Sweeten Up

School work has been the top priority on my to-do list all these while, superseding sleep, lunch and sometimes dinner. So while I gear up to run this last leg before the term comes to a close, "enjoy" these lovely hard coconut candies that my uncle brought back from Hainan. I like these particularly because they're so flavourful, with a really distinctive taste of the coconut and a hint of charred sugar, a little like caramel. Besides, I'm one for all things pretty. The lovely red and white paper wrappers really stood out for me.

For all of you there who have been looking for updates, I think you've got to wait just a little longer! Real foodie posts coming up soon! Just not so soon. :p

Star

, originally uploaded by Ms_evinrude.

Back to School...

And out of the kitchen. That includes the blogosphere as well. Haven't had much time to blog, let alone bake or cook something. I made this very long ago, so long ago that I can't really remember what was in it exactly. It tasted quite good though.

Inspired by this, I've been wanting to make some salsa with tropical fruit for quite some time. When I finally got around to really make it, I didn't have mangoes in my fridge. Nor did I have rock melon. But I had jackfruit. And cucumber. And my uncle had bought roast duck. Now, that doesn't sound too bad, does it?

In case you haven't realised, anything sweet, sour or spicy gets my nod. Now combine it all and you've got a winner! With me, at least. So, it's no wonder why I made my salsa the way I did. You know how sometimes you really don't have an appetite because of the heat? Refreshing and light, the salsa fits summery Singapore really well. The diced cucumber lends a nice crunch to the salsa and the jackfruit, its sweetness. As in most of the recipes I post, feel free to substitute the jackfruit or just add others in! If I ever get a chance to have jackfruit, pineapple and mangoes in my fridge together, I'll definitely put them all in.

Just in case you're wondering, there's 2 different ways in which I dressed up my salsa and the roast duck. One, I placed sliced roast duck on a bed of the salsa and another, I chopped the roast duck, mixed it as part of the salsa(which maybe should be called a salad now) and topped it off with pork floss and sesame seeds. Why? Because I was simply bored. Ha.

Tropical Salsa with Roast Duck
Ingredients
3 pieces of fresh jackfruit
1/2 a cucumber
2 tbsp plum sauce
Juice of half an orange (you could use lime or lemon)
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 or 2 chili padi, chopped (I used a chili paste my father made)
2 tbsp coriander, chopped
1 tbsp mint, chopped
Roast duck
Pork floss (optional)
Sesame seeds (optional)

- Remove seeds from the jackfruit and dice the flesh. Set aside in a bowl.
- Peel cucumber if desired. (I used the local ones which had blotchy skin and I didn't like that) Cut the cucumber, lengthwise, in half and then in quarters. Remove seeds, if any, and dice. Set aside in a bowl with the jackfruit.
- Mix all other ingredients, except the roast duck, together. Taste and adjust if necessary. If you use lime or lemon juice instead of orange juice, you'll probably need more sugar. And do be cautious with the chili if you can't take spicy food! Start with half a chili padi or remove the seeds.
- Mix the dressing with diced jackfruit and cucumber and set aside in the refrigerator for about 15 - 30 mins or until chilled.
- Meanwhile, place slices of roast duck on a baking tray to reheat. After which you can decide whether to (1): chop the meat up and mix with the rest of the salsa or (2): just lay them on a bed of salsa. If proceeding with (1), top the salsa with pork floss and sesame seeds.

Serves 1

Uhh...

Well, yeah. It is a salad. Yet again. But this time, I'm not quite liking it. Okie, I was inspired by this when I decided to try making what I made. I've had and made barley salads before, but in a different way and my mushrooms were begging to be used and I just thought, why not? I didn't follow the reference recipe to a T, (Okie, I confess, I didn't follow it! Except for the idea of putting mushrooms, onions and barley together.) so I'm not saying I don't like what 28 cooks has done!

Here's what I did differently:
- I didn't have balsamic vinegar and I wasn't keen on substituting apple cider vinegar or black rice vinegar for it so I used terrayaki sauce. Very different, I know! But hey, terrayaki sauce is nice! With mushrooms at least.

- I didn't only mix the cooked barley and sauteed mushrooms with the "dressing". I actually dumped the barley into the pan with the mushrooms and dressing to "fry". I thought it would taste better warm. (And it did, because it tasted quite horrible cold/at room temperature.)

I actually like all the individual ingredients that I've used, but put them all together and something just isn't right. I think it was too heavy, which probably was my fault, because I decided on terrayaki sauce instead of balsamic vinegar.

So why am I posting this? Well, because I took photos before tasting and decided it looked quite alright photographed and also because I'm running out of things to post about. Tee hee.

La Note

Dear Evinrude/Melody/Whatever-you-call-yourself,

I've decided to run away. For months, you've put me away into that cold, cold closet of yours (I think you humans call it the refrigerator). Ever since that one time in February, you've decided to set me aside and not let me into your life again. I've been hoping that one day you would take me out of that icy dungeon and put me on that bain marie again. Melt me and stir me into whatever you're baking. But, everytime you ravage through the fridge, you only glanced so briefly at me. Each time, I harbour more hopes that you'll look at me for more than 3 seconds. But you've let me down again and again. So, I've now left you in search of greener pastures. Don't bother looking because I'm probably in someone else's cake now.


WhChoc



P.S.: Your testing pin didn't run away with me. He's in the box grater.