December 8, 2007

Tikoy

Labels: , ,

dark brown tikoy

Tikoy is a Chinese New Year's staple in the Philippines but in my mother's hometown of Sariaya, Quezon the very dark brown and very sticky tikoy has always been part of the Christmas season spread. Although I also like the white tikoy I prefer the Quezon Province brown tikoy. I like it for breakfast either with coffee, Chai, or jasmine tea.

Dark Brown Tikoy
16 ounces sweet rice flour
1½ cups muscovado or panocha
1/8 tsp salt
2¾ C water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 well beaten egg, optional
butter for frying
  • Mix sweet rice flour, sugar, and salt. Add 2 cups water, mix well. Slowly add the remaining water and vanilla extract. Spray a round baking glass with oil spray. Pour the sweet rice mixture and place on a steamer. Steam on medium heat for 1 - 2 hours. Refrigerate until firm. Slice thinly then fry in hot butter until soft, or dip in beaten egg before frying.
The steaming time is rather long at 2 hours but I did not mind the wait because I was busy putting up the Christmas tree and the lights on the front of my house yesterday while the tikoy was cooking. It was very cold and windy the past 5 days and as of yesterday there was still 3 inches of snow on the ground. It's hard to walk back and forth to drape the light netting on the bushes and small trees, the hem of my jeans getting cold and damp but I got it done. We are ready for Christmas.:-)


Update: 01/17/2008
White Tikoy
2 ½ cups sweet rice flour
1 ¾ cups water
1 cup sugar
  • Mix all ingredients until smooth. Line a bamboo steamer with cloth. Pour mixture into the lined steamer and steam for 1 - 2 hours, or until set. Cool completely. Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate overnight. Slice thinly, then fry in a non-stick skillet with a little butter, or dip in beaten egg before frying.

December 3, 2007

Cooking With Pandan

Labels: , ,


Reading Ruy's blog got me drooling for chicken wrapped in pandan. This is a very popular appetizer which I had countless of times in Thai restaurants but have never cooked it because it seems tedious to prepare. It takes time to wrap the chicken pieces and I am not a deep-fry enthusiast but the finished dish is rewarding in its yumminess. Unbelievably, my 2 Thai cookbooks both don't have a recipe for this dish and searching on the web is frustrating because there are several versions of it. I used the ingredients that I like from 2 recipes and made my own marinade. It is so finger lickin' (and pandan-licking) good and does not need any dipping sauce. All you need is plenty of steamed rice.


Chicken Wrapped In Pandan
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons finely minced cilantro with roots
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
1½ tablespoons fish extract
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon palm or regular sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine
pandan leaves, thawed and well cleaned
peanut or grapeseed oil
  • Mix all ingredients except pandan and oil. Marinate for 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Form pandan into little pockets and fill with 1 tablespoon of the marinated chicken, or simply wrap a few pieces of chicken with pandan. Fry in medium hot oil until pandan has turned brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain well and serve immediately.

finger and pandan-licking good

Pandan is used extensively in Asia: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and I think, India. They all use pandan to flavor sweets and savory dishes. In the Philippines it is used to flavor rice cakes, chiffon cakes, ice cream, gelatin, hopia, polvoron, barquillos, and any sweets you can think of. My mother used to add a leaf in boiling rice for its fragrance and flavor. It also makes the house smell good that you want to dig in as soon as you get inside.

December 2, 2007

2007 Best in Fiction and Non-Fiction Books, Movies, And Music

Labels: , ,

Most came out in 2007, a few in the 90s and 80s.

Books
Fiction
ANGELICA Arthur Phillips
THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION Michael Chabon
AFTER DARK Haruki Murakami
THE WATER'S LOVELY Ruth Rendell
MAKING MONEY Terry Pratchett
THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU Salley Vickers
LOVING FRANK Nancy Horan
BANGKOK HAUNTS John Burdett
THE PRESTIGE Christopher Priest

Non-Fiction
THE WILD TREES Richard Preston
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE Barbara Kingsolver
TRAIL OF FEATHERS Tahir Shah
THE PERFECT SCOOP David Lebovitz
THE ELEMENTS OF COOKING Michael Ruhlman


Movies
THE FOUNTAIN
THE PRESTIGE
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED
DIVA
FULLTIME KILLER
STRANGER THAN FICTION
KNOCKED UP
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS

Music
PROG (jazz) The Bad Plus
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (jazz) Jason Moran
THE DEAFENING TWILIGHT (metal) Zebulon Pike
OCEANA (classical) Osvaldo Golijov -composer
THE FOUNTAIN FILM SOUNDTRACK Clint Mansell - composer
TALK TO LA BOMB (electronica) Brazilian Girls
ONE MORE DRIFTER IN THE SNOW (Christmas songs) Aimee Mann

December 1, 2007

Christmas Movies on DVDs

Labels: , , ,

3 must-see Christmas movies on DVDs:
  • Raymond Brigg's THE SNOWMAN, a 1982 half hour no dialog animation from the UK about a boy who built a snowman who comes to life. The boy, James, invites the snowman inside the house, shows him around. They go back outside on the yard, ride a motorbike, then they go flying up in the air while the beautiful song WALKING IN THE AIR plays, and join other snowmen at Father Christmas' party. Play the You Tube video of Walking In The Air and you'll fall in love too.

  • A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
A Charlie Brown Christmas>
  • A CHRISTMAS STORY
A Christmas Story

The Top 10 Hilarious Lines and Scenes
  1. You'll shoot your eye out, kid!
  2. Flick's tongue stuck on the frozen flagpole
  3. Ralphie uttering Oh, fuuuuu** in front of his Dad
  4. I triple-dog dare you!
  5. Randy paralyzed by his snowsuit: aurnnm aurnnm (I can't put my arms down)
  6. The yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair
  7. You used up all the glue on purpose
  8. Be sure to drink your Ovaltine
  9. Ralphie in the pink bunny suit
  10. Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra

 
Design by New WP Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premiumbloggertemplates.com