Combating a Flu

self -medication

Ever since the outbreak of Sar, a cold flu is taken seriously by everyone: the boss send you home, collegeaues avoid you, lift commuters hold their breath and hospital patient's visit strictly forbidden . The whole world seems to abandon me while I'm still very alive and dancing around. 

These self-medicated flu pills of today are non-drowsy and sleeping is last on my mind. Since no human companionship is available, I know one place would welcome me with open arms ...the grocery store. Pushed the trolley down the lanes and carried home a bag of my favourite snacks. Next, flop on the sofa and binge with reckless indulgence.

couch potato

food gabble

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Fun Reads 2: National Delicacies

Karl Shaw

1. Cena Molida - contains roasted mashed cockroaches (Belize)
2. Fried, roasted or boiled guinea pig (Ecuador)
3. Rat meat sausages (Philippies)
4. Crispy fried rat with lemon, boiled bamboo rat, desiccated petrified deer's penis (China)
5. Boodog - a goat broiled inside a bag made from  carefully cut and tied goatskin. The goat is either barbecued over an open fire or cooked with a blow torch  (Mongolia)
6. Fruit bat soup (Thailand)
7. Pickled puffin (North Wales,  nineteenth century)
8. Lark's tongues (England, sixteenth century)
9. Lumbuli - small roasted animal testicle (Ancient Rome)
10. Khachapuri - traditional cheese pie of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. In 1995, authorities closed down a bakery whose specialty was khachapuri and were baked in the Tbilisi morgue.

food gabble

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Fun Reads: 10 Strange Diets

Author : Karl Shaw

1.  A mad Victorian artist Richard Dadd lived for several years exclusively on hard boiled eggs and ale.
2. 
   
3. To demonstrate the cultural inferiority of the United Stated, ex-Pogues lead singer Shane MacGowan ate a Beach Boys album.
4. 
   
5. During the Crimean War, British soldiers were supplied with a daily ration of caviar.
6. 
   
7. A Danish author Theodore Reinking offended the Swedes so much that he was imprisoned for life. After several years in jail, he was given a straight choice: eat your book or lose your head. He chose the former.
8. 
   
9. In 1994, fisherman Renado Arganza spent several days at clinging to a buoy after his boat capsized off the Philippines. On being rescued he remarked that he had survived by eating his underpants.
10. 
    
11. Henry Ford I took to eating weed sandwiches when he heard scientist George Washington Grover did the same.
12. 
    
13. During the widespread food shortages in Cuba in 1994, the cat population fell by 400,000
14. 
    
15. For the last fifteen years of his life Howard Hughes lived almost exclusively on ice-cream. He generally stuck to the same flavour until every supplier in the district ran out.
16. 
    
17. In Roman history, Emperor Heliogabalus dined on parrot heads, flamingo brains, thrush brains and camel heels. At one feast, he served his guests with flamingo heads and gave them gold spoons to scoop and eat the brains.
18. 
    
19. Ernest Hemingway wrote all his works on a diet of peanut butter sandwiches

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Traditional Chinese Medicine

TCM 

This box of Po Chai pills travels with me on holiday, or stays in the fridge as emergency assistance (A&E) . Whenever abrupt visitations to the lavatory from food adventure's hipcups, I can count on two small packs to get me up and going without wasting two hours in the clinic. I do not have any food allergy, however certain combination of them put me in living hell. Here is one such situation on a beautiful Sunday.

What other better recreation on a lazy sunday afternoon for two ladies than sitting by big glass windows siping tea, schmearing scones, and watching shoppers strolling by? A little gossip sweetened the conversation and exchange of compliments polished each other egos. We lavished on a pot of lovely smooth TWG Imperial Rose and scones, followed by two orders of fish mains. I had a deluxe pan-fried black cod served on oriental vegetables: ni bai mini oyster mushroom and a tasty Korean grain risotto. Towards end of meal, the second pot Signature White Tea was served. Again, I had another steeping hot two cups...ever pleasing again.

Within 15 mins after the last cup of tea, I started to sense a turbulence building up in my stomach and soon waves of tsunami were pounding inside. Beads of cold perspiration covered forehead and neck. I wished there was a stretcher to carry me out of the cafe to the lavatory. After an hour or so, I was able to make my way home....po chai yun to the rescue! 

Companion was in perfect health. The sudden attack shocked the stomache muscles and I was on very light meals the next two days....a gourmand's greed.

tummy turbulence

food quote:   良药苦口(liáng yào kǔ kǒu) - a good medicine tastes bitter.
Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste.  PaulaCookingFingers

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Huaiyang Pastries 2 : Baked Salted Yolk Kaya Puffs

开开心心的吃  不怕胖不要美

For those with a sweet tooth, use the spiral curry puff  dough and wrap with salted yolk kaya....utterly delicious! Many refused to believe kaya and salted yolk jived well till they took a big bite of the puff and the saltish-sweet custard bewildered them...bizzarrely tasty. This has yet  to hit the market as everyone is mad over the salted yolk crossiants.

Simply, steam two yolks for 10 mins and mash them when hot with a fork or butter knife. Combine 80g Nyonya kaya with the mashed yolk and chilled for half hour before using. Use half recipe of spiral curry puff dough . You may use a cookie cutter to get smaller even rounds. I deep fry them for 1- 2 mins to puff up the flakes. When you can see the flakes clearly, lift them up and bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven for 15 mins. Turn off oven and leave the puffs inside for 5 mins. A quick deep fry of the puffs gives thicker flakes and a nicer finish. Baking the puffs instead of frying also prevents the kaya oozing in the high pressure hot oil. 

angelic

mash immediate after steam

a blend of yolks and nyonya kaya

When bubbles appear, get ready to put in the kaya puff slowly...fry for 1 min. Tilt d pan so less oil needed . Lift them onto a tray lined with paper towel. I fry one at a time.

They may not look nice at this stage, once baked ( 15 mins @ 180 degrees ) would be nice golden and crispy. Extremely rich, limit to two ! 

In last batch, I did one swiss rolling to test the outcome : the flakes aren't so pretty, lesser and thicker.

food quote: 撿了芝麻，丟了西瓜："In order to pick up a sesame seed, one drops a watermelon"：To concentrate on trivial matters to the neglect of important ones.

Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste.  PaulaCookingFingers

Workshops @ Palate Sensation

Tel:  65 64789746

Asian pastries

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Butterscotch Brioche for Beginners

大家吃的开开心心

Dear bread lovers, join me over the next few months on a bread making odyssey and we shall kick off with these tiny chewy broiches soused with a velvety butterscotch sauce (from bottle). They existed on Earth for a short afternoon. I baked them from a recipe found on a yeast box (SAF). The recipe using a straight method is great for beginners who wants to bake some tea delights in the fastest possible time. 

This technique buns always a disappointment in its life span, hardly can retain its moisture for a day. By the next day, the texture turn into that of a dampened packing carton box. Fortunately I found takers who loved chewing this batch immediate from oven. I squeezed lots of the sauce on them when taken out of the oven piping hot . The takers were over the moon to eat them. I suppose the delicious sauce camouflaged the flaws of this fast bread making method. After this fun-loving session playing with dough and the interest is still fluttering in your heart, hop over to my other bread posts with dough starters and be enlightened. A myriad list of these real bread is ecstatic and the baking goes on and on...Try the Asian Hot Cross Buns next.

Recipe from SAF Instant 

250g plain flour

11g - 1 sachet SAF-instant yeast 

1 teaspoon seasalt

6 teaspoons sugar

7 teaspoons milk

2 eggs

50g soft unsalted butter

egg wash - 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water

• All ingredients at room temperature
• Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar together
• Then mix in the milk and eggs.
• Gradually add in the butter.
• Knead the dough for 15 mins.
• Let the dough double in size about an hour.
• Punch down the dough and shape accordingly.
• Proof again the shaped dough till double.
• Preheat oven 200 degrees centigrade 15 mins.
• Brush the buns with eggwash.
• Bake for about 20 mins 180 degrees or till light golden.

Bible Quote: Psalm 104:15  wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. 
Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste.  PaulaCookingFingers

yeast

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Sunday Korean Fiesta

你在吃什么?

什么都要吃

emperor's feast

See those flames below the boneless prime rib. They are from the red hot burning charcoal below the wire mesh. Very few Korean BBQ restaurants would offer this smoky way of grilling the meat, and so some flavours/ tenderness are sacrificed . Good old Chang's BBQ@Dempsay Hill is still keeping their traditions. Prices here are unfriendly but enjoying each mouth full of great flavours relaxes the frazzled nerves from a week of toil. This week has been a tough one and every night I crashed in my sleep. Lord, pls wake me up in the morning.

Rationing

The order of Kurobuta pork belly fortunately came in three (not 2) short strips and after cutting them into smaller pieces were enough to feed three diners. Those thick layers of fat on the meat sated our palate in a greasier delicious sensual way. Since we can't afford to treat ourselves to a reorder of the pork and beef, an order of a big pot of kimchi stew with plain rice and a seafood pancake helped to fill up. Rarely, I eat up every grain in the rice bowl and with today exception. One piece of cucumber and carrot were served per table and I was fast enough to grab both and enjoyed them dipped in the  BBQ sauce...an anti-social behaviour.

mine...mine...mine

food quote:  食九大簋: "Eating nine big dishes: An elaborate and luxurious meal. 

Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste.  PaulaCookingFingers

food gabble

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Monday morning breakfast

你在吃什么?

什么都要吃

blue monday 

This day morning, the thought of having to wake up and deal with some people on this Earth or just face them for a couple of minutes makes me wanted to be nailed to my pillows and buried in my mattress. Sounds like someone in clinical depression ?Neh..neh..depressed individuals hear human voices in their heads, but if I ever fall over the edge and have to cope with such state of mind, an array of a breakfast spread would be the best medication for me. I would be hearing them banging on the fridge door to be unleashed and I would spring up to join them at the dining table. 

Pepper jack wrapped with shaved ham...shaved ham wrapped around wedges of creamy avocado...crispy viet baguette and soda crackers slathered with mediterranean roasted eggplant dip and finally drown them all with a cup of your favourite coffee. With these all inside you, it's just another weekday working morning! Wake up, lazy bum!

Importantly on Sunday before bedtime, check that you've a well-stocked fridge otherwise drive down to the nearest gas kiosk minimart. 

 

Food Quote:  畫餅充饑: "Draw a cake to satisfy one's hunger" 
Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste. PaulaCookingFingers

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Asian Bread : Bahn Mi round end

你又在吃?

一天到晚不停吃    不吃不眠??

Epicurean Delights

gustatory delights

The iconic rounded end Vietnamese baguettes have swept across Continents, displacing the frenchy pointed ones. They are renowned for its light airy texture with a thin crispy crust. Using some rice flour and three bread making techniques gives rise to this marvellous loaf . Whether use as a sandwich loaf or eaten with a bowl of hearty soup, they give great comfort to those with insatiable appetite.

four yummers

After two weeks of ferociously baking them in preparation for the workshop, and at the same time fine tuning the balance of the thin crust and the pillowy interior dough. Please allow me to knight it the "ciabatta of the east".

a hybrid masterpiece

billowy.. bouncy.. airy.. thin crispy crust

Workshop available @ Palate Sensations Singapore 

- tel : 65 64789746

Bible Quote: Proverbs 17:22  A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.  

Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste. PaulaCookingFingers

asian bread

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