All things with a sense of style: food

Comfort Sichual Cuisine in Allston

boston 10:00 AM

The common stereotype is that if the restaurant serves huge portions they cannot be of a great quality. Mala in Allston is an exception. You're going to leave this place happy, well fed and (most probably) with a packed lunch for the next day!

MaLa is an authentic Sichuan place that offers amazing customized dry hot pots and other Chinese delicacies. And if you didn't know, ma in Chinese actually stands for fiery chili peppers, while la - for tingly Sichuan peppercorns, that is the base of Sichuan cuisine.

The atmosphere is super casual, you can probably even show up in your yoga pants - no judgments here! Especially, because after a hearty dinner it will feel nice to have some stretchy clothes that can cover up your belly easily :)

The menu is pretty large, with a lots of choices and some vegetarian options as well. For an appetizer I tried lamb skewers from the BBQ menu - tender and juicy meet marinated in some garlic-y sauce came perfectly cooked and accompanied with a side of chives. At 1.75$ it's a bargain. I think I could come back just for those BBQ skewers sometime (and I don't live nearby - that's how good they are!).

Then, came Szechuan Dan Dan noodles (7.50$) - a famous Chinese street-food staple. They were full of flavour, with a definitive sour note and a good amount of ground meat. Noodles were cooked perfectly, not too soft or soggy, not too hard.

Obviously, I could not go without ordering a Szechuan special boneless chicken with peppers (thanks to Bourdain's recommendation - 18.95$). It's basically half small pieces of fried chicken and half red chilli peppers - it's hot, spicy, tingly, and yummy! I especially enjoyed the leftovers on the next day when chicken absorbed all spicy oils and became less dry.

Finally, the main dish was dry hot pot (in contrast to classic hot pot, this resembles a stir-fry), that could feed 4 people on its own. I went with Mala Special, which means you can select any meats and veggies for your dish as well as the level of spiciness. You can select 3 (5.50$) or 6 (8.50) veggies for you pot, as well as small (3.95 each) portion of meat/seafood or large one (7.99$). I chose medium spicy and ordered small portions of beef and shrimp, shiitake (small mushroom), napa cabbage, bok choy, tofu puff, lotus (that is one of my favourites - crispy and delicious - don't miss it!), and seaweed. I also selected clam that never appeared (or was it chopped?) but I was still happy with the result. The spices in this dish are very interesting - they don't make you sweat, but somehow just make the flavours more intense and bring everything together.

The service was fast, polite and semi-attentive, so overall, I had a great experience! Will definitely be back with a large group of friends to try more of their dishes!

Address: 129 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134 617.254.1839
Hours: Daily, 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Phone: (617) 254-1839
Website: allstonmala.com

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Brunch with a view at The Continental Miami

breakfast 4:24 PM

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Amazing Banana Streusel Coffee Cake For Cold Winters

breakfast 4:52 PM

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A treat every hummingbird will choose over its favourite nectar

food 4:48 PM

Sweetness of bananas, juiciness of pineapples and luscious crunchiness of roasted pecans - all this delicious flavours come together in a beautiful and rich cake that was titled after a hummingbird. Some people say it was due to the level of sweetness of the original recipe - the taste reminded those who tried the dessert the succulent flower nectar. I don't know if it's true or not but I like this poetic version :)

I wanted to make Hummingbird cake for a while now. I'd say for a couple of years even! It all started when I was living in London. The Hummingbird bakery, which specialises in American sweet treats, was one of the most popular places to get your sugar fix, so back in the day I was visiting it quite often. I must admit that before that sunny autumn day in Notting Hill where I first tried a special Hummingbird Cupcake at the H' Bakery I had no idea that such combination of flavours even existed. Now (after a little bit of googling:)) I know that the recipe was born in the Caribbean in the late 60s. Some Jamaican bakers got inspiration for the cake in exotic fruits - pineapple and bananas - that were in abundance on the island. Later, the recipe apparently travelled to the States, where it has become very popular as well.

The best thing about Hummingbird cake, apart from its magical comforting richness, is the fact that it super easy to make! One-layer-cake takes about 25 to 30 minutes to bake, buttercream will be ready in 5 min with a help of a hand mixer, and decoration probably will take another 10 min, depending on the level of your ambitiousness and creativity :) Moreover, the cake is totally buildable in terms of the party size - if you are expecting many guests - just bake couple more layers and triple the amount of cream for decoration - not only you will be able to feed all your friends and loved ones but also to impress them with your extraordinary baking skills.

On a side note, as a big fan of banana bread I've been in the situations when the cravings are high but the bananas are not ripe. A rational decision, obviously, would be to put your baking on hold and wait for those yellow troublemakers to get old. However, how can one be rational and wise when we are talking about cakes, right? :) So, for the impatient ones there is a trick to ripen bananas in minutes: all you have to do is to put them in the preheated to 350 degrees oven and wait for about 10-20 minutes. The key indicator that bananas are ready is the fact the skin has turned ultra black. After you remove bananas from the oven, let them cool down a bit and throw in the mix!

Also, please, do share your impressions in the comments down below. I'll be happy to answer to any of your questions. So enough talking - and let's proceed to the recipe itself. Happy baking!

The Hummingbird cake: The recipe and directions

Makes one 9 inch (23 cm) cake
For the butter:

½ cup (50 gr) chopped pecans
1 ½ cup (200 gr) all-purpose flour
¾ cup or 1 cup (150-200gr) granulated sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 large egg
¼ cup (roughly 90 ml) canola oil (or any vegetable oil that doesn't have a distinctive flavour)
¾ cup chopped pineapple (preferably fresh one)
3-4 medium sized ripe bananas

For the cream:

3 tbsp (80 grams) butter (preferably organic)
8.8 oz (250 grams) cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)
1/2 cup powdered sugar or granulated white sugar (depending on your taste - this varies)
1 tsp vanilla extract
a handful of pecans for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees (180C).

2. In the first bowl mash bananas with a fork or a masher, add sugar to the mix and gently stir together till combined.

3. Add an egg, oil, and pineapple to the mixture.

4. In the second bowl mix all the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and pecans.

5. Bring all the dry ingredients to the wet mix in the first bowl and mix them till combined.

6. Butter and flour cake tin (this will help to remove the cake from the tin later), pour your mix in it, and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes (be sure that the cake is lightly browned on top and wooden stick comes clean).

7. Let the cake cool down in the cake tin (this can take up to couple of hours) and then place it on a cake plate/stand.

8. Beat the butter with cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract till the cream is soft (all ingredients are supposed to be at the room temperature) and use a spatula to cover your cake with it.

9. Decorate according to your taste with pecans or berries, or both.

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