DIY: Greek Yogurt

After yesterday's success, I moved onto my next milk project: Yogurt making, in particular Greek Yogurt making. Turns out, the only difference between regular yogurt and the Greek variety is the yogurt has been strained, removing excess whey. In actual fact you can turn any yogurt into the Greek Yogurt.

Again, milk, thermometer and some active bacteria (aka, yogurt).

Heat milk to 85 Degrees, then cool to 40 before mixing in yogurt.

Incubate at 40 degrees.

8 hours later, yogurt.

Make it "Greek" - Strain in the fridge for 3 hours.

Greek yogurt! 

The biggest concern is making sure everything is sterilised as to make sure you're cultivating only the good bacteria. The batch turned out exceptional! A lot better than store bought Greek yogurt. Economy wise, it manufactured approximately 700-800 grams out of the 1.5 litre milk (this varies on how thick you want the final product) taking almost 11 hours.

DIY: Cottage Cheese

Way back when I was working in London, my boss at the time came in with some home made cheese. "It's not difficult, just takes a little patience a bit of time. Cottage cheese is the easiest, you don't need anything!". Investigation proved that cottage cheese and in fact most soft cheese are quite simple to make. Here goes.

Some local pasteurised, homogeneous milk, white vinegar and a thermometer.

Heat milk to 85 degrees Celsius, splash in the vinegar.

After a few moments the milk starts to separate into curds and whey.

Separate using cheese cloth, or in my case a soup bag.

Voila, whey and Cottage Cheese

Breakdown as follows. 1 litre (20 HKD) worth of milk made approximately 300 grams of curds. Time wise, it probably took around 30 minutes. Definitely more economical, but not by a lot.

Made in China

My 2013 New Year's resolution has me trying to eat better and sustaining a more well-rounded diet. The approach is quite simple. I try to avoid things that have nutritional ingredients that I cannot pronounce at regular talking speed, I try to cook more and finally, I try eat anything that has been labelled a "super food"*.

Which brings me to one of the things about Hong Kong. Living in the United Kingdom (and even Australia) had me spoilt for choice. The sheer volume and demand for products afforded great selection at a reasonable price. Supermarkets here are slightly different, there's an obvious bias towards Regional and Cultural products. The  selection of Asian Groceries is phenomenal! Preserved Chinese Sausage, Dried Scallops, Salted Duck Eggs from bean curd to frozen dumplings the variety is overwhelming. Unfortunately, if your pallet lacks the sophistication and culture as mine you sometimes find that standard items are hard to come by or have been whacked with import costs pushing it from 'innocent craving' to 'splurge item'.

It's not that I don't trust China, it's just well, I scare easily and the stories of Chinese cost cutting make me question the quality of certain items. Take chicken for example, non-organic and caged (ie. Not free range). I can purchase, 3 relatively large chicken breasts from China for $30 HKD, the same supermarket will also stock chicken from Thailand ($40 HKD), The Netherlands ($70 HKD) and Australia ($120 HKD). It's easy to see that shipping and transportation bear significance on the final price, but when you're weighing up value for money versus quality, I sometimes wonder if I'm getting horse meat, or something more sinister ...

The point of this post is, unless there's a local Chinese factory producing the item, you will undoubtedly be paying a premium on these items. Which is warranted, the local population have little interest in specialised food which means for a Chinese factory to produce a niche item, it's probably not going to be on the back of generating profit. That's not to say that you don't have local/specialised factories and suppliers but they have drifted into an almost 'boutique' status, which of course carries the boutique price tag.

Two items that I cannot find locally produced and often buy imported from overseas is Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese. The HK market rate for Cottage Cheese is around 15 HKD/100 grams and Greek Yogurt at 12 HKD/100 grams (If anybody knows cheaper, please let me know!). So with a little bit of Milk, a thermometer, cheese cloth and some time I embarked on a little DIY cheese and yogurt adventure...

*: I know I shouldn't subscribe to these marketing gimmicks. Chia seeds, Quinoa, Apple Cider Vinegar, Blueberries, Kale, I'm a sucker.

DIY: Wholewheat Bagels

Slipped. Dropped.

I was sitting down messaging somebody. It was a regular bar stool, not very high from the ground. I wasn't even inebriated. It slipped, dropped and when I picked it up, my heart sank.

This phone is becoming quite expensive to maintain, it's like the Alpha Romeo of smart phones, not common, but parts are expensive to replace. New battery cover, 500 HKD. New screen, 1500 HKD. Total cost of phone, 4500 HKD.

Three Tiny Habits

Stumbled upon this website called Tiny Habits, which is a simple program which helps you form new habits in your life. Details can be found here.

Here are the three that I came up with:

• After I put the kettle on in the morning, I will make my bed.
• After I leave my apartment, I will smile and say 'Hello, how are you?' to the building doorman.
• After I shower, I will turn on the dehumidifier.

Stay tuned for results.

Musings of the Dog

If you're somebody who subscribes to the Chinese Zodiac, you would know that being a Dog in the year of the (Water) Snake is best described as "unlucky". Me, being a Dog I can't help but muse back on the year to date. I can think of a handful of moments that from a certain perspective can being considered "unlucky". The instances that instantly come to mind are: The death of our family dog, turning 30 and leaving the innocence and immaturity of the twenties behind and of course, my redundancy.

I don't really see the coming of age and the proverbial career-reset button having to do with bad luck, but almost a rite of passage. Which makes me wonder, if that was indeed my "bad year". What does 2013 have installed for me? Will I still be in Hong Kong? Still unemployed? Still single? Still healthy? Still working in Finance? Still blogging?

I don't consider myself superstitious. Despite this, I've managed to clean the apartment and wash my hair before midnight - why tempt fate? So here I am. Saturday evening 11:59 pm. The penultimate minute of the Chinese Year, I sit here re-watching The Wire. Suffice to say, unless there's a power outage in the next 50-odd seconds, I expect a very satisfying start to the new year.