Restaurant locates in a small town, Ripley in Woking. This was our first target of outside London of Michelin star rated restaurants. It was two hours drive from central London including getting lost in Hammersmith.

The atmoshere is very cozy, simple and relaxed. 
We had "6 courses surprising menu". All dishes were good. The main was pork neck. I was mostly impressed with the portion of each dish. As each was small and well presented, never get tired to wait the next to come.

As we took the final slot in lunch time,
most of guests have gone when I took this photo.
The restaurant was packed when we arrived

The weather was very nice and the restaurant offered all the guest to have tea and tea-sweet at their garden after the course.

Me, Mr Husband and the bill

Damien Hirst@Tate Modern, After museum dinner

Mr. Husband took me to the exhibition of Damien Hirst in Tate Modern. I immensely enjoyed it! The death was represented by the sliced cows, a huge ashtray with cigarettes and boxes. The life was by flies alighted upon a dead head of a cow, a warm room of living butterflies, showcases of medicines, and surgery utensils (as I interpreted)....

Thanks to the night museum.  It was really a nice friday night out. 

 We went back to home straight after the exhibition. It was a nice, hot summer evening and a spicy food, Chicken Curry left in the freezer completed our day.

I found an interesting bread in Waitrose. It looks like Indian bread, Naan. It is Manoucher Bread from Canada.

 Heated the bread in the oven. Chilled pineapple was also nice combination with curry.

Yummy!!

Curry is nice both in summer and winter. 

I can make a lot at one time and store in freezer.  

Then next time, we can have a great meal without much effort. 

Especially when I returned home late with empty stomach, curry in freezer is reliably tasty and quick to prepare.

I appreciate Indian people. 

It is a great invention!!

Vietnamese Cafe, Cay Tre Soho

This is one of my favuorite cantine in London. There is a large Vietnamese restaurant district in Shoreditch (East London near Liverpool Street Station) and Cay Tre/Viet Grill is one of the most popular vietnamese restaurants there. Eventually in this spring, they open the one Cay Tre Soho!!

The classic menus such as Pho and Spring Rolles are  promising. Other small platers such as Grilled Calamari with Okura, Grilled Aubergines, Chinese Mustard Greens are also highly recommended!!

The vietnamese coffe dripped in the authentic way over the sweet condensed milk completes the fantastic dinning. 

I sometimes go by myself for lunch to get a bowl of Pho and coffee. The moden deco, clean and cheerful atmosphere is also secure the visit. 

Beef Pho that I love. Cited from Timeout.

Im my opinion, dishes served at popular Thai restaurants in London became very salty as they became popular these years. They use too much fish sauce and oil. To mask the heavy oil and salt, they add a lot of lemon glass and crushed peanuts. So the dish smells very tempting when it is served. 

However, straight after the dinning, I always get very thirsty as well as feel heavy in my stomach. 

In comparison, I can taste the flavour of beef soup stok from their Pho dishes in Cay Tre. 

I can tell that they don't add anything to disguise. 

Taiwanese fried glass vermicelli 

Wanted to have something in between rice, spaghetti and noodles. Got a bag of Taiwanese glass vermicelli. I only made it couple of times in the past. So I followed the instruction sited in the bag. 

Also had a colagen charge with the frozen stock from chicken wings (we call the dish "Colagen Supper").  

Ingredients

100g Rice vermicelli (glass vermicelli)

4-5 large cabbage leaves

2 spring onions

7cmx7cm squid (or shrimps, scallops, etc.)

70g sliced pork loin or pork belly

1/2 carrot

50-70g chinese chive (if available) 

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

<Seasoning>

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of mirin

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

1 teaspoon of oyster sauce

200cc of clod water

1 tablespoon of Taiwanese rice sake (if available)

1/2 teaspoon of Thai fish sauce

Also, I added the leftover of Chick Nugget-mix made in the previous night and stored in the fridge. 
It was nicely seasoned with garlic and onion so was a great for the stir-fry content!!

Directions

1. boil the vermicelli for 1 mins and drain through a net 

2. Cut cabbage into small bite sized, slice other ingredients thinly and beat the egg in a heat resistant bowl

3. Heat a large frying pan at high temperature. Spread 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and pour the egg. Stir well to make small pieces of scrambled egg. Put the egg back into the bowl.

4. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and fry all ingredients except vermicelli, chinese chives and the seasoning sauce

5. Once ingredients half done, add vermicelli and seasoning sauce, cover the pan with a lid to steam. Cook it for 3-4 mins at small temperature

6. Open the lid and add egg and chinese chives. Mix all ingredients to fry until the soup disappear.

This is very nice way to consume leftover veggies, fish, and meat!! 

Also very healthy, economical and quick. 

Total time to prepare: 30 mins

Total cost: 2.8 pounds (0.4 for vermicelli, 0.5 for squid, about 1.5 pound for other veggies, 0.4 for eggs)

J Sheekey Oyster Bar @ Covent Garden

I believe J Sheekey is one of the best and oldest seafood restaurants in the UK. In 2008, they opened J Sheekey Oyster Bar right next to the restaurant. The deco and atmosphere of the Oyster Bar is casual yet settled and all dish is served in small portions as a la carte. Selections of oysters are always promising. To follow with oysters to start, I always order crab bisque. They serve a quite large portion so usually I ask the waiter to serve it in two separate bowls to share with my friend. Grilled scallops served in shells, shrimp burger and tomato salad with shallot are my regular order.

Their selection of champagne or sparkling wine is not fully satisfactory.... however waiters always nicely provide me tasting glasses for wines.

 Most seats are on the counter-table. This is a place to go with one close friend or the partner or husband to seat next each other, talking, eating and observing the kitchen in front. 

My sweet friend will leave London soon...

I wish Mr. Husband start to learn the taste of oysters.

This is a scene from Tampopo