Saturday 19 November 2011

The Turkish Airlines Saga Continues....

Turkish Airlines initially offered us 300 euro compensation (EU regulations= 600 euro) but we said we wanted 400 euro as the Danish passengers who were bumped off the flight as well, received 400 euros (yes, the 24 +hours we spent together means we had enough time to exchange contact details). Turkish Airlines called the Dutchman on Friday and confirmed. They asked when we could pick it up. We agreed on 3p.m. Saturday at Schiphol Airport.

So today, we left at 1.30p.m. to arrive there at 3p.m.. Guess what happened next?! Arrived at the counter and the Turkish Airlines employee says....

"We have no cash with us at the moment. Perhaps you should come back on a weekday as more people buy tickets then"

We were like WTF!?!?! We had an appointment at 3p.m. to collect the compensation! We drove 1.5 hours! We had to pay 8 euro for parking! We wasted our time! It's a Saturday, ffs!

This is seriously the shittiest airline of all time. Unbelievable.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Beef with Ginger & Spring Onions

I was talking to some Asian ladies the other day and it struck me that Dutchman and I do not eat Asian food very often. We eat pasta, roast chicken, fish, steak, stews etc. instead. I love Asian food but it always seem kind off fiddly to get the taste right and fake Asian food is the most disgusting thing in the whole world( which is why I never buy the Westernized Asian pre-packaged stuff). Anyhoo, last night, I made beef with ginger and spring onions. This is a simple dish- the kind you eat at home at least once a week together with (in my family anyway) stir-fried greens, clear soup and fish.

Fresh ingredients
300g beef, sliced thinly
5 spring onions, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2-inches worth of ginger, sliced


Marinade
1 tbs Chinese oyster sauce
1 tbs ShaoXing wine (maybe a bit more, generous splash heh)
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp corn flour
some pepper


Sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs ShaoXing wine
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp corn flour
2-3 tbs water


1) First, marinade the beef for at least an hour. Combine the ingredients for the sauce before you start cooking.
2) Then, in a saucepan, saute the ginger in the hot oil until soft. If you like, you can also add the white part of the spring onion at this time.
3) When the beef is almost done, add the sauce and the green parts of the spring onions and cook until done. Do not overcook this or the beef will be tough. If you think that the sauce is too watery, you can add some cornflour.



Serve with white rice.