Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Cranberry Lime Jam, and Strawberry Pandan Jam

Recipe

1.5 lbs fresh strawberries, cleaned and quartered

1 cup of water

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 oz dried cranberries, soak in water

2 pandan leaves, folded into thirds and knotted

1 cup dark brown sugar

Yield: 750 mL or 3-250mL jars

Method

1. Place strawberries, dark brown sugar and water into a pot and blend.

2. Turn the heat up to medium high, and bring to a rolling boil.

3. Take 2 cups of strawberry stock and place into a separate pot, and add cranberries, lime juice, zest and 1/3 cup of dark brown sugar.

4. Reduce mixture to 1 cup, then jar the mix.

5. Reduce the rest of the strawberry stock to 2 cups. The reduction process develops the natural pectin in the strawberries.

6. Pour 1 cup of the reduced plain strawberries and jar the mix.

7. Place the pandan leaves into the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove and jar the mix including the pandan leaves. You need to leave it in to develop the pandan flavor.

8. Finish off by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Place a small wire rack at the bottom of the pot and put all three jars into the water. Boil for 2.5 hours. I like going for three just to make sure that the process works.

Thoughts

I originally thought that the 1.5 lbs of strawberries would definitely yield the 4 jars, because of the research I did of regular strawberry jams. Unfortunately, I forgot that these recipes called for the addition of pectin, which increases the yield, and removes the need for water.

Instead of making two batches, I combined the strawberry cranberry jam with the lime juice and zest to give another depth to it. The result really surprised me. At first, I thought the original idea would yield a more strawberry like taste, but the cranberries were much stronger than I thought. The idea of adding lime to lighten the taste really worked, and balanced the flavor nicely.

The final products are not jelly-like such as the commercial products out there, but the natural pectin that I developed when the strawberry mixture was reducing was enough to semi-solidify the mixture.

The final jam with cranberries did develop the necessary pectin substance that I was looking for, and had the really thick jam consistency.

Any comments, just email me :D or comment :D I'll post up the rest of the vids later.

Bento Box

I made two bento boxes for my cousins Jessica and Kristy. I spread the steamed rice at the bottom, and sprinkled it with some Japanese seaweed seaoning. The Bento Box included tamagoyaki, lobster balls, pan fried Taiwanese sausage slices, octodog, crabdog, and quick blanhed broccoli trees. Along with the bento, I packed a chicken dashi soup in a styrofoam container, though a thermos container would've been nicer.

Here, I liked using the clear plastic container, which I got from Chef Norm when I worked with him at a convention. The container was durable, and I could use it with a divider or not. I left out the dividers, because I like the scene that I was creating. Maybe, next time I should dye the rice blue.... ehehehehe.

The tamagoyaki was not as sweet as traditional Japanese ones, but they were nice anyways. My cousins need to be worked up to the idea of sweet eggs.

If anybody wants any of the recipes just let me know.

I will post videos later.

Korean Glass Noodle

Korean Glass Noodle


1 package Hong Shu Fen Si Noodle (Korean noodle) or potato starch vermicelli
8 oz sliced beef/pork (preferably the hotpot slices)
2 stalks scallion
4 oz Vidalia onion
2 oz finely julienned carrots
2 oz finely julienned red/orange peppers
3 tbsp white sesame seeds
3 tbsp black sesame seeds
2 cups Korean Bulgogi sauce


Marinade sliced beef with onion, Vidalia onion, julienne carrots, white sesame seeds, and Korean bulgogi sauce. (leave for 2 hours, overnight yields best result)
Boil noodles for 3-4 minutes, then drain while rinsing with cold water. Make sure to wash most of the starch out.
Pan fry the sliced beef with oil and ALL the marinade.
Once cooked, add the cold Korean noodle to the mix, and heat until warm. *Warning* Do Not Overcook the Korean noodles.
If you need more Bulgogi sauce, just add at the end and mix with the noodles.

This recipe was made when I was experimenting making the noodles. I love the Korean Noodles, but for the life of me, I could not figure out how to make the noodles brown. The Fensi noodles were white, so I tried marinating the cold noodles with the sauce. Yes the noodles eventually turned brown, but I figured you could do that with some dark mushroom soy sauce for color in less time.
The Bulgogi sauce is addictive, so go easy on it. You can always add salt, although I didn't.