random food adventures

I love trying new foods, it's my way of discovering the world.

Melbourne's a great place for cheap Indian food - this onion uttapam, above, with its 3 sauces to go with it, was only $7.50 with free cold water. It's a savoury fermented rice pancake with bits of onion, chilli and coriander, plus some other spices cooked into it, served with a mild lentil curry, a tangy raita and a creamy coconut chutney. Really yummy! at Jaipur Curry Club in Clayton. [right next to the train station]
Above, some Indian "fudge". I don't know their names, but most are made from crushed nuts or semolina, sweetened and flavoured with spices and or rosewater. The green one was made from milk curds I think. This whole boxful was $6.80 from Sarawan indian grocer.
These are chinese sweets, above, called "mooncakes" but they're not a cake at all, but rather a rich paste of pulverised lotus seeds or red beans, sweetened and shaped into pretty shapes. These ones have a thin, baked crust but some other types have a pastel coloured doughy "skin". Some have a salted egg yolk in the centre. [how did salted egg yolks ever pair up with sweets? I don't know] I don't quite care for them, as they're too sweet for my liking but they're only eaten once a year anyway, for the autumn festival so I suppose a little indulgence isn't too bad.
And these were from a Chinese autumn festival party I went to. The yellow noodles are ramen noodles fried with spicy laksa paste [very very yummy] with scrambled egg, shredded carrot, cucumber and shrimp, and below, stir fried rice noodles [bought at Springvale] with XO sauce [a hong kong style savoury sauce bought in jars], garlic chives, bean sprouts and dried shrimp. The rice noodles were really silky and had the right texture, smooth but not falling apart, and the delicate flavours of the shrimp, chives and sauce made it just right.
below, are photos from a western style party i went to. honey joys [I just love these, sweet and crispy are a good combination] and what looks like slices of bread with hundreds and thousands sprinkled on top. and gummy sweets.

and below, sausage rolls and iced biscuits.

and healthy veggie sandwiches!