Taipei 4th of August

Hi ! It's been a while since I've made a post ;) I'm sitting in my cousins working place and since she has fallen asleep I have time to write now. 

I actually wanted to make an update everyday but I was always on the go so I didn't have the chance to make a post yet. I've been recording a lot these days, all the famous and popular shopping malls and streets. Unfortunately I haven't been to the night markets yet but I will probably visit them today or tomorrow. 

First pictures of Taipei : (I could not take a photo of 101 at night yet, sorry)

                        Taipei 101

                             101

                        Taipei 101

On the rooftop of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping mall

                 My cousin and me :)

          101 From outside at daytime 

How to make 豆獎 and 豆花 at home

Soy Milk and Soy Pudding

Hey Guys!
I made some soy milk and Taiwanese soy pudding on the weekend and really want to share with you guys. It's great for any season. In Taiwan it is served with ice in summer and hot in winter. The texture of Taiwanese Soy Pudding is not similar to normal jelly.. it is more smooth and melts on your tongue :9
I also added some Bobas and peanuts.
Now to the recipe ;)

First wash 500 g dried soybeans twice and then let them soak in water for at least 8 hours. If you are in a hurry you can also let it soak in warm water for 6 hours. The picture above shows the beans after 8 hours soaking.

Strain the beans and put them in a blender with really warm water. Depending on your blender you may divide into smaller amounts. After blending it should have a thick consistence. Put the mixture into a tightly weaved fabric and start to massage the bag, so soy milk comes out. Add more warm water to extract more soymilk.

My mom's hands :3

A little bit of foam will come out, too.







Repeat this process until all beans are blended and added to the fabric bag. You can add more or less water depending on how intense you want the taste of soy.
Put the soy milk into a big pot and start to cook it on low. Make sure you keep stirring it for about 20 minutes until it starts to boil. If the soy milk starts to boil remove immediately from the stove. Add sugar as desired. Soy Milk is done !! ~




To turn the soymilk into soy pudding you need : 



This bad contains some kind of powder.. I'm actually not sure about it, but it is for soy pudding. You can buy it at asian grocery stores or if you have the opportunity to visit asia you can also purchase it there. I guess it has the same effect as gelling agent/corn starch.
Just stir this powder into 3,3 liter of soymilk and let it cool down. After an hour the soy milk becomes a jelly-like texture. In Taiwan they usually use unsweetened soy milk for this, but you can use sweetened soy milk if you desire. Since I used unsweetened soy milk for this, I prepared peanuts and bobas in a sweet "soup".



Cook these bobas after cooking instructions. This is a Taiwanese brand. If you use other brands cooking instructions may differ from this one. For people who can't read chinese :
Cook bobas for 15 on medium and turn off heat. Don't move the pot and let the bobas soak for 10 minutes. Turn the heat on again and repeat this process 3 times (15 cooking - 10 minutes soaking - 15 minutes cooking - 10 minutes soaking - 15 minutes cooking - 10 minutes soaking). Leave them in the water and add brown sugar as desired.




Peanut soup

For the peanut soup I used peeked peanuts. These are just regular peanuts from any grocery store. Cook for 1 or 2 hours depending on your taste and add brown sugar as desired. Now combine peanut soup, boba "soup" and soy pudding in a large bowl and ENJOY !!!! :D

Skincare for Summer

Updated Skincare Routine

Hi, it's been a while since the last post so I decided to update my skincare routine.
Finally it got warm and the sun comes out! Time to wear sunscreen and BB Cream.
I also want to do a review of 2 Asian BB Creams.

This is also my travelling kit, because the bottles are smaller.
The scrub cream with tiny particles really softenes your skin, but in my opinion it smells really bad. Haha! Still i recommened it for hot summer days or when you are outside a lot and the affect of the environment strains your skin. To keep your face protected from UV sunrays I like to use LANCÔME's Bienfait UV SPF 50+. It has a really smooth and matt finish on your face, so unlike other sunscreens your skin doesn't feel oily during the day. If the sun is not that strong on somedays especially in Germany I also use CLINIQUE's even better skin tone correcting lotion. It has only SPF 20. For a lighter weight than SHISEIDO's White Lucency Protective Day Cream I apply CLINIQUE's moisture surge also during the day.

Review : SUPER ⁺ Beblesh Balm BB Triple Functions

This pink BB Cream is so popular around Asia, but also in the US. It is from South Korea and protects skin from UV rays (SPF 25++) and provides Whitening and Wrinkle Improvement.It has light texture and doesn't feel heavy on one's skin. The coverage is good, it even covers your under eye circles in the morning. Right after applying it, there's a light grey shade, but after 5 to 10 minutes it fades into your skin tone. The whitening effect is not that dramatic. Basically it is adding lighter shades to your skin tone. But I have to mention that I've been using this cream for 3 months now and i can see a slightly difference to before. It takes time, but we want to be sure there is no harmful ingredients in it.

Review : It°s SKIN 프레스티지 끄렘 데스까르고 비비 PRESTIGE CRÈME D'ESCARGOT B.B

Ahhh!! ~ I love this BB Cream! My korean friend brought it from Seoul.
I love the lightening effect of it, because my skin is rather dark. So compared to the SKIN79 BB Cream I think the coverage is even better. It also has SPF25, PA ++ and has a Lifting Care Program, brightening and reducing wrinkle program, anti stress program and a smoothing and moisturizing care program.

On the left is PRESTIGE and on the right is SKIN79. You can see that SKIN79 has a slight grey shade compared to the other BB Cream. I don't use the Prestige BB Cream everyday, because it feels heavier than SKIN79, but I don't have a comparison to tinted moisturizers or make up, because I never apply make up or tinted moisturizers. 

Now a fact which scared me at first, but I read a lot of interesting facts on the internet. 

Literally this BB Cream contains snail secretion filtrate...That's why it is called D'escargot (french : snail).
It is a big thing in France and South Korea now. The secretion of snails speeds up cell regeneration, helps to cure acne, dark spots and skin imperfections. Also it provides wrinkle improvement. Some people say that in various snail secretion filtrate products they've been using, there was a smell of snail, which they considered as unpleasant. Fortunately it's not the same with this BB Cream. I have to point out, that this BB Cream smells especially bloomy. So I can definitely recommend this product, especially if you have a darker skin tone like me or want to cover skin imperfections. ~

I hope I will be able to post more soon, I've been very busy with school lately D:
Talk to you later, guys ! ;)

Japanese Sushi Recipe

SUSHI ❤

Hey Guys ;)

Today i want to share the way i make my Sushi Rolls :D

What you need for making your own Sushi :

Rice : best is Sushi Rice, but this time i used normal Asian rice, which you can buy at any Asian store
Nori : it's japanese algea, you can also get it at Asian food stores
Vinegar : In Asian stores you can get Sushi Vinegar, but normal white Vinegar is also fine
Sugar
Sesame (optional)
Caviar (optional, some people might not be used to caviar, but if you like it you can add those on top like the sesame)
Salmon : best is really fresh Salmon, but I know that especially in germany raw fresh fish is hard to get --> You can also use smoked salmon, which you can get at any grocery store
Tuna : also fresh Tuna is rare in Germany, but if you want to make spicy Tuna Sushi Rolls you can use Tuna from the can and add spicy sauces
cucumber
avocado (my favorite <3)
Cream Cheese
Surimi : This is prepared fish with crab flavor, you can get it at Asian Food Store
Soy Sauce
Wasabi
Pickled Ginger

You will also need a sushi mat, a wet cloth and an asian rice spoon

1) First cook the Sushi Rice as described on the back of the package and let it cool down. Please don't put it in the fridge or in too cold places. Meanwhile you can cut the cucumber , avocado in fine strips. When the rice cooled down you can add vinegar and sugar (as desired). Don't forget to roast your sesame (that's always the step i forget xD)!
You can cut the smoked salmon into strips but i usually just leave it like it is. If you use fresh fish (salmon, tuna, whitefish) you have to cut it into stripes.

Now you can start to roll the Sushi. The easiest way to roll Sushi is Maki :
Lay your Nori on the sushi mat and put rice on it until 3/4 of it is covered with rice (not to thick!). You can add the stuff you like to your sushi roll : for example avocado and salmon. Start rolling it up putting evenly pressure to it until you reach the end. 

These are normal Maki Rolls : 

Inside-Out-Makis : (picture above)

You can also make Inside-Out-Makis (this can be a little bit more difficult) :
Lay your Nori on your sushi mat and put rice on it (use your asian rice spoon) and now turn it upside down and lay a wet cloth between the sushi mat and the Nori with the rice faced down. Add your favorite ingredients and roll it up carefully (the rice is really sticky xD).
You can now add sesame or caviar on top of the Inside-Out-Maki-Sushi-Roll.

To cut the Sushi rolls into pieces wet your knife with vinegar and make sure the knife is sharp enough. Serve your selfmade sushi with soy sauce, Wasabi and Pickled Ginger. And don't forget your chopsticks ;) !! 

Li :* xxx

Chinese Dumplings

Shao Mai 燒賣

Hi! These are my first Photos of Chinese Shao Mai ;)
We're so good. I'm posting the recipe, when I have time ;)

Welcome to freakycheekyLi :)

I actually thought of blogging for some months now, but didn't know what I should write about. I've found some time now and decided to do a blog where I can just post my photos.

I don't have a really good camera but I still hope you'll like my photos ;)