New Year's Eve Menu Is Halfway Done

The macaroni salad is cooling in the fridge and the morcon is already stewing. Oh, yeah, I remember now why I never make morcon: it is so tedious to prepare. It took me almost an hour tying the rolls and maybe used up a hundred yards of kitchen twine! I made the yema balls last night and baked the meringue for the silvanas. I still have to prepare the buttercream though and I'm not sure if I still have the energy.

Philippine Yema Candies

6 egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup sugar
toothpicks
pieces of cellophane to wrap candies

• In a small saucepan, mix milk and egg yolks. Cook over medium-low heat to a paste, stirring constantly. Form into 1 inch balls. 
• In a heavy stainless steel pan, caramelize half the sugar. Moving quickly, dip the balls with toothpicks. Remove the candies by gently twisting the toothpick then pull out. Set the candies on a piece of aluminum foil to cool. 
• If the caramel turns too brown throw it out. Clean the pan, caramelize another ¼ cup of sugar and dip the remaining balls. 
• You can also roll the yema balls on white sugar, if preferred.
• Wrap in colored or white cellophane.

I don't use non-stick pan to caramelize sugar to be able to see the color progress of the caramel properly. Once the caramel gets too dark, throw it out and heat up another batch, ½ cup at a time.

Son-in-Law Eggs

I'm not sure why the Thais call this dish son-in-law eggs. hmm. This is one of the simplest but tasty egg dishes to make, the ingredients are few and preparation is so easy. With very fresh tip yuchoy you can have a meatless dinner that's healthy and satisfying.

This recipe is from The Thai Cookbook by Pannipa Dibbayawan and Guy Cox, published in 1988

Son-in-Law Eggs
6 eggs
light olive oil
2 tablespoons fried shallot flakes
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons nam pla (fish extract)
2 tablespoons vinegar or tamarind water (1 teaspoon tamarind paste + 2 tablespoons water)

• Boil eggs for 8 minutes, cool immediately in cold water. Peel them then cut in half, you can leave the eggs whole but you will need more oil. Cover a big frying pan with 1/3 inch oil, fry the eggs cut side down until brown or slightly blistered but do not overcook. Arrange on a serving dish fried side up. Remove all the oil and throw in the shallot flakes, fry for a second, then remove them. On low heat stir brown sugar, nam pla and vinegar, bring to a boil then pour over the eggs. Sprinkle fried onions evenly on top. Garnish with chopped chilis and serve with steamed rice.

*I fried only the egg yolk side and did not wait until they are golden brown in color as eggs become rubbery when overcooked. I think frying the eggs whole until golden brown will make the dish more visually appealing.

fresh and crunchy steamed tip yuchoy seasoned with sea salt

Filipino Style New Year's Menu

I have been thinking of making round shaped food for New Year's Eve. I grew up with this tradition of eating 12 round food on New Year's Eve, usually 12 grapes, you can't really eat, say 12 apples (or watermelons?) or 12 putos in one sitting. It has something to do do with money (coin), which means the New Year will bring you luck, financially, the next 12 months. This old wives' tale/superstition most probably came from the Chinese, or maybe from the Kastilas (Filipino term for the Spanish-Filipino) or a combination, I don't know. I remember as a child every January 1st I was forced to wear a polka dot dress, silly, I know, but what can you do when you're a child, you have to do what your parents tell you. You can't have a tantrum or you'll be crying the next 365.242199 days.

New Year's Eve Menu:
Beef Morcon (meat roll-up or roulade), recipe here
Filipino style macaroni salad, recipe here
A plateful of puto: white, ube, pandan and Biñan, recipes here
Caramel coated yemas (egg yolk candies), recipe here
Piayas and Silvanas (if I have time)
I will post the finished snacks and sweets on different days as I finish making them.

My 2006 Top Fiction Books

I just finished reading my last book for this year, the excellent MEASURING THE WORLD by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Carol Brown Janeway.

Here are my 2006 top 5 fiction books, all earning 5 stars, in no particular order:

• THE LAST WITCHFINDER James Morrow
• MEASURING THE WORLD Daniel Kehlmann
• AMAZING DISGRACE James Hamilton-Paterson
• THE PALE BLUE EYE Louis Bayard
• THE BLUE AFTERNOON William Boyd (1995)
  

I read a total of 25 fiction and 4 non-fiction books this year, oof, that's too much (I need to watch more TV):D