The Sugar Bar

Some long overdue photos.

The weather here has been somewhat crazy. Terribly hot and muggy and then suddenly, we are plagued (it’s a good thing really I just think that for others, many do not welcome the rain) with days of unceasing relentless rain. Doing the laundry gets a little tricky for most. I’ve seen lots of women queueing at the laundromat for the dryers with bright blue baskets of washing. My sisters have been complaining that the air is getting more chilly and the nights are nippy. By my standard, I really do not feel it. It just feels a little less oppressive and I hope the air stays that way. I don’t mind the rain (other than it annoys my hair a little) as long as our neighbourhood doesn’t flood. Because now that, is a whole different predicament altogether.

When I was in Kyoto in June, it was raining quite a bit as well. Hence, it just sprung into mind that I should upload some of the shots taken there. A little warm it was, a little rainy some of the days in Kyoto. Honestly, the weather then is exactly the same as what we’re experiencing now. Funnily enough, the weather makes me crave for soba ~ cold soba, hot soba whatever. It’s a need. So I dug up these pictures of handmade soba I had in Arashiyama. It was really lush, and fresh, soft but firm and well-made. The dipping sauce for mine and the broth for my pal’s was really delish. Oh how I wish I were there now again, slurping soba on the top floor of a tiny crooked shop with a (somewhat blocked but chilled out) view of the river.

The shop has a lovely, quaint, shadowy upper floor with just a few tables. The ones that are by the window facing the river are quite sought after since you can see the Togetsu Bridge on the left stretching over the river. We were lucky to get 2 spaces next to some salarymen who were quite so busy slurping their soba they didn’t even notice us arriving and noisily shoving ourselves into our seats. It took my friend Mr. Patience (yes that’s his real name) quite some time and effort to fold his lanky long BFG body into the little cranny of a space, obviously designed and built to comfortably seat the Japanese male/female physique.

A lovely rest stop. Fantastic handmade soba, good view, wonderful service, not to mention lovely ceramic cups/bowls/etc. that are also for sale just under the stairs next to the till.

It might seem a little hard to find but look out for its brown exteriors on the right footpath if you’re walking towards the river. You’ll notice a little zen stone garden once past the doors. You’re there.

Yoshimura
2 Togetsukyo Kitazumenishi
Arashiyama, Ukyo-ku

http://www.arashiyama-yoshimura.com

11am-5pm Daily

*ps. Around this area, you might spot geisha…or rather, women who pay to dress up like geisha. I was tempted. Truly. Which girl doesn’t like to get all decked up in shiny silk stuff and have their faces painted!

Yea go ahead, point and laugh. You may jeer at me and say, ‘I told you so.’ When I thought I’d left this blog behind (not so willingly actually) and carried on with life, I found myself here again guiltily putting up one post to share with the world my happiness for a very beloved, special and gorgeous girlfriend who recently got married. There are plenty of backposts, especially those from Kyoto, waiting to go up here on The Sugar Bar but I just never found time. Sometimes anyhow, things get forgotten, places get forgotten, people get forgotten and it’s just all a little sad, nostalgic and bittersweet.

That aside, however, this is just one thing I thought deserved to go into my archives. No great shots whatsoever and the professional photos are not out yet but this little maid of honour here made some wedding cupcakes for her best girl. Royal little red velvets with glittered white buttercream icing and topped with a Chanel red sugar rose.

These cupcakes were all served up on a 3 tier white cake stand (the graceful one from Wilton oh what a lifesaver that purchase was!) and placed onto a whole dessert bar the bride and I ‘curated’. Cakes from Antoinette patissierie, lemon cream & passionfruit macarons I begged off a private chef acquaintance ‘J’, wedding cookies from The Patissier and plenty others. They were all wiped out within minutes.

My dearest S, all married now; and she was married in Vera Wang! She was truly radiant and beaming with joy. I cannot be happier for her and her husband. And what a great time to get married too can I say. This Christmas time, everyone’s in good spirits. Perfect for celebrating.

To their happiness, to friendships, to futures together, jokes and companionship, to homecooked dinners and profound happiness. (Let’s drink to that.)

LOVE is sweet.

Who knew that I’d actually come back here to put up a post. I’d sort of decided to drop the blog (for a while or forever I was not too sure) because work was too hectic for me to have much of a virtual life beyond Facebook and Twitter. I haven’t even had time to sort through photographs from Kyoto and post up all those lovely desserts I so wanted to share with all of you. Lots of the snacks I brought home have been gobbled up without a photograph being taken which means a valuable post lost but more sleep time for me. I’ve been so overworked my Friday nights are highly treasured, weekends are magical (well really I don’t have much of it since there’s work to take home as well), sleep is never 100% recovery time and people tell me I’ve lost weight.

Anyway, today’s my Mama Diva’s birthday and luckily enough, I have a day off! On a day off, the irony, however, is that I’m still as busy as ever running around searching for flowers, arranging them into a nice vase, buying groceries, taking my lil sister to lunch, preparing the ingredients etc. for the dinner menu I’ve planned tonight. Well you can definitely say I’m keeping busy.

And, my ol’ Canon Powershot is still sitting on my shelf covered in soddingly thick layer of dust. Shame on me. Let me just update you on my resolution for 2012 though. I intend to purchase a d-slr. A cheap one. FINALLY. Right, talk about dear ol’ Dave (me) finally going ahead to invest in something worthwhile. For now, this busy bee is resorting to lazy but well-trusted methods via the BLACKBERRY BOLD camera. All photos in this post have been taken on my little mobile. And I’m impressed.

I’m also very impressed with this recipe. It doesn’t look like much and almost seems to pale in comparison to the moroccan couscous which I so adore (and those recipes always look a heck lot more complicated). A spoonful of this, however, shocked me. It is full-flavoured. A little savoury from the chicken stock, a little sweet from the apricot but warm and soothing altogether. I used red onions as well instead of white to get a caramelized taste and give it a little more colour. I’m glad I did. This is what I wanted to share with you really – just a really good and simple quick recipe from the most-loved Ottolenghi.

Enjoy.

Ottolenghi’s Couscous with Dried Apricots and Butternut Squash
Ingredients

1 large (red) onion, thinly sliced
6 tbs olive oil
50g dried apricots
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2 cm dice
250g couscous
400ml chicken or vegetable stock
a pinch of saffron strands
3 tbs roughly chopped tarragon
3 tbs roughly chopped mint
3 tbs roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
grated zest of 1 lemon
coarse sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180d Celsius.

Place onion in a large frying pan with 2 tbs oil and a pinch of salt. Sauté over high heat, stirring constantly for about 10 mins (I used less time), until golden brown. Set aside.

Pour hot water from the tap over the apricots just to cover them. Soak for 5 mins then drain and cut them into 5mm dice.

Mix the diced squash in 1 tbs olive oil and spread out on a baking tray to roast. Place in oven for 25 mins, until lightly coloured and quite soft.

While waiting for the butternut squash to cook, cook the couscous. Bring the stock to the boil with the saffron. Place the couscous in a large heatproof bowl and pour the boiling stock over it, plus the remaining olive oil (3 tbs). Cover with clingfilm and leave for about 10 mins for all of the liquid to be absorbed. When done, fluff with up with a fork. Then add the onions, squash, apricots, herbs, cinnamon and lemon zest. Mix well with hands, trying not to mash the squash to bits.

Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Serve warmish of cold.