Willy's Charolita Tacos at Home

I usually order two of them at Willy's

I had a piece of left over NY strip steak from the other night. So to revive the leftover, I made the charolita tacos from Willy's. They are small tacos at the restaurant, with the very simple ingredients of your choice of meat, cabbage, onion, salsa verde, cilantro and a splash of lime. 

What's inside of it 

It's hard not to pile up

The crunchy cabbage is the key to this dish. You might also want to flavor the steak with fajita seasonings.

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More for the Ears

I like these pale colored crystals. They are just right for this time of the year, I think. Not heavy and gaudy, but you can see them sparkle in the light when you move.

Peach colored crystals

They swing when you move

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Swarovski Crystal Dangling Earrings

While waiting for the hot spring eggs to cook, I made another pair of earrings. I found these Swarovski crystal flower beads at the local crafts store. They were so cute, I just stood there and kept looking at them. I am glad I finally decided to get them. 

Iridescent crystal flowers

These crystals are small and delicate, and they change colors from different angles. It's like having the little rainbows on your ears!

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Let the Great Experiment Begin! Part III

Third time's a charm

This is my third attempt to make the perfect "hot spring eggs." In the first experiment, both the white and the yolk came out rather runny, resulting in the failing grade. The second time, I brought the eggs to the room temperature and poured in the boiling hot water and left them for 20 minutes. The eggs were pretty good, only the yolk could be less firm for my taste. This time, I tried 19 minutes instead of 20 minutes, keeping everything else exactly the same. Let's see if just one minute could make a difference.

Results:
What we see here is the perfect "hot spring egg." The white was opaque and cooked through but still very soft. When I cracked it open, the egg separated from the shell right off, holding the perfect shape.

Good shape, the white is firm enough

The yolk was also in the proper firmness, still keeping creaminess and richness. When I cut the yolk with a spoon, it was not runny but rather ooey-gooey, like melted caramel. The color of the yolk was bright orange.

The yolk is ooey-gooey

Serve with soba dipping sauce and yuzu paste

Final grade

In conclusion:
To make the proper "hot spring eggs" using this gadget,

• The eggs need to be at room temperature
• The water needs to be boiling hot
• The soaking time needs to be 19 minutes (for large eggs, if medium try 18 minutes)

This gadget is convenient in maintaining the temperature of inside the container for a long time. But you still need to pay attention to the temperature of the eggs and the duration of soaking the eggs. It is not exactly a mindless device where you can "set it and forget it." I can tell you that the eggs still came out a lot better than when I used a regular sauce pan as long as I could stick to those three key points mentioned above.

Or you can always fry them

This concludes the great experiment. Thank you for your interest.

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Let the Great Experiment Begin! Part II

"Ontama-gokko" to create the wonder eggs!

My attempts to create the perfect "hot spring eggs" continue. The last experiment ended up in a failure because the egg white and the egg yolk were too runny. I changed a few variables this time; the temperature of the eggs and the hot water. The eggs were brought to the room temperature, and the water was completely boiled before pouring into the device. I left the eggs in it for exactly 20 minutes.

Egg white is holding a better shape than the 1st experiment

Acceptable firmness as a hot spring egg 

Egg yolk is holding a good shape but seems a tad too firm

Review and analysis:
The egg white came out just as I wanted; soft enough but not raw and runny, you can cut the white with a spoon. (Grade: A)

The egg yolk was a lot better than the first time I tried. Very close to perfection. You can tell from the pictures that it is holding a shape. The texture is very rich and creamy, and the color is almost bright orange. However, it is a bit too firm for my taste. I do not want it to be runny, but I want it to be slightly less coagulated than this one. (Grade: B)

Final grade

For the next experiment, I will shorten the soaking time to 19 minutes from 20 minutes. The water temperature appeared to be correct, judging from the firmness of the egg white. The fact that the eggs were at the room temperature seems to have contributed to the very positive outcome.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of "Let The Great Experiment Begin! Part III."

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Let the Great Experiment Begin! Part I

Ontama-gokko and two eggs

I asked my sister to bring back from Japan a gadget to create "hot spring eggs." This thing is called "Ontama-gokko," and you can see on it the illustration of an egg taking a hot spring bath. It has three layers of insulation, to maintain the same temperature to make the rare egg-creation where the egg yolk is slightly firmer than the egg white. (It is not the same as a soft boiled egg.)

Egg is taking a hot bath

The instructions said to place the eggs in the egg holder and pour in hot water and wait for 18-20 minutes. The beauty of it is that I don't have to worry about keeping the water temperature the same all the time, which is crucial to the making of the hot spring eggs. Just set the timer and go about your day for the next 20 minutes!

Pour in hot water to cover the eggs

The first time I did it, I immersed the eggs in hot water for 20 minutes. But the yolk came out too soft. They needed to be in the hot bath a little longer. The egg white was soft, although, I would prefer it to be less runny. This indicates that the eggs could stand to have warmer water when they are being submerged.

I want the white to be less runny

I tried 25 minutes the second time. Given the fact that the eggs just came out of the fridge, the cold eggs probably brought down the temperature of the hot water. Also, it might require longer soaking time for the egg yolk to harden a bit more. After 25 minutes, they were still too runny. My first experiment did not result in the proper hot spring eggs. 

Final grade

Are you gonna eat that?

The only thing I can think of at this point is that the eggs need to be perhaps brought to the room temp for the next experiment, and I will also use the boiling  water instead of the water that is just about to boil. 

I'll be back with "Let The Great Experiment Begin! Part II." My attempts to create the perfect hot spring eggs will continue.


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Vegetable Garden Updates (6)

There are a couple of red bell peppers, though they are still green, on the plant. The eggplant is more purple and growing in size, about 2.5 inches now. 

Baby bell peppers

Very dark purple

Shiso has the third layer of leaves this morning. The leaves are starting to have the jagged edges that are typical for the mature shiso leaves. They are still small. The bigger leaves are no more than 3/8 inches.

You could see the jagged edges starting to happen

Shishito peppers are about 2 inches tall now. They also have the third layer of leaves sprouted out. It wouldn't be too long before I could transplant some of them to the raised garden bed.

Shishito peppers...so far so good

The red and purple cherry tomato plants are getting bushier and taller, about 1.5 feet in height now. You can see the leaves on the red cherry tomato are slightly more blue and darker than the purple cherry tomato leaves. They are soaking up the sun with all those lush leaves.

Purple cherry on the left, red cherry on the right

More updates to come. Check back soon!

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Pumpkin Seed Crisps

Roasted pumpkin seeds taste good

I had a bunch of pumpkin seeds and I needed to come up with ways to consume them. Pumpkin seeds are known to be a good source of tryptophan and glutamate which are helpful in reducing anxiety and irritability. But who cares what they are good for when they just taste so good anyway?

Make them as thin as you can

Pumpkin Seed Crisps

1 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, unsalted
2 egg white
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp butter melted
2 1/2 Tbsp cake flour
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 300. In a bowl, combine pumpkin seeds, egg white, sugar, butter, flour, vanilla extract and almond extract. Chill the mixture in the fridge for a couple of hours. Spread the mixture about a teaspoon full at a time with the back of a spoon on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread them thinly and evenly so they come out crispy. Bake for 18 minutes till crispy. If they still feel sticky and soft, lower the temp to 220 or so and bake for another 5-10 minutes. The moisture will evaporate and they will be nice and crispy.


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Dog Sleepover

Our dog had a couple of friends for a sleepover. It looked like some mild fun.

They love to sleep 

Just in case you are wondering, it's my hubby behind the camera and singing.

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Teardrop Necklace

Teardrop necklace to go with the bracelet

Teardrop bracelet

My sister requested a teardrop necklace to go with the bracelet I made for her earlier. I am glad she liked the bracelet. The necklace is slightly bigger than a choker. I hope she likes it just as much.


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Chrysanthemum Salad

Garnish with lime

My sister made this salad in Japan and it quickly became my favorite dish. If you can find garland chrysanthemum, or shungiku, at the Asian farmers market, I highly recommend using it, but if you can't, just regular spinach will do. It has only three ingredients, but it tastes like a dish from a nice Japanese restaurant.

Garland Chrysanthemum Salad

1 can tuna in water
1 bunch garland chrysanthemum
1/3 cup daikon radish grated
1/4 cup seasoned sushi vinegar

Cut the leaves of chrysanthemum in bite sizes, about 2-3 inches. Blanch them for a few minutes without overcooking. You want some texture still left in the stems and the leaves. Shock them in iced water. Drain and gently squeeze out water by hand. Grate daikon radish. If the grated daikon has too much liquid, discard excess liquid, but you do want some juice. The juice from the daikon radish will make the rice vinegar less tart. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. 
Recipe courtesy of Sister M.

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Spicy Tuna Poke

Makes a good appetizer

If you've had a pleasure of visiting Hawaii, you might already know what poke is. Poke means, in Hawaiian, small pieces, and they usually cut up sashimi grade tuna into cubes and marinate them in various sauces. The most standard is probably just the soy sauce with ginger, garlic and a bit of sesame oil, but you can add whatever you wish.

Spicy Tuna Poke

About 6 oz sashimi grade tuna
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp sake
1/2 tsp sriracha chili sauce
1 piece garlic grated
1 small piece ginger grated
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 red onion sliced thin
2 green onion 
1 tsp sesame seeds

Cut tuna into small cubes. Add all of the ingredients above and mix well. Marinate for 2 hours in the fridge before serving. You can serve it as is, or with crackers such as crispy wonton skins. I made Indian crackers called puppodums. Oil fry them and they expand like a magic! They are so light and crispy! They go great with the tuna poke.

I am making puppodums

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Vegetable Garden Updates (5)

A flower and a baby eggplant

This one is getting ready to be an eggplant

Still has some growing to do

I woke up this morning and found a baby eggplant already starting to happen on one of the plants. When did this happen? I was checking them everyday!


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