Saturday Morning Waffles

Gochugaru Girl and Mr Gochugaru have three children. They are referred to in this blog as Junior 1, Junior 2 and Junior 3. They are all sporty, and they are all super.

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We had to wake up even earlier than usual this morning in order to drop Junior 3 for the start of his latest boat race (technically called a regatta). Upon returning home, we had the luxury of making one of our favourite breakfasts.

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Andong Jjimdak (안동 찜닭)

Gochugaru Girl does not believe in reinventing, deconstructing or otherwise meddling with classic dishes. She believes that classic dishes are classic because everyone loves them just as they are.

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The dilemma is this: how do you serve a whole cut up chicken to three generations, aged 14 to 75, some of whom like chicken with bones and some of whom think bones are just for wild animals to chew on?

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Date and Walnut Cake

Gochugaru Girl has had a long and tiring day. Despite starting at six in the morning, nothing revives her more than baking a cake (or three) to end the day.

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I have some dates in my store cupboard which were bought on a recent trip to Dubai.  Given its Middle Eastern origins, it is surprising that dates as an ingredient is mentioned only twice in the Bible.

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Salted Duck Eggs

Gochugaru Girl has never held much interest in salted duck eggs. She would pick out the salted egg yolks in traditional Moon Cakes and glutinous rice dumplings.

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Recently I had a revelation whilst eating shredded pork congee at my favourite dim sum restaurant, Yauatcha in Broadwick Street. I had a spoonful of congee with some salted eggs and I really loved it.

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Toasted Sardine Sandwiches

Gochugaru Girl has heard of an enterprising initiative run by some university Christian Unions, called Text a Toastie. The premise is simple: if you have a question about God, Christianity or the meaning of life, simply text the question you would like answered, your exact location and preferred filling of the toastie. A member of the CU will come along with the toasted sandwich and aim to answer your query.

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For students in the UK, popular fillings would inevitably be cheese and ham, cheese and tomato and perhaps even cheese and Nutella. Not so in Malaysia, where I grew up.

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Lavender Shortbread  

Gochugaru Girl and her family were invited to a beautiful tea at Auberge du Lac this afternoon. To her delight, three different types of tea accompanied the savoury and sweet treats – Chinese Oolong, Lost Malawi and Rare Earl Grey.

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It has been a sunny few days and fortunately, the lovely weather has obligingly spilled into the weekend. Taking time off to enjoy an afternoon tea in a lakeside setting counts as one of the highlights of our summer so far. Having the thoughtfulness of a tea pairing lifted the entire proceedings from ‘Oh’ to ‘Ooh La La!’

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