Making your own soft boiled eggs

Everybody have their own favourite type of way to eat their eggs. On top of sunny side ups and soft boiled eggs, I love century eggs and salted eggsas well. The latter two may be a little foreign to you peeps living in the western countries, but they are really common here and absolutely delicious (though century eggs are a little scary looking). Recently. I have a craving for soft boiled eggs and proceeded to make my own for breakfast since I am really free and have yet to start work at my new place. The eggs I used are the pale colored ones as show above. Mom says that they are free range eggs and have a higher nutrition as compared to the brown commercially produced ones. The pale colored eggs have a much yellower yolk (almost to the point of orange) the brown  ones and have a richer taste too. Yum. I can eat half a dozen at a go if I don’t have to worry about cholesterol! The first time round I tried cooking, they were a little unevenly cooked, probably because I did not add enough water to cover the whole egg. I am glad to say I got it just right this time. After adding a dash of light soy and a sprinkle of white pepper, who says that simplicity aren’t the best stuff?

Soft boiled eggs

2 eggs (room temperature)
Pot of water (enough to cover the eggs)
Bowl of iced water

1. Put the pot of water on low heat until barely simmering.

2. Add the eggs and set a timer. After about 3 minutes, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the eggs cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Transfer the eggs to the bowl of iced water so that it will stop the cooking process. Serve after cooling as desired.

端午节 (Dragon Boat Festival)

端午节 (Duan Wu Jie) also known as Dragon Boat Festival, falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the chinese calendar. This festival originated from the Warring States period, where a poet called Qu Yuan committed suicide. Qu Yuan served at high offices during the Zhou Dynasty. As the emporer decided to ally with the powerful state of Qin, Qu Yuan was accused of treason and banished. 28 years later, when the state of Qin conquered the Chu capital, Qu Yuan commited suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.  To prevent the fishes from eating his body, the local people threw food into the river and paddled out on boats to scare the fish away. This was said to be the origin of 粽子(rice dumpling) and 龙舟(dragon boat racing). (Information from Wikipedia)   

Traditionally, rice dumplings are filled with pork, chinese mushrooms, chestnuts and salted egg yolks. This tradition has evolved in the recent years. Many restuarants now introduced rice dumplings with various fillings like roasted duck, cuttlefish and seafood. For those with money to spare, there are also rice dumplings filled with expensive abalone and birds nest. Dessert dumplings with chocolate fillings are also available for those with a sweet tooth. It takes certain skills to be able to wrap the rice dumpling in bamboo leaves without them spilling out during cooking. After the rice dumpling is wrapped, they are tied and boiled in water. The rice dumplings in the pictures are painstakingly wrapped by my mom. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it, and I doubt I will ever be as good as her!

Miffed

I was supposed to bring my hamster Pudding (aka Fatty) to the vet this morning. Poor Pudding has some kind of growth on his legs so he is slightly uncomfortable. I am not too sure what it was, and it doesn’t seem to be going away. I made an appointment prior to going as I know there are loads of people there during the weekend. I arrived on time and was pleased to know that I was next in queue. After the dude with a cat came out, I got myself ready to go in. To my surprise, the vet called a dog in. I enquired with the nurse and she gave a flaky answer, ‘Uhuh, I did remind the vet….’. After the dog came out, the nurse told the vet that she should be seeing Pudding first. Again, she called another dog in. By then, I was quite angry. I don’t see how other walk-in customers should be able to cut the queue. Also, I can tell that the vet couldn’t quite be bothered with a small hamster. It may be small, but is it not a pet as well? Why should it be perceived as any less important than a dog or cat? In the end, I walked out and took a cab back. I am sure I can find another vet who will take Pudding more seriously.

I made a simple carbonara and garlic bread for lunch. It was absolutely delightful. Simple yet flavourful. Carbonara is not something I normally order when I am at a restaurant because the ones I tried in the past had too strong a milky flavour which I dislike. This one that I made here is much better (to me at least) and I love the way the bacon and cream blended so well with the pasta. The garlic bread is a little sinful, judging from the amount of butter I added, but its worth it. I managed to use up most of the ingredients I bought in the past few days. Woohoo!

Spaghetti Carbonara

 

7 slices of thick-cut bacon (I used half streaky and half back bacon)

¼ cup thickened cream

1 egg, room temperature

½ an onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Handful of parsley and oregano, finely chopped

Spaghetti for 2

Parmesan cheese

  

1.    Break the egg into a bowl. Add cream and mix thoroughly. Set aside for later use.

 

2.    Chop up the bacon into fat pieces. Add a tablespoon of oil into a heated non-stick pan. Add in the bacon and let them cook for about 5 minutes.

 

3.    Add in the onions and cook until almost transparent. Throw in the chopped garlic.

 

4.    Cook the pasta into a pot of boiling salted water. Remove the pasta 2 minutes short of the stipulated cooking time.

 

5.    Add the pasta to the pan of bacon. Add parsley and oregano. Mix thoroughly. Pour the pasta into a heated bowl. Pour in cream mixture and toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

 

 

Garlic Bread

 

4 thick slices of baguette or any hard crust bread

5 tbsp of butter

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ an onion, finely chopped

Parmesan cheese

Cayenne pepper (optional)

 

1.        Melt butter in a non-stick pan. Add onion and let it cook till transparent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Leave aside to cool.

 

2.        Preheat the oven to grill mode at 175C (350F). Spread the mixture evenly onto the bread. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the bread. Top with some cayenne pepper for a spicy kick.

 

3.       Grill for 10 minutes, or until the cheese melt. Serve immediately.