September 21, 2009 by Kokotaru
Filed under Mousse, Flan, Pudding
This creme brulee is made in the same way as I made raspberry creme brulee last time. Just that I replaced raspberries with blueberries.
I don’t really like the natural taste of fresh blueberries, however, being in desserts or cakes, their taste changes and I love the new taste a lot.
September 21, 2009 by Kokotaru
Filed under Fish & Shellfish, Others
This is the first time I cooked and tasted this kind of cocktail. I am still not sure why this dish is called "cocktail", but finding that the dish seems to be refreshing, I thought: it’s quite simple, why not make a try?
There’s no way I got dissappointed at this dish. It was really great to serve as an appertizer. The colors of the whole cocktail cup were eye-catching with the red and green in harmony with the fine color of the "dressing" or "cocktail sauce"? It had a tangy taste that impressed me right at the first bite. It’s better that you use live prawns (now in Vietnam, I can easily buy live prawns right at wet markets) as they are fresher and the texture is firmer.
September 21, 2009 by Kokotaru
Filed under Dessert & Others
I strongly recommend that you try making this dessert when you have time and gather enough ingredients, though there are only several items. This is one of my all time favourite desserts as it is simple to make and the taste is always wonderful. It is very healthy as well and I don’t have to worry about its fat or sugar content.
It is a kind of sweet soup with the combination of black glutinous rice with yogurt, and when you mix them together, you will have a purple sweet soup. I can have a cup of this soup at anytime of the day. The taste is a well-balanced sourness and sweetness. It’s interesting to chew the rice grains between your teeth. If you are good at recognizing tastes and flavors, you will feel the appearence of pandan essence in the soup as pandan leaves are added to the soup during cooking.
When cooking the rice, I like to let the sticky substances of the rice itself to slightly thicken the soup. Some people use either cornstarch or tapioca starch as thickening agent. I often prefer using tapioca starch.
September 15, 2009 by Kokotaru
Filed under Cake, Cupcake
It’s my fiance’s brother’s birthday. So I made this birthday cake to complete a warm family party at his house with his grandparents and parents.
I was thinking of what cake I should make as this was not for the kids or childrens, but for all adults to enjoy it, and more importantly it was for old generations. The cake should be neither too fat or too sweet, and should be soft, moist.
In the end, I decided to make this cake, though it was quite troublesome for me as I had to make the chocolate syrup myself, and I had only one round pan, so I had to make the cake batter twice and baked the cake twice.
I was also responsible for cooking all the dishes for the dinner party, and I had only around 6 hours to do everything. Fortunately, my fiance helped me a lot in the kitchen, as he is always willing to.
You may be surprised but in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, there is a street named "Fish Cake" (Cha Ca – in Vietnamese). The street is right at the centre of Hanoi’s ancient streets, one of 36 ancient streets and districts, which you may have heard of in the historical documments and tourist guidebooks.
Why was the street named so? I am not so knowledgeable about history so I cannot tell you a detailed story. But nearly a century ago, the street had a different name. When a household started to make fish cakes grilled over charcoal and they made a good business, other households along the street also began their business making only fish cakes. People started to go there for fish cakes only and forgot about the old name of the street, so the street was re-named into Fish Caks street (Pho Cha Ca).
However, now tourists coming to Hanoi are often introduced to try fish cake at another more well-known street, which is La Vong, and the phrase "Cha Ca La Vong", which is the combination of fish cake and the street name, is mentioned by most Hanoians. There are some strongly recommended addresses to try fish cakes there, so please don’t forget that when you visit Hanoi.
September 12, 2009 by Kokotaru
Filed under Mousse, Flan, Pudding
I know it is high in energy, it’s fat, but I just can’t stop eating it once I make some. This is a classic creme brulee but I added some fresh raspberries to it. Though I reduced the sugar amount by one third, the custard was still sweet to me. However, the sourness of the raspberries gave some balance to the creme brulee.
I already got a blow torch, so the last step was now easier for me. As it is already sweet, I just sprinkled a little sugar on the custard and used the blow torch to caramelize it.
Autumn has really come to Hanoi. If you’ve visited Hanoi during autumn time before, you might already know about one specialty of Hanoi when it enters autumn. It is the green rice flakes – or "com" as we call in Vietnamese. When you see hawkers at wet markets or walking along the ancient or small streets, you know that Hanoi and Hanoians are going to see the prettiest days of the fall.
"Com" – or green rice flakes – are made of young rice grains. These grains are harvested before they are fully matured, then gone under many processes until they become thin flakes with greeny color. Com, therefore, is regarded as a purely pastoral gift. To really appreciate this specialty, it is advised to chew a pinch of com slowly so that you can feel the stickiness of young rice grains and, at the same time, feel its sweet and fragrant taste.
Yes, you can eat "com" raw as it is. Besides, "Com" is used in many other special and seasonal dishes. And what I introduce this time, though simple, is one of the very popular ones. "Com" is no longer available when autumn ends, so it is also made into "dried Com" so that people can cook dishes with "Com" at anytime of the year. However, I always prefer fresh Com for the taste you can never describe well but eat the fresh ones at the right time, you’ll see how special it is.
So, remember, it is strongly recommended that you try some fresh Com if you happen to travel to Hanoi in autumn 
I couldn’t resist the temptation to buy a pack of fresh raspberries. The red color and the small shape of these berries make it impossible for me to leave my eyes away from them.
And they also inspired my fiance to take some pix of them. I will remember these moments for long.
