Truffle eggs with cheese

Tags

black truffle, black truffles, bread, breakfast, brunch, cheese, easy, easy meals, easy recipe, Egg, eggs, Home Cooking, scrambled eggs, scrambled truffle eggs, truffle eggs

Just another quick picture post on some scrambled eggs I made while I was in London. Found some black truffle at Borough Market, so I shaved some over the eggs. I still think nothing beats the aroma of Alba winter white truffles!

A minute twist to ordinary scrambled eggs… add some truffle oil and mild cheddar cheese shavings to give boring ol scrambled eggs a little kick! Top with chopped chives and serve over slices of sourdough bread, pan toasted in butter. Recipe for the basic scrambled eggs here.

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Deconstructed bibimbap bento

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bento, bibimbap, breakfast, character bento, character bentos, cute, deconstructed, easy bento, food art, healthy, Home Cooking, Korean, Kyaraben, lunch, lunchbox, panda character bentos, vegetables

Daiwa Sushi 大和寿司

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akami, anago, breakfast, brunch, chutoro, daiwa, daiwa sushi, fish, fish market, food, hamachi, hirame, japan, japanese sushi breakfast, maguro, miso soup, otoro, restaurant review, sea urchin, sushi, tsukiji, tsukiji fish market, tuna, uni

Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場)

When it comes to sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market, two places immediately come to mind: Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi. Personally I never tried Sushi Dai, I’ve only gone to Daiwa sushi. And I’m so well satisfied I can’t imagine another place topping it. I should also think that they are similar in quality and standards according to some of the comments on the web.

The queues are always long at both in any case. The very morning I landed in Tokyo (around 6 am) I immediately dropped my bags and headed to Tsukijishijō Station (築地市場駅, tsukiji shijō eki) and meandered my way through forklifts, grumpy ojisans and the overwhelming smell of fish which, by the way, you can smell even in the station as it is right next to the fish market.

Finally got to Daiwa Sushi at 9am (just look for super long queues and the signboard). I was in line for 20 minutes, which was not too long of a wait as it is easier to seat one person compared to two people.

The fish market is probably one of those places in Japan where you do not get much politeness and you may get yelled at or pushed if you’re in the way. Don’t be surprised by it.

This is the “menu”, their set is pretty value for money as well. For 3,500 yen you get 7 nigiri sushi, one rolled sushi and miso soup. Good stuff. That day I went for a la carte and the bill came up to 5,400 yen but its all worth it.

Its a tight squeeze in there, barely enough room to squeeze through to sit even.

This is just some of the fresh offerings that they had that day. Oh by the way, I went to Daiwa twice during my stay XD it was that good.

Friendly chefs.

I was worried the grumpy obasan would not allow us to take photos at all, the last time we came and took out a camera or a phone to take pictures, she was like “NO NO CAMERA” -___- I was so upset then. But this time around I think they’ve completely relaxed that rule. People around me were taking pictures to their hearts content!

And so I started to order:

Akami (the leanest part of the tuna) and Tai. Large slabs of fresh, fresh fish, perfectly marinated with soy sauce and a dab of wasabi. You don’t actually need to pour more soy sauce into the little saucer. As a maguro lover, I absolutely loved the temperature, texture, and taste of their maguro. The sushi rice is of the sticky short grained variety that Japanese rice is expected of. Delicious. I rarely order tai (red snapper) but I thought I’d try it this time. The way that they slice the fish is also different. Did you realize that on the maguro you do not see any sinew? Compare this to a usual sushi joint, a maguro slice would probably consists of 4-5 bits of tuna joined together by sinew. Maguro without sinew like this one just melts in your mouth and you’re allowed to concentrate on the full flavour of the lean tuna. Whereas on the tai, the skin is left on and is cut in such a way so that you enjoy the taste and texture of this variety of fish. It was sweet and the best tai I’ve ever had.

A generous bowl of miso soup that comes with your meal, made with seaweed, little clams and lots of spring onions ❤

Next up, chutoro (semi fat tuna) and hirame (flounder).

Chutoro again, well sliced without sinew and laced with fat to make it richer than the akami, but not as buttery as the otoro. Still melts in your mouth XD Nice and thick slice there to satisfy my maguro craze. The hirame has more of a chewy texture which releases a subtly sweet flavor. Spend a little bit of time to chew on this so as to fully appreciate the taste of this. Would suggest to eat this first before heavier tasting fish like aji or maguro.

I forgot to mention, all of the fish come at room temperature, which is the perfect temperature (to me that is) to experience their natural flavours.

Then two orders of uni!! I had a little problem with this…. it was so tall and packed with uni that I couldn’t fit it into my mouth. I tried to take a bite out of it but the uni spilt out onto my hands T___T Then I learnt my lesson, please put the sushi into your mouth, uni side first, then stuff the rest of it in. Its a good problem to have =)

The uni was fresh obviously, and had no fishy smell. Just creamy, briny, meltingly amazing dollops of golden roe.

Then came the hamachi (Japanese amberjack), with a bit of its skin, and beautiful pink flesh. I had this fish fresh from the sea when I was at the Maldives and its flesh is indeed beautifully pink. Its taste is a little stronger than the other white fish I had, and is fatty too.

The next picture shows anago sushi (from my second breakfast at Daiwa…you didn’t think I could eat that much in one sitting did you? =p) which was nicely broiled and glazed with that sweet sauce. Really well done. 

And here’s another photo of chutoro and akami, as I forgot to take a picture of the otoro, which was mind blowingly good. Absolutely buttery and melt in your mouth.

I need to go back soon. When I think of all the expensive restaurants I’ve been to in comparison to this sushi place at a smelly fish market? There is no comparison if you want to put value and quality together, Daiwa sushi wins hands down for me.

If you’re looking for a Japanese sushi breakfast, please do consider this place. Try not to come too late as I’m not sure when they will run out of fresh fish as they did once some years back at 11am!

Daiwa Sushi. 03-3547-6807. Tsukiji / Sushi. Tsukiji-Shijo 5-2-1 #6.

Closed on Sundays and National holidays (and some Wednesdays)

Opening Hours: 5.30am – 1.30pm

Mushroom Quiche

Tags

breakfast, brunch, cheese, light meal, mushroom, pastry crust, pate brisee, quiche, Snack, vegetarian

Mushroom Quiche

Sometimes I really crave a mushroom quiche, topped with gruyere cheese and chives with a nice buttery flaky crust. When I think of flaky crust I also think about the effort required to make this flaky crust 😦

But it is worth it. Forget about buying a tube of frozen crust from the freezers at the supermarket. Those are pretty tasteless. It is worth all the effort and time to make the pastry crust from scratch.

I found a good recipe from simply recipes for the butter crust as well as the mushroom quiche. Making a pastry crust is similar to making scones in the sense that you need to have really cold butter and it has to be mixed into the flour quickly so the butter doesn’t melt. You’d have a bread-like texture if the butter is fully incorporated into the flour. Aim for tiny pieces of cold hard butter coated with the flour. Then and only then will you get the beautiful flaky crumbly texture that a well-made crust should have.

Website source:

• http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/all_butter_crust_for_sweet_and_savory_pies_pate_brisee/
• http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/mushroom_quiche/

Pie Butter Crust (Pâte Brisée)

(I’m going to disclaim..because I’m lazy, I’m going to lift from the website itself but will add comments here and there)

Ingredients (for 1 pie crust)

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water (keep a little more ice water at the side, just in case you need to add more)

Instructions

1. Cut up a stick of butter into smallish (about 1/2-inch) cubes, and put it into the freezer. The colder the butter the better luck you’ll have with creating a flaky crust. Freeze the butter at least 15 minutes, better an hour or overnight.

2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 times. Then add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas. (If you don’t have a food processor, you could manually cut the butter into the flour and use your hands to break up the butter and coat the butter pieces with flour continuously. Just make sure you keep the butter cold and hard. )

• Picture source: Simplyrecipes

3.  Add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water (without the ice!) to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. Then add more ice water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. Try to keep the water to a minimum. Too much water will make your crust tough.

4. Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a very clean, smooth surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, you can press the heel of your palm into the crumbly mixture, pressing down and shmooshing the mixture into the table top. This is a French technique, called “fraisage”. Do this a few times, maybe 4 to 6 times, and it will help your crust be extra flaky. Then, use your hands to press the crumbly dough together and shape into a disc. Work the dough only enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead or your crust will end up tough. You should be able to see little bits of butter, speckling the dough. When these bits of butter melt as the crust cooks, the butter will help separate the dough into flaky layers. So, visible pieces of butter are a good thing, what you are aiming for, in the dough. Sprinkle the disc with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (At this point you can freeze the dough disk for several months until ready to use. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.)

5. When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and place on a clean, smooth, lightly floured surface. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to take just enough of a chill off of it so that it becomes easier to roll out. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle, to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.

Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

• 1 recipe pie dough
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 pound assorted mushrooms, quartered or sliced (I prefer brown mushrooms, sliced)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• Pinch nutmeg
• 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (1 1/2 cups)

METHOD

1 On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a 10-by-1 1/2-inch round tart pan (with or without a removable bottom), pressing dough into corners. Transfer to freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

 

The pictures above are from simplyrecipe, while the ones below are my attempt at it. Please forgive the black beans, didn’t know what else to use 🙂

Mushroom quiche ingredients

2 Preheat oven to 350°. Line pastry with parchment paper, wax paper, or aluminum foil, pressing into the corners and edges. Fill at least two-thirds with baking weights – dried beans, rice, or aluminum pie weights. Bake first for 15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool a few minutes. Carefully remove parchment paper and weights. Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tongs of a fork and return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly golden. (Fork holes are for any air to escape.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool while making filling.

 

Pictures above are from simply recipe, the one below is a picture I took of the cream and eggs mixture, with a bay leaf floating aimlessly on top :D.

3 Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots, and cook, stirring, until translucent but not brown, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms first release their liquid and then liquid evaporates and mushrooms are dark golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

 

4 Place tart pan on a baking sheet to catch any run-off there might be (especially if you are using a pan with a removable bottom.) Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. Spread mushrooms over the cheese and then top with remaining cheese. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, and eggs. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Pour over cheese. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set in the center, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Compare the quiche above by simplyrecipe, and the quiche I made below. The result was actually pretty delicious! Some of that egg mixture actually leaked out of the crust as there was still some mixture left and the tin couldn’t take any more… yet I still tried to pour all the cream in as a result of my not wanting to waste any of the cream and eggs!

Other than that little mishap, it was good! The crust was flaky and golden and the filling was creamy, custard-like and cheesy and oh so yummy! Top with a generous sprinkle of chopped chives and serve.