Category: rice

Posted on

Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

Helsinki

Back in February I was on a trip to Helsinki in Finland for a few days for work. I was staying at the Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä in the heart of the city.

For a quick good value meal I went to Momotoko in the Kamppi shopping centre, it was close to the hotel, and it was nice food that was reasonably priced. Part of me wanted to have some authentic Finnish food whilst I was in Finland, but I was on a budget, and I quite like Korean style food. You order at the counter and then they bring the food to your table.

I had enjoyed my previous donburi at Momotoko so when needing something to eat it was easy to head back there. This time I went with the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi, this was rice with teriyaki sauce and chicken slices. It was accompanied by marinated egg, shiitake mushrooms, edamame beans, marinated cucumber, sesame seeds and spring onion.

chicken donburi

This was a delicious bowl of food, fresh and tasty. The chicken was tender and nicely done. I liked all the accompaniments, I did like the egg and the mushrooms.

I also had another Kimchi Fried Chicken Bao, which I had on my previous visit, This was chicken fillet, salad leaf, fresh cucumber, kimchi, momo-mayo and spring onion in a steamed bao bun.

This was similar to bao buns I have had elsewhere. A crispy piece of chicken, the freshness of the salad constructing well with the kimchi. Really tasty bun.

I have since found out that Momotoko has now closed down, so if I ever get back to Helsinki, I won’t be able to taste these dishes again.

Posted on

Another Spanish inspired rice dish

I made and cooked a paella, or a Spanish inspired rice dish.

Spanish inspired rice dish

I diced an onion, some red pepper, and some chestnut mushrooms. I also cut up some green beans.

In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off some smoked pancetta. I then added the diced onion, pepper, and mushroom. I also added the green beans.

When this was softened, I added 200g of paella rice. To this I added some paella seasoning, paella seasoning, Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix.

This is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I ensured that the rice was coated added some chicken stock and water. Stirred once and left it to cook.

I served it with some prawns and squid.

Posted on

Korean Pork Donburi and a Chicken Bao Bun

Helsinki in the snow

Back in February I was on a trip to Helsinki in Finland for a few days for work. I was staying at the Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä in the heart of the city.

Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä

For a quick good value meal I went to Momotoko in the Kamppi shopping centre, it was close to the hotel, and it was nice food that was reasonably priced. Part of me wanted to have some authentic Finnish food whilst I was in Finland, but I was on a budget, and I quite like Korean style food.

You order at the counter and then they bring the food to your table. There were quite a few choices, so I went with the Korean Pork Donburi. This was rice with Korean style sauce and deep fired tofu. Accompanied by marinated egg, shiitake mushrooms, edamame beans, Momotoko-kimchi, sesame seeds and spring onion. 

Korean Pork Donburi

I really liked the tender pork in this dish. The freshness of the edamame beans was a good contrast to the deep spicy pork and flavoured mushrooms. The pork was tender, and I liked the addition of the egg.

I also had a Kimchi Fried Chicken Bao, which was chicken fillet, salad leaf, fresh cucumber, kimchi, momo-mayo and spring onion in a steamed bao bun.

Chicken Bao Bun

This was similar to bao buns I have had elsewhere. A crispy piece of chicken, the freshness of the salad constructing well with the kimchi. Really tasty bun.

I have since found out that Momotoko has now closed down, so if I ever get back to Helsinki, I won’t be able to taste these dishes again.

Posted on

Tacos from the Halls

trains

When arriving at Paddington and needing something for lunch, I have on the last few occasions headed to the Market Halls.

Having been impressed with the meal I had there, I had thought about repeating the steak and chips I had before. However, there is quite a choice of places to eat and I do like to try new things. I decided to try out one of the other stalls, so this time I headed upstairs and went to try out the tacos from Breddos Tacos.

I had their lunch deal, which was three tacos and some rice for £15. I went with three different tacos.

I did enjoy all three tacos, but in order of preference, my least favourite was the chicken taco. This was Yucatan grilled chicken, pico de gallo, habanero salsa, and avocado. I had anticipated a warm chicken taco, but this wasn’t to be the case. Don’t get me wrong it was really nice, but I was expecting hot grilled chicken.

The mushroom taco was full of flavour. This mushroom guisado taco was filled with braised mushroom, onion, jalapeño, and habanero salsa. I do like mushrooms, a and this was really tasty.

The fish taco was the best of the three. The Baja Fish taco had tempura cod, pico de Gallo, and habanero mayo. The taco looked great, the cod was hot and crunchy and the accompaniments were tasty.

Overall I really liked the three tacos and it was a nice meal, the rice in my opinion didn’t add much. I think next time I would forgo the rice and just go with the three tacos.

It’s interesting to compare this with the Wahaca lunch deal for one, which is available next door. I think the Wahaca meal is a better choice if you want tacos.

Posted on

What is tteokbokki?

pack of tteokbokki

Having seen tteokbokki as part of the M&S stir fry deal, I did wonder what they were having never seen (or heard of) them before.

Looking online I saw that tteokbokki (떡볶이) are a popular Korean dish made primarily from soft, chewy, cylindrical rice cakes (called garae-tteok or tteokbokki-tteok) simmered in a rich, flavourful sauce. It’s one of Korea’s most beloved street foods, known for its addictive sweet, savoury, and often spicy taste.

I was intrigued. So the next time I bought the stir fry deal I got the tteokbokki as that part of the deal.

I cooked them separately before adding them to the veg and protein. They were a nice change from rice or noodles, somewhat chewy in texture, but I liked them.

Posted on

A different Bento Box

When I buy a bento box from She Sells Sushi in Bristol I usually go for the beef donburi and a chicken hirata bun. On a recent visit to the Finale Reach Street food market I went with the bento box, but this time I went with the beef donburi and for a change the chicken katsu.

The chicken katsu was tasty. There was crispy chicken with katsu sauce on top of rice with pickles and crispy onions.

The chicken freshly cooked had a crisp coating. The katsu sauce was nice, not too spicy, but with a hint of fruitiness.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.

This was delicious as usual, with tender beef and great flavour.

Overall I think there was too much rice for a light lunch,  but the rest of the box was delicious.

Posted on

Time for paella

I have always enjoyed the paella from Riceminster, though I don’t have it very often.

On a recent visit to the Temple Quay Market I initially didn’t know what I wanted, but the paella on the Riceminster stall did look tempting. So I went with a portion of the Valencia paella.

This paella came with chicken and green beans. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it, I do think though next time I will go for the vegan or the vegetarian paella (which is a little cheaper) as I am not sure if the chicken added anything to the dish. It was nice, but I think I would have enjoyed the paella without it.

Posted on

Roast Duck and Rice

The Hare and Tortoise is a chain of Japanese restaurants across London. I was at the Ealing branch and went for their lunch deal. I had the roast duck and rice dish; I have had this dish before at their Kensington branch.

It is slices of roast duck, served on steamed rice with a homemade sauce mixed with cinnamon, aniseed powder and ginger, garnished with Chinese greens and spring onions.

roast duck and rice

The duck is nice and crispy, though I think the homemade sauce needed a little more oomph. However, as a quick lunch time meal, it is rather good. The lunch deal also included some gyoza and a drink.

Posted on

Spanish inspired rice dish

paella

I made and cooked a paella, or a Spanish inspired rice dish.

I diced an onion, some red pepper, some green pepper, and some chestnut mushrooms. I also diced up some chorizo sausage as well.

In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off some smoked pancetta. I then added the diced onion, pepper, and mushroom. I also added some green beans.

When this was softened, I added 200g of paella rice. To this I added some paella seasoning, paella seasoning, Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix.

This is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I ensured that the rice was coated added some chicken stock and water. Stirred once and left it to cook.

Before serving I added some cooked sliced chorizo and chunks of lemon.

I served this with some freshly cooked fish and salad.

Posted on

Cooked a Paella

I made and cooked a paella, or a Spanish inspired rice dish.

I diced an onion and a some red pepper, some yellow pepper, and some chestnut mushrooms.

In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off some smoked pancetta. I then added the diced onion, pepper, and mushroom. When this was softened, I added 200g of paella rice.

To this I added some paella seasoning, paella seasoning, Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix.

This is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I ensured that the rice was coated added some chicken stock and water. Stirred once and left it to cook.

Before serving I added some cooked sliced chorizo.

I served this with some freshly cooked fish and salad.