Chinese New Year in Box Hill and a recipe for carrot salad

I have had a great food week cooking, being cooked for and going out.  Plus, I am enjoying fresh fruit and vegetables, receiving both from gardening friends, and from sampling the huge range available in the markets at the moment.

 

 I have cooked salmon coated in Japanese breadcrumbs with stir fried vegetables and rice,

 

 

 and sand crab and salad

 

 

as home meals.

 

I also had friends for dinner and we had barbecued Jamaican style, jerk chicken and JapaneseTeryaki style chicken

 

 

cornmeal bread

 

 

rice noodle salad

 

 

and Russian/Korean style ( nobody seems to know the origins of this dish) carrot salad, my new favourite salad.

 

 

I was asked to give the recipe in this blog, so here it is:

 

"Russian"/ "Korean" Carrot salad

 

Ingredients:

 

7 carrots

4 finally chopped cloves of garlic

5 sliced spring onions

3 tablespoons freshly crushed coriander seeds

4 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon honey

 

Method:

 

MIx all ingredients together with your hands.  Adjust seasonings to taste.  Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate ( for a few hours if possible) until ready to serve.

  

I was introduced to a very popular , but unpretentious, Japanese restaurant ( which was actually run by Japanese!) in a little arcade in Burwood.  It is called  Kenji (shop 9-10 Toorak rd).   I enjoyed my seafood bento box and miso soup.  A good find.

 

 

We were also invited to join my daughter and her family celebrating Chinese New Year on a very hot evening in Box Hill.  Lots of businesses were advertising, so the kids gor free balloons and lollipops.  I preferred people watching and enjoying the decorations. 

 

 

 

 

 

But, I was  really interested in the huge range of food on offer- satays, noodles, stir fried tofu, fried prawns, dried pork sheets, octopus balls, were just some of them.

 

 

 

We tried the okonomiyaki, the popcorn chicken, grilled squid tentacles,  Movenpick icecream, and grilled meats on skewers,

 as well as freshly squeezed sugarcane juice

 fresh coconut juice

  

 

 Korean potato sticks

 

and deep fried crab and squid tentacles

 Then, I forced myself to pop into Dessert Story and try their  concoction of shaved ice, green tea icecream, condensed milk, chocolate and red beans.  Yummy- and I did share.

 Bob had the green tea icecream.  He has much more self control.

A great week of trying new things.