Chicken Laksa Curry

 

Chicken Laksa Curry

Laksa Paste

The easiest chicken curry, made possible with a store-bought laksa paste which is available in Asian markets or online. It takes 20 minutes to make chiefly because the chicken was tenderized ahead of time. After cutting the chicken, boneless and skinless chicken thighs in this case, the bite-sized pieces are soaked at room temperature for 30 minutes in water mixed with a teaspoon each of salt and baking soda. After draining, the chicken must be washed in several changes of water to remove all traces of baking soda. This makes the chicken or any meat incredibly soft  and tender. Substitute chicken with beef, lamb, pork, shrimp, tofu or paneer.

Green Grass Coconut Jelly

 

Green Grass Coconut Jelly

Inspired by my sister-in-law who is a wonderful cook, this dessert is cool, refreshing and delicious! It's simple to make because canned green grass jelly is available on Amazon and in Asian markets, so does not need to be made from scratch. It's best made with lychees that are soaked in its own juices, but were not available that day, so canned peaches were substituted.

Pandan Jelly

The liquid base is light coconut milk that was sweetened with the juices from the green grass or pandan jelly.

Singapore Rice Noodles with Bacon

 

Singapore Rice Noodles
With Bacon

The use of curry powder in these noodles is what sets it apart from other noodle dishes. Apparently, in Singapore this dish is called Hong Kong Noodles and in Hong Kong it's called Singapore Noodles. Sort of like French Fries which cannot be found anywhere in France. When it's cooked properly, these noodles are to die for. Otherwise, if the curry powder tastes raw, they are horrible. I prefer to boil the curry powder in chicken stock before soaking rice noodles in the broth.

Singapore Noodles are most commonly made with shrimp and pork, but I used ground chicken and bacon. To make my life easier, I used fresh cole slaw mix which contains cabbage, carrots and other julienned vegetables. This dish can be prepared in under 30 minutes, is filling and very satisfying. 

Rice Noodles with Surimi in Black Bean and Garlic Sauce

Rice Noodles and Surimi

Rice noodles are comforting and filling and maybe because they're so thin, it seems healthy and okay to eat more of it. Singapore noodles are a favourite choice at Asian restaurants and that's made with rice noodles. It's easy to reconstitute these noodles at home, because all it takes is to blanch them in boiling hot water for 1 minute to soften. Drain noodles and place noodles in a saucepan, cover and set aside until ready to cook.

Surimi is also known as crab sticks or fake crab and is composed of different kinds of fish. I'm using surimi in place of shrimp because my husband has recently developed an allergy to shrimp.

Black bean sauce is quite salty so it may not be necessary to add any more salt.

Chicken and Chayote Squash in Black Bean Sauce

 

Chicken and Squash
in Black Bean Sauce

Any kind of meat, fish or seafood tastes wonderful cooked in black bean sauce. Lee Kum Kee sauces are available at any Asian market and are of excellent quality.

Chayote Squash is found in abundance at the supermarkets nowadays and grows wild in Darjeeling where I spent my adolescence. It's a hardy vegetable that does not spoil in the fridge and is a favourite vegetable in our household. They're peeled and thinly sliced so they cook quickly.

Chayote Squash

Skinless and boneless chicken breasts are cut in bite-sized pieces and velveted which tenderizes the meat and keeps it looking a pristine white. Velveting simply means soaking in baking powder for 30 minutes then washing thoroughly to remove all traces of baking powder. The chicken is then marinated in oil, salt and corn starch for 10 minutes before tossing in hot oil just until the colour changes. 

This is a very easy recipe that is packed with flavour and goes well with hot, steamed rice.

Won Ton Noodle Soup

 

Won Ton Noodle Soup

Sometimes, all it takes is a very simple soup to satisfy midnight or any-time-of-day cravings. For this reason, the freezer is always stocked with Korean mandu or  dumplings that are available all over town. Baby bok choy freezes well, so the leaves are separated, washed, dried and packaged in Ziploc bags for the freezer. Fresh Pad Thai noodles, available at Asian markets, are also a staple item stored in the fridge. 

This soup uses only 4 ingredients, not counting the seasonings, and takes no more than 10 minutes to assemble.

Rice Noodles and Asparagus in Spicy Black Bean Sauce

Rice Noodles and Asparagus
In Spicy Black Bean Sauce

It feels like the world is slowly waking up from this pandemic that has gripped our lives for the last two months. Supermarkets are still displaying sparsely stocked shelves except in the vegetable and fruit departments.

Asparagus
In Spicy Black Bean Sauce

When asparagus is available, it's best to cook them as soon as they arrive home or they lose their flavour and texture in a hurry. An easy and tasty way to have asparagus is to use south-east Asian flavours and here's what I did.

Hot and Sour Soup

Hot & Sour Soup

A favorite soup we like to order at Thai and Chinese restaurants, this hot & sour soup is pretty straightforward to prepare at home. Myriad videos abound on the internet for this soup from which I have taken the best parts to come up with my recipe.

A specialty item that gives this soup some of its tang is Chinese pickled vegetables which, unfortunately, can only be found in Asian markets. The heat in this soup is imparted by a whole dried red chili and black pepper powder. On these cold and dreary days, this hot & sour soup brings immense comfort.

Dilled Tilapia

Dilled Tilapia

I first had this at a Vietnamese restaurant, of all places. It was made and served on a cast iron sizzling plate which created a lovely crust on the base, and was accompanied by hot, steamed rice, I wanted for nothing more!

At home, I pan-fry it which is also delicious.

Lap Cheong and Egg Fried Rice

Lap Cheong Fried Rice

Lap Cheong is a Chinese hard sausage made from pork and pork fat that is usually smoked, sweetened and seasoned. I generally freeze the package of lap cheong since I so rarely use it. It's easy to remove the casing by soaking the sausage links in boiling water until the casings puff up. They're easy to then peel off, making it less difficult to slice. I like to season the rice for depth of flavour and mix it with eggs to give the fried rice a golden hue.

This fried rice is a one-dish meal that needs no more than a bowl of soup for company. It has all four food groups and is a complete meal unto itself.

Green Peppers in Peanut Sauce

Green Peppers in Peanut Sauce

Any and all varieties of bell peppers taste good cooked in this tangy peanut sauce. Add as much chili powder and dried red peppers as you can handle. I kept them to a minimum to suit my family.

Asian Caramelized Fish Curry

An Asian variation of fish in coconut milk. Caramelizing the sugar and adding fish sauce to the gravy gives it a unique flavor. Serve as a main dish with steamed rice.

Teriyaki Meatballs & Rice Bowl

Teriyaki Meatballs and
Rice Bowl

Dinner tonight was truly amazing, even if I say so myself, which was evidenced by how clean GrandBoy#1's dishes were after he was done eating! Use your favourite meatball recipe or buy ready-made ones, either way works because the magic is in the teriyaki and hoisin dipping sauces.

A Kids' Favourite

The meatballs are cooked in and coated with teriyaki sauce and we used the hoisin dipping sauce for the vegetables and rice. An alternative would be to take a portion of a meatball, some vegetables and rice and roll all that in a lettuce leaf and then dip into the hoisin dipping sauce. I'm so thrilled to be able to offer the GrandBoys yet another dinner option!

Asian Vermicelli Chicken Salad

Asian Vermicelli Chicken Salad

A light & fresh salad that is perfect for the hot days of August, this glass noodle salad is versatile and so tasty! 

Chopped Fresh Ingredients &
Rotisserie Chicken

Combine any variety of fresh, salad ingredients along with a protein, whip up an Asian dressing and it's ready to eat in less than 15 minutes. On the cutting mat clockwise from top left are rotisserie chicken, green onions, romaine lettuce, glass noodles with shredded lime leaves sprinkled on top, English seedless cucumbers, beefsteak tomatoes, sliced onions and wedges of lime. Before serving, the salad is garnished with crunchy ramen noodles (omit for gluten-free diets) and sliced almonds.

Scrambled Eggs, Cabbage & Peas

Scrambled Eggs, Cabbage & Peas

Here's another dish that places Mum's presence front & center in my consciousness. I remember having this with hot rice in Rangoon and more frequently in Darjeeling. It's really simple to make with just a few ingredients and is so delicious! It goes well with rice or tortillas.

Thai Tom Yum Goong - Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup

Thai Hot & Sour Soup

Bowl of Tom Yum

The inspiration for this soup came from a friend on Facebook asking for a Hot & Sour Soup recipe which led me to Closet Cooking. We had it for lunch for lunch today which along with an egg roll each, made for a filling and satisying meal. Because some of the ingredients were missing from my pantry, I had to make some modifications so I've described, below, what I did to reproduce the recipe.

The hot part of this soup came from a combination of minced green chilies and gochujang, a Korean chili paste that I love! The sour aspect came simply from the juice of one lime. I dropped the squeezed out rinds of lime into the soup and fished them out before serving. This made up for the absence of lemon grass. 

Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Garlic Sauce

Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Garlic Sauce

Lee Kum Kee makes a great tomato-garlic sauce, but when that's not available it's quite easy to assemble similar ingredients. Shrimp takes such a short time to cook that it's perfect when dinner needs hurrying up. 

I used half a pound of large shrimp (20-30 shrimp per pound) that were already peeled and cleaned. The base of the sauce is tomato puree that was made spicy with the help of Gochujang (Korean chili paste) which has a hint of sweetness. For a more tomato-ey taste, tomato ketchup added both colour and served to thicken the sauce. Minced garlic and Thai red chili peppers along with a sliced onion rounded out the flavours.

This shrimp dish is best served over a mound of steamed, long-grain rice.

Sweet-Lime Salad

Sweet-Lime Salad

Chinese Seasoning Salt for Fruits

The perfect pick-me-up between meals, the sweet-lime this morning was not sweet enough for my palate, which prompted me to turn it into a salad. A friend from Taiwan brought me these tiny packages of seasoning salt for fruits which are sweet, sour and salty. I added a diced serrano pepper and minced mint which took it over the top! Let it sit for a few minutes after prepping to allow the flavours to meld.

To make your own seasoning salt, stir together the juice of 1/2 lime along with salt and sugar to taste.

Eggplant & Pork in Oyster Sauce

Eggplant & Pork in Oyster Sauce

For a quick and easy main dish with an Asian flair, few dishes can beat this eggplant and pork stir-fry. A combination of oyster sauce, chili-garlic sauce, balsamic vinegar and fish sauce form the base for ground pork that is browned along with diced onions and garlic. Bite-sized pieces of Japanese eggplant are added at the tail end so that they retain their texture and don't disintegrate.

Chinese and Thai restaurants have a form of this recipe on their menus. My problem is that they always seem to over-salt the dish, so I prefer to replicate it at home so I can control the amount of salt that is added. In fact, no salt was added in this recipe because the different sauces are salty to begin with. Adjust the salt at the end of the cooking cycle to suit your taste.

A trick to break down the ground pork with little effort is to hand-mix it with 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 Tbsp. oil and set aside for 15 minutes. The oil acts to separate the nodules of ground meat which makes it easier to brown.

Eggplant in Oyster Sauce

Eggplant in Oyster Sauce

Another favourite at Chinese restaurants, this eggplant dish is simple to make at home. 

Japanese Eggplant

In my opinion, Japanese eggplants are sweeter and tastier than other varieties and are now available at all supermarkets. 

The ingredient list is short and should be available locally. The oyster sauce is salty, so do a taste-test before adding more salt.

Vegetarians and vegans can substitute diced tofu for minced chicken and mushroom sauce for oyster sauce.