Well, Hokkien is not my native language and I don’t know how accurate the above really is. If it is, it is pretty cool but I can’t tell because I don’t know enough. I am though, very fluent with its truly harsh and crude curse words.
I do at least know that the above are not bad, curse words. The word “tin” there refers to a metal container used for storing biscuits.
But I digress.
What I initially wanted to say was that Hokkien, one of the Chinese dialects used in Asia comes with 5 to 7 tones. Which means one word can be said in 5 to 9 different ways.
Good luck figuring the tones out if you are tone deaf. Here’s to a week of your kong filled with love!
It’s all about almond this month! And for those of you who are into gluten-free food, Gen’s Almond Flour Banana Bread recipe is one to look out for.
It’s banana bread (my greatest obsession!) and it’s made with almond meal instead of the usual wheaty-type of flour. Almond meal! I mean, it’s not even something I would think about in a banana bread. So again, Gen has opened up my eyes to the various possibilities of food that I don’t usually think of.
And that is why I love this challenge. And her. For being such a nut! I mean she did not even use butter in her recipe. How? And I mean her being a nut in a good way, of course.
There’s only 1 problem about her post though. She did not leave any pictures! Urrrrghhhh! It pains me because I’m dying to see how her almond meal banana bread turned out. I mean, is it a little brownish? Is there a little crack on the top? Can you see the “little black strings” you’d see in a typical banana by-product?
But now, all I know is this:
It’s easy and the prep is ridiculously quick – throw everything into the blender, mix, transfer to pan, bake. Done. Okay, I’m sold. And it tastes soooo good! If almonds, or bananas, or both, are your vibe, do this. Try it, enjoy it and feel zero guilt
But I’ve got imagination and just thinking about the mixing, the baking and the aroma from the baking filling my house with that one bite on a soft piece of the bread is enough to make me drool and bake myself some!
Our Monthly Mystery Munchies has now hit the BIG Three-O! On the first day and first Friday of the month as well as on the last month of 2017, too. That’s not to say this monthly feature is getting old or that it will be the last MMM, mind you. Far from it!
Rather, this marked quite a milestone of how 2 strangers became friends and bond over food from WordPress Blogging University more than 2 years back. What makes this more incredible is that we also mark thirty months worth of recipes.
And between Gen and me, I don’t think we’ll stop mucking about in the kitchen. Which means, more recipes to experiment with.
What have we got for this month you ask?
Well. Gen came up with a challenge to make something with almonds. It could be anything she said…as long as there’s almonds and it could be as simple as using almonds as decor. Problem?
Geen problem. Hakuna Matata. Worry not. No problem.
Or so I thought.
My biggest problem came about with what do I make because there are.so.many.things. I could make with almonds. And I mean, PLENTY. From dishes, to cakes, to puddings, to sweets to bread…!So many almond recipes out there that I had such a hard time choosing one!
In the end, Silver Bullet helped me decide: Dutch Bitterkoekjes. Pronounced as bittercookies and they are these:
All mixed-inHomemade Bitterkoekjes
They are somewhat related to macarons, taste like marzipan, almost pepernoten-like and very much a typical Dutch classic. It’s chewy on the inside, NOT bitter and incredibly easy to make.
Make no mistake. By “incredibly easy”, I mean 4-ingredients-done-in-15 -minutes-incredibly-so-super-easy you can make them with your eyes closed! I kid you not.
Dutch Bitterkoejes
2017-11-29 05:25:24
Yields 20
A deliciously chewy, almond-nie home-made classic Dutch cookies
I wish though I have a better explanation for you as to why it is called Bitterkoekjes…but alas, I have none. Na-da. Non-translatable. The same thing why the Dutch called their deep fried balls bitterballen = I have no idea why.
Monthly Mystery Munchies features every first Friday of the month in collaboration with Gen, Author of Eat, Play, Clove. Stay tuned with next month’s edition from the Grubbs ‘n Critters’ Kitchen!
