NaNiWa – Noodles & Soups (Japanese Cuisine)

03 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Germany, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

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A good friend recommended this place to me during one of my trip to Dusseldorf, Germany. (Thanks Lyn !!) She told me that this restaurant serve really good Ramen and I was certainly craving for noodle and soup after days of pork, pork and more pork in Germany.

So, we took the train Oststraße and from there took a short walk to reach the restaurant.

We got there just in time for early lunch as Lyn say it is crazy during peak hours. Manage to reach there around 11:45am (and already there was a mini queue outside the restaurant). Fortunately, we manage to secure a table after 15mins of wait. Around 12:30pm, the crowd and queue got really crazy. phewww… !! Lucky we had Lyn to bring us around Dusseldorf.

I was really impressed to see many Japanese eating there. This is definitely a plus point when you are dining Japanese food. We ordered one Curry Rice, 2 Shio Ramen and another ramen which I forgot the name. And of course, how can you have Ramen without gyoza, right? (It’s like ordering steak without fries) So, we ordered 2 plates of those!!! 

 

Overall the meal was really satisfying and authentic (considering you are eating it somewhere in Europe and not inJapan). Not to mention, it was relatively not too expensive. The bill was less than EUR 40 for the 3 of us. If you order just the noodle soup – it is about EUR 8-10 (depending on what you order). If you were to order this in Japan, it would probably come up to the same price. It is definitely one of the few restaurants that I will visit whenever I drop byDusseldorf.

 

Naniwa Noodles & Soups
Oststraße 55
40211 Düsseldorf
T (0211) 16 17 99
F (0211) 36 77 407

Mon – Fri 11:30 – 22:30
Sat Sun & Holiday 11:30 – 22:30
Closed on Tuesday

Bak Kut Teh – Pao Xiang

30 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Local Restaurants

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Bak Kut Teh (literally translated as Meat, Bone, Tea) – typical Hokkien dish, was actually created as sort of a fast food for miners back in the old days. It has all the ingredient for a good chinese meal. all in one kinda of concept. There’s the herbal soup which promotes good circulation, meat for protein, and rice for carb (strength). It was something that really took off as the miners found it filling, promotes health and quick to eat.  From there, BKT revolves until what it is today.

My dear friend Ms. L introduce me to my first Pao Xiang BKT in Glenmarie. Pao Xiang is actually a restaurant chain which serves BKT. After one experience, I was hooked. Comparing with the traditional Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Tea Herbal Soup), Pao Xiang (PX) serves everything on individual bowl. This sort of reminds me of the way I am usually served BKT in Singapore.

Apart from the individual serve, each of these little bowls have fire heating from below. Hence, keeping the soup hot at all times. This would really help to make the soup really appetizing and also avoid the consumer (us) knowing how much oil there is. Normally, when you have BKT, towards the end of the meal, you can see the fat coagulating. Sort of like a reminder that the meal I just had is super fattening and contributor to my ever increase weight. sighh… So, in PX’s case, you actually won’t notice the fat. Eating with ignorance. ;p

I love the ‘Sui-Kut’ (small bone) and also the ‘ka-geng’ (tendon).

After my first experience, I was so addicted that I went to PX (in Kota Damansara) for another 4 times in that week !! i know… I am crazzy. But, I learn that people from Klang actually have BKT EVERYDAY !!!! wahh…. 

Chulet’s Bibimbap

29 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food

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Watching all the Korean drama has increase my cravings for Korean food recently. I have always been a fan of Korean cuisine. But have never made any real effort to prepare the dishes.  So, I decided to try my hand at making one of the many Korean signature dish – bibimbab which is a mixture of white rice topped with sautéed vegetables and ‘gochujang’ (chili pepper paste).

 It’s basically quite an easy dish to make. Just very tedious and need a lot of patience !!

 Ingredient chulet used 

  • julienne carrot
  • julienne cucumber (I used the Japanese cucumber variety)
  • julienne mushroom (those with long fat stalks)
  • julienne leeks
  • mince pork & lamb
  • sunny-side up egg
  • kimchi !! (bought the pre-made from supermarket)

All ingredients are sauté individually with salt and pepper to taste (except the cucumber). For the mince pork and lamb, marinate it with some oyster sauce, Soya sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and also sesame oil.

 

Once everything is done, I took some hot white rice and drizzle it with some sesame oil. After that, I arrange the entire ingredients into the bowl. Add the gochujang according to your taste. Mix everything up evenly and dig in !!!  

O-so-GOOD… hehehee.. I love it. Hub loves it. Yay !

Preparing this dish was super tiring. It took me almost 4-5 hours to prepare, with all the julienne and sauté requirement of the dish. The amount I prepare was enough to feed 6 people and it cost me about RM40 on the ingredient. If you had one bowl of bibimbap in a nice Korean restaurant probably will cost about RM20. Looking back at the time I took slaving in the kitchen, I think I would just go out and eat it next time. ;p