So I havent been updating my posts for quite some time due to the Animation Screening at the National Museum.

I had to say, since the batch of 2006 miraculously had a third of the student population in Animation, it was a tough job being the Anim Rep, but it was worth it!

At the end of the day though the deadlines were tight and through countless of sleepless nights, we did manage to pull of a kick arse performance and apparently impressed many of the audience.

Check it out! A whole article on our show… And I noticed that Yvonne’s been pretty much in the spotlight of all our “ADM Representativeness” haha Animation Xpress

All said, at the end of the day, though many films were still a work in progress, the screening to us was a showcase of the fruits of our labour. It was a day to share with everyone. The industry, our friends, seniors, profs and most definitely our family.

Next up, the ADM FULL FYP exhibition launching at Sinema Old school , Mount sophia on the 23rd of july! Eek more deadlines, more work and more screaming on the phone haha..

Will update on that in a bit. – but you can check out this site for information ADM GRAD Show

Ciaoz

Jerms.

Haha was at Marutama the other day and it was awesome. Many complain its too salty… but thats simply just how I like it. (Dont’ listen to those crap comments by the unappreciative hurhur)

In any case, I figured that I should try to make some home cooked ramen too! (Inspired by Marutama)

Doesn’t Jackies face on teh right simply spell out her excitement for this? Hurhurhur… BTW…  This takes hours to cook so only attempt if you have the time.

J-Ramen (approx 3 hrs the longer the better…. with pressure cooker 1hr is possible)

So I haven’t done this food blogging for some time and wasn’t prepared to do a full breakdown so I’ll just have to guess and remember what I did.

Recipe

1x    Chicken Bone (Whole... Well you can find whole body chicken bones these days at the super market.. or if you're friendly with your local market they may just give it to you for free)
2x    Leek
1x    Spring Onion

200g Pork (I used Frozen pork belly cuz of its excess in fat and its cheap price. But you can go for tenderloin etc… More fat though…. lean meat doesn’t suite this dish)

 
1Tbs    Miso paste
1Cup    Dashi
1/2Cup  Dark Soy
1/2Cup  Light Soy
1Tbs    Sesame Oil 
1/2 inch of Ginger cut into several large slices
1 Tbs   Vinegar (Can use white, cider or even sushi seasoning)
1 Tbs   Sugar
5Cloves Garlic
Japanese Ramen
3 litres water
optional eggs

Ok the Numbers I'm guessing cuz I did not measure. But its probably pretty close and the rest is up to your preference

Preperation 3 Steps….(You can do simultaneously)

Pre steps… Boil both the chicken and pork from tap water to a short boil for about a minute. Discard that water and use fresh water after (This is to remove all the crap and stuff that the meat would produce.)

Step 1 The Meat

I figured that even Marutama’s “chicken stock” has the goodness of it’s CharShu pork in it. So lets keep it nice and asian and make a kinda “kong ba” (Stew pork)

Slice the pork to about 1 cm thickness if you’re in a hurry if not your can just stew the whole chunk of meat and chop it up later.

Add a cup of water, the dark sauce, ginger, vinegar and suger into a saucepan and put in the pork. It be good if it were fully submerged.  And boil in medium heat till water is reduced to a sauce

I’d definitely say Pressure cooker if you have one to get the meat soft. but fear not if you dont… just boil it slowly for an hour maybe dont let it dry out though…

Remove the meat and Roast in pre-heated oven 220 degrees for about 15 mins a side… Add the whole garlics into the oven for roasting as well… you may wanna drizzle some oil on them and watch that they turn brown and not burnt

Well this is just to roast the out sides… I don’t know why I did it but I did… Its a texture thing.. lol

Step 2 The Broth

Wash your leek, and remove the other leaves, and chop of the top third of it…

Plonk in your chicken into a large pot, leek…. This is a serious case of the longer the better.. I boiled mine for 2 hours on high heat topping up the water levels when it went down, and only then did the full flavours start to emerge… Pressure cooker is a good option

Step 3 Combine and serve

Once the full flavours of the chicken and leek are in your broth, do the unthinkable and dump in all your pork (not the sauce..) and 3 cloves of roasted garlic into the broth and let it simmer for another 30 mins minimum.lower to a medium boil and add in the miso till your salt preference. It should thicken the broth slightly but not overpower it.

Once it’s all done remove the pork and slice it (if you havent already)

Boil some Ramen in mildly salted water, strain, immerse your ramen in your crazy soup and garnish with fresh leek, spring onions, eggs and your prev raosted garlic

DO NOT USE INSTANT NOODLES AS RAMEN SUBSTITUTE LIKE THE ABOVE NEGATIVE EXAMPLE….

Instant noodles has a funky taste and your 3hour soup would taste blah…. I kinda almost achieved the soggy yolk of Marutama in this second attempt but thats for another post.

I’m sorry if my methods went against any traditional means of cooking or were a little too vague in description but hey… it DID really taste pretty awesome.. haha

TTFN
JeRmS

I have an entire sack of glutinous rice and less than 10 days to finish….

End result, make it and give it to friends ! Lol.

I’m in a hurry so I’ll update how I made it later.

But here’s the basics

1) Wash till the water is clear than soak the glutinous rice for about half an hour.

2) Shed Some tears while chopping a ton of shallots

3)Boil a bag of some call it anchovies, I call it Ikan billis. About 2 cups worth? and top up a large pot of water to get the stock.

3b)You can (and should) also boil some chinese mushrooms (or shitake and don’t throw away the water) and marinade them in oyster sauce for a couple of hours.

4) The stock now is mostly a fish stock. I added a teaspoon of chicken knoll, (or u can use chicken broth and boil it down again… But it takes too long) and I added the mushroom stock/sauce? from the boiling of the mushrooms (it’s about 1/4 of the total stock or it’ll be too mushroomy)

5) Fry the shallots till crispy brown! in about half a cup of oil. DOn’t burn em!

6) Strain out the shallots and dab them dry so they’ll be crispy for garnishing later and keep the oil to fry the rest of the stuff.

7) Fry the marinated mushrooms in the onion oil for just a bit to get out the fragrance.

Add the rice with 3 Tbs of dark soy sauce and 3 Tbs of light soy sauce and stir fry till even.

9)Remove and loosely pack into a steming dish/bowl/whatever you can find…Take the stock and fill the steaming dish till the water level is flushed with the surface goes just above the rice.

And steam it for 40 mins.

10)Remove and let it cool

11)Scoop a portion, garnish with roasted salted peanuts, your favourite chilli sauces and spring onions!

YUM

I AM… however shifting a majority of the prev blog here. Slowly but surly. haha… I cooked Veal today. It’s 530 am so I’ll update tomorrow when i’m more awake!

Oh Yeah and my showreel and CV is done at last!

Jloves : Updates

In anycase I’ve pretty much settled into my new home for the past 4 months in Vancouver B.C and this time I’m forced to cook daily so there’s loads to add… hur hur..

Well I don’t have any more process pics to add But i’ve got a ton of finished products.

Here’s what we had for today’s dinner.

There was a good deal on striploin steaks so I bought a couple.

Threw in a stick of butter, tossed in about a flat tablespoon of mixed italian herbs and fried the steak for about 4-5 mins on each side (depends on thickness)

In the meantime put in 2 potatoes (washed, wrap them with a paper towel (dry or it’ll stick to the skin) and microwave… yes microwave it for 5 mins on high.

I also microwaved 4 slices of turkey bacon for about 2.5 mins on high and since it had alot less fat, it turned cripsy in no time.

Once the steaks are slightly charred on both sides, put em on a plate,cover the top with mozerella cheese and toss it in the microwave for another minute.

Results!

Mozerella Striploin steak medium-well, with (fake)baked potat topped with spring onions, miracle whip and turkey bacon.

All done in less than 15 mins with practically no preperation time. =)

jloves Photography

“You eat with your eyes” – Shyam

Well many people have been asking about how i prep my salad so yeap here it is!

JeRmS Caesar Salad

p.s. Once again everything depends on the amount you want to make and differences should be catered to tastes. The sauce is relatively thick so a small amount can go a long way!

Bug’s Recipe

Salad Dressing (Serves 6)

4-5 Cloves Garlic (Trust me… it’s not too much)

4 Tbs Mayonnaise (should amount to roughly 2/5 of the mixture. Alternatively you can make your own mayo with egg yolks and olive oil by beating…. but Best Foods works for me.)

1 Tbs Dijon Mustard

1 Little Fishie! Anchovies (can be excluded for pure vegetarians but salt needs to be compensated)

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce (adds a sourish vinegar aspect)

4 Tbs Parmesan Cheese

Freshly Cracked Black Peppercorns (to taste)

Lemon Zest or Juice (to taste)

1 1/2 Tbs Olive oil (Note: You’ll want the sauce to be nice and thick so too much oil will cause the sauce to become runny.. but some like it thinner so add oil accordingly)

Put EVERYTHING in a Blender/Food processor and woala!

Next up is the Salad!

Note: You can always add items like smoked salmon or roast chicken for a full meal. But as you can see the ingredients are pretty costly so once again it’s up to preference.

Veggies/Condiments (4-6)

Note: here’s a recommended list but everything can be added or taken out based on preference

2 Heads of Romaine Lettuce

6 Black Pitted Olives (Sliced)

2 Hard-boiled Egg (Dice)

8 Cherry tomatoes (Halved)

2 Tbs Walnuts (Chopped and spiced with fine 2tsp brown sugar and 1/2 tsp salt)

Bread Croutons (I like Pepperidge Farm)

Bacon bits

The Critter of today’s recipe is non other than Jia =)

” Looks nice but tastes even better!”

A happy bug (I hope) she is. Once again I had to use a little tupper-ware so everything looks squashed but it’s actually quite pretty in a great in a big’ole salad bowl. Also you can choose to squeeze in some more lemon juice and even add some mango bits or fruits for a more dynamic salad. ( Just that it’ll deviate even more from the original Caesar. hee)

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loves: Salad

CRITTERS CHOICE

• Crab Bee Hoon (price based on weight)
• Sliced Fish With Spring Onion And Ginger
• Sweet And Sour Tofu
• Stir Fired Vegetables With Abalone Slices (i think…)

Total Bill: $84.50 (Inclusive of food and drinks)

Note: I wasn’t there to do the ordering (cuz I was picking Bernard up) so I do not remember the actual pricing of each item.

Crab Bee Hoon

My Top pick and purpose of coming. The soup base is milky with a hint of butter and essence of crab. I heard that we were warned that the crabs did not look particularly good that day but they went ahead with the ordering anyway.

Taste wise, it was disappointing based on my expectations. The broth was not as thick as imagined and what should have been a buttery savory experience (closer to butter crab) was semi drenched in milk (closer to Alfredo). Also perhaps due to the lower crab quality of the day the essence of crab that adds the “kick” to the soup was somewhat lacking.

Both me and Bernard agreed that there was a drop in standards with the broth being less tasty than it should have been.

However to be fair, first time Bugs Jia Jiet and XH thought it tasted great.

Not to be biased and considering we were warned, though the crab failed to blow me away, it was still considered a tasty treat.

Taste: 3.5/5

Price: 3/5

Overall(considers service as well): 3.5/5

Sliced Fish With Spring Onion And Ginger
The fish was decent. The style was a typical manner of stir frying with what probably was garlic, white onion, spring onion and oyster sauce. Nothing to go crazy about but satisfying non-the-less.

Taste 3/5

Price: 3/5

Overall: 3/5

Sweet And Sour Tofu
The sauce was flavourful but a little to starchy for my liking. Perhaps the over adding of starch to the sauce mellowed the flavours leaving it lacking as a “power” dish.

Taste: 2.5/5

Price: 3/5

Overall: 2.75/5

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Stir Fired Vegetables
Definitely less disappointing than the previous dish. With all the items that you see on the plate, what can go wrong? Lol.

Taste: 3.2/5

Price: 3/5

Overall: 3.1/5

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Conclusion

Hitting an average score of 3 and above, Mell Ben has out lived it’s prime in hype but is still definitely a place worth returning to. A little pricey for an average meal but brilliant for a small gathering of friends.

Jloves: Food fests

Here’s what we came up with while spending only $7.

Below is the recipe

STEAMED SEABASS WITH FERMENTED BEAN AND SOY SAUCE

“Before looking at the recipe, it’s good to note that I’m no real chef so the amounts I add are mostly based on instinct and the amounts are just a rough gauge.”

BUG's RECIPE (feeds 2-3)
10 mins prep 15 mins cooking)

200g Seabass Fillet($1.47/100g)
4 Tbs Soy sauce
4-5 Stalks Spring Onion
(leaving one for garnish)
2 Inches Ginger
6-8 sticks Chili Padi
1/4 cup Parsley or coriander(prefered)
2 Tbs Fermented Beans
5 Shallots
2 Tbs Veg Oil

Step 1

Slice ginger and spring onions and line the bottom of the steaming bowl (I do this so it doesn’t stick) and lightly coat the fish with soy sauce before placing it on top. Pour the rest of the sauce into bowl.

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Step 2

Dice up chinese parsley, spring onions and chili padi and evenly coat the surface of the fish.

Note: Don’t worry about the chili padi being over spicy because you won’t actually have to chew on it. Alternatively you can just remove the seeds before adding them in.

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Step 3

Well… basically put up a pot of boiling water and steam the fish in it for about 7-10 mins before turning off the flame leaving the cover on to allow the fish to cook in it’s own heat for about 5 mins.

Note: Timing is based on the size and thickness of fish. Cook till about 75% then allow it to sit without flame for 5 mins. Also don’t put the flame on high lest the water splashes in and turns the steamed fish into a fish broth =.=….

Step 4

While the fish is getting cooked, heat up a pan medium flame and fry the shallots till soft (NOT till brown). Add the fermented beans to the pan and continue to fry till there is an even brown colour.

Finally add the fried mixture on top of fish (just after turning off the flame) and thank anyone who helped do anything. Garnish with spring onions sliced horizontally.

BUG's Simple Omlette
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 large red onion or small white onion
2 stalks spring onion

Chop Beat and fry!

Whoala!

Okok.. I took more than 25 mins in total But that’s due to the photo taking and loss of utensils… But seriously haha it can be done from raw to plated in 25 mins flat!.

Haven’t had time to edit the photos but more to come, Mel Ben Seafood, Mogu Mogu, 126, Icekimo, Ricciotti desserts!

Jloves: Cooking

This will be a first of photo journals to come. =)

Well I’ve touched up on the 40 of my prefered pictures taken that night with my partner in crime! =)

You can view the pictures here or just click on my Flickr bar… hur hur… duh enough?

Jloves: Photography