Okonomiyaki - Japanese Pancake or Pizza?

Okonomiyaki is one of the great Japanese foods not yet widely known outside Japan.

"Okonomi" literally translates "as you like," reflecting the wide range of ingredients you can use in okonomiyaki.

Some people claim that okonomiyaki is more of a "Japanese pizza" than a "Japanese pancake" on the grounds that okonomiyaki is not sweet.

But because the ingredients are in the batter rather than on the crust, the general concensus seems to be that it's more of a Japanese pancake.

Try it, and then you decide!

I'VE TRIED IT!!!!!! hahaha.....the pics above is the evidence.

And from my finding, it is neither pizza, nor pancake. It is sort of lempeng (malaysian pancake) + cekodok (atau jeppuk dalam bahasa terengganu ku) + murtabak (sebab i put daging inside) + roti canai sardin (coz i put tuna inside) + etc. Really hard to explain...kejap tergigit kat bahagian sayur dia.....terasa la cabbage which is sort of the main ingredient. Kena kat melted cheese which i put on the top, rasa cam Italian food plak.......hahaha....in short :

"the taste depends on whatever you put inside, or on top of it.....and you can put whatever, as you like it"

Hmmmm....my theory is Okonomiyaki may also means 'economy' kot???? Because, you can put anything you like....so, macam kalu ada lauk-lauk yg lebih such as ikan goreng, just masukkan as Okonomiyaki punya ingredient.....therefore, 'sangat ekonomi' kerana anda telah mengelakkan pembaziran berlaku.......hehehhehehe!!!!

This is the result of using common kitchen at Unilodge. that day I saw this Japanese buat this Okonomiyaki yg rupa macam murtabak...and sebab I kempunan murtabak....I search for the Okonomiyaki recipe on the internet...and ended up trying it. Lepas ni tatau la apa lagik recipe nak try......Taiwan....Korea......perhaps!!

So puan-puan....try.....jgn tak try!!!

Top Chef from Japan!!!

This is one of my activity with Abi whenever mummy is not home. I like it because I can be whatever I want to be each day. Today, I decided to be a chef. As my mummy seems to like cooking so much nowadays (as cooking is a therapy for her....huhuhu) , I surely would like to follow her, as I want to be like other orang dewasa too. Furthermore, mummy said she will be late today, thus I should play the role as a chef in this house.

Therefore, the first thing I need is a 'head-band'. Of course I also need some cooking utensils..... perhaps this senduk and sodek (i don't know how to spell.....hahaha) is enough to show my skills as a chef.

Okay....now let's see what I can do. I chop-chop-chop.....dushhh-dushhh-dusshhh....like what mummy always do. Put this....put that....wooppp....garam overdose....add more sugar.....too sweet plak....ask Abi to taste it. Wokeh....Abi gave his approval....so, I am finish.

Tadaaa......telur bungkus yg tak jadi....dek kerana tak lawa, maka mummy adjust menjadi 'beef and carrot in egg roll'....hahaha. Title mesti ada kelas gitu.....as I am a top chef from Japan. That is all for today...I will update my other activities later. There are lots more to tell so keep snooping... Bye..

COOKING : a therapy in an emotionally challenged journey

I never undesrtand why I love cooking so much nowadays. Previously I thought that I cook just for the sake of getting something to eat, and I post it on the blog just to tell others in the home country that ' we are fine here....we have no problems with getting enough nutritions and vitamins as well as adding more lemak-lemak to our bodies'....and so that adelia's grandparents will be happy seeing her getting chubby in her almost-sendat clothes. Until la, the last two nights....when it was quite late here, I went to the kitchen and said "can i make brownies now???". And Din was like...."isn't it late, aren't you tired....you have cooked so much today and we are quite full already, and it's weekend, right.....you should be resting after a week of reading and writing". And then I goes...."I don't know....i really feel like cooking".....and at that moment it struck me that 'cooking is a therapy'....hahaha......apekebende la finding ku ini.

The truth is...this journey is a very emotionally challenged journey, unlike masa undergrad or masa buat masters. Like my former supervisor said :

Suasana pengajian di peringkat ini memang begitu. Setiap orang akan terasa kesunyian. Satu hari dia akan berasa seperti berada di puncak gunung. Pada hari yang lain dia benar-benar terduduk dan berasa dirinya cukup daif, kerdil dan hina.

It is sad, but true. I have meeting with my supervisors every friday where I present to them a report which I prepared throughout the week. Masa present tu rasa seperti 'berada di puncak gunung'. After that, we discuss on it and they give comments and directions of what to do next. I know it is a good thing, but sometimes komen-komen mereka menyebabkan I do have feelings like I failed to make a good job....dan mula lah rasa 'daif, kerdil dan hina' pulak. Can't stop the feeling from bothering me....menyebabkan rasa takde motivasi....down....hilang arah tujuan. Langsung, lepas meeting dah takleh nak buat apa dah.....browse-browse internet.....automatically pikiran mula la nak mereka-reka resipi apa nak try weekend ni....and usually ended up print recipe....ajak Din and Adelia gi beli material to cook, and during weekend.....mulalah nak memasak itu ini.

Biasanya, macam tu la the cycle goes.....tapi minggu ni sebab lebih sket dia punya unmotivated.....menyebabkan lebih lagi la benda yg ku masak. On saturday pagi yg almost ke tengahari....starting our day with pancake....eaten with custard (custard beli readymade je). Pastu lepas abis makan pancake (pasai dah masuk tengahari)....continue plak ngan makaroni bakar tiru azrid punya resipi. Yg ni panjang citer sket....pasal ada minah Utopia ni....selalu conquer the oven.....dari pukul 11 pagi sampai la ke pukul 2 tak abis-abis lagik guna common oven ni....lantas ku ubah bekas asal kedalam bekas lain yg boleh masak dalam microwave dalam bilik je.....oleh itu, rupanya tidak la seindah mana....tapi rasanya, boleh la tahan. Adelia likes it....maybe as it is easy for her to makan sambil main-main....sebab senang dia nak ambik, pastu pergi lari-lari...ambik lagi...lari lagi....

Pastu, tgh-tgh malam....tetiba masak brownie plak....yg again, rupanya tak seindah mana....kerana tgh bake sambil tgk TV....so, menanti iklan baru nak turun gi ambik. Turun skali...belum masak. turun kali kedua.....dah overcooked sket. Yet still, rasanya boleh la tahan....as according to Din (mungkin nak ambik hati....hahahahaha....). On Sunday, we have aqeqah at Ponsonby mosque....untuk member baru dapat baby. And sebab kat masjid ni , team masak-nya lelaki saja.....maka keinginan ku untuk memasak terbatas. Orang pompuan tunggu makan aje. Lagipun, depa masak lamb.....tak reti la daku. Balik Ponsonby.....dinner ngan soup tomato, garlic bread and hotdog.....hahaha.....ini sume ready made aje.....maybe kerana sudah hilang tension ku dan emosi juga sudah stabil gitu....maka sekembalinya diriku ke alam normal, so i no longer need 'cooking as a therapy' anymore......maka....makan ajela apa yg ada, ye....hehehehehe......

Dan kerana makaroni and brownies that i make were so tak cantik....i pun letak la gambar tipu kat sini....yg ambik dari website http://blogluckybeanie.blogspot.com/ and http://southernfood.about.com/od/brownies/r/bl60417e.htm. Kat sini jugak i ambik recipe dia. Hmmmm....tgk sekali dua brownie ni macam serupa aje ngan i buat....heheh....

Adelia and Ugly Duckling-nya

The first few days we arrive here, we only have our bath like sekali sehari.....sejuk maaaaaaa. Makanya, lepas-lepas tu, Adelia amatla payah nak mandi. Tapi sikalang, she loves bath time....especially with her Abi la....coz Abi dia boleh tahan la nak layan dia mandi lama-lama....main-main dalam bathroom....cerita-cerita....bodek-bodek Adelia sampai dia nak brush her teeth ngan relahati. Kalu ngan mummy dia, manjang nak suruh cepat je....tak sempat Adelia nak enjoy her bath time....kekadang, berus gigi dengan paksaan.....mummy yg kejam!! hehehe....
Lagipun, she has got her yellow bath tub (entah box apa...buat jadik bath tub jek) and her yellow duck to accompany her during bath time. So, amat suka la mandi. Pantang kata 'mandi' berlari ambik duck dia and campak dalam bath tubnya. Actually, ada 3 ekor lagi anak itik ni, tapi anak-anak itik tak leh bawak mandi sebab susah nak kering pasal kecik. Kalu nak keluar dari bathtub pun, kena cakap 'kesian kat itik dah sejuk'.....if not, manjang la nak dok dalam tu, tak nak keluar.....

Hahha.....teringat kat Aina Damia.....masa kecik, kalu story tell citer 'ugly duckling....itik hitam yg takde orang nak kawan ngan dia' mesti jebik....meleleh airmata budak tu...punya la sentimental. Macam Mamamia ke macam Cik Ya tu??? hehehe.....

Stingray : An Exploratory Study

kuang....kuang...kuang....what a poyo title up there. Mind me....hehe. This is a story which was about 2 weeks ago. We went to Avondale, sort of the suburb part of Auckland, took about 25 minutes from our place and cost us about NZD 4.30 per person per trip using the Stagecoach bus (it is called 3 stages because that Avondale is the third destination from the city....i just understand this terms...after so long....hahaha). Mahal wooo naik bus ni. We went there for a 'sunday market'....having no idea what it will looks like...except cheap things..as some says. And as usual, we never plan so much for it (gamble manjang....pasal kalu plan, selalu tak jadi...hujan la...and kalu tak jadi...slalu frust nonggeng). The fact is we didn't know where to wait for the bus and don't know where to stop too....and we never equipped ourselves with a decent map too. Adventure konon!!!

Maka di suatu pagi yg hampir ke tengahari....berjalan la 3 beranak....going from one stop to another to read the information given there. Nasib ada 2 bus stop jek depan rumah, and the second one is the one where we have to wait....alhamdulillah. Dan alhamdulillah jugak, now we know how to read the bus schedule....hehehe....ada sapa-sapa nak gi memana naik bus....meh tanya kami.....caj expert ni!!! After waiting for about 15 minutes, we jump into the 221 bus and as we don't know where to stop, i buat-buat la friendly ngan driver bus....nasib he is not local too (imigran)....so he sort of understand our blur-ness. So, there we went......from one stage to another....and along the way we noticed most of the people yg naik bus ni, bawak beg trolley besar sikit jek dari beg sekolah....bukan sorang dua, most bawak beg macam tu. So, we make an assumption that they will stop where we want to stop....coz makcik, pakcik, kakak, adik abang....sume bawak beg trolley......and it turns out that we are RIGHT!!!!!! yeahhhh.....gamble menjadi ni!!! Lantas, we stop where they stop and make way to the sunday market.

It is like pasar tani + pasar malam + bundle + PA-RAM (waaa....i am going to miss pasar ramadhan......huhuhuhu). Mostly chinese selling clothes, shoes, socks...and all sorts of apparel. Chinese + locals selling fruits and vegetables which are soooooo cheap and sangat-sangat fresh. And on one side, chinese, locals and Pakistanis selling second hand things...ranging from electric goods, shoes, furniture....everything la...just name it. Even this one stall, I tatau la what they are selling...macam barang takleh guna jek....tapi ada gak orang nak beli...peliks!!! Ada kedai makan-makan...mainan budak-budak cam handphone berlagu....and ada gak orang buat 'unplugged' kat situ....nyanyi ada, bersajak ada....main traditional instrument pun ada....well, at least they did the right thing to get money, kan!!

we reached this seafood stall....waaa......i don't know how to buy the fishes......kat malaysia pun tak pernah reti nak beli....apa lagik sini. Crabs and mussles are cheap...but i dunno how to cook....masalah betulla minah ni. Then, at one corner....they sold stingray for 1 dollar each....irrespective of the size. we are like...walllaaaa......bestnya bakar and makan ngan air asam. Tapi heran gak kenapa depa jual murah....until la sorang local ni tanya me "how to cook that???" and orang yg jual ni pun tanya me "how to cook that???". so....tau la saya, that they don't know how to cook a stingray.....maka, dek kerana supply > demand....maka harganya menjadi murah (woww....economic nya i...). Din plak, buat teori lain.....Stingray ni ialah binatang yg dibenci oleh OZ and NZealanders...sebab menyebabkan 'hero' mereka iaitu Steve Irwin terbunuh. Whatever it is.....i got it cheap....lalalalala.....but we can't get the big one, sebab peti kami kecik...so, we take the medium one.

Balik rumah, masalah lagi....pasal I cam geli la nak menyiang ikan ni...sebab kat malaysia tak pernah lak tgk ada ekor etc.....mamat tukang jual pun tak reti nak siang. Nasib assistant chef ku....menunjukkan skill menyiang ikan, sambil meng-showing off topi barunya (yang dipakai terbalik dalam gambar diatas). Last skali, bakar dengan perencah readymade 'fortina'....and makan dengan berselera sekali. Kali kedua plak, bakar plain aje, and makan ngan sambal kicap (kical plus bawang je...sini lada punya mahal).....pun tetap menyelerakan....itulah dia pengalaman ke pasar membeli stingray.

Disciplining Me, Myself and I....

Nothing much happened that I can 'blog' about the last few days....plus I try to get myself 'disciplined'. Disciplining myself from Internet....kekeke. This is because, from case study that I did on myself, I found significant negative correlation between the amount of time spend on Internet and the completeness level of my report. The more I spend internet-ing, the less time I spend on my report. It later on deteriorate the quality of my report. Last week telah menyaksikan on Thursday and Friday....termengah-mengah nak finish up report.....and mmg cincai abis, tak tgk pun ada spelling error ke grammar error ke....janji hantar je. So, this week and onwards....tak nak mengulangi kesilapan lampau lagi....huhu...

Nak jumpa supervisor, kena buat report....I la ter'mengada-ngada' cakap nak jumpa seminggu sekali....dah seminggu sekali kena buat report, sey.....letih jugak la. Tapi, it's good la at the beginning ni jumpa byk kali sket....supervisor ni pun bukan all the time nak available. Nanti-nanti pergi conference la....bila cuti dia pun nak cuti kan....dia bukannya nak ada had masa 3 tahun nak siapkan PhD ni....therefore, kena grab the opportunity jumpa supervisor ni sementara dia available. My supervisor is Steven Cahan, and the co-supervisor is David Emmanuel. They are both okay.....to me, sangat la knowledgable....cepat je nampak apa yg tak kena ngan proposed topic....and cepat jek nampak solution dia. Must be sebab depa dah tau banyak la.....kekadang rasa seram gak dan curiga dengan kemampuan ku ini....tapi, kalau orang lain boleh, I pun mesti boleh.....usaha tangga kejayaan....hehe...macam lagu sekolah rendah aje kata-kata ku ini....

Hmmm...maybe bagus jugak jumpa seminggu sekali ni sebab I ni kan minah last minute....kalu dia kata 2 minggu sekali, mesti first week I lalalalala....enjoy....pastu second week tergopoh-gapah la nak buat kerja. Yup...yupp.....must be...must be....I always believe that everything happens for a reason.....

Setakat ni rasa agak berdisiplin la bab datang opis and balik dr opis. Memang la takde opis hours pun....suka hati kita nak datang ke tak nak, nak buat kerja ke tak nak.....nak cuti ke nak rest kat rumah je ke. Tapi, I try to make coming to the office as a routine, supaya boleh buat kerja kat opis je and tak bawak balik rumah. Thanks to hubby yg sentiasa menyenangkan.....pepagi Din dah pack-kan breakfast and lunch, untuk bawak gi opis sementara I mempersiapkan diri. Pastu, tolong jaga Adelia....melayan kerenah budak kecik tu....supaya mummy dia tak perlu nak balik rumah tengahari etc. Cuma still kurang puas hati la dgn waktu kedatangan.....kena adjust next week ni....skarang asyik jadi orang kedua atau ketiga aje....next week nak jadi org pertama. hahaha...sebab perasaan sekiranya jadi org pertama di bilik PhD ni....amatla seronok....

Talking about discipline....byk lagi nak kena mendisiplinkan diri....terutamanya WAKTU SEMBAHYANG.....cita-cita manjang ada, nak smayang on time....tapi selalu jugak smayang lambat. Hmmm.....kalau yg dunia boleh disiplinkan diri, yg akhirat mesti boleh jugak, kan........

teringat cikgu disiplin kat sekolah....Puan Sabariah.....hehe...pe citer la dia skarang....

Can you smell what Modd is cooking????

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan....ini bukan rancangan memasak dengan Minyak Seri Murni ye. Ini ialah satu lagi usaha oleh empunya blog ini untuk memberitahu seluruh dunia bahawa dia pandai memasak...atau dalam erti kata lain...nak show off la tu!!!! hehehe...bior le....kepada sapa lagi harus ku tunjukkan skill ku ini....takkan nak cerita skill memasak kat supervisor ku....nanti dia kata 'it is not significant!!....so, sapa yg baca ni...layan je la.

Ni sebenarnya masakan last Sunday. Makan besar la konon...nak tgk CSI Miami yg Emma suka sgt ngan hero dia tu. Baru berkesempatan nak blog ari ni sebab the whole week, I belajar aje (konon!!). Lagipun, ari ni I cemburu kat idola I (http://blogluckybeanie.blogspot.com/) sebab blog dia ada baked cheese macaroni (Azlinda memang pandai memasak!!!!) Tapi, the most prominent thing la... benda-benda yg I masak ni....memorable for me...antara sebab-sebabnya :

a. First time masak kari.....kari kepala ikan tu beb!! Haha...dah kepala tu jek tinggal, so masak aje. Tapi, harus ku berterima kasih pada Emma...sebab dia telah 'tunjuk-ajarku-sifu' untuk memasak kari ini. Cik Emma kata "lain kali kalu nak kaler dia macam lebih menarik, boleh la anda campurkan serbuk lada semasa menumis". Baik Cik Emma, akan ku kenang ajaran mu itu.

b. Berjaya buat begedel untuk kesekian kalinya.....yeah!!! Begedel is my favourite dish...ehhh...AMONG my favourite dishes (sbb byk sgt favourite). Kekadang, balik kerja dulu singgah kat kedai Mee Kari Gong Kapas kat Kompleks Padang Negara (tempat release tension bersama opismate especially bila ada 'hot event' ) untuk beli begedel ataupun beli mee kari tapi tukar telur ngan begedel....ataupun beli begedel lebih. Dan tanpa menunggu sampai ke rumah, akan ku ratah aje begedel itu sebaik sahaja masuk kereta (oppps...MadRedo1 marah dok makan sambil memandu????). Telah beberapa kali ku cuba membuat begedel ini.....kerana tak puas hati kalau makan kat rumah orang ke...tak dapat nak ratah-ratah. Tapi begedel ku tak pernah menjadi....sentiasa macam banjir minyak aje. Setelah memprint resipi begedel di internet...i pun msg my assisstant chef, utk prepare material....goreng daging, rebus kentang and goreng bawang. Assistant chef ku....berjaya dalam tugasannya....cuma terhangus jek bawang goreng itu. Tapi, ku maafkan.....dan hasilnya : Yeahhhhh....berjaya membuat dalam 20 biji begedel yg boleh ku makan sepuas hati (Gambar ni tunjuk 8 biji....sebab untuk tatapan penonton sahaja.....)

c. The desert.....A French Cuisine!! Yelah tu...sebenarnya....pisang tu, goreng ngan butter, pastu letak madu. Resipi ni ku tiru dari minah french, cuma benda ni dia penyek-penyekkan dalam lempeng. But since the lempeng deteriorate the rasa....I just eliminate the lempeng from the recipe. Mudah dan sedap....terutamanya utk org yg tak suka makan buah sepertiku. Yg ni Emma yg masak...yg I buat : tak cun......and tak sesuai utk tontonan umum.

So??? Am I qualified enough to join the Top Chef (pertandingan memasak dalam tv)????? Vote for me!!!!