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Wow, 7 bunches for $1!! What a score. PLEASE post back if you do make the pajeon, would love to see! You can also make them with kimchi, I just squeeze out the kimchi juice (and put it straight in a bloody mary usually, I'm shameless) and chop finely. Mine are never pretty..here's a pic from a great Korean restaurant here of what they professionally look like, and the gorgeous owner of the restaurant making them in mini sizes:

I should start an eG-emigre greeter service! I'll be waiting at the airport with a tray of mangoes and a kangaroo steak, see you soon.

Not in Australian dollar shops! Hadn't thought of contacting the manufacturer..why do I never think of the shortest route between points A and B? I did think I solved the problem by buying 4 in Tokyo last year, but they seem to keep disappearing somehow..I have 2 left and consider them serious flight risks.

Thank you so much, Nick! You set such a high bar for Sydney foodblogs and it's one I keep coming back to read again and again.

And so, to bed..a big day tomorrow, of farmers' markets and a lovely cheese shop, a crazy-ass butcher, the most incredible gelato in Sydney, and hopefully, a bit of cooking somewhere in there too.

A quick meal tonight before a concert (Elbow at the Enmore Theatre, for those playing at home), at a fabled institution called Faheem's Fast Food - virtually every taxi driver in Sydney eats there, so you know it can't be bad. They advertise themselves as "Indian/Pakistani"..it's hardly an attractive place, but the food is pretty damn good. Just snaffled up some naan, lamb and okra curry and a beef korma, with hot hot hot mango pickle. I love okra and will order it any chance I get, but what I REALLY wanted was the lamb brain masala curry...it's hard to describe how creamy and rich and glorious it is, but I'm always end up the only one eating it and didn't think it was a good idea pre having to sit still for 3 hours. And a mango lassi, with lots of salt and green cardamom!

The behemoth 800 seat yum cha place on top of Market City? You're thinking of what was once called Kam Fook, then became Dragon Star, then China Grand, and is now called The Eight. Marigold is opposite Market City, above the Commonwealth Bank. But yes, Golden Century is the seafood hotpot standard to beat..

No, you just need to get yourself to Sydney one weekend, crash at my place, and we'll go on a two day food bender!

Umi Kaiten Zushi, on Parker St, which is a continuation of Hay St, which is the street the tram tracks go down (next to the Capitol Theatre). I know what you mean about the rice paddle..though my problem has (twice) been trying to replace the rice cooker measuring cups..now THOSE are impossible to find. When I begged the manager at Thai Kee to sell me one, he silently opened the box to a brand new rice cooker, took out the cup, handed it to me and said "Go." !!

And this - I pretty rarely crave sugar, but boy, when I do I need a MASSIVE glucose hit..the iconic Aussie Caramello Koala (decapitated):

Lunch on the hop, very little time to stop and smell the wasabi today..got there so late that the pickings were very slim indeed. Salmon belly: Scallops wrapped around rice and topped with uni and salmon roe: Salmon wrapped around rice topped with tobiko roe: Inside out tuna rolls: Seared beef: More salmon belly:

My boyfriend goes to Vietnam a lot for work, and I've been with him a few times as armcandy..I still remember these amazing pomelo and prawn salads we had, with every single 'teardrop' of pomelo painstakingly separated.. So that's the genesis. Course, being me, I take a fundamentally Vietnamese salad, add Chinese roast pork, Thai pickled ginger, totally non traditional cashew nuts and Filipino lobster chips! What's your pork and pomelo salad like?

Hehe..we're a hivemind, percyn. Food twins? Food SOULMATES?

Oh, there's oil..alot of melted duck fat, to be precise. Trick of the light, perhaps. You need enough oil and a high enough heat that they brown without burning, but not so low that they steam. As for the salad, it's roast pork, so I didn't re-crisp but if it was duck, I definitely would have. The lobster chips are just ready to eat snack chips..usually use shrimp chips but the shop was inexplicably out of the shrimp flavour in every brand! Must say, I've never tried crisp frying shallots myself..they're so cheap ($1.50 a jar) and I go through them so quickly I've always just resorted to buying.

Speaking of breakfasts: this is the dish I'd prepped all that seafood last night for. Pajeon, or Korean green onion pancakes with seafood. You can use any kind of seafood, but I've used squid, scallops and prawns. Oysters or baby octopus are also nice. The green parts only of the onions. Call it lazy, I call it doing what every Korean friend I know does and use a packaged mix! It's basically flour, rice flour for lightness and crispiness, onion and garlic powders etc. Ready to be mixed together: Frying to golden brown (in duck fat, naturally!): And finished. With a little dipping sauce of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sesame seeds: Yum. Should shut me up for awhile!

I don't think I've ever seen them here, except canned/pulp. I believe they are wonderful, the apotheosis of mango! Do you get them in the US? A dhaba place I like has 'Alphonso mango kulfi' that is just delicious, but TBH, without a comparison Alphonso, not sure what the deliciousness premium is over other mango types. This blog is making me HUNGRY !! Until recently, Alphonso mangoes were banned in the US. However, now they allow them if they have been irradiated, which keeps the supply limited. Given the high price ($30-$50/dozen), most shop keepers do not keep them in stock. One year I bought a dozen for $10 each via mail order, but this season I could not even special order them. I think the taste is special enough to warrant the premium, but not everyone may agree. Great pics of the dim sum and fish market. Given your mouthwatering posts on the Dinner and Breakfasts threads, what was the inspiration that got you cooking Asian food and master this cuisine? What do spanner crabs taste like? Do you get Singapore style chili crab at any of the stores or better yet - do you have a recipe for it? I grew up eating Chinese food, so in many ways, it's the only thing I know and it's 'Western' food I don't know how to cook. For example, I literally have cooked one potato in my whole life, and eat so little bread that we don't own a toaster. So, I can't make you mashed potato, but dongpo pork belly or ma po tofu? With my eyes closed. Spanner crabs don't have much meat but they're very sweet. Most of the meat is in the body, rather than the claws as with other types of crab. Lots of places to get Singapore crab here - in fact, some that do nothing else - but I've never made it myself!

Why yes, to go with your marinated duck tongues! (Which are quite delicious, BTW!)

Do you know how tempted I was to buy a top shell? I was seriously considering it..but I've never cooked a fresh one before, so am going to do a little research before buying one, so I can do it justice. I do eat odd breakfasts..I know many people prefer the comfort of routine for breakfast, but not me..the weirder, the better. Nothing depresses me first thing in the morning like cold cereal and limp toast (precious, aren't I? Truly a 'first world problem'!).

Hey! Another Sydneysider! Great to hear from you. Marigold was actually my yum cha of choice for years and years, but lately I think they've slipped so I've transferred allegiance to Zilver (the artist formerly known as Silver Spring), where these photos were taken.

Do you know, I don't think I can remember..it's a screen name I've used for years, way back since the heady days of dial up plans in 1995. My other regular screen name was 'nogodsnomanagers', which was fine for my rebellious punk years but I felt I should leave that one behind once I grew up, got a serious job and, therefore, a manager! Now I not only have a manager, but I am one!

Your friend may be a little crazy! It's the coldest winter we've had in years. Years!. On the other hand, my office window looks straight into the rooftop pool of the predominantly Irish (and, apologies, English) youth hostel opposite, and if the number of kids stripping off at all hours of the day to jump gleefully into the pool in THIS weather is any indication..you are a brave people! As for pronunciation: Wool (like what's on a sheep) - Wool-la-mulloo. Said fast, with feeling.

And last pic for the evening: a little prep for something for breakfast tomorrow; chopped squid, scallops and prawns. I didn't get any breakfast today, as some joker scheduled a 7am meeting - but that joker was my boss's boss, so not showing up for the sake of breakfast might have been a bit of career limiting move. I'm quite the cranky she-beast without breakfast, so tomorrow..I'm compensating!

Dinner was a bit of an old standby for me: roast pork, prawn and pomelo salad. I sometimes manage to get this awesome guy at work to make roast pork for me, but alas, he's on leave so I stopped by my favourite roastie/chop shop for the pork: Here's the prep: the pomelo I bought yesterday, a couple of prawns I picked up at the Chinatown fish shop today, Thai pickled ginger, lobster chips (prawn chip variation - offputtingly named 'Labzter'..), mint, red chilli, lime, and crispy fried shallots and garlic. And the dressing, with palm sugar and fish sauce: Everything prepped in below (including some cashews): Plated: And dessert, a ginger sidecar: All in all, not exactly a winter dish but at least there are no pans to wash up!

Thank you, so pleased to be able to share my food obsessions.

If you thought "she couldn't possibly take more pictures of fish" you'd be wrong! This is my favourite Chinatown fish shop, where I mostly shop in between visits to the big fish markets - mostly because this one is right next door to my work, and they always have interesting things: Like neon spanner crabs: Lots of whole fish: Top shell! My favourite bellies and cheeks and heads, all nicely carved open and ready for cooking: My pork tail purveyor of choice: And then yum cha, with the omnipresent 'hand of colleague'. These photos were taken quite haphazardly, as I had to fend off the feeding frenzy so I could get a shot in without meeting the pointy end of a chopstick.