Yoji and the Foodies

I have been buying this instant noodle brand for some time now. It’s a little expensive for a bowl of noodle, but it tastes better than the local brands we have. I remember surviving nights in a cramped studio-type apartment eating this noodle while watching TV. My TV back then was a National (now Panasonic) 14 inch TV with rabbit ears and it is one big brat. Sometimes it won’t turn on and sometimes it won’t turn off. It’s crazy. Anyway, the price of this instant noodle doubled in less than 5 years. Oh well…inflation and the  story of my dwindling purchasing power.

So, anyone knows what this noodle is called? (well, aside from Weiwei series instant noodle, beef flavour).

I am no vegetarian but that doesn’t mean I don’t follow my recommended dietary veggie intake. In fact, I have been eating leafy stuff so much, I’m starting to think I’m a worm. It’s a good thing, really. So, I got hold of a junk food that boldly claims that it’s a “vegetarian pea snack”. Presenting….the Oishi PODS.

Claiming that it’s a vegetarian snack is enough to make me want to try but there are other claims as printed on the label:

No MSG (Ok, that’s good)
Excellent Source of Iron (still good)
No Artificial Color (that explains the color. Bleh)
Baked Not Fried (They do care!)
Rich In Fiber (probably 45% -see below-)
55% Green Peas (I knew there was a downside to this…)

When I tasted my first pod, all I could taste was the salt and it felt like I was munching on a soft chip of wood. But as I continue to eat more I started to taste the peas, faintly. I think the idea is to eat the entire content and only then you will get the full flavor. It’s all in the after-taste. I can’t say that it’s bad because it isn’t. It’s the same feeling as eating your veggies. It will make you want to eat Cheetos.

As far as I know, this snack is only available in the Philippines.

The oven part of the family’s age-old gas range/oven had been sitting idly for the past 10 years or so. It was out of active duty for so long that I don’t even want to try bringing it back to life.  This is also one of the reasons why I never really immersed myself into baking and similar tedious cooking activities. But after I completed my kitchen duty in a pastry section of an over-rated food place, I began to see the joys of baking. Unfortunately, with a decommissioned oven, there’s really no joy to speak of. Heck, there’s even no baking to talk about. Buying a new one will only be an option if I have extra cash. Extra cash is unthinkable if you are in my profession.

Beggars cannot be choosers, so I, the beggar,  looked for alternative contraptions that can mimic what the oven does. I turn my attention to my oven toaster. Sure, you can bake cookies in an oven toaster, but my oven toaster is quite ancient, there is no temperature settings and the timer only goes all the way up to 15 minutes. So, you can see that making a sponge cake and pies will never happen in an oven toaster.

The only other alternative I have is the Turbo Broiler which, according to my dad, was won by my sister in an office raffle. Great! I know someone who wins a flat iron every year in  office Christmas raffle….gosh, every damn year….sorry I digress….

Anyway, I don’t know the difference of an oven and a turbo broiler. It was not discussed in culinary school. Or maybe it was discussed but I never really paid attention. Anyway, the turbo broiler has the words “convection oven” plastered on the top handle. To the uninitiated, a convection oven circulates heated air using a fan. This not only prevents overheating of food but also helps warm the food faster than the conventional oven. Simply put, it makes food bake more evenly and even at a lower temperature. Yeah, I know some geeky stuff like that.

As they say, make use of what you have and I have a turbo broiler so I better use it. I decided to bake some chewy cookies that are loaded with mini choco bars. Normally, in an oven, they have to cook for 10 to 15 minutes at 350F. But we need to make some adjustments. What I did was to make cooking time between 7-9 minutes, used a non-stick cookie sheet, and lower the temperature at 300F. Not exactly rocket science, but the results will blow you away. Crunchy outside, chewy and moist inside. No, it’s not Mentos. See for yourself.