HungreeLee

01/28/2025

Jack Astors 🍻🌮

Sometimes, my perfect Saturday night looks like a table full of appetizers, drinks, and a long conversation with a beloved friend.

Although an essential part of the Scarborough teenager existence, the last time I went to Jack Astors was probably 5 years ago! So, the electric atmosphere, cozy lighting, and bumping DJ music made the restaurant the perfect place to share a meal over loads of laughs.

Since bistro food is what's offered, the fish tacos and nachos were nothing to write home about. But the Lobster Crab Dip was delicious! Cheesy, creamy, and accompanied by nacho chips and pita triangles, this was comfort on a plate, especially on a cold wintery evening. The Chocolate Malted Brownies with ice cream was the perfect serving size for sharing, and the crushed malted chocolates added a lovely crunch.

My friend 'Jacked up' her fishbowl cocktail and thoroughly enjoyed it. And I found the Strawberry Passion Soda so refreshing and delicious that I had 2!

Overall, although the meal was on the pricey side, at about $50 per person, the excellent service, lively atmosphere, and shareable food with something to satisfy everyone's palate is a Scarborough favourite for good reason 🤌🏽🎉

Overall Rating: 7.9/10

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01/21/2025

Midnight Cookie 🍪💗

After a fantastic dinner with a friend, we headed around the corner to grab some dessert from .to 🙌🏽

Now, my expectations for a great cookie are specific, so whenever anyone I know suggests a place, I'm often skeptical. They need to be fresh, warm, chewy in the center, crisp at the edges, not too sweet, not too buttery/oily (to the point where my finger are glistening 🤣) and have a good cookie to topping/filling ratio.

So, having had too many a cakey or mediocre cookie, these looked super promising just by their size, shape, and gorgeous colour. I got a box of 8 to taste most of the flavours, and they were super delicious! Albeit a little pricey at $29 for a box of 8 (which comes to $3.60 each), my family and I agree that these were definitely worth it!

The flavours we tried were Cookies N Cream, Blueberry Crumble, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, 2 Kinder, Toffee, Chocolate Chunk, and White Chocolate Sprinkle. They were the perfect texture, pretty large and, most importantly, wonderfully sweet. I practically ate 2 and didn't feel like my teeth were going to fall out!

The employee was also so patient and helpful, and from the moment you walk in to when you leave, the intoxicating smell of fresh cookies is to die for. I'll definitely be back to try their chocolate soft serve and other seasonal flavours.

Overall Rating: 8.8/10 🔥💪🏽

01/19/2025

BIRIYANI BUILDING- EPISODE 2
Homemade Biriyani Masala 🙌🏽🤌🏽

Biriyani is undoubtedly my favourite food in the entire world and has been in this top spot since I was very young. Spiced Meat, Rice, and Potatoes with smoky and complex flavours from Birista (Fried Onions) and fresh herbs like Corriander and Mint, what's not to love?! It's hearty, laden with masala and an explosion of flavours and textures. Safe to say, I've eaten hundreds of biriyanis in my lifetime from across the globe and have made it innumerable times as well.

However, every restaurant, family, and region makes this dish differently. So, I'm going to chronicle my experiences with different biriyani making or 'building' techniques and methods to continue to learn, evolve, and tweak my recipes and passion for all things Biriyani!

Last night I used .kitchen recipe for Homemade Biriyani Masala since my family no longer enjoys the boxed/pre-made masalas. Although I was missing a couple of whole spices, it still came out awesomely fragrant and delicious. For next time, though, I'll probably add a little less cardamom and cloves.

Additionally, although always deep/shallow fried, I made my birista (fried onions) in the airfryer yesterday 🤣🤣 They were crispy in a more dehydrated way, and lacked the more even browning and sweetness that is essential to a biriyani. It was a fun experiment, but it likely isn't a technique I'd use again.

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

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01/13/2025

First Time 🐟🛒🇵🇭

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to have lunch with my darling friend and her family at one of their favourite Filipino Foodcourt, which doubles as a massive supermarket.

I had such a brilliant time that I barely took any photos or videos, but a future Reel is imminent.

This lunch had many firsts, including trying Pancit, refreshing Calamansi Juice, Turon, and Grilled Bangus (Milkfish, which my friend told me was also the national fish of the Philippines). But also, enjoying some familiar favourites like Chicken Adobo, Pork BBQ Skewers, and piping hot and pillowy soft Pandesal right out of the oven.

My friend also got me this beautiful and delicious Ube Loaf. With ribbons of Ube Halaya running throughout, this sweet, light, and fluffy loaf is perfect for breakfast or just snacking.

So excited to head back and try more delicious dishes 🎉🔥🫶🏼

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01/02/2025

Wing Night! And my first time using the new Airfryer! 🔥🍗

For Christmas, my sister gifted me a airfryer. After hearing family, friends and loads of you, my internet family, rave about how much y'all love your Airfryers, I'll be honest that I was skeptical of whether it would live up to the hype.

But we finally broke it in yesterday since my siblings requested Wings with Carrots and Celery to celebrate the first day of the new year.

So I made Soy-Garlic Chicken Wings, Harissa-Honey Chicken Wings (the obvious winner flavourwise), Crispy Green Beans (I accidentally oversalted them 🥴) and Homemade Ranch with Carrots and Celery.

Each airfried batch of wings took between 15-18 minutes, and they were cooked perfectly, with the skin and fat perfectly rendered and crisp, boasting a delightful crunch overall!

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12/25/2024

Wishing you and your family a Christmas as sweet as ours!🍬🎄✨️

Goans are famed for Christmas tables laden with Kuswar each year. And the best part, their main purpose is to be shared and exchanged! We bought all our beautiful sweets from local Goan businesswomen here in Toronto who toil annually to make tantalizing confectionaries.

Pictured are:

2. Bolinhas- Cookies made with Semolina and Coconut.

3. Neureos- Sweet crispy dumplings stuffed with coconut, sugar, poppy seeds, cardamom, and almonds.

4. Marzipan- Sweetened and cooked Cashew/Almond Dough.

5. Walnut Fudge

6. Assorted Chocolate Platter- Ouro Branco (Brazilian Chocolate), Turtles, Merci, and Ferrero Rocher.

7. Kulkuls- Deepfried and crunchy pastry bites.

8. Marzipan (because they are both beautiful and so delicious!)

Sending you and your family all of my love this holiday season ❤️

12/23/2024

Quick Deconstructed Biriyani🌶🍚🍗

Although this may be a mildly controversial post, stick with me.
Making homemade Biriyani is a labour of love. Accounting for the time it takes for the meat to marinate and all the additional prep and cooking, it takes a solid 4-6 hours to make a fragrant and delicious large batch of biriyani.
So for Sunday dinner last night, I had 2 hours to cook something wholesome and delicious and decided to try something new.

I whipped up the biriyani Marinade in my glass baking tray (Yoghurt, Ginger Garlic Paste, Salt, Lemon Juice, Shan Bombay Biriyani Masala, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Kasuri Methi). Then I added in my skinned Chicken Drumsticks and largely cubed potatoes. This went into the oven at 370°F for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

For the rice, I wanted that classic Biriyani smell and flavour without any additional oil. So I threw in 3 whole green chilies, cumin seeds, half a star Anise, 1 inch of cinammon, a teaspoon of dried mint, a bay leaf, salt and 3 Cardamom pods to flavour the boiling water for the Long Grain Basmati Rice.

I also made some cooling Raita and voila! Avoiding the layering process didn't compromise on the flavour, thankfully. And you could go the extra mile and make some fried onions (birista), but I skipped it this time.

Give me your thoughts in the comment section. And if you have any great Biriyani making tips, I'd love to hear them 🥰🙏🏽

12/19/2024

Baked Salmon with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic Mashed Potato and Kale Cranberry Salad 🥗🐟🥔

With Christmas around the corner and the holiday season in full swing, school, work, and life in general are moving at a lightning pace. So, of course, fast, delicious, and nutritious meals are the number one priority for a weeknight.

Adding veggies and aromatics in with any baked protein is always such a hit. I had some gorgeous tricolored cherry tomatoes lying around. So, adding these in with the Salmon Steaks and some lemon slices were the perfect additions for some extra flavour and variety in texture.

12/11/2024

Goat Thali, Mutton Biriyani, Masala Chai, and Falooda 🐐🍹

One of my favourite concepts in Indian cuisine is the Thali. A metal plate/tray with portioned out servings of meat, veg, rice, roti, lentils, curries, salad, and a sweet treat. The most exciting thing is that all the dishes in a thali vary considerably from state to state and even region to region in India.

My family and I were famished after running errands all morning, so we stopped for lunch at this unassuming spot. All the most delicious thalis that I've ever had were in India. So, the benchmark was particularly high. But this thali was perfectly satisfying on a cold and busy day.

Dal, Spicy and Tangy Goat Curry, Crispy Masala Eggplant, Salad with Mint Chutney, Basmati Rice, 2 Rotis, a crisp Papad, and a Mini Gulab Jamun. The best part is that the thali costs less than $20!!! You could easily share this between 2 people and leave fully satisfied.

We also had the Mutton Biriyani, Crispy Masala Dosa, Masala Chai, and Rose Falooda. All of which were also lovely. Not to mention that the restaurant is clean and welcoming and all the staff were very nice.

Overall, if you need an affordable, satisfying, and delicious meal, I'd highly recommend

Final Rating: 8.7/10 👏🏽👏🏽

12/03/2024

And so we jump headfirst into my favourite season of the year!🎄✝️🎅🎁

Grateful to have ushered in the beginning of December, Advent, and of course the beautiful Christmas season with my family at our 2 fantastic Christmas concerts yesterday.

Here are some of the delicious dishes and treats we enjoyed before and after all our performances.

Talk about pure indulgence🍬🍰🍪

11/26/2024

Sunday Dinner - November 24th, 2024 🎀

I always look forward to switching up our Sunday Dinners, often trying new recipes!

This one is probably one of my favourites!

The salad is super simple, with chopped cucumber and thinly sliced tomato, onion, carrots, and chili. To keep it fresh and light, my only seasoning was salt, pepper, and the juice of a whole lime.

For protein, I followed my delicious Baked Chicken Cafreal Recipe with Potatoes that can be found on this page!

And finally, the most delicious Garlic Bread I've ever made. I'll be posting a Reel in the next few weeks with this mouthwatering recipe, so stay tuned!

What are some of your favourite Sunday Lunch/Dinner recipes that I should try? Lemme know in the comments ❤️❤️

11/23/2024

Pineapple Cake 🍍

Swipe to open the packet and get a glimpse of the gorgeous jammy pineapple filling inside!

Interestingly, Pineapples were introduced to East Asia, specifically Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore, by Portuguese Merchants in the 16th century, who brought them over from South America.

Centuries later, pineapple cakes are now one of the most iconic and best-selling souvenirs in Taiwan and have become one of the country's culinary symbols.

I hope to one day attend Taipei's annual Pineapple Cake Cultural Festival, but getting to try this one right here in Toronto from a friend was absolutely lovely.

The outside shell is a slightly crisp, buttery, and flaky shortbread-like crust with a hint of sweetness. And the inside is a perfectly sweet, caramelized, and delicious pineapple filling. I could easily devour 5 of these with a cup of tea, so delicious 🥰

11/16/2024

Chapli (or Chaplee) Kababs 🥩🇵🇰

Having featured multiple times on my story, Chapli Kababs (aka kebabs) are one of the stars of our weeknight meal rotation.

I was inspired to make my first ever Chapli Kababs at home through .gully's videos a while ago. I developed this recipe based on his Seekh Kebab Recipe to create a moist and wonderfully spiced kebab.

My close friend .gomes suggested adding the tomato slices prior to frying, as this is a common technique used to keep the kababs moist. I can attest that the tomatoes get lightly charred and caramelized, adding the perfect amount of sweetness and moisture.

The powdered/dry spices include Salt, Cumin, Kashmiri Chili, Turmeric, Pepper, Corriander, Garlic, Ginger, Garam Masala, and Fenugreek Leaves.

The blended aromatics are Ginger-Garlic Paste, Green Chili, Mint Leaves, Corriander Leaves, a Maggi Cube, and 1-2 small Onions (Grated with the juice squeezed out).

Serve with Basmati Rice, Naan, or Roti, and don't forget to squeeze some Lime over before eating!

If you'd like to see a step by step recipe in the future, comment CHAPLI below!

11/12/2024

MILESTONE POST! ✨️💐

This post is officially the 70th HungreeLee post, which is so crazy! Growing to 200+ followers and having just hit 3.3k plays on one of my latest Reels, almost 4k on a YouTube Short and 3.3k on Facebook Reels, the outpouring of love and support from friends, family, and the social media community at large has been so humbling.

Since starting this food page in July, it's been so much fun experimenting with editing, filming, and scripting.

But one of the coolest things to come out of this experience so far has been being able to broaden my understanding of layering flavours, cooking with new ingredients, and developing recipes.

So for this post, I wanted to say thank you to all of you for liking, following, commenting, sharing, and DMing me with your own foodie recommendations, stories, and experiences.

Here's a plate of Goan Fish Caldin Curry served with Parboiled Rice and Zucchini Bhaji. Getting the opportunity to learn how to cook more Goan dishes that my parents and grandparents grew up eating has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I'm so excited to continue sharing all that I learn, with all of you.

With all my Love,
Leeanne ❤️

11/06/2024

Spiced Fried Chicken 🍗🍗🍗

One of the most delicious ways to prepare chicken is undoubtedly deep frying it. And bonus points if both your wet batter and dry dredge are well seasoned.

However, because of the amount of oil required (and health concerns), we practically never fry dark meat like this. My household is more fond of Baked, Grilled or Curried/Sauced Chicken Drumsticks and Wings.

The craving hit nonetheless, and instead of ordering Popeyes, I decided to make these Spiced and Perfectly Crunchy Fried Chicken Wings and Drumsticks.

For seasoning I used Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder, Turmeric, Garam Masala, Vinegar, Flour, a pinch of Baking Powder, an Egg and Corn Starch (for that shattering crunch).

I served this with Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Shrimp with Beans. Enjoy!

10/18/2024

My Sister Turns 2️⃣0️⃣ 🥳

As the eldest daughter, I always get so excited when my siblings and little cousins celebrate milestone ages like turning 10 (double digits), 13 (beginning of teenhood), 16, 18, etc. This is probably because birthdays are a time for reflection, celebration, and coming together to shower the person with love, best wishes, gifts, and, of course, delicious food and sweets.

So, since my sister is entering her 20s, it was such an amazing week of celebrating her!

For my sister's suprise party, her best friend arranged these adorable and super delicious custom-made sugar cookies. Every attendee received one as a thank you giveaway, a beautiful way to end the night. Made by an amazing local business, delivered everything and more!

The cookies were Buttery and the ideal thickness. With yummy icing and the cutest themed designs, it made the treats the perfect sweetness. And they smelled heavenly! The packaging was also gorgeous such a lovely touch. It's Prislicious' attention to detail and excellent pricing that will have me coming back for my future events and celebrations ❤️

10/09/2024

After School Fried Rice 🍚🚸

After coming home from work and school, we typically eat the leftovers of the previous night's dinner, for lunch.

However, today, there were no such leftovers to tuck into!

So, instead of ordering out (expensive, unhealthy, and would probably take an hour), I threw together this 25-minute fried rice for my siblings.

Ingredients:

1 Orange Bell Pepper
6 Chopped Cloves of Garlic
1 Chopped Green Chili
3 Sliced Spicy Hotdogs
3 Eggs
2ish Cups of Day Old Rice
1 Cup of Frozen Vegetable Medley (Carrots, Peas, Corn, Green Beans, and Lima Beans)
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Maggi Hot and Sweet Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 Teaspon of Pepper
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

Comment FRIED RICE below if you want a detailed recipe 🔥

10/08/2024