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Cadbury

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Posts posted by Cadbury

  1. Not at a home but at a Japanese restaurant where I (very briefly) worked: additions to the miso soup (tofu, spring/green onion) were placed in the bowl using fingers; left over liquids (soup etc.) were poured down the drain in the floor which then of course flooded so the entire kitchen floor was wet; uneaten fruit from the set menu dessert would be placed into another bowl and "topped up" for the next victim. After two shifts I quit in disgust! Unfortunately I didn't have the courage to ring the health department.

  2. Our local butcher is just great. The only meat they don't pick and slaughter themselves is chicken, and this comes in fresh twice a week. The quality is terrific. They will get whatever cut you ask for, make their own salami type products, sausages, hamburger patties, fritz/polony etc etc. All this in a little town of less than 200 people (though only decent butcher for 200km).

  3. Sadly, I am on my last box of "Fulcreem" custard powder, made in Western Australia until January last year. This was a staple for vanilla slice, sponge cakes, yoyo biscuits etc. Of course there are other brands but they just don't taste right. I will be miserable when this box is finished.

    Edited to add that I've even seen wanted ads on eBay for this product.

  4. The only time items have a price tag is if they are from a very small corner shop or more usually an Asian food store, in which case I leave the labels on for comparative purposes. If my husband was the sort that looked in the pantry (food comes from the fridge/freezer when he cooks) then I would have to remove the labels to aviod the "how much?????" questions.

  5. I have a question about your instant dashi - how much do you use per liter of water? Do you just add it to boiling water? Does it need to cook any more than that? I use something like instant tea bags when I make dashi. I don't know if I've ever seen instant here (though I might have passed over it as well). The tea bags are filled with bonito flakes and seasoning, and you just drop one in about 3/4 liter of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes.

    You may also be able to buy instant dashi in a box containing 5 sachets. The box is about 3x4" and looks like this:gallery_40681_2239_799797.jpg

    The sachets provide a bit more flexibility in cooking than teabags, eg if you only want to make a small amount.

  6. The Japanese think of meat in terms of 100 g, not 1 kg.

    Very roughly,

    beef is at least 168 yen per 100 g.  Likewise,

    Pork:  78

    Chicken thigh:  88

    Chicken breast:  48

    For comparison, with the Australian dollar being roughly equal to the yen at the moment, we pay (per 100g in yen):

    Beef: 160 (at least)

    Pork: 160

    Chicken thigh: 80-120

    Chicken breast: 140

    There are cheaper cuts of beef and pork but these are for stewing, braising etc and not useful for comparison. The cuts I have quoted on are for those similar to what I used to buy in Japan.

    ETA I live in a rural area with a very good quality butcher, however there is no competition, I do not have access to cut price supermarkets etc.

  7. While I love reading and learning about Japan and Japanese food, I have to confess that the greatest thrill of your blog so far is the use of milk cartons for cutting boards!  Now that's something I can use right now! :biggrin:

    You can even make a stool with milk cartons. :biggrin:

    Some years ago I taught at a school which had had a Japanese intern (Assistant teacher) the term before I arrived. One of the projects she had completed with the students was a number of small stools from milk cartons.

  8. This is kind of cheating, but Kinder Eggs - which have "good" chocolate, but really you buy them for the cheap toys.  We had a customer over Christmas season buy 300+ eggs, and when we asked what they did with all of the chocolate, they said, "we have it in a bag for later - we're on a diet."

    One Christmas I bought a Kinder egg for each guest as the novelty in the Christmas crackers I made. Putting the toys together was much more fun than the usual stupid jokes you get.

  9. I always think it's good to leave a few things undone on any trip; I think it increases the possibility that you'll return.

    We like to do this, too.

    I chose depachika.  We didn't eat all of this stuff, but this is my idea of sightseeing.  :smile:

    A woman after my own heart.

    Thanks so much for the fabulous photos and trip report, when my three grow a bit bigger, I'd love to do something similar (if I have any Japanese language skills left by then - nappy brain and all :laugh: ).

  10. I've been thinking about the pastry that in The Netherlands is known as 'spekkoek'. Koek means cake and spek = pork belly, because of the dark and white layers resembling pork belly.

    In The Netherlands, you can buy spekkoek at Indonesian shops and toko's, and i't's served as dessert in Indonesian restaurants. I've never seen it, or anything like it, in Dutch shops or bakeries, not have I seen anything like it in my old Dutch recipe books.

    I found a recipe in my 1941 cookbook for spekkoek. It contains clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon and coriander and is baked in 5 or 6 layers.

  11. -pressure cooker

    -slow cooker (crock pot)

    -steamer

    -deep fryer

    -fondue pot

    -rice cooker

    -pasta pot

    -mini roaster

    In the late 70's my mum had an appliance which was all of the above except the pressure cooker. It had a crockpot insert, fryer basket, steamer insert etc. with a temperature control knob similar to an electric frying pan.

    It was only decommissioned a few years ago.

  12. In another thread here, CdnLifeguard asked about a Dutch dessert to serve for a birthday. When I checked Chufi's recipe index, I noticed that Chocoladevla wasn't listed, although it has been discussed in the context of the ready-made drink/dessert purchased in cartons.

    My mum used to make Chocoladevla occasionally and having not had it for some time and never having made it myself, some research was in order :smile::raz::smile:

    My dutch cookbook (published in 1941!) has two recipes in it each quite different so I rang my Oma to find her method (and to make sure I had translated/guessed correctly). I then rang my mum and checked on the family recipe, which of course I had to test for myself.

    If you can make custard from a packet, then you can make chocoladevla. Just make sure you slowly incorporate the cold milk into the cornflour/starch and cocoa mixture until it is smooth, then pour that over your hot milk.

    The recipe is now in RecipeGullet, but I have included it here too.

    Chocoladevla

    1 l milk

    30—40 g cocoa powder

    40 g cornflour / cornstarch

    1 egg yolk

    100—125 g sugar

    Blend sifted cocoa and cornflour with enough milk (from 1 litre total) to make a paste.

    Heat remaining milk in a saucepan. When just boiling, take off the heat and carefully blend in cocoa mix. Return to heat and bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1-2 minutes, turn off heat.

    Stir in sugar and egg yolk. Pour into individual dishes or one large bowl. Place in fridge to set. Serve with whipped cream.

  13. Chocoladevla (Dutch Chocolate Pudding)

    My mother used to make this on special occasions.

    You need to taste the vla after adding the sugar to determine if more is needed (this depends on the quality of cocoa powder used).

    A vanilla bean can also be added to the milk when heating, remove before adding the cocoa mixture.

    • 1 l milk
    • 30 g cocoa powder
    • 40 g cornflour / cornstarch
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 100 g sugar

    Blend sifted cocoa and cornflour with enough milk (from 1 litre total) to make a paste.

    Heat remaining milk in a saucepan. When just boiling, take off the heat and carefully blend in cocoa mix. Return to heat and bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1-2minutes, turn off heat.

    Stir in sugar and egg yolk. Pour into individual dishes or one large bowl. Place in fridge to set. Serve with whipped cream.

    Keywords: Dessert, Chocolate, Pudding

    ( RG1958 )

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