There's no cooking like home

Yeap, the title say it all. My dad's Yong Tau Fu, for me is second to none! Not only are the fillings are all based on his secret ingredients and mix of a variety of meat, even the sauce served with it is our own homemade recipe. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

One of our favourite quick and easy to make snack is the Vietnamese Spring Rolls, well, at least our version of it. It's quick, healthy, easy to make and it taste great! One may need some practice in rolling rice paper to get a hang of it.

The rice paper is first dipped entire into a bowl of water, for a mere few seconds, removed and place over a clean surface to work on. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of oyster sauce and prime over it.

 You can add a variety of fresh ingredients to it. Our favourites are bean sprouts, sliced cucumber and carrots, boiled shrimps, blanched Chinese vermicelli, mint leaves and crushed peanuts.

 Rolling the rolls requires some practice. The key is to keep them tight and not too stuffed, to make sure that there are enough surface to wrap it securely.

 Voila!

You can also deep fry them to give it a bit of crunchiness! Our favourite serving is with Thai chilli sauce.

Happy rolling! 

Spicy Lemongrass Prawns

Thai food has always been our favourite type of food and lemongrass is a core ingredient in Thai food recipe. Here is an experimental Thai inspired recipe that’s easy and quick!

 diced lemongrass

 prawns

Ingredients

1.       Prawns – shell and head removed 3 cups

2.       Cook and shredded chicken meat – ½ cup

3.       Lemongrass – diced – 1 cup

4.       Onions – diced – 5 tbsp

5.       Red Chili – diced, and also cut for garnishing – 5 tbsp

6.       Garlic –diced – 5 tbsp

7.       String beans – cut into 2-3 inches ½ cup

8.       Cooking oil – 5 tbsp

9.       Sugar and salt to taste

10.   Prawn stock – ¼ cup

Methods-

It is important to get all the above ready when the wok or frying pan is ready as this is a quick dish to prepare and best served warmed.

1.       Heat up oil on medium heat

2.       Pour in diced garlic, chili, onions and lemongrass, 1 tbsp sugar and sauté

3.       Prawn goes in and get a good coverage of the ingredients over it.

4.       Put in String beans and shredded chicken meat

5.       Add stock slowly and gradually to mix it even while stirring

6.       Add salt to taste

7.       Remove and serve immediately.

There you go, quick and easy!

Play time with Reef

Our cat Reef loves simple things, like a box for example. We can keep her busy for hours with this....

Ayam Masak Merah & Nasi Tomato

One of my wife's best recipe, Nasi Tomato with Ayam Masak Merah (Tomato rice with Chicken in Red Sauce). Here I'd just like to post up some pictures on the experience we have in the kitchen preparing this fantastic dish...

!!CHECK OUT ALSO MY NEW RECIPE FOR DRY CURRY NOODLES!!
http://sidestreaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/dry-curry-noodle.html

TOMATO RICE:

Onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon along with some spices are stirred fried with vegetable oil and butter.....

in the same time, rice is washed and mixed with enough water and a mix of tomato purée, ketchup, coconut milk, sugar and salt in the rice pot....

The fried onions and spice mix is then mixed into the rice and let to boil... add enough water...

and the rice is done!

Chicken in Red Sauce

Garlic, onion and ginger in the food processor...

... until really fine....

chicken is then cut into sizeable pieces....

marinate for a short while in chilli and turmeric powder and salt....

Deep fry the chicken until almost 80% cooked... remove oil....

... heat up the blended mix of union, garlic and ginger along with some red chilli paste and tomato, puree, sugar, salt and honey....

Chicken is then added into the sauce and let it sit on slow fire for about 15 mins....

And the whole meal just come together nicely here... :) bon appetit

What's for Dinner?

Yeap, one of my favourite, my wife's specialty, Ayam Masak Merah (Chicken in Red Sauce), with turmeric rice and saute vegetables. Yummm.... great combination and always appetizing.

Reef at home

This is what happen if we do not keep the kitchen roll after use. We discover this scene when we came back from office this afternoon.