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Saturday, October 22, 2011

HappyCall Frying Pan




I have a new kitchen toy. I'm not one who is into kitchen toys but this one has many advantages that appealed to Stingy Petunia. Firstly, it reduces cooking time (and therefore, saves gas). Secondly, it promised a cleaner kitchen after frying (and therefore, saves work). And both these advantages may be purchased for the pretty sum $45/=. Now, these pans retail on the internet for between $65 to $115. Don't get ripped off okay. I only paid $45 because The Husband went to a Seoul equivalent of NTUC Fairprice and got them for me.

"Them" is because I have 2. One deep pan and one medium pan. The deep pan (75mm deep) is for baking cakes. The medium pan (55mm deep) is for frying steaks.

The Family likes thick and juicy tenderloin steaks well done. Now, if a steak is thick and you pan fry it, the middle either tends to be raw and bloody OR the top and bottom of the steak tends to get burnt OR the steak gets really dry (which is a waste of a tenderloin cut). I devised a way of pan frying our steaks in a wok on super high heat for half a minute each... and then bunging them into the toaster oven for 10 minutes. This method gave me juicy and pink steaks on the inside, with nicely browned tops and bottoms.

With the HappyCall Frying Pan, I save on the toaster oven step altogether. I pop the 5 steaks into the HappyCall with a bit of oil and cook on high heat for 4 minutes on one side. Flip the pan over. Cook another 3 minutes on the other. The steak comes out nicely browned on top and bottom with the most wonderful pink colour right through the middle as you can see from the picture above. And there were NO fumes... NO oil splattering out of the wok (which ALWAYS used to happen when we had steak... I had to clean the whole countertop PLUS the floor). A bit of oily water dripped out as I was flipping the pan but that was easy to mop up with a kitchen sponge.

I'm ripening bananas for a banana cake using the 75mm pan on the gas stove. I'll post pics soon if successful. I'm quite excited because the conventional oven gives off a lot of heat. This is not energy efficient cooking. If I can bake cakes on the stove in half the time it takes to bake them in the oven and with little heat loss to the environment, then I will be reducing my carbon footprint.

I like that.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Petunia...what a great piece of kitchen equipment...wish I'd had one to cook steaks for Don! The steak in your photo looks absolutely yummy (only I rarely eat meat anymore)! Looking forward to seeing photos of your cake...

Petunia Lee said...

Theanne - I'm gonna try potatoes tonight!! So excited!!

Ivana said...

Oh my gosh I WANT ONE!!! No... I NEED ONE! I imagine it would be fantastic for frying fish too!

Petunia Lee said...

Baby... FISH was what the pan was DESIGNED for.

And, ya need TWO not one. The 55mm for "filets mignons" and "poissons grillés" and the 75mm for "pommes de terre à l'ail" and gâteaux".

Steph said...

No oil splattering, no fumes, no heat !!! My dream cooking wares! I WANT THAT TOO!!! Are they for induction hob? And the length of time for cooking different food, by 'argaration' ?

Petunia Lee said...

Steph - I am still learning the pan. Ya gotta feel the cooking times. It doesn't work with induction. You'll need a gas stove. You have?

Steph said...

T_T no gas stove, no HappyCall for me sob sob...

yun said...

Hi petunia, I am keen to buy two! Can I check if you buy from a local Seoul supermarket (if yes, where?) or your hubby bought them directly from Seoul?

Petunia Lee said...

Yun - I got mine in Lotte Mart in Seoul, Korea. 2 is a good idea. I got the 55mm AND the 75mm depths. The deeper pan can be used to bake cakes.

yun said...

petunia, thanks a lot for your reply!

Malar said...

Very interesting gadget!

Spyap said...

Hi Petunia

chanced upon your blog when i am searching for infor on where to buy the pans in korea. may i know which lotte mart did your husband go to to buy the pans? there are a few in seoul and it would be good to know where so that we don't have to hunt for it... also, can the deeper one be used to cook steaks as well? i may only get one cause troublesome to carry 2 back... thks
regards
octopusmum

Petunia Lee said...

octopusmum - I think all Lotte Marts will stock this. If you have space in luggage for only one, the deep one is a good choice. It should do steaks good too. Though I have never tried.

But 2 pans is definitely better. I usually use both because I have 2 hobs. The medium pan for meat and the deep for veggies. They aren't very heavy. My husband brought home 3. No trouble at all.

Spyap said...

Hi Petunia

thks for your reply!
now, i am tempted to get the thinner one too! haha...but my husband is already raising his eyebrows when i told him i am lugging a pan back... will see how it goes...
sure hope i can find this pan easily in korea!
regards
Octopusmum