THe Choco Moist

Right before valentine, friend of mine MHA had given me a chocolate moist cake and told me that i must review this cake on this blog. I am so excited to try this cake for several reasons: 1) He had been trying to send me this cake as a CNY gift 2) An ego man like him will never try to step into kitchen 3) save me money for a valentine cake (haha! provided this cake is up to quality lor) Anyway this is what it looks like:
size: 9'x9'
height: 2"
structure: choco sponge with choco icing and choco topping
flavor: double moist choco (i gave the name after testing it)
mode of cooking: oven bake - ex-colleagues of mine had been trying to make this kind of cake in "steaming" of course at that time i failed the experiment but some made it successfully, yeah!

Appearance: cake to me is sensational stuff, so the mindset for a cake is always "looks good to be tasty". Unlike other, such as durian, which my rule of thumb is "looks ugly, taste heavenly". So the appearance for this cake is dull, and the choco topping add the dullness and uneasiness of the cake. WO agreed as well and the cake may look better without the topping. However, since i am more "visuallly" involved in cake, I would suggest to change into other topping such as walnuts, or colorful toppings instead of the brown colored top

Taste: Texture is perfect, enough moist and puffy. Sweetness on the cake portion it self is just nice, which i thought the first timer normally is quite "generous" on putting sugar into baking cake. However, the sweetness is not balanced from top and bottom. The culprit is the icing. And again, WO and I thought that if the cake is without icing, it will earn more points. The icing has made the cake imbalance taste to the sweetness. The thin layer icing together with the choco topping is make it too sweet on the top, while the bottom of the cake portion is just unavoidably affected to the taste. Suggestion to my fellow MHA is to have a homemade icing with super less sugar in it or get a non-fat and sugarless cream instead.

Overall, the cake is good to eat, although not that attractive. To put this on the cabinet for sale, maybe we have to improve the appearance of it by getting some simple but colorful decor on it. Good job!!! Await for the next experiment!!

The Canyon lunch

1st day back from CNY holidays, i was invited by friends to go for a 'book hunt' because a book store is closing down and now having a clearance sale. To me, that is great, because i thought about to get some books for my next few cooking project. Of course we have lunch prior to the shopping trip and we had picked Black Canyon restaurant. I heard about this restaurant before which specialized in Thai food, i bet this must be one of the good restaurant started in Thailand. Anyhow, look at my cup of coffee. This is my 4th coffee of the first day of work after long holiday, yet i don't feel guilty at all! Canyon cappucino with heart shaped creamer on the top. KKW ordered Arabica coffee, which is like a shot of expresso. Interesting is the both coffee comes with a light tea, and this is the only time that i believe the validity of phrase "coffee AND tea?" and not "coffee OR tea?". After juggling through the menu, i kind of hard to decide to get something soupy like Tom Yum or to get something different like stir fried fusili with Chili paste, i've made the later choice. However my friends are all spicy lover and thus chose Tom Yum. I will have to admit that Tom Yum is still taste better with seafood than in chicken. We got 1 for each for comparison and all agreed that prawn one is tastier than the other. The prawns are big too, not about hawker type small shrimp, but big and juicy one. BTW, watch out your cholestrol as well, and don't suck too much on the prawn head! haha! For myself i have ordered a different type of food - stir fried fusili with chili paste and basil leaves. Basil leave is a great ingredient for soups and adding the natural savory to your cooking. The dish is using Italian ingredient but Asian way of cooking. The appearance looks Italian - you know, pasta with some sort of vinegar dressing. However, when you have a bite on it, it is totally oriental - spicy with chili paste, stir fried till golden brown. Overall i think the restaurant's food is quite good and delicious, recommended to give it another try. So far i only know 2 places: one is in Summit and the other in center point. On my next trip when i craved for Tom Yum, i will definitely get this for perfect satisfaction!

The 6 Big Sleep Busters

Got this forwarded from a friend:

Posted Wed, Jan 23, 2008, 11:01 am PST
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At some point or another, it happens to everyone: You can't sleep. When you finally drop off, the alarm buzzes a microsecond later. Then you can't get up. And then it gets worse: When you finally drag yourself out of bed, you look like youknowhat.

Can't imagine why the sleep gods had it in for you? Think about what you ate the night before, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of The Food & Mood Cookbook. Any of the following--much less a combo platter--can leave your body on uneasy street for hours.

1. Spicy Foods Garlic, chilies, cayenne, and other intense spices are yummy going down but can keep you up with heartburn or indigestion. Avoid MSG too, as it can trigger dreams that are a bit too vivid.
2. A Big Dinner An overtaxed digestive system takes hours to settle down and there's nothing restful about that. When sleep's critical, make lunch your largest meal and enjoy a light 500-calorie dinner early in the evening.
3. Raucous Veggies Eat those good-for-you-but-gassy foods--beans, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts--in the middle of the day. A tankful of gas can keep anyone up at night.
4. Speed Eating Relax and enjoy meals to avoid swallowing air, another common cause of midnight tummy trouble.
5. Nightcaps Alcohol may make you drowsy at first but later on it disturbs sleep patterns and leads to awakenings and restlessness. A 4-ounce glass of wine with dinner won't hurt, as long as it's not within two hours of bedtime.
6. Coffee after breakfast Caffeine can linger in your body for as long as 12 hours. So if you're often wide-eyed at bedtime, make sure you're caffeine-clean for at least 12 hours. (Skip tea, chocolate, cola, or other caffeine culprits too.) Still watching the clock at 2 a.m.? Wean yourself off even morning java, then stay caffeine-free for two weeks. If you definitely sleep better, you have your answer: Caffeine is not your friend. If the results are mixed, "Try adding back a cup or two of coffee or tea in the morning and watch what happens," says Somer. "But if sleeplessness comes back, cut it out."

Getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night doesn't just make your eyes bright, your skin happy, and your mind sharp, it can also make your RealAge as much as 3 years younger.

The Bravo Dish

As usual, i have been planning this dish ahead. Recipeed from a colleague, and thought one day i should try to do at least one Chinese dish to blog that. Kind of embarrassed to say that i ate Chinese food everyday and cannot make even 1 Chinese dish, right? Anyhow, got all my ingredients along and persuaded WO to be D'adventurer for this project.

Haha.... the result --> he made this comment after making the first bite of the chicken pieces "I am amazed, amazed that you can make this happened!" "You've surprised me!""Who teach you this dish!" Haha... with all these compliments came from his mouth, i am assured that i have successfully flavored this dish, and mark a flying color to my cooking projects !!! Bravo!

Yee.... i have not tell the name of this dish - it is actually Shitake Mushroom Chicken. Very simple recipe, yet it is delicious, especially with my favorite - mushroom in it. I bet even Mario has to hang on to this!

Lou Sang

Yesterday colleagues and I went to Lou Sang session in Oversee restaurant. Around CNY holidays, i can notice a lot of Chinese restaurants are crowded with people, mainly working people due to 'CNY lunch' la. The first dish we had is the Yee Sang. I searched internet to get more detail about this Yee Sang custom in Chinese community and I found this http://www.fooxion.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t290.html

"”Yee” means “fish” and “Sang” means “toss”. However, “Sang” as it is pronounced can also mean “rise up” or “give birth”. “Yee” can also mean “prosperity”. The whole wordplay thing is very much a part of Chinese culture.

The rule of yee sang is that the dish itself must be very colourful. It usually consists of coloured flour strips (such as the "chow mein" that some westerners add to salads) in red and green. Also shredded carrot, pickled papaya, shredded radish and ginger which has been dyed red and green. Crispy strips of fried stuff is added and some nuts (usually chestnut). Bits of pomelo (the small bits you find if you peel a section) is also added. This is arranged on a large plate (very large) with each ingredient seperate from the other.

Strips of thinly sliced raw fish are placed on a seperate plate. Pour a little brandy, lime juice and five spice powder onto the fish (chemically cooked now). Then arrange the fish strips on top of the stuff on the plate so as to be aesthetically pleasing. Add pepper, sesame ssed, ground up peanuts, oil and sweet sauce to the top. It should look pretty nice now (depending on how much of the earlier brandy you sipped - heh).

Any kind of fish can be used. To do it on the cheap or if you are squeamish about raw fish you can use jelly fish also. Using vegetarian substitutes is done in some places but it defeats the purpose methinks. Abalone strips can also be used for those who don't know how else to include this in their new year menu."

"The practice of eating it is that every person around the table has a pair of chop sticks and they all toss the salad. In Chinese this act of tossing uses the word "lou" and to "lou sang" is to gather prosperity. Ironically the Chinese have no crossword puzzles despite their love for word games.

Tradition has it that the higher the salad is tossed the better, which is also why you need a large plate for this. The dish must be totally consumed by the diners around the table and nothing left over. Most people speak of prosperity or wealth or something like “lou hei” which means liveliness, prosperity and lonngevity, during the tossing. Then again, its the new year and traditionally you must not speak of inauspicuous things such as death.

The dish is taken as an appetizer and it precludes the other courses. "