Easy Almond Cake

I was reading a fellow foodie - Mag’s Green Almonds and this had my mind rolling (and my stomach too)! I love almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias… occasionally peanuts but most of time I’m nuts about nuts, really! Vite! Vite! Vite! It’s 3 hours before tea time, I had to be quick if not I won’t be on time to enjoy my Jamaica Blue Mountain! I found that I still had 5 packs of ground almonds left from last week’s baking, yeayyyyyy!

Here’s the recipe… It’s easy provided you already have the basic ingredients at hand. I hope you like it as well. It’s nothing fancy, just simple cake… with lots of almonds!

Easy Almond Cake

Makes a 18 cm round cake

125 g Butter

110 g Castor Sugar

2-3 drops Almond Essence (you can add more if you like stronger taste)

3 no Eggs -lightly beaten ( I used Medium Size Eggs @ 60 g each-yes, I weigh them )

120 g Ground Almonds

80 g Plain Flour-sifted

Some Almond Halves/Whole Almonds for decorations (Optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 ºC. Brush a deep 18 cm round cake tin (you can use any round tin about that size) with melted butter or oil. Line base with parchment paper (Baking paper).

2. In a mixing bowl; Using  electric beaters, beat butter, sugar and almond essence until light and creamy.

3. Add 1/3 of eggs with 1/3 of ground almonds; repeat with remaining eggs & almonds.

4. Using a spatula, fold in sifted flour;stir until ingredients are combined and mixture is smooth.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared tin; smooth surface and decorate with almonds.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted into centre of cake. Leave cake in tin for 10 minutes; turn onto a wire rack to cool.

7. To serve: Dust with castor sugar or icing sugar.

Storage:

This cake can be keep for 3 days in airtight container or 2 months in freezer.

Simple Fresh Mushroom Soup

I’d been busy these few days, arranging some trips with my family for this June. Due to this, I’d been neglecting a bit my fridge… I discovered yesterday that I still have some mushrooms tucked nicely in brown bags! I had to think of solution not to waste this precious fungi collection. Further discovery, I still have 1 small carton of crème fraîche and packet of parsley unopened. It was raining really heavily since early morning and temperature dropped to 24ºC which is cosy for a tropical climate ( yeah, I’m back in my hometown for awhile… ) I love to watch rain pours at the sea from my balcony and the only thing I could think of in such weather is ’soup’…. mushroom soup it shall be! Is a simple soup (not as elaborate as restaurants) and for me it’s a hearty meal with fresh bread plus hot coffee in the morning… errrr… in this case I think I should said ‘brunch’ :-D 

I like making soup in large quantity so that I can freeze them for other days. If my elderly neighbour’s around I pack the soup in several servings for her so she could have it whenever she wants. She lost one of her legs to diabetes last year and have difficulties to go to market without someone chauffeured her… When my family have the time, we will take her out for dinner or lunch and to the fresh market. She’s a very good cook and I learnt quite a lot from her as well

Simple Fresh Mushroom Soup

(serves 2-4 portions)

A Selection of Mushrooms of your choice:

Cut off the hard portion of mushrooms and wipe off any grits on them. Slice mushrooms to small pieces. This is what leftovers I had but you can use any amount you fancy…

100 g Grey Oyster (Abalone) Mushrooms

50   g Bunapi Shimeiji Mushrooms

60   g Shiitake Mushrooms

100 g Enoki Mushrooms

1 large Red Onion - finely chopped

2 Tbl Italian Flat Parsley - finely chopped  for garnish

300 ml Chicken stock or more

Some Fresh Thyme-remove leaves from the stalk as required

1 Bay Leaf

Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Some Flour - for thickening the soup

Some Butter - In this recipe I used 30 g of butter

Crème Fraîche

Tools: A handheld blander

Method:

1. Combine 200 ml of chicken stock with 1 Tbl of flour until well mix. You can add more flour if you like thicker soup. Set aside. You will use the rest of the chicken stock according to the thickness you preferred later on.

2. Sauté onion in butter in a pot (or saucepan) until clear and slightly browned. Add thyme, bay leaf and sliced fresh mushroom mix. Covered & Simmered for 10 - 15 minutes or until mushrooms slightly wilted. Remove the bay leaf. Reserve 1-2 cups of the cooked mushrooms.

3. Stir the stock and flour mixture. Pour into pot, stirring until it thickened. Using a handheld blender (or any blender you own) - blend to the consistency you like. I like mine smoother in this recipe.

4. Stir in the fresh cream to your taste. Add in the extra stock until it reached your required thickness & creaminess. Simmer for 1 minute.Do not boil.

5. Dish into serving bowls and add some of the reserved cooked mushroom. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and a dash of fresh cream (if you like… :-D).

Note: If you don’t like that creamy (or weight conscious), you can use fresh/low-fat milk instead of fresh cream but adjust the stock you add in as well.

You can add in about some dry white wine or dry sherry and croutons to give that extra ooomph! 

Roasted Yogurt Chicken in Ghee

I love Indian food because of the cuisine’s usage of herbs and spices that I grew up with. When you mentioned Indian food, first thing came into people’s mind was images of red chillies floating in reddish coconut milk gravy, grounded spices, sweating red faces and tongue wagging with glasses of cold ice water (a bucket, maybe?) or lassis in one hand. I even have friends/relatives whom mentioned the word ‘curry’ would made them pale-faced and avoid any shops or restaurants that serve ‘curry’ like plague! They rather starved than tasting it…even if it’s only Kurma based dishes! Is not like that at all… There are other dishes that’s not going to make you swallowed that bucket of ice in front you at a gulp!  

The meaning of ‘Curry’ is derived from South Indian - Tamil language word ‘kari’ which means sauce or relish for rice. It refers to wide range of spicy-sauced dishes as accompaniment to rice and bread. Another red alert word for newcomers in Curry World is ‘Spicy’. It’s a magic word that sends out for a fire brigade on stand-by… It actually means seasoned with or containing spice that ranges from aromatic, sweet, sour, peppery, zesty to piquant or pungent like cardamom, cinnamon, tamarind, black pepper, asafoetida, chillies, tumeric, etc, etc,etc. That means you could have Rasam which is sourish to peppery taste next to Meen Curry Fish -  a Kerala dish with thick and quite spicy-hot gravy. See what I mean? Yet this couldn’t bring the house down compared to Thai Red Curry or Thai Curried Beef… :-D 

I’m not sure of other foodies taste buds regarding spicy and hot cuisines but from my own experiences and friends, it’s a hate-love situation. You would have a group with eyes lit up with ‘Where? Where?’ sign written on their foreheads and even could hear slurping sound somewhere by just mentioning the word ‘curry’ and another group, frowning their faces, ready to get a roll of toilet paper. Well, I do have friends who are a bit sensitive to curry but… it’s ok if it’s Tandoori. I don’t know why… I do felt sorry for them that I kept 1 - 2 toilet paper rolls wrapped up nicely inside one of the back side compartment of my car. You know, on the safe side when the gang suddenly changed their minds in last minutes to go Indian or Thai food instead of Chinese fare… I do say that we’re a bit… no, too spoilt of choices in food in Malaysia and I LOVE IT!!!         

Anyway, I wanted to share this dish. It’s a family favourite and I usually served it with Briyani Rice and vegetables.

Roasted Yogurt Chicken in Ghee

500 g chicken/breast meats, drumsticks or your choice (clean & cut into chunks)

150 ml Ghee

1 nos. Green Lime (medium size - extract the juice)

2 nos Red Onion/Bombay Onion (sliced thinly into rings)

2 cloves Garlic  } blend/pound together 

3 cm  fresh Ginger  } until fine paste

250 ml ready-made Natural yogurt (plain & no sugar added)

2-3 medium size potatoes-cut into wedges

1 nos medium size carrot - cut into rounds/wedges

300 ml Water or as needed

3 nos Cloves

2 nos Cardamom

3-4 cm Cinnamon bark

1 nos Star Anise

1 Tsp Tumeric powder

1 Tsp Chilli paste

Chilli powder to taste

1 Large Ripe Tomato - cut into quarters

Onion cripies (fried crispy shallots)

Salt to taste

Oven-proof pot/deep casserole dish (like Pyrex/Corningware)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven @ 180 ºC.

2. In a casserole (that’s big enough for the chicken) heat the ghee until is hot.  

3. Add in the chicken, lime juice, big onion, tumeric, chilli paste and a little salt. Stir and leave it for few minutes until it boils.

4. Add in the potatos wedges and carrots. Stir until well mix and let them cooked until soften a bit.

5. Pour in the yogurt and add in some water (adjust to your liking if you prefer to the dish to have more gravy or less because vegetables will give out juices as well.) Cook until meat is tender.

6. Add in the quarterd tomatoes, chillie powder and fried crispy shallots. Bake in the oven @ 180 º C for 10-15 minutes until brown. Serve hot with rice or naan, bread, chapatis…

Note: If you like it more hot or spicy, just add extra chilli powder or fresh chillies.. Sometimes, I used extra spoonfuls of Ghee I made myself by using unsalted butter. If you can’t find unsalted butter, you can use salted butter to make Ghee but reduce the amount of salt required in the recipe. More Ghee means better aroma your dish is but watch out the cholesterol level…

Shiitake No Nimono (Shiitake Simmered in Soya Sauce)

Ok… I know I’m a bit mushroom crazy this week but I can’t help to share those lovely fungi with foodie friends! When you got the chance to buy them at half-price and with extra added to the box, the temptation’s to great to be missed…

One of my favourite mushrooms is definitely Shiitake, either fresh or dried. It’s a must-have ingredients in Asian cooking mainly in Chinese and Japanese kitchens. You can cook them just like fresh ones and still maintained its shapes. Another good reason to have dried Shiitake at hand is to make stock with the liquid after soaking the dried mushrooms. I like to add some of it and the strained liquid as well in mushroom soup - just a bit will do to give that pungent mushroomy flavour.

A interesting remark from my Japanese friend is that they preferred dried shiitake better than fresh ones. In Japan it’s very expensive compared to fresh Shiitake. Dried Shiitake has more concentrated and superior flavour. I totally agreed with them!

Have a try on dehydrated mushrooms snacks that comes in plain or with wasabi added. It’s sooooo yummy!

Shiitake No Nimono

6-8 Large Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

375 ml Dashi II or Konbu Dashi II (recipes below)

2 Tbl Mirin

2 Tbl Sake

2 Tbl Japanese Soya Sauce

1 Tbl Dark Brown Sugar

1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain well. Discard the stems.

2. Combine the dashi, mirin, sake, soya sauce and sugar in a small pan over high heat. Stir the mixture until sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil.

3. Add the shiitake. Bring it to boil again and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour or until the liquid almost evaporated.

4. Serve warm or at room temperature as side dish, part of multicourse, snack or over rice. You can use it in cawan mushi or with noodles - slice thinly or quartered.

Serves 4-6 portions.

Itadikimasu!

Making of Dashi Stocks:

For Dashi II

10 cm (4 in) square of konbu

20 g (1 cup) katsuoboshi (bonito flakes)

1. Wipe konbu with a damp cloth but don’t rub off the white powdery substance that will become obvious as it dries. Cut the konbu into strips.

2. Place konbu & 1.5 L (6 cups) cold water into a saucepan and slowly bring it to boil. Quickly add 60 ml (1/4 cup) cold water to stop the boiling process. Add the bonito flakes. Allow it to boil again and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Allow the bonito flakes to sink to the bottom of pan. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve. This stock is ready for stews and thick soups. 

Makes 1 L (about 4 cups)

For Konbu Dashi

15 cm (6 in) square piece of konbu

1. For Konbu Dashi I, cut konbu into strips and place them in a saucepan with 1.5 L cold water. Bring to boil, then remove the konbu.

2. For Konbu Dashi II, leave the konbu in the pan, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Makes about 1.5 L (5 cups)

 

Mushrooming Ideas…

Lately, there’s been surplus of mushrooms at low prices at the local supermarkets (I know, I know, I should get them from fresh market … rolling eyes …) for less than 1 € /pkt of 160 g - 250 g of several choices! I was grinning away like Cheshire Cat at the vegetable section instead of fish corner… I love mushrooms… they have not much flavours but it’s easy to add them into your favourite cuisine either raw or cooked. Definitely, one of those versatile and healthy food available today. 

Since I’m now back home in Southeast Asia, my daily meals are those hard to find Asian ingredients in Europe that are costly as well as not fresh in the Asian supermarkets. You’re lucky if you can get a pack of 250 g Beansprouts that’s juicy and not mushy on the shelve. Sometimes, the staff don’t even bother to remove the watery and brownish packages off the rack. Once, I had to wait 2 weeks for a bunch of Screwpine Leaves/Pandan Leaves (Pandanus)from Paris! What did I got after much anticipated waits? 2 large bunch of of Pandan Leaves and the lost of my enthusiasm to cook Black Glutinous Rice! Added to the mood, the Pandan leaves has no fragrance at all… sigh… Anyway, that’s for another blog

Now, back to the shrooms… 

Here’s the Brown enoki and Bunapi Shimeiji from Korea (seems that Koreans are very enterprising producing quality mushrooms.) 

Brown Enoki Mushrooms is a.k.a. Golden Enoki Mushrooms with chewy texture and richer Enokiness taste compared to the common White Enoki Mushrooms. I like Tempura Enoki when you ordered Tempura meal in Japanese Restaurants. Small bunch Enoki is fanned out - like a fan and deep fried in tempura batter.

Bunapi Shimeiji a.k.a White Beech Mushrooms or as Hon Shimeiji mushrooms-the name typically refers to the Buna Shimeiji or Bunapi Shimeiji strain. The Hon Shimeiji mushrooms can be sautéed using high temperature or slow roasted on low temperature with a small amount of butter or cooking oil. I did Kinoko Batayaki - sautéed mushrooms in butter & sake few days ago… it’s simply delicious and it’s not mushy at all.

It’s easy to do Kinoko Batayaki… 

1. Get ready some Hon Shimeiji Mushrooms sake, butter & a frying pan.

2. Heat a frying fan in medium heat. When butter melts, add in the mushrooms. You can add more butter if you like. More butter used the richer the aroma (I thought it’s better to eat more butter than margarine lately…)*

3. Add few dashes of sake.

4. Slowly cooked it until softened or to your liking.

5. Serve as side dish or top it on your rice with omelette.

* I didn’t add any salt because the butter I used is Salted Butter.

Itadikimasu!!! Enjoy!!! 

Thai Sweet Basil (Horapa)

Thai Sweet Basil or ’Horapa’ is one of the common cultivar group of basil. It’s a common herb used widely in Southeast Asia region especially in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It’s easy to grow them from the cuttings you purchased off the supermarket shelves. Just soak the cuttings in some clean water and change the water every 2 -3 days until you can see some rootings protruding from the stems. Then you plant it in quality soil in pots or garden. I planted in large pots with organic soil by itself because they root very fast and  agressively just like Lemongrass. Their roots will ‘choke’ other plants so, it’s advisable to let them have their own territory…

To have more leaves, cut the flowers off before they bloom or you can add the flowers to your Thai recipes or salad -  the colorful pinkish-white flowers add another dimension to your dishes! By the way, different species of basil has different color of flowers, smell/fragrance and leaf textures. For example, the Basilicum that is common in Europe has white flowers and broad green, soft leaves and lesser anise taste compared to Southeast Asian varieties.

Here’s one my pots of Thai Basil with it’s flowers and green-purple leaves…

Closer look of the Thai sweet basil dark green and purplish leaves with it’s dark purple bloom… and below is some of the full bloomed light purple-white flowers waiting to be pollinated.

Overall, this plant can be used several ways of its leaves, flowers and even the tiny black seeds!

Those tiny seeds collected from the dried blooms can be made into Basil Seed Drinks (Nam Mangklak), just like Falooda or Sharbat/Sherbet. You can even add them into your Bubble Tea mixes or with honey. I like mine added to fresh coconut juice with a little bit of rose syrup.

This plant also has medicinal uses. I remembered I’d been fed with the soaked basil seeds and Malva Nuts (Buah Kembang Semangkok) with honey to decrease body temperature. Which really works for me in this case…

Besides its important usage in various cuisines and in essential oils, basil plays important role in cultural aspects since ancient civilisations… even today, it’s highly regard in religions and beliefs.

Another FUN part as for me is the basil seeds reminded me of frog’s eggs - the seeds became gelatinous when soaked in water with tiny black dots in the centre… wobbly, oogly, sticky… ok, no more details I love to play that on unsuspected friends.

One thing for sure, basil (any kind) is a welcome in my kitchen and its within reach means I can enjoy my favourite basil dishes anytime I want from simple sambals or salads to fried rice! Choices… choices… choices…

Oh, do have a read of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decamaron and John Keat’s narrative poem Isabella or The Pot of Basil.

Eryngii Mushrooms & Lily Buds

I simply love mushrooms… anytime of the year since it’s widely mass cultivated, they are easily available all year round. The first time I saw this mushroom at supermarket, it was called ‘Drumstick Mushroom’ which was wrongly labeled even though it looked a bit like skinless chicken drumstick. Nevertheless, mushrooms are delicious! In Europe such mushrooms are considered exotic and very, very expensive compared to Chanterelle or Cepe. Well, still can’t beat the price of Black Truffles aka Black Gold though …

Nowadays, Eryngii mushrooms or Pleurotus eryngii ( also known as King Trumpet or King Oyster mushroom ) are easily found in local supermarket or fresh market - mostly imported from Korea. When I was in Athens,  I had a simple grilled Pleurotus which is another species of this Pleurotaceae family called Pleurotus ostreatus. I had a plate all for myself…hehehehe! If not for the price, I would order more :-P It’s also a vegetarian dish by itself.

Here’s a close up view of the Eryngii mushrooms… they sure live up to the name!

Just look at the size of Eryngii mushrooms to my hand! That’s about 250 g ±

I also realised that this unique mushroom looks a bit like scallop when you cut into 1/2 to 1 inch thick rounds! I even got my hubby fooled because he’s not into bivalve mollusk and any sea creatures that look weird (like Geoduck….ewwwww) with tentacles or slugs! He should see his face when I serve the dish I cooked with the special ’scallops’

Here’s a simple and fast recipe for a vegetarian dish with the mushroom rounds and edible lily bulbs. Fast, because that’s the only 2 items left in my fridge until my next grocery rounds.

One thing to remember is to heat up your pan or wok really hot for a quick stir-fry method. Also, this dish has fragile lily buds. If you stir to hard, the buds break apart, turned soggy or brown when cooking too long. I like my vegetables crunchy and even raw if needed.

Note: Edible Lily Buds;I’m not sure of this species I used-it has yellow-orange petals. Could be Day Lilies and it’s seasonal. So far, that’s the only species I found locally.

 

Stir-Fry Eryngii Mushroom & Lily Buds

Ingredients:

200 g Lily Buds

100 g Eryngii Mushrooms

2 cloves Garlic

Cooking oil ( I used about 2 Tbl )

Soya Sauce/Tamari to taste

Oyster Sauce to taste - you can use also Vegetarian Oyster Sauce for vegetarians

Method:

1. Wash the lily buds under running water. Toss to dry. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper or a soft bristle brush to remove any grits. (I know some people wash mushrooms-it’s their preferences. For me, I found that after cleaning with water before cutting makes them soggy and slippery.) Cut the mushrooms into 1/2 to 1 inch rounds.Put them aside.

2. Heat the pan/wok until it’s very hot. Pour in the cooking oil. Add in the garlic and fry quickly until it’s fragrant but not brown.

3. Add in the cut mushrooms; give it a quick stir. At this stage, you can add extra oil if you want if you feel it’s too dry. 

4. Throw in the lily buds; becareful not to stir too hard because the buds are fragile. Stir too hard you may ended with broken buds instead of whole buds intact.

5. Splash a few dashes of soya sauce and oyster sauce to your taste; give another few stir and dish out to serve. 

You may add some Sesame Oil if you like before dish it out, to give the extra ooompph. In this recipe I used Kikkoman Special Fragrant Sauce. Not sure you can find that in Europe but it’s easily to find in Asian countries. Still you can use tamari, Kikkoman All Purpose Soya Sauce or any soya sauce you fancy.

You can omit the garlic or add in slices  of onion if you want to. I thought I would use some carrots or tomatoes but can’t find any lurking in my fridge; if not the dish would be colorful

If you can’t find edible lily flowers, you can replace it with any vegetables you love. Then maybe throw in some red chillies or capsicum? Yummmyy…

Chillies! Chillies! More Chillies! :-D

Finally! After the long waiting (almost forgotten), my Cili Padi/bird’s eye chilli tree bloomed and fruiting-still! I’d thrown some over ripe chillies into one of my pots on the balcony after making herbal rice… 2 weeks later I noticed some growth from the spot where the chillies were. Of course, I was happy because if it’s successful it would be my 1st time planting chilli! By then, I had to remove most of the tiny plants and to maintain one healthy tree. I used organic fertiliser (as with my other edible plants) every 2 weeks and watered the plant every 2-3 days.I’d given quite a lot to my Scoville-frenzy neighbours and she’s still blooms happily :-) 

Blooming Bird’s Eye chillies in the pot. 

 

close up view: Bird’s eye chillies 

 This is one of the smaller bird’s eye chilli species compared to some varieties which can grow several 4-8 cm long. My chillies averaged about 2-3 cm long… which is 2 thumbs up!!!  Bird’s eye chillies also known in Thailand as Prik Ki Nu Suan… errrrr… Mouse Droppings Chilli??? I drank before Kopi Luwak… this Mouse Droppings chilli? Give me anytime… LOL! Bird’s eye chilli is a must-have in our house menu… You can add into Asian salads, curries, steamed seafood, vegetables,etc or like my mom, she would crushed bunch of them in our family favourite sauce - Budu or simply in bowl of light soya sauce mixed into hot plate of rice. Voila! Another meal tucked into tummy… mmmmmm… :-D Would you believe that there’s even a proverb about this chilli?  

• Bird’s Eye Chilli in Malay and Indonesian proverb •

 

This chili is commonly found in Malaysian and Indonesian markets sold alongside the larger chili. As the small chili turns out to be hotter than the larger counterpart, this often surprises people that don’t expect such a small chili would pack a very hot taste. This is the source of the Malay proverb “Kecil-kecil cili padi” and Indonesian proverb “Kecil-kecil cabe rawit”, which refers to something small in size or stature that contains something unexpected for its size.  

Blooming Garden in little cups!

Fancy seeing blooming flowers growing and unfurling her petals right under your eyes and nose (yea, that’s right your nose too) in seconds and in tea cups? Don’t believe it? It’s an awesome experience and delightful to your heart and senses! It’s not like the normal flower scented tea leaves where the dried flowers and tea leaves are mixed together but an age-old Chinese art form where the technic of hand-sewing or hand-tied tea leaves with flowers into shapes as ‘blooming teas’ or ‘flowering tea’. As an amature in Chinese Tea, I tasted few of such tea locally and abroad. Known as China blooming tea, Fleurs de thé and also called Chinese Artistic Tea and Hand-Tied Teas, it’s mostly made of Silver Needle tips (Yin Zhen [White Green Tea]), Black or Green Tea with fresh natural flowers, hand-tied and woven into shapes like cones, balls, rosette,etc!

Thanks to Lilian of Malaysiabest [ She's a fantastic lady and a great mom to her kids. Best of all she's an amazing cook and traveller with mean taste buds! She won't hesitate to voice out her opinions.. Move over Anthony Badouin :-D] for the info of this Online store and I was amazed by the range of FullBloomTea offers and their services! A must have is their Gift Sets range… from 1/2 dozen blooms that comes with large clear glass teacups to Full Bloom Tea Set that includes a Glass Teapot too! What’s more, they have wonderful ideas like Gift Certificates when you’re not quite sure what to get for your loved one, friend, business associate or fussy tea lovers to choose what they like. For the ultimate in tea indulgence, their Bloom Club plans are available in 3, 6, 9 and 12 month options. What I like with FullBloomTea is each tea blooms individually packaged in a sealed box for freshness and cleanliness. You can even try out their tea - just pay shipping & Handling charges for the tea samples that comes with rebate coupons for your next order. Don’t forget to try out their recipes too. I wished more tea suppliers provide such services…What I loved about Flowering teas are the unique features with various health benefits it offers and their lingering flower scent mixed with tea flavours. When infused it reveals a beautiful flower hidden within tightly pressed tea leaves, slowly unfurls her petals in front of your eyes! It’s really gives you the kind of Zen-Thing feeling after the hard days work! To fully enjoy the beauty of such painstaking tea art, you need to have durable transparent glass teapot, cups or tall glass. Pour boiling water over one flower tea (how much depends on the size of your glass or cups) and steep for 2-3 minutes (you can re-steep several times or until the flavour runs out).Below are the pics of my Flower teas…

A clear glass or mug… large enough for the blooms to expand.

The bulb starts to absorb hot water and expands… slowly.

It’s amazing to see a little bloom pops up from the centre of the bulb.

View from above the glass…

This is how it looks like after blooming from above… It’s great for Wedding or Tea-themed parties and gifts for your loved ones! This Mother’s Day, amaze your friends, gfs/bfs, mom or mother-in-law the beauty and health benefits of Flowering teas.

 

Arrowroot - love it or hate it…

Arrowroot a.k.a cí gū, ngah gu, etc, etc ,etc… is an interesting plant that landed me into World of Culinary Confusion lately. It’s also called “arrowhead” due to the shape of its leaves. I had tasted this strangely named plant after I read it in the local newspaper couple of years ago, which made a coverage about the boosting of sales of certain enterprising individuals who sold bottles of homemade fried Arrowroot chips to earn extra cash during the Chinese New Year. Well, I did bought some of this fresh Arrowroots making the chips myself… Indeed it’s yummmmyyyy… and you just can’t stop chomping and more chompings until it’s gone from your plate. In my case, it’s straight from the wok to newspaper/kitchen paper-lined colander and munch, munch… Hey, it’s better than buying those state-of-the-art branded chips-and-dips packed along with preservatives, colorings and artificial flavourings at the supermarkets. It’s not that I’m a stingy or health fanatic person but just to satisfy my curiosity of this root the made hoo-haas in the local news..

So, when I returned home from abroad during the 15 days long CNY celebration this year, I had the chance to taste this yummy chips again at my youngest sister’s home… she bought it from someone, I think… The taste of the chips as I munched away brought back the memories… hehehehe!

Anyway, I started to look for more info about this arrowroot thing because back in EU, I used this little container of left over arrowroot powder as thickener for my cooking. It’s a wonderful thickener agent and has no funny smell or after taste like cornstarch or potato starch powder (reminds me of my mum used to make this gooey, transparent colloid thing to starch my dad’s police uniforms… urghhh! This made me wonder if the uniform can stand stiff by itself without any hangers! Dad said I read too much of Master Q a.k.a Lao Fu Tze mags! Errhmmmm… now I remembered one of Master Q’s tall friend (not the shortie) whose ironed pants can even cut through wood… hahhahahaa!!!

Ok… let’s get back into this arrowroot case! There’s a bit of confusion not only for me but I think to other foodies as well. There are several blogs or websites that mentioned about this tasty bulbs… So far, the most cultivated are Maranta, Sagittaria and Pueraria genuses (though other subspecies or tubers may produce the same usage starch). The Maranta should not be confused with Sagittaria species (Sagittaria sagittifolia) with round tubers which also called “arrowhead” and used as a root vegetable-that’s the genus they called ‘nga gu’ or ci gu and is eaten particularly during Chinese New Year in stews or make into chips..

Tuber/bulb of Arrowroot (Sagittaria sagittifolia) a.k.a cí gū

Cut-up arrowroot bulb

The broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia also known as duck potato, Indian potato, or wapato) produces edible tubers that were heavily collected by the Native Americans as a food source. Most have value as food for wildlife. Some are grown as ornamental plants in bog gardens, bowls, ponds or aquariums.- aquatic plants whose members go by a variety of common names, including arrowhead, duck potato, katniss, kuwai, swan potato, tule potato, and wapatoo.

Now, if I understood, the arrowroot powder that’s available commercially belongs to the genus Maranta which is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies (Jamaica and St. Vincent), Australia, Southeast Asia, and South and East Africa. Arrowroot is used as an article of diet in the form of biscuits, puddings, jellies, cakes, etc., and also with beef tea, milk or veal broth, noodles in Korean cuisine, or boiled with a little flavoring added, as an easily digestible food for children and people with dietary restrictions. It’s amazing that besides its usage in culinary, it’s also has medicinal potential to papermaking!

But… there’s another type of root a.k.a Arrowroot that has large fan clubs called Kudzu or Kuzu in Japanese, is another basic element in Japanese cuisine. It’s even highly mentioned in their art or literary form, from tea ceremony, painting and calligraphy! Kuzuyaki, one of the traditional wagashi, Japanese summer sweets, is made by steaming a mixture of kuzu (kudzu starch) and sweet bean paste. It is cut into individual portions after coolinng down, coated with potato starch and grilled.

Kuzu is said to be originates from Nara, the roots of Kyoto food. The severe weather conditions of the basin contribute to kuzu making, a necessity for Japanese sweets and dishes. Yoshino kuzu is made in the northern Yoshino Mountains - famous for its cherry blossoms - and Ouda. Both regions are famous for its kuzu production.

Yoshino kuzu is made during the cold winter months from the root of the arrowroot grown deep in the mountain ranges of Yamato. When starch taken from the root is refined by water, you have yoshino-kuzu. At “Kurokawa Honke” in Oudacho, the veteran craftsmen continue to make the finest yoshino-kuzu using the same method without any fire that has been used for over 400 years. “Good water and extremely cold weather determines the quality of kuzu. If the water temperature is too high, it is difficult to separate the tannin and other impurities in the kuzu,” says Kurokawa Shigeyuki, the eleventh master of Kurokawa family. The starch from crushed fibers of the arrowroot plant is refined in cold well water - so cold that your hands feel numb - for 48 hours. The starch is then refined in fresh well water again, after the water with grounds is eliminated. This is called kan-zarashi (cold refinement), and after the procedure is repeated five times over the course of 10 days, the kuzu is then dried by cold wind. Yoshino-kuzu, with its unique flavour, is used as the valued ingredient of yoshino-ni (stew), goma-dofu (sesame tofu) and high-class Japanese sweets. Such an ode to such a humble plant!

You may ask what’s the great deal about this Kuzu??? It claimed that it may help reduce alcohol consumption in heavy drinkers as reported in New Scientist. Overall, the whole plant can be consumed… by humans or as fodder to animals.

In Korea, Arrowroot tea or chik cha-made with the juice pressed from wild arrowroot. Powdered arrowroot can also be used) is used for a weak body and thirst caused by a hangover. It is also effective in treating colds, headaches, diabetes, diarrhea, edema, jaundice, hangovers, high blood pressure, and angina. hmmm…. I have to look out for this tea… during winter! I wonder if it’s the same as Sahlep drink I loved???

Ooofffssss the list is endless with this gift from Mother Nature! Imagine loads of wonderful recipes we can create from this humble plant-from soups to beverages and desserts too! Oh, it’s gluten-free as welL… There are also recipes for wine (hmmm.. reminds me that I have to hunt for Pithaya Wine brewed locally in Malaysia! … and much, much more.

Here’s few links that are worth mentioning…

http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2007/02/duck_potatoes_f.html
http://cookingismypassion.blogspot.com/2007/02/delicious-handfuls-of-golden-chips.html
http://penangfaces.chanlilian.net/2005/01/18/siku-seegoo-homemade-chips/
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/361394
http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m011802.htm#5

Now… my next trip will to the local Japanese mini-mart to look for kuzu powder which I’d seen before…