Gourmet Scientist

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.

I think there are only so many people out there who can actually get excited by something so trivial as sun-dried tomatoes that are actually dried and not swimming in oil. I think it's mainly because I was able to find what I wanted rather than the item itself. In any case, one day for some unknown reason, I was struck with the desire of hunting for dry-preserved sun-dried tomatoes. I've never bought them before, and I was surprised when I managed to find some at the local supermarket. That night, I reconstituted some in water, and braised it with some onions and lamb. Yum! For lunch the next day, I steamed some vegetables and added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Yum again! Nothing more than tomatoes and some salt, they're really packed with flavour. Definitely a happy and satisfied person.

Several years ago when soy yogurt had just come out, I had a fairly negative impression of how it tasted. I've always loved the Asian soy bean drink, so the soy flavour is quite familiar. But there was something strange. I can't quite recall. It might have been the unfamiliarity of soy + sourness + grainy texture. But about a month ago, I decided to give it another attempt seeing as it's been so long and the health food trend has improved significantly. Surprisingly, I found it quite tasty, especially the Provamel brand. Besides the slightly "lumpy" texture, the soy flavour is barely perceptible. It's also quite fruity. The other brand that was available--Sojade--wasn't quite as good. It was less fruity and sweet, but it still seemed to taste better than what I had remembered. Of course, my taste buds might have changed, but it's pretty incredible to know how fast alternative health foods are improving.

After a long enough break, I think it really is high-time that I restart my blogging. I've finally moved most of the entries from my previous blog to here. Apologies to all for letting it slip. I admit there were a few times I intended to write, but thinking of all that needed catching up, the effort disappeared. But thanks to an unexpected Christmas present (this website!!), I've been pushed--both forcibly and not--to start again. Of course, I do have my PhD dissertation to finish by August/September amongst a host of other things, but such is life, and I think I can manage (or at least I hope so).