おいしいOishii food delights

It was my mother's 51st birthday last Thursday, but no party was organized since my mum is the kind of person who likes things very simple and don't like others making a fuss over her b'day. So this year, it was strictly a very private celebration with just mum and I, the 2 of us. As for the b'day cake, well, to be honest, my mum doesn't particularly like eating cake, so she never buys any of those fancy cakes which are specially for birthdays, so she always settles for the very simple and cheap cakes you can buy at the supermarkets to substitute. So this year, we bought a chocolate block cake from Woolworth's (one of the 2 largest supermarket chains in Australia) that was baked by the supermarket's own bakery for just AU$5, very cheap.
My mum actually wanted a chocolate mud cake from Worthworth's, the same cake that my mum and I occasionally bought and she really liked, but on the day were went shopping for the cake, which was on the same day as her b'day, all the choc mud cake were sold out. And since there's so very limited selection of cakes available at Woolthworth's (I think the supermarket only makes 2 or 3 different kinds of cakes), we settled for the closest cake to the mud cake available at the time, so we ended up with this choc block cake, which is basically the same to the mud cake, only a few minor differences in shape and the way the cake was frosted.

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Topic : Cakes & desserts - Genre : Gourmet

tag : sweets chocolate desserts

2012/05/14 16:36 | Cakes & desserts | COMMENT(2) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

It has been a while since I last blogged about Kit Kats, so today I will review 2 more Japanese KKs, both fairly recent releases; the renewed version of the popular Matcha flavor, and the new Strawberry Tarte flavor, both released in late 2011.

Firstly the renewed Matcha flavor:

the thick sweet green matcha chocolate coating the classic crispy wafers, the matcha flavor infused into the white choc coating was so strong and enriching, the sweetness of the white chocolate and the bitterness from the matcha powder used were beautifully balanced in flavor, the amount of matcha powder also gave the choc coating its brilliant green color naturally. There were also layers of more green matcha flavored choc between the wafers, further enhancing the overall richness of the matcha flavor in each bar.
Overall, I can safety say that this is no doubt the best version of this classic favorite flavor of KK from Nestle Japan. It well exceeds its previous matcha versions, which I thought had weaker levels of matcha flavor. I will certainly be getting more of these!

My rating (overall):

now moving onto this new flavor of strawberry tarte...

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Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets chocolate kitkats nestle snacks

2012/05/10 02:59 | Kit Kats | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

Sorry guys, there won't be any food reviews from me today...but, it's been so many months since I last uploaded video tutorials from the anime Yumiero Pattisiere's 'Magical Essence' segment, so I thought it was about time I uploaded the next installment from the segment.

This is extracted from episode 8 of the anime, in this quick tutorial, pastry chef Watanabe Kyoko (who is a chef at one of famed Japanese patissier Sadaharu Aoki's patisseries in Tokyo) shows you a simple way to make a simple custard pudding.
The video is in Japanese though, but don't worry because it has english subtitles, so it'll be easy for non-Japanese speakers to follow through this quick and straightforward tutorial.
I made pudding using this video tutorial the other day and it's very simple to follow through

Topic : Cakes & desserts - Genre : Gourmet

tag : sweets desserts japanese

2012/05/08 23:10 | Cakes & desserts | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

'Country Ma'am' is the name for Fujiya's popular brand of chocochip cookies, I love these 'Country Ma'am' cookies they're so yummy and with so many exciting flavors to choose from and with more new flavors released each year. I'm not too fond of Fujiya and it's certainly not among my favorite Japanese manufacturers, but with that said, their delectable 'Country Ma'am' chocochip cookies are the ultimate excuse for me to keep coming back to this company!
The makers at Fujiya had adapted the American choc chip cookies and added their own little Japanese twist to it. Unlike typical American choc chip cookies which tends to have a consistent texture, these 'Country Ma'am' choco chip cookies have a more complex texture; soft and crumbly on the inside, harder and crunchier on the outside. So if you do plan on giving these Country Ma'am chocochip cookies a go, don't expect these cookies to have the same kind of texture and standards of a typical American choc chip cookie, because they are very different. These Country Ma'am cookies may share the same concept, but their way of execution and baking are different. The 1 mistake I see other foodies tend to make is judging these Country Ma'am cookies based on the standards & texture of the typical American choc chip cookie, that is a big NO in my books! Because these cookies are different to its American counterpart, I believe they should only be judged on the product itself and on their own aspects in terms of texture and flavor, and NOT compared to their American counterpart. Because after all, these are simply the Japanese style of choc chip cookies.

Anyway, today I'm going to review about this box of mix 3 different flavors of Country Ma'am cookies; classic Vanilla, Cocoa and Gianduja, which is a smooth chocolate paste that contains at least 30% hazelnut, while old tradition recipes of Gianduja contains about 50% hazelnuts.

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Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets chocolate snacks countrymaam fujiya

2012/05/04 18:49 | Chocolate snacks | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

So it's been a while since I last went over to my local chinese bakery Nice Bakery, so a few days ago, I decided to pop over there and grab some of their yummy buns for lunch. I picked up one of my usual favorites, the crab & cheese bun, and also this hot dog bun for AU$1.40, which seems to have only been added to their range a few months ago.

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Topic : Bakery - Genre : Gourmet

tag : snacks

2012/04/30 03:32 | Other sweets & snacks | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

here's a lovely goodie I got from NapaJapan, it was part of an order I made with them some months ago.

Anyway, this is a box of corn caramels made in the northern Japanese island Hokkaido using 100% best quality corn grown on the island:

each piece of these Hokkaido corn caramel had a very soft and chewy texture and consistency but were not sticky, unlike typical caramels which are hard and tends to stick to your teeth. I think I have stressed numerous times in the past why I dislike caramel and that I tend to avoid it, the main problem I have with typical caramels is that they stick to your teeth and I hate that. There has only been a few exceptions over the years of caramels I've let slide from this common hatred I have of caramels, mainly because they did not have that irritating sticky texture. And these Hokkaido corn caramels share that same quality with those few exceptions, these caramels were just lovely, really, beautiful soft chewy non-sticky texture and they had a lovely amount of sweet corn flavor, the corn flavor wasn't too strong, but certainly not mild either, just the right amount to please my sensesI was even able to smell the sweet aroma of corn when I first opened the package, before I was even able to savor a piece of this sweet corn goodness
I expected nothing less of the manufacturers in Hokkaido, Hokkaido produce are really some of the best quality foods & sweets you can find in Japan, with that said, they're some of the best in the world too!

My rating (overall):

Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets candy

2012/04/20 16:57 | Candies & lollies | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

Sorry for not updating for a while, as you all know by now I am one very busy person

Anyway, today I'll be reviewing about this pack of yummy munchies manufactured by Fritolay Japan that I also ordered from J-List.com:

in case anyone here doesn't know, corn potage is basically a very creamy type of corn soup, with varying ingredients to suit the individual.
Part of Fritolay Japan's 'Gourmet' range of Fritolay's popular American cheese puff 'Cheetos' snacks, these decent sized crunchy puff sticks were loaded with strong flavors, seasoned to perfection with such accuracy in flavor in replicating this popular corn soup. Although cheese is the staple seasoning for 'Cheetos' snacks, the lovely flavor of corn from the corn potage seasonings was particularly dominant that the usual cheese flavor was either non-existent or too subtle for my taste buds to detect. Coupled with the soft crunchiness of the sticks, these irresistible lip-smacking munchies will have you wanting for more.
My only regret was only ordering 1 packet of these yummies, if I knew these were going to be this irresistibly tasty, I certainly would've wanted to order more!

My rating (overall):

Topic : Japanese savoury snacks - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese snacks fritolay

2012/04/15 15:35 | Savory snacks | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

I went shopping with some friends last Saturday at Chinatown and around the Sydney CBD area and decided to drop by at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants in the area; Kura restaurant for takeaway. I ordered one of my usuals the Sushi deluxe (you can read about my review about Kura's sushi deluxe here) and a serve of Taiyaki with matcha ice cream for dessert.
Taiyaki is a popular Japanese-style fish-shaped cake made from either pancake batter or waffle batter and traditionally has azuki (red bean) paste filling...although nowadays, there's more modern variety of fillings available, such as custard fillings and chocolate, but you will usually still find Taiyaki with azuki paste fillings.

So these were the Taiyaki I got from Kura restaurant for around AU$6 for 3 small Taiyaki and a small container of matcha ice cream, I had ordered the dessert for takeaway:

I was a little disappointed that some parts of the batter skin was burnt, obviously the chef had slightly over-baked the Taiyaki, it's not exactly culinary pleasantness when you see dark burnt patches on your food, except maybe if it's for a BBQ, but not when you're baking Japanese sweets like Taiyaki. It brought out that unpleasant burnt taste, but luckily it was only very mild. The batter was rather plain and tasteless and there was not enough azuki paste filling for my liking, the flavor of the azuki paste was surprisingly rather bland as well, meaning the flavor was very subtle.

Overall, these Taiyaki were disappointing, I have tried plenty of Taiyaki from other restaurants and vendors over the years which were baked MUCH better with just the right amount and balance of batter and filling, and were baked for just the right amount of time and with stronger flavors.
I've always enjoyed dining at Kura restaurant and their food are mostly delicious at reasonable prices and the service is always good. However, their Taiyaki is just one of the few disappointments I fault them on. This was the first time I've ever ordered Taiyaki from Kura restaurant, and frankly, I wouldn't want to waste my money on them anymore. But Kura does serve plenty of other food which are really delicious that showcases the talent of its chefs.

If you want to know the address of Kura restaurant located in Haymarket Sydney, please refer to this entry.

My rating (overall):

Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets

2012/03/31 13:47 | Japanese-style sweets & Wagashi | COMMENT(1) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

here's another goodie I ordered from J-List.com, and it's another container of drop candies from Sakuma! Upon seeing the vast majority of Sakuma candies being sold out on their site, I took the liberty of ordering up as many flavors of these Sakuma candies still in stock from their site, and I ended up ordering 4 remaining different flavors.

Aside from the Choco Banana crepe flavor I reviewed a few weeks ago, this is the Matcha flavor from the city of Kyoto; the oldest city of Japan, which is the home of many legacies of Japanese history & culture as well as serving as the capital city of Japan up until 1869. I love Kyoto, it is one of my favorite cities in Japan besides Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, as well as being one of my most favourite places in the world to visit!

For those who aren't familiar with Matcha, it is a type of Japanese green tea which is fine powdered, it's very high-end and is the staple in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. Because matcha is very rich & bitter in flavor, it is typically served with sweets that are particularly sweet to wash down the bitterness of the matcha. Matcha powder has also become a very popular flavouring used in traditional Japanese sweets such as Wagashi, as well as ice cream and western-style sweets & confectioneries.
Matcha powder itself is generally quite expensive just for a less than decent amount, so unless you're rich, it's typically bought for special occasions or not so often.

Anyway, enough with the lecture about Matcha, so let's move on to the review:

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Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets candy sakuma

2012/03/27 19:04 | Candies & lollies | COMMENT(0) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP

I hadn't ordered from J-List.com in almost 2 years, so back in January I decided to place another order with them and I received the package sometime last month.

This is one of the yummy goodies I ordered from them, I really like these 'Pie no Mi' snacks from Lotte, these decent bite-sized yummy hexagonal-shaped puff pastry cookies with various cream fillings. This is the Strawberry cheesecake flavor:

I knew even before I ordered these that I was overall going to be satisfied with these regardless because 'Pie no Mi' is one of the few snack brands from Lotte that has me wanting more of, but, I try not to be too bias in my reviews

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Topic : Japanese sweets - Genre : Gourmet

tag : japanese sweets snacks lotte

2012/03/18 13:59 | Other sweets & snacks | COMMENT(1) | TRACKBACK(0)  TOP