Chik's Crib: February 2026

28 February 2026

Dumpling Wings Recipe V2.0 - Dumpling Wings Made Simpler!

Recipe February 28, 2026 0

One of my favourite tricks for pan-dried dumplings is to zing them up with crispy flour lattice wings. It's much more effortful to do than simply boiling the dumplings, which is the lazy way out, but the taste-effort ratio still pays off in spades.

Well, here is a shortcut, one which I wished I'd learnt years ago. You first boil the dumplings, which is a hands-off affair and a sure-fire way to ensure dumplings get thoroughly cooked. Then, pan-fry them in a flour slurry to get the best of two worlds: crispy dumpling wings with minimal efforts.

Dumpling Wings Recipe V2.0

INGREDIENTS

1-2 tbsp flavourless oil, such as canola oil
Dumplings, fresh or frozen
80ml water
1 tbsp tapioca flour/corn flour/all-purpose flour
Black vinegar, with julienned ginger (cut into long thin strips) - optional

STEPS

1. In a pot filled with boiling water, add dumplings. Cook a couple of minutes less than the suggested cooking time. Stir occasionally to prevent the dumpling skin from sticking to the pot or to one another.

2. In a small bowl, combine water with flour. You need this amount of water not to cook the dumplings, but for the distribution of the flour evenly across the pan to get a thin even layer of dumpling 'wings' after cooking. Set aside.

3. When the dumplings are ready, turn off the fire and remove the dumplings from the boiling water.

4. Place a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, then add a thin layer of oil. When the oil is hot, first add the flour-water slurry into the pan, then followed by the dumplings. I like to arrange the dumplings in a circular pattern. Leave the pan uncovered to allow the water in the slurry to boil off. The slurry and the bottle of the dumplings will then crisp up and brown nicely, about 4-5 minutes.

5. Evert onto a serving plate and serve immediately. Black vinegar and ginger are common accompaniments.

14 February 2026

Okayama and Naoshima Island: Osaka In Autumn 2026, Part 4

Travel February 14, 2026 0

Okayama was our gateway into Naoshima Island, and we spent a couple of nights here exploring the city. The city is most associated with peaches and the folk hero Momotarō. Peach season is in August, which we missed, but we still had a pleasant time exploring the city.

We sipped warm amazake by the courtyard of Okayama Castle to ward off the chill, then headed into Korakuen Gardens in sunset. Along with Kenroku-en in Kanazawa and Kairaku-en in Mito, these are the Three Great Gardens of Japan.

The autumn sights were lovely here, and the bright sun bathed every scene in a strong yellow hue. We spent the evening wandering around here, first in the glow of the setting sun, and afterwards when the coloured lights illuminated the garden.

Okayama is also where the Omachi rice, an ancient strain of rice for sake brewing, came from. There are sake bars aplenty here for the choosing; the one that we visited was particularly proud of the local production.

And yes, this city is the birthplace of Demi glacé pork cutlet rice. We joined in the queue alongside the locals at Katsudon Nomura. We had a good version of demi glacé and a wonderful version of egg pork rice.

And a wonderfully carb-laden meal at Mori. Get the Squid Okonomiyaki and don't miss out on their delicious yaki-soba.

Bringing your car into Naoshima Island? No problem-desu

The next morning, we took an early train to Uno station to make the ferry into Naoshima. It’s an island that rejuvenated itself in recent decades with its forays into the art world. Chichu Art Museum showcases several of Monet’s art pieces, and sculptures by Yayoi Kusama dots the landscape throughout the island.

How do you know if a place celebrates the works of Yayoi Kusama? The city buses are all painted over with bright polka dots

We spent the night in the accommodations of Benesse House Museum, which was wonderfully luxurious. There’s shutter services for hotel guests, and you get complimentary tickets to its museum, as well as to several others.

I’m one of those people who plans down to the last details when traveling. But I gotta admit, Naoshima Island is built for wanderers. Aside from pre-booking museum tickets (and perhaps hotel stays if you’re staying the night), this gentle landscape is meant for wandering. It was nice to relax and take in the art installations and galleries as we come across them.

07 February 2026

Nara: Osaka In Autumn 2026, Part 3

Travel February 07, 2026 0

We reached Nara after a long nighttime drive down the mountains of Wakayama. (Not recommended. Don’t be like us. It's far better to take three days - at least - for a road trip around Wakayama.) But we arrived!

If you’re after autumn sights, Nara is a safe place to visit. Because Mt Yoshino’s climate is cooler than the surrounding countryside, you’re bound to see some autumn leaves in Nara somewhere. In early autumn, Mt Yoshino is the place to be at for leaf-peeping. In late autumn, when the trees of Mt Yoshino are bare, the countryside should be awash with red leaves.

It was late autumn when we came, and the sights at Shoryaku-ji in the countryside was particular enjoyable. The vibrant autumn colours blew me away.

Shoryaku-ji is a temple known for being the birthplace of sake (!). The monks living here developed the historical Bodaimoto method to produce a lactic acid starter as part of the sake fermentation. Newer methods have since supplanted the bodaimoto method, but this was the site where it all began.

Today, the starter is still being made in the temple before being distributed to nearby sake breweries. In a small section of one of the temples, you may purchase such sake from a small booth. Bodaisen is known for its notes of sweetness and bright acidity. It can be a bit of an acquired taste as compared to modern clean-tasting sake, but back when Japanese cuisine was largely fermented and deeply salted, such strong and sweet sake paired well with the cuisine.

It’s worth to explore this area for a few hours for both the beautiful autumn views and a nod towards its sake-brewing contributions, which was recently acknowledged as one of UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage.

We also went to Mt Yoshino one morning. Visitors can choose to drive up the whole way, but where’s the fun in that? We parked at the base of the mountain and walked up the narrow streets winding upwards. Past the shophouses, past the shrines. Here and there, persimmons gleam in the morning light and traces of autumn red remain in the treetops, but it’s clear that the best of the autumn colours had already passed. The chill air up in the mountains that delays the sakura season in spring also hurries the autumn season along.

The trails are pink from the fallen red leaves grounded up by footfall.

It got colder and colder the higher we walked. After 3 hours, despite our exertion and it being midday, the air had become much more chilly and we put our jackets back on. We didn’t much fancy taking another 3 hours to walk down, so we took the bus down. It was wonderful I wished there's a dedicated pedestrian sidewalk (we had to dodge vehicles going up and down the road as we walked).

We stayed at Ryokan Mikasa, which was one of the most lovely accommodations you can find. The service was impeccable as expected. The ryokan was fastidiously clean. The included-in-your-stay Kaiseki meals were so intricate, the kitchen’s owed a Michelin star. Even breakfast was an elaborate, multi-course affair.

The ryokan is also conveniently located at the base of Mount Wakakusa. As sunset approached, we made our way up. The parking lot is about 20 minutes’ drive, and takes you to the peak of Mount Wakakusa.

It’s one of the best sites to watch the sunset, and bonus points for the herd of curious deer wandering around the park. It’s a much more serene site for deer photography compared to the more-renowned Nara Park.

One restaurant that we really enjoyed ourselves was at Miwa Somen Nagashi. Their speciality is the ‘swimming noodles’, noodles that swirl around in a circuit around the table until we catch them up with a (clean) pair of chopsticks. Gimmicky? Maybe, but it was great fun and we probably ate more noodles than we otherwise would have. The texture of the noodles was wonderfully springy as well, and we bought more of their delightful noodles for back home.

There’s a spate of closed liquor stores from Wakayama to Nara, but we finally found one open in business at the parking lots near this lunch place. We bought umeshu and finally got my hands on kijoshu, a type of sake that incorporated brewed sake as part of its production. The added alcohol stymies further fermentation, leading to more residual sugar (and increased sweetness) in the final product. It was complex and sweet, similar to a sweet wine, but with a distinctive grain element.

We stopped by Sakura, a traditional sweets shop serving confectionery made with kuzu starch. We took our shoes off, sat down at a low table and awaited our desserts. They were interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the Kuzumochi (mochi version, drizzled with a dark sugar syrup and dipped in soybean flour).