January
Got quite a bit done this month. Pretty pleased.
Fauxtography
Started 365 again. Going well so far. Not exactly inspirational photos, but there was a little experimentation going on with the tripod, 2x teleconverter, and remote shutter release which is better than no tinkering at all.
Also experimenting with mobile post-processing on the iPhone and iPad. Interesting with mixed results thus far. Bit hard though since you can’t easily calibrate the display. Also learning more about post-proc in Lightroom and Photoshop. Trying to graduate from using presets that I don’t understand the construction of…
Also also, bought a new lens (post to come). I didn’t mean to. But the price I got it at was ~$100 less than what the market price has been for the last few months. I don’t regret the purchase yet, but it’s a near thing…
Food
More ice-creams (lime and cardamom yoghurt, and a delicious chocolate. I have more plans for my ice-cream maker which I need to pace out a bit lest I gain too much weight. -_-
Made a clone of the Giuseppe Corica apple strudel[1] that I’ve been telling myself I’d do for years. Seriously, I win at strudel (post to come). I love GC, but I love my rendition of their strudels. The difficult thing now will be deciding if I can be bothered dropping $18.50 for one of theirs, or spending the time to make one of mine.
Made yee sang from scratch. Much easier than expected. But need sharper knife for slicing the fish. Also, a julienne peeler like Marcus suggested would be a good idea. My knife skills are not so refined that I can julienne quickly (and evenly), and while the food processor is fast, it mushes it up a bit.
Fountain Pens
Decided I need to hand-write more otherwise my hands will be permanently stuck in the hands-on-keyboard position. So I bought a new paper diary/planner.
Also gave my favourite fountain pen a little TLC with some maintenance. Decided that while I loved it dearly, I wanted to branch out into a (Japanese) fine nib.
Bought two new Pilot fine nib pens, one classic, one with a clear demonstrator body. And also a Parker 51 clone for giggles to replace my dad’s old Parker 51 that broke ages ago.
Obtained two Sheaffer Touchdowns of unknown model, and my dad’s old Parker 61.
Learning how to maintain all of these properly. And also learning to repair Touchdowns. This has been pretty educational and kind of neat. I was just waiting on parts to come in, and now all I need is to buy some shellac and I can finish this off.
Arty
It’s been ages since I’ve drawn or painted anything either. I don’t have the time or the space for acrylics, and I lack the talent for oils and pastels, but I’ve pulled out my Pentel Aquash[2] and watercolours and started tinkering again. Once I get the hang of using the brush, I may even pull out my Aquarelles and put the two together.
Musical
I borrow my sister’s instruments from time to time, usually my mum’s old classical guitar, but I’ve been listening to more Jake Shimabukuro again, and then there were those videos of that adorable little boy who played Jason Mraz’ I’m Yours, and then that video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing What Are You Doing New Years Eve?… So this time I borrowed the uke.
I’ve learned the chords for Puff the Magic Dragon and a couple other songs. It’s not much, but it’s definitely progress. I may even start the piano again, but one step at a time.
Garden
The shiso seedling I sprouted is still a seedling. But I guess this is better than it not having sprouted at all but it isn’t growing any bigger. I suck at shiso. I might have to give the seeds to someone else to try and sprout for me next season and then get it off them again when they’re seedlings. If only they sold shiso seedlings in Perth. *tear*
[1] These strudels are famous. So famous that people (mainly Asians it seems) will cart them as carry-on luggage to give as gifts to friends/family/business associates overseas. It’s like what people do for Krispy Kreme’s when they fly in from over east, except that GC strudels are actually worth the effort.
[2] “Why not just use regular brushes?” I hear you ask. Well, it’s more convenient for spontaneous bits of watercolouring without having to have a jar of water nearby. I can just pick up the brush, crack open the box of watercolours and away I go. Convenient for getting myself back into bits of painting without having to break all my supplies out of the store room.
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{022} A Japanese cheesecake with azuki from Halu, Mt Hawthorn.
In the past, we’ve had trouble finding a Chinese restaurant that is able to maintain a high standard of dishes during the rush of the first week of Chinese New Year. Stuff is under done, over done, mushy, dry, slow, blah blah blah. So this year my family had reunion night dinner at a Japanese restaurant instead.
We weren’t the only Chinese in the restaurant, so evidently we’re not the only ones who have this problem.
I do miss the lion dance and fire crackers though. So if anyone in Perth can recommend somewhere that’s up to scratch, let me know.
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aside from the tastiness that this dish looks like it brings to bear the color and contrast are pretty amazing.
Salmon Caviar, Rice and Crispy Seaweed on Flickr.
I’m fascinated by this combination. It looks unexpectedly delicious.
(Source: saladpride)
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Contains actual oysters. :)
I haven’t seen a recipe that uses oyster sauce. Although some places make it with an orange-coloured dressing which appears to contain ketchup, chili and lime juice amongst other things. Others put fish sauce in or on it as well.
The one I made just used spring onions, garlic, Chinese cooking wine, light soy sauce and white pepper for seasoning. The recipe was loosely based on this one, and I didn’t make the dressing.
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{014} Orh Luak, a little strawberry flower, and a tiny shiso seedling.
I love oyster omelette, but this is the first time I’ve tried to make it. The recipes I saw online were a bit hit and miss with what they were putting in it. So I had to make it up. Turned out reasonably well, but I was a bit heavy handed with the batter. Oops.
I can’t wait for the strawberry blossom to turn into an actual strawberry. I just wish they they would grow more…
12 attempts to sprout shiso, and only 1.5 seedlings. The 0.5 is just to the left of this one but it’s remained a stem without leaves for weeks. I want shiso, damnit.
Also, the photo of the oyster omelette is very grainy. Bit odd. May have to fix that.
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![Cakes that fall in the category of kueh, particularly Peranakan kueh, are generally sweet, though we do have savoury kueh as well. But even the sweet ones have a saltiness to them to balance it out. You’ll be hard pressed to find any sweet Malaysian or Peranakan kueh that could be described as cloying in sweetness[1].
So in answer to your question, seri muka is sweet-ish. It has a sticky glutinous rice base which is steamed with coconut milk and a little salt, and the green topping is a pandan and coconut cream flavoured steamed custard thing. There’s sugar in it, but the coconut cream seems to naturally make things have a more mild sweetness. It’s also more set than a regular custard and more dense than a pudding consistency.
I’m not doing very well describing this. And I can’t think of something I can compare it to in terms of texture.
[1] Richness due to butter, coconut cream or gula melaka[2] is probably a different matter.
[2] Palm sugar. If you look up palm sugar on Wiki, it shows you the white stuff. I’m not sure what they do to palm sugar to make it gula melaka. Or whether it’s a different palm. The cylindrical shapes are a result of pouring the palm sugar into bamboo moulds. You shave bits off as you need it. As a side note, it’s a bit hard to get good quality gula melaka these days because some people just dye it that golden brown colour. It’s not the same.](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxs9yzxs2f1qz86zko1_500.png)
Cakes that fall in the category of kueh, particularly Peranakan kueh, are generally sweet, though we do have savoury kueh as well. But even the sweet ones have a saltiness to them to balance it out. You’ll be hard pressed to find any sweet Malaysian or Peranakan kueh that could be described as cloying in sweetness[1].
So in answer to your question, seri muka is sweet-ish. It has a sticky glutinous rice base which is steamed with coconut milk and a little salt, and the green topping is a pandan and coconut cream flavoured steamed custard thing. There’s sugar in it, but the coconut cream seems to naturally make things have a more mild sweetness. It’s also more set than a regular custard and more dense than a pudding consistency.
I’m not doing very well describing this. And I can’t think of something I can compare it to in terms of texture.
[1] Richness due to butter, coconut cream or gula melaka[2] is probably a different matter.
[2] Palm sugar. If you look up palm sugar on Wiki, it shows you the white stuff. I’m not sure what they do to palm sugar to make it gula melaka. Or whether it’s a different palm. The cylindrical shapes are a result of pouring the palm sugar into bamboo moulds. You shave bits off as you need it. As a side note, it’s a bit hard to get good quality gula melaka these days because some people just dye it that golden brown colour. It’s not the same.
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