what are you eating today?

[mis]

I hope thats not spaghetti

[eleven]

Back after a long time away...

A dinner for two:

Braised chinese leaf with chillies

Steamed egg with goji berries

Dessert: rabbit buns filled with mung bean paste

[Jamolos Orm]

take it off earlier and rest it 5-10mins

looks like there's a bit of blood juices seeping out too despite you saying its over

so i'm assuming you didn't rest it

resting steaks is vitally important

Thank you. How do I go about if I want to eat a scorching hot steak?

[dismalfuture]

you put it in the oven at a low temperature, like 150. At that temperature, it won't be cooking anything, just keeping it warm.

When you rest meat, the actual temperature inside goes up too, I think.

Best way is to heat one of those cast iron skillets til smoking, do both sides for a few minutes so you get a crust on them, then put the whole thing in the oven, skillet and all.

[dizzle]

I hope thats not spaghetti

nah, its some dried AzN noodles, although I have used spaghetti when im out of the regular stuff.

making a good steak can depend on the thickness of it. if its pretty thin, searing it over medium high heat on both sides should be good. for thicker piecies, start with a sear on high heat, and I usually don't let the 2nd side sear as much since its going to be on the botton anyway. put that in a 350 oven for like 10 min and then rest it under a foil tent for a few min.

[2000dB]

Im homesick now... and hungry. Eat one for me, mass.

[soepom]

^ the last cake was apple cider buttersctoch cake.

i knew i could count on you to remember buddy.

mum took me out for a kiddie dimsum as a belated celebration for my birthday:

(can't remember the exact names of the dishes so i've invented some corny uncreative approximations)

"longevity peaches" - a miniature interpretation of the peach buns for traditional chinese birthdays.

"crispy pumpkin" - deep fried yam cake stuffed with salty lotus paste

"rainbow tadpoles" - dumpling stuffed with vegetables and shrimp paste

"fortune frogs" - steamed seafood patty with mushroom and water chestnut

"hedgehog" - coconut bun

"sweet snails" - flaky pastry with red bean filling

"mini mice" - dumplings stuffed with "luo han" vegetarian mix

"hot dogs" - chinese sausage wrapped in fluffy soft bun

"curry bears" - crispy pastry with curried potato filling

[soepom]

just so you get an idea of the size of these darling dimsums...

frankenstenian dimsum

ended the cutesy lunch with lobster noodles:

drinks later:

only had room for some french onion soup for dinner:

[mpcec]

Wow... that all looks really really good, puts happy meals to shame. Happy Birthday.

[mlproject]

soepom must spend millions on her eats haha

[somsjeans]

that onion soup looks awesome!

[dizzle]

that dimsum looks awesome soepom, some creative shit goin on

Ribeye with mushrooms and veggies(green and yellow beans, carrots, onions, and garlic) with cous cous

Romaine and cucumber salad

[cuddlysheep]

you livin in korea?

closest thing I can get to pho where I live...I eat this like 3 times a week

[dizzle]

nah i live in san luis obispo (central california), a mostly white town and there isn't one around for 30 min

[soepom]

nice colours on that last meal dizzle.

Man you guys were so holding out on me! The past few posts of food looks amazing.

Oh and Happy belated Birthday

thank you lah!

and yes, we have deliberately withheld some good food secrets so as to entice you to return to the island again.

[kpnv]

How to cook a steak.

Cooking steak is like driving a train. You start out accelerating to top speed then gradually slow down as you're arriving at your preferred destination, be it medium rare or cancer inducing. There's no turning back.

The size, cut, type, marbling and age of meat all affect cooking times and results. Gigantic American sized steaks take longer to cook. Anything with bone on also takes longer. Bigger is not necessarily better.

The first thing you want to do is to warm up your oven. Then trim your meat. The things you'll want to remove are excess fat and sinew or silver skin.

Second thing is shape. Truss your meat into a nice round shape. For large cuts like t-bones, leave as is. You can also lightly pound the meat to make it an even thickness instead of tying. This is for presentation and more importantly, even cooking.

Next thing is to heat up your pan. Use an oil that has a high smoking point. Olive/canola/vege oil is good. Extra virgin is not. For extra colour/browning/flavour, you can add a touch of butter. Heat the oil until its almost smoking. You should hear the meat sizzle as it hits the pan. Wiggle the meat to make sure it doesn't stick.

When the meat hits the pan, sear all around. This helps retain juices. Brown the steak presentation side down until the desired colour. Then turn it over and sear the other side. Then sear the sides and edges as well. Basically colour the exterior at the highest heat you can and in the shortest time possible.

The next step is to place the meat into an already warm oven. The ideal temp. is typically 180-200 degrees celsius. This allows the meat to cook evenly. 250 would dry out the outside and 150 would take too damn long.

To test for doneness, you can press the meat at its thickest point and compare it to your hand. Hold your index finger to your thumb and then press on your palm just below the thumb. This is rare. The middle finger is medium rare, ring finger is medium well and pinky is well done. The difference is the firmness. Remember that if your steak has the bone on, it takes longer to cook through, particularly at the bone. Another thing to do is to stab your meat. If the juices run clear, its cooked. If there's a ton of blood, it needs more time. If nothing comes out, it's gone.

Take the meat out the oven and off the pan and place it in a warm place. A cool (50 degrees) oven is ideal or near the stove. Cover the meat with foil to retain heat. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes. Resting the meat allows the muscle fibres to relax and equalizes the internal juices. The meat is still warm from the oven so it continues to cook as its resting. Its still warm after its done resting.

If you have small/thin pieces of meat or no oven, you can basically cook one side until the meat colours up to halfway, flip it until desired doneness and rest.

I do not suggest eating anything scorching. If the food is at a high temperature, your taste buds will struggle with the heat rather than taste anything. Resting meat does not mean letting it get cold Its an important step in cooking meat and skipping it gets you poorer results.

There are other methods of cooking a steak that involve microwaves, lasers and blowtorches but this method is the simplest, most effective, straightforward and easy to perform by anyone with a stove and a pan.

[madeinkorea23]

^awesome. i really could use that cause um about 3 weeks ago, i completely failed. i used a pan and it looked done on the outside so i just decided to eat but it was pure red inside, not rare but just raw so i threw it in the microwave and cooked it there.

[plongin]

from what i hear, you just gotta heat up the grill really really really fucking hot, and then sear the mofo slab of meat for about 45 secs on each side and you get a fucking awesome steak.

ive had too many of these today.

[backinthetrees]

for a relaxing time, make it suntory time

[plongin]

for a relaxing time, make it suntory time

yeah im doing everything suntory. from the whiskey to the beer to the coffee and the red bull-like energy drinks.

mr harris got it right. lip my stocking.

[Guest sousvide]

i ate some good stuff today, some quince jelly doughnuts, some sunchoke risotto with smoked duck coppa, and some sousvide leg of venison. all in a days work.

I want nooodles though....

[dismalfuture]

some quince jelly doughnuts, some sunchoke risotto with smoked duck coppa

these 2 sound fucking magic, where do you live?

[soepom]

fuckin hell plongin. go japan boh jio!?!?!??!?!!? you better damn well show us the food you're eating there to make up for it.

lunch at home yesterday:

bak kut teh (spicy/herbal pork rib soup) noodles

lunch at home today (mum says we are almost done with clearing the old stock from the fridge. she also said we could survive a war for three years holed up at home. i agree. but only if we still have internet connection.)

canteloupe steamed cakes (gift from japan)

free tapas dinner at work:

[Guest sousvide]

these 2 sound fucking magic, where do you live?

vancouver, canada

[eleven]

Excuse the bad photos once again...

Roast pork dinner with roast potatoes and veg

Close-up...

Served with this amazing apple/cranberry sauce/shiraz mix

[soepom]

McDelivery for lunch:

Chicken Foldover, McCrispy (chicken wings), Fillet-O-Fish, Fries (with Seaweed Shaker Condiment for all that msg goodness).

I actually like Macs. Didn't have my usual double cheeseburger though.

buffet dinner at work:

and yes, i went back for seconds...

[billy dee williams]

i hope you dont plan on eating all that McD's. jesus

[maximalism]

mcd = pure scum

[soepom]

shared it with my family. that's a lot of fries, even for a big eater like me.

it might seem like an epicurean blasphemy, but i like mcdonald's. it's more than just some fastfood junk to me. there's a good deal of sentimentality attached to eating there. i'd eat it anyday.

[Felix]

MCD?? and you wonder why you have to sell your pants...

eat more dumplings