HOW I KEEP MY SPRING ONIONS (OR ANYTHING WITH ROOTS) ONCE I RETURN FROM THE SUPERMARKET

HOW TO DECORATE YOUR PANTRY WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY

I am currently visiting a friend who is sick. So I have volunteered my cooking service. I am not a professional but having someone to cook everything from fresh beats coming home after work to heat up a frozen meal. My friend's place is very basic. No colours, no decorations. But to spruce up the pantry and dining table a little does not need that much effort. You have all you need already in your pantry and refridgerator. 

Here are some ideas:

• Show off the colours. Bring out the colourful fruits and vegetables. Not everything needs to be kept away in the cabinet or refridgerator. The fresh colours not only pop but reminds us of the freshness we might otherwise be missing out on frozen meals. 
• Display your vegetables in jars and glasses. Unless you are in a very hot country, leaving your leafy vegetables out in glasses of water on the tabletop do not help to keep them fresh. This works especially well if they have roots. Think spring onions, celery and some salad leaves.
• Show off your jars of herbs and spices. The glorious colours of turmeric or the dark brown of cinnamon, the beautiful colours of white, black and red peppers...etc. All these add to our visual appetite. 

EASY HEALTHY COOKIE WITH ONLY 2 INGREDIENTS

I came across this recipe a while back and ran straight to the supermarket to buy bananas and oats. That is right. Just these 2 ingredients. I defeated the purpose of this recipe being the ultimate fruit waste recipe. The reason why I say that is because this recipe is only good with an overly ripe banana. An over-ripe banana, with its darkened skin, with its flesh almost stewing inside, caramelising its own jnatural sugar; that is what you need. This money saving recipe is not only healthy, it also saves you an extra ingredient that is sugar. 

I just happened to have an odd banana from my trip in the fridge. I have developed a bad habit of not eating many fruits now due to the sugars. Yes, people say it is a healthier sugar, it is fructose. However, it still digests into glucose. The lesser the better. 

But what would you do with that odd over-ripe banana in your pantry? Food waste is no no for us at Fidgety Fingers, so a healthy snack it is.

INGREDIENTS

• An over-ripe banana (Let's assume this mashes up to 1/2 cup)
• Rolled oats (I used 1/2 cup of it. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I find that it leaves the banana mixture too wet. Apparently you can use instant oats too but I have rolled oats lying around.)
• Cinnamon (Just because a little spice is good for you. And tasty too)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven. 180C
2. Prepare cookie mixture. Mash banana and mix with oats. Add cinnamon powder or any other spice you might fancy.
3. Spoon mixture on greased tray. You may use grease paper too.
4. Bake for 12-15min. This depends on the size of your cookies. I made them small. So I baked them for 12 minutes.
5. OPTIONAL: flip and bake for longer. My cookies were a bit wet on the bottom. It was mashed banana after all. I flipped them and baked for another 8 minutes.

My measured ingredients made about 10 bite size cookies. Not bad for some leftovers and a quick bake. They are sweet enough and make a healthy snack which no additives and fussy ingredients. Just the way I like it.

ELECTRIC LUNCH BOX REVIEW AND TEST FOR TRAVELING COOKER

I bought one in grey. Pink is not my colour.

I bought this electric lunchbox, also a mini steamer, also a portable cooker a couple of years ago. I have probably only used it once. I know, I am useless. I have been doing so much big time cooking that I have neglected this electric lunchbox (as what it is marketed as). I am planning to do a whole lot of traveling so I am thinking when else to put this into good use than now. I better start practicing at home than when I am on the road. I am going to be traveling in Southeast Asia. Food is cheap but there are also some other destinations outside that are expensive. I am still contemplating Europe, but Japan is definitely on the list. Or Korea. I have heard that food is not really super cheap there.

It comes with a deep steaming dish, a shallow one which can sit on top of the deep dish. You can also use the egg tray to steam eggs to your liking. There is a lid if you need to store food. Cord of course. Booklet does not say much.

I just cannot find any good enough reviews to tell me how it works.



Anyway, I am making soup today. It really doesn't matter what kind of soup I am making. I just want to try to see if I can actually make a soup that takes 30-60 minutes on the stove to make. Just out of interest, I am listing the ingredients here. I am using a gourd that needs time to soften.

This is what it looks like with the shallow steaming dish on top of the deep dish. This example shows you rice being cooked in the deep dish and a meat dish being steamed on top.

INGREDIENTS : 

• 1 Chayote. I have never cooked with this although I have had it before. The Chinese supermarket calls it 'sweet gourd'.
• 1 Red onion
• 2 Big cloves of garlic
• Goji berries
• 1 Pork stock cube
• Dash of sesame oil
• Dash of white pepper
• Dash of ginger powder

It is a bit too much ingredients but I am not on the road now. This is good for an experiment. I will need to limit the ingredients if I want to use this cooker for real on my travels.

OBSERVATIONS :

• The power goes on and off. I don't remember this but the last time I used it was too long ago. I suppose it is trying to regulate the temperature. It does turn itself off when the water is all steamed up in the steaming tray, not in your food.
• I want the soup to be cooked for a long time. So it doesn't matter how much water I put in the steaming tray. I will probably see what time it stops and then top up some more water. But I guess you really need to figure out the quantity for cooking eggs and rice. There has to be a guide somewhere. I don't think I have it.
• I filled the water to about 1 cm below the brim of the steam tray. It went for 3 hours. WOW! That can cook a good herbal soup or slow braise. How is this possible for a little thing like this?
• It is important to use drinking water to steam your food. Your food gets a little wetter, more gravy if you may, because not all the steam escapes. If you want your food to be 'dry', you should better cover it or use a microwave grade cling wrap over the steaming dish.
• I would cover a dish of rice with some foil or cling film to cook. The water does not get out easily so it does make your rice wetter than if with a rice cooker. Cooking rice takes about 20-25 minutes depending on how 'wet' you like your rice to be.

WHAT I LIKE : 

• Size. It is about 15cmsq. Pretty small but it still takes up space in a backpack. But I guess if it means eating well and saving money, it is worth it. I think the volume makes a good size dish for one or two small eaters, depending what you are cooking.
• It comes with egg tray and secondary steamer tray, and a lid in case you have leftovers. The secondary steamer dish allows you to cook some meats or rice on top of what you are making in the deep dish. It makes a wholesome meal.
• Portability. Come on, need I say more. I bought a mini rice cooker thinking I would make use of that. But that is more difficult to use and control. I have tried it and the heat shut down when it is rice timing cooked, then it goes to keep warm. What if I want to continue cooking? It is kind of impossible.
• Versatility. You don't need to use the insides that come with it. It is a steamer. Just use any other ceramics or stainless steels that can withstand the heat. I am thinking some of those 'Lock and Lock' containers since they are so good being airtight. Perhaps I should not be cooking with plastic. I am sure it is ok for quick steaming. But another plus is this. Even if the original insides are worn out, you can use other replacements. You certainly cannot do it with the mini rice cooker.
• It takes so little water to steam cook. Of course, it still needs electricity.
• Long cooking time. So far it is 3 hours with the amount of water I put in. See above. I stopped at 3 hours ok. I needed my dinner. I am sure it would go for another hour.
• I am so impressed by the time of steaming. I mean one deep dish is a lot of everything be it potatoes, meat, beans and what not. So, this is cheap cuts for an awesome dish in this little thing.
• One pot meal, pretty good. It makes you really think about what to put in.

WHAT I DISLIKE : 

• Steaming only. I guess it is ok. Healthy, why not? Not like a portable rice cooker can do better. I can cook rice, steam anything, heat up anything. A rice cooker is not so versatile.
• It is smaller than a mini rice cooker.
• You need to experiment and figure out cooking times and water volume.
• You cannot see the food cooking. Hence, there is always this need to keep opening it. But I do not think you can really over steam food. You would be hungry smelling your cuisine.
• Nothing more. I am struggling to find something to say.

INGREDIENTS GOOD FOR PORTABLE TRAVEL COOKING : 

• Dry mains. Rice, oats, quinoa. I thought of pasta but it is rather bulky.
• Dried beans. Just remember to soak some of the variants before cooking, preferably overnight.
• Stock cubes. Flavours any rice or soups. Life savours.
• Dried seafood like shrimps. They really add to the taste if you don't have anything. Good source of protein too.
• Japanese rice toppings. This is all dehydrated and they taste so good. Buy them from a Daiso if you have it in your city, they are cheap and cheerful.
• Dried veg for soups and savoury porridge
• Salt for sure
• Pepper and some other condiments.
• ***This is gold. I tried cooking with Chinese waxed/cured sausages and they are great. They contain fats so you don't need oil, salt so you need little, umami so you don't need stock cubes or meat, wine, and sesame oil. That is awesome with rice or oats porridge or soup.
• I think a lot of other things can be bought when you are in the country itself. It should be easy to buy fresh produce and sauces.

PRODUCT SPECS : 

1. Capacity: 1.2L
2. Liner Material: Stainless Steel
3. Power: 200W
4. Function: cook rice, porridge, noodle, soup and so on
5. High quality nontoxic plastic shell
6. Small and exquisite design
7. No-stick inner pot, easy for clean
8. The inner pot and shell is integral
9. Products size : 150 mm * 160 mm * 148mm 

I ate a lot of the soup. Forgot to take pix but here it is.

Soaking some speckled butter beans (from Cameron Highlands) since there is a cover. Saves washing and re-soaking and cooking in.

The butter beans took forever to cook. I like them real soft. I did soak them over night too. So, I guess big beans are a bad idea. Perhaps mung beans or similar size beans are better for steaming.

BREW CHEAP ALCOHOL AT HOME : GINGER TEA WINE

I sterilised the bottle with a bit of bleach diluted in water. Rinse with water again after.

I tried making Chinese rice wine last night. This is my progress on making Chinese rice wine. I thought I try brewing another wine today since it is a long wait. I mean it is about a week of wait before I can drink or bottle them. So I used Chinese wine yeast last night which is the legit yeast to use brewing wine. I have read blogs using baker's yeast too. Baker's yeast is active dry yeast or instant yeast. I have loads of instant yeast so it cost nothing. The difference between brewer's and baker's yeast is a difference in taste and also brewer's yeast can yield a higher alcoholic content.

The Standard Ingredients

• 1.5 litre bottle. I filled it up to about 1litre.
• Funnel
• 1 cup of sugar. I used white.
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• Plastic bag
• Rubber band

The Flavouring

• Ginger powder or any types of flavouring. I just used what I have in the kitchen.
• Brewed black tea

WHAT KIND OF SUGAR TO USE? ISN'T WHITE SUGAR BAD?

This is from PennilessParenting: I used white sugar for this because none of it gets left behind afterwards- the yeast eats it all and turns it into alcohol, so I don't bother using more expensive better quality sugars.

WHAT KIND OF YEAST TO USE? A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID TO USE BREWER'S YEAST BUT IT IS EXPENSIVE.

This is from PennilessParenting: If you've noticed, for the yeast, I use just regular baking yeast, instead of champagne yeast (typically used for wine making) or beer yeast. A friend asked what the difference is when it comes to wine making, etc... Essentially the difference is that baking yeast is less alcohol tolerant- when making your alcohol, if you use baking yeast, you'll only be able to achieve an 8% alcohol level tops- any more than that and the yeast will die, whereas wine yeast can survive and keep on fermenting until it reaches about 14% alcohol.

WHEN DO I STOP THE FERMENTATION?

This is from PennilessParenting: Cover the bottle with a bit of plastic- either from plastic wrap or a plastic bag- and secure it onto the bottle with a rubber band. You don't want it to be too tight; you just want to make sure the plastic doesn't fall off.

Place this bottle in a moderately warm place for two weeks. After 2 weeks, taste test to see if it tastes alcoholic. If it doesn't taste alcoholic enough but isn't sweet, add some more sugar and let it ferment some more. (The yeast eats the sugar and makes alcohol, so in order to make it more alcoholic you need more sugar.)

If it is alcoholic enough, pour yourself a glass and enjoy your home brew.

I funnelled the cup of sugar into the bottle and added about 3 tsp of ginger powder.

The black tea was lukewarm. It was just nice the dissolve the sugar and activate the instant yeast.

The bottle needs to breath since there will be a lot of carbon dioxide from the yeast eating the sugar. The easiest airlock is to secure a plastic bag with a rubber band over the mouth of the bottle. I poked a few holes with a needle in case it needed more space.

I took this photo with flash to show the action within the bottle. It is full of bubbling action.

Foaming on top means the fermentation is happening and the yeast is happy.

It got really foamy within the first hour but the foam disappeared. There is still a lot of bubbling though.

I noticed that there are loads of discussion about water and the quality of it. I am based in Singapore where tap water is drinkable. Even so, there is chlorine and fluoride in it. The best practice is to boil the water and cool it down before using it. There is no need to purchase bottled water.

KEDAI TUAK AWAM : JOHOR BAHRU HOMEMADE TODDY

The Johor Bahru Toddy shop since 1920.

I read about this toddy shop in Johor Bahru from other bloggers. It is about 10 minutes walk from CIQ checkpoint at Johor. This makes this an affordable experience. This toddy is made from coconut juice and it is fermented. It has a slight alcohol kick to it from the natural yeast feeding on the natural sugars. If you are looking for a souvenir to bring back to Singapore from your day trip, you can get a 1.5 litre bottle to go for RM12.

Wikipedia: Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms.[1][2] It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa the Caribbean and South America.

This is the entrance of the toddy shop. There is no way you would have guess they sell anything here. It looks so derelict. If it wasn't for other bloggers who have wrote about this, I don't think I would dared to venture in. Yes, I am a chicken.

My normal mug of toddy served at room temperature. RM3

Toddy tastes like barley actually. It is rather yeasty and a bit sourish. It is also sweet. I asked the man who was selling it what sort of yeast he used but he said everything is natural.

It is a sleepy place. So derelict and actually very quaint. There was only 3 people in there including the man who sells it.

So sleepy that someone picked this place for a nap, with newspaper covering his half drunk toddy.

I like this place. Although it is not flashy, I don't mind hanging out with a friend here and chat the afternoon away.

A typical old school Indian setup. It wasn't busy so the man served me my mug of toddy at my table. I was carrying loads of things so I thought he did it out of goodwill.

This is a closeup of the prices. I asked the man which a toddy mix is. It made mixing the old toddy with the new toddy, giving it more of a alcoholic kick. I bought 2 1.5litre bottles of the toddy mix back home.

He recommended putting the bottles in the fridge for maximum a week. It will have more of a kick. But do remember to give it a little mix. He didn't speak a lot of English, so our conservation was limited. I suppose from all the I have learnt about fermentation so far, putting the bottles in the fridge slows down the fermentation process. By doing so, you can keep the toddy for longer. If not, it will probably turn into vinegar in room temperature for that amount of time.

Their fame and reviews.

Prepping my bottles of toddy to bring back to Singapore.

Enjoying my mug of toddy with my podcast.

I was inspired by the simple setup of this toddy shop. Making your own fermented drink must be really easy. I have read about people making their own rice wine and fruit enzymes, so I must be able to make it myself too. Time to experiment.

Click here to read about my first stab at making Chinese rice wine at home.

MAKING RICE WINE FOR THE FIRST TIME

The jars of rice wine mixture after 12 hours. I have got to be patient.

I went to Johor Bahru a few days ago simply for an afternoon walk. I read that there is a shop that sells toddy. I have never had toddy before. Wikipedia: Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms.[1][2] It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa the Caribbean and South America.

This is toddy, palm wine.

You can read about my experience at the toddy shop in Johor here. Toddy tastes like barley actually. It is rather yeasty and a bit sourish. It is also sweet. I asked the man who was selling it what sort of yeast he used but he said everything is natural. And with that, my mind started running with the possibilities of making alcohol myself. I have tried rice wine in Vietnam but I never question the difficulties of making it. Their rice wine is clear so I assumed there is a step of distillation which is difficult for me to fathom. There are simply too many equipments? I am not sure. But I can be sure that Chinese rice wine is simple enough to make at home since so many mothers make it. It is after all an ancient craft.

I spent a good few days researching on homemade rice wine. There are simply too many different recipes out there. I managed to find the most difficult ingredient which is the rice yeast, also known as rice balls, yeast balls, Chinese wine yeast, 'jiu bing' (literally wine cake), or some people also call it koji (Japanese name). The frustrating part is that the sellers couldn't tell me how to use them. Well, thank goodness for the internet then. Even so, I had to disintegrate all the information and figure it out for myself.

These are what I used:

• Glass jar with an opening big enough for inserting rice.
• Rice. I have read that you can use any type of rice. The most preferred is glutinous, sweet or Japanese. I have read that you can use jasmine rice too, only that the taste will be inferior. I used Japanese as this is what I have.
• Wine yeast. You can buy these at Traditional Chinese Medical Halls. They call it 'jiu bing' (literally wine cake).
• Rice cooker. This is definitely easier than steaming it.

This is the measurement I figured after reading off the internet:

• 2.5 cups of rice
• Water according to the rice cooker
• 1 ball of wine yeast

I have a couple of these glass jars at home so I thought I should put them to good use. I was sterilising the jars with boiling hot water.

Directions:

• Sterilise your jars but washing them and then pouring hot water over them. They need to be dried thoroughly. I just leave them to dry somewhere. I didn't wipe them down.
• Wash the rice about 3 times or until the water is more or less clear.

A lot of people say to soak the rice but I didn't bother. I assume that is only for steaming. We never soak our rice before cooking anyway.

Cook and relax. It will take about 25minutes or so. I turned it off once it went to keep warm. 

I loosened the rice and left it in the pot to cool. I had time to spare. Some people spread it out on tray but I wanted to save on washing.

This is the wine yeast. It comes in a bag of 2. My jars are not so big and I didn't want to waste too much rice and wine yeast for my first try so I just used one.

• I crushed one ball with my hands and mixed the yeast into the cooled rice with my hands. I probably won't do that in the future. The rice was so sticky it got difficult to mix and handle. I have read that it is possible to dissolve the yeast in water (not hot as you will kill the yeast) and pour into the cooled rice. That should be better so I couldn't crush the whole ball into powder. There are big pieces. I am not sure if that matters at all. I have seen someone do that on Youtube.

My 2 jars and the wine yeast.

I divided the rice into the 2 jars as one is too small. I covered the jar with kitchen napkins and rubber band. I have read that I shouldn't seal it airtight as the fermentation will release carbon dioxide.

• Now we wait. 
• Some people need to place this in a warm place but I live in the tropics and room temperature is just about right for fermenting rice.

This is closeup of the rice mixture with wine yeast. You can see the bigger pieces.

I will be posting my progress. It is early days and half a day didn't do much to it. Going to try to make some ginger wine this afternoon. Let see how that pans out. Check out my ginger wine progress here.

Almost 20 hours, there is more condensation on the jar. It also feels warm.

2.5 days.

Taken at night hence the warm lighting. 3.5 days.

FORAGING FOR EDIBLE WEEDS IN SINGAPORE : PEPPEROMIA

I have been reading up about foraging for edible weeds in Singapore and it has been most challenging. We do not have a foraging culture here and the urban landscape makes it difficult for safe edible plants to be found. I am talking about animal excretion, pesticides and trampling. I have also not found a good guidebook for tropical weeds. Not to mention, it is illegal to forage in many parks and gardens.

But, I do know about this one weed which is edible. And it grows in my parents' garden. Not a lot of it but I did manage to find a handful. This is called pepperomia. It is a delicate yet hardy weed can be used in stir fries or eaten raw in salads. Singaporeans do not use this at all in our many cuisines but I managed to find how it is being used in Vietnamese cuisine.



Vietnamese Crab Claw Herb – Rau Càng Cua
Vietnamese Names: Rau Càng Cua

Common Culinary Name: Vietnamese crab claw herb, salad pepperomia

Botanical Family and Name: Pepperomia Pellucida

Vegetative Description: Small, crawling plant with shiny, slightly heart shaped leaves. Succulent stems and leaves with long flower spikes. Leaves are slightly heart shaped, tapering to a point at the ends.

Native Habitat: Asia

Tasting Note: Very fragrant, floral, slightly spicy

Culinary Uses: Stir fried with beef and tossed in various salads.

Medicinal Uses: N.A

Propagation: Easily propagated by cuttings in water or soil with quickly spreading root runners. 

THE ONE-INGREDIENT SOUP BY GORDON RAMSAY

I am a huge sucker for quick and easy healthy recipes. It not only saves time but also saves you carrying the bulk from the market, not to forget it beats junk food anytime. I was surprised when I stumbled upon this one-ingredient soup. But it cannot be dubious when it is by Gordon Ramsay. And of course you have the charming British demonstrating it in the video, it cannot be simpler than what he did. Well, it can. Ramsay made the more elaborated version of it with the drizzle of oils, and also topped it off with what was some expensive looking gourmet cheese. That in itself would be two ingredients if you ask me. If you do not consider water, salt or a quick drizzle of olive oil and a crack of pepper as ingredients, then it is really just a head of broccoli or two, depending on the volume you want to make.

I made it myself several times but excluded the more expensive cheese at the end. Not because I think it will not add to the taste but I am always trying to keep cost low and it is supposed to be a light appetiser anyhow. I visited a vegan friend once and we decided to make a quick meal. Pasta was the obvious but I suggested making broccoli soup when I saw he had some in his fridge. He went on to pull out other ingredients from his fridge, thinking we would be making a vegetable stock. He was in disbelief when I told him it only needed broccoli. So, off we went to make this simplest of soup in less than ten minutes.  It is the most amazing one-ingredient soup you can ever make and impress anybody. It is now his signature soup.

HANDMADE AND HAND CUT NOODLES

I am crazy about making things from scratch. I lived in western cities where Asian ingredients are difficult to come by, or expensive to buy. I started to learn how to cook only when I was living overseas. It was not easy being away from my comforts, so learning how to cook was a step towards being more efficient.

From then, I strive to try to make most things from scratch. It was most difficult when I was in Amsterdam. It was not as cosmopolitan as London and I was not exactly staying in the heart of action. The supermarkets were about 10 minutes walk away. But grocery shopping was definitely a chore or no-go when it was snowing or raining hail. So what does one do when it is raining hail outside and you have no staple but a big bag of flour?

I learnt how to make bread.

But now, I want to learn how to make noodles from scratch because I have never gotten to it. I kneaded some dough in front of my laptop whilst watching my series this morning. It was a simple recipe with plain flour, salt and water. The kneading was easy, the cutting was more difficult. I didn't roll out my dough, I pressed and punched it down. But it worked. I think I am getting the hang of it. After this rather successful first round of cooking my own noodles for lunch, I think i know how thick or thin the noodles should be next time.

A cheer.

10 ROSE PETALS USES IN THE KITCHEN

1. Rose Petal Tea
You will need to use organic roses in the kitchen for consumption. Non-organic roses have chemical fertiliser in them and pesticide on them and are unsafe. You can make rose tea the same way you make infusion with fresh mint. A few petals in a tea cup, fresh boiled water and keep the petals in for a few minutes and enjoy. You can leave the petals in.

2. Rose Petal Sauce
This is a Mexican recipe as featured in the movie 'Like Water for Chocolate'. A quail dish made with rose petal sauce shared between the star crossed lovers. Puree the rose petals and cactus and whisk in honey, salt and pepper.

3. Rose Petal Vinegar
You can have rose infused vinegar in mere minutes for your dinner party. Simmer white wine vinegar and rose petals in a stainless steel saucepan. Stir and let the vinegar cool once perfumed. You can leave the petals in for aesthetics.

4. Rose Petal Salad
Toss the pretty petals with your spring or summer salad. It adds colour and fragrance to the season of full bloom. Rose goes well with chicken, peaches and peas. It adds a perfume to the bitter rocket leaves.

5. Rose Petal Jam
Treat the petals you would like any fruits for making jam with. Combine the petals with some citrus juice and sugar and set aside. It could be lemon, lime or orange juice. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until the consistency is of desired. It depends how strong you like the rose perfume to be, you will have to experiment the ratio.

6. Rose Petal Sweet Milk
This is like the spiced milk that we all know well. The Indians drink rose flavoured syrup with milk. But this is as delicious if you have fresh petals around. Simmer the petals in the milk and add sugar or condensed milk to taste.

7. Candied Rose Petals
Dip the rose petals in egg white and then in icing sugar. Place the petals one by one on a silicon sheet or baking paper and let dry. Once dry, they are a bit brittle. Use them on top of cakes, fruits or poached fruits for decorations.

8. Rose Petal Extract
Put as many petals as you can in a glass jar, and fill it up with vodka. Place the jar in a dark place and wait until the petals lose their colour. You will get rose extract for baking, cooking or even cocktails. You can speed up the process by placing the sealed jar in a dishwasher run.

9. Rose Petal Ice Cubes
Spruce up iced teas or cocktails by freezing petals in ice cubes. They make the drinks super pretty. The trick is to make the ice with boiled water. You will get clear ice cubes instead of cloudy ones.

10. Fruits with Rose Perfume
Soak cut fruits in chilled rose petal tea, or if you want, add rose petal extract for more perfume. Leave the fruits to chill while tossing them every now and then make sure they are all infusing. Drain and serve. This makes a delightful surprise.

MY MINIMALIST DINNER : THE LEFTOVERS FRIED RICE

I have rice leftover from today's lunch. It was so much rice with the ingredients that it was a good half a portion left. I decided not to waste it and kept it for dinner. A simple stir fried rice would suffice. 

There is a supermarket near us with a bargain bin which I frequent. The produce is fine. Perhaps a blemish here or there, or leftovers from a big batch. They are discounted, a quick sale and I normally prefer to purchase them over the produce at the fresh aisle. 

I scored eggplants, red peppers today. Stir fried with it with leftover lettuce, garlic, onion, eggs, light soy sauce, sesame oil and topped with spring onions. Who said leftovers cannot be nutritious and delish.

MY MINIMALIST DINNER : SAVOURY OATS

Talk about minimising what I already have in the kitchen, here is a simple dinner today. With no reason to go to the supermarket since there are already ingredients in the kitchen, I cobbled up this savoury oats.

INGREDIENTS ALREADY IN THE DRY PANTRY

• Dried shrimps
• Dried scallops
• Garlic
• Ginger powder
• Instant oats
• Kelp powder
• Sesame oil
• Light soy sauce
• Pepper

INGREDIENTS IN THE FRIDGE

• Spring onions
• Egg

Less than 40 minutes later of rehydrating and simmering the dried seafood, the stock is ready for you to add the instant oats. Easy, tasty, minimal, simple.

IN PREP FOR JOURNEY TO VEG: PESCATARIAN PURPLE POTATO OAT CONGEE

Sorry about the gruesome liver-like colour in this nothing of healthy dinner. We are blogging again. And this time to record an adventure. We are going to leave our home country and stay in another for, well we are not sure yet. It will be our own apartment, own everything. No families to open the fridge and snack on your lunch or dinner, no nothing. So nothing, so awesome.

And due to that, we could actually take note of what we would eat and also control it. No stealing, no sharing, no impromptu feasts, or 'I bought you this to eat...etc.'

We are still bringing some unused staple so this easing into vegetarianism needs to be slow. We still have dried seafood for congee and soups, and stock cubes. It is going to be vegetarian for many days of a week and pescatarian for a few.

People know we seldom measure ingredients when we cook, so this is what went inside the dinner.

• One purple potato cut into dice
• A cup of instant oats
• Few cloves of garlic
• Ginger powder (didn't have fresh ginger)
• An onion, slices. Just because we love onions
• A stock cube
• Dried shrimps and scallops (Don't judge, leftovers)
• Coriander as a topping
• Sesame oil and pepper to add

Just add everything except coriander leaves, sesame oil and pepper. Bring it to a boil and simmer. We simmered it for an hour. A lot of flavours needed to come out of those dried seafood.

COOKING ISRAEL COUSCOUS FOR THE FIRST TIME

I cooked Israeli Couscous today for the first time. I have ordered it and it is just sitting in the dry pantry for a while now. I sat on cooking this couscous because it is carbs anyhow. I thought I would stay with the quinoa for a while. Except that I have the frequent craving for noodles. I try to go for buckwheat if I cook for myself. I cannot really help it if I am eating out.

So Israeli Couscous, I like it. It is in a fun round shape and it is chewy like barley. Apart from the carbs, it is high in selenium which is good for anti-aging properties.

The Bob's brand asked for 1 cup of Israeli Couscous to 1 1/4cups of water. I find this too wet for my liking. This is what i would try next time.

• A teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 cup water

1. Heat the oil in a non stick pan. 
2. Pour in the couscous and lightly toast it. It needs to be slightly brown in colour.
3. Pour in room temperature water, leaving it at low fire. Cover and simmer until water is absorb. Let is steam until cooked through.

I continued to 'stir fry' it with the other already sauteed ingredients, almost to make the couscous a bit dryer than what 1 1/4 cups of water did to it. This is what else I added to it.

• caramelised red onion
• carrots diced and cooked with onions
• broccoli stem diced and cooked with onions
• some bird eye's chilli for heat
• salted dried shrimps
• roasted shiitake mushrooms
• leftover roast chicken