4 Hour Roast Port Belly Recipe

**Warning - May contain traces of Pork **

Some of you may have recalled my earlier post of the Autumn Dinner in Spring the Boy and I recently hosted...

I asked which recipe you would have liked to have me share with you, and although I would love to say, "By Popular demand, let me present to you the Roast Pork Belly Recipe!", I can't... that's because, everyone went for everything!!!

So... I thought I would be nice, and share more than one recipe with my readers, starting with this ... 

Les Petit Truffe - Autumn Festival In Spring

The Boy and I spend approximately 20 hours last weekend preparing for a fabulous dinner for our Autumn Festival (Moon Cake Festival) dinner for his cousins....

The feast was a huge success, the dishes all prepared by us (apart from the macarons, I do NOT want to talk about it)... yes even the dips and mayo were all made by us :)

This post, I'll put up all the dishes and description and I'll leave it up to you, my wonderful readers, to select your favourite dish and in the following post, I'll put up the recipe for that dish!

So enjoy, feast with your eyes and don't forget to comment at the end :)

Bashuge Traditional Szechuan Restaurant @ Carnegie

Looking like the glamourous sister sitting next to the very popular Auntie's Dumplings is Bashuge Traditional Szechuan Restaurant...


I've been there twice so far... and both times, I've eaten way more than I should (the servings here are HUGE!)


I'm not sure that it would cater for those with Western taste buds... most of the foods served are an acquired taste and caters for those craving RED HOT SPICE and interesting delicacies...


I say this only because, when Cousin A and I first went, we saw a group of Western ladies (mature) who had prior to entering made a booking. Upon sitting down and reviewing the menu, they apologised profusely and got up and left... some saying they would go to Paradai II further up the road...


We looked on, totally amused by this turn of events... and I cheerily thought, "Well more for me!"


Bashuge's version of Chinese tea (I would recommend getting ice cold bottled drinks)...


Curious Szechuan burgers... which was pretty much spicy chicken, mushroom, capsicum served with buns (poppy seeds and sesame seeds) and lettuce leaves...


The second time we went, we had more people along, so we ordered a serve of MaPo tofu which was slightly more watery than what we are used to... so not a recommended dish...


Both times, we ordered these last two dishes... this stir fried pork belly (1 chilli rating) is beautifully cooked... and delicious!


And of course, when one does Szechuan, one has to have a hot pot of stew (2 chilli rating)... this was a spicy fish stew served with glass noodles and bean sprouts


Look at how big the servings are! That fish stew took up half a table!

If you are chilled to the bone this winter, I'd say pop by for a try.. I still want to try their spicy deep fried pork intestines... (Told you, acquired tastes =P)

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Chinese
Dining Style: Restaurant
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 7/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10
Service/ Attitude: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10 (I only remembered the price of the fish stew.. for that humongous pot, we paid $23 only)

Address:
74 Koornang Road
Carnegie VIC 3163

Tel:(03) 9568 8687

Bashuge is open
Monday - Sunday 5.30pm - 10.00pm

How to get there:

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Shyun @ 126 Koornang Road, Carnegie

Shyun first open about a year and a half ago (if memory serves me.. don't quote me on this)..

(Grandmaster sushi chef at work)

And they've recently renovated/refurbished and re-opened with a bang


It's a lot more spacious than the original lay-out.. and the Boy and I went last Saturday night, and again on Sunday night with Ms Tinymouse...


Do visit Shyun's website for the menu, as it's much much clearer on there, than the grubby picture I took with my iPhone... (I seem to be leaving my camera behind a lot lately... bad food blogger! BAD!)


We ordered a Sashimi ($14) of 20 pieces (4 types of fish), and somehow.. the sashimi chef gave us a "chef's" special as well... the little small platter on that plate is the chef's special...somehow I think we got the Omakase instead..

The sauce it came in with was light, sweet and miso-tasting... de-li-cious!


On the first night, the Boy ordered a Katsu Don $8.00 (Crumbed pork with egg on rice)... although not as good as the one in Uzu (at Caulfield)... it was still delicious...


Ms Tinymouse ordered an Una Tama Don (Eel with egg on rice) $9.00 and finished the lot!


On the second night, the Boy (who was jealously staring at my Bento set the night before) decided he wanted to 1 up on me, and ordered the Deluxe Bento $15.50 (with ice-cream later on).

The Deluxe Bento consists of, tempura (prawn and vegetable),teriyaki chicken, grilled salmon marinated in miso sauce


I on the other hand (being a greedy 'lil piggy) had the Bento set (I'm not going to say box, because it doesn't come in a box)...on both nights... Lunch price $8.90, Dinner price $9.90

With the Bento sets' you are given for choices from a selection of Menu A and Menu B to get your order --> 1 item from Menu A + 1 item from Menu B = Your Bento Set

This one was a miso katsu + teriyaki chicken

This one was a miso eggplant + teriyaki chicken

Both were absolutely smashing... I eat bento's on a weekly basis (I will be posting one glorious one Jap cafe in the city soon)


For desserts, we had a red bean and green tea ice-cream (served with red bean, corn flakes and raspberries)


Green tea ice-cream with the lot $3.50



I could dine here every weekend, but then you'd have no pictures... I absolutely love Japanese food...

How I miss you Japan!!!

I DO recommend booking a table on the weekends.. Saturday night was just insane...A lot of the locals just call in and take-away food... if you want to do that, and stay home curled in front of the heater, that's up to you...

But I do love coming in, and huddling on the cute Japanese cushioned chairs/stools and watching the Sushi Chef at work...

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Japanese
Dining Style: Restaurant/ Sushi Bar
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 7.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 6.5/10 (it is a bit cramp in there, typical Jap setting)
Service/ Attitude: 6.5/10 (it get's really busy and they sometimes forget about you, your order and where you are)
Value for money: 7.5/10

Address:
126 Koornang Road
Carnegie VIC 3163

Tel:(03) 9569 6530

Website:http://www.shyun.net.au/


Shyun is open from
Tue - Thu: 11:00am - 4:00pm, 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Fri, Sat: 11:00am - 4:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm - 4:00pm, 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Mon: closed

How to get there:

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Bonjour! Les Petit Truffe (Again)

I think I shall stick to Les Petit Truffe... I quite like the name and it's here to stay (French cuisine or not!)


My favourite meal of the day!! Breakfast for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


We have what looks like a simple meal of a hard boiled egg, toasted white bread, baked tomato with chorizo and parmesan, hummus (home made... did I say I love TAHINI!!!!!!!), chick peas, rocket leaves and a fine sprinkling of cracked black pepper and pink sea salt.

Upon close inspection, when you cut into the bread, eggyolk oozes out of the centre (the Chef made a hole in the bread and cracked a egg and cooked it while toasting on the pan)


The hard boiled egg, when popped open, revelead a fine mash of egg yolk and hummus (surprisingly a good match)


To top it all off (the next night! I'd die if I had to eat all that food in one seating)

Home made gnocchi served with a burnt butter and sage sauce.... (the Chef went a bit overboard in the size of the gnocchi, but it was home made...so we can look pass that!)

Les Petit Truffe @ Carnegie

I felt very lucky last night, as I was invited to a 3 course meal courtesy of Les Petit Truffe in Carnegie.

Having had a wonderfully long and arduos day (of shopping and cleaning!), it was a definite welcome change...


Beautiful pink sea salt.. you don't get the pink varieties in many places these days (except maybe in Maze and Fifteen!


The chef decided to go easy on the first entree of the night...

Duck Fat French Fries with a sprinkling of pink sea salt. Freshly made French Fries always taste so deliciously good. Somehow the duck fat enhanced the sweetness of the potato... *yumMmm*


A shot of the 2 entree's...


For the second entree, we had Roasted Stuffed Capsicum with Truffle Mash


When we took the cap off the capsicum (hohoho.. pun WHOLLY intended), we saw that it was stuffed with chopped swiss brown mushrooms, smoked chorizo, caramelised onion and thyme

Oooh.. and the little burn bits you see resting on the truffle mash, is actually Parmesan Crisps... very nice!


This was absolutely smashing... the capsicum was deliciously sweet and went really well with the stuffing... Not to mention.. the truffle mash potato was really light and fluffy with a hint of the aromatic truffle oil...


For the main, we had Chicken Roulade, lightly crumbed and stuffed with thyme and served with a gherkin relish


Chicken was tender and moist, and the delicate flavour of the thyme went really well with the gherkin... amazing...


All in all, a very satisfactory meal in warm and pleasant company.

Great food and great company... I hope I get another invite soon!

Food/ Cuisine: Contemporary
Overall Food Rating: 8/10 (There is no set menu here)
Restaurant ambiance: 8/10
Service/ Attitude: 8/10 (NEW RATING FEATURE!!!)
Value for money: -/10 (It was invite only.. hence FREE!)

Address:
Carnegie 3163
VIC
(Address will be revealed upon invitation)

Les Petit Truffe is open
seven days throughout the year
and tastings are only by invitations
Dinner 7pm—11pm

How to get there:

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Grandma Kimchi @ Carnegie, Koornang Road

Still on a high from Friday night's get together... here is what we had =)


Started off with Tofu Twi Gim (or in other jap restaurants, Agedashi Tofu)

Nicely done, the tofu was soft and the light sauce was refreshing...



The gyoza... looked alright.. I didn't personally try this as I'm not a fan of Gyoza's... but there were no leftovers =)



The seafood pancake was so-so... not their best dish...



The pork bulgolgi was excellent and I have to admit, Grandma does really good sizzling dishes...



The kimchi baby octopus had us served with more kimchi than baby octopus.. NOT HAPPY!



The teriyaki chicken was really delicious as well..



Overall rating = 6/10

NOTE:
Apologies for the blurry pictures... I had to use Ms Tinymouse's camera and I was non too good with it as I left my camera at home...

How to get there:

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Siam 1

This is sort of a newish restaurant that recently opened up in Carnegie. Gosh there's a lot of them good ones now where I live... Happiness!

After standing outside the shop a few times now, waiting for the bus, and glancing at the food reviews from newspapers stuck to the glass window and not paying much attention to it, I decided to read the reviews properly. Trying to not look like a weirdo with her face close up to the shop front, it was to my delight that one of the reviews was written by Matt Preston (One of the judges of Masterchef!) and you can read his review here:
(Matt Preston's Siam 1 review)

And I saw, they are part of The Age cheap eats guide as well!! Fantastic! Now to find people who want to go with me.

So we did on Saturday night. We turned up at about 7.30pm. It was pretty crowded. Word must have gotten around. The waitress asked if we had any booking, and upon hearing the answer "no, sorry", we were smiled upon and ushered to a dark tiny corner!

I have to say though, the lighting of this place could be better. I guess the owner was going for the romantic feel of it all, but I don't see what is so romantic about Thai food anyway and I would still like to see what I'm eating even on a date, thankyouverymuch!

If they had provided me with proper lighting as they provide each of their Buddha figurines on the walls and Buddha's wall painting, I'd be much happier. And so would the patrons sitting next to me. I had evil glances from the woman next door as my flash went off at every dish.... SIGH...



We decided to go with 2 entrees and 2 mains.

Started off with Soft Shell Crab with a tangy sweet tamarind sauce with coriander (now I can't remember what each dish were called, it was all in Thai)



We also decided to go with one of the "Today's Special" and have rice paper rolls with tiger prawns, mince pork, lime, tamarind, mint, nuts. However, the waitress heard me wrong and gave me 2 serves instead of 1. But it was good and we ate all of it!



Of course, we had to try the stir-fry chicken and cashew dish. Of course, because we weren't feeling too "curry-ish" on that night, and we already had curry previously when we went to Paradai II (which is just opposite Siam 1)




We also had deep fried butter fish with the same lemony tangy sauce.



Now the highlight of the night, would have to be the dessert. We decided to go with the Sago and Coconut with Vanilla Ice-Cream, and Steamed Banana with Coconut and Ice-Cream







All in all, I don't think this place should be in the Cheap Eats. Very misleading. Yes their dishes are mostly below $25 (some were above $30)... and the fact that we had to pay around $110 for 3 people, was in no way a Cheap Eat.

That would probably my only disagreement with the place. They had served really good food. Authentic to a degree, and not the usual Thai Restaurant fare, which is always a good thing.

So they get 7 out of 10 from me.

How to get there:

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