July 10, 2007 at 10:55 am · Filed under Hamsters
Recalling a post I did a couple of months back about Porkie Pie’s demise, along with a picture of her in an amateur photoshoot setup. The other 2 girls, Kimchi and MikoSan had a fair share of their photoshoot experience as well. Kimchi being the most active one couldn’t stay still even when I offered her some raisins as treats. The same goes for Porkie. They probably think running away would be a better bet. ESCAPE and get FREEDOM. Haha..
It’s pretty difficult to get a still shot of them especially when they are not succumbed to the treats I’ve offered. Worse, they stuffed them into their cheek pouch fast and dash off exploring. Armed with a non-dslr camera and without flash, slower focus and speed, most photos came out blurred.
However, MikoSan was nice enough to let me take a few shots. She looks huge in that photo and thus I added some ‘effects’ on her. I was thinking if I can print that into a postcard. Haha..
July 3, 2007 at 6:32 pm · Filed under Recipes: Soup
Having Japanese fare at home is pretty rare. Apart from buying some salmon belly sushi, the most common and easy dish I can whip up is the Japanese curry rice using the premix curry cubes. It’s like a one pot meal, no fuss at all. Add some carrots, onions, chicken and potatoes, cook some rice and it’s done. I thought of frying some tempura and croquette, but that would means having to clean up a lot harder after that. Not good. Hee.
Miso (味噌), a fermented soybean paste, is high in protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. A little miso goes a long way - no wonder the Japanese old folks are known for their longevity - they have a cup of miso every morning to start the day.
Miso health benefits include:
- Good source of B12
- Good source of trace minerals, zinc, manganese, and copper
- 1 tbsp contains 2 grams of protein for just 25 calories
- Enhances flavor of a wide variety of dishes
- Cancer preventative
- Anti-aging properties
- Helps control cholesterol
- Rejuvenates damaged cells
Miso is a part of many Japanese style meals. It commonly accompanies rice as miso soup and is eaten daily by much of the Japanese population. Miso is used in many other types of soup and soupy dishes, including some kinds of ramen and udon. Generally, such dishes have the title “miso” appended to their name (eg. miso-udon), and have a heavier, earthier flavor and aroma.
Since miso and soy foods play a large role in the Japanese diet, there are a variety of cooked miso dishes as well. You can marinate your meat or fish with miso paste before cooking or roasting them. Or even grill your yakitori glazed with miso paste instead of the usual teriyaki sauce. I had a softshell crab spaghetti in miso sauce at Coffee Club some time back. It was a tad salty but quite nice.
Miso comes in many colors, ranging from creamy white, red and dark brown. The light colored miso is ideal to flavor light colored sauces and soups. Miso is rather sticky and before use, it needs to be mixed with a bit of water. To preserve its delicate flavor of miso should never be cooked with the food but added at the end of the cooking process. Miso typically comes as a paste in a sealed container, and should be refrigerated after opening.
With a tub of miso paste, you can easily whip up a quick soup for your meals. Throw in some tofu and wakame, and there you get your tofu miso soup. The below recipe is from my aunt, a Japanese chef. My fortunate cousins, their stomachs get to benefit all the nice homemade Japanese food. *envy*
You can get the ingredients easily from supermarkets. Dashi is used to make a simple broth and makes the base for miso soups. I used granulated hondashi (bonito fish soup stock) as the base. Dashi may only be available in Japanese supermarkets like Mei-di-ya. But you may be able to find them at Takashimaya Cold Storage.
Daikon, is radish in Japanese term. However, I do find the Japanese daikon much more flavorful compared to the normal local radish. As of why we can’t cook both the carrots and daikon together, I really have no idea. Same goes for my aunt. Haha…
This is relatively a simple yet tasty soup to go with your rice. I need nothing more.
Salmon Fish Head Miso Soup
1 salmon fish head, medium (cleaned)
1 daikon, medium (thick chunks)
1 carrot, medium (thick chunks)
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp hondaishi granules
1 stalk coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
1 litre water
- Boil 1 litre of water and add the hondaishi granules to the boil.
- Add in the daikon and cook till soft, approximately 20 to 30 mins.
- Use a drainer to scoop up the daikon, set aside.
- Put in the carrots to boil till soft, approximately 20 to 30 mins.
- Add in the salmon fish head and daikon.
- Cook till the salmon turns pink, approximately 10 to 12 mins.
- Turn off the heat, scoop about half cup of water from the pot into a small bowl. Dissolve the miso paste with the water. Add the miso water into the pot. Stir and taste the soup, if you prefer more miso. Repeat the above, and add more miso water to the soup.
- Serve and garnish with coriander.
Serves 2.
