Simple life...

I come across this news clip online... http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110401-271230.html This little girl writing to her mother, father and 2 year old sister who were believed to be swept away by Tsunami on 11th March 2011. It's so heart wrenching for a small little girl of 4 yrs old to be going thru all this... It is already hard enough for an adult to go thru all these, i guess it would be worst on a child as she is still growing up... It seemed that everywhere and every part in the world, there is chaos... Fighting, wars, natural disasters like earth quakes, tsunami, nuclear radiation, floods...   What is the world coming to???

Bento contents: 3 pcs. bacon wrapped tofu (200cal) 3/4 cups white rice with sesame seeds (140cal) Sautéed mushrooms with pepper and onion confit (100cal) 1/2 lazy tea egg (40cal) Boiled broccoli (5cal) Carrot and lemon (10cal) Total calories (approx): 495 (how calories are calculated) Time needed: 15 minutes in the morning, 20+ minutes make-ahead This bento uses a lot of staples and make-ahead items. This is really the key to assembling a varied bento lunch box without having to wake up an hour early in the morning to do so! The only thing that is made from scratch in the morning is the bacon wrapped tofu , and even that can be made the night before if needed (though it’s best if you make it in the morning.) Johbisai or staples are really great: I got six total bentos out of one batch of the pepper and onion confit , and I’ll get at least 2 or 4 bentos out of the 3 remaining tea eggs . The star of the bento though is the bacon wrapped tofu. It’s delicious hot or cold...

This recipe will make enough pieces for 4 bento sets. 270 grams / 9 1/2 oz. chicken thigh meat with skin on or off 3 Tbs. sake 2 Tbs. mirin 3 Tbs. raw cane sugar, or honey 3 Tbs. soy sauce Spread the chicken meat out flat, and poke all over with the point of a knife or a fork, to allow the marinade to penetrate and to minimize shrinkage. Cut into bite sized pieces (for 90 g thighs that’s about 4 pieces per thigh.) Mix together the other ingredients in a non-reactive container (glass is good). Put in the chicken and mix. Leave for a minimum of 10 minutes, or overnight. To cook, heat up a non-stick frying pan. If you skinned the thighs, put in about 2 Tbs. of oil; if you’re cooking them with the skin, no added oil is needed. Drain the chicken pieces out of the marinade and put them into the hot pan, skin side down. As the pan starts to sputter, put a lid on and lower the heat to medium. Leave for about 4 minutes. Take the lid off, and spoon a little bit of the leftover marinade ...

A bit more than 2 lbs (1kg) pork shoulder or neck For the marinade: 1 cup (360ml) soy sauce 3 Tbs. oyster sauce 5 Tbs. sugar 1/2 cup shaoxing wine (紹興酒）or sake or dry sherry an inch-long (2cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 1 small onion, peeled and cut into quarters 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed with a knife 1 cinnamon stick 1 small piece of star anise 1 clove Poke the lump of pork all over with the point of your knife. This allows the marinade to penetrate the meat better. If you want your pork to be a neat, even bundle, wind some kitchen string around it tightly. I usually skip this step. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Put the pork in a sturdy plastic zip bag, then put another bag over it (the second bag catches any leaks - and believe me, that first bag always leaks.) Pour the marinade into the inner bag. Express as much air as you can out of the bag, and close it. Close the outer bag also. Place the bagged pork on a plate, and put...

Here’s how to make it step by step. Recipe: 1-egg tamagoyaki You can also use the basic tamagoyaki recipe and reduce the ingredients to one quarter. 1 ‘large’ egg 1 Tbs. water 1 tsp. soy sauce (regular or light-colored; here I used regular, since that’s all I had in stock) 1/2 tsp. sugar 1 Tbs. bonito flakes (optional, for added flavor) Vegetable oil for cooking Mix all the ingredients together well with a fork or chopsticks. Heat up a small (6 inch or 15cm) non-stick frying pan and spread thinly with oil (or use a non-stick cooking spray). From this point on, it only takes about a minute and a half! Once the pan is hot (if you put a droplet of water in, it dances and evaporates immediately), pour in the egg. Stir gently with a fork or chopsticks until it’s half-set. Fold in half with a spatula. Tidy up the other side a bit with the spatula. Fold the one third of the egg over with the spatula. Press down. Fold the other end of the egg over with the spatula. Press t...

Why are people always scared of ghost...don't they know it's humans they should be wary of?