Lucky Stripes 1 - 树干

Does Kagamisumi remember that military slice-of-life doujinshi idea that we cooked up last year? The one with the Lucky Star cast doing National Service in BMT? Remember how the project was consigned to the recycling bin because we couldn't find an artist?

I went ahead and drew the first installment of this Lucky Stripe 4koma.

Enjoy.

(To refresh your memory, Konata is the PC, Kagami the PS, Tsukasa and Miyuki are sergeants, the doujin drawing girl is the medic, Shiraishi the sole recruit, and i have forgotten the rest.)

Halfway through i decided to cheat and just draw the heads. Saved a hell lot of effort.

We didn't decide on a name back then, so i took the liberty of titling it "Lucky Stripes". Stars are for the bigshots. This strip is about the rank-and-file men in green, hence "stripes".

There won't be a second installment any time soon. In fact, we might not have one at all.

I can't bear to butcher those cute girls anymore with my drawing. =p

Milk Pudding R&D Journal - Batch 2

They taste rotten.

What's the point when you can buy everything at the supermarket?

Milk Pudding R&D Journal - Batch 1

I mentioned the last time that i learnt to make milk pudding in KL. Although that recipe was delicious like hell, i've decided to do some pudding R&D on my own, since the original recipe was fattening enough to make me dream of Kawasumi Ayako. I'm not saying she's fat, i'm saying i am. She did look rather chubby around the time F/SN anime came out though, but that's besides the point.

The objective of this little project is to produce delicious, not-so-fattening milk pudding, and possibly develop a few new flavours. I came up with the first batch of plain milk pudding this morning. Not too bad, but definitely has room for improvement. More on that later.

Without further ado, here's what went into Batch 1.

Ingredients:

Low-fat milk - 200ml
Low-fat evaporated milk - 200ml
Low-fat sweetened condensed milk - 3 teaspoons
Unflavoured gelatin - 2 teaspoons.

As you can see i went all out to cut down on the calories, using low fat versions wherever possible, although the regular full cream versions should do fine as well. Some of the more sinful ingredients were cut out from the original recipe (can't tell you what they are, commercial secret), and i've scaled down the quantities to more family friendly portions (should serve 4-5).

Preparation:

Mix the 3 "milks" in a pot. Heat the mixture up. Just when it's just about to boil (Use the Force, Luke; Feel, don't think.), turn flame off and add the gelatin in. Stir the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Let it cool, then pour out into moulds or whatever container. Refrigerate overnight.

This was what i ended up with this morning. Ok, i know the photo's badly out of focus and you can't really say it's not just a puddle of milk but trust me on this, yeah?

Serving Suggestions:

Can be eaten on it's own (like Gardenia bread) or served with a topping of fresh diced mangoes, which was what i had for breakfast today. I can imagine it would probably go well with canned peaches or chocolate sauce though i've yet to try them out.

Critique and Problems Encountered:

1) Firstly, the taste. On it's own, the pudding tastes slightly too rich. When eaten with mangoes, the fruit's sourness serves to offset the richness somewhat.

2) While stirring in the gelatin, i had a good time fishing out gummy bears from the mixture. It seems that throwing the gelatin in all at one go was a bad idea as it gelled together almost immediately forming "gummy bears".

3) I have a giant pudding which serves 4, but no one to share it with. =(

Possible Improvements and New Directions for Upcoming Batches:

1) To address the problem of richness, i think i'll reduce the proportion of evaporated milk in the mixture.

2) As for the gummy bears, maybe sprinkle the gelatin in bit by bit? Anyone with tips on how to properly dissolve gelatin?

3) Cut quantities by half and use a smaller pot.

4) With the basic milk pudding as a foundation, i can now consider adding flavours to the pudding. Possible candidates are cocoa and coffee, as well as fruits like mango and durian.

I'll start on the next batch after i finish eating this one. Should take me another 2 days or so. The next batch would either be a repeat experiment dealing with the issues raised, or i could try a cocoa milk pudding while working in some of the proposed solutions.

肉じゃが

This was what i just had for lunch: nikujaga.

And guess what? i made it myself.

Didn't really stick to the recipe i found in the library because a few ingredients are unavailable or plain freaking expensive. So i'll call it 马铃薯焖肉 instead (kagamisumi, dun try to pronounce this in Japanese because it's Chinese).

Actually, i think i know now why nikujaga is so popular in Japan. Besides the fact that it tastes great, it's made from some of the cheapest veggies in the market. Carrots cost about $1.50 per kg. I'm sure you'll die from beta-carotene poisoning if you eat one entire kilogram of carrots. To put things in perspective, the leafy veggies like spinach cost more than $3 per kg, cucumbers $0.70 per kg (which is probably why the satay uncle and chiken rice auntie give you cucumbers). But everything is way cheaper than a Happy Meal™. Moral of this story is if you're a hikikomori surviving on 300 bucks a month, don't eat out.

Here's the recipe if anyone's interested. I can't remember the original source since i don't have the book with me now (maxed out my library loan limit with manga), so i can't credit the author. Sorry la. But i guess something like the recipe for a staple food has got to be public domain, right? =p

Ingredients:

Potato - whatever amount you feel like eating. I used 3 since i was cooking for 4 people.

Carrots - Ditto. I used 2.

Onions - Ditto. Used 2.

Meat - Ditto. 300+ g. I used pork but i guess anything will do as long as it's legal and does not offend too many animal rights activists.

Konjac - I was like " where the f*ck am i suppose to get this" and ended up replacing it with firm beancurd (豆干). Found out that wasn't such a good idea later, but for documentation's sake, i used 2 cubes.

Japanese stock - Wtf, i used plain water. Roughly 3 cups.

Flavouring:

Soy sauce - 2 tbsps, more if you are desperately hypotensive or intend to be on anti-hypertension drugs for the rest of your life.

Sugar - 1 tbsp. Nope, i dun think sugar causes diabetes.

Mirin - Replaced this with brandy, but i guess rice wine will do. Don't ask me why i have brandy in the kitchen cupboard.

Step 1: Peel everything that can be peeled.

Step 2: Chop potato and carrots into bite-size chunks. Cut each onion into 6 wedges. Slice meat into strips 3-4 cm wide. Slice beancurd, i dun think the size matters.

Step 3: Heat up your wok, add oil, heat up the oil, throw in the meat. Stir-fry till the meat just changes colour, toss in the potatoes, carrots, onions, beancurd. Stir fry for a bit more, like 15-20 seconds or so, pour in the stock (or water).

Step 4: Let it boil, then simmer till the potatos are beginning to go soft. Remove scum.

Step 5: Toss in the flavouring, stir.

Step 6: Eat.

I found that beancurd breaks into tiny bits which makes the gravy look dirty. Maybe next time i'll use radish instead.

ごちそうさま。

Mr Bunny's in the sky...

... waving a bunny hand down at them; The Moon is so big, “Oh God damn!”

Thought Kyoto's bunny was a bit too pink and happy so i gave Mr Bunny a new look to match the mood of the After Story.

Roses are Red, Sofas are Beige

Today, i shall showcase a useless skill of mine: Origami Roses.

Step 1: Take the KFC catalogue that the friendly postman has stuffed into your mailbox and place it nicely on the table like so.

Step 2: Cut out a strip from the catalogue length-wise like so. Try not to use the pages with the discount coupons bcos you never know when you'll be eating at KFC. The width i'm used to is about 2 cm. You can make it wider, you'll just get a "taller" rose. Btw, you can use a longer strip to get a bigger rose, but that is the longest we can go with our KFC catalogue.

From now on i'll be referring to the Left and Right end of the strip so keep the orientation of your strip the same as in the picture, unless you're left-handed, in which case you might want to reverse the Ls and Rs. It's not a must though, some steps are just easier to perform with the master hand. (But the off-hand might be good once in a while too, just to spice things up.)

Step 2: Fold the Left end of the strip diagonally inwards and downwards like so.

Step 3: Now fold the Left end inwards like so. Notice it's not the same strip as just now. It's just a continuity error, so don't go tear yourself another strip.

The top view should look like this.

And the front view like this.

Step 4: Now roll the the Left end inwards like a popiah. if you don't know what's a popiah, you can roll it like a chee chiong fun, or a cigar, or a swedish "klämma" with surströmming, potatoes and red onion on a "tunnbröd" with butter besides a glass of milk.

Strange that after rolling it like a popiah it now looks like a Cornetto ice cream cone.

Step 5: Wrap the strip that is dangling out of your Cornetto cone around your Right thumb. Your thumb will serve as a "mould" for the petals from now on.

Step 6: Now fold the part that has been moulded round your thumb down slightly so that it stays in shape. The fingers on your left hand should move to help hold it down.

Step 7: Do the wrap round your thumb thing again on the next portion of strip that is now sticking out, rotating the cornetto towards you so that the petals you are folding go round the cornetto.

Step 8: Repeat the previous step again and again until you get something like this or you have run out of paper strip.

Side view looks like so, with a stalk sticking out. But i'm sure you would have noticed the stalk by now since it's just the remnants of the cornetto you've been holding with your left hand the whole time.

Step 9: Take your last bit of strip (about 2 cm or so), and wrap it tighly round the stalk so that it stays there, preferably permanently. You could tie it up with a piece of wire or staple it down, up to you.

There, finished.

From the top.

And the side.

Mini preview of what a bouquet would look like.

Cost of an entire bouquet of 999 roses? Zero dollars.

Perfect for upcoming birthdays/anniversaries/valentine's/Mother's day when you're short of cash. I've no idea what would happen if you gave those to a guy though. And now i feel so sorry for making fun of Tanaka Rie's photography. i threw up blood to come up with those out of focus pictures. Need more EXP.

Art

Kobayashi Yu's Tissue Art.

My Matric Art.

So who's the greater artist?

Brown Flow

Qn: How long does it take to make homemade Ice Cream?

Ans: A few hours, depending on how cold your fridge is. But the actual preparation time is only about 5 minutes, and that’s if you’re a bloody slowpoke.

How did I know that?

Well, Ice Cream R&D is another favourite pastime of mine. Yes, I do have other hobbies besides ogling moe girls and mecha.

What’s the point you ask? The konbini stocked full of delicious creamy Ice Cream is just a 3-minute stroll away. A Google search for a recipe takes less than 3 seconds. Why bother with R&D? If everyone thought that way the only ice cream flavour known to Man will be Vanilla and the world would be a sad, sad place to live in.

Then again, the point of my research is not to develop new flavours, though I occasionally do stumble upon new ones. My main objective is to produce a decent ice cream recipe using everyday ingredients that can be found in any household at anytime. No fancy ingredients or equipment like gelatin or liquid nitrogen. No need to make any special trips to the grocer. Take a look in the kitchen cupboard or fridge and everything needed is in there. These are the principles by which I go about my R&D.

After tinkering with various recipes for the past 2 or 3 years, I think I’ve just discovered the right formula that produces the correct Ice Cream-like texture and tastes decent to boot. That might sound lame, but let me tell you it’s not easy to achieve that creamy texture. Too much fluid and the thing becomes a popsicle, frozen rock solid. Too much fat and not enough water gives you Nutella.

And I’m giving the recipe away right here. For Free. I’m not going to patent it. I won’t track the IPs of those visiting this page. I won’t send them letters demanding 5K. Take the recipe and try it for yourself. If you like it, pass it on and I’ll be very happy.

Here you go.

Brown Flow (I know it’s a shitty-sounding name)

Ingredients:
Cocoa/Milo Powder x3 teaspoons (note that the sweetness will be significant if you do use Milo)
Sweetened Condensed Milk x2 teaspoons
Peanut Butter x1 teaspoon
McVities Digestive Biscuit x1 (Really, I’m not kidding.)
Milk x2 tablespoons (maybe 3, I can’t remember. It’s just a solvent anyway so I dun think it really matters.)
Ribena syrup x2 tablespoons
Brandy x1 tablespoon (Well, I have it in my cupboard. My name is ZeoiNagePotato and I have a problem. Not.)
Raisins x1 handful (Depends on how big your hand is. And whether you like raisins.)

Instructions:
Mash the whole lot together, except the raisins. Mash the biscuit real well or it’ll leave a grainy taste in your mouth. The texture should be like Nutella on a very hot day. Like 90°C hot. It’s that runny. Now mix the raisins in and freeze.

Preparation Time:
5 minutes if you’re a slowpoke. 3 minutes if you’re pikachu. Freezing time depends on your freezer. Mine is disgustingly not cold so I’ll leave it in there for at least 12 hours. Another 10 seconds to dump the bowls and spoons used in the sink so someone else can wash it, but that runs concurrently with the 12 hours.

Don't ask me what each ingredient is suppose to do, I don't know. The brandy might be there bcos it acts as an emulsifier or it might be there bcos it makes the whole thing quite posh. I don't know, it's all empirical.

I still have 2 cups of the stuff in my freezer. Maybe once I figure out how to use a digital cam I can take some pictures of Brown Flow.

Bon appetite.