Tonkasu Ramen @ Izakaya Sozai

I didn't use to like noodle soup/ramen/pho, or simply anything drench in a soup form. Now that whenever I see soup or noodle soup on the menu, regardless where and what I am eatting, I found myself attracted to ordering my daily dose of soup. I blame all this to one of my dearest roommies, Galeen, or Mrs. Wong soon-to-be, or the soup devil! Galeen is an all time soup lover. And if there is one thing she could not live w/o on her food list, it would be SOUP! When we were roomming with her, we made sure soup was always a stable on the dinner table.

So yesterday, after Galeen's UCSF graduation ceremony, we had lunch in Sunset area. We parked our car near Izakaya Sozai and was reminded of their yummy Tonkasu Ramen. As the name entails, Izakaya Sozai is an Izakaya house and not a ramen joint. However, they have got one of the best bowl of Tonkasu Ramen in the bay area. I have had try quite a few ramen joints in the area as well as trying the real ones in Japan, I think this place serves decent ramen. I remember when I first tried out this place when they first opened, I came for the Izakaya (small plates). Since it's Izakaya style, they serve everything small plate and the menu was quite limited, so when we saw filling ramen on the menu we gave it a try. While everything on the menu was mediocre, the ramen was surpringly great. It's nothing fancy, but straight to the point: tasty pork broth, half cooked egg, sheet of seaweed, and springles of union. The noodle was bouncy and chewy too. Now when we return to Izakaya Sozai, we return for the ramen and only complement our meal with the small plates.

btw, their ramen is now on the 2011 SF 100 things to try list
http://www.7x7.com/big-eat-2011-100-things-try-san-francisco-you-die

古法炆牛腩

昨天Mr. F問我這個周末是否又再家煮新菜. 我說不會因為根本沒打計劃甚麼新菜要拭. 後來媽媽早上告訴我說給我買了牛腩要求我煮. 註: 媽媽因不吃牛的關系所以通常不會煮牛的菜式. 如此如此這麼這麼, 我end up cooking this weekend.

這個炆牛腩的recipe其實好簡單, 是牛腩的最基本煮法. 不過好吃的食物通常做法都是最原始的. Back to the basic 嘛! 所以雖然簡單我也想在這跟你們分享 :)

小tips: 牛腩汆水後，下柱侯醬炒過才炆，比沒炒過的更入味香口. 柱侯醬配合上湯一同炆牛腩，更滋味。

材料
黃牛坑腩︰ 3lbs

蘿蔔︰ 2lbs

陳皮︰ 3塊

蒜茸︰ 3湯匙

生薑: 數片

調味料
柱侯醬︰ 5湯匙

上湯︰ 4湯勺

蠔油︰ 3湯匙

鹽︰ 1/3湯匙

冰糖︰2湯匙

酒︰1湯匙

濕生粉︰ 2湯匙

做法
1.將牛坑腩切件（每件分量約兩隻麻雀牌般大小），放入滾水中汆水八分鐘，盛起過冷河。2.把蘿蔔切件，切成斧頭形狀，放在滾水中汆水約兩分鐘，盛起。3.下大半湯勺油，爆香蒜茸、陳皮和柱侯醬。4.下牛腩及蘿蔔同炒，灒酒，加入上湯、蠔油、鹽、糖及老抽。5.轉用瓦煲以慢火炆一個多小時後，下生粉芡使醬汁變稠身。

Original reference: 高校教室

Mini Fruit Tarts

As things slow down on BSE (client) last week, and as an appreciation to their helps this year, I baked them a batch of mini fruit tarts. I have made large fruit tarts before. Making mini fruit tarts, however, it's my first time. The recipe and procedures are the same. The only difference is that you are working off mini pieces pastry dough vs. the one huge dough you need to roll out for the big tarts. And as expected, rolling out the mini dough is much easier because when the dough is smaller the risk of breaking into clumps and cracks become smaller. In case you haven’t read my post on fruit tarts below, the single biggest stumbling blocks to tart baking (in my opinion) is rolling out the tart dough. So if you are an amateur baker like me and would like to try out making tarts, it’s probably a good idea to start with mini fruit tarts.

Since I have shared the fruit tart recipe in my previous post, I am not going to repeat it again. Everything else is the same except for the portion. This time I have doubled the portion of the recipe to make 16 oval shaped tarts and 17 mini muffin tine tarts.

This is the oval shaped tart mold ("聖安娜蛋撻mold") I bought from my HK visit this past winter.

extra mini tart using the mini muffin tin.

Assortment of mini fruit tarts using my favorite fruits: strawberry, blueberry, and kiwi. Love the color!

I brought this batch to BSE and everyone loves it. This is the beauty and joy of working in the kitchen. It felt so good to be able to make something with your hands that people enjoy and appreciate. There was this lawyer who tried my tart and came in my office to share his cooking experience with me. Before this, I would have never thought he go into the kitchen at all. Again, food does magically bring people together and it often strikes good conversations with people whom you did not think you could have bonded with.

Tiramisu

I just realized I've never made a post on Tiramisu! Tiramisu is my very first experience doing real baking at home. Tiramisu often gives people a "difficult to make" impression due to its complex taste. Though I probably wouldn't recommend it to entry level bakers, I actually don't think tiramisu is as difficult as it sounds. It's a simple "no-bake" cake that also involves mixing of all ingredients. The only key to make it tastes right it's getting the correct proportion of espresso and liquor (tips: my experience has taught me the type of liquor also makes a big difference. For the below recipe I have used Bailey as I found it blend in best with espresso).

This is a tiramisu Ca and I made for Ju姐's birthday last week. For this cake, we had used a 7'' springform pan which serves 8 people. However, please note that the recipe presents below is for a bigger pan (9x13'' pan). So you might want to do the math to adjust all ingredients proportionally if you want make a 7'' cake.

Ingredients:
7 yolks
½ cup (100g) sugar (or less 75g) – ½ for yolks and ½ for white
3 8-oz. (227g) container mascarpone
41/2 tablespoons water
11/2 tablespoons powdered gelatin (use less next time – 1 Tbsp)
3 egg whites
1 cup heavy cream, whipped (dissolve 1 Tbsp espresso powder into cream before whipping)
2 cups cooled espresso
1 cup liquor (I used Bailey)
20-24 ladyfingers
Cocoa powder

For ladyfingers, I personally prefer to use the packaged ones (below) instead of the freshly baked ladyfingers find in local bakery/grocery stores because packaged ladyfingers are thicker, and can absorb more espresso/liquor mixture without getting too soggy so the to keep their shape better.

Directions:
1) In a large mixing bowl stir to combine the whipping cream and the espresso powder. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
2) Pour water into a small bowl then pour powdered gelatin over it. Do no stir. Allow gelatin to absorb all of the water (about 15 minutes) then place the bowl on top of a small saucepan containing simmering water (creating a double boiler).
3) Immediately turn off the heat and allow the gelatin to dissolve completely.
4) In a mixer with the whip attachment, whip yolks and ½ of the sugar until thick and pale in color (ribbon stage).
5) Add mascarpone and whip until well incorporated
6) In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to a soft beak, gradually add ½ of the sugar, then slowly pour in dissolved gelatin. Whip to a stiff, glossy peak
7) When the whipping cream is chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form.
8) Fold whites into mascarpone and yolk mixture then fold in whipped cream.
9) In a separate bowl, combine espresso and liquor.
10) Soak 1 ladyfinger at a time in the espresso mixture.

If you are making round shaped tiramisu using a springform pan, soak ladyfingers in espresso mixture and line up again the rims. Also place some ladyfingers side by side in a single layer over the bottom of the pan. Spoon 1/3 of the cream fillings over the ladyfingers making sure they are completely covered.

Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers by dipping them in the coffee/liquor mixture and placing them on top of the cream. Again, cover the ladyfingers with a layer of cream. Cover the Tiramisu with plactic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve: remove the plactic wrap from the top of the tiramisu, sift cocoa powder over the top of the tiramisu or decocrate with shedded chocolate.

I made two layers, but you can make as many as you like depending on the size of your pan.