Wuhan-inspired Hot and Dry Noodles (Re Gan Mian)

One of my favourite pastimes is grocery shopping, especially at the Asian supermarkets where I can spend a long time just looking through all the different sauces, condiments, snacks and instant noodles imported from every part of Asia one can think of. It pleases me to see that a growing  number of local Australians (or non-Asians) have started becoming more adventurous in their grocery shopping. Just last weekend, we spotted a blonde-haired teenage girl stuffing her trolley with 24 packets of Korean Jjajangmyun! I hope she wasn't planning to cook everything and bring it for a Korean-themed potluck dinner.

Pad Thai with Prawn and Pork

It's hard to find a good pad thai in Sydney with the exception of Thai La Ong where I had the most delicious pad thai with sliced pork. I've only been there once quite a few years ago, but I vividly remember the pad thai which was moist, saucy, and bursting with flavours of tamarind and the charry smokiness from the wok. Nothing like those pale-looking, bland and boring pad thais some other restaurants serve. That was my benchmark for pad thai, and today, I've got the perfect recipe that I hope you will enjoy. The only thing was that I couldn't find thin pad thai rice sticks at the supermarket. So I had to make do with the broader version which was about 1 cm wide. When the craving hits, you just have to make do with what's available! Continue reading to find the recipe.

The Ultimate Pad Thai Recipe

I was pretty excited when I saw that Lorraine had posted this wonderful recipe for Pad Thai on her blog. The photos simply said it all. The almost deep and rich orange hue of the noodles was the sign of a winner and it's as authentic as it gets. None of the dry, pale-looking noodles with dry chunks of chicken meat and scattering of chives, egg and tofu that I usually get in Sydney. For the record, I never order pad thai though Mr TFWL likes to always give it a chance. My preference is still to order pad kee mao (my favourite pad kee mao is from Pom's Thai in Burwood, now Strathfield).

Char Kuay Teow (2015 edition)



Here's a new and improved recipe for Char Kuay Teow (fried rice noodles), a popular street food in Malaysia. Try this version and let me know what you think :)

Chicken Cacciatore with Pappardelle

 

Chicken Cacciatore is a simple and delicious Italian-style chicken stew made with tomatoes and white wine. "Cacciatore" means "hunter" in Italian, so this is also known as hunter's stew. I first made this a year ago when my friend Tracey shared her recipe with me. I think she visited some cooking school on her Italian holiday and kept raving to me about chicken cacciatore. Get hold of fresh pappardelle if you can (here, I've used cracked black pepper and basil pappardelle), but otherwise, any of your favourite pasta will work too. You can omit the red peppers if you like, but I find that it lends a lovely sweetness and flavour to the dish. This is ideal for those big family dinners, where you can cook up a big batch, let it simmer on the stove while you sit, relax and have a sip or two of wine. That's stress-free cooking for you. Read on to get the recipe.

Mee Pok (Flat Egg Noodles) with Beef and Bittergourd

 

In all my years of eating and cooking, I have only recently embraced bittergourd into my cooking repertoire. I was visiting my mum and she was wondering what to do with the leftover roast pork she had in the fridge. She suggested doing a stir-fried bittergourd with roast pork dish, which I've heard of but never tried before. I can't remember if she ever cooked that during my childhood, but back then, I shunned anything that had bittergourd in it. I was a picky eater when I was young. Dare I admit that I never ate my veggies until I was in my late teens. Okay, my kids don't have to know this. Really.

Lor Mee (Braised Noodles)

I cooked "Lor Mee" (Singapore-style) this weekend and updated my earlier post with new photos.

Lor mee simply refers to braised noodles, which typically uses thick yellow noodles served in a bowl with a thick flavoursome gravy (thickened with starch solution and/or egg). They are usually topped with sliced pork, deep-fried yam or other fritters, hard-boiled egg, fish cake or fresh seafood, and then served with a generous drizzle of black vinegar, chilli and minced garlic.

I still have not had Lor Mee in Sydney, though I'm sure it would be available in one of the many Malaysian/Singaporean eateries that have been popping up in many places recently. I remember many years ago, there were only a couple of such eateries in the city, but now, there are just too many to keep track of. Of course, everyone claims to serve Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine, but whether they are authentic or not is something else.

Beef Lasagne

 

As Mr G was clearing the dishes after dinner, he started whinging about how he's always clearing the dishes. I told him "I've always offered you the chance to cook while I babysit and clean up, but you always say that I'm the cook". Well, I knew he would rather "clean up" than cook anyway, and dare I say that I trust my cooking more? Haha. I have to give him credit for some of his culinary skills. Let's see now... Mr G's forte lies in his famous Hainanese chicken rice. Famous because anyone who is invited to our home for the first time is usually treated to this Singaporean favourite. Oooh...he bakes a good pineapple-glazed Christmas ham, and roast beef too. We'll be looking forward to that soon! And last but not least, he does a pretty good lasagne. I say "pretty good" because the recipe is in his head, and sometimes it can be a little inconsistent. The last lasagne he made had too much béchamel and mozzarella cheese in it. He blamed it on the brand of cheese he used. However, little H loved the cheesiness and sauciness of the lasagne.

Fried Mee Siam (Vermicelli) with Crispy Shrimp

It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning. I was riding in the car when this song started playing on the radio:

 

Whatever I said, whatever I did I didn't mean it,

I just want you back for good,

(Want you back, want you back, want you back for good...)

 

Does that sound familiar? Well, Take That! Listening to the song evoked memories from my 21st birthday which I celebrated with my college friends. I still have photos from that day, when I had my first go at ice-skating and ended up with cuts and grazes from constantly breaking my fall with my bare hands. A couple of my friends had brought a guitar along and made a notable attempt to serenade me with "Back For Good", which is why hearing the song again made me feel quite nostalgic.

Char Kuay Teow, two-ways

 

Char Kuay Teow with sweet soy



If you know and love Malaysian food, then Char Kuay Teow needs no introduction. In terms of popularity, I would think that Laksa ranks number one, followed by Hainanese chicken rice, and then Char Kuay Teow. These three dishes are commonly found in most menus of restaurants serving Malaysian-style food in Sydney, but more often than not, the authenticity of the Char Kuay Teow is questionable. Char Kuay Teow (CKT) literally means fried rice noodles, but a plate of greasy fried rice noodles with black soy sauce does not qualify as CKT. I find that the CKT sold here usually omits the eggs, which is a must in every CKT. It coats the rice noodles and gives it flavour and texture. Cockles are another must-have in CKT, but I have omitted them in my dish as I was unable to find any at the shops here.

Penang Assam Laksa

It took me this long to finally attempt making Assam Laksa, and if mum says it's easy to prepare, she's quite right there. Just steam (or boil) the fish, add the blended ingredients to the stock and simmer before adding the flaked fish. Then serve with noodles and garnishing. Sounds easy doesn't it? In fact, I think I took more time preparing all the ingredients then the actual process of cooking it (man, those shallots sure took forever to peel, and they brought buckets of tears to my eyes).

Thai Duck Noodle Soup

When Ms T asked me if she could make duck soup using chicken stock, this Thai duck noodle soup instantly came to mind. I then realised that she must have been referring to Cantonese-style roast duck noodle soup where the duck is served on top of egg noodles in a chicken broth. The Thai-style version that I've featured in this post uses a stock made using duck bones, galangal, coriander root and some aromatics, and is served with wide rice noodles that I hand-cut to size. Though already tasty on its own, this noodle soup is really best eaten with some tangy, garlicky vinegar chilli sauce that also makes a great dipping sauce for the duck meat.

Farfalle Pasta with Sausage and Mushrooms in a Rosa Sauce

The moment I did a preview of the photos on this post, I knew I had forgotten to add something to the pasta. Peas! That's what was missing! It would have added such a nice pop of vibrant green to the dish. Well, at least I didn't forget the parsley, for both flavour and colour. It's been a while since I last cooked pasta, and when I do, it's usually a spaghettini with bacon and mushrooms in a creamy lemon butter sauce. I can't help it. Those are all my favourite ingredients and it's the only way I know how to incorporate them all in one delicious  meal. Well, up until two days ago when I made this super delicious pasta (I used bowtie or farfalle) with pork and fennel sausages, mushrooms, pancetta in a creamy tomato sauce. It was an absolute hit with everyone in the family (even my picky toddler, who often scoffs at any food I place in front of him, was too happy to finish his bowl of "butterflies" -that's what I told him they were).

Wonton Noodles (Wantan Mee)

I am pleased (and utterly thrilled!) to announce that I am doing a guest post for Rasa Malaysia today. Ever since I got that email from Bee a couple of weeks ago, I have been looking forward to this, plus I have also been feeding my family with loads of wonton noodles over the last two weekends. Thankfully (for all of us), my second attempt at perfecting the recipe was a success and I was really happy with how it turned out. I have to say my favourite part of the dish is the pickled green chillies because that's how I remember enjoying these noodles back in Malaysia. If you prefer to omit these chillies, try mixing the noodles through with Sriracha chilli sauce instead. Sriracha has a tangy zing and bite that lifts the flavours of the noodles and gives a subtle kick of heat to the dish. Do check out my Wonton Noodles guest post at Rasa Malaysia!

Claypot Yee Mee

I made this simple braised yee mee for lunch today, something I haven't eaten in a long time. I had forgotten how good these noodles taste. I don't cook with my claypot much, so I figured I might as well put it to good use. You can find yee mee (these are crispy noodle "cakes") at Asian supermarkets and they are usually made in Malaysia. I suppose it's more a Malaysian dish than anything else. You don't really need a claypot for it although it would probably taste more authentic, apart from keeping the noodles hot. I've used chicken and mushrooms here, but you can omit the mushrooms and substitute the chicken with a mixture of seafood or pork.

Chicken Katsu Curry Soba

The first time I tried curry soba was many many years ago at a tiny little Japanese eatery called Kura located in Sydney's Chinatown. My favourite was the one served with prawn and vegetable tempura. I would sit at the counter and observe how the kitchen staff took this bowl of soba with dashi stock in it, and scoop some thick Japanese curry over it. That was when I decided to attempt making curry soba using the same method, and this was some time last year (click here for the earlier recipe). Tempura + Curry = Yum!

Mushroom Penne with Cajun Chicken Schnitzel

Here is another variation on Cajun chicken pasta (click here for the earlier version) where I've used Swiss brown mushrooms in the sauce (for more flavour), and made a crumbed chicken schnitzel dressed in Cajun seasoning to go with it.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Cajun seasoning is typically a spicy mixture of herbs, paprika and chillies. It makes a sensational rub or marinade for meats and fish, which are traditionally grilled or barbecued until blackened and form a crust on the outside. I used bottled Cajun seasoning which already contains salt, which makes it really convenient. Before grilling, rub some oil over the meat before rubbing in the seasoning, so that it absorbs the flavours better. I made a creamy bacon and mushroom fettucine topped with Cajun-spiced chicken fillets, which is a fantastic combination. However, I think I might use penne instead next time as I prefer the texture and shape of it. I find that fettucine can sometimes be a little too unwieldy to eat especially when it cools down and sticks together.

Crushed Cherry Tomato Pasta

Christmas is just over, although the "feasting" continues with all the leftovers from Sunday's Christmas lunch - pineapple-glazed ham, roast leg of lamb, roasted root vegetables and crispy roasted baby potatoes, not forgetting a pot of "ham stock" that G made by boiling the leftover ham bone. Everytime I think about what my next meal would be, it's ham, lamb and more ham. I figured it would be nice to supplement our Boxing Day lunch with something light and simple.

Japchae (Korean Stir-fried Sweet Potato Noodles)

Christmas is coming soon and I forsee that we will be buying lots of goodies for the festive celebrations, which means that I have start clearing out my pantry (and fridge) to make space for these purchases. I bought these sweet potato starch noodles a while back with the intention of making Japchae, a rather popular dish served at Korean restaurants. Japchae is a dish of stir-fried glass noodles (called "dangmyeon"), containing vegetables like carrots, red peppers, onions and scallions, and is usually seasoned with soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.