eG Foodblog : yunnermeier - Hungry in Holland,Oberhausen & Budapes

[ludja]

Thank you for sharing your Bavarian pork roast recipe, yunnymeier!

One thing that is interesting is the use of cumin---I'm not as familiar with German as Austrian food, but I'm wondering if that cumin is really meant to be "caraway seed". (I'm sure it is delcious with the cumin, in any case.)

In any of my cookbooks from Germany or Austria I've not seen mention or use of cumin, but I have quite often seen recipes on line for German pork dishes or sauerkraut that mention cumin... As far as I know, typically, these recipes would use caraway seeds if they use a spice like that .

I found this link, but would be curious if any Germans have a comment on this! (Maybe I'll start a separate thread...)

Germany Caraway

Caraway (Kuemmel)

Small seeds, usually sold dry, that look almost like celery seeds or cumin seeds.  Caraway seeds are vital in German cuisine. They are a must in rye bread, in cabbage and in sauerkraut specialties. Their flavor and aroma is totally different from cumin, but they are often mistaken because of the similarity in their name. Cumin in German is "Kreuzkuemmel."

In any case, thank you very much for your fun blog!

edited to add: That is so cool that you made those small jellie. I've never seen anything quite like that.

Edited November 2, 2006 by ludja (log)

[yunnermeier]

Abra,

I think in Malaysia, it's usually spelt as Bak Kut Teh ...it must be one of those things...

Ludja,

What you said is very interesting. I think you're probably right because Markus and my mum went to the market together and he picked cumin, probably because it looked like the caraway seeds he's used to?

[yunnermeier]

herbie is giving me a headache hehehe

[Tepee]

Those jellies are (or were) really popular in Malaysia. Putting some kind of seed in them is also common (they look like kiwi seeds). My mum sent me some Konnyaku powder along with the molds via my friend. I added sugar ,lemon essence and of course the fruits.

Those little seeds are basil seeds....very cooling but adds an interesting texture.

Abra! I salute you for drinking 2 bowls of that vile stuff. BKT is nothing like it. If the B word in BKT is spelled Bat, it's wrong. BAK is meat in Hokkien, Kut=Bones.

LOL, yunny, this Msian is enjoying being educated from your blog. Lots of stuff the average Msian doesn't get to do. Have a good holiday!

[emilyr]

Ok, time for some Malaysian food!  Here's the dreaded Pak Chan soup.

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What is in the soup? What are its flavors? Herby? Salty? Fishy? Meaty?

[Abra]

Here's another of Mei's dishes, although, even without help from Herbie, she has no idea what it is. And she sent it to me! A year or so ago Mei and I did a food exchange, and she sent me all sorts of mysterious packets of spices and pastes from Malaysia, that I've been gingerly working my way through ever since. So today, in honor of the fact that she and Tepee both said "HUH?" when I mentioned the Taipan Chicken, I made it. It was really and truly delicious, and the preparation is very bizarre, to me.

You rub the copious contents of the spice packet all over the chicken, then wrap it first in the plastic then in the foil layers, both of which were thoughtfully provided right in the package. And the stuff was so different from any wrap I've seen here it was amazing. The plastic wrap was non-sticky, and the foil was soft and non-crumply.

When it's all wrapped up you pop it in the steamer for 2 hours.

After which it's super tender and moist and releases a lot of juices and fat to put on your rice.

I served it with a decidedly non-Malaysian pile of glazed carrots, and it was really killer. It tastes of white pepper and maybe sand ginger and other warm spices. If you can find some of this stuff, grab it. I know I'll be looking for it locally.

Thanks Mei, I wish you'd been here for dinner!

[Tepee]

Okie.....off to look for it during my weekend grocery run. I've got a nice free-range chicken just the right size for this dish. Tks, Abra.

On 2nd thots...you did say you liked the Pak Chan soup....so how do we know this is not funky like that? Just kidding. I think I know how this tastes...chinese herby.

[SheenaGreena]

im sorry, but what is pak chan soup? I even did a search for it and I still don't know what it is or what's in it?

great blog by the way (: I love the malaysian/european mix

[yunnermeier]

Abra , Oooohhh that looks like what we call 'Begger's chicken' ! Did it taste sort of herbly as well?

SheenaGreene, Pak Chan is this vile soup Chinese women drink after uh huh you know, getting her period because it's very 'nourishing' BLA BLA BLA. It's the most disgusting thing ever, so thick, so black, so smelly , puke material really...

Bad news, not going to Germany anymore. Gtg. Farmboy wants computer!

[Tepee]

sheenagreena: Have to google its pinyin name. Ba Zhen soup

[Tepee]

Morning, yunny. So, no Germany...whereforth?

[yunnermeier]

Ok back,

Nah ,the bf was feeling a bit ill and was hideously grumpy(I'm not gonna drive all the way to Germany for you take food pictures, mei!) ! He's decided that he really wants to buy fireworks so we WILL go to Oberhausen after all

See you in 10 hours or so!

Edited November 3, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[MarketStEl]

Markus' Bavarian Roast Pork/Beef

For approx. 1kg of meat (the part between the neck and shoulder)

Ingredients:

Mustard

jintan putih (cumin)

2-3 shallots (chopped)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 chicken cube (or your own)

some carrots and potatoes (I didn't put this because I made mashed potatoes as a side dish)

salt and pepper

1) Cut some slits on the fatty part  and rub a little salt and pepper all over the meat. Then slather the mustard ( any kind really..my mother uses American mustard, I used Honey Mustard the first time I made this and French Mustard today.. Honey mustard is less strong though) all over the meat (Don't drown it but don't be too stingy either!)

2) Lightly sprinkle some cumin

3) Mix in the onions, garlic,carrots and potatoes and bake at 200 degrees celscious for 30-45 minutes (until the meat is a bit roasted and the onions have turn brown).

4) Melt the chicken cube in some hot water. Pour this over the meat (the mixture should be about 1 inch high), reduce the oven to 100-120 degrees celscious and bake for another 2 hours (about 45 minutes-1hour less for beef).

Again, if anyone tries this, please PM me or tell us here. No one has ever tried ANYTHING of mine and I want to know!

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Deal!

I have a pork loin chillin' in my freezer, waiting for an appropriate recipe. This looks like it might be one.

There's been a lot of mishegas in my life this week, so I haven't been able to keep up with your adventures on a regular basis, but what I've been able to follow has been quite fascinating. To be honest, after this week, I could probably use some of that spacecake. Got a slice to spare?

Edited to add: I assume you're cooking the roast in a Dutch oven and not an open roasting pan? (And if you reply to this question with "Of course--I'm in a kitchen in the Netherlands," I will have to shoot you. )

Edited November 3, 2006 by MarketStEl (log)

[Franci]

sheenagreena: Have to google its pinyin name. Ba Zhen soup

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I think I had something similar. My husband's cousin is a chinese doctor and prescribed for me the soup, I am not sure it was this one,Yunnermeier, you are right! So disgusting.

P.S.:

I am really enjoying your blog!

Edited November 3, 2006 by Franci (log)

[yunnermeier]

This is a very disappointed Mei reporting again from Arnhem, The Netherlands :

Oberhausen was so disappointing! There wasn't much to do, the local castle (Schloss?) looked quite pathetic (more like a giant Dutch house really) and the market only had a few stalls . In the end, the only person who had any fun was Farmboy who was happily pushing his little car to the limit (no speed limits)

Here are some pictures I took of the market:

Altmarkt

The Potato Stall

Egg Woman

A pastry shop

Farmboy and I agreed that Oberhausen is one of the ugliest places we've ever been. Buildings weren't pretty, the city itself looked quite poor..it's probably best described as "former Soviet Union" (although it isn't )

Oh, did I mention that we also had the ickiest bread ever? We threw it away I did come back with a pair of boots though

Dinner tonight will be in Arnhem(didn't see any interesting restaurants in Oberhausen although to be fair, I didn't do any research regarding this).!I'm not even sure what to make yet!

Laters!

Edited November 3, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[yunnermeier]

Sandy , tell me how it turns out!

Franci , hello! It's the most disgusting thing ever, innit? Did you drink the whole bowl? Do you take Chinese herbal soups often?

[yunnermeier]

Whoops!

I forgot to report the after-effects of Operation Spacecake. We only had a small slice each and the effects were slow.

I got a headache at first and I swear, the floor was moving. Anyway, there was lots of cycling mid-air (long story) with the Farmboy who thought it was hilarious. I don't think I've seen Farmboy this funny before.

The thing with spacecake (or at least this one) is that it makes me so sleepy! After 30 minutes of festivities, I just slept, as did he. The best sleep I got this week

ETA: I wanted to make simple Cajun fried chicken tonight but Farmboy 's locked me out of the kitchen because he insists on making Bobotie for dinner...

Edited November 3, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[miladyinsanity]

Gee, my mother has to have a secret then because she manages to get me to drink Pak Chan soup and I'm the person who can't even stand the smell of soaking shiitake mushrooms.

[chocomoo]

For the curious, "pak chan" or "ba zhen" means 8 Treasure (it contains 8 different herbs). Some treasure! I'm not sure if I've had pak chan soup before, but I hate all Chinese herbal "soups". The worst part is when you get to the bottom of the bowl & there are bits of twigs & leaves

[yunnermeier]

Farmboy tried his best, bless him. I'm posting a picture here but please don't laugh, okay? We're both poor students and everything was either bought for 1 euro or was donated

I'm afraid that's the most (his hands) you'll see of Farmboy

Dessert was Walnut & Honey Greek yoghurt

The boys are having a BB Gun shooting match now

Edited November 3, 2006 by yunnermeier (log)

[Abra]

The link Mei gave to the pak chan soup shows the ingredients as Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Rhizoma Rehmanniae Preparata, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Radix Codonopsis, Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong, Poria, Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata .

Mine was a little different - it included red dates, paeonia lactielora, and astragali, and didn't have chuanxing or paeonia alba. So maybe that's why it was good. Also, no bits of twigs, leaves, or herbs, because it was all in two filter bags that you boil in the soup then toss. I liked it, but then, I have weird food tastes.

And no, the chicken wasn't herby at all, just spicy. And yummy.

With the bobotie, is that rice? What are those dark bits in it? I see that one of you eats with two spoons, and one with two forks. Which is which?

[racheld]

I'm posting a picture here but please don't laugh, okay? We're both poor students and everything was either bought for 1 euro or was donated 

Now, that's just charming---pretty and neat, and all you need on one tray. It looks delicious, there will be only two plates to wash, and someone else cooked!!!

What more could a girl want?

[SheenaGreena]

thanks for the link, teepee.

that stuff is not as bad as the crap my mom used to give me when I was little. I was always complaining about being cold so she made me drink this god awful brown liquid. It had a ton of herbs in it and it had some deer antlers and I think some kind of product made from a seal. However after I finished drinking the stuff I could go to the store and get some candy. I had to drink it while holding my nose and I could still taste it. I think I was 11 at the time. Damn the chinese for making the sick eat/drink horrible stuff.

I'm not really damning the chinese (its a joke), they do make delicious eats after all!

ps this thread is not meant to offend anyone, except for my mom

Edited November 3, 2006 by SheenaGreena (log)

[chocomoo]

I'm sooooo glad I never had to drink Chinese herbal tea made from bugs that my mom & her siblings had to drink! Honestly, how did anyone ever get the idea that drinking boiled bug juice would make you feel better?

I find that Chinese medicine goes down better if it's been refridgerated (although I'm told that that kind of defeats the purpose).

I always really looked forward to my reward of haw flakes after that bottomless bowl of black liquid (how's that for alliteration?).

[mizducky]

Heh. I am reminded of the story my friend told me of her consultation with a Chinese doctor. He gave her a mix of herbs for her condition, to be made into a tea. His instructions included filling one's mouth with raisins before drinking down the tea, to combat its vile taste. "It helps," he told her, "but not much."