BAKING: Vaniljekranse (Danish butter cookies)

Apart from the local kuih kapit, Danish butter cookies were my favorite - assorted shapes and textures encased in little stacks with paper cases, then all arranged in a deep blue round tin. It never occurred to me how expensive they were until I starting doing grocery shopping.


I always loved how delightfully crumbly they were. Rich, but still light enough to melt in your mouth at the first bite. My favorites were the textured circle shape and the plain rectangle cookie. *starts hallucinating*


I don't know about other places, but it costs about MYR20-30 for a tin of these cookies, which is quite pricey IMO. So when all else fails, you Google a recipe for Danish butter cookies.


I came across two recipes on two different websites. Nordic Food & Living uses almond flour and a vanilla bean, while Wallflower Girl used vanilla bean paste and icing sugar in place of granulated sugar. I chose to use the latter because it seemed simpler.

Impromptu cookie baking: first attempt at Danish butter cookies (Vaniljekranse). Needs richer butter, less milk, and rest after mixing. #vscocam

A photo posted by Kellie Low 紫倩 (@thecheanie) on Mar 25, 2015 at 4:08am PDT

You will need:

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 130g icing sugar
• 310g plain flour
• 1 large egg (the recipe called for free-range)
• 2 tsp vanilla essence (the original recipe uses vanilla bean paste)
• 1-2 tbsp milk
• granulated sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

A few things I'd point out first is to make sure you use a sturdy piping bag - I used the disposable plastic ones, and the nozzle popped out toward the end. Piping the cookies out requires a bit of elbow grease, but the rest of the process is a breeze.

The traditional method would be to shape the cookies into circles with a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle, but you could use a cookie press, or just spoon them into dollops onto the baking sheet. I used a twisted star nozzle instead of a traditional star nozzle.

To make them:

1. Preheat the oven to 180'C, and line one or more baking sheets with baking or parchment paper (anything that will help the cookies lift later).
2. Cream the butter and icing sugar till creamy.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients except the milk. I put in the flour last as I didn't want to overwork the gluten, but it might be wise to do it alternately. Adjust the texture with a bit of milk, no more than 2 tbsp. It should form a sticky dough that clumps to itself.
4. Put your cookies on a baking sheet. They should be no more than 5cm in diameter, and don't spread out too much, so you could cramp them on the tray just a little.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Mine took 12 minutes at the most, and the gave a nice golden brown color to the edges of the cookies. I kept most of them blonde, though.
6. Let them cool a little on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack and sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.

They soft when they first come out of the oven, but will continue to firm and crisp up as it cools. As for the ones I made, they were lacking a little in that rich butter flavor, and they were crunchy instead of the firm and crumbly that they're supposed to be, but I attribute that to overmixing of the dough.

It was surprisingly easy. Even the part I dreaded the most - folding in the flour - took little to no work at all.

A few things to be aware of would be to make sure to use really good butter, as well as a good quality vanilla, since these are the determining factors of whether the cookie will come out tasting good.

Best washed down with a glass of milk, or as an accompaniment to a cup of tea or two. For best results, dip in melted chocolate or Nutella.

RECIPE: Chicken soup

Recently I've been cooking more often than I'm used to. And the most cooking I'd typically do would be to stir-fry a bunch of veggies (or more often than not, mushrooms) and make it into a pasta or into some kind of lunchbox-friendly mash.


And typically, it'd involve just boiling/steaming potatoes and/or eggs, then mixing them with some stir-fried mushrooms, maybe? The most complicated thing I made for myself was a pumpkin miso cream sauce pasta, I think.


However, in the recent days, I find myself making shopping lists for the morning market and planning meals for my SO. Apart from my miso chicken (which he likes), most of my other cooking ventures have been hit-and-miss (mostly miss).


The stuff I made revolves around chicken (breast meat, particularly) and miso - my two weapons within the kitchen... kind of... And for the past few times, the food was saved mostly by my SO's more advanced cooking skills (and standards for seasoning).


Today's venture... was also partially saved by him. I made the soup particularly for him, so I asked him to taste it - lack of saltiness, and so he suggested some soy sauce.

A photo posted by Kellie Low 紫倩 (@thecheanie) on Jan 14, 2015 at 12:26am PST

Reason why I opted for chicken soup was because I'm more familiar working with chicken, and I read that chicken soup was good for reducing phlegm. And what is more nutritious and warming than a good bowl of homemade, MSG-free chicken soup? I added radish because it's helps clear the lungs (according to another internet article, and because there was still half a radish in the fridge).


Ingredients (makes about 4 Chinese rice bowls of soup, or about 4 smaller servings):

• 2 pieces of chicken (preferably thigh, bone in and skin on)
• 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• approx. 5-inch block of radish/daikon, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered (around the same size as the carrots and radishes)
• 2 stalks celery, washed and chopped into approx. 4-inch lengths
• 7 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 4 small-medium-sized eryngii mushrooms, split down the center and cut into diagonal chunks
• pinch of black pepper (best if you can get your hands on some whole black peppercorns, gently crushed)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• enough water to cover everything in the pot

To make: (no photos~)

1. Place the chicken and veggies into the pot (excluding the mushrooms), and add enough water to just cover everything. Sprinkle on the black pepper/black peppercorns. Put the lid on and heat on medium heat until boiling. You can add a bay leaf or other herb flavors if you like.
2. Once boiling, turn to the lowest possible heat and simmer for 2-3 hours. You can skim off any oil or scum that floats on the surface if you like.
3. After 2-3 hours, add the soy sauce and miso paste (spoon the miso paste into a small bowl and dilute with some of the soup before adding into the pot). Stir gently, then add the mushrooms, pushing them down into the soup gently.
4. Simmer for another hour or so - the longer you cook it, the more flavor there will be. However, if you're using miso, be careful to not overheat or overcook it, as miso loses its flavor easily.
5. Turn off the heat and leave covered on the stove for about another 1-2 hours (completely optional, but I'm paranoid).
6. Fish out the chicken and veggies, covering them to keep them warm. Strain the soup if you wish (gets rid of overcooked veggie bits and scum, leaving a clearer soup).
7. Arrange the veggies and chicken in a bowl, then ladle over the soup and enjoy!

I got the basic recipe for chicken soup from multiple sources - Sorted Food, Allrecipes.com, etc. The typical recipes called for chicken, carrots, onions, and celery. I would have used leek, but I couldn't find any larger leeks at my local morning market. And I also added radishes for good measure.

For serving, I discarded the celery. The onion takes longer to soften than the carrot and radishes, so if you're not going to cook it for that long, maybe you could opt for smaller pieces of onion.

You could use this as a noodle soup base too, I guess. It was good enough on its own though... He was a bit skeptical at first when I just added the miso, soy sauce, and mushrooms (I am surrounded by people with exceptionally sensitive olfactory and taste senses). But after cooking for longer, the raw chicken taste cooked out, and the flavors of the seasonings and veggies got some time to get along and socialize.

Hope this was interesting enough to be helpful as well (what am I even talking about...)!

BAKING: super-moist chocolate cake

I'm a sucker for chocolate cake and brownies, and I'm too cheapskate to buy those expensive ones which might potentially not use ingredients that I like (e.g. I hate raisins). And the internet is a wonderful place where you can find practically everything!


Chocolate cakes are a little tricky, because if you use cheap chocolate and/or cocoa, the end result could be a little icky. The beauty of this cake that it's dead easy, super deliciously fluffy and moist, and it's pretty when it's cracked on the surface!

The cake will be dark, but oh-so-delicious!

I got the original recipe on Cooks.com from a random Google search, and I didn't believe the recipe at first, then I read the comments and reviews - there wasn't ONE bad experience, and attempts at substitutes were successful in general.


Magic chocolate cake ingredients that I altered (measurements in imperial):

• 2 cups all-purpose superfine flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar (perhaps you could substitute with 1 cup granulated and 1 cup brown)
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup melted salted butter (the original called for 1 tsp of salt and 1 cup of oil, but I excluded that because I already used salted butter here)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup milk
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• approx. 100g mini chocolate chips dusted with flour

Oven is preheated to 350"F (approx. 180"C), and prepare your pans. I used 3 medium-sized non-stick loaf pans, but any pan should do. Grease and line with baking paper or parchment, leaving two ends longer than the pan itself to make it easier to remove later.

I sifted the powders together first before whisking in the sugar (sifting helps with the soft and fluffy texture), then making a well in the center before adding the wet ingredients. With the aid of a sturdy whisk, mix everything together until just combined.

If you wanted to add anything extra to the batter (i.e. nuts, chocolate chips, etc.), I'd suggest just sprinkling them over the top, because the batter will be thin and other solids you put in will sink to the bottom of the cake.

Bake for approx. 30-35 minutes, checking the cake by inserting a knife/skewer in the center of the cake - there should be no wet batter. To prevent the cake from shrinking, bang the cakes in the pans on a counter-top a few times, then let cool completely before serving.

The result were delicious, fluffy, and moist chocolate cakes (with the melted chocolate chips plastered to the bottoms of the pans) that were awesome at room temperature, but even more awesome when left in the fridge for a few hours or overnight - the texture of the cake becomes harder, giving a decadent melt-in-the-mouth sensation!

Recipe Idea: mashed potatoes

If you don't love mashed potatoes, I suspect that you're not human. Nah. But mashed potatoes are a staple practically everywhere in the mainstream world, since potatoes are a staple food in many countries anyway. I'm a fan of the rich, creamy type of mashed potatoes, with just a bit of bite and lots of gravy.

At home, though, I make it a little differently. The typical home made mashed potatoes involves potatoes (duh), milk or cream, and butter. I'm the kind of person who will add a little more to that list.

The basics for about 3-4 servings:

1. 2-3 medium (1-2 large) potatoes, peeled and diced - I used purple skin potatoes that I had
2. half a carrot, peeled and
   sliced
3. 1/2 medium / 1 small red onion OR 3-5 shallots, finely minced

I boiled the potatoes and carrots in some salted water and drained them. I prepped the onions a la Cooking with Dog - chopped them up, rubbed them with salt, rinsed with cold water, then squeezed dry in a paper towel (or you could just leave them out to air dry).

My seasonings:

• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter (vegetable oil spread for vegan option)
• 1-2 tbsp cream / milk (soy milk for vegan option)
• 1-2 tsp mild American mustard

The raw onion gives a fresh bite in contrast to the creaminess of the mashed potatoes and carrots. And the other seasonings are pretty much really all up to you - the beauty of mashed potatoes is that it's a complete basic dish that you can customize to suit your liking!

Pumpkin pasta with miso cream sauce

Earlier on, I did a stupid move and gave myself a muscle-exposing cut on my right hand, which rendered it partially unusable for about a week. I can finally whip up something that isn't instant noodles now.

Made this because I needed to clear out the veggies in my veggie bin ('my' because the veggies in there are mainly only used by me) - half a 3-week-old molding pumpkin, a whole head of yellowing broccoli, Japanese mushrooms, and a dehydrated Japanese cucumber.

It turned out to be a pleasant combo of flavors and textures. There was the savory miso, the earthiness of the whole wheat pasta (the texture and flavor are different from regular pasta), as well as the warming sweetness of the pumpkin.

What I used:

• about 3/4 cup of diced and peeled pumpkin
• about 1/2 cup of broccoli
• a handful of trimmed shimeji mushrooms
• a small handful of whole wheat spirali pasta
• 1 tbsp awase miso
• 3-4 tbsp European cooking cream

1. Boiled water for pasta. Cooked according to package instructions.
2. Cooked pumpkin and mushrooms in a large pan (I freaking love the Tefal non-stick pan) with about 1 tbsp olive oil and a good seasoning with salt.
3. When both have cooked through, turned off the heat and threw in the broccoli, then covered. I let the remaining heat gently steam the broccoli through.
4. Premixed the miso and the cream, then coated the cooked pasta with it first, before pouring everything into the veggies.
5. Served on a dish, sprinkled with sweet Hungarian style paprika and Italian herbs, then garnished with the sliced cucumber.

Another dish haphazardly thrown together, but turned out good enough =D

Life up to July

Laziness apart from being actually busy with university exams and assignments are my reasons for not updating on my life (not that anyone would be particularly interested). Just most of my assignment due dates, presentations, final submissions, and final exams were more or less stuffed into one ridiculously tiny time-frame. Not that I'm alone on this. =P

One could probably roughly track my life if they follow me on Instagram (*hint hint*). ANYWAYS, start of July was pretty much not sleeping for days in a row and surviving on coffee and tea. And yeah, basically a post of random stuff thrown together *confetti!!!*

~

I worked at a parenting fair at Mid Valley (parents, parents-to-be, people who know the previous two might know of this event) for Pureen, and despite the flattened foot soles and aching muscles from standing all day, I had great reason to act like a cooing pedophile at kids with cheeks that make you wanna just melt.

MOCHI!!! Tried edamame (actually wanted black sesame), double chocolate, strawberry love, jungle banana, and green tea~

Speaking of cheeks, ever seen/heard of Akachan no Hoppe? If you follow Jinnyboy's Instagram, you might have seen him indulging in one. Akachan no Hoppe means "baby's cheeks" in Japanese, and is a mochi store (similar to Mochi Sweets) that just opened at Mid Valley (opposite Muji and World of Feng Shui) not too long ago.

I splurged (MYR19) on 5 pieces of mochi from there, and they were delicious to say the least. However, I do have a biased preference for Japanese food, so you might disagree with me. Whatever floats your boat, mate!

~

Some time later, I went out on a (somewhat) last-minute movie date with friends from university to watch Pacific Rim. I would describe the movie as a cross between Real Steel and Battleship, and some friends also described it as a more stylish CG-fied version of Ultraman, Pokemon, and Digimon. I loved that Ron Perlman was in the movie, though.

~

Baking turned out to be fun =D

It's been quite a while since I've done actual baking, and I forgot about the vanilla essence AGAIN. The final product was good though, given that it had ice cream sandwiched in it. It was 4 cupcakes (with ice cream) for dinner that day. =P

~

I Love You (a mixture of Sprite, juice, and something else), and a heavenly garlic cheese naan.

Friends took me out for my first time at Murni for a midnight snack. I haven't been to a lot of places, so don't judge. =P Had a delicious garlic cheese naan and I Love You~

~

From left: all our BBQ ingredients; chicken wings, chicken cheese franks, and white mushrooms; potatoes, otak-otak from Muar, and BACON!

On a certain Monday, friends took me out for a biking trip at the Botanical Garden in Putrajaya, before a planned BBQ night. Yeah, my "amazing fall" LOL. We continued with the BBQ anyway, with me bandaged everywhere. My favorites of the night were the mushrooms (mushroom freak LOL) and the last-minute-marinaded chicken wings~

~

Note the small pile of sambal clams at the bottom right corner of the styrofoam box.

My younger sister was sweet enough to get me some delicious rice from her school the next day. It was supposed to be clam rice, but due to the accident... she was worried of infections, so she got me fried chicken rice instead of clams, BUT included 5 tiny clams so that I got a taste. *touched*

~

Fast forward to Sunday (before my sister and mum went to Bangkok), I finally met up with my best girls. You don't often stay best friends with people you've known for over 10 years. We went for vegetarian food, and then pretzels, and it really amazed me how much we've changed and not changed.

SRSLY?!

Before going for lunch, we browsed around in Popular Bookstore. I got myself the entire Slam Dunk series with the movie included, but the thing that really grinds me gears is that I found the Saiyuki box set - all three i.e. Gensomaden Saiyuki, Saiyuki Reload, and Saiyuki Reload Gunlock - for MYR29.90. And this was just after I got Gensomaden Saiyuki at MYR39.90. Rawr.

These are Malaysians. Note the metallic sign right in the middle of the picture.

~

Will update about my Bangkok haul in a separate post~ =D

House Foods Caramel Pudding (Purin L)

***OVERDUE UPDATE:
For the caramel sauce, the required amount of water is 1 tablespoon, not 1 cup. I misread the kanji as 1 cup~


I need not remind you about my love for Daiso and instant mix food (although, yes, they're processed). The last time I bought a black sesame pudding from House Foods (also at Daiso), so this time I'm trying out the caramel pudding / custard pudding / creme caramel (so many names for one simple pudding...)

House Foods Pudding L with caramel syrup powder.

Again, all the instructions are in Japanese. In the box, you will find two sachets - the pudding mix, and the caramel syrup mix. This is a no-egg product - it uses gelatin to achieve the jiggly texture. One box of product will make 4x100ml puddings (plus the syrup).

The sachet of caramel syrup powder. 1 cup of water is usually 200ml for Japanese recipes.

Directions (rough translation from the package):

1. Mix 400ml of milk (whole milk for best texture) and the pudding mix in a pot. Heat on medium heat until boiling, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about a minute.
2. Divide the hot mixture into cups/molds and let stand to cool before refrigerating for at least 1 hour before serving (relies on gelatin for the jiggly texture).
3. For the caramel syrup, mix the powder with 1 cup (around 200ml, I tried 250ml and it was too thin) of warm water and chill before serving on top of pudding.

Strained the mixture this time so that it didn't have ghastly-looking surfaces =P

I coated the inner surface of the glasses with a bit of vegetable oil spread (too lazy to look for the butter in the fridge), and when it came to unmolding, just run a toothpick along the outer edge of the pudding, invert the glass onto a plate, and holding the glass in place, shake gently until the pudding falls onto the plate.

Final product with the sauce~

I used glasses instead of teacups this time, and I used a pouring jug instead of just splashing everything everywhere, so the pudding came out quite smooth. The only fail was the caramel, which was basically caramel-flavored water.

There's also a suggested recipe for a fruit gratin using the packet of pudding mix along with the instructions at the back of the box.

1. Mix 1 sachet of pudding mix with 200ml of milk and heat over medium heat. Once it boils, switch to low heat and cook for 1 minute, then turn off the heat. Add 2 eggs and mix well.
2. In a heat-proof container/dish, arrange the desired fruits and pour in the liquid mixture. Cook in a preheated 1000 watt oven for about 5 minutes (I tried to translate it, what came out was "one star oven", I think it means microwave oven, but I can't be sure =/ ).

House Food's Black Sesame Pudding Mix

I think I don't have to introduce everyone to an international 100 yen chain store called Daiso? Basically, it's an almost all-in-one store, with everything at a flat price of 100 yen (the price may vary by location and exchange rates: in Malaysia it's RM5; in Singapore it's S$2). Food, stationary, cosmetics, you name it.


Daiso would be my first stop to look for almost anything: make-up? Check. Snacks? Check. Assorted accessories? Check. And I really love to make food with prepared mixes - you buy the product (usually a powder), process it a little, and voila!: you have some nice, intricate, home-made food.


I used to get the mug cake mix (awesome, by the way), but since I'm on a black sesame craze, I bought the black sesame pudding. I've been eyeing these pudding mixes for a while, and I've tried one of them! (There's also green tea, and custard pudding, I think.)

Image from my Instagram.

The product comes in a cute little box, printed on every side with Japanese characters. The instructions are pretty easy to understand if you have a Chinese language background. The product doesn't use eggs, but relies on gelatine to give it that "sexy bouncy" texture.

No molds? Use any small bowls or cups. And strain them before allowing them to set, so there won't be any unsightly bubbles like mine.

Inside the box is the sachet of mix (17.5g) sufficient to make 4x100ml servings. So basically, these are the instructions:

1. Mix 1 sachet of the pudding mix with 400ml whole milk (whole for better texture, according to the instructions), then heat on medium heat. Once it boils, reduce heat to low, and cook for approx. 1 minute.
2. Transfer the mixture into molds, and let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 1 hour or more.

It's actually really simple, but I almost overboiled the milk mixture, and I had no proper molds (not even ramekins), so I had to settle to using my mother's teacups. To unmold them, I just wet a small knife with warm water, then ran it along the sides of the pudding (took more than a few shakes to get it out, though...).

The finished product. It's supposed to have a dark "inverted top", so that it kind of looks like a black sesame custard pudding, no? =D

While quite aesthetically appealing (who can resist a wobbly, bouncy pudding?), the taste to me, and my sisters, was pretty much disappointing: there wasn't much of the aromatic black sesame flavor I had expected, and it just left a strange after-taste in the mouth. However, taste is a personal thing, so try it out - you might find a new favorite. =)

Black Sesame Ice Cream

Japanese is my way to go most of the time - food, culture, music, etc. Even ice cream. Despite my favorites being cookies and cream, or a non-caramel, non-super-nutty creamy flavor, I tend to love matcha and black sesame ice cream.


Matcha flavor is starting to get very popular, because of the antioxidant properties that green tea possesses. But what about black sesame? I've tried it only once, and I've even forgotten when and where, but it left an imprint on my mind.

I placed the custard into a metal container and into the freezer, then mixed it around with a fork every few hours (hence the fork marks). The texture is creamy enough, and is thoroughly DELICIOUS!!!

I had a sudden craving for the seed-speckled gray ice cream a few months ago, and it took me a very long time (due to procrastination) to get the ingredients and equipment that I needed. Black sesame seeds are a no-brainer, but finding the special pestle and mortar for the sesame seeds was a bit challenging.


I made the ice cream on 3rd March based on a recipe I found on JustOneCookbook.com.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 400ml whole milk (I used fresh, if there's any difference)
• 70g sugar (I used 100g of castor, adjust to suit your taste)
• 3 egg yolks (used 4, because the third egg gave me a double-yolk)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp black sesame paste (homemade, also a recipe from JustOneCookbook.com)
• 1 tsp vanilla (I just remembered that I forgot to put this in...)
• 200ml heavy cream (I used European dairy whipping cream)
• pinch of salt

This is step 5. You could grind your black sesame seeds as finely as you desire, but don't grind for too long, if not they'll start secreting their own oils and become pasty, unless that's what you're going for.

Method:

1. Roast the sesame seeds if they're not roasted yet. Just put it into a pan over heat, then gently roast until they start popping, and releases a nutty aroma.
2. Grind them, using the pestle and mortar or a food processor, very finely.
3. Heat the milk in a pot over low heat, until it reaches just a simmer. DO NOT BOIL.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and creamy.
5. Add the honey, ground sesame seeds, and sesame paste (store-bought or homemade), and mix until well combined.
6. While mixing, add the milk in a slow stream. The hot milk could easily just scramble the egg yolks, hence the slow stream.
7. Pour the mixture back into the pot, and cook very gently until the custard thickens. Heat the mixture to around 80-83'C. DO NOT EXCEED. (Though I didn't have a thermometer)
8. Remove from the heat, then place the pot into a bowl of iced water to cool down. Add vanilla.
9. You could do this ahead of time: whip the cream with the salt until peaks form. If you live in a crazy humid place like I do, whip until foamy, chill in the fridge for a while, before taking it out again to continue whipping. This will make sure that it doesn't split.
10. Add the whipped cream to the custard mixture.
11. Fold it in gently, and do not over-mix.
12. Chill the mixture until completely cold, then process as ice cream.
13. You could put it into an ice cream maker, or transfer the mixture into a metal container like I did, stick it in the freezer, then mix it around with a fork every few hours, until the entire mixture is no longer liquid-y. 

I would gladly get down and dirty to make the food that I like, but this is one of the foods that I'll not be making in the near future. The grinding, the mixing, the timing, the washing, and the SHEER AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT that I used. I'd rather make a tiramisu cake from scratch (baking my own savoiardi, etc). Recipe here. (I've gotta update this...)

Home-made black sesame paste. Pretty easy to do, but be sure NOT to put it into a jar like I did, if you're going to use it immediately.

For the black sesame paste, sufficient for the recipe above:

Roast 3 tbsp of black sesame seeds (it will release a nice, nutty aroma), then transfer into a suribachi mortar, and grind with the surikogi pestle, until the seeds secrete their oils, and the ground seeds become moist. You could also use a food processor for this. Transfer into another container, add 3 tbsp of honey (ratio of ground seeds to honey is 1 : 1), mix, then set aside.

FOOD: Herbal Chicken Mushroom Soup

Our current go to dinner options for weekends for the past few months have been herbal chicken mushroom soup - you've got the Chinese herbs, healthy protein from chicken and also the wonderful flavor of mushrooms!


One of my grandmother's specialty soups (among many!) is her herbal soup - strong and full of wonderful nutrients. However, she handpicks all her herbs, and boils them according to her measurements. We, the younger generation in the family, don't like the boiled herbs, but sometimes they end up in our soup bowl.

These mixes are relatively cheap.

The solution: pre-packed herbal soup mixes! Yeah, it sounds like cheating, but it's actually not. Many companies make them, and there are different varieties depending on which brand you buy. It may sound dodgy, but it's exactly the same as boiling herbal soup the old-school way, except it's more fuss-free~


Usually the instructions for cooking and the ingredients required are written on the back of the packet. The one I used required 1.5L of water, and an entire chicken, I think. Requirements for the soup vary from packet to packet, but you could also add in your choice of veggies, meat, etc.


What we usually use:

• 4-5 whole chicken drumsticks
• 2 large bunches of fresh enoki mushrooms
• 4 stalks of fresh eryngii mushrooms
• 1 packet of fresh oyster mushrooms OR 1 packet fresh shimeji mushrooms

Or whatever we can get, but this is what we usually get for the soup. Depending on your taste you could add some salt to it, but we consider this a really healthy, salt-free meal (unless someone wants to add some salt, of course).

For clearer soup, skim off any foam from the surface of the soup every once in a while that comes from the chicken marrow and/or the mushrooms. This not only clears away any scum, it also scoops away any excess fat that might have melted off the chicken.

Recipe: Eggs in a Basket

Just when I thought they couldn't do anything else with eggs, this popped up. I was watching a Laura in the Kitchen video, and that was the recipe she was doing that day. It's basically something like toast combined with a fried egg, but it's delicious, nutritious and RIDICULOUSLY EASY!

A rather failed attempt - the egg leaked out the sides of the bread @@

You'll need:

• eggs
• sliced bread
• seasonings (if desired)
• butter
• cookie cutter/glass or cup (to cut a shape in the bread)

One egg to one slice of bread. It's up to you how you want your egg - Laura just cracked it into the pan and cooked it until the whites were firm but the yolk still runny. I like my egg lightly mixed for that fluffy texture. You could also add some seasonings to it if you want to, though usually all it needs is a pinch of salt.

1. Cut a shape in the sliced bread.
2. Heat up your pan, and melt a small amount of butter in it.
3. Put the bread with the hole into the pan (you could toast the cut-out piece as well, but I just ate it plain with butter), then add a bit more butter to the center.
4. Put your egg into the hole.
5. Cook on medium low heat until the bottom is firmed.
6. Turn the entire thing over and cook the other side. You might need to tilt the pan for this.
7. Cook until desired consistency is reached. I like my eggs cooked all the way through.
8. Serve topped with herbs or just dig in!

I've been making this for breakfast recently, and it's simple enough that it doesn't take too much time, but also quite nutritious, especially for a breakfast meal. Balance it even more with some fruit or veggies. I like to pair mine with a nice hot cup of black tea.

Quick, easy, nutritious~

Simple scrambled eggs

I like scrambled eggs. My aunt taught me how to make scrambled eggs when I was 8, and I still remember her exact directions, though my technique begs improvement. The problem with scrambled eggs is that it can either be too dry, too wet, or just has a weird flavor.


I don't like the scrambled eggs you find at hotel breakfast buffets - they taste weird. And I had some scrambled eggs at Backofen this morning - they were more like quick fried egg.


So. Here's my recipe. It's not the "politically correct" one, it's not the best one, but this really works for me.

Topped with just a slight bit of dried chives and dried dill.

You'll need:

• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp milk
• salt
• pepper
• 1-3 tbsp butter

Just remember the proportions: 1 egg : 2 tbsp milk : dash of pepper : pinch of salt. The salt and pepper are according to each egg, and not for the entire mixture.

1. Crack the eggs into a clean bowl. Add in the milk - you can put in however much or less as you would prefer, but approximately in reference to the given proportions.
2. Add in the salt and pepper, and beat until nice and foamy (this makes your eggs fluffier~).
3. Put a small/medium saucepan (I've been using small/medium pots and saucepans for scrambled eggs - they cook easier for me) on medium heat, then add in your butter.
4. As the butter melts, coat the bottom and the sides around 1-2 inches from the bottom of the pan with the melted butter. This provides a non-stick coating.
5. Pour in your eggs into the saucepan and keep stirring with a wooden spoon or similar (I like using a ladle with angled edges as it helps me get any egg stuck at the corners).
6. This is the tricky part - cooking your eggs. Your heat control must be good, if not you'll either burn your eggs or it will take forever to cook.
7. KEEP STIRRING AS YOU COOK. This will take about 3-5 minutes, depending on how dry/wet you like your scrambled eggs. Keep scraping any solidified eggs from the sides because they will burn if you don't, and cleaning up with be hell.
8. Once you turn off the heat, the eggs will continue cooking for a while, so take some time to adjust your timing so that your eggs cook nicely.
9. Serve your eggs with some bread. You might notice some liquid oozing from the eggs - that's the milk. 

I personally like to have my eggs with some dried dill and chives (dried because I can't get my hands on fresh ones). All in all, it's up to you how much of what you like to put in.

How to make delicious ramyun

One of my favorite foods is ramyun - the Korean type. Whether it's kimchi, seafood or whatever, as long as it's spicy, and from Nong Shim. Where quality and flavor are concerned, I prefer Nong Shim. I usually purchase my ramyun by the 5's pack, more often than not the Shin Ramyun (spicy) or the mushroom ramyun.


You could typically vamp up any instant noodle with veggies, eggs, frankfurters, crab sticks, etc, however, for ramyun, I would prefer only one revamper - cheese. Uncanny as it may be to some people, spicy ramyun is heavenly with some melted cheese~

Main ingredient: Shin Ramyun

2nd ingredient: cheeeese~

So what you will need are the basic items to make instant noodles: a pot, a bowl, a pair of chopsticks, desired amount of water*, your ramyun, and in this case, desired amount of cheese. It depends on how much cheese you want in your ramyun. Typically I'd put in two slices of regular processed cheese (I use Bega Super Slim), but feel free to put in as much or as little as you like.


*There are typically two water levels for two different cooking methods. Those, like me who are lazier, put in just enough water in the pot for the soup. We then cook the noodles in that water, and use the same water for the soup. Some people think this is an unhealthy way because all the preservatives and/or coloring are in the water. These people (like my grandma) doubles the amount of water required for the soup. Once that water comes to the boil, they pour it into the bowl for the soup first, then cook the noodles in the remaining water, draining the noodles later and discarding the cooking water.

Typical soup packet ingredient for Nong Shim Shin Ramyun: spicy soup powder, and dehydrated vegetables.

Like always, boil your water. I like having my water be at an absolutely rolling boil before I dunk in my noodle cake. While you're waiting for the water to boil, you could now open up the packet of noodles and empty out the seasoning and vegetable packet (if applicable) into a large bowl. You could also take out your cheese slices to thaw now so that it melts more easily later.


After you've dunked in your noodle cake, let it cook in the water for about a minute before stirring it to separate the noodles. Cooked noodle cakes are not cool.


Cook the ramyun for about 3-4 minutes, al dente or just softer. I prefer mine soft, without the al dente bite. It's all about personal preference though. When the ramyun is cooked to your preference, pour it out into the bowl with the seasoning. Mix it around until the soup is evenly colored (sounds a tad wrong).

Here's the fun part: unwrap the cheese slices, then tear them into smaller slices, placing them on the noodles. "Bury" the cheese chunks under the ramyun, then proceed with your other cheese slices, if you're using them. Take your chopsticks, grab a wad of noodle, then "wipe" it on the sides of the bowl to unstick any melted cheese from the sides.


If you want you could leave the cheese chunky and melted throughout the noodle, but I prefer to pull up the noodles bit by bit, then "dissipating" the cheese by "agitating" them with my chopsticks.

You could, of course, add in any other ingredients you want to your ramyun, but I would usually prefer more noodle to veggies and meat and whatnot. The plus with this ramyun is that when you've finished devouring the noodles, the soup is downright orgasm - all the melted cheese and spicy soup~

Sweet, spicy, herby pasta

OMG my entire blog feed is packed with mukuchu's new product posts - they're now selling lolita outfits and lots more genuine Japanese fashion products. mukuchu is a renowned website based in Australia specializing in selling EOS and GEO cosmetic lenses, and recently they have added furry fox tail accessories and, as I have mentioned, lolita outfits to their inventory.

Back to the main point - the pasta I made for my lunch today. It's a combination of salty, sweet, spicy and herb-y. The whole thing was pretty random and actually, it was an impromptu decision.

You'll need:

• one mounded Chinese rice bowl of dry pasta, boiled until desired texture in salted water (I used fusili and some elbow pasta, and I don't use oil here to minimize cleaning efforts)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled, added into pasta water along with pasta
• approx. 3-4 tablespoons of chili sauce, add more if needed (I used Nando's Sweet Peri-Peri Sauce)
• approx. 3-4 tablespoons of assortment of herbs (I used a mixture of dried parsley, rosemary, chives, dill, and mixed herbs, microwaved at high for 15 seconds)
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, add more if needed
• approx. 3-4 tablespoons of tuna in oil or water, flaked

Basically you just stir everything other than the pasta in a bowl, then stir the entire sauce mixture into the warm pasta, making sure to coat the pasta evenly. Add whatever you like to the pasta - I tried it with mamak-style fried chicken today and it was heaven.

I'll be doing a picture tutorial for make-up this week, if I can squeeze it between doing assignments.

Tiramisu DIY & recipe

I've been making lots of tiramisu already, and I thought I'd share the recipe and also a DIY tutorial on how to reuse a cake board.

For the tiramisu, this recipe will show you how to make your own sponge fingers (a.k.a. savioardi), which costs significantly less than the store bought ones. Since these are homemade, you'll have to live with the fact that they won't be perfectly shaped. As for the filling, you have a choice of using mascarpone or cream cheese, depending on your preference of texture (mascarpone is smoother and creamier).


This isn't the prettiest of cake-boards, but in the event that you need one and can't get one immediately, this would be a fun alternative. I'll start with the DIY. You will need:

• a used cake-board with the dirty paper/foil stripped off
• tin/aluminium foil
• scissors
• glue/tape

1. Pull out some foil, then put the cake board on it. Mark out an extra 1/2-1 inch on each side of the cake board and cut out the foil along the marked proportions.
2. Think of it as wrapping a present - put the foil on a flat surface, with the cake-board on top of it. Make sure the foil is as flat as possible on the cake side, then pull the foil up the sides gently and wrap it around the edges of the cake-board. Slowly press the foil flat.
3. Once the shape desired is achieved, secure the edges with tape or glue.

Now that you have your cake-board, you can start with your tiramisu~

For the sponge fingers, you will need:

1. Meringue = 5x egg whites + 80g castor sugar, whisked until soft peaks
2. 50g cornflour + 150g soft flour, sifted
3. 5x egg yolks + 50g castor sugar, whisked until pale and creamy, preferably over simmering water (to test readiness of product, draw an "8" with the whisk and count to 5, if it stays until the 5th count, then it's ready)

Preheat oven to 200'C. Fold (1) into (3) in small batches gently to avoid deflating the meringue. Fold in (2) until just incorporated. Do not overfold. Spoon into piping bag in thirds. Pipe 2-cm wide and approx. 6-7cm long (depending on your mold) onto baking tray lined with silicone mat, quickly sprinkle with sugar and bake until just golden, approx. 5 minutes.

Do all this very quickly, as the meringue is prone to deflating and resulting in a rather biscuit-like product rather than the soft, spongey fingers that we want. The sprinkling of the sugar will help create a crisp top, and it would be safer to constantly keep an eye on them while they're in the oven because they are very prone to burning - they should only be a pale golden.

Once they're out of the oven, let them cool in another tray. I would suggest getting all this done before starting with the cream cheese mix, because that takes excellent timing.

For the base:

• desired amount of espresso or black coffee, approx. 300ml for dipping the sponge fingers
• 7-inch diameter, 2-inch tall round mold
• at least 8-inch cake-board
• some free space in the freezer and refrigerator

Put the round mold onto the bake board.

Dip/soak the fingers in the coffee, depending on the density of your sponge fingers. Mine usually turns out more cookie-ish than spongey, so I tend to soak them a little longer. To check the readiness, just take it out of the coffee and gently press it a bit. I should feel a bit rubbery-spongey, and no coffee should ooze out. If it still feels stiff, go for another dip. If you feel that it's already soggy enough, then by all means, use it.

Line the entire bottom of the area inside the mold on the cake-board (I don't think that makes sense). Fill in any large gaps with cut-to-fit pieces of dipped/soaked sponge fingers. However, the little crevices that can only be filled in by shreds can be left alone.


For the filling:

1. 22g gelatin + 60g (or more if necessary) cold water, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and make sure the gelatin does not form a lump in the water. Have a pan of simmering water ready because the gelatin has to be activated and "melted" over some hot water. Keep topping up with cold water if it seems too dry.
2. 5x egg yolks + 50g castor sugar + 1 tsp vanilla, whisked until sugar dissolves
3. Chantilly cream = 150ml whipping cream + 40g icing sugar, whipped until soft peaks. Keep in refrigerator until needed.
4. 250g cream cheese, beat until creamy OR 250g mascarpone cheese, gently creamed

Make the Chantilly cream first, then keep it in the refrigerator until needed later. Make sure not to overwhip or keep it in room temperature for too long as it will split. Do the whipping in parts, whipping, chilling then whipping again until the right consistency is achieved.

Fold (2) into (4) in portions, incorporating each portion thoroughly before proceeding to the next portion. Quickly, put the gelatin over the simmering water and stir occasionally, while you fold (3) into the cheese mixture. If you can, have someone help you do either the stirring or the folding. The gelatin should be a liquid when ready.

Again, if possible, have someone help you with this - while folding the cheese mixture, pour in the liquid gelatin. Mix well quickly, and as quickly as possible, pour this into the mold, until just a bit past the sponge fingers. Do this really quickly as the cheese mixture might leak from the bottom of the mold. Stick it into the freezer and the remaining cheese mixture into the refrigerator. Check frequently on the mold to see if the mixture has set.

Once set, quickly repeat the molding process, this time on the cheese. Dip/soak the sponge fingers in the coffee, then arrange them on the surface of the cheese. Pour over the rest of the cheese mixture, leaving a bit for the decoration later.

While the dessert sets, take the remaining sponge fingers, preferably of a consistent shape, and cut them into stubs of the height of your round mold. This will be the "sponge wall" that surrounds your tiramisu. Once the tiramisu is completely set, dip the flat side of the sponge fingers into the coffee, just to color the side a bit, take a bit of the still-creamy cheese mixture, and use it as a glue to stick it to the sides of the tiramisu.

To serve, run a knife along the sides of the mold, separating the tiramisu from it. Carefully lift the mold and cut the dessert into wedges for serving.

Of course, some parts of this recipe can be altered to suit personal preferences, but this was how I made it, and I'm quite happy that most who tried it said it was good.

This recipe is particularly good for those who need to take it out of the refrigerator for relatively long periods of time for whatever reason, because of the gelatin, it does not melt, but rather just softens. In total, you will need 10 yolks and 5 whites. You could use some of the remaining whites for a face mask or use it in cooking. While serving, do so in small portions as this tiramisu has cream cheese, cream, sugar, and lots of eggs, which would be a bit overwhelming for some.

Here are some pictures from the most recent time I made the tiramisu using this recipe. The funny thing was, instead of staying where they should have been, the sponge fingers somehow floated up to the surface of the cheese mixture, which kinda shocked me when I checked on it in the freezer.

This is what I found in the freezer - most of the sponge fingers had risen to the surface of the sea of cream cheese. See the bottom? The little bits of cheese mixture at the edges of the mold? That's what happens when you don't work fast enough and the mixture leaks out the bottom.

How it looks this time.

How the sponge fingers are supposed to be aligned (in yellow).

And with the remaining sponge fingers and coffee, my sister and I started carving out random words on the sponge fingers (since mine were pretty solid) with a small paring knife. Ignore the cheesy editing. =P

Honeydew Sago recipe

Hey people! My family's got a new dessert obsession - honeydew sago. It all started when my mum's colleague's sister (who helps drive my younger sister back from school) gave us a small portion to try. Two words: immediate heaven. We got the recipe from her, so credits go to the provider of the recipe, I'm just passing it on. =)


The amount of ingredients are rough, because for any recipe, you can actually alter some of the ingredients a bit to suit your taste. However unless you're experienced in cooking, follow the instructions.

You'll need:

• 1L carton of whipping cream
• 1L of dessert topping or whipped cream (use 500ml whipping cream and whip from scratch)
• 2 medium-sized honeydews, skinned
• desired amount of sago, preferably a large amount
• syrup to taste

To make:

1. Juice one of the honeydews until smooth. Chop the other honeydew into small cubes (this is to add some contrast to the smoothness of the entire dessert). Chill both.
2. Boil some water and cook the sago, stirring occasionally. Note that sago will expand in size and will make the boiling water slightly gelatinous. Cook until transparent. Drain the sago into another bowl using a strainer. Do this in small portions. Chill.
3. Make your syrup by boiling water and adding sugar to it. Use as much or as little as you like, as, by experience, some like it sweeter while others don't.
4. If you're whipping your cream manually, then do it now. Use an metal mixing bowl, if possible, and chill it before you start whipping. Using an electric whisk (or whip it manually using a large balloon whisk), whip the cream until soft peaks form. Do not over- or under-whip. If your kitchen is warm, send it into the fridge for a while between whisking, so that it does not split.
5. Take out all the ingredients from the fridge and slowly stir them together. Serve cold, with or without ice cubes.

This recipe makes up to 10 cups. Always stir the dessert before serving because the chewable stuff is usually at the bottom.

Oreo banana shake

Another shake recipe. It was supposed to be a 'healthy juice', but I ended up putting in more and more chocolate into the mixture. =P Anyway if you're up for a chocolately shake, here's the recipe - it's inspired by the Oreo Crush by Each A Cup.

You'll need:

• 1/3 cup hot milk, mixed with 2 tsp Milo powder
• 1 banana, frozen (peel and chop before freezing)
• 3 Oreos
• 2 Kit-Kat fingers (optional)
• Another approx. 1/2 cup milk

You should:

1. Dump every thing into a blender (snap the Kit-Kat fingers into halves first), and blend.
2. The Kit-Kats might stay in large chunks. If you want them smaller, pulse the mixture. However, I personally enjoyed the Kit-Kat chunks. XD

It would be healthier to mix other fruits with bananas, as bananas are actually full of B-vitamins and are great energy providers. Add some celery into the mix, if you are alright with the taste - celery is a great nutrition provider and is a source of fiber.

National Service and other random stuff

To get my necessary documents for my deferment request, I have to wait till next week. Kinda of ironic, huh? The day my second semester starts is the day I'm supposed to go for registration. And before this I was waiting for the letter, dreading college; now I'm in love with university life (except for the money-sucking part) and can't wait to get this horrid thing off my back.


Yeah, they make you exercise and whatnot and supposedly I'll get my dream abs but all this trouble for 3 months of life away from friends, family, and most importantly him with mobiles allowed only on weekends? I'd die - DIE, I TELL YOU!!!


I've changed to and am now using the new blogger interface - kinda like it, very ... SOPHISTICATED. They used the term "less is more" to the ultimate-ness.


Anyway I've just been checking my blog feed and saw peacemusicbabe's blog post on brush cleaning. I'd like to clarify on a few things, though she got the most part right. First, Michelle said essentially olive oil because it helps nourish the brush hairs and make them softer. And in another one of Michelle's videos, she also stated that olive oil is a great make-up remover and helps nourish the lashes and does not clog pores.


Secondly, I would recommend that the dish washing soap be mild. I used regular dish washing liquid before, but it made my synthetic face brush become the tangled mane of Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries before her princess makeover ... or something like that.


My recommendation is the pink grapefruit alkaline (or was it lower acidity?) dish washing liquid from Daiso. My aunt bought that for my mum once, but my mum banished it to the cupboard under the sink (sounds familiar, no? XD), which meant that it wasn't entirely suitable. Anyway once I used it to wash my brushes and I fell in love - it's decreased acidity meant that it's not as strong as normal commercial dish washing liquids, and the fruity scent of the pink grapefruit makes my brushes smell like ... I dunno, pink grapefruit? Anyway you get the point. XD


The dish washing liquid serves to kill the bacteria (ironic that I'd go for decreased acidity?) and also to help remove the tons and tons of make-up buried deep between the bristles of your *insert function/type* brush. Refer to the video, and you'll see that the brush-back-and-forth-on-the-palm/back-of-your-hand motion is to 1. work the oil-and-soap mixture into the bristles and 2. get the excess, accumulated make-up out of your brush. Um, it doesn't help kill the bacteria, the soap has got that covered.


Lastly, I would NOT recommend sticking your brushes bristles-down into a cup, or onto any surface for a long period of time for that matter. Unless you have a brush sleeve or any rigid-ish alternative. I have some for my brush kit, but for my loose brushes I just let them hang over the edge of a table.


In my opinion, sponge applicators that come with small palettes or any sponge applicators meant for eye shadow is completely irrelevant. Local creative-preneur Haze Long uses the Coastal Scents 88 palette to demonstrate the pros and cons of using brushes versus sponge applicators (a.k.a Q-tips) and also some basic techniques for make-up application. I have to stress, though, you should not "drag" or otherwise use any strong stretching on your eyes during make-up application as this will lead to premature ageing. =x


Watched two movies last night. You could say there are quite ... old, though not as old as Bette Davis or the first Harry Potter movie, but it's been a while since it was released. First one is Pirates of the Caribbean ("ka-rhee-BEE-an", not "carry-bean") 4: On Stranger Tides. I find it ... odd. While watching the movie I struggle to find the similarity, however little, with the first few movies.


Plus, the story-line swerved too close to mainstream movies where the hero rescues the damsel-ish style. It is not POTC-ish. And I also miss Captain Jack Sparrow's drunken antics - he looks quite sober in this movie. Next is Narnia 3. Everything was OK-ish. Wasn't really a fan of Narnia anyway. Though I have to say Eustace looks horrible. =x


My family (my younger sister, dad and mum, so to speak) have been on a juice rage these days. One night I just wanted to whip up something that I thought healthy but still sinful. Here comes the banana chocolate shake!!! All ingredients are approximate, and this recipe would make approximately 2 servings. You could substitute any part of the recipe you like except for the bananas and chocolate in general. =)

You will need:

• 2 medium-sized, frozen bananas
• 1/2 cup milk, heated until hot enough to dissolve powder in general
• 2 tsp cocoa powder (or any chocolate powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon coffee powder
• sugar to taste (I used around 3 tsp)
• ice cubes

You should:

1. Make the concoction - spoon the cocoa powder, coffee powder and sugar into the hot milk. Stir until dissolved. If you like you could pour the mixture into an ice cube mold and freeze them to make ice cubes - this would reduce the likeliness of the normal ice cubes to dissolve and thin the entire smoothie, unless it's what you want.
2. Whip out the blender, dump all the stuff inside (you might want to roughly chop up the bananas a bit) and blend away. Add water or whatever you want as liked.

Random tips I

Ever watched/read/listened to a real tear-jerker at night and wake up with oh-my-gawd puffy eyes? Here's what you can do - wash your face like normal, then after applying your toner (make sure there's enough toner on the cotton pad [never apply directly to your face], it should feel just moist) and put it over your eye for a minute or so. The coolness of the toner will help reduce the puffiness. I use Dermalogica's Multi-Active Toner which contains skin-repairing aloe, moisture-binding humectants plus soothing lavender, balm mint and amica. Another option is to get an ice cube, whether plain or made from fruit juice or tea (green tea is good), wrap it in a hanky (or any other clean cloth) and gently apply it to the affected area(s). If those two still don't work, your last resort is makeup. =)



Here's a little recipe for your homemade thousand island sauce. In my opinion, it's more economical and delicious compared to store-bought thousand island sauce. Take two hugigantic tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise (I used Lady's Choice Real Mayo), two rather level tablespoonfuls of ketchup (I used Heinz Ketchup) and around a teaspoon of chilli sauce. The red sauces can be adjusted to suit individual tastes. You could also use the packet sauces you get when you order or take-away at fast food restaurants (in Malaysia and Singapore anyways).



You want a healthier lifestyle but don't want to live like a rabbit. This pasta salad would be perfect for everyone (seriously, everyone). 500g of cooked macaroni (I used elbows, but other would do fine =]), oil-drizzled and chilled; one portion of the thousand island sauce (refer to recipe above); one can of tna flakes/chunks in oil (vegetarians can omit this, and for full flavour avoid light or white tuna); two to three bell peppers, seeded and diced; lettuce leaves (as green as possible), shredded; one or two Japanese cucumbers, seeded and diced; two to three tomatoes, seeded and diced. Make sure everything is chilled, then mix everything together (remember to flake the tuna if it's chunked), chill another while and voila~!