a great vicotry today

great victory = people says your cooking is great. Hahahahahaha today i made 凉面 noddle with some cold sauce. It was another dish from taiwan that i miss alot. both my grandfather and father says it's nice. my grandfather is a cook somemore. the link i found the recipe is from http://meishi.88838.com/. i normally looked up on chinese website for recipes unles i looking for pastas or other country cuisine. the most importnat material is the sesame sauce which they do not sell. i ask the dried store uncle for sesame sauce, he ask me go home grind myslef... argh.... almost wanted to punch him.
Firstly, you buy the white sesame seed. If you got the time try to dry the seed more. if not just blend it using multi purpose blender to GRIND the seed. however the grinder doesn't seem to work very well . the oil from the sesame oil sick the whole paste onto the side of the container and the grinder cannot reach. i keep knocking form the outside hoping the paste will fall into the grinding knife but it was too sticky. so just try your best.
after that pour the paste into a pot and pour OIL into the your paste just when it covers up the paste. now cook it under small fire anmd stir constantly or non-stop or else the paste will chao da. when the paste turns into light brown or you see it boiling then it can be used. Use water to spread out the paste evenly. Add soya sauce, vinegar, chopped garlic, sesame oil and some sugar. It taste normal by tiself. but it blends totally well with the noodle.
you can decorate with thin slices of the small cucumber and ham.

当归鸭 (dang gui duck) with mee sua

It is one of my fav dish from taiwan. I searched from the website and bought the ingredient from the yu yan shen and the zheng zhong ping around my house there. i must now introduce to all women this herb. dang1 gui1 (chinese angelica root) is a chinese medicine herb that helps to revitalise your blood and help the flow of your blood. it helps to smoothen your menstral cycle and ease the pain. The herb itself has a characteristic smell and if you leave it unclosed or expose in t your fridge the whole ridge will smell of dang gui. same effect as durian. The herb itself is warm and sweet, therefore those who are heaty or heaty in nature please do not try this herb related food or medicine. In many of the ancinet chinese herb text it is believed that it is meant for people who are weak (虚) eg. after pregnancy when a pregnant women lost extensive amount of blood, fluid and energy.
put all the ingrdient includes 当归~15g 川芎~7.5g 枸杞~12g 黄芪~15g 桂枝7.5g one duck and some rice wine or cooking wine. the whole soup will be full of the fragrance of the dang gui. it need not be exact but the proportion be that is okay. i myslef also dont weigh it on a scale or balance or whatever thing you think of the ancient ppl will do to get the exact amount. cooking is simple. chop up the duck and boiled it once. pour away theblood water and fats. if you are scared of too much oil as ducks do have. remove selectively of the duck skin or refrain from using neck areas. alternatively boil a second time to removeand remove the water again. finally put all the herbs into a cloth bag or sth and cook together. boil for 45 min and small fire for 2-3 hrs. the longer the better.

getting started

Days just went passed by and nothing was done. It is the long sch vacation when you get to enjoy and have fun. It was my mum suggested that i cook some medicated food with chinese herbs since i got nothing to do at home. i must be grateful that she is in supportive of what i am learning now. Therefore, i went to start shopping for ingredient like a houseman. It feels kinda weird la. It started like 3 weeks ago. When fres around asking what you doing now, i iwll reply meekly like 'cooking'. then most of them will like "oh... working.. i see" then i have to correct them again like "cooking" at home. But then it is not like i dun enjoyed it. It is just that i am conscious of what i am being judged as. WHatever it is i think cooking is fun but tiredsome. But the satisfactory arose when ppl or your family says that what you cook taste good. And you know it is not to just humor you.