Granny: Back from Japan!

Yes, dear readers, I'm more than glad to announce that my grandma is back from her trip in Japan and is once again whipping up nice and scrumtious dinners for me! *Huge grin*

Look at what awaited us when we popped by on Thursday!



Oooo, look really good doesn't it. Lets break them down individually shall we?

First and foremost, roast duck which she always buys. Goes great with the chilli she makes!


Next up! Steamed prawns with egg and tomatoes specially for Qin cause grandma knows she love prawns. Therefore, she always cooked an entire plate for her everytime we pop by!


Steamed red snapper with plum and tomatoes and topped with chilli. I love the broth, really yummy and not too salty. I dip it with everything.


Fried fish balls and prawn paste in ngoh hiang skin.


And of course, some mixed vegetables for the veggie boy in me :)


Lastly, Yong Tau Hu soup.



To compliment the food, she made this kick ass chilli which never fails to whet my appetite. It's made from green mangoes, dried shrimps, chilli and sugar. It's sweet-sourish and is really good. I even eat it own it's own!

Other than the food, guess what she brought back from Japan for me?

Hokkaido red beans!



Check out the size of those beans, they're humongous!

After dinner we went to make some red bean paste and glutinous rice balls. It's interesting how her method of making red bean paste differs on what we find on the internet. Firstly, the red beans are soaked overnight and cooked till soft. Next, over a sieve, use hands to mash the red beans while adding water. This will leave you with the skin left behind and a watery red bean solution in the bowl below.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. Rather than stirring the solution over low heat like commonly called for, the solution is poured into a cotton sieve and the water squeezed out of it, resulting in dry blocks of red bean.



Next, simply add the same weight of sugar to the blocks (I used approx. 30% lesser) and cook it over medium-low heat whilst stirring constantly till all the sugar melts. You can then add in some oil to improve the texture.




Tada! A good big tub of red bean paste which we made glutinous rice balls with. Oh ya, don't forget to let the red bean paste sit for a few days to let the flavour develop!





Oops! Gotta run now, heading to granny's place for some home-made mee siam. Cya!