Back in Sydney

I arrived in Sydney on 11th January 2009 morning.

I slept until 5pm that day.

Cooked dinner, which my father can take credit for - "man fan" - rice in broth.

Simple but yummy:

Ingredients:

• Pre-cooked rice
• 4 packets of bonito flakes
• 1 large piece of konbu
• 1 tablespoon Awase miso paste
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• Soy sauce - adjust to taste
• Suki-yaki beef
• Spinach, rinsed and chopped
• 2 eggs
• Fried ikan bilis (the small variety - ngan yu chai)
• Chopped spring onions
• Fried garlic in oil
• Black pepper to taste
• Chopped fresh red chillies, or Japanese chilli flakes (ichimi togarashi)

Method:

1. Boil bonito flakes and konbu for stock. Once the konbu softens, take it out, cut into strips, then throw them back into the stock. In this way, the konbu can also be eaten.
2. When the liquid comes to a boil, turn down fire to a slow simmer, skim away foam at the surface.
3. Stir in miso, mirin, and soy sauce to taste.
4. Add in beef. Broth at this point is at a simmer so that beef is not overcooked.
   
5. Add the eggs, stirring while adding to create egg strands in the broth.
6. When the beef is just cooked, add in spinach.
7. When the spinach is wilted, ladle broth over rice in a bowl, top with fried ikan bilis, chopped spring onion, fried garlic in oil, chillies or chilli flake, and black pepper.

Yes, I've been quite productive since I came back. That's because my sleeping pattern is off - I went to the bathroom at 5am and couldn't sleep ever since! I even had time to look up a recipe for lad nar. This web page is very informational, there is even a clip on how street vendors cook lad nar in Thailand! So tonight's menu is, yes! Lad Nar!

I really need to get some shut-eye before my gruelling 10-hour shift. Oh, no. :P

Back in Sydney