筆者喜歡看日本的煮食雜誌,由於在倫敦很難找,香港的一位好友總會在來倫敦旅遊時順帶些逾期的雜誌過來。去年夏季,某天在閱讀其中一本雜誌時(雖説是逾期,但其實也挺新的),看見一部全自動製麵機的廣告,仔細看清楚,原來是宣傳飛利浦的新產品。在倫敦,麵類選擇已不算多,中國製的不敢買,台灣製的在發生地溝油事件後又沒信心買,日本製的價錢又偏高。筆者是愛麵一族,簡直是每天無麵不歡,看到製麵機廣告時,心裡想,倒不如買它回來自己在家製新鮮麵條好了,這樣既經濟,又肯定無添加,可安心食用!
筆者懂日語,立刻上日本飛利浦的網頁查看更多資料。發現原來這部製麵機果然厲害,它的揉捏功能有相等於720公斤力度,而且在開機後三分鐘便開始出麵,實在很神奇!機內的塑膠配件全不含 BPA(雙酚A),清洗看來也容易。隨機有四種出麵口,用來做不同粗幼的麵條(後來發現,日本版和香港/台灣版的出麵口略有不同),而替換用的出麵口和切麵/清潔用的小工具可收藏在製麵機的小櫃桶內,十分整潔。此機能做的麵條可多了,有陽春麵、烏冬、拉麵、不同的意大利麵如寬條麵,亦可做蛋麵,或用蔬菜汁代替水製成蔬菜麵,款式簡直是千變萬化。隨機附上麵粉和液體的量杯,跟著量杯的份量可一次過做二人或四人份量。製麵機只有幾個按鈕 - 開/關、全自動/淨出麵,一杯麵粉/兩杯麵粉 和開動,簡單得連三歲小孩都會操作。
看清楚詳細資料後,恨不得立刻買一部回家!不過,那部製麵機是亞洲飛利浦的產品,在英國沒有發售。筆者用中文在 Google 查看,發現原來這部機一早便有在台灣發售(台灣稱此機為愛麵機,原先發售的為舊型號),而且看來也挺流行,不少台灣主婦買回來後也在部落格裡大讚製麵機方便好用。這也令筆者對這部機有更大信心,可是,台灣與日本的電壓與英國不同,雖然有打算到日台兩地旅行也不能買一部帶回英國。
過了不久,香港的好友發現製麵機在香港的某日資百貨公司有售,而且售價很公道。那實在是好消息,可是下一個問題是如何把這部體積不少的製麵機從香港帶回倫敦。機身已差不多八公斤,加上包裝和紙盒總共有九公斤。幸好乘搭的航空公司又容許攜帶30公斤行李,並且沒打算在香港買很多東西,二話不說便決定在香港買一部帶回倫敦。
由於做夢也想著製麵機,回港前又再次查閱有關資料(因為香港飛利浦網頁完全沒有宣傳製麵機,唯有看台灣的飛利浦網頁),竟發現那時剛新出了數個別買的出麵口,可做通粉、蕎麥麵、餃子和雲吞皮!筆者十分愛吃自家製上海雲吞,可是倫敦唐人街賣的上海雲吞皮異常厚身,難食得很,所以很久沒做過。知道這重要資料後,便決心到台灣旅遊時到百貨公司找一找。幸運地,在香港時飛利浦剛推出特賣,買製麵機還送電磁爐和火鍋用的煲。聖誕後到台灣旅遊時,在台南的日資百貨公司內的飛利浦專櫃也找到新出的出麵口。好不容易才能把這麼多行李從香港帶到倫敦,自家製麵的生活在新的一年正式開始。
筆者懂日語,立刻上日本飛利浦的網頁查看更多資料。發現原來這部製麵機果然厲害,它的揉捏功能有相等於720公斤力度,而且在開機後三分鐘便開始出麵,實在很神奇!機內的塑膠配件全不含 BPA(雙酚A),清洗看來也容易。隨機有四種出麵口,用來做不同粗幼的麵條(後來發現,日本版和香港/台灣版的出麵口略有不同),而替換用的出麵口和切麵/清潔用的小工具可收藏在製麵機的小櫃桶內,十分整潔。此機能做的麵條可多了,有陽春麵、烏冬、拉麵、不同的意大利麵如寬條麵,亦可做蛋麵,或用蔬菜汁代替水製成蔬菜麵,款式簡直是千變萬化。隨機附上麵粉和液體的量杯,跟著量杯的份量可一次過做二人或四人份量。製麵機只有幾個按鈕 - 開/關、全自動/淨出麵,一杯麵粉/兩杯麵粉 和開動,簡單得連三歲小孩都會操作。
看清楚詳細資料後,恨不得立刻買一部回家!不過,那部製麵機是亞洲飛利浦的產品,在英國沒有發售。筆者用中文在 Google 查看,發現原來這部機一早便有在台灣發售(台灣稱此機為愛麵機,原先發售的為舊型號),而且看來也挺流行,不少台灣主婦買回來後也在部落格裡大讚製麵機方便好用。這也令筆者對這部機有更大信心,可是,台灣與日本的電壓與英國不同,雖然有打算到日台兩地旅行也不能買一部帶回英國。
過了不久,香港的好友發現製麵機在香港的某日資百貨公司有售,而且售價很公道。那實在是好消息,可是下一個問題是如何把這部體積不少的製麵機從香港帶回倫敦。機身已差不多八公斤,加上包裝和紙盒總共有九公斤。幸好乘搭的航空公司又容許攜帶30公斤行李,並且沒打算在香港買很多東西,二話不說便決定在香港買一部帶回倫敦。
由於做夢也想著製麵機,回港前又再次查閱有關資料(因為香港飛利浦網頁完全沒有宣傳製麵機,唯有看台灣的飛利浦網頁),竟發現那時剛新出了數個別買的出麵口,可做通粉、蕎麥麵、餃子和雲吞皮!筆者十分愛吃自家製上海雲吞,可是倫敦唐人街賣的上海雲吞皮異常厚身,難食得很,所以很久沒做過。知道這重要資料後,便決心到台灣旅遊時到百貨公司找一找。幸運地,在香港時飛利浦剛推出特賣,買製麵機還送電磁爐和火鍋用的煲。聖誕後到台灣旅遊時,在台南的日資百貨公司內的飛利浦專櫃也找到新出的出麵口。好不容易才能把這麼多行李從香港帶到倫敦,自家製麵的生活在新的一年正式開始。
I love reading Japanese cookery magazines as I am a big fan of Japanese food. But these magazines are quite difficult to come by in London, so a good friend in Hong Kong always bring some over when she comes for a visit. Last summer, I was browsing one of the magazines she gave me, and spotted an ad on a fully automatic, all singing all dancing noodles maker. On closer inspection, the machine is a Philips, a well-known brand. I am the type of person who can happily just live on noodles or pasta of any sort (sorry Paul Hollywood, I am no fan of bread). But London is not exactly a very noodles-friendly place. Good quality noodles are not easy to come by (okay I admit I am very picky when it comes to noodles), for I dare not to buy any mainland Chinese ones, and after the contaminated oil scare in Taiwan I have shunned theirs too, and good quality Japanese ones are hideously expensive. So after seeing the noodles maker, I thought it would be brilliant if I could make my own noodles at home, that way I know exactly what goes into the noodles, and it would be at a fraction of the cost of buying shop-bought ones.
Since I can understand Japanese, immediately I browsed Philips Japan's website for more info. The noodles maker just seems so amazing, as it provides an equivalent of 720kg of kneading power, that's a few sumo wrestlers worth of kneading, surely? Even more amazingly, in just three minutes after you start the machine (you still have to put the flour and pour the liquid in, it's not THAT automatic yet), noodles start to come out of the nozzle! All the plastic parts are BPA-free, which is good to know and everything appears easy to clean. The machine comes with four nozzles to make different types of noodles, such as spaghetti, fettuccine, udon, ramen etc. One can even get creative and substitute water with vegetable juices to make vegetable pasta, the list is endless. There is a little drawer in the machine to keep the spare nozzles and the little cleaning tool, which is a nice touch. It comes with two measuring cups, one for flour, one for liquids. There are only a few buttons - on/off, automatic/extraction only, one cup flour/two cups flour and start, so operation should be pretty idiot-proof.
After reading up on it, I am totally sold. But the problem is, this is a product made by Philips Asia, so it's not a product you can find in Europe, certainly not in London. So, I tried to google the noodles maker in Chinese, hoping to find out where in Asia it is being marketed. A quick search tells me the noodles maker made it into Taiwan first with an earlier model, and it is already quite an established product as I read blog after blog of Taiwanese housewives raving about it. Although it is good to know that the noodles maker is available in Japan and Taiwan, but as the voltage in those two countries are different to the UK, it's no use even if I could somehow manage to buy one.
After telling my friend about the noodles maker, she found it in a Japanese department store in Hong Kong, and it's apparently very reasonably priced. I was so excited, but unsure how to bring it back to London, for the machine itself is almost 8kg (it's very solidly-made indeed), adding packaging and box it's almost 9kg. Fortunately, the packaging is done very well so the machine is perfectly safe to put into hold, and I am no shopaholic so wouldn't have much else luggage (plus my airline allows me 30kg hold luggage, which helps) , so I decided to just go for it.
After dreaming about the noodles maker for months, just before I was due to fly out to Hong Kong, I checked it online again (since there's hardly any info on Philips Hong Kong website, I went for Philips Taiwan website), and to my pleasant surprise, they have released several more nozzles, to be sold separately. They include one for making penne, one for soba noodles, another one for making gyoza and wonton. I was thrilled to bits as I love homemade Shanghai-style wontons but haven't made any in years since shop bought wonton wrappers are horrible in London. After learning this piece of info, I knew I had to look for them when I go to Taiwan. While in Hong Kong, there was a special promotion on the noodles maker, and I got a hotpot set (which includes a portable induction stove and a pot) thrown in for free, and while travelling in Taiwan, I found the new nozzles at a Philips counter inside a Japanese department store in Tainan. It was quite a task getting everything back to London, but with noodles maker in place, I start the new year with my favourite food.
Since I can understand Japanese, immediately I browsed Philips Japan's website for more info. The noodles maker just seems so amazing, as it provides an equivalent of 720kg of kneading power, that's a few sumo wrestlers worth of kneading, surely? Even more amazingly, in just three minutes after you start the machine (you still have to put the flour and pour the liquid in, it's not THAT automatic yet), noodles start to come out of the nozzle! All the plastic parts are BPA-free, which is good to know and everything appears easy to clean. The machine comes with four nozzles to make different types of noodles, such as spaghetti, fettuccine, udon, ramen etc. One can even get creative and substitute water with vegetable juices to make vegetable pasta, the list is endless. There is a little drawer in the machine to keep the spare nozzles and the little cleaning tool, which is a nice touch. It comes with two measuring cups, one for flour, one for liquids. There are only a few buttons - on/off, automatic/extraction only, one cup flour/two cups flour and start, so operation should be pretty idiot-proof.
After reading up on it, I am totally sold. But the problem is, this is a product made by Philips Asia, so it's not a product you can find in Europe, certainly not in London. So, I tried to google the noodles maker in Chinese, hoping to find out where in Asia it is being marketed. A quick search tells me the noodles maker made it into Taiwan first with an earlier model, and it is already quite an established product as I read blog after blog of Taiwanese housewives raving about it. Although it is good to know that the noodles maker is available in Japan and Taiwan, but as the voltage in those two countries are different to the UK, it's no use even if I could somehow manage to buy one.
After telling my friend about the noodles maker, she found it in a Japanese department store in Hong Kong, and it's apparently very reasonably priced. I was so excited, but unsure how to bring it back to London, for the machine itself is almost 8kg (it's very solidly-made indeed), adding packaging and box it's almost 9kg. Fortunately, the packaging is done very well so the machine is perfectly safe to put into hold, and I am no shopaholic so wouldn't have much else luggage (plus my airline allows me 30kg hold luggage, which helps) , so I decided to just go for it.
After dreaming about the noodles maker for months, just before I was due to fly out to Hong Kong, I checked it online again (since there's hardly any info on Philips Hong Kong website, I went for Philips Taiwan website), and to my pleasant surprise, they have released several more nozzles, to be sold separately. They include one for making penne, one for soba noodles, another one for making gyoza and wonton. I was thrilled to bits as I love homemade Shanghai-style wontons but haven't made any in years since shop bought wonton wrappers are horrible in London. After learning this piece of info, I knew I had to look for them when I go to Taiwan. While in Hong Kong, there was a special promotion on the noodles maker, and I got a hotpot set (which includes a portable induction stove and a pot) thrown in for free, and while travelling in Taiwan, I found the new nozzles at a Philips counter inside a Japanese department store in Tainan. It was quite a task getting everything back to London, but with noodles maker in place, I start the new year with my favourite food.