Jessica Tan’s Blogs

Just for Jasmine & everyone else!

Recipe for Tiramisu

500g of Mascarpone Cheese
4 eggs (yolks & whites separated)
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of Rum/Cognac
4 tablespoons of milk
1 cup black coffee
Cocoa powder (to sprinkle when finished)

 Mix milk, coffee, 2 tablespoons of sugar & 2 tablespoons of rum/cognac in a large bowl
 Soak 24 lady fingers or sponge cake in the above mixture
 Layer a rectangular glass/aluminum foil pan with 12 of the soaked lady fingers
 Whip egg yolks & 4 tablespoons of sugar. Add mascarpone cheese & 2 tablespoons of rum/cognac. Mix together well.
 Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, and then fold into the mascarpone cheese mixture.
 Spread half the mixture on the soaked lady fingers. Layer the other 12 lady fingers and cover with the remaining mascarpone cheese mixture. Be sure the mixture is spread evenly in each layer. (preferably in a rectangular foil tin)
 Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (But I recommend chilling it overnight). Just before serving, sprinkle generously with cocoa powder.

P.S. The tiramisu I made during that party, I didn’t use sponge fingers but made my own sponge instead. The above recipe is a lot easier & recommend if you’re doing it for the 1st time!
Also, this recipe is not supposed to keep it’s cake form after being cut, but is soft. So for nice presentation, U can alternatively prepare individual portions in plastic/glass cups, or scoop from the container into a bowl.

Hello!

Driving past the schools today seeing all the students and lil kindergerten kids running around in their red t shirts was really inspiring! Even caught several people decked out in red & white already! Everyone’s in a holiday mood to celebrate Singapore’s 44th birthday! (pity I didn’t manage to grabs some candid shots of those ppl)

I’m glad that a lot of Singaporeans are proud of their nationality. But we shouldn’t just be proud of Singapore and being a Singaporean only during National Day – we should be even more proud than usual!

It’s amazing how Singapore has progressed from a small fishing village to what it is today. I was talking to several tourists last week in Tioman and they were expressing to me how amazing Singapore was. The Finnish couple commented how convenient it was to go around Singapore and how beautiful it was to see all high rise buildings and a great city structure. Incomparison, Finland is mainly fields & low rise buildings, thus, they appreciate our city acrhitecture a lot more than us – since we’ve grown up with all thses buildings around us and are so used to seeing it. After having that conversation with them, it made me appreciate what we have back home. Our education, government & laws (even though we joke about having a lot of laws for everything) has all contributed to who and what we are today. It’s no easy feat!

We must all thank MM Lee for putting this lil’ red dot on the world map and make it such a recognised nation to the world!

That is why I’m inviting some friends over to my place on Sunday to recite the pledge together at 8.22pm (I’m sure all Singtel users received that sms) and watch our National Day Parade together!

So join in the fun & be a very proud Singaporean!

XOXO

Jessica

Hello!

Went to Kazu Sumi-Yaki for yakitori with some friends as it was recommended by my buddy Joycelin. Before this I only loved Satsuma Shochu Dining Bar for it’s yakitori, milk shochu & kimchi soup.

My experience at Kazu made me realise that there’s a lot more good Japanese food hidden in Cuppage Plaza.

Altho’ Kazu does not feel like a real authentic Japanese restaurant as you’re served by Chinese-speaking aunties and not Japanese waitresses who talk with the cutesy voice. But service was attentive and efficient! One of them noticed that we were trying to seep up the leftover chicken meatball sweet sauce from the plate with another type of yakitori and she just automatically brought us the sauce without even asking!

As there was 4 of us, we were able to order a WIDE variety of their grilled dishes. But I’ll only highlight a few that U MUST try when U go there.

Fois Gras

Rating: 9/10

The fois gras was inexpensive ($6.80/stick) but most importantly it was really crispy on the outside and it melts in your mouth once U bite in. A real oil fest! The best way to eat it is to place each whole piece entirely in your mouth and savour the flavour as you bite in and let it melt! This was sooooooo good that we had to have a second round of it! (Think we all regretted it after as the oiliness made us feel a bit sick! The oil was too much for me that that very night I almost puked from indigestion!) So, the lesson is just stop at one stick even tho’ U feel that it’s not enough!

Unagi Sushi

Rating: 8/10

This was recommended by the aunty that took our order as she said that unagi’s in season now so all the unagi are freshly shipped over from Japan. Had to try!

No regrets!

It really reminded me of the unagi I ate in Tokyo where it was freshly slaughtered in front of me, marinated and grilled. Just like the one in Tokyo, the unagi was grilled to perfection – sweet and salty on the outside and tofu soft on the inside. Still juicy!

Australian Wagyu Beef (Grade 7)

Rating: 7.5/10

The best way to eat Wagyu is to lightly salt it, quickly pan-sear or grill it and must be eaten Medium to Medium Rare.

That is exactly how this was done!

The big plus was that this came with crispy chips of garlic (top RHS of the photo) that U can add on to your beef and eat it. The garlic is so yummy that U can eat it on its own. (not a good food to eat if you’re going on a date if U know what I mean!

Grilled Salted Squid

Rating: 7/10

This squid is a bit hit at my table so I had to try it (I’m not a big squid fan U see).

It was nicely grilled, soft and not too chewy, but not the softest grilled squid that I’ve eaten. And as I am very sensitive to fishy smells, the squid had a slight smell. Some will like it, and some won’t, and I belong to the group that doesn’t like the stronger taste.

Chicken Meatballs

Rating: 7.5/10

This is a must order for me in any yakitori restaurant! And I love this! Nice, soft and juicy!

It says it all!

All in all, this place is worth visiting, but I’m definitely going back to Cuppage Plaza for more Japanese food tryouts!

Hope the rest of the photos tempts U there!

XOXO

Jessica

Australian Wagyu Beef (Left), US Wagyu Beef (Right)

Don’t waste your time on the yakitori version, eat the grilled whole piece version as mentioned above!

Pork & Apple Yakitori

Grilled Kurobuta Pork

Chicken Hearts on a Stick

Fingers!

Edamame

This was in season from a part of Japan that I can’t remember, but it’s good! The soybean taste is stronger and sweeter.

Mika’s been with me for about a year now and she’s 17months old! She still behaves like a puppy, just stronger & bigger! I was looking back at her photos when she first came home with me and she was soooo cute & small!

She’s a big girl now!

Time flies huh?

XOXO

Jessica

This other version is really cute!

Hope everyone out there can help this poor lil girl!

www.ourfeistyprincess.com

Hello!

I
just had a Tiramisu Party for the cast & crew of When Night Fa11s
over the weekend. This party came about when Brian “demanded” that he
has to try my tiramisu since he has heard so much abt it! So I called
it the Tiramisu Party cos the purpose of all of us meeting up is to eat
my home made tiramisu! It was a potluck thingy for lunch and we had to
most delicious Beef Rendang & Curry Chicken – compliments of
Derrick & Michael.

Desmond was really late for the party,
and when he arrived with sushi we kinda stuffed ourselves with the food
and Old Chang Kee Curry Puffs (from Brian)! Round 2!

But the
highlight was definately the Tiramisu everyone was waiting eagerly to
try. Phew! I passed their test, and everyone loved it!

Too bad 1 month old Baby Chloe couldn’t enjoy our scrumptious lunch! (Derrick’s & Mui Ling’s newborn)

XOXO

Jessica

Everyone including Mika enjoying Tiramisu!

My friends alerted me about this! How exciting! I never expected to see this…

Check it out!

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/xin/20090611/ten-308-jessica-tan-knows-way-mans-stoma-3c1b9bc.html

XOXO

Jessica

Hello!

I recently took the plunge and learnt how to dive! Finished up my open water in Tioman and continued on to dive there for 2 more days – it was great fun! I’ve always wanted to be close to nature and marine life, this is something that captivated me since I was a kid watching Discovery Channel programs on TV12. Now with cable TV, I’ve progressed to Animal Planet, Dicovery Channel, Nat Geo Wild, History Channel etc. My facination with the world and it’s inhabitants and outer space always kept me wondering how all these things came about and adapted through time. (I’m a true Science student!) I guess if Singapore has Veterinary Studies as a degree I would’ve aimed to graduate in that field. But knowing that it is only available overseas and it will be a financial burden to my parents I never really toyed with that idea. Guess diving is a good alternative for me now!

I saw plenty of interesting life forms underwater like Nudibranch, weird looking sea cucumbers, broadclub cuttlefish (which are really big! about 50cm!), hawksbill turtle, black tip reef shark, pufferfish etc. Previously, I satisfied my curiousity for marine creatures through aquariums, but now I’m able to be “inside” a natural aquarium! And we have a whole ocean to explore it. I can’t wait to dive in other places but for now enjoy what I took underwater.

XOXO

Jessica

Pufferfish

Porcupine Fish

Green Sea Turtle

Sea Fan

Diving Thru a Cave

Looking for Fish!

Coral Fish

Cuttlefish

Flip Flops

Relaxing after diving

Dive Centre at Paya Beach Resort, Tioman

Our dive instructor – Funny. She’s a Japanese lady but she can speak Japanese, English, Cantonese, Malay very fluently! Simply amazing! I was shocked when she picked up her handphone and conversed in Cantonese throughout!

It’s hard not to feel sad when I heard the news of his death on BBC news. HE is a legend. The only person that I came close to being a fan of. (though I’ve never been to his concert nor fainted for him) But the only 2 music artiste in the world that made a huge impression on my life since I was born are Michael Jackson & Madonna. Songs that I’ve listened to since I was a toddler and probably danced to their songs unknowingly. Now, everywhere I go, I hear him on the radio, in shopping centres, restaurants etc. Songs like Thriller, Bad, Billie Jean, Heal the World, Human Nature, bring back childhood memories of listening to his singing voice all the time and singing along to his tune.

The “Moonwalk” was the thing that every kid tried to imitate and be as smooth as MJ when he did it. I have to admit that I tried to Moonwalk too in my living room. I recall that when MJ came to Singapore to perform, i so wanted to attend his concert but the tickets were sooooo expensive and being a poor student at that time, I simply couldn’t afford it and dared not ask my parents if they could buy me tickets. But hearing the experience from my friends who were fortunate enough to attend his concert made me wish I was there experiencing his live performance. Nothing is as exhilarating as attending a live concert! I recently attended the Lady GAGA showcase and listening to her sing live was amazing, but that is another story to tell.

Seeing the sudden death of MJ due to a heart seizure simply reminded me of what happpened to my Dad 7 months ago. How one day you see the person and the next he is gone. I can imagine how close family and friends of MJ is feeling now. All I can hope is that my Dad will see MJ in heaven!

XOXO

Jessica