MOCHI!

Mochi is traditionally kneaded and pounded repeatedly with a mortar for its unique soft and sticky texture. For those who are short on time, there is a shortcut to making mochi! You'll also figure out that making your own mochi can save lots of money, as the ingredients are not expensive at all. Special thanks to my friend Peggy for teaching me this recipe!

Ingredients:
2 cups glutinous rice flour
1-1.5 cup water (add according to consistency)
1/2 cup sugar
potato starch (for dusting)

Filling options:
red bean (canned ok too)
sesame
green bean
peanut
fruit jellys

1. Mix the flour, water, and sugar in a large microwavable bowl.
2. Microwave for 2 minutes on high, taking it out to mash/mix every 30 seconds. Check for the right consistency; add water as needed and microwave longer if necessary. (Be careful, it's hot!)

3. Dust a flat surface and your hands with potato starch.
4. Knead the dough until it becomes homogeneous and springy - but it shouldn't be sticky - add flour if it is sticky. Make sure your hands are covered with potato starch so the dough doesn't stick all over you!
5. Take a ball of dough (any size you like) and form a bowl shape. Scoop in the filling of your choice and wrap the dough over it so it's enclosed within the dough. (this takes some practice..!) The dough can be pinched to seal the ball and rolled around in your hands to form a spherical shape.

6. Dust again with potato starch, and it's ready to be eaten!

Another variation, an imitation from a mochi shop in Hokkaido:

- Candice

My First Bread Pudding

No one knows a good bread pudding as affluently and prestigously as the hosts of POSH NOSH:

"Are you just playing with our food, or are you serious?"with a scorning eye

Does it inspire you too?

Plain, cheap, white bread is a great medium for experimental cooking. It shouldn't be shunned at just because it's made of alchoholicky tasting potato starch flour and is as gummy as playdough when mushed about. Cheap white bread should be looked at as one of the ultimate challenges that tests your ability to turn something drab to delicatably fab.

As a kid, I would always try to recreate my favorite sweets with using generic white bread as the base, and I learned a lot of neat little recipes. You can make quick and easy cinnamon rolls by flattening a slice of bread and coating a layer of butter, sugar, and cinnamon on one side then roll it up and toasting it in the oven. Then you have a nice cinnamon stick to dunk into a side of frosting! You can also soak a dry slice with gravy and place between your sandwhiches to add some extra savory moisture to a dry turkey or chicken sandwhich.

Bread pudding is ridicously simple and it's easy to readjust the recipe to meet your specific pallet. Just add more sugar to sweeten, or raisins for extra chunkiness and tartness, or a higher concentraion of cream to make extra moist and creamy. It's all up to you.

The recipe called for stale bread but i just took some fresh bread and toasted it to dry it out. This helps the cream soak in better.

Toss in about 2 cups milk (I used evaporated milk which I love to use in a lot of my cooking because it maintains the flavor of rich cream without the piling calories), 2 tablespoons butter, 3/4 cup sugar, some vanilla, cinnamon, rum flavoring if you'd like, some raisins, and about 4 eggs.

Tear the bread into small pieces in the pan and lovingly pour the mixed cream all over the pitiful, parched bread. Then bake at 350F for about 45 minutes.

My roommates could smell the sweet cinnamonny flavor warming up the second floor; it added a nice nostalgic holiday aroma for this chilly weather.

I am very proud of this one. It especially tasted wonderful when it was still hot and moist and eggy. I'll probably make this again for Thanksgiving :D.

-Angela

Tea Making in Taiwan

During my trip to Taiwan this summer, tea making was by far one of my favorite experiences. (I'm sorry to say I don't remember the exact name or place of the teashop but once I do I will definitely update this entry!)

My old dorm buddy, Amy, showed Candice and me around the northern parts of Taiwan and she suggested that we stop by this little teashop famous for their self-serve tea making. Let me tell you, I was frickin' excited. :D

Andrew Zimmerman likes tea too-

We came on a weekday late afternoon so we were lucky to have the place all to ourselves. While we waited for the store manager to bring out the tea supplies, we got to glance around the walls of the teashop, which were filled with wooden bookshelves displaying numerous novellas about

all kinds of aspects about tea- like tea leaves, tea farming, modern tawainese tea, traditional taiwanese tea, modern contemporary taiwanese tea, and so forth and so on..my excitement just kept accumulating.

And then.. the teashop brewers walked out from their stock room curtain like wisemen bearing gifts from rich lands..(at least that's how I remembered it..). The tea supplies came lining up the tables like a little parade of precious floats marching towards my eager heart.. :D, anyways, on with the show!

Our tea of the day was a popular one; green tea!

Haha, Candice couldn't figure out what the white puffy beads were.

They were rice puffs, kinda like the ones in Rice Krispy Treats.

Inside the monster mortar was a mixed bunch of seeds and nuts

(sorry I got too distracted to remember to take pictures..), including

pealed peanuts and black sesame seeds.

Okay, tea grinding is no simple chore, my arms got pretty sore but these

snacks helped lessen the pain..Here's some homemade mochi dusted with peanuts.

Don't the rough black things look like coal? These were dried fruit, I'm guessing prunes, and some homemade chex with salty shrimp flavoring.

Eventually, after about 30 minutes of grinding and teasing from the shop managers about how shamefully weak we were, the tea powder turned into a smooth paste with a great nutty aroma. I was tempted to set some aside to spread on my chips, but no! This puppy has bigger and better plans.

So, was all this effort and time worth it? Ch'ya! The tea was buttery smooth and I love how the rice puffs contrasted with the drink. I could taste it all- the green tea powder, the peanuts, the sesame seeds, all the other unidentifiable whatnots, all in perfect harmony pouring through my mouth and body..yum..

-Angela

Korean Kickback with David

Here's an (unrealistic) idea of what I want to experience before I die



David is my friend and Korean cooking instructor. His guidance is my first stepping stone to achieveing my (unrealistic) dream.

Anyways, David's not only savvy with the kitchen but is also fluent in conversational Korean and Japanese. David graduated last spring and is now setting forth on a new journey in Korea working on an English teaching career, I am very excited to see what pictures and stories he will be sharing with us in the future!

Here he is (forcing a very cheery smile) with his nicely prepared spread of popular and basic dishes.

Here are some of the goods: pickled yellow daikon, ground beef and beef slices, compressed tofu, and seaweed wrap.

Kimbap with Bulgogi

Chap Che 잡채
Bibimbap 비빔밥 before...

BAM! Bibimbap after a good tossing

Dduk Bokki 떡볶이

This dinner was definitely a nice casual sit-down with mounds of comfort food to warm our hearts.

Here's one of my favorite Korean Food Blogs that mixes first-hand experience and humorous commentary-http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/

And here's a movie that keeps me pumping! Le Grande Chef!

- Angela