Bali Trip 2012 – Indonesian Food

We ate a lot while we were in Bali.  I love eating and Hiro loves eating too, so we were around the food almost all the time from the morning till the night… :p

It was actually my first time drinking coconut water.  I just never tried it.  But since I was in Indonesia I thought I’d try a sip.  …. I didn’t like it much 😛

Hiro seemed to like it.

In Ubud, we went to a famous duck restaurant Bebek Bengil (dirty duck).  The place was beautiful – very big place, and you can overlook rice terrace from your table.  There’re many ducks (probably they are for the restaurant….) around too.

I had lots of Nasi Goreng while in Bali, but I loved this restaurant the best.

Although it’s a restaurant specializing duck, I ordered crispy chicken :p

Food was so delicious!!  And I loved the view too.

This is at Kolega Warung in Seminyak.  The review was good, so we went there to try.
You can pick food you want for your plate from the counter.  My plate was around AUD$2

The food was great but this place didn’t have air-con…  Hiro was asleep but sweating.

We also went to Kudeta in Seminyak.  Actually we weren’t planning going there because I knew the price would be expensive.

It was expensive!!!!  But I have to admit, the food and location were wonderful.  We ordered soft-shell crab and papaya salad, crumbed snapper with Japanese coleslaw and wedges, and some pasta to share.  One bottle of Bintang beer costed around AUD$6 here!!!

Coconut & Palm Sugar Pancake at Made’s Warung in Seminyak.  As the name indicates, it was super sweet!!  The dough was chewy and nice 🙂

This Tempeh (fermented soy bean) chips are at Made’s Warung as well.  Very nice and crispy.

One night we went to Papaya – a Japanese supermarket near our villa to get some Japanese food to eat at villa.  They sell fresh bread, sashimi, sushi, fried stuff, bento boxes, onigiri, etc etc along with other foods, drinks and non-food items.

I think the prices were bit expensive considering we were in Bali, but still reasonable.  We bought few bento boxes, sushi, katsu and salads.

Baby Food Recipes

Since Hiro started eating finger foods I’ve been enjoying cooking for him more than for myself.  Now, as a one-year-old boy he eats variety of food (although he doesn’t like steamed rice and egg sometimes) 3 times a day + snack.  He loves eating!  I’ve taken him to Miss Maud lunch buffet the other day, and he ate as much as I did – bread, roasted vegetables, fruits, cheese …..  a lot of them.  And I didn’t even need to pay a cent for those food he ate as he is under 4 years of age.

As I note what he eats everyday on mybabyatewhat.com I cook variety of food each day.  Sometimes he doesn’t like the food and I have no idea what to give him instead, but most of the time he enjoys my food.
Here are few recipes of the food he likes : if you happen to have kids you may wanna try them out, I thought 🙂

<Potato Okonomiyaki>

• Cabbage, chopped, 1 tablespoon
• Spinach, chopped, 1/2 teaspoon
• Potato, cut in cubes and soft-boiled, 1 tablespoon
• Egg 1/2

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

2. Lightly spray a small frying pan with oil.  Drop 1 table spoon of mixture into the pan and cook until the bottom is set and colored.  Flip it and cook another side until the hamburg is cooked through.

<Tuna Pumpkin Curry Rice>

• tinned tuna in spring water, drained x 1 tea spoon
• soft cooked pumpkin x 1 ~ 1.5 table spoons
• broccoli x 1 floret
• frozen mixed vegetables (I use corn, peas and capsicum) x 1 tea spoon
• tomato, skinned and seeded x 1 tea spoon

• super tiny amount of mild Indian curry powder
• steamed rice

1. Place tuna, pumpkin, vegetables and curry powder in a sauce pan and add water to just cover the food.  Cook until all the food is cooked and soft.  (add more water if needed)
2. Serve on a bed of steamed rice.

<Salmon Udon Noodle>

• cooked udon noodle, about 1.5 table spoon, cut into small pieces
• salmon, small piece
• 1 broccoli floret
• carrot, small piece
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp mixture of cornflour + water

1. Place salmon, broccoli, carrot in a saucepan, and cover with water.  Bring to gentle simmer, and cook until tender.
2. Add udon noodles and milk to the saucepan.  Simmer.  Add cornflour mixture to thicken.

<Tuna & Pumpkin Sandwiches>

• tinned tuna in spring water, drained x 1 tea spoon
• cooked pumpkin, 1.5 tbs
• 2 slices of bread

1. Mix the tuna and pumpkin.  Spread on 1 slice of bread, and place another slice on top.  Cut off the crust.  Cut into finger size.

<Chicken Meatballs>

• chicken mince x 1 table spoon
• tofu (I use Japanese tofu, either silken or firm) x 1 tbs
• soft cooked pumpkin x 1 tbs
• 1/2 egg
• 1 tsp cornflour (optional)

1. mix all the ingredients, and shape into flat balls.
2. spray oil lightly onto a frying pan, and grill both side until well-cooked.

<Soup with Tofu Dumplings>

• tofu (I use Japanese tofu, either silken or firm) 3 tbs
• plain flour 1 tbs
• cornflour 1 tbs
• chicken mince 1 tsp
• vegetables (brocoli floret, carrot, potato, onion etc)

1. Place chicken mince and vegetables in a saucepan, and fill water to cover the food.
2. Bring to gentle simmer, and cook until vegetables are tender.
3. Mix tofu and flour.
4. While the soup is simmering, scoop 1 tsp of tofu mixture and drop into the simmering soup.  Repeat with remaining tofu mixture.  Cook until the tofu dumplings are cooked.

Korean Version of Tongari Corn

I’ve been into this Korean snack that I bought from Spud Shed the other day…  This is exactly what I used to eat in Japan – “tongari corn”!

Actually, when I look at the photos of Japanese tongari corn they look thicker than Korean one, but it tastes about the same.

It got a hole in the bottom, and this is how people eat tongari corn….

Caps? Nail? People sometimes draw a face on it and do a “tongari corn play”.

They can be played as a “stacking corn” game where you stack up the corns and the person who collapse the tower is the loser.

Haha, the Korean snack just reminded me of these silly things I used to do in Japan.

My Baby Ate What?

When my baby just started eating solid I wasn’t really sure what to feed him everyday.  For the first few months was easy, just mashed pumpkin, and next day is mashed avocado….  But as he grew I had to think about the nutrition and combination of food each day.

I searched online what people usually feed their babies.  I found some ideas for what to make for each meal but I wanted to see what they make for whole week, and I couldn’t really find it.  I wanted to know what other mums cook for their babies.

So I started this food blog “My Baby Ate What?” .  There in this blog I list down what I feed my 11-old son each day with a photo of a meal, as well as the feeding time etc.  This is just a case of my son and I’m not trying to make it as a model at all.  This is for people who want to know some other baby’s daily cycle.

I usually make food with what I’ve got in my freezer/fridge, and sometimes get ideas from recipe books.  My baby has big appetite and it may seem too much food for some babies, but again, it is just what my son eats everyday.

I hope someone enjoy this blog!  🙂  Happy cooking ♪

Grocery Expense

I started to record how much I spend on grocery each month, because I thought I might be spending too much for just 2 (& a half) people. When I look at the bank statement I sometimes wonder what I spent so much on, and so often (EFTPOS). I realized I go to Coles, WoolWorth and IGA few times a week… To think about it, we (just 2people) don’t need so much food in a week, and going grocery shopping few times a week is just too much!

I don’t know how much people normally spend for food each month, but I set a limit of $100 for August to see.  Now, it’s 10th of August and I already spent $180… :_(   ….  Maybe $100 for 2 people in a month was bit too tight, but it made me be more sensitive about spending money!  Since I’m not employed anymore I’ve gotta save as much as I can on everyday expenses…

Spud Shed isn’t really a place where you can buy “fresh” food, but things are very cheap. I just had to buy vegetables (because I can’t live without them), so I headed there to stock up my fridge. Some of the products weren’t something I wanted to buy (e.g. pre-packed vegetables : gone very soft, mandarins : obviously had been frozen) but some were ok. One whole Chinese cabbage for 99cents, a net of garlic for 99cents, iceberg lettuce for 99cents, a head of cauliflower for 29cents etc.  You’ve just gotta dig out the better quality one from the box (if there’s any).

We bought quite a lot, so I believe I won’t need to go grocery shopping for vegetables for awhile… The cart-full of food for $63!

By the way…..  About Japanese grocery shops in Perth.  What happened??   Nippon Food in Fremantle has closed, Super Fuji in Victoria Park has closed, and now Maruyu in Perth has closed for good. 🙁  Hmmmm, there is only one shop left (Nippon Food in Subiaco) which mainly sells Japanese goods and owned by a Japanese company in Perth.

I guess importing foods and goods from Japan is too expensive, and is not a good business?  There are so many similar products at Chinese or Korean shops anyway, and they are much cheaper.  They don’t have everything though, of course…    But I’m surprised to hear 3 shops closed all together around the same time.

Vegan Parents Charged in Death of Baby

There’s a shocking news about two vegan parents in France : their 11-month-old daughter died for being fed only breast milk.  They are now facing up to 30 years in prison.

An autopsy showed that the baby was suffering from a vitamin A and B12 deficiency, which experts say increases a child’s sensitivity to infections.  The baby was underweight and deathly pale according to French media.

I don’t know why the parents didn’t notice the baby wasn’t gaining sufficient weight over the last 11 months, and didn’t consult with doctor or anyone for an advice.  And, why they fed only breast milk for 11 months?  They didn’t introduce any solid foods to supplement nutritions to the baby?

Anyway, it’s a devastating news,, but I was surprised to hear the “30 years in prison” part.  And, the fact that the ambulance workers called the polices instead of
consoling the parents, when they arrived and found the baby dead, because the parents were vegans.

I actually have a French friend who is vegan, but I didn’t know that it is not easy being vegetarian in France.  That’s why the parents are facing the 30 years in prison?  Ummm… now I understand what my vegan friend was talking about – her father was really upset when she decided to be a vegan.  Besides, her father is a butcher! (maybe that’s the reason why she became a vegan?)

Anyway, giving enough nutritions is the most important thing when rising a baby, and I think I should try to have more balanced diet.

Gourmet Mushrooms