Fish and chips and Thai food

We caught up with some friends from Auckland who were having a long weekend in Paihia, and had an excellent, rather wet, day with them on Saturday. After a couple of hours at the Taipa raceway, watching some fairly mad stock-car races which dissolved into the tiny clay track as the rain closed in, we drove down to Mangonui and it's rightly famous fish & chip shop.

The fish & chipper is on stilts over the water at Mangonui, always busy, and never less then excellent. The fish of the day (no choice, and who needs it?) was bluenose cod, so a couple of pieces each, in crispy batter, with some chips and quarters of lemon did us proud. It was so tasty, indeed, that we ate all the photos of the food, too. So here's a library image:

photo courtesy of the AA website

and the aftermath (or aftermaths if you speak English)

photo courtesy of LW

That evening we decided to eat in Paihia at the Thai Garden on the waterfront. It's a small cafe-style place, with a generic Thai menu, and, in my opinion, really good quality food. I had the Tom Yum soup, which I can rarely go past as a starter, and despite the presence of split coconut milk (I prefer it when it's a clear, coconut-free version) was really tasty; very hot and sour, with the regulation three jumbo prawns. LW and our friends went for the "other" option for the starter, the deep fried crispy things. Golden sacks, in LW's case, which were, indeed, golden and sack-like.

As a main course, the sizzling beef with vegetables was everybody else's choice, and went down very well indeed. For a few minutes, it was the loudest thing in the cafe. I had the Chilli Basil with Pork served with a coconut sauce with veggies. This was very fragrant, and, once again, quite fiery. It was described as "Thai medium" which suited me fine. The cafe was packed, the atmosphere happy and the service excellent. We hadn't been to this place for a couple of years (we rarely eat out in Paihia) and will definitely go back soon, as I remember the crispy fried whole snapper in chilli sauce with some fondness!

Tonight is our soup and sandwiches night, so I will attempt to record the experience with some of those new-fangled photographs all the young people are talking about.

Missing Snapper Shock Revelation!

In an unexpected twist yesterday, a generous gift of snapper fillets went completely unused, sources say.

At approximately 5.15pm, with a car full of occupants threading their weary way south from Kaitaia, the missing snapper was first noted. The fillets had been placed in the fridge, and it was only as the car approached the Mangamuka pass that LW realized that the fishy treat had been accidentally abandoned.

A planned supper of fish and chips had to be entirely re-thought, and it was only thanks to the quick witted, eleventh-hour decision-making process that we still feasted last night.

The farmers' market in Kerikeri has a new stall; an expert in cured meats of the porky variety, and we've tried a few of his products; the streaky bacon is very good, but quite salty; and last night we tried the cured pork sausages.

The sausages are very firm, almost like a salami, very high in meat content, in the traditional continental European style, and mildly spiced. The skins were strangely "baggy" on the sausages, so I suspect they had, despite shrink wrapping, lost a little moisture content since they were made, but they fried very well, and had an excellent taste. We will definitely have them again! I think they'd be lovely fried, cold in a sandwich, with some Dijon mustard.

Chips. Everyone likes to cook theirs their own way; here's mine: Use a floury spud; (we love Agria or Victoria) soak the uncooked chips (LW likes them skinny french-fry style) in water & drain off any excess starch, then fry once at 130 deg for 7-8 min until they are pale but floppy. Heat the oil to 180 deg and re-fry for 3-4 min until golden & crispy on the outside, but still soft in the middle. Serve immediately, with Fried Sausages and 2 eggs, for a comfort food, after a 10 hour day feast!

Yum. (I do hope the snapper is OK till Monday)

and before you ask,the sausages aren't burnt, it's just the odd exposure of the pic, and, yes, I did overcook the eggs. Damn.