Tsukemono Press

Introducing, the new tsukemono press (and friend)!

1.6 Litre Picre, 1300 yen

Finding your own press seems so much easier than finding a bucket, an appropriately-sized plate, and a weight.  I picked up this little wonder at a store in Yatsushiro.

Having misplaced my Quick & Easy Tsukemono: Japanese Pickling Recipes book, I've decided to launch my tsukemono press using a made-up recipe: 3 japanes eggplants, 3 tsp salt, a dash of sake, some seaweed (konbu), and a few hibiscus flowers (they're red, and I don't much care for shiso).

Engage the screw-top press, and presto:

Pickles' first press

I think this one will turn out well!  I'll have to wait until morning, but will post the results shortly...

Tsukemono, japanese for "pickled things," are a big thing in my family; we eat carrot & daikon, mustard greens, cucumbers, and cactus- for the most part buying them at stores and in markets.  Now, with the addition of the Tsukemono press to the household, I look forward to making my own.  I foresee Interesting Tymes.

The beginning of a New Era... Coming Soon

Any readers of this blog will have noticed a certain lack of activity over the past few months. The author (me) has recently had a change of schedule which should allow him to update more frequently and with new and exciting topics!

For instance, the state's Sugar Art Show is coming up again, which means more crazy gingerbread creations, and Hyperbolic Yogurt will be hosting more topics of creative arts and engineering (or such is my hope).

-Would have uploaded pics of most recent adventures, but due to PC error, cannot do so; must await return to country, normal keyboards.

bぁs手dけｙぼあｒｄｓ！

Unknown Musicians are Sometimes the Best

I realized I had the means of spreading this video of a musical genius... So, here's the video... And Enjoy!

GAC, LLC, Est.

Over the last few weeks I've been heavily involved with a firm of wee folk, the Gingerbread Artisan Company, LLC, Est., in the creation of a gingerbread house. True, most gingerbread houses do not warrant a full construction crew, but this house (or "haus," as they prefer to call it) is to be an entrant in the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show at the Tulsa State Fair this next weekend.

Rather than bake entire slabs of gingerbread and cement them together into a lifeless box, akin to modern pre-fab buildings of today, I have decided to enter a construction with a bit more character. I enjoy the art of timber-frame construction, and several books on the subject got me thinking... "I'm going to need some really tiny woodworkers..."

Enter GAC, LLC, Est.

They have a wonderful work ethic and know where to find the gingerbread trees.

After using an adze to shape the gingerbread logs (left), the logs are cut to sizes manageable to manuver (right).

I had to provide various tools for the Artisans to use, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves! The mortar they used was a mix of walnut flavouring, red and green food colourings, powdered sugar, water, and the bark from the cinnamon trees cut to provide the logs.

Construction proceeded as layer by layer, the logs were fitted together in a design inspired by The Foxfire Book (I lent them my copy).

Once the roof's beams were set into place, roofing proceeded quickly and efficiently.

I would like to invite everyone to the Tulsa State Fair, and specifically the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show! Show up on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 for fun and sugar! Bring your camera!

There, you can view the completed log cabin (and more photographs of its construction) as well as other confectionary constructs submitted by the author (and a great many other constructions submitted by real professionals). :)

All photographs and their contents are the sole property of the author;

any unauthorized use thereof will be met with an angry letter

at the very least.

Duk Hing, a pilgrimage into Chinatown

Within San Francisco's Chinatown, there is one deli everyone should try -visitors and locals alike.
Have you ever eaten chicken feet? I have not yet found another restaurant nor recipe that produces the chicken feet sold at Duk Hing. Also known as 德興雞鴨肉食公司, Duk Hing Chinese Deli & Meat Inc. is located at 1151 Stockton Street.

德興雞鴨肉食公司

If you are in doubt, look through the front window upon arrival. Duk Hing's chicken feet are right up front. Go inside, stand at the counter and explain how much you want (by box size or in dollars).

Wonderful view of non-goopy chicken feet!

I ordered one of the large to-go boxes. I thought I would have all evening to munch away... it turns out I didn't, due to a prior engagement (roller-derby), so on to the munching!

One box of scrumptions feet...

You might be asking yourself what is it exactly that one eats off a chicken's foot? Answer: everything but the bones. There is a surprising amount of stuff there: skin, tendons, etc. No, no, don't go "ewww;" folks never flintch away from eating fried pork rinds (especially the flavoured ones!).

Front to back: Before, During, & After.

They smell wonderful, they taste wonderful, and if anyone out there knows Duk Hing's recipe, would you please send it my way?

If you care to see the "standard" chicken feet recipe available in the US, try searching for "golden pheonix claws." If you find yourself looking at gooey, sauce drenched, battered & deep-fried pile of what once might have been chicken feet, you have done your search correctly.
...Now you can say "ewww."

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Good day to you, my friendly blog reader!

You may have noticed a lack of blog posts over the past several days. Mostly this is because of my work, which has nothing to do with culture, architecture, or food, and much to do with geometry... but I digress.

In the last few days, I feel I have made up for all of that. Over the next several days, you will be able to see what I did with my vacation to San Francisco, CA.

What's that? How could I have made it to CA and back in 4 days without killing the horses? We in Oklahoma do have access to planes nowadays. Still don't believe me? OK, how about this:

'In Oklahoma, we don't have access to quality
Chinese merchandise such as this.'

All in all, it was a good trip: my sister used her time for Ph.D. research, and I'm stocked on (yes, a pun) tea for the next year or so.

Were you wondering, yes, the title is a reference to the infamous H2G2 'drink.'

They said they served Udon...

...And they did, sort-of.

Today, I visited Pho Lien Hoa (901 NW 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK -Open 9AM to 9 PM all week long). If you know where the infamous Miriwa Chinese Restaurant is, Pho Lien Hoa is just to the west of that place.

The store always seems pretty busy. Of the 30 or so available tables, most were packed.

A word of advice: they do not accept any credit cards.

The atmosphere is pleasant: there is a fish tank and many pieces of artwork; the tables are oddly futuristic-looking; I especially enjoyed the cow diagram showing, in Vietnamese, the names of various meat cuts.

As the title of this post would suggest, I went because I had heard they served udon. Udon is a thick wheat noodle of Japanese origin, and one of my favorites (Udon wo daisuki desu yo!). Besides the udon, egg and glass noodled soups are available with an intriguing array of additives. Each soup only comes in one size and costs around $6.50 apiece.
I ordered the shrimp & pig leg udon soup. I could not ask for a nicer vegi plate: jalapeño, very sweet limes, bean sprouts, saw-toothed herb, and thai basil.

The soup itself, though containing a higher meat:fat ratio than I could have expected, was only okay. The broth was okay. The meat was okay. There were a lot of onions- green and bulbs. The udon noodles were very bad: they had been long overcooked and then chopped into fragments of between 1 and 3 inches.

Overall, I suppose they rate "1 & a half Silver Doughnuts" (out of a possible 5).

I'm sure that many people love this place, but for the way they treated those poor udon noodles, I will not be returning.