what?? february already?? then there is no better time to respond to saffron‘s gentle poke in the head, before the end of the year is upon us.
five food challenges for 0-6
1. eat less sugar
i don’t add table sugar to my food or drink… not that there are that many opportunities for this. as a child i would add a heaped spoon of sugar to my cornflakes and savour that viscous, sweet milky goo at the end of the bowl. i don’t even know why i even started this practice; i’m blaming it on pop culture references. later i bought frosties instead — much more efficient. anyway, after dalliances with froot loops and cocoa crispix, these days i get just right tropical or, since it was on special the last couple of times, sustain.
the photographs of vigorous and happy old people on the sustain box make me feel like i’m not really the demographic for this particular cereal. which is what i said to the boy this afternoon as i showed him the box in question.
“why?” he asked.
“because they are so happy and carefree,” i replied.
“ah well,” he said.
“no, i mean because they are old!” i said.
“well. you might be happy and carefree when you’re that age,” he said, “when you have a new husband.”
the only other food i can think of that i could also sugar is bread-and-butter, but i haven’t done that in years.
it’s not even like i want to eat sweet food. it’s just that a lot of the food i like to eat happens to be sweet. hey, there is a difference! i like cake, not because it is sweet, but because it is cake. really. how can i eat less cake, when the aim is to eat more cake?
i don’t particularly like sugary beverages apart from the occasional pink grapefruit fizzy, but i do need to try new products. this is why i have a guava calpico carbonated fermented milk beverage on my kitchen counter. and a bottle of peach soda. but that’s it, honest. and i need a cup of sweet tea every now and again. and ok, right now i’m drinking a glass of raspberry ice tea, made from a bottle of raspberry ice tea syrup… but it’s hot. and also…
2. do not hoard food until it goes bad
such a bad habit. if i have a really yummy thing i eat it really slowly… more and more so the further i go. it’s a way of making it last innit? unless i keep that last splinter of yummy thing in a box in the fridge and know that it’s there and refuse to eat it because then it would be all gone, until it goes all grey and furry with mould, and then i have to throw it out. or if i have a not-quite yummy thing, usually a gift, but i feel bad about throwing it out straight away, but don’t really feel like eating it because it is not quite yummy… yes, in a box, grey and furry, out it goes. either way, i feel bad about throwing it out in the end. stop the insanity!
the raspberry ice tea? it was a christmas present. i am drinking it. it is neither yummy nor not, so in a way consuming it has been devoid of the usual neuroses.
3. bake more cake
i have a mixer; i have no excuse. i don’t know quite how this will fit in with food challenge #1, but we shall see.
4. make risotto
it sounds simple, no? particularly when scompared to saffron’s #1 challenge of making a croquembouche from scratch. but i’ve been saying this for years, and it’s always come to nought. my one obstacle is that one of the ingredients is a cup of wine. i don’t drink it, so i never have any around, and what would i do with two-thirds of a bottle of leftover wine?
two more risotti.
5. learn some old family recipes
i suspect this will be the most challenging… yes, even more so than the sugar one, because my mother and grandmothers live back in the old countries and i have a natural aversion to recipes with more than five steps and six ingredients. so it’s unlikely that this is the year i’ll tackle otak otak or nonya chang, but would it kill me to be optimistic? after all, a couple of weeks ago i did lose my fingertip to the german supergrater at my aunt’s house, while shredding turnips to make popiah.
the trick, i think, is to start small. perhaps with the steamed minced pork-soy sauce-egg custard number. mmm…
23 Comments
Happy New Year!
I was quite pleeeeeeased that this year I managed to get some cooking squeezed in even if it was just making carrot cake (the chinese kind) from scratch. Boy that was delish! Pan friend to a crisp and served with a dip of kumquat sauce (basically kumquats cooked into a tart viscous orange sauce) and soy sauce.
Oh, and two hearty batches of sangria that knocked me off my feet because I wanted to use up my open bottle of grand marnier!
“i like cake, not because it is sweet, but because it is cake.” Yes! Yes! The best cake is not very sweet. Because if it’s too sweet, you can’t eat more than one piece.
Also, the hoarding of last pieces of nice things? Yes, I also do this. There is a slice of pear tatin in my fridge right now that should have been eaten a month ago or thrown out two weeks ago. So sad. It was very good, despite being made of fruit.
The solution to your risotto wine problem is this: extra-dry vermouth. This is our universal cooking wine in my family, and it does not seem to go bad. Or, at least, it keeps for a shockingly long time. If there’s room, I keep it in the fridge, but usually it lives on the counter. For months. Substitute for white wine in any recipe, or just throw it in things willy-nilly, as we do.
Good challenges. I was just thinking about that steamed egg custard with pork mince doobie the other day. My sister in law makes soy milk from beans AND knows how to make chang. I’m forever going to be the One that Got Away.
Man, I should eat less sugar. 🙁 I never drink anything sugary, but I make up for that by EATING SO MUCH FOOD, HOLY CRAP. You don’t want to know how many sweets I just ate. (A lot.)
Hoarding food is no problem for me. 😉 I like to eat things all in one go.
I tried making risotto once, but I didn’t have any wine so…I just made it without the wine. …Yeah, it wasn’t really risotto, but that’s allll I’ve got.
mmm i love all kinds of cake too! sometimes the not so sweet ones are the best. and haha yeah i hoard my food! ill especially with biscuits…
I second the extra dry vermouth suggestion- it’s my fave for risotto milanese.
re: “it’s not even like i want to eat sweet food. it’s just that a lot of the food i like to eat happens to be sweet. hey, there is a difference! i like cake, not because it is sweet, but because it is cake. really. how can i eat less cake, when the aim is to eat more cake?”
please join the debate club NOW.
tankyu!
I totally need to adopt #2 too. I had to remind myself to eat all the lovely chocolate you bought me the other time, “Eat it! Eat it! Before it goes bad!” (Can chocolate go bad if it’s in the fridge? Anyway…) So yes, that is my resolution also. (One’s enough for a non-cook like me.)
eating less sugar (cake or no cake) is always going to be hard (unless you are on one of those raw food diets – aak!) because of all those hidden nasties which are of the unrefined sugar. and you can always make cake with fruit bases and honey(!!!).
a few months ago i stopped buying cocoa crispix and replaced it with cheerios – i highly recommend it , although they may just taste healthy and still be sugar loaded. will be good when winter starts because of porridge with honey and cinnamon,
perhaps when i make the croquembouche you can make your rissotto and we will have a feast?
also are you able to combine soda water with the raspberry ice tea syrup and make another rouge toned beverage?
ok i’ll stop now 😀
ms marly: wah, some more pan fried. the crunchy version truly is superior. what i want is or kueh, with big chunks of yam all the way through. could you whip up one of those? 🙂
I.: hmm… this extra dry vermouth. i shall look into it. thanks, lady.
sue: the thing is, in theory, think i know how to make chang… the hurdle is being motivated enough to want to make chang. and also, you can’t just whip up a couple on a whim; you have to sit there and make thirty. i could just buy a couple from chinatown couldn’t i? but i haven’t been brave enough. have you ever bought a chang from a chinese shop?
robyn: hmm… risotto without the wine; isn’t that congee? 😉 i make that regularly. in theory for the baby, but really just so i too can have a bowl or two. just the other night we had a tasty salmon and sweet potato congee, with scallop floss on top.
nellie: hey, this comments box is not a forum for mockery. i mean, at first i thought you were complimenting me (this comments box is a forum for compliments), but now that i’ve discussed the matter with you on the phone, i am a little put out. NO LAH.
tym: you haven’t eaten them yet?? but who am i to talk, i think i have five-year-old chocolate in my fridge. sooo… i win? 🙂 no, clearly i LOSE.
saffron: wow. you gave up crispix. that is big. your croquembouche plan sounds like a deal! in fact, even if i fail to pull a risotto out of the hat, i will gladly help you out with a puff or two. heh.
could someone on a raw food diet eat raw sugar? robyn?
No, i have not bought a Chang from a Chinese shop. I hear my mothers’ voice saying something about it being unclean. Heh.
If you know in theory, than you should make it! I’ll help eat it! They freeze quite well too.
hey yeah, i hear that voice too! then how come we are so happy to buy all manner of meat-filled bun? some misguided belief that sweet, sticky red sauce will kill all nasties?
Actually the only thing my mum buys from those bakeries are those sponge cakes that come wrapped like a giant cupcake. I was never allowed sausage buns or meat buns…but still we get them at yum cha which must be just the same right? I dare you to buy a chang.
what is this chang you speak of sue? and where can i purchase some?
my recent addiction are char sui buns bought home from the chinese grocer at the ashfield underground car park (have you been there – it is another amazing maze of good things)and steamed for the recommended 10 minutes. oh so lovely in the morning with a cup of black sweetened tea. some may think a little to early for sticky pork. but the fluffy bun is too much to pass up.
today i returned to crispix and bought a box of the honey variety. slowly slowly.
p.s. did you ever make risotto with that batch of prawn stock? i remember the image on your blog.
Waha.. have been thinking of making or kueh for a while. Haven’t tried to yet! That is good stuff. I shall put that on mom’s marketing list. Apparently it’s not that easy to get good quality yam.
Chang is lotus leaf wrapped pyramid of glutinous rice often with a variety of fillings. They are most often sold around a certain season that I can’t remember but usually available year around at most Chinese bakeries.
The Ashfield underground car park sounds intriguing! mmm Char Siu Bau. This morning I had banh mi. Teehee. Three different intriguing pieces of pork!
Prawn stock? Me or bowb?
sue + saffron: prawn stock, me. and no risotto came of it. i think i probably made a bowl of soupy noodles with the stock in a starring role.
sue, your mum would be horrified at you eating unrefrigerated, unheated pork products!! so naughty.
and yes! ashfield carpark grocer sounds like an excursion waiting to happen.
oh i have been wanting to try those little wrapped up packages forever. infact i remember a few food bloggers talking about making them (Helen… Pinkcocoa?) sometime last year.
i cheated yesterday and bought a bottle of char siu marinade. i also found a really good recipe from neil perry’s simply asian. people tell me its very good. perhaps i will do a comparison.
the prawn stock was made by bowb. i remember thinking it will make a good base for risotto.
An excursion to a car park sounds dingy and mysterious! Lets do it. I’ll buy you a chang.
I know, my mother would be mortified! But it was tasty! Especially the fake butter I pretended was not there.
Soupy noodles is better than risotto in my book.
sue & bowb: lets! there are also other great chinese grocers around the area – as well as polish! perhaps we can visit two continents 🙂
Pick a date Saffron!
Today for breakfast, I am having a cape seed fruit and nut roll from Bakers Delight with a slice of light vintage cheese. Mmmm.
Indeed! Great minds.
I was going to write the “learn Mum’s recipes” too but Sue said that and well, I was racking my brain for something originals. I guess you can’t fight fate eh?
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