Codd-neck bottles

I never knew I'd be learning something new by having dinner at a sushi restaurant...

Okay here's what happened. My friend and I were having sushi, and decided to order something new, a drink called Ramune. The waitress brings this uniquely shaped glass bottle, and shows us how to open it. The bottle-cap has a little marble in its center which needs to be pushed downwards and into the neck of the bottle using a marble popper that is supplied within the packaging of the bottle. 

I was so impressed with the bottle! In fact I thought it was a cool new invention from Japan to bottle carbonated drinks. However, a quick search on the internet proved otherwise. The bottle design was invented by Hiram Codd, an Englishman who patented his design in 1872.

My strawberry flavoured Ramune drink. Note the marble at the neck of the bottle.

I checked out the website for the manufacturer of Ramune, and they have this step by step guide to open the bottle:

Click here for the Sangaria website

There are even a few videos on Youtube that show how to open the bottle, and I watched this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhVLuN7X1hA&feature=related

Apparently, the older Codd bottles are now collectors items, with the rare ones fetching upwards of several thousand dollars. Not bad for something that must have been as common as a Coke bottle in those days...

A Sweet Snack - Onde Onde

My favourite kuih (cake or pastry) is definitely the onde onde. For those of you who've never tried it before, you don't know what you're missing!

Onde onde is a Nyonya snack that is very popular in Malaysia. It is round and about half the size of a ping pong ball, and is green in colour due to the use of pandan (screwpine leaf) juice concentrate as a flavouring, with a surface covered in a thin layer of grated coconut. It has a soft chewy texture and its centre is filled with gula melaka (palm sugar) which melts as the onde onde is cooked, making it wonderfully sweet and juicy.

I decided to try and make some onde onde and after some trial and error, I managed to successfully make a pretty tasty batch of onde onde. *proud of myself*

Here's the recipe i used:

• Half a grated coconut (white part only).
• 300g peeled, boiled and mashed sweet potato.
• 1 tbsp pandan juice concentrate (blend 4 pandan leaves with 1 tbsp water, then squeze the leaves to obtained the juice.
• A pinch of salt.
•  100g palm sugar, cut into small pieces (heat for 10 seconds in microwave oven to soften before cutting).
• 90g glutinous rice flour, sieved.

Method:

1. Add the salt and glutinous rice flour to the finely mashed sweet potatoes. Mix together.
2. Add the pandan juice and knead till it forms a slightly sticky dough. Add more flour if needed.
3. Pinch a small piece of dough and roll into a small ball. Flatten slightly between palms of hands, then add a piece of the sugar in the middle of the flattened dough. Roll back into ball and set aside. Repeat to form more of these sugar filled dough.
4. In a pan of boiling water, drop the sugar filled dough. When they begin to float, remove and place in a plate of grated coconut.

 The peeled and roughly cut sweet potatoes boiling in a pot of water.

The sweet potatoes were mashed after being boiled and drained

Pandan leaves, cut into smaller pieces. The slightly white part of the leaf (base) was not used. 

The rolled dough filled with gula melaka in its centre.

The finished product!

Close-up of the onde onde.

Pirate $hip

Ever wanted your very own pirate ship? Well maybe just ask the people who built the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 ship that was on exhibition in Mid Valley Megamall if they'd be willing to donate it. I'm sure they wont have any more use for it...unless of course there's a 5th installment of the franchise in the making??   :p

Hmm I wonder how much it cost to build.....

The Perfect Saturday Breakfast.

What could be better than having home-made blueberry cheesecake for breakfast? I can't think of anything at the moment....

The recipe for this cheesecake was from:

CAKE TEMPTATIONS AND OTHER DESSERTS
Celebrity Chefs’ Cookbooks series
Author: Su Chan
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Cuisine, 84 pages
(ISBN: 978-9833845156)

Here's the link of The Star's write up on the book: Tasty Treats

Spotted at the Sydney Aquarium. I wonder who named it?

Happy New Year 2011

Here's to the New Year..

Year of the rabbit

Baked Alaska

The first time I tried this dessert was in Port Dickson, with friends at a restaurant at the Royal Yacht Club. In their menu it was called Bomb Alaska if I am not mistaken. I fell in love with it and just couldn't wait to try it again. Some time later when I was in Adelaide, my friend found a recipe online to make it. This recipe referred to the dessert as Baked Alaska and it was by Michael Smith of Chef at Home. You can find the original recipe here: http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/2690/baked-alaska

We (mostly) followed the recipe and here's how it turned out...

First buy a sponge cake and place in a round baking pan thingy...

Next have your ice cream ready along with your choice of liquor.

Pour 3 tablespoons of liquor ontu the spongecake to soak the cake.

then add the ice cream on top of the cake.

Next you will need eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, cream of tartar.

Break the eggs and place in a bowl. You only want the egg white so separate the yolk form the white. Save one egg shell for later use.

Pour sugar into a bowl with the egg white, cream of tartar and vanilla essence.

Beat to form stiff peaks of meringue.

Cover cake and ice cream with the meringue.

Place the egg shell on the top.

Bake for a while. And then pour alcohol into the egg shell and light it! (most fun part)

Eat :D
(Please note that most of the work was done by my friend, I was merely the photographer...heheh)