Malaysian Hot Noodles with Tofu (Mie Goreng) From “Great Vegetarian Dishes” by Kurma dasa

Warning: The format of this review will be slightly different because I want to change the style.

This book is written by a chef of the Hare Krishna movement.  He had a television show in Australian a number of years ago which is why this book ended up in my cookbook library.  At the time I had aspirations of becoming a vegetarian and this book did not really help with that aspiration.

The use of asafoetida is very evident in the recipes and I recall keeping the powder in a glass jar as the smell is very pungent.  In my opinion the taste did not compare with the use of garlic, onion etc. which are not used by the Hare Krishna movement.

I used the book on a number of occasions and can remember all too well the attempt to create Polenta (Italian Fried Corn Bread).  Briefly the process took over an hour and the result was disappointing.

This is a long preamble but it seemed wise to give some background on this book as it was given one final chance to remain on the cookbook shelf.

(Impatient people who cannot stand the intolerable suspense of the fate of the cookbook may skip to the final decision, if they so wish.)

Cinnabar, Kingston Foreshore, November, 2017.

Since the Lakeside development many restaurants have opened to attract the trade created by the new development.  Cinnabar is located in one of the more popular areas in this precint, not far from Beer and Barley and Sammy’s.

As both Alexis and Lindsay were busy, Harper accompanied me which meant we could not try as many dishes as normal but we decided to make an effort.

Random Recipes: Stir-fried Soba Noodles and Daikon Radish and Carrot Salad from Japanese Favourites by Angela Nahas

Despite allergies to seafood including: crustaceans, seaweed, fish and nearly anything that comes out of the sea and my preference not to eat pork, I love Japanese food.  There is probably something wrong with me, but when I am cooking I can adapt the recipe to my tastes.  No gently waving bonito flakes on top of the Okonomiyaki, no garnish of seaweed in the bowl of ramen and generally no miso.

Lindsay hates carrot so these two meals were a real test to one of the tasters’ palates, but fortunately bravery was stronger than dislike.

(I have thought of substituting Vegemite for miso but that matches in with a Vegemite series I am considering so it may be a future project.  I am Australian and love Vegemite.)

Random Recipe: Sumo Wrestler’s Stew (Chanko Nabe) from “A Taste of Japan” by Lesley Downer

It is bewildering how many recipes books seems to use the word ‘Taste’ in the title, or perhaps it is the way the random selection works; except the random nature of the selection is not to blame in this instance.

Lifeline had a book fair in this month and we attended and for some reason acquired more cookbooks.  (Yes, of course we could have ignored the cookbooks and not bought any, but where is the fun in that?) Due to the shelves already being full we have decided on a new protocol for dealing with the new books.  Each book will be tested before it is shelved and if it fails, then it will be returned from whence it came.  Lindsay and Alexi have agreed to assist in this venture so we can weed out those cookbooks who wish to find new homes sooner.

Cocorea Korean Restaurant, Civic, Canberra, July, 2016.

We were reluctant to review Cocorea, as we eat there regularly and it can be problematic to obtain a table.  The reason we eat there often: the food is consistently good, the staff are polite and efficient, the price is reasonable and the variety satisfies all of us.

Cocorea is situated in Garema place.  There are tables both inside and outside and it has recently been refurbished and the menu has changed slightly.  The food is still good and we are looking forward to trying some of the new menu items.

The Noodle Cafe August 2015

It is purely coincidence we seem to be reviewing so many restaurants close to Garema Place.  The selection of places to review is pretty random so it is not possible to predict if the ones reviewed are clustered the way these seem to be.

That being said this review is for The Noodle Café which is situated in Garema Place.  The Noodle Café has lunch specials ($11.00) which certainly meets our brief and the variety offered is good enough to make decisions of what to order a little difficult.