Thai Prawn Noodle Soup

Its nice to have some soup in this cold weather, don't you think??? I've been wanting to have some Thai-inspired soup. Then I found this recipe. It is absolutely delicious and I can't get enough of it. An easy recipe to follow. In the original recipe, red chillies was listed in the ingredients but I decided not to use it as it might get a little spicy for hubby. I think this will be in my favorite monthly-to-cook list. Yum-Yum!!!!

Ingredients:

500ml chicken stock

1 tbsp virgin oil

1 inch piece of root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

small bunch of spring onions, while part only, roughly chopped

1 lemongrass stalk, about 4 inches long

1 tbsp fish sauce

juice of half lime

2 dried wonton noodles (Chinese thin egg noodles) 

150g medium prawns, remove the shells and tails

Garnish:

small bunch of spring onions, green part only, cut on a slight diagonal

small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

Heat oil in a wok or pan over a medium heat. Add ginger, garlic and white parts of the spring onions. Cook for 2 minutes and pour in the chicken stock. Bruise the lemongrass stalk with the back of a knife and add to the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Then strain the stock, discarding the solids. 

Meanwhile, cook the dry wonton noodles in a boiling salted water for 10 minutes and drained.

Return the stock to the wok or pan and add the fish sauce and lime juice. Bring to a boil then take off the heat, add the prawns leave to poach for 2-3 minutes, until the prawns turn pink. 

To serve, place the noodles into the center of a bowl and surround with cooked prawns. Pour over the stock then garnish with green parts of the green onions and coriander. Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Cream Cheese Bread

I'm thinking of those individual buns with cream cheese filling, tuna filling, mushroom filling, curry potato filling, hmm.. yum-yum.. I wish there's at least a bakery shop here like the ones in Singapore, so I can go in and grab(purchase) the ones I want and leave happily.. hehe... Since there is none here, I used my tool; Google for recipes and make it myself. ;) Then I found Cream Cheese Bread recipe from The Merlin Menu. Although this is not exactly what I was thinking in my head, but I did it anyway. They actually turned out great. Perhaps next time, I'll try to make those types that I have been craving for.. hehe ;) Well thanks Ron for sharing the recipe. :))

Cream Cheese Bread

Yield: 2 braids

Ingredients:

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature

1-1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

Dough

In a small bowl, combine sugar, milk, water and yeast and let rest until it becomes bubbly. In a large bowl, add the balance of the ingredients and the yeast mix. Knead them together until you've made a soft, smooth dough. Place dough in a greased bowl, turn over, and cover with a moist towel. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk).

Filling

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling by mixing all of the ingredients together until smooth. Chill untill ready to use.

Assembly

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board, punch down and let it rest for 5 minutes. Divide it in half. Roll each half into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Transfer rolled dough to baking pan spread with parchment paper. Spread half of the filling lengthwise down the center third of each rectangle. Cut 1-inch-wide strips from each side of the filling out to the edges of the dough. Fold about an inch of dough at each end over the filling to contain it, then fold the strips, at an angle, across the filling, alternating from side to side. (*i know, I didnt follow the correct measurements.. opss! hehe). Secure with toothpicks.

Baking

Allow the braids to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till almost doubled in size. Brush with a glaze made from 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water, and sprinkle with sparkling white sugar, if desired; then bake the braids in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack. 

Stir-fry Black Pepper Chicken

It was my good friend introduced the store-bought black pepper sauce to me. I love black pepper sauce dishes and seriously I didn't even know there is a ready-to-use black pepper sauce exist. (where have I been.. hahaha..) A super easy and fast dish that you can enjoy. No fuss and no mess. Cook it with your choice of meat, fish, seafood or just vegetables.

~ if only there's crabs available here, i want some black pepper crabs..... ~

Stir-fry black pepper chicken. 

Ingredients:

100g sliced chicken tenders (You can use other meat or seafood)

1 small onion, sliced

2 clove garlic, sliced

favorite vegetables (I used carrots, radish and Chinese kale)

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp black pepper sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat oil in a pan or wok over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Add meat and stir-fry until cook. Add your favorite vegetables. Add water and let it simmer. Add black pepper sauce and stir fry to combine well for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat and dish up. Serve immediately.

Chicken curry without using coconut milk

I have been looking for a chicken curry recipe without using any coconut milk or yogurt. I've tried a few recipes and they were not really the right one. Finally, I found a recipe; Aisha's chicken curry without using coconut milk (mesra). I really like this recipe because it is easy, delicious and not too spicy for me! It's a keeper!! :)

Curry chicken without using coconut milk,

adapted from Aisha's kari ayam tanpa santan

Ingredients:

1 whole skinless chicken or equivalent size chicken breasts

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

3 green cardamon

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

daun pudina (mint leaves), optional

a few dry curry leaves, optional

4 tbsp curry powder (Baba's meat curry is the best!)

1 tbsp tomato puree

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

2 potatoes, cut in four

salt to taste

Blended ingredients:

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1cm ginger

Garnish:

green chillies, thinly sliced

coriander leaves/cilantro

Blend 1 onion, garlic and ginger until smooth (you might want to add a little water to the mix). 

Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat. Saute sliced onions, mint leaves, curry leaves, green cardamon, cinnamon stick, whole cloves and diced tomatoes until onions are transparently yellowish.

Add the blended ingredients, tomato puree and curry powder. Slowly stir and mix until all combined. Keep stirring until you see oil separating from the onions and spices. Then add the chicken and water. Cook until the chicken is almost tender, then add the potatoes and cover again. Add salt to taste. Keep the lid closed and let the chicken and potatoes well cooked.

Serve hot with plain rice or roti kirai (lacy pancakes) or baguette. Enjoy!

Notes:

You don't have to use the curry leaves, I used them because I like it. ;)

But it would be much better to add mint leaves because they brings out the flavor and fragrant of the curry.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

My first home-made honey whole wheat bread. I really like this bread and even after a few days, it is still delicious. You'll get two loaves with this recipe. I wrapped the second one with aluminium foil and put in a ziplock bag. Place it in the freezer until I'm ready to use. This is an easy and good recipe. As they said whole wheat bread is a healthy choice for your family! :)

Honey Whole Wheat Bread, by Betty Crocker recipes.

Ingredients:

2 packages regular active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 tsp salt

2-1/2 cups very warm water (120 to 130 degrees F)

4-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2-1/4 to 3-3/4 all-purpose flour ( you might not have to use all)

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, set aside. In a large bowl, mix honey, butter, salt and very warm water cool 5 minutes.

After the honey mixture is cooled, beat in 3 cups of whole wheat flour with electric mixer on low speed, scraping bowl frequently until moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Beat in remaining 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour and dissolved yeast. With a spoon, stir in 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 cups of the all-purpose flour until dough pulls cleanly away from side of bowl.

Place dough on floured work surface, Knead in remaining 1/2 to 1 cup all-purpose flour; continue kneading 5 to 10 minutes until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with cooking spray, place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place, 30 to 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Generously grease 2 (8x4 or 9x5 inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. Gently push fist into dough to deflate; divide in half. Shape and place each dough in the loaf pans. Cover, let rise in warm place another 30-45 minutes to until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 355 degrees F. Uncover dough, bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake 10 minutes longer or until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove from pans to cooling racks. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with melted butter to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely.

Mee Goreng (Fried Egg Noodles)

One of my favorite dishes is mee goreng mamak (fried egg noodle Indian style). I have been craving it for a long time. As I am unable to get soft yellow egg noodles in my area, I use spaghetti as a substitute and add shrimps. This is a simple one dish meal and taste great! Seriously, I can't wait to have one when I go back to Singapore. :)

Mee Goreng Mamak, adapted from Aneka Hidang Mi recipe book

Ingredients:

3 tbsp cooking oil (I used EVOO), divided

2 large eggs, beaten

1 onion, sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sambal oelek

1 green chilli, sliced (optional)

300g soft yellow egg noodles (I used spaghetti, cooked & drained)

1 potato, boiled, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 pieces fried tofu, cut into cubes 

some assorted vegetables (slices of cabbage, choy sam and mustard greens or some beans sprouts)

200gm cooked medium shrimps

Sauce:

1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp kicap manis (sweet black sauce)

1 tbsp osyter sauce (you can use light soy sauce)

Garnish:

1 tomato, cut into small cubes

1 stalk of green onion, cut into small pieces

some fried shallots

Heat wok at medium high with 1 tbsp of oil. When wok is hot enough, add in the beaten eggs, fry as scramble eggs (do not overcook the eggs), then dish out and set aside. 

In the same wok on high heat, add the remaining oil and fry the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add sambal oelek, sliced chillies and noodles*. Add tomato ketchup, sweet black sauce and oyster sauce, stir for 1 minute. Add scramble eggs, potato, fried tofu, vegetables and shrimps. Mix all ingredients well. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes. Dish out and served hot. Garnish with diced tomatoes, chopped green onions and fried shallots.

Notes:

* I prefer to fry my eggs first then add to the dish. But you can forgo this step; after you add the noodles, add a little bit more oil and create an empty space in the center. Add the beaten eggs and mix together with the noodles...

- Also this dish is not from India, it is created by Indian-Muslim in Singapore/Malaysia. :)

Happy New Year 2011

Hiii all, I know I am a little late but as they saying, its better be late than never right... I just wanna wish everyone a very Happy New Year. May 2011 brings you joy, good health, wealth, success and happiness and everything good. Take care and be safe. :)