3 ways with 3 ingredients

glutinous rice, sugar and coconut: a trinity of ingredients that form the basis of many of the sweet confections in the philippines and the rest of asia. i can't even begin to cover them all as i discover them all.

i went to a party the other day and picked up a few of my favourite filipino sticky rice cakes:


kalamay

kalamay, made from whole rice, coconut milk and brown sugar, then topped with latik, the brown, rich nuggets made from cooked down coconut milk.


sapin-sapin

sapin-sapin, made from rice flour or rice that has been soaked overnight then crushed into a paste, sometimes yams or yam flour, coconut milk and sugar. each layered is tinted (the bottom one a deep ube-like purple, the middle a golden yolk yellow,the top one white), and steamed before the next layer is added. when i was a kid, sometimes you'd see the amazing multi-layered slabs that would go on for miles, but now it's just typically the three layers.


cuchinta

finally, cuchinta, which is my favourite of the three, but maybe for its oddity factor. although it is made in much the same way as most sticky rice flour desserts, it doesn't really taste nor look like most of them. the flavour is a rather fleeting brown sugar and watery coconut concoction, and as far as rice cakes go, while it is sticky, it is not overtly so, and it has almost a squeaky quality to it. it's a bit like a bouncy rubber ball that comes out of a vending machine--slightly oil and slightly sticky, bouncybouncy, and somewhat snot-like (there *is* actually a rice confection from baguio called kulangot which translates to "snot". it come in nifty single booger portions, too). these particular ones have been coloured with annatto, which is supposed to make them more appealing, but i have my doubts about that. the leavening agent is lye, which is made by burning a hardwood then dripping water through the ashes (a slightly complicated process, but not really; you can buy lye water these days, or check survivalist websites for recipes). the leavening and the fact that it is made with water, not coconut milk, probably accounts for why it's lighter and less chewy. freshly grated coconut on top literally grounds the rice cake with its meatiness and substance.

slow men at work

magical tea balls

i'd seen these mysterious bomby balls of tea in shops before, and knew they were special, but it took a post from food nerd to convince me that these were worth buying. food nerd does a much better job at describing them than i can, but basically, they are long green tea leaves tied together, formed and dried around a flower center that "blooms"--just put one at the bottom of a pot, then add hot water and enjoy the show.



the green tea leaves unfurl, and a lovely "tree" made from painstakingly tied jasmine flowers surrounded by orange leaves emerges.



here's a different ball, called dancing snowflakes.



here the leaves surround an orangey-yellow flower--chrysanthemum?--but as the ball opens up, little bits of jasmine petals are unleashed and swirl in the water like snowflakes.



or dandruff.



as you can imagine, these aren't cheap unless you buy them in china, where they are made, or in asia in general. i saw some here that were reasonably priced (fiddycents) but a bit measly, so i ended up buying these from harney and sons, and it worked out to just under a buck a ball. however, it provides mighty fine if genteel entertainment along with lovely flavour, so these would be great for a special occasion or tea party.

smokin' mangoes

this weekend i went out into the garden to take some photos of ginger plants, but they were looking a little weedy and not in bloom. as i've been gardening at night, i didn't realise that the mango tree is budding!

i know i shouldn't be so happy, but since the tree has previously only wielded one fruit, i am. yay, maybe we'll have a real crop someday soon. to help insure that, every night at dusk, we've been going out and building a little fire to "smoke" the tree, which will drive away the harmful bugs that may inhibit flowering. i shall be out there every night for at least a month, maybe i should find a nice pork shoulder that may benefit from the nightly smokeout.



see those little green bumpies? beeby-baby mangoes!



this is a mango shoot, which i believe is called putat in kapampangan, talbos in tagalog; edible, certainly, best as a salad. so i'm told.

mango flowers

bill granger's banana maple upside down cake

i know i have an overt reliance on the Big G, but i am a sucker for an upside down cake and when i found this recipe in bill's open kitchen i had to try it. bananas i wasn't so sure about, but i love his cakes, and the thought of it with just that bit of crunchy caramel that escapes from the bottom and crisps up at the top of the golden crumb, the gooey brown sugar fortified with maple melting into the fruit and cake was enough for me to not wait for our inevitable banana crop. i actually went out and bought bananas, although i bought the typical american type--large, honkin' large, a little too sweet and bland and pale, but that's the kind i think is called for in this recipe. i think the next time i make this cake i'll wait for our crop of manila bananas--small, yellowish fat fingers that are simultaneously sweet and tart, a bit like creamy, creamy apples. mm, yes, that would be the ticket.

as it was, the cake was fine. it reminded me of an elaborate banana pancake with the maple syrup and the light yellow cake. hm. actually, if i had this for breakfast i'd probably love it and then drop dead of a heart attack. it's funny because when i was looking for a recipe link online, i found that julie from a finger in every pie hated it so much it was part of her IMBB #12 taboo/hated food post. ah well. i think i could change her mind about this cake if i could somehow send her some home-grown island 'nanas....

cinnamon brioche rolls, take 2

i need a good brioche recipes, does anyone have one? i'd attempted cinnamon brioche rolls before, and liked the taste, but wasn't thrilled with the texture or look of them. this time, i've got the colour down, the taste is pretty good, but i still don't like the way they look or the texture. they are fluffy and tender but i freakishly want something flakier and drier, more like puff pastry, without being crumbly. does that make sense? am i wrong to want that? anyway, i'm not sure what i'm look for in way of looks, but maybe i just need to roll it out more.

anyway, these were fine. brioche dough, rolled out, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, rolled it up...oh you know. i didn't put all that much cinnamon nor sugar, but i did run the mix through the food processor to make it finer before dusting the dough with it. result--soft but crunchy on the outside, lightly sweet, lightly spicy, lightly buttery and not oozy in any way.



top tip: i put the dough in a hyperbaric chamber to help it rise. no, i didn't, what the .... if i was michael jordan and had a hyperbaric chamber in my house and was contemplating eccentricity overload i might, but no. i put the dough in a container with marked measurements so it's easier for me to figure out when the dough has doubled during rising.

madagascar madness!

remember that honkin' large bottle of madagascar vanilla extract i bought a couple of months ago? well, king arthur flour has slashed the prices by half, and now the 32 oz. bottle is only $38. i know that sounds like a lot, but it really isn't, especially considering that a 4oz. bottle is $11. if you aren't experimenting with making your own extract like zarah and rachel, this is a deal worth a thousand (or more) cookies!

ps--sur la table is selling the 8oz. bottle for $39.95! see? madness i tell you, maaaadnessss!

fried tofu with miso sauce

slabby!

one of my favourite dishes at suehiro in los angeles is a tofu cutlet. it's just a giant slab of tofu dredged in panko crumbs and fried, then served with a sweet miso sauce. the sauce is sort of overwhelming after awhile--oh, actually, the whole thing is sort of overwhelming in its super-fried good cop/bad cop way, but hey! it sounds healthy. and it's good. really.

tofu dredging is not fun, but it is easy. use a slab of firm tofu and squeeze out as much excess water as you can by pressing the slab on cotton kitchen towels or paper towels. cut it into four equal pieces, dip each into a beaten egg, then coat with panko (you can season it with salt, pepper, herbs, chili flakes, whatever). if the crumbs don't stick, i suggest dipping the 'fu back into the egg, and then try again. i've tried coating it with flour and starch to help the egg stick, but it's just not the same, so stick with just egg. fry in hot oil until golden brown and drain on more paper towels.

miso sauce: miso, rice vinegar, salt, sugar, sesame oil. drizzle on top of warm tofu slabs and enjoy.

myoga

ah, so you know of my predilection for weeds as food, and apparently i've stumbled upon a pretty good one here: zingiber mioga roscoe, a wild japanese ginger. found in the woodlands in japan, it is cultivated in australia and new zealand for food, in the united states as a garden ornamental, and pretty much considered an invasive scourge everywhere else. myoga, as the young ginger shoots are called, are prized for their delicate ginger flavour and crisp texture. also, the new flowers can be eaten, but the older rhizomes and more mature parts of the plant are toxic. in fact, the whole plant is so toxic it's carcinogenic. so think twice about that myoga binge-out party you were just planning!



i first tasted myoga at hirozen, my favourite japanese restaurant in los angeles. it was in the middle of one of those extraordinary omakase meals, where chef starts rummaging around in the back of the refrigerator for something to plonk in front of me. i had no idea what it was, and the first bite was surprising, yet familiar. it has the delicate crunch of a fresh water chestnut or the heart of very young sugar cane, and the taste is very faintly but very recognizably ginger. it was served as sushi, and that is how i prefer it now, simply sliced on top of lightly vinegared rice. delicately sweet, delicately sour, and refreshing.

only 310 days 'til christmas!

from the march 2005 edition of livingetc, which is like, a grown-up girl's holiday wishbook. look! there's a dedicated jar slot for cardamom! it's a little fussy, but i'm still plotzing.

prawn and herb salad on steamed rice cakes

jonny angel's sunday dinner of banh beo tom chay looked so delicious, i was tempted to make it, but if there's one thing food blogs have taught me, it's that i am not a hardcore foodie. i like food--probably even love it--but if i have to spend more time to prepare a meal than eat it, most likely i won't do it.

this is my faux banh beo: prawns, shallots, green onions, cress, mint, cilantro, chili pepper roughly chopped and mixed with a little salt, a little sugar and nam pla or fish sauce, then dumped on top of steamed rice cakes (dried, store bought variety). pretty, and pretty delish; all the flavours i was looking for, but done within 10 minutes from start to finish.

coconut curry rice with prawns

i had a fantastic curry prawn risotto from firefly bistro, but i lack the patience for the stirstirstir, so i came up with this similar dish for the lazy or harried home version. short grain white rice is cooked in coconut milk with a few tablespoonfuls of curry powder (in a rice cooker), then a handful of toasted dessicated coconut thrown in after cooking. add a few grilled prawns, some sliced sweet cherry tomatoes and green onions. top with cashews fried in garlic and you have a lovely composed dinner; mix it all up and you have a great rice salad for lunch. if you want to do a vegetarian version, smoked tofu goes very well with this or any sort of steamed dark green veggie, like spinach or even okra....

a valentine's day soundtrack

i've been tagged for music in my kitchen by adam, mcauliflower, miss j, and galinusa, but pieman was the first to reach me, so i gave it up to him--you can find my response here. but thank you lovely women and funny dude for the backsies--if i could do it again, i would! and i'd have completely different answers the next time around.

on this valentine's day i've been listening to some of my favourite albums ever, including the go-betweens' 16 lovers lane, style council's café bleu, everything but the girl's eden, and the quiet now series.

although i would love to give everyone a big cookie for valentine's, i don't think they'll be in particularly good shape by the time they get to you; instead, i'll send a valentine's day soundtrack to you on cd, if you are one of the next few to comment below!

chocolate+roses

chocolate scented black tea with rosebud petals. sweet and scenty, and weirdly overcaffeinated. leaves you wide-eyed and sniffy.

cardamom spiced apricots

damn. cardamom is fun to photograph.

i found some apricots on the wrong side of ripe in the fridge bin, cut 'em in half and stoned them; made a simple syrup of white sugar and water, added a bunch of crushed cardamom pods as it was simmering, then tossed in the 'cots for 10 minutes. don't know what i'll do with them yet--have them warm with a wine sauce? cool in a compote? with ice? with cream? with ice cream?!

ah, the possibilities.

when logic (board) fails.

ah, remember my iBook from a few posts back? that particular model seems to be prone to logic board failure, and so, being the perfect little apple, myBook decided to follow its brethren into the apple repair center somewhere south of the island of misfit toys and um, bakersfield. i'm lookin' at a 6 to 16 week wait while it grows a new brain or somethin', so in the meantime, it's time to break into the vacation funds and buy a new laptop.

i am loyal to the mac daddy mac, so there's no question the next book shall not have an orange on it. i'm toying with the idea of getting a mac mini, but the demand is so great that there is a three week wait, and i prefer the portability of a notebook. so, a question to other mac users out there: what book should i buy next?

another bloody cupcake

literally.



same cupcake recipe, only without the vanilla and a heaping teaspoonful of chinese five spice in its place. topped with a blood orange juice and sugar glaze. sweet, citrusy and coffee-cakey at first, and then boomboomboom--kick of pepper, hint of anisette, wee backlash of bitter rind. if you don't have blood oranges, try it with grapefruit instead.

happy new year

gong xi fa cai to all celebrating--may your new year be prosperous and preposterous, auspicious and audacious!

spring onion bread

i am too full to blog. recipe here. chinese in origin, but awesomely tasty with indian-spiced food or on their own.

crepes and curd

happy fat tuesday y'all! it's mardi gras, a time for unrepentant indulgence just before the start of the lenten season. and apparently a time for pancakes. today's first offering: crepes with passionfruit curd, bananas and freshly grated coconut.



*wow*. sometimes you don't realize how monochromatic your food is until you photograph it.

the passionfruit curd was absurdly easy. place a bowl over a pot of simmering water (makeshift double boiler), add 1/4 cup sugar to the pulp of 2 or 3 passionfruits to the bowl. mix in two slightly beaten eggs and continue stirring until the mixture has thickened into a sort of custard. take off the heat and add 60g of softened, unsalted butter. continue stirring until butter has completely melted and is completely incorporated. let sit to cool.

suburban coconut harvesting tips

we only have one tree, but sometimes one is enough. we have a LOT of coconuts hanging overhead, so today damian came over to help get a few down.



just how do you get coconuts down? outside of calling for help from monkey, you thank your folks for living in a two-story house, go on the top floor or roof, tie a hand-honed scythe onto a discarded broom handle then aim and reap away. (and tell everyone below to stand clear or duck, please)



you need a machete or a big cleaver to cut open a coconut. the first thing you do is cut the bottom end through the husk until you just get to the meat; poke a hole through and drain the coconut. then cut the coconut in half to get to the meat.



the very first coconut damian split open was a macapuno, charmingly and roughly translated as "mutant coconut". although they are now cultivating a tree that yields mostly macapuno, and there are people who can just tell when they see one, generally speaking, you never know where the mutant is, until you cut it open. there is little or no liquid in the cavity, and the meat is thicker, more gelatinous, and very rich yet bland tasting. a highly prized nut.



here's a little tip for any future "survivor" contestants: the easiest way to scrape out young coconut meat is to use a piece the husk. a spoon works too :-) save the meat in its water, to preserve the flavour and texture. refrigerate or freeze this as soon as possible as it is highly perishable.

you always want to use green, fat, smooth coconuts for harvesting the meat or water. so what do you do with the old, shrivelly ones?



first, you find a lovely boonie dog/askal/poi dog/mutt, like paquita here. then give her a coconut.



look--instant toy! not only is it good for her teeth, the shredded bits are perfect for adding to your orchids or planting beds for better drainage.



after you are done with all that work, don't forget to enjoy a glass of coconut water so fresh the coconut milk rises right to the top....