Recipe: Madeleines au Matcha
I love to buy baking hardware on the spur of moments but many times, they are left neglected in the kitchen somewhere, forgotten. Once in a while, I like to go through the kitchen cabinets and rediscover my kitchen tools and get inspired to bake.
These madeleines au matcha were the result of yet another (re)-discovery episode. Think of it, I had bought this 9-count silicon madeleine mould more than a year ago from a warehouse sale! Since this was my first attempt, I decided to just use the simple recipe attached to the mould.
These shell-like cakes were eggy and the matcha flavour quite mild. However the texture was slightly heavy. I would like them flufflier but they somehow did not rise much. I wonder if it was because this recipe did not use any other rising agent other than yeast. As I was surfing the web for other recipes as a reference, I noticed that baking soda is commonly used as the rising agent. The next time I make madeleines, I would try a different recipe and definitely add a little more green tea powder to intensify the flavour.
Nonetheless, these were pretty decent. I brought a few to my colleague’s place this morning when I visited her newborn baby and she loved it.
Ingredients
(I made about 14)
2 large eggs
75 grams fine granulated sugar
90 grams unsalted butter, melted but cool
90 grams all purpose flour
2 tsp green tea powder
pinch of salt
3 grams yeast
a few drops of vanilla essence
zest of 1/2 a lemon (I obmitted this because I didn’t have lemons on hand)
10 grams of honey
1. Whisk sugar with eggs until fluffy.
2. Add sifted flour, green tea powder, salt, yeast and zest until smooth and well-mixed.
3. Add melted butter and honey and stir thoroughly to mix.
4. Rest mixture in fridge for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if you are making it ahead.
5. Preheat oven at 160C.
6. Fill moulds with batter, almost to the brim.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
8. Turn out to cool on a baking rack.
By the way, the history of madeleines is a pretty neat story. You can read it from Wikipedia
Go here to read the rest:
Unforgettable Hakone
Hakone is a quite a popular destination with tourists in Japan due to its vicinity to Mt. Fuji and its lakes. In fact, the place we stayed in is a typical onsen that faces a lake and the mountain. But before we got to the ryokan, we made a few stops at typical touristy attractions along the way.
Lake Ashi, or Ashinoko (???) is one of the lakes around Mt. Fuji and a scenic cruise was part of the itinerary. The “cruise” was barely ten minutes long but the view was breathtaking.
We had bento lunch with chicken and udon around Lake Ashi. Tender chicken with stir fried cabbage and carrots was a good accompaniment to the fluffy rice. I have always loved the Japanese short grain rice. The fried fish was a tad cold but the hot udon warmed me up.
Another stop that we made was at Owakudani, which is famous for its kuro-tamago, or black eggs. Word has it that eating one can prolong one’s life by 7 years! Apart from the black coloured shell (due to the sulphur from the soil), it tasted no different than your regular hard boiled egg. Apart from the eggs, there are other snacks such as buns, fried fish cake etc being sold here.
We arrived at the ryokan in the evening and settled down in our rooms. During the day, the mattresses are rolled and kept away and at night, spread out for the guests. I love how the rooms were almost like a studio suite by itself, with a small seating area, complete with fridge and washing basin, and the room had tatami mats, dining table and chairs, telly etc.
Another must-do in Hakone is of course to try the onsen. In fact most ryokans here will have their own hot spring facilities. Ours was located indoors on the top floor, with a gorgeous view of Mt.Fuji during the day.
Usually dinner is served in your room at the ryokan. However we were a bigger group so we got a function room to ourselves. Dinner was also in the bento form, with many small dishes. We had a small hot pot with flat noodles and some vegetables, grilled fish, seaweed salad, squid, chawanmushi, tempura and sweets in the form of jelly and melon slice.
What’s a trip to Japan without having sashimi right? But as it was not included in our meal, it was an additional 11,000, which sounded a tad expensive initially. However our sashimi boat was fairly big and could feed 4pax, and had 12 types of fresh, raw seafood such as lobster, salmon, tuna, scallop, sea urchin, sweet prawn, prawn, squid, octopus etc. Very fresh and sweet, sashimi’s indeed not to be missed in Japan.
After our good meal, some telly, a dip into the hot spring, we had a good night’s sleep and awoke to…
this view of Mt.Fuji from our room window the next morning. It was particularly refreshing walking by the lake in the crisp morning air.
We had another simple Japanese breakfast before we set off. Rice with miso soup, grilled salmon, tamago, yasai salad and another green salad.
It was quite lovely taking this break at Hakone as one can experience all the Japanese culture we’ve come to know with the tatami sleeping arrangements, hot spring and food.
Original post:
Sarawak Hand Made Noodle @ Everyday Food Court, Puchong
Back in my uni days, Everyday Food Court was one of our most frequented food courts not only because it was the largest around, it is also open air with quite a number of good food. I could remember the prawn noodle, chili crab with fried bun, grilled seafood and Sarawak hand made noodle were [...]
Read more:
Otto Ristorante
Regular readers will know I have a weakness for pasta and sushi. So when I read about the delicious lobster pasta from Otto Ristorante, an Italian restaurant that had been established for about a year or so now, I made a mental note to visit because the recommendation came from the , a lady whom I have never met before but am quite positive our taste buds more or less synchronise.
It made the perfect lunch spot when a girlfriend surprised me with her shout-out to meet for lunch. There, I found good service from Shar, a familiar face previously from Garibaldi Group, who was very accommodating with our various requests when placing the orders. In the end, I opted for the set lunch just so I don’t have to think too much given I knew I had to have the pasta as my main course. The regular set lunch costs a reasonable $35++ but I topped up some to make a switch.
Now, I shall not waste too much time talking about the appetizer and dessert, both of which were average at best. Onto the main course that I had been wanting to try, while I cannot proclaim the pasta to be the best that I had, Otto’s was quite well executed. I would have preferred it spicy as stated in the description, but what I was served, definitely had no heat at all.
Having said that, the al dente linguine pasta, a generous serving at that, was coated with a most moreish sauce and there were fresh lobster chunks dotted all over though I did find myself wishing there was more! I was stuffed after all that carb but I am already eyeing the other pastas on the menu!
28 Maxwell Road
#01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Singapore 069120
Tel: 6227 6819
Read the original here:
Saint Pierre can be affordable
On this occasion, we had:
main course: roasted cod, fennel salad
(loved the crispy skin and fresh firm taste of bream)
(my favourite is comte!)
.
Originally posted here:
Sui Japanese Dining
So, Sui Japanese restaurant is first introduced by my friend D. Initially put off by this hidden amongst a row of shophouses near Chinatown/Tanjong Pagar border because it is a little inconvenient to access for me, but it was after all close to town and I was motivated to find a restaurant to replace my old haunt, Tomo Japanese Dining, which is now defunct.
The kind of familiarity between my taste buds and the sushi chef is very important to me and a couple of visits later, I am pleased that I feel fairly positive about this place and the Chef/Owner Andy. He is very passionate about his food and tries to be creative with his sushi.
His sashimi was fresh and sliced thickly with clean cuts. If I had to pick bones, they were sliced just a bit too thick, reminding me of Wasabi Tei’s version. But to give benefit of doubt, we were the only customers for lunch and since he was preparing the sashimi fresh from whole fishes, he could have been more generous that normal since he believes that the fresh fish should be eaten within 1-2 hours and not be kept.
One can still find traditional sushi from the regular menu. However, going omakase allows you to experience Chef’s creative sushi. He loves being innovative and is constantly trying to find new ways to serve and garnish his sushi with different ingredients that would excite the tastebuds. He can be a little heavy handed with salt but nothing a gentle reminder could not solve.
I am not a big fan of ankimo but the little ball looked so cute I just ate it. I am glad that he made the sushi small and used a citrus dressing to cut the richness. The result was very yummy and I could easily have another.
Go here to see the original:
Portugese Grilled Seafood @ Oasis Food Court, Mid Valley
An ordinary looking stall in an ordinary food court in Mid Valley is drawing the crowds. What seemed like an economical place to have lunch and dinner for the mall’s workers is also frequented by the customers. They make a beeline for the not-so-ordinary Portugese Grilled Seafood, which is popular for the tastiness and fair [...]
Go here to see the original:
Saraceno Ristorante
This new, three-month-old Italian restaurant took over what used to be a French restaurant at Berjaya Hotel. The food served is supposed to be southern Italian cuisine. Still relatively undiscovered, I think Saraceno deserves better because the menu was relatively interesting and had more character in comparison to mainstream Italian restaurants. The food actually tasted pretty good too. The focus was not on fancy presentation or complex range of ingredients. Each dish was kept simple and unassuming. I loved the texture of the homemade pastas, but could be slightly too ‘undercooked’ for those who do not like their pasta al dente. Therefore, if you are one of those folks, be sure to request for more well-cooked pasta. Don’t worry about the restaurant looking chi-chi and stifling. The decor is a total mismatch to the very friendly and down-to-earth personalities of the Chef and the floor staff.
Complimentary breads with olives and its oil. There were three different types of bread. The spinach bread (on the top corner) was interesting to the eye but did nothing to elevate the taste (which was otherwise just fine) . The olives were great! Not too salty and totally addictive.
Fresh pasta from Naples with eggplants, cherry tomatoes and smoked mozzarella ($19.80). The pasta was slight too al dente as I found out that gave me quite a work out chewing. I would have preferred a heavier hand on the salt but to each his own.
The other fresh pasta was pappardelle with grillled peppers and olives. Again, very simple flavours. Both pastas reminded me of fresh pizza toppings against fresh pasta.
Dessert was the apple tartin with vanilla ice cream. I loved the dessert despite not a big fan of the caramel sauce. The chunky apples were nicely stewed until it was soft. Against the puff pastry and cold ice cream, it was rich and heavenly. The icecream did not look homemade but at least it was of good quality with specks of vanilla against a rich creamy base.
Saraceno Ristorante Italiano
Italian. G/F, Berjaya Hotel
83 Duxton Rd
Tel: 6438-9638
Read more from the original source:
Of claypot briyani and badam milk
I am sooo full, I regret eating. So, let me see if I can ease my indigestion by blogging about the dinner I just had about three hours ago. It is already three hours and I am still choking with badam milk and mutton briyani. Regret, regret, regret.
Initially, we went to Chulia Street (I think) because we wanted to try the kari itik nila from Kassim Mustafa. However, I found that they only sell on Saturday and Sunday. Lawrence told me the duck curry is good but I must go around 8 pm or they will be sold out the moment they take out the dish.
Since there is no duck curry, hubby suggested Kapitan because he said the Kapitan in Bandar Perda, Butterworth has mixed grill with its naan. However, the Kapitan here only have tandoori chicken. So, I ordered the item most advertised, i.e. claypot briyani. I am never a fan of flavoured rice like nasi minyak, nasi lemak, nasi briyani or anything kind which has its own taste because I find that too filling. The rice is not even served in any claypot but a metal container like a cake tin.
Meanwhile, my son ordered the tandoori chicken set with butter naan. I prefer the tandoori at Kassim Mustafa in Jalan Burmah.
They have a pullcart selling badam milk. I like badam milk or almond milk. However, the one at Kapitan is soo thick, so rich and full of cashew nuts, raisins and don’t know what skin, like foo chook (soyabean skin) it made me sooo full. Adoi lah…I hope I don’t develop lactose intolerance and squirm on the floor tonight. Sometimes, if I eat some wrong kind of foods, I can get tummy ache so severe, I can faint. The badam milk is rather nice. But not to be drank with a rich meal like briyani mutton or else you will suffer like a python which had swallowed an animal ten times its’ size.
The pushcart which prepares all kind of healthy drinks like Milo with raw egg, tongkat ali tea and don’t know what kind of ’strengthening coffee’.
Kapitan does not serve the tastiest foods but they have a wide range of things not found at other mamak stalls. They have a few outlets in Penang and one of them is at Gurney Hotel at Gurney Tower, next to Starbucks. The one I ate is at Chulia Street, Penang.
Now, I have to find a way to get my food digested or else I can’t sleep. How?
.gif "Of claypot briyani and badam milk")
© MalaysiaBest dot com – Visit for more great recipes and travel tales.
—
Related Articles at Best recipes, foods and travel:
Related posts:
-
If you c
-
Traditi
-
Muteaudi
View original here:
Fiftythree
Once in a while, the ladies who keep me sane at work would cast their boyfriends aside and indulge in a day of eating and shopping together. We went to Fiftythree for lunch, first time for all of us.
Fancy potato chips served on a platter of charcoal was our amuse bouche of sort.
Following shortly was a little gunny sack bag containing the exact number of mini bread rolls as there were folks on the table. There were heated ball bearings at the bottom of the sack, keeping the rolls warm. Now, I am all for the novel idea and presentation effects but the bun, oh do I think it sucked. It had a too hard crust, a too dense innard and too salty in general. No amounts of good butter could save it.
The appetizer was chilled cherry tomato and watermelon, with horseradish, and mozzarella foam. This dish, I’m guessing, was trying to get this interplay going between temperature, texture, and flavour. If so, I think the idea was a great one but the execution fell short. I found the horseradish too dominating and the dish could do better without. That, plus the heavy cream sauce lining the bottom of the plate was quite redundant too.
The main course was barramundi with pear and blackcurrent jam. This was more palatable and the fish was fresh. The sweet jams surprising went well with the fish and the bits of fried shallots added delicious enthic flavours.
Dessert was apple risotto with rosemary foam and struesel of sorts. There was no rice in this dessert. The apple was chopped and diced finely to resemble risotto. Served warm, the cinnamon notes harmonized with the scent of rosemary pretty well, if not unusual. My palate could not decide if I was having a savoury or sweet course. Interesting dish that was easy to eat but I would not order it again.
Fiftythree remains an interesting place to visit once in a blue moon because I truly was not really impressed enough to come back again anytime soon.
Fiftythree
53
Tel: 6334 5535
Lunch: Tues – Sat
Dinner: Mon – Sat
See original here:
