What I felt like eating: something savoury, with a slightly bitter drink
What I had in mind: Indomie Goreng with a side of mugicha
What I ended up having: a banana.
That is a triumph of nutritional temperance over wild tastebud desires. However way it is spun, I feel a bit sad...
Olla people.
Probably two non-blogging months is a respectable distance to start putting my experiences into perspective, or write some sort of narrative to them.
First up: teaching.
It goes pretty well so far. My assigned classes are alright. The syllabus, which is pretty much standardised (and which I got to jig about a few months back), is showing me how I can make my life more liveable. I write an immense amount of comments on the works I mark: in itself the act is not exactly a chore as I tend to chortle a lot on paper. However, multiply that by 20+ and the tasks get pretty intense by the end of the day. I was told that the amount of time that I spend marking students' works is "way too much." Students, if you are reading this then be thankful that you have a lecturer who actually bothers correcting almost every single mistake you make. They do find out about me from my virtual paper trails, but that's another story in itself...
Second topic: digital consumer ware.
I managed to bungle my dad's pocket camera's lens motion software, and I haven't exactly saved up enough to buy a nice new digipocket camera, so it's the Drone Phone's job (minus t3h personal assistant yours truly.) It's boring black in colour, as opposed to whingey white. Not exactly the easiest personal electronic device to extract picture files from. Sulk please.
Following the limitations that (1) numbers cannot be carried over across different mobile network providers (boo!) and (2) the Drone Phone's minuscule SIM card slot, I got myself a new mobile phone number... which comes with an easily recitable number and a sometimes-dodgy network coverage. Oh well.
Third topic: socialising.
Sometime in December I met up with Mr John of the Orford fame, who happened to be soaking up some winter sun and culture. Quite an interesting man whom I hope would make the sun-seeking behaviour a more regular part of his travel itinerary. Hoping to see him again at in a year's time, and hoping to extract that photo of him in flip-flops out of my mum's now-defunct mobile phone.
Also, there was a picture of me in a glossy magazine out earlier this month. It wasn't exactly for my work, though. Well, there's room for improvement I guess :)
Fourth topic: culinary pursuit.
Out of all those mint tisanes I drank in the past few months, I finally managed to get a green-tinged ice cream using only mint and no colouring. Considering my first attempt for mint stracciatella resulted in a sand-coloured concoction, it's a progress in the right direction.
I'm also looking forward to honing my no-yolk recipe as a form of homage to my favourite ice-cream joint. For the record, the runner-up is Gentong, surprisingly enough a native of Jakarta. Lickme is third, and that Lygon gelati place is off the charts - I don't miss it anymore. I haven't practised my mini-cake skills for almost a year. Geez, that means I haven't seen Bandit for almost a year.
Fifth topic: daily commuting.
Er, it's not exactly commuting because I drive a car to get around. Verrrrry bad for the environment, unless I ride a manually leg-powered bicycle. When I get to choose between the two, I choose the car, because I'd rather turn up at work smelling olfactorily inoffensive. It's almost impossible not to sweat when travelling by public transportation in Jakarta (taxis excluded.)
Plus, in the past three days I got hit/swiped by motorcycles on two different occasions. On both times my car was stationary when my rear bumper got hit. On hit #1 the errant gap-weaving motorcycler ran off (I wish I have some sort of projectile weaponry to deal with this sort of road users), and on hit #2 I managed to fan off my frustrations to the remorseful-looking motorcycler (his mind was somewhere else when he squarely ran into the middle of my bumper.) Really, it takes lots of patience to drive myself here.
On Anne, Mag, KY, Heidi and those VIPs in London:
I miss them. My work (both teaching and studio work) excites me but when I catch glimpses of their life online (when I actually have some time off) it makes me wonder what they would say to get my arse moving better. Maybe their reactions would be a mixture of wonderment, disgust and laissez-faire... who knows. I care about them anyway.
Which brings me to this rather existentialist question:
Fruit-shopping today yielded an interesting result. Check picture below.
I'm snowing myself under lots of work. It's the usual combination of pleasure derived from overachievement mixed with addiction to cramming-induced adrenaline. I find myself doing things like a gnat: jumping from reading a book to reading online articles to Facebooking, and checking my phone for missed calls when the buzzing noise happened to come from the aircon. In short, it's super jumpy mode, which is truly a reverse of 'the usual' blue screen of death™ panic variety.
Well I guess, when in doubt take care of yourself and brush your teeth.
I really, really miss eating biltong.
Apologies for the few-weeks' break. I'm blaming an excess surge of happy hormones and lack of machinists that make keeping my feet on the ground (and blog-posting) that little bit harder. I find myself staring onto the screen some nights, working out what to say (complaints? socio-economic observations? education?) whilst rolling about and giggling. Not exactly the first image one would come up with reading this blog, but it was truthful.
On the current affairs front, the delays involved with sprucing up the SEA Games complex reminded me of the Delhi Commonwealth Games fiasco last year. It made me think what is seriously wrong with this side of the world's propensity towards lax time-keeping in project management and execution? Does it have something to do with countries whose name start with I-N-D? How much of this inherent cultural laxness that resides in me that I can expel, reduce or control?
(I felt tempted to float the idea 'channel laxness towards other more lax-friendly areas in life', but laxness is like rotting teeth - not good.)
On the analogy front, I came up with a good phrase at the end of my gastro-intestinal problems. I haven't been in my physiologically prime since I came back: twisting my ankle, getting a cold, falling into a ditch... but nothing beats October's spectacle of eating cheap ice-cream. My sister suggested it; in the heat of the day (and worlds away from my favourite gelateria) it seemed like a good thing. Until I finished the two sticks I bought, realised they weren't that good to begin with, wondered why I compromised myself in the ice-cream stake... and got diarrhoea. It was a bit like going for one-night stands and getting a nasty VD. (Well, toldja.)
So I got an ice-cream maker at the end of the month and started churning my own stuff for personal consumption. My grandma's feedback was that 'it was cold and it melted'. Yes grandma, it's ice-cream.
On the socialising front, I'm spending a lot more time with my sister compared to what it was like between May and August. Also, I bumped into a certain Mr, which was enjoyable and quite funny towards the end. Maybe we can swap yams with gelati, or even do a yam-flavoured collaboration.
(If my dad asked to do me a gelati flavour I'd do cassava leaf, in honour of his fondness of the stuff.)
Anyway, more serious posts coming up. I've got a teaching gig starting in early December, I've gone through each subject's syllabus, and I'm doing prep work for them. Stay tuned for actions from the classroom front, on earning a 'Miss Killer' moniker without creating any mutiny, running a workshop and heavy-duty socialising. Challenging days ahead!
Hello, it's a rare post today, one dedicated to culinary techniques!
A few weeks back my sister and I [re]discovered our mutual interest in gastronomic delights. Having said that, there was one thing that stuck after many nights spent watching cooking shows: making my own butter (cow not included.) So, having done my day job, I proceeded to do this butter-making thing. There are plenty of instructions of how to make butter available online, so I'm going to concentrate on the experience of making it.
I'm quite familiar with an electric beater/mixer, having used them extensively for cakes and pastries and all sorts of things in the past. I'm also familiar with how things like eggs and cream turn choppy-liquid-fluffy when they are run under a mixer. Well, butter-making takes cream-beating to another level: curdly and separatist*.
*we ain't militants.
I took a few pictures of the venture so that you could see what I mean:
And a video so that we can share how the butter-wrapping process went:
The whole process takes about 20 minutes from start to clean-up, and since butter is roughly 80% fat, you can work out your per-pot yield from the fat content of your pot of cream. Plus, for happy cats and happy humans, there's the added bonus of buttermilk at the end of it. As for myself, the fact that butter-making is so technical (i.e. "watch until physical properties turn XYZ") appeals to me and my that-line-is-almost-straight sensibility. Maybe this is the attraction that draws guys towards steak-making pyrotechnics.
A few tips if you decide to go butter-making:
- get your paper rounds ready before you start beating the cream
- a standing mixer is a great boon (KitchenAid, anyone?)
- spatter-guard helps guard clothes from spatters (especially towards the end)
- a silicone scraper and clean cheesecloth are handy for packaging
Alright then, that's all for now, I better get back to the pattern table!
Today being Sunday (one of my assigned day offs), I bothered to cook dinner from scratch. The menu was oxtail and carrot stew with a serving of rice, steamed broccoli and steamed egg. I used a rice cooker to cook rice and steam at the same time... yea I know it sounds pedantic but it saves me some washing-up and the added health benefit (less oil) isn't too bad.
Being hungry, I was pretty impatient with the beef and all, and barely put up with the leisurely rice cooker. A few minutes before the cooker said 'bing!', I scooped out some rice, fished out a few cuts of tail, poured some sauce on the rice, and dumped the sides on the plate. And I ate.
Gnawing oxtail meat isn't pleasant.
(Lesson #1: cook it before getting out of the house. Rice, oxtail and all.)
A while later, I did some dental work. Some rogue stringy meat had made its way in between my teeth, making me feel as if my gums had multiplied and suffocated my teeth overnight. A few metres of floss were employed, as did a variety of other, ahem, homely devices. After cleaning the mess inside my mouth and realising it had all transferred onto the sink, I cleaned the sink and all (my flatmate would later be wondering what had gone so wrong whilst she was away.) Which brought me to a realisation...
Lesson #2: Cif (a.k.a. Jif) had just found a new cleaning role.
Whilst cleaning the sink, I accidentally found out that:
I was very nervous when I decided to sink my watch (excuse the pun) into the solution. But an hour later my watch still runs good. So, it looks like cleaning my watch is similar to cleaning the sink. Albeit more gentle.
One more thing, I am endearing myself to the mammoth that is the cycle hire bike. The weight itself isn't much of a problem, but cycling uphill is a gruesome task. I prefer downhill with a good set of brakes.
Oh well, that's all for today.
Boiling an egg (amongst preparing other things) for dinner.
Whilst standing near the stove, a story came to mind. Back in the days of kiddyhood, my mother used to tell me 'papa kamu' (i.e. my dad - her speak) was a very thrifty student when the country sent him to study overseas. It was apparent from the way he prepared his breakfast: pop an egg into a pot of water, heat it up until it boils, pick up the egg and use the water to brew his coffee (and I presume he'd have some toast on the side? for carbs? It'd be a hard sell to believe he had no morning dose of carbs.)
A breakfast that remains largely unchanged as he gets on with life. I still have a love-hate relationship with parboiled egg to this day.
And, apparently, one that is fading as mod-cons come specifically for boiling water and poaching eggs.
Take care.
Pardon the title.
Having been raised in the little-supervision-and-maybe-not-enough-discipline camp, I have noted that I tend to work best under pressure. Not undue pressure, but just enough to perk up concentration and effort. Such as times like these... ah, for goodness sake I am meant to pattern-cut, not wail on my blog.
Anyhow.
Look at what I did last night! Here comes visualbite:
(Guess how it went for me last night.)
So yes, probably mild hunger is good. Although prolonged hunger is not preferred, and rational-sounding hunger ("I must be 8-stone skinny" types) are not quite physiologically justified.
And after attending a visual communication lecture earlier, why didn't we have this talk two months earlier I feel like this blog needs to be typed out or laid out in InDesign... any pointers, dear readers?
Take care.
Did anyone who reads The Times notice that AA Gill and somebody else (I forgot who and which paper - but one I read recently) both did reviews for the same restaurant?
Review-wise, it has to be said my favourite columnist so far is still the characteristically unapologetic Giles of the Coren fame. If only he comes in vacuum-packed portions...
That aside, it's one paper down. A few more tribulations to go :))
Enjoy your Sunday!
Given my decision to go pescatarian for Lent, I've been pushing the kitchen guys at work to prepare nice vegetables-based dishes - staff members aren't allowed to order fish dishes to bring home due to exorbitant piscine prices. Veg satay (sans peanut sauce) is good, and the head chef is particularly talented with stir-fries, so I've been ordering broccoli in ginger and garlic sauce (along with sauce-less veg satay) for takeaways. So, what is the secret to mouth-watering stir fried vegetables?
Apparently, they are "hot wok" and "parboiled vegetables".
Something worth trying when I get my hands on a good stove.
With my recent stray into the goodness of baking, I'd say finding plain round pastry cutters in an assortment of sizes is like looking for needle in a haystack. They're non-existent.
Baking made me buy something, the thing being a set of plastic/polyethylene cutters in primary-school-kid-will-brag shapes of rabbits, bicycles, rugby ball and umbrella for £2 (okay deal price-wise.) The colours, too, are bright. Well, let's say that other than the square, rectangular, diamond and circle shapes... the rest aren't exactly my piece of cake. Which made the per unit cost stand at 50p a cutter. Not bad, considering the teddy head cutter at Japan Centre costs £2.50 apiece. But then, that might be just because it's pricey Japan Centre...
As expected, baking also made me eye a few other things.
Since I was quite unhappy with the selection I had, I asked a friend to lend me a few. So she did - they were her granny's. They were, surprise surprise, plain stainless steel round pastry cutters in nine sizes, and they nestle within each other... how neat is that! A quick word with her didn't lead to where it was purchased (other than the faint markings that they were bought for £8.58 excluding VAT), but she mentioned John Lewis. So off to on-line John Lewis I went.
Here are a few things that I found interesting:
- set of measuring spoons
- cookie cutters in star and snowflake patterns
- double-edged pastry cutters (how high are they?)
- old-school icing bag and nozzles
- this cute imprinter for cookies (pretty please!)
I don't think I will buy all of them... but it's nice to have a list of kitchen gadgetry I fancy, I guess.
Ooooh, and why John Lewis?
Maybe because it's next to school. The admin/library building, I mean.
And, looking at these things remind me of how I loved to spend my afternoons inside home shops, scrutinizing every single knick-knack that people could come up with. Some are still in 'fascination' stage (namely the Kitchen Aid stand mixer in red). A few came home with me: handheld egg beater, Zyliss ice-cream scoop in pale Vespa green. Most things, like oilcloth aprons and the Alessi Spider, stayed firmly in the shops though.
(According to my design/cultural studies tutor, the Spider didn't get juice out of citrus fruits as sleek and effective as advertised, but I won't say more on that until I try it out myself.)
Last thing I'm gonna do is sing praise to the Zyliss ice-cream scoop that didn't make its journey across the world from Melbourne. It was the first ice-cream scoop I bought myself (without consulting anyone else), the heaviest, the cutest-coloured, probably the most expensive one I've ever bought. It's easy to clean. Despite my propensity to bend spoons in vain attempt to chisel morsels of frozen foodstuff away, and a history of successfully breaking the release mechanism on two ice-cream scoopers (one being made entirely of metal), the Zyliss scooper stood/worked/stayed in shape. If it wasn't for its weight, I would've happily nicked it from the utensils drawer in April before returning to London.
Alright, enough of that now.
Have a good day! ^__^
I love good food.
However, one of the last things I would do is to slave away for one-and-a-half hours in the kitchen to prepare a meal at the end of a long day. I'd like to share a nifty recipe for a quick and quite nutritionally balanced dish, one that I learnt on my first few days studying away from home... thanks to dad (I modified it, though.) It's suitable for vegetarians - sorry vegans, haven't quite worked out how it'd be for you folks. The best thing about it is: it doesn't involve any cooking pans' washing-up afterwards.
So let's get started!
One-bowl egg wonder
1 decent-sized egg (chicken, duck's, geese... but not quail's!)
A handful of thinly sliced/chopped soft vegetables
Salt, pepper, seasonings...
Optional frankfurter or sausages, finely sliced or chopped
Steamed rice or noodles, to serve
Get yourself a microwave-proof bowl or deep (but small) dish
Something made out of ceramic or pyrex works wonders; try not to use melamine or plastic and steer clear from metal dishes.
Layer/arrange the vegetables on bottom of bowl
Season lightly, as you will season the dish again towards the end.
Crack the egg open
If preferred, the egg can be beaten up prior to being poured into the bowl, but I usually find it unjustified to soil a perfectly fine and clean bowl. Try to distribute the egg evenly. Season lightly. If you choose the sunny-side-up method, remember to prick the yolk... I will not be held responsible for protein time-bombs in microwaves! ;)
Layer/sprinkle the optional meaty stuff
Arrange it as well as you can... this is the stuff you will see sitting on your table (or served to guests), so at least it looked like you made some effort to prepare it. Plus, it saves you from having to clean any accidental spatters from the microwave later on.
Microwave time!
Microwave on high for 60-90 seconds. Check, then continue heating for another minute if you like your egg well-done. Don't be tempted to do the microwaving in one shot. The break is important for two things: to prevent heat build-up and to check how your dish is cooking.
In the meantime...
Serve rice or noodles in another bowl, top with any fancy toppings you want, wash the knife and cutting board, wait till microwave says 'ding' (the bowl can be very hot.) Enjoy!
Notes:
- you can be truly lazy and pop your rice on the bottom of bowl (before veg)
- if you decide to pop your rice in with everything else, make sure you coat your dish in clean water to prevent rice from sticking and giving you a hard time at washing-up... since your aim would be to cut down on prep/clean-up time
- use sliced shiitake mushrooms, beat the egg(s) and steam the dish... you'll end up with a chawan mushi
- stick to soft vegetables... this means things like tomatoes, onions, peppers/capsicums, mushrooms, cucumbers, broccoli, mange-touts and leafy greens. Stay clear from root vegetables as they are prone to undercooking and you'll have to peel them too!
- topping tips: nori, spring onions, pickles, cheese...?
- I don't coat/spray my microwaving bowl with oil, but you can do so if that's your fancy
- experiment with different seasonings to achieve different flavours... yes, it can be fun :)) (my basic ones are good-quality salt and pepper)
Anyway, that's all... I've enjoyed today's experiment with duck's eggs. I only have had the green salted ones before... and I've never expected them to be so big and with such translucent shells!
Have a nice day, and bon appetit ^__^
Spices and good food can make you high.
Today I had dinner with Anne, Mag and KY... in a Malay/Indonesian restaurant (one of the two reputedly original Southeast Asian cuisine restaurants in Europe.) As it is located in SoHo, we have passed through it many times before, but tonight's dinner was our first taste of this restaurant. The spices are tastefully mixed without giving much concession to there-might-be-too-much-spices culinary suspicions, and all of us enjoyed our meal. Highlights of the night were kangkung belacan (staple veg dish), sambal kambing (interesting with a hot/zingy aftertaste) and ayam mas derwaji (leave no sauce unlapped.)
We got high after the meal and kept on laughing on what seemed to be funny... arguing on how the combined sounds of elephant and monkey would be, afterlife shopping, the jelly fish man event tomorrow, and how good our next-table neigbours' food look like - mussels! The thing was, we didn't order any house wine to go with the dishes (despite Anne's initial persistence.) It was the right thing to do because I honestly don't think spices, mutton and red wine would mix. And even without any alcohol, we managed to stay high throughout the night...
Is there a strong, direct correlation between eating/ingesting certain spices and subsequent release of endorphins?
I want to find out more about this :))
In the meantime, we folks will be staying clear of alcohol and sticking to spiced Southeast Asian fares. The food does us good when it comes to keeping our bottomless appetite satiated ^__^
Take care!
Things to Try Before You Die in UK #9: afternoon tea.
Afternoon tea is an extension of leisure eating and hence one of my favourite things to do... when there's time to kill and chat-worthy topics to go through.
Tissa and Nat are my sister's friends from high school. Since they are in London as part of their tour of Europe, I managed to get a booking for the three of us in an attempt to be a good/helpful/hospitable host. Since afternoon tea tends to be quite pricey, good experience is as indispensible as the edible consummables are, so the venue choice was quite narrow: Dorchester or Berkeley. I couldn't get a timely booking at the Dorchester, so Berkeley had to do... and off we went to Berkeley.
I am used to having my own 'afternoon tea time' at Liberty or Partridges accompanied with scones and jam... but this afternoon tea is in a league of its own.
We were booked for 2PM and stayed all the way till the end. We had such a good time chatting and catching up, and we practically sampled everything that was provided. We also watched the Caramel Room scenery changed as customers came and went and waiters changed their work shifts - it started off with ladies and ended up with lads. I'm trying to list down the things I learnt about proper afternoon tea today.
First, there were no scones in sight.
(Ouch!)
Second, afternoon tea at Berkeley is basically like a lunch buffet. You get bite-sized servings of sandwiches and savoury bits, and you get the fancy-looking, nice-tasting, fashion-emblazoned sweet little creations. Aaaaaand... the plates are refilled when they run low.
(Just come early and skip lunch altogether.)
Third, you can stay till the service ends at 6PM.
(Stay back and pig out on the refill service.)
Fourth, drink all you like... as long as it's tea.
(Anything else are charged. Steep.)
At the end, we got offered to bring home the remaining little cakes and biscuits in our plate. Tissa's plan to get more 'of that smoked salmon' failed miserably; we quickly finished up anything they put on the lower trays so that they are refilled with savoury nibbles. Well, towards the end we had nothing but sweet, and had to be content bringing them home ^__^ Probably we should've asked the kitchen... nevermind :q
Recounting the experience, afternoon tea left me with these things: frivolous little sweets, precious moments, an injured bank account and allergic rashes on my back. Probably I should've stayed clear of the bubbly ^^;
Special mention goes to Gincu, who suggested me to try Pret-a-Portea sometime last year. Thanks for the info, we had a good time ^^
Anyway, have a nice day! :D
I might have mentioned somewhere that my preferences for food tend to sway according to the seasons. I first came across mugicha at Abeno Too (possibly the only proper okonomiyaki place in London.) The drink can be served hot or cold, and it surprisingly tastes like... coffee. For a former coffee addict, mugicha is a welcome dairy-free alternative to the beloved iced coffee.
I could only find the sachet version in central London - it's definitely sold at Japan Centre on Piccadilly and a Japanese grocery store off Putney Bridge, and I bet I have seen these in a Korean grocery in Chinatown. The loose roasted barley version should yield a stronger flavour, but unfortunately I haven't come across them >__<
Why I like it:
- tastes like coffee without the caffeine
- unnecessary to add sugar or milk
- doesn't stain teeth as badly as coffee or tea
- can be prepared with hot or cold water (options, options! ^__^ )
Why I don't like it:
- costs more than tea and instant coffee
- mugicha pitcher takes up my 'liquid drinks' fridge space (normally reserved for milk and juice)
I was somehow craving for rozen syrup too (that notorious deep rose-coloured sugar concentrate in green glass bottles), but since sweet soya sauce is somewhat non-existent... I shouldn't expect to come across rozen syrup easily. I guess I'll stick to mugicha for now...
Any ideas for cold summer drinks? :D
It's been such a wonderful weekend wrap-up today... erm, yesterday (Monday?)
I went out with Apink and his friends from work (one even came from as far as Zambia!), and walked around town with them. Pictures will be uploaded on flickr later... that is, once I get them from Apink. Oh, and by the way, he left UK way earlier than I thought he would, so I ended up having a free day today. Armed with some reviews, I ended up watching anime all day long. Yes, you... thanks to you xD
Amusingly, while watching Claymore I suddenly craved for the smell (and taste) of my mom's homemade sukiyaki. It consists of sukiyaki beef and sliced onions marinated in soya and Worcestershire sauces, and cooked on a pan with a hearty knob of butter. I better try to recreate this dish in the coming weekend! It'll be splendid when served on top of rice :D
For poinkys: y'know, if you've got that 3PM syndrome, you can always get your own tagboard... that way we can chat and bicker all we like without having to resort to e-mails or chat programs. It'll save you 10 minutes and you can zap home on your pet dragon :E
Have a nice day! ^__^
...if you were a minister of Women's Affairs in Indonesia?
My answer last year was "to assure women that their gender difference [to men] is irrelevant when it comes to measuring themselves against men, as women are men are different yet they are equals."
I want to make a difference and contributes substantially into whatever 'good' people around me may need. If holding a ministerial spot is what entails my desire, then I would take it on. The problem with such delegated power/responsibility is the factional politics any civil servant in a ministerial post would be thrown into. I am not keen on participating in factional squabbles when there are things other than vote-chasing to do. I'm not saying that voters' support is unimportant; I just believe that you would do what you're passionate about regardless of how much support you can gather. Well... when there is a will, there is a way.
Since I'm a gourmand and food plays an important part in life, [hypothetically speaking] I would encourage home businesses to harness the climate and create nutritional food of good quality. In specific, that would entail tempeh production. On a lesser note, Fresh & Wild in SoHo sells tempeh (£1.99/cake) but the fermentation is somewhat stunted due to Britain's erratic weather, resulting in dismal-looking tempeh cakes with minimum spores covering their sides. I still crave for the soft and white cakey-looking stuff peddled by tukang sayur on Jakarta's streetsides. In the meantime, I'm getting my soya-based protein fix from nattō, miso soup and soya milk.
I understand that polished white rice is ubiquitous to today's Indonesian diet, thanks to who meneers who elevated its status as "the food to eat everyday". Indonesians' obsession to polished white rice is akin to that of the French's on fresh baguettes. Polished white rice is packed with energy... and nothing much apart from sugar. Also, meats from domesticated stock animals are seen as desirable foodstuffs on the dinner table. I bet my love of red meat *must* have been influenced by this general view that "the meatier the dinner is, the better".
On the other hand, I'm lucky to have parents who provide me with consistent examples of good nutritional habits. My love of vegetables stems from oh-so-boring red bean soup with beef and veg (I tend to fish ALL the tomatoes and carrots.) When I was little, my mum used to make her own soya milk, to which almost no sugar is added. Even today the house remains largely MSG-free and sodium-deprived, although mbak Parni could easily produce a huge chunk of salt from the kitchen if you asked her for it. When I started working at AAB, my workmates were suprised to discover I looked forward to ordering stirfried kangkong and snacked on fried tempeh on lunchtimes, as opposed to spag bol.
My point is, a weekly serving of fish and lean red meat is good for your health, but you can get your protein fix from the so-called kampong foods by which tempeh and tofu are often derogatorily referred to. Mind you, bodybuilders here often jostle for these kampong foods due to their high protein content! Plus, tempeh also increases your immunity. For those living in Indonesia, looking good and feeling great has never been so affordable - just go to your neighbourhood's tukang sayur to get your hands on tempeh and tofu.
Oh my, I'm speaking on behalf of the association of tukang sayur se-Indonesia (if there is one) - if you're not enticed enough to eat tempeh and tofu, buy them to give these peddlers some good, ol' fashioned honest profit!
Finally, back to this post's title... if I were a minister:
I would make good tempeh and promote it to all corners of the world.
I shall be known as the designer with a passion for tempeh. As simple as that.
Here I rest my case ^__^ Have a good day!
Before I brush on the topic, I want to share this picture with all of you... what do design students *really* do in class? This was what happened in open access session today:
Pattern-drafting tables make good makeshift beds ^__^;>
And now, following the oohs and aahs, my opinions on nattō.
According to Wikipedia, nattō is one of the world's four soya-based superfoods. As of a couple of days ago, nattō was one of those exploratory food items yet to be tried on my list of things to eat... er, or at least try to. My housemate is an avid lover of nattō, and so are everyone in his family! So there we were, spending an evening talking about how his dad never fails to prepare nattō for breakfast at 7AM on Saturdays, to a point where his father's zeal earned a request from his sister to have some toasts for brekkie.
Oh yeah, my housemate's tales spurned me to try nattō once and for all... so that I can say "I have tried the stuff and it tastes like __________." (you can fill in the empty space ^.^ ) Given other non-Japanese foodies' experiences in savouring the supposedly stinky stuff, I decided that I should have mine with miso soup on the side... just for insurance.
Verdict:Eeeek Not as bad as I expected. I could tolerate the taste although I'm not exactly looking forward to devour the remaining nattō just because "I love the taste". Aesthetically, the neba neba (sticky strings) were fun to play with, but eating nattō can potentially be messy because of them (I wonder how beauty queens would eat nattō given the neba neba.) The smell was strong, but it wasn't a problem since I have previously eaten tauco/douchi, terasi and durian. I would definitely eat this stuff with miso soup, as miso's mild saltiness provides a pleasant distraction from nattō's foamy neba neba texture. I wouldn't mind repurchasing it, as a box of four servings costs 53p.
I wonder where I can buy tempeh in London...
Probably next time I should try to eat stinky tofu. *glances at list of things to eat*
Cherry blossoms, a herald of spring, were spotted as early as mid-January about 10 minutes away from home in London. They were again spotted late last week as I went around to help out the sewing (see my post on myesight for pictures.) And yet it snowed on Sunday... and Monday... and today. In what order should these natural phenomenons happen anyway? Blame it on climate change if you'd love to, and blame it on yourself for creating carbon footprints (myself included.)
Yesterday (Monday) was supposed to be a relatively snowy day. I was pretty disappointed to wake up to a blue sky. When later in the afternoon a brief snowstorm hit, I frantically tried to capture its images to no avail. But then, I was really lucky today. I went to Anne's place, and the snowstorm hit literally right after I got into her room! Call me a lucky lass if you'd like to ^^ so what we three never-really-lived-in-snowy-seasons girls put our boots and jackets back on, then ran as fast as we could down the stairs and onto the courtyard! Nevermind the chilly bite ^^
Hang on... I was planning to talk about wagashi as well. Due to the fact that the Japanese enjoy imbuing every facet of their lives with seasonality, and also to their love of sakura/cherry blossoms, some very creative people/chefs created what is affectionately known as sakura-mochi. Yes, as its name says, it is mochi made out of sakura.
The variety sold at Minamoto Kitchoan is not tinted pink. Regardless of its colour, it basically consists of a ball of sweet red bean paste that is wrapped with proper mochi (made from mashed-up steamed glutinous rice), which is then wrapped with a salty-flavoured preserved cherry leaf and topped with [yet another preserved bit of] a cherry blossom. It looks properly fancy. It inspires me to hit the store bedecked in a kimono attire that's properly of the season too ^__^
I wonder where I can get these preserved cherry leaves and blossoms... it would then mean I'd be able to recreate sakura-mochi whenever I choose to, although I'd rather reserve it for springtime occasions.
Oh yeah, the preserved cherry leaves and blossoms are also edible. I must be joking.
I also had a bit of fun by playing Monopoly. It turns out proper financial and strategic planning can be easily ruined just as easily as rolling dice. Playing Monopoly also sharpens one's sense of business dealing and bargaining... nevermind the fact that five grown-up Asians are playing at it. While trying to abide to the written rules, we feverishly over-invested on and over-developed our respective plots, and happily gave out soft loans when a renter could not afford the rent... as well as developing various tracts. (The I-pay-peanuts-when-I'm-on-yours-and-you-too-when-you're-on-mine kind of agreements.) It was like there was a secondary money market other than mortgaging properties to the bank. There was simply not enough money circulating in the game while we spent every little pretend cash we had on building hotels. Amusingly, the exercise had an ironic ring that sounds so close to reality. It did dawn on me that the whole banking/financial system that is widely enforced in the world bears the essential spirit of the exacting and calculative Moors (which in turn spread their influence to Europeans.) Probably it was just what I observed; do please correct me when I'm wrong.
At the end of the day, it was one good day... and I'm happy for it ^^
Have a good day, everyone!
Submissions aside, it's socialising time for me.
Friday afternoon was spent sewing bits of lacing strips and hooks-and-eyes. Lesson learnt: no matter how accurate you've measured your hook-and-eye placement, always sew them 2mm further apart from the [supposedly accurate] markings. Lesson learnt #2: curved needles are definitely H-A-N-D-Y to sew them with.
I also went to friends' place for what was advertised to be 'a Mongolian BBQ' night. It turned out to be a stirfry night. Oh well, I had nothing to complain because it was fun to be able to cook with an abundance of ingredients and seasonings! I have neither oyster sauce nor sweet chili sauce in my pantry cupboard (woe me for the lack of space), and consequently haven't tried to whip up anything fancifully Asian at home since I moved to London. Anne is against buying new bottles or jars cooking condiments so I haven't got much to experiment with at her place. But last night was... amazing!!
I first tried to be discreet about my desire to handle a substantial part of the cooking process, but when people were wondering who should be assigned what to do... I kinda jumped into the kitchen and blurted out "the chicken should be sauce-y and have carrots and broccoli, and probably some of the peppers can go in there too." And since I stayed in there to cook and season... well, it was pretty obvious I was into it. It was good that the other girls didn't mind and chatted happily while we cooked. Overall results: out of the four dishes, all are edible and bordering on delicious. I got compliments too on my cooking, which ain't bad after all. Plus, it was fun seeing the boys crowd the kitchen to cook, while having disagreements on whether the Guinness should go into the lamb or the gut.
One good side-effect of hanging out with the [cool and younger] English is getting a good dose of learning about slang vocabs and how they are used. And since it's been over 12 hours since I had a decent meal, I'm gonna go off to lunch. Have a good day, everyone! :D
