This is sort of a plea for someone to design me an awesome banner for my blog. You know I’ve made several attempts and miserably fail at it so if you think you’ve got the madskillz, then come forth and send me your best design.

Specifications:

Dimension: 776 x 245 pixels

Theme: I’m really open to anything, but I have to mention that I’m a real sucker for those doodle-y, watercolour type banners - does anyone know what I’m talking about? Promptly ignore me if you don’t.

Any thing else is pretty much out in the open.

The one I currently have up was designed by the lovely Zooey Ingles, and if there’s more entries I’ll put them all up as a rotation and in the end I’ll have a look at the one I like best and go with it.

What’s the price, you ask? Well I don’t quite know at the moment…to be decided!

NB: Coincidentally, this post also inaugurates my Twitter account, since the Sister said I should “get with the times”. Embracing the dark side.

  7 months ago       5 notes

Haha. I’ll definitely give this one a go based on the results of your previous recommendations, so I know I’m in good hands. Not a big fan of broccoli (and it’s raw in this salad?) so if I end up liking it then bonus points for you. And how did you substitute in the avocado? Did you mash them or just add a cup of chopped avocado?

For the rest of my readers who’s curious enough to give it ago, here’s the recipe for the Broccoli Salad. And if anyone wants to recommend a recipe, feel free to drop it off in the mailbox.

  7 months ago       3 notes

Tempura Donburi / 天丼

  7 months ago       103 notes
  food  tempura donburi  tempura  japanese food  food blog  photographers on tumblr  

Guess who just completed an 8-week Pediatrics rotation, mostly intact albeit with a few scars and everlasting dark circles under her eyes?

And to celebrate the joyous moment, I ate carbs. Lots of it. Topped with crunchy fried morsels of foods. And doused with an addicting sweet sauce. And I’ll be sharing the recipe just incase you feel like celebrating. Or curious as to what it feels like to be eating the best tempura don you’ll ever eat.

The star of this dish is of course the tempura. More specifically, the tempura batter. Perfect tempura should have a thin, almost transparent coating of lightly browned, crisp batter, perfectly balanced with the vegetables or seafood inside. And there is nothing much to it save for two key ingredients: ice, ice cold water and baking soda. Let’s proceed!

TEMPURA DONBURI/天丼

TEMPURA BATTER:

[ 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup cornstarch + 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 egg + 2/3 cup ice water ]

Make sure that your water is ice cold, guys. To the point where you actually need to put ice cubes in it to keep it icy.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg slightly and mix with the ice water. Stir in the dry ingredients, stirring only until mixed; the mixture will be slightly lumpy.

Dust shrimp, chunky-cut chicken, vegetables, etc with cornflour before dipping them into the batter.

Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

DONBURI SAUCE:

[ 1½ cups water + 4 to 6 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce), to taste + 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake) + 2 – 3 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste + 1½ tablespoons cooking sake ]

In a small pot, add water and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Add shoyu, mirin and sake. Let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add brown sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.

If you are not using the sauce immediately, let the sauce cool to room temperature and store in the fridge up to 5 – 7 days.

ASSEMBLY:

[ Fried assorted tempuras + donburi sauce + steamed rice + chopped green onion + roasted sesame seeds ]

Pile the rice into a bowl. Drizzle some of the donburi sauce and sprinkle some chopped green onion on top.

Pile on the tempuras. Finish off with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seed. 

Serve with donburi sauce on the side.  

TEMPURA DONBURI/天丼

TEMPURA BATTER:

[ 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 cup cornstarch + 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 egg + 2/3 cup ice water ]

1. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg slightly and mix with the ice water. Stir in the dry ingredients, stirring only until mixed; the mixture will be slightly lumpy.
3. Dust shrimp, chunky-cut chicken, vegetables, etc with cornflour before dipping them into the batter.
4. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

DONBURI SAUCE:

[ 1½ cups water + 4 to 6 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce), to taste + 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake) + 2 – 3 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste + 1½ tablespoons cooking sake ]

1. In a small pot, add water and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Add shoyu, mirin and sake. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add brown sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves.
3. If you are not using the sauce immediately, let the sauce cool to room temperature and store in the fridge up to 5 – 7 days.

ASSEMBLY:

[ Fried assorted tempuras + donburi sauce + steamed rice + chopped green onion + roasted sesame seeds ]

1. Pile the rice into a bowl. Drizzle some of the donburi sauce and sprinkle some chopped green onion on top.
2. Pile on the tempuras. Finish off with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seed.
3. Serve with donburi sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

  7 months ago       429 notes
  food  donburi  tempura donburi  tendon  tempura  japanese food  food blog  

Preliminary work

  7 months ago       37 notes
  here's hoping the real thing will live up to the drawing  photographers on tumblr  

But really though, I don’t know why some people get curious over number of followers. To keep it short, I have enough followers to make it a reason to get up [real] early on the weekends to post something up before I go about my day. 

  7 months ago       9 notes

peegaw:

My newest conquest - a cherry red KitchenAid mixer. I just had to make a Hockney picture out of it because, quite frankly, every KitchenAid deserves to be Hockney-ed.

22 pounds of sexy red gloss and shiny metal. And it makes the most melodic whirring sound. I gave it a test-run yesterday with a No-Bake Coconut Cheesecake Recipe; there wouldn’t be a post on it though since I bought the wrong Agar-agar powder (gelatin substitute) and it turned the mixture green :| Might consider doing a re-post.

I kept patting it and singing Mandarin songs to it. I don’t even understand Mandarin. It’s that beautiful.

Posting this again because 1 year and 86 days later I’ve realized I’ve neglected it and will probably give it a good clean and shine later today to make up for it.

  8 months ago       26 notes
  kitchenaid  

Death is a funny thing. Sometimes you think it can change you, that it can push you to be better and do great things. And while this is true for most people, I want to share what it’s becoming for me.

I remember the first death I ever saw. We were assigned a patient for a case report and the two weeks following up to her death were spent history taking and doing physical exams. And talking about the nursing school she used to go to. And how she used to have thick, wavy hair that cascades down her back. And about boys. And about hair accesories.

The morning of the day she passed away she asked the residents if she could go home. We all took turns comforting her, saying that it’d be better if she stayed here because we’re trying to get her better. Besides, you have us, we said. She agreed and we all went about our day, planning to get her a thank you gift the next day for being so co-operative during our case report workup. I had my evening shift this particular day and during our task briefing I found out that there’s a transfusion planned for her. She didn’t even make it to our “strict-monitoring” list - reserved only for patients who, indelicate as it may seem to say so, are within an inch from death. So imagine my surprise when one of the student-nurses ran to tell us that there’s a patient “turning blue” in one of the rooms. Imagine my horror when I arrived in said room only to see her, seizing and showing signs of decortication and yes, turning blue. We got the crash cart and ambu bag ready and the resident on-call was ready to commence CPR, only to be shooed by the crying mother, saying she doesn’t want any attempts of resuscitation. I watched as she drew her last breaths, rubbing circles on her forearm and reciting short verses in attempts to soothe her. And then she was gone. I quietly gathered my kit and texted my groupmates about her passing. And on the drive home I cried. I cried and swore I would study my hardest and made a promise to myself to keep an attention at hematology and immunology (she was diagnosed with SLE) so that this disease may find its end one day.

But of course that promise lasted as long as any promise made out of misery would. Because before you got over the first death there was another, and another, and it keeps coming until it numbs you. Until it becomes nothing but a medical record you discuss over with your resident as to what causes it to happen. And now as I’m nearing the end of my pediatric rotation, I had entertained hopes that things will change. But as a patient came in to the P-ICU with paraquat intoxication with a predicted 1 week of life left, we merely offered obligatory condolences to the family while we watch for signs as the poison circulates through the kidneys and lungs, eager to see how close the prediction was.

It was spot on.

  8 months ago       34 notes
  medical anecdote of the month  

Watching this before I delve into my post-test cram session. Oh yeah.

  8 months ago       33 notes
  love actually  god i love this movie  looooooooove you hear?  procrastination nation  

Thank you! I’m glad you liked it, and to answer your question, there are a few things to consider before you equip your kitchen, so you’ll need to buy cookwares/utensils that: 

1: You will use often.

2. Have longetivity.

3. Saves time.

4. Are space friendly.

5. Are easy to clean.

Keeping that in mind, here’s my personal Do’s and Don’ts list:

Do’s:

- Saucepans

- Frying pans

- A Dutch oven, perhaps?

- A toaster oven - you’d be surprised at how capable it is at cooking a lot of things. I personally used one to cook many dishes in this blog.

- A toaster - because bread is cheap and you’re most likely to eat a lot of it.

- A colander or pasta strainer - same reason as above.

- A coffee maker, because everyone drinks coffee. Or, if you’re looking for something cheaper, an electric kettle.

- A good set of knifes and a sturdy chopping board.

- Blender; for days you want a quick smoothie or slushie.

- A set of plates and adequate number of cutleries, because no one wants to be missing a fork or spoon.

- Can opener, tongs, spatula

- Plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

Don’ts:

1. Blowtorch: Unless you plan on having creme brulee for breakfast or christmas pudding for dessert, it’s safe to keep the flame thrower for much later.

2. Fondue pot

3. Lazy Susan

4. Fancy Chinawares

…you get the point.

I hope this helps! If anyone wants to add to this list, feel free to do so.

  8 months ago       16 notes

Thanks for playing along, guys! Those who guessed cake, technically you’re not wrong. To Maakogo who guessed Devil’s Food Cake, here’s one for you, because it is exactly that in doughnut form. To Logician Magician who said

“Chocolate cake with a coffee to bring out the taste of the chocolate with a ganache?” 

Hats off to you Sir. I’d offer you one but you probably don’t have much of a sweet tooth. And a sweet tooth is definitely needed to enjoy these. I made them for the Sister’s friend’s birthday whose list of indulgences happens to include hefty amounts of sugar, chocolate and pasta. It’s less of a hassle than a whole cake and it’s a lot easier to share.

DEVIL’S FOOD DOUGHNUTS

CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS (recipe from LA Times)

[ 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate + 3 tablespoons butter + 3 cups (12.75 ounces) flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa + 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup sour cream + 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla + 1/2 cup strong coffee, cooled + Canola oil for frying ]

In a glass bowl or measuring cup, combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter. Microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until the chocolate and butter have melted and are combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat in the sour cream, vanilla and melted chocolate.

Gently beat half of the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, into the egg mixture, then beat in the coffee. Continue to beat in the rest of the flour mixture, a spoonful at a time, until all of the ingredients are combined and a sticky dough is formed.

On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into a round just over one-half inch in thickness. Using a doughnut cutter, or 2 biscuit cutters (a larger one measuring 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter, and a smaller one measuring about 1 inch in diameter), cut the dough into doughnuts, spacing the doughnuts as close as possible.

Collect the scraps and roll out to form another batch of doughnuts (note that this batch may be a little tougher than the first as the dough has been worked).

Fill a deep fryer with oil, or fill a large pot to a depth of at least 3 inches, and heat to a temperature of 350 degrees.

Gently place the doughnuts in the fryer, being careful not to crowd. Fry the doughnuts on each side until puffed and golden, about 4 minutes, flipping every 30 seconds or so.

Drain the doughnuts on a rack and cool slightly.

GANACHE FROSTING:

[ 10 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped + ½ cup water (or cream) + ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter ]

Melt the chopped chocolate with the water (or cream) in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted.

Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk them into the chocolate until completely melted and the ganache is smooth.

Cool until spreadable, which may take about 1-2 hours at room temperature (I actually just put it in the fridge to speed up the process)

Frost doughnut as desired.

Enjoy!

  8 months ago       100 notes
  food  devil's food doughnut  doughnut  donut  dessert  chocolate