Sunday 28 June 2015

MISO


Miso is the new flavour of the month in our household.  

Ever since Eugene opened Sushi Bar my mother has been his biggest fan.  She can no longer bring herself to eat sashimi from anywhere other than "Eugene's shop".

When Mum and I recently paid a visit to the brand new Sushi Bar Dining in Ngee Ann City, Eugene gifted us with several fresh salmon heads from the shop. We came home and made a very gratifying Salmon Head Miso Soup. Because I bought miso specially for the purpose I’m left with a fairly large quantity of Shiromiso (white miso) on my hands. 

Yesterday I was in the kitchen when the oven yelled, “Hey, remember me?”. I agree that it has been far too long. So I grilled some chicken wings. There's miso in the marinade, of course.

Dad normally detests eating with his fingers but this evening I found him doing just that with these chicken wings.  Miso might have silently crept its way into his heart.


GARLIC MISO CHICKEN WINGS
Adapted from this recipe from Just One Cookbook

6 whole chicken wings 
4 cloves garlic, minced 
3 levelled tablespoons white miso 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons mirin 

Rinse the chicken wings and pat it dry with paper towel. Prick the chicken wings with a fork and put them in a Ziploc bag. 

In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic and miso. Add the mixture into the Ziploc bag and massage it all over the chicken wings from outside the bag. Keep in the fridge overnight. 

About 3 hours before cooking, add soy sauce and mirin in the bag and mix well. Keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook. 

Line the bottom of broiler pan with foil (for easy clean up afterwards) and oil the broiler rack. You may want to remove excess marinate from the chicken wings because miso gets burnt easily.  Place the chicken wings on the broiler rack skin side down first. Turn the broiler on high (no need to preheat) and place the broiler rack 6 inch away from the top and broil for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Then flip the chicken wings (skin side up) and broil for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!


Thursday 25 June 2015

日落

疲惫地下班后,听轻爵士乐
看着美美的日落,
是一件快乐的事情。


Tuesday 9 June 2015

关于猫



Zan养的猫星期日晚上玩出走,至今还没回家,把Zan给急坏了。自从Zan的女儿生了小宝宝后, 养了七年的猫就性情大变。家里添了新宠,猫猫承受不少压力吧?以前家里的成员下班回家必定会先跟猫玩,宝宝出现后大家进门的第一件事情当然是先逗婴儿;从前猫可以纵横家里的每一角,有了宝宝后猫不许踏进有婴儿在房间(因为宝宝的母亲不喜欢儿子身上粘到猫毛); 以前Zan对我述说”Oh my darling boy!” 的事情就是有关猫的, 最近”Oh my darling boy!” 指的就是宝贝孙子啦!猫自觉失宠便闹情绪,在客厅里大小便,刻意抓破家具,时不时闹失踪,让Zan非常苦恼。

宠物也懂得吃醋、撒娇、争宠、求关注。Zan告诉我:猫还会对婴儿翻白眼哦!

UPDATE:
六月十四日(星期天)猫被好心人送回家了!

Friday 5 June 2015

HOT


Woke up this morning to hazy skies.  It's hot these days!  3 changes of clothes a day hot. 3 litres of drinking water a day hot. I set my fan on high at bedtime but it helps little. On some nights I hear the occasional low rumbling of thunder but there is no rainfall.  Heading out to lunch has become a rather torturous affair.  Sun relentless.  Brain fried. Utterly beaten down by the heat. Way. Too. Hot.

Tammy and Cindy have made plans to visit from Hong Kong this July.  I wonder if they'll take well to this seemingly 40 degrees weather?  My co-worker, Zan, says we should all suck it up.  People in India a dropping dead by the thousands under the 50 degrees heat so we should be thankful that we don't suffer the same fate.  I know she's right but I can't help complaining!

Took a few days off last week to do (almost) nothing.  My annual leave balance is fast depleting and deciding whether to take some time for myself was a huge struggle on my part.  Still, I finally convinced myself that life shouldn’t just revolve around aged parents and hospital appointments.  I'm important too!

FOCACCIA FOR FLAVOUR

Put a great deal of effort into this one. Was focussed on getting it right so I didn't take many photos.

A very wet dough (high hydration) = open crumb structure, thin & crispy crust.  

High amount of gluten formation = rubbery appearance.  I don't like it.

Great flavour, nevertheless.  No idea what prompted me to choose a square pan over a sheet pan.  Not using my brains much.

I love Blue Jacket Flour from Taiwan!





If you'd learn to troubleshoot your bad bread, here's a good read.



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