Japanese Omurice!

It's been a while. I'm starting to have fun here with friend I didn't think I would meet, but here I am. The past weeks have been great so far. I've been doing things I truly enjoy doing. Drawing, on an iPad with a stylus, is surprisingly not as terrible as I would think it would be.

Unfortunately the things I've been cooking recently all sort of suck, regardless of recipe or not. Maybe it's because I'm not really putting effort into cooking anymore. It's cold, all I want is hot stew and hot chocolate. Haha!

Anyway I tried making Japanese omurice for lunch today. It's basically ketchup fried rice wrapped in egg. Here's what I used.

I love my floral themed knife and cutting board. Go Daiso! Woot!

(That's milk in the eggs by the way. To make it fluffier.)

Here's what I got.

I tried my best? Haha. It's quite good, actually. The rice just needs to be cooked more. It's a tad too sticky. Having onions and corn is a good touch, because the little bit of crunch brings a more interesting texture to the dish. It's a relatively quick and brainless meal, so it's good for those lazy days. That being said, I really want to learn to make chawanmushi! It's near impossible to find chawanmushi here!

Surimi-stuffed Baked Mushroom with Colby-Jack Cheese

Since I picked up a whole lot of surimi (imitation crab meat) at Safeway (the Malaysian in me couldn't resist the 3 for $5 deal) I had to go look for recipes to see what to do with it all. I found one that included mushrooms, and so I decided to give it a try. I changed much of the recipe (especially the amounts) and used what was available to me. Instead of adding the cheese directly into the stuffing, I draped it across the top simply so that it looks better.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms, stems removed (8 ounces)
Surimi, shredded (4 ounces)
Cream cheese, softened (4 ounces)
Colby-Jack cheese, sliced (4 ounces to be on the safe side)

Seasoning: (this is what I took liberty with; feel free to add anything you like, as much or as little as you want. I'm listing all the options for different flavors.)

Sesame oil (for that extra oomph)
Garlic powder
Pepper
Chili powder

Steps:

First, remove the stems of the mushrooms. This is surprisingly easy to do, just bend them a little and they will break off cleanly. (Make sure you wash them first!)

You should pre-heat the oven to 350F now.

Next, combine the cream cheese, shredded surimi, and seasoning in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Then stuff the mushrooms! Try to pack it tightly so that it doesn't topple over.

After that, drape the cheese slices over it. make sure it coves nicely. If you're more of a cheese person you could add extra layers of cheese on the top as they melt pretty thinly.

Put it into the PRE-HEATED oven and bake for about 10 minutes.

You should get something like this.

Through the middle.

Verdict: This is best eaten fresh out of the oven. It's tender and juicy. It's savory and delicious. The flavor is released into your mouth as you bite down on the mushroom. I'd recommend this as an appetizer or side-dish, or even finger food for parties. Not quite a meal on its own. I'm glad I made it though, it's an interesting snack that I would never have thought about combining.

The Many Thoughts about Food

So before I came, and even after, many of my musings and wonder consisted of food.

Now, even more so.

I still can't get over American portions. Take a look.

This pizza is 10", about a medium size in Malaysian standards I think. It cost a little over $5, and fed me for three meals. #sogood I love this place, they have the best pizzas and it always has it's own personal touch. xD Also, chilli flakes. #YES

When do you ever need a big onion bigger than my hand? This wasn't even the biggest one in the pile. It's the one I decided to buy. I've currently used half to cook twice, and that half was enough for 5 meals. I've wrapped it in air-tight plastic, and I scorn at the onions in the shared fridge that are exposed completely... for weeks. Someone's going to have a fun time in the toilet.

There's also an issue of not being able to get milk under a galleon (a little under 2 liters). The only half-galleon milk I could find was lactose-free, for the lactose intolerant. I understand now why Leonard can eat cereal despite his lactose intolerance.

Everything here is in suitably sharing-sizes... so do come soon, please?

I found this cute thing for under $2 but my roommate chided me and said no. :( She's just mean. How can you not want to eat How to Train Your Dragon 2-shaped mac n' cheese??? But she made me put it back. Don't worry I shall buy you next time!

This was found in the nearby 7-11... They basically sell beef jerkies in boxes and you can pick and choose your own. Kind of like how we sell our preserved fruit! Now that I'm seeing it, however, I'm starting to get a little bit hungry...

Egg, cheese and bacon... YUM! Breakfast in a bagel but it's so, so good! I've only ever tried the bagels in SS15 once, but blegh. THESE bagels are the reason why I can have them for breakfast everyday! And the best thing is, it's not even too much!

Today's lunch (and possibly dinner) is pasta with leftover roasted chicken from the noodle place last night. See? Another meal. Add some mushrooms (which I had to use up anyway) and yellow onion, season with a bit of soy sauce and black pepper, and there we go, yummy awesome food! I honestly love how much my culinary skills have improved after browsing many, many, many, many recipes... There's a pattern to cooking, and once you understand that pattern it's not hard to cook at all. Yes! Looking forward to cooking more and experimenting with stews, my next trial.

These pretzel m&m's actually don't taste all that different from the blue wafer ones we get in M'sia, cept a tad bit softer and saltier. It's not really my thing, it's quite heavy on the tastebuds... Then again so much of American food is!

I had fun with my roommate & friends doing exceptionally girly things. I've never really the experience of doing so 'just for fun' like how you see in American teen movies. The only sleepover experience I've had included movie marathons, cup noodles, and canned mocha. Nail polish and makeup? New territory. Also they may be right, I may be a bit of nail polish fanatic. (I insist I am not, still do.)

A major update! This baby is going to make my life so much easier. Her name is Buttermilk, and she is gorgeous. No more lazy grocery trips, no more 40 minute 10-block walks!

A shot of Saints Peter and Paul Church in Washington Square Park, San Franciso to end. It's beautiful and lying in the grass really is such an American thing to do, but I definitely see the appeal in it. It'd be great for bare-foot sports, general running around and mischievousness.

I think I'm doing alright!

Morning Sun

I am unsure whether or not this is due to jet lag, but regardless it is very strange that I wake up at 7 everyday now. Sleep at 9 (I managed to stay up to 9 without a nap yesterday) and wake up at 7 calls for a 10-hour-sleep... At least I'm sure people will tell me it's a healthy change and what not.

Mornings here are so very beautiful- actually, mornings back home are too. That golden hour at 10 when the sun is warm and shines with a golden tint... I sort of miss mornings back home. Then again if I were home I wouldn't see much of it.

My room with a view.

I used to (try) to sleep before midnight (and failing, usually) and wake up to my 9 o'clock alarm... then snooze it to wake up at 10. Haha! It sure is a great change for me to have sleeping patterns like this... I don't think I've ever slept so early, except possibly primary school.

I'm not complaining! We all know the benefits of sleeping early, so hello good skin and healthy bowel movements! Also, I get to use the bathroom while everyone else is still sleeping! I just hope I can keep this up even when I have classes.

Glad to report that I have been super responsible for myself this week... Tidying up, making my bed, cooking and cleaning, vacuuming... I think I can handle this staying by myself thing... Yeah. I'll make it through! :)

Pepperoni pretzels, mmmhph, so so good!

How does the same thing taste so much better here??

DARK CHOCOLATE CHEERIOS NOT EVEN KIDDING

Home made mushroom omelette tortillas! + bacon bits! :D

Valentines' Day and White Day

So~ White Day has just passed us by, and it dawned on me that I should probably blog about all the amazing things le petit ami has done for me. That would take at least a couple of lengthy blog posts however, so I'll just write about the significance of Valentine's Day and White Day instead.

I finally got to cook for him after a long hiatus. Also because I've been craving for fried eggplant, so I decided to give it a shot and try my hand at it.

I'm not tooting my own horn here but it turned out pretty awesome. xD

The onion cutting ninja at work.

Look at that!

Making curry~ It turned out too thin, as usual... @@

A relatively healthy... vegetarian meal, ohohoho!

Because of course we were saving ourselves for dinner, since le petit ami had already planned a pretty extravagant Valentine's dinner at La Risata! (The food explanation is copied from the menu given. I pretty much have no idea what it means, but it sounds terribly fancy and I'm compelled to type it.)

Super romantic setting! (I couldn't resist burning some of the petals on the table... I see fire and I want to burn things, sorry. xD)

A shot of something that made my whole body heat up into warm fuzzy chocolately feelings.

Cappasana e Fragole

Pan seared scallop on strawberry carpaccio and almond flakes topped with deep fried bresaola beef julienne

Paccheri Rippieni di Anatra

Pipe shaped dry pasta stuffed with chocolate flavored duck ragout on green peas cream

Okay, a little something about this dish. I was at first skeptical of it, because really, duck and chocolate? But I was floored, because it really tasted like duck and chocolate and it was good. I was so confused but yet delighted so I think it deserves a special mention. The cream went really well with the pasta and the stuffing, but imho they should've offered a main course (see below) that wasn't so thick and filling because this did a really good job of cream, meat, carbs and thick sauce already.

Guancia Brasata

Red wine braised beef cheek with oven baked pumpkin and potato cake

Like I said, a mouth full of carbs. Makes me full just looking at it.

Salmone con Risotto ai Funghi

Butter fried salmon steak served with mushroom "chiodini" risotto with spring garlic butter and sautéed beetroot

Millefoglie di Banana

Layers of thin chocolate and banana mousse on Berries Coulis

Okay so technically there was only one raspberry and one blueberry but oh well. The mousse surprised me, because it's banana flavored but yet it was strangely appealing. Three wasn't enough. xD

We took at short detour back to Lake Gardens, the place we spent the beginning of our relationship to have a proper sit down and talk about everything under the sun moon. I'm really grateful we did, because we cleared away uncertainty and doubt and made way for trust and love. :)

And now onto White Day~! White Day is one month after Valentine's day (March 14th) and is generally considered an "epilogue" of sorts of V day. Since I forgot White Day last year (though it's totally the guy's responsibility to celebrate! Hahaha!) I got le petit ami chocolates, because #typical and #generic.

He surprised me more than what the chocolate was worth though, in a way. Even though I knew he had won Avril Lavigne's concert tickets from RedFM's Instagram contest, it was only one ticket... By sheer luck and generosity on RedFM's part they gifted us two instead, so... FREE CONCERT!

We had by far the worst KFC ever (it came in a big truck... guys never buy food from trucks.) and I accidentally hit a lady with our complimentary glow sticks and despite the eager crowd that rushed to the barricades and blocked everyone else's view, I enjoyed every minute immensely with this adorable baka! ♥︎

Too bad we weren't really prepared for the concert... Otherwise we'd have lightsabers ready! Whoop! xD

In a way I'm thankful I've never been the butthurt type to hate on these couple-days when I was still single (ohohoho) so I can say without being hypocritical that sometimes being stupidly in love on special days really is just so much fun! xD

I can't stress how awesome being in love with your best friend is. :') Good times are to be had, always!

Popin' Cookin' Sushi Candy Set~!

I love doing craft things, and I love food. I also love my sister, so obviously it works together.

A few weeks back she brought back Japan's popular Popin' Cookin' self-make candy series, where you are given sachets of powder and everything needed to make miniature food that looks exactly like the real thing. It's amazing. Also I don't dare to eat it.

It has Japanese words! Hence, imported! *wild applause*

Apparently the Japanese are nuts about packaging everything.

These are your materials!

So the point is to transform everything you see in those small packets of powder and make it into candy in the shape of sushi. MAGIC.

The good thing about the Japanese is that they're really detailed, and literally you need nothing else. Just water, and even then they have this small space in the middle to hold JUST enough water for everything, it's amazing. Everything fits exactly right, right down to the amount of power to even how many drops of water you need.

This is 'rice'. Considering how it is just water + powder, after mixing it 

for a minute or so, it becomes fluffy and airy. IT'S MAGIC.

Powder for the "tamago".

After following instructions and mixing everything, this is what you get.

That's also how you make the fish roe to top off the sushi... just drop 

a certain solution into another solution and it will instantly become 

the texture of fish roe. It really is magic.

The rice placed on "plates" that's on the packaging itself...

Making sushi! (Look at that roe!)

Final product~

All in all it was a really fun experience! We didn't dare eat it because it even smelled super sweet and it literally is just sugar powder + water, so we didn't quite bother.

It did subtly show us the amount of detail the Japanese put into their work, as well as how innovative they are. Instructions guiding you through the whole thing were done on the packaging itself, eliminating need for an extra piece of instruction leaflet. And even though we didn't understand Japanese, the diagrams were clear enough to guide us through the whole thing, and it was pretty straightforward as well!