bananamondaes

Ponyo Taiyaki

Ponyo is a crazy adventure about a rebellious goldfish that defies her father who is a sorcerer and swims to the mainland. She meets a young boy, Sosuke who looks after her as she gradually transforms into a little girl. In her transformation she accidentally sets off an oceanic surge that fills the sea with ancient Devonian fish and causes the seas to rise. It’s a wonderful story about the our relationship sea and the need to respect the power of nature.

You won’t see any cuddly clown fish in this movie. Instead there are kaleidoscopic jelly fish and Devonian Gogonasus and Licosus. Its like watching an animated episode of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet.

I watched this again for the upteenth time – and decided to make some Taiyaki. Taiyaki means ‘grilled sea bream’ but is in fact a little fish shaped pancake filled with delicious sweet gorgeous fillings.

The place to go for these little Japanese delights is Asakusa. This Taiyaki shop sells the most amazing taiyaki filled with either custard, chestnut or red bean filling.

They have these huge metal plates that they use to cook the batter before scooping in the fillings.

And here they are ready to eat!

We bought out Taiyaki pan in Tokyo’s Kappabashi-dori (Kitchen Street) – its a petite two fish pan that we spent 4 hours scouring the kitchen shops for.

Recipe & Instructions

We used a basic pancake batter recipe with a bit of bicarb of soda for a fluffier dough and made some really thick birds eye custard for the filling.

But rather than explain it – watch this great series “Cooking with Dog” to learn how to make these.

Taiyaki dough

James and The Giant Peach – Cloud Men Meringues

Wendell Dalit http://wendelldalit.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/james-and-giant-peach.html

‘Once, as they drifted silently past a massive white cloud, they saw on the top of it a group of strange, tall, wispy–looking things that were about twice the height of ordinary men…

“Ssshh!” James whispered back. “Don’t let them hear you! They must be Cloud–Men!”‘

I definitely had nightmares about the Cloud-Men from James and the Giant Peach. These terrifying creatures who controlled the weather. It may explain why I cried every time it rained till I was 6

Drew Falchetta’s Cloud Men via http://drewfalchetta.com/www.drewfalchetta.com/home.html

If you have ever flown above a thunderstorm you can see the most amazing pyramids of cloud flashing purple and yellow. It is the most incredible sight. You can just imagine the cloud men making their hailstones ready to throw onto the world below.

cloud men meringues

Cloud Meringue Recipe

This weekend was a quest to make the perfect meringue. I used to be able to make great meringues when I worked at a catering company and then somewhere in my twenties I lost the knack and kept on making brown horrible biscuits. So armed with a bucket of every type of egg you could think of (duck, hen, posh hens, goose), I dedicated the entire weekend to perfecting the perfect meringue. Turns out, the secret ingredient is cream of tartar.

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp of cream of tartar
1 cup of caster sugar
1tsp vanilla

1. Pre-heat your oven to 100C or 200F.
2. Mix the egg whites and cream of Tartar together lightly.
3. then add in all the sugar and whisk for about five minutes. The mixture should be glossy and like melted marshmallow.
4. Add the vanilla and whisk until you get firm peaks. When you pull your beaters out the cloudy peaks should not fall over…that’s when you know they are ready.
5. Fill a piping bag and pipe onto a tray lined with greaseproof paper.
5. Bake in the oven for 1-2 hours or until they de-tatch easily from the paper.

This is really the best meringue recipe ever as they hold their shape and don’t sink.

These were great. Light, fluffy and slightly chewy.Peach Mess
2 cans of tinned peaches (blitzed)
1 pot of double cream (whisked)
Meringues
Hazelnuts

Simply mix your meringues and cream together and arrange alternating layers of the peach and cream mixture, then top with nuts.

I haven’t had tinned peaches since I was little, but they are great with their grape syrup and perfect for puree..especially as you can only get rock hard flavourless peaches in the UK. If only I could get my hands on these giant Japanese peaches – they cost £9 each and are sold individually. But look at these beauties!