THE PETROVSKY POPSICLE

cherry-black-tea-popsicle-front

DON’T WE NEED OUR RELATIONSHIPS
WITH A LITTLE BIT OF MILK

I DON’T know if this will completely sack my credentials (AGAIN) as an angry, opinionated love-cynic who just fell asleep when you mentioned the words “my ex-boyfriend’s facebook…”.  I’m not even sure if this is a well-adviced public statement for anyone who isn’t fabulously gay.  But this is probably as important to know about me as acknowledging the fact that I eat canned sardines in tomato sauce over oatmeals, that I also have a decade-long, still on-going, life-threatening addiction for… Sex And The City.

The key point in what I just said, is on-going.  Like, seriously.  You’d think that no one can be addicted to something that no longer exists.  It’d be like trying to smoke a cigarette butt, found underneath the bookshelf, that’s accidentally dropped in diesel.  You just can’t smoke that shit anymore.  Oh, but I can.  Since its last season ending in 2004, I had been waiting and watching every season that re-runs in turns on HBO on-demand every months, repeatedly, until 2008 when I left New York.  Then I had to purchase the complete-seasons DVD to continue watching every single episodes that I’ve continuously watched for however long…

Don’t even get me started on the movies.  I mean the second one gave me a bad trip but where the fuck is my third?

Think what you will about me… it’s probably all true…  And as if what I just said wasn’t lame and pathetic enough, allow me to kick it up a notch.  I’ve made myself…

the Petrovsky popsicle.

It’s an intensely black-tea-flavoured popsicle that’s sweetened with cherry preserve which also give it a slight tang. I was told, by a character from a TV-show that ended 10 years ago, that it’s how the Russians sweeten their teas, and I never doubted it for a second.  The idea stayed inside my head for all this time, until a week ago when I purchased my first set of popsicle molds, the Russians invaded.  If you’re into tea-flavoured everything, you’ll have the hots for these this summer.  I did Petrovsky justice by powdering the tea leaves to embolden the flavour and adding an entire jar of sour cherry preserve with large chunks of cherries.  These popsicles are cold, black and caffein-charged with hidden tang and sourness inside their hidden pockets like the character himself.  But of course, mellowed out with whole and sweetened condensed milk.

Because don’t we all “need our relationships with a little bit of milk”.  Even if it’s an icy one.

cherry-black-tea-popsicle16
cherry-black-tea-popsicle17
cherry-black-tea-popsicle22
cherry-black-tea-popsicle19
cherry-black-tea-popsicle11
cherry-black-tea-popsicle13
cherry-black-tea-popsicle12
cherry-black-tea-popsicle14
cherry-black-tea-popsicle01
cherry-black-tea-popsicle04
cherry-black-tea-popsicle05
cherry-black-tea-popsicle08

Makes: 8 ~ 9 popsicles

The black tea leaves is powdered in spice-grinder to give the popsicle a very intense tea-flavour.  It’s a good trick for maximizing tea-flavour in any recipes (such as this cake).  If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can sort of “fake” one with this trick.  Or, you might have to use more tea leaves to brew a stronger base for this recipe.  I used 6 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk for this batch of popsicle and found the sweetness on the mild side, making this a more “refreshing” popsicle than a “creamy” one.  You can increase the sweetness and creaminess by adding more if you like.

You can definitely use other types of fruit jams/preserves that you like, or trying to use up for this recipe.


cherry-black-tea-popsicle10

Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp (23 grams) of Assam black tea leaves
  • 2 1/2 cups (610 grams) of whole milk + another 1/2 cup (120 grams)
  • 3 tbsp of cornstarch
  • 1 cup (240 grams) of black cherry, or sour cherry preserves
  • 6 tbsp ~ 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk

Powder the Assam black tea leaves in a spice grinder until finely ground.  Mix the tea-powder into 2 1/2 cups of whole milk in a pot, and set over medium heat.  Once the milk has come to a very gentle simmer (careful not to scorch the milk), turn off the heat immediately and let steep for 1 min, then strain the milk-tea through a fine sieve into another pot (to eliminate any large tea leaves).  Whisk the cornstarch together with 1/2 cup of milk, then whisk it into the milk-tea until it’s slightly thickened.  Then whisk in black cherry (or sour cherry) preserves and 6 tbsp of sweetened condensed milk until even.  Add more sweetened condensed milk to adjust the sweetness if needed.

Divide the mixture into popsicle molds and freeze until hard.  Enjoy.

Continue Reading

THE HOT BUNNY PASTA SAUCE

hot-bunny-pasta-sauce23

” MY CURRENT…
ORANGE STATE OF MIND “

Jason has gone to my happy place without me.

A week-long business trip to New York, by himself, is just about as much salt as you can rub on a bloody wound of someone who’s doing her time in doggy-prison.  Right.  Perhaps I’ve failed to mention that for the past 6 months, I haven’t been able to leave my apartment for more than 12 hours because these days, a pot of hot caramel is constantly bubbling on my stove.  That’s just the code-words for my 14-years-old dog, Dumpling, with his very inconvenient heart condition that has rendered me immobile as well.  So, right, no NYC for mommy, or anywhere else for that matter…  But, as if squatting in my prison-cell isn’t responsible enough, now I’m being thrown into the “the cooler”…

As I am scraping these words with my finger nails onto the concrete walls of my solitary confinement, I guess it’s only appropriate to also drench myself… in gushing orange.

hot-bunny-pasta-sauce01

hot-bunny-pasta-sauce02
hot-bunny-pasta-sauce04
hot-bunny-pasta-sauce12
READ MORE

Continue Reading

MOCHI DONUTS

” YOUR SKINNY JEANS
WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 30 MIN.

THIS MESSAGE WON’T.

THIS, may come as a surprise to hear.  Or not… judging from how you rationalize things.  Well, let’s just say based on the look of things on this blog, this will come either as a gasping surprise, or, as the most obvious conclusion to any.  But what I’m trying to tell you, and this is a true story, is that every night before I go to sleep, the ever-last thought that I’m either saying or thinking before drifting into oblivion is alway this…

#$#$^@#!! I swear I’m gonna go on a fucking diet.

It’s true.  You see the thing is, I’m a side-sleeper.  And side-sleepers feel things.  Things that, with all due respect, back-sleepers wouldn’t necessarily feel so bluntly and graphically and that is, the horror upon realizing that my gut can move freely in 180 degree angle, and rest soundly on the mattress like a soft pouch of cottage cheese.  Did you know this about my gut?  Why am I always the last to know…

I’m telling you this because I want you to know that I am not beyond reasons.  I’m aware of the normal shape of things for a humanoid, and I have acknowledgement of the ancient nutritional pyramid built by aliens to assist mankind, I swear.  There was a lemon-olive-oil-pasta-thingy that was supposed to be here today to demonstrate that I’m well-balanced and eat vegetables.  I don’t know what happened to that.. maybe because, purely guessing, that it didn’t taste as good as this donut.

Right, this is a baaad donut.  A very gooood, bad donut.  I had a sun-dress that just arrived in mail and I got very angry at it, if you know what I mean.  And you would believe me when I say that I would not surrender my prospect into a spaghetti-strap sun-dress this summer, just over any donut, wouldn’t you?

No, no I won’t, because this is not just any donut.

mochi-donuts06
mochi-donuts07
mochi-donuts04
READ MORE

Continue Reading

DEVILS ON HORSEBACK ICE CREAM

“IF YOU GOT SOMETHING AGAINST SWIMSUITS… THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO TALK EVERYONE ELSE OUT OF IT”

WOW… I mean… just WOW…  I know it looks like I should be addressing my every bit of amazement to this fine specimen of frozen dessert right now, which really doesn’t need anybody’s introduction to be quite honest I mean look at it.  But I’m actually, with all my fingers involuntarily shaking, not focused on the ice cream just then.  Truth is, I’m still hung over, mentally taken hostage, emotionally robbed by the malfunction of this blog that has turned a rarely beautiful Beijing weekend into 48hrs of computer science-nightmare (if you came here during the weekend and found “the fridge” empty, I’m sorry).  It was a crisis so beyond the language that I speak it almost felt Sci-Fi, like an alien invasion, a fire-breathing Godzilla attack on the island of Java-script-what-eh?  I’m ashamed to admit that under the complete chaos and panic, I was so close… this close… like one-push-of-a-red-button away to just wiping everything I’ve done and everything you guys have ever said in the past 10 days, in the effort to restore control…

I almost nuked it…  I almost ground-zeroed my blog…

bacon-date-maple-popsicle01

bacon-date-maple-popsicle03
bacon-date-maple-popsicle04

bacon-date-maple-popsicle05READ MORE

Continue Reading

WORLD’S EASIEST SEXY RACK

perfect-rack-of-lamb06

” I’M BRINGING SEXY RACK “

The 6-4 carnival stretches on…  There are bloody evidences of its squanders everywhere, the skin and bones that the beast chewed and spitted out, all over my jabbed and crippled internet.  My brain is still scrambled from yesterday’s epic, titanic emotional meltdown.  My eyes staring into the blinding whiteness on my browser in a futile effort to locate all the pre-meditatedly murdered URL.  There are broken signals of my poisoned VPN.  They occasionally wink back at me…

But this is not where I put my head down.  Even if it means I have to sit right here, on this uncomfortably designed chair that stings my ass, that I have to upload each and every single one of these photos, every fucking, excruciating hour at a time, then so be it.  I’m going to get this done.  That’s right you nasty spitting beast,

I’m bring sexy rack.

perfect-rack-of-lamb08
perfect-rack-of-lamb09
perfect-rack-of-lamb10
perfect-rack-of-lamb12
perfect-rack-of-lamb11
perfect-rack-of-lamb14
perfect-rack-of-lamb19
perfect-rack-of-lamb20
perfect-rack-of-lamb25

This isn’t just a recipe for a roasted rack of lamb.  When I first discovered its method – witnessing how Thomas Keller gave life and colour to a humongous chunk of rib-roast, too large and uniformly shaped to submit to any traditional browning techniques – it was a revelation.  It meant beyond what the specific recipe was designed for.  It meant that from then on, the path to a piece of meat’s medium-rare doneness, as well as a gorgeously charred surface, can be walked separately.

How many times have I tried to imitate a steak-house rib-eye at home – the kind that shimmers over its deeply caramelised crust with a properly pink and bloody interior – but instead found myself scrubbing down a grease-raped kitchen with the smoke-detector still screaming from the imposed horror, and worse, all for a flap of unevenly and under-browned meat sobbing over its own greyish and overcooked body?  Too.  Many.  Times.  But it could, and has, all stopped here.  The moment when I stopped pretending that my kitchen could conjure the same level of scorching heat as a professional kitchen.  The moment I realised my vent-hood couldn’t even eliminate cigarette smoke let alone the volcano clouds erupting from my cast-iron pan.  Th moment when I discovered, that this could all be done, with none of these silly ruckus.

The answer is a standard, dependable blow-torch.

N…no… what, what is that you’re waving at me?  That impotent little girlish thingy that came with the impulsive creme brulee-set I picked you picked up on your way to get shower-curtains through Bed Bath and Beyond?  N… no, I’m talking about an actual, standard, torch burner that goes on top of a butane canister.  It’s the ultimate fixer-upper in the kitchen, the air-brusher to make up for other cookery’s shortcomings.  In fact it’s the first thing I would recommend if you ask me what’s a must-have in my line of gadgets.  Get, an actual blow-torch.  What it’s able to do, among other things, is that it can apply beautiful, glorious, and most importantly, even browning and caramelising to any specimen of meat no matter how big or small, or how uniformly and awkwardly shaped.

Such as, oh how coincidentally~ a rack of lamb.

You can’t brown a rack of lamb evenly no matter if it’s on the stove… in the oven… over the grill… under the broiler… or by whatever means you can think of (unless you’re prepared to deep-fry it in a bucket, in that case, I solute you).  You just can’t.  Especially with it’s variably thin strip of meat which, by the time you’re done nuking it, could have been disastrously overcooked.  I didn’t say it will.  I said it could, and uncertainly isn’t something I’d like to season with my pricy cut of meat.  Especially when “precision” comes with so little effort.  The thing with a blow-torch is, you can easily apply intense heat that chars the surface beautiful without penetrating deeper into the part where it deserves a gentler treatment, a treatment say, a slow and tender roast inside a warm oven until every section of the meat is brought to the same, even level of pinkish and juicy doneness.  Almost sous-vede!  Then after a proper, beauty-resting, you can give this rack another spanking of heat to get it hot again, without affecting the interior doneness of course.  You rub its cheeks with a kiss of Dijon mustards, and pad it with a thick cake of spice-crust made with ground cumin and fresh mints.  A few more flakes of sea salts before introduction… curtains down… and it’s show time.

Hey, nobody would think that this sexiness came without dropping a sweat amidst the summer?  I say, that’s at least one thing to be cheered for, if you were me.

perfect-rack-of-lamb23

perfect-rack-of-lamb26
perfect-rack-of-lamb35
perfect-rack-of-lamb44

Serves: 2 ~ 3 people

I have done steaks before with the same method, but a rack of lamb has even more reasons to benefit from it (evenly more awkwardly shaped).  This is a typical 7-ribs lamb rack that weighs between 900 grams ~ 1100 grams (31.7 oz ~ 38.8 oz).  It doesn’t really matter how big the lamb-rack is, the cooking method is exactly the same.  And you can be really flexible about the herb/spice rub that goes on top.  If you are not a big fan of fresh mint and cumin, feel free to substitute with parsley or etc.

Please DO NOT use those mini-torches that come with a creme brulee-set or something.  They are only as good as a cigarette lighter.  This is the exact torch-burner that I use, which is comparatively economical and practical.  It goes on top of any butane fuel canister that you can buy almost anywhere, and each canister will last a very long time.

A note to pay attention to during roasting is that, the internal temperature will continue to climb about 8~10ºF/5ºC, after the lamb’s removed from the oven.  So you have to calculate that into the desired doneness.  130~140ºF/55~60ºC is a perfectly pink, medium-rare.  Anything else, I do not endorse.


Equipment:

Ingredients:

  • 1 rack of lamb that weighs between 900 grams ~ 1100 grams
  • 1 ~ 2 tbsp of unsalted butter
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 ~ 3 tbsp of Dijon mustard
  • Herbs and spice rub:
    • 3 tbsp of finely chopped fresh mint
    • 2 tbsp of ground cumin
    • 1 tbsp of chill flakes
    • 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

perfect-rack-of-lamb45

Start 1 hour before serving.  Preheat the oven on 300F/145C.

Trim off some excess fat on the lamb rack if you need to.  Place the lamb rack inside a baking sheet and set the baking sheet securely under the kitchen vent-hoods.  Turn the vent on high.  Evenly rub a few nubs of unsalted butter over the lamb, and with your torch-burner, start searing and caramelising the entire surface of the lamb rack.  Keep basting the lamb with the melted butter and rendered fat, and make sure every inch of the surface on both sides (especially the fats) are deeply browned and caramelized.  Some smokes and sparks will arise from the process, but don’t worry, it should be minor and dealt with by your kitchen vent.

Your lamb rack should now look as if it’s gorgeously roasted, but in fact, the interior is still completely uncooked.  Now, season the lamb rack on all sides generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then set it inside the same baking-sheet with the meat-side facing up.  Insert the meat-thermometer into the centre of the meat, then place it on the middle rack inside the preheated oven.  Keep the thermometer facing outward so you can read the temperature without opening the oven.  Slow-roast the lamb until the internal temperature reads 132ºF/55ºC (remember, the temperature will continue to climb later).  This will take approx 30 to 40 min (there won’t be much happening in the first 20 min).

Once the lamb reaches desired temperature, remove from the oven and cover loosely with a foil and let rest for at least 8 min.  DO NOT remove the meat-thermometer at this point.  You will risk juices escaping through the hole before the meat is properly rested.  Meanwhile, mix the “herbs and spice rub” evenly together.  After 8 min, the temperature should have stopped rising and reads around 140ºF/60ºC (perfectly pink and medium-rare).  Remove the foil (I usually like to briefly torch the lamb at this point to get it “sizzling” again.  it won’t further cook the meat), then brush a thin layer of Dijon mustard covering the meat-side.  Apply the rub over the Dijon and pat gently to help it stick.

Cut the lamb-rack in between bones and season with more sea salt.  Serve immediately.

 

Continue Reading

KOMBU MISO BUTTER SAUCE + DISK FRIES

“DANCE…AND FEAST…AROUND THE BIG BONFIRE OF TOTALITARIANISM”

I apologize for the speechlessness today.  In the past couple days, it has been next to impossible to compose anything on wordpress because…

Every year in China around a historical holiday known as 6-4, a massive and elaborate celebration takes place.  The great beast of China and its army of cyber-minions will gather, dance hysterically, and feast on the corpses of information freedom, and any non-Chinese-friendly internet activities around the big bonfire of totalitarianism.  I have about a 5 minute window to finish/publish this post before the beast finds me.  So my friends, please, help yourself with some disk fries and kombu miso butter sauce, for it is unbeatable in deliciousness and unrelenting in spirit….  A small and insignificant thing it may be, but nonetheless makes me feel slightly better to say – you can bet that the beast….

…ain’t fucking getting any

kombu-miso-butter-sauce01 kombu-miso-butter-sauce08kombu-miso-butter-sauce081 kombu-miso-butter-sauce082 kombu-miso-butter-sauce22READ MORE

Continue Reading

CRACK SLURP PT 2 – MAH KHAO SOI

thai-crack-slurp-front

THIS IS MAH-KHAO-SOI,
AS IN…
MY KHAO-SOI.

PERHAPS this doesn’t come as a shocker to anyone who’s been stopping by for awhile, but I would like to, for once at least as public record, to officially confess.

Before we shake hands, break breads and plan our next travelling itinerary together, it’s best that you know this about me…  That to a point of being almost overbearing, I have an unhealthy, perverted… RAPACIOUS fixation on anything and everything that falls under the category of – street foods.

You, too! I heard?  No.  No, unfortunately I’m afraid, not like this.

I’m talking about an uncurbed obsession that overwrites all hygienic senses.  It could lead to an unpleasant behaviours that I’m dangerously comfortable with, that I would look right at your fearful eyes with unaccompanied excitement, drag you if I must, to sit down on a randomly scouted location where flies are feasting on bodies of other flies, and jitter over a bowl of something that I just ordered purely through hand-signals, as looooong as it looks tasty.  Then as if completely clueless, I’d turn and ask you with concealed hostility… Is there something wrong with your food?  

At this point, you should know that you’re stuck with a madwoman who has no intention to eat anything under a proper roof.  Ask Jason, and his collaterally-damaged digestive system has got some tearful stories to tell.  I’m not proud… I’m not proud…

OK fine, I am.

Thai-crack-slurp03

Thai-crack-slurp04

IMG_6077

READ MORE

Continue Reading

ROLL WITH CHAMOMILE WHIPPED CREAM

chamomile-whipped-cream-roll27-(1)

SOFT, SWEET, AND
ELEGANTLY FRAGRANT

UPON the realization that the previous few posts have been excruciatingly long and possibly obnoxious, I feel like today is a good day… to shut the hell up to let the recipe speak for itself.  And what’s better than to do it with a simple gorgeous cake? This is a soft, sweet and elegantly fragrant yellow sponge cake-roll hinted with almond flour, and filled with chamomile infused whipped cream.  Lost for words?  I know I am.

 

chamomile-cake-roll071

chamomile-whipped-cream-roll19

chamomile-whipped-cream-roll20chamomile-whipped-cream-roll22


Chamomile is a very popular tea in China, usually served with a bowl of Rock sugar on the side, which is also called “ice sugar” in Chinese.  It is a common and preferred sweetener for teas and cooking in Asia, which is not as sweet as typical granulated sugar, and many would argue that it brings a honey-like, more complexed sweetness without unwanted flavourings.

The almond flour I used is made with Chinese southern almond, which has a much stronger aroma (resembling bitter almond and almond extract) that I love.  There’s a more extensive post on that.  You can buy Chinese southern almond and grind it in a food-processor like I did, or use normal almond flour if you prefer.  But let me just say that the aroma of Chinese southern almond pairs beautifully with chamomile.

* I used a slightly larger baking-sheet than suggested in the recipe, and as a result, I felt like the sheet-cake was too thin.  So use a baking-sheet as suggested in the recipe, or smaller.

Ingredients:

  • Chamomile whipped cream:
    • 1 cup (240 grams) of heavy cream + 1/4 cup (60 grams) extra
    • 1/4 cup (8 grams) of chamomile 
    • 2 tbsp (30 grams) of rock sugar
  • Yellow sponge cake: roughly based on Bouchon Bakery
    • 2 large eggs
    • 3 large egg yolks
    • 1/4 cup (85 grams) of honey
    • 1/4 cup (50 grams) of granulated sugar
    • 1/4 cup (32 grams) of all-purpose flour
    • 1/4 cup (28 grams) of almond flour/almond meal (preferably Chinese southern almond)
    • 2 1/2 large egg whites
    • 2 tbsp of granulated sugar

To make the chamomile cream:  Combine 1 cup of heavy cream, chamomile and rock sugar in a pot and set over medium-low heat.  Gently stir, and turn off the heat just before the cream comes to a simmer, then let it steep for at least 5 min until the cream has turned light-yellow.  Drain through a fine sieve, and press on the chamomile to extract as much cream as you can then discard the chamomile.  Chill the chamomile cream until very cold (or to speed it up, place in the freezer and stir occasionally until very cold).  Meanwhile make the yellow sponge cake.

To make the yellow sponge cake:  Preheat the oven on 350ºF/170ºC.

With a handheld-mixer or a stand-mixer with whisk-attachment, beat large eggs, egg yolks, honey and granulated sugar together until very thick and velvety (scrape down the bowl once in between).  The mixture should form large ribbons when the whisk is lifted, approx 8~10 min.  Sift the all-purpose flour and almond flour directly into the bowl, and gently fold the mixture together until even with a spatula.  Wash and dry the whisk thoroughly.  Then with another clean bowl, beat 2 1/2 large egg whites and 2 tbsp of granulated sugar with the clean whisk, until glossy with soft peaks, approx 2~3 min.  Add half of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk-mixture, gently stir until evenly combined.  Then add the remaining egg whites, and fold it in gently with a spatula.

Line a baking sheet, about 15″ × 11″ (38 × 28 cm), with parchment paper and rub the surface lightly with butter.  Pour the cake-batter into the sheet and smooth the surface.  Bake in the oven for 13 ~ 15 min, until a wooden skewer comes out clean from the center of the cake.  Carefully transfer the sheet-cake to a cooling rack and cool completely.

To assemble the cake:  With a clean bowl and whisk, combine the chilled chamomile cream with another 1/4 cup of cold heavy cream.  Whip the cream until it holds its shape when the whisk is lifted.  Smear an even layer of whipped chamomile cream over the sponge cake, then carefully peel the cake away from the parchment and roll it from one side to the other.  The cake-roll may feel a bit soft at this point, which is why I like to wrap it firmly with the same parchment, and chill in the fridge until cold again before serving (dust with powdered sugar on top if you like).  It keeps in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

chamomile-whipped-cream-roll25

 

Continue Reading

CHEWY LAYERED ROTI + KICKASS DIP

layered-roti-front

” …WHOPPING 90% HYDRATION…
SPRUNG LIBERATED OUT OF THE FOUNTAIN OF SECRET DOUGHS “

layered-roti02

layered-roti30

ALTHOUGH extremely rare, there are recipes that seem theoretically impossible at first, but somehow just come smooth-sailing under the first trial.  They make recipe-developers feel invincible even just temporarily, like the lighthouse of success glowing just over the foreseeable shore.  Handshakes with Batali and cold beers with Tony Bourdain, book-signing with fan-blown hair and the next dinner party, Ina Garten is bringing her cake.  These occasions embolden even the blindest of self-confidence.  But then, then there’s the opposite of such.

I call them, the kitchen nemesis… or for times, my baby kitchen unicorns.  It’s a tormented, twisted love-and-hate relationship, with an adored food-item that hides a secret so beyond your grasps that failures of making it has been haunting you for years… even decades.  The recipe of which you have ventured high and low for – with or without the luck of finding any at all – that in the very end, all greatly disappointed, again, and again.  A lover, who’s not completely yours.

For the past 2 decades, my nemesis… my baby unicorn… has been but one thing.READ MORE

Continue Reading

BUNKER CRACK SLURP

I TAKE MY CRACK, VERY… VERY, SERIOUSLY

I AM not, by even the most flexible standard, what you would call a person of a particular faith…  I have no investments in god/gods, demon, Buddha, ghost, after-life, next-life, karma, heaven or hell… or paying somebody to tell me that I shouldn’t be moving my furnitures next week.  I would almost say that I’m an atheist if I wasn’t in fact, slightly uncomfortable with the absoluteness of such term.  When it comes to this stuff, I’m pretty sure the truth is…  Nobody knows.

Look, I know there’s an unspoken rule for smart-asses to comment on anything, anything… as long as they don’t touch the subject of religion.  So why am I babbling all this and making Jason very nervous?  I guess I’m not smart, nor an ass, and also because I don’t want to sound the least bit superstitious when I say that my personality – the genetically coded behaviour – has largely dictated the scripts of how my life is played out.  Or as some like to call it, “destiny”.  A word I don’t use but I think that my previous 34 years of walking this earth up till now – including this blog, this post, everything leading up this moment – is predetermined by my hard-wired, inexhaustible desire to…

NOT leave my apartment.  For as looong as I can.

crack-slurp-noodle15READ MORE

Continue Reading

CARAMEL ESPRESSO FLAN/BUTTER ROUX CAKE

caramel-latte-flan-cake-front960

THE CAKE HAS VENTURED BEYOND CHEMISTRY, INTO THE REALM OF PHYSICS…

EVERY time I unearth a truly fantastic recipe out of the landslides of materials and inspirations that bury most of my time nowadays, regardless whether it is original or reinvented, I experience a flush of anxiety which I’d like to call the competitive blogging disorder.  Symptoms include increasing heart-rates and twitching ankles, a not-exactly-little voice inside my ill-motivated head saying things that don’t exactly reflect my best, generous self.

Things like, gah I hope I’m one of the few living bodies on earth who know about his.  Gah I must publish this recipe now, like right now!, like in any given second somebody else might hijack my discovery.  Gah I hope when I Google “flan cake”, nothing, and I mean nothing… in the English-speaking world at least, would show up on the first page.

But of course, like most of my wishes nowadays, the answers from God-gle, are usually negative.

When I stumbled on an Asian baking-blog by accident last week, and discovered something called the “flan cake”, I thought ding-ding-ding!  I mean after all, it isn’t everyday that I look upon a cake-recipe that has ventured beyond chemistry, into the realm… of great physics.  A cake with two distinctively different layers that bake simultaneously, but magically self-separates.  A cake that bakes on the laws of physics, that lighter mass in weight (in this case, the sponge cake-batter), will float above denser mass (in this case, the flan custard), and that there’s nothing you can do to sabotage it.  It’s not just a failsafe cake.  It’s an anti-fail cake.  Guaranteed by science.  How could I not be excited?

But of course as it turns out, like all other great ideas, God-gle already knew a few.  Fuck.

BUT again, a closer look into all the flan-cake recipes shown up on the research, my CBD relapsed.  Not only that most of these recipes uses a cake-premix, but even the ones that don’t, involves the dull and tiresome sponge cake-method of using vegetable oil or creaming butter.  Gah, I’m back!  I could still be the first second third… number of handful people to tell you about this, ahem, fucking awesome cake.  Because. the true genius of this particular flan-cake lies not only on the magic of the two self-separating layers of flan and sponge cake, but also on the miraculous outcome of a butter-roux cake batter.  Yes, a roux cake.  The combination of the two wonders, a cocktail of miracles, from what I can tell, is still a relatively under-exposed secret.

caramel-latte-flan-cake34READ MORE

Continue Reading

VIETNAMESE Chả Cá FISH TACO

Vietnamese-fish-taco15

WE FOUND OUR WEAKENED FOOTSTEPS AT ITS TURQUOISE COLORED DOORWAY

THE official statement is, that like all other celebratory spirits who paint golden eggs on Easter, play Frank Sinatra on X’mas and wash their faces with Buffalo wings on Superbowl, we the family of forever-festivity, ate tacos on Cinco de Mayo and danced to a whirlpool of margaritas this past Sunday.

orange-chili-sambalREAD MORE

Continue Reading