The Adventures Of The Pickled Ginger
Many months ago, I bought a jar of pickled ginger at the Oriental Store in Raleigh. What for? Well, if you eat sushi then you know that pickled ginger are served on the side. I make my own sushi rolls sometimes so I figured I’d copy the Hibachi restaurants by having pickled ginger on the side as well. Just because they’re home-made sushi, doesn’t mean they can’t be Hibachi restaurant-worthy.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t open the jar of pickled ginger. I have made sushi since I’ve bought it but I haven’t been able to serve sushi with the pickled ginger. No matter how hard I’ve tried to twist the cap, I just can’t open it. So the jar had been siting in the fridge, unopened. My husband discovered it a few months ago and wondered what’s it’s doing in our fridge. I gave him the story I just told you guys above. He was flabbergasted that I haven’t used it coz I couldn’t open it. That or he’s flabbergasted that I just can’t open the damn thing. I can’t remember. Either way, I’m flabbergasted that he’s flabbergasted over the fact that these things happen in Dexie’s World. Like Duhhhhhh.
Before I completely digress, let’s go back to the pickled ginger.
Today, as in September 18th 2010, at about noon, I grabbed a can of soda from the fridge then I sort of glanced on the side compartment and saw the jar of pickled ginger. It’s one of the few things I was able to salvaged from the cooler when we moved to this new house two weeks ago. I decided that the jar and I have an unfinished business. It’s now or never. It’s do or die.
So I twisted and twisted and twisted until my wrist couldn’t take anymore twisting. Yes, I cussed at the jar a few times too. I’ve given up and was about to put it back in the fridge to sit for how many more months, I don’t know. But then I suddenly remembered my Home Economics Teacher. I can’t remember her name but I know she wears glasses. I think I heard her say, “Do the back of the knife-tap trick.”
I wasn’t confident of the trick but I’ve used it before with other tight jars and it worked so I figured, hey, why not. So tap tap I did. I tapped and turned the jar in between to tap the other sides. After the 1st cycle, I twisted the cap but it still wouldn’t open. So I did another cycle of back of the knife tapping.
And finally, freaking finally, I opened the jar. I finally saw the inside of it. I can finally spoon out the pickled ginger. I can finally display it in my pretty blue Chinese plate. I tasted a few. They taste like pickled ginger, except really really really cold. One of these days, I can serve homemade sushi with pickled ginger. Maybe I’ll chopped some up in small pieces to add in stir-fries too. Or ginger flavored cupcakes, or cookies. Hmmm. I’m just glad the darn thing is finally open without using any expensive kitchen gadgets from those annoying infomercials. Back of the butter knife, imagine that. Those Home Economics classes are serving its purpose. Who knew?
Lasang Pinoy Sundays: Kitchen Tools/Gadgets You Want
Not that I need any more kitchen gadgets or tools anytime soon but I’ve been wanting Rachel Ray’s Stoneware set for a while now. I watch her using them in the Food Network show 30-Minute Meals and I think the stoneware are not only very cleverly designed, they pretty too.
My Bamboo Steamer
From the How-To Make Easy Siopao post yesterday, you saw my new bamboo steamers. They’re my one and only steamers by the way 
. I’ve always wanted one even though I know the rice cooker could do the job easily. But being fond of cooking and getting excited over kitchen gadgets, I just have to have bamboo steamers.
Turkey Salt & Pepper Shakers
It was during our summer vacation last year when I decided that I would collect salt and pepper shakers (and Christmas ornaments) from the places we visit every year. I started by buying the Salt & Pepper shakers that represented the essence of Virginia Beach. Tonight made me re-think that tradition for a little bit.
PORCELAIN CHOPSTICKS
I found these set of porcelain chopsticks at the Oriental Store in Raleigh last year actually. I’ve been meaning to post them for a while but just never get the time to do so. The chopsticks featuring Chinese characters and calligraphy are longer than the regular wooden chopsticks you use in a Asian restaurants.
Durable and definitely easy to wash. I also discovered that it’s dishwasher safe since I’ve been putting them in the dishwasher and they come out fine. I only paid $2.50 for these 10-set porcelain chopsticks. YAY!
Indexed Cutting Boards
Anyone who spends a lot of time cooking in the kitchen knows that you have to have at least 2 separate cutting boards. 1 for the vegetables/fruits and 1 for meats. How about an Indexed Cutting Boards for meat, cooked food, fish, and vegetables?
Red board for meat, white for cooked foods, blue for fish, and green for veggies/fruits. A color-coded chopping boards to avoid cross contaminations. The indexed cutting boards even have a filing unit for easy storage. I have been wanting to buy myself this but haven’t had a chance to do so. I think as soon as we’re moved to a new place, this will be something new that I’ll be adding in my kitchen. Not only do I love the different colors, the obvious fact that there’s a cutting board for each food item is the best reason to buy it. $85 at MoMa store.
(Image : MoMa)
—-originally posted at the old Blisstree/b5media—-
Kitchen Gadgets : My New Rolling Pin
Before I made our Christmas sugar cookies I knew I had to buy a new rolling pin. My old rolling pin which I’ve had for almost 5 years had seen it’s last days. The last time I used it was when I made the sweet potato pies this past Thanksgiving. It was wood, small, and needed an upgrade.
This new rolling pin has a non-stick surface, easy to roll and bigger than my old wood rolling pin. I love it so much even though I’ve only used for the sugar cookies thus far. I will be making apple pie in a couple of days for our Christmas dessert and I am looking forward to rolling my crust with this new rolling pin .
NOTE : This is my entry for Lasang Pinoy Sundays’ theme of Kitchen Gadgets.
Bacon Wrapped Beef Stuffed With Portobello Mushrooms, Cheese, and Asparagus
… And caramelized apples on the side. Sorry but adding the caramelized apples on the title would’ve made it too long.
After reading Connie’s (Pinoycook) Penne with creamed portobello mushrooms I was reminded of the bacon wrapped beef stuffed with portobello mushrooms, cheese and asparagus dish that has been sitting in my folder since October. Yes I know, I’m so behind . This is actually a variation of the bacon wrapped boneless chicken that I’ve posted years ago which my sister-in-law learned from her Father while he was over for a short visit from New Jersey. The original recipe was using button mushrooms. I sometimes do that but this time I used portobello mushrooms. There is no rule that says you can’t .
We have bacon, asparagus, portobello mushrooms, cheese, beef and the caramelized apples. What more do we need?
My New Pampered Chef Goodies
I ordered my Pampered Chef goodies from my sister-in-law’s party back in August but I didn’t get them until last Halloween. I’ve waited patiently for these goodies and I’m so happy I finally have them. I love Pampered Chef. A bit expensive but the quality is better than anything out there.
Springfoam Pan. A good pan for making cheesecakes, tortes and deep dish pizzas. Oooh. The bottom is glass.
LaPiS September 28 : Rice : How-To Make Sushi
Rice is this Sunday’s theme for LaPiS. I’ve decided to make sushi for this theme. I’ve been eating sushi at Japanese restaurants and buying sushi platters from the Commissary lately that I haven’t made them in a while. Albeit a tedious task, I quite enjoy making my own sushi. I discovered today, it’s even more tedious if you’re trying to take step-by-step how-to-make sushi pictures to share with friends online .
But I persevered without leaving any sticky grain of rice in my Nikon D40. Hope you learn from it and get you excited in making your own homemade sushi.
