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At the beginning of the year, I made a promise to myself to only post once every month because work and studying has gotten to a point where there isn’t really a lot of room for compromise. But I’m breaking that today, because if you’re as much as a Miyazaki fan as I am, you might know that it was his birthday yesterday. So I’m dedicating this post to one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies, albeit not written by Miyazaki himself, Grave of the Fireflies.
The movie told a heartbreaking story of two Japanese siblings who were orphaned by the events of WWII. The film is both a powerful statement on the cruelty of war and the dangers of letting pride overrule responsibility, and it specifically addresses the plight of post-war Japanese orphans (who were often neglected by both extended family and state).
In this movie, the character Setsuko sets off her journey with a can of fruit drops, of which her brother Seita would give one whenever she feels sad. There was a bittersweet moment when there was none left, and in attempt to cheer her up Seita filled the can with water so it dissolved residual candy pieces and gave it to her to drink.
There are long, lingering shots on much of the food in this movie, whether it be a bowl of soup, a jar of pickled plums, a handful of fruit drops, or a rice ball. When someone is enjoying the thing they’re eating, it’s made very apparent.
I can’t say that everyone will agree, but personally I thought this jar of candy was worth all the rushing around and very close burn-calls from working with molten sugar.
LEMON DROPS:
[ 1 cup sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/2 cup water + 1 teaspoon lemon essence + 1-2 drops of yellow food colouring + icing/confectioner’s sugar for rolling ]
Coat a pair of kitchen scissors and a non-stick baking sheet with cooking spray.
Combine the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
When the sugar has dissolved, add the essence and food coloring and stir. Then stop and allow the mixture to cook at medium heat until it reaches hard crack stage/149°C/300°F.
Side note: If you don’t have a candy thermometer, don’t worry. I didn’t either. There is a method to test at what stage your mixture is. Simply have a bowl of cold water nearby. While the mixture boils, periodically check its stage by taking a tiny bit with a spoon and dropping it into the water. If you can roll it into a soft ball, it’s at the soft ball stage. If it becomes almost hard and snaps when bent, its at the hard crack stage. If this happens, quickly take it off the heat and pour into the baking tray and start stirring furiously.
Once at the correct temperature, remove from the heat and immediately pour the mixture out onto baking sheet.
Use a wooden spoon or pastry knife to move the mixture about until it is cool enough (but still hot and flexible) to handle.
When evenly distributed and just cool enough to handle, pull off pieces and roll them into ropes. Cut the ropes up immediately with the greased kitchen scissors into small pieces and drop them onto a plate of icing sugar.
Once all the mixture has been used up, roll the drops in icing sugar to coat them. This stops them from sticking together.
These will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Enjoy.
For this year, as opposed to making a long, long list of resolutions that will not live past the following month, I’ve decided to recount the last twenty-two years of my life and come up with five lessons that I’ve learned.
One, is that to change is a choice. Stop chanting the mantra “this year will be different” with the hope of instantly getting what you want, if you aren’t prepared to make better choices and act upon it. Start small. Like the yellowing of a leaf, change doesn’t have to be drastic. And remember that it is not always tangible, that sometimes the measure of change goes beyond just the physical.
Two, is to learn to forgive your loved ones. The robust man who once propped you up on his shoulders may now be balding and forgetting to call on your birthday. Don’t roll your eyes and scoff when the woman offers to pick out a dress for you, for she once sang and rocked you into sleep. Don’t ignore calls from the boy who showered you with flowers and gifts on your first Valentine’s together. He is as busy with school as you are. The little girl who used to hold your hand while crossing the street is now pacing about in her room studying for her exam. Take over her dish-washing duty tonight. Focus on the little things they do, how they made you feel at their best, and you’ll learn that forgiveness, whether it comes from or given to you, is beautiful.
Three, is to respect yourself. Know that respecting yourself doesn’t mean to only acknowledge accomplishments you’ve achieved. It also means to look after yourself, because this is it. One body, one mind and it’s all yours for the taking. Fill it with nutrients, enrich it, keep it away from harm. It is no one’s responsibility but yours.
Four, is to rise to the occasion. Give it your all and should you meet a dead end, retrace your steps to find safe ground, then try again. Remember, many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Five, is to allow yourself to be happy. Being happy doesn’t mean neglecting responsibilities. You should not feel guilty for being happy, because it is one of life’s greatest blessings. Try to do things that will make you smile. It could be taking that course you’ve always wanted to do, or it could be something as simple as having an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert.
NO-CHURN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM (recipe by Cenk of Cafe Fernando)
[ 1 can (14-ounce/400 grams) sweetened condensed milk + 3/4 cup whole milk + 3/4 cup heavy cream + 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely + 1/4 cup cocoa powder + 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or two tablespoons freshly-brewed espresso) + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + A pinch of fine sea salt + 5 teaspoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons water ]
In a heavy-bottomed large pan, whisk sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and heavy cream until combined. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
Take off heat and add the finely-chopped chocolate, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk until the chocolate melts and the cocoa powder is completely dissolved.
Mix cornstarch and cold water in a bowl with a fork until completely dissolved, and add to the ice cream base. Whisk until combined.
Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan to prevent burning, until thickened, for 8-10 minutes.
Transfer to a heatproof bowl and set aside, uncovered, to cool for half an hour. Don’t worry if a skin forms on top. When the bowl is cool enough to handle, cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.
Before transferring the chilled ice cream to the freezer, stir or whisk to dissolve the skin on top and scrape into a container.
Cover with plastic, this time pressing the wrap against the ice cream to create an airtight seal.
Put the lid on (or cover with an additional layer of plastic wrap) and freeze until firm enough to scoop.
Enjoy!
Thank you to all of you guys for the well-wishes. I’m so overwhelmed by the kind messages left by readers and friends, so to show my appreciation I went through my inbox in search for long-forgotten foodwishes and decided that for every time I steal a chance at cooking, it would be to make up for them, even the ones made by anons.
This particular opportunity came on a Sunday afternoon. Check out the date this foodwish was sent in. This post is a long time coming.
I must have read this message once because I already made the salt & pepper chicken wings.
I made a tiny adjustment to a traditional melonpan recipe (which involves adding the essence of melon or melon flavoring) by adding ground up Oreo bits into the cookie batter to achieve a marbled look. In any case, this goes out to the anon and any curious souls who wants to know how to make them.
MELONPAN
Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.
Whisk the egg together with the warm water.
Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms. Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes. The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.
Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar. Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated. The dough should soften a little at this point. Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.
Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter. Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes. You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.
Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.
Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.
Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.
Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.
ASSEMBLY:
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.
Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.
Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.
Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.
Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.
MELONPAN
Bread dough:
[ 8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed + 1 tablespoon nonfat dried milk powder + 1 teaspoon instant yeast + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/3 cup warm water + 1 large egg, beaten + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature ]
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, milk powder and salt.
- Whisk the egg together with the warm water.
- Using a dough hook, mix the egg-water in with the flour until its all mixed in. The mixture might look quite dry, with not all the flour being mixed in, but this is okay. Mix at low speed until a rough dough forms. Increase the speed, and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes. The dough should have a rather stiff consistency.
- Decrease the speed to low, and slowly add the sugar. Mix until the sugar is fully incorporated. The dough should soften a little at this point. Increase the speed to medium, and knead for about 10 minutes.
- Again decrease the speed to low, and add the softened butter. Knead until mixed in, 2 or 3 minutes. You may need to add a little additional flour to help it fully incorporate; do so by spoonfuls.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a lightly oiled container and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
- While the dough is rising, make the cookie crust.
Cookie crust:
[ 6 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon baking powder + a pinch of salt + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 large egg + 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 5-6 Oreos, frosting removed and ground pretty finely.
- Place the butter and sugar in the KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at high speed, scraping down the sides, until the butter and sugar are fully combined and turn to a pale yellow color.
- Incorporate the egg at low speed. Add the flour and the baking powder and mix until just combined. If you’re using the Oreos, you can fold them into the mixture at this point to create a rippled/marbled effect.
- Remove from the bowl, shape into a log, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm.
ASSEMBLY:
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll each dough piece into a tight ball and set aside.
- Remove cookie crust from refrigerator and cut into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into a circle and, with the back of a knife, make a cross-hatch pattern in the dough, being very careful not to cut through the dough.
- Place cookie on top of roll, or roll on top of cookie and wrap the cookie crust around the roll. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up.
- Sprinkle sugar over the cookie crust on each bun.
- Bake in 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks.
Enjoy!
I opened my Tumblr mail during my procrastination study break and found that the wonderful Aina of Red + Black Apron has chosen my blog to be one of the recipients of the Laine Blogger Award. This award was originally intended for beauty bloggers but they realized that it would be for everyone’s benefit if this award is shared and extended to other sectors of the blogging industry.
The following are the rules with regard to giving out this award:
1. Link back to the blogger who awarded you
2. Blog about the award
3. Give the award to 5 other bloggers and let them know
Since I’m already done with the first two steps, let’s proceed to the last one. Although it took a while to decide, I’ve decided to send the awards out to these 5 bloggers (and since pictures speak louder than words, I’ve decided to let the pictures do all the talking) :
3. Belly of Ecuador:
Enjoy!
Hi there!
First of all, a teacher of mine once said that while it’s admirable to pass down your knowledge, it is also wise to save the aces up your sleeves just in case your pupil stabs you in the back. Keeping that in mind, I’ll spill almost all the beans out (the important ones anyway) about my post editing techniques and they are as follows:
1. Getting the “Pretty-grungy-bluey-darky photo”
That’s achieved by having a room that has no windows save for one in the corner, which I pushed my photography table next to. The lack of light creates great shadow cast on the ingredients, so I take no credit for that whatsoever.
2. Photo editing program
I actually don’t use Photoshop. I use a much cheaper, much easier to manouver post-editing program called Paint.Net. And to achieve the look that I want, I use two editing methods, one is in one of these choices:
and the next is in one of these choices:
I suppose I’ll let you guys experiment with the program to guess which ones they are.
No post-editing session is the same for me. Sometimes when I get lazy or when I’m rushing, it shows. It all depends on how well you can identify potential awesome few from a sea of photographs
and tinkering with the brightness, contrast, focus, sharpness and whatnots to get the most out of them.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking and pick up that camera and keep practicing. You’ll find your niche, promise!
I have a confession to make.
I have never been to a Mexican food restaurant (or many other authentic ethnic restaurants save for Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Jordanian, Syrian or Indian, for that matter).
There, I’ve said it.
So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a recipe for a drink called Horchata - a rice milk based drink flavored with sugar and vanilla infused with the fragrances of cinnamon. Obviously I had to add my own spin on it and make it into a smoothie (topped with whipped cream and caramel syrup, just because) because days are blistering hot and they last forever here in the equator.
Do try this because it is pretty simple and you’ll be rewarded with a sweet, creamy drink that pretty much tastes like a bowl of liquid rice pudding that you can feel good about drinking since it’s good for you (look up benefits of rice milk!)
HORCHATA SMOOTHIE:
[ 2/3 cup white rice + 3 cups warm water + 1 2-inch (5cm) cinnamon stick + 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste + 1 1/2 to 2 cups regular milk + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 4 tablespoon condensed milk, or to taste + whipped cream and caramel syrup to serve.
In a large bowl combine uncooked rice, warm water and cinnamon stick. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours, preferrably overnight. Remove from the refrigerator, remove the cinnamon stick, and blend the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed, or until blended as smoothly as possible.
Strain horchata through a sieve or cheesecloth and pour into ice trays and freeze.
Combine rice milk ice cubes with milk, sugar, salt, condensed milk and vanilla extract and blend for 2 minutes, or until mixture is as smooth as possible.
For the amount of sugar and condensed milk, start off by adding the smallest amount and taste after each blitz of the blender. If you feel that it’s lacking, simply add some more and then blitz again after each addition.
Serve immediately topped with whipped cream, caramel syrup and ground cinnamon.
HORCHATA SMOOTHIE:
[ 2/3 cup white rice + 3 cups warm water + 1 2-inch (5cm) cinnamon stick + 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste + 1/2 to 2 cups regular milk + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ] OPTIONAL: 4 tablespoon condensed milk, or to taste + whipped cream and caramel syrup to serve.
- In a large bowl combine uncooked rice, warm water and cinnamon stick. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours, preferrably overnight. Remove from the refrigerator, remove the cinnamon stick, and blend the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed, or until blended as smoothly as possible.
- Strain horchata through a sieve or cheesecloth and pour into ice trays and freeze.
- Combine rice milk ice cubes with milk, sugar, salt, condensed milk and vanilla extract and blend for 2 minutes, or until mixture is as smooth as possible
- Serve immediately topped with whipped cream, caramel syrup and ground cinnamon.
Enjoy!
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 ]
- 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.
Enjoy!
Sounds like a foodwish to me! It shall now be added to the list of food to [eventually] make, which also includes previously made foodwishes:
Rojak Sotong
Bowtie Pasta Soup
Melonpan
Nutella Croissant
Xiaolongbao
Butter Chicken
Kaachi Biryani
Sweet Potato Puree Soup
