Their trendy method of blending liquid nitrogen into an ice cream recipe isn’t just what sets N2 apart. Quirky flavours such as Thai Basil or Chinese cough medicine will keep you coming back to try each limited creation. Anatomy-themed decorations may send you outside to eat it..but luckily there’s a lovely patch of (greener-than-green-should-be) astroturf. Make any time Summer-time: sit yourself down and enjoy some of the creamiest, most decadent and authentically-flavoured gelato in Sydney!.

These scoops were made for sharing. A scoop of Earl Grey Caramel ($6)

Recommended flavours: Buttered Popcorn (with real popcorn pieces!) & Earl Grey Caramel

N2 Extreme Gelato

43/1 Dixon St
Sydney, NSW
Australia, 2000

Opening Hours:
DAILY: 1PM – 11PM

Lap Chang (Chinese Sausage) Fried Rice Recipe

Cooking Time: 15 mins

INGREDIENTS:

2 lap chang (臘腸) Chinese sausages *
1 stalk shallot (green onion)
4 cups cooked white rice
2/3 cup frozen green peas
2 eggs
2/3 cup frozen corn
Cooking oil
Dark Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil

METHOD:

1. Slice the lap chang sausages into pieces about 5mm in width.
2. Finely chop a handful of the white shallot stalk and set aside. Chop a handful of the green shallot stalk. Set them aside, keeping them separate from the white shallot stalk
3. In a small saucepan, boil peas for about 1-2 minutes until soft and cooked. Leave to drain in a colander.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok/pan then add beaten eggs. Stir-fry, breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon. When the eggs are scrambled but still slightly runny, transfer to a bowl and clear the pan.
5. Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok/pan, add in the lap chang sausages. After a minute, add in the frozen corn. Stir for half minute before adding the peas and white shallots.
6. Quickly add the scrambled eggs and when everything is mixed, add the rice. Combine.
7. Shake in a few dashes of soy sauce (2-3 for a light flavour and more if you like a heavier flavour). Toss and coat rice. Drizzle in sesame oil (1 teaspoon for a light flavour and up to 3 for a heavier flavour). Toss again, mixing thoroughly until all the rice is the same colour.
8. Stir in the green shallots and serve hot.

* Usually about 15cm in length, lap chang is a smoky, sweet pork sausage high in fat content. It can be found at most Chinese grocery stores.

西红柿炒蛋 (Tomatoes & Eggs) Recipe

Cooking & Prep time: 6 minutes

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
Half a head of garlic
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
3 dashes dark soy sauce
1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar
250g tomatoes*
1/2 cup of water
Some (about 2 teaspoons) chopped spring onion- half green, half white
Olive oil to cook with

Method:

1. Slice the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and finely chop the garlic
2. Beat 4 eggs in a bowl, adding the sesame oil, and pepper powder.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar into the dark soy
4. Heat up a wok/pan with oil to medium heat. Quickly fry the the garlic. When it starts to brown, add the egg into the wok, using a spatula to break up the large lumps into bite-sized pieces. Cook until the eggs are still SLIGHTLY runny
5. Clean the wok/pan and add more oil. Cook the tomatoes for a minute before adding the soy sauce/sugar mix. Add half the water. Cover and cook for half a minute.
6. Add in the eggs, spring onion and rest of the water. Fry for half a minute on high heat until most of the water has evaporated.
7. Dish and sprinkle with chopped green spring onion if desired.

* Usually large – sized tomatoes are used but I prefer cherry tomatoes as they are sweeter

Foodie costumes come in all shapes and sizes so I’ve rounded up a few of my faves that are floating around the web- and no doubt your inbox too- to create my Top 10 Baby Costumes, Top 5 Couples Costumes and Top 5 Singles Costumes!

Top 10 Aww-worthy Foodie Baby Costumes

Lobster Baby

Watermelon Baby- Props to this mother for placing baby in situ

Sushi Baby- All ready to be eaten!

Spaghetti Baby

Pumpkin Baby- Small enough to fit in a pumpkin!

Starbucks Baby- Love the brown coffee onesie and whipped cream cap!

Chef Baby- This little dude seems exudes the charisma of a chef greeting his guests

Burger Baby- Made more adorable when alongside the ‘Hot Dog’

Potato Sack Baby

Peanut Baby

Top 5 Foodie Couple Costumes

Peanut Butter & Jelly Time!

Ketchup & Mustard

All ready to nom

Who doesn’t love brekkie?

Possibly the least (read, maybe I should find me a boyfriend so I can steal this idea) cheesy couple costume is Sriracha and Tobasco sauce

Top 5 Single Foodie Costumes

Sandwich man, who deserves some applause for committing his ENTIRE body

Apple with a worm. Adorkable.

Chinese Takeout

Spam. The question remains, however, who would love Spam so much as to honour it so..?

Taco Man. Love the ethnic touch.

And if you had too many Halloween Tacos.. it’s always good to know where the Halloween toilet is…..

And nary a person was going to stop me from indulging in one of my yearly traditions, Sugar Hit. A creature of quirky habits, I’ve only ever attended the Sugar Hit events hosted at Sydney’s hotels but as a way to drink in as much of my beloved city as possible, I was happy to go along to a restaurant with a Harbour view.

Beauty over proven substance, however, is never quite the right choice to make.

Directly across from the Opera House, Ocean Room is a Japanese restaurant with arresting interiors.

Its ethnic roots are reflected in the menu and for Sugar Hit, the restaurant has put up a fusion offering, Gorgonzola panna cotta with caramelised banana, Junmai (a brand of sake) jelly and shoyu (soy sauce) caramel, topped with Persian fairy floss; with a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine ($20).

Gorgonzola panna cotta

Like most other Masterchef fans, I’m drawn to the unique use of out-of-the-ordinary ingredients. It’s a shame when a dish is put off balance by an unusual element but for me, it’s most disappointing when the taste of the ingredient is so masked, everything that is special about it has been stripped away.

While the Junmai jelly was light and in the way that alcohol always is, bitterly refreshing, there was no hint that gorgonzola was used in the panna cotta, nor any traces of shoyu in the caramel. The Persian fairy floss and caramelised banana were nice but I don’t think I needed to have left my house for that. The most enjoyable part of the experience was unfortunately enjoying a glass of moscato by the harbour’s edge.

Ultimately, Ocean Room’s inspiration is apparent but the execution seems to fall short. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the restaurant’s first time to participate in Sugar Hit. I hope it stays the innovative path as showcasing new tastes is one of the highlights of the annual event. I will, however, always remember one of my most enjoyable Sugar Hit desserts is a bread and butter pudding- traditional in all senses, it was simply exceptionally well made.

Ocean Room
Ground Level, Overseas Passenger Terminal
Circular Quay West
The Rocks, NSW
Australia, 2000

(02) 9252 9585

Opening Hours:
LUNCH: Tue – Fri: 12:00 to 14:00
DINNER: Mon -Sat: 18:00 to 22:00

On the way home from a Beijing club late one night (or is it early?), I found myself craving the creamy beverage. Thank God for 24 hour McDonalds and their Sino-fied menu. One McMilk Tea, please!

….two weeks on from this incident, I still wonder if the woman working the midnight shift hates me for what appeared in place of my order was a cup of cloudy water amongst which floated some sludgy rocks. This terrible brew had the power to simultaneously cause me to gag and choke.

As I gasped for air, my life didn’t flash before my eyes. Rather, I thought about how much I missed Australia. More specifically, I thought about how much I missed Chatime.

Chatime’s Westfield Sydney store

Milk tea (or bubble tea as I’ve sometimes referred to it since my tweeny bopper days) can be found all over Sydney but making it well takes real skill and care, especially at a store like Chatime, where there seems to be an infinite amount of customisation possibilities.

Chatime teas. L-R: Brown Rice, Jasmine, Roast Tea, Oolong, Assam Black Tea, Premium Black tea. Assam, brown rice and premium have the strongest flavours, whereas jasmine and oolong go well with the fruitier flavours.

With each variation in topping, tea type and the amount of ice or sugar, the brewers must know how to adjust the rest of the drink for premium taste- and they get quizzed on it!

..and all the toppings! L-R Red bean, fig jelly, coffee jelly, sago, lychee jelly, egg pudding, grape jelly, pearl, rainbow jelly, grass jelly,, aloe vera.

Chatime uses real tea, real milk and real fruit juices, reflected on first sip when what’s been described is what’s been delivered. Not too stiff and not too squidgy, the tapioca pearls on each visit have always been perfectly chewy and soft. Brewed and set in a procedure that takes 4 hours, a lot of effort seems to go into such a small cup!

Shaken, not stirred

Expanding beyond milk tea, Chatime has a great variety of green and black teas as well as some fruity Summer blends and a warm Winter range- I’m particularly excited to watch how the espresso tea line, which uses extraction process much like that of espresso coffee, will progress.

Chatime is not just milk tea!

onceuponafoodie recommends..

Dessert drink: Roasted milk tea with red bean, sago and egg pudding
Refreshing summer brew: Passionfruit jasmine tea with lemon jelly and aloe vera
Afternoon pick me up: Cherry Blossom from the espresso tea line
Sweet treat: Matcha Latte
Coffee addict: Coffee smoothie with coffee jelly

Worth mentioning: Green apple green tea with fig jelly

Chatime stores (pronounced Char-time) can be found across Australia and internationally. For more information, visit www.chatime.com.au. Much thanks to the team at Horizon Communication Group for organising my visit.

So when I was invited to the opening of the newest restaurant by The Golden Century Group at The Star, I was excited to go along. I hadn’t planned on blogging about it but when I discovered how well some of the quick snaps from the day turned out, I couldn’t resist..

I love this photo of owner, Linda Wong’s triumphant and beaming smile

No Chinese restaurant opening could be auspicious without some lion dancing

The Century is a beautifully designed restaurant infusing contemporary interiors with an Asian twist. Dangling tealights are actually made of Chinese tea cups and over 80,000 black and white chopsticks have been crafted together to create textured and elegant walls.

(my iPhone 3GS doesn’t do so well in low lighting)

Black chopsticks make up a wall in The Century

From left to right: vegetarian spring roll, sashimi salmon in a wasabi and soy sauce mix, fried rice, poached bamboo, deep-fried salt and pepper prawns, Cantonese style steak

Most impressive, however, is the food. The superior quality of the ingredients used by The Century is noticeable on first bite. Everything is more tender or more firm and definitely more flavoursome.

My sashimi salmon was an amazingly fatty and soft cut that melted away in my mouth and my steak was a juicy morsel that almost needed no chewing. Served on platters, I found it next to impossible for me to not keep popping the bite-sized pieces of salt and pepper prawns into my mouth. Straight from the deep-frier, their crispy exterior held a soft and perfectly cooked prawn interior.

Not pictured but also worth a mention is BBQ pork. It was something I grabbed on my way out and my God, am I glad I did. The crackling was thin and crispy and managed to not carry a thick layer of fat!

Not many would have left The Century without a very satisfied stomach. With a full house of smiling faces and touching speeches, the opening was a tremendous success.

In a very different location than Chinatown, it looks like The Century might become a dining staple for when I’m craving Chinese food without the parental supervision.

The Century
Ground Floor, The Star
(Entry on Pirrama Road)
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, NSW
Australia, 2009

(02) 9566 2328

Opening Hours:
7 Days: 11.30am-3pm; 5.30pm-11pm
Fri & Sat: 11pm-2am

But food has and always will be one of my passions and as things slow down again, I’m happy to rededicate myself to blogging!

To ease myself back into it, I thought I’d start with a short, quick piece…

Foodies To Follow On Pinterest

If you’re following me on Twitter or Facebook, you might see a slight obsession with Pinterest. And why not? According to Repinly stats, food & drink pics are the most popular ones!

For food porn fanatics alike, however, it’s difficult to locate the foodies to follow. I’m not here to tell you who’s best but I find myself repinning, liking and commenting an awful lot on these accounts:

Paula Deen
Say what you will about the queen of butter but Paula Deen’s Pinterest will turn your keyboard into a marshy swamp of saliva. Sorted into categories of meal types, dish types and occasions, this account is the complete package.

Love From The Oven
I don’t follow too many American food bloggers but I stumbled across this post a while ago and have been a fan of Love From The Oven ever since. Christi’s blog and Pinterest are self-explanatory and are a delight of savouries and (mostly) sweets that involve some cooking in an oven.

Small Kitchen College
I’m a lazy chef. It’s one of the 3 reasons I love Nigella (the other two are on her chest). Small College Kitchen is therefore one of the accounts after my own heart. But simple and delicious are intermixed with crazy project ideas and the spastic flavour fixations rife amongst college student. Oh, and throw in the sometimes-desire to be healthy.

Everyday Food
Everyday. Martha Stewart. Nuff’ said.

Serious Eats
Anybody follow Serious Eats regularly? If so, then you know they’re into bigger, better, kookier and close-enough. While their Pinterest is little bit more tame, it’s still screen-licking good.

But if those 5 still aren’t good enough, here are some others:

• Great British Chefs
• Pillsbury
• Food Network
• Whole Living (another Martha Stewart)
• Cooking Channel
• Food.com
• Punchfork
• Epicurious
• Food52
• iFood.tv
• Gooseberry Patch
• Kraft Recipes
• Lifestyle Food

Like a steady steam train (or indeed convoy), the food truck phenom. has been slowly heading towards Sydney. We could see the dizzy drama of its entry a mile away and it’s created a buzz amongst foodies unheard of since the dawn of Masterchef. Now, it’s finally rolled into town.

In the vein of successful food trucks before them, the Sydney fleet have chosen social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, as their prime form of communication. From location to giveaways and from menu to behind-the-scenes privy, the progress of these trucks have been eagerly tracked by food media.

Earlier today, via my own Twitter food truck stalker list I managed to hunt down my first of these roving restaurants just to check out whether or not it could actually deliver on the hype. I was not disappointed.

The blazing red Cantina Mobil food truck affixed with a giant arrow was easily spotted from the George st entrance to Victoria Park. Surprisingly quiet, there was no queue and I soon found myself lying back on a mulicoloured Mexican blanket, munching on a chipotle beef burrito ($9.50) and washing it down with a Sangria Senorial ($4.50).

Slow-roasted & shredded beef w Red Cayenne Chilli Sauce & Lime- then smothered with El Yucateco Red Habanera Hot sauce

The chipotle beef burrito is simple and good. True to description, the beef is a shredded and tender delight. It’s well-cooked with a light, tangy sauce. Unlike other eateries, Cantina Mobil do not overstuff their burritos with beans and rice. When I’m finished, I’m full and not nursing a food coma- particularly convenient as I was headed back to work.

Sangria Senorial

Described to me as sangria without the alcohol, I felt somewhat misled by the Sangria Senorial. What I think it tasted like is a salty carbonated fruity beverage. It wasn’t bad. The muted flavour of the Sangria Senorial didn’t overpower the flavours of the main meal (unlike, I suspect, the soft drink alternatives). In fact, I liked it. It simply wasn’t the fruity taste I was expecting.

Rounding off my food truck experience is a Chilli Cinnamon Ice Pop ($4). Sourced from Sydney’s own Freshpops, these artisan ice pops having been independently roving the Sydney streets too.

Chilli Cinnamon Ice Pop

I enjoyed the chilli cinnamon variety for its layers of flavour. The taste of cinnamon is most distinctive at first but the spicy tingle of chilli is what lingers afterwards- and all delivered in an icy chocolate offering! Yum!

So Cantina Mobil definitely walks the fine talk and given this experience, I eagerly await my next food truck encounter!

Cantina Mobil
Sydney, 2000

T: @CantinaMobil
F: www.facebook.com/CantinaMobil
E: bookings@cantinamobil.com.au
M: 0452 639 426

Park Bench is a cute café with namesake décor that leaves me nostalgic for the playground of my yesteryear. Relatively new to the CBD streetscape, it’s a pop-up café run by the guys over at Two Black Sheep.

With that reference in mind, I somewhat confidently order a flat white.

Flat White Upon Arrival

Concern #1: Why is my cup not full?
Concern #2: What is up with that funky taste?!

I can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps it’s the influence of the upcycled furnishings but the first thought that comes to mind is compost. I think my coffee tastes like compost. But I’m aware that the first sip, warped by residual flavours in your mouth, is not always true to the actual flavour of the coffee. So I take another sip. And then another.

The flat white is terrible but my curiosity and obsessive desire to pinpoint the taste drives me to take sip after sip until suddenly, I realise half the cup is gone.

By then, all I’ve come to conclude about the flat white I’ve been served at Park Bench is (1) it has an earthy taste with what seems like traces of preserved mandarin peels and (2) it has left me $3.50 poorer.

Park Bench
580 George Street
Sydney, NSW
Australia, 2000

0449 563 359

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 8am-11.30pm
Sat: 9am-11.30pm