Life of a Numbnut

Commercial Break: Breaking the sugar limit...

"Don't spend so much time in the kitchen," says mom. Alrighty! So I had a simple breakfast today.

Sun Sol's Apple & Berry Low Fat Natural Muesli and Farmhouse's Low Fat Milk. Actually, the Muesli reminds me of hamster food.

The pink stuff is supposed to be berry I think. The apple's yellow. Don't worry, there's more than one in that bowl, it's all at the bottom of the bowl.

I also didn't cook for lunch today. So I went to Backofen after taking up the entire morning wondering whether I should go to Bonjuk or Backofen (website not up yet). After surfing the internet to find out whether they have pie (which they didn't) I decided to go for their Rosmarin Chicken as the main dish and Sacher Torte for dessert.

Normally, whenever I go there, I usually take their set lunch, or occasionally the goulash or salmon spaghetti (can't remember their fancy names). I especially love their potato soup, and guess what? It's potato soup today T_T But I RESISTED and ordered what I have planned to order. Must try something different, right?

My Rosmarin Chicken (RM12.00). The thing about Backofen is, they tend to be rather heavy with their sauces. I guess that's fine if you aren't on a less-salt diet. I'm pretty sure the weighing scale would be jeering at me tomorrow. The chicken was tender and not dry...the sauce was nice too. I prefer less sauce though. Now, the potatos...what's with Backofen and potatos?! The way they cooked the potatos...superb! I used to dislike potatoes when I was small, but when it was time for me the shed the pounds, I started liking potatoes, especially baked/mashed potatoes. How ironic!

This was my dessert. Sacher Torte (RM4.50). I stupidly pronounced it as Seh-Cher Torte. The waiter called it Sa-Sha. Ah well, at least I managed to eat it. It was sweet. Not too sweet, but still on the sweeter side lah. The taste, not bad, overall I rate it 7/10. So far, the only two cakes/brownies that got me high was One Utama's Secret Recipe's Walnut Brownie and Bakerzin's Strawberry Shortcake. Totally orgasmic!

What I like about Backofen is their cosy ambience. Oh, and their magazines too. Though they take some time to serve customers, there are lots of magazines to read. But beware of what you choose to read...those ang moh's magazine ah...not suitable for viewing while eating because...you might get this:

Taken from Cosmopolitan's 2003 magazine, can't remember the month.

Then you'll either drool or spit your food out. Or you might come across an article on how to maximize your orgasm. *Rolls eyes*

Overall, I paid RM17++ for my lunch. Oh, I had a glass of skyjuice...the meal's already too rich for my usual diet (A/N: diet here means what I normally eat, not those weight losing diet plan).

Dinner time! Unexpectedly, my colleague gave me popiah from her favourite popiah shop...


Thanks a lot! It was delicious! Therefore, when my dad asked if I was going to eat at home, I told him, "No, no, you have to come back home to eat today. Too much food for me to finish."

So, I decided to make pork ribs soup. My PLANNED ingredients were:
1. Dried oyster
2. Dried strands of cuttlefish
3. Pork ribs of course
4. Groundnuts
5. Light soy sauce & thick soy sauce
6. Salt. I MUST remember to put salt this time.

So I soaked the dried oyster and dried strands of cuttlefish this morning. When I came back home, I took out the two bowls of soaked items. Dried oyster and dried strans of cuttlefish, check. Hey, the strands of cuttlefish have expanded. *Turns back to fridge to take the pork ribs out* WAIT JUST A SECOND! Cuttlefish shouldn't expand until like that! *Checks the bowl again* Oh my goddddddd!!! Banana flower! Once a numbnut, always a numbnut.

No, no, I wasn't half asleep this morning. Dried banana flower looks a lot like dried strands of cuttlefish. Wait...dried banana flower? Hmmm...ah well. They call that Kam Cham in cantonese, right? Ah, who cares. Must hunt for the cuttlefish now. After taking out another packet of "cuttlefish" and looking closely and sniffing it...ARGH, IT"S THE SAME THING. Hey mom, why so many packets of those ah...

I opened the fridge again. Spotted the packet of dried shrimps. Hmmm...OK! SUBSTITUTE! Although...it's kind of weird...does anyone else boils soup using dried shrimps?

Anyway, the "modified ingredients":

Clockwise from top left:
1. Groundnuts
2. "Banana flower"
3. Dried Shrimps/ Har Mai (must remember to wash)
4. Dried Oyster (don't throw away the water)
and

5. Thick Soy Sauce and Light Soy Sauce

Pour about 3 big bowls of water into the pot (MOM! What happened to the clay pot?!) and boil it. After that, add groundnuts, dried shrimp, dried oyster (together with the water) and salt into the pot and simmer for 45 minutes. Add pork ribs, "banana flower" and thick/light soy sauce to it. Simmer for another 45 minutes.
Voila!


While I was boiling the soup...
Dad: Eee, what are you cooking?! Why so smelly wan!
Steffi: *Peeved. GO...just go out and eat then. Hmph* You'll know afterwards. I'm going to bathe. DON"T ADD WATER AH!
Dad: Eh, is it ok to leave it alone like that?
Steffi: Don't worry, I've set my timer.

Finished cooking...
Dad: *Peering into the pot* What's that?
Steffi: Banana flower
Dad: Who taught you how to make this?
Steffi: Actually...it was an accident. I thought it was dried strands of cuttlefish.
Dad: You sure it goes well with the pork ah?
Steffi: Should be ok. *all smelly things go together, right?*

After he took a sip...
Dad: *mumbles*
Steffi: Huh? What?
Dad: Nice...
Steffi:...
Steffi: *Nose up in the air* Of course. Should be nice...
Dad: Eh, got groundnuts also...
Steffi: Mmm, yeah...

After 5 minutes...
Dad: By the way, girl, this is kam cham, not banana flower
Steffi:...
Steffi: Really ah?
Steffi:...
Steffi: Yeah, I thought it could have been kam cham too (A/N: actually ah, Steffi thought that kam cham = banana flower, so, she's not all that wrong, right? Hehe...)

After finishing meal.
Steffi: Hmm...I should finish up the leftovers
*Turns around and sees pot in the sink*
Steffi: AIKS?! Finish already? That's surprising...

SO! It's NOT banana flower. It's kam cham (don't know what you call that in English) and kam cham is NOT banana flower.


The soup, is therefore named Accidental Pork Ribs Soup.

Tonight's snack:

I can't read Korean, so I don't know what it says. The only thing I could read was MSG, so I supposed it says no MSG. Seems to be quite a popular label on food nowadays. Cute packaging though.

I supposed it means "tear here".

Eeee, it smells like Mamee!!! Not a good sign, Mamee has MSG.
It really has MSG! I supposed the label's warning the consumer that there IS MSG. So it shall be called Korean MSG Snack from now onwards.

Labels: Food-Snacks-Beverages, Numbnutting...

posted by StephanieC @ 1:36 PM