Clear Tom Yum Goong

I always prefer clear Tom Yum Goong than the red or coconut Tom Yum Goong. This soup requires quite a number of ingredients but the cooking only takes a short while.

In Thai cooking, lemongrass, lime juice, galangal, etc are very commonly used. I will suggest to purchase more lime. I bought a bag of 13 limes to make this soup and Mango Salad. And it was just nice. I would have added another 1 or 2 tbsp of lime juice in this soup if I have extra juice left. I prefer more sourish Tom Yum... :)

Ingredients:

800ml -1 litre chicken stock / water
6-8 prawns (deveined)
1 squid (cut into bite sizes)
2 stalks lemongrass (cut into 5-6cm length - lightly crushed)
5 kaffir lime leaves
2 coriander roots
8-10 small slices of galangal
2 tomatoes (quartered)
8 button mushrooms (sliced)
8 slices of carrots
1 pack Enoki mushrooms
2 chilii padi (chopped)
4 (or more) tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
Salt

Garnish:
Coriander

Methods:

1. Boil the chicken stock in a pot.

2. Once the stock starts to boil rapidly, add galangal, lemongrass, coriander roots, chilli padi and kaffir leaves. Boil for a minute or two to release the fragrance of the herbs. Do not boil too long as overcooking the herbs will cause bitterness.

3. Add the tomatoes, carrots, button and enoki mushrooms, prawns and squid. Cook for a minute.

4. Drizzle the fish sauce and lime juice. Lastly add some salt as desired.

5. Garnish with coriander.

You may add more lime juice if you prefer more sourish soup. Add more chilli padi if prefer spicer soup.

Pan Fried Prawns

This is one of the easiest way to cook prawns with little ingredients. So simple yet tasty! :)

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic (lightly bruised)
16 medium prawns (marinate with salt)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Salt

Garnish:
Coriander (optional)
Spring onion (optional)

Methods:

1. Marinade the prawns with salt for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat the pan with high fire. Add the cooking oil.

3. Sauté the garlic and add in the prawns. Do not stack the prawns!

4. Cook the prawns for 2 minutes and flip to another side.

5. Let the juice dry up and the pan will get really dry. Off the fire once the prawns start to turn brown and crisp.

6. Serve and garnish.

Fried Fish Bee Hoon Soup

I had Fried Fish Bee Hoon soup few days ago. The fish was badly fried. Too much of flour I guess... I used to love Fish Bee Hoon but my favorite stall is quite far from my place. Maxwell market. I used to patron the stall when I was working there few years ago.

Today, I have the craving for this piping hot Thick Bee Hoon Soup. So I decided to make this for dinner. Hehehe... As it was too late to go wet market to buy fresh fish, I bought all the ingredients from NTUC. And I added additional 'Liao'. Prawns and squids!!!
Serve 6

Ingredients:

2 Toman Fish fillets (sliced)
12 prawns (deveined and cooked)
1 small squid (cut into bite sizes)
2 packets of thick bee hoon (blanched)
Choy Sum
1/2 Bitter gourd (sliced thinly)
Ginger (sliced thinly)
2 tomatoes (quartered)
3 liters chicken stock
2 tsp ikan bilis powder
Sesame oil
Hua Diao wine
Pepper
Cooking oil

Garnish:
Spring onions
Fried shallots

Methods:

1. Rub 1 tbsp of salt with the bitter gourd for a minute and soak with water for 30 minutes. Rinse off the salt with water and set aside.

2. Cut the fish into thick slices and marinate with a little salt.

3. Boil the chicken stock in a big pot and add 2 tsp of ikan bilis powder. Let it boil for another 10 minutes and turn off the heat.

4. Deep fry the fish slices until golden. Set aside.

5. Divide the blanched bee boon into 6 bowls.

To cook individually:

1. Heat a small pot (for 1 pax). Add few drops of sesame oil and 1 tsp cooking oil. Sauté 5 slices of ginger.

2. Add the stock (about 400ml) into the pot and let it boil.

3. Toss in a quartered tomato, bitter gourd and squid rings. Cook for 2 minutes.

4. Toss in the fried fish and prawns.

5. Add 3 tbsp of evaporated milk and let it boil.

6. Toss in a handful of Choy Sum and add a dash of sesame oil, Hua Diao wine and salt to taste. Turn off the heat. Pour into the bowl of thick bee hoon. Sprinkle pepper.

7. Garnish with fried shallots and spring onions.

Sambal Prawn

There are many ways to cook prawns. As a Cantonese, we often eat prawns at home nowadays. I remember when I was small, we only got to eat prawns during festive seasons. My late grandmother used to whip up a plate of prawns on Chinese New Year Eve and Day 1. She only used simple ingredients to cook the prawns but yet until now, with the same ingredients, I still cannot make exactly same like hers...

Ingredients:

12 medium prawns
1 small onion (minced)
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of sambal chili paste (homemade or store bought)
A dash of salt
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1/4 cup of water

Garnish (optional):
Coriander
Spring onion (chopped)
Cut red chili

Methods:

1. Add the oil into the hot wok.

2. Sauté the onions then the garlic till fragrance.

3. Toss in the prawns and fry for few minutes.

4. Add the sambal chili and coat evenly.

5. Add the water (as you prefer) and cook for another minute.

6. Serve with coriander and spring onion.

Black Pepper Prawns

My son loves prawns! Be it Sambal Prawns, Cereal Prawns, or whatever, he loves them. If possible, I guess he could eat them everyday! But of course too much of prawns cause high cholesterol. It is quite often we cook prawns at home. I think it's a weekly affair. It's no surprise that we cook 50 prawns for dinner. And of course, definitely no leftovers! Black peppered prawns is our all time favorite. Well, I'm using store bought black pepper sauce. Of course, you can make your own black pepper sauce. Hmmm, store bought is more convenient for me! Hahaha!!!

In this recipe I'm using frozen prawns.

Serve 7-10

Ingredients:

1 pack of frozen prawns (50)
1 small onion (cubed)
1 chili (deseeded and cubed)
1 clove garlic (minced finely)
5 tbsp black pepper sauce
100ml water
1 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt

Garnish:
Coriander

Methods:

1. Heat the oil with high heat.

2. Sauté the onions.

3. Toss in the garlic and sauté.

4. Add the prawns and stir fry until the prawns starts turn pink.

5. Add the black pepper sauce, red chilli and water. Stir fry for a minute.

6. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and turn off the heat.

7. Garnish with coriander.