Thanksgiving

It’s 35C/95F out; all of Sydney is under extreme heat warning; and all I want is a goddamn can of pumpkin so I can make pumpkin pie ice cream. But alas, none to be found, not even for ready money. I will be roasting butternut this evening once the sun goes down


Oh, and I asked the butcher how much it would be for a turkey breast to sous vide, and he told me $97 AUD (that’s $62 USD), and I laughed in his face and then bought a couple chicken breasts instead. I think it was actually a turkey crown roast, but whatever. Chicken it is.

EDITED – ONE HOUR LATER:

Me: So we’re going to be roasting pumpkin tonight so I can get puree, because I couldn’t find any canned. 😒

Rodd: You know, we already have some frozen puree from the last time you did that?!

Whaaaaaaat. THANKS, PAST KRIS!

7-11 Onigiri 🍙 – continued!

Time to try the other two 7-11 onigiri flavours!

First up I went with the Teriyaki Chicken, which I think illustrates just how “ungenerous” the filling is in these. It also didn’t really taste of much. Definitely my least favourite of the three.

Teriyaki chicken onigiri

Lastly, we have the Sweet Chilli Cooked Salmon. I definitely wasn’t expecting much (Sweet chilli? Really, Australia?!), especially when I saw the little blob of filling. BUT I was very happily surprised. It’s great! Lots more flavour than either of the other two, and if I ever get them again, this will be my choice.

Sweet Chilli Cooked Salmon onigiri

Dinner

Korean Chili-Braised Brisket with Kimchi Coleslaw! I accidentally bought an extra tub of gochujang so this was a great way of using it up. 😍

The recipe is here. It’s technically for an Instant Pot, but I did it in a traditional pressure cooker and therefore reduced the time a bit. (I think the traditional one gets a bit higher pressure.) You can also use a slow cooker, but that would have required starting the day before to get everything properly marinated.

7-11 Onigiri 🍙

Rodd told me recently that 7-11 Australia has been bought out by the Japanese version, and that as a result we were likely to finally get some of their awesome food here in NSW. Yesterday I popped into the one at the corner of Pitt and Bathurst in the Sydney CBD and happily found all three flavours!

Onigiri is definitely my favourite convenience store food in Japan. While I’ve had good onigiri in Sydney, it’s never been quite right. I really like the texture of the crispy seaweed, but none of the fancy places have that. They’re always damp and soft due to the moisture of the rice. The only way to keep them crisp is to use the special wrapper that keeps the seaweed from touching the rice until right before you eat it.

So I was thrilled to see that the 7-11 onigiri has the special wrapper!

7-11 Onigiri

I tried the Spicy Cooked Tuna today. Even after spending the night in the fridge, the seaweed was still satisfyingly crispy when I pulled off the wrapper.

Crispy seaweed

Taste-wise, I felt it was pretty good
 though the amount of filling could’ve been better. I’m sure an onigiri expert could find more fault, but this ticked my boxes.

Inside the onigiri

My only real complaint is the cost. At $3.70 each, these are basically double what they cost in Japan! It’s still cheaper than the fancy ones I’ve had elsewhere in Sydney, but it grates knowing they’re so much cheaper elsewhere.

Now if they could just bring out the Tuna Mayo flavour!!