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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Kimchi Sujebi & Fish’s Pork

So….

I tried my kimchi today and it has turned sour. Which is good. and i can make a lot of dishes with it now.

Two days ago, i made Kimchi Sujebi. Which basically means hand torn noodles in a Kimchi based soup.

This is also from Maangchi. (I think i shall place a link to her blog in my links)

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Looks good eh? Well.. as always, there were mistakes made from this and i definitely learned alot.

Ingredients (3-4 servings)

I’ve had to change the recipe Maangchi given for the noodles as mine just didn’t come together properly. So i searched around and found this. I will try this next time and let you guys know.

Noodles

2 cups plain flour
1/4 – 1/2 cup water
3 tsp cooking oil
Pinch of salt

Soup

10 cups water
1 1/2 cup chopped kimchi
6 tbsp kimchi juice
1/2 – 1 chopped onion
2 tbsp Fish Sauce (i only used 1/2 because i was afraid Fish might not like it, but i think it should be ok to add till 2 tbsp, try and see)
Soy Sauce, to taste
Hot Pepper Paste (Optional – if you don’t put this, try and see if its seasoning is ok, otherwise add more kimchi juice)
Sliced Green Onions

Optional Ingredients – These are stuffs i added and you can add whatever you like

3 hot dogs, sliced
2 pieces Oyster Mushroom
1 clove garlic

(I think thinly sliced beef might be a good addition)

Directions

Make the dough first.

Place all the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine till it forms a dough. It won’t look very pretty now. It is not supposed to be a sticky dough, or maybe just slightly sticky.

Put it in a plastic bag and into the fridge it goes.

For the soup, combine all the ingredients in a pot. I would suggest to add the soy sauce and fish sauce when it starts heating up or even after you put in the noodles, so you can season to your taste.

*The thing here is, you have to be fast with the dough. Since it was my first time, i made mistakes with the dough and i took very long for all the dough to get into the pot, so instead of a soup, i ended up with a thick stew. Which is still nice, but… so, if you’re going to be slow, switch off the fire after it has boiled and concentrate on your dough first.

Hopefully the dough might be in the fridge for at least 15 mins to 1/2 hr.

Take the dough out and you have to knead it.

For convenience sake, since it’s a relative small piece of dough, knead it on a chopping board, it makes my life way easier. You will notice the difference as you knead, your dough should become more elastic, smoother and shinier.

When you kneaded it approximately enough, what you do now is switch the fire back on to the lowest fire. Holding the dough in your left hand, stretch out a piece of the dough to form noodle. It’s not strips of noodles, but rather pieces of noodles. So, what you want is to stretch it as thinly as possible. Don’t worry about breakage or ugliness – adds to the charm.

Do this for the whole dough. Practice makes perfect, towards the end, i was very good at stretching out and making the noodles.

Consistently stir to incorporate the noodles into the soup and don’t let it come to a boil if you know you’re going to be slow with the dough. I ended up with some nice and chewy dough but also some mushy ones which were obviously not as good.

Taste and see if it’s salty enough or flavourful enough. Mine wasn’t quite flavourful enough, so i added 2-3 tbsp of kimchi juice and maybe 1/4 cup soy sauce. But… be careful of the soy sauce as it has a tendency to overwhelm the kimchi. I would try adding salt next time instead.

Conclusion: It tastes really good, but can get really spicy when eaten both spicy and hot from the pot. and it’s so versatile that you can add whatever ingredients you have on hand that you think might go well with kimchi and the whole flavour. Experiment wisely.

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This is something really tasty that Fish made for dinner the same night. It was just a pack of thinly slice pork with 1 slice of bacon. Fried with onions and green onions and seasoned. It tasted really really good. A very very nice side dish to make up for the lack of meat in the sujebi.

Thanks to Maangchi and i can’t wait to see what i will be making next!

What was a Leak is now a near Catastrophe.

So… what started out as a tiny leak near the toilet is now full blown water damage. GREAT!

We’ve had people coming in and out of the house everyday, disrupting my sleep and dirtying my carpet.

Today, we found a huge huge problem. The leak was downstairs, in Fish’s toilet. But today, we found a biggger problem. Upstairs.

A part of the ceiling had water stains and was bulging. Towel on the floor was a bucket the size of a oil drum and the guy made a hole in the ceiling and guess what.

Water came gushing out! As Fish puts it, our ceiling was peeing.

not only that. the ceiling above the kitchen also had water stains, but that was untouched.

So, the plan is.

To let the water dry over the weekend.

and then. remove the near entire ceiling upstairs. WHAT?!

that is absolutely disruptive. do you realise the dirt, the plaster, the water everywhere upstairs!!!!

and me and fish just cleaned the kitchen stove.

this is infuriating.

and another piece of unwelcoming news. my rent will increase by $10 per week from next Feb.

this has been a very unlucky week. and i’m going out for dinner.

why must this happen to us?!!!

if only we were moving out.

ok. enough of my ranting. i’m really tired and i could fall asleep any moment now. but i’m dirty because my feet is dirty and so my body is dirty and so i can’t lie on the bed so i’m not sleeping.

ok. bye.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Kimchi! Easier than Pie.

Looking at my camera, i realise that i actually have loads of things i have yet to blog about. So, i shall start with this. KIMCHI!

As you all should know, Kimchi is an integral food in Korean food culture. and before i actually read about it, it always seemed like something really far out and near impossible to make by yourself – something that should be eaten at restaurants or bought in a bottle.

But. it is really simple. really simple. and the ingredients are easy to get as well. So.. let’s start shall we?

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I’ve recently gotten into a Korean food craze after watching Maangchi’s youtube channel. She teaches how to cook Korean food. She also has a blog. This recipe is from here. I’ve only made minor tweaks here and there to suit our tastes. and that’s the best part. You can change it to suit your own taste instead of letting others decide what you should taste.

Don’t be frightened by the list of ingredients. I’ve broken it up into 4 parts so that it’s easier to follow.

Ingredients

Part 1

1 Whole Chinese Cabbage
1 cup Sea Salt

Part 2

6-7 cloves of garlic (you may use lesser, i LOVE garlic)
1 inch Ginger
1/2 onion
1/2 apple

Part 3

1/4 cup Sweet Rice flour (aka Glutinous Rice Flour)
1 1/2 cup Water
<1/8 cup Sugar

Part 4

2-3 cups of Korean hot pepper flakes
5-7 stalks of Green Onions (could be a mixture of green onions and chinese chives)
1/2 cup Fish Sauce


Directions

Salting

Taking the whole cabbage – mine were already halved. Slice the cabbage into half and then quartered. Slice only into the core and gently pull apart, instead of slicing into the leaves.

Place them in large containers. I didn’t have much large containers, so i just used a pyrex baking dish (which worked really well) and a large serving plate.

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Sprinkle salt liberally into each leaf section, placing more salt on the inner stems. Repeat for all 4 portions.

Leave to cure for 4 hours, turning them around halfway or as necessary.

Go have fun for 2-3 hours.


Making Kimchi Paste

After resting for 2-3 hours, get your knife and chopping board ready for prepping the other ingredients.

In a small pot, heat the Glutinous rice flour and water mixture. (Part 3) It will slowly heat and thicken, keep stirring constantly. When it begins to bubble, add in the sugar. Mix well and when sugar melts, take it off the fire.

Leave aside to cool. or pour into a LARGE mixing bowl to cool.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, place Part 2 of the ingredient list in and mix till a mushy paste. Leave aside.

After the flour paste has cooled down considerably, add in the mush from the food processor, and the ingredients from Part 4. Stir and Stir to combine.

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Washing Time

By now, it should be approximately 4 hours since your cabbages have been salting. It’s time to wash the cabbages.

The easiest and fastest way to wash these is under running water. Place each cabbage under running water letting the water do the job of rising the salt off the cabbage. Wash each and every leaf. I did this twice for each cabbage. Squeeze the excess water out of each cabbage. Just squeeze.

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See the difference in the size of the cabbage. It should now be in a way more manageable size. Try to squeeze as much water as possible out of the cabbages.


Rubbing in the paste

Now comes the final part.

Wearing gloves please.

Taking each cabbage, place into the LARGE mixing bowl leaves on top.

Taking an amount of paste with your fingers, place them into each leaf. Finally rub some paste on the outsides of the cabbage and place nicely into a container. Repeat.

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I managed to squeeze them into my new Ikea plastic containers. Leave covered at room temperature for a day or two. (i left mine for one) and place in the fridge where it will continue to ferment.

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The next day, i checked up on it and this is what i found. See the bubbles at the top right hand corner of the container. This means that it is fermenting. And the water that surrounds the kimchi is known as Kimchi Juice.

Kimchi juice is used in cooking as well, so it’s not going to be wasted.

AND!

There you have it! Your (Mine) own homemade Kimchi!

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I sliced up half of a Kimchi for dinner. Tastes great. Just one small problem.

Hehe.. in Maangchi’s original recipe, she also made Radish Kimchi which i obviously didn’t, but i had used to same amount of paste. Therefore, my kimchi was very ‘rich’. Loads of paste on each leaf. =) I will remember to reduce the amount the next time i make kimchi.

The recipe above is as how i made it. Feel free to reduce the amounts for making the kimchi paste. I didn’t do that for you guys as i’m not 100% sure of how much i would reduce. So go rely on your intuition. and have Fun!

Other than merely eating the Kimchi on its own, it can also be made into other dishes. I have so far made one for dinner tonight and it’s called Kimchi Sujebi aka Hand torn noodle soup.

I shall post that tomorrow and i made mistakes with that which hopefully you guys can learn from my mistake and not go down my path.. although it still tasted great. =)

Kimchi On!!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Leaky Leak

my toilet is leaking.

disgusting.

started at 4am last night. leaking at the funny places.

1st place. the door frame

2nd place. the spotlight

and the water is YELLOW! ewww….

i don’t know why is started leaking. just that it did.

AND… to make matters worst. he wore his boots all the way into the room!! and they had soil on it!!!!!! there really has to be a better solution to this. GET rid of the carpet! and he’s coming back tml again!

and he just stepped on the bathroom mat. KILL ME.

something to add to all this. Today is the hottest day of the month. It is really hot. at least to us it is.

although it is hot and humid is Singapore, the upper range of temperature is usually around 32 degrees.. however… here, it goes up to 40 degrees.

i’m hot, sticky and i can’t move. because the carpet is all dirty.

Oh. and the guy has to close the water supply. no showers for us! on such a hot day!

all i can say now is. damn.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Getting Married…….not me.

You know.. facebook hurts. Everyone has great friends and outings etc etc…just makes me kinda jealous. AND as if this weren’t enough…. people are getting married! YES! people my age!! HOW? WHY?

Excuse my reaction. I’m having a great time here with Fish (and my sis) and it already feels like we’re a married couple (just without all the financial etc troubles). Does something change when a couple get married or do they just live on as if nothing happened? Is there a psychological or physical change? Is getting married all that important?

Well.. maybe to some, getting married is no big deal and being tied down by a paper is even scary. But.. i dun know.. i really want to have kids.. and i think it may be my maternal instinct that is creating these strong feelings in me of marriage and the need to transit to that level exists. (This is not to say it is a rash decision – i do love Fish very much)

It’s just that when i see people around me all getting married and moving forward together that i feel like i’m lagging behind.. i’m still a kid. We live in a world where everything comes easily to us and have not reached that ‘forging together’ stage.

But i so so so want to move forward. I so want to start a new chapter in my life. Yet… i know it will be so difficult. I think my parents are different (correct me if i’m wrong). They always think that there is a wider world out there, where i can meet a better guy. They’ve never truly accepted any of my boyfriends (2 only). They’ve never been happy for me that i’m happy in a relationship at any current moment. They think of it as a hindrance, of something fleeting and momentarily. Other parents accept and welcome their daughter’s bf.. but mine treats him more like an enemy or acquaintance more than anything else. I always stuck in between, because both sides are not compromising of each other. I must say, i am 22, i am no longer 16. I admit i made mistakes with a poor relationship at 14 which i learned and had a good relationship number 2. I admit, mistakes were still made there.. and i never regretted my decision btw. I learned and all these mistakes are never to surface again.

I think it’s time to acknowledge that i am no longer a girl with a mental and emotional capacity of a 16 year old. I think it’s time to acknowledge that i have the right to make certain decisions on my own and as family, all i wish is for support and love. Just like what the psychologist told her gf on Bones last night – Even if you should fail, i will let you fail but i will always be there supporting and supporting.

I may not have started working, I may not currently have goals and aspirations worth wowing about. But all these make no difference to who i am and what i need and deserve. I don’t know why the lack of trust or faith exists, maybe it’s something i’ve done in the past, but all of you know me, i don’t drink, i don’t smoke, i don’t go clubbing… what is so inherently wrong with me that i cannot even be allowed to not have a curfew? (in case you’re wondering.. my curfew is 10pm..)

This is my life. For any wrong decisions and actions i have done. i take nothing but full responsibility. these were all my choices and if my choices failed me.. then i pray that i have learned from these wrong choices and realize what it is that i need to change.

Somethings, i’m afraid, cannot be explained fully. I may well be a kid with a tantrum or a really lousy adult.

I just wish wish wish that everything can just coexist harmoniously. I don’t want to have to choose between listening to my parents, listening to my heart or listening to Fish. All three are equally important. I just need the 3 to merge. to understand each other. Maybe then.. i’ll find the peace that i so desperately need.

I go into each relationship with the prospect of marriage in mind. I never intend for any relationship to be as short or as long as it was. I just hope this can be understood. I loved Bailey when i was with him, no doubt about it. Love is blind and i couldn’t see what was wrong between us. What had changed between us. I had to take a step back to realise we were not the same as we once were, and so were our feelings. It just took fish’s appearance which diverted my attention away for me to see what was wrong. and now. i don’t make such mistakes anymore. I see what is wrong with our relationship everyday, every second. and i work to change it. to improve. so that history never repeats itself.

Maybe i see marriage of such importance also because of the status change that would become of me, him and us. That us is reality that one must accept.

Anyway.. i’m sorry this turned into such a sob story. It will be interesting though.. 10 years later when i look through this blog and these words.. what will i be thinking and who might i have become.

I just want to make something really clear. As of today, 16th Nov 2009, Fish is officially here to stay. Whatever the future brings will bring.. but this is my hope and my dream.. of us. and no one.. no one.. will spoil my dream no matter how hard you try. 

Friday, November 13, 2009

Quick Update…

Ok.

Just a quick quick update..

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I’ve cut my hair.. it’s now.. a little shorter than shoulder length.. Not the best picture.. Taken with fish’s phone when i’m about to sleep with my 3 babies. hehe.. i shall try to take a better picture soon… hopefully..

I’m 3/4 into ‘My Life in France’.. finishing soon.. very engaging read.

Me and Fish are doing a puzzle together and we’re about 1/10 completed.. haha

We found a japanese restaurant that has buffet.. tried a la carte today..

Haven been cooking lately.. but here are the dishes that i will be attempting next: 1. Japchae 2. Kimchi (Yes.. i am going to make my own kimchi!)

I need a good chocolate cake recipe.. i’ve tried 2 and those were not spectacular. I need an amazing chocolate cake recipe. One that tastes of real chocolate, dense and amazing. PLEASE let me know if you have one.

Remember… the pork mince (卤肉饭)… it actually tastes great when you add it to plain porridge. I added it to fish porridge.. and it still tastes great!

I went to eat at a restaurant near by called ‘Chairman Mao’s Restaurant’, people have been raving and the place is packed everynight. The fact is simple. The food is good. BUT.. wayyyyyy to oily.. even for me. I love love love fats and oil. But this.. is tooo much.. Everything is swimming in a huge puddle of pure oil. I accidently ate a tofu puff and it had soaked up all the pure oil and imagine that in your mouth. It was disgusting. I had to wash it down with loads of tea. So, as much as the flavour and food was relatively great. It will take a lot more for me to return. Oh. and i don’t like the way the place smells. and it was extremely noisy the night i went. That i dun like too.

I was walking around yesterday and bought a dress from SES which i fully intend to use as a night gown. and a shirt from Myers. Surprisingly.. both have owls on them. I don’t like like owls.. i think. Coincidence happens. =)

I keep wanting to keep McDonald’s breakfast.. but… everytime i think about it.. i wanna cook my own breakfast. BUT.. my sleeping timing is screwed again.. so no breakfast for me!

Guess how i fell asleep the other night. I was talking with Fish and we were just naming all the foods that we were missing from Singapore.. hokkien mee.. laska.. plaza sing’s indo grill.. etcetc.. and i just suddenly fell asleep.. haha.. nice way to sleep i should think.. in foodie heaven! =)

ok lah. this is so random. i’m leaving. bye.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Rhassoul Clay Mask

Hello..

This has nothing to do with food.

I’ve been interested in facial masks etc etc..

and when i purchased my SLS-free shampoo kit, i bought 2 different types of clays. Rhassoul and Green Clay.

Taken from www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au:

Rhassoul Clay:

Micronized Moroccan Lava Clay - This clay comes from deep under the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the only known source in the world. It is a totally natural product that is used today as it was hundreds of years ago.

Rhassoul clay has the ability to absorb oil and impurities from both the skin and the hair. Rhassoul contains higher percentages of silica and magnesium along with potassium and calcium, than other clays.

Green Clay:

French Green Clay is the most used of the clays in Spas and Salons. Noted as the clay which possesses the most absorbent action on the skin, it is used mainly for facial masks for oily, neglected skin in the treatment of Acne. It is a little too drawing for dry or mature skin.

It cleanses, exfoliates, smoothes and softens the skin. It may be added to soap as a natural colorant.

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I used this tonight. Using a very simple recipe.

Approx. 1 tbsp Rhassoul Clay
Approx. 1 tbsp Lavender Infused Water
Approx. 1 tbsp Water (could use the Lavender Water instead)

Just mix them all together into a nice paste in a bowl (not metal). Using a brush, brush a thick layer all over your face avoiding your eyes and lips.

This was very good. I left it on my face for around 1/4 - 1/2 hour (or until it totally dries and hardens). Mine should be left on quite long as i was soaking in the tub with our bubble bath scented with ‘Energy’ while i was reading ‘My Life in France’.

Amazing. If you don’t have time for a full face mask, use it on your nose. It is extremely extremely good for blackheads. Better than the stickers from Biore etc..

I am so happy with the results. and i will be trying the green clay soon!

Oh! another thing. a small problem with this is that. it’s messy to wash off. easy but messy as it comes off in clumps of clay. So, i think the best idea is to do the mask and wash it off when bathing. =)

Have fun everybody!

By the way, i bought a new Breville Hand Mixer and can’t wait to use it!

It’s holidays now! and i’m soooo excited! all the food – cooking and eating!

YAY!!!

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Spinach, Bacon, Mushroom and Feta Quiche

Ok.

The first time i ever ate quiche was at Corona Cafe – a cafe just across the road. I loved it but it was expensive @ $9.50 per slice (if i am not wrong).

So, after nearly 2 1/2 years, i’ve decided to try this out for myself. and it was a smashing success!

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I had to go around the whole of Eastgardens to search for a quiche pan. Poor Fish was running around with me the whole time.. =)

Anyways, this is really simple and can be made with ingredients you already have on hand. The only small problem that you might have is not having the puff/shortcrust pastry.

Supposedly, quiches are made with shortcrust pastry, but i couldn’t find a readymade tart case and i had butter puff pastry in the freezer, so i decided to just use the puff pastry.

I had some problems with blind baking the first time, it didn’t work – i’m still having to learn how to do this properly – so if anyone knows, please let me know.. =)

Therefore, i didn’t blind bake – the only problem with not doing this is that the dough at the bottom – due to the liquids, become soggy – but it didn’t bother us, so it was of no problem. =)

The recipe below is not 100% similar to what i made – i used double the amount of spinach and although it was nice, i found the spinach too overpowering and it was really a spinach quiche.. so i decided to cut the portion by half.

Here goes…

Ingredients

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250g – 500g English Spinach Leaves – from the salad section (leaves only and washed)
3 XL Eggs
3 slices of Bacon (more or less is up to you)
250g Feta Cheese (mine was a smooth version – but i think all kinds should do)
300ml Pure Cream (way more fattening – i’ve heard you could just use milk or half milk half cream)
8 pieces of white button mushrooms (optional)
2 shallots (or any onion)
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 sheets of Butter Puff Pastry

Directions

Many of the recipes suggest blanching the spinach and squeezing the water out. For me, i decided that this gets rid of too much nutrients and i do not want to use my hands and squeeze water out of my spinach! My hands will smell of nothing my spinach later. So,

1. Chop the onions and garlic finely. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2. Fry the slices of bacon in a big frying pan – for later. Fry till the bacon is crisp and delicious! We used Bok’s Bacon, a free range pork that was woodfire smoked. Supermarket bought bacon in Australia is lousy! In Singapore it’s okay though. After they are crisped and cooled, crumble with hands and place aside.

3. In the same frying pan, using the fat from the bacon, fry the onions first followed by the garlic (to ensure they don’t brown since they have a much shorter cooking time as compared to the onions). Add the mushrooms. Add in the spinach in batches – unless you have a really large frying pan – The leaves will wilt and you can proceed to add more leaves until all is added.

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4. Keep frying over medium heat, keep frying till all liquid has been evaporated and you’re left with a dry mixture. I suppose with mushrooms the cooking time might be slightly longer for they have a higher liquid content. But it will take max 15 mins. Season to taste.

5. While frying, crack the 3 eggs into a big mixing bowl and add 300 ml of milk/pure cream. Whisk the mixture well. Add in the bacon as well.

6. After Steps 3 and 4 are done, give a little time for 3 to cool down.

7. In the meantime, slice up the feta cheese, which should come in a block. You can place this into the mixture whatever way you like, but i took half and sliced it smaller and added it into the egg mixture.

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8. Get ready your quiche pan. Mine is non-stick so it was not necessary to oil the pan. Place a sheet of puff pastry over the pan, and using your fingers, press it down and over the sides of the pan slightly (nice crust there). It is slightly difficult if you’re doing it the first time, but don’t worry, if there are cracks or holes, just take excess pastry and mend it – no one will ever know. After it looks fairly decent, use a fork to prick the pastry all over. I’m not sure if this is necessary since i am not blind baking it – but whatever, it won’t hurt.

9. By now, the spinach should most possibly cooled down and you can add that into the egg feta mixture. Stir well to combine and pull apart some of the spinach as they tend to be tangled all together.

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10. Pour the mixture slowly into the puff pastry lined quiche pan. Mine was pretty full around 5/6 of the pan and it didn’t over spill when baking, so i think it should be pretty safe.

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11. Taking the cubes of Feta cheese, place it all over the top, pushing it slightly into the mixture.

AND… you’re done!

12. All it needs now is to go into the preheated oven for approximately 20-25 mins. But keep an eye on it to see the colour changes till it’s a shade that you like. To test if it’s cooked, use a fork/knife and poke into the centre, if it comes out clean, YOU’RE DONE!

13. Unmold and serve warm.

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This can be kept in the fridge for several days and should taste good at room temperature as well.

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I apologise for the above pic. I didn’t manage to take a picture of a nice slice. This was a midnight snack and i left it in the toaster for a minute too long, so it is slightly darker in colour. Still tastes really good though and i love puff pastry!

I hope you guys liked the quiche and try it out at home – it really is relatively simple. You can change it anyway you like. Just bacon, just spinach and feta, just mushrooms and bacon.. etc etc.. I will definitely be trying more variations soon!

Happy Belated Halloween and Eat Well Everyone!