Just came across this thread, and figured out there are so many potential masterchefs eh ! Would like to share some springrolls I made some time ago......

Basically prepare a pan of water (either cold or luke warm), dip the rice paper in and get it out straight away ! Then start rolling, it's a matter of timing

That's a fermented anchovy fish sauce (Mam Nem), blended with lemon grass, garlic, onion, pineapple and sugar. Must sieve thorougly

Love the sides you made. Hm I shall try it in the coming weekend

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Added on April 12, 2010, 5:55 pmMy version of spaghetti carbonara - super creamy ! Serves 4

Ingredients:
1.Unsmoked back bacon, sliced or diced
2.Single cream or double cream if you prefer creamier version
3. Good quality of white wine (drinking wine is preferred)
4. Diced onion
5. Spaghetti
6. Egg yolk
7. Salt & pepper



Brown the bacon along with drizzle of olive oil



While bacon is almost cooked, add the onion and sweat them



When the onions become tender, add in the white wine, to enhance the sweatness flavour of the onion, maintain low level of heat and ensure it's on low level boiling point



Now add the single cream, with pinch of salt.



Cook the spaghetti, make sure it's rawer than the al-dente because when you're mixing them in with the white sauce, the noodles would absorb the sauce.


Remove from heat, add in the egg york and stir quickly


Ready to serve, sprinkle with black pepper or parmesan up to your preference



This post has been edited by panda00: Apr 12 2010, 05:55 PM

quality wine is the key to it, which doesn't leave odd aftertaste ! if you've added too much, the taste would become...bitter ! a delicate balance !

i like simple carbonara, with just the bacon & white sauce; nonetheless, button mushroom and thyme are good in complimentaring ! some would prefer flat leaf parsley

Hm...... I've always thought cream is essential in making carbonara......i look up on me recipe books...all of them would need cream...if you happen to find only the egg york version, share it here too !

i'm impressed with your pesto pasta too.....i do make pesto sauce a lot myself, added onto the grilled salmon, it's heaven

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Added on April 13, 2010, 12:58 amyep, comfy food, and easy to make !

love basil....... not just in italian cooking; asian cooking too, like taiwanese 3 cup chicken; vietnamese springroll; vietnamese pho, etc......

This post has been edited by panda00: Apr 13 2010, 12:58 AM

Errr......time saving eh...... I hardly have time to cook due to work ! heh....i know, it's an excuse..... hm......sometimes I even use....the blender or electrical chopper to get the really finely chopped effect.......

Hm, creme fraiche, is a type of soured cream......I don't think it would do the justice, I mean carbonara without cream isn't carbonara, but cheese sauce like what you said, more of the american style too. I've gone through me italian cookbooks......unable to find any without using the cream

texture looks great ! I am yet to try too !!!

Looking forward to your bolognese then !

Top quality parmesan costs more than a small tub of single cream. £8.99 v.s. £0.79

Hm...... and bacon can be unsmoked or smoked, price will not differ greatly. The reason I got unsmoked as I don't want it to be too salty Er..... I think you can find all these in tesco in Malaysia......

Too many ingredients ? Err.....hm....just additional the cream, onion & wine......

These ingredients are easily available in any market, in the UK.

This post has been edited by panda00: Apr 16 2010, 05:05 AM

huh...... even the wine, cream, or onion ? Hm......spoke to me mom, she said either jusco or tesco has them i'm surprised you could find the parmesan than, the single cream.

It's been rather quiet....... Here to share the soy sauce chicken recipe Made it for casual dinner party tonight.

Ingredients
1. Spring onion
2. Ginger
3. Light soy sauce
4. Dark soy sauce
5. Brown sugar
6. Rose wine
7. Water



Place everything in the cooking wok/deep sauce pan, let it boil for 45 minutes. Avoid stirring if possible.



Done, enjoy

thanks

Your stew looks great too ! There are few reasons why meat could go dry, commonest are,

1. Meat has been seasoned with salt prior to browning
2. High heat while cooking, therefore slow cooking for hours is the best
3. Cut of meat, has too little fats. Although in making stew, we tend to use tough leanest meat

Hope this helps

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Added on April 25, 2010, 3:16 pmSimple version of egg & prawn fried rice. Definitely healthy.

Ingredients
1. Boiled rice, let it cool and mixes two egg yolks in it to give the so-called "golden appearance"
2. Prawns
3. Eggs
4. Spring onion
5. Garlic
6. Salt to taste
7. Oil - minimal



Fry the garlic and spring onion with 1tbsp of oil



Add the prawns + eggs mixture. Fry up until the prawns nearly cook, then pour in the rice



Seasoned with salt, and it's ready to serve !



This post has been edited by panda00: Apr 25 2010, 03:18 PM

Hey Geminist ! Yeah, let the sauce reduce on its own. It's overdone this time for various reasons ! I was cooking other dishes too ! it wasn't gravy actually, it is something, err.... similar to the sauce you use for chicken rice ? It's more like, err..glazing

Yes.. salt is more than enough to season and flavour, hence the healthier version !

err....just use usual salt instead of rock sea salt. After adding salt, stir and ensure flavour's there. And I know majority would prefer soy-sauce however the original egg fried rice....would just use salt, not even sesame oil This is just my version of fried rice, one can always modify to suit one's palate

small note: using soy sauce actually would risk burning the rice, in addition...resulting in chunks.....because it all sticks ........that's my experience......

This post has been edited by panda00: Apr 26 2010, 12:52 AM

wow, the ice cream texture turns out fantastic ! How I wish I could do that, although I'm sort of person would pay for a tub than making one myself !

Er.....deep fried Mars bar with fish & chips batter !? Well haven't had that for a while since I left Scotland 2 years ago......

Well, it has always been the favourite clubbing/pubbing snack, especially in the summer ! you know how they drink like a fish 10-15 pints/night is nothing, not to mention the alcopops, shots, cocktails

unhealthy = tasty

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Added on May 17, 2010, 6:56 pmwurst wurst wurst a little phobic since my trip to frankfurt in April nevertheless the brekky looks good, where's the mushroom ? or baked beans or...toast !? yumm

This post has been edited by panda00: May 17 2010, 06:56 PM

I'm very much lazy, and extremely busy at work these days...... made a couple of dishes, yet haven't got pics taken.

Anyway, made a quick dinner this evening.

Tuna steak

Ingredients:
1. Tuna steak
2. Salad leafs
3. Cherry tomatoes/ tomato on vine +/- whole olive and sundried tomatoes
4. Baby carrots
5. Green beans
6. Extra virgin olive oil
7. Balsamic Vinegar
8. Salt

Method
1. Marinate tuna steak with pinch of salt and generous amount of olive oil
2. Pan sear 40secs, each side then bake in the Oven (hot, 220'C) for 4 mins
3. Mix salad leafs & tomatoes with olive oil & balsamic vinegar (3 parts of oil to 1 part of balsamic vinegar)
4. Boiled the baby carrots & green beans, for about 2 mins

Ready to serve

ah....not normally with tuna steak. love it to be just as bland, or rather, fresh with sprinkle of salt on top. actually the salads went well with the fish, with a little of balsamic vinegar, to enhance the flavour.

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Added on June 13, 2010, 2:35 amAnother quick dinner, before the England v.s. US match begins.......

Ingredients:
1. Chicken breast
2. Cream cheese
3. Parma ham
4. Tomatoes
5. New potatoes
6. Homemade herb butter ( or you could buy at the supermarket )
7. Green beans
8. Tomatoes on vine
9. Olive oil

Method:
1. Pocketed the chicken breast, stuff some cream cheese and wrap it up with parma ham, drizzle with some olive oil
2. Put it in a baking tray, and then in the oven, on 200'C for 15 mins, along with the tomatoes
3. Boil the new potatoes, then mix it with the herb butter
4. Boil the green beans

Voila, done and ready to serve, all less than 20 mins.






This post has been edited by panda00: Jun 13 2010, 02:35 AM

I wonder if you could get black pudding in Malaysia ? Cause it goes best with frozen scallops.......just need to sear seasoned scallops (salt & black pepper) with butter. layered with thick slice of black pudding. If you can't find black pudding, try using chorizo.......I'm sure Malaysia has it. Purée is the most important that brings the flavours up one level ! you can consider mint & pea purée; celeriac purée or colcannon mash. Yum. I'm drooling now.......I shall cook some scallops this weekend

1. For the celeriac purée
150g/5¼oz celeriac, peeled and cubed
200ml/7¼fl oz chicken stock
1 tsp curry powder
75g/2½oz butter
225g/8oz Bramley apples, peeled and cubed
salt and freshly ground black pepper

2. For the pea and mint purée
55g/2oz unsalted butter
6 spring onions, finely sliced
175g/6oz frozen peas
1 tsp golden caster sugar
300ml/½ pint vegetable stock
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
150ml/5¼fl oz double cream
sprigs of fresh mint, to garnish
sherry vinegar, boiled until reduced by half, to garnish

3. For the colcannon mash
Boiled potatoes
Savoy cabbage
Butter
Milk
Salt & Pepper

This post has been edited by panda00: Jun 15 2010, 05:08 AM

Tommy, yes, it can serve up to 4, but best for 2. It's similar to mushy peas Looking forward to you dishing up and showing us the photos here !

I have done some cookings ....... yet kind of lazy to snap some pics

Well, had bah kut teh for dinner couple weeks ago, I think it's pretty much self-explanatory, just check the follow attached pics.



Also, I made some vietnamese sandwiches for lunch. They key is actually finding the pork sausage, and the pickled lotus roots/radish/carrots. Got to use top-quality pate & butter as spread. Not to forget handful of coriander as well. Bird eye chillies would be optional, if you like some kick