Wednesday, January 30, 2019

With Love From Tokyo


Made a lunch date with J, and we decided to stay in. I had no issues with cooking since it was a good way to wish her a smooth start to a brand new career. Her new job starts soon and we wouldn't have the luxury of meeting for such long lunches for a bit.

J loves murgh makhani (butter chicken) so much till I've never really cooked anything else for her! LOL I didn't bother to go the whole hog with dhal and biryani since it would be way too heavy for lunch. Settled the meal with flavored basmati rice (cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and such), eggs and stir-fried greens. A meal that's really quite easy to do, especially since the butter-tomato gravy had been made and frozen earlier. Hurhurhur. #ImpieCooks2019

J literally rolled out of bed into a cab, and sunk straight into my armchair. HAHAHAH. She trundled over with a ton of presents from Tokyo, including a shimekazari (for 2019) that wasn't even crushed in her suitcase. Her packing skills are good. Hahah. Well, I did ask for chopsticks rests from tiny shops in Tokyo. I knew she'd be able to pick out the beautiful ones at the correct prices, and not at S$20 per piece. But the woman hadn't told me how much I owe her!! She ignored me. Whhuuut. It would have to be repaid in the form of future meals.

Among the gorgeous gifts was one precious pack of coffee beans roasted by Onibus Coffee. YAYYY. What a lovely surprise. I was totally not expecting that! I've missed Onibus Coffee's flavors and I haven't found it in any cafe in Singapore. That is pack of my favorite Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. It's a fully washed varietal, and this one is wonderful too. Elegant and carries a punch.

A pity we can't buy too many packs of coffee beans because they simply wouldn't keep fresh. Most days, I need a speedy cup of coffee, and Nespresso capsules do the job. I've been fairly judicious in the buying of coffee beans. I usually just have a pack at any one time, alternating between a lighter Yirgacheffe and full-bodied Indonesian beans. Even having two packs (one sealed and one opened) can be too much. Never waste good coffee.

Didn't want to hoard the beans only to have them go stale. Opened up the pack as soon as I could to taste the best of what the beans have to offer. It's always a pleasure to grind beans. Ahhh...that delightful aroma of grounded beans. Just a wee bit sufficient for two brews, and sealed the rest. I could always grind them again later. Brewed the first batch for a breezy sunny morning when I had the luxury of time to clear lengthy emails over two glorious cups of coffee.

5 comments:

coboypb said...

I have a habit of hoarding coffee beans. They seem to taste alright after a few months but I'm sure they taste more fabulous if I brew them fresh.

imp said...

ahhh. i usually drink them fresh. i dun want to hoard! no space!

Cavalock said...

The Baker-at-Home still has her bag of Onibus Coffee beans in the fridge. We bought so much beans last trip, the coffee 'aroma' was so strong that we were afraid customs would think that we were trying to smuggle drugs into the country.

jo said...


HAHAHA. Can’t help it if you do such a good rendition of butter chicken that makes me not want to have anything else! :p Ok laaa, next meal will be Omakase!

imp said...

@cavalock WAH. She managed to seal them so well in the fridge! nice. then you'll have your coffee sorted for uhhh....the whole year...? hehe.

@jo PLEASE. confirm butter chicken again. Hahaha.