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I am not a big fan of summertime's heat, it gets me sweaty from doing...even absolutely nothing. However, summer heat is the perfect excuse reason for everything icy.
Ice cream? I like.
Sorbet? Even better.
Shaved ice with syrup and coconut milk? Totally.
Icy stares thrown at uncles who gawk at your legs/chest? When else are we allowed to be so bitchy? Secretly enjoyable.
and above all...
POPSICLES!!!
Refreshing, thirst quenching, fruity, icy cold goodness on a stick, in a hot summer afternoon. Perfection.
In Summer, I prefer fruity treats over their creamy chocolatey cousins. Lemon, lime, orange, berries...nice, but for me, it's time to get a bit more exotic and well...Indonesian :)
Tamarind and Palm Sugar Popsicles
Recipe
- A couple of spoonfuls of tamarind paste
- A few pieces of palm sugar (I used about 4 small pieces)
- Hot water
Boil water in a pot, add tamarind paste and palm sugar bit by bit and taste until you reach the perfect balance between the tang of tamarind and the sticky coconutey sweetness of palm sugar. Strain into another pot and let cool. Pour into popsicle mold and freeze.
To pull out the popsicles from the mold, dip them into a bowl of hot water for just a few seconds. They will slide out gently.
Lick, bite, suck.
Hear the sizzle as our bodies cool down.
Talk about heat, I am off to somewhere hot, Malaysia (again) for work, and I heard it is nowhere near any good food. Hello days of cup noodles and soyjoy....hope I could squeeze in a few moments of deliciousness. Wish me luck, and see you soon, my hungry monkeys! Stay yummy.
I love Chinese sticky rice dumplings. Nono. I freaking ADORE Chinese Sticky Rice Dumplings, I could've ask them to marry me. However, sometimes they remind me of my big fat calves in gladiator sandals, and I'd love my calves even less, but my love for the dumplings remains strong.
I've always wanted to learn how to wrap these little babies, and finally, I had a chance to try when sous chef's mom was preparing a huge batch of this deliciousness. The above savoury dumpling was done by me, marked with a red raffia, so that they could identify which ones I've done, which was absolutely unnecessary. The ugly ones were mine, whereas these cute and perfect little pyramids below were done by the master.
The difference? Like heaven and hell, eh?
Below, I'm gonna illustrate the basic wrapping technique which I've learnt. Why do I always have to illustrate instead of taking photographs?
You've guessed it right.
I. the dumbass. forgot. my camera.
How to Make Chinese Sticky Rice Dumplings
(Ugly Rectangular Wrapping)
The Ingredients
- Sticky rice (soaked overnight)
- Salted egg yolks
- Dry green beans (with no skin, soaked overnight)
- Dried scallops (soaked until softened)
- Pork meat, use cuts which contain some fat, marinate in five spice powder, soy sauce, sugar (alternatively, you can use chicken, sausages, or beef, just choose the ones with some fatty bits, we need the fat to moisturize the dumplings, otherwise we'd end up with dry and dense dumplings)
- Bamboo leafs for wrapping (available in Chinese grocers) and the strings
Feel free to improvise and add other ingredients too! Sous chef suggested adding ribena, the idea was immediately shot down by...everyone (thank God).
The Soaking
I don't think I needed to illustrate the soaking, but while I was at it, I got carried away and it would be such as waste not to post this illustration, so there you go!
The Wrapping
1. Lay two leafs, partially overlapping
2. The stacking, layer the ingredients this way:
- 1 heaping tbsp of sticky rice
- 1 heaping tbsp of green beans
- lay the meat in the middle, eggyolk and dried scallop on each side
- add 1 heaping tbsp of green beans on top
- top everything off with 1 heaping tbsp of sticky rice
Remember to allow some space on either side of the leafs
3. Cover the little mountain of ingredients with another piece of leaf
4. Fold both sides of the leafs in to securely cover the ingredients, gather the edges similar to the way you gift wrap...
5. Fold both ends in
6. Tie with a string, it doesn't have to be too tight as the ingredients will swell after cooking, just make sure it is secure and it doesn't leak
I wish mine were as pretty as the illustrations.
After wrapping a batch, boil the batch in a big pot for about 3 hrs, drain and let cool for later consumption. I reheated mine in microwave. Place a dumpling in a bowl, add a bit of water, microwave on high for a couple of minutes, unwrap and enjoy.
Some people eat their sticky rice dumplings with soy sauce, some sprinkle some sugar (which I found weird, but many people love it), some pour both sugar and soy sauce. I devoured mine with soy sauce and chilli sauce.
They may look imperfect, but they are moist, rich, fragrant, flavorful, scrumptuous, succulent, delicious...Help! I am out of yummy adjectives!
Shrimps and strawberries? Don't they look good together? To me, they look more gorgeous than Brangelina on Oscar's night. Plus, they are more than just a pretty face, they taste fantastic. Ehm, I am sure Brangelina taste fantastic too..but they are just too unattainable, while this combo is easy to achieve ^_^
Shrimps and Strawberries
I was inspired by a modern Chinese dish I've tried in some Hong Kong eateries. Normally, they serve strawberries with deep fried pork ribs or chicken. I want it quite light, fresh and spring-ish, so I replaced the deep fried meat with fresh shrimps, and add fresh strawberries to the otherwise just-strawberry-jam sauce.
Recipe
- 1/2 lb shrimps, peeled, deveined, butterflied
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced, or you can use half an onion
- 1 cup of fresh strawberries, halved
- olive oil, salt, white pepper, strawberry jam, white wine, lime juice, lime zest
Marinate shrimps in lime juice, lime zest, salt and pepper while preparing other ingredients. Saute shallot in olive oil until fragrant, add shrimps until they started to change color, season with salt, white pepper, add strawberry jam, a shot of white wine, taste, adjust if necessary, the flavors should be sweet, savoury, and tangy. Add fresh strawberries at the very end, and try not to cook everything for so long to avoid overcooking the shrimps.
Will you drink THIS Coffee?
I know that for food and drink looks doesn't matter that much....flavors are more important...blablabla...but would you drink coffee from a machine that says "POO"? Well, that's the coffee machine in my work place. Not very appetizing, innit?
It's that time of the month's again...which means that I get unreasonably bitchy and we get to feast on wonderful photographs posted in Still Life Food Photograpy community. Be sure to drop by when you're not hungry, or it would be such a torture (that just happened to me, now I have to be a scavenger, hunting for remnants of lunch or snacks from my colleagues' desk).
The theme this month is shellfish, and I particularly love how photogenic shrimps are, so here's what I made:
Sauteed Shrimps in White Wine
Recipe
- 2 cups of medium sized shrimps, keep shell on
- 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- butter, olive oil, salt, sugar, black pepper, lime juice, lime zest
- white wine
- italian herb mix (oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary)
Saute garlic in butter mixed with olive oil, add shrimps, season with salt, sugar, black pepper, and herbs mix, add white wine (I added 2 shots), bring to boil, cook until the shrimps turned vibrant red, squirt lime juice and grate lime zest, serve hot, with steamed rice/potatoes/pasta.
So quick, easy and tasty, I literally sucked everything outta the shrimps' shell, including the head. Oppps.
Ehm, would you like a Fructus Lycii with that?
I wouldn't want a fructus lycii with anything, but wolfberries would be great, thanks.
I bet you might want to order a steaming bowl of Smilax Glabra Roxb Soup too! It helps your body combatting Hong Kong notoriously humid summer.
Those would be great names for anyone's first born.
"Meet Mr. Smilax Roxb"
"The Oscar goes to...Smilax Roxb!!!!"
"The name is Roxb, Smilax Roxb"
Damn. Mochachocolata-Rita sounds so pitifully plain right now.
What is it with us and BBQ? When the weather gets cooler, we roll up our woolen sleeves and grill some meat. When the weather gets hotter, we take off put on our comfiest cotton tees, tied up our hair, and again...grill some meat, despite being drenched in sweat, even before the charcoal BBQ was lit.
We are all BBQ snobs. The days where mini cheese sausages and fishballs ruled the BBQ were longggg gone. Those are now only the extras, the filler snacks before we get to the good stuff. Soon, I expect them to be totally phased out.
Check out...
Our BBQ Spread
...and you'll know why.
The ever so creative Sir A made:
- Cherry tomatoes and cheddar cheese slice rolled in bacon
- Asparagus rolled in bacon
- Enoki mushrooms rolled in thinly sliced sukiyaki beef, and...
- Japanese sticky rice sticks wrapped in bacon with a slice of cheddar cheese
- Tomatoes filled with cheese topping
A&J made deliciousnesses in those glad bags...
- Beef fillet
- Pork Chops
- Pork neck fillet
- Lam Yu chicken wings - super delicious, I ate at least 6 of these
- Char Siew pork ribs
...and what did I make?
Indonesian Pork Satay (Sate Babi)
Preparations
- For best result, prepare one day in advance
- Select pork meat with a combination of lean meat and fat
- If possible, ask your meat vendor to give you fatty bits of pork, mine gave me some tendons
- Cut pork meat into bite sized chunks
- Soak bamboo skewers in water to prevent them for burning too fast
- Prepare marinate
Marinate
- Light soy sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor should be sweet soy sauce)
- Shallot (thinly sliced)
- 1 tsp ground corriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin
- ground nutmeg (sprinkle all over)
- white pepper
- lime zest, lime juice
- Olive oil
Marinate for minimum 3 hours, preferably overnight. On the day of BBQ, stick meant together with bamboo skewers, combining lean meat with fatty bits, about 5 pieces per skewer.
Sauce for basting
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- a dash of light soy sauce or fish sauce
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- olive oil
Baste the sate from time to time when grilling
Dipping sauce
- Sweet soy sauce (the dominant flavor)
- lime juice, lime zest
- ground nutmeg
- thinly sliced shallot
- chopped chilli (optional)
Place dipping sauce on a plate, dip sate after grilling, and serve sate hot.
They should be super tender, smoky from the charcoal grill, juicy, tasty...and very addictive. One stick is never gonna be enough.
How did the boys light up the charcoal BBQ? Ehm. They gas-bruleed it.
Did any of us get drunk? What did we drink?
Sadly, no one got drunk, but we sampled this deliciousness I brought from Bali.
Our skilled bartender, the A, mixed our drinks:
Arak Bali Cola Lime
- a shot of Arak Bali
- topped off with coke
- lime juice
- ice cubes
Super refreshing, just perfect for the hot evening BBQ.
The party was for our Bday girl, Carrie. A bday party is not a party without a cake and gifts.....
...and crazy poses from one of our hosts, the V.
Happy almost summer, bitches. ^_^
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