Traditional recipes from all over Asia
PORK WITH GREEN BEANS AND CARROTS So anyone who knows little old Saba, knows that I’m a sucker for a barging. Especially when its food related! So the other day I went to the supermarket to get me some bread and a few other little bits and pieces. I don’t head out to […]
No Crying Tiger Here Only a Happy Duck! Let me tell you a story about a crying tiger who turned into a happy duck. A few years back I went out to dinner and got a bit drunk. Ok a lot drunk. That’s not the point! Anywayz, during dinner I had one of […]
THAI PORK & BASIL I don’t know about you, but for me I love Thai food. Another thing I love is cooking. But like most people I work a nine to five job. There are just some days when you get home and you just don’t feel like cooking up a storm. […]
Just add water #1 Throw away those instant noodle packets that don’t actually taste anything like what the packet suggest. Lets make our own. This will be the first instalment of my new series “Just add water”. This series will be dedicated to instant noodles. But not the type your thinking. We gonna prep […]
Grilled Beef in Betel Leaf Bò Nướng Lá Lốt Everyone in Australia loves having a barbeque. Its our national favorite past time. We call it a barbie here in Australia cause we like to shorten all our words. We are just a laid back sort of people down under. So as every good […]
Saba’s Crispy Springers! In Australia we call these little bad boys Spring rolls. I know in other parts of the world you may call them Egg rolls. In Vietnam they are called Chả giò. But I call them Springers. Either way, call them what you must. One thing I’m certain we can all […]
SPRING ONION OIL Mỡ Hành Where I live we call these spring onions. In other parts of the country and world you might call them scallions, green onion, shallots or something else. In Vietnam they are know as Hành lá. They are a staple of Asian cooking. They have a great oniony […]
Vietnamese Street Pizza Bánh Tráng Nướng I’m a big fan of street food, especially Asian street food. So much so that around three or four times a year I fly over 6000km just to get my fix. There is something about the sounds and smells that I just love. Sitting on the side of […]
Sa tế So in my last post I made annatto oil. The reason I made the annatto oil was that I wanted to use it in this sate recipe. I want to make this sate cause I will be using in a Spicy Beef Noodle soup recipe. Bún bò Huế or BBH for short. […]
Annatto Oil I know what your thinking. What is Annatto oil right? Annatto is used in many cuisines including Vietnamese. We use it mainly for its color. Add a bit to your noodle soup broths and it is gives a beautiful yellow to orange color. To make the Annatto oil we add annatto […]
Homemade ground chilli sauce. A friend of mine grows these large red chillies. Cause he knows how much I love chilli, he was nice enough to give me a few of them. I find that these long chillies are not very spicy. However do have a very nice flavour to them. Also I […]
Malaysia Saba Eats Malacca City Satay Celup WOW its been a few months now since my last Saba Eats post. Sorry guys, I’ve been super busy traveling and eating. I know, tuff isn’t? The life of a blogger!! My most recent travels have landed me in Malaysia. I started my travels […]
Edible Love heart shaped spring onion garnish. Having a beautiful garnish can lift the look of your dish from simple to down right mouth watering. I find using simple little tricks and changing the shapes of a garnish you already use can really make the food on the plate pop. Just like this love heart […]
Vietnamese Vegan Scrambled Eggs and Bitter Melon I know what you are all thinking and want to ask me. Saba what’s going on, a Vegan dish?? Don’t hit the panic button just yet. I’m not turning Vegan, not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not for me. A […]
VIETNAMESE BBQ PORK CHOPS In todays post I’m not really focusing on the food. What I hear you say. That’s right. I said it. I’m not focusing on the food. I’m going to focus on the BBQ I cooked it on. For thoese who know or follow me. You know that I have a […]
A TRIO OF SARDINES Its been so long since my last post. A lots gone on in my life and my cooking and the blog had to take a break on the bench for a while there. But I’m back and I feel like cooking again, so watch this space. So to kick things off […]
Now you all know I’m a huge fan of anything pickled. The zesty zing they add to a dish can change a boring meal into something special. In this recipe we are going to make pickled garlic chive and bean shoots. It’s super easy to make and will be ready to eat in just about […]
I often buy my duck whole, cause buying them portioned is such a rip off. If I was to buy two duck legs on their own it would almost cost me the same price as buying a whole duck. So why would I? Why would I indeed. The other advantage of buying the whole duck there […]
I often make soy milk at home, it’s cheap and easy to do and only needs 2 ingredients to do. Soy beans and water. Yep that’s it. However making soy milk produces a lot of byproduct or waist. One thing I’m not a big fan of is wasting food. The byproduct I speak of here […]
HOME MADE FROM SRATCH When I came to Australia some 40 odd years ago. My family ended up in a little rural Victorian town. It was a little farming community with a rich history in dairy. A very different setting to the modern-day Melbourne in which I live today. I have very fond memories of […]
Welcome to my new segment. BEYOND THE BRAND Where I will sit down and chat with business leaders in the food industry to find out more about the people that make these companies and brands tick. Hopefully we can get some insight into what makes their companies so great and gain a few helpful tips […]
I’m not going to share the recipe for this dish today as I will share it with you on a later post. Sorry guys. However I will show you how to make the sauce as we will need for an upcoming post. What I really wanted to do today was share with you a story, a very true story. […]
I think meat taste better when its on a stick, don’t ask me why I just do. Especially if its getting grilled over a BBQ. In todays post I’m going to show you how to make a super simple Japanese yakitori. This recipe is so simple that it only has 4 ingredients. That’s if you […]
Any one who follows my blog will know I’m a big chilli lover. It’s in just about everything I eat. I even have it on my eggs at breakfast time! It doesn’t have to be super hot, but I need to know its there. So with the amount of chilli I eat I always need to have […]
I love cooking and knowing exactly what’s in my food. But like most people I do work a full time job. So there are days where I just can’t be bothered spending to much time in the kitchen. So on days like that a quick stir fry served with some rice is always a winner […]
I’m a big fan of sports, more so watching then playing it hihi. Of late I’ve been spoiled for choice. World Cup soccer, Wimbledon tennis, golf, football, motorsports. You name it and I’ll watch it. So in today’s post I thought I would show you 3 really simple game day snacks you can prepare in […]
For 1Kg of meat THE SHOPPING LIST 4 Lemongrass stem, white part only, smashed and roughly chopped (80g) 1 Large brown onion, roughly chopped 5 Cloves of garlic, minced 1 tablespoon of ground chilli paste (or 2 fresh chillies minced) ½ tablespoon of fish sauce ½ tablespoon of Soy sauce 1 tablespoon of Oyster sauce 1 […]
Spring Onion & Chilli Pancakes You know what I really love, its spring onions. I also love pancakes. So naturally I love spring onion pancakes!! oh for those of you that don’t live down under or are not sure what a spring onion is. You might call it a green onion or a scallion. A spring onion […]
Ok, how about we make some rice balls? What rice balls? We have all seen boring rice balls before. I hear you say….. Don’t worry, these little bad boys are going to be super crispy on the outside and soft in the middle and explode with Thai red curry flavour goodness! For […]
I know some of you may laugh when you see this post. For the most part I’m sure it’s a very simple task, but for the novis cook it can be quite the challenge to get right. But I kid you not. I remember a time when I was a teenager and a dear friend of […]
Who doesn’t like a oozy cheesy meal, and who doesn’t like chicken wings right? I for one love both! The AFL football season has just started here. So in celebration I’m going show you how to make a yummy cheesy game day snack. It’s a little spicy, very delicious and very cheesy! It’s so easy to make and […]
Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Marinade For 1Kg of meat I’ve always been a big fan of lemongrass in chicken. As a kid my dad would make my brothers and I a lemongrass and crispy chicken wing dish. They were very popular and with limited supply on offer we would devour as many of these wings as […]
I love eating seafood, but funny thing I don’t actually eat it that often. I think the reason being is that I only ever want to eat if I know its super fresh. Another reason maybe cause its so darn expensive. But today I’m eating it, yep I’m eating seafood, and it’s scallops to be exact. […]
Yum Yum Noodle Chicken Burger Do you ever get those times when like you played golf all day and just feel like some fast food. Well I felt like that tonight. On the way home I was thinking I might just grab a Zinger burger from KFC. But being Asian, instant noodles is our answer to fast […]
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới Happy New Year everyone!! So I had planned to do a traditional Vietnamese New Year dish for todays post, but I’ve been so busy doing work on the lion brand rice blog posts that I didn’t get time to do one. Sorry about, I’ll have to make up for it next […]
My Cơm Tấm Burger So in this post today I’m not sharing a recipe with you. Sorry about that. I just want to share with you one of my cooking stories. I hope it can inspire you to have fun and be creative in the kitchen. Cooking is an essential part of life. We cook […]
Surf N Turf Asian Style It’s summer in Australia now and it’s religious here that you fire up the BBQ!! It’s pretty common for us to chuck a couple of snags on there or a rissole or two. But that can get a bit boring at times. There is so much you can cook on […]
Yakiniku Tare Japanese Grilled Meat Sauce Let me tell you a bit of a saucy story! Many years ago I met this kind and beautiful Japanese girl named Aya. She would later become my wife. But that’s a story for another time. What did you think I was going to tell you about my love life? […]
đồ chua Vietnamese Pickled Carrot and Daikon I love anything pickled, the zesty zing they add to a dish can change a boring meal into something special. In this recipe we are going to make pickled carrot and daikon. Or đồ chua as its now in Vietnamese. These pickles are best known for being used […]
Nước cham You know that saying that goes like this. “we eat with our eyes first” Well this was the dish that taught me that. I remember when I was young and I was helping my mother to make up some nuoc cham, she asked me to chop up the garlic, so I went at […]
Cơm chiên lạp xưởng Fried rice with lap cheong sausage I’m a big fan of fried rices. Its a great way to use up any left over rice and vegetables you have left in the fridge. It’s great as a meal on its own or as a side dish. You can add what ever you […]