Berri Dark Grape Juice Wine – Bottled!

177 days ago

I just bottled the Berri Dark Grape Juice Wine I made about 3 weeks ago. It turned out pretty clear which is kind of surprising. I had read that using bread...

I just bottled the Berri Dark Grape Juice Wine I made about 3 weeks ago. It turned out pretty clear which is kind of surprising. I had read that using bread yeast to make wine (or beer or any alcoholic beverage) will result in the wine being cloudy because the yeast isn’t that flocculant compared to wine or bee yeast. But that is that the result I got. I got pretty clear wine. Well, maybe they didn’t use the same type of bread yeast like I used. And oh, I tasted a little of the wine. It was pretty harsh – as expected because it has only been 3 weeks. No where as complex as the wines I had drank before. Even the cheapest wines had better aroma and flavour that this. Hahaha, I think it will be a very cheapo style wine in the end. Maybe the Berri Dark Grape Juice isn’t just cut out for making wines? Probably need about 3 months to age before I can taste something decent in this one. And that is what I plan to do – age it in the bottle for 3 months and then have a go at it again. As I said I am not expecting this wine to be like those premium fine wines you get at the gourmet liquor store.

Alcohol content is strong. So who says that bread yeast cannot be used to make wines? My few little sips tells me it contains about 10-11% alcohol. Not too shabby for yeast that is meant to make breads right?

I am sorry, the picture isn’t that good. This has been sitting for about a day, there isn’t much of a sediment to speak of. I had racked this wine twice – first from the primary fermenter then to the glass bottle (secondary fermenter). By then it was already pretty clear. At the end of the third week, only a small layer of yeast can be found at the bottom. And when I bottled it, most of the yeast remained at the bottom of the glass bottle.

The next will be the Welch’s Grape Juice Wine. Currently, it is sitting in the glass bottle. I think maybe I will let it sit for about a month before bottling. But all the fermentation should be completed. I don’t even see a single bubble in the glass bottle. I think I add a little more sugar into this Welch’s Grape Juice Wine, so it should be a little stronger than the Berri Dark Grape Juice Wine. The next time, I will keep track of how much sugar I add, instead of estimation.

Welch’s Grape Juice Wine Making

180 days ago

I like Welch’s Grape Juice. Made from Concord Grapes, they taste much better than the rest of the packaged grape juice I have tried before. Yes, it taste a tad sweeter...

I like Welch’s Grape Juice. Made from Concord Grapes, they taste much better than the rest of the packaged grape juice I have tried before. Yes, it taste a tad sweeter but overall I really like the flavour, definitely stronger than the rest. And they claim there is no added sugar as it is 100% grape juice, which is weird since they are made from concentrates. They also claim that within 2 hours of the grapes being picked, they are turned into the concentrates which supposedly locked in the goodness. I would definitely prefer the juice to be fresh instead of in concentrates. The way they make concentrates is most likely from high heat where all the water is being evaporated off, leaving only the thick syrupy sugars and what-not. I think this process damages the flavour and of course some of the vitamins and nutrients.

Anyway, I bought a bottle of Welch’s Grape Juice to make some wine. Yes, wine is made from grapes (or from the juice of grapes). Actually what you need is any type of juice (that isn’t too acidic), you should be able to make wine from it. Add some yeast and you will soon get wine as the yeast eats the sugars and produce alcohol. But if you are looking for premium fine wines, you won’t get it from packaged fruit juices. But if you are looking for some decent wines, actually the wine made from Welch’s Grape Juice is quite decent. This is according to homebrewers who have made their own wine before.

You see how cloudy it is? This is the result of the yeast producing carbon dioxide. Yes, those are the yeast floating in the wine/juice mixture as carbon dioxide is being produced. I did add about a cup of sugar into the juice so as to pump up the alcohol volume to that of a normal strength wine (12-14% ACV).  However, once the sugars are all eaten up and the yeast settles on the bottom, it will become clear again. You can see the difference in the colour from my previous wine made from Berri Dark Grape Juice.

I will be posting the taste test after 3 months. Yes, it will take that long for the wine to be decent. Some commercial wines take like years to mature so 3 months is nothing. What happens is once the simple sugars in the juice has been consumed by the yeast, only the more complex sugars are left. And this is what makes a wine taste good – those complex sugars will be eaten by the yeast slowly and they will produce more complex flavours in the wine. Those simple sugars only produce harsh alcohol, which isn’t going to taste great. Of course aging does not work all the time, it depends on the grapes and whatever sugars are in there. But since Welch’s grape juice is pretty strong stuff, I think it should do well with some aging. Hopefully.

Tips For Making Enzymes Drinks

181 days ago

Enzymes drink is somewhat an unique “drink” made primarily in the South East Asia region, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore. And usually by the Chinese. The concept is just like making...

Enzymes drink is somewhat an unique “drink” made primarily in the South East Asia region, mostly in Malaysia and Singapore. And usually by the Chinese. The concept is just like making wine (from fruits) just that instead of the yeast converting the sugars, it is the bacteria (good bacteria that is in the fruits themselves) that is doing that conversion. So instead of making wine, you get enzymes drinks which contains lactic (among others) acid. That is why a supposedly good enzymes drink should be slightly sour. Making enzymes drinks is fun, fulfilling and if I am not wrong, it is very “probiotic” as well. But honestly, unless there are more research on this, I doubt the heralded health effects of enzymes drinks.

Anyway, the main idea behind making enzymes drinks is to allow the bacteria in the fruits to ferment the sugars. There are always other competing micro-organisms like yeast, mold and even other (bad?) bacteria. So what you should do is to create an environment where other competing micro-organisms (especially the mold and yeast) cannot thrive. Fruits contain naturally occurring mold and yeast (and bacteria), there is nothing you can do about that. What you can do is to create the necessary environment for the bacteria to outgrow the other micro-organisms. Take a page from those French bakers who harvest yeast from raisins, you can use the same idea to “harvest” bacteria from fruits.

1. Sugar. Adding sugar is important. Do not skip this step. A lot of people who make enzymes drinks are health conscious and they tend to think that sugar (table sugar aka sucrose) is bad for them, without actually knowing why. So they just skip adding sugar. Honestly, table sugar isn’t that bad. In fact, many of the fruits and honey which people tend to substitute for sugar have sucrose in them as well. However, it is the lack of other nutrients in table sugar that is the problem. And in the case of making enzymes drinks, sugar acts as a preservative and a food source for the bacteria. Bacteria eats the sugar and converts them to acid while producing enzymes. And yes, sugar is a preservative – many of the dried foods we consume contains sugar to preserve them. If you don’t add the sugar (or not enough of the sugar), yeast or mold might take over. It is like rotten fruit. The trick here is to add the correct amount of sugar to help encourage (good) bacteria growth while discouraging yeast and mold growth. For high water content fruits (like water melon), add more sugar. For low water content fruits (like bananas), add less sugar.

2. Types of sugar. I usually use light or dark brown sugar to make my enzymes drinks. Table sugar is okay but dark brown sugar adds some flavour (molasses) to the drink. And yes, I am pretty sure that the bacteria needs nutrients to grow as well. Dark sugar contains nutrients which the bacteria might need in order to be healthy. I would discourage the use of artificial sugar as the bacteria might not be able to ferment them properly. As for honey, I am not too sure. From what I read, some honeys contains anti-bacteria properties which might inhibit the grow of  bacteria. You want to ensure that the bacteria from the fruits grows hence the need for sugar.

3. Water. I am just surprised that there are recipes out there which requires the addition of water to the fruits. Adding water to the fruits will dilute the sugar and help encourage yeast growth. Hence instead of enzymes drinks, you might get wine (which is nice by the way but not exactly what we are looking for). This is exactly how wine is made – from fruit juices. If you add water to the fruits, you are actually making an environment where the yeast can thrive and when they eat the sugar, you will get alcohol. Yes, I admit that it is impossible NOT to create some alcohol in the enzymes drink making process. But you can limit it by not adding water. Remember, if sugar is diluted enough, it will encourage yeast growth. This is not to say that alcohol is (that) bad. Hahaha, yes, I love alcohol.

4. Time. I think this is a very difficult to judge. Depending on the fruits used and the amount of sugar, it might take from 1 week to a month. Most people would like to keep it longer to ensure that all the sugars are fermented but I would not recommend that. Sugar is hygroscopic so it absorbs water from the fruits. And (after some time) once the sugar is diluted enough, it will create an environment where yeast can grow and you will again face the problem of too much alcohol in your enzymes drinks. Of course if you did it right in the beginning, the acidic environment created by the bacteria will inhibit the yeast growth and once there are no sugars left, the yeast will have no food to consume to create alcohol.

5. What types of fruits. I have not tried all of them but I think most fruits should not be a problem. As long as there is enough moisture and sugar, the bacteria from the fruits will consume them, no problem – you will get a product which resembles enzymes drinks. And different fruits produces different flavours. I would highly recommend you making enzymes drinks out of the fruits which you like.  Or heck, try them all out! I have never tasted an enzymes drinks which I don’t like but that is just me.

6. Temperature. I am not too sure what kind of bacteria we are looking for in enzymes drinks so I can’t exactly tell you what temperatures are needed. But you might not want to ferment the enzymes drinks at too high a temperature because yeasts are usually very active at high temperatures. And at high temperatures they usually give off-flavours which is definitely not desirable. I don’t have the exact figures but keeping the fermentation vessel at slightly lower than room temperatures (in Singapore and Malaysia) should be optimal. I keep them in a cupboard away from the any sunlight.

7. Skin on or skin off? I would highly recommend cutting the skin off. Why? Well, unlike bacteria, yeasts are usually found on the skins of fruits. You do not want the yeast, you want the bacteria in the fruits. So cutting off the skin of the fruits will reduce the amount of yeast you have in your enzymes drinks (and hence less alcohol).  Not to mention, cutting off the skin will ensure a bigger surface area for the bacteria from the fruits to come in contact with the sugar. Sometimes we add the skins because they impart a certain desirable flavour to the enzymes drinks, so in that case, wash the skin thoroughly first.

8. Seeds. Get rid of them. Several of my readers had said that seeds contain some sort of inhibitors which will affect your enzyme drinks. Anyway, seeds usually don’t taste that good, so what is the point of having them in your drink? They are not going to add anything nice to the flavour or add sugars as food to your bacteria.

9. Cleanliness. Being clean is everything. That includes your fermentation vessel, your spoon, cups, knife, chopping board and so on. Everything should be clean to prevent other micro-organisms from infecting your fruit/sugar mixture. I usually sanitize my utensils with some diluted bleach (or sanitizers) and then rinse off. Note that a dry surface does not mean that it is a clean surface. All sorts of micro-organisms can still be on that surface. This is one of the major reasons why people tend to have failures when making the enzymes drinks – their utensils and fermentation vessel is not clean enough. Thus by creating an environment there are few other competing micro-organisms, you give your fruit bacteria a good head start.

10. Glass. Yes, since you are doing a relatively long term fermentation, I think a glass vessel for fermentation is highly recommended. However I think it should be alright to use a food grade plastic container as well. Contrary to popular, not all plastics are bad. Look for PET plastic containers (they have the triangle symbol with the number “1″) – they should be good enough. At least plastic is lightweight and does not break easily.

11. Airlock? I once said that it is highly recommended to use an airlock because you don’t need to open and “burp” the fermentation vessel (The fermentation process produces carbon dioxide). This way you won’t get any foreign contaminants entering your container. However, there is one major problem – lack of oxygen if you do that. The airlock does not allow air to enter the container while allowing carbon dioxide to escape. The lack of oxygen will enable yeast (which can ferment at lower oxygen levels) to start fermenting and you will get more alcohol. And you might face the problem of your bacteria dying out (or sleeping and refusing to ferment) because there is no oxygen in the container. It might not be that good an idea. My mistake. Airlock it for the first few days. Lactobacillus does not need oxygen to reproduce and thus if there is not much oxygen in the container, you are actually giving the lactobacillus a good start. Other micro-organisms growth will be retarded. However, after a few days, you should open up the fermentation vessel to let some air in. No matter what, the bacteria needs oxygen in order to convert the sugars to lactic acid.

12. Mold. A lot of people recommend shaking the fermentation vessel. I think that makes sense. Mold can only grow on solid (or semi-solid) surfaces and that includes the surface of the fruits. (A wet surface and a watery surface are two different things) Although not all molds are poisonous, why take the risk. Shaking the vessel will ensure that the surface of the fruit remains coated with liquid which will inhibit mold growth for a short period of time. It will also re-distribute the fruits so that they will not dry out. You can also follow what yogurt makers do by adding some acid first – that is right acid prevents mold and fungi (and even yeast) from growing. So add a piece of fruit with a large acid content really helps ensure that mold and yeast won’t get a head start.  Remember, the bacteria once started will try to create an acidic environment so that they (and they alone) can thrive and other competing organisms will be inhibited.

13. Optimal Time To Drink? Most of us tend to eat fruits after meals. However I would suggest readers to drink the enzymes drinks before meals. Take a hint from our Arab fruits, they consume fruits either before meals or during their meal. I think that since the enzymes are supposed to be the health property of enzymes drinks, you should consume it just before meals so that the enzymes can go to work helping with your digestion.

14. Do it small batches. Enzymes drinks do not keep. What is the point of making 3 gallon batches of enzymes drinks only to throw away half of it. Use a small container and use less fruits. You should drink about like one shot glass of enzymes drinks per day anyway. Unless you have the need (like a big family to feed), why waste money and effort?

15. Less airspace. Or headspace or whatever you call it. Use a suitability sized fermentation vessel to make your enzymes drinks. The less empty space would mean less chances of contamination. Don’t use a 10litre bottle to make a 2 litre enzymes drinks. Remember, what you need to do is to ensure that there are fewer competing micro-organisms so that your enzymes drinks fermentation will succeed.

16. Don’t air dry your fruits! Some recipes call for air drying the cut fruits so that there will not be any additional moisture in the fruits. However, there is something fundamentally wrong with that idea -  air (aka the environment) contains a lot of wild yeast, bacteria, mold spores, fungi and all those nasty stuff. Are you sure air drying the fruits is that good an idea? You are in fact introducing foreign micro-organisms into your fruits. They will be attracted by the exposed fruits. And one of the ways wine makers in the past make wine is to “catch” yeast from the wild using this method. Your aim is to make use of the fruits own bacteria to ferment the sugars, not to introduce god knows what yeast, bacteria or mold into the fruits! So once you cut your fruits, it is time to ferment, no matter how wet the fruits are.

For those who are interested, please take a look at some of my enzymes drinks making adventures – Mango + Jackfruit + Apple Enzymes Drink / Pineapples + Honey Dew Enzymes Drink / Lemon + Pear Enzymes Drink / Dragonfruit + Lemon + Apples Enzymes Drink

Ragi

183 days ago

Yes, I finally got it. This is authentic Ragi (not to be confused with the millet) – not the one from our Chinese Medicinal halls but one actually from Indonesia! One...

Yes, I finally got it. This is authentic Ragi (not to be confused with the millet) – not the one from our Chinese Medicinal halls but one actually from Indonesia! One of my readers had some and he (or she) sent them to me. Thank you! Greatly appreciate it. And I am going to make myself some Tapai Ubi Kayu soon. The problem now is getting young tapioca. Went to Sheng Siong the other day and found only old tubers  which would make the Tapai fibrous. Not something you would like to bite into – trust me, getting young tapioca is very important when making Tapai Ubi Kayu. I have tried before those fibrous ones and I hate having to pick out thin pieces of tough stick-like thingy from my mouth every once in a while. It is not good.

Anyway, here are some of the photos of the Ragi. Looks very much like the Chinese Wine Biscuits used to make Chinese Rice Wine. In fact, I think there are almost identical except maybe a slight difference in the composition of mold and yeast (since they came from Indonesia). They are usually made from flour and ginger and then left in the open to attract the correct mold and yeast. After that they are immediately dried. If I am not wrong, it should be left in the open for 2-3 days to attract the correct mold and yeast. I am waiting for someone to make a pseudo Ragi from the mold and yeast found in actual Ragi. This would ensure that we get the same taste and result everytime.

It comes in twos. Individually wrapped so there should not be any worry about hygiene here. The process is exactly the as making Rice Wine. Pound the Ragi till it becomes fine powder. Cook the tapioca (half cooked) and then let them cool. After it is cool enough to handle, add the Ragi powder to the tapioca. Let this sit (in a clean container) in a dark warm room for about 2-3 days. You should see the tapioca changing colour slightly and there will be a sweet smell coming from the container. And yes, that would be Tapai Ubi Kayu or fermented tapioca. Add a little sugar and you are ready to eat.

Yes, pretty small. Much smaller than the Wine Biscuits we get here. But from my experience, you don’t really need a lot of it. The mold grows pretty well especially if you feed them the correct type of starch. However it is often the yeast that is going to give problems. But no worries, I always keep a pack of bread yeast as standby when making Tapai or Rice Wine. If after 3 days you are not seeing any liquid forming (which would mean no fermentation), just add the pack of yeast to the container. You should see fermentation soon enough.

Have a look at my previous attempt at making Tapai Ubi Kayu.

GuyLian Belgian Chocolates – La Perlina Dark Truffles

184 days ago

Time for some “high classed” chocolates. And I bought this from Shop N Save if you would believe it. So this means that the chocolate is not really high class right,...

Time for some “high classed” chocolates. And I bought this from Shop N Save if you would believe it. So this means that the chocolate is not really high class right, since I bought them from a relatively common supermarket. But at least it taste wonderful to me. GuyLian (not to be confused with Ah Lian aka female gangster wannabes) is a famous chocolate manufacturer in Belgian. They made some of the more delicious (but affordable) chocolates and they have been available in Singapore for some time. I remembered my first time having a GuyLian chocolate was those seashell chocolates – again they were wonderful.

Anyway, I bought this for about S$3.50. 4 small pieces of chocolates. Yes, luxury for poor folks like me. I don’t think Shop N Save usually carries them but since Christmas is coming, they are starting to stock up on chocolates. And honestly S$3.50 is not really expensive, it is just that I am poor.

The name is La Perlina Dark Truffles. Dark as in dark chocolate. No, I doubt there are any real truffles in the chocolate. And oh, wow, 74% cocoa solids, not too shabby. But note that the majority of the chocolate are the “truffles”. Only the surface of the chocolate is made from the 74% cocoa solid chocolate.  I really like the milk truffle filings, very nice. I believe they have a milk chocolate version, which I doubt will be as good as this dark chocolate version.

I can’t read the wordings and I have thrown away the box.  Should not be anything important.

The back of the pack. They say that you should store the chocolate at 18 degrees celcius.  I am surprised that there are a lot of people who still keep their chocolates in the fridge. I find hard chocolates that really that nice to eat and I have never kept my chocolates in the fridge. Just a cool place in the cupboard would be enough.

The ingredients are cocoa mass, vegetable fat, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring. Contains 74% of cocoa solids. Yes, I love dark chocolates. If you have only eaten milk chocolates, you should really try dark chocolates – the difference is the extra complexity which you will never find in milk chocolates.

Made in Belgium. 33g of chocolates. Only 4 pieces. I am so sad.

See, 4 pieces of chocolate. Hey, one of the chocolate truffles looks dented. Maybe they give me a little less truffle in that one.

I took a bite and I was in heaven. My nails looks fine right? Somehow I can’t stop myself from biting my own nails. Bad habit which I have been trying to get rid of since I was like 10 years old but still persists. Anyway we should stop talking about disgusting habits and talk about the taste of this chocolate. I have to say, it is lovely. The interior filing complements well the dark chocolate shell. Not too sweet – the way I like it.  And as I said, don’t put the chocolates in the fridge! The smooth silky texture of the filings will be destroyed. And once you put the chocolate in the fridge, and if you bring it out to room temperature, it is going to melt for sure.

Alas, poor people like me we will need to consider twice before buying such chocolates. Not because it is not nice, but because we don’t have the dough. By the way, I ate the whole lot in one sitting. Ciao.

 

Grape Juice Wine Making

184 days ago

Been having some free time on my hands, so I decided to make myself some wine. I used the Berri brand of grape juice. Yes, I know the wine probably won’t...

Been having some free time on my hands, so I decided to make myself some wine. I used the Berri brand of grape juice. Yes, I know the wine probably won’t be those high quality fine wine but that is not what I am looking for. In fact, it is virtually impossible to make such wine even if you have a vineyard at your backyard unless you know what you are doing. And if you can make such fine wines, you would probably be making them commercially anyway. There is good money to be made from wines. Just look at how much wine costs these days. Even supermarket brands cost like S$20 per bottle. Yes, probably a quarter of it goes to the government, but it is still pretty expensive.

Anyway, I am not looking to make fine wine. Just a decent drinkable dessert wine, nothing too complex. Just drinkable and relatively cheap. In Singapore, you could have a one litre grape juice for about S$2. All you have to do is to add some sugar (probably a cup) to help increase the sugar content, ferment it for maybe up to 3 months and you should have a drinkable wine. The sugar is to increase the alcohol content to that of normal wines, which is impossible with grape juice. There is just too little sugar in grape juice. As I said just a decent drinkable wine is what I am looking for.  Oh I forgot, you need some yeast as well. This time I use just normal bread yeast, which I think would work. There are wine yeast available to make wines. The next time I will probably go for it.

I did not take the photo of the primary fermentation. This is the secondary fermentation aka it has been racked – that is why it is so clear. What is surprisingly is that the bread yeast did rather well – I had expected it to die off pretty fast but it didn’t. It managed to ferment pretty much all the sugar – this wine is pretty dry. And it did form a good compact lees at the bottom, again that was something surprisingly. I read that most bread yeast flocculation would be pretty bad but as you can see in the next photo, I got a pretty clear well after racking.

Surprisingly clear without much sedimentation kicked up after racking. I am pretty impressed. I know it does look a bit cloudy, but this is probably due to my poor photography skills. It is actually pretty clear. Perhaps I will use bread yeast more often. Anyway, the racking was done about 2 weeks and I didn’t have a proper taste of the wine. It was pretty dry and felt a bit dull. But then again, this was from a grape juice so I don’t expect like those complex wines from France or whatever. Anyway, I should let it age for maybe 3  more months before tasting it again. Aging often works wonders with wine. So I will update you guys soon.

By the way, I have a Welch’s Grape Juice wine in the works as well. Once the primary fermentation is done, I will give you guys yet another update. This time I used wine yeast (Red Star Montrachet). Hope it will not give out too much sulfur. And I will be using proper equipment like an airlock for my fermenter to make the wine. My current setup is like of ridiculous – a food-grade plastic container with the lid slightly ajar. Air will probably get in and oxide the wine soon enough. The airlock and the bung will be coming soon.

Red Star Montrachet Active Dry Wine Yeast

190 days ago

It has been some time since I make any real alcoholic stuff but I think it is about time I start going back to making some alcoholic drinks. So why not...

It has been some time since I make any real alcoholic stuff but I think it is about time I start going back to making some alcoholic drinks. So why not make some wine – from grape juice. Yes, most people will tell you that you will never get the same quality of wine if you use those store brought grape juice. Heck, you won’t even produce a good wine if you use store bought grapes. That might be true but honestly, is there a need to have those types of wine? As long as it taste good enough, I think it should not be a problem. It is cheap, it is tasty and in Singapore, it is even legal. Basically what you need is a container to ferment your wine, some grape juice (without any preservatives) and yeast. I kid you not, that is what you need. Of course, it would be easier if you have some other equipment like an airlock, racking cane, yeast nutrients, finings and proper wine yeast. So this is what this Red Star Montrachet Active Dry Wine Yeast is for.

5 grams of yeast!

This envelope contains enough yeast to make up to 5 gallons (20-23litres). For best results, dissolve yeast by adding about 1/4 cup (50ml) of water at about 38°C-41°C. After opening, the yeast should be used within 1 month and kept under refrigeration. The ingredients are yeast and emulsifier. And it is manufactured in Belgium. Anyway, from what I read this is a good fermenter and should produce relatively full bodied wines. So why not give it a try?

The major problem with making wine in Singapore is the temperature. The temperature is just too high to make good tasting wine. Either you have to find a cool place in your house or you use some sort of a cooler like what I have. It is just a big styrofoam box where you can place the fermenting container in and you add ice packs to cool down to the temperature you want. Easy, relatively cheap but you will need to do some work (replacing the ice packs).

If you are looking for some expert wine making classes, you should try out Wholesome Living. http://www.wholesomeliving-sg.com/classwines.html

Little Attempt – Tapai Ubi Kayu

191 days ago

Well, this is just a little test. I wondered to see whether I should boil the tapioca or steam it. From what I read, if you steam the tapoica, you will...

Well, this is just a little test. I wondered to see whether I should boil the tapioca or steam it. From what I read, if you steam the tapoica, you will get a slightly dry Tapai Ubi Kayu. However if you boil the Tapioca, you might get a very mushy result. So I start this little experiment to see which will be the one I like. Anyway, this is a rush job, you can see the small pieces of the Wine Biscuit which have not been properly pounded into a powder. So sorry about that. But it should work, since all we need is the mould in that Wine Biscuit to start converting the starch in the tapioca to sugar and then for the yeast to convert those sugars into alcohol. At the end it will be Tapai Ubi Kayu! Fermented Tapioca – sweet with a hint of alcohol. The one I had which my mother brought back home the other day was heavenly. I can’t stop thinking of it since the day I ate them. Of course I couldn’t just go to the stall and ask the lady how she did it but there is nothing wrong with experimenting. And my of my readers is sending me some Ragi (thanks!), so I will be doing this for real some time soon.

Who knows, some day Tapai Ubi Kayu might be one of my staple snacks – definitely healthier than the rest of those other fried snacks I have been consuming. And that small amount of alcohol isn’t going to do any harm to you lah.

Tapioca with the wine biscuit. Again, this was a rush job, so I didn’t pound the biscuit properly. You will see some big chunks still in there. As I said, it should not affect the end result of the little experiment.

Another view. The small amount of vapour is because the tapioca is slightly warm. Don’t worry, it is cool enough to touch so it will not kill off the mould or the yeast.

All kept in a bottle. Hope it will turn out okay. The next morning, I started to smell something sweet already, so that is a good sign that the mould is working (converting the starch to sugar). Now it would be the time for the yeast to start fermenting those sugars to alcohol. Hope it will turn out moist the way I like it. Will keep you guys updated soon.

Update 16-11-2011: Not too sure whether I did it right but I did taste the alcohol, so the wine biscuit did its job. However it wasn’t sweet at all. At least I didn’t taste any hint of sweetness in the Tapai. A pool of alcohol was formed on the bottom, so there should be some starch to sugar conversion and alcohol conversion going on. Maybe I need to add a little sugar to it before fermentation. Well, I will be making another attempt once I get the Ragi from one of my readers. Hopefully it will turn out better.

Beryl’s Almond Bittersweet Chocolate

194 days ago

Yet another chocolate review! I know that it is not really that healthy, even though it is supposed to be some form of dark chocolate but I just can’t help myself....

Yet another chocolate review! I know that it is not really that healthy, even though it is supposed to be some form of dark chocolate but I just can’t help myself. Every time I visit the supermarket, those bottles of chocolates are just sitting there on the shelf, challenging me to bring them back home where I will gleefully place them into my mouth. What can I say? I am weak. Anyway, I bought this from Sheng Siong – apparently it was on offer but during the check-out, it was not indicated to be on offer and I forgot to check (as usual). So by the time I remembered that it was supposed to be S$7.90 I had returned home. Yes, I am too lazy to walk back to ask for a price return. Not only that, I had already opened the bottle.

This is the dark chocolate with almonds. Basically roasted almonds coated with dark chocolate. Sinful? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Unhealthy? Most likely.

There you have it, the Beryl’s Almond Bittersweet Chocolate. Not too shabby lah. But the dark chocolate does not taste anything like any dark chocolate I have ever tasted. Definitely without the complex flavours that dark chocolate supposed to have. Most likely they just add more sugar to replace the milk and cocoa solids. You know, cocoa solids is pretty expensive compared to the sweeteners. So yes, this is indeed bittersweet chocolate with the emphasis on sweet.

Almond coated with bittersweet chocolate. 500g.

A more detailed view. The brand is Beryl’s.

If you can read the ingredient list, you have better eyesight than mine. The list is long, so it should not be that good. I think they claim that it contains about 31.45% cocoa solids. Well, better than many milk chocolates I suppose. And for me, I would very much prefer an ingredient list which is short and does not contains words which I can’t even pronounce. But alas, most commercial processed products nowadays contain all those chemicals and whatever so there is no avoiding them unless you are willing to fork out a ton of money or make them yourself.

Some nutritional information for you to check out while you consume the big balls of chocolate.

This chocolate is probably made in Malaysia. I am very sorry for the blur photos. I just don’t know how to use a camera properly. There is enough lighting just that my skills as a photographer suck big time.

There you have it, one relatively big piece of almond covered bittersweet chocolate from Beryl’s. The chocolate layer is actually pretty thick compared to the other brands of chocolate. Many of these coated chocolates have very thin layer of chocolate while is pretty nice as well but if I eat chocolate, I would rather have some taste of chocolate when I bite into them. The almonds are also quite decent. So overall, no complains. Honestly, I seldom have complains about chocolate products.

Koh-Kae Coffee Coated Peanuts

195 days ago

It seems that in Thailand, they love their coated peanuts. Probably one of their favourite snacks there. In Singapore, it is also one of our favourite snacks, just that here we...

It seems that in Thailand, they love their coated peanuts. Probably one of their favourite snacks there. In Singapore, it is also one of our favourite snacks, just that here we definitely aren’t that adventurous. Most of the time, it is just squid flavoured or BBQ or something. In Thailand, they have coconut and even coffee flavoured coated peanuts. I kid you not. The world famous coffee coated peanuts have arrived in Singapore. But sadly, I don’t like it. Maybe it is because I am not that adventurous or that I don’t really like coffee, but the taste of this peanut snack didn’t agree with it. Not even after I eat a few. Normally I cannot stop eating the Koh-Kae Peanuts once I start but this time, after like 4 or 5, I gave up voluntarily. That speaks volumes for someone who can’t control his mode of snack eating!

The Koh-Kae coated peanuts. Coffee flavour.  I bought a can and ate like only a few peanuts before I stopped. I tried giving to others in my office but it seems that the flavour is not popular with them as well. Maybe we Singaporeans need to start adjusting our tastebuds to accept different flavours. I read from the Internet that people are claiming that this coffee flavoured peanut is the best. That is why I bought it from Sheng Siong. Never did I expect something tasting so bad.

Another view. Who would have thought of adding coffee to peanuts?

Don’t play play. Premium export quality.

Okay, the ingredients are peanuts, something, flour, vegetable oil salt, coconut cream and coffee flavour. Why is there coconut cream here?

Some nutritional facts for you to look at while you slowly eat the peanuts.

List of distributors.

Product of Thailand. They must love their coffee. Honestly, I like their other flavours but this coffee one certainly didn’t appeal to me.

Oh look, coffee coated peanuts!

A detailed view of the peanuts. Basically they are just flour coated peanuts with coffee flavour added to it. If you are into coffee, this might taste decent. But for non coffee drinkers like me, it just taste downright awful.  Waste of money in my opinion. They are actually more expensive than the conventional flavours. The Tom Yam flavour was great!

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