For Christmas, my sister got me this funky goggles specially designed for chopping and slicing onions. It’s very practical for someone like me who cooks a lot. I’ve been using it every time there’s too many onions that need chopping. Otherwise, I rely on my own technique.

How about you, what’s the best Christmas gift you received last year?

I wish to share with you fellow blogger, Marye’s economical tips to clean and safe cooking. A couple of which I intend to apply in my own kitchen:
Keeping safe in the kitchen with natural products is very do-able.
* Washing hands with hot, soapy water is just as effective against these bacteria as antibacterial soaps containing triclosan.
* Wash hands after handling meat and eggs, every time.
* Have separate cutting boards
for vegetables, meat, and other products.
* Replace cutting boards when they become scratched. Bacteria can get into the scratches and is hard to remove.
* Soak leafy greens and then …read more

When I saw this Nintendo ad on TV, I was so amazed at how the Cooking Guide could change the way we look at cooking, literally — i.e. from the conventional cookbook to this handheld computer gadget! Believe it or not, it may just turn anyone into an instant chef. No one’s ever going to be afraid to step foot on the kitchen again (and the hubby starts to get uncomfortable! haha!).I think, this latest technology can be likened to people preferring to watch TV rather than read a book. Here’s why:1. From 245+ recipes, you can browse by country, …read more

var iamInit = function() {try{initIamServingHandler(320,480,278403,”http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Css/css2.css”)}catch(ex){}}()Now that you know how to use the chopsticks from my previous post, allow me to follow-through with some fascinating facts that I’m sure will enlighten you. Did you know that Japanese chopsticks are pointed, while Chinese ones are squared-off? Apparently, this makes it easy to take out the bones from fish, which is staple in the Japanese diet.
I further learned from www.orientalfood.com that,
Passing food to another person using your chopsticks is taboo as it resembles a ritual in which bone fragments from the cremated body are removed from the pyre and passed from chopsticks to …read more

Whenever I’m out for lunch and crave for sushi, I notice that most Kiwis eat with their hands, i.e. dip the sushi onto the soy sauce then into their mouth. Made me wonder why they don’t bother at all to use the chopsticks. Hence, I went out of my way to look for this instruction video:
 

Do you have the same dilemma as I do when it comes to chopping onions? I remember silly old me, wearing eyeglasses to protect my eyes from getting all teary and stingy. I’m glad to say that’s a thing of the past now! Thanks to my sister, she shared me what she learned from her Thai cooking class.
Before you slice or chop the onion, you simply have to wash it, and the knife, with water. Another tip, which I saw on one of the cooking shows on cable, is to allow the onions to cool in the freezer prior to …read more

Omochi, as you usually buy it from a shop, in its plain form, is hard and inedible.  I’m sure someone out there has eaten it, as is, and survived but they would not have any teeth left.  It is only when it experiences heat that it regains its soft chewy texture.
What better way to do that than BBQ it over hot coals.  As it softens on the inside it tends to swell and blister a little on the outside.  This is when it gets a little risky, because if you leave it on too long, it can become quite unmanageable.  So …read more

This is a continuation of Part 1, where I showed you how to make dumpling wrappers using a pasta machine. The technique shown in this post is more rustic, but works just as well.

Mix dough ingredients in a bowl or food processor. Flour a platter or line with wax paper. Knead dough lightly on floured surface until elastic, then divide into 80 pieces or so, each about the size of a regular gumball.

Roll out each piece into a round about 3 inches in diameter.

Follow instructions for filling and pleating the dumplings in Part 1.

Now that they’re cooked, there’s nothing …read more

Rempah is one member of the family of basic seasoning pastes upon which many dishes in Southeast Asia — particularly those of Malay, Eurasian and Peranakan influences — are built. The ingredient list tends to be long, and usually includes aromatics such as shallots, herbs and spices, shrimp paste, chili peppers, and nuts. It is the first thing that hits the hot oil and is cooked until fragrant and the oil reappears, thereby permeating everything else that goes into the dish. Storebought curry powder will liven up a bland dish, but curry paste, especially if homemade …read more

Here’s one of the secrets (not so secret anymore, obviously) for making the fragrant, full-flavored broth used in Vietnamese Pho. Andrea Nguyen teaches this technique in her book Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. Slightly different from another technique I learned from a Vietnamese friend (and also used by other Vietnamese cookbook authors) where the aromatics, mostly commonly onion and ginger, are roasted in the oven or browned in oil before using. Roasting them stovetop brings about a complexity in flavor that doesn’t come through quite as brightly using the other techniques. And I …read more