Saturday, February 19, 2011

Glutinous Rice Balls

I had some glutinous rice flour at home so I decided to try making glutinous rice balls or what the Chinese call 'Tang Yuan'.

First I combined the glutinous rice flour with water and started kneading the dough. Add the water bit by bit until the dough sticks together but is not too wet or sticky.

Then the rest is pretty easy, just pinch off bits of dough and roll it into balls and set it aside. Traditionally, the glutinous rice balls don't have filling in them, but since I also had some red bean paste in the fridge, I decided to use this to fill some.



The small ones are the plain ones and the big ones have red bean paste in them.

Then I boiled some water in a pot, added some brown sugar and a bit of ginger. My mum usually puts Pandan leaves to flavour the soup but I don't even know where to buy it here in London.

The balls take about 3-5 minutes to boil, depending on the size. But when the balls are floating on the surface of the water, it means they are done.




My bowl of glutinous rice balls in sweet soup. Red bean, yum.

Best Milkshake Hunt: Lucky 7 Diner

Around a week before that 'time of the month', I always have a craving for something random. This month, it's a nice glass of creamy milkshake.

The weather was crap this morning (but then again, when is it not crap in London?) - but this was not going to stop me on my hunt. I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate and decided I would have brunch and then go bargain hunting for vintage finds.

When I first stepped into Lucky 7 Diner, it felt like I was transported to a American retro diner. The place is small (only 6 booths seating 6 people), but really cute.


The menu board





Retro posters and decorations


My creamy chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. It was so hard to decide between flavours (mint choc chip, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and banana) and extras (oreo, peanut butter or malt), but in the end, I had to go with my gut and choose chocolate and peanut butter. Slurp.


I ordered the 'Healthy Breakfast'. I'm not sure what part of this plate, beside maybe the fact that I chose to have poached eggs, is healthy. Maybe Americans define crispy bacon and juicy sausages as healthy.

All-in-all, I had a yummy brunch - even though I dread to think the amount of calories and grease I had just consumed.

If you want to check this place out for yourself, you can find it at:
127 Westbourne Park Road
London
W2 5QL
or go to their website: www.lucky7london.co.uk

The Food and Fashion Hunter

Hello world. It's the Food and Fashion Hunter here.

Besides studying in a fashion college, I spend a lot of time roaming around London shopping, searching for bargains and stuffing my face with food.

If that sounds like something you find yourself doing on a daily basis, then you should probably follow this blog.

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts.


Signing off,

The Food and Fashion Hunter.