The Foodie's Food Trip

Cook Books Sale at Border's

Got an email from Border's today. Selected cook books are on sale, up to 50% off. Some of the items on sale include cook books by Betty Crocker and Jamie Oliver.

I think this is an opportunity that should not be missed...

Today's Comic Strip: Fruit Yogurt Parfait

Ooohhh... this looks so yummy and so easy to do.
Been wanting to make parfait... and this is the perfect recipe. :)

Tonkatsu in Tonkichi

It's been years since I've eaten authentic tonkatsu with authentic tonkatsu sauce. Last time I had it was in Japan in 2003 (or was it 2002?) with my officemates/friends. Each of us will order a tonkatsu set. That's not all.... the rice was eat-all-you-can! hahaha!

Since I left Japan, I've been searching far and wide for that real tonkatsu sauce. The tonkatsu itself is easy to do... but the sauce... I'd just end up disappointed. Most of the time they give me soy sauce!

A few days ago, after going to the gym, Lloyd and I decided to check out if Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City has a Japanese restaurant with tonkatsu in their menu. Lo and behold... there is!

The restaurant's name is Tonkichi. Their specialty... TONKATSU!!! heaven.... :)

So we went in and ordered. Lloyd had the Prawn & Chicken Katsu Set. I had the Nagoya Rosu Miso Katsu Set. Lloyd is fond of Japanese curry so we ordered extra Curry Sauce.

When the food arrived.... speechless. I was too excited (& too hungry as well) that I never got the chance to take pictures of our food!!! Their tonkatsu is actually big... enough for 2 people. And... it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! The sauce: It was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Even the curry sauce and the shredded cabbage with the salad sauce... They were P-E-R-F-E-C-T! I was so happy with what I was eating I ordered extra rice... half for me & half for Lloyd. Although Lloyd was teasing me that I was just shy and can actually finish the whole thing! wahahahaha!

To give you an idea of what they offer, here are the links to their menu:
Popular & Standard Items
What is "Tonkatsu"
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

Ahh... Japanese food...

Tonkichi - Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road, #04-24
Tower A, Ngee Ann City
http://www.pokkafood.com.sg/tonkichi/index.php

Today's Comic Strip: Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Another Cheap Thrills comic strip. :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

One of my favorite chocolate candies is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I started liking it when I was in high school. Reese's was not available in groceries and supermarkets, so I'd ask a favor to anyone who goes to the US to buy me some. :)

So I made some, and... here's the final product! :)

After attending the Ultimate Chocolate Treats I class from Shermay's Cooking School and learned how to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares, I was excited! I wanted to make some chocolate peanut butter squares! But there were a lot of factors that stopped me...

The main reason is that I don't want to buy lots of stuffs/ingredients when I'm doing it the first time.
I only have Hershey's chocolate chips. I told myself that if I'll use Chef Joycelyn's recipe then I must use Valrhona.
I have butter at home and it's not unsalted butter.
The recipe uses the Metric system (in grams). I have a weighing scale, but it's not accurate & reliable.
I have creamy peanut butter, but it's sweet & creamy, so the taste would definitely be sweeter than expected.

So I searched for a different recipe, and I found one by Nigella Lawson. The recipe is in her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. I also found another recipe shared by Nigella Lawson in Good Morning America. It's the same as the one in the book, the difference is the measurements used are in US system of measurement. :)

Since this is just my first try, I don't want my ingredients to go to waste so I only made half (plus I don't have that much chocolate chips hihihi). I used a 5.5in x 5in plastic container with the inside wrapped with foil.

My plastic container

I left the whole thing in the fridge overnight (just to make sure). But seriously... that night, I can't sleep because I was so excited to open it and see if it turned out OK. When I opened the container... perfect!

As you can see, I placed some peanuts on one half, and none on the other, just to try out the difference of plain vs. crunchy and also to have a variation of having that extra peanut taste.

cut in half

Lloyd's not a fan of the combination of chocolate & peanut butter, but he tried some (the ones without nuts. He hates crunchy!), and he said it was good. :)

If you love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, then you should definitely try this out. Next time, I'll buy some Valrhona and make these using Chef Joycelyn's recipe. :D