Bump in the Head

After rushing back home and greeted my relatives, I was shocked to see a bandage on Kristine's head. Apparently, she fell while rehearsing for the concert in school. Not sure of the details but Wife said her socks were slippery and so was her shoes or something like that. Need to ask more tomorrow as everyone was flat out by 2230.

Why?

Because Erika had dengue fever and had been admitted to the Hospital. So, I drove all the relatives there and also had fun comparing the Garmin nuvi 255 against my Nokia 5800 (which always try to be too smart and give opposite directions). Yeah, the Garmin is more accurate.

Anyway, Erika was so ill that she had to be helped to move about. But luckily, babe was there. And when she saw me, she tried to greet me but I told her not so speak (in case she blurted out our secrets in delirium ..... not). I am not sure about her condition but the way my Uncle said it, its very serious. And DBKL told her she is the fourth victim in the whole Condo. Me, I am more worried about the medical fees as they Hospital is build like a 5-star Hotel, with valet parking, nice toilets, lounges, etc. The only difference is that they do not have buffet dining and a jazz lounge.

Oh, the flat out part? We came back home and joined with my parent and all for a dinner which took ages to reach us. By the time it came, I think we're all stuffed with satay (which came in less than 8 minutes.) Oh, and that I had to carry Kaelynn all the way to the shops after I realised she did not wear her shoes.

Here is the big big bandage.
Look very serious except
that she is smiling like nothing
happened. Maybe its the bump.


Thank goodness it was not a cut or anything,
just a bruise.

Furikake Fudging

Furikake (振り掛け/ふりかけ?) is a dry Japanese condiment[1] meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate. Other flavorful ingredients such as katsuobushi (sometimes indicated on the package as bonito), salmon, shiso, egg, powdered miso, vegetables, etc. are often added to the mix.

Furikake is often brightly colored and flaky. It can have a slight fish or seafood flavoring, and is sometimes spicy. It can be used in japanese cooking for pickling foods for onigiri, or rice balls.

Outside Japan furikake can be found in most Asian groceries, near the katsuobushi; or in the ethnic food aisle of some major supermarkets.

Well, that was the description I got from Wikpedia when I was looking for something to sprinkle on rice. Ha ha.

Anyway, Wife got this for us some time ago, to try on the plain rice. And I must say, its delicious. However, the price for that small packet is, to me, exhorbitant. And so, I decided to make my own version. Well, that was years ago. This time, I really need to make it and so, on our latest shopping trip, I bough a can of tuna to start with. The reason is that the powdered soup is about to finish and roughly, by next month or so, it would be gone. And so, I need to find alternatives to the powdered soup for my oats.

The Chicken branded the tuna as flakey.

And wow..... such wonderful aroma!
Must stop myself eating it right now.

OK, so, I need to drain all the excess water from the
tuna and this was the best solution I could think of. I
pressed them hard against the strainer. I could go
and toast it if I wanted to but I at the end, it will be
toast anyway. I just needed dry tuna. Drying under
the Sun is also not a good idea since there are dust
and cats and birds to worry about. After that, use
a fork to flake the tuna finely.

While its being dried, I decided to use half a clove
of garlic and one big onion. Then I saw this weird
knife and decided to mash everything inside the
pot. I cannot blend it as it would be too fine. If
you love garlic, you do not have to chop it too
fine. Maybe the next time, I would toast them
instead. But no deep frying, OK?

Use about one tablespoon of oil to fry the garlic and
onions
until aromatic. You don't want it to be so
thoroughly cooked.


Bring the flaked tuna into a pot and then add one
teaspoon each of salt, chicken stock, that RM5.49
Japanese chili powder, and some sprinkle of the
Black Pepper Ajishio. Add the fried garlic and
onions and mix them all up.


Over a small fire, spread the mixture onto a non
stick pan and fry them. The object here is to get
the mixture as dry as possible. Once you see some
dark brown patches, its almost ready. I forgot to
time it but its roughly time taken to wash two plates,
a fork, a cup and a knife, while pouring myself a
cup of water and drinking it two-thirds.

Once you have taken the mixture out, leave it to
cool off in case you decided to hold the pan with
your bare hands. Now, take about 12 small packs
of seaweed and roll them as if you are rolling
plasticene in Kindergarten. We want the seaweed
to be in flakes but not too fine. The big ones tend to
clump the mixture later on. If you use less than
12 packs, then you can eat the remainder.

Add the seaweed flakes into the mixture and mix
well with a dry tablespoon heated to about 30ºC.

Spread the mixture thinly and placed under the over
for 10 minutes at 130ºC, occasionally turning it to
prevent burnt parts which by coincidence, is inedible


If everything is right, this is how it would look
like. In other words, it would look a lot less like
what a Furikake but more on mutated chicken
floss. Oh, if you eat it just like that, it will taste
very sour, sweet and bliss at the same time. So
you will need to sprinkle very little on bread or
rice.

Its still damp, my Wife said, And I guess it passed
the edible test since she did not gag, choke, roll her
eyes upward and/or fainted on the floor right away.

And here it is, on my morning oats. I must keep
them refrigerated in case I forget to finish them
and they turn grey or other obnoxious colours.

I am not sure what to call it anymore, it should be Furikake. It could be tuna floss too. Or maybe, I shall call it Furifloss. Either one can be used to add to your rice/porridge/oats/bread/pasta/french fries, anyway.

But when I get the chance to try another, I would definitely add more chili since the Japanese Chili pepper is not working. Maybe I should have bought cayenne pepper instead. Not only that, I might need to deep fry some mustard seeds (biji sawi). This time though, I might have to cut down on the salt and up the garlic. Perhaps one day, I will try with macademia, flaxseed, almonds and other nuts to get a richer mix. But then, this might even be a meal in itself already.