A snow covered street, in front of our house 

After putting Fredi to bed, I went downstairs and looked out the window. I let out a sigh when I saw a beautiful white blanket on the ground and on rooftops gleaming in the dark. It was one of the most beautiful snowfall I've witnessed in Japan. The view outside, with the snow in the dark, just gave me a sense of peace and serenity. The snow was still falling, in big little clusters, the kind that is dry and light. In times like this, how I wished the boys were up so we could go outside and throw snowballs at each other. 

I grabbed my camera for I HAVE to take photos of the scenery, post them onto Facebook so my family and friends in Singapore and other countries could see what was going on. And here they are, the snow fall at night, and the morning after. Enjoy!

Shit! We forgot to cover our bicycles. 

The trees, right outside our door 

The morning after: Some snow had melted but it left a frozen ground. If not careful, one could slip, fall and get hurt 

Our bicyles still standing, thank goodness!

Time to play and dig some snow 

Simple fun is best 

Tip it all off and do it again!

Mummy trying to break the ice and clearing snow off the street: that was my morning workout and it aint light!

You're a great helper Fredi with that small spade!

Ah! Daddy popped out to have a shufty 

I had been getting rather fishy last week. Since my craving for sweet stuff had more or less subsided, I had been rather inclined to eat more fish. This shouldn't be a bad thing as eating Omega 3 fats from marine sources is good not only for the heart, but also the brain and eye. This, of course, should be done regularly, as part of your daily lifestyle, not something you eat once in while. I try and make healthy eating second nature to me, like brushing my teeth. I think I have been a good girl so far. Yes, I do eat sweet stuff every now and then, but I don't think those little sweet treats will do much damage to my body because I eat real whole food 80-90% most of the time.

Tasty and great for the body: Salmon in Spicy Coconut Stew 

The Sri Lankan Fish Curry I made previously was lovely, it was light and pleasant. This time, I want something richer to go with my favourite oily fish, salmon. What came out was a surprisingly tasty Salmon in Spicy Coconut Stew. 

I used: 

• 400g salmon (with bones or steak, whichever you perfer. I used both)
• 1 can (400ml) coconut milk (full fat)
• 250ml water
• Juice of half a lemon
• olive oil
• 1 medium size onion, chopped 
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 4 small or 3 medium size tomatoes, quatered
• 2 chilli (optional)
• Tumeric powder
• A bunch of fresh coriander leaves
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Sprinkle and rub some tumeric powder and lemon juice on each side of fish. Marinate for 30 minutes
2. Heat some olive oil, about 4 tablespoons, and fry the salmon on each side for 2 minutes. You just want to brown it, not fully cook it. Place browned salmon on a plate.
3. Using the same oil, sauteed the onion until almost transparent. Add more oil if necessary.
4. Add the tomatoes, chilli, garlic and ginger paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes are almost but not completely break up 
5. Add the coconut milk, water and stir
6. Add the salmon in a single layer, coriander leaves and salt in the coconut stew. Stir gently to incorporate the salt. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until salmon is cooked.
7. Test taste and adjust seasoning.
8. Serve hot with steamed rice and your favourite vegetables!

I'm not sure which curry I like better, but Roy said the salmon in spicy coconut stew is the winner! I agree!

When I read the recipe on The Pefect Health Diet, I told myself that it is so easy I have to do it soon. The original post was about the health benefits of eating Omega 3 fatty acids from fish, and that the recommended consumption is 1 pound (450 grams) of oily fish per week. I don't eat as much oily fish as recommended, so I take Omega 3 supplements (EPA & DHA) everyday without fail. 

Sri Lankan Fish Curry, adapted from The Perfect Health Diet

My favourite fish has to be salmon. But this time, I used mackerel, another good oily fish, simply because they were selling them cheaper than usual. I was a little hesitant because of the bones, and Roy is particular about them. I went ahead and bought the fish with bones anyway!

The original recipe can be found here. This is my version, with a slight differentiation because I don't have some of the ingredients. In most of my cooking, I don't really measure. Do you ever see celebrity chefs measuring their ingredients when cooking? Not always! I depend on my instinct, unless I'm baking, so the measrements here are approximate.

I used:

• 4 tablespoon olive oil (more oil if necessary)
• 450g mackerel
• 1 medium onion
• 2 small garlic
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• a bunch of corriander leaves
• 1 red chilli (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
• 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoons cumin powder
• juice of half lemon
• 2 vine ripe tomatoes, quatered
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Sprinkle and rub the cumin powder on the fish. Add the lemon juice and marinate the fish for 2 hours in the fridge
2. Heat the oil and fry the fish for 2 minutes on each side. You just want to brown the fish, not fully cook it
3. Place fish on a plate
4. Using the same oil in the pot, sautee onion, garlic and mustard seeds together. Add more oil if mecessary. Sautee for 5 minutes, or until onion turns transparent
5. Add tomatoes, ginger paste, chilli and chilli powder. Cook until tomatoes start to break up
6. Add water
7. Add the fish on a single layer, corriander leaves and salt (abut 1/2 teaspoon). Cover the pot and cook for 7-10 mins, or until fish is cook
8. Test taste and adjust seasoning to your liking

Dinner is served, Sri Lankan Fish Curry

 
My favourite veggie: Stir fried cabbage, with spinach, garlic and dried anchovies 

We ate the curry served with steamed rice and my favourite stir fried cabbage. Roy had it with steamed broccoli. Despite the bones, Roy said it was lovely. To me, the bones added to the taste, and I had no issues eating boney fish as I grew up eating it like that anyway. I liked the flavour, it was light and pleasant, not overpowering on the spiciness. I prefer it to be hotter but I liked it the way just it was. Will definitey be making it again, but without bones next time!

It is very clear that I love sweets! Especially when it comes to that time of the month, I always crave for something more eloborate, not just dark chcolates. It itensifies a week before it starts and then subsides a week the cycle finishes. I've been playing with the idea of creating another blog, dedicated to just food that I make. But for now..

Apple Tart, after baking

My latest sweet indulgence was French Apple Tart. It was surprisngly so easy to make, especially if you used ready made frozen pastry sheet, like I did. It was not gluten-free, although I plan on making a gluten-free version after stumbling this recipe. The last time we had something similar was Roy's Tart Tatin, which was gorgeous.

Apple Tart, before baking

Apple Tart, before baking

When making my first recipe, I always start with small proportion, enough for 2 people, sometimes 3 if Fredi likes it, which is most of the time! 

I used:

• 100g thawed and softened frozen pastry sheet (make sure the fat used is butter, not otherwise)
• 1 and 1/2 Fuji apple (they are rather big in Japan)
• 2 tablespoons Okinawa granulated black sugar (or sugar of choice)
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon water

Method:

1. Heat the oven at 180 degrees C
2. Roll out pastry sheet into a thin layer of crust. Trim the edges by using a ruler and cutting with a knife, but I just folded and tucked them in to straighten them
3. Using a fork, prick holes in the crust
4. Put it in the fridge while you prepare the apples
5. Peel, core and slice the apples thinly
6. Take pastry crust out of fridge and arrange apple slices overlapping one another
7. Using your fingers, sprinkle the sugar over the apples. Use more sugar if neccessary. 2 tablespoons gave the right level of sweetness for me
8. Cut butter into little cubes and sprinkle them evenly over the apples
9. Place tart in oven and bake for 180 degrees C for 30-35minutes, until pastry and apples brown around th edges
10. Once done, take it out of the oven
11. Microwave the jam and water for 1 minute. Mix the mixture and seive it using a tea strainer so that the glaze is smooth, but if you can't be bothered to seive it, you can skip it :-)
12. Using a brush, glaze the tart with the apricot mixture to give a shiny appearance

Apple Tart, after baking 

Apple Tart served with Haagen Dazs Macadamia ice-cream

You can serve it warm or cold, with your favourite topping. I love this tart because it is very classically French! I love the taste of the black sugar and it wasn't that sweet, it was just right. The thin crust was crispy and soft and the apples were beautifuly done too. Definitely worth a try!

For international readers, the title means a Malay dessert of steamed sago (tapioca pearls) with coconut and palm sugar. Traditionally, freshly grated coconut and palm sugar are used. Then the sago is mixed, wrapped in a banana leaf in a cone shape and steamed. This was how exactly my mother used to make them. Sounds complicated but very easy to make!

While it is a challenge to make a truly traditional Malay dishes and desserts in Tokyo, it is not at all impossible. All I have to do is think of an alternative and improvise. I am lucky to be living where I am right now as I have easy access to ingredients to make traditional desserts. 

I was still in a craving mode for traditional desserts after my sucessful attempt with the Glutinous Black Rice Pudding. What's next? I remember a packet of sago and dessicated coconut sitting in the kitchen cabinet waiting to be used, so what to do with them? Abok-Abok sago!

100% Pure Okinawa Black Sugar 

I don't have anymore palm sugar left so I substituted it with 100% Okinawa black sugar. This specialty sugar has quite a similar caramelish, malty taste to palm sugar, with the trace minerals and vitamins intact because it's unrefined unlike white sugar (which I avoid). It comes in irregular rock shapes, so you can actually suck them like candy, as some people in this country do! Fredi loved it after grabbing a handful when I wasn't watching.

Muffin pans in place of banana leaves 

I also don't have banana leaves, so I just went ahead and used muffin pans instead and they turned out fine!

Since I'm not sure how the dessert will turn out, I made it using small proportion, so please double or triple the measrements if you make it for more than 4 people.

I used:

• 1/2 cup sago, or tapioca pearls (soaked for 30mins, washed and drained)
• 4-5 tablespoons pure black Okinawa sugar, chopped into small pieces (use palm sugar or other dark unrefined sugar)
• 30g dessicated coconut (use freshly grated if possible)
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Prepare the steamer
2. Mix the soaked sago, dessicated coconut and pinch of salt together
3. Put a tablespoon of sago mixture into muffin pan, followed by a tablespon of sugar (see photo above), and followed by another tablespoon of sago mixture. You have 3 layers total. 
4. Place the muffin pans into prepared steamer and steam for 15-20 minutes on medium-high heat, or until sago turns transparent
5. Serve warm or at room temperature

Steamed and cooked Abok-Abok Sago 

I love the the way the shape turned out, not coned but round.

The recipe above makes 5 and they turned out perfect. The black sugar worked really well, and the dessicated coconut turned soft from the steam. I am satisfied with the result and will definitely be making it again. Of course it would be even more decadant if I used fresh coconut and wrap the sago in banana leaves. I can only remember, as a child, the fragrance of the banana leaf as I peeled it to reveal the cooked sago inside. But my modern version is just as good if not authentic! 

Rice is quite a versatile ingredient as it can be used either as dessert or otherwise. It's mainly starch, a safe starch that is mainly glucose used by the body for energy, among other things. I love rice, I am Asian in general and a Malay in particular so rice is a staple in my diet. 

Recenty I have a strong craving for something coconutish. Since adapting back to eating healthily, I find that I started to crave for traditional food more and more, food that I used to eat when I grew up as a child in Singapore. Coconut and rice are two major ingredients used in most traditional Malay dishes including desserts. I have 2 packs of black rice in my kitchen cabinet, perfect for making Bubur Pulut Hitam, or Glutinous Back Rice Pudding!

Traditionally, pandan leaves are used, but none are sold in Japan so I used the Madagascar vanilla beans instead, the same beans I used for making ice-cream. It is also traditional to use freshly squeezed coconut milk for the pudding, where the santan pekat, or "thick coconut milk" is used for the topping while the santan cair, or "thin coconut milk" is used to cook the black rice.

I used: 

• 2 cups glutinous black rice (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight, and washed)
• 4-6 cups water (may need more)
• 6-8 tablespoon sugar to taste ( I can't remember exactly how much I used but adjust to your liking. I used Okinawa black sugar and unrefined cane sugar together)
• vanilla (I used vanilla beans. If you can find pandan leaves, use that instead)
• 1 can coconut milk (scoop out and reserve some of the cream ("thick coconut milk") that has settled on top of the can and save the rest with the water ("thin coconut milk") that has settled at the bottom of can for cooking later)

Method:

1. Put water, black rice and vanilla in a pot deep enough to hold all that water.
2. On medium-high heat, bring it to a boil.
3. Once boiled, turn heat down to medium-low and cook for 30-45 minutes until rice is cooked through and soft enough to bite. Add more water if necceassry. Ensure to stir every few minutes to cook it evenly. It should have the consistency of a thick, soupy porridge.
4. Add the sugar, start with 6 tablespoons, and gradually increase until you are happy with the level of sweetness. 
5. Add the "thin coconut milk" and bring it to a boil for a minute or 2 and turn off heat.
6. Add a pinch of salt to the reserved "thick coconut milk" and mix well. This is the usual practice, but optional. I like it with salt.
7. Serve the pudding hot, topped with the "thick coconut milk".
8. You can refrigerate the pudding up to 3 days. To warm it up, just nuke it for 40s-1minute. Alternatively, you can eat it cold!

Of course, you can Google around and find that there are several ways to making this simple, hearty and healthy dessert. I love rice and coconut (it's a superfood in my opinion, including the fat) and a bowl of hot Glutinous Rice Pudding satisfies my craving nicely for traditional dessert. I ate it for 3 days in a row, 3 times a day!

When Wilkie was still raw from his bout of chicken pox, he had to stay indoors and Roy had been the one looking after him most of time. So what did they do one day when Fredi and his mummy went out to the weekly playgroup? Some fun art on the floor of our balcony. Can you tell who the characters are?

Food for the soul: Spicy Bean and Carrot Soup 

What could be more satisfying than a bowl of hot soup to warm up the body in this chilly weather. I love Winter in Tokyo as it's dry, sunny and blue sky is a rather common sight. The temperature at the moment ranges from 5 degrees in the day and could dip to -2 when it's dark.

This was what we had the soup with: Rice, fried cabbage with chilli and dried anchovies, avocado and spicy beef

Christmas this year was merrier than in the past because for the first time, we had our own Christmas tree, complete with presents under it. 

Christmas morning 

In the past it was usually a quiet affair, for we had no compelling reasons to make it grand. For us, the key to great excitement and fun have always been for the kids, and that means presents. Not that this year was any grand at all, it was just that Wilkie is older and understand things much better.

2nd day of chicpen pox  

On Christmas eve, Wilkie was one unlucky child though. He caught chicken pox. Roy took him to the doctor and he was given the usual cream to apply on the spots and  was advised against going outdoors for 2 weeks. Fredi is vulnerable for he hasn't caught chicken pox, so he was given an injection to prevent the pox from being worse than Wilkie, if he ever gets it himself.

Anyway, we deliberately waited till the last minute to put the Christmas tree up and lay the presents. The boys were in bed, unbeknownst to them that mummy and daddy were busy downstairs. The idea was to suprise the boys when they wake up in the morning.

On Christmas Day, I was the last to get up. Wilkie ran upstairs, woke me up and asked me to "hurry up and come downstairs... there's a Christmas tree and Santa put presents!"

Wilkie looked subdued but he was back jumping up and down after the shot 

Both Roy and I were so happy to see his reaction as it was exactly what we had planned. The night before we told him if Santa is going to get off at our local train station to send presents. Although he's got chicken pox, the sight of the surprise Christmas tree and the presents he thought Santa gave lifted his spirits high and cheered him up. He had no fever, he was as happy as he could be. 

Breakfast in the morning to start Christmas Day

After breakfast and shower, it's time to take more photos! 

Presents... 

More presents... 

Then we opened the presents, very slowly, and then it was time for lunch. We had roasted turkey bought at Seibu department store--no hassle of roasting it myself. I quickly made some broccoli, mashed potato and mushroom cream sauce. Wilkie had his usual nori roll and chicken ball. Fredi was starving by the time lunch was served and he gobbled the turkey fast. And then we all had a chocolate log cake for dessert. The boys enjoyed blowing the candles and singing Christmas songs.

Carving out a turkey leg 

We wish you a Merry Chrsitmas 

1, 2 3, blow...! 

The opening of presents was stretched towards the evening since Wilkie spent a great deal playing and putting his Transformers toys together. The parts to build the robots were rather difficult to ensemble even Roy had some difficulties.

Thank you Daddy! 

Fredi seemed not to be too bothered mostly as he's still too young to understand. He wasn't excited about ripping the wrappers off his gifts, but he liked the Thomas toy set very much.

It was nice that we got presents sent all the way from the UK and America. It was also nice for me to go out and get presents for others. Although we are not religious, we celebrate the festive day in the name of good fun. It's more for the kids to enjoy, and a chance for us to spend quality time with loved ones in a little bit different and special way.

Hope you've had a fun Christmas too!

I bought a big bag of puffed rice recently at a stall they put up specially on that day at Ikebukuro station. I couldn't resist buying it as I thought it would be a great snack food for Fredi. It's not that healthy because it's covered in sugar, but at least it's not wheat and gluten-free. Fredi eats snacks only when I take him out, otherwise he eats 3 solid meals a day.

100g 76% Lindt Dark Chocolate
2 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 cups puffed rice

1. Melt broken dark chocolate with coconut oil
2. Once melted, add honey and cocoa powder
3. Stir well until smooth – I used a manual hand mixer
4. Add puffed rice to chocolate mixture and mix well
5. Spoon chocolate puffed rice into paper cases
6. Chill for at least 1 hour, until set

(download)

Click here to download:

Simple_Chocolate_Puffed_Rice.zip (13.08 MB)