We have made Moon Cakes, off season!! Well, as far as we are concerned, Moon Cakes should be happily enjoyed all year round!!
Moon Cakes.
This time we used a yam paste which consists of lotus seed and the vegetable taro.
Yam Paste.
This is fresh taro…maybe we can make our own paste sometime.
Taro.
We have stashed them in our Moon Cake Treasure Chest…
Munchkin and Gnome Moon Cakes.
And, of course, a couple for the Duckie Bag. The Duckie Bag is our manual coffee/tea making facility (ie. thermos flask and teabags, coffee,sugar and milk) that we take with us everytime we go out.
This is an actual conversation which took place between Munchkin and Gnome which typically exemplifies the many talks that they have together.
Gnome: I fancy a nice Lancashire Hotpot!
Munchkin: Okay, Darling, I will make it for you.
Gnome: Ooooh, is it going to have lamb in it?
Munchkin: No.
Gnome: Ooooh, are there going to be carrots and potatoes, then?
Munchkin: No.
Gnome: What are you putting in it, my dear?
Munchkin: Pork.
Gnome: In what way is that a Lancashire Hotpot?
Munchkin: It’s slow-cooked in the oven like a Lancashire Hotpot. Mmmm…maybe it isn’t a Lancacshire Hotpot…it’s more like a Shepherd’s Pie.
Gnome: Ooooh, so its going to have mashed potatoes?
Munchkin: No. Mashed taro.
Gnome: In what way is that a Shepherd’s Pie, my dear?
Munchkin: Mmmm…maybe it isn’t a Shepherd’s Pie. I have a great idea…let’s call it Belizean Shepherd’s Hotpot!
Gnome: But Dearest, I asked for a Lancashire Hotpot!
And so this recipe was borne from this loving banter. It is slow cooked like a hotpot in the oven and it has mashed taro (like mashed potatoes) so you could say that it was a very distant cousin, thrice removed, from the Lancashire Hotpot and Shepherd’s Pie. Or, you could argue that there is absolutely no relation to these dishes at all! Nonetheless, it makes a hearty, tasty meal and Gnome did indeed enjoy it, even although it wasn’t what he had asked for!
Baked Meat and Onions in Casserole Dish.
It kinda looks like a purple Shepherd’s Pie from this picture:
Good Evening Everyone. It has been a really drizzly day today so no farm things were accomplished.
We stayed indoors and continued eating left-overs from last night’s Chinese New Year extravaganza.
As promised, here are pictures of the Cantonese Gibut:
Finished Cantonese Gibnut.
For anyone interested, the Gibnut is also known as a Paca which is a member of the genus Cuniculus of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America.
We cooked Taro, a type of ground root, as an accompaniment:
Sliced Taro.
This tasty vegetable comes in different shades of purple and some are white. We have a nice variety with purple flecks; once cooked, it becomes a uniform lilac. It is an extremely glutinous vegetable which goes well with fatty meals.
This is what we had for Chinese New Year last night:
Sliced Cantonese Gibnut, Taro and Seasonal Vegetables.
The Gibnut had the texture of suckling pig and it was extremely delicate tasting. The meat was so tender that it melted in your mouth. It was well worth the preparation (6 hour marinating and 6 hours cooking time). Gnome says that he would consider it a “prized” meat like venison or wild boar.
Check out my recipe: Cantonese Gibnut. It is flavoured with Chinese five spices, crushed star anise and orange peel.
