Prawn curry laksa

I have been neglecting the blog for a while now. Actually a year now since my last post. I've been planning a lot of writing but nothing seemed to have appeared on paper (except for the weekly grocery list!) or even here.  Life happens.  But it's always great if I can document parts of it here.  Musings and random thoughts, along side a recipe or experience or something that made me excited in the kitchen.

It has been hectic in the home front with the girls starting high school this year, and my eldest finishing HSC last year.  The latter which has excited me the most, purely at the thought of having a daughter starting university came to a halt when child 1 decided not to pursue higher education.  It may not be every parent's dream but it is mine.  Having moved to Australia with so much more opportunities open to our children, education the foremost, it is disappointing to hear this. But.... as we are parents who respect our children's choices, we try not to push the "university" option at this point.  I hope and trust my faith, with the little "seeds" I've planted over the years and months over conversations with her, leading up to this moment about the benefits of having one.  I have loved learning as a child and as an adult.  Over the course of several years, I have enrolled myself in short classes in Sydney purely out of love for learning - to write (an online course on Freelance Journalism), to cook (a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery), of other languages (a term learning Spanish!), and other pockets of learning from elsewhere, whether its volunteering at the local art sculpture event, short council sponsored workshops on composting or gardening or reading books that arouse my creativity.  Not necessarily implementing everything learned but the idea of being in a new environment, meeting new people, doing new things excites me.

Another exciting adventure came in the form of the Thermomix.  I have to say this post is not about how good it is (besides that), it is also how much fun I am enjoying having it in my kitchen and taking it as a part of a business.  I've decided to be a Thermomix Consultant to earn myself one, because really, it blew me away when I first saw it.  I heard about it way back 5 years ago and never thought anything of it.  Since I became a consultant early this year, I have been to meetings and events that were as stimulating as it is enjoyable.  Meeting new people and helping them learn another method of cooking is very satisfying.  Anyways. 

Back to the swing of things.  My last post was when I did the Bridge Run last year. And my new post is also an ode to the running event I did yesterday - the Sydney City2Surf: a 14k run/walk from the Sydney CBD to Sydney's most iconic beach that is Bondi.  This time the walk was a little bit further and took more effort as the route took us to steep roads and hills.  It took me 3 hours and 21 minutes,  to walk the stretch - all good with the sunny weather Sydney put out yesterday plus I had some company walking. After the 8k mark it became tougher mentally, as the hills seemed to becoming endless plus the lack of proper training and the need for sustenance were cries for pausing, to stop and sit and wait it out.  But motivation endures as endless hordes of families with kids, senior groups of women, of old couples pass us, it was a fitting inspiration to soldier on and slowly make it to the finish line. The prize is a medal plus the feeling of accomplishing something that is a feat in my dictionary.  It was also motivation to be a part of the a team that we were supporting - the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation, the Donate Life project.  Which was worth all the effort!

Of course, after the more than 3 hours of walk, then having to leave the beach via buses and then train to get me home, I was craving for some good laksa to tide me over, to get my mind off the sore legs and aching soles of my feet.  I didn't get to eat some but it's fitting that I share this recipe now that I'm at it.

This one is a fitting recipe that is adapted from SBS Food for a Malaysian curry laksa recipe.  I made the chicken stock with chicken bones bought from my butcher.  I could not find candlenuts so I didn't add that to the paste, as well as using a Filipino brand of wet shrimp paste. This is a pre Thermomix recipe so I made the paste in a food processor which made the paste a little bit more grainy. When I made the soup, I strained all the grits before adding in the rest of the ingredients (prawn, fish balls, tofu etc).

The usual suspects for a laksa paste - shrimp paste (use the dry one called belakan), dried shrimps soaking, dried chillies, galangal, ground spices - turmeric, cumin, paprika, coriander and lemon grass.  

Ground spices!

Laksa paste - still a bit grainy with small bits

Making homemade chicken stock

Prawn laksa

Ingredients for Laksa Paste

 8 small dried red chillies (soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes)
2 tbsp dried shrimp (soaked in a bowl of water for 30 minutes)
5 red Asian shallots, chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped galangal
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 large lemongrass stalks, trimmed, chopped
1 tbsp belachan/dried shrimp paste (see post)
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (or Thermomix) and process until smooth.  Keep in air tight container in the fridge until ready for use.

Ingredients for the Prawn Laksa 

1/4 cup sunflower oil

2 tablespoons of laksa paste

1.5 litres chicken stock

2 and 1/2 teaspoon grated palm sugar

450 grams chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced

10-12 prawns,shelled and tails left intact

1 can 400ml coconut milk

10-12 fish balls (see tips below)

150 grams tofu puffs, sliced (see tips)

200 grams bean sprouts

500 grams thin rice noodles

Heat oil in a large saucepan or pot. Add the laksa paste and cook, stirring until fragrant.

Add stock and stir to combine. Add more laksa paste if preferred.  Bring to a simmer then add chicken and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the prawns and cook for another minute until chicken is cooked and prawns half way through.

Add the coconut milk, fish balls, tofu puffs and bean sprouts.

Stir to combine then bring to a simmer until prawns are cooked.

Cook the rice noodles separately in a different pot. Drain.

Spoon the cooked rice noodles into individual bowls, pour over the laksa with and garnish according to preference.

 To serve - garnish with fried Asian shallots, mint leaves and a teaspoon of shrimp paste or sambal, and a lime/lemon wedge on the side

Tips:

* You can buy combination packs of frozen fish balls, tofu, etc in most Asian supermarkets.

* Before adding the chicken to the stock-paste soup, strain all the grits and grains and return the cleaner stock to the pot.  Discard the paste grains.


And here are photos from yesterday's running/walking event!

Lemon and sour cream cake with raspberries

I found a new hobby.  Colouring books!  If you haven’t already noticed, adult colouring books is the trend at the moment and publishing companies are selling them by the millions.  Marketed as therapeutic and anti-stress, colouring books for adults have become hip thanks to social media.  People who are into colouring books posts their creations on social media and it just creates the pull which is making the publishers very happy.

A standard page would take me from an hour to 3 hours, glued to the page instead of watching some TV series on Netflix or browsing on Facebook and Instagram.  While it may be my own form of digital detox, it does deliver its own spell of mindfulness and calmness claims.  Indulging in a new hobby, engrossed with colour pencils sliding across the page, sticking to the lines, mix matching colours onto patterns somehow gives me a sense of fulfillment as I create something visual and beautiful.  I started borrowing colour pencils from the girls, but now that I have my own set, I can colour to my heart’s content.

Although this does not replace my love for cooking, baking and writing, it does give me something to do while waiting for dinner to cook, or the cake to be warm and the cookies to cool.



How about you?  Have you started a new hobby lately?
 

Now to this cake that is a revisit from the archives.  A lemon yoghurt cake dressed with raspberries.  This is my go to cake recipe when I'm asked to bring a cake.  Why?  Because it's easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3.  No need for a mixer.  Just good ol' fork and little bit of elbow grease.

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 teaspoon lemon juice

grated rind of 2 lemons

3/4 cup light olive oil

1 cup sour cream

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup (or more) fresh or frozen raspberries

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180*C.  Line a round 20cm cake tin with baking paper.

In a mixing bowl, mix rind, oil, eggs and sugar with a fork.

Add remaining ingredients and combine well.

Add the raspberries and stir to distribute around the pan and some to sprinkle on top of the batter.

Pour into cake pans and bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes.

Leave to cool on a cooling rack, then turn out onto a plate.  

Dust with icing sugar (if using).

* You can use natural yoghurt or buttermilk as substitute for sour cream and the result will be the same.

Pork and beans

Growing up a few decades ago compared to today, there were so few choices when it came to food.  The cereal variety was maybe about less than ten.  There were no gluten free pasta or bread, no dairy free butter, no sugar free muffins.   Coffee was coffee, no soy, light, chai, etc.  A steak was usually T-bone, no varieties such as Wagyu, Angus, or labels such as corn fed, grass fed, aged, dry aged, etc.  Food was food.  There were no unnecessary labels.  Whether it was fresh - from the ground, from a tree/plant or packed - cans, boxes, plastic packaging.   Today, it's an entirely different story.  Whatever happened to simple food?  

In his 2009 book Food Matters, Mark Bittman mentioned modern agriculture, global warming, sustainability and the change towards conscious eating. These days, we don't look at calories anymore. Consumers are conscious about where their food comes from, the carbon footprint, whether its organic, grown locally or imported from half way around the globe.  This kind of mentality creates a good set of consumers. Smart consumers.  But then we also create a lot of waste.  In Australia alone, consumers waste an estimate of 4 million tons of food each year!  Because what happens is we tend to shop more than what we can actually consume.  (How not to waste food shall be for another post!)

I'm not a fan of food fads but I do believe in simple good food. Seasonal cooking is always how we plan our menu at home.   Simple food prepared at home. With love.  For family and friends.

Now growing up, we were fed with lots of food I wouldn't normally buy these days. Our parents back then fed us with what they knew best.   Powdered orange juice (Tang), canned vienna sausages... including a favorite breakfast fare a million years ago.  Canned pork and beans.  A mixture of beans covered with sweet tomato sauce and about 1 to 2 pieces of pork.  We used to eat it on toasted white bread and loved it for breakfast and even after school snack. And sometimes ate it with rice too.  It's a Filipino thing (rice with everything).

Now this is my take on the canned pork and beans I grew up eating.   A simple dish made of 2 basic ingredients:  pork and beans! 

Ingredients

200 grams pork belly, cubed

300 grams French beans, cut into 2 inch pieces

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil 

chilli flakes (optional)

Method

Heat a shallow pan and add cooking oil.

Fry the pork pieces until crispy.  Set aside.

Using the same pan, add the garlic and cook until soft and fragrant. Do not overcook or burn.

Add the beans, and stir to cook the beans until bright green, about 2 minutes.

Add the cooked pork and stir to mix through.

Add the chilli flakes (if using) and stir.  Turn off heat.

Serve with steamed rice.

Seafood marinara stew

Winter is creeping up on us like an unwanted guest. It's the middle of July and of course it is cold.   I have always written many many times in the past that we dread winter. Well I do. Sans the layering of clothing and comfortable matching scarves and beanies, and beautiful leather boots, I could do well without winter.  Really.  But I’m embracing our life here in AU and part of assimilating into the Australian way of life is well, embracing winter and all the other seasons that come and go.  But you have to know that winter... is my least favourite. 

When it comes to winter cooking and food, I love simple recipes.  My favourites are dishes that shout fresh, easy to reach ingredients, simple cooking methods with delicious results.  While I do admire chefs who are into fusion and gastronomy, I’m not the type who would attempt pesto jelly, or strawberry foams.  I like simple cooking.  Time spent in the kitchen is precious, and any effort made to prepare, whether it took 10 minutes or 6 hours always spells love. 

This one, no matter what angle shouts L-O-V-E.  Ingredients are simple, easy to make and wow! It's my easy version of the French seafood boullabaisse, minus all the other ingredients.  The seafood mix is anything you get from the fish markets. 

You dive into this with some toasted sour dough or any fresh bread, and you’ll come back up feeling the love.  You’ll get lots of warm hugs from this for sure. 

 

 Ingredients:

1kg mixed seafood (marinara mix in shells)

1 jar 350 ml passata sauce (tomato sauce)

3-4 fresh tomatoes, quartered

1 onion, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

½ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon course/ground oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Tablespoon of butter (optional)

 Method:

In a heavy based pan or skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the garlic and onions and cook until soft.

Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.

Add the passata sauce, bring to boil then turn down heat to simmer.

Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the oregano.

Add the seafood, place lid/cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all seafood pieces are cooked through.

Add the butter and let it melt into the sauce.  

Top with the chopped parsley.

Tips and tricks:

* I add the butter in the latter part of the cooking just to add that gloss in the sauce.  You don't have to add butter if you don't want to, but that its a secret ingredient in most restaurants - the chefs add that for the shine and gloss.

* You can also add fresh or dried thyme for extra flavour.  They add a rich depth to the stew.