Thai Larb Salad

Hello 2014! Truth be told, the year 2013 passed really quickly for me. I have not worked since mid June 2013, and it is as if time stopped when Asher arrived.

However, I felt that much has changed in our lives. Yes, having a baby means we rarely head out in the evenings. That is a positive thing as we took time to wind down, relax and get things organised for the next day. Yes, there are sacrifices that we made. We are much more conscious about expenditure and we eat out less. We try not to plan too many things through the day as that seem to make Asher more cranky.

Personally though, having a baby tested me big time. I love to be in control. Guess what, having a baby means I have to think this differently. Yes, things do not always get done- that's ok. It will get done another day. Asher needs me to get on the floor to play with him as soon as I can. I have to remind myself, a baby isn't a baby for long. He is going to grow and one day, I'm going to miss having this time with him. After all, it is a huge luxury to be home with him for the first year of his life.

Organisation. I have two nappy bags. A bigger one with everything in it- spare clothes for me, a small rattle/book toy, spare nappies, change of clothes for him, wet wipes, lip balm, tissues..etc. It's truly a mummy's bag. More often though, I travel with a smaller sling bag with the bigger bag in the car. That is also a change mat which makes my life so much easier when he decides to "go" in the car and there isn't a change room anywhere in sight.

Flexibility and time management. Asher is the most awake and alert in the morning and right after his nap. I try to time and plan any activity around that period of time. We have a routine, but we do not run on a tight schedule. Oh, and always leave 5-10 minutes earlier than what I think we need.

Relationship. This is an interesting one. As I'm home more often, hubby gets less stressed about needing to share his load of housework. Clothes are actually folded (more often), floors are clean. I try to do more while it is not always possible, so that when he is home, he gets more time with Asher. However, I certainly appreciate hubby even more when he hangs the clothes out before I wake up, and do the occasional vacuum! Not only that, we learn to speak to each other in a calmer manner. We argue less as the focus is us as a family-perhaps less as an individual. That is the biggest change. We think the big picture more. I love him more because I see all the smaller things he did before and all the sacrifices he has to made. Most of all, how much he adores Asher and us as a family.

 I thought I might start the new year with a fresh new recipe. It is thai inspired and packed full of flavours. It's also one of my "quick no fuss" meals to have handy for the week. Hubby recently started a herb garden so I'm looking forward to having fresh basil in our cooking very soon.

Thai Larb Salad (serves 4)
500 grams pork mince
1 tsp garlic
2 chili padi chopped
2-3 sprigs of spring onion chopped
1 red onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 capsicum chopped
3-4 button mushrooms chopped
1 tablespoon of soy
1 tablespoon of mirin
2-3 tablespoon of fish sauce
white pepper
2 tablespoon of pine nuts or cashew nuts

4 bunches of basil leaves

Cos lettuce to serve with.

Saute red onion, chill and garlic till done. Brown mince. Add all the vegetables with a splash of water if the mixture gets too dry. Add in all sauces and cool well. You can either toast pine nuts and add to it or add it in the pan straight up. Just before serving, add 2 bunches of basil leaves to the pan and toss through. The heat should wilt the leaves gently.

Serve on a bed of cos lettuce and more basil leaves.

Thai Pork Larb Salad

It's coming up to the long weekend and I am glad. Nothing like an extra few days to rest up and recharge. At the same time, it's also a time to reflect and thank our wonderful Lord for sacrificing for us.

This is another low carb recipe that I love. Mince is so easy to use and reasonably priced that it's hard to resist. I'm embracing lemongrass, ginger and garlic in this one. I wish I have some mint on hand and basil because I am sure it will add more flavours in the salad. I added some cashew for the added crunch factor.

I usually have my doubts on Asian salads. I mean, growing up, we rarely have salads. The first salad I had was Mum teaching me how to make egg mayo sandwiches-if that is even considered as a salad (the egg bit I mean). But then, we rarely had thai food either.

My neighbour gave us some limes and I am going crazy about them. It's not often that we have limes because they are quite pricey at the markets. I tend to use lemons instead. However, I have to admit that limes still win in terms of adding the zing to this dish!

Thai Pork Larb Salad (serves 4)
400 grams lean pork mince
2 stalks of lemongrass white bit chopped
2 tsp of garlic
2 red chill chopped
4 cm knob ginger grated
few mushrooms-shitake if you have, I used button chopped
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tsp of sugar if you like, but I did not add any

Fresh salad leaves
avocado
4 limes-for each meal.
handful of cashew nuts

Heat pan till hot. Saute garlic lemon grass, chill and ginger. Brown pork mince. Add in mushrooms. Stir through fish sauce. Taste. Season if needed. Top on salad leaves with lime and cashew nuts.

Thai Inspired Chicken Broth Noodle Soup

So there are times when I still crave for a good bowl of noodles- even if Perth is going through hot hot hot weather. I still enjoy light meals like this, quick to do and relatively healthy. It's what hubby and I enjoy, just sitting in front of the tele, on Saturday night..sometimes talking about our future, our goals.. or sometimes just watching episodes of shows.

Then, there is that comfortable quietness that we enjoy. You know, the type where we slurp the noodles, but he read his newspapers, and I serve the net for just a few minutes. Then the reconnection happen. They, hey check this out- look at this article on line, or would you believe this happened?


Or perhaps the satisfaction that he turned around and just thanked me. And say "I enjoyed this."

and I'm happy.

Thai Inspired Chicken Broth Noodle Soup (serves 2)
500 ml chicken stock
1 red chill padi chopped
2 tablespoon of fish sauce
slivers of ginger
1/4 cup of coconut milk
1 tsp brown sugar
1 chicken breast sliced thinly
100-200 grams of rice vermicelli (soaked in hot water and drained)
3-4 cups of any veges- I used sprouts, shredded carrot and bak choy

few sprigs of spring onions chopped

Boil stock with chill, ginger and fish sauce. Once it boils, add sugar. Taste. Then cook chicken first then veges in it. Add coconut milk in the last few minutes.

Separate noodles in bowls. Ladle soup and chicken. Sprinkle spring onions. Serve.

Thai Salmon Potato Cakes

By now you know about my love for simple foods. I call making patties food therapy. I love shaping some mash potato with fish and throwing it on the grill plate. I used some thai flavours in this fish cakes adding kaffia lime leaves and fish sauce. Because I like the bite of spring onions, I decided to throw some in as well to the patties.

I deliberately didnt mash the potatoes as much- so that there are some chunks when the cakes are bitten into. I could have probably added some chopped chili to the mixture but I ran out (surprise?!).

The other thing I did was to make a dipping sauce to go with it. Lemon juice, sugar and good dash of fish sauce and chopped chili heated gently did the trick. We were so addicted to this that we kept munching on it. Oh well, at least this is cheap AND health.

Thai Salmon Potato Cakes (serves 2)
2 potatoes boiled cooked and mashed with some soy milk.
1 200 grams tin salmon flaked 
2-3 kaffia leaves
2-3 sprigs of spring onion chopped
2 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/4 cup of corn flour
1/4 cup of plain flour
1 egg
seasoning

Combine mixture together. Shape into patties. Pre heat fry pan with oil. Fry patty each side for around 4 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

Thai Dipping sauce

1/2 juice of lemon
2 tablespoon of fish sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar
2 chili padi chopped

simmer all ingredients till sugar has dissolved.

Prawn Pad Thai

We attended a dinner bbq party recently and met a Thai style cooking chef there. He was kind enough to give me a verbal run down on how he cooks Pad Thai. It seems easy enough, and given that I have tried it before, I thought I should give it another go. I felt that this version did not have enough gravy. It seems that each time I made pad thai, I will run out of something. The last time, it was fish sauce, this time, I realized I did not have brown sugar on hand! What a waste.. grrr.. I really have to be a more organize cook.

The chef also gave me a tip on presentation. He said that by adding a little cornflour/water mixture into the beaten egg, it provides a better "spring" to the omelette, allowing it to stretch and accommodate the noodles without breaking. I lined a bowl with the omelette and place some noodles in it. I fold the egg, pop a place on top of the bowl, flip it over and ta dah, a nicely omelette wrapped noodle dish. I scored it and sprinkle some peanuts in it.

The alternative method, is to make the omelette, roll it up and sliced it. I find this way much simpler but it was always interesting to try something new! 

Prawn Pad Thai (Serves 6) 

200 grams prawn meat 

sauce
around 6-8 pieces of tamarind
500 ml of water 
1/4 cup of brown sugar

pad thai noodles soaked in normal tap water till soft

Seasoning- mix together in a jar
1/4 cup of fish sauce
1/2 lemon juice
1 tsp of sugar

1 tablespoon of garlic
1./2 red onion
few bunches of spring onion sliced.
2 cups of bean sprouts
roasted peanuts

Cook sauce first. Simmer ingredients till it becomes thicker. Do a taste test. Adjust accordingly.

Fry garlic, onion and prawns. Remove prawns from pan. Fry noodles and veges. Add simmer sauce ladle by ladle till absorb. Continue to do so for around 10 mins or so. Add the fish sauce/lemon juice/sugar mixture. Do a taste test and adjust. Add the prawns back. Toss and serve quickly.

Omelette (For one-repeat if needed)
2 eggs 
1/2 tsp of corn flour mix with a little water

beat eggs with corn flour mixture. Cook omelette on a oiled pan. Flip after around 3-4 mins.

Presenting this to the great people at Presto Pasta organized by Ruth from Once Upon A Feast. This week, it is hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. It's the 200 presto pasta bash this week!

Quick and Easy Thai Style Noodle Soup

In almost every household, there will be an emergency meal stash somewhere. Whether is it cup noodles,  packet of instant noodles, or even frozen meals, whatever that you could come up with a jiffy.

Most of the times,  I prepare a week in advance on what meals we are going to have- usually based around our schedules. But there will be moments of "due to unforeseen circumstances"  that I will be home really late-and plans fall apart. In those moments, it's either eat out or choose one of the above options.

It was only recently that I realised I usually have stock of noodles, and packets of chicken stock. Paired with some fish cake, veges and eggs- it is a meal by itself. Since then, I make sure that my freezer has some seafood fish cake and "crab" sticks (imitation crab of course made usually of fish and flour! why did they not call it fish sticks then?!). With some chili, fish sauce, soy and sugar, it gave a sweet, spicy and sour soup. Perfect for a chilly night.

Quick and Easy Thai Style Noodle Soup (Serves 2) 

1 ltre of chicken stock
3 cakes of noodles
assortment of fish cakes, fish balls, meat balls..etc
2 eggs
veges- whatever that is in the freezer!
2tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of soy
chopped chili if available if not chili flakes or chili powder

Boil stock. Add sauces. Bring it to a simmer and add noodles and all the other ingredients. Boil for 3-5 minutes. Serve hot with a sprinkle of fried shallots.

Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees

I received this awesome cookbook for Christmas one year. It's HUGE and feature best food of the world. I'm talking about "The food of the world-a journey for food lovers" I put so many tabs over it that I wasn't sure where to start. Strangely though, my excitement wore off because most of these recipes are not "quick to the table" meals and require some patience to assemble.

I flipped through the book one more time recently and the recipe "Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees' caught my attention. Perhaps it was the word duck, or maybe I was just curious to see if lychees would go well in curry. The book says that it is a Thai specialty dish. Any Thai people that could verify that? ;)

I was intrigued though-as the end result was a spicy and sweet dish. AR says that the lychee reduces the heat of the curry and is actually quite refreshing.  My guess is that Thailand is humid and hot so perhaps the lychee "cools" the curry?

I added heaps of veges in it to make it a one pot dish.

Red Curry with Roasted Duck and Lychees (serves 4-6)
60ml of coconut cream (I omitted this)
around 3-4 tablespoon of red curry paste
1/2 a roasted duck chopped
400ml of coconut milk (I used light)
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of palm sugar (I used brown sugar) 
1 tin of diced tomatoes
around 7 kaffir lime leaves torned
1 red chili sliced
1 red capsicum chopped
1 broccoli chopped 
1-2 cups of chopped mushrooms

Saute curry paste till fragrant. Add coconut milk and simmer. Add roasted duck and simmer for 3-5 mins. Add the  fish sauce, sugar and all veges. Simmer for another 5 mins. Add tomatoes and lychess and cook for another 2 mins. Add kaffir leaves. Taste and season. Serve with rice.

Spiced Thai Style Soba Noodle Soup

I am having so much fun with my 200 super soups cook book. This recipe caught my interest because it seems to incorporate fresh + spiciness = my favorite combination in soups.

What I am really happy about, is how vibrant the photos turned out! It is what it is, so full of flavour. Doesn't it shouts spring?

Spiced Thai Style Soba Noodle Soup (Adapted from 200 super soups cookbook) Serves 2
2 bunches of soba noodles cooked and drained
1 ltre of vege stock
1 tsp of thai red curry paste
4 kaffir lime leaves
4tsp of fish sauce -taste and season accordingly
3-4 spring onions chopped
1 chili padi chopped 
1 tomato chopped
around 2-3 dried shitake mushrooms re hydrated chopped
1/2 red capsicum chopped
200 grams frozen prawn cutlets


Pour stock in saucepan. Add curry paste, chili padi, lime leaves, fish sauce, spring onions, mushrooms, and bring it to boil. Add capsicum, tomato and prawns and cook till it is done.

Drain noodles and dish it in bowls. Ladle the broth onto the noodles. Garnish with more spring onions.

Dishing some spring love to my friends at Presto Pasta, founded by Ruth Daniels. This week Jennifer from Cook Eat, Repeat is hosting- I simply love her blog name!!!

Tom Yam Seafood Pasta Stir Fry

I have certainly been trying to clear my fridge lately. I found this jar of tom yam paste-with only about 1-2 tablespoon left. Since I was in need for a pasta idea, I thought a quick stir fry with some seafood marinara and veges will make a quick and easy meal.

I had a few pieces of kaffir lime leaf and added that in. Oh and birds eye chili of course. The tangyness stimulated my taste buds straight away and I couldnt help but eat more!!

Tom Yam Seafood Pasta Stir Fry 
250 grams of cooked pasta
500 grams of seafood marinara
1 tablespoon of tom yam paste
1 onion sliced
2 birds eye chili chopped
baby corn
mushrooms
peas

Saute onion till soft. Add paste and chili. Cook seafood till done. Toss in veges first then pasta. Toss for around 3-4 minutes. Serve hot!

Sharing this dish with my friends at Presto Pasta. This week, the awesome Ruth from Once Upon A Feast is hosting!

Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice

What I like about Thai food is the flavour. It's strong but not overpowering. I like how they incorporate the use of fruits and nuts in simple dishes like fried rice- making it ultra special.

I adapted this Thai style fried rice by asking my Thai friend, tasting the fried rice we had at a restaurant recently and reading some recipes online. By no means it is authentic but it certainly adds a bit of Thai flair to normal every day cooking.

I served this with a Green Chicken Curry.


Thai Style Pineapple Fried Rice
2 cups of cooled cooked rice
around 150 gram of pineapple chunks
1 cup of small prawns
1 tsp of garlic and ginger
2 bird egg chili chopped
2-3 tsp of tumeric
3-4 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of white sugar
1 cup of frozen peas
1/4 cup of sultanas/rasins
1/2 cup of cashews
2 eggs lightly beaten
seasoning

Saute chili garlic and ginger. Add prawns in. When done, remove prawns and set aside. Cook rice till very hot, adding pepper. Adding seasoning and frozen peas after around 5 minutes. Dont forget the prawns! When rice is done, add beaten eggs into the pan, only tossing it when the egg is nearly set. Then toss pineapples, sultanas and cashews through. Taste before adding salt. Serve hot.

Thai Fish Cakes

Lone and I have been university mates for a looong time. Both of us had the same supervisor at Uni, shared our frustrations about our thesis work, share the same office/lab space-had cries over coffee about our lost data, laughed about our life and partners and shared similar taste in food (We love our carrot cake!). Lone even attended our wedding in Perth and Singapore.

Upon completion of her PhD, Lone decided to head back to Denmark to pursue further opportunities and to be closer to her partner. So in my sadness, I asked if she could come by for a Sunday lunch... a farewell lunch.


I chose to make Thai fish cakes because I recall our love for fish, healthy and quick food at uni. Nothing as hard as blending some snapper fillets with chives, red curry paste, corn flour and egg together.


Thai Fish Cakes
300-400 grams fish fillets
15 prawns cutlets
2 tablespoon of Thai red curry paste
1 bunch of chives chopped
1 egg
2-3 tablespoon of cornflour
Seasoning

Whiz everything together. Fridge it overnight. Shape in patties and pan fry. Serve with salad.

Having said all this, Lone- I miss you and I know we will meet very soon in cold wintery Denmark! =)

Thai Red Seafood Curry

Every year at around this time, I reflect on how blessed I am. It's not just about the food, career or the roof over my head. I have the basics (and perhaps even more sometimes). It's about the relationships that have been built over the years. Because out of so many people in the whole wide world, these people cared enough to pop me an email/sms/facebook/phonecall/blog just to wish me happy birthday.



This year, I also reflect on how God has blessed me back my health in time for chocolate cake. If there is once slice of cake that I can eat without guilt, it would have to be the slice on THE birthday isnt it? With each bite, I counted my blessings. And then I ran out of bites...

Maybe I should have gone for second helpings.

Thank you to my lovely friends and family. You guys are amazing.



While I get my act together and start posting some photos for our prewedding photoshoot (Also done on my birthday! See! Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, photos for my birthday and wedding-handy huh? LOL), please do enjoy this curry, I loved it! And I know u will as well.




Thai Red Seafood Curry (serves 4)
300 grams of seafood (fish, squid, prawns)
100 grams of baby corn
100 grams of snow peas
1 cup of green peas
100 grams of spinach leaves
2 carrots chopped

2.5 tablespoon of thai red curry
1 can of lite coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons of flour
1 egg

1) Slice seafood into equal portions. Pat dry with paper towels. Coat seafood with egg than flour.

2) Heat work with oil. Fry battered seafood till golden brown. Set aside.

3) Heat red curry paste till fragrant. Add all vegetables and cook till soft. Add can of coconut milk. Simmer for around 2-3 minuites. Add seafood. Cook for around 5 minutes. Serve with warm rice.

Jaden Kitchen Cookbook Testing

A few months ago before I went off for my holiday, Jaden asked for some volunteers to test out recipes for her up and coming cookbook. I jumped on it straight away! An opportunity to try Jaden Hair's recipes is a privilege.

Obviously it will not be right for me to post the recipes here as it will be disrespectful towards Jaden. But here is a sneak peak of some recipes and my experiences:

Test 1

Walnut Lemon Butter Pound Cake

The baker in me could not resist trying out a baking recipe! This light and buttery pound cake resembles what you will find in a typical Chinese bakery. Hmm..I think this cake was more commonly found 10 years ago then now though. Still, the recipe yielded fluffy cakes. I think I undercooked it a little as it was still abit moist.

Test 2
Rice Paper Wrapped Fish Cakes with Thai Dipping Sauce

Great finger food! The crispiness from the Viet paper wrappers was a big hit. The sauce accompanied the fish very well.

Test 3
Crab and Fuji Apple Salad with Vietnamese Dressing

MY favorite so far! So summery and easy to assemble!!!! I brought it to a church picnic and they were a hit. Seriously good stuff. Who would have thought that crab and apple goes so well?

Test 4
Chicken Pad Thai

This was suppose to be shrimp pad thai but I substituted it with chicken. I did make it the 2nd time with shrimps. The first time I attempted this dish, I ran out of fish sauce! So the outcome was that the noodles were abit dry (as seen in the photo). But the 2nd time I tried it, the sauce was terrific! I might reduce the sugar amount the 3rd time round, however.
I do ike the tips given for this recipe. For instance, the preparation of the noodles and tamarind juice.

Notes:

It's good fun testing out these recipes and resisting the urge to alter recipes the way I would usually do. I do have a greater appreciation and awareness of how difficult it is to put together a cookbook-especially when it has to cater to the masses with different tastebuds/habits/ingredients around the world.

Thai Red Beef Curry

I find curries fascinating. From the creamy Malaysian style curries to the sweet and thick Japanese curry, each culture seem to have a version of this thick spicy stew. The aroma of the blend of spices will work its way through the air and you can smell it even if you are a few blocks away.

Each week, I look for ideas for a one pot dish. Curry is a definite favorite. The possibilities are endless. Any left over vegetables? Well, it will taste fantastic in a curry.

This is my first attempt in making Thai red curry though. Certainly the lemon grass and ginger flavor came through in this.

While cooking this dish, I added 5 tablespoon full of paste into the work. WOAH. Big mistake. The paste is pungent stuff and the curry ended up too salty! It went alright with rice but Iwill lessen the amount next time.

I bought a tub of thai red curry paste instead of pounding the mix myself. So much easier and convenient. Compared to 8 years ago, the oriental stores in Perth are carrying alot of variety of curry mixes. Since it is difficult to get hold of fresh spices (i.e. fresh curry leaves, lime leaves) tubs of curries are God-send!! Woohoo!



Thai Red Beef Curry (serves 4)
300 grams of lean beef (yikes! cant remember which cut I used)
3 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste.
200 grams of sweet potato diced in cubes
2 peeled and sliced carrots
1 can of 500ML lite coconut cream

Rice to serve

1) Using the back of your chopper or a tenderizer, pound beef. Slice into cubes.

2) Heat curry paste in a pot. Stir gently till paste bubbles a little. Add beef and fry for around 3-4 minutes. Add vegetables and coconut cream. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

3) Taste. Add water if necessary.

4) Serve with rice.

Ps- I'm searching for more one pot dish ideas. What other types of curries do you enjoy?