My Home & Life Style Blog

July 19, 2007

Som Tum (Papaya Salad)

I don't really know who these two are, but they make pretty good Som Tum. Enjoy!

July 18, 2007

Easy Menu: Stir-fried pork in chilli paste

Stir-fried pork in chilli paste or moo pad nam prik pow (nam prik pow is chilli paste in oil...the same paste you add to the tom yum soup) is a kind of dish I cook on a rainy afternoon when it's so difficult to go outside that I have to cook up sth from the leftover I could fine in the fridge.

The ingredients for this dish is very easy to find and very common to Thai. And you can also be creative with the vegetable you want to add in. Some people put onion, spring beans, sweet basil, baby corn, carrots, or spring onion. But the version I'll do today is with baby corn and carrots coz I just don't like onion....hehe.

Basic Ingredients:

For 1-2 Servings

200 gram of Fillet cut into 1*2

4 Baby Corn , sliver

1/4 Cup of cube carrots

2 Table Spoon of Chilli Paste in Oil (Nam Prik Pao)

1 Table Spoon of Vegetable Oil

2 Table Spoon of Water

2 Table Spoon of Light Soy Sauce

1 Table Spoon of Sugar

Directions:

1. Marinate the pork in 1 table spoon of chilli paste and 1 table spoon of water for 15 minutes.

2. Making the Paste Mix - Mix the paste with water and 1 table spoon of light soy sauce (or if you like, fish sauce).

3. Heat the oil in frying pan. Then add the pork, stir-fry until medium-rare cooked.

4. Add the the paste mix and mix the ingredients together.

5. Add sugar and soy sauce (or fish sauce) to taste.

6. Add the baby corns and carrots and stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked.

7. Serve with hot steamed rice.

July 17, 2007

Healthy Drink: Lemongrass and Ginger Drink

Last two weeks, I had the chance to visit the Barai Spa at Hyatt Regency Huahin. I'm telling you...the place is awesome (and of course, pricey). All the Spa treatment rooms are uniquely decorated and equipped with outdoor jacuzzi bath and a rain shower.

Picture of the Basin in the Barai

By now you might be wondering why I mention all these great things about the Barai. Well, the thing is I was served with this very delicious and very healthy welcoming drink. From the taste, I believe the main ingredients are lemongrass and ginger. I love the drink so much that I did a lil experiment at home. And ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present my version of "The Barai Welcoming Drink".

Ingredients:

3 Lemongrass, roughly diced

6 Slices of Old Ginger

1 Pandan Leave

Syrup

Directions:

1. Add the lemongrass to heated water. Bring to boil.

2. Add ginger and pandan leave. And boil for another 5 minutes.

3. Let the drink cool down, then add syrup to taste.

4. Chill the drink the fridge or serve it with ice.

Lemongrass are popular as an alternative to standard Western allopathic medicine for a variety of problems, including reducing fevers, stomach cramps and flatulence as well as general digestive aid.

Ginger are popular as an alternative to standard Western allopathic medicine for a variety of problems, including nausea, colds and flu, stomach upsets as well as helping circulation.

Note: Don't throw the residue away. There are more used to it.

Dry it, groud it and put in a teabag for tomorrow's afternoon tea or make a gift out of it.

Easy Menu: Stir-fried pork in oyster sauce

Stir-fried pork with oyster sauce or Moo Nam Man Hoy is quite easy to cook, but not easy to make it tastes good. The best Moo Nam Man Hoy is the one with the most tender meat. As one of the patrons of Thai mom and pop restaurants, I, sadly, found that most restaurants overlook this point...sniff sniff. So, I will not be abused by the mom and pop restaurants (today) as I will now cook my own super-tender pork stir-fried in oyster sauce!!!!! I will also tell y'all how to tender beef and chicken in the footnote section.

Ingredients

300 Grams of Pork, thinly sliced (I use fillet)

1 Tablespoon of Corn starch

2 Teaspoons of Sugar

3 Tablespoons of Oyster Sauce

2 Teaspoons of Seasoning Soy Sauce (I use Golden Mountain but other brands will do too)

1/2 Cup of Pork Soup ( I use cube soup dissolve in hot water)

5 Spring Onions, Cut into matchstick

10 Straw Mushrooms, Cut in half

2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil

2 Teaspoons of Chopped Garlic

2 Large Red Chillies, Sliced

Note: Go freestyle with the vegetable. You can add onions, bell peppers, carrots, brocolli, etc.

Directions

For Tenderizing

Marinate the pork with 1 tablespoon of corn starch, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of seasoning soy sauce for 1/2 - 1 hour.

For Cooking

1. Heat the oil and add garlic. Stir-fry until garlic turns yellow.

2. The add the pork and stir-fry until the pork is cooked.

3. Add the mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and the soup. Stir-fry until the sauce gets thicken and the mushrooms are cooked.

4. Add the spring onions and the red chillies.

5. Sprinkle a lil grounded pepper when served.

Footnotes:

Tenderizing the Chicken - marinate the chicken with pepper, thin soy sauce, sugar, water, and cornstarch and leave it for 1/2 hour.

Tenderizing the Beef - Same with pork, but make sure you remove all the fascia out. Leave it for 1 - 2 hours (or overnight).

July 16, 2007

Hong Kong Fried Rice (My Style)

I call this Hong Kong Fried Rice My Style because I'm using the leftover ingredients I have at home to cook the fried rice. So basically, this is the equation for my version of HK Fried Rice:

HK Fried Rice - boiled cabbage - shrimp - sweetend sausage (Kun Chieng) = My HK Fried Rice

Ingredients:

5 Cups of Steamed Cook Rice
2 Cups of Roasted Red Pork in Cube
2 Cups of cooked peas, cube carrots and sweet corm
(Note: I used frozen peas, carrots and corn. Easier to cook)
2 Eggs
2 Table Spoon of Tsoyu or Soy Sauce
1 Table Spoon of Gold Mountain Seasoning Sauce
1 Table Spoon of Sugar
1 Table Spoon of Salt
1 Table Spoon of Vegetable Oil
2 Cloves of Minced Garlic

Directions:

Saute garlic in oil. Add the pork; cook until brown. Add rice to fried mixture. Add the peas, carrots and corn. Add eggs and fry. Continue stirring until eggs are cooked. Add tsoyu, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.

The serving is for 4 people or 2 people if both of you are big eaters.

Note: The most important thing about cooking is that you should not follow the exact amount of ingredients suggested in the cook book. What's important is to follow your own taste.

How to make Honey-Glazed Roasted Red Pork (Moo Daeng) in 10 easy steps

Roasted red pork or moo daeng in Thai is one of my fave dish. It's delicious and could be used as an ingredient in several dishes like Baa Mee Moo Daeng (Egg noodle with roasted red pork), Chinese Bun, or Hong Kong Fried Rice. The way to cook it is also simple and I'm going to show you how to cook it in two different methods. Here goes:

Recipe 1: Do It Family Way Recipe

This recipe comes from the discussion with my aunts and my grandma. After several arguements, here is what they agreed as the ingredients:

Ingredients:

(For 8 servings)

1 Kg (2.204 lbs) of Pork Fillet
1 Table Spoon of Soy Sauce or Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce
1/4 Cup of Tomato Paste
1 Table Spoon of Sugar
1/4 Cup of Honey
1 Tea Spoon of Five-Spice Powder (Pa Lo)
4 Baby Bok Choy (Taiwanese Bok Choy)
4 Cups of Water
Note: Tomato paste can redden the meat to a certain extent. If you, however, want the pork to be more red, you will need to mix the 1/2 teaspoon of red food coloring with 2 tbsp water, and rub the pork with this solution.

Other Tools:
1 Large Ziplock Bag
Meat Rack
Baking Dish

Directions:
Step 1. Combine all the ingredient together in a ziplock bag.
Step 2. Marinate pork in a large ziplock bag (or shallow dish), working marinade all over meat, for at least 2 hours.
Step 3. Preheat oven to 170 degree C. or 350 degrees F.
Step 4. Place a meat rack on the baking dish (to elevate roast); oil rack to prevent sticking; place roast on rack in dish and place in preheated oven.
IMPORTANT: You can also charcoal-grilled the meat instead of roasting it in the oven. The result? The meat will be drier, which is best if you want to use it as an ingredient for Ba Mee Moo Daeng.
Step 5. Constantly flipping the meat every 20 minutes and glaze it with honey.
Step 6. In the meantime, boil 4 cup of water. Soak the bok choy in boiling water for 2 minutes. Make sure it's not too cooked. Then soak it in room-temperature water to keep the green.
Step 7. After 40 minutes, increase the heat to 200 degree C. or 400 degrees F. And keep checking the meat until it's fully cooked.
Step 8. When done, remove roast from heat and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Step 9. Thinly slice roast into 1/4" medallions.
Step 10. Garnish with the bok choy; serve with hot steamed rice.

Note: Dipping sauce for moo daeng is a mixture of 2 table spoon of sweeten dark soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, and chopped red chillies.

Recipe 2: The Lazy Gal Recipe

I call this a lazy gal recipe because I'll basically use Lobo's Thai Roasted Red Pork Seasoning Mix. Here's how:

Ingredients:

(For 8 servings)
1 Kg (2.204 lbs) of Pork Fillet
2 Bags of Lobo's Thai Rosted Red Pork Seasoning Mix

1 Cup of Water

Note: One pack of Lobo's mix contains 2 bags of the seasoning mix for 1 Kg. of meat.

Directions:

Step 1: Dissolve 2 bags of Lobo's mix with 1 cup of water in a ziplock bag.

Step 2: Marinate the meat in the ziplock bag for 1 hour.

Then follow Step 3 - 10 like the previous recipe.

The result for this recipe is the meat will be more red and drier. And it tastes more like the moo daeng used at Chai See Mee Kiew (The Egg Noodle Franchise in Thailand).