Khmer Fish Curry

This is my first food community project. Every month, Nicole from For the Love of Food has a foodie event called: Taste & Create. Nicole's job is to partner food bloggers and get us to cook something from our partners' blog. It's like picking a menu from a random restaurant but instead, we're our own chefs :) It's a pretty good way to cookcialize.

This month, my partner is Lauren from I'll Eat You. I decided to try her recipe for Khmer Royal Catfish. I was in Cambodia earlier this year to visit schools around Phnom Penh and Siem Reap for disadvantaged kids. I had been working to collect digital cameras to be given away to the students so that they could take pictures of their day-to-day lives. The pictures were to be put into a book and sold to raise funds for the schools to buy computer and such. So off I went solo, to discover the humble people, their lovely manners and generosity (even though they had so little themselves) and their courage to move on from a bitter past (more about my visit here).

The minute I saw Lauren's post I knew I had to give it a go.
Note: I've changed the original recipe according to my taste buds and items I had in the fridge. Go here for the original Lauren's Khmer Royal Catfish recipe.

Khmer Fish Curry (serves 2)
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• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 fish fillets (about 400grams)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, de-veined and julienned
• 1/2 cup water

for the paste:

• 2 tbs hot paprika
• 1 1/2 tbs sliced lemongrass
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 medium shallots
• 5 kaffir lime leave, de-veined
• 2 tsp chopped ginger
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
• 1/2 cup water

Method
1. Put all the paste ingredients in a blender or food processor, combine till smooth and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok over med-high heat.
3. Fry the fish until golden brown. Set aside, covered, to keep warm.
4. Cook the paste and for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until aroma is released.
5. Add coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Cook 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.
6. Remove from the heat and add fish. Let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Transfer fish and sauce to a platter, garnish with julienned lime leaves. Serve with rice.

Pumpkin Rice

I woke up hungry. Unfortunately for me, my fridge was having a Old Mother Hubbard's day. All I could see was half a butternut pumpkin, half an onion and a couple of garlic cloves. Oh thank you Lord!

Now, if there's one thing you must know about me, I love my pumpkins. Seriously. They're yummy. They're healthy. They're the one of the most blessed vegetables God made in this world that can be transform into about anything you put your mind to. (Need a car? All you need is a pumpkin and call 1800-fairygodmother).

Food Commandment: Thou must not walk away from the stove and chat to your sister about food blogs because you might end up with burnt rice.

Pumpkin Rice (serves 2)
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2 1/2 rice cups of brown rice or wild red rice
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 a butternut pumpkin, cubed
1/2 a onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of ginger, slivered
1 tbsp of soy sauce
5 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water
fried shallots to garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a pot, when hot, throw in the garlic, onions and ginger.
2. When fragrant, add the butternut pumpkin and leave it for *5 minutes.
3. Add rice and 3 cups of water. Salt and pepper to taste. Leave for 10 minutes.
4. Stir the rice and when most of the moisture is gone, add the soy sauce and mushrooms.
5. Leave for another 15 minutes or when rice is cook.
6. Garnish with shallots and serve hot.

*Note: I believe that's how long I took to do the dirty dishes.

Lazy Hints:
An alternative and unsupervised method is to cook it in the rice cooker. Follow until Method 2. Then put the rice, water and pumpkin into the rice cooker and press 'Cook'. *Bing-Bada-Bing!*

One Pot Rice

Have I ever mentioned that I'm lazy? No? If you haven't noticed, I've only been cooking really simple dishes. It doesn't take more than 30-45mins time for me to prepare and cook a meal. ;)

There are also days when I'm really really lazy, where I don't do any cooking at all. However, it doesn't mean that I'll eat out. I just need to prepare some easy ingredients and simply throw everything into a rice cooker and let it cook for me! *lol*

So, on one of those days, a recipe like this comes in handy:

One Pot - Chicken Rice
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Ingredients (for 2 persons)
- 1 cup of Rice
- 1 Chicken breast fillet
- 8 dried chinese Mushrooms
- 1 stalk of Spring onion
- 1 small piece of Ginger
- Garlic
- Soy sauce or salt
- Oyster sauce
- Sesame oil
- Dark soy sauce

Method
1. Wash and add 1 cup of rice into a rice cooker
2. Cut chicken fillet into bite size pieces
3. Marinate chicken pieces with soy sauce or salt
4. Chop garlic finely
5. Cut ginger into thin slices
6. Cut mushrooms into slices (make sure you soak the dried mushrooms much earlier)
7. Add chicken, garlic, ginger and mushrooms into rice cooker
8. Add water - the usual amount for 1 cup of rice + extra (adjust accordingly to the additional ingredients)
9. Add salt or soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil + dark soy sauce and mix everything thoroughly. (I added according to my own estimation - no fixed measurements here)
10. Turn on the rice cooker and let it do its work while you enjoy your favourite tv programme, book or food blogs!
11. When it's cooked (you can smell it!), add finely chopped spring onions and serve!

*Note: It might take a little longer than usual to cook because of the extra stuff you've added to the rice. By the way, you can also stir fry the chicken and mushrooms with garlic, ginger and the sauces before you add them to the rice cooker, that is if you're not lazy and want the chicken to have more flavour. You can even add some veges to it if you want a more balanced meal (I take the spring onions as my vege! *chuckles*). Feel free to improvise on it. There are no fixed rules for cooking! ;)

The result:

I call this the one pot rice. :D It's simple yet tasty and filling. Although I might get lazy sometimes, I still managed to add another post to this blog! *grin* Looks like I'm not that lazy after all! or maybe I've started improving! ;)

Quote of the day ~ You will see it when you believe it~

Miso Fried Rice

I like Japanese stuff. Japanese language, music, anime, drama, pretty boys, sakura, cute toys (domo-kun rocks!), colourful vending machines.. everything! Oh, especially Japanese food! All the yummy snacks, instant noodles, ramune, sushi, sashimi, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, unagi-don, katsu curry, bento, etc. Yums! The list goes on and on. ;)

I was out having dinner with my friends at a Japanese restaurant the other day. Instead of having the usual unagi-don, I've decided to order the unagi fried rice (I like unagi!) because I wanted to try something different. That was my first time eating unagi fried rice and boy, it was delicious! Then, it got me thinking.. it's cool that they have unagi fried rice, why not have miso fried rice too?

Say, has anyone ever tried miso fried rice before? Yes? No? So far, I've not seen it in any Japanese restaurants that I've been (not that I eat out often :P) I wonder how it would taste like? Since miso soup tastes nice, I think it should taste good too! Anyway, with that thought in mind, I've conducted another experiment in my kitchen. *grin* And this is the recipe that I've created:

Miso Fried Rice
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Ingredients (for 2 persons)
- 1 cup of Rice
- 200g Minced Pork
- 2 small packets of instant Miso soup paste
- 2 Eggs
- 1 stalk of Spring onion
- 1 small piece of Ginger
- Garlic
- Soy sauce or salt

Method
1. Cook 1 cup of rice in a rice cooker (you can also use left over rice)
2. Marinate minced pork with soy sauce or salt
3. Finely chop garlic, ginger and spring onion
4. Fry garlic and ginger in a pan till fragrant
5. Add marinated minced pork and stir through together
6. Dilute miso paste with a little bit of water in a bowl
7. Add miso mix into pan and stir through together
8. Beat eggs in a bowl and add to pan
9. Add rice and stir everything together (make sure you stir everything thoroughly and consistently so that the rice won't stick to the pan)
10. Add salt or soy sauce to taste
11. When it's done, serve in a bowl and sprinkle with some finely chopped spring onions

You can also choose to add any vege of your choice (e.g. lettuce - finely chopped) to the ingredients.

Taa daa! The result of my experiment:

I had a very satisfied guinea pig! ;) Enough said. Try it yourself today.

Quote of the day ~ The more you 'pass on' to others, the more you keep for yourself ~

Nasi Lemak

For my first food post, it shall be on my first attempt at cooking nasi lemak!

Nasi lemak has always been one of my favourite dishes. Back at home, dad would always buy nasi lemak for breakfast on weekends. It is a routine on weekends, where dad would wake up very early in the morning to go for a jog in the park. Sometimes, I would join him (when I'm not too lazy to wake up early). On his way home, he would stop by a little stall by the roadside to get our weekly fix of nasi lemak. Since he is a regular customer, the makcik who operated the stall would give us extra portion of goodies e.g. ikan bilis, sambal, etc. My nasi lemak was always drenched in lots of sambal! Yumsss! Oh, how I miss the nasi lemak back home! (I miss the morning jogs with dad too)

Just a few weeks back, I had a craving for nasi lemak. With much determination, I have conducted an experiment in my kitchen. I don't have a proper recipe for it, but this is what I did:

Nasi Lemak
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Ingredients (for 2 persons)
- 1 cup of Rice
- 1 can of Santan(Coconut milk)
- 1 can of Sambal ikan bilis(dried anchovies in hot spicy sauce)(bought from the asian grocery) - I know it's cheating, but.. :P
- 4-6 Chicken drumlets
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 Cucumber
- Peanuts/groundnuts
- Kentucky fried chicken powder

Method
1. Cook rice with coconut milk in a rice cooker
2. Boil eggs and cut into halves when done
3. Coat chicken drumlets with Kentucky fried chicken powder and fry them till golden brown
4. Roast peanuts/groundnuts till brown in pan
5. Cut cucumber into thin slices
6. Heat the sambal ikan bilis in a pan
7. When all is done, serve the santan rice in a plate with all the side dishes

This is a simple way to cook it. It was more of an experiment for me. There are many other side dishes that can be served with nasi lemak. I'm a simple person. A lazy one. So, at the moment this is enough to feed my craving! The result of my experiment:


What do you think? Well, canned food can't go wrong. *lol* Personally, I think it was a success. Even my guinea pig liked it. Mom, I did it! Now, I don't have to go out to eat nasi lemak anymore! And cooking is kinda fun! :D

Psst: Note that I didn't provide any proper measurements for the recipe. I usually use the ingredients and adjust the taste according to feeling because I have this bad habit of not tasting my food when I'm cooking :P

Quote of the day ~ Love the life you live and live the life you love~