Monday, March 24, 2014

Japanese meals and snacks

Japanese set lunch. Sweet miso mackerel, miso soup, rice and cold tofu

Lunch set is fried chicken in sauce, bamboo rice. Pickles and miso soup.
Green tea, chocolate and vanilla ice cream at Pinafore Maid Cafe

Giant rainbow Pocky (thanks A) in grape flavour 
Grape soft serve
Japanese breakfast with porridge
Sweetened mackerel jerky
Sweetened Wasabi rice cracker
Green tea kit Kat (thanks other A)
Hakone hot spring boiled egg (makes you live 7 years longer)
 
Dark chocolate kit Kat (thanks again other A)
Looks like a turd but it's a sweet potato pudding in cake. 
Green tea muffin with creme patisserie and red bean. Yay fusion



Saturday, March 22, 2014

Casual eating in Japan

Gyoza
Vat of boiled goodies at a 7 Eleven
Ramen 
Thin sheet of egg on flavoured rice
Handmade udon in creamy caviar broth with chicken, prawn and scallops (ok not very cheap)
Minced raw tuna on rice

Ramen
Fried rice and cold tofu
Sesame coffee (delicious!!!)

Japanese breakfasts...


Traditional Japanese breakfast (top left clockwise: fried fish with pickles served cold, fried salmon, pickled vegetable and plum, fish cake with sauce, miso soup, cold tofu with bean shoot and peas, steamed rice, poached egg in soya jelly). Wow.



Now the set menu from Japanese restaurant in Royal Prince Park tower hotel.





Stuff I ate in KL


Indian Banana leaf meal
Lala (pipi's)
Dry wonton noodles
Assam fish
Hor Chien (cockle omelette)
Tau Fu Fah
Golden soft shell crab on curry leaf spaghetti




Jong Tau Fu (vege stuffed with fish paste in broth)
Popiah
Vegetable filling 
Ipoh Sar Hor Fun 

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Ginger cat biscuits

Using my faithful gingerbread man dough recipe. 

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Herman the German Friendship Cake

Hello my name is Herman.
I am a sourdough cake.
I am supposed to sit on your benchtop for 10 days without a lid on me.
You cannot put me in the fridge or I will die.
If I stop bubbling I am dead.

Day 1 : Put me in a large mixing bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel.
Day 2 : Stir well.
Day 3 : Stir well.
Day 4 : Herman is hungry. Add 1 cup of sifted plain flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Stir well.
Day 5 : Stir well.
Day 6 : Stir well.
Day 7 : Stir well.
Day 8 : Stir well.
Day 9 : Add 1 cup of sifted plain flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk. Stir well. Divide into 4 equal portions and give 2 portions to friends. Keep 1 portion for later and use 1 portion to cook me tomorrow
Day 10 : I am ready for the final stage.

Add the following to me: 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of sifted plain flour, 2 heaped tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2/3 cup of cooking oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla esssence, 2 heaped tsp of cinnamon. Mix well then mix in 2 chopped cooking apples and 1 to 2 cups of sultanas.  Pour into a prepared cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar on top of the cake, then bake for 45 minutes at 170 to 180 degrees Celsius.  Test the middle with a skewer.  You may need to cover with aluminium foil and bake for a further 20 minutes until set.  When baked I can be frozen.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Tis the season to eat trifle

Merry Christmas!

This year has been a helluva year. Lots of change and I'm sadly feeling a bit drained.  However one must still chip in for the festive feasting. So this year the good old trifle reborn in a few ways. I've rehashed two English trifles, one tropical trifle and a mango coconut trifle in the past 4 weeks. This is a recipe for the latter as requested by my cousins.

There's not really much cooking in a trifle.  You prepare the jelly ingredients night before so it has time to set.  Then whip the cream and assemble a few hours before the party.  

The layers from the bottom to top are:
Pieces of Swiss roll, Chantilly cream, fresh mango, coconut agar jelly, mango jelly, custard and shredded dry coconut.

I use packet mango jelly and reconstitute according to the packet.  Generally you stir one cup of boiling water while sprinkling the jelly crystals slowly.  Then add 200mL of cold water and pour into a rectangular container of some sort. I use a rectangular Pyrex dish.

Coconut agar jelly is made with packet clear unflavoured agar (sold at Asian grocers), a can of coconut milk, about 125g(?) of sugar.  I'm not really sure about the quantities.  Basically I half the recommended amount of sugar recommended on the Agar Jelly packaging. I also subtract the volume of coconut milk ( 400mL ) from the amount of water needed.  To make the jelly you bring all the ingredients to the boil and pour into a rectangular container and put it in the fridge.  If you do not bring to the boil it will not set. If you cool to room temperature before refrigerating your jelly will separate into a clear layer and an opaque layer. However this is still edible but I guess it lets the presentation down a bit.

I make Chantilly cream immediately prior to assembling the trifle.  This is made by whipping 300mL of whipping cream, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

I used 2 ripe Kensington mangoes in the trifle shown in the picture.  I grabbed a store bought swiss roll but if you cant' get any sponge slab will do.  I also used store bought custard from the dairy section.  The topping is shredded dry coconut which you can buy at Woolworths under their Macro brand.  I like it better than dessicated coconut which is too fine.

Enjoy!