Other than the typical European food you can find in restaurants, Pizzas and kebabs, there is more to Finland ;)

at the beginning of the year, i made a new year's resolution to become a masterchef by the end of sep ;)
i have improved from being a noob that only knows how to cook pasta to being able to make rosti (from scratch) and cook asian dishes, including rice without the rice cooker ;)

The following are the highlights of my cooking album, for more pictures you can go to my fb page.

*warning* If you're hungry, don't read this. Even if you're not, it's going to make you hungry :P

1) SALMON

Salmon baked with herbs, served with jacket potatoes and boiled broccoli

myth: when you go to countries near to Norway (where salmon originates from), it's going to be cheap.
fact: NOT TRUE. in fact, Norwegian salmon costs a bomb (15 euros per kg). Finnish salmon is cheaper but it's about the same price as in sg. (7-8 euros per kg)

therefore, my hopes and dreams of having salmon everyday were dashed :(
in fact, that was the only time i bought salmon to cook by myself.

2) Pasta

traditional tomato paste pasta

 this was just about the only thing i ate for like a week or so when i first got to oulu, because:
a) it's easy to make, totally idiot proof
b) it's cheap

3) Carbonara

Carbonara with cream, bacon and garlic.

Slowly i progressed to making carbonara from scratch ;)
this aint the italian one though, its the one with cream.
hehe fattening but i love it!

4) Assorted English breakfast

scrambled eggs, ham, sauteed mushrooms and toast

cheese&onions omelette, sauteed mushrooms, sausages and cinnamon rolls

Banana Pancakes!! (yes i made the batter from scratch) no words can describe how much i love these fluffy flat things!

 anyway, most of the time i dont even wake up in time for breakfast so these are actually BRUNCHES.

5) Char Siew Beef!

does it look like the one you can find from your local zi char stall? and that's sambal chilli btw ;) my favourite item in my luggage from sg

 this was my first attempt at cooking rice, there was too much water so it's kinda soggy but i have since mastered the skill of cooking rice without a rice cooker ;)

6) Sweet and Sour Pork

Chinese delicacy that will guarantee to leave you craving for more

one day, my hk friends and i got sick of pasta and have decided to cook something asian. I mentioned that i have a packet of the instant sauce that i brought from sg and to our surprise, all of us love sweet and sour pork!!

7) ABC soup

potatoes, carrots, onions, chicken, tomatoes

 one of the things i miss the most about chinese food is the soup!! specifically the soups that my mom cooks!! this is nowhere near her standards (because i dont have her skills and chicken is expensive here so i didnt put alot) but it's considered pretty yummy ;)
anyway, it's called the ABC soup because it's so easy to make, i.e. as easy as ABC.

8) Simple Cai Fan

Sambal brinjal, stir fry beef cubes and eggs

 did i mention how much i love sambal chili? i'm so glad i brought this bottle of goodness over ;) goes well with just about anything hahaha. anyway, i was craving for brinjal/eggplant so i bought some home (freaking expensive i tell you). Anyway, check out the rice, its just nice this time ;)

9) Rosti

Giant sausages and broccoli to go with

the story goes.... even as a potatoes lover, i bought too much potatoes (2kg HAHAHA) so i had to come up with innovative ways to cook them. i was browsing through some pancake recipies and i came across one that says potato pancakes (kinda what people refer to them in some parts of the world)

10) Caramelised apples

i think im addicted to this now!! REALLY GOOD :D

apples are just about the cheapest fruit you can find here and that goes without saying that i always eat them. one day i got so sick of eating apples, i decided to find another way to eat them. OH AND HELL WAS IT GOOD.

stay tune as i come up w more dishes to experiment with
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one of the best things about studying in finland is the amount of welfare you have here!
the student meals are only 2.43 euros! that's about 4sgd BUT it includes a main dish, a salad, bread and juice.
you can take as much as your plates can contain ;)

Salmon soup ;) that's a traditional finnish food btw, or maybe scandinavian? but it's pretty damn rare to see it in the cafeteria. (salmon is expensive, see, now you believe me)

other variations include:
On really rare days: pork chops, salmon steak, salmon with potatoes
On normal days: macaroni with minches meat casserole, meat sticks with potatoes, fried liver with cream sauce, variations of potatoes and pasta
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because oulu is really near the Laplands (yes, the region where santa lives), many of the locals actually came from the laplands, including my kummi (= godmother)
way up north, they enjoy cuisine involving Reindeers, Salmons.
yes, they rear reindeers for a living and i suppose they fish salmon? or maybe they just get them from their Norwegian neighbours.

generous spread for tea break

did i mention how much i LOVE SALMON? my kummi actually smoked this norwegian salmon by herself, OH MAN IT WAS SO GOOD!! :D

tradditional lappish food: reindeer meat with mashed potatoes, pickles and lingonberry

baked bread cheese dessert ;) YUMMY!!

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the Finns like to address their pastries as Pullas.

Lappish pulla that my kummi's mom made, tasted like shortbread!

this is the traditional pulla that i made! Really delicious when served with freshly whipped cream and jam

Cinnamon roll that my hk friends, Natalie, suki and mun made! :D

other than all these things, i eat alot of chocolate and chips too :/
#forevehungry
#fattttttttttt

Labels: Finland, FOOD, Oulu (Finland)