How I use my Primada Electric Pressure Cooker

This is only my own experience with my Primada electric pressure cooker at home... hope it helps...
to be honest, i normally just use the various "preset buttons" for cooking... i've cooked meat, whole chicken, tendon, cake, congee, rice, herbal soup, you name it and it all worked out and never has failed me with anything raw or too cooked...
i did try to cook tendon (i was afraid that it would not be soft enough after the first go) on the "tendon button" but doing it TWICE (another cycle after the first one was finished) and it turned out to be way too soft at the end...
the most important thing is to make sure the vent is not blocked and can move freely (and washed properly after each use) and the pressure dial on the lid is set to "closed" (middle of the dial of 3, the other two on the side mean "release air")
the timer function is shown on the top left "green light" below... just press that button again and again until it reaches your desired hours (b4 the cooking starts)... just say if you want the rice to start cooking in 3 hrs time... just press the button three times for 3 hours to show on the display (as below)

then press the "rice/ cake button"...
the rice should start cooking in 3 hrs time... i rarely use the "free menu" and the "pressure holding timer" button, but this (below) gives a good guide how logn you should "hold the pressure for" for diff types of food...

so for selecting a specific "pressure holding time", just press the "pressure holding timer button"... the time is shown on the display in minutes... eg 10 minutes is set below

then just press the "free menu button"... when the pressure is reached, the display will show "P10"... the pressure will hold for 10 minutes and the display will count down every minute - "P09", "P08" etc... when it is done it will "beeeeeep" and show "000"

and keep warm sign will light up... done!

then it is just a matter of waiting for the steam to cool or carefully releasing the steam through the pressure dial on the lid - a wet towel to cover the vent and releasing as slow as possible is the way to go...

My favourite PEPC snack

i do have the Primada recipe book sitting on the bench. I haven't tried many recipes from it though...

(i did do the cake with great success, blogged previously), cos making stuff with it (without any recipe) is so easy!
just put the stuff in, make sure there is moisture, close the lid, lock and press the button... done

i always make this "goji berries and snow fungus dessert/snack/soup" - it is nice to eat when kept in the fridge in summer and warming to have in the dead of winter...
goji berries are good for the eyes, and snow fungus is full of protein & good for the skin...
i like my dessert soup thick and gooey, a small pack of snow fungus (yellow, non bleached type) will do, plus a handful of goji berries...
goji berries need to be washed in cold water, they are usually dried in the open (may be on the road side some where in China, you never know, and thus full of dust)... remember don't buy these in health food shops, instead get them at the asian groceries - heaps more affordable!
snow fungus needs to be washed in cold water too and soaked - they expand 1-2 times at least
once they have expanded, they can be torn into smaller, more managable pieces...
plonk them in the pressure cooker pot...
fill with water, leaving 1-2 inches of space from the brim of the inner cooker...
close the lid, twist in position and make sure the top blowing hole is tuned to the "closed" position (the middle one on the dial of 3)
then just press the "soup button"...
the display will still show "000", until...

the inner pot heats up and the steam inside builds up until the pressure of the steam closes the airvent on the lid, then the "P00" comes on
"P" means the pressure cooker has reached its desired pressure and it is holding the pressure to cook the stuff... it doesn't show how many minutes it is going to hold the pressure though... i guess it uses fuzzy logic to sense whether the food inside is cooked or not...
when the stuff is cooked and ready, a "beeeeeep" sound is heard, adn the yellow light will shift from "soup" to "keep warm"...
all the hot steam and pressure is still trapped inside the pressure cooker... if you are in a hurry to eat right away, you'll have to release the x-s steam out from the pressure dial at the top - but becareful! this can be v dangerous! i usually just wait for the cooker to cool by itself (1/2 hr, an hour or overnight)...
or cover the top pressure dial with a wet cloth and v v v slowly turn the dial to release air/steam... the release of steam can take ages - mintues and minutes b4 the lid can be twisted and opened...
but with my goji berries and snow fungus dessert, i usaully leave the pot overnight b4 eating - the snow fungus will go more gooey... i do try and add sugar when the lid could be opened that night while the "soup" is hot (1-2 cups depending on taste, for the entire pot)...
then i enjoy it the next day and put it in the fridge (the whole inner pot with glass lid) to enjoy the rest fo the week...
yum!

cup cake silicone moulds

the other day i wandered into A-supermart...
and this time they have silicone cup cake moulds, 6 for $2.50 - are you serious?! so i brought 4 packs...
when i got home, i opened all the packaging (how much plastic can they use to house these little moulds! surely they can reduce the packaging and reduce the already rock bottom sale price even further)... the moulds are nice and bright, v thin (expected), come on, at less than 50c a mould...


i repeated a batch of the plum and cinnamon upsidedown cake, but without the plum, without the cinnamon... no upsidedown... instead i scooped a spoonful of batter into each little moulds and added a teasp full of my homemade peach jam (which has acquired a fizzy (fermented) tang since i made it several months ago)


the bitezise cup size was excellent! instead of having hundreds and hundreds of calories each time i eat a piece (or 2) at a time, i would be eating a portion-control little cupcake and feel satisfied...
and it could be conveniently stored into our big bowl!

conclusion - moulds are great and the cup cakes = success! (and the 24 of them (equivalent of 1 cake) lasted a week!)

a day in our japan trip 08: knives at aritsugu

22/12/08 mcduck and i was in kyoto... it was our 2nd day in japan... we went to the iconic nishiki market... it looked abit like central market in adelaide (with more histories attached)... speciality shops galore... then i spotted ARITSUGU!
the 450 y o knife shop, since 1560... 1560! middle ages?!
this most exquisite wrapping cloth was a gift from the sales lady...

she kept on telling me not to spend 44000 yen on a top of the range blue steel kansai style usuba... "those are for professionals... the only difference is that the edge holds sharper for longer..." she recommended the 13000+ yen one for home use... after much deliberation (with my calculator)... i resisted parting with $700+ aud, instead i parted with $250 and took her recommendation to heart...

i have to say... when i got back home... i did regreted not taking the plunge with the $700 knife... but this new aritsugu knife of mine, is the sharpest one i have ever cut with! now i understand how the chefs on iron chef can cut so quickly with such precision!
i have to be extra careful with my fingers from now on...
NB: aritsugu has two distinct shops - one in kyoto one in tokyo... i was abit confused to begin with... after enquiring the sales lady... she reluctantly told me in a soft voice on the side that the 2 shops parted about 100 yrs ago and now are both running by themselves - therefore they have slightly diff range and slightly diff method of forging their knives...
and which one is better?? i think from a pure touristy point of view, i have to say kyoto aritsugu, because
1)shop front is v appealing and it is located at nishiki market kyoto - much older than tsujiki market in tokyo... the knife shop has been there or there abouts for 450yrs!
2)better display of products - with window display on both walls and central counter display... not just knives but other cooking instruments as well
3)knives are hand sharpened while you wait with freebie (2-kanji) inscription on the blade for free
3)special counter for after purchase presentation - how to use / sharper /take care of knife at home explained by sales lady with good english speaking skills
4)wrapped in rice paper, in carboard, then in box with foam and instructions, then aritsugu wrapping paper and aritsugu silk wrapping cloth (freebie - would have cost an extra 1000-2000 yen in souvenier shops), then all together in a paper bag

more holiday bargains: glad wrap replacement

i've tried other glad wrap replacements before... they are all pretty hopeless and expensive... they are all made of entirely rubber and impossible to put on when the food is not stone cold...
then, i saw this wonderful invention on www.pro-logic.com.hk
and our fridge now is once again nice and tidy... and we can reduce plastic waste further...

left overs can now be stacked neatly on top of each other...

i bought them in my hk trip at japan home... they come in "flat" or "caved" style lids and in different diametres... they are abit pricey hk standatd - around HKD$30+ (about AUD$5) each... but totally worth every cent!!!

i wished there were more sizes to choose from!

just pop it on top and flip over the rubber sides...

it's leak proof... and can be microwaved once the rubber is flipped back...

just need a distributor in oz! will definitely sell!!!

lovely pressure cooker cake

with my recent acquisition of this electric pressure cooker - primada - my cooking life has been transformed... not only am i able to devise more warming and nourishing dishes and soups with less time - not to mention without constantly guarding the naked flame... i am also able to whip up a cake under 10 min...

this gem was lugged all the way from hk by mum (thanks mum) after a high recommendation by a workmate...

back to the cake... easy peesy primada cake recipe:
5 large eggs or 6 small ones
100g melted butter (could be salted)
100g castor sugar
100g self raising flour
tsp or 2 vanilla extract
beat egg whites until peaks, then in separate bowl mix yolks, butter and sugar, add vanilla extract
fold in egg whites, then fold in flour
grease inner primada cooker with melted butter, pour batter in, shake to even
press "cook rice / cake" button
(approx 10 min later) ease sides of cake, invert cake, let cool, dust with icing sugar & decorate and EAT! YUM!

the cake is moist but millard reaction still happening around the rim... so it tastes like it is baked with a bain marie

the bottom of the cake may be hard to dislodge from the primada pan, so use a spatula to ease it first... any scruffy bits could be dusted over with icing sugar...

and beautified with a fanned strawberry... lovely! just like a bought cake...

tasted like (a bought cake, not any cheap old one, but a $20+ worth one) one too! YUM! what a bargain!

holiday full of bargains

after the pain there were also the gains...

"shanghai street" in yau mai tei is a must see for every homecook visiting hk... the street is filled with kitchen gadget shops - ranging from products for amatures like me and products for big restaurants...

i brought my second traditional chinese wok... (forget about the ultra expensive titanium teflon coatings, scanpan, circulatrons et al - they are useless! i've tried them and dumped them)

the traditional cast iron or stainless steel wok (below) have their natural petina - which builds up the more you cook and it's a natural non stick coating... the best thing is they don't need detergent to be kept clean - just some boiling water and may be some salt and elbow grease!

so far, i've found my cast iron wok is good for a slight "charrd" taste or smoky flavour in my stirfry and the st st producing a quicker stir fry and easier to wash afterwards...

the lovely wok i bought is from chan chi kee in shanghai street (http://www.chanchikee.com/)... they assured me that this is a solely hand hammered wok (i don't really think it is), but the st st is really thick - much thicker than the ones one can normally find... at HKD$55 (AUD$7) - what a bargain!!! the one i got is the more curvaceous peking style wok with handle, much easier to manouvour than the shallower cantonese double ear kind... chan chi kee is famous for their choppers, so naturally how could i have left the shop without owing one?

i chose the small veg chopper, slightly more slender than the usual chopper... they have newspapers on the counter to demonstrate the sharpness by shredding paper on the spot... lovely... that was a bargain (but not as much a bargain as the wok) at HKD $130 (AUD$19)... but definitely a bargain when lying next to a global or shun...


it has the company and address stamped onto the chopper...

and chopper sharpening is HKD$30... here is oz is AUD$5 at the farmers' market


chan chi kee... stainless steel... (but i reckoned that it is st st outside with a sliver of carbon steel as its core for the sharpness)

apart from the lovely choppers co... there were other gems... like this stone grinder! only HKD $50! that's less than $8 auzzie!

it is much smaller that my grandma's one (which has been sadly lost)... i am awaiting for a longer holiday so i can venture into almond soup or sesame soup making...

it's not just kitchen stuff the bargains of the holiday...

there were also these silk underware /PJs - the fabric is smooth as silk (because it is silk)... very light and very warm under heavy doona... cool when there's a breeze - good for winter and summer - all seasons... one can find then at yue hwa department store, undies section... about HKD $250-300 per piece (30-40 bucks oz), not dirt cheap but much cheaper than buying it here...

and a must stop shop in hk is GOD goods of desire - clothing, household goods and furniture...

quirky bags and clothing with a vintage hk feel... like this "double happiness" handbag...

slashed from HKD $750 to $350... yest 1/2 price!

and i can't begin to tell you how cheap and what a bargain "u-right" is... it is not the most trendy place to buy good... yes, one would have to dig things out of bargain bins with hoards of other housewives and bunbun looking for bargains... but it was worth it for me... just look at this "down jacket with fake fur trim" - HKD$100 (that's an amazing AUD$13.50!) - i know it is not made of true "down feathers", but instead, synthetic down like fibres - which looks exactly the same should you pull one little fibre out from the inner of the jacket... no wonder it is so warm... natural or synthetic - still warm, so who cares! bargain!