ayonecan-cook

Yes I'm back ~ It took quite an effort to come back. But here I am again. Again. But honestly.... I have good reasons. Yes I do.  This was so quick to make, so delicious, so addictive that I had to blog about it. White Chilli sambal is something I learnt to make from my late Mother in law. Yes they are white chilies that she used and I have only seen white chillies in Sabah, East Malaysia.  White chillies remain white and do not turn red when ripe. Unlike normal bird chillies or othere larger chillies which are green when young and red when ripe. I'm not quite sure why these are white. They were green at first, then they turned white and finally red. H says they are not true white chillies which never ever turn red. They are also not as big as the 'true' white chillies. But cravings make everything possible. So I made some. And they certainly will do. And I found that it really didn't matter if they were white or black. Or red. This dish is so full of umami you just...

I craned my neck to look at the translucent sheet of rice paper rain that H had pointed out to me. It was pummeling the ground, before us, a few meters away. Within seconds I heard it drench our black Hyundai as we entered its realm. I ducked. It sounded like a Niagara. But I felt the eerie-ness of a clenched fist, at first knocking then spreading its fingers, softly, on top of my head. Have you ever felt that? Juxtapositions of weather never fail to fascinate me ....nature's abrupt seperateness of downpour and clearness existing within meters of each other...side by side, face to face, meeting up, merging, yet apart, clear on one side, grey on the other, dry over here and wet over there. How cool is that? That happened a few days ago. And it has nothing to do with these spring rolls. I just had to tell you. Because the past month has been a sort of tropical winter. Wet and gloomy most times yet smouldering in between. And my enthusiasm towards cooking or baking have shifted accord...

Papaya trees grow from a seed to a fruit-bearing 20 foot tree in about eighteen months. And they fruit the way rabbits breed. In a bunch. They are not one of my favourite fruit because they have a slight bitter undertone. But young green papaya when made into a Thai salad transforms into something quite, quite wonderful. Utterly refreshing.  My first encounter of a Thai papaya salad was at the Thai ambassador's cocktail party many years ago. In an effort to promote their cuisine they had booths set up to demonstrate the makings of various scrumptious Thai dishes. Surprisingly amoung all other mouth-watering dishes the one dish that I fell in love with was the Thai papaya salad.  I think it was the combination and perfect balance of fresh fruit, toasted dried shrimps, hot chillies, salty fish sauce, tart lime juice and crunchy peanuts that won me over. With the Thai papaya salad comes the above, right, which, I  believe, is a Thai invention. The papaya/fruit shredder. It l...

Remember the Thai Sweet Chillie Sauce I made in my previous post? Remember? Remember? Remember when I said things could only get better from then on? Well it did. It did ~ Just like the first spring rolls 'recipe' these hardly needed a recipe  Which was good because I was feeling kind of slap happy ~ So what you'll need are some ~  finicky carrots ~ julienned see through glass noodles ~ softened in warm water, drained pinky prawns ~ gently boiled, peeled imposter crab sticks  ~ from a packet, unsealed sprightly sprigs of cilantro ~ plucked pretty basil leaves ~ whole minty mint leaves ~ itsy bitsy bits or anything else that strikes your fanciful highnesses ~ But don't you ever forget those slippery glass noodles ~ Because they add such a crunchy feely-ness, people ~ Then I crushed some strands of saffron thread  And soaked them in warm water ~  Until it turned into a liquid sunset  A minute later So I slipped in a disc  Of the fancy rice paper...

  Thai sweet chillie sauce is syrupy, sweet and hot spicy. It takes under 10 minutes to make from start to finish. It's super quick. But I think the most satisfying part about making sauces, pickles, chutneys, jams or relishes, super quick or not,  is in the bottling.  Because you just know better things are about to come. I really wanted a square bottle for this. So I went to Daiso. Got it.  Daiso has everything. They have the littlest sauce bottles in the world too. Each slightly longer than an inch and perhaps skinnier than your little finger.  They are to bring along with you when you travel.  For when you're feeling homesick. Or perhaps to work. So quirky. Even silly me wouldn't buy them. They are just too little. :)  But I did buy that cute spoon in the photo. I can't stop myself buying things from that store. H e l p . And then I made sauce. The recipe ~ This sauce was so easy. I got the recipe off Closet Cooking who got it off She Simmers . Ho...

Good evening boys and girls ! A tart is shallow, frivolous, fancy, dressed up with an open top. Usually baked in a shallow tin with a removable bottom and served on a pretty serving plate. A pie is down to earth, covered up, substantial and deep. Usually baked in a deep pie dish or bowl and served in it. But both may be sweet or savoury. And both are to be eaten. And I'm happy to report that in today's unisexual world the word tart is used not only to disparage women but also men who are considered promiscuous and flamboyant .. ... "with a fruity lisp and tight clothing"  Fruithy lispth?  F ruithy listhpth? Gasthp. That soundths adorable. Clathh dithmithed. This is a tart recipe I saw a picture of in GoodFood magazine. (I love GoodFood magazine). These tarts could be made ahead, frozen and re-heated when guests arrive. Extremely easy to put together and like all tarts are fancy and playful. And cute. I had a grand time with them. They are such dear little thing...

Nothing fancy here. It's just a garlic ginger chillie hot sauce. A chicken rice hot sauce. All you need is a blender and a swoosh and it's done. Ju made this exact sauce a couple of days ago as well. I'm not surprised if we had made and photographed it on the very same day. We share the same vibes. I believe that this is the third time we've made similar food and posted it within a whisker's post of each other's. It's one of those strange but true occurrences.  This hot sauce is great with steam boats, chicken rice, stir fried noodles, rice, soups, as a dipping for fritters. Anything and everything I suppose. Whatever makes you happy and whenever your palate needs a bit of a kick. Its kind of sour and spicy with a very subtle tinge of sweetness to it. Very very very appetizing. The recipe ~ 10 chillies plus some/many bird's eye chillies if you like 6-7 pips garlic, peeled 1 inch ginger, peeled 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1 T sugar salt to taste Wash and...

If only maids were made in heaven I would have been a rested and happy woman in a newly cleaned and sparkling home. But no. I had to have two of the most incompetent and obnoxious maids delivered to my door yesterday. I was bluffed into believing that they were well trained and experienced. Silly me. At the end of each explicitly explained task they stood and wavered looking extremely disgusted. I don't blame them. That is why I hire maids. Duh. They grumbled and probably swore their way through the housework for almost three hours while I attempted to curb and guide them into some form of what I thought were logical and common sensed tasks. I think my eyes glowed. After three hours when the job was 'done' and the house somewhat less than sparkling one of them just flopped like a sack of rice and spread herself on the floor at the front door while waiting to be picked up by the Big Bluffer. Upset as I was I almost burst out laughing. Out of pity I made conversation with he...

I would finish a packet of this so fast and then hunger for more. But there really is no other way to enjoy this than to make your own because we all know that commercial varieties are deep fried in the same oil over and over again. Ick! I made this and it was oh! so delicious. It was sweet and spicy  clinging to crunchy. I was on high. The cassava root may appear quite intimidating because it looks very much like the trunk of a small tree with a very rough, dark and thick bark. It looks hard and heavy too. But once you get the skin off (which is actually not difficult to do) you'll find the inside flesh a smooth, silky, pristine white albeit very firm. I'm always amazed at the contrast.   These are sliced thinly and deep fried...very much like potato crisps ~ but they're not as fragile. Potato crisps almost break and dissolve the moment you put them into your mouth, without any effort at all, but these are more crunchy as opposed to crispy and slightly chewy. Lets just ...

Kim Chi ~ Tell me how cute a name is that? Bimbim Bap ~ Tell me how cute a name is that? Soondooboo Jiigae ? Kimchi Bokeum Bap ? Have I made my point? And aren't those Korean actors and actresses just as cute too? I know my nieces definitely think they are. And as cute as the name may very well be....kimchi is not a photogenic food, like rendang . It took me all 2 days of sweat, sweat and sweat to come up with some decent photographs. After all it was simply cabbage on a plate and the other just a brown mash of meat. But like the Malaysian rendang there is nothing plain about the Korean kimchi. The spiciness from the chillie and the flavours from the garlic, grated ginger and a sweet edge from the fruit puree that I had used made it a fantastic appetizer. Plus I've had this craving for some kimchi-jeon (kimchi pancakes) ever since I saw photographs of my nieces enjoying a Korean meal in Korea with the said pancake in full view of my computer screen. I was told by a lady herb...