ayonecan-cook

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...

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 ...

 Warning : Healthy Recipe Ahead!  Don't be alarmed..... I'm not turning vegetarian or vegan. But I do enjoy some vegetarian food and sometimes I'm stunned how satisfying and lip smacking they can be.  I remember the the sambal tempe , the dhall curry , the spiced chickpeas , the kimchi , the chutney , the spring rolls ....Oh my god I counted and I actually have 20 vegetarian dishes on my blog!!  Perhaps I'm in the process of evolving into one. Perhaps.... I'm healthy! GASP. Divina of Sense and Serendipity has smitten me yet again with her fabulous and healthy recipes. It all started with the beautiful Mochi Chocolate truffles (well, ok, that's not exactly healthy. It's fabulous), then the sensational Tofu crusted in Bonito Flakes and now some fantastic Gluten free Korean pancakes. All from her beautiful and educational blog.  And the fact that she has the wonderful gift of making all her healthy food look unhealthy doesn't hurt either. Completely glu...

Ubi Kayu (Oo-bee Car-you)or cassava is one of the cheapest potatoes/roots around at 2 Ringgit (US 0.60) per kilo. It became a staple for many when rice became scarce during the second world war when our then Malaya fell under the Japanese occupation. It was a hard time for many. I did not come from that era but I've heard stories of how cassava or ubi kayu saved many from hunger. It was a poor man's food and still is in many parts of the developing world because it will grow in poor soil all year round and is starchy thus providing much energy for laborious work or to simply starve off hunger while living on meagre means and in poor conditions. It is a high energy food like rice because it is mainly starch from which tapioca flour is made. It is versatile. It can be created into delicious desserts, eaten plain, boiled, with curry sauce or dipped into a combo of grated coconut and sugar or slathered with palm sugar syrup or be sliced thinly, deep fried and turned into the most...

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...

Glass noodles ~ cellophane noodles ~ mung bean threads ~ su'on ~ tunghoon ~ they're all one and the same. Slippery glass threads that are near impossible to scoop up if they were put into a soup. It's not to be confused with rice noodles. It's complete transparency and its feel as it slips through your lips, slides over your tongue and slithers down your throat makes it a very unique noodle.  It is an ingredient in a lovely soup with dried or fresh shrimps  that I used to eat as a child. A soup that's made up of bean curd skin, loofah, wooden ear fungus, golden needles and finally the glass noodles. Delicious. It was a favourite vegetable soup. But it was always the glass noodles that attracted and fascinated me more than anything else. It kept me busy. But the Thais have made it the main ingredient in a light and lovely salad. Less slithery because it is not in a soup but is a moist salad and very delicious because it is mixed with a spicy, salty, sour and sweet dr...

This is my third contribution to Food For Thought, a fortnightly meme where books combine with food in a post, hosted by the wonderful and talented Jain of Food For Thought , Food With Style and  Once in a Blue Moon .   THE GIVER ~ ***** This book came with an ending that I could never quite forget. Not because it was spectacular, unexpected or odd but because it was warm, inviting and absolutely welcoming. It was a beginning. When you read about people who think about love as being meaningless or obsolete, when their life is black and white and grey, literally or otherwise, when pain and suffering has been lost to a world long ago that the wisdom that comes with it is no more, you begin to ponder on the purpose of their existence.  This is a childrens' modern classic. It is a book that has become required reading in schools across America and in Germany while at the same time arousing debate and controversy over the suitability of its mature themes such as euthanasia, ...

This dish is like a book with three main characters, all equally important, interesting and with personality. Noodles, sundried tomatoes and prawns. Each one different in flavour, texture and taste. I used whole wheat organic noodles which had a good bite to it, prawns that were full of flavour, succulent and juicy and sundried tomatoes that were quite intense, a little sour and with a sweetness of its own. The little sidekicks were a couple of garlic cloves and some chillie paste to spice things up a little. And some sweet basil leaves to add interest and to humour me. It turned out to be a very simple, interesting and delicious dish. And I loved it. I first came across the use of sundried tomatoes in a noodle cookbook I had bought once upon a time long long ago. Yes ~ that long.  And ever since then I have been meaning to try sundried tomatoes because it was an ingredient that was new to me and it sounded and looked really good. After many many years of meaning to-s I have in the...