Quick meatballs.

"If you could be anyone in the world, who would you be?"
"Jamie Oliver"

That's Jason for you. With his trusty iPod in one hand and a packet of Hobnobs in the other, he entered the kitchen, eager to give one of Jamie's quick podcast recipes a go. At 42 Senrab Street, even exams are no excuse not to be a little adventurous in the kitchen.

"Meatballs, I'm making meatballs"

Ingredients:
500g minced meat (beef was used in this recipe, but I reckon pork or chicken would work just as well)
Half a packet of Hobnobs
Rosemary
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
1 egg

Crush the Hobnobs until fine. (Note: Trying to do this using a plastic ladle may prove futile - use a rolling pin or a heavy bottle instead).
In a large bowl, mix the minced meat with the Hobnob crumbs and add rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper at your own discretion. (I personally prefer herb-laden meatballs)
Crack the egg in and mix well.
Roll the mixture up into little meatballs.

Heat some olive oil up in a large pan and fry the meatballs on low heat until cooked through. They would have turned a lovely golden-brown by then.

Once cooked, the meatballs go well with a whole host of things and can really even be eaten on their own. This time however, Jason made a sauce to go with them - a simple but pleasant mix of garlic, tomatoes and basil. A simple solution to sauce would be to pop open a jar of pasta sauce to heat-up in a pan. Give the meatballs a good toss around in the sauce and you've got yourself a scrumptious meal.

With Jason (and Jamie) in the house, who needs Ikea?

Nothing in between.

"You're crazy"
I remember a particular scene from my childhood in which I offered some Marmite on cream crackers to my cousin only to have her take a bite and call me crazy.


They say that with Marmite, things are black and white - you either hate it or love it. I fall into the latter category, having grown up on a generous dose of Marmite. As far as I can remember, Sunday afternoons at home were reserved for teochew style porridge, crispy fried fish, stir-fried tofu, braised pork and for me, a big helping of Marmite to go with it all.

After having moved away from the Sunday afternoon routine, I had forgotten how addictive Marmite can be - it's that unique taste that no one can seem to put into words. There's been a recent ignition of the love for Marmite, with Sapna and I slathering it on toast on a daily basis and me using it in my cooking.


Some people say that chicken soup is good for the soul. I say they haven't had a hot bowl of Marmite soup.

Crab curry, the Senrab Street way.

Crabs can be tricky business, as we found out a couple of weeks ago - the amount of slaughtering and cleaning involved turned everything into quite the operation. However, being such seafood lovers and with the anticipation of the dearly missed crab curry (it's not exactly something you can get easily in London), we quite willingly got our hands dirty.

Armed with a base recipe (once again provided by mum and dad), the girls set out to get the paste right while the boys (literally) tackled the crab.

With the resident strong-man in the house, the crabs didn't stand a chance.

Ingredients:

2-3 kg crabs, cleaned and cracked
tomato puree
chilli sauce
soy sauce
2 eggs
salt and sugar to taste

Paste:
30 gm (1 small packet) of curry powder
6 cloves of garlic
20 shallots
2 cm in length piece of ginger
2 teaspoons tumeric powder
2-3 tablespoons tamarind juice
chilli powder

Blend all of the paste ingredients until it achieves a nice consistency.
Heat oil in a deep wok and stir fry the paste until fragrant.
Add crabs to the paste and mix well, adding water so that they just cover the tops of the crabs. Cover the wok and let the fire work its magic.
When the curry starts bubbling, add tomato puree, chilli sauce and soy sauce. I would suggest adding a bit at a time, tasting at intervals so that you get the balance that you want.
Reduce the heat, cover the wok and allow to cook for a further 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The gravy should thicken nicely but for that added thickness, break 2 eggs into the gravy and mix well.


We decided to add the tomato puree and chilli sauce to give it the sweet, tangy flavour that chilli-crab dishes have, making the curry more of a sweet chilli-curry hybrid. Deep fry some mantou buns and you've got a finger-licking good combination. Like most curries, this curry tastes even better the next day as the sweet flavours of the fresh crab would have really made its way into the gravy.

Har Lok

Growing up, Har Lok was one of my favourite prawn dishes - a treat that my dad used to whip up on special occasions. Being one of the more popular dishes in Chinese restaurants back then, the dish was also synonymous with nights out with family and friends. There are slightly different versions of this dish but they all fundamentally have that spicy, garlicky flavour.

This is dad's version (and perhaps quite biasedly, my favourite one) of Har Lok. The simple recipe takes all of 20 minutes to whip up.

Ingredients:
Large prawns, cleaned
1 bulb garlic, chopped finely
Thumb-sized ginger, chopped finely
2 big red chillis, finely chopped
light soy sauce
dark soy sauce
sugar
salt
cornflour
oil

With a bit of oil, fry the prawns in a deep wok until they turn a nice shade of light pink.
Add a sprinkling of salt, give everything a good mix-through and remove from the wok.
Fry the ginger, garlic and chilli until fragrant.
Throw the prawns back into the mix and add light and dark soy sauce (I personally prefer to use the thicker, sweeter variety) as well as sugar - all to taste.
When the prawns are cooked through (and this should happen fairly quickly), dissolve a bit of cornstarch in cold water and add to the gravy.
Stir well, let the mixture bubble for about 2 minutes and you're ready to go!

Of names we cannot pronounce

A night in with take-out, a boardgame and the Nintendo Wii is hardly your conventional 21st birthday celebration but I suppose, we were never conventional to begin with anyway. At the request of the birthday girl, we did away with the restaurant bookings and bus rides to have a mini Lebanese buffet delivered right to our doorstep.

Hungry House is every students dream - a collection of takeaway menus on one website so food a click away. The best part of it all is that payments can be made by card (which solves the issues with liquidity that we always seem to be facing) and the website also offers 10% off orders occasionally. The chosen Lebanese restaurant was one that had already been tried and tested by our boys and came highly recommended.

Nina's Taza Express
322 Burdett Road
London E14 7DL

We left the ordering in the capable hands of Dominic, who seemed to know his way around the menu pretty well - and he ordered up a storm. A variety of Mezza dishes, the Lebanese equivalent to tapas covered every inch of our dining table.

Wark inab b’zeit - vine leaves filled with rice, tomato, mint, parsley and onion, cooked in lemon juice and olive oil. At first glance, we thought that the parcels had to be unwrapped before eating but upon closer inspection, we realised that the vine leaves were soft and edible. This was definitely something new for a lot of us and the mix of flavours did leave us quite bewildered as we struggled to identify the ingredients. Tangy and minty, this definitely makes for an interesting dish. While we all enjoyed it, it's perhaps not for the less adventurous.

"How do they make potatoes taste this good?"
Batata Hara and Fried Vegetables - potato cubes sauteed with garlic, coriander, sweet pepper chilli, topped with fried vegetables.

Kibbeh Shameyeh - Deep-fried lamb meatballs mixed with cracked wheat and onion, filled with sauteed minced meat and onions. With their crisp, slightly flaky exterior and warm filling, the meatballs reminded me somewhat of the yam puffs one gets at dim sum restaurants. I liked that they didn't just consist of meat, but a nice crumbly mixture of ingredients.

"Who knew falafel could be so crunchy?"
The classic falafel - deep-fried bean and fine herb croquettes served with tahine sauce.

Bastorma - thin slices of smoked beef fillet covered with special spices.

Maqaneq - home-made Lebanese mini sausages flambéed in butter and lemon.

We were introduced to Halloumi Cheese (featured in the picture, behind the meatballs and potatoes) which I immediately took a liking towards. Mild, with a hint of smokiness from the grilling, it was the perfect accompaniment everything else. We also enjoyed the Foul Modammas (boiled broad beans seasoned with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil) and Jawaneh (charcoal-grilled marinated chicken wings served with garlic sauce).

It just goes to show that with the right company, you don't need a fancy restaurant or an elaborate night about town. Of course, good food doesn't hurt either.

Happy birthday, Anu!

Of meat on skewers

If all else fails, we eat - that seems to be the motto for our Malaysian Society. It really doesn't feel at all like it's been a year since the rather disappointing end-of-year dinner in Melur last year. This year, we opted for the safer option - a meal at the tried and tested Satay House.

Satay House
13 Sale Place
London W2 1PX

With the name of the place being Satay House, I suppose a trip to the restaurant would hardly be complete without a round of satay. While not quite like the ones served in my favourite satay place back home, the mutton and chicken meat skewers were still good enough to satisfy the deprived. Served as a starter, we quickly dug into the tender chunks of meat served with peanut sauce. If anything, the little teaser that we got that night has made me miss the smell of satay being cooked over an outdoor grill with a man staying over it, fanning the flames.

"What's lamb mysore?"
I brought this up with Anusha upon going through the proposed menu the day before the dinner as lamb mysore has always been one of those dishes that I see listed on menus so frequently but have never really been able to identify. I quite liked my first real introduction to lamb mysore, regardless of how accurate a depiction of the real thing it was. This one was mainly a tomato-based dish, slightly on the sweet side and with a good helping of spices.

Ayam masak cili api. I have to admit that despite our constant complaints of the greasy food we used to get back in college, one of my favourite combinations was that of ayam masak cili api and salted egg. I remember how the salted egg used to play off the creamy richness of the chicken so well. This was a throwback to those days, except without the salted egg and perhaps with a little less oil involved.

Sambal tumis udang dan petai. This was probably one of my favourites for the night. While most people found it a little too spicy, I enjoyed the kick it had but then again, I've always had a soft spot for anything involving sambal petai.

We capped the night off with banana fritters and ice cream - again, one of those things that just tease your tongue and leave you missing those huge bags of banana fritters sold at the side of the road back home.

Food is generally good in Satay House, with everything being a fair representation of the sort of food we can get back home. The only gripes I have though is that everything is on the slightly expensive side and that portions are rather small. I suppose Malaysia does spoil us when it comes to things like this as a meal out would almost always guarantee leaving one feeling too full to move.

Noodles and ice cream

It's time to break out the flip flops and shorts (or in our case, just find any excuse to do so). Armed with our sunnies and trusty cameras, we joined the throngs of people by the Tower Bridge pier one afternoon to soak up some sunshine. What was initially an idea for a picnic turned into lunch in one of the restaurants followed by ice cream while lounging around on the grass. We were hungry even before we got onto the bus so lunch was the first thing on our minds when we got to the pier. After a quick survey, (and after taking in the unmistakable aroma of vinegar and grease coming from the pub), we decided that a light lunch in Wagamama would be ideal.


Wagamama (Tower Hill)
2b Tower Place
Tower Hill
London
EC3N 4EE

With floor to ceiling windows that let the sunshine in, the restaurant was quiet, quite unlike the over-flowing pub next to it. We put it down to the fact that everyone else preferred to be outdoors instead. With Wagamama being well-known for its noodles, we naturally settled on noodle dishes after a quick look-through of the menu.

Yaki Soba - teppan-fried soba noodles with chicken, shrimp, egg, beansprouts, peppers, onions, garnished with fried shallots, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.

Amai Udon - teppan-fried udon noodles in a tamarind sauce with prawns, egg, tofu, beansprouts, red onion, leek, garnished with peanuts and lime. Always one for the tangy and spicy, I think the words "tamarind", "peanuts" and "lime" were what caught Anusha's eye.

The thing about Wagamama is that the food is always on the lighter side, especially in terms of flavour - perhaps in line with its healthy eating theme. Flavours are generally mild (perhaps, except for the noodles in spicy coconut based soup range) and this includes the chilli oil. I personally don't mind quick noodle stir-fry once in awhile but based on past experience, it's really not the sort of place for someone who's got a hearty meal in mind.

Feeling content, and Sapna with her take-away package in tow, we took a stroll by the river and made our way over the bridge to settle down onto the sunny patches of grass, ice cream cones in hand - because really, that's ultimately what we were there for.


Don't you just love spring?