lundi 22 septembre 2008

Mam Chung

Being someone who's Vietnamese, I guess I could say I'm used to the "acquired tastes and smells" of Vietnamese cuisine. Let's face it. Fish sauce stinks. You know what else? The equally wonderful tastes of the various "mam" popular in Vietnam. Ca Loc (as I know it), which I think is Snakehead Fish, is the main ingredient in this dish that I love. Usually, it's sold in a jar form whole (or at least what my mom buys) and then chopped into bits and mixed with ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, chopped bits of thai chili peppers (CRAZY spicy if you get the right kind) and eggs. I think the original recipe, (seen here) called for duck egg, extra egg yolk (also duck) and salted duck egg yolks and some seasonings, like white pepper, salt (yes, as if it isn't salty enough), ample sugar, and a good mixing. After that, it's steamed until it's cooke dall the way through. In the video, she did say that she doesn't put the egg yolk on top 'cause she feels that it adds nothing to the flavor, just a decoration. I like the yolk on top 'cause it makes me happy just by looking at it. Contrary to what she might tell you, I really like the texture of the steamed egg yolk. I mean...it's kinda spongy, but it doesn't seem to absorb the super salty flavors, and instead seems to always be just right. Needless to say, I like eggs. This dish's completed form is best seen here, where it was mistakenly labled a "quiche". I don't think so; what a misnomer. <.<

It is usually eaten with cucumbers, lettuce, and/or sliced lotus root. I, however, do not like any of those, so choose to weirdly eat it with pickled leeks which looks slightly different from the version I buy in the asian store, but it's close enough. It has a tart and sweet taste, and lends a crunchy counterpart to the dense, meaty, and salty mem chung. I don't recommend this combination, really to anyone else, unelss you've tried the other options and hate it, too. This is a personal preference. However, it always seems to excite me, but for now, I'll get back to the unexciting world of my ancient cities test.


HT

mercredi 10 septembre 2008

War Against the Microwaves

Not a fan of food-nuking (something funny happens to foods taste and texture-wise), I decided to put a whole bowl of leftover rice onto a steamer basket in my rice cooker. It fits, bowl and all. It works. I win! Again!

And whilst my rice was being reheated, the water boiling underneath was cooking some Chinese broccoli. Awesomeness.

On a side note, heated up chili radish tastes peculiar.

samedi 6 septembre 2008

A Revelation of a Button

On the previous post, I mentioned the steam cook function and how I believed that it was a function that kept the rice cooker cooking without automatically jumping to the warm mode. Well, if that's true, THEN I BELIEVE I CAN MAKE JA-PAN (puns and more puns, 'pan' is bread in Japanese) #2! With this video:

Yep. And by the way, that rice cooker you see in that video is a Zojirushi. What? You want to know what Yakitate!! Japan is about? Well, from what I remember, it's about this young boy with abnormally warm hands. And in the baking world, it is a special to have such an ability (warm hands equal 'solar hands'). Why? Because yeast thrives in warm environments, yeast is found in breads, and therefore bread rises faster and at a better quality as a result of these hands. :O And if you're wondering why the pair of hands in the video "glow" momentarily, it's the solar hands kicking into action.

What? It's in Japanese? Yes. Can't understand? Read the subtitles. <.< Fine. No? Here:

Yakitate!! Japan #2
350g bread flour
21g butter
21g sugar
35cc milk
180cc water
5g dry yeast
6.5g salt

1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Add the yeast (can be mixed with some water prior to adding).
3. Add [warm?] water and milk.
3. Mix.
4. Knead.
5. Add [room temperature?] butter.
6. Knead until it is no longer sticky.
7. Allow dough to rise in a warm place for 60 minutes.
8. Drop dough from a height of 50cm to allow excess air out.
9. Rise in a warm place for 60 minutes.
10. Cook in rice cooker for 60 minutes.
11. Turn par-cooked bread over.
12. Cook in rice cooker for 60 minutes.
13. Turn almost-done bread over.

14. Cook in rice cooker for 60 minutes.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHIMSOEXCITEDICANTWAITTOTRYITAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...
I'll "translate" the recipe later. If I still feel like it.


On a different topic, here's some deadly mochi:


eek.

-TW

vendredi 5 septembre 2008

Dorm Cooking: Rice Cookers

I refuse to go to dining halls. Therefore I've been cooking in my room. Or using my meal plan at Taco Bell (rarely) and that store in Bragaw (or whatever that building in front of Lee is). So what have I learned so far?

The rice cooker is very VERY versatile. I've made mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, cooked rice, and cooked meat in it. And attempted to make HK-style milk tea (which involves boiling the life out of a mixture of black tea leaves, contrary to the 'rules' of tea brewing). All with a rice cooker. And I'm not talking about a fancy and costly Zojirushi either. I'm talking about some cheap rice cooker with two functions: 'cook' and 'warm.' An 'off' button would be pretty nice too but you could always unplug that appliance after each use (saves a bit of energy too!) Granted, mine is a bit fancier, having these buttons: off, warm, white rice, brown rice, steam cook, and delay timer. Let's break it down even further:

OFF: I like this button. I really do. I'd rather not bend over and touch that dusty plug every time I finished. I'm lazy like that (however, pickiness in food > laziness). Though not necessary if you're going to unplug it anyways.

WARM: Incredibly useful. See, earlier I made mashed potatoes and then left for class. When I came back, the mashed potatoes were still warm but NOT burnt. If I left it at one of the cooking functions, I think I'd return to a crusty bottom. I think this is a must.

WHITE RICE: Rice. I live on this stuff. Not a fan of brown rice at all, so all I eat is white rice. Sometimes black rice but that's for dessert. And I don't make it. My brother knows how to though. I think the dessert I'm thinking about is Thai. Also a must (two-functioners simply call this 'cook').

BROWN RICE: Uh. No idea what this does. I never used it. All I know is that brown rice requires a longer cooking time. And that it just has a nasty texture. Sure, it's healthier and college students should be eating well. But no. No brown rice for me. No. No. NO. By the way, ever tried sushi made from brown rice? It's the nastiest thing ever.

STEAM COOK: I don't steam things often. I could though. But I just don't have foods that need to be steamed. Yet. But I've steamed some vegetables before. But I'm a vegetable boiler. Sure, it's 'unhealthier' or something. But I don't care. You think I care? I just want good food. Anyways, this function has been incredibly useful for me. But it isn't necessary. Why? You could do the same thing with a two-function rice cooker. How? Just fill the container with a lot of water and press cook. However, don't completely close the lid. You can "close" the lid but not allowing it to completely close, which can be done by either propping it open by jamming/obstructing it with a semi-sacrificial chopstick or something [preferably] clean. Or you can leave it wide open like a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos where the hippos have a case of lock-jaw. Though you're going to lose a lot more water that way, resulting in you having to return every so often to refill the reservoir. But the methods I mentioned cause the dual-functioned rice cookers to not stop cooking. Now back to my rice cooker. Why do I like this function? Because I lose less water that way! And less of the water dripping everywhere (yay for condensation). And despite the name, I can do more than just steam: I can BOIL stuff! Yes, the dual-functioners can do this too with the unclosed-lid methods. And yes, they would do that too if you completely closed the lid, but... I don't think it'll stay on 'cook' mode as long before jumping to the warming mode.

DELAY TIMER: Uh, never used that button. But I'm thinking it's like those sleeper functions on music players, only backwards. I don't think you would want to soak white rice before cooking it though. Unless you want what I think would result in a congee-like rice. Eew. But if it didn't aversely affect rice, I guess it would be pretty useful to use this function so that you'd get freshly cooked rice right when you wake up without having to wake up approximately thirty minutes earlier to prepare it. Eh, I'd rather cook what I want and then keep it on the warming mode.


For some reason though, after a while on warming mode, my rice cooker makes my rice overly soggy on one part and chew-resistant on another part. I know probably all rice cookers do this but the one I have at home takes a good while before that happens. But mine here does it much faster. And the one at home is a dualist. Therefore, more buttons does NOT necessarily equal better cooker.

And I just made mashed potatoes. They're surprisingly good. Yum.

Oh, and rice cookers have a significantly less chance of setting off sprinklers. But don't put a rice cooker right under one as a precaution. I'm sure it would actually set it off if you did anyways.

But to give the Zojirushi rice cookers some credit, you can cook bread in it. Deliciously incredible bread. I have yet to do that in my own rice cookers (which are of the Aroma brand). What's this bread, you ask? Watch some 'Yakitate!! Japan.' HAHAHAHAHAHA...or look it up online somewhere.

-TW

The Becoming

This food blog (though it'll probably be tangentially be about food most of the time) is so random. WHY!? D: *panics*

[17:03] [TW]: we should make a food blog
[17:03] [TW]: ;D
[17:03] [TW]: you want to?
[17:03] [TW]: ;D
[17:03] [TW]: ;D
[17:03] [TW]: ;D
[17:04] [HT]: ah
[17:04] [HT]: hehe
[17:04] [HT]: yes
[17:04] [HT]: oki
[17:04] [HT]: we'll try food
[17:04] [HT]: well
[17:04] [HT]: we'll blog on stuffs we know first
[17:04] [HT]: and then
[17:04] [HT]: later
[17:04] [HT]: on stuff we've tried together
[17:04] [HT]: :-D
[17:04] [TW]: :D
[17:04] [HT]: eating btw
[17:04] [TW]: k
[17:04] [HT]: so not very responsive
[17:04] [HT]: :-D
[17:05] [TW]: you should think of a name while you're eating
[17:05] [TW]: ;D
[17:06] [HT]: haha
[17:06] [HT]: ok
[17:06] [HT]: well
[17:06] [HT]: epicurious has already been taken
[17:06] [TW]: im hungry
[17:06] [HT]: ....
[17:06] [HT]: good eats has been taken
[17:06] [TW]: i think i'm going to eat 5 tacos again
[17:06] [HT]: haha
[17:06] [HT]: .........
[17:07] [HT]: wow
[17:07] [HT]: really?
[17:07] [HT]: you can eat that many tacos?
[17:07] [TW]: Bunny Flavored Mashed Potatoes
[17:07] [HT]: i don't think I can
[17:07] [TW]: haha
[17:07] [TW]: *patpat*
[17:07] [TW]: keep thinking of names
[17:07] [TW]: Mashed Wallabies
[17:07] [TW]: :P
[17:08] [TW]: Mashed Bunnies
[17:08] [HT]: mashed bunny
[17:08] [TW]: :P
[17:08] [HT]: haha
[17:08] [TW]: XP
[17:08] [HT]: wel;l
[17:08] [HT]: wallabunny
[17:08] [HT]: haha
[17:08] [TW]: ;D
[17:08] [TW]: Mashed Wallabunny
[17:08] [HT]: hahah
[17:08] [HT]: yes
[17:08] [HT]: although that might scare people a bit
[17:08] [HT]: hahahah
[17:08] [TW]: ;D
[17:08] [TW]: doesnt matter
[17:08] [TW]: we're insane anyways
[17:09] [TW]: So...
[17:09] [TW]: Mashed Wallabunny?
[17:09] [TW]: Mashed Wallabunnies?
[17:09] [TW]: or another name?
[17:11] [HT]: idk
[17:11] [HT]: w/e you want
[17:11] [HT]: :-D
[17:15] [HT]: I've eaten two banh gios
[17:15] [HT]: omfg
[17:15] [HT]: it's so good
[17:15] [HT]: i would eat another one, but I think that'll be overkill
[17:15] [TW]: heh
[17:15] [TW]: wait
[17:15] [TW]: did you say FRESH mooncake the other day?
[17:16] [HT]: yes
[17:16] [HT]: homemade
[17:16] [TW]: :O
[17:16] [TW]: :O
[17:16] [TW]: :O
[17:16] [HT]: yeah
[17:16] [HT]: didn't i trll you about that?
[17:16] [HT]: *tell
[17:16] [TW]: you did
[17:17] [TW]: but i didnt realize it until today
[17:17] [TW]: :O
[17:17] [HT]: ......
[17:17] [TW]: :O
[17:17] [HT]: wth tracy
[17:17] [TW]: hmm?
[17:17] [TW]: i'm slow.
[17:17] [HT]: well
[17:17] [HT]: it
[17:17] [HT]: 'sis the kind
[17:17] [HT]: with the nuts
[17:17] [HT]: and the sausage
[17:17] [HT]: and the weird stuffs
[17:17] [HT]: ehhhh
[17:17] [HT]: I like the sausage
[17:17] [HT]: and the egg, but that's about it
[17:17] [HT]: haha
[17:17] [HT]: but that means I hate all the sweet stuffs
[17:17] [HT]: hhaha
[17:18] [TW]: heh
[17:19] [HT]: I ate the freshest one
[17:19] [HT]: the other ones
[17:19] [HT]: are those that I put in the fridge
[17:19] [HT]: 'cause
[17:19] [HT]: my family didn't put preservatives
[17:19] [HT]: so
[17:19] [TW]: heh
[17:19] [HT]: if it stays outside
[17:19] [HT]: it'll go bad
[17:19] [HT]: ...
[17:19] [HT]: so I have to nuke it
[17:19] [TW]: HOW DO YOU MAKE MOONCAKE AHHHHHH
[17:19] [HT]: and then eat
[17:19] [HT]: haha
[17:19] [HT]: idk
[17:19] [TW]: ;_;
[17:19] [HT]: but my aunts and my mom made them
[17:19] [HT]: while I was at school
[17:19] [HT]: and brought me some
[17:19] [HT]: the newest one
[17:19] [TW]: *holds sign* [feed meee ;_;]
[17:20] [HT]: which I've been eating the last two days
[17:20] [HT]: is the best
[17:20] [HT]: the other ones, which was from the first time
[17:20] [HT]: are still in my fridge
[17:20] [HT]: hahaha
[17:20] [TW]: ;_;
[17:20] [HT]: I have 4 from the first time
[17:20] [TW]: *hungryhungry*
[17:20] [HT]: stacy and I ate the mung bean one
[17:20] [TW]: i'll help you finish
[17:20] [TW]: ;D
[17:20] [TW]: ;D
[17:20] [TW]: ;D
[17:20] [TW]: ;D
[17:20] [HT]: awww
[17:20] [HT]: it's not fresh, though
[17:20] [HT]: and the first installment was kind bad
[17:20] [HT]: ...
[17:21] [TW]: *shrug*
[17:21] [TW]: *hungry*
[17:21] [TW]: ;_;
[17:21] [HT]: well
[17:21] [HT]: do you want me to bring it on monday?
[17:21] [HT]: and see if we can still eat it?
[17:21] [TW]: your choice
[17:21] [TW]: :P
[17:21] [HT]: ok
[17:21] [TW]: i'm having 5 tacos after this class
[17:21] [HT]: I'm not into mooncake anyway
[17:21] [TW]: me neither
[17:21] [TW]: :P
[17:21] [HT]: haha
[17:21] [HT]: I'll bring one then
[17:21] [TW]: heehee
[17:21] [HT]: 'cuase i have two
[17:21] [HT]: haha
[17:21] [HT]: left
[17:21] [HT]: hmm
[17:22] [HT]: I have to brush my teeth after this
[17:22] [HT]: and get ready for band
[17:22] [HT]: 'cause my saxophone, I don' thtink, can handle
[17:22] [HT]: fish sauce
[17:22] [TW]: hahahhaha
[17:22] [HT]: and moon cake
[17:22] [TW]: X)
[17:22] [HT]: and stuff I ate the fish sauce with
[17:22] [HT]: haha
[17:22] [TW]: :P
[17:22] [TW]: food storage system
[17:22] [TW]: ;D
[17:23] [TW]: *nibbles on your chapstick*
[17:23] [TW]: mmmmm, minty
[17:23] [TW]: *still hungry*
[17:23] [TW]: ;_;
[17:24] [TW]: so which should be used for name of blog again?
[17:26] [TW]: hahahaha
[17:26] [TW]: theres a food blog named: articles of mastication
[17:28] [HT]: hehe
[17:28] [HT]: :-D
[17:28] [HT]: idk
[17:28] [HT]: whatever you want
[17:28] [HT]: mashed wallabunny is ok
[17:28] [HT]: haha
[17:28] [HT]: although that might steer people away from the thought that it's a food blog
[17:28] [TW]: the mashed wallabuny?
[17:28] [TW]: bunny*
[17:29] [TW]: food blogs: http://www.foodblogblog.com/
[17:30] [HT]: ok
[17:30] [HT]: hmm
[17:30] [HT]: we're not that weird now that I've seen them
[17:30] [HT]: ....
[17:30] [HT]: wth
[17:30] [TW]: hmm?
[17:30] [HT]: trop bon?
[17:30] [HT]: haha
[17:30] [TW]: ?
[17:30] [HT]: too good?
[17:30] [HT]: haha
[17:30] [HT]: ok
[17:30] [HT]: that's weird
[17:30] [TW]: o.O
[17:30] [HT]: haha
[17:30] [HT]: brb
[17:31] [TW]: k
[17:31] [TW]: think of a good name while you're at it
[17:31] [TW]: ooooh
[17:31] [TW]: Mashed Wallabies and Spam
[17:31] [TW]: wait
[17:31] [TW]: Mashed Wallabunnies and Spam.
[17:32] [TW]: a play on mashed potatoes
[17:32] [TW]: and green eggs and ham
[17:32] [TW]: :P
[17:33] [HT]: haha
[17:33] [HT]: ok
[17:33] [HT]: ok
[17:33] [HT]: i like that
[17:33] [HT]: mashed wallabunnies and spam
[17:33] [TW]: haha
[17:34] [TW]: then what should the address be?
[17:34] [TW]: we can't be mashedwallabiesandspam.blogserverthingnamehere
[17:34] [HT]: haha
[17:34] [HT]: yeah
[17:34] [HT]: hmm
[17:34] [TW]: wallabunnies*
[17:34] [HT]: it should be something short
[17:34] [HT]: like
[17:34] [TW]: wallabunnies
[17:34] [HT]: mayonaise
[17:34] [TW]: o.O
[17:34] [HT]: hahahaha
[17:34] [TW]: how random
[17:34] [TW]: hmmm
[17:34] [HT]: I know
[17:35] [TW]: soooo
[17:35] [HT]: but I don't like mayonaise
[17:35] [HT]: so
[17:35] [TW]: mayonnaise.blogblogblog redirects to
[17:35] [TW]: MASHED WALLABUNNIES AND SPAM
[17:35] [HT]: let's do some food that we like
[17:35] [HT]: ok?
[17:35] [HT]: haha
[17:35] [HT]: you pick, ok?
[17:35] [HT]: I have practice
[17:35] [HT]: or maybe we can talk about it more later
[17:35] [TW]: OOOH
[17:35] [TW]: FISHSAUCE.BLOGSOT
[17:35] [TW]: spot*
[17:35] [HT]: ok
[17:35] [HT]: haha
[17:35] [HT]: ok
[17:35] [TW]: haha
[17:35] [TW]: XD
[17:35] [HT]: XDDD
[17:35] [HT]: fishsauce

***Note: Some lines were taken out because they were of interjections that didn't relate, as random as this conversation appears to be. And no, I (TW) don't nibble on chapstick.


And if you didn't want to read all that, here's the summary:
'Mashed Wallabunnies and Spam' is a play on 'mashed potatoes' and Dr. Suess's 'Green Eggs and Ham'. Mmmm, spiced ham. However, mashedwallabunniesandspam.blogspot would've been a bit long so we wanted fishsauce.blogspot. But fishsauce.blogspot wasn't available, so our address is...

http://spicyfishsauce.blogspot.com

Chyeah.


-TW