OMG I've Been Tagged!

Desperate Chefs' Wives tagged me. OMG! I feel like the nerdy girl that just got invited to the cool girl's party in the basement of her parents house while they are away on vacation! Those parties are notorious for spin the bottle! Thanks for the nice shout out Desperate Chefs' Wives! I feel cool =)

The Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 (but I'm changing it to 3) people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird/random/odd facts, habits and goals.

1. I will eat anything, anywhere, anytime. Hopefully it's delicious.

2. I am a fat girl trapped in a skinny girl's body.

3. I'm still not sure about this whole cooking thing (I'm a pastry cook). But somehow I can't seem to let it go.

4. I moved to China by myself for 6 months.

5. I hate carrying an umbrella in the rain because I'm scared it will close on my head.

6. I don't really eat sweets! =X I like my savory food!

7. I hardly bake at home! =X But I do cook.

8. I use Cambro's at home to store goods. I also label food with tape and a sharpie marker. And of course I date it.

9. If I win the lotto I would buy a farm with horses, cows, chicken, pigs, and a garden full of veggies, fruit, and flowers.

10. When I was little I had a crush on Arnold Schwarzenneger.

You're It!

1. My Cake Wardrobe because she takes really great pictures!

2. The Wandering Eater because I remember when she came to a restaurant I was working at for dessert.

3. Adventures in Culinary School & Beyond because he gives an accurate and interesting depiction of how it's like to be fresh out of school and working in the kitchen.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to one of my dearest friends, Anna!

To celebrate we went to Kotobuki for sushi. All I have to say is: huge portions, great prices, fresh fish, and friendly service.

Can you believe that this sushi is for two! Plus it comes with fried oysters, two soups, and two salads. The four of us ordered two apps and the sushi for two and in the end there were 4 pieces of sushi left! Crazy I tell you!

Thanks Cake Wardrobe for the recommendation!

Kotobuki
1530 Old Northern Blvd
Roslyn, New York 11576
Tel: (516) 621-5312

What's so fun about Churng Fun?

Churng fun (cheung fun) also known as steamed rice noodle can be typically found at dim sum and in street carts. It can be found in varies forms, plain with just some dried shrimp, scallions and cilantro, or rolled around shrimp or chopped beef or roasted pork or fried dough. The churng fun you get at a dim sum restaurant is usually served with soy sauce. The street carts serve it with an addicting concoction of soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter, hoison sauce, and chilli sauce.


Churng fun is made out of a mixture of two flours, rice flour and tapioca flour. The rice flour comes wet which I've never seen before. If you are in the chinatown area in NYC you can purchase it at the address shown on the bag. You can also purchase some already made ready to eat churng fun at the store. I think it's the best in chinatown.


Rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, water, and oil get mixed together in a mixer making sure there are no lumps. The batter will be very loose. Change the ratios of the flour as you like. Add more tapioca flour if you like it with more of a toothy chewy texture. Chinois into a bowl with a ladle.


Get your mise en place ready because the process is pretty fast and it taste so good that you want to keep up with demand! I'm filling mine with chopped roasted pork and lots of cilantro and scallions.

Lightly oil the pan and spoon enough better to cover the bottom in a thin layer. My aunt got this churng fun steamer specially made in China. You can use a regular steamer and a dish or a pan.


Sprinkle your toppings on and steam until the batter turns slightly translucent and little bubbles form.


My aunt made a sauce with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, Maggi sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and sugar.


It was so good even the dogs wanted to know what was going on! Here's a video of me unmolding the churng fun from the steamer. I woke up at 8am on a sunday morning to make this and I don't regret it one bit, although I was sleepy. The whole process was really "fun" no pun intended. I would definitely make this again at home. It's a great sunday morning treat to do with your friends and family.

Mine is a little sticky because I didn't want to drench it in oil. Making it at home is much healthier and less oily then when you get it from outside.

Dark Chocolate covered Fleur de Sel Espresso Caramels

I love caramel. I especially love salty caramel. So I decided to jump on the caramel bandwagon after seeing all these lovely candies on everyone's blog.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/espresso-caramels-recipe.html
http://desertculinary.blogspot.com/2007/11/different-look-on-caramels.htm
http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2007/11/do-it-yourself-.html

I love how everyone has their own rendition of this caramel and how ideas just took off from one single thought. I thought the caramel was a little soft (I like my caramels a little chewier and toothy!) so I dipped them in tempered 64% couveture chocolate. Next time I think I will try Chez Pim's recipe because I too love my caramels dark and a little burnt.