Survival Cooking.05 :: 麻婆豆腐四川風（家庭走辣版）

After deciding the title for this post I started typing the content and hit a dead end on the 2nd sentence....So I backspaced the hell out of there, crossed my arms and just stopped.

WTF is 麻婆豆腐 in english? Directly pronounced from Japanese/Cantonese (like in between) it'll sound like "Ma-bo Doufu". But that doesn't really translate coz we still look like a bunch of pigeons. The chinese characters in english would mean....Numb..biOld Lady Bean Curd.....That sounds like a diss so that prolly ain't right. It was a waste of time trying so I just Wiki-ed the damn characters and got.....

...Mapo Doufu

Ok Mapo Doufu it is. The whole dish basically is Bean-curd with minced beef and spicy pepper sauce. The origin comes from a Pock-marked old lady making a bean-curd dish, so the name ended up being 麻婆豆腐. MA-PO DOU-FU. Anyways you can check her out later if you're interested. So the title for this post is "Mapo Doufu Sichuan Style" (マーボーどうふシセンふう　かていソウラーばん）

A bit long already so I'll make things short. There are many ways to make MAPO DOUFU but things should be kept nice and simple at home so you can ditch the fancy stuff like chili flakes and rice wine. What you do need is garlic, fermented black beans, chili broad bean paste(豆瓣酱), chili oil, spring onions and minced meat(can be pork or beef).↓


Just throw them all in, cook a bit, dust some salt, add few blocks of bean-curd and you're done. Don't need to add any extra water because the pork and bean-curd provides enough moist. Just one thing to note is not to smash the bean-curd too much or it'll turn pasty...which I almost pulled off.

The taste was pretty good. Not as spicy as I preferred. It's gotta be lip-numbing spicy if you label it "Sichuan Style". The people in Sichuan would beat the shit out of me if I served this, so 6 it is.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (6/10)

Survival Cooking.04 :: Pork Curry (No Style)

Didn't realize how long it's been since I left the damn couch.

After watching what Emmerich is doing to us I decided it was time to prepare for the future (again).

Curry and Ramen (noodles) is probably one of the most popular menus in Japan (heck, in the world) so you probably see a section in your local supermarket with a exclusive lane filled with all the instants. It's really handy and the Japanese put extra attention to details (and the fly trap packaging), professional curry out of the box. But this time I went with curry powder, from zilch style.

In Japan yogurt, cocoa, apple and chocolate (yes chocolate), are commonly used for hidden flavors/spices but unfortunately I had none of the above so I just threw in some onions, potatoes and pickled pork. Ofcourse from the previous session, onions first, to pop some smell. Pork, curry powder, water and then potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes and you're good to go.

What I learnt this time is that the potatoes give the thickness to the curry. Before cutting the potatoes into blocks, cut some chips so they melt, resulting in a more creamy gravy. Maybe common sense but I didn't know how much to put in so it turned out a bit thinner than what I prefer. Pork covered for it though.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (7/10)

Survival Cooking.03 :: Tonkatsu (Fried Pork Cutlet)

The overall process is very easy, but it's a bit hard for anyone without patience. I'm one of them so it was pretty hard. I'll tell you why later. It's a easy dish but hey everything starts from the basics.

Basically all you do is cut up some meat (pork loin this time), salt&pepper it, and dip into 1.flour > 2.beaten eggs > and 3.panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) in specific order. Prepare a pot of boiling oil and just dip right in for approx. 2 minutes until it turns gold.

Preparing for the boil is the hard part because you have to mix it into flour > beaten eggs > and panko for each piece which is quite a pain in the ass if you're making a whole lot for many people and if you don't have patience. Then you have to boil a few pieces at a time for 2 minutes each. Yes I know if you like cooking that's all fun blah blah but maybe if the AC was on I would of had more patience. It's just too damn hot and humid in HK. I'll continue my mission though and hopefully I won't be tossed in the bin.

Survival Cooking.02 :: Fried Rice

Been slacking off lately from my survival missions(and I've only learned 1 so far). As I watch TV and continue witnessing the chics dominance over men, I decided it was time to put my foot down again. Since I spilled my intension on these suicide missions here, I'll just go right on with what's cooking.

Fried Rice (炒飯・チャーハン)

One of the basics of the basics Chinese cuisine, fried rice is basically...fried rice with mixed ingredients. So you just dump whatever you feel like eating today in a pack of cold rice and chow. EasyPeasy.

(Surprisingly)Not quite

Mainly everything is done with a wok and hoak ladle. I used the traditional kind without any enhanced coating so the whole "wok" needs to be heated thoroughly before anything happens to prevent the rice and ingredients to stick on the surface. (The woks or fry pans nowadays are mostly coated, but in case you're a caveman like me..)After heating 1 minute each on 4 sides (上下左右) coat the wok with salad oil.



The following goes in this order:
1. spring onions
2. eggs
3. rice
4. pork



Onions go in first fried directly with oil to bring out the smell to max. Then the eggs go in so the onions will be mixed into the scrambled eggs and therefore maintain shape rather than being hung around loose in the dish. Switch the fire off and throw in the rice. Mush the rice a bit and add some seasoning (salt / pepper) before turning the fire back on. The pork goes in last to avoid being overdone. The rest is just stirring everything together until you can't stand the hunger. No I didn't do the flip thingy, to avoid obvious reasons. Maybe some other day.

That's basically it. I learned you can basically throw in anything but the order you stir it in makes quite a difference so the process needs to be considered depending on your ingredients.

The taste?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆(7/10)

Could've added more seasoning. And it wasn't stirred thorough enough. And I didn't do the flip thingy. Next time....

Survival Cooking.01 :: Hamburger Steak

When the word "cook" comes across your mind, I assume MOST people think of a lady in a apron (let's exclude Chefs). Especially domestically (let's exclude the celebrity reality shows). In Japan, I'm pretty sure "lady in a apron" is almost a 90% rate. In Hong Kong, alot of families have full-time domestic helpers, and yes they are Women in a 100% rate (which I honestly disagree with having because the kids are seriously spoiled). Maybe somewhere out of the east as well, before the year 2000.

In a world like this, the year 2000, men have to learn how to cook to survive. Seriously. The Gender Level's been shifting quite a bit recently, if you know what I mean. Women are overpowering Men. I read somewhere in a article that science is at a point where Women can have babies individually. That time can be coming really soon. Which mean Men will be one useless piece of crap one day. No value means a toss to the bin. Hell, in the future there will probably only be one gender. Anyways, men on earth, we need to fight. To give yourself some value, cooking may be one of the many steps.

....So I decided it was time to learn. I mean really cook. Not instants.

So I went with an easy one for my debut. Hamburger Steak. Through this process I learned how to cut onions to shreds! The rest is just pounding meat, mixing some eggs and bread crumbs and putting it to shape.

We'll see what's next.