Out & About #696 | Week #51 Quarantine Update

"But you'll never know unless you walk in my shoes.
You'll never know 엉카버린 내 끈
Cause everybody sees what they wanna see.
It's easier to judge me than to believe."​

​I stand by the declaration that subjective reality is non-inclusive, and only by venturing out can one begin to populate the gaps of comprehension. The girls of BLACKPINK discuss the unseen struggles behind their glamourous rise to fame - at a very vague level, if you will. But the path to a longstanding idol is paved no differently than that of you and I, striving to achieve success in our respective careers.

The world demands evolution and consideration. Failure to follow through renders one incompetent in the perspective of a dynamic society, and rightfully so.

​And perhaps, while identifying the needs of others, one ought to return to square one for personal evaluation. I say "perhaps", as providing a statement in the absence of its execution is hypocritical, therefore warranting little to no respect. To be selfless is to be just selfish enough for the surrounding community to thrive as a result of one's impact.

Creations of the week included:

1) Black Sesame Taiwanese Castella

​Having seen tremendous success in the previous week's Castella by Sunday Baking, I took to a second cake with the inclusion of unsweetened black sesame paste. Incorporating this homemade mixture thankfully did not weigh down the batter, albeit yielded a noticeable difference in texture in the top fifth of the finished product. It was a risky move that incorporated a greater amount of fat, and consequentially more moisture in the batter. In order to compensate this, approximately 10 g more of sugar was added to the egg whites for stability.

​Cooking/steaming time had not been altered from before: 300 F for 70-80 minutes yielded a plush Taiwanese-style castella with uniform air pockets and a mere hint of surface browning. To ensure a gradual temperature change, the pan of water had been placed into the oven during the preheating process.
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In my work email-buried haste, I had omitted the counter-tapping step to remove air bubbles. However, given that the bain-marie held hot water, air bubbles were naturally urged upwards once the batter had been placed within.

​Tinged grey with faint specks of black, this black sesame edition proved extremely satisfying texture for those in adoration of a slightly gritty texture. For those with a distinct sweet tooth, you may consider a dollop of sweet pastry cream, though it was adequate in all aspects for my liking.
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The cake was enjoyed in conjunction with a gift from Bebop, a local business offering two variants of pour-over-ready assemblies. Individually packaged with a sturdy mesh-plastic contraption, one required only hot water to saturate the coarsely ground beans. In this first round, instructions were read, but not adhered to. Further reactions shall be detailed once the brewing process aligns with the manufacturer's intentions.

​2) Fish Cakes and Napa Cabbage in Ssamjang Broth / 쌈장 어묵

​Despite a decent amount of preparation, fish cake soup (or oden soup) comes together with minimal effort, serving as the ideal weekday lunch. SPAM, or one's preferred choice of meat, can be added for a greater degree of satisfaction. Reminiscent of past KBBQ and alcohol-encompassing occasions, the slightly spicy ssamjang stock stimulates the stomach, banishing email-swarmed sluggishness.

​3) Tomato-Red Wine Braised Beef

Last week had marked my first and final occurrence of obtaining discount meat from Loblaws. Thirty minutes of wearisome wrist work later, I had vowed to not bother ever again. Given the discolouration of said segments, I deployed my entire roster of meat-tenderizing techniques, from slicing against the grain to removing the sinewy bits. The bite-sized pieces were marinated in advance of searing to promote tendon breakdown for roughly 15-20 minutes; garlic powder, salt, and lemon juice formed the foundation, with the highly acidic last ingredient included to alleviate toughness.

​I first sautéed onion slivers in olive oil, then minced garlic. As the garlic began to dance, in went the beef for pan-frying, just until browning had been achieved on all sides. Next came the canned tomatoes, a can of slightly lumpy pasta sauce, a splash of red wine, and water as needed. The pot was allowed to simmer over low heat for 1-2 hours, then resides with the lid on.
In hindsight, I ought to have blanched the meat first as it was of low quality. This step was forgotten in my haste, though the results were still quite delicious.

4) Salted Pork with Taro Chunks / 咸蝦芋頭豬肉
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High in sodium and best consumed with steamed white rice (or atop toast if adventurous), this dish was inspired by the Cantonese classic of steamed pork with shrimp paste - a rather potent condiment, if I do dare to declare. Unevenly marbled pork shoulder was sliced into fine chunks and marinated in a blend of sesame oil, rose cooking wine, and a few drops of fish sauce. They were then combined in a pot with partially taro chunks.
Scallions, while omitted  ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶a̶z̶i̶n̶e̶s̶s̶  in my rendition, are recommended if available.

5) Cheese Scones

​​Having developed a frugal housewife mentality far sooner than needed, it became instinctive of me to hurriedly utilize a soon-to-expire tub of sour cream rather than waste three dollars and forty-nine cents in its entirety (or well, a portion of it anyway). I took to Sunday Baking's channel for inspiration, eventually landing on Cheese Scones - the machine by which two forms of dairy could effectively be re-purposed for a longer lifespan.

​Rather than rummaging through for my biscuit cutters, I resorted to two small discs in the name of personal preference for smaller individual scone portions.

​Admittedly, I found this variation inferior to the Green Tea Scones I had adapted. The first bite was stale, its texture dry and crumbly in the absence of heavy cream. Neither butter nor cheese could be perceived unless toasted. A distinct crunch could be secured from the reheating process, though I'm unconvinced about the incorporation of eggs in scones rather than heavy cream.

6) Green Tea Cookies

Essentially the video that marked my fascination with her videos, I finally decided to attempt her White Chocolate Green Tea Cookies. It would be my foray into the world of Matcha White Choc Chip after a lengthy hiatus. Longing for a tender crunch as opposed to soft chewiness, I ended up swapping the quantities of brown and white sugar; a baking powder substitute for baking soda was also made to prevent unreacted leavener due to reduction in brown sugar.

​The results were too sweet, and still too structure-less for my liking. White chocolate chips were also deemed more suitable than roughly chopped white chocolate due to chemical composition and high-tolerance melting point

7) Mr. Cheesecake Japanese Cheesecake

On a mission to use up the remainder of our soon-to-expire sour cream - Yes, there was more - I returned to the kitchen the following day as determined as ever. First to emerge was a basic galette dough, which was promptly shoved into the freezer for a later undertaking.
But alas, there was still some left! I then turned to Sunday Baking yet again: it was time to remove the packaging from my newly acquired vanilla bean paste.

​Although fairly simply in concept, the narrow cake required three bowls for effective temperature control (read: prevention of egg scambling). Once placed in the oven, the process was as straightforward as the castella; however, due to inconsistent oven temperature, I ended up baking for fifteen minutes longer than specified. It was at this point that the heat was cranked up in an attempt to quicken the process, resulting in an unset body and burnt surface.

Chilling the cake for several hours improved its consistency dramatically, all while preserving smooth properties and delicate tanginess. Specks of vanilla were visible throughout, though the paste hadn't seemed to deliver tremendous fragrance nor flavour.

Other meals of the week included leftovers of Cocoa Bread with peanut butter, black garlic instant ramen (not mine) with homemade Soy Braised Eggs, hoddeok, and a frenzy of snacks.

​The removal of VICTON's songs from Spotify brought about a significant amount of grief. YouTube streaming was inefficient in terms of battery usage and furthermore laden with advertisements. Amidst these unforeseen circumstances, slight tinges of joy were delivered with the discovery of coincidentally matching Uniqlo zip-ups with Subin and Sejun, my two faves from the seven-member boy group.

The week dragged on with emails, CoCo runs for the manual transfer of VIP status (the key tag was returned!!!), and several K-Idol workouts. ​They were quite enjoyable for the most part, and I even learned to count to ten!

Constituting the climax of an errand run in Oakville was the decidedly unexpected GOT7 talks at LCBO. The cashier had caught sight of my Eyes on You tour lanyard and immediately inquired, "You like GOT7?"

Swiftly glancing up with shimmer eyes, I responded, stunned, "Yes! You know them??"
"Yes." came the calm reply.
"Do you like them??" I pressed.
"Yes." Just when it seemed that the conversation would conclude, he followed up with yet another question. "Who is your favourite member?"
"I like Jinyoung!" By this point, I was overcome with excitement. In fact, it hadn't even occurred to me that I wasn't verifying the items being scanned.
He acknowledged my answer with minimal reaction, then proceeded to ask again: "Have you seen their new video?"
I mustered just enough awareness to stop myself from squealing at the mention of Encore. "Of course! It's great! I'm so excited to see what else they'll do now."

And then, it was time to say goodbye.

​Spirits high and positively beaming, I floated back to reality upon my exit. Prancing next door to Starbucks, I was greeted promptly and gestured towards the Mobile Orders section, where a cinnamon-crusted Coffee Cake and Iced Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espresso awaited me.

​Another arduous work week came to a close, and weekend errands commenced. Among these was a scone delivery in Etobicoke, where souvenir magnets were exchanged for my baking efforts.

​A Brown Sugar Oat Americano was obtained for the return trip, though it was quite disappointing in comparison to the iced halve of the recently-introduced duo.

Weekend meals consisted of, you guessed it, leftovers, and a damp yet fantastically flavourful Truffle Queen.

​Wispy thin cremini mushrooms, a sparing spread of black truffle, and creamy pockets of cheese succeeded in satisfying even the most dubious of non-meat-eaters in the household. 

​And to all a good night.