tummyrumbles.com

32 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9650 7020

‘Takumi‘ in Japanese literally translates as connoisseur, but to me it now just means a place to find some rather great Japanese food. The restaurant specialises in sumibi yakiniku (smokeless grill), and as mentioned previously, wagyu. So with friend Bria in tow, we decided to see what they did for dinner (see post about the bento lunch here).

They offer a number of set menus and banquets for the indecisive, and shabu shabu, but on this occassion we decided to jump straight into the a la carte.

To start with we chose the salmon carpaccio – slices of raw sashimi salmon marinated with a sweet, citrussy, carrot, onion and soy sauce dressing ($10.80).  It was perfectly balanced with the right amount of acid, which cut through the richness of the fish.

Tsukune, or grilled chicken balls ($6.80) is what I would call good izakaya (pub) fare, and this version did not dissapoint.  Give me a beer and a toothpick, and I’m a happy girl.

The yukke was another interesting choice; finely diced Wagyu beef dressed with a red and green apple sauce ($10.80).  It was a bizarre combination, but the sheer appleness of the sauce (corrected with a squeeze of lemon juice), and the sweetness of the beef, honestly makes for a killer partnership.  I was surprised indeed!

This is the Jo-Rosu, 100g of premium porterhouse Wagyu ($23.80).  As you can see from the marbling, this would turn out to be one tender morsel of beef.  Don’t worry, we were not going to eat this one as sashimi.

The meat is best placed on the grill, but only given a few seconds to grill and render its delicious juices.  Mmm…

We also tried some sausages imported from Japan ($9.80), which, to be honest, did nothing for me, and a mixed vegetable plate ($10.80), which included a good assortment of mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin and red capsicum.

Digression: I just love placing mushrooms on the grill, especially when they release all their mushroomy juices.  I like to pick them up and sip the juices like soup. Mmm again.

And what have we here?

Small baby awabi ($6.80 each), or abalone. They had been seasoned every so slightly with shoyu, and perhaps a little sake?  We let them steam in their shells on top of the grill for a few minutes – delicious.

We also had the requisite rice and miso, the staples of Japanese meals.

To finish we had to try desserts, and Bria had the maccha (green tea) ice cream with a small little pudding/mochi to the side ($4.80).

But I went the big guns with the Japanese parfait ($8.50), a fabulous cocktail glass full of maccha, red bean and black sesame ice creams, an (red bean paste), fresh rockmelon, slutty aerosol whipped cream and a black sesame pudding/mochi of my very own.  Kawaii!

Written by mellie on June 29th, 2009 | Tags: CBD, Japanese, Melbourne, Takumi | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (3)

32 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9650 7020

Takumi is a newish authentic Japanese restaurant located at the top end of Bourke Street.  Specialising in wagyu and yakiniku (Japanese BBQ), our first experience of Takumi was for lunch, although we were so impressed, we soon went back for dinner.

At lunch they have a couple of bento on offer; hamburg (which is what I got above), unagi (eel), beef sukiyaki (sweet onion sauce), beef yakiniku (BBQ), ebi fry (prawn), gyoza (pan fried dumpling) or wagyu beef curry (self explanatory and awesome).  These bento come with miso soup, and cost just under $14.  Great value.

In the bento you get rice topped with a tasty furikake, and a crisp dressed salad. And…

…fabulously fresh slices of salmon sashimi, and a few slices of sweet raw scallop.

Then to the hamburg, a moist, flavoursome patty of ground wagyu beef, grilled for smoky flavour and braised for umami deliciousness.  It came served with a few roasted vegetables and garlic cloves, a shiso leaf and grated diakon for garnish.  Oh my…this was good.

Dan chose the manly option and went the wagyu grille hamburger – a hefty patty of wagyu skewered into a bun with a fried egg, lettuce and tomato.  A serve of salty fat chips sat to the side (natch), the perfect accompaniment.  Interestingly, the burger patty was a little on the dry side – not like the wonderfully moist hamburg in the bento.  Perhaps a one off miss?!?

Either way, we were very impressed with the freshness and tastyiness of the ingredients, and have since gone back to try out yakinuku (Japanese BBQ), and further lunch specials.  As mentioned above, the wagyu beef Japanese curry is absolutely awesome.

Written by mellie on June 29th, 2009 | Tags: CBD, Japanese, Melbourne, Takumi | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (9)

We recently celebrated Kong Kong’s (Dan’s grandfather) birthday with a popiah party. So…what is popiah, and why do you need a party to have it?

Popiah are fresh spring rolls (usually made to order) common to Singapore, Malaysia and China.  It requires a fair bit of preparation (chopping, slicing, dicing, mincing, grounding) to get the indivudal elements together, and I must humbly thank Auntie Jenny for all her hard work prior to us turning up. I promise to help next time!

Then its a matter of putting it all together.  Popiah should be consumed à la minute, so generally having a lot of people on hand (a party for example) is the perfect vehicle to enjoy this regional speciality.

To start with, the wrappers.  Popiah skin is generally just a super thin wheat crepe – kind of like spring roll pastry.  They are kept pliable by wrapping into individual triangles and storing them in a damp tea towel.

Then we have a few toppings, sprinkles, smears and sauces; thin slices of lap cheong (Chinese sausage), chilli paste (yes, it was VERY hot), dried scrambled egg, garlic paste, ground peanuts and dark, sweet, hoisin sauce.

Then to some of the fresher ingredients; small sweet prawns, sliced cucumber, crunchy beanshoots, coriander leaves and crisp leaves of Cos lettuce.

Then the warm ingredients – a sauted mixture of sliced cabbage, green beans, carrot, onion and gourd/melon.  This was kept warm in a nifty little heated pot.

To prepare, lay out the popiah skin diagonally on the plate.  Smear the hoisin, chilli (as much as you can take – obviously, I can’t take much ), and garlic paste.  Then on the bottom corner start with the cos lettuce leaf, which ensures the integrity of the popiah skin when it comes time to roll.  Without the lettuce, the skin may get soggy and tear.  Then you start piling up, starting with the warm vegetables, lap cheong, prawns, cucumber, beansprouts, coriander, ground peanuts, egg…oooh, it’s getting full!

Then with a deft and tight hand (not too tight though), roll that generously plump little package up.  This here my friends is my first ever popiah.  Not too bad, huh?

All I can say is that I’m looking forward to more popiah parties as these things are awesome!  They have texture, taste, freshness and lip-smackedness/fingerlickedness to them.  You can not stop at one.  In fact, I managed five!

Written by mellie on June 28th, 2009 | Tags: popiah | Category: recipes |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (7)

Spent an awesome morning last Sunday in Moorooduc (Mornington Peninsula) frollicking through the forest forraging for fascinating fungi.

Mushroom Tours is run by Cameron Russell, a veritible fount of mycophagist knowledge.  The tour kicks off from Moorooduc Estate (where it also ends), and is held each Autumn.  Sorry to say, tours for this year are now finished – but get your bookings in for next year!

Check out this lil’ fella with ’shrooming basket in hand.  Unfortunately there were not a lot of mushrooms to be had this day – the tour is more designed as an educational jaunt as Cameron leads you down the path of what is edible and what is not.

For instance, this Fly Agaric (amanita muscaria) is certainly on the no-no list.

Whereas this agaricus on the other hand, is safe to eat. There are about 300 members to the agaricus family, and I won’t even attempt to try and define the type.

Not sure what this one is (…any mycologists care to assist?), but I just love the plump sporadic texture of the gills.

Some of you may recognise or may have even eaten these bright orange saffron milk caps/pine mushrooms (lactarius deliciosus) which often fetch upwards of $50 a kilo at the markets.  They are not native to Australia, having hitched a ride on pine trees from the Northern hemisphere, but I am kind of glad they’re here all the same.  Just give me a kilo of these, a frypan, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and I’d be a VERY happy girl.

The fungi world is a fascinating one, and I was suprised at how many different varieties we happened upon in the hour.  These small delicate orange mushrooms were growing in a bed of moss – a microcosm of life in the palm of a hand.

This is my cute lil’ niece Ella holding a Giant Bolete (phlebopus marginatus), a mammoth of a mushroom which is reportedly edible when young, but can be quite tough and inedible by the time they reach this size.  Cameron advised that he probably wouldn’t even try – so I would heed his advice.

After the mushroom tour we retired to Mooroduc Estate to sample some of the bounty.

Moorooduc Estate also has its own wood fired oven, and fresh loaves of sour dough bread were being pulled out just as we came back.

Crisp on the outside, deliciously spongy and soft on the inside.

We started with mushroom soup (in a latte glass), which was incredibly umami and extravagantly creamy…I hope to get the recipe!  We also sipped the local Moorooduc Estate Chardonnay that had spent a bit of time in some French Oak.

Then it was the mushroom toast, using the bread that had recently come out of the wood fired oven.  The locally picked shrooms had been sauteed in butter and parsley, and seasoned to absolute perfection. Ahh…the simple things in life are often the best.

Written by mellie on June 21st, 2009 | Tags: Moorooduc Estate, Mushroom Tours, Mushrooms, Tours | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (10)

165 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9663 8118

Izakaya Chuji is one of those ol’ perennial favourites that I am surprised I have never blogged.  It has been a sporadic lunch spot for many a year, and an occassional dinner spot (when you can get in!).  To be honest, it’s nothing much to look at, as I don’t think it’s changed its decor in the twenty years it has occupied its’ Lonsdale Street address. But there is something kind of comforting in that, and something kind of comforting about the izakaya/Japanese diner-style food.

To start with, oysters in the shell in a citrusy ponzu dressing and a scattering of sliced green onions.  My only question is, what the hell is that white goop holding up the oysters?

Takoyaki (octupus balls), are not, in fact, the balls of octopodes.  These little dumplings contain (generally) chewy nuggets of  octopus suspended in a batter mixture. These were oooo-kay, but dang, when you’ve eaten them hot off the cast iron skillet in Osaka, naught else compares.

Mmm…shishamo are small saltwater smelt that are grilled whole, generally with their eggs still intact.  The first time I ate them, I delicately tried to eat the flesh only, leaving the head, tail and bones behind.  Now I know better   Take as big a bite as you can and chow down on everything – they are smokey and salty and absolutely delicious.

Then we ordered the sashimi platter, and I must admit we were quite impressed with the selection and quality of seafood. Salmon, swordfish, kingfish, gurnard, snapper, scallops, salmon roe and a few more oysters.

For lunch, you can make your own bento ($14.50) from an assortment of fish, meat, noodles, salad, or deep fried goodness type dishes – 20 to choose from.  At dinner there is an interesting array of  the “very” Japanese (eg. dried rays fin) to the more “familiar” Japanese style dishes (teriyaki, tonkatsu etc).  This ain’t haute cuisine that will blow your socks off. But it is always good, and always hearty.

Written by mellie on June 6th, 2009 | Tags: CBD, Izakaya Chuji, Japanese, Melbourne | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (5)

Shop 10, The Strand Arcade
250 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

The Strand Arcade is a small, bland, mall-like adjunct of Myer’s Lonsdale Street store. Home to a Dick Smith, Gloria Jeans, a fantasy bookstore, a couple of hairdressers, drycleaner and a juice bar, it is the last place you’d expect to find decent Japanese ramen.

Yet find it you do at the innocuous looking UMI Café. I’ve walked past this place many times without expecting it to be anything more than a normal sandwich and coffee bar, as this is what UMI looks like on the outside. A coffee machine, sandwiches, pies and muffins belie UMI’s Japanese offerings. However, Mellie’s eagle eye had previously spotted my favourite Japanese dish on its bill of fare, so we decided to give it a go for lunch today.

Walk past the sandwiches and pies and you’ll see a glass cabinet with plastic food models depicting the menu items (much like in Japan), offering bento, don dishes (stuff on rice), sushi, sashimi and of course, ramen.

The prices are ridiculously cheap, from around $8 for a bento, and $6.50 for don dishes and ramen. Talk about Rejecting the Recession!  Another glass cabinet held various nori handrolls, and a very Japanese looking chef can be spotted toiling away in a small kitchen, hidden from view by a noren.

After ordering at the counter, we sat in utilitarian plastic chairs and awaited our meal. I have been disappointed many times with promises of good ramen, and my expectations were not high, especially given the location. When it arrived on a beautiful black tray, it looked and smelled the business, with oil glistening on the surface promising serious ramen umami-ness (it ain’t ramen unless it’s full of saturated fat!).

I took a sip of the broth and savoured a very nice shoyu style soup with a surprising depth of flavour, heady with soya sauce and pork, and containing just the right amount of saltiness. I was pleasantly surprised! I delved further into the ramen, slurping up noodles that were just OK, but sampling charshu that was melt in your mouth tender, and fresh and crunchy menma (bamboo shoots). Half a hard boiled egg, though lacking a gooey yolk, was a nice accompaniment. All up, a pretty damn fine ramen! Toppings were scant; I would have liked more charshu and toppings but what do you expect for $6.50.  However, I’m sure that you could always ask for more topping (which I’m going to do next time). The serving was also the right size too – not too big, not too small.

Mellie greatly enjoyed her very nice croquette bento, which came with two decent sized potato croquettes, some Japanese potato salad, a tuna and corn nori roll, some horenso (spinach with sesame seed), cold spaghetti salad, and steamed rice sprinkled with black sesame. Pretty good for $8!! We are dying to go back to try their other dishes, including the katsu curry rice, and the tori no karaage (Japanese fried chicken), which many people seem to be ordering.

The staff were also super friendly, greeting customers on arrival and thanking them when they left.

UMI definitely espouse the very Japanese thing of decent food located in hard-to-find, unexpected locations. Obviously there are better ramen/Japanese places elsewhere, but UMI provides a good option especially if one craves a decent bowl of ramen (or muffin) after a hard afternoon of shopping at Myer!

Written by ElegantGourmand on June 1st, 2009 | Tags: CBD, Japanese, Melbourne, Strand Arcade, Umi Cafe | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (6)

159 Spring Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9654 6657

Ahh, the simplicity and fantasticness of a glass of red and a plate of cured meats after work at City Wine Shop.

Written by mellie on May 27th, 2009 | Tags: CBD, City Wine Shop, Melbourne | Category: bars, dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (5)

After watching an episode of Dotch Cooking Show, a kooky Japanese Iron-Chef-esque game show that pitches dish against dish, I was inspired to make dorayaki – Japanese pancake filled with red beans.

Dotch Cooking Show is addictive viewing. Two hosts, Sekiguchi and Miyake, each choose a dish that is similar in theme. The dishes are then cooked by two different kitchens and judged by a panel of seven “guests”.  The hosts yell “Kon’ya no goch?mon wa dotch?”, which translates as “Which dish will you order for tonight?” Those that choose the most popular dish are fortunate – they get to eat what they have watched being cooked for the last half hour.  Unfortnately those that choose the least popular dish only get to watch   How cruel.

The show also goes into the origin of the special ingredients used to make each dish.  For instance, in this episode which pitched Dorayaki against Cream Puff, the show ventured to Hokkaido to chat to a farmer who hand raised a small herd of Jersey cows.  The show then visited a chestnut farmer in the Japanese Alps, who chatted about all the things he needed to do to ensure a good crop of sweet, bountiful chestnuts.

All the while the guests are getting quite passionate and vocal about how good each ingredient is, and become postively inconsolable when “tasting time” happens; a rare opportunity for a guest to sample one of the special ingredients in its pure unadulterated form.  The squeals of orgasmic delight from a lady who gets to sample fresh Jersey Milk is priceless.

Anyway, as I happened to have a can of an (red bean paste) in the cupboard (yes…I really did!), I decided to give the recipe a shot myself. Red bean paste is essentially cooked and mashed azuki beans that have been sweetened with sugar or honey (you can find a recipe here).  The paste comes in a chunky or smooth form, kind of like peanut butter (but not crunchy!).  I cheated using the stuff in the can.

Dorayaki (makes 2)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
0.5 tablespoons honey
0.5 cups plain flour
1/2 cup red bean paste

Combine the sugar and eggs, but don’t leave the mixture sitting around too long as it’ll cook the egg. Stir the baking soda into the water, and then mix it into the eggs. Add the honey and flour and mix well.

Heat a non-stick fry pan with a little oil, but ensure it is wiped out with a paper towel before cooking. This bit is important as if there is fat in the pan, it won’t allow the pancake to brown evenly.

Pour in enough batter to make a 10-12cm round pancake. Heat until the surface starts to bubble and the bottom is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip and cook the other side until golden brown (about 1 minute).

When you have made two, sandwich them together with a a couple of tablespoons of red bean paste.

Then to the eating.  It goes ever so well with a steaming pot of Genmaicha, green tea combined with roasted brown rice.  Oishii!

Written by mellie on May 25th, 2009 | Tags: Dorayaki, recipe | Category: recipes |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (13)

562 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
Phone 03 9642 5696

Melbourne Hwaro Korean Barbecue is a very likeable dining experience.  Sitting on Little Bourke St down the Spencer side of town, it is all subdued lighting, dark timbers and industrialness. But it is also relaxed, buzzy, and filled with a healthy dose of barbecue smoke.

One cannot commence a Korean feast without the obligatory kimchi. Apparently the Kimchi Museum (yes, there is one) has documented around 187 different types of kimchi!

We started with some blanched bean sprouts heady with sesame and salt, squares of eggy omelette, and fermented baechu (cabbage) not shy on the chilli.

This banchan (side dish) is a particular favourite of mine, although I’m not really sure what it’s called.  The beans are rather firm to the tooth, and slathered with a sweet, sticky soy sauce.

Sliced spring onions dressed with a little chilli. This is used later with cups of iceberg lettuce to wrap cooked slices of meat before eating.

And the meat.  To the left, chicken thigh marinated in chilli, a light soy and lots of sesame oil.  To the right, a big slab of marbeled beef.

And this is how you cook it – on a grate right over hot coals.  An extraction fan sits about twenty centimetres from the cooking area to suck up all the smokiness, hence the big black shadow in the middle of the meat.

A variety of dipping sauces are also used.  My favourite – sesame oil with salt flakes.  Mmm.

We also shared a seafood pancake/omelette – prawns, squid tentacles and mussles.  A light salty dipping sauce helped to cut through the oil.

Then to dessert – black sesame ice-cream, hundreds and thousands, and salty savoy crackers. I’m not joshing – the combination actually works!

Written by mellie on May 24th, 2009 | Tags: CBD, Hwaro, Korean, Melbourne | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Comments (9)