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If you’re getting bored with eating white rice and would like to spruce it up a little, Mediterranean rice is an ingenious way to add a splash of color to your everyday plain white rice.

Mediterranean rice is so easy to make and not only looks but also tastes very good. Simply soak a couple of handfuls of frozen veggie mix, i.e. carrots, corn and peas, in water till defrosted.

Wash and strain your usual measurement of rice grains. Set aside.

In a wok on medium heat, add 2-3 blobs of butter. Throw in the veggie mix, add the rice grains and stir to mix well.

Scoop/pour into your rice cooker. Add your usual amount of water and turn it on. In 20 minutes, you will have beautiful Mediterranean rice to serve. Goes great with practically anything and because you’ll tend to eat more rice since it’s so pretty, you might just need the best diet supplement afterwards, hehehe!

Guess what I had for lunch (and dinner) last weekend? I can’t believe it myself because it’s been ages since I’ve even thought to cook my favorite loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodles.

The name sounds horrifying, I know. I’m not only a Chili Queen, I’m also a Drama Queen ! I translated and spiced up this name for special effects and if all goes well, I might even copyright the name and make a movie about it, heh!

Loh shee fun is not really rat’s tails, of course, they just look like rat’s tails . You can either eat it in a soup, just like any other kind of noodle. But I prefer it dry as in sans soup. Very simple to whip this up at home. You ready?

I cooked 1kg of loh shee fun and 1kg of kuay teow, or flat rice noodles to feed my troops, but you can use any amount depending on the number of people you’re feeding. Place the noodles in a colander and run it through your Grohe faucet to rinse if you like. Then bring a pot of water to boil and use it for blanching the rat’s tail noodle and choy sum, or mustard green.

I’m not going to list actual measurements for the sauce since that depends on how much noodle you’re cooking. Just adjust the sauce ingredients to your own taste. For the sauce, you need:

• dark, thick soy sauce
• oil
• sesame oil
• oyster sauce
• soy sauce (in place of salt) and white pepper to taste

Have all of these ingredients in a large bowl. I also stir-fried some minced pork with some oil and chopped garlic which I added into the bowl. Lastly, add the blanched loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodle, to this and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro (I didn’t have any handy). Serve piping hot with shredded fresh chillies. I prefer bird’s eye chillies for that added oomph! Simple, ya, just a one-dish meal and so so delish. And less of a choking hazard for younger kids than the regular mile-long noodles.

My love for Shanghai noodles goes back a long way. Back in those days I used to frequent Esquire Kitchen because it was conveniently near where I worked, and their Shanghai noodles was a treat I looked forward to… tremendously.

I always order the one with char choy (preserved veggie), pork strips and pork chop, and I still do. I ate this just the other day for lunch and although the noodle is a bit different, at least the soup is not as high sodium as it used to be at one time.

Indeed there was a time when I had to close my eyes and wish the saltiness away. I always joked about them needing to reimburse me for the expensive wrinkle eye cream after all that squinting and twisting to my eye area as I painfully swallowed each mouthful.

Glad though that they’ve realized and decided to tone down the salt. I love the taupan cheong (chilly bean paste) that accompanies the Shanghai noodles. It’s so good and I always request for extra . Me, the Chili Queen, remember?

I have a thing for Indian curry rice. This is what I’ve been having for lunch on the weekend once in a while. Last weekend, we were at the The Curve and I ordered this plate of rice with fried fish fillet and cabbage and drowned it in lots of curry sauce. Heaven!

Although it’s a very simple meal with just two dishes and a papadam (cracker), it’s just the fix I need. You know, like those racing fanatics who can’t resist buying every Nascar jacket that’s available out there. Yep, that’s how I feel about Indian curry rice. I always end up overeating but there’s no way I can resist it !

I honestly can’t remember where I had this bowl of fish head noodle. Maybe it’s near the place where I get cheap auto insurance. Suffice to say, I’ve been ordering fish head noodle everywhere I can find it.

The noodle is topped with large chunks of fried fish fillet and tomatoes with preserved veggies and the soup is milk-based giving the dish a sweet, sour and saltish flavor.

Kinda different, huh? That’s why I like it. Not many places serve it though so when I find it, I pretty much go nuts ! Wonder if I can homecook it and still have it taste as good.