Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Interesting Facts About Dessert Soup

Here in England, soups are a staple of the diet and subsequently available in many formats such as tinned, packaged, and even available as a warmer from the coffee vending machine. Elsewhere, in countries such as the Philippines and Japan, soups are popular cold, and often served as a dessert. I decided to explore this phenomenon further.

In China, 'tong sui' refers to an entire grouping of pudding desserts that contains sweet soups and custards. Egg tong sui is a classic example that is simple to make and combines water, egg, and sugar. The water is boiled and the sugar added, afterwards the egg is then dropped in but without any pre-mixing. A thicker tong sui is a black sesame soup that also involves boiling water until hot. Instead of egg, sesame seeds are crushed into flour and added. There are also a range of more unique and unlikely types of tong sui, which can include such ingredients as three lined box turtle and frog's fallopian tubes.

In Asia, the azuki bean is a popular ingredient for red bean soup dessert. Red bean soup varies from country to country and in China is most often consumed as a simple tong sui, with just the addition of sugar. In Japan, red bean soup is most often served warm as Shiruko, a porridge like dessert including sweetened azuki beans with Mochi (rice cake), chestnuts, or dumplings. In Korea, red bean soup differs again and is referred to as Patjuk. Here, the consumption of Patjuk is tied to the tradition an eaten specifically during holiday time. Again, Patjuk, is often eaten with a glutinous rice cake.

In the Philippines, Ginataan is arguably one of the most popular dessert soups. Served cold, it is made from coconut milk that is heated and extracted at different times in order to acquire a thick and thin milk. The thin milk is cooked with pieces of sweet potato, taro (a Filipino leaf vegetable), yam, plantain, jack fruit and tapioca; and the thick milk is added again prior to serving. Although often served hot or cold, Ginataan is also popular served frozen similar to ice cream.

However, dessert soups are not only popular in the east. Fruit soups are served in Scandinavian and Baltic areas and, again, available hot and cold with the accompaniment of dumplings. Ingredients for these tend to include raisins, prunes, blackberries, cherries, cream, spices and alcohol.


Article Source: http://www.ArticleStreet.com/

Monday, March 2, 2009

How to Make Homemade Wine

If you love wine, then you may be interested in trying to make it on your own. If you're wondering how to make homemade wine, you'll actually find that it's rather easy and you can do so much with it when you make it yourself. You'll find that it's a lot of fun to come up with your own creations. If you want to know how to make homemade wine, then here is your step by step guide to help you make some great wine that you'll be able to enjoy.

Crush the Fruit

First of all, you'll want to pick the type of fruit that you want and then crush it up. Using a masher is a great idea or even a spoon can help you mash it up. Make sure that it is well mashed if you want a good wine. Once you have it all mashed up well, then take it and put it in the clean container that you are going to use to make the wine in.

Add Sugar and Water

After you have your crushed fruit in the container you're using, then you'll need to add some sugar and water to the mix. When you're wondering how to make homemade wine, you'll find that this is an important step. You'll want to take about a cup of very hot water and add two cups of sugar to it. Mix it up well to make sure that all the sugar gets dissolved in the water. Then, allow the mixture to cool. When it's at room temperature, then you can add it to the container with the fruit, and you'll want to stir it all up together.

Active Yeast is Important

Next you'll find that active yeast is going to be important. Take two cups of water that is warm, but not too hot. Put a pack of active yeast into the water. Mix it up, but make sure you have a large enough bowl, since the yeast has a tendency to foam up. After it is well mixed, take the yeast mixture and then add it to the fruit and sugar mix you already have in your container. Then you'll want to add about 12-13 more cups of water to the mix and you'll want to stir it all together very well.

Storage of the Mixture

If you want to know how to make homemade wine, you'll probably want to know a bit more about the storage of this mixture. Well, you'll want to have a container that you can put a tight lid on. Once you have the lid on, then it should be stored in a place that is cool and dark. Usually it will take about 2-3 weeks for it to totally ferment the way you like it.

Straining the Wine

The next part to remember when you want to know how to make homemade wine is to strain the wine. You'll need to either use a colander or a cheese cloth to strain the mixture. This way you'll get a wine that is very smooth. A cheese cloth is the better option if you have it. Then take the liquid and store it in a container so you can use it.

Author : Corrina Tecco
http://www.articleclick.com/Article/How-to-Make-Homemade-Wine/1060142

How To Hard Boil An Egg: The Ultimate Secrets

When wanting to cook hard boiled eggs, you would be surprised to discover that the ultimate secret is to not boil it, but let them cook, at a temperature of 149�F, in order to obtain that tender white, semi-solid yolk. The downside of this method is that it could take up to six hours to cook them, which is far too much for anybody. Anyhow, here is a method that will not fail you when boiling eggs.

First, put all the eggs in a pot. Check all of them for cracks, as cracked eggs have a high chance of developing bacteria, so they are unsafe for consuming. If the eggs crack when you put them in your pot, then just add a little salt or vinegar in the water in which the eggs will boil, as these substances will help the white of the egg coagulate faster.

Cover the eggs in the pot with plenty of cold tap water. See that the water level is over one inch over the eggs. To avoid cooking the eggs too much, do not use hot water, even if cold water will prolong the boiling time.

A little salt in the water will help you easily peel the eggs after you cook them. Salt helps the proteins in the egg white coagulate faster, and the white will separate easily from the shell. A stronger membrane signals that the eggs are not that fresh, but for determining that in fresh eggs, added salt is a good idea. A teaspoon of baking soda for one liter of water is enough.

Let the water reach the boiling point. We will show you now how to obtain those great hard boiled eggs that you want.

A method suggests to get the pan from the heat once that the water boils, without taking the cover off. The eggs should remain in that hot water for about fifteen minutes. If you use a timer, do not start it until you have removed your pan from the heater. Setting the timer for ten minutes from the moment you placed the pan on the heater, will lead to soft boiled eggs. On the other hand, when you let the eggs cook too much at the boiling temperature, the yolk will become a little green and they will smell like sulfur.

Another method is to let the eggs boil for about seven minutes, if you want crumbly yolks, or just four, if you want moist yolks.

When you stop the boiling, you must proceed with cooling the eggs, putting them under cold running water. If they are let to cool down for a few minutes, it will be easier for you to peel them off.

Eggs that are a few days old will be easy to peel. Peel them under cold water, so you do not hurt your hands.

Now you are simply ready to enjoy a great breakfast, with hard boiled eggs!

Author : Pearle Tsuji
http://www.articleclick.com/Article/How-To-Hard-Boil-An-Egg-The-Ultimate-Secrets/1060872

Raspberry Jam: The Recipe

A good recipe for raspberry jam can fill your pantry with some delicious treats to consume when the time of fresh fruits has passed. Such jam is easy to preserve and you can obtain a larger quantity of it, if you know to add sugar up front. This will also help you to preserve the flavor of the jam. Here is how you can prepare delicious raspberry jam.

For this recipe, you will need two cups of ripe berries, previously cleaned, two cups of sugar and a little butter or margarine, if you like the idea.

Make sure that all the berries that you will use for your jam are fresh, ripe and that they do not have any dried berries or debris among them. Rinse the fruit in cold water. Now, take the mason jars with lids and rims and put them in a pot. With a little bit of water on the bottom, cover the pot, and boil them there for about ten minutes. The berries must be put into a pot along with an equal amount of sugar that must be poured over them. Mix them well together especially in the corners of the pot, so sugar does not get stuck there. This mixture will become wet, as the juice will be drawn from the fruits.

This mixture will be then put on the stove, at medium heat. In order to avoid burning, stir every once in a while and make the mixture boil. After this moment, you can reduce the temperature, and let the mixture there until the oily liquids appear on the surface. Use a pot that will prevent the jam from boiling over. The ideal temperature is 104 C (219 F).

The hot mixture will be poured into sterilized jars. If you use a canning funnel, you will minimize the mess. The jar rim must be then cleaned with a towel, so you can seal it well. The frothy foam from the surface can be eaten, but it is less tasty then the rest of the jam, so you can take it out. A bit of butter added to the mixture will minimize the quantity of foam produced. A sterile lid must seal the jar.

The jars will be put in a water bath canner or a pot. To avoid the jars making contact with the bottom of the pot, put them on a rack. Hot water will then be added to cover the jars by one or two inches. The canner will be brought to a gentle boil, and let like this for ten minutes. You can then take the jars from the water with jar tongs and put the jars on a clean towel to cool down.

It will take about 24 hours so that the jars are perfectly cool. When the metal lids make a sound that signals that there is vacuum created in the jar. That will ensure perfect sealing and preservation for your raspberry jam.

Author : Pearle Tsuji
http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Raspberry-Jam-The-Recipe/1060948

Meuniere- How to Make the Delicious Sauce

Meuniere is a very delicious tasting sauce that most people only get at a high quality restaurant. They don't realize that they can also make it very easily at a home. For those of you not familiar with it, Meuniere is a type of butter sauce that is often used on top of fish and fresh vegetables. It also features a touch of lemon in most recipes which always goes well with any type of fish.

Patience is what is going to affect the quality of the Meuniere you are able to make. Take your time and don't try to cut corners. You want to start by melting butter in a saucepan. Once it is fully melted you want to lower the heat. Continue to watch it until it turns a light brownish color. You need to mix it often so that the butter doesn't burn. Should it burn the first few times you make it, then toss it out and start over.

Next you want to add the lemon juice to the mix. It is going to create a foam like concoction. Mix it well and then add fresh parsley flakes and some salt to the mix. That is really all there is to it. You want to make sure you make enough of it though to offer to all of your guests. The more butter you use the more it will make. Once you have completed the making of Meuniere you want to immediately pour it over the fish and the vegetables.

Another way to make Meuniere when you want to have deep fried fish is to make the butter and then to add flour to the mixture. Then you want to coat the fish with the mixture and add it to a pan of hot grease. You want to keep it in the grease until the outer crust of it is a golden brown. It will depend on the method of cooked fish that you prefer.

Some individuals like to add Cajun spices to the Meuniere flour mixture before they coat the fish with it. This gives it a spicier flavor that can really enhance the taste of your meal. You may want to experiment with making Meuniere in a variety of ways. Then you can discover how you and your family prefer it the most.

If you want to surprise your family with a great dinner, practice making Meuniere. They will love the food and be glad to have something different for a change. They will compliment you on making a wonderful meal for them. They will also think you spent much more time making it than you really did. Now that you know how easy it is to make Meuniere, why not enjoy the delicious taste of it?

Author : Kurtis Hoeck
http://www.articleclick.com/Article/Meuniere-How-to-Make-the-Delicious-Sauce/1061482