Momofuku

Momofuku, the new 'hip' name in the culinary business in New York has swept me off my feet when I first tried their Octo Vinaigrette Fried Chicken, which subsequently triggers me to find out more about Chang and his restaurants and to realize how amazing / experimental a cook he is. Seeing my interest, Mr.T secretly bought me a Momofuku cook book to surprise me. I certainly hope it's not an indication that I shall cook more Momofuku food for him, it'll kill me, if you know Momofuku ;)

Anyway, here's the book: simple wood imitate cover with the lucky peach (in japanese: momofuku).

Just as David Chang himself , who's selling all sorts of funny food you can't imagine in his noodle bar and yet manage to win well reputed award and the hearts of New Yorker (and more), the book is nothing like any ordinary cook book. Or shall I say, it's not just a cook book. It's a biography about Chang and also a story telling book that explains in length histories behind each recipes and it also encourages creativity in cooking, explaining that sticking to the norm is not bad, but it can be changed for better.

I've never seen F**k word in a cook book before but this one has it. Does that make the book bad? NO, hell, no...not at all. To me, it's a multi-functional book, read it as you please like any other books that you have and use it as you wish, just like any other cook books that you have. If you're looking for that one cook book that'll blow your mind, get one of this. I'm loving it, so much. Thank you, Mr.T :D

H.C.Andersen

Now, we're not talking about the famous Danish fairy tale author, but a bakery that's named after him, H.C.Andersen Confectionery. I mentioned this bakery before in an old blog, and never able to forget the goodness of this special bakery. It specializes in cakes, pastries, and also sandwich. It is so good that the royal wedding cakes only comes from this bakery.

New facade

Recently, the bakery moved to a new address and has went through a new face lift. I've been waiting and waiting for it to re-open and the day finally comes on 15-Oct. It was a purely out of the habit to check on the bakery's renovation progress and to my surprise, it's opened, hooray!!!

New cake ordering counter

Sandwich / pastry counter

The new shop is much smaller in seating capacity but feels a grade higher than the old cramp area. Well lit, warm welcome and clear product display, the only thing that's missing is price tag (maybe it'll come later?). Love the new chairs & the pairing cushion / pillow, so cosy that I feel at home. Anyway, ordered an all time favourite - Othello cake (oh...they do it best) and was given free latte for the new opening :D

Nice comfy seating

The Othello cake is slightly different from the ones before. The top layer of marzipan is replaced with chocolate frosting, taste a bit different but not bad at all, but maybe that's why the cake is softer than it used to be and crumble when the cashier cut a slice. For that, I get 2 free mini éclairs, yum ;)

'Scrambled' othello cake

Free but high quality latte

Free mini eclairs

Dining section

Less seating capacity which will be one of my regret because the old one with bigger capacity is usually full house, from the logical perspective, at some point I will find myself no vacant seat when I visit. The bakery is right behind the cake counter, not sure what exactly is being baked, maybe just some simple breads / pastries but it definitely is a sign of quality assurance when the product comes directly from 'manufacturer' to the counter ;)

Bakery right behind the cake counter

There seems to be more changes to the old ones that I haven't noticed yet but I'm just glad that whenever I crave for a piece of good cake, I know where I can go to.

Mr.T Scallion Pancake

For a long time, I've always read about the tastiness of scallion (American way of saying spring onion) pancake but never actually tried it before. It's probably a very common staple food in China but not in Malaysia ;)

So finally on a lazy Sunday afternoon where there're no chore calls or need/desire to go out, I looked up the recipe and tried it out. Well, er...in the process of making the pancake, it is 'unfortunate' to discover that I'm not that good with dough mixing and being gentle with rolling pin so Mr.T with his 'feminine' hands took over and made the dough plus all the rolling.

Mr.T in action

Rolled up the side of pancake

Ready to be pan fried pancake

Well, I had to take part in the pancake making so I did the pan fried part but was actually clueless if it's cooked or not. Nevertheless, judging from the gradually translucent texture and then golden brown pancake surface, I take it as a ready sign :)

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try (and please tell me if it's my fault that it's dry):-

2 cups flour

3/4 cups luke warm water

6 tsp sesame oil (or mix with ordinary cooking oil)

1 tbsp salt

2 bunch of spring onions chopped

1. Put flour in a mixing bowl, gradually add in the water and mix well. add a bit flour if it's too wet; or some       

    water if it's too dry; bottom line is it should not be too sticky. Let it rest for 15minutes. 

2. In the mean time, chop the spring onion and set aside.

3. Take the rested dough and form a roll. Cut into 6 pieces of equal size and roll the pieces into balls.

4. Place a ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll into a thin circle, as thin as you can get.

5. Spread 1tsp of oil over the dough, sprinkle a good pinch of salt (you'll need it) all around the dough and 1/6 portion of chopped spring onion on top.

6. Roll the pancake up from the end (shown in Mr.T's picture), then curl the roll around in a spiral and pinch the end of the roll to 'seal' it.

7. With your palm, press the roll from the top to flatten it then roll the pancake out to 1/8 inch thickness.

8. Heat a tablespoon of oil on pan over medium heat. Set the pancake in oil & fry till bottom is crisp & golden. Then flip the pancake, add more oil if needed. Remove from heat when both sides are golden brown.

Scallion pancake in pan

Final product

The taste? I'm actually slightly disappointed over the slight dryness of the texture. Maybe my recipe / method was wrong or maybe I didn't cook them well enough but I imagine it to be something much nicer. Anyway, it was a fun Sunday afternoon with lots of dishes to clean afterwards :s

Crispy Chinese Salt & Pepper Tofu

I love tofu, whether it's steam, braised, stewed, in soup, stuff with fillings, fried or even fermented. Every now and then when I shop in the Asian shop, I just can't resist to buy a block of tofu; firm for frying / braising; soft for sukiyaki. Anyway, I bought one of this tetra pack tofu block for quite some time and finally find a new recipe to try it out: crispy chinese salt & pepper tofu.

Here's the recipe to share: Crispy Chinese Salt and Pepper Tofu

Serves 4 (Cooking time: 40 minutes)

For the tofu:
1 lb firm tofu, drained
1 tablespoons dry sherry or rice wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons corn starch
3-4 tablespoons of peanut oil for frying

For the stir-fry:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 big clove of garlic, finely minced
¼ inch cube ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon or to taste red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 spring onion, thinly sliced

Slice tofu into ½ thick slices and layer between sheets of kitchen towels. Lay on a cutting board and weigh it down with any heavy items on top to drain the water for about 20 minutes. When ready, gently separate tofu from towels and cut into ½ inch cubes.

In a medium bowl combine rice wine and soy sauce. Add cubed tofu and toss to combine. Set tofu aside for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Careful not to break the tofu cubes.

When ready to fry tofu, heat peanut oil over medium-high in a large, heavy skillet or wok. Sift cornstarch into a shallow bowl. Drain tofu from marinade, shake off any excess liquid and roll tofu into cornstarch. Lower tofu into oil and fry for 3-4 minutes each side until all sides are golden coloured. I use a deep fryer, so much easier. Remove goldened tofu from pan and placed on kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Pour 1 tablespoon peanut oil into skillet and heat to medium high. Add ginger & garlic, stirring quickly until sizzling and fragrant. Add red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and tofu and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Toss in the spring onion and quick stir for another 30 seconds, remove tofu dish from heat, and move to a serving platter.

If you're like me where you find eating tofu in Chinese restaurants in non-Asian countries disappointing, then you should definitely try this dish out at home. Most works lies on preparing the tofu but it's well worth the effort. And if you are lucky enough to have nice tofu dish vastly available to you, I'd still recommend you to try this out, I guarantee you there's no regret (probably some fuss on tofu preparation if you're new to cooking). 

All in all, a recipe that's worth keeping. I'll definitely do this again! 

Berlin & Chocolate

I must first introduced my 'love hate' relationship with Berlin. 

Love part: dining at my favourite Thai restaurant (oh, yes...) or the great German tapa restaurant; spending hours in wonderful museums; shopping for the precious Ferrero Küsschen, and visiting my friends. 

Hate part: (If and when) I have to work there :(

I was, again, sent off to Berlin this week on very short notice for 2 days work. In order to compensate my 'hate' feeling, I grab the chance to buy some chocolate. And if I have a bigger luggage than my back pack, trust me that I'll buy the whole Ferrero Küsschen section back.

There are more nice chocolates that are not available in Copenhagen but can be found in Berlin, for example: the Werther's Original chocolates with different filling. I never understand why we're so near geographically yet so different in chocolate marketing strategy. Maybe I should start looking for a job in Germany? If I do so, I'm probably the first one who hunt for job based on chocolate eh? shh...don't tell my boss :p