barely barley

My mom gave me an 20-year-old never-been-used crockpot. My evil twin enthusiastically shared with me that I could make barley drink in it. Just pop in the barley, sugar and water at night, and presto! Wake up to freshly-made barley drink.

The first time I tried it, the barley was barely cooked after 12 hours on LOW and 6 hours on HIGH. Because I was in a rush, I didn't empty the pot [which was also too hot to touch]. When I returned home two days later, it had fermented into this foamy thingy which smelt horribly rotten.

Being a determined barley drinker, I tried again one week later. After 12 hours on HIGH, I managed to squeeze on some juice.

So I thought the crockpot had decided to stop being temperamental and tried to make oyster sauce chicken. After more than eight hours on HIGH, the chicken was cooked, but strangely, not the carrots or potato. I gave up and returned the crockpot to my mum.

She then decided to give me a mini crockpot, very cute, but basically useless cos could only cook three cups of barley drink. She tested it before giving it to me.

So happy, today, I decided to make barley drink, cos very heaty from too many Ikea chicken wings.

After 12 hours, the drink tasted fine, although a little thick. I drank one cup and poured the rest into two cups and placed them in the fridge.

Three hours later, mysteriously, it had solidified even without the aid of gelatin. I could even pop it out from the mug with a juicy PLOP!

I don't know how I did it, but I had produced barley pudding.

[They were quite yummy, totally barley tasting, just a little too mushy. But no fear, I will perfect the recipe the next time.]