Tom Yam Goong

Tom Yam Goong

Recipe source :  Adapted from  Phuket.com ~ Chef Anut Koonmark

We have been ordering this Tom Yam Goong whenever we ate out at Thai restaurants. We all love to have this spicy soup yet I have never taken the trouble to find out how to cook this famous Thai soup until today. Come to think of it, it was actually so easy to cook. Now I just wonder why I have never attempted to make this at home much earlier!

I guess I have to change my perception and be more adventurous to try cooking  more foods from distant lands!

Ingredients

2 shallots, cut into wedges
1 stalk coriander
3 stalks lemongrass, use white parts only, bruise it
1 stalk ginger torch flower or bunga kantan in Malay
4 slices galangal
1 can straw mushrooms, cut into halves
1 1/2 tbsp chilli paste
1 tomato, cut into wedges
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
300g medium-sized prawns,
4 kaffir lime leaves
3 chilli padi, cut lengthwise into halves
1.5 litres  chicken stock
2 tbsp lime juice

 Top left : limes.

Below limes : red chilli padi. Below chilli padi : galangal.

Far left : kaffir lime leaves

Centre : stalks of lemongrass.

Right : ginger torch flower or bunga kantan

Far right : coriander

Prawns

Instructions

1.  Heat up chicken stock in a pot.
2.  Add shallots, coriander, galangal, ginger torch flower and lemongrass and simmer for 10 minutes.
3.  Add straw mushrooms and tomato pieces and simmer for 2 minutes.
4.  Season with fish sauce, salt, sugar and chilli paste.
5.  Add prawns and boil until they are cooked.
6.  Add kaffir lime leaves and chilli padi.
7.  Season with lime juice and serve immediately.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month

hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings

Red Ruby Dessert (Tub Tim Krob)

Red Ruby Dessert (Tub Tim Krob)

Recipe source :  The Malaysian Women's Weekly - May 2011 (courtesy of Chef Simon Seow)

This is a popular dessert in Thai restaurants. It is sweet, fragrant and very refreshing. Downing it is very satisfying after a hot and spicy Thai meal.

The crunchy water chestnut cubes look like red rubies, while the transparent sago looks like diamonds floating in a bowl of chilled coconut milk.

And the taste is simply awesome!

My whole family likes this very much. Excellent!

Ingredients

100g water chestnut, cut into small cubes
10 drops red food colouring
100ml sugar (for syrup)
70g sago
80ml water
180g tapioca flour
200ml coconut milk, chilled
Ice cubes
Flesh of one piece of jack fruit, cut into small cubes

Top: sago- Left: jackfruit- Right: water chestnut

Method

1. Skin the water chestnuts and cut into small cubes. Place them in a bowl of water and add red food colouring. Set aside to let the chestnuts absorb the colour.
2.  Boil sugar in 80ml water until the sugar is dissolved. Cool and put the syrup in the refrigerator to chill. 
3.  Bring 200ml of water to boil in a pan over medium heat.
4.  Rinse sago in cool tap water and put immediately into the boiling water for about 1 to 2 minutes or until the sago turns transparent.
5.  Remove pan from stove and pour into a large sieve. Rinse under running tap water then leave to soak in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from sticking together.
6.  Strain the water chestnuts. Leave them in a sieve for 30 seconds to drain off the coloured water.
7.  Place tapioca flour in a large bowl. Mix the water chestnuts with the tapioca flour. Pour over a sieve to shake off excess flour. Use hand to shake further to remove as much flour as possible.
8.  Cook the water chestnuts in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes or until they float to the surface.
9.  Remove water chestnuts with a slotted spoon and mix immediately with chilled sugar, coconut milk, ice cubes and sago in a large bowl.
10. Add in jack fruit cubes.
11.  Serve chilled.

Extremely delicious! 

Highly recommended!

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month
hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings


I am also linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #6

hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

  

Apple, Dried Cherry & Almond Loaf (Bill Granger)

Apple, Dried Cherry & Almond Loaf (Bill Granger)

Recipe source :  Adapted from Bill Granger


This is a healthy breakfast loaf. Lots of fruits and nuts. It is easy to bake. No beating or long proofing required. And very tasty too!

Ingredients

50g rolled oats
300ml milk
240g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
80g dried cherries
45g dried mixed fruits
75g soft brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp honey
1 lightly beaten egg
30g chopped almonds

 Mixed dried fruits consisting of dried apples, cherries, raisins and cranberries

 Egg and almonds

Dried cherries

Brown sugar

Milk
 

 Rolled oats

Instructions

1.  Put oats in a bowl. Pour milk over it and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
2.  Preheat oven to 180 degree C (Gas mark 4 ).
3.  Lightly grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
4.  Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in rolled oats, together with the milk, dried fruits, sugar, cinnamon, honey, egg and almonds.
5.  Pour into the prepared loaf tin. Level with a spoon.
6.  Sprinkle some rolled oats on top.
7.  Bake loaf for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Fresh from the oven

I am linking this post to "Cook Like A Star"

 

Hosted by  Zoe from bake for Happy Kids and Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake

I am also linking this post to Little Thumbs Up

 

 

The theme for November is Oats, 

Hosted by Vivian Pang's Kitchen

Organised by Zoe from bake for happy kids and Doreen of My Little favourite DIY

Pork & Pineapple Red Curry (Gang Mu Tay Po) 泰国猪肉黄梨咖哩

Pork & Pineapple Red Curry (Gang Mu Tay Po) 泰国猪肉黄梨咖哩

Recipe source :  Adapted from Appon's Thai Food

November is going to be a spicy month for my family! I have bookmarked many more Thai dishes to try out. I believe my family is looking forward to them as well, as we love hot and spicy food. 

I have always love pineapples, either eaten fresh as a fruit, or made into sweet desserts or cooked into savoury dishes. One of my friends once commented that having pineapples in a savoury dish, makes the dish "exotic". I tend to agree as I think this pork and pineapple red curry look rather exotic. 

It sure looks exotic and tastes scrumptious! What a wonderful dish!

Ingredients

500g pork shoulder, cut into thick pieces
300g pineapples, cut into thick slices
450g snake beans, cut into sections of 4 cm
2 limes, extract the juice
250ml coconut milk
4 pieces kaffir lime leaves
700ml water
2 tbsp sugar
100g Thai red curry paste
1 tsp soya sauce

 

 Kaffir lime leaves and limes

Snake beans

 Pineapple cut into slices

Thai red curry paste

Instructions

1.  Heat wok and fry the Thai red curry paste for 1 minute.
2.  Add coconut milk, water and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a boil.
3.  Add pork pieces, pineapple slices and snake beans.
4.  Add in the lime juice, sugar and soy sauce.
5.  Continue to boil until the meat is tender, about 20 minutes.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month
hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings

Green Papaya Tea To Reduce Uric Acid 青木瓜泡茶医痛风

Green Papaya Tea To Reduce Uric Acid 青木瓜泡茶医痛风

We received all sorts of emails from friends and associates on a daily basis. Not all are about work. Oftentimes we received emails on jokes, awesome pictures of scenery and sometimes we even received emails on medical advice and tips. I usually filed such medical tips just in case I needed it for myself or to help friends.

One of the medical tips which I received recently is about green papaya tea being able to cure gout or at least my friends have testified that the tea has helped them reduced the uric acid content in their blood.

There is this guy in my office who limped badly and was on medical leave very often. I have seen him grimacing in pain as he moved about. Upon further query, he told me that he had gout. One of our friends in the office advised him to try this green papaya tea. He brewed this tea regularly and he walks normally now.

The article further advised that even those without gout can consume this tea without fear of any side effect because the ingredients are just green papaya and green tea!

I brewed some to try today. It is refreshing and tastes just like green tea!

Ingredients

180g green papaya cubes
2 green tea bags, or 1 tsp of green tea leaves
750ml water

Instructions

1.  Place papaya cubes and water into a pot.
2.  Once it reaches boiling stage, allow to simmer further for about 10 minutes.
3.  Add tea leaves/tea bags.
4.  Let the tea steep for 3 minutes.
5.  Drink while warm.

 Green papaya

Cut green papaya into small cubes

 Green tea bags

Very refreshing!

This papaya tea is supposed to reduce the uric acid of those suffering from gout.

Thai Green Curry With Chicken 泰国青咖哩鸡

Thai Green Curry With Chicken 泰国青咖哩鸡

 
Recipe source :  Adapted from Bill Granger

I used to eat Thai green curry at restaurants and it has never crossed my mind that I would cook this one day. But I have always wondered what ingredients were used to make the green curry paste resulting in the greenish tinge of the cooked curry. Bill Granger's recipe provided the many ingredients used to make the green curry paste as well as provided the instructions to make it. But it seemed like a big portion to me.  Anyway, I did not feel like making green curry paste from scratch. 

So, I browsed through the shelves of supermarkets looking for Thai green curry paste. There were plenty of varieties to choose from. Most of them were in bottles and instructions given was to use only two or three tablespoons of the paste. I was not keen to buy them because I do not wish to store too many jars of leftover foodstuffs in my refrigerator which is already too crammed for space. I continued my search until I came across a package which mentioned the portion was just for one meal and it suited me just fine. Further reading of the labels and composition of the ingredients convinced me to buy it as it was more or less similar to Bill's recipe.

Ingredients

2 tbsp cooking oil 
100g green curry paste
700ml water
130g coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 kg chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
240g snake beans, cut into sections of 4 cm
180g aubergines, cut into chunky pieces
juice from 1 small lime

Left :  aubergines. Right : snake beans

Bottom : kaffir lime leaves and lime

Chicken

Green curry paste

Instructions

1.  Heat oil in a wok. Fry the green curry paste for 1 minute until fragrant.
2.  Add coconut milk, water and kaffir lime leaves. Cook for 5 minutes.
3.  Add in chicken pieces and cook for another 5 minutes.
4.  Add snake beans, aubergines and lime juice.
5.  Simmer over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until chicken is cooked.

 

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest  (Thailand) - November Month
hosted by Lena of Frozen Wings

I am linking this post to "Cook Like A Star"

 

Hosted by  Zoe from bake for Happy Kids and Yen from Eat Your Heart Out and Mich from Piece of Cake

Fish and Pork Ball Soup 鸳鸯鱼丸汤

Fish and Pork Ball Soup 鸳鸯鱼丸汤

Recipe source :  Doris Choo

When I first started working I was posted to a small town. In fact it was not even a town, it was a small fishing village near the coast. Life was peaceful and quiet in the fishing village. I was lucky to have rented a room where the landlady cooked for the tenants as well. Luckier still, she was a wonderful seamstress and a great cook!

After work each day, my hobby then was to watch her prepare and cook dinner as we chatted on the day's events. That was a long time ago. 

This was one of the dishes she used to make and I just love it. 

Ingredients

300g fish paste
100g minced pork
20g tung-choi (chopped into smaller pieces)
200g choy-sam
500ml chicken stock 
500ml water 
1 egg, beaten
1/2 piece seaweed, tear into small pieces
1 tsp salt, or to taste

Choy-sum

Tung-choi

Laver or seaweed

Method

1.  Mixed fish paste with minced pork.
2.  Add in the tung-choi and beaten egg
3.  Wet your palms and form the mixture into balls and drop into a bowl of cold water.
4.  Heat chicken stock and water in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.
5.  Add choy sum and the mixed meat balls (minus the water in the bowl) into the soup.
6.  The meat balls will sink to the bottom of the pot and when they float to the surface they are cooked.
7.  Add in seaweed and salt to taste.