Poached Egg in Miso

The drought in Penang seems never ending. I have not had weekend afternoon tea in the garden for months. So when it started to rain, all my cells celebrate with joy.

I decided to continue my egg-mania for the rain celebration. I craved for something hot so I decided to go for poached egg in miso.

Contrary to the "almost-full-factorial-runs" in making onsen tamago in the office (with very limited cooking appliances available), I had my almost-perfect poached egg in the first run (after getting some tips from the internet, of course).

Method:
1. bring water to almost boiling.
2. crack an egg into a small bowl so that it is easier for you to carefully and slowly drop the egg into the water. (I have no confidence in the stillness of my hand in dropping the egg gracefully so I cheated. See the picture on the right)
3. turn off the heat and let the egg sit for 4 minutes.
4. take out the egg and it is ready to be served.

After I took out the egg, I boiled the water balance in the pot to cook my miso soup. Use some of the miso soup as the sauce for the poached egg. To add the flavor, I sprinkled some pepper and katsuobushi.

Perfect for a rainy Saturday evening!

Onsen Tamago DOE - SBR2

Continue with my yesterday Onsen Tamago DOE, today I bought another 10 eggs to office.
I have been thinking about the 'disadvantages' of using kettle in this experiment - the direct heat from the heating plate at the bottom of the kettle. Hence, today I tried to add in another factor -- container.

Purpose: To find the combination for "perfect" onsen tamagao using tools available in the office
Material & Apparatus: kettle, bowl, spoon, eggs, cold water, plastic container
Factors: amount of water, temperature, number of eggs in the water, container

Experiment 1
Method:
1. Fill the kettle with water and boil the water.
2. Place y eggs in the plastic container.
3. Once the water is boil, pour the boiled into the plastic container so that it is at least 2 cm over the eggs and close the cover.
4. As control, slowly and carefully place y eggs into the kettle of boiled water using spoon.
5. Wait for z1 minutes. Take the first egg out from the plastic container and place into the bowl filled with cold water.
6. After z2 minutes. Take the second egg out from the plastic container and place into a bowl of cold water.
7. Wait for z3 minutes. Take the eggs out from the hot water from the kettle and place into a bowl of cold water.
8. Peel and ready to serve.

y = 2
z1 = 12 minutes
z2 = 15 minutes
z3 = 8 minutes
Results:
1) the 1st egg in the plastic container - both white and yolk are runny
2) the 2nd egg in the plastic container - almost similar to half-boiled egg
e) the 2 eggs in the kettle could repeat yesterday's results.


Experiment 2

For Experiment 2, I decided to give up the plastic container and focus only on the kettle. To solve the problem of "direct heating" from the heating plate at the bottom of the kettle, instead of directly add the eggs into the boiled water, I waited for w minutes before putting in the eggs.
Also, I just noticed that my kettle actually with water level indicator that actually not so hard to estimate. Hence, I could make my x level of water clearer in this experiment.

Method:
1. Fill the kettle with x level of water
2. Boil the water
3. Wait for w minutes for the water temperature to drop.
4. Slowly and carefully place y eggs into the boiled water using spoon.
4. Wait for z1 minutes to take out the first egg and z2 minutes to take out the 2nd egg.
5. Place the eggs into a bowl of cold water after take out from the kettle.
6. Peel and ready to serve.

x = about 1.25l
w = 3 minutes
y = 2
z1 = 8 minutes
z2 = 10 minutes

Results:

z1 = 8 minutes

the first egg (z1 = 8 minutes) - white is soft and springy but a little bit runny. The yolk is with nice soft texture. Most probably just a few seconds over cook from my targeted outcome.

z2 = 10 minutes

the second egg (z2 = 0 minutes) - white is soft and springy but the yolk is cooked.

  

Experiment 3

For Experiment 3, I left only one egg so I decided to try with the maximum level of water. Besides, I got so frustrated with the process of peeling the eggs so I search the internet again and get this tip: make a small crack (without breaking the membrane) at the bottom of the egg before you cook the egg. This tip proven to help in the peeling process almost by 80%. 

Method:
1. Fill the kettle with x level of water
2. Boil the water
3. Wait for w minutes for the water temperature to drop.
4. Slowly and carefully place the egg into the boiled water using spoon.
4. Wait for z minutes to take out the egg.
5. Place the eggs into a bowl of cold water after take out from the kettle.
6. Peel and ready to serve.

x = about 1.7l
w = 4 minutes

z = 8.5 minutes

Results: I know I am getting nearer to my desired outcome! The yolk is closer to creamy runny.
I have confidence that I can get my perfect onsen tamago in the office next week by increasing the w and reducing the z.

Onsen Tamago DOE - SBR1

Our Recent Egg-Mania

Yesterday, I suddenly craved for onsen tamago, while in the office!! I searched the internet for recipe, and I decided that it's something extremely simple that we can make in the office. So, I forced my lunch mates to go to restaurants near to "chai diam ma" so that I can get myself some eggs.

Though you can easily get the recipe from the internet, please bare in mind that the containers are different, and hence the heat transfer rate will be different. Besides, most of the recipe online said you have to control the temperature. There's no way I can control the water temperature in the office. Hence, to make the "perfect" onsen tamago, you need to do real Design of Experiement (DOE).





Here's my experiment log for Onsen Tamago DOE, Special Build Request #1:

Purpose: To find the combination for "perfect" onsen tamagao using tools available in the office
Material & Apparatus: kettle, bowl, spoon, eggs, cold water
Factors: amount of water, temperature, number of eggs in the water
Method:
1. Fill the kettle with x level of water (following the indicator shown on the kettle) 
2. Boil the water
3. Slowly and carefully place y eggs into the boiled water using spoon.
4. Wait for z minutes.
5. Take the eggs out from the hot water and place into the bowl filled with cold water.
6. Peel and ready to serve. (Anyone wish to share the secret to peel the onsen tamago nicely? This is my biggest headache at this moment)

Experiment 1
x = min level indicated on the kettle ( about 1.5 cm over the top of the eggs)
y = 4
z = 20 minutes
Results: the white is soft and springy but the yolk already too hard for my liking

Experiment 2
x = between min and medium level indicated on the kettle (about 1 inch over the top of the eggs)
y = 2
z = 12 minutes
Results: the white is soft and springy but the yolk still too hard for my liking


Experiment 3
x = between min and medium level indicated on the kettle (about 1 inch over the top of the eggs)
y = 2
z = 8 minutes
Results: runny white

Experiment 4
x = between min and medium level indicated on the kettle (about 1 inch over the top of the eggs)
y = 2
z = 10 minutes
Results: the white is soft and springy but the yolk is slightly cooked

I ran out of eggs after these 4 experiments. Tomorrow, I'm going to run SBR #2 by slightly modifying the method. Instead of directly add the eggs into the boiled water, I'm going to wait for w minutes before putting in the eggs. I need the water temperature to drop to certain level (not measurable) so that I can get runny yolk.

Wish us luck :)

How I Survive the Toilet-Bowl-Falling

I am a 5 years old iPhone 3GS. I know, I'm almost eternal for tech years standard. But I'm still functioning well, still shining like a newly bought, and most importantly, my owner loves me.

Last Sunday, we went for a casual window shopping at Seberang Jaya AEON City. Instead of putting me in her handbag like she always does, she placed me in her pocket. Waiting for some calls I guessed. We went to the washroom in the shopping mall, and she picked a squat toilet, and that's how the tragic begins.

When she's half squatting, I slowly slipped out from her pocket. I cried for help but she can't hear me. I tried to grab something but Steve Jobs had me designed in slick appearance so nothing managed to hold my smooth body. I dived like an Olympic champion and made a graceful entry into the toilet bowl. She must have heard the noise and start checking her handbag to see if anything dropped. It was seconds later she noticed it was me!

She quickly took me out from the toilet bowl, had me wrapped up in toilet paper while she still insisted to do her business. After that, she washed her hand, unwrapped me, wiped me with wet tissue, then tried hard to dry me.

I was hot, and dizzy, my camera lens was wet, and my screen no longer function properly. She tried to put me to power off mode but failed. So both of us went to Starbucks. She ordered her favorite drink, read her book while patiently trying to switch me off. I was hallucinating during that process. I made a few random calls, activated a few rounds of voice control, took some random picture etc before I finally shutdown.

She brought me home, took out the SIM card, and buried me in a full container of uncooked rice. I guessed she intended to put me into a zip-lock beg full with Silica Gel Packets. However, since zip-lock begs and Silica Gel Packets are not the common things that one stored at one's house for emergency, she used Lock & Lock instead.

It was a long 80 hours wait for me. (I heard the original plan was to incubate me for 72 hours, but I guessed she's not in any hurry). Will I dry totally? Can I still function properly? Is this the end for me??

Well, after the long wait, finally, she took me out from the container at the 80th hour, and placed the SIM card. My battery already flat so I must be charged first before she could check my functionality.

Once I have around 5% battery life, she tried to switch me on but can't connect to CELCOM. Both of us were worried. After few rounds of retry, finally she got her line. She then tried the wifi, functioning well too. She can even update her Facebook status. I guessed she was pretty happy that my 2 main functions are functioning well again.

The next day, she took a beautiful photo of her mum's garden and confirmed that my camera function well too!

So, here I am, survive the toilet-bowl-falling and live to tell you the tale.

What should you do if you dropped your iPhone in water? Here's the steps:
1) take it out from the water (of course :p)
2) dry it. As dry as you can.
3) power off your phone.
4) remove the SIM card
5) put it into an airtight container that is full with silica gel or uncooked rice (to absorb the moist in the phone) for more than 72 hours (some said they managed to do it with around 48 hours)

没有不可能

从小到大，励志书籍总是告诉我们这世界上没有不可能的事。我不知道相信的究竟有几位，我倒是深信的。

这里，和大家分享一个发生在我们办公室里的真实小故事。

话说，农历新年前我在巴刹买了好几束鲜花，让同事们插在花瓶里，点缀办公桌，好让办公室增添一点生气。

农历新年假期回来，大家的花儿都枯萎了，除了这一束……

大家只是说：“这束怎么这么耐呀？”，却也没特别注意这角落。我们还开玩笑说是主人磁场好呢。

几个星期过去了， 她还是一副绿叶油油的模样，大家开始觉得‘神’了，于是走近细看。只见枝干底部开始长根！大伙儿大呼不可思议！

今天，一个月过去了。我走近细瞧，根长多了，还发了两叶新叶芽呢！她生命力之强真叫人感动！

所以，你说，这世上哪有什么不可能的事？一切，还不是凭着“撑下去”的决心！

偶尔也下厨

周日晚餐

我有些朋友渴望吃得健康，却懒得下厨。我因为每天下班后回家就有热腾腾的饭等着我，所以没有什么资格高谈阔论煮一餐饭有多简单。 （我虽然一直自认有一点儿天分，但我下厨的几率应该比你碰上蓝月亮的几率还要低。原因是，我妈妈是个天才，每一餐她总要竭尽所能煮出合乎每个人口味的食物，所以我基本上英雄无用武之地。）

然而，偶尔，我也下厨。当妈妈不在家的时候……

昨天，闲来无事决定给自己煮一顿晚餐，清清淡淡的。不过，那毕竟是周末的杰作。今天，原本想要约朋友长谈的，不成行，也就回家煮饭呗！

以下是我的三十分钟食谱，绝对适合天下懒人。

基于冰箱内还有许多新年吃剩的食物，我就只在这堆食材中动动脑筋。搜索了一轮，决定派上用场的有：豆腐、鸿喜菇、鱼漂、紫菜、包菜、烟熏鸭肉、猪肉薄片、小辣椒。还有我刚买的味噌料。

我的个人口味非常极端，要么就重口味如sambal、perut ikan、asam pedas等，要么我就喜欢清清淡淡的食物天然味道。 今天走清淡路线。

1）香辣猪肉炒鸿喜菇和包菜

材料：

两片吃火锅用的薄片猪肉片，切成小条状
包菜几叶、切条状（随个人喜好）
鸿喜菇（也随个人喜好）
蒜头切成蒜米
我的秘密武器：小辣椒切成和蒜米一样大小（为什么四川人嗜辣？因为辣椒去湿。马来西亚闷热潮湿，在任何一碟食物里偷偷加上一点儿小辣椒正好“吊味道”）

1。鸿喜菇在滚烫的开水里烫一烫。放一旁。 （水别扔了）
2。锅里头油热了就把蒜米和‘小辣椒米’丢下去爆香。蒜米边金黄色后把猪肉条沾一沾酱油后加进去炒好让它吸取小辣椒的味道。
3。猪肉一转熟就把鸿喜菇和包菜放下锅快炒。

我没另加任何调味料，只靠猪肉那一定点酱油和小辣椒‘吊味道’。 包菜必须处于半生熟之间才会有爽口的香脆口感。吃不惯太清淡的朋友可以自加盐。


2）猪肉裹豆腐夹烟熏鸭肉 

材料：

两片吃火锅用的薄片猪肉片
两片切成薄片的烟熏鸭肉片
豆腐

 

1。把猪肉薄片放在刚才烫鸿喜菇的锅里稍微烫一烫让猪肉处于半熟状态。
2。豆腐打横从中间剖半（如上图）
3。在金属碟里铺上一片猪肉薄片
4。把下半部分的豆腐放在猪肉薄片上
5。把烟熏鸭肉片铺在豆腐上。
6。把上半部分的豆腐党在烟熏鸭肉片上。
7。再把最后一片猪肉片盖上。淋一点儿酱油，加一点点鱼露（真的只是一点点哦！只要 hint of 鱼露而已哦）
8。把碟子放到锅里蒸一蒸，直到最上面一片猪肉熟透即可取出。撒上柴鱼片和蒜米油即可食用。（我计算错误，下次得把豆腐再切半才能让猪肉片扮演‘包裹’的角色）

看见那汁吗？那是猪肉里流出的油汁遇上酱油和鱼露

3）紫菜鱼漂豆腐味噌汤
把鱼漂在刚才的热水里烫一烫。取出。
在碗里倒入味噌汤料、紫菜和鱼漂。用刚才烫鸿喜菇、猪肉、鱼漂的汤汁倒入碗里即可。

4）烟熏鸭胸蒸白饭
我的烟熏鸭肉不小心多切了两块，就放到白饭上蒸吧！

两菜一汤包你三十分钟内搞定！

Day 29 - Still In Progress

I know I know, i supposed to complete my 30 Day Beach Body Program by now. That's what I determined to do too but sometimes things just don't unfold as per our plan, and this is definitely one of those.

28th Dec 2013. We went to Grand Palace (under the hot sun, of course), and went shopping at Siam Paragon. By the time we reached Waterford Service Apartment, it was around 8:30pm and I had terrible headache. I wanted to go for massage but Ah Wei and En insisted that there's no fun to go shopping without me. So I followed them to Siam Paragon again, as a kind hearted gesture. We ended up in night market after Siam Paragon was closed. By the time we reached our service apartment, had hot-water-foot-soak, showered, and finally climbed up to our bed, it was way passed midnight.

29th Dec 2013, aka Day 29 of the program, I woke up at 7:45am. Felt slightly better than previous night but I knew I haven't recover fully. I decided to do the 50 Curtsy Lunges as per the program, and I did. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough energy for the 100 I didn't want to over stress my body so on 29th Dec 2013, I completed only half of Day 29. 'Catch up at home next year', I told myself.

I gave myself 2 days off after came back from Bangkok, and today supposed be the day I catchup on the workout. I woke up at 5:50am, and started some simple punching, followed by 10 froggies as warmups. While doing the lunges, out of sudden, I had unstoppable sneezing. After 30 lunges and maybe more than 100 sneezes, I decided that I shouldn't insist to continue using my mind power, but listen to my body instead. I went back to my bed, hid under my blanket, and rested until 6:45am.

First working day of 2014, I sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. My boss shooed me to get mc. So here I am, after a good 2 hours nap, now sitting in my garden writing this blog post during working hours.

What a way to start 2014.

Challenge Accepted!

Day 1 - Accidental Healthy Start (relatively)

Day 2 - Hour of Power

Day 3 - Don't Ever Over Estimate Your Capability

Day 4 - Start to Fall in Love with This

Day 5 - Relatively Easy

Day 6 - Oh My Back!

Day 7 - Another Victory

Day 8 - Muscle Pain or Lymph Node Inflamation?

Day 9 - My Mum is Always Right

Day 10 - It's All About Strategy

Day 11 - I'm So Weak!

Day 12 - One of the Easiest

Day 13 - Fooled by Own Perception

Day 14 - How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

Day 15 - Proud of Myself

Day 16 - Good Momentum

Day 17 - Getting Better, Even in Push Ups

Day 18 - Scarier Than Push Ups

Day 19 - As Easy As Warm Up

Day 20 - Fail to Follow

Day 21 - Catch Up

Day 22 - Happy Winter Solstice

Day 23 - Piece of Cake :)

Day 24 - Keep Moving

Day 25 - You Better Workout, You Better Not Cry

Day26 - Boxing Day

Day 27 & 28 - Staying Healthy in Bangkok

Day 29 - Still In Progress

Happy New Year 2014

Bright Future Awaiting

Day 27 & 28 - Staying Healthy in Bangkok

I kept my promise to myself: I still woke up early for my 30 Day Beach Body Challenge, even when we were on family trip at Bangkok.

Day 27 = 100 Russian Twists + 4x60s planks
Day 28 = 25 push ups + 200 seal jacks

First day in Bangkok, I woke up at 6:30am. Had some skaters as warmup before i started the program. The parquet floor was cold but I have no choice but to place my butt on it for 100 Russian twists. Without the dumbbells, the twists are slightly easier. The killing part was the planks. Maybe because Bangkok is furthers away from the equator, I felt harder to support my own weight :p

Second day in Bangkok, I delayed my wake up time to 7am. Day 28 workout consists of one of the workout that I hate most, and one of the workout I love most:
En taught me how to do the pushups correctly. Right posture or not, push ups are still extremely difficult for me. Luckily Wei also couldn't do it so this actually made me feel not as bad. Haha!
I love seal jacks because it's exactly those workouts that your primary school PE teachers want you to do. This makes me feel youthful :)

Challenge Accepted!

Day 1 - Accidental Healthy Start (relatively)

Day 2 - Hour of Power

Day 3 - Don't Ever Over Estimate Your Capability

Day 4 - Start to Fall in Love with This

Day 5 - Relatively Easy

Day 6 - Oh My Back!

Day 7 - Another Victory

Day 8 - Muscle Pain or Lymph Node Inflamation?

Day 9 - My Mum is Always Right

Day 10 - It's All About Strategy

Day 11 - I'm So Weak!

Day 12 - One of the Easiest

Day 13 - Fooled by Own Perception

Day 14 - How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

Day 15 - Proud of Myself

Day 16 - Good Momentum

Day 17 - Getting Better, Even in Push Ups

Day 18 - Scarier Than Push Ups

Day 19 - As Easy As Warm Up

Day 20 - Fail to Follow

Day 21 - Catch Up

Day 22 - Happy Winter Solstice

Day 23 - Piece of Cake :)

Day 24 - Keep Moving

Day 25 - You Better Workout, You Better Not Cry

Day26 - Boxing Day

Day 27 & 28 - Staying Healthy in Bangkok

Day 29 - Still In Progress

Day 26 - Boxing Day

How can I not start my Boxing Day with Punches as warmup? :)
 
After the punches, I started with 100 bicycle crunches. Now I'm getting better at this, at least I can do 80 bicycle crunches in a row without break. Not to discourage myself, I completed the first 100 by doing only bicycle (without crunches) for the balance 20.

Then, I switched to 50 butt kicks. Seems easy but I can only manage to do 50 before the break. So I decided to do 25 crunch kicks on each leg to make it 100 butt kicks.

Before I headed to work, I did another 100 bicycle crunches.

However, Day 26 actually consists of 200 bicycle crunches and 200 butt kickers. It means I still owe myself 100 butt kickers this morning.

How to catch up? Well, I completed the balance 100 with 50 side crunch kicks on each leg after work, before we head to airport :)

Challenge Accepted!

Day 1 - Accidental Healthy Start (relatively)

Day 2 - Hour of Power

Day 3 - Don't Ever Over Estimate Your Capability

Day 4 - Start to Fall in Love with This

Day 5 - Relatively Easy

Day 6 - Oh My Back!

Day 7 - Another Victory

Day 8 - Muscle Pain or Lymph Node Inflamation?

Day 9 - My Mum is Always Right

Day 10 - It's All About Strategy

Day 11 - I'm So Weak!

Day 12 - One of the Easiest

Day 13 - Fooled by Own Perception

Day 14 - How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

Day 15 - Proud of Myself

Day 16 - Good Momentum

Day 17 - Getting Better, Even in Push Ups

Day 18 - Scarier Than Push Ups

Day 19 - As Easy As Warm Up

Day 20 - Fail to Follow

Day 21 - Catch Up

Day 22 - Happy Winter Solstice

Day 23 - Piece of Cake :)

Day 24 - Keep Moving

Day 25 - You Better Workout, You Better Not Cry

Day26 - Boxing Day

Day 27 & 28 - Staying Healthy in Bangkok

Day 29 - Still In Progress