Foodarrific

On weekends, when everyone is home, I try to cook something that everyone likes. One of our favorite hawker food is fried kuay teow, or fried flat rice noodle, which is pretty easy to whip up at home. I fried this and couldn’t wait to gobble it up.

All you need are these fresh ingredients which you can adjust according to number of people you’re feeding:

• kuay teow, or flat rice noodle (I use 1 kg for two meals for 5 people)
• fresh medium or large shrimps, shelled and deveined
• nga choy, or bean sprouts
• gow choy, or chives, cut into 2″ lengths (discard the heads)
• cooking oil
• thick dark soy sauce
• light soy sauce
• chili paste
• eggs
• salt to taste

I first heat up my wok with a generous drizzle of cooking oil. I usually fry one portion (for one person) at a time. You need to keep your wok on high heat and you need to work fast. So don’t get distracted now .

First I throw in a handful of shrimps followed by a couple handfuls of noodles, or kuay teow, and drizzle over some dark soy sauce (just enough to give it some color) and add a splash of water. I’m frying, frying, keep that hand moving, woo-oo!

Then I throw in a handful of bean sprouts, chives and a spoonful (or however many) of chili paste and I keep right on frying as I crack an egg and drizzle some light soy sauce into the mix.

And we’re done. So simple. We like our fried kuay teow pretty basic without clams, Chinese sausages or fish paste slices but you can go ahead and add those if you like.

Homemade hawker-style fried kuay teow is just as tasty and much cleaner and healthier. If you’re eat this a lot outside, don’t forget to some colon cleanse reviews as the hawker fried kuay teow is usually fried with lard .

Filed under: AsianHealthy EatingOne-dish MealsRecipesRice & NoodlesSpicyStreet Food by chili queen - 2 Comments →

There are so many things I love about the California roll (or handroll, as they’re sometimes called) I don’t quite know where to begin. For one thing, it uses healthy ingredients like fresh raw carrots and cucumbers, and nori, or toasted dried seaweed which is a great source of iron, calcium, vitamin A and B, iodine and fiber.

For another, it’s so easy to make I can literally lay out the ingredients on the table and whoever walks into the kitchen can easily wrap one up and chomp on it right away.

Well, since we won’t be going on any Vegas vacations this year, I thought we’d stay home and make these. DH bought the large crispy toasted nori sheets from a trip to Japan. I’m making two variations here – one with smoked salmon, and the other with crab sticks – just to make my kids happy that they have a choice .

The ingredients I use:

• large nori, or toasted seaweed sheets
• cooked white rice (the thing to use is sticky rice but I use regular rice, tastewise I don’t think it makes much of a difference)
• crab sticks
• smoked salmon slices
• cucumbers, long and thinly sliced into sticks
• carrots, long and thinly sliced into sticks
• Japanese mayonnaise
• wasabi, or Japanese green mustard

First I place a nori sheet on a flat surface or plate. At that spot on the lower half of the nori sheet where I’m going to place a tablespoon of rice, I squeeze just a little wasabi, or green mustard. Wasabi is deadly spicy and has a pungent sting to it, so you may want to use very little, or none at all if you’re serving it to kids.

Then I layer on a slice of smoked salmon or a crab stick, and 2 or 3 cucumber and carrot sticks. The best part is squeezing a squiggly line of Japanese mayonnaise all the way over the top of the filling.

Now it’s time to wrap the whole thing into a cone. The mayo at the top layer will ‘glue’ the wrap nicely together, and you can add a little more at the end to make the cone hold its shape better.

And that’s basically it. It’s not hard, just takes a bit of practice to get the cone all nice and neat. I’m not picky so I just let the kids get creative. Sometimes they roll it up like a cigar. So try it and have fun with it .

Filed under: AsianHealthy EatingKid-friendlyNo Cooking RequiredOne-dish MealsRecipesSeafoodVegetables by chili queen - No Comments →

I have half a pack of angel hair pasta left over from yesterday’s lunch. We’ve eaten every other type of pasta so I thought it was time we tried angel hair. But the kids don’t quite care for it so I have to find a way to finish it up somehow.

Now if you notice, angel hair pasta looks a lot like the thin Chinese egg noodle, and I’m guessing it won’t taste far different. So I decided to do a Fusion stirfry… just for the heck of it.

Here’s what I used:

• 0.5 packet of angel hair pasta
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• a handful of choy sum (mustard green), cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 stick of celery, thickly sliced
• a few pieces of mock char siew (vegetarian barbecue pork), sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
• spring onion and Chinese parsley, finely chopped
• sesame oil
• salt and pepper to taste

The preparation of the angel hair pasta is the same as if you were actually using it for a regular pasta. Just boil till al dente.

Into my wok on high heat, I drizzle some oil and lightly saute the garlic. Then I quickly add the mock char siew followed by vegetarian oyster sauce, choy sum and celery. Add some water and allow to simmer for a few minutes to let the vegetables cook through.

Then add the angel hair pasta and stir well with the rest of the ingredients. Add a good drizzle of sesame oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped spring onion and Chinese parsley. Serve hot with a small plate of fresh bird’s eye chilly in soy sauce.

Heaven! I’m really proud of this creation of mine. You really must try it. You’ll truly be surprised how good this Fusion angel hair pasta tastes, wierd though it may sound . Best of all, it’s meatless, healthy and trust me, you can banish all thoughts of weight loss products when you’re eating this.

Filed under: FusionHealthy EatingKid-friendlyOne-dish MealsPastaQuick & Easy CookingRecipesVegetablesVegetarian by chili queen - 4 Comments →

Today’s the fifth day of my 30-day vegetarian diet. Woo-hoo, 25 more days to go and I’m doing great so far – no meat, no seafood, no eggs. I’m constantly hungry but I guess that means I just have to graze more often, moo-oo .

#1. blueyes’ question. What’s your favorite seafood recipe?

It would be clam chowder but I’ve never tried cooking it so I don’t have a recipe for it.

#2. Italian Ice. Like it, love it or leave it?

No idea what it is but I found out it’s pretty much like gourmet ice cream so I think I should like it.

#3. What’s your favorite crunchy food? (anything – pickles, chips, fruit, etc.)

All of the above.

#4. Have you ever eaten so much of something that you felt or got sick?

Lately the kids have been dragging me to Carls Jr every weekend. I swear I don’t want to see another burger for the next few months. I can only take so much of a good thing .

Four Foods on Friday is fun to play. Wanna join us? Just hop over to valmg’s blog at Fun, Crafts and Recipes and grab the details.

Filed under: MemesTags & AwardsOne-dish MealsSeafoodSnacks & Desserts by chili queen - 4 Comments →

I always have a stash of instant noodles in my pantry for ‘emergencies’ like when I need something quick to eat before I head out to Chinese wedding dinners which typically start like 2 hours late !

Instant noodles are convenient and they’re sold at the Asian grocer. But I find the flavoring overly salty sometimes, so what I usually do is not use all of the flavoring provided, or pour away some of the soup and add more water to dilute it.

I came across these non-fried instant noodles the other day. I’ve never noticed them at the store before but apparently they’re healthier than the ones that are fried and therefore contain more saturated fat.

Anyhow this is the jumbo pack I bought which comes without the packets of flavoring inside. Control freak that I am, I’m going, great, now I get to call the shots on what goes in !

Right, so this is what I made – a nutritious kon low, or dry instant noodle. For the seasoning, I put these into a bowl:

• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
• a good drizzle of cooking oil
• a good drizzle of sesame oil

In a pot of water, I blanch a few stems of choy sum, or mustard greens. When done, put it into my bowl with the seasoning.

Using that same pot of water, I boil two different types of fishballs (the small round ones and the larger fried ones) and seafood tofu and throw those into my bowl as well. The seafood tofu is actually pretty tasty and come in small rectangular pieces.

I bring a fresh pot of water to boil and leave the noodles in for 3-4 minutes to cook. The instant noodles come in thin rectangular blocks (see first photo). Two blocks is enough for a meal for one person.

Scoop the cooked noodle into the bowl and mix well with the seasoning and other ingredients. Top generously with chopped spring onions, cilantro and fried shallots, and we’re ready to dig in. Oh, and don’t forget the fresh chopped bird’s eye chilly or jalapeno.

Filed under: Healthy EatingLunchbox IdeasOne-dish MealsQuick & Easy CookingRice & NoodlesSeafood by chili queen - No Comments →