I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

(And I'm not sure that it's Pocky either!)

I found myself feeling peckish on a cold, wintery afternoon and not feeling like eating anything that I had to cook. I remembered that I had a box of what I thought was Pocky in the cupboard waiting for just such an occasion!

For those who've never had the pleasure, Pocky are a Japanese invention. They're basically a wheat baton - long, thin and crispy - a bit like a pretzel but much more delicate. The name comes from the Japanese word for the sound they make when you bite into them.

There's an entire website dedicated to them, - which is of course mostly in Japanese - and there are variations of them all around the world. (For a true treat, see the stunning home-made ones from Not Quite Nigella.) The commercial flavours range from sweet - green tea, strawberry and chocolate dipped (milk, white, dark - although why the dark variety is known as Men's Pocky is extremely unfair to us females who love and prefer our chocolate dark!) to savoury - tomato & pizza. But on the whole, the sweet varieties far outnumber the savoury. Some of the more extreme varieties include Decorer Pocky which features decorative icing and Mousse Pocky which features extra thick, mousse-like icing. I haven't seen the latter varieties in my local grocery but I'm sure a wider search might uncover them.

Back to my Pocky imposter however! There's not a word on the pack which says they're Pocky which makes me think that they're a darn good rip-off. Wikipedia mentions that the flavour featured on this pack, sweet potato, is also made by Pocky. So if someone can read the Japanese writing on this pack, please let me know!

The reason I was attracted to this pack, in my neverending search for the perfect savoury snack, is that I do happen to love the taste of sweet potato. The sweetness is not overpowering and it traditionally balances nicely with a little salt, so of course I had to try these.


The photo on the pack was enticing and being long and thin (an advantage they have over regular potato chips) I don't have to open my mouth really wide to eat it which means that I can snack on these in a very ladylike way in public!

A quick glance at the ingredients showed that there's quite a lot of sweet potato but not one bit of butter in it. Am I going to be disappointed I wonder?

Okay, enough stalling, let's open it!

After pulling off the zip-tab, the box flips open and reveals the two packs - one for me and one for a friend - or, one for now and one for later! That will depend on whether I like them!

The actual product looks like a standard Pocky although perhaps without the perfectly rounded end that I'm familiar with (or maybe it's because I've only really eaten the chocolate dipped variety!).

There is a slightly powdery substance which adheres pretty solidly to each stick, i.e., it didn't end up at the bottom of the pack. I bit into one stick and that was it!

I LOVE them! They taste like a crunchy REALLY buttery sweet potato! After demolishing an entire foil pack (forget ladylike!), I did in fact wonder whether heating them in the microwave for a few seconds would help to enhance that butteryness. I'm sure it would and I will let you know when I open the second pack!

As for my reference to that butter substitute? Well, I still can't believe it's not butter!

THE BUDDHA BELLY - Terry Hills

Ahh..the Buddha Belly, a favourite of the Happy Blogger and family. Not only a restaurant it is more a lifestyle choice! Set between a beautifully serene Japanese Garden and Koi Pond, and an array of Nurseries (including Bonsai where you can even do classes), and beautifully presented Asian style retail stores, all located in a Balinese style village. Turning off the busy Mona Vale Road at Terry Hills, you arrive at the small carpark, lined with palms. If you look carefully, you will see the carved archway which is the entrance to the Buddha Belly Restaurant. This is an authentic Balinese style pavillion, open air style with no walls, simply lush plantings and stone or wood carved statues forming outdoor rooms amongst the palms. You would think this is a restaurant more suited to summer weather - not so! The outdoor aspect is exceptional, in Summer and Autumn but even though today was a chilly Winter day, with the plastic sheeting rolled down, and the heaters turned up, you could still enjoy the view and ambience without any bother. Now, as I mentioned, this is a favourite with my family as the staff are pleasant and more importantly, child friendly - a must for hassled parents trying to enjoy their meal without bored and naughty children to entertain! For the kids, the first things they are drawn to are the many statues - we make sure we rub the Buddha's belly on the way in for good luck. They also really get a kick out of the fact that most of the tables have you sitting overlooking a beautiful waterfall and Koi pond, and only a rope separates you from it. As you look around at the balinese style buildings, you are transported to another world and that is totally intriguing for them. For older kids, it is fine to let them wander over to the imperial garden to get a closer look at the fish and to explore as it is all within view (and shouting distance!) of you at your tables. Children love this place, they just need to make sure they don't throw any of the white pebbles into the pond, or feed the fish. Some of these Koi are 40 years old and as thick as your arm! They used to rake the beds of white pebbles into wave patterns, but I think it was too much to ask for the kids to keep off..so we noticed they were more "free-form" today. Today, my son and I were having a quiet brunch. We started with a Chai Latte for me, and a Milkshake for him as we made our selections from the menu. I was sorely tempted by some of the other choices, especially a "Marraketta" which is a short black with caramelised chocolate and milk, or a "Honey Affogato", or even a "Little Darlin" which was a layered macchiato with vanilla syrup but decided on my old favourite for today. As we are regulars, there will be plenty of time to work my way through the coffee menu on each visit. My son decided to have the Buddha Belly bacon and egg roll with hollandaise, capsicum and chilli relish, with a side of chilli mushrooms. This arrived on turkish bread and went down a treat! This was an adult sized meal, but there were kids choices as well. I decided not to have my usual Pancakes with Berries and Ice Cream, or Eggs on Sourdough, instead I had a Nasi Goreng with fried Egg and Chilli Jam! Wow..it was great! Filling! Warming on a cool day, but just a little too "hot" for my son..so I had it all to myself! After that, we couldn't fit any more in, so decided to slip out for a walk around the garden. The Lunch and Dinner menus are really interesting Asian Fusion style meals with lots of seafood choices (Barramundi, Mussels, Salmon, King Prawns to name a few), and I can highly recommend the twice cooked Duck with Coconut Rice, Asian Greens and Citrus Chilli Marmalade as I've sampled this on a previous visit! Mains are around $26-$30. Also, the Green Tea Noodles with mixed herb salad is a winner (you can have this as an entree or a main size). Entrees are $15-$19. The wine list is also quite diverse, and they even sell the locally brewed "Lucky Buddha" beer which comes in a fantastic, Buddha shaped green bottle (again, sampled on a previous visit). On weekends it is necessary to book, even on week days, it is a popular lunch spot for local groups of women. As the location is suitable for wandering and shopping for homewares, jewellery and garden supplies, it is a drop in spot for families over the weekend, so keep this in mind when visiting. Today we were lucky, early brunch on a week day, we had the best seat in the house! The waitress told me before I left, that in the 8 years they had traded at the site, they had never advertised. All of their business was from "word of mouth" which says a lot. Great to see that it can sustain a good local business..visit and see for yourself. Happy eating!

Churrasco Sydney, Woolloomooloo

"Do you like barbecued meat?" asked my Brazilian colleague. What else could I answer but "Hell yeah, show me the way to the carcases!" So 8 of us trouped off to Churrasco, a 15 minute walk from our office to enjoy a traditional Brazilian BBQ lunch.

For $35 per person, you get endless chargrilled meat and vegetables, salsas, rice, beans, yummy cheese bread and the divine grilled pineapple sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The restaurant has a branch in Coogee and one at the top of William Street in Sydney on the corner of Riley Street. The Sydney branch has an L-shaped dining space with the longer section taken up by long communal tables and really heavy wooden stools (presumably so they are strong enough to withstand the weight of meat-stuffed patrons), enough room for entire offices to dine together in the meatfest.

The open kitchen (or should that be BBQ pit hehe) is in between the two sections of the restaurant and consists of multiple tiers of metre long skewers sitting over a charcoal fire.

The condiments were set out first, I could recognise a salad of tomatoes, onions and parsley which is called a vinagrete in Portugeuse, and a chili sauce but what was the powdery stuff that looked like breadcrumbs? My friend said it was toasted cassava flour (tapioca is made from this root vegetable) which is typically sprinkled over the meat. I tried a little of it, it didn't taste particularly distinctive but added a toasty texture to the cooked meat.

Next came a bowl of potato salad. You can see next to the bowl that heavy duty knives are supplied in readiness for the skewers of barbecued meat!

Then came a bowl of rice and a bowl of Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil. This is a black turtle bean stew that has been cooked for hours with different types of pork products (bacon, sausage, ribs, trotter, head and tongue) and beef and flavourings. I was so impressed with the flavour - rich and savoury - I really could have just eaten the rice and beans as a meal in itself!

The first thing served was beautifully grilled pieces of ham brushed with a grainy mustard and caramelly pineapple chunks.

Then it all started to arrive, men carrying platters of deliciously barbecued pork belly, pinkly cooked lamb, 3 differently flavoured types of chicken, the photo below shows a sweet sauced chicken and a savoury one. Different cuts of beef offered were so tender and juicy and then came the chicken hearts, which can be rubbery if overcooked but these were tender although not as flavourful as the meats. Deliciously grilled zucchini was followed by smoky balls of cheese which tasted like a bocconcini and then the gooey on the inside crunchy on the outside little balls of cheese bread called Pao de Queijo which are made out of tapioca flour. Then the chorizo came out accompanied by a skewer of chicken sausages, all cooked to perfection and then the ham and pineapple came back... We didn't really need the extra salads we'd ordered but at least we acknowledged a nod to the "eat your greens" part of our consciences!

After this photograph, I'm afraid I was too busy tasting and eating to take anymore!

Thank you my friend for introducing me to the delights of the Brazilian barbecue! I'm now going to find a recipe for Feijoada and experiment over the long weekend, bom apetite!

CHK CHK BOOM *@!

Today I found a Tea that really packs a punch! I have to say, that when perusing the aisles of an asian variety store in downtown Burwood, I was quite taken aback when I spotted this compact little green box labelled "special gunpowder". At first glance, I could see only the lid, which gave nothing away..."special gunpowder" and some chinese characters. I turned the box, and in french was Temple du Ciel, The vert de chine 'SPECIAL GUNPOWDER". I was still none the wiser?! The fact that it was amongst the teas, was a bit of a giveaway, and as it was only $1.90 for a box, I decided to buy it and investigate later. Then, as I was putting it on the counter to pay, I realised that on the OTHER SIDE of the box, in English, its said "Temple of Heaven, China Green Tea "Special Gunpowder". What a relief to find that instead of slipping some explosive contraband into the tea aisle, I had simply stumbled across a newfound pleasure. On investigation (googling wikepedia), I have found that Gunpowder tea is a form of green Chinese tea produced in Zhejiang Province of China in which each leaf has been rolled into a small round pellet. It is believed to take its English name from the fact that the tea resembles gunpowder pellets used for a cannon. As the name suggests, I expected a nice strong tea. The aroma of the dry pellets was really strong and deliciously enticing and after brewing it as usual in my favourite pot, I wasn't disappointed! I enjoyed a lovely strong brew. Oh, I love a nice cup of tea. The more varieties the better..but this was more about the novelty and amusement value of the packaging, along with the little adventure of investigating something new, rather than finding a new taste sensation. Cheap thrills for me today!

Red Neds Pie Bar, Nelson Bay

How does Ostrich in coconut cream, sundried tomato and parmesan sound to you? Or maybe you prefer Crocodile in parsley, shallots, and white wine sauce or Scallops & Prawn in honey lime & chilli sauce. Well Red Neds does it all....in pie form.

Weh-weh, MiniB and I spent the week in Nelson Bay and I’m so bummed that we only discovered Red Neds on the last day of our stay.

Red Neds pie bar is labelled to be one of Australia’s top pie establishments and the wallpaper of awards, accolades, and articles truly showed that they’re number one when it comes to pies. With over 50 varieties of pies baked on the premises, master pie maker Barry “Red Ned” Kelly, prides in using the freshest ingredients (yearling beef sourced from the Hunter Valley regions) and boy does it show in his pies. Not only is the menu unique, and the ingredients are fresh, the pie designs look pretty awesome too - check them out on their website.

Weh-weh went for the Kangaroo with leeks and mushrooms in Teriyaki sauce and was surprised that the flavours blended very well. Firm tender chunks of kangaroo mixed the sweetness of the Teriyaki sauce and subtle hint of the leek coming through all encased in perfectly crisp and flakey pastry.

Being by the seaside I had to try the Garlic Prawns pie. Good sized whole pieces of prawns beautifully combined with leeks, carrots and good slices of roasted garlic – mmmm!! At first I thought a cream sauce may be too rich but it really combined will with the garlic.

Next time, the thought of having pies for breakfast, lunch and tea to try all of Red Neds 50 varieties of pies is good reason to go back to Nelson Bay. As their motto goes "I'd kill for a Red Neds pie".

Oh and here’s a few happy snaps of attractions we did around the Bay (The Bay & Beach, Feeding our animal friends @ Oakvale Fauna World, and feeding and patting Sharks & Rays @ the Shark Centre).

Till next time...we eat!!

Shanks