Okay, I really think I should start documenting some of my culinary adventures from last year's travels or else I'm going to forget the details. So, here goes!
Wednesday, February 25. 2009
Culinary Travel Adventures
Horse meat in Verona
Horse meat tartare
Late last year, when an unexpected visit to Verona, Italy, led to an equally unexpected discovery that horse meat was a specialty, my curious nature got the better of me, and I HAD to try it. So, for lunch, my 3 friends and I ventured into a local restaurant in search of horse meat. My friends had the lunch set menu with 2 courses, while I went for the a la carte both for the greater choice and the more manageable portion of food. What did I order? Something extreme enough for our server to ask at least twice whether I knew what it was that I ordered: horse meat tartare. Yup. I went for the most extreme of extremes. :-P
Bistecca (well-done)
The verdict was that horse meat was less chewy and less strong in flavour as compared to beef; and it was well-received by all. Now I understand why so many people enjoy it.
But, you may still be wondering what raw horse meat tastes like. Well, with tartare, the flavour comes mainly from the added sauces/ingredients rather than the meat itself as raw meat is essentially tasteless. Texturally, it was quite chewy since it's not cooked. Rest assured, nothing happened afterwards, although I was quite stuffed from all the uncooked meat that my poor stomach/intestines had to digest!
Saturday, February 21. 2009
Oatly Milk
Some time ago, I ran across a random blog entry that mentioned "Oatly milk," a beverage made from oats and water as another alternative to dairy milk. As I'd been having normal soya and black soya milk for quite some time, I was keen on trying something new. As expected, it tastes of oats, but the flavour is much lighter than the soybean taste in soya milk, so it's a much better dairy replacement in beverages. I find it quite soothing to have before bed. It's just as nice with cereal. And it's quite addicting with just a little added sugar (as it comes without sugar) and even hot cocoa.
Nutrition: 100ml Serving Size
| |
Calories (kcal) |
Total fat (g) |
Sat fat (g) |
Total Carbs (g) |
Sugars (g) |
Protein (g) |
Fibre (g) |
| Oatly Milk |
35 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
6.5 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
| Soybean (Asian) |
59 | 1.3-1.7 | 0-0.5 |
8.3-10 |
8.8-9.4 | 2.1-2.7 | 0.3 |
| Semi-skimmed Milk (2%) |
51 |
2.0 |
1.3 | 5.2 |
5.2 |
3.4 |
0 |
Wednesday, February 18. 2009
Alternative Grains
With the recent push for increasing intake of dietary fiber, I've read about the various whole grains available--couscous, quinoa, bulgur, etc--and have been quite keen on trying them. This article gave the final stimulus. I'm not sure why, but bulgur seemed to be calling out the loudest; so I went for that first. Unfortunately, the taste and texture reminds me too much of Southern American grits, which I really really do not fancy. The texture is a bit too fine, and I was hoping for something a bit more substantial as I was looking to use these grains as a type of rice/bread/carbohydrate alternative. 
Clockwise (L-R): Korean mixed grains, pearl barley, bulgur
So next, I went for pearl barley, mainly because I found that it's beneficial for my spleen deficiency. I've had it before as it's commonly used in Asian soups and desserts, but I was planning to use it somewhat differently. It definitely takes a lot longer to cook, but thanks to my "special" rice cooker ("special" because it cooks until all the water has disappeared rather than stopping after a certain time, albeit a bit too far--i.e. burnt dry), I just pour about 4-5 times the amount of water, cook it further with additional water if needed, and leave it to soak with a little bit more water. The final product is a soft, almost rice-like texture but with a little more chew and nutty flavour. I quite like it!
And now, I've just mixed the barley with the Korean wild grains mixture (barley, millet, sweet brown rice, brown rice, job's tear, red bean, black bean, peeled mung bean, black sweet rice, corn, green pea) that I brought back from the States and have been enjoying the even chewier texture and nuttier flavour. Yum! 
Nutrition: 100g serving size
| |
Calories (kcal) |
Fat (g) |
Carbs (g) |
Protein (g) |
Fiber (g) |
| Barley | 123 |
0.4 |
28.2 |
2.3 |
3.8 |
| Bulgur | 83 |
0.2 |
18.6 |
3.1 |
4.5 |
| Brown rice |
112 |
0.8 |
23.5 |
2.3 |
1.8 |
| White rice |
130 |
0.3 |
28.5 |
2.7 |
0.4 |
| Mixed Grains |
269 |
2.5 | 53.75 | 7.5 |
7.5 |
Sunday, February 15. 2009
Trout with Woodears and Sun-dried Tomato
I saw an offer for 4 fillets of trout for £5, and it was just too enticing to pass. I've never cooked trout before and was quite eager to have some. Plus, for our lab Christmas dinner last year, I had a whole trout roasted with a mixture of mushrooms (enoki, oyster, chanterelles??) that tasted extremely delicious!
I didn't hunt for those exact mushrooms but decided to use what I had in my cupboard. Shiitake seemed too light, but I did have woodears which seemed closest to providing a smoky dark flavour. I also thought of using the sun-dried tomatoes. So, with those two ingredients, a little balsamic vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and the water used to reconstitute the dried tomatoes and woodears, I quickly braised the trout and then reduced the liquid to turn it into a sauce. Not the same, but still quite tasty after only ~10 minutes cooking time (was too hungry to attempt anything extensive)! If I have a little more time to cook next time, I may try roasting them together as that may give the fish a slightly harder texture and a more developed flavour.
