1. Good sauces are the result of time and care. Never rush the process of sauce making.

2. Whenever possible, use homemade stock; if not, be selective about store-bought alternatives. Chilled prepared stock, available in large supermarkets, is good alternative for special sauces.

3. Choose the right-sized pan for the quantity of sauce being made. A heavy-based pan with good conduction properties gives the best control. Use a suitable-sized mixing spoon or whisk. Never use metal spoon or whisk in a non stick pan.

4. Liquid should be added gradually, especially when there is a danger of lumps forming.

5. Cook sauces slowly to “cook out” the taste of the flour.

6. Huge amount of acid can inhabit thickening, so the quantity of starch should be increased accordingly. This is only relevant to vinegar rich sauce, for example in pickles.

7. Some ingredients such as cheese, concentrated tomato paste, and egg yolks cause a sauce to thicken further on cooling slightly. Be aware of this should you intend to serve it warm or cold.

8. Seasoning and flavoring ingredients should be added in stages while preparing some sauces. A sauce that is simmered for a long period or reduced by boiling should not be seasoned to taste until after it is cooked, as the flavor will be more concentrated at the end of the cooking time.

9. If a starch thickened sauce becomes lumpy, remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture vigorously. If this does not work, press the sauce through a fine strainer, then return to heat and simmer until reduced if it is too thin. Add liquid if sauce is too thick. Remember to whisk or stir in the liquid to avoid a repeat performance of sieving out lumps.

10. It is important to prevent a sauce from overcooking while it is kept hot. If heat can not be reduced without simmering then sit the sauce pan in a roasting pan of hot water.

11. Always remember: Sauces should not be kept warm for long periods, as this may encourage bacterial growth that could result in food poisoning. They should be kept hot by placing them over a pan of hot water.

12. Many decorative effects can be achieved when serving sauce. For example, instead of pouring sauces over food, try flooding the plate with sauce, carefully placing food on top of it. Creativity is the key to its unique presentation e.g. small dots of sauce can be dropped into a flooded plate of sauce, then featured or marbled into distinctive patterns by dragging a tooth pick through the dots.

Who is to decide what it will be? As far as our lives are concerned, God has made all of us responsible for our own welfare and fruitfulness. In His word, He has already promise to bless us. So to a large degree, we will have to decide how we want to fare this coming year.

For some of us, the statement from those motivational speakers may keep ringing in our ears: “If you keep doing what you have been doing for years, you will always get what you have been getting all along”. This maxim holds true in both the natural and spiritual dimensions.

If we desire for a more meaningful and fulfilled new year, some changes in our life must be made. In order to make those changes, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses.  From here, we will be able to know what to do with our strengths and what must we do with our weaknesses.

Last but not least, I deeply appreciate all of you for visiting my blog and wish you a Blessed Joyous and Victorious New Year.

 Do drop by again for more delicious food and recipes in my blog.

When asked about the taste of their food, Korean eagerly recite the phrase “Hanguk umsikun sackom, dalkom, maekom hago olkun, tchahtchal, ssubssul, kkosohan masida” – Korean food is pleasantly sour, sweet, hot, burning hot, salt, bitter and nutty.

Sourness derives mainly from grain vinegar, herbs, and certain fruits. From honey, grain syrup (before sugar was widely used in Korea), and fruits like pears and jujube comes its sweetness (dolkom).

Sweet and spicy hotness (maekom) gives the food its aggressive exuberance originating from Korean hot peppers. “Deliciously burning hot” (olkunham) is the ultimate expression of delight for Korean hot pepper (afioionados), signifying a spiciness so explosive it can make the diner breaks into a sweat.

Soy sauce or other salty seasoning gives the right touch of salt (tchabtchalham).

The agreeable bitterness (ssubssulham) comes from ginger, ginseng, berries, seeds and certain vegetable and herbs

Nuttiness (kkosoham) comes from a variety of indigenous nuts and seeds including pine nuts, chestnuts, walnuts, gingko nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds.

These combinations of food taste have certainly make Korean dish very unique and delicious.

“The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God.”

The essence of Christmas is about miracles because it is about Jesus Christ, the Source of miracles. It’s about the miracle of His virgin birth. It’s about the miracle of God becoming a Man. Christ’s mission is to save mankind – spirit, soul and body – from destruction. Let the miracle of eternal salvation and bodily healing be ours and the ones we love dearly.

I hereby would like to wish all of you a Merry and Blessed Christmas. May God fill your heart with love, joy and peace.

Based on my blog response, I gathered that some of you out there are Korean food lovers. So, here is one of my recipe collections that I would like to share with you. I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredient:
350g to 450g lean tender flank or sirloin steak.

Bulgogi Marinade:
(1) Ground black pepper or dried red pepper flakes or ground red pepper to taste.
(2) 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce.
(3) 2 tablespoons sul (Korean rice wine).
(4) 1 tablespoon sesame oil.
(5) 1 tablespoon sugar.
(6) 1 green onion (scallion, thinly sliced).
(7) 2 large cloves garlic, crushed.
(8) 3 cm fresh ginger-peeled and finely chopped or grated.

Method:
(1) Cut the meat across the grain into pieces ¾ cm thick then into 5x 2 1/2 cm pieces.
(2) Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add the beef strips and mix well to coat all sided. Cover and marinate for 2 hours.
(3) Heat wok over high temperature and pour in 2 tablespoons of oil.
(4) Add the marinated beef strips along with 2 tablespoons of bulgogi marinade.
(5) Stir-fry quickly about 2 minutes until the meat is browned on both sides. Do not overcook.
(6) Garnish the dish with some toasted white sesame seeds.
(7) Serve together with hot steamed rice and other Korean dishes such as Kim Chi and soup.

Tips:
Prepared bulgogi marinade is often available in jars where soy sauce is sold. This will definitely shorten preparation time for the hurried cook.

Being raised in a Chinese family, Chinese food is very much a part of me. Chinese cooking uses various methods, such as stir-fry, deep-fry, simmer, boil, steam and so on, with no less than twenty ways. The most commonly used method is still stir fry or ‘chao’ in mandarin.

Stir fry is not limited by any quantity and types of ingredients, anything can be mixed and stir fried in the same dish which creates for a good basis of “color”. Finely cut ingredients are cooked under high heat for a short period of time. The taste seeps into the food quite easily, emanating wonderful aroma. Since stir fries are made usually very quickly, it prevents the loss of nutritional content from food.

Tips on stir fry recipe:

(1) Ensure all ingredients are ready and close at hand. Cube, slice, mince lean meat finely, cutting against the grain. Deep fry marinated meat a few seconds before beginning the main stir fry. Cut vegetable according to their shape. Blanch first the very hard ones.

(2) My mother used to tell me that a Chinese wok is good for stir frying as compared to a non stick ones because it can produce ‘wok hei’ in Cantonese meaning ‘wok’s aroma’ when being heated at a high temperature. Good stir frying needs to have concentrated fire and heat. Non stick pan cannot be heated at high heat as it can damage the coating easily.

(3) After pouring a little oil, swirl it around to coat most of the surface and heat it over medium high heat about 1 minute.

(4) When it is almost smoking, add in ground garlic or scallion sections and stir fry for few seconds. Then scatter vegetable or meat in the wok. When ground garlic or scallion sections are cooked as flavoring, the aroma is overwhelmingly strong but satisfying.

(5) Turn and flip food in generous sweeping motions to prevent burning and ensure even cooking.

(6) Add all seasoning and flavoring after few seconds.

(7) Bring back to the boil then turn the heat down and cover for few seconds to reduce liquid in the wok.

(8) Decorate stir fried with chopped coriander leaves, sliced cucumber or finely sliced spring onions and chopped chillies.

(9) Serve piping hot as soon as possible.

As Christmas is approaching, some of you may be having your family and friends gathered at your home. On this joyous occasion, I want to share one of my recipe collections with you. Hope you and your loved ones can be benefited from it.
 
Ingredient:
1 boneless pork loin roast (1.5kg to 2 kg)
2 to 3 table spoons of olive oil
Cajun injector roasted Garlic Marinade
Salt to rub on the pork skin (optional)

Methods:
(1) Using an injectable marinade syringe, slide the needle just under the pork loin’s skin and fill with garlic marinade. Brush with olive oil. 

(2) With the oven temperature still at 220 deg C, put the pork, skin side down, in a baking pan and bake for 15 min. After 15 min turn the pork skin side up, reduce the oven temperature to 180 deg C.

(3) Leave to bake for approximately 1 to 1 ¼ hours, brush occasionally with pan drippings. Check is it is ready by stabbing it with a knife. Clear juices run out when it is ready. Remove roast from the spit and let rest for 15 min before slicing.