Author: Bunny Eats Design

Deadliest catch right here in New Zealand

Published by

Alaskan King Crab is expensive and pretty hard to get in New Zealand but I got to try some in November last year. However, since October 2010, fishermen have been given the go ahead for an exploratory permit to catch king crab in New Zealand waters. Sadly, it seems that the market for this crab is not destined for New Zealanders. “…could be marketed as high-value products in Europe, Asia and the US, as the practice of catching them in pots allowed for live exporting. King crabs, which grow up to 1.2m long, are a valuable commodity in the Northern Hemisphere.” I’m still baffled as to why people don’t eat crab here in NZ. Perhaps a thriving crab industry in NZ will change this? I hope so. If not, let’s hope a king crab industry right here in NZ will mean reasonably priced king crab for the handful of us that like to grapple with these pincy critters. I hope it doesn’t all go to the overseas market! That would be sad indeed. Read the full article here …

Monday Bunday: This Is Rabbit

Published by

This Is Rabbit is a local street artist. His intentions for artwork is like my own: to put a smile on your face. He has a doodle-a-day project going this year which can be found at his website. His subject matter includes animals, food and typography. There aren’t enough rabbits in his work though. Here are some of my favourite This is Rabbit pieces.

Vegetarian superfoods dinner

Published by

A 2 course vegetarian meal with superfood. Quinoa (keen-wah) is a South American seed and “The Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or mother of all grains”. You eat this, you can carry llamas and build civilisations at high altitudes*. Broccoli is awesome too. I’m pretty sure that if you eat broccoli you can move small hills and clear forests with your bare hands*. Quinoa salad with balsamic mushrooms and red onion. Brocolli soup served with buttered toast (not pictured). * Disclaimer. I’ve never actually done these things, but I have a vivid imagination.

Trying new foods properly

Published by

When I try a new food, especially if it’s strange or exotic or requires a special preparation, I always make a point to try it properly. As close to authentic and as unadorned as possible. That way, I know I’ve given it a good go and if I don’t like it, it’s because I don’t like it and not because I’ve given it a crap attempt. I really wanted to try steak tartare. Steak tartare is finely chopped or minced raw beef. Because it is raw beef, it needs to be in great condition and hardly any restaurant around these parts offer it. Sure, I could have chopped some beef at home, but without knowing what I was striving for and what it was supposed to look and taste like, if it failed miserably, would I really know if it was the dish or just my shoddy workmanship? Luckily, I was able to sample it in a form I considered “proper” – from the kitchen of one of the premier steak restauarants in Auckland. With white …

In anticipation of eating in Vietnam

Published by

I adore Vietnamese cuisine. I feel like it’s the lighter, brighter of the South East Asian cuisines and as a result of this, something you can eat regularly. I’ve never been to Vietnam before, but when I visit Hanoi I’m planning on Pho (noodle soup with a rich beef broth) for breakfast and Banh Mi for lunch until I can’t eat it anymore. I look forward to eating at a snake restaurant in the village Le Mat. For a set price (never just wander in without agreeing on a price it may later be extortionate amount), you select a live snake which is expertly killed, blood and bile drained into shot glasses and the heart served still beating. Then they whip the snake away and make a 6-8 different dishes using the rest of the snake. Snake spring rolls, snake soup, crispy fried skin, grilled snake, snake meat with and lemon grass and chili, … It sounds a bit barbaric I know, but from what I’ve read, it’s a culinary experience, not a fear factor …

Herb Chicken with Garlic Potatoes, Beetroot Chutney and salad.

Published by

I can’t be bothered thinking up a post heading today. It is what it is. Herb Chicken with Garlic Potatoes, Beetroot Chutney and salad. Herb Chicken Serves two Ingredients 2 chicken breasts, sliced into 1 inch strips 2 tablespoons of dried herbs – I used oregano 1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce Generous twist of sea salt Generous crack of pepper 1 tablespoon flour 1 clove garlic, finely chopped Preparation Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Chill for 30 minutes. Add a little oil to a hot pan, pan fry chicken until golden. Garlic potatoes Serves two Ingredients 3 medium potatoes, peeled and into cubed Salt Pepper 3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly half an onion, diced Oil for shallow frying A knob of butter for flavour Preparation Boil potatoes for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add a generous amount of oil to a hot pan. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add butter and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown. Serve with a salad.

2011: A year for adventurous eating

Published by

Happy New Year Readers! I hope the year 2010 has been thoroughly digested and I hope that the year 2011 brings you all the tasty delights you can handle. This year’s first post is about adventurous eating and being willing to try new things. I think that if there is a country or a culture or a people that enjoys eating a particular food, then there must at least be the potential that I will enjoy it too. As long as it is food, I will be adventurous enough to give it a try. In 1986, Prince Philip commented on Chinese eating habits to the World Wildlife Fund conference saying: “If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.” Some people (non-Chinese) find this offensive. I don’t. Maybe said at a WWF conference by a member of the royal family, it was a bit misaligned. …

Hungry hopes for Hong Kong

Published by

I was born in Hong Kong but we moved to New Zealand when I was 9 months old so I never really called Hong Kong home. But even though it’s not quite home to me, it’s special in other ways and being brought up by Hong Kong born and bred parents means that there a lot of things in Hong Kong culture that I relate to. I know there are a lot of cultures that claim this, but Hong Kong citizens are absolutely obsessed with food. It’s like a religion. I don’t know if that’s one of the reasons why I am the way I am. I haven’t always been like this. So it must be more nature than nurture? Here are 10 culinary experiences I hope to revisit or try for the first time during my next Hong Kong adventure (in no particular order): 1. Stinky Tofu I’d like to try Stinky Tofu next time I am in Hong Kong. Stinky Tofu or chòu dòufu is fermented tofu  and eaten as a snack. It …

Creamy mushroom stuffing

Published by

A variation of this recipe. 4 button mushrooms (sliced into matchsticks), half a cup of breadcrumbs, 4 cloves of garlic (chopped), half a bottle of cream (enough to give a sticky consistency), salt, pepper, fresh basil, fresh sage. Mix well. Carefully slice a pocket into 3 chicken breasts and fill with the creamy mushroom mix. Bake for 30 minutes at about 200°C. Plays well with peas and roasted sweet potato. Sorry, no after photos. Wanted to eat this in a hurry!

On food conversations

Published by

Christmas to many people is a time of non-stop feasting. With all the edible gifts, Christmas functions with food as well as the feast that is Christmas day, naturally, food conversations will be rampant this time of year. Whether it’s about the sourcing of premium ingredients, the perfect way to cook something this season, what is on the menu, what is definitely not on the menu, what Christmas dish you are looking forward to the most…there’s plenty of food conversations to be had. I have a lot of conversations about food. Christmas season or not. I have conversations about food with foodies and I have them with non-foodies. Luckily, food is a topic we can all relate to. Even if you don’t like food, you still eat it. While I don’t know if I could be friends with someone that didn’t enjoy food at all, they would still make for interesting conversation. Since I don’t know what people talk about when I’m not around, I don’t know if it’s just my conversations that are food …

Eating our way around the world Christmas

Published by

Merry Christmas readers! I hope you are eating well where ever you are in the world. What’s on the menu today? Ham? Turkey? Something completely different? We always have a glazed ham for Christmas, but that’s probably not happening this year. I made a little book to assist me in my quest to eat my way around the world. It’s mostly reference, but plenty of space for notes and drawings too. The bookmarks can be moved to where ever and have little slits so they don’t fall any further down inside the book.

Meat! meet Infographics.

Published by

Have I told you that my Dad had a change of career? After half a century of meat eating, my Papa has become a butcher. He started off working in architecture as a draftsman, then he moved on to be chef/owner which he stuck at for over 2 decades. Now he is a butcher. Creative foodies run rampant in my family. Speaking of creatives and meet, here is a real commitment to graphic design and meat. Alyson from Drywell Art has a post a day blog dedicated to meat (inspired) diagrams. She’s close to completing a full year of these drawings so the sheer volume of work alone is impressive. Of course, they’re not all meat drawings, she may have run out or got bored with just meats, so there are plenty of funny non-meat diagrams there too. Here are a few of my favourites: Many more(sals) to be found at Meat Sections. She also has a bunch of awesome stuff at her Etsy Shop.

Love Your Mountain Day – Pics

Published by

I made it to Love Your Mountain Day a couple of weekends ago. It was a sweltering summer day, not really idea for a mountain ascent. I wanted to go, but I didn’t fancy being a sweaty mess so I left it a little later in the day hoping it would cool down in the afternoon. It didn’t. It took about 2 hours to visit Government House, Eden Garden and the mountain itself including the walk to/from my house. All were free entry and there were guided tours for those that were interested. Government House The tour at Government House was led by a gardener. It was quite cool to listen to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about plants. When someone asked what species of grass it was, I thought it was a joke, but the gardener knew the answer in a heartbeat. This is the secondary residence of our Governor General. A big old Redwood Sequoia and 2 Nikau Palms. The lawns were really beautiful and I thought about our brown, sad looking lawn …

I love pork. I love strawberry.

Published by

It’s strawberry season here in NZ and strawberries are cheap as chips. I’m not much of a fruit eater but for strawberries, I make an exception. I adore strawberries! Here’s a photo of what I look like with a strawberry in my clutches. Happy right? I’m saying Check it out yo! This is strawberry you mofos! Please note the left hand pointing action before the strawberry will be stuffed in my mouth. Yes, I know, those are rabbits on my baby bib. I think I was born to write this post. So we’ve established I love strawberries. I also love pork. I think you knew that too. Strawberry, meet Pork! (Pork, meet Strawberry!) Pork plays well with fruit. Some fine examples are sliced roast pork with apple sauce (and crackling), glazed ham with pineapple, strips of bacon wrapped around prunes. I’ve never heard of pork with strawberries before so I figured I’d be game to give it a whirl. You may begin with some large, voluptuous berries. Which you cleave into love-heart-esque slices. Then you get …