English Breakfast

After being exposed to English Culture for almost 2 months, I was inspired to fix myself an English breakfast. A typical English breakfast consists of an assortment of eggs, toast, bacon, mushroom, beans, sausages and sometimes served with black pudding (a type of sausage made from pig's blood). Just fry them all, butter your toast and serve in a large platter with coffee.

I don't have all the ingredient I need to make this so all I can do is to make something as close as possible.

I stir-fried chopped button mushrooms and onions, then caramelized them with sugar. I made french toast and almost turn it into a grilled cheese sandwich. Lastly, I mixed corned beef and boiled potatoes with a little flour and eggs, shaped into patties and pan-fried them.

I just added beans and there you go! I forgot the fried eggs, but this looked good enough, ye?

Clay Pot Ramyun

I'm loving spicy food! Today, I had Clay Pot Ramyun. Ramyun is Korean Ramen by the way. I bought this one together with the Neoguri noodles from 7eleven. I only placed half of the chili powder packet because I want to add kimchi. I don't want to burn my tongue so it's better to be safe than sorry.
I saw some left-over tempuras and pork spring rolls so I tossed them in the boiling saucepan. I love the sound while it boils and the smell is nice, too!
Oh, and just to share, since I've been talking about kimchi for quite some time now...
Fish Spring rolls and kimchi served on yellow rice, FTW!

Neoguri

After a stressful day at work, I always visit a nearby 7eleven convenience store. Every time I do, I kept looking at one shelf to another endlessly because I can't decide what to eat until I realize people are giving me weird looks. So after 5 minutes of going around, I decided to grab a pack of instant noodles and this particular pack is begging me to pick him up.

I see it's an Udon type of Ramen (and I see kamaboko slices) but the "Nong Shim" and korean characters part made me confused if this is Japanese or Korean noodles.

Btw, just to share, Koreans are everywhere around my neighborhood! It's either they are here on vacation or enrolled in a nearby English Language learning center. Anyway, I hate it when they talk to each other so loud as if they don't really care since locals can't understand what they are talking about. The bigger the group - the louder! I swear!

It's actually cool because there is a bonito flake included in the package where you have to boil it first with water before adding the noodles. It's just a little bit disappointing because it's not what I expected it to be.

Just look at what I have compared to what is pictured above but it's okay, it tasted good with a little bit of kimchi. I swear, I'm getting addicted to kimchi. Well, on to the next instant noodle pack!

Hallaca, Empanada and Arepa

I love meeting friends online! I have a Venezuelan friend, his name is Luis, and we were talking about - food! (Whatelse would I be interested in? XD) So every time I make friends with another person from a different country, I always ask: "What's the famous food there?". So here you go:

Hallaca (Hayaca)

Although it resembles our native suman, hallaca is not made of sticky rice. Instead, it is made with cornmeal dough. The traditional hallaca is made by extending a plantain leaf, greasing it with a spoonful of annatto-colored cooking oil and spreading on it a round portion of corn dough (roughly 30 cm), which is then sprinkled with various fillings. The filling is basically a mixture of various meats, raisin and olives then bound in strings withing plantain leaves then boiled. Hallaca dates back to history when Spanish colonizers throw leftover food during Christmas to slaves, then slaves collect them and reassembles them thus giving birth to this awesome delicacy. Which is also the reason why Venezuelans traditionally eat this at Christmas.

Empanada
I was baffled when I found out that in the list of Empanada making countries from wikipedia, the Philippines and Indonesia are the only Asian countries. The rest are Latin and Hispanic countries. Well anyway, Empanada ocame from Spain and since Spain colonized several other countries, a lot of variations were born.

Venezuelan empanadas, like the hallaca use corn flour based dough and are deep fried. The stuffing varies according to region; most common are the cheese and ground beef or chicken empanadas. Other types use fish, "caraotas" or black beans, oyster, clams and other types of seafood popular in the coastal areas, especially in Margarita Island.

Arepa

Arepa is another bread made from... guess what... thats right - corn! Corn is really a big thing in Venezuela. It can be grilled, baked or fried, can be eaten on its own or with various fillings. Making the dough requires a lot of hard work! The traditional, labor-intensive method requires the maize (mais) grains to be soaked, then peeled and ground in a large mortar known as a pilón. The pounding removes the pericarp and the seed germ, as only the cotyledons of the maize seed are used to make the dough. The resulting mixture, known as mortared maize, or maíz pilado, was normally sold as dry grain to be boiled and ground into dough. But we don't want to go through all that, won't we? Good thing pre-cooked cornmeal is available today!

Look on the bright side, flour- You're famous in Asia!

The arepa is split after cooking, and filled with ingredients such as cheese or deli meats. although the latter term is not commonly used today. An arepa can also be dressed with toppings such as cheese and eaten open-faced. Venezuelans prepare arepas depending on personal taste or preference and the region in which they are made.

Venezuelan food really interests me, they tell so much about the country's culture and history. This will definitely be in my to-try-before-I-die-list! Special thanks to Luis, my Venezuelan friend!

image sources:
buencomer.com.ve
www.panoramio.com/photo/6658605
http://fuentejuncal.org/
http://foodinhouston.blogspot.com/2009/08/venezuelan-empanadas.html
http://faerys-kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/venezuelan-empanadas.html
http://blog.cookingwithtraderjoes.com/2009/06/04/street-food-in-venezuela.aspx
http://www.latinmenu.com/tag/empanadas/
http://www.venezuelareport.com/?paged=2
http://epicurejenn.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/venezuelan-arepa-bar-caracas/
http://www.theyoungandhungry.com/1237478767/caracas-arepa-bar/

Menudo with Kimchi

I really hate anything spicy. I don't like the burning sensation in my mouth because it makes me uncomfortable. But you know what, I think I am getting the hang of it. Since I tried making my own kimchi sandwich, I always find myself looking for ways to make something with kimchi.

Mom had to go somewhere so I took over the kitchen. *Evil grin* A big mistake, mama, a big mistake. The ingredients were already prepared and she was about to cook Menudo when a man, talking through a speaker box asked for urgent back-up. Btw, for those who are not familiar with Menudo... it is a stew dish of diced pork, chicken, sausage, potatoes, carrots, peas, and tomato sauce usually eaten with rice on the side. Not everything mentioned should be present, just as long as any meat, carrots and potatoes are cooked in tomato sauce, you can drop the technicality.

Saute garlic and onion then add pork cut into cubes. let them brown a little then add water and let it boil.

Froth starts to appear once it boils, just scoop them out with a spatula. Add tomato sauce, ketchup, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a little sugar. Let it simmer a bit then toss in your diced carrots, potatoes and green or red (or both) bell peppers cut into strips.

As an added twist to the traditional Menudo, I added a can of corned tuna, button mushrooms and murdered a bottle of kimchi.

You know it's already cooked if the veggies are already soft. And as usual... delicious!