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Friday, January 30, 2009

HoW BiTteR CaN YoU GeT??


My family likes to eat vegetables. Actually almost all kinds of vegetables. From those that have sweet taste, plain taste, until the bitter ones. This time, another of my mother's recipe is made from bitter melon. Some people might not like the taste of it, BUT over that, bitter melon has been proven for its benefits to our health.

Bitter melon or bitter gourd is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown for edible fruit, which is among the most bitter of all vegetables.

FYI, bitter melons have been used in various Asian traditional medicine systems for a long time. Like most bitter-tasting foods, bitter melon also stimulates digestion. This can be helpful in people with sluggish digestion, dyspepsia, and constipation. Although sometimes it can make heartburn and ulcers worse, but don't worry, it rarely does have these negative effects, based on clinical experience and traditional reports.

From the health side, bitter melon contains four very promising bioative compounds. These compounds activate a protein called AMPK, which is well known for regulating fuel metabolism and enabling glucose uptake, processes which are impaired in diabetics. SO, that's why consuming bitter melon is recommended as a way of managing adult-onset diabetes. ="D

Despite of all the benefits, you have to be cautious for some contra-benefits. The seeds are reported to be toxic to children. That's why it is very important to dispose the seed before it is cooked. And for you bloggers that are during pregnancy, it is not recommended.

Bitter melons are seldom mixed with other vegetables due to the strong bitter taste, although this can be moderated to some extent by salting and then washing the cut before use.

Bitter melon is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir fries (often with pork and douchi), soups, and also as tea. It is also a popular vegetable in the cuisines of South Asia and the West Indies. In these culinary traditions, it is often prepared with potatoes and served with yogurt on the side to offset the bitterness, or used in sabji. Bitter melon is stuffed with spices and then fried on oil, which is very popular in Punjabi Cuisine.

In Indonesia, bitter melon is prepared in various dishes, such as stir fry, cooked in coconut milk, or steamed. But this time, it is cooked with Tauco sauce. Tauco is Indonesia traditional sauce made from boiled soy bean, that then mashed and mixed with flour and fermented until it forms brown reddish color. There are two kinds of tauco, sweet and salty Tauco.

Spicy Bitter Melon with "Tauco" Sauce

Ingredients:
500 gr of bitter melon
4 cloves of red onions
2 cloves of garlic
4 red pepper
4 jalapeno/green pepper (less spicy)
2 table spoon of sweet Tauco
50 gr of small shrimp/prawn
2 tomatoes
1 tea spoon of salt
1/2 tea spoon of ground pepper
1 tea spoon of sugar
1/2 tea spoon of palm sugar

Preparations:
Peel off the bitter melon's skin and cut the bitter melon as you desire into slices. Dispose the seeds. You can cut it round like ring, or cut the ring in half. And then it is salted and squeezed until a bit soft. Rinse the soft cuts with cold water a few times, then leave them to dry. The salting and squeezing is done to reduce the bitterness.
Chop the red onions and garlic. Cut the red pepper ring, and the jalapeno in long slices. Cut the tomatoes into 6 parts.

How to cook:
1. Fry the onions in cooking oil. When the onions have turned a little pink in color, put in the red pepper and the jalapeno. When you can smell the spicy aroma from the pepper, add in the Tauco and the shrimp. After the shrimp has turned color into pink, put in the tomatoes and last the bitter melon.
2. Give the spices : salt, ground pepper, sugar and palm sugar. Mix them well and then taste it. You can give more spices as you desire.
3. Put the cooking in a nice tempting-appetite plate ~_^



Bitter melon's health informations by Wikipedia

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

ArIsE FrOm SicKnEsS

Hi hi hi ^_^

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!
Gong Xi Fa Chai, Xin Nian Cin Bu!
^_^

I wish you a prosperous New Year for those who celebrate Chinese New Year. May all your days are filled with blessings and happiness!

Ahh... I had a great New Year! Lots of feasts and foods.. but maybe I got too enthusiast of eating, so I got my self stuck on bed for two days after the New Year uhuhu... its not because of the bad food at all, its just sometimes yes you need to eat to live but remember to stop before you are stuffed. Haha... yeah you can call me food gorg if that makes you have fun ="p

But I am all healthy now and ready for more food experience. Enough food this time, not too many hehe

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Saturday, January 24, 2009

MoUsSey MoUsSey

I love to have mouse... ^_^ Oh I mean mousse hehe. It's a bit like soft ice cream, it gives cold and soft sensation in your tongue, added by the sweet and milky taste.
This time I made my own kind of chocolate mousse. Its quite simple to make. An important tool to make this is a mixer. I have found this basic chocolate mousse recipe in KOKI newspaper recently. I thought it would be great to have one as a accompany for tomorrow's Chinese New Year's eve, because Chocolate mousse is a great dessert for entertaining and it looks pretty and yummy.

For basic Chocolate Mousse recipe :
250 gr of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped and then melt it
250 ml of heavy cream (whipped the cream with a mixer to soft peaks, then refrigerate)
5 tablespoon of white skimmed milk
150 ml of water
4 yolks
2 egg whites
125 gr of refined-sugar
50 ml of simple syrup

The basic method :
Firstly stir the skimmed milk with water. Whip the yolks with sugar until they are nicely mixed, then add the milk mixture inside. Cook the mixture with a slow stir until it's boiled. Then leave it cool. Combine the melted chocolate, whipped cream and simple syrup inside the mixture. Whip the egg whites in a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape, and then add it inside the mousse mixture. Now, the mousse is ready to be poured inside a nice glass or serving bowl. Isn't it easy?

From this basic recipe I added some improvisation here and there. I changed the bittersweet chocolate with milk chocolate because I don't really like bittersweet chocolate. And then I added more water and more skimmed milk. I also changed the sugar with castor sugar. Now, since castor sugar is less sweet than refined-sugar, so I changed the amount of sugar added. I didn't use any simple syrup because milk chocolate is sweet enough. And for the exotic aroma I add a bit of rum.

So, here's my recipe:
250 gr of milk chocolate, finely chopped
50 gr of unsalted butter, small diced
250 ml of heavy cream (whipped the cream with a mixer to soft peaks, then refrigerate)
6 tablespoon of skimmed milk
200 ml of water
4 egg yolks
2 egg whites
180 gr of castor-sugar
2 tablespoon of rum

The method:
1. Mix the skimmed milk with water. Whip the yolks with sugar until it is expand a bit and the color has changed into broken white. And then add the milk mixture inside. Now the sugar here are only 2/3, keep the rest to be stirred with the egg whites later.



2. Cook the mixture with a slow stir until it's boiled. Then leave it cool.



3. For the chocolate I add unsalted butter to give it a nice texture when the chocolate has melt. Combine the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not simmering, water, and then stir it frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat and let it cool until the chocolate is just slightly warmer than your body temperature. To test it, dab some chocolate on your bottom lip. It should feel warm. If it is too cool, the mixture will seize when the other ingredients are added. (Be patient though.. it takes some time to melt the chocolate).

4. While waiting for the chocolate to melt, whip the egg whites with the rest of the castor sugar in a medium bowl until they are foamy and beginning to hold a shape soft peaks form.


5. When the chocolate has reached the proper temperature, stir it in the milk mixture.
6. Stir in the creamy whites.
7. Whip the heavy cream until it is soft peaks, then gently stir it into the mousse mixture.


8. Spoon or pipe the mousse into a serving bowl or nice glass. If you wish, layer in fresh raspberries and whipped cream. But here, I am not quite a decorator. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. (The mousse can be refrigerated for up to a day.)


Here are some tips. Chocolate mousse is a little bit tricky. If you incorporate the egg yolks when the chocolate is too warm, it will cook, if too cold, it will seize up when the other ingredients are added. If you stir and not fold the egg whites and whipped cream in, your mousse will not be fluffy, but dense.

So, hopefully the mousse are enough for everyone tomorrow... Bon a petit!

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

FreSh BrOwniEs

How many of you bloggers that like to have chocolate brownies? I lovee it!! My mom makes the best brownie I've ever eaten. And I love the feeling when I take a second break to taste it melts in my mouth. As far as I know you can keep brownies at room temperature for 5 days, and some even more. But the problem is, the more you keep it in room temperature, the skin gets hard each day. And it would just ruin the sensation. I would just put it in the refrigerator but sometimes it is nicer to have a fresh sensation in my mouth, and you can't make new brownies everyday.

So for you brownies lovers too, I have this great tips that I just read from this culinare newspaper KOKI, that I get every 2 weeks. It is said that if you want to keep the brownies fresh, try to put the brownies in a closed container along with a slice of bread.

I will try to give an explanation for this. When you put the brownies outside a container at the room temperature, the surrounding air will absorb the water content inside the brownies (to reach a balance humidity). The first layer that absorbed is the brownies' skin. So that's why the skin might get hard easily. The bread, in the other hand, has more water content than brownies. So when the brownies are put along with the bread, the air will be more easily absorb the water content from the bread, instead the brownie. And then, through the absorbing process, the air inside the container will have higher humidity to keep the brownies fresh.

But then again, that's just my own theory. If you think you have other theory, be pleased to write me a comment ^_^

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

MushrOOm’s Heat

The weather’s been cool lately, so I thought it would be so nice to have a hot and spicy meals to eat. I was thinking about mixing all those kinds of pepper together. But I don’t want any meat for my meals today, thinking about my weight. So, I thought mushroom would be perfect.


Lately, there is a breed of mushroom cultivated that’s been quite famous around the people in Bandung. It is the oyster mushroom. I’ve searched some information about the oyster mushroom on Wikipedia. Apparently, the Oyster mushroom, or Pleurotus ostreatus, is a common mushroom prized for its edibility. It is frequently used in Japanese and Chinese Cookery as delicacy: it is frequently served on its own as soup, sometimes stuffed, or in stir-fry recipes with soy sauce. A number of studies on lab animals have shown that adding oyster mushroom to the diet can reduce cholesterol under some conditions. So, if you have a cholesterol problem, eating this might help to solve your problem a little bit.



Spicy Oyster Mushroom

500g of Oyster Mushroom

5 cloves of shallots

5 cloves of garlic

½ teaspoon of chopped ginger

1 medium tomato

100g of shredded red pepper

100g of shredded green pepper

50g of shredded jalapeno

1 small yellow onion

2 small leek

1 cup of shredded carrot

½ cup of water


Seasonings:

1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

2 teaspoon of fish sauce

¼ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of ground pepper

½ teaspoon of sugar


Cut all of the mushroom into half if they are medium ones, or you can cut them suit your fancy. Shred the shallots, garlic, and onion. Cut the tomato into 6 parts. Cut the leek about 2 cm long each cut.


Heat the oil in a deep, wide pan and then sauté the shallots, ginger, and garlic mix into it and cook over low to medium heat until they become soft and you can smell the nice odor of garlic. Add the tomato, red and green pepper, and the jalapeno, begin the sautéing until the peppers are soft. Add and mix all the seasonings, and then add the water until it boils for a moment. Check the seasoning, as you may want more salt or sugar.

After the sauce is done, add the mushroom and cook them for about 10 minutes until the seasonings dissipate into the mushroom. And then add the onion and leek, cook for a very moment and the meals are ready to serve!


I actually have to thank my mom for giving me this recipe. It is a very simple meal, its definitely easy to make, simple ingredients. Its hot and spicy and very suitable for cool weather like this.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Mom's recipe ="D

I didn't cook today because I had no inspiration... besides it's mom-cook day heheh..

She cooked chitlings with salty mustard-green. She gave it a little bit of "cho", it is some kind of fermented rice, the color is a bit red. And she added chili to give it a nice color =") The taste is really good and is one of my favorite food.
Sometimes she change the chitlings with beef. Can't tell you the recipe now, but if you bloggers would like to know, you can ask me on the Cbox (Tap Your Finger box).

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Desperation 4 Rica-Rica Noodle

Woke up in the morning, my mind filled with the thought of mie rica-rica mm... I even dreamed of it uhuhuu...

So, I decided to make one.... when I was about to take some meat in the fridge, dad stopped me and said "Those are for the ritual..." uhuhu I said "But I dreamed of having rica-rica noodles!" And then like the time freezed for 5 seconds my creative dad suggested me to use chicken eggs instead. Ah yes he's always been that creative.... I think its on me too ="D

So I did! I made the rica-rica noodles with scrambled eggs. The spice ingredients are simple... I only use red pepper (small chops) and if you like it really hot you should add more small peppers (small chops aswell), a little piece of garlic, some red onions, and eggs.

If you are allowed to eat pork and if there is no pork in the fridge, you should always prepare pork oil (I don't know the culinare name for that ="p).
So, scramble the eggs using the pork oil (scramble it really small until its a bit dry), and then fry it together with the peppers and onion and garlic. Add a little bit of fish sauce, salty soy sauce and sweet soy sauce (to give it a color like meat).

Boil the noodles.... I usually spice the noodles seperately in the bowl. I use 1 teaspoon of pork oil, a little bit of salty soy sauce and sweet soy sauce, white pepper and a little bit of salt ( MM I like it salty! ^_^). Mix the noodles with the spice and put the rica-rica on top... ready to eat! yummyyy (less meaty though uhuhu)


You can try it if you have no meat at home but you want to eat something hot and delicious ^.^ And it's easy to make too! ="D

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Customized Mini Hotdog ^_^

Weird... everytime I saw the kids' face in the morning, one word came into my mind.... food

But I didn't know what to make... suddenly I remembered that Terrence (my 3,5 yr nephew) really like hot dog since he first had it 4 days ago. So I really wanted to make one today... but there were no hot dog's bread... there were only some slices of casino bread. Like usual.. my brain suddenly rolling around and twink! I thought of something ="D So I got the idea of making a mini hot dog using this casino bread that I have. Its a really really simple one, I just hoped that my nephews would love it.



To make this kind of customized mini hot dog, you need some slices of casino bread, some sausages, and cucumber... you can add more veggies if you like ^^, a string to tie up the bread. Give one side of the bread some butter, and the other side with tomato sauce (you can also add mayo and chili sauce, but my nephews don't like em). Fry the sausage and then put them on the bread with tomato sauce, and then the cucumber. Roll the bread and tie it up. Cook the rolled bread in a hot pan until the color is a bit chocolate. Foalla! It's done ="D Don't forget to lose the string before you eat it!



I think the taste is too simple... I would add it with creamy mayo and mustard for my own crave ="p But though... my nephews love 'em hehe. Well I'm just trying to improve my skill... please don't laugh if the food came out not as pretty as the taste ="p hoho

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

My 1st Polar Bear Chocolate Torte ="D


Foallaa! ^_^
Inilah Polar Bear Chocolate Torte buatan gw yg pertama hahaa.. bgs gak?? Hehe konsepnya muncul kmrn wkt gw boboin ponakan gw yg kecil. Abis mukanya lucu sih hoho..
Ntar siang ini mau dipotong... bolunya uenaaakk bgtt.. I gave strawberry cuts on the inside layers yumm... tp creamnya lupa dikasih rum uhu uhu
well... at least I have tried my best =")

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Something Big from Someone Little

Hari ini hari yg lmyn sibuk bagi seorang pengacara (pengangguran bnyk acara ="p)

Seperti biasa, mulai jam 6 pagi, gw ngasuh anak2 cici. Dua balita laki2 yang super lucu, imut, manis kaya tantenya ^-^. Kegiatannya selalu seputar main, makan, teriak2, nonton, dan yg paling selalu gw tunggu2..... saat tidur siang mereka hahaa. Awalnya gw seneng bgt karena mereka berdua minta bobo pd waktu yg sama. So, yg kecil gw boboin duluan, sementara yg gede minta diputerin film Transformer kesukaannya (yg ga bosen2 diputerin sehari 2x). Lalu jam stengah 11 mulailah gw boboin yg gede... awalnya gw temenin nonton bentar, tp tiba2 gw inget kalo yg kecil besok ultah dan gw pengen bikin kue bolu. (Btw gw orangnya kalo udh pgn biasanya kudu kesampean, kalo engga bs agak seteles hoho). So jadinya gw langsung deh ninggalin si gede sendirian nonton sambil ngedot dan gw memulai proses perboluan. Singkat cerita, si gede ga jadi bobo siang, dari jam stengah 11 sampe jam 1 dia tidur2an di sofa bergantian dgn ranjang di kamar. Karena kasian, akhirnya gw biarin dia awake dan gw kasih makan siang jam 1 itu. Ada 1 hal yg gw liat dari anak ini.... gw pikir hebat bener yah, anak umur 3 th koq bisa ga bosen gulang guling selama 2,5 jam sementara anak yg lain bisa maen PS sepuasnya selama 2,5 jam. Gw sih baru kali ini ngeliatnya, karena biasanya paling lama dia 1 jam gulang guling udah bobo. Anyway, selama sepanjang hari ini gw jadi ngerasa kasian terus ama dia, karena gw pikir kenapa ga gw biarin aja dia awake dari jam stengah 11 dan kasih dia maen PS sepuasnya... mgkn dia bs lbh seneng.. but hebatnya dia ga ngeluh sama sekali tiap kali gw bilang "bobo!"
hahh but thank God gw jd dpt pelajaran dari anak kecil... to be honest agak malu ngakuinnya... but ya know nothing bad about getting something big from someone little =") Mulai skrg gw mau bljr utk lbh sabar ah, juga untuk ga mudah ngeluh dan bosenan... anak umur 3 th aja bisa masa gw engga.

Peace ahh

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Cooking Aspiration

Sekarang ini gw lagi hobi banget ama yg namanya masak memasak hehe. Kalo dulu, di bidang makanan cm aktif dlm makan memakan. Tp cuma yg edible lah tentu ="p Kenapa? Soalnya gw malu, tikus aja bisa punya high expectation pada memasak, masa gw kalah??! Lagian juga, semua orang butuh makan, kalo ga bisa masak gampang bisa tinggal beli. Yg jadi masalah gimana kalo ga punya duit. Ato lebih parahnya, tiba2 Tuhan mencabut kemampuan masak dari semua chef di dunia ini. Kayanya gw ga mau kalo cm makan makanan mentah. Tp kalo diinget2 eh gw suka juga sih sushi hahaa ="D But you know, even sushi juga lebih enak kalo dikasih kecap asin dan pepper. Nah tuh! Cm ngebumbuin pake kecap doang aja juga udah masak loh! So, gw kira sih semua orang di dunia ini pasti bisa masak. Hahhh cukup melegakan jg heheh jadi ntar2 kalo gw lg males masak, gw bs minta pacar gw yg masak, ato temen gw yg masak hahaa

Gw jadi kepikiran.. Karna gw suka masak, hal utama yg paling penting kalo gw ntar pnya rumah sendiri adlh dapur! Dapur yg gw punya kudu lengkap, alat2 masaknya kudu lengkap, kulkas musti penuh ama bahan2 makanan, juga tempatnya bersih dan leluasa buat memproses makanan ="D Wah asik bangeth! Gw mau day dreaming dulu ahhh...

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The First Fingerprint

Akhirnya gua gabung juga dalam e-community hehe. Jujur ini blog gua yang pertama. But not going to be the last lah. Gua harus thank you ama papa gua, karna sebenernya dari dorongan beliaulah gua jadi punya blog. Awalnya gua ga gitu antusias soalnya. Aneh juga sih, papa gua makin tua malah makin sering maen dorong-dorongan ama gua. Tapi kali ini gua anggap positif lah hoho.
Soo.. setelah perkenalan ini, gua akan mulai menuangkan isi hati gua disini. Siapa tau juga ternyata lewat internet gua juga bisa banyak bantu orang =")

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