Last week, our cellgroup games forfeit was to eat a spoonful of natto with wasabi. Many of our cellgroup members were wondering what that pungent smell was and did not want to get forfeited so that they wont have to eat it! Two of our cellgroup members were the sad ones that got forfeited (3rd one being me but i like natto!), and they literally felt like dying when eating the natto. So today lemme introduce this mysterious natto!

When i first ate natto, i tried one small mouthful and did not like it at all! i hated the smell and sticky texture of it! however, after a few more times, i started to take bigger and bigger mouthfuls of it and fell in love with natto! the pungent smell actually attracts me to it and somehow it smells a little like coffee beans to me.

ok u might be wondering why i kept trying natto over and over again even though i dont like it! its because john looooveeess natto and i kept buying it for him to eat! thus i had to keep trying it too!

natto is actually a type of traditional japanese food made from fermented soybeans. it is fermented with Bacillus Subtilis. ok i dont know what is that but wikipedia said so. wikipedia also said that it is a rich source of protein and good bacteria but i already knew that, since its soybean right???

so history of natto... if u dont wanna read, pls skip to the next part.
right, history.... ok so sources differ about the origin of natto but the consistent thing in all the sources is that originally, natto was made by first steaming the soybeans then fermenting it in rice straw. they would leave it in the straw bags to ferment for days and the fermentation was done either buried underground underneath a fire or in a warm place.



today, natto is made steaming the soybeans for 6 hours then mixing it with the bacterium. the mixture is then fermented at 40 degrees celsius for 24 hours. after the natto is cooled, it is aged in a refigerator for up to one week to allow the development of stringiness. today, it is usually sold in small styrofoam containers and a typical package contains 2 or 3 containers. It usually includes a small packet of soy sauce and a packet of mustard.


Natto is eaten in many different ways in different parts of Japan and i guess they all try to come up with special ways to enjoy natto. for me, i like to eat it by itself, straight out of the pack! but i am always game to try other ways to eat it! one good way would be to put it into a handroll.


or do it like how most japanese does it. mix it with rice for breakfast

i saw this at a japanese-western restaurant at NEX some time ago,

anyone wants the recipes? do comment!

Hi everyone! we haven't been uploading our blog for a long time and i guess its because we lost the momentum of blogging and its so hard to get back into it! well, today I'm here to blog because i have something exciting to share with everyone! It's something i discovered on youtube and eventually got so madly in love with, i watched almost every single video of it! 

Hey all those who frequent our blog! (yes all 10 of you XD) thanks for view our post during 2010! Stay tuned for exciting recipes, posts are review which are coming up. sorry for the lack of posting over the last few months. Been busy with such and such. XP

Any way, look forward to our Mandarin Orange Creme Brulee recipe coming right up!. ( Another good way to use those many carton of oranges!)

Peace!

Hi all, Singapore is a big racial society. It is a melting pot of many cultures and as such finding errorneous posters or typos on menus can be frequntly found almost every from your neighbour hood kopitiam to classy restaurants.

I decided to post random shots when ever i find them to tickle your funny bone ^^.

Time for some interesting food facts! Here are some that i have come across and compiled.

1. Apples, potatoes, and onions all taste the same when eaten with your nose plugged. This shows the nose plays the incredibly important part in the sense of taste. The fact that the three items have a similar consistency makes it virtually impossible to identify them without the sense of smell.

today's review is on Tsukiji Gindaco, that famous takoyaki stall at the basement of Ion Shopping Mall. It is known for having long queues so when i saw less than 4 ppl in the queue, i immediately jumped right behind to get my hands on some takoyaki!

first things first, some info on takoyaki that u might or might not know.
Takoyaki literally means fried or grilled octopus and it is a popular Japanese dish made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, ponzu, mayonnaise, green laver (aonori), and katsuobushi (bonito flakes - fish shavings). It is first popularized in Osaka. Yaki is derived from "yaku" which simply means "to fry or grill" in Japanese, and can be found in the names of other Japanese cuisine items such as teriyaki or sukiyaki.

Takoyaki brings back fond memories of my pri and sec sch days, when we wld buy at junction 8 every so often. so needless to say, i was extremely excited to try the takoyaki!

This stall only sells takoyaki with octopus because tako stands for octopus! non of those cheese and ham versions! i really enjoyed the takoyaki because at first bite, it was crisp and brown. The inner fillings that were soft and runny, complemented the crispy exterior. every takoyaki had a nice size tako and they did not overcook the octopus. the takoyaki is then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo and some bonito flakes.
The yakisoba however, failed in comparison. the yakisoba i ordered has a fried egg on top and some meat and cabbage below. the soba noodle was chewy and not overcooked but there was nothing special about it. i felt like it was just soba noodles with egg and tons of okonomiyaki sauce.