Red Wine Oxtail Stew / Oxtail Bourguignon (紅酒燴牛尾)

Fresh and meaty oxtail, red wine, rosemary, garlic, onions, tomatoes. By reading the list of ingredients, you know this makes a great french stew.

This slow-cooked oxtail meat is so soft and melting, and drenched with rich red wine sauce. This insanely delicious comforting food is absolutely perfect for parties and family gathering!

Be it Red Wine Oxtail Stew or Oxtail Bourguignon, or French oxtail stew, they are technically the same, although some could argue that they are different. Each family has different style of cooking Oxtail Stews. List of ingredients may vary. Some prefers more spices, some prefers basic flavors. French braise them with red wine and mushrooms, and it can be beef or oxtail or veal.

There's no lack of Oxtail Stew recipes online. But mine has shorter list of ingredients tho. So, it's easier to achieve. Everything is available in Cold Storage. But it does not means that this stew is effortless. Mashed potatoes would make the perfect side dish to complement oxtail stew.

Although oxtail is regard as cheap cuts in some country, but in Singapore? No. Not really. Oxtail is expensive in Singapore. In some restaurants in other countries who serves this dish in a peasant way, especially French, and slowly going into haute cuisine. But not yet there, and we're not sure if they will be there or not, unlike Beef Bourguignon.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg Fresh Oxtail
• 3 tbsp Plain Flour
• 4 tbsp Cooking Oil
• 2 Large Yellow Onions
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Fresh Tomatoes
• 2 cans Whole Peeled Tomato
• 2 sprig Rosemary
• 400ml Red Wine
• 400ml Beef Stock
• some Spanish Chorizo chunks, about 7 inches long (Optional)
• 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper 
• 2 tsp Salt (or more to taste)
• 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup 
• some coriander leaves as garnishing

Method

1. Coat oxtails with 3 tbsp of plain flour evenly. In a french pot, heat up 4 tbsp oil, and give oxtail a nice sear until brown on every side. Remove oxtail and set aside. 
2. Throw in chopped onions, and garlic into the same pot. Saute until onions are soft. Add in fresh tomato wedges and whole peeled tomato can. Fry for another few minutes until tomatoes slightly softened.
3. Add in browned oxtails, arrange them nicely on the pot, ensuring each piece is at the bottom, while the tomatoes is on top. 
4. Add in carrots, rosemary, red wine, beef stock, spanish chorizo and ground black pepper. 
5. Let it simmer on the stove for 30mins, and transfer the pot into a baking tray, and send the pot into pre-heat the oven to 170 Degree Celsius for 1.5 hours. Do check for splatters and spillage. Reduce to 160 Degree Celsius if there's a need. 
6. Leave oxtail stew aside and let it age for a night. Remember to reheat it before going to sleep. 
7. On the next day morning, add salt, reheat the stew pot and let it simmer for another 30mins or upto 1 hour. 
8. Scoop away the top layer of fats. Add in tomato ketchup and give it a stir before taste test. Adjust saltiness accordingly, and the stew is ready to eat.
9. Optionally, for more presentable looking stews (like mine); Extra effort is needed - Transfer all oxtails, carrot chunks and chorizo chunks from the stew juices. Stew juices will then be strained, and then reduced under flame until stew juice achieved desired thick consistency. Pour thick stew juice over oxtail, and reheat oxtail stew under flame before serving. Don't forget the coriander leaves :)

Here's the complete pictorial guide for your easy reference. I'm sure this series of pictorial guide could complement the method in writing and so as to achieve better understanding. 

Step 1 : Dust oxtail with flour and pan-sear it till brown color. This gives really good flavors to the oxtail stew. 

Step 2 : Be very sure that you do not wash the pot after searing the oxtail. We need those brown patchy mess! Just throw in onions, garlic, tomatoes, and give it a good stir fry.

Before you even start cooking, do select the right flameproof casserole french pot size for your dish. The pot size should be able to fit all oxtails in just nicely with little leeway for other ingredients to fall down to the bottom of the pot except liquids. Like this, you don't have to tie kitchen string around each oxtail piece to hold the meat on the bone which I find it extremely tedious.

Step 3 and 4 : Add in oxtails, ensuring oxtails are at the bottom. And then, add the rest of the ingredients except salt.

Max bought me some real good Spanish Chorizo from Spain sometimes ago. I added Spanish Chorizo into the stew. Why? Because Spanish Chorizo has its distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers. It gives really nice flavor to the stew. You may argue that this isn't French stuff. It's optional. You don't have to follow exactly the same. No strict rules here. You also may add some paprika for extra heat if you prefer.

I'm quite regretful for using 22cm french pot for this dish. When I send the pot into the oven, it splatters and spills. So, I transfer to a 24cm french pot after that. So, selecting the right pot size before you cook is really important.

Leaving oxtail stew to age overnight is the key to success. The flavors will infuse all over during aging process. And Le Creuset french pot hold heat amazingly. It still 'cooks' during the cooling down process.

Step 8 : This stew will gives you a thick layer of fats floating on top. Don't get freaked out. Don't remove those fats on the first day. Because fat layer on top prevents air going into the stew, and this also explains the stew keeps well overnight without keeping it in the fridge. Fats will only be removed on the day you consume the stew.

This dish can be done in a rustic way. It can stop at step 8, or boil a little longer if one wish. Or like me, you may proceed to put in extra effort to go to step 9. This also means you have to wash extra pot, sieve, and utensils.

Step 9 : Stew juices needs to be strained, and reduced under flame until desired thickness has reached before pouring over the oxtail stew. You may also do another taste test after the sauce is reduced, just incase you want to do any further adjustment. Tomato ketchup would be a good compliment to the stew juice.

Look at the end result. My oxtail stew will have a nice gloss with the reduced stew juices poured over. And sprinkle chopped coriander leaves over oxtail stew gives another level of attractive look.

Although steamed rice is a good option as a side dish, but I assure you, Oxtail stew is best eaten with mashed potatoes as a side.

My mashed potato recipe is very simple. Some Russet Potatoes, good slab of butter, some fresh milk, and season well with salt and pepper. And oh! don't forget to prepare some salad too!

Cooking method for this dish requires slowly simmering the oxtail in wine, tenderizing the meat that would have been too tough to cook in any other way. Total cooking time of my Red Wine Oxtail Stew is 3 hours, not counting cooling time, and aging time. The meat fall off the bone nicely, but still remain some chew. I'm absolutely satisfied. It's insanely delicious!!!

Thou this dish needs abit of patience to cook, but I assure you that this is worth every effort. Do give this dish a try. I'm sure you will love it.

Beef Brisket Clear Soup Stew / 清湯牛腩

Beef Brisket Clear Soup Stew is a very popular Cantonese dish. Sweet and beefy in taste, soft and tender meat and clear soup with hints of spices. It may looked like a normal dish, the scent and fragrance of the soup from hours of simmering is lip-smackingly delicious.

Undeniably, the clear beef brisket soup has such a strong umami flavor that you cannot resist but finish it to the last drop.

In my hometown Kampar, we do have this soup serve alongside with dry noodles. In Hong Kong, this dish is easily available, especially the famous Kau Kee Beef Brisket Soup Noodles. Asians have plenty of ways of cooking their version of 'beef stew' or 'beef soup', while Cantonese prefers this clear soup version. However, different family will have different preference in the type of spices added into the soup.

I stewed this pot, and I served 6 adults along with fluffy white rice. Yumms!

Ingredients
(Source : Chinese Food Recipe with modification)

• 650g Beef Brisket 牛腩
• 200g Beef Shin 牛腱
• 6 Water Chestnut (Optional) 马蹄
• 10 Beef Balls (Optional) 牛肉丸
• 1 White Radish 白萝卜
• 1 tbsp Shao Xing Wine 绍兴酒
• 2 stalks Spring Onions 葱
• 40g Old Ginger, sliced 老姜
• 2500ml Water 水
• Sea Salt to taste 海盐

Spices for the soup

• 1 Bay Leaf 香叶
• 10g Rock Sugar 冰糖
• 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed 小茴香
• 1/2 Szechuan Pepper 川椒
• 1 Cinnamon Bark 桂皮
• 4 Cloves 丁香
• 2 Star Anise 八角
• 1 piece Licorice Root 甘草
• thumb sized Sun-Dried Tangerine Peel 老陈皮

Method

1. Preparation - Cut meat into pieces and white radish into big chunks. Give the spices a quick rinse. Soak tangerine peel till soft, scrape off the whitish part. 
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add brisket and shin into the boiling water, simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, drained, rinse the beef pieces and the saucepan to get rid of the scums. 
3. Heat a pan with some oil, fry sliced gingers till fragrant. Add in the rest of the spices, shao xing wine, rock sugar, beef brisket and beef shin. Stir well. Add in water and bring to a boil. 
4. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 30mins, scoop the scums away (if any) and add in 1 stalk of spring onions. 
5. Add in white radish and beef balls, continue to simmer under low fire for another 30mins (or more), covered. Check the tenderness of the beef brisket and beef shin to your likeliness
6. Turn off the heat, add salt to taste. Let the soup continue to 'cook' under it's own temperature, for another 30mins.
7. To serve, reheat the soup, scoop onto the bowl, sprinkle spring onions and serve with fluffy white rice.

This recipe is very forgiving. You can choose to use only beef brisket if you doesn't like beef shin. I added some beef balls into the stew because my big boy Max would love to have em'. Water chestnut can add extra sweetness to the stew. I happened to have some at home, so, I just conveniently add some in there.

I got my beef brisket, beef shin and beef balls from Chinatown wet market. Beef brisket cost S$10 per kg. Good deal eh.

The variety of spices I used is quite alot. But if you don't have all of them in the list, you can opt out some of them. However, ginger, spring onions, szechuan pepper, rock sugar, tangerine peels are essential. Otherwise, you won't be able to get even the right flavorful taste of the broth.

I didn't remove the ginger skin. Ginger and ginger skin has health benefits. I'm sure very little people knows that leaving the skin on your ginger is better for you. Ginger skin doesn't only makes the dish taste better, it aids in digestion by improving absorption of essential nutrients and helps to break down the proteins in your food. Of course, for some cosmetic reasons on certain dishes, I will still remove the ginger skin :)

Fusing with the lean meat into one, the brisket has generated a heavenly consistency. I brewed the soup for 30mins, and the flavor of the spices is all over the soup. I don't the spices to over-powered and covered the beefy taste, because beefy sweetness is eventually what we want. So, I removed the strong flavored spices star anise, cinnamon bark, cloves and licorice root from the soup. You can also do the same or if you prefer stronger spices flavor, you can leave the spices in the soup all the way.

Now, I am able to make this beef brisket clear soup stew at home anytime. To me, the best part about cooking is that you are willing to make something from scratch, and your loved ones enjoy eating it.

I find this soup absolutely suitable for all-year-round dish. The soup is clean, slightly sweet, intensely beefy. Surely will cook it again in near future.

What's next for me to explore? I don't know. I shall think about it :)

Happy cooking!

Mee Rebus Johor - (MFF-Johor) #2

Mee Rebus Johor is my 2nd dish for Malaysian Food Fest (MFF) Johor Month. I really love this! And I don't think I will ever forget it's taste. To me, this is a deluxe version of mee rebus! Hahaha..

I love mee rebus. Max loves it too. When I cooked Mee Soto Johor, Max asked if there's Mee Rebus Johor too. I said "Yes!", and he immediately request me to cook it.

Mee Rebus Johor is the least well known but special and well received dish. It is a noodle dish which consist of mee (yellow noodle) and served with tangy, spicy brown gravy, and then topped with condiments.

This might be a simple meal, but it gives you lots of satisfaction!

I had been living in Singapore for almost 15 years. So far, I couldn't find any mee rebus stall that makes me wanna revisit them. It's either their gravy are too bland, watery, or too salty. This version of mee rebus Johor is not the ordinary mee rebus that has peanut sauce in there. This is really different, and I love this version of mee rebus gravy more than the usual ones.

The preparation is easier than Mee Soto. I assure you. Lesser ingredients, not that time consuming too. I adapted the ingredient from Masam Manis, source from Iza Akma, but did minor modification.

Recipe (Feed 6 to 7, generously)
(Recipe Source :  Masam Manis, with minor modification)

Ingredient for gravy

• 300g Minced Beef
• 1 tbsp Corn Flour
• 250g Orange Sweet Potatoes, cook till soften, drained, mashed.
• 35g Dried Shrimp, washed, drained, finely grinded.
• 2 stalks of Lemongrass, cut into 5 inch length, bruised
• 8 pcs Star Anise
• 4 tbsp Pre-Packed Chilli Paste (You could grind your own fresh chilli paste too)
• 2 tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 tsp Tumeric Powder
• 1 tbsp Chicken Powder (Original recipe ask for 1 cube Beef Stock)
• ½ cup Tamarind Juice / Asam Juice (35g Tamarind Paste + ½ cup Water)
• 70g Grated Palm Sugar / Gula Melaka, or more. Adjust to suit your own. 
• 1 tbsp Salt, or adjust to taste.
• 800ml Water, or more
• 4 tbsp Cooking Oil

Spices for gravy (for grinding)

• 3 Onions
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger
• ¾ inch Galangal 
• 1 pc Candlenut / Buah Keras

Noodles and garnishing

• 800g to 1kg Yellow Noodles
• 200 to 250g Bean Sprout
• 1 piece Tofu, Fried, cubed
• 3 to 4 hard boiled eggs, halved
• 3 to 4 Calamansi, halved. I used Lime, and cut into wedges.
• some Celery Leaves / Daun Sup
• some Red and Green Chillies, sliced.
• some Fried Shallots

This is the main influential ingredient for the kuah (Gravy) for Mee rebus johor - Minced beef, Sweet Potatoes, Dried Shrimps and Chillies.

The irreplaceable spices that we usually found in Malaysian dishes

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Preparation

• Cook potatoes till soften, mashed, set aside.
• Grind onions, garlic, candle nut, ginger and galangal, set aside.
• Grind dried shrimps, set aside.
• Mix beef with 1 tbsp corn flour, form into small beef balls, set aside.
• Lemongrass, cut into 5 inch length, bruised.
• Rub the tamarind pulp, strained, discard the seed. Keep the juice.
• Grate palm sugar, set aside.

Make sure everything is ready before you start cooking the gravy.

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Method

1. Heat oil in a wok, under medium heat, add in star anise and lemongrass, fry till fragrant.
2. Add in grinded spices, fry till fragrant.
3. Add chilli paste and fry till you could smell the chilli aroma.
4. Add grinded dried shrimps and mix well.
5. Add curry powder and tumeric powder, mix well.
6. Add water, chicken powder and bring to a boil.
7. Add in meat balls, stir, don't let it stick together. Don't break the meatballs, stir gently.
8. Under medium low heat, add in mashed sweet potatoes, tamarind juice, palm sugar and salt. Continue to stir until the mashed sweet potatoes incorporated with the gravy.  
9. Let it simmer for awhile until gravy thickened. If you wants your gravy more watery, add more water. I prefer my gravy to looks really thick.
10. Taste, and adjust accordingly. If too spicy, add more palm sugar.

It's a simple meal. But I have to be frank to you that this is quite alot of ingredients to prepare.

I love the color of the gravy. It looks thick and curry-ish, but it totally doesn't taste curry at all. It's sweet and spicy. This Mee Rebus has got meatballs in it and a whole ladle full of sauce sitting on top of the noodles. How to describe such a dish? Perhaps the word that comes to mind is - Power!

Look at the noodles incorporated with the thick gravy.... Oh my! My saliva dripping while I writing this!

I will definitely repeat this recipe if I were to cook mee rebus again :)


Do refer to my Begedil recipe and Mee Soto recipe too.

French Onion Soup

What about serving a bowl of French Onion soup for lunch this weekend? Yes! absolutely easy to prepare and simple ingredients, but it makes great soup! Well, I'm sure about it. With this classic favorite soup, and I'm sure it will definitely wow your family and guests!

It's rainy season recently. I serve this to our friends on our dining table for casual Sunday lunch at our home. This soup warmth the stomach and gives really good comforting flavor.

If you are looking for something fuss free, this is the right soup you should prepare. You could cook this the night before. I did it. The next day, I reheat it when you want to serve. It taste even better!

These are the main ingredients we need. Easily available at Cold Storage and NTUC. It's easy! I assure you. Don't fret.

Onions

White wine, dry thymes, bay leaves, garlic and pepper.

Beef stock and Chicken stock 

I know what you'd probably thinking, "Using pre-packed soup stock? It's not healthy you know?!" Uh! Well, life is short. This is what restaurants had been serving you actually. Aside hotels and restaurants that has big organization behind, small medium sized restaurants serving you this! And you won't wanna go thru the hassle of making your own beef stock! Well, chicken stock, yes. Possible. I did it at home too. But no. Not for beef stock. It's too expensive and too much effort to do so. Beef in Singapore is expensive.

If you don't agree with me, skip this recipe. Or share with me how much you struggle cooking your own beef stock at home. I'd be very happy to hear your story.

If you agree with me, let's move on and start cooking....

Ingredient (Serves 6 to 7)
(Recipe Source : Two Fat Bellies,with modification to suit my own)

For the soup

• 750g Yellow Onions
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 2 cloves Minced Garlic
• 150ml White Wine / Sherry
• 1 pc Bay Leaves
• 1/4 tbsp Dry Thymes
• 1L Chicken Stock
• 1L Beef Stock
• dashes of pepper to taste
• a pinch of salt to taste (optional)

For the cheese toast

• Few slices of baguette slice
• a tsp of minced garlic
• generous amount of grated Parmesan Cheese

Method

1. Halved the onions and cut thinly.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan, under medium low heat, add onions and sugar, slowly caramelize the onions till slightly golden and wet. About 30mins cooking time. 
3. Add in minced garlic. Give it a good stir. 
4. Add beef and chicken stock, bay leaves, dry thymes, and white wine. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce to medium low fire, covered with pot lid, and slowly simmer for 30mins, remember to stir it occasionally.
6. Add pepper and salt to taste. But beef stock and chicken stock has mild saltiness. So, adding salt is optional.
7. Meantime, cut the baguette into thick slices, rub some minced garlic at one side, top generous amount of Parmesan cheese on top, and grill it in the oven. Once the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown, and it's done.
8. For serving, dish up on a soup bowl, drench a thick slice of cheese toast and serve immediately. 

Step 1 : Halved the onions and cut thinly.

Step 2: Melt the butter in a large pan, under medium low heat, add onions and sugar, slowly caramelize the onions till slightly golden and wet.

After 30mins of low fire cooking. The onions are nicely caramelized. But not burnt at all.

Saw the sticky liquid stick on the spoon? This is the caramelized sauce. Slowly caramelized onions bring out deep, rich, sweet flavor as the natural sugars in the onions caramelize.

Although it takes abit of time to cook em'. This soup will gives your home a transcendent aroma bouncing off every wall, the kind of distracting that makes you kept thinking that onion soup is waiting for you!

Making this soup is indeed simple, cheap and guaranteed comforting! I hope you like it! :D

Daging Masak Asam / Beef with Tamarind - (MFF Kedah Perlis)

While I'm scratching my head what to cook for Kedah / Perlis month, Wendy found this recipe for me. I kinda like it!

Daging Masak Asam, literally beef cooked with tamarind juice. This is Perlis dish. I never had it before. But I kinda adore the unique taste! This dish is easy and stress free too.

I'm fussy over what to cook sometimes. Not that I'm a fussy eater, but I have a fussy big kid to feed. Whenever I wanted to cook a new dish, I will needa make sure that he eat. For this, he's ok. He loves this stewed dish.

Saké Steak and Rice (Using Koshihikari)

This is the 3rd time I cook this. I love repeating this dish as it is one of our all-time favorites.

Beautiful flank steak, with Saké Wine, and a bowl of Koshihikari rice.... Heavenly!

This recipe is from Nigella Lawson's FEAST cookbook. I love her rich and motherly recipes. Her recipe never fail to impress me.

I did some modification on Nigella's recipe to suit to my own. And here's the modified one. Fret not! My modified version is equally good. I promise!

Ingredients (Serves 2)

For the Steak and Marinade

• 260g Flank Steak / Fillet Steak
• 1 tsp English Mustard
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Garlic or Chilli Oil (Sesame Oil works too)
• Some Coriander (for garnishing)

For the Sauce

• 60ml Saké (日本酒 / Japanese liquor)
• ½ tsp Fish Sauce or Japanese Brown Rice Vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp English Mustard

For the Rice

• 200g Koshihikari Rice
• Water for cooking rice - Ratio 1 : 1

I got my flank steak from Cold Storage, 260 grams of steak cost me S$11.50. Saké cost me S$9.60 I think? I forgot the exact price. Cold Storage sells very nice steak. I always buy from there. Although they are slightly expensive, but they sell the freshest steak!

Note

1. You could find all the Steak, Marinade and the Sauce ingredients from Cold Storage. 
2. For Koshihikari rice, you could order from Momorice.
3. If you have problem getting Saké wine, you may consider to substitute with Sherry.
4. There's no reason not to use Wasabi paste for the English Mustard. Go ahead if you want. No restriction!
5. Nigella's recipe uses Basmati Rice, and cardamom pods are added in the rice. But, I personally prefer Koshihikari rice for this dish instead.

Now let's start cooking...

Method

1. In a plastic bag, combine the marinade ingredients, and add the steak in. Tie it up tightly, give it a few press to allow the marinade coat evenly to the steak. Leave it there to marinade for at least 1 hour or keep it in the fridge for upto two days.

2. Let the steak come to room temperature (if you kept them in the fridge) before you start cooking. You could cook the rice in the rice cooker while waiting for the steak to cool down.

3. Heat up your skillet or ridged griddle. If you have cast iron skillet, best! Mine is cast iron for sure. And then give the steaks out of their marinade.

4. Make sure your skillet is really hot. Sear your steak 2 minutes a side or so. If your steak is thicker and if it is more than 300 grams, you may need to cook another half minute each side. So, you just have to eyeball it yourself.

5. Use potatoes masher to give it a gentle press. This could ensure the whole steak is being seared evenly. Don't worry about the charred part. Just let it be.

6. Remove the steak, double wrapping them in foil parcels. Let them rest for 10 minutes on a wooden board or a pile of newspaper. Do take note that the steak is hot. While the steak is resting, it continues to cook.

7. Bring the Saké to a boil in a small saucepan, to let the alcohol taste evaporate. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Stir well.

8. Unwrap the steak, removing them to a wooden board for carving as you do so, and pour the red juices gathered in the foil parcels into the pan of sauce. These are the goodness! Don't discard them.

9. Carve the steak into thin ribbon slices. Do make sure your knife is sharp enough to do the work.

10. Place the sliced steak on the plate, pour over some Saké sauce, garnish with coriander.

And serve with a bowl of really good Koshihikari rice :)

I seared the meat two minutes at each side. This makes my steak turned medium well. The steak is being sliced thinly across, and make it tender ribbons of meat. For such, it would be sad to overcooked them.

Like me, I can't wait, I just put all the sliced beef on top of my bowl of rice, drizzle the sauce over, let the rice absorb the sauce, and I'd just chomp in!

Mmmm... I love the tenderness of the juicy steak! The Umami Saké sauce goes very well with the rice!


What makes this such an easy meal for me is that, in the first instance, my rice cooker is my greatest help. I have no worries for the rice at all.

For the Koshihikari rice, you may read about my Koshihikari Rice posting here.

I hope you like it.

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This post had been featured in Asian Food Channel (AFC) Facebook

 

The beautiful pearly drops of Koshihikari

Seriously, I can eat this rice everyday without getting bored. This is how good it is! :)

After I posted my Basic Onigiri (Using Akitakomachi rice) post, I get approached by Momorice and they gave me a pack of really good Koshihikari Rice as a compliment. After I tried on the rice, I think this pack of good rice deserve my review.

I like the packaging of this rice. I was told that this character named Kanetsugu (爱之米).

Koshihikari is a very popular rice and widely consumed in Japan. Not only due to it's good glossy appearance, but they taste good too! Take a look at the grain...

 One cup is 150 grams. Usually, I cook 200 grams for two adult.

Japanese remarked that the best rice is Koshihikari, in which, it somehow makes it the most expensive rice in all of Japan. I had been eating Japanese rice for quite sometimes, and you have to trust me on that. The price for Japan imported Koshihikari is the most expensive one.

But the taste? It's worth the price!

I had a good chat with Momorice when they hand me the rice, I get to realize that, they will only polish and pack the rice when you place order, so that it stays fresh. That keeps the rice in optimal condition, in which, this is really important. Be sure to rinse several times till the water runs clear before you cook the rice. With this, I could guarantee you that you will definitely get a bowl of heavenly good rice.

Each grain of rice is perfectly fluffy and distinct. It had a wonderful bouncy and toothy bite! Oh! This one, I could guarantee you.

Take a look at this beautiful pearly drop of Koshihikari. This is really beautiful!

Rice is considered good if it is white, shiny, aromatic, sweet (becomes sweet when you chew it), sticky, and resilient. This is what I called good rice.

By just describing it in words, I just couldn't tell you enough on the wonderful after-taste sweetness that lingers in me after I scooped a spoonful of white rice into my mouth. It's like *nom~nom~nom~* .. Ohh!! This is sooooo good and it makes me wants to eat more. Even if it is just plain white rice!

For this part, I confess, I gained weight because of the existence of Koshihikari rice at home. Darn!

The texture of the rice was awesome and complemented the thinly sliced Saké Steak wonderfully. And the Sake sauce drizzled on the rice... Oh.. this is sooooo good!!!

(Click here for Saké Steak recipe here)

What can I say?

If I had to pick something to last my meal, I would want a bowl of this beautiful pearly drops of Koshihikari rice. Even tho it's my half eaten mess, I still wanna show you how good it is. *nom~nom~nom~* haha... I finished every single grain in the bowl! :)

I will never ever get bored with this. Because the feeling of chewing this rice grain in your mouth, slowly savor it. The feeling is just...just... It's really just... magically out of this world!



Do find out more about Japanese rice in these post too :

Basic Onigri - The real taste of Akitakomachi Rice

SPAM Fried Rice (Using Koshihikari Rice)

Japanese (Japonica) Rice

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This post has been featured in Asian Food Channel (AFC) Facebook