Summer 2013

The many things I'd like to be able to do list:

• learning to cook!
• souffle
• ramen 
• pho
• haianese/poached chicken
• getting back into sewing
• making a dress form to my own shape (duct tape dress form)
• a-line skirt
• men's vest
• bustier dress
• generic versatile cute dress
• office blouse

Ten new years resolutions:

1. get fit/healthy
2. try to eat healthier 
3. stress less
4. get out, stay out of other people's problems
5. don't get used by people 
6. start things early 
7. try to let go of "the backup plan/Plan B"
8. pursue hobbies 
9. de-clutter every aspect of my life 
10. focus on myself every once in a whlie

Bit of an ambitious list, but I'd like to be able to build up my hobbies. Hopefully this list keeps me accountable for at least a little while haha.

experiments with korean fried chicken

Last week, I offered to make food for a party that my friend was hosting at his place. It sounded pretty easy at the time, but on the night staring at the bad of nearly four kilos of chicken wings I had started to regret putting myself into it already. I'm really grateful to a friend who did most of the prepwork and frying - which meant the only thing actually I did was make the batter, the sauce and tossed the chicken pieces with the sauce so they were evenly covered. Still, it took over two hours to fry up everything - being overcautious on the doneness of the meat.

After getting home, I wondered how I could speed up the process of cooking. I'd heard of some shortcuts that some shops would use - precooking or par-frying- and decided to give it a go myself. I'd decided on preboiling - since it seemed better than double frying chicken. Mum suggested adding ginger to the cooking liquid to help deodorise it, so I did. I made a batch, and after allowing them to dry, I put half in the fridge to try frying the next day.

It turned out pretty decent, barring the first couple of pieces I let mum fry. She was convinced you had to wait until it stopped making popping noises like you do with fresh chicken, but since it'd already already been cooked boiling all it did was dry the meat out... I found frying it at a higher temp and only long enough for it to turn slightly golden was the best way to fry it. They taste rather plain without any dressing, but I'd made sauce to toss it in so it turned out alright.

I still feel like there's an element missing from the sauce - maybe I should include the rice wine vinegar (found it too overpowering on my first attempt and just abandoned it on later sauces). I'll try experimenting with the ratio of scallions, garlic and ginger; might try adding some other herbs in there too to see how it affects the taste. But overall, it's pretty finger-licking tasty so I'm pretty happy about it.

I just hope I don't get addicted to deep frying things...

night time musings

I wonder whether I should have started this blog at all.

I already have a livejournal account, but from what I can see the platform is almost dead as everyone else has migrated toward Tumblr. I like my Tumblr well enough, but I don't feel that I can really write my own personal thoughts on it. I use it almost like a Facebook - share images I like, on a platform that actually encourages it. There are people who follow me on it who I don't think I want to have reading some of my personal posts. Not that I dislike those people, but I just don't feel entirely comfortable with the idea of people knowing how horrible of a person I am through a couple of poorly written posts. Yes, I can be an awful person. No, it isn't the whole of my existence. But I digress. If there is anyone I know from real life reading this blog, I can only hope that they don't judge me for anything I write.

Damn, maybe I should have made this blog more anonymous. Oh well, too late now.

I'd also like a blog where I can idly write about my own cooking experiments. I don't know if I can classify cooking as one of my hobbies - I mean, I like food, and eating it but I hate the cleanup and all that waiting - but I think it's something that I might want to have as one. I've always thought of trying to do food blogging but somehow I can never get the right vocabulary out to describe things the way I'd like to. I guess I'll see how this develops.

Well, I guess I'll see where this blog goes. For all I know, I could never post in it again or it might flourish into something I can be proud of.

EDIT: I've decided to use this one as a personal blog, food blogging I'll get around to once I've got a few reviews written down first.