Monday, February 27, 2006
Mushrom Green Tea Soba Soup
I had never been tempted to order Soba whenever I ate out in Japanese restaurants, that is until my friend Mag who was visiting at that time persuaded me to share hers. The first experience was a bit wierd as I was not accustomed to eating cold noodle.
Now that Australia has grown its own buckwheat and produced its own soba noodles, there is no reason why we don't eat it more. I was so glad to find the much cheaper Australian's own Hakubaku organic soba noodles. The green tea variety that I used only cost $2.40 for 200g, which is much more cheaper than the Japanese made one. Soba is normally eaten cold, even in winter. The noodle is serve on an iced serving plate, and to eat it, you pick up the noodle with chopsticks and dip it in the dipping sauce. However, if you don't like the idea of eating cold noodle, you can try it with warm broth. And don't forget to slupr loudly as dictated by the correct Japanese etiquette of warm soba eating ;)
As I didn't have all the fancy ingredients suggested by most recipe (including one from Australian Gourmet Traveller that I would sure try next time), I used the recipe printed at the back of the soba packet, with a little modification. Not bad, I would say.
Ingredients:
1 packet (200g) organic green tea (cha) soba
3-4 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup soya sauce
1/2 cup white wine (I replaced with mirin)
2 tbsp sugar (reduce if you use mirin, since it is sweet already)
Ginger root, peeled, grated
Spring (green) onion, chopped
Method:
Add the shiitake mushroom to 2 cups of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.
Add soy sauce, white wine and sugar, cook at medium heat for 5 minutes.
Remove shiitake mushrooms, cut into small pieces and add back to the soup.
Cook the soba noodle in rapid boiling water for 6 minutes or until tender.
Drain, then rinse well with cold water, drain again and put into a bowl and top with the soup. Serve with finely grated ginger and chopped green onion.
Serves 3
Now that Australia has grown its own buckwheat and produced its own soba noodles, there is no reason why we don't eat it more. I was so glad to find the much cheaper Australian's own Hakubaku organic soba noodles. The green tea variety that I used only cost $2.40 for 200g, which is much more cheaper than the Japanese made one. Soba is normally eaten cold, even in winter. The noodle is serve on an iced serving plate, and to eat it, you pick up the noodle with chopsticks and dip it in the dipping sauce. However, if you don't like the idea of eating cold noodle, you can try it with warm broth. And don't forget to slupr loudly as dictated by the correct Japanese etiquette of warm soba eating ;)
As I didn't have all the fancy ingredients suggested by most recipe (including one from Australian Gourmet Traveller that I would sure try next time), I used the recipe printed at the back of the soba packet, with a little modification. Not bad, I would say.
Ingredients:
1 packet (200g) organic green tea (cha) soba
3-4 pieces of dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup soya sauce
1/2 cup white wine (I replaced with mirin)
2 tbsp sugar (reduce if you use mirin, since it is sweet already)
Ginger root, peeled, grated
Spring (green) onion, chopped
Method:
Add the shiitake mushroom to 2 cups of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.
Add soy sauce, white wine and sugar, cook at medium heat for 5 minutes.
Remove shiitake mushrooms, cut into small pieces and add back to the soup.
Cook the soba noodle in rapid boiling water for 6 minutes or until tender.
Drain, then rinse well with cold water, drain again and put into a bowl and top with the soup. Serve with finely grated ginger and chopped green onion.
Serves 3
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Cente Manis
I first tasted this sweet last CNY eve, made by my sister's friend Marina. It was a hit that night, because of it sweet taste and freshness / coolness. Very suitable for hot weather. Apparently this sweet is also called Cantik Manis (Pretty & Sweet) or even Jentik Manis, but since Rina, like most other people from Jakarta calls it Cente Manis, I will stick to that name.
The recipe I post here is courtesy of Marina. Her version uses mung bean flour (tepung hun kwe) and tapioca pearls. However, I have also come across recipes that use rice flour instead of mung bean flour. You may also substitute tapioca pearls with the colourful pacar cina. For this recipe, I actually coloured the tapioca pearls with a drop of green and red food colouring. The addition of jackfruit is really refreshing and it also adds nice colour to cente manis.
Ingredients:
100 gr tapioca pearls (sago)
4 pieces of canned ripe jackfruit, finely diced (optional)
225 gr sugar
1 tsp salt
750 ml coconut milk
100 gr tepung hunkwe
200 ml water
Method:
Place the tapioca pearls into a sieve over a large bowl. Rinse the pearls under running water, then cook them in a pot of hot water for about 1/2 hour until transparent. If the water runs low, add more.
Remove and rinse under cold water and drain. Divide pearls into 2 portions, add a drop of pink to one portion and green to the other. Coat each portion with 1 tbsp of tapioca flour and set aside.
Boil coconut milk, sugar and salt until sugar dissolves. You may add knotted pandan leaves for extra fragrance.
Meanwhile, mix hunkwe flour with water well. Rinse off excess flour from the tapioca pearls. You should get translucent pink and green pearls.
When coconut milk is boiling, turn off the stove and stir in hun kwe mixture, then add in the pearls and jackfruit. Pour the thick mixture into moulds to set. Alternatively you may want to do it the traditional way, ie. wrap the mixture in plastic sheets or banana leaves and let it set.
The recipe I post here is courtesy of Marina. Her version uses mung bean flour (tepung hun kwe) and tapioca pearls. However, I have also come across recipes that use rice flour instead of mung bean flour. You may also substitute tapioca pearls with the colourful pacar cina. For this recipe, I actually coloured the tapioca pearls with a drop of green and red food colouring. The addition of jackfruit is really refreshing and it also adds nice colour to cente manis.
Ingredients:
100 gr tapioca pearls (sago)
4 pieces of canned ripe jackfruit, finely diced (optional)
225 gr sugar
1 tsp salt
750 ml coconut milk
100 gr tepung hunkwe
200 ml water
Method:
Place the tapioca pearls into a sieve over a large bowl. Rinse the pearls under running water, then cook them in a pot of hot water for about 1/2 hour until transparent. If the water runs low, add more.
Remove and rinse under cold water and drain. Divide pearls into 2 portions, add a drop of pink to one portion and green to the other. Coat each portion with 1 tbsp of tapioca flour and set aside.
Boil coconut milk, sugar and salt until sugar dissolves. You may add knotted pandan leaves for extra fragrance.
Meanwhile, mix hunkwe flour with water well. Rinse off excess flour from the tapioca pearls. You should get translucent pink and green pearls.
When coconut milk is boiling, turn off the stove and stir in hun kwe mixture, then add in the pearls and jackfruit. Pour the thick mixture into moulds to set. Alternatively you may want to do it the traditional way, ie. wrap the mixture in plastic sheets or banana leaves and let it set.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Pandan Chiffon Cake
I have always been baking chiffon cakes using an ordinary spring form tin. But now that I have a chiffon tube from Indonesia, courtesy of my sister, I tried this recipe from Ching. The cake turned out to be tall, in fact taller than my tin, good thing I didn't submit to the temptation of adding another egg, and taste great. I replaced the coconut milk with Carnation milk - coconut flavoured (98% fat free!). The texture is somewhat denser than other recipes I have tried. Great recipe. Thanks Ching.
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