crunchy - Travels for Taste

Uni brings Nikkei Cuisine to Victoria

July 20, 2014 by manjirichitnis 11 Comments

The largest Japanese settlement outside of Japan is in Peru and the unique fusion cuisine that is Japanese Peruvian is called Nikkei. Fiona invited me to accompany this time to discover Nikkei, she is an award-winning freelance writer and marketing consultant who currently writes about travel and London lifestyle for a number of publications and runs her own London lifestyle blog called London Unattached.

So it was a bright summer Monday afternoon that I trooped to Uni (the Japanese word for the sea urchin, a Japanese delicacy) restaurant and sushi bar designed by Andrew Martin, in Belgravia minutes away from the travel hub that is Victoria station.

I was shown to a cosy table downstairs.

For starters, I got some steamed edamame with a spicy chilli and garlic sauce (£4.50) and some refreshing green tea served in a typical cast iron heavy pot which I would love to have as part of my growing food prop collection which now occupies every corner or of our tiny rental flat much to the chagrin of my hubby – I guess the last straw was trying to pass off a very heavy cast iron pot as a ‘place to keep his USB drives and hide away the many wires…. hehehee

I had happily managed to forget my phone at home and therefore Fiona tried in vain to inform me of her delayed train. Blissfully unaware of this I sipped my tea and munched my edamame all the time trying to ignore some stuffy banker-type folks on the table next to me talking shop – how boring…

So when Fiona arrived she managed to move us to a bigger table away from the ‘big boy talk’ as she aptly called it and onto a table where I could dump my bags and lay my camera lens and other paraphernalia – I do not travel light …

To make life easier we chose to have bento boxes for our mains and mine came with the udon noodle and fish cake soup while Fiona had a light Miso soup. I was feeling ravenous by the time the soup arrived and devoured it in a flash! (£24.5 per bento box – comes with soups, salad, sushi, & maki, main dish, side, rice and dessert)

Nabe Udon – Noodle and Fishcake Soup with Prawn Tempura.

Beautifully light Miso Soup

My Bento box had Kaiso Wakame – seaweed salad, prawn and carrot tempura, main of duck tataki – seared duck breast finely sliced and dressed with mirin and soy, fried rice and sashimi selection. The duck tataki was deliciously morish, I also loved the seaweed salad and the sticky fried rice with the sashimi was very filling.

Fiona’s bento box came with steamed rice and artichoke sauce, and black cod and was very appetising.

We washed down our Bento lunch boxes with some chilled sake.

The very polite manager came and urged us to experiment with some of the Nikkei range from the menu and we were served two stunning dishes.

Tiraditos of Yellowtail with kizami wasabi,Yuzu and fresh mint presented in a creative and stunning display, it was delightfully fresh, sharp in taste with a delicate balance of colour and flavour. (£15.5)

Wildly beautiful looking salmon tartare tacos with cucumber,tomato,masago and creamy miso were crunchy and melt in your mouth creamy all at one once exploding with a light flavour in every bite – delicious! (£6)

Stuffed to the gills now I had to walk around click a few pictures and allow for some space to be created in my tummy to fit in some dessert 😉

To my amusement the very attentive young lady on the staff showed us how the colourful lamp shade were made from bottle of campari that could be detached and well glugged , given it was a hot summer afternoon I think it was a great idea that Fiona ordered us some Pisco Sour shots instead ;).Never having tasted these before I downed them in one go much to my own peril, the sake already in my system the shot gave me quite the buzz!

Thankfully, my cooling Matcha Gelato worked wonders and cooled me down several degrees -phew!

Fiona managed to stay light with desserts too with a selection of fresh fruit.

The creation of former Nobu chef Rolando Ongcoy, the menu at UNI offers a good selection of grilled meats ,fish, sushi,sashimi, selection of tempura and maki. The Peruvian influence is prevalent throughout UNI’s menu, ceviche and tiraditos peruano included.

The bar area upstairs also has plenty of seating on high stools and around the bar, perfect for knocking down Peruvian fav’s like the pisco sours or coconut-based Chilli Mojito.

Victoria being a very office space kind of area is lucky to have Uni in its midst now, with bite-sized healthier meal options, seven-dish bento boxes for short lunch hours are on offer at a price of course. So the big banker boys and girls can have their financial pow-wow meets in the fancy cubicles or basement vaults if you please which can seat about 10 – 12 people, and if the huge ice buckets with bottles of chilled Moet and the power talk we overheard from the table next to us are anything to go by then Uni is already a haunt for these suited and well-heeled office folks!

Website: Uni
Opening Times: is open for lunch and dinner, Monday to Saturday inclusive

*With thanks to Uni for the invitation. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Smoked Spanish Peppers and Zingy Mushrooms in a creamy sauce

June 24, 2014 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

My love for using smoked sweet red peppers is taking over my recipes for now , I made these zingy mushrooms for a friend who popped in for brunch about 2 months ago but I have been very lazy and this recipe is finally seeing daylight. I guess the electric atmosphere of the yellow jersey clad stadium full of Brazil fans and the super tight match going on with Camroon is giving me a much needed rush of happy hormones ,add to that the frenzy of the Wimbledon matches , the air in Wimbledon is heavy with anticipation, huge posters , fluorescent tennis ball props in all windows , the traditional colours of the Wimbledon ribbons and balloons galore, the bus service from the station to the venue with hyperexcited people , everything is screaming tennis here!

Lamuyo Peppers are great for roasting as they are bigger and sweeter than their cousins the hot variety. They are juicy and crunchy and go well with garlic,basil,oregano,taste fab with cheese , think stuffed peppers grilled , just perfect for summer !

The recipe was given to me by P aunty , shes a fab cook as I have mentioned in my past posts too and her recipes are innovative, delicious and easy to make, I love pestering her to keep sending me more recipes everytime we talk 😉 .So I decided to amp up this recipe with some madness my style and use up the handsome red pepper staring at me from my fridge 😉

Ingredients:

1 large pack Chestnut Mushrooms sliced
1 large red Lamuyo sweet pepper
8 cloves Garlic- bash and chop fine
1/2 red onionchopped very fine
2 chillies- (more or less acc to your taste) – chop fine
3 heaped tbs flavoured soft cheese, I love using the herby Philadelphia
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt to taste
Parsley- a handful -chopped finely

Method:

Roast the pepper on gas flame till the skin chars and begins to peel off, I use tongs to hold it by the stem so it can char even at the top.
While the pepper cools just enough to allow you to peel and reveal the smoked juicy flesh, you can use the time to wash and slice the chestnut mushrooms
While taking off the charred skin off the smoked pepper remember to place a dish below as it will release lots of juice which we don’t want to loose as it is one powerhouse of smoky peppery sweet flavour!
Heat oil in a sauce pan and saute the garlic till it turns brown and the familiar aroma of fabulous garlic begins to waft and assault your nostrils.
Then add the very finely chopped red onion and cook on a low flame stirring regularly till the onion is thoroughly crispy and reduces in quantity, do not let it burn.
Then toss in the mushrooms and the chopped smoked pepper and cook for about 2 minutes on a low flame ,stirring and making sure it does not stick to the pan or overcook
Then add the soft cheese ,sea salt and finely chopped parsley,mix well and cook with lid for about 1 to 1 1/2 minute.
Serve with garlic bread smothered in butter – eat guilt free;)

What I love about this dish , its creamy , its a bit sweet a bit more zingy and has an underlying deep smoked flavour that is robust without being overpowering ,I’d say its a new comfort food for me , what with all the moorish soft cheese in there!

Basic Chocolate Cake with Frosting

August 20, 2012 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

What better way to celebrate a new FOODISTA Badge for my post on Shahi Khichadi than by baking a chocolate cake, I firmly believe that chocolate is the one word that instantly lifts sagging spirits and the whole baking process itself is cathartic! So sistahs let’s BAKE!

Basic Chocolate Cake with Frosting

Manjiri Chitnis

Delicious, easy must-have Chocolate cake recipe with frosting

Print Recipe

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine Fusion

Equipment

Cake tin
Whisk
Hand-Blender or Stand-Mixer
Wire-rack to cool the cake
Probe to test cake
Spatula to frost the cake
Measuring spoons
Baking Parchment

Ingredients

225 gms Butter softened
225 gms Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
220 gms Self-Raising Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp Soda-Bicarbonate

For the frosting

100 gms Butter
100 gms Icing Sugar
1 tbsp CocoaPowder
Shaved Chocolate for garnish
Fresh Strawberries for garnish
Granish of choice

Instructions

Lightly Grease two cake tins and line the bottoms with non stick-parchment. I manage without parchment , it's up to you, if yo are baking for the first time use it as it prevents the sides from burning.
Preheat Oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Ensure butter is completely softened or else use the old foolproof way – heat water in a pan ,place a vessel on top with the butter inside minus any packaging, watch it soften like a man melts when he looks onto the eyes's of his dearest ,ahem …
Measure the Butter and sugar into a bowl and mix well they form a creamy mix, I used a fork and gave it a good old whipping:) – think of someone you dislike – your boss , your mil, your annoying neighbour, Baba Yaga the Witch – whoever – just whip away,hehehe
Add 3 medium or 4 small eggs, I used 3 medium-sized eggs.
Swift the self-raising flour into this mix ,followed by the baking powder, soda bicarbonate ,cocoa powder and beat till really smooth , I didn’t even need a hand blender as the butter was perfectly soft and the flour well swifted , though do go ahead and use a hand blender on low setting for about a minute , have added a picture so you know the look of consistency.
Divide the mixture between the two tins. I used the foil of the butter packaging to grease the cake tins, no wastage in my kitchen !
Bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 25-30mins.
While in the oven make the icing by creaming together the butter and icing sugar and add cocoa powder, mix until smooth.
Cover frosting and set aside
Allow the baked cakes to cool down completely on a wire-rack before frosting
Sandwich the frosting in-between the two cakes
Add some on the sides and sprinkle the crunchy choco balls on the top , go all crazy and add some chocolate shavings , I did !