Pineapple Rice and Tumeric Wings

I'm not sure why I have never tried making this before today. It turned out better than expected. I happen to have some fresh pineapple in my refridgerator, some left over rice and thinly sliced beef. I found a recipe for pineapple rice with minced beef and I though, why not give this a go. As usual, I never follow the recipe to the tee. Just picked up the ingredients and did my own thing.

As usual, sautee some minced garlic and add the beef that has been cut into thin strips or use minced beef. Then throw in lots of frozen mix veg and peas and stirfry till veggies are heated through. Then add chopped pineapple, you can use drained crushed canned pineapple or fresh, and rice. Stir out lumps in the rice and then add soya sauce, fish sauce and rice vinegar. To give it a little kick, I added finely chopped bird's eye chilli. Chopped fresh cilantro just perfects this dish. Hummm yum! Of course you can have this on its own but I had some chicken wings that I had thawed and wanted to make a traditional Malaysian style chicken with this. Tumeric chicken is really easy. My version is anyway. Traditionally, it is deep fried but I couldn't be bothered and it tastes just as good grilled in the oven and its much healthier too. So I started with cleaned chicken wings which I patted dry with a paper towel. Then seasoned it with salt, then garlic powder and then tumeric powder till well coated. Lay the chicken pieces on a rack with a drip pan and grill in the oven at 375F for about 40 mins. Turn half way through cooking.

Sweet Chilli Beef Stir-Fry

This recipe came to me as I was marinating the thinly sliced beef. Just like the recipe before I used top sirloin steak, slightly frozen and thinly sliced. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, sesamee oil, Chinese cooking wine, minced garlic and sweet chilli sauce. Then I prepared the bak choy as in the recipe previous to this.

In a hot wok, heat some oil and when heated, stir in the beef for 1 minute. Then add bak choy, toss well and book till desired tenderness. I also thinckened up the sauce with a little bit of corn starch and water mixture. Just before serving, I topped it with chopped cilantro and finely sliced bird's eye chilli to give it a little more kick! Hummmm. Yummy.

Satay Beef Stir-fry with Bak Choy

Somehow, coke always goes so well with Malaysian food. Hence the coke cans! Besides, they tend to bring a good contrasting colour to my pic! Now this is something I made up. I used Top sirlion steak, slightly frozen so that I could easily slice the beef thinly. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, a little sugar and minced garlic.

Then I prepared the bak choy. Just washing each leaf and separating the leaves invidually. Then I prepared my satay sauce. You can buy this from and Asian grocer instant or a pre-mix. I used a pre-mix where I just added water anda brought it to a boil for a few minutes. Next I put my pan on high heat and added a little oil. When the oil was hot, I added the beef and fried it for about 30 secs before adding the bak choy. This takes a little skill with 2 cooking utensils to toss till the bak choy is wilted. Finally, I add the satay sauce. Once it is well mixed and the meat and veggies area well coated with the sauce, I quickly serve it hot with steamed Jasmine rice. Oh! I think this is my current favourite. So quick and easy. And clean up is that too! -end-

Fried MiFun (vermicelli)

Easy fried vermicelli. I guess it very simillar to fried rice though with using noodles to stir fry, I like to use green leaf veggies like bak choy or yau choy or kai lan.

First I sauteed some minced garlic. Then I browned some sliced chicken that had been seasoned with soya sauce and pepper. Then I added alot of veggies. This time I used yau choy and sugar peas. Then I added the prawns and vermicelli that had been soaking in warm water. Before stirring, I added sweet and thick dark soya sauce and a little light soya sauce. OH! I also added a shredded carrot and tossed it all till well mixed. This type of noodle does not need very much cooking. It just needs to be warmed through. It will start to break into tiny pieces if this is over cooked. Also keep this stir fry relatively dry. Too much liquid or sauce will make the noodle mushy. To spice it up, I added some sambal after adding the veggies. It just gave it a bit of a zing. Oh! Don't forget to add a splash of fish sauce. It just adds to the flavour of the noodles. Just don't sniff the sauce from the bottle. Trust that it will taste good!

Spicy Chicken and Basil Stir-Fry

Aromatic basil, sometimes called Italian basil, is fundamental to Mediterranean cooking. But on the other side of the world, in Thailand, another basil variety is equally essential. For a more authentic version of this dish, seek out Thai basil, which has smaller, narrower leaves than the common Italian variety, a reddish purple cast and a more pronounced anise flavor. Look for it in Southeast Asian stores or at farmers' markets, or plant seeds outdoors in pots or beds for easy harvests.
This recipe is a current favourite of Renovation Man and I. It has a very appetizing flavour and just the right amount of spice for us. I have tried this recipe with just dried basil and it works just as well though when using fresh basil, especially Thai Basil, it gives a lovely Thai taste to it. I highly recommend it.

6 Tbs. chicken stock2 Tbs. Asian fish sauce2 tsp. firmly packed light brown sugar1/2 tsp. cornstarch2 Tbs. vegetable oil1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch strips1 or 2 Thai or jalapeño chilies, cut into very thin rounds2 garlic cloves, minced4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, preferably Thai basil3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces

Cooked jasmine rice for serving. In a bowl, whisk together the stock, fish sauce and brown sugar. Add the cornstarch and whisk until the cornstarch and sugar are dissolved. Set aside. In a large wok or fry pan over high heat, warm the oil. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add chilies to taste and the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 1/2 minutes. Stir in the basil and green onions and stir-fry until the onions are barely wilted, about 1 minute. Whisk the sauce mixture and pour into the pan. Cook just until the liquid comes to a boil. Spoon the rice onto individual plates and top with the stir-fry and sauce. Serves 4.

Photo and recipe taken from http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=2A9C9595%2D0013%2D4661%2DBE339830267F9798

Special requests! Indian food

My good friends Chocolate Girl and Living Sword left for Berlin for vacation a few days ago. I wasn't expecting to hear from them, let alone so soon after their departure. It was a short email requesting for some recipes! Of course I couldn't help but to take this opportunity to add another post to my food blog. Here's a recipe for Tandoori Chicken.
6 chicken thighs, 1/4 c lemon juice,1/2 small onion chopped, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, 3 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp lemon juice(extra), 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, pinch of chilli powder or to taste, 1 c yoghurt, red food colouring (optional)

Directions:1. Remove the skin from chicken and brush with lemon juice. Cover and let marinade in refridgerator for 30 mins.
2. Process onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, extra lemon juice and salt in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed. Combine this paste with the paprika, chilli powder and yoghurt and mix together until smooth. Add enough drops of food colouring to make the mixture a deep red colour.
3. Place the chicken pieces in a large shallow dish and spread liberally with the spicy yoghurt mixture. Cover in plastic wrap and refridgerate. Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours or over night.
4. Preheat oven to 180C or 350F. Place chicken pieces on a wire rack over a large baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken pieces are tender and cooked through.

Well, Chocolate Girl, as for an easy curry dish I found this recipe that I have not tried myself but reads and looks good. When I make a curry, I usually make it the way my mum makes it. It is really easy but you must have good quality curry powder mix. If you have access to some, I'll give you that recipe. If not, here's the one I found in one of my favourite cook books. Red Chicken Curry.
2 tbsp ghee or butter, 2 medium onions sliced, 1 medium red bell pepper chopped, 4 colves garlic crushed, 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground corriander, 2 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp hot chilli powder, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 425 g can tomatoes, 1kg chicken thigh fillets, 2 c chicken stock, 1/4 c cream or coconut milk, 1 tbsp concentrated tamarind.

Directions: 1. Heat ghee in a large pan, add onions, bell pepper, garlic, ginger and ground spices. Cook till onions are browned lightly.
2. Add paste, undrained crushed tomatoes, chicken and stock, simmer covered about 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through.
3. Stir in cream or coconut milk and tamarind. Simmer uncovered about 15 mins or until mixture has thickened slightly. Serves 4-6.

Sesamee Beef Stirfry

Simple, easy and tasty. In 30 minutes or less! Of course this is best served with freshly cooked Jasmine rice. So to start, get your rice started in your rice cooker or pot. Then, thinly slice a 10-12 oz of your steak choice. I used top sirloin but this would work well with a lower grade cut so long as you slice it across the grain. Marinade this in about 4-6 tbsp of soya sauce,1-2 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp sesamee oil, 2 tbsp of roasted sesamee and 1 tbsp of sugar. Marinade well and lastly add 1-2 tsp of corn flour to the beef. Set this aside and wash a good portion of yau choy or bak choy. Cut the veg into 2 inch lenghts. Next heat your wok or non-stick pan to high with 2 tbsp canola/ corn or peanut oil. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic. When lightly golden, add marinated beef. Stirfry till meat is separated but not throughly cooked. Then add veggies and cook till just tender. Add a little water, stir till well mixed and then turn off heat. Serve hot with steamed rice. Its nice to toss a little more roasted sesamee on the beef before serving.

Green Curry Chicken

So how would you say this? Green curry chicken , green chicken curry or chicken green curry? I love making this when my hunny is out of town. One reason is because he doesn't appreciate the taste of the coconut milk with the blend of spices in a green curry. Another reason is that I get to have this all to myself! *grin* Those of you who think this is difficult, its actually very very easy. I use the cheat method! Just buy green curry paste from your oriental grocer or look in the asian isle of your local supermarket. Thai food has become so popular now that it is easy to get most of the ingredients for it.

Most of these instant pastes come with instructions like this one that I used. All you need is 400g chicken, sliced or cubed, 400ml coconut milk and you can add baby aubergine or in my dish, since I do not like aubergine, I used cauliflower and red pepper and Thai basil to garnish. If I remember correctly, you will need to heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pot, add the paste and fry till fragrant (about 1 min). Next add chicken and stirr till well coated and cook till most of the pink is gone. Then add coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Next add vegetables of your choice (zucchini is also a good substitute for aubergine). Cook till desired tenderness . Add 1-2 tbsp of fish sauce if desired but I highly recommend this. Serve with Thai fragrant rice or noodles (pasta would work well too) and garnish with basil.

Tom Yum Soup

This is a well popularised Thai soup. Coming from Malaysia, I do so enjoy a good Tom Yum soup. But eating out in Vancouver isn't always the most convenient or pocket friendly. Tom Yum refers to spicy fish or seafood soup. But it can also be chicken or other meats, too. It is generally hot and sour. A real hot Tom Yum should draw your sweat and tears.
4 cups water, 3 kaffir lime leaves, 1 lemon grass
1 cup shrimp, 5 mushrooms, 8 pieces okra
1-2 limes, 2 tablespoon fish sauce, 3 chili peppers
5 sprigs cilantro, 1 tablespoon Tom Yum paste

Start boiling the water in a 2 quart pot. Peel and devein the shrimp and set them aside. Cut lemon grass into pieces, 5-6 inches long. Use the back of your knife to pound the lemon grass, just to bruise it to release the flavor. If you want, you can tie the lemon grass into a knot to make it easier to manage. Drop the lemon grass in water and let boil for 5 minutes. Put the fish sauce and 1 lime's juice into the bottom of the bowls you will serve the soup in. Crush chili pepper and add to the bowl. Remove the stems from the kaffir lime leaves and add the leafy part to the pot. Add the tom yum paste. Clean and halve the mushrooms and okra and add them to the pot. Add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Shrimp gets too tough very quickly, and will cook even when it is just sitting in the warm broth. Scoop the shrimp and liquid into the serving bowls immediately. As soon as you add the liquid to the serving bowl, you will see that the broth becomes cloudy because of the lime juice. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Be very careful, the peppers can be hot. Take a small sip at a time. Add more fish sauce and/or lime juice if it tastes bland. It's right if it's good for your sinus.

Tips and substitutions: Unfortunately, for the true taste, it is difficult to substitute anything for the kaffir lime leaves. The richness of the sour taste comes from the complement of the different citrus flavored ingredients. I serve this soup directly into individual bowls for each person. If you don't like it hot, cut down on the chili peppers or do not cut them up, but leave them whole for decoration.

My kind of comfort food!

It certainly seems that as I keep making posts, that alot of the time, I am just trying to make really fast no hassel food. Tonight was another one of those nights. I resorted to feeding Renovation Man left over spaghetti meatballs and making instant pho' noodles with beef balls for myself. Its not something my hunny likes but certainly hit the spot for me. Throw in a handful of leafy veg and some hoisin and Vietnamese chilli sauce for dipping and I'm a happy gal! There's just something about a steaming hot bowl of noodle soup that just reminds me of my Oriental heritage. Add this to a great Survivor episode and a glass of coke just made my evening. I guess I've mentioned how satisfied I was already.

Asian Concoction

Here's one of my own recipes. I often throw a few ingredients together and hope for the best! I used something that is unusual to North America but more common in ... Oriental cooking. I marinated a pork tenderloin that I cut into thin strips with soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesamee oil, a little sugar and 2 tsp of cornflour. I sauteed some minced garlic till golden in some canola oil and added the pork. I cooked it till is was nicely browned. Then I added chopped yau choy and stir till wilted. Then I added preserved green mustard stem in chili oil that have been cut into strips and oil removed. Here's what the preserved green mustard stem in chili oil looks like in a bottle. Then I threw in about 500g of Hokkein noodles. I tossed it till well mixed and heated through. Then I added a little more Chinese cooking wine and soya sauce to taste. Serve hot with sliced chili. My hunny, Renovation Man thought this was a good flavour combo.

Chinese Style Fried Rice

I must be getting lazy. I make this when I have leftover rice in the refridgerator and am not in the mood to make anything fancy or creative. The most creative part of this meal was the simply carved flower tomato and the new plate this was served on. First thing I did was to dice up ...
1 cup of carrots which I sauteed in a large wok with
2 tbsp of canola oil and
2 cloves of minced garlic. Then I added in
1 cup of frozen peas (thawed and drained). For some spice or kick as Chocolate Girl would say, add
1-2 minced bird's eye chilies. Next add
2 cups of left over refridgerated rice (leftover plain white rice from Chinese take out works very well for this too). Stir out all the large clumps of rice. Next, scramble
3 eggs seasoned with a little salt and ground white pepper. Push rice to the sides of the wok and pour in eggs. Let it cook for a few minutes before turning the eggs and folding the rice into the eggs. Stir fry till eggs are cooked. Next add
10 medium prawns or diced ham in the middle of the wok and cook till half done before stirring in the rice. Next add
3 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp sesamee oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered vegetable stock(optional). This would give the rice a little more flavour. Garnish with sliced tomatoes and cucumber or shredded lettuce. Of course there are many variations that you can make fried rice. This is just one of them. You can use diced chicken, rost pork, minced beef instead of prawns or ham. To change the flavour, try adding some sambal or some curry powder or even use some tom yum paste.

Potstickers with Korean Rice Cakes

Here's another one of my fast meals. It was 2:30pm by the time I got home for art class. I was going to have just an instant cup noodle but because my hunny was home and also hadnt eaten, I decided to make up something quick. I used ...
10 frozen potstickers from Costco that I pan fried with a little canola oil just till the pastry is a little crisp. These potstickers are often a life saver when I am in a time crunch to get a meal on the table. I have used them is stirfries and soups. Quite versatile.Then I add
1-2 cloves of chopped garlic to the pan and
1/2 a bag of frozen Korean rice cakes (you may have to pre-boil these first depending on the brand you get). Stif fry for 2-3 mins then add
1/2 tbsp sambal
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp fish sauce. Stir till mixed well. Then add
1/4 cup water and
enough Bak Choy to compliment the dish. Stir till combined and cover with a lid to cook the vegetables. When vegetables are tender, this dish is ready to be served.

Char Siew Meen

I finally found some time to cook again this week. This is meal is a variation of a traditional hawker stlye noodle found in Malaysia. I used ...
1 portion of fresh shrimp egg noodle (you could probably get this from an oriental grocer)
1 portion of Chinese BBQ pork sliced
1 handful of cut and washed Bak Choy

Bring to boil a pot of water. When boiling, add bak choy and cook till prefered tenderness. Remove and set aside. In the same pot of water, cook the needles till prefered tenderness. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce for the noodles. Mix together,

1 tbsp of cooked onion oil (you can do this yourself by cooking thinly sliced shallots in oil. when the onions turn golden , remove from oil and use it as garnish.)
1 tbsp of think sweet soya sauce
1/2 tbsp of regular soya sauce
1 tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

When noodles are cooked, drain well and addd to the sauce and toss till evenly coated. Plate as seen in the photo above with bak choy and sliced BBQ pork and golden fried shallots. This recipe serves one. Do try it if you are adventureous. Let me know if you have any questions. Sure was yummy to me! Pity my hunny wasn't here to enjoy it with me. This is something I would love to serve my very good friends Chocolate girl and LivingSword.

Check out livingsword's website at http://www.lifeontheblade.blogspot.com/

Stir-fried Vietnamese beef noodles with sugar snap peas

Tonight's dinner was a hit with my hunny.

700g Thinly sliced tender beef marinated with

1/3c Sweet chili sauce

1/3c Oyster sauce and

1/4c Fish sauce.

Use half of the mixed sauce and set aside remainder for later. Lightly saute the marinated beef and set aside. I used ...

500g Hokkien noodles which I blanched for a few minutes in hot water. Then sauteed

1 sliced medium onion in the same pan with

1-2c sugar snap peas till slightly tender.

Then return the beef to the pan with the noodles and remainder of sauce. Cook till heated through and serve with fried onions as garnish. Ready in minutes.

A lunch menu from my kitchen

What an absolutely georgeous day, in beautiful British Columbia. My day started of with a lovely surprise from my hunny, Renovation Man.....doughnuts from Tim Hortons! For most living in Canada, Tim Horton's coffee and doughnuts are a staple in their everyday menu. (www.timhortons.com) Not so for my hunny and I. We try to eat and live healthy so a box of doughnuts is a very rare find in our home...

Lunch came surprisingly too fast. But I had purchased some black pepper pork chops from T&T (a large oriental grocer in the Lower Mainland http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/main-e.php) last night and thought that would be a nice and quick meal with yau choy and egg noodles in an asian sauce. It sure hit the spot. Unfortunately, in my excitement to get to the food, I forgot to take a picture of this yummy lunch.

This is certainly not a typical Canadian nor North American lunch and to some may sound like something one may have for dinner. But in South East Asia (which is where I am from), that meal could be for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I am certainly used to having a hot meal for lunch so although a soup and salad would suffice or even a sandwich, my preference would be a hot meal of some kind.

Tonight's menu is a stir-fried Vietnamese beef noodles with sugar snap peas.