Strawberry Jam

 

Just a day before my Pharmacology exam, with all my nerves hyperactivating, stress level on a high and feeling like I want to postpone my exam again...I stumbled upon this life-saving recipe! 

Her blog is filled with such beautifully taken pictures and this recipe seems so easy and fail-proof. So then I decided that I HAVE to go for my exam so that I can start experimenting on this recipe and other recipes that I have found on her site! :-D

 

So here I am.....Pharm exam done and ready to fulfill my mission! :-D

Went straight to the open market outside Obchodni Dum Tesco to buy a box of strawberries that I saw with Sie Ong just the week before. The signs were saying that it's 50Kc per kg. The strawberries from afar already looked somewhat squashed. But since I am gonna be squashing them anyway, no harm right? :-P

 

To be honest, what attracted me to the strawberries from this stall is not the price tag but hehe...the box they come in. Alas...I was deceived. When I went back there again, I discovered that you don't get the box it comes in AND I was also stupid enough to think that whole box is 1 kg itself...so yeah, that big whole box only cost me 50Kc. Hah! =.= After having Yumi helped me pick out the strawberries, I handed the box to the vendor and then he proceeded to weigh it and then I realised.....=.= 

Anyway, on with the recipe. Do check out Indochinekitchen's post here. I followed it to the dot. Except that I didn't know that sugar is being used a sort of preservatives...so in my mind, I was thinking to reduce the amount cos 200grams seems rather diabetic to me. XD Plus the strawberries were rather sweet already.

I am not sure how long my jam could have lasted as my guinea pigs all seemed to have finished it before the 2 weeks storage time mentioned by Indochinekitchen! :-D

I received very good feedback from my friends whom I gave my jam to. So this is definitely a keeper...eventhough I am not much of a jam person. :-P

 

 Next up I am gonna try to infuse some new taste to my jam. Was playing around this idea...strawberry with cinnamon, strawberry with mint [I have a pot of mint waiting to be used :-D] or strawberry with fruit tea leaves? 

 

Parmice = Pseudopeneus prayensis = West African Goatfish

Have seen this in TESCO for a long time already but only bought it recently.

I have this habit of wikipedia-ing just about everything and I especially love to search up on these vague scientific names. And especially when I don't understand what sort of frozen fish are they selling in TESCO and they look oh-so-familiar.

When I bought this, it reminded me of the fish that Indian restaurants in Malaysia sell. All marinated in curry powder, chilli powder and all the various spices and then deep-fried to perfection! Yum! :-D So I thought maybe I could do the same with this..:-P

But I still needed to know if that was the right way of cooking for this fish and if there's any other ways to enjoy it. For this to happen, I need to know what the heck does 'parmice' means in English. Or 'Pseudopeneus prayensis'. Unfortunately this fish doesn't seem that popular in the cooking world....most search hits were about scientific cateloguing of this species....which almost guilt me.

Luckily, someone has gone thru what I had and posted it up! Ta-da! There's even a website with a video on how to cook this fish.  :-)

".....discovered they have white meat with delicate taste, as they were in a same family as red mullets. They are often eaten in curry or deep fried....."

Yay! Another item to be cooked Malaysian-style that you can find in the Czech TESCO near you!

==========================================================

I haven't been really getting the mood to experiment much recipes and then I got braces...which further dampen my spirit on what I can enjoy eating. =___= But I have kind of adjusted to it now and I figured that I will try all these recipes and eat all I love a week before I need to see my orthodontist for adjustment of the wires. :-D

Happy Chinese New Year! ^_^ [Peanuts Cookies & Chinese-styled Roast Chicken]

 Gong Hei, Gong Hei!!! Gong Hei Fatt Choy!!!

May the Year of Rabbit brings prosperity and good health to everyone!

We are going to have a little reunion dinner among good friends tonight and to lessen my work load today; I started making some preparations since yesterday. ;-) It's exam period for us right now [still left with Pharmacology exam!!!], so this is just gonna be a simple dinner affair.

In my plans:

1. Yee Sang
2. Butter Prawns
3. Chinese-styled Roast Chicken
4. Tang Yuan with Black Sesame Seed Paste
5. Cornflakes Cookies
6. Peanut Cookies
7. Stir-fry Vegetables with Mushrooms
8. Chicken Rice

For the first time, I actually bought fresh salmon to be used for the Yee Sang. Previously, I have only used smoked salmon cos I was too chicken about fresh salmon. I mean, I absolutely love eating salmon sashimi...but that's at a proper restaurant. Managing it myself, I wasn't too confident. But I did gathered up my courage to try it this year! ;-)

To check if the salmon's alright, I had a few pieces to myself. XD. I have a really sensitive GIT. :-P Anyway, although the salmon's not sashimi grade, it's still pretty alright to be used for Yee Sang.

My Yee Sang will always only include ingredients that I actually eat :-P So I kinda cut out a lot of items. But! this year I am gonna include daikon and carrots as well!

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peanut Cookies

Yesterday, I managed to bake a batch of peanut cookies. My FIRST time ever baking something more complicated than cornflakes cookies. I don't know why I even wanted to bake peanut cookies...when I actually don't really like peanuts. or cookies. :-P But you know, it's Chinese New Year! Gotta have some home-made cookies....no matter how bad they look.

Anyway, they look pretty bad cos my dough was a bit 'wet' and I forgot the tips that I could add flour [I had that thought in my head...but I still didn't do it. Weird] if my dough was too 'wet....so I couldn't shape them properly. Plus, I don't have a proper brush to brush on the egg wash ---> used my clean fingers instead. Taste was surprisingly alright. I need my friends to judge for me cos I don't exactly like eating these kinda stuffs so I am biased. Anyway, this batch is actually alright....cos I didn't burn them. XD. The burned ones have a slight smoky taste to them...haha. Highly recommended. not.

Got my recipe from here. See how pretty hers are? I might endeavour to make these again......if I am so inclined to feel stressed and feel like crushing peanuts using a hammer. XD. Yeah, I don't have a grinder.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chinese-Styled Roast Chicken

I got convinced by Sie Ong to get a whole chicken instead of small parts. LOL. It was....an interesting experience as I have never bought a whole chicken which still reminds me of a chicken. Yeah I eat meat but I get queasy at the thought of the animal itself...being slaughtered and all --> hypocrite ME. >.< Holding up the chicken felt like holding Koko up; especially by its wings. Koko is my housemate's dog, btw. Anyway, I thanked the chicken for its sacrifice and promised that I will honor its existence by making it taste real good. :-)

I read up on how to handle the chicken including instructions on how to butterfly it here. The recipe.....I kinda pull every part of its recipe from random food blogs and based on what I feel right. lol.

I marinated the chicken overnight in a zip-loc bag.

The marination:
1. 1.5 tbsp Light soy sauce
2. 1 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
3. 1 tbsp 5-spice powder
4. 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoon of  Sugar
6. 1 teaspoon of Salt
7. Ginger juice
8. 3 cloves of Garlic
[This is roughly the amount I used...]

Mix all this into a paste in a bowl . Then give your chicken a good massage it deserved for being your meal. :-) Remember to rub some under its skin.

I don't know how this will taste yet. But the marination smells so goooood. XD.

Japanese Food-curios

One of the most interesting thing about living with a person of different nationality is the food stuff their family sent. lol. Well, actually when I was living together with 2 of my Malaysian Indian friends, their food parcels were filled with loads of stuff that I haven't seen before. But it's a whole new experience when you don't exactly know what kind of food it is because it's written in Japanese. :-P And then come in my Japanese language translator --> Yumi! Once she says out the Japanese word, I'd know it....because my Japanese language is limited to its food items only. :-) She'd tell you the same too ;-P

There's a lot of food curios in our ladder. This is one; which Yumi 'cooked' after the Karaoke Night held by my class to raise money for the Graduates' Night --> It's some sort of tradition that 4th Years have to organise it for the 6th Years... ^_^

ODEN!

Japan's really amazing with all their extremely convenient packaging [you just dunk the bag in to a boiling pot of water!] and when you remove the content, it could really pass off as something you cook yourself! 

 See? It must be great to be a student in Japan...cramming for exams and still getting a semblance of real food as opposed to my poor diet of instant noodles during exam period. =_=

 There's fish cakes filled with something. An egg. Some sort of squid-ball lookalike [but it's not squid]. Konyakku. A ribbon of seaweed. A slice of daikon. I love the soup. It's actually really nice. Even Yumi was surprised. Only the egg was, well, doesn't taste like egg....

This is pickled radish that Yumi got from the Korean-Japanese shop in Prague.....I suppose only a Japanese @ Korean would pick this up....so I'd classify it under this. :-P Don't like this....a bit too sourish pickl-ish for me.

Kangkung Belacan

Kangkung [water convolvulus] is no doubt one of my favourite GREEN vegetable [yes! there's vege that's not GREEN!!! --> brinjal! ^_^]. Anyway, when I was in Malaysia, I took it for granted cos it's so easily found. I remember when I was in Standard 4@5 and at that time, hydroponic growing was all the rage; everyone had a hydroponic set at home....and we even have those planting projects in school. Kangkung was one of the easiest to grow on the set....so super-duper easy that it was like weed! Mum used to put the set next to the washing machine in a neat, little space at the back part of the houseand when the kangkung's all grown up, it was like our washing machine landed  in a jungle.

Here in Czech Republic....so far,I could only find it in Prague's Thai Asian Food Shop...and not for a cheap price either ~45CZK a packet ~200grams[??] [I'll probably get a big bag of it for the same price in Malaysia...:-P]

I was so tempted to carry a hydroponic set from home; so that I could plant on my own. [My heavy often overweight luggage plus the fact I have to lug it back using train/ bus to HK dissuaded that idea..]

My favourite way of eating kangkung is belacan-style! Ok...though to be honest, when I have to cook it, I was kinda cursing cos the smell was so strong, it permeated the whole flat. But eating it.....mmmmmmm...^_^ heeee....!

I don't exactly know how it's usually cooked..but this is what I did...lol..

Ingredients:
Kangkung
A pinch of belacan [According to Sara, use belacan like how you use salt...:-P]
Salt
Garlic
Chillies
Pepper
Water

Methods:

1. Wash kangkung thoroughly
2. Mix belacan with some water [so that it won't get burned when you fry it first]. Crush it into small pieces
3. Heat up oil in wok. Saute the belacan. Add in the garlic and chillies.
4. Add in kangkung....and proceed with a strong heart as you watch the amount of kangkung shrinks before your eyes...:-( Add seasonings.
5. Give it a few rounds of quick wokking
6. Dish it out
7. Eat with rice :-)

Verdict:
Me and Yumi were nearly tearing up [Ok, so I did all the tearing...she's pretty resistant to chillies] over the amount of chillies I used. SO! Do use your chillies with caution! You want to enjoy your kangkung, not cry from it. But other than that, I wish I could have this dish often....

Ok, actually even in Malaysia, I don't really eat this that often. Some old Chinese advice about it causing/ increase risk of gout etc...not sure what is in kangkung that causes that. But with my luck with my joints, I best be careful about this.  :-P

Hainanese Chicken Chop

Yes yes I know....it's been a long while since I posted up anything...I actually have so many food pics from my summer break in Malaysia, China and Singapore to share but my stupid internet will lag with all the GBs. =_=

Anyway, the new study year has started for me [Hello, sweet life of a 4th year!]. Seems like 4th years will have it easy but this is like the calm before the storm...5th year is reportedly hell-ish. But hopefully, this year will mean I have more time to experiment. Hee...

I have not transferred the picture for this post yet  but thought I'll just write down the recipe lest I forget it. Cos I really like it. :-P [Ta-da! Finally got my lazy ass up to reach for the transfer cord...^_^]

Hainanese chicken chop is another dish I grew up with. My family frequently go to Yut Kee at Jalan Dang Wangi, KL and I always order the same dish. We order other dishes like fried noodles etc but for me, this is the tops. I will literally lick the plate clean; including the sauce. :-D

The dish calls for a deboned chicken thigh. I have absolutely no idea how to. Of course, I searched it up. :-)
Turns out to be really easy! [Click to learn] And my dissecting skills comes in handy too. LOL....maybe I even have the makings of an orthopedic surgeon! Hehe...for chickens.

 Although I have a rough idea of how to cook it, I needed some guides to follow. There's not that many Hainanese chicken chop recipes around so I am really thankful to have found it at Rose's Kitchen. I had to modify it as I don't have certain ingredients and I had some extra ideas.

------------------------------------

Ingredients:
Chicken thigh, deboned. Do not remove the skin!
Salt
Pepper
Maggi seasoning sauce
Plain flour
Corn starch
1 egg, beaten
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
2. Coat chicken with egg and dredge in corn starch. 
3. Coat chicken again with egg and this time dredge in plain flour.
4. Deep fry chicken until golden brown.  Dish out onto a serving plate.

 **I must have heard somewhere that double coating makes the chicken taste better and can maintain its crispiness and lock in moisture etc etc.....:-P

 

Ingredients for Gravy:
Potato wedges
~50g butter [I know it's ~50g cos its the same amount I cut up for my cornflake cookies ^_^]
Garlic, minced [Ooooh, I love my new garlic crusher from IKEA!]
Chicken granules [They have some thickening element so I didn't need to add cornstarch to thicken the sauce]
Onion wedges
Tomato wedges
Green peas [**]
Sweet corn [**]
Diced carrots [**]
 Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Maggi seasoning sauce
Lemon juice; adjust to taste [gives a slight tangy sour taste!]
[**I don't have these but it's good to have them...taste good and looks good]

Method:

1. Deep fry the potato wedges to half cook them.  Dish out and drain on paper towels.
2. Melt up the butter in another pan and saute the garlic.  Add the half-cooked potato wedges and the chicken granules. Add water to pan.  Cook over a low fire.
3. Add the onion and tomato wedges, green peas, sweet corn and dice carrots to gravy
4. Add seasoning to taste. 
5. Pour gravy over chicken chop and enjoy!

---------------------------------------------

Verdict:
It's surprisingly good! :-P The fried chicken has a really good and slight crispy texture to it despite being drenced in the gravy. The gravy tastes good but I am gonna experiment more with it to perfect it more...:-)

p/s: I made this again and then I realised I didn't write down lemon juice as part of the ingredients for the gravy! This is really important  for me cos I remember Yut Kee's gravy had this slight tangy-sourish taste that I couldn't place. Somehow, I managed to get that taste with lemon juice. ^_^

A comparison of Ganga's and Royal Maharajah

Before HK's own Royal Maharajah was opened, Ganga's enjoyed flocks of students from HK into their restaurant for some months and now that Royal Maharajah is opened, I think they still do as Ganga's does have lots of appeals of its own over Royal Maharajah.

Here's my few peanuts of thoughts on  these 2.

1.Value for money: For the price it asked for,we would have expected a bigger portion from Royal Maharajah..it's fair to say that the serving dish at Ganga's provide a bit of an optical illusion that its serving portion is bigger but really, my stomach don't lie...However, we were told by the manager of Royal Maharajah that the ingredients they used are imported from India and Germany whereas Ganga's use local ingredients...which explains their reason for the higher pricing-to-smaller portion. If ya asking me, I'd rather have them use local ingredients...not that I could tell the difference between a Czech chicken and German chicken.

2. Atmosphere: Don't know which restaurant owned the lot Ganga's in now but Ganga's retained some its mural that we are dead sure aren't reflective of the Indian culture...haha..Royal Maharajah on the other hand prides itself in offering a sight of Indian culture and so you do get the feeling that you have entered an Indian restaurant especially  because of the altar for Hindu gods welcoming you at the entrance.

3. Taste: I haven't been to both of these restaurants as much as I like to, but on some occasions , I do order the same dishes eg. Butter Chicken at Royal Maharajah...which was um..a bit different on the 4 different times I have eaten it. Is it too much to ask for consistency??

4. Menu range:  Both restaurants offer a wide range of dishes....so much that you are confused temporarily at what to order...but I have to go with Royal Maharajah's for this one...cos they have lady's fingers/ okra!!!!!


5. Presentation of dishes: Thumbs up to both for using serving dishes that reflects an Indian meal experience...but maybe a bit extra to Ganga's for using ones that makes us feel the portion is bigger than it really is...:-P

6. Space: Ganga's has a really small space and because it's located at the basement level, it feels even smaller. It can't sit many patrons and so, it's highly recommended to reserve before hopping on a train to Pardubice. 

7. Location: Ok, not only is Royal Maharajah is right in HK, it's also 2 shops away from my flat...how lucky is that? :-P But really, both restaurants are easy to find as they are located in each city's Old Town area.

So well, I think all things considered, it's a bit of a tie between them. But if  I have time and want to feel like I am on a little holiday, I'll head for Ganga's...heeee