My magic wand

Warning : this post may contain contents not be suitable for some.

*****

I hate it when they do it to me! Spiders!! They spin webs like nobodys' business, in my room, at my balcony, within my territory!! I seethe at their insolence enlarging, each time with a larger web they spin!

Don't feign ignorance, I just spoiled your web the other day! Grr...




And they keep coming back my place like their favourite bar. Weave a magnificient thing overnight, or finish a good repair within hours, very efficient and annoying creatures.



So I resorted to mean means. Know the kitchen towel / kitchen paper? Or better known as my accomplice. No, not the paper, the core within, or the hollow shaft-like center, that most would have thrown away. I keep them as my secret weapon. Heheh.









Yeah, this fella at the left. My magic wand. And here's how the magic works:

* Extend wand's length by attaching 2 shafts with tape, if necessary.

* If the owner is around. HIT it with a swift swap! None has escaped alive so far.

* Break the web by 2 or few extended ends with a quick sweeps. This should leave the web intact but vulnerable.

* Wave or wield the wand at the web swiftly, just like how Harry Potter casts his magic! The remains of the web should cling to the wand readily.

* Throw the offending wand away. No cleaning of brooms or tools required.


Effortless, and it costs you nothing. Though it makes me look evil than I already am, I don't care, since they don't give a hoot if their thing makes my house look haunted. In fact, I've just wiped out another stubborn one just now. Ha!



Gee... I hope that wasn't Charlotte.

Have a great weekend! =D

Fruit tart with cherries and blueberries

This season, the market is overflowing with many fruits at a comfortable price! Thankfully, my favourite cherries and blueberries are playing no exception as well. =)



Bear had an assigment in a picture blog sometime ago. The active theme was ' Red, White and Blue ' and right away, I knew I could help. =) Thanks to the timely abundance of the puny fruits.

Fruit tart was all that was on my mind as it is one of my favourtie desserts. A friend kindly shared her recipe with me, but sadly, the recipe demands a food processor that I do not own. So I looked up those recipes on hand and found one which seemingly looks feasible, except for one.


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A large frozen ice pad is neccessary, but it's something that I do not own again. Apparently, it is used to control the buttery dough so that it does not melt quickly and get too difficult to handle. I decided to ' cheat ' by filling a tray with water and froze the fella stiff hard. Before use, I placed plastic wrap over so that the dough could sit on it without getting wet. As it wasn't my intention to make many tarts, the medium sized tray worked fine though the ice did melt quite readily in the summer heat.

I tried to fit the dough into tart shells that I have, and landed up producing slightly thick crust. I shall try to distribute the dough thinner next time. =)

To answer the photoblog's call for a ' Red, White and Blue ', I had the fruits combined with yogurt to make it complete, quite glad that I need not prepare some custard for it. =P Bear gladly took a picture of the tart and submitted the picture, like a happy boy with homework done. =)

So tart making isn't all that difficult like I've imagined afterall, and I'm sure that I'll try it again very soon. Bear thought fruits and yogurt topping was refreshing and healthy, he has already ordered one with mango toppings and asked when would it be served. ( ~ ~;)

Recipe for tart's crust

adapted from Japanese recipe of fine sweets

Makes 8 crusts

Bake ware required : 8 Diameter 6.5 x height 2cm tart shells, frozen ice pad



Ingredients

Non salted butter : 50g soft at room temperature

Sugar : 30g

Egg : 25g

All purpose wheat flour : 100g

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees.

2. Spread butter over tart shells and put aside.

3. In a bowl, mix softened butter with sugar using a wooden spatula, until the mixture becomes smooth. Add in egg and mix till incorporated. Add in flour and mix till traces of flour disappear.

4. When the dough is done, roll into a rod and cut into 8 portions, and roll them into balls. Place them on the ice pad.

5. Dust wheat flour over the balls of dough, and press them flat to spread the dough.

6. Fit flattened dough into tart shells. Use a fork to stab holes into dough at random areas.

7. Bake at 180 degress for 12 to 13 minutes. Extract the crust when tart shells are cooled.

I guess being deprived of what's required doesn't always mean an impossible ending. Try looking around for what's available, and they may just compensate finely. I hope it works for you too. =)

Tough tasks & a foul attempt, that just aren't too bad

On occassional weekday nights when my husband has to attend functions, I heave a sigh of relief as I am not expected to prepare a good dinner to serve the hungry Bear. I just need to whip up something simple for myself and rest earlier.

Do you know? Being married to a Japanese guy ( especially a s . p . o . i . l . e . d only son brought up in a traditional Japanese family ) is almost like asking for trouble. ( * * ) For first, I have to cook 3 meals a day : an elaborate traditional Japanese breakfast, lunch for myself, and a satisfying dinner. In Japan, eating out is unthinkable especially if you are living with your family, and the wife is staying indoors. While eating out is outright cheap and convenient in Singapore, eating out for a person in Japan can fetch a much sumptuous meal for 2 persons at home, and this excludes the distance of driving out. Besides this, Japanese believes in goodness of homemade food, prepared in ' love '.

Now, I understand the demands and have been performing dutifully. However, though I may not know much about other countries, this obviously is a hell task for most Singaporeans! Back home, my mother cooks only dinner on mere days of a week, I've been brought up knowing the pleasure of eating out! With a population that eats out so often, the sober eating pattern of the Japanese sounds too dreary to believe.

I was embarrassed when a Singaporean friend said it in my face, ' What? You have to do all that? I can't believe it! What a pathetic life you're leading! '. Her sorry countenance puzzled me... Am I all that wretched you might think?

Probably to the Singaporeans, but I must have been ' brainwashed ' that I do not really feel the same, though I can't deny the tire. Jesus knows the best that I'm doing all these for my family, and I know that my effort is pleasing in His eyes. I desire to possess the traits of a beautiful wife, with virtues that edify my husband, and remember to work without complaint.

Fortunately, my husband kindly lets me off on weekends ( Yes, I know that there are many Jap husbands who will not do so... shiver... ). Still, eating out is also an agony cos he's right : homemade food tastes better.

Anyway, on this day when he was not home for dinner, I grabbed the chance to try breadmaking again. Just when I thought I was spared from the usual trouble, I was inviting another by committing a silly mistake!

I was kneading hard this forever wet mess for an hour, but the dough still looked how it first started! I paused for rest and a quick flashback, where could have gone wrong? Then I realized, it was not the wheat flour for bread that I was using, all along I was using the wheat flour for cake making!!

See? See? Was I not silly?

So green bakers like Stardust, learn from my mistake : All purpose wheat flour, ' weak ' wheat flour, or flour for cake will never yield you bread.

Undaunted, I quickly set up another assembly of fresh ingredients and started again. This session, I prepared curried chicken, mayonaise bacon and potato, cheeze and sausage buns. They were baking in the oven when the Bear arrived home, and he adored the delicious aroma that pervaded the room. =) We had them for breakfast the next day, Bear liked them so much that he insisted I make them again.

' Ok. But does that mean that I can be excused from making dinner? ' ;)

P/S : I skipped dinner to make these buns you know? All thanks to the silly mistake, I had to concentrate on the new batch, too tired to prepare dinner for myself. =P

Asparagus Talk

Asparagus is probably the hottest vege star here, during Spring, and there are even talk shows about it! Before I forget, I thought I had better share some information from those shows I've watched.

Do you know?

Asparagus is a highly nuitritional vegetable, and consumption with high-protein food like meat and egg promotes growth and health.

For certain dishes, this vegetable is boiled during cooking, but it is said that boiling causes the nuitrients to escape into the boiling water. Unless the water used for boiling is being consumed, this nuitrient loss is obviously a waste. Gee... I didn't know that.

The best way to cook Asparagus is frying with oil. Oil promotes the function of nuitrients.

Now, about choosing the most delicious asparagus you can find. Look at the picture above, see the triangular portion? The rule is to look for those with equilateral triangles, not elongated or tall triangles. The asparagus in the picture above is a sample of a good one. I hope that the diagram drawn within the picture helps.

Enjoy your asparagus!

Porky Roll with Spring Green

With Spring's arrival, wider variety of vegetables are showing up in the market, at a less expensive price too. I'm not sure about other seasonal countries, but vegetables sold here during winter can be 3-folds more expensive than summer time! This is largely due to agriculture difficulty, and raising vegetables in conservatory environment makes the produce a little costly.

Asparagus is one of such dear vegetables, and it is the best season to enjoy them now. In Japan, Asparagus is called a ' Spring-time vegetable ', together with bamboo shoots, special cauliflower and etc. The simple Pork Roll that I'm sharing today, wraps asparagus and other ingredients to create a colorful center, with fragrant sauteed skin outside. A very ' Spring-time ' dish, the Japanese would call it.

Recipe ( Porky Roll with Spring Green ) makes 8 rolls

Ingredients

Pork slice of ham's thickness : 8 slices

Asparagus : 3 sticks

Carrot : 1 stick

Cheeze : Use as prefered ( I'm using ' Baby cheeze ' bars here, not sure if it's available elsewhere )

Vegetable oil for saute : 1 tablespoon

Salt and pepper


1. Salt and pepper pork slices and put aside.
2. Cut asparagus, carrot and cheeze into strips of approximately 5 cm length, thickness of carrot and cheeze should be around that of the asparagus.
3. Place 1/2 teaspoon of salt, into water enough to boil carrot and asparagus. Upon boiling, place carrot in and boil for 30 seconds, then place asparagus in to boil. Retreive all at about 50 seconds later. Do not boil for too long. Shower boiled vegetables under running water for 2 seconds and put aside.

Wild Tips : Boiling vegetables in salted water gives vegetables a brightly colored finish. It adds a little saltish flavor to vegetables, and enhances the taste. A cold shower for boiled vegetables removes heat thus retains crunchiness.

4. Spread pork slice across, remove extra fats if prefered. Place asparagus, carrot at one end of the pork slice, then a strip of cheeze on top. Roll the slice across. Complete the rest. Rolls should not fall apart easily.

5. Heat oil in flat pan at medium fire, place rolls into pan with winded end facing down, and saute. Flip rolls to saute different sides and achieve a good looking brown. Do not cook for too long or the meat will be toughened.

Some Japanese families claim that pork dishes are a good source of ' energy replenishment '. Many families consume pork dishes especially after sports day, a great hike out, or after a strenuous day of labor.

For our home... umm... we don't practise this exactly though.

Simply, the cheezy blend of this dish, complete with Spring greens makes my husband happy like a child.

Great brush!

I've found this brush sometime ago and it has become one of my favourite tools. =)
It acts exactly like a brush but simply effortless to clean! Unlike the conventional brush with bristles like that of a paintbrush, getting rid of stains and smell is a breeze. Two faces for different application. See pictures below for details.

By the way, the brand of this brush is ' KAI ', made in Japan.

Tempura + Special Sides & Wild Tips

My husband has been working overtime since the we've returned from the CNY holiday. He seems tired after a few days of hard work and I decided to do some special dish to cheer him up. Tempura!

For your information, the Tempura is first introduced to Japan by the Portugese, and became a popular dish among the Japanese. Even the name ' Tempura ', is originated from the Portugese. The Japanese has long since been good in imitating something, customize it a little, then calling it ' theirs '.

So much for the introduction. Let's check out this basic recipe. I shall produce a little more complicated version and share again someday.

Recipe for Tempura ( Fried prawns ) [ Scroll below for Special Sides ]

Preparation of prawn ( 10 prawns for my serving at home ) :

• Purchase prawns that are big. The ones I use are longer than my palm when extended. I'd love to tell you what prawns I'm using but I only know their name in Japanese ( 車えび )[ Huh, ' Car Prawns '? ]
• Take off the shell of the prawns leaving the tail portion intact. Devein.

Wild tips : Keep the prawn shell scraps in the frozen section of the refridgerator. They come in handy for other dishes, especially seafood soup. Just drop 5 to 6 prawn shells in a pot that broils 4 servings, and they produce the extra goodness to the soup. Serve without the shells please. =) I shall share more about these shells sometime later.

• Cut off the ends of the tail ( about 5mm ), see picture below. It is said that this eliminates moisture in the tail part and makes frying safer.
  
• Insert 3mm cuts into the flesh ( tummy area? ), see picture below for positions. The idea is to cut the vein of the prawn so that these hunchback fellas can straighten their back.


• Dry the prawns with kitchen paper towel. Dry them well for safer frying!
• Powder the flesh part very lightly to achieve dryness. Leave tail part alone.

Preparation of batter ( For frying 10 prawns and sides ) :

• Use specialized Tempura flour, or even ' weak ' Wheat flour. Follow the instructions for Tempura mentioned in product's packaging, if any. Else, you may like to try my lighter version.
• For mine, there's no hard and fast measurements, just a 85% cup of flour, and full cup of water. I prefer lighter coat for fried stuff. Consistency varies between different product, so if you find your batter too watery, add flour little by little to achieve a light creamy mixture. Do mix batter well.

Preparation of oil :

• I am using Ajinomoto's cholestrol-free oil which is very light. Use a depth-deep frying pan, got to pour in a generous volume of oil to pretend bathing the fellas. For my prawns, the oil level is about the height of my forefinger.
• Heat oil to 180deg. Sorry guys, my stove heats to 180deg upon command. To know when your oil is ready, land a droplet of batter into the oil. If it surfaces and appears ' fried ', it's time!

IT'S FRY TIME :

• Dip prawns into batter, and leave the tail part alone at best. You would want to see the reds after frying.
• Depending on the size of you pan, fry prawns 2, 3 or 4 at a time to acheive better frying. Overcrowding causes prawns to stick together or unable to expand in size during frying.
• Catch the prawn by tail, dip slowly into oil, and perform a gentle swing; forth and back. This causes the batter to produce great crust. Finally, let go of prawn in a straight forthward position. The rhythm should go ' Forward, back, forward, back, land. ' Attempt the next prawn. It takes some practise.
  * Note : This action is not a must. If you feel uncomfortable about it, please do not risk your poor fingers. Just slide the prawn quietly in will do. =)
• I fry 3 prawns in my small pan. Collect upon less than 2 minutes' oil bath, and cool on kitchen towel. ( Hehehe, I've run out of nice oil papers. ) You may wish to cool on a rack.
• You should see some crust remains in the oil after scooping up the prawns or other ingredients, as much as you can, try extracting those crust remains out as they tend to interfere the next batch's fry. Repeat after each batch.
  

Fry tip : Specified time may not be reliable especially when the desired temperature is not achieved. Size of ingredient makes a difference too. Generally, Tempura need not be that deeply fried in order to achieve the golden hue. It should appear cream white and lightly crusted. Should part of crust start to turn slightly brown, scoop the fella up.

Recipe for Special Side 1 : Stuffed green pepper

Ingredients ( makes 6 ) :

3 green pepper, 2 chicken fillet, 1/4 onion; minced, salt, pepper, 1tsp cornstarch

• Mince chicken fillet, season with little salt and pepper. Rub cornstarch into minced meat. You may add 1tsp of water to ease rubbing. This effort helps retaining moisture of meat so that it will not become too hard after frying.
• Mix minced meat with minced onion well. Fillings done.
• Cut head and tail off green pepper. Half and rid off seeds.
• Spread fillings into green pepper.
• To fry, simply dip into batter and fry for 2 minutes.
  

Recipe for Special Side 2 : Bundled Enokitake

Ingredients ( makes 5 ) :

Enoki Mushroom, packet of Japanese seaweed( 5 pcs within )

• 
  
  
  
• I am only using part of the mushroom pack here. Cut roots of the mushroom, but to the extent that they still adhere together. Split carefully into comfortable bite-size bundles. Do not spread them loose, this makes bundling job easier
• Bundle each piece of Enoki branch with seaweed. Wet the ending side of seaweed to create the adhering effect. If seaweed fails to yield. moist them carefully to make them soft for control.

Wild tips : Wrapping seaweed around ingredient gives surprizing flavour and special look to the dish, but dry, crisp seaweed may be a pain to manipulate. Extract needed seaweed out of drying agent, expose packed seaweed in the kitchen for 2 days before use. Refridgerating helps too.

• Holding bundled side, dip into batter. Fry for 2 minutes.

In the Tempura dish, prawn is the main while others are sides. For the sides, the Japs use anything from mushrooms, lotus roots, herbs to potatoes. Do pull them together in a plate to make a gorgeous pile. The golden rule, always arrange the prawns with tails pointing up!

Enjoy the natural taste of Tempura. Or, serve with Japanese sauce like つゆ( Tsuyu ). You may lighten the taste by adding a little boiling water ( to serve at colder climate ), or just water ( at hotter climate ). For us, we like it straight. Some like it with grated daikons (　大根　) within the tsuyu, ( oh, spare me ). Other options : prepare a small dish of good mineral salt for dipping, barbecue sauce, Tartar's, you name it.

頂きます。( Itadakimasu : I'll be tucking in. )

Jamie Oliver & Nigella Lawson

I've been back to Singapore since 25th January, and it's all so indescribably wonderful!! Have been gorging myself with all the local food like my favourite chicken rice, laksa, prawn mee. hokkien mee, just to name a few; and not in my favourite order. And of course, not forgetting my mom's cooking! For foreigners travelling to Singapore, I hope that you'd take time to explore and try the local dishes, which should make you return for more. However, you should be careful with ordering spicy food as the local taste can really be too hot perhaps for foreigners.

So, what have I been doing besides indulging in gluttony? Well, I've been watching TV to my greatest content! There are several channels that I can't watch in Japan and it's just ... so rejuvenating to enjoy them again. My favourite channels? Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Animal Planet, and Discovery Travel & Living!!

Some faithful follow-ups are productions by Mr. Jamie Oliver and Ms. Nigella Lawson. Well, they are cooks who present western dishes, from home cooking, to season's cooking, exquisite dinner to serve guests and etc.

I enjoy Jamie's shows, those he cooks in his country kitchen, shares tips on growing vegetables and sometimes; cracking hilarious jokes. I think the camera man does a fine job by giving a soft touch to make the scenes look warm and ' homely '.

Today I learnt that growing basil helps keeping harmful insects away from tomatoes so it will be splendid if they can be planted close. The aroma of basil seems somewhat unpleasant to insects, thus keeping them way off.

I look forward to the day of planting my own vegetables and herbs. I think Jamie can teach me a lot on that =)

As for Nigella, she is absolutely beautiful and her presentation tells me that she loves cooking in her womanly way. Am I actually watching her making eyes, or watching her cook?? I can't decide... Note, I'm not a lesbian and married to a wonderful husband, and I admire anything beautiful. I love her kitchen no less: white, spick and span, no nonsense. There's something similar between Jamie and Nigella perhaps: a full body that speaks the volume of love they have towards food.

Both Jamie and Nigella are bold in their cooking, using generous portion of olive oil, great experiment with herbs, various cooking methods, emphasis on colors and presentation. I've yet tried their mouth-watering recipes thus unable to vouch anything yet, but their passion for cooking inspires me. Just a few episodes make my day and get my imagination running wild. Should I try that chicken using X, or maybe I should quit Y and try Z instead..? Oh, my hands are itching and strangely, I'm eager to go back to Japan and play in my kitchen again.