Roll, Roll, Roll Your Meat !

Welcome back to my blog, readers!

Today, I want to share you another of my recipes

This recipe is considered easy, yet requires a skillful folding and rolling job.

However, once you made this recipe, you can thereafter cook many dishes as you like.

This recipe is called Wonton.

I think many of you are familiar with Wonton, aren't you ? Yes, it can be easily found in Chinese restaurant, specifically in Dim Sum lists. 

Some think that making Wonton is not as simple as it looks, it needs a special skill to fold the Wonton skin while not breaking it, so the filling won't fall off. In my opinion, that's definitely correct, because the Wonton skin has to be able to keep the filling inside, as well as folding and rolling it so that the Wonton looks appetizing. Whereas, you do not need to worry guys, I'm about to share my recipe that might work for you.

Get ready!

Set those kitchen wares! and Go!

FILLING

I. Ingredients

- Ground beef (~500 g)

- Wonton paper (square shape)

II. Seasonings

- Garlic (3 cloves)

- Onion (three fourth part)

- Scallion (2-3 pieces)

- Soy sauce

- Sugar

III. Procedures

- Prepare all the seasonings : mince the onions and garlic; slice the scallions thinly.

Scallions (left) & Garlic and Onion (right)
Taken by me myself

- Grind the beef, if you have it remains in big chunks. Otherwise, you can buy the ground one. I was using chunk beef that I had to cut them into small chunks and grind them first.

Small chunk beef
Taken by me myself

Ground beef
Taken by me myself

- Add the scallions, garlic, and onions to the beef. Mix them well together. Also, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sugar (however, you may adjust the soy sauce and sugar by yourself). Make sure that all of the components are well mixed.

- The filling is ready. You can use it right after it's ready. Or, you can put it in a airtight container and reserve it in a freezer until you are ready to make the Wonton.

WONTON MAKING

I. Procedures

- Prepare everything : filling and wonton papers (wonton sheets), and some water for glue.

- Lay one sheet of wonton paper on a dry surface. Check the paper whether there is a hole or broken part or not.

Wonton paper
Taken by me myself

- Put the filling right in the middle of wonton paper. It's around 2 teaspoons of filling for 8 x 8 cm square shape wonton paper.

Taken by me myself

- Now, get ready to fold and roll! Firstly, spread some water on top side of the wonton paper as glue. Next, take the bottom side and fold it to the top side, and stick them together. You will get a rectangle shape of it. Make sure that the filling keeps in the middle of the wonton paper and fully covered.

Taken by me myself

- After you have that rectangle shape of wonton paper, press the top, left, and right sides so that they stick along and seal the filling inside. 

- When you are sure that everything stays in their places, take the rectangle wonton carefully by your hand, get it on a standing position (vertical), and roll it horizontally. The right side will meet the left side, and you are required to glue them together. You will have a flower-like wonton.

Beef Wonton
Taken by me myself

- Last but not least, recheck every sides of the wonton, be assure that there's no holes appears on your wonton, and the filling is completely sealed inside. 

- There you have it, a nice and simple beef wonton ! You may continue folding and rolling until you are out of the filling. If you make a lot of Wontons, you can store them up in an airtight container and put them in a freezer. The freezer will assist to keep the Wontons as separable as possible.

Taken by me myself

For your additional information, you can cook your Wontons by boiling, steaming, or frying them. Please, enjoy your hard work!

OK, that's for today's post.

I hope it might be very helpful to you.

Please, inform me if you are trying this recipe! Hahaha

Thank you, and see you again, readers !

Welcoming Korean to My Kitchen

Hello, readers!

I'm on my plateau of excitement today

...because I'm sharing my lunch menu !

Lunch menu ?

What is so special about my lunch menu ?

For me, it's special because I made this dish by myself, and this was my new recipe.

Can you guess what I made ?

Taken by me myself

It looks spicy because of its red broth. There are many elements that were blended in a big bowl. Can you name it ? It's called "Yukgaejang", or Korean Beef and Vegetables Soup. This was my first time cooking in Korean style, and I'm pretty proud of myself that finally I made it ! 

Enough talking, start sharing!

I'm telling you my recipe, and I hope you'd want to try it on your own version.

I. Ingredients

- Beef (~250g)

- White soft tofu (~100g)

- Napa cabbage / chicory (~50g)

- Noodle (instead of eating it with rice, I used noodle. However, if you'd like to eat with rice, please separate the rice with the soup).

- Nori / Seaweed paper

II. Seasonings

- Garlic (2 big cloves)

- Onion (half of bulb)

- Red chili (I used 3 chilies, but if you're a fan of spicy food, you can add them)

- Hot pepper paste / Gochujang (I used one tablespoon and a half, you can also add up to 2 tablespoons if you can handle more spiciness)

- Soy sauce

- Scallions

- Sugar and Salt

III. Procedures

- Prepare all those ingredients and seasonings before start cooking : Chop the beef into dices or small chunks; cut the tofu in small blocks; cut the Napa cabbage into half and slice it horizontally; mince the garlic and chop the onion; slice those chilies diagonally; and slice the scallions very thinly.

- Two to three tablespoons of cooking oil and heat it up

- Add garlic, onion, and chilies. Stir fry them until the garlic turns to a little bit brown and the onion is slightly translucent. Then, there will be a nice smell around the kitchen (haha!)

- Put the beef in and fry them along with onion, garlic, and chilies. Let the surface of the beef turn into brown. After that, immediately pour some water (300 - 400 ml)

- Bring the beef into boil, and add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 and a half tablespoons of hot pepper paste. Let it simmer a little longer.

- After it's simmering, add the noodle and wait until it's completely cooked. 

- We are almost finished! Next is put all the tofu and Napa cabbage in. Stir it carefully and get them all mixed thoroughly. Give it a little try, you may add some sugar/salt to adjust the taste.

- Last but not least, sprinkle the scallions upon the boiling soup. And turn of the stove!

- The soup is ready to serve. Serve the soup in a large bowl, and while it's hot, tear up some of Nori and sprinkle them on top of the soup. The Nori will then absorb the soup and become soaked within it.

Here, I show you other pictures of mine

Taken by my myself

Taken by me myself

OK! I think that's all about today's recipe.

Please tell me if you have your mouth water while seeing those pictures, hahaha.

Thank you, and see you around !

Dare to Eat What We Admire ?

Hi!

It's me again.

Today's posting may be familiar to some of you, yet there remains many are not common with what I'm going to share.

First thing first, I'm showing you a picture.

readersdigest.co.uk

What do you think of that picture? Isn't that gorgeous?

That dish is actually an apricot salad with goat cheese on top. Moreover, there's one thing that moves my curiosity, which is the purplish-blue flower on the goat cheese.

It definitely enhances the appearance of the dish, but do you think they are there only for a garnish, or are they edible?

If you are wondering that I'm about to discuss about those flowers whether they are edible, you are 100% correct! Today's topic is about edible flowers. Some people in global often see colorful flowers served along with their meals, yet some others only assume that the flowers are only for decoration. I ask you, if you knew that those flowers are edible, would you eat them, try them at least, or not even at all ?

In fact, edible flowers have been used by old Romans, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian people long time ago. However, its beauty emphasizes towards recent era, which North American and European people are currently attracted to serve edible flowers along with meals. As majority has known, colors in fruits and vegetables indicate the presence of polyphenol or phenolic compounds, and so do colors in edible flowers. Polyphenol or phenolic compounds that are commonly found in edible flowers are anthocyanin, gallic acid, coumaric acid, quercetine, caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, any many more. Those phenolic compounds act as antioxidant while being consumed by human. Antioxidants in a body will fight the oxidative substances that will cause deterioration of cells. Furthermore, if antioxidants are present in foods, they will minimize the damage of foods caused by oxidizing agents.

fooducate.com

Guys, you probably often hear some of edible flowers that are common to be added in foods. Those edible flowers are rose, jasmine, rosella, or butterfly-pea flower. We usually find those flowers in like beverages, where the flowers are extracted both their colors and flavors. Otherwise, they are not the only flowers are commonly added to foods, some others are in the picture above, e.g. red clover, dandelion, chamomile, sunflower, lavender, nasturtium, marigold, tulip, and pansy.

Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is white-petal flower with yellow center, it has sweet apple-like flavor, it usually blooms in late June. Marigold (Calendula officinalis), it is an annual flower with yellow/orange petals, it has tangery and peppery flavor, it blooms around June to August and likes to grow in cool weather. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), is purple or pink-petal flower and highly perfume, is has floral fragrance, and tastes very strong depending on the plant. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), it tastes bitter and can only be eaten when cooked properly, it likes to grow in cool weather. Tulips (Tulipa gesneriana), have a weak flavor of sweet and bitter, they come in various colors. Pansy (Viola tricolor), comes in three different colors for each flower, they are blue, orange, and purple; it has mild flavor and is best for salad's garnish. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) are varied in colors, they are great combined with vinaigrette, butter, and guacamole. Red clover (Trifolium pratense), has a pink petal color, it tastes hay, and can be sprinkled upon salads. And many many more of edible flowers you can choose what you desire to exist in your favorite meals.

bloomifique.com

Picking edible flowers to thereafter be added to food, there are several guidelines you have to follow, so then you don't pick the wrong flowers. Pick the flowers in early day and use them at their peak to gain the best flavor. Never pick the unopened blossoms, because they tend to give bitter taste to your food. Do not use flowers that are sprayed by pesticides/insecticides/fungicides/grown in manure-fertilized soil. And do not collect flowers from florists, garden center, or nurseries, because the flowers are not meant to be consumed. Additionally, not all of us can directly consume edible flowers, because some of edible flowers may cause an allergic to specific persons. Thus, to avoid that allergic reaction, let us try to eat little by little in order to adapt our body from overreacting.
Nevertheless, not all of flowers are edible ! There are some of flowers that are poisonous or contains toxic substances. Those toxic flowers usually contain tripsin inhibitors, hemaglutinnin, oxalic acid, and/or cyanogenic glycosides that are hazardous for human consumption. 

That's all for today,

Now we know, don't we ?

I hope you consider it as useful information.

Thank you, and see you in other time !

References :

Bastin, Sandra. 1997. "Edible Flowers". Cooperative Extention Service. University of Kentucky

Franzen, Felipe de Lima et al. 2018. "Edible Flower Considerations as Ingredients in Food, Medicine, and Cosmetics". Journal of Analytical & Pharmaceutical Research, vol 7 (3) : 271 - 273.

Kucekova, Zdenka et al. 2013. "Edible Flowers - Antioxidant Activity and Impact on Cell Viability". Central European Journal of Biology, vol 8 (10) : 1023 - 1031.

Navarro-Gonzales, Inmaculada et al. 2015. "Nutritional Composition and Antioxidant Capacity in Edible Flowers : Characterisation of Phenolic Compounds by HPLC-DAD-EDI/MS". International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol 16 : 805 - 822.

Newman, S.E. and A. Stoven O'Connor. 2013. "Edible Flowers". Gardening Series. Colorado State University Extansion.

It Is Smelly, Though!

Hello,

You must've wondered a lot why I haven't posted any yet, mustn't you ?

It's been about 7 months since the last time I posted my previous posting, which was in April.

I'm sorry, during this 7 months I was pretty busy accomplishing my obligatory.

However, now I'm more than available to spoon you up more about foods !

Before I proceed to share today's posting, I'd like to inform you guys that I'm already back in Indonesia! Yes, I eventually am in Indonesia again.

But, it doesn't mean that I'd stop sharing what I found in Sweden. Because today, I want to share something unique about fermented food in Sweden. Do you know what it is ? I bet you may have guessed from the title, may not you ?

Like I said before, I'm gonna share a special food from Sweden.

This is a specific fermented food that is originated in Sweden, and is called Surströmming. 

Surströmming is a fermented herring, originated from 2 words, which are sur (sour / acidic) and strømming (a local name for herring fish caught in Baltic sea). According to that origin name, we may infer that Surströmming has sour taste due to the fermentation process.

How does it look like ? Check this out !

mediamatic.net

If you look in the picture above, the herring fish is cut into half and submerged in a cloudy solution. I'm telling you how to make Surströmming, then.

Skåra et al (2015) tried to simply explain how to make Surströmming. First thing first, the Baltic herrings must be caught in around May to early June, when the herring had low level of fat. The herrings are thereafter submerged in saturated salt solution for 1-2 days, the process is called as presalted. Next, all herrings must be deheaded and degutted. After all the herrings are clean, they are put into barrels with weaker salt solution (~17%). The herrings are fermented for 3 to 4 weeks, with occasionally rotated for the first 3 days. The fermentation is done under the temperature of 15 - 18oC. Last but not least, when the fermentation is finished, the Surströmming is transferred to cans together with its brine and sealed.

During the fermentation process, bacteria from Lactobacilli group are the most responsible for the formation of flavor and odor. Protein and fat from herrings are degraded as the fermentation goes on. Not only producing lactic acid, but also some volatile fatty acids are formed due to degradation of fats, such as propionic acid, butyric acid, and acetic acid. Furthermore, hydrogen sulfide is also known to be present in Surströmming. Even better, The Swedish National Food Agency has reported that there are no pathogen bacteria exist in Surströmming, for example Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Clostridium perfringens. This is because of combination effect from high heat treatment (pasteurization) and high salt concentration, which is commonly named as Hurdle concept. 

Surströmming is usually eaten in a special occasion in northern Sweden, called Surströmmings-klämma. Surströmming is served on top of a crispy thin bread and may come with mashed potato, diced onions, and butter. You can see it in the picture below :

hebe.se

surstromming,com

Swede may find this Surströmming is tasteful, but non-Swede may not want to stay close near it. There is known to be a manner to open a can of Surströmming, of which it has to be opened in open-air area, so the smell doesn't haunt anybody inside the house/building. Despite its smelly odor, it's quite nutritious with 11,8% of protein and 3,8% of fat.

I think that's already a long story for today.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

Thank you for visiting my blog, see you in other occasion !

Reference :

Skåra, Torstein et al. 2015. "Fermented and Ripened Fish Products in Northern European Countries". Journal of Ethnic Foods, vol.2 : 18 - 24.

Is Pregnancy Craving Healthy or Not ?

mycity-web.com

Hello to all my readers!

This is me back again to post something new about Food, of course.

Nevertheless, this post is going to be a bit distinct because I'm not sharing any foods, like foods themselves. This post is sharing about the effect of foods consumed by pregnant women. 

So, I'll just start out!

Most of women are dreaming to get pregnant someday. Living as a mother in a harmonious family is not only a dream, but a big achievement to seize. Thus, getting pregnant is one step closer to become a Mother, it's like you are unofficially a Mother during your pregnancy.

Many questions asked by Mothers to their responsible doctors. Those questions may be about what to prepare, how to handle the "big" belly, what to do and not to do during pregnancy, what and how to supply the sufficient nutrients during pregnancy, and yes what Mothers should do when craving for certain foods happens. The last thing, pregnancy craving, is what I'm trying to share here. To be remembered, I'm sharing what are in general, because experiences during pregnancy are unique of every Mothers would have.

Let me tell you what "Food Craving" means first. "Food Craving" is a strong urge to a specific food that's hard to postpone. The words "strong urge", "specific", and "hard to postpone" differ the term "craving" against " hunger". When people are hungry, it doesn't have to be specific and remain able to hold for some time.

angohealth.com

FIRST QUESTION : How can pregnant women crave for specific foods ?

We all know that when women are pregnant, some may experience the craving for specific things, including foods. There are 4 possible meanings of why craving for foods during pregnancy happen. First, when pregnancy comes to a woman, she might feel discomfort, nausea, or even vomiting. These are unexpectedly normal signs of the beginning of pregnant. Also, those discomfort experiences will have women try some ways to get her comfort back, and one of ways is eating comfort foods. Second, pregnancy moment will increase and/or decrease the sensitivity of smell and taste buds because of hormonal changes. When this happens, pregnant women will either grab more foods or avoid some. Third, pregnancy craving might be a "signal" from the baby. During pregnancy, the nutrients got into body will be absorbed by both the mother and the baby, indeed. So, the baby signal could possibly mean that the nutrients intake is no longer sufficient for both mother and baby itself. This gets the mother to grab more foods according to what the baby needs. Fourth, pregnancy craving is only an affection demand of the mother to have her husband attention.

SECOND QUESTION : What are the meanings of foods craved by pregnant women ?

There are some researches first categorize what kinds of common foods that pregnant women usually crave for. Those categories are sweet (candy, chocolate), salty (chips), sour (pickles), spicy (chilli, spices), protein (meat, fish), carbohydrate (bread, cereal, potato), dairy (milk, cheese), fruit, vegetables, and miscellaneous (tea, coffee, alcohols).

Then, there's a research tell us what meanings those are. Here, I'm only giving some examples of certain foods.

If a pregnant woman is craving for :

a. Salty foods : lack of Sodium (Na), Chlorine (Cl), or an indication of stress

b. Spicy foods : low hormone level

c. Sweet foods : low blood sugar level, lack of Sulphur (S), Phosphorus (P)

d. Sour foods : low intake of Vitamin C, a need of shock treatment for taste buds

e. Chocolate : low level of Magnesium (Mg) or Vitamin B

f. Meat products : low intake of Protein or Iron (Fe)

g. Coffee / Tea : indication of stress, lack of Iron (Fe)

h. Dairy products : indication of stress or loneliness

body-buildin.com

THIRD QUESTION : Is it okay to eat Chocolate when craving for Chocolate ?

The answer is yes it is okay! It's okay to consume Chocolate when really crave for chocolate. However, do you think what the limit is to always take what you are craving for ? Only few does!

It's okay to always say yes to eat any foods that are craved for. But, in order to fulfill the certain level of nutrients intake, body needs more than that. 

Let me give you an example : A pregnant woman is craving for a bar of chocolate. Yes, she may eat chocolate to satisfy her appetite. On the other hand, her body needs not only nutrients found in chocolate, and also consuming large amount of chocolate will lead to diabetes or cholesterol issue. To prevent this, she can take only small portion of chocolate bar as to comfort her taste buds, and next consume legumes, green-leaves vegetables, or whole wheat bread as substitutes of the rest of chocolate portion. Why ? Legumes, green-leaves vegetables, and whole wheat bread are rich in Magnesium (Mg) also. She can take these alternatives to regain her lack of Magnesium (Mg), and also get another nutrients, such as protein from legumes, dietary fiber from vegetables.

I think that's all about today's topic.

If you have any questions, critics, or suggestions, please kindly put your comments below.

I hope this will be helpful for you, especially my woman readers.

Thank you, everyone!

References :

Hill, A. J., et al. 2016. "Nutritional and Clinical Associations of Food Cravings in Pregnancy". Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 29 : 281 - 289.

Orloff, Natalia C. and Julia M. Hormes. 2014. "Pickles and Ice Cream! Food Cravings in Pregnancy : Hypotheses, Preliminary Evidence, and Direction for Future Research". Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5 : 1 - 15.

Big What In The World !

Hello! Hello!

Meet me again here~

Today's food is about Swedish food, the special local one.

Have you ever eaten a Cinnamon bun?

I think that's very common, isn't it?

Cinnamon bun is one of classic bun served with hot tea / coffee / chocolate, eaten in the evening or during a short break time. The bun is soft, but dense inside, topped with either caramel or sesame seeds, and not-to-forget the flavour of cinnamon.

But, here in Gothenburg, there's a place selling a special Cinnamon bun.

cafehusaren.se

A cafe in Haga Nygata, called Cafe Husaren, sells a special unique Cinnamon bun.

Their Cinnamon buns are large,  plate-sized buns. People call it as Hagabullen (Haga : name of place; Bullen : buns). That size is what makes their Cinnamon buns are huge popular. Ever known, the Cinnamon buns in Cafe Husaren are the largest buns in the world. What a bun!

To go to Haga Nygata, you can take Trams number 3 (Marklandsgatan) or 6 (Länsmansgården) and end your travel at Haga Kyrkan bus stop. There, you will find a big Haga church, and Haga Nygata is right in front of the church across the road. Once you get at Haga Nygata, go forward along the aisle, and when you find a crossroad, you'll see Cafe Husaren on your right. Cafe Husaren will display their special menu, Hagabullen.

I've once tried this Hagabullen.

It was so delicate. The bun itself was so soft, mild, but dense inside. They top it with sesame seeds. Once it cut through, the smell of cinnamon is flowing out that made my mouth watery. Because it's dense, one piece of its cut is enough. Yet, who wants to leave it that way, huh ?

Hagabullen, or any Cinnamon buns here are usually served during Fika. 

Fika is kind of coffee/tea break in the middle of working hours (around 3 p.m.)

During Fika, Swedes usually have a cup of tea / coffee while having a chit-chat to each others (working colleagues) and some sweets. And this Hagabullen may be one of sweets served during Fika.

Wanna try this Hagabullen ? Come here to Göteborg!

It's enough for today's sharing.

I can't wait to share more and more food experiences here!

See you, guys!

Reference :

www.cafehusaren.se/#hagabullen

Celebratory Sweet on Shrove Tuesday

semlor.eu

God morgon!

Hur mår du ?

In English it's translated as :

Good morning!

How are you ?

Hello, fellas! It's been about 5 months I haven't posted something new.

Now, in this special occasion, I want to share you something sweet from one of countries in Europe, which is Sweden. Currently, and for the next 5 months, I will reside in Sweden for certain excuses. Moreover, it's February, which a month left before Lent for Christians or those who are celebrating it. Nope, no offense, this post isn't for only Christians, but whoever you are may pay an attention, please!

Long long ago, Christian Swede had a special tradition before Lent, which was started from Ash Wednesday. During Lent, Christians usually would do fasting, of which they had finite meal. So, before stepping on Ash Wednesday, they would conduct a feast on Tuesday, which they called it as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday (In Swedish : Fettisdag). What they had on Shrove Tuesday was everything sweets. The most traditional one was called Hetvägg. Hetvägg was a bun soaked in hot milk, and was the first Semla. What is Semla ?

As you can see from the pictures above, those are Semla.

Semla is a bun, filled with almond paste and whipped cream and flavoured with cardamom.

This was created first because Swede started to get bored just to eat Hetvägg. So, they added almond paste and whipped cream, as well as flavour the buns up with cardamom.

Swede ate these Semla in order to satisfy their palates with all sweets before starting to fast. And yes, as I tried this for the first time in Sweden, it tasted so sweet, mild, fluffy, and the cardamom fragrance was inviting.

As time goes by,

Semla is no longer a sweet for only in Lent. We can enjoy Semla even everyday in Sweden. Several food stalls and stores sell Semla almost everyday. But still, the tradition of having Semla before and during Lent is still rooted strongly.

Photo : Joel Wåreus

Recently, there's a new style for Semla.

Semla isn't only a bun with sweet fillings. Bakeries start making a new creation for Semla, which is a Wrapped Semla. Nothing's different, the dough is just rolled flat, put some paste and whipped cream in the middle, and roll the dough as it's wrapped the fillings. Furthermore, some bakeries change the dough with pastry, so this kind of Semla has crunch outside but soft and sweet inside.

Okay fellas,

That's all I want to share for today!

Have a nice day, see you later!

Hej då, ses senare!

Reference : Sweden.se