No Takers for my Kimchi

I still have a jar of the kimchi that I made. My children do not touch it since they first tasted it. I don't eat it too because of the odor. There is a certain pungent odor when you open the jar and it's not because it's not edible anymore. I've preserved it well and I put it in the fridge.

I think the reason why other people like us are not drawn to kimchi is its strong odor. Usually, cabbage and radish have this when you preserve them. I remember my Dad who always kept preserved radish inside an earthen jar. Being a pure Chinese, he also loves to eat it with his porridge. Every time he opens the jar, I always ran outside. It's the same odor all over again and I dare not open my kimchi anymore.

I still think that "acharra", the Philippine salad, (with its combination of shredded green papaya, carrots, string beans, ampalaya, talong, and spices) tastes much much better. But again, it's really just a matter of choice or more so, a matter of taste.

CAULIFLOWER SALAD

If you are in the Philippines, then you might be aware that to enrich the flavor of the food that we cook, we usually use the ginisa mix of ajinomoto. The recipe below is one that I have tried and found to be delectable. Try preparing this because it is very easy to make, it takes a little time to prepare, and it is really yummy!


INGREDIENTS:



1 piece cauliflower, cut into flowerettes

1 cup water

3 tablespoons calamansi juice

Dressing:

3 tablespoons vinegar

6 tablespoons salad oil

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon AJINOMOTO GINISA FLAVOR MIX



3 tablespoons butter

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

Garnishing:

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 1/2 cups shredded carrot

chopped egg

chopped parsley



PROCEDURE:



Cook cauliflower with water and calamansi juice. Let boil. Drain and set aside.

In a bowl, combine vinegar, salad oil, soy sauce and AJINOMOTO GINISA FLAVOR MIX to make the dressing. Set aside.

In a pan, heat butter then add cauliflower and dressing. Mix well. Remove from fire.

Pour on top of shredded carrots and cabbage arranged in a plate. Then garnish with chopped egg and parsley.

It's my Father-in-law's Birthday!

Although I just lost my niece, life seems to go on. Today is my father-in-law's birthday. Monday, I was busy helping with the arrangements of the funeral. Today, I will be busy preparing for Papa's birthday. He's turning 78 now, and I invited some of his closest friends to celebrate his birthday with him tonight.

My menu for today is really simple because I'm still feeling "down" these days. I seem to drag my body to work because all I really want is to lie down, read a book, and sleep. But as I said, life goes on.

The following is the menu that I'm going to prepare. I won't be posting the recipes now though. I might be able to do them some other time and I hope you understand. So here it is!

* Humba
* Bam-i
* Pork Caldereta
* Grilled Fish
* Lechon Manok ( I will just buy the cooked one)
* Rice
* Iced Tea/Mango Shake

Now, I really have to start cooking. I'll see you around!

New Recipe on Saturday...

The urge to cook left me these past few days. Sorry, but I might not be very active this week. I am just feeling so depressed because my favorite niece is fighting cancer and I feel I just have to be there with her as often as I can.

I may post a recipe this weekend, I hope.

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Chilled Fruit Cheesecake

I love desserts! My family and I really love to eat sweets after heavy meals, and this is the reason why I always ask friends for recipes that I tasted and liked.

The following recipe is from a friend who gave me a chilled dessert on my birthday last year. I forgot about it but as I was preparing my menu for my father-in-law's birthday on June 12, I remembered it. And now, I'm sharing this with you.

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate cookie/biscuit crumbs
1/4 cup margarine, melted (better to use the light kind)
1 pack cream
150 g cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup orange/pineapple/mango marmalade
1 can (439 g) Fruit Cocktail (drained, reserve the syrup)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

Procedure:

Mix cookie/biscuit crumbs with melted margarine. Press into a round pan. Freeze for about 10 minutes to set.

Beat cream, cheese, sugar and marmalade until smooth.

In another bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the fruit cocktail syrup that you have reserved. Pour into a saucepan and cook over low heat until gelatin is dissolved.

Beat the gelatin into your cream mixture. Add fruit cocktail, then smooth over the chilled cookie/biscuit crust. Chill until firm. Top with preserved fruits/jam or shredded cheese before serving.

Kimchi (As Promised)

Here is the recipe that I followed. This is very similar to the Filipino "acharra" but instead of shredded green papaya, this uses cabbage. Jescel too, used cucumber in her ingredients (Spice of Life blog). This is rather spicy while our own local version is more on sweet and sour, not hot. But this could go well with grilled meat or fish. I think people who love spicy food would like this.


Ingredients

• 3 cups coarsely shredded Napa cabbage (8 ounces)
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, peeled and julienned
• 1/2 medium yellow bell pepper, peeled and julienned
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons julienned ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons Chinese chile sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika


Directions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the cabbage and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold water. Squeeze the cabbage and pat dry. In a large bowl, toss the cabbage with the carrot, bell peppers, daikon and scallion.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce, chile sauce, the lime, lemon and orange juices and the paprika. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and toss well. Let cool. Transfer the vegetables to a tall airtight jar, cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks.