Kitchen Life Hack - Deep Fried Anchovies and Nasi Lemak Kukus

My son has been on this "I could eat nasi lemak everyday" phase for the last few months.  So as a good mother, I promised him I would cook nasi lemak a little more frequently. 

Homemade Salt and Pepper seasoning, and Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

This recipe has been on my to-do list for ages, and I'm so glad I finally came round to making it just in time for CNY this year. 

Crusted Parmesan and Herb Chicken Fingers

 

One of my fondest food-related memories during my University days in Australia was eating this Crusted Parmesan and Herb Chicken.  

Sesame Dressing and Spinach Gomae (Spinach in Sesame Dressing)

I actually made both of these quite a while ago, but have forgotten all about them in my draft box until recently. 

Bloggers Get-Together over Raya weekend

Behind row from left : Hody of Cook4You&Me, Jennifer of Chasingfooddreams, 
Yours truly, Wendy of Table for 2 ..or more,
Front row from left : Yen of Eat Your Heart Out,  Abbygail of Abbygail's Kitchen, and
Sharon of Feats of Feasts. Photo courtesy of Sharon.

When food bloggers have a get-together, there are bound to be plentiful of good food.

Pan Fried Dumplings

 

There's something about pan fried dumplings that is totally addictive don't ya think?  The soupy ones are good, for about three pieces.  But those golden fried beauties, oh, i could eat like ten in a row!

Vietnamese Prawn Rolls

Making your own Vietnamese Prawn Rolls is simple and easy.  There is a fair bit of preparation, but the recipe is actually very easy and fuss free.  If you are gonna be serving this for several adult size portions, then it makes sense to make your own as the ingredients are very cheap (except the prawns I suppose!) and most of the ingredients can be kept for several days and be used for other types of meals. 

Instead of just plain cooked prawns, I cooked the prawns and toss them in a chili lime dressing to them a zesty flavour that complements the rolls very well.

Curtis Stone's Chili Lime Prawns - recipe HERE

I also used some homemade pickles - comprising julienned carrots, radish and cucumber - in the rolls to give it that added tang and crunch.  You can substitute this with plain strips of the same vegetables.

Simple homemade pickle

Vietnamese Prawn Rolls

• 300g jumbo cooked prawns, sliced crosswise, recipe HERE
• 6 pieces of dried rice sheets
• 1/4 cup of homemade pickle, recipe HERE or substitute with shredded cucumber, carrot and radish
• Handful of fresh mint leaves
• Lettuce pieces

Dipping sauce

• 2 tbspn fish sauce
• 2 tbspn lime juice
• 2 tbspn of brown sugar
• Toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts

 
1.  Dip the rice sheets in a bowl of warm water until softened.

2.  Assemble two pieces of prawns, some pickle or shredded vegetables, mint leaves and lettuce and roll the sheet to wrap it tightly.  Slice each roll diagonally before serving with the dressing.

 

 

 

Love all kinds of rolls?  Here are two other recipes for you to try :-)

 

Cold Lettuce Rolls - the most popular recipe on my blog!

 

Vietnamese Chicken and Lemongrass Roll

 

 





Homemade Pickle

Ever since hubby got me the Iphone 5, it is so much easier to snap pictures on the go. I also find myself using the phone camera to take more photos of my cooking. That's why you have been seeing more "inferior" quality photos that have minimal styling and food props :P  My poor DSLR...The photos in this post were all taken using the Iphone 5.

After reading Gertrude's post on her Vietnamese lunch, I was inspired to make a batch of homemade pickle so I could then use them to make a similar meal.  Homemade pickle is so easy to make, it just depends on the variety of vegetables you want and how complicated the dressing you prefer. 

I always just opt for something simple and easy to prepare.  These pickle are just one of those things that always come in handy - as appetizers, as tasty sandwich ingredients, as well as ingredients for Vietnamese prawn rolls - recipe coming up!.  Add some of these pickles in the roll and it makes the whole thing so much more apetizing and gives it that wonderful zing and crunch.

I find that the best tool to shred the vegetables into the right strips is not a mandolin or a grater, but this guy below :- 

Thanks to Veron of Quay Po Cooks, who bought this handy tool for me at one of our bloggers' meet.  She said this is widely used to shred unripened mangoes to make Som Tam, the Thai mango salad.

It sure is useful - it shreds the vegetables to the right size and thickness that I like.  I'm sure you can find this in many supermarket or grocery store.

Easy Homemade Pickle

• 1 medium size cucumber, shredded
• 1 carrot, shredded
• half a white radish, shredded
• 1/3 cup of distilled vinegar
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1 tsp of salt

1.  Put all the ingredients into a big bowl and mix well.

2.  Store in two clean, glass jars (including the liquid) and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Jumbo Prawns with Chili, Lemon and Parsley

This is such an easy peasy recipe - you can use the prawns in many ways - eat it on its own as an appetizer, use it in a salad, toss it in noodles, or use it in a wrap.  I used it to make Vietnamese Prawn Rolls - recipe coming up after this post.

My MIL (my ever faithful meat and seafood supplier :P) gave me a packet of HUGE prawns - almost the size of my palm. 

Usually I would pan fry these beauties using my mum's super easy and absolutely delicious recipe, but since I've been craving for some Vietnamese prawn rolls for the past few days, I thought I'd check out another simple prawn recipe that is suitable to make the rolls.  

This recipe from Curtis Stone is perfect as it gives the prawns a zesty and appetizing flavour that goes perfectly well with the fresh herbs and vegetables used in the Vietnamese rolls.

Jumbo Prawns with Chili, Lemon and Parsley
Adapted from Curtis Stone

• 400g jumbo prawns, shelled, deveined, sliced in halves lengthwise 
• 2 tsp of sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp of lemon zest and juice / lime juice is fine too
• 2 tsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Don't discard these prawn shells - freeze them to make the base
for a tasty batch of stock

1.  Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan, and gently pan fry the prawns for 1-2 minutes on each side, until the meat turns opaque and has curled up.  Do not overcook the prawns.

2.  Remove from pan and let it cool.

3.  Add in the dressing and toss to coat evenly.  Serve chilled or use as a base for salads, wraps etc.

 

I'm submitting this to the "Curtis Stone - Cook Like a Star" bloghop co-hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Grace of Life Can Be Simple, and Yen of Eat Your Heart Out

Coca-Cola Chicken Wings

8tv currently is screening a Taiwanese cooking show called Feng Shu's Cooking Class, which I like to watch whenever I can.

Japanese Rolled Omelet - Tamagoyaki

Rolled omelet (Tamagoyaki) sushi is one of my son's all time favourite Japanese food.  Tamagoyaki takes on a slightly sweet flavour due to the addition of sugar.

Side dishes / Appetizers: Post #3 : Turmeric Fish Fillet

I'm sure you could tell from my posts for the last few weeks that lately, my cooking entails recipes that one can cook with their eyes half closed.  Simple soups, easy appetizers, one-pot-meals. 

Side Dishes / Appetizers : Post #2 : Mash Sweet Potato and Egg Salad

If you like dining at Japanese restaurants, you would have come across this popular side dish using normal potatoes.  My blogger friend, Nami of Just One Cookbook had posted about this quite some time ago in her blog, and i kept a note about it at the back of my mind.  A few months back, I happened to have some leftover sweet potato in the fridge, and I remembered about this recipe.  So that's how this variation came about.

Side Dishes / Appetizers: Post #1 : Sardines in Lettuce Boats

I thought it would be fun to feature some side dishes and/or appetisers as a series.  This is a simple and tasty appetizer that I often make.  The taste is sourish savoury, with a light spicy kick.  Use iceberg lettuce to give it that crunch and extra juiciness. 

This can also be made into a light sandwich lunch using the bread of your choice.

Best served chilled.

Sardines in Lettuce Boats

• 1 can (425g) of sardines in tomato sauce (I use Ayam brand)
• 7 small calamansi, juice only
• 1.5 tbspn tom yum paste
• 1 cup of chopped mint leves
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 4 tbspn japanese mayo (kewpie) or normal mayo
• Sugar to taste
• Small lettuce cups

1.  Mash the sardines with the tomato gravy.

2.  Add in all the seasonings and mix well.  Chill in the fridge for about 1-2 hours.

3.  Scoop a tspn onto each lettuce cup and pop into your mouth!

Note: For a different presentation, you can also serve this on thick cucumber slices.  Don't like sardine?  Just sub it with tuna, tastes just as good.  

Christmas Menu : Entree - Roast Pumpkin Fries with Herb Yogurt Dip

This is a very easy starter to prepare.  Pumpkin fries is a much better alternative to potato fries as they have more nutrients than the good ol spud (and a lower carbo index too). 

Herb Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Dip

This recipe was originally called Meatballs Nirvana, sourced from Allrecipes.  Well, it didn't quite send me into nirvana (thankfully!) but these are very yummy nonetheless.   

Vietnamese Rice Rolls with Lemongrass Chicken

 

My post on Cold Lettuce Rolls is by far the most popular in my blog.  Maybe because of the ease in preparation, the fun in assembling and the prettiness of the whole thing :)

 

So now let me present to you Version Number Two - a Vietnam-inspired rice rolls wrapped with fragrant lemongrass chicken strips and paired with creamy avocado, cucumber and fresh mint leaves. Very yummy.

 

Whilst i like to think of Version One as a more homemade, Malaysian style roll with sweet pork mince, this Viet version is bursting with the fresh flavours of lemongrass and mint.   There really is no need for any dipping sauce as the chicken meat is well seasoned, but if you are a die hard sauce fan, then feel free to serve it with some sweet Thai chilli sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vietnamese Rice Rolls with Lemongrass Chicken

 

• 400g chicken thigh fillet, sliced into very thin short strips, sbout 1 inch length
• 1 packet of dried rice roll sheets
• 1/2 a cucumber, julienned
• 1/2 head of romaine or iceberg lettuce, rinsed and the leaves cut into thin strips/chiffonaded
• 1/3 carrot, julienned
• 2 cups of fresh mint leaves, rinsed
• 2 avocadoes, pitted and cut into slices

 

Marinade for the chicken meat

• Lemongrass paste (see below on instructions to make lemongrass paste)
• 3 tbspn sugar
• 2 tbspn fish sauce
• 1/2 tbspn soy sauce
• 1 tbspn oyster sauce
• Generous dash of white pepper

Lemongrass paste

• 3 stalks of lemongrass, white part only, roughly chopped
• 3 pip garlic
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced

1. Put all the ingredients for the lemongrass paste into a blender and pulse until fine.

 

2. Pour it together with the rest of the marinade and mix with the chicken strips.  Marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight.

 

3. Heat 2 tbspn of oil in a pan and fry the meat until cooked. Adjust the seasonings. Set side to let cool.

 

4. Assemble the ingredients.   Pour some warm water into a wide bowl or container, wide enough to dip the rice roll sheets.

 

5. Gently dip the rice sheets into the warm water until soften but not wilted. Spread onto a wide plate, put the toppings and wrap into a spring roll shape. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

Shrimp and Cashew Nut Salad, Thai Style

We had just returned from a family holiday in Bangkok about a fortnight ago.  Ever since then, I've been on a Thai food cooking frenzy :P  The smell of fish sauce, lime, lemon grass and other related aromatics have been wafting from the kitchen for the past many days.  The neighbours must be wondering if a Thai family has moved in!

Cold Lettuce Rolls

Hot hazy weather? Fret not. Let's have some cold rolls :)