Food for the Mood

Ahhh, I feel like Spanish food today.

This post was inspired by Yan, whom reminded me of the glorious week in Barcelona and Valencia last year. I think I took too many pictures of food rather than scenery/people that time, but then I probably do everywhere. Just can't seem to perfect the technique, LoL

Anyways, here are some to share with you guys. Be warned: do not proceed if you're hungry! :P Your first thought about Spanish food is probably just Paella or Tapas.

Paella, the ultimate comfort food, is probably a risotto to an Italian or a 'chow fan' (fried rice) to a Chinese. Very versatile and goes with most ingredients. Authentic method of making it requires some time or effort though, by cooking the rice with flavorful stock in a big wide flat pan and constantly keep a watchful eye over it. Sadly due to time constraints, many restaurants just use ovens or even pressure cooker to do it. The squeeze of lemon right before you eat gives the punch ;)

The first one is just a normal seafood paella. The second one is interesting, hehe. No, its not a 'chao tarh' (i.e. burnt) version of the first. It's not carsinogenic either for the health conscious amongst you all out there. It's Paella Negro, which is Squid Ink Paella, hence where it gets its color. It's my favourite kind of paella I must say, noticed some people eating it in restaurants and decided to try it. Cooking with squid ink is just adds a different unexplainable aroma and dimension to it, have to try it for yourself when you're in Spain, highly recommended! But make sure you wipe your lips after eating it to avoid looking like a dracula! Will do a Paella post when I cook it :) (soon hopefully...)

On another interesting note, Tapas to me is like the Spanish version of sushi. It's a westernized version with bread/baguette instead of rice in sushis. Ok, maybe not ALL, but I did see some with salmon, and a crabmeat mayo one on top of bread.

Tapas from top-bottom: Blood sausage, salmon mousse and grilled pepper with mozarella tapas. Quite artsy, just like sushis. Hmm.. I think I still prefer sushi, hehe. But these are different story ...

(First picture) Tomato and garlic mussels and grilled baby squids. The next one is deep fried calimari and baby squids. Mwahaha, seems like a total seafood feast! But its all right coz its very fresh over there and not too expensive anyways compared to the UK.

Time for the highlight of the trip. I'd been reading up on what special stuff to try and finally landed my hands (or rather mouth) to these devilish desserts/snacks:

This is Buñuelos (Boon-way-loos). They are a Spanish favourite snack or dessert, basically crunchy flour tortillas coated with cinnamon sugar, dipped in DARK CHOCOLATE *swoon* :P

This is Churros. Churros are fried strips of dough typically served hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar or dipped in chocolate (again!). Sounds equally sinful, hehe, but I had it for breakfast anyway a few days in a row! It's only a westernized version of 'Yau Char Kwai' (a.k.a) Chinese crullers, typically a breakfast item which probably originated from Hongkong. :P And I eat it with chocolate milk (though Chinese crullers normally goes with soya milk or even dipped in coffee :) ) Choosing between the two? Tough choice.. *think think, scratches head*.......... I think I prefer ....Ch.. Bh.. Chhu.. Bhhu.. CHuRRoS!! gargh

Haha, I think I went overboard again and ended up posting 80% of my food pics taken during my trip last year to Barcelona and Valencia. For souvenir? Yesh, I bought myself a Paella pan :P

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Cool Japanese Inventions

Be prepared for a good laugh!

Needed something to cheer me up today as I am feeling a bit lousy. Hence instead of doing work, I surfed and came across this interesting topic. I mean I have always been fascinated with the Japanese for their crazy inventions, like ramen noodle vending machines, smart toilets (where you can adjust the ideal temperature for warm seats and plays music while you're doing your business so it's less awkward) and even square watermelons. But seriously, these inventions are out of this world... Check it out!

Do you love singing and RED BOX (the karaoke entertainment chain) but just a bit shy coz you know you're not a Malaysian Idol material or Whitney Houston? Then the "Personal Karaoke" is for you!

This personal soundproof microphone lets you practice your (awful) singing without disturbing your family. It also comes with little earphones which lets you torture yourself by yourself. Just remember to brush your teeth before using it!

For the vain pots, here's introducing the "must have's" gadgets for beauty's sake. Who needs plastic surgeons when you have these:

No, it's not a ninja mask, but a FACE SLIMMER! Apparently having a slim face as a Japanese women is considered as a rare beauty feature. So that's why they made this Slimming Face Mask. The mask works by putting it over your face and letting contact pressure do it's job. It's also acts as a sauna for your face. That way you can "sweat the fat off" your face. WhoT? We should tell them that the Chinese believe that having a round face is a sign of happiness and prosperity! As for the one on the right, it's a Nose Stretcher! >_<''' A flat little nose is a common feature among Japanese women. But that all changed with this nose lengthening device. The thing works by stretching the cartilage in your nose to a desired size after wearing it for a few minutes a couple times a week. Pretty soon all Japanese women will have nice noses and slim faces, LoL

Okay, not all of the inventions are as random as those. I actually thought these were quite cool and useful, especially for a noodle lover like me.

Meet the Noodle Stove and Noodle Cooler. Just place your favorite cup of noodles over the single stove plate, and wait a couple of minutes and it's done! I think the Noodle Cooler on the right is more practical coz there's nothing worst than burning your mouth while eating some tasty noodles. Attach the Noodle Cooling Fan to your chopsticks and set the little fan to chill the noodles and save your breath from doing the job, common sense invention. *Thumbs up*

This is also another useful gadget for those tube/subway commuters out there. Being stuck in a cramped compartment like a sardine just makes you real sleepy during the rush hour. To make more efficient use of time, we all love to take a nap, but standing on a space constrained tube? Noooo problem, the Japanese said, coz we have the Nap Helmet!

Just put this baby on your head and pop the plunger onto the window as you dose off in Japanese dreamland. Maybe you can combine this with the face slimmer for a facial session in the subway and you probably look beautiful in time for work! But then, you'd probably look like a horrific alien/criminal in the subway with a RED helmet and a PURPLE mask...

Okay, I'm having a tummy ache now laughing too much. But really, I still respect the Japanese for their creativity no matter what. And yes, I'm feeling MUCH better now :)

Shopaholics unite!

What intended to be an innocent 'sightseeing' trip around town changed into intensed shopping spree as I got myself 2 new pairs of Adidas' from a sale! :) Yup, only 2. I had a friend, he who shall not be named, who bought 5 pairs of shoes, okay? (Don't stereotype :P) The beauty and power of comparison --> I bought relatively less :D Haha, good justification eh?

Anyways, can't believe term is starting soon, in less than 2 weeks! Where had all my holidays gone? >_<'''

New Year, New Cuisine

In the spirit of 2006, feeling a bit more adventurous than usual, I ransacked my food cabinet and found this:

It's the Korean Hot Pepper Paste, a.k.a Gochujang in korean. This was adapted from a website on Gochujang:

It is a unique Korean food boasting of an excellent harmony in nutrition, taste, and color. Its savory taste and rich protein come from soybeans, the primary ingredient, and its sweet taste comes from carbohydrates contained in glutinous rice, ordinary rice, or barley, which are also major ingredients. Powdered hot pepper gives it a hot taste and red color, and its salty taste comes from soybean sauce and salt. While western dressings are sometimes added to vegetables, Korean hot pepper paste is used more widely (in stews and sauces, as well as in vegetables).

Sounds healthy LOL, perfect for a New Year dish. Hence I decided to try out this easy recipe called "Dak Chochu Jang Boekum" (Chicken in Hot Pepper Sauce), found from an online website.

All you need is:

• 2 pounds chicken parts, loose skin and fat discarded
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, freshly chopped
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 5 tablespoon gochu jang, hot fermentedchili paste
• 2 tablespoons Korean sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup of water

Instructions:

1. Cut the chicken into 3-inch pieces. Divide the wings.
2. Mix the parts with the sugar and marinate for 1 hour or more (the sugar is a tenderizer).
3. Mix together all the other seasonings: garlic, scallion, ginger, soy sauce, gochu jang, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Mix well, add to the chicken, and marinate for another hour.
4. Pour the 1/2 cup of water into a pan and bring to a boil.
5. Add the chicken and marinade and simmer, covered, over low heat for about 1/2 hour, which is enough to cook the chicken and evaporate nearly all the liquid.
6. Stir the mixture once or twice during this process. Serve warm with rice, salads and kimchi.

It's THAT easy! I was a bit dubious and doubtful of its outcome, but rest assured, its tried and tested and its YUMMY! :)

Here are some pics I took during the preparation:

This...

plus this ...

equals ...

Finally...

It goes really well with noodles too for that spicy kick! Happy 2006 everyone, may the new year bring more joy and happiness to all! =)

Skier chez Argentière

Heya, hope all of you all had a good Christmas! I survived skiing and the crazy Boxing day sale, so be prepared for a LONGG post. I just got back from a week of skiing in Argentière, France, and it was FUN FUN FUN! Going with such a large group made it even more exciting when we met other students from Oxford, Bath, Manchester and Citi University on the same trip.

Argentière is situated 8km above Chamonix, a charming and quaint village at 1250m. It's at the heart of the Mont Blanc alpine area in the French Alps, which is the highest mountain in western Europe at 4808m above sea level!

We stayed with UCPA Argentière, and it was already snowing when we first arrived, marking a crazy start to the holiday with snowball fights... :) Here's a snapshot taken from the balcony of our hostel, just like a fairy tale snow kingdom, don't you think? The court you see in the picture is an ice skating rink :D

Upon arrival, we had the day off as we arrived in the afternoon. Hence, we went to Chamonix town to search for lunch. It's strange when all restaurants or food outlets closes after 2pm or so, when nowadays people's eating patterns changed drastically probably due to different sleeping habits. We were adviced to go to Chamonix as there is a McDonald's there apparently, and they don't close all day (obviously). Talk about globalization, I still find the idea of a McD's on the alps unbelievable... Here are some pics we took, and 2 monkeys called Herman and Grace jumpin' in the air of snow ;P

At Chamonix, most of us opted for the ideal lunch menu, crêpe! I definitely had chocolate overdose that day as I shared both the crêpe with chocolate, ice cream and whipped cream + chocolate sponge with custard with a friend. Variety is after all, the spice of life ... =P

Anyways, after that we explored the lil' town and I found something amusing ... But one question first, 'What do you get on Nutella's 40th anniversary?' To keep you in suspense, I shall only tell you the answer at the end of this post. =P No cheating! Give yourself 3 tries only!

Next few days were basically skiing with an instructor. Wee Ben, Hong Hsien, Josephine and I were in the same group with a few other French students and 2 Brits who had initial skiing experiences. Think the highlight of the trip was when I/we accidentally skiied down a black slope... TWICE. It's a long story...

The first time occured when we were directed to go back ourselves by the ski instructor Laurent, when he had to search for one of the members who went missing at La Flegere. Daredevil Wee Ben, who led the team back, happened to have a bad sense of direction, and just took whichever slope that seems to lead downwards. Lisa (one of the Brits) and I began to notice something amiss as the slope we were skiiing seemed narrow, winding and a little too difficult for a blue slope. For your info, ski slopes are rated according to difficulty, green/blue/red/black in ascending order of difficulty. I looked for signs and noticed 'Le Praz' in BLACK, which is basically a slope for pro skiiers. *Sweat* LOL. We looked at each other, stunned. Oh heck, there's no other way down and we were already halfway down the 5km slope. So off we skiied and were knackered by the end of the journey, and no one knew it was a black till we told them at the bottom of the slope! Lisa calls Wee Ben a lunatic from then on, but it feels good to finally do a black one, it wasn't too bad and the adrenaline rush was worth it ;)

Second time was on Wednesday where we had half day off and most of us went to ski at La Flegere again. It was just Wee Ben and I as it was easier to ski in smaller groups and we lost Josephine midway as she turned into another direction and we couldn't locate her. So being a 'blur sotong' who followed a bigger 'blur sotong', both of us tried a new red slope, which probably was a big mistake as it was an ungroomed red slope, i.e. a black equivalent. >_< bumpy rocks all the way. It took us almost 2 hours because it was quite scary. I crashed infinite times with skis flying, hence spent almost an hour to wear my skis on a slope and not losing my balance. Quite a creepy experience, and it was a very tiring one as we had to brake non-stop as it was steep and bumpy. But yeap we survived it again and this was a more satisfying experience than the last. Moral of the story: do not follow most ski routes that Wee Ben takes, LOL ;D

So days just breezed pass, like all happy days always do. We played Bridge almost every night and other board games, I learnt how to (sort of) play contract bridge too! Very interesting... On the last day, we all went sight seeing and take pics of Mont Blanc. Taking the cable car up from Aiguille Du Midi, it was FREEZING cold at -30 Celcius with strong winds. Only managed to take a few shots before my fingers became frozen ladies fingers :P But it was really beautiful, and we saw Mont Blanc too, misty and mysterious, from a distance away.

So that's the summary about the ski trip, enjoy the pictures!

P.S- By the way, the answer to the Nutella question was even MORE Nutella!

I think this was probably 4kg or something, forgot to check the weight. ;)

Anyways, have a Happy New Year everyone!