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SRI LANKAN LAMB CURRY

by siow on in Lamb, Meat, RECIPES

Here is another lamb curry recipe that I love making and sharing. This recipe is pretty much a family recipe. It is quite different from the South Indian lamb curry recipe I’ve shared earlier, both curries are made using lamb but this curry is a Sri Lankan style curry. I first had this curry a few years ago when I visited my partner’s family for christmas and one of the main dishes was this lamb curry, it looks very similar to most other lamb curries and I thought it would taste the same but to my surprise it was somewhat different and very good. Earlier this year we visited them again and had the same curry served to us so we decided to ask for the recipe.

There isn’t much preparation needed for this curry compared to the South Indian curry. It is also thicker than the South Indian curry because of the use of tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes. There is no herbs or other vegetables apart from onion added to the curry so it is very meaty. When making it at home I often add some broccoli to it or serve it with a side salad.

Note: this curry is made using lean meat, but sirloin chop can also be use if you don’t mind the bones.

 The curry powder I used is a Sri Lankan dark roasted curry powder which has a hot level of spiciness. If it isn’t available where you are at, then any normal curry powder that you get from the local store will do too. The local curry powders usually aren’t hot so if you want it to be as hot as our recipe, I recommend adding some grounded chilli powder or cayenne pepper as well. However if you don’t like curry too spicy, don’t worry about them.

SRI LANKAN LAMB CURRY

Prep-Time: 15 mins                 Serve: 3-5

Cooking Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients 

1kg lamb leg/ beef, fat removed and cut into pieces

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp hot dark roasted curry powder

1 tbsp mild/sweet paprika

1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tbsp salt

1 1/2 cup water

4 tbsp ghee/oil

1/4 cup cream

Method

Marinate the lamb pieces in a medium sized mixing bowl with black soy sauce, salt, curry powder, paprika and tomato paste. Leave the ingredients to set for 15-30 minutes.

      

In a pot heat the ghee over medium high heat, add in the chopped onion once the ghee is heated and cook until it turns transparent. Add in the ginger and garlic paste to the pot and then stir to cook until the ginger and garlic paste gives out fragrant.

Now add in your marinated lamb pieces into the same pot and then add in the water. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once boiling reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for 45 minutes -1 hr, stir occasionally. If the lamb is tender before 1 hour and the sauce is thick enough the curry should be ready, but if the sauce has become thick and the lamb isn’t tender then add more water and cook the dish longer until its tender.

Add in the cream and then stir to mix. Remove from heat, serve with basmati rice.

 

 

SOUTH INDIAN LAMB CURRY

by siow on in Lamb, Meat, RECIPES

Who out there doesn’t like a good Indian curry? I assume not many, in fact I know my best friend doesn’t and not just Indian curries but every other type of curry as well and I don’t quite understand why! I know people have different tastes and that’s fair, but I love Indian curries. This lamb curry originates from South India and it is very popular in the Hyderabad region. The herbs and spices used in this curry are those that can also be used to make goat curry. To make this curry the spices are often added in their whole form and less of the grounded type, because of this the content of this curry is semi thick and the curry has a stronger and a fresher aroma compared to most curries from restaurants. Indians love their meat on the bones so when making curries they prefer meat pieces that have some amount of fat and bone rather than lean meat. The reason is because meat on the bones don’t get as dry as lean meat when cooked to tender and the fat helps to give the dish some extra flavour. However if you prefer a healthier curry like us, lamb leg on the bone is your best choice because the meat on the legs are lean but also have parts that are attached to the bones which are very beautiful when cooked to tender.

What fascinates me about Indian curries is that depending on the region, the methods and spices used the specific curry type differs slightly and depending on the type of meat used the curry base is also different. This recipe was taught to me by a friend who’s from South India and who cooks this curry a lot with lamb and goat. In Indian cuisine, spices are essential and therefore almost every dish of their food includes small or large amounts of spices so when I made my friend a dish that includes tomato or turmeric but isn’t a curry, my friend would still consider that as a curry. While I have learned the name and the uses of many Indian spices, I still come across new spices whenever I visit Indian/Sri Lankan grocery stores.

Note: when using lamb leg for this, remember to cut of the outer layer of fat if the leg comes with skin. If you want to make this curry with meat on the bone I recommend choosing the sirloin chop instead of lamb pieces. Sirloin chop often comes with marrow in the bones and a thin layer of fat and skin which make it easy to remove. The bones and marrow help to stock the curry which make it more flavourful.

This curry is a bit spicy so be mindful of the amount of chili you want to add into the curry if you can’t really handle the heat. 

SOUTH INDIAN LAMB CURRY

Prep-Time: 15 mins                          Serve: 3-5

Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients 

1kg lamb leg/lamb sirloin chop, diced (with bone preferred)

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 bunch mint, chopped

1/2 bunch coriander, chopped

4 fresh green chillies, chopped (optional)

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 cinnamon sticks

12 cardamom/ 1 tsp grounded cardamom

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp grounded cumin

2 tsp grounded chillies

1 tsp turmeric

4 tbsp ghee/oil

Salt to taste

Method

Heat the ghee in a pot over medium high heat and add in the onion once the ghee has been heated. Cook the onion thoroughly until it turns transparent. Add in the ginger and garlic paste and then cook until the ginger and garlic paste gives out fragrant.

Toss in all of the spices, ground chillies, cardamom, turmeric, garam masala, cumin and cinnamon sticks. Dry roast the spices for 1 minute or two until you can smell the spices in the air (on low heat). Once the spices start to fragrant add in the tomatoes and then stir to mix with the roasted spices. Continue to stir to make sure that no spices stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

       

Adjust the heat again to medium high and cook the tomatoes until it starts to break down and then add in the lamb pieces, fresh chillies, mint, coriander and about a tablespoon of salt. Stir to combine and now add 2 cups of water into the pot. Bring the heat to high and then leave it to cook for 25 minutes, stir occasionally. After 25 minutes reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 25 minutes or until the lamb is tender and the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and serve with basmati rice and/or rotti bread.

       

 

MOROCCAN SPICED PORK BELLY

by siow on in Meat, Pork, RECIPES

Love pork belly? Love Moroccan spice? You’ve come to the right place! There are many Asian pork belly dishes out there that I love and recently my partner’s been wanting me to make a pork belly dish that isn’t an Asian dish. He went out the other day and came home with heaps of what he wants to eat. When he told me he wanted pork belly the first thing that came to mind was Moroccan pork belly. He was expecting something else with the pork belly, but he loved this recipe as much as other recipe he expected.

We were going to make it our dinner yesterday, but because we were making a beef pizza as well (that was supposed to be our lunch today) and the pizza cooked faster than the pork belly we ended up having the pizza instead. So this Moroccan pork belly turned out to be our lunch the next day for our 10 hour day road trip. The dish tasted as good as it did last night. Make this dish to impress or like us as a lunch for any reason because it tastes way better than take away or fast food. Super food plus flavour 😉

Note: I didn’t use any dressing for my quinoa salad because I didn’t want it to get soggy the next day, I only used salt and pepper and topped it up with the sauce from the grilled pork belly. However if you are going to serve the salad at the same time, feel free to add some cider vinegar or mustard dressing to the salad.

It’s not necessary to have the pork with a quinoa salad, you can enjoy it with whatever you prefer. 

You can use any brand or homemade Moroccan spice, it will work out fine with any.

1 cup quinoa = 2 cups water

MOROCCAN SPICED PORK BELLY

Prep-Time:  2 hrs                       Serve: 2

Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

500g pork belly

1.5 tsp salt

2.5 tbsp Moroccan spices

1 tbs spoon olive oil

quinoa salad 

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and cooked

1 capsicum, sliced

1/2 Lebanese cucumber, quartered

1/2 packet mixed salad

salt and pepper

Method

Marinate the pork belly with salt and Moroccan spice for 30 minutes or over night for better results.

Preheat oven over 180°C Fan forced.

Mix all of the salad ingredients together, transfer the salad into a serving plate or container and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, once the oil is heated add in the marinated pork belly. Sear both sides of the pork belly and then transfer into a baking dish (glass if possible) and add 1/4 cup of water into the baking dish.

Wrap the baking dish with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the aluminium foil and then bake for a further 30 minutes or until the pork belly is cooked through and tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, cut the pork into pieces and place onto the salad. Keep aside the excess liquid from the baking tray.

Skim the excess pork belly fat out of the baking tray using a spoon by carefully scooping out the top layer of fat then pour the remaining excess liquid onto the roasted pork belly and salad. Enjoy!

 

SEAFOOD FRIED RICE

by siow on in Egg base, RECIPES, Seafood

There are many styles of fried rice out there and today I will be sharing with you another one of my simple fried rice recipes. I guess I’ve mentioned this many times in my seafood recipes, I love prawns! I don’t often use seafood in fried rice because when it comes to fried rice I like them with red meat or chicken, but on this occasion I decided to combine my favourite seafood with a favourite dish of mine. Again this recipe is very simple, there are only about 4 main ingredients and some seasonings to make it a flavourful fried rice.

My rule with fried rice is that it must be flavourful and that I can taste and smell the browned garlic in it when I eat it. The reason is because Cambodians like to cook with garlic and I grew up eating fried rice with the browned garlic frying fragrant in it so when I first saw fried rice that is sold in supermarket food courts I thought it would be the same because it’s Asian food! However I often got disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, there are Thai restaurants out there that make beautiful fried rice such as 3 Mama on Pitt street, Sydney.

This recipe is great for those who have had a long day at work and just want to make something effortless and delicious. If you don’t have prawns or any seafood in your fridge or freezer, not to worry. The seafood can be easily replaced with meat, poultry or eggs for you vegetarians out there and you can still have a flavourful simple fried rice.

Note: garlic is one of the essential ingredients in Cambodian cooking. Browning garlic in oil before adding in other ingredients when stir-frying helps to enhance the flavour and the fragrant of the dish. If garlic isn’t used mainly in fried rice (Cambodian style) there may be a slight difference in the flavour and fragrant of the dish. If you don’t like garlic, you can always reduce the amount used or use none depending on your taste. 

SEAFOOD FRIED RICE 

Prep- Time: 10 mins                   Serve: 2

Cooking Time: 7 mins

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup jasmine rice, washed and cooked

3 tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, mince

2 spring onion, thinly chopped

1 tbsp fish sauce/ 1 tsp vegetable stock powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

10 prawns, peeled and deveined

Method 

Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat, add in the garlic once the oil is heated and then stir for 2 minutes until it turns golden brown. Toss in the prawns and then add in the salt and sugar. Stir to dissolve the seasoning and cook the prawns for 1 minute.

Now add in the rice and sprinkle the fish sauce over the rice. Stir to combine with the other ingredients for 2 minutes and then add in the spring onions. Continually stir to cook and combine the ingredients together and prevent the rice from sticking to the wok. Transfer onto a serving place and enjoy with some fresh vegetables. If you prefer you can also add in chopped up vegetables to the fried rice as it cooks but I recommend trying it as is first and then experimenting with adding other vegetables after that.

 

ITALIAN PARMESAN MUSHROOMS

by siow on in RECIPES, Veggies

It isn’t just about how mushrooms are grown that makes me love so much about them. Its their sizes, shapes and how they taste so great when combined with other food. It’s amazing how fungus can taste so delicious. When I was 8, my grandparents had a haystack in their backyard and during the wet season then (in Cambodia) it rained everyday or most days of the week. There’s a type of mushroom that is commonly used in Cambodian cooking and sold in the market that are grown from haystacks, when they started appearing in the backyard I used to sit there and stare at them in case they might grow bigger as I stared. I checked them everyday and within 3-4 days they grew into really good size, I was amazed at how nature worked.

Mum is a great cook and she often figured out and learned new dishes from places solely through her keen instincts and past experience. This side dish was taught to her by her Italian friend back when I was about 13/14. Mum has always told me to watch her in the kitchen and from that I learned a lot from her. This recipe wasn’t officially taught to me, when my mum’s friend taught her to make this dish I was around all the time and have always been around when she made it later on. I love this dish and from watching her make it so many times I learned to make by heart.

They used the haystack mushrooms (sorry, I can’t seem to find name of that type of  mushroom anywhere) in this dish because it was the best choice in Cambodia, but since we don’t have that type of mushroom here in Australia I use button mushrooms. The finished dish looks and tastes the same as when using the mushrooms grown in Cambodia. The dish has a sharp flavour from the combination of basil, parmesan and lime juice mixed with the mushrooms flavour. It’s very unique and easy to make.

ITALIAN PARMESAN MUSHROOMS

Prep-Time: 7 mins                       Serve: 4

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients 

500g button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped sweet basil

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, mince

Method 

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Add in the mushrooms once the oil is heated, constantly stir the mushrooms to allow them to cook evenly for 5 minutes or until all of the mushrooms are cooked through.

Toss in the chopped garlic and then stir for 1 minute to cook the garlic. Remove from heat and then add in the basil, Parmesan cheese, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Now stir the ingredients together until well mixed.

        

The flavour of the dish should be a tiny bit salty and have a hint of sourness. When eaten you should taste the combination of flavours from the basil, garlic, lime juice and Parmesan together wrapped around the mushroom flavour. The dish is served as a side dish.

 

SWEET POTATO CHICKEN SOUP

by siow on in Poultry, RECIPES

Where I grew up soups were often light and clear (Asian style) and were always served with rice as main dishes, I have also tried western style soups when we visited my late step grandma when I was in year 5. I remember her making us the best pumpkin and oyster soups ever! Since that time I have learned to love pumpkin soup and many other western style soups.

It is winter in Sydney and for those of you from Sydney, you know it gets cold easily. Sometimes when I shop for vegetables online I often get sweet potatoes (not that I eat them all the time) and because I didn’t eat any of them recently when it come to order my next delivery, I ended up with a lot of sweet potatoes. So it was cold and I wanted pumpkin soup but also meat. I had no pumpkin but a lot of sweet potatoes so I thought hmm lets make sweet potato chicken soup and this is how it turned out. The flavour is very similar to pumpkin soup with a combination of chicken soup. We love this soup and it’s very easy to make with not a lot of ingredients. So if you want to try something new, please do try this recipe and share with us your version of it!

SWEET POTATO CHICKEN SOUP 

Prep-Time: 10 mins                            Serve: 3

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 chicken breast/ 4 drumsticks

1 tbsp fresh thyme

1 onion, chopped

3/4 cup thicken cream

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

Method

Place the sweet potatoes and a small amount of salt into a pot and fill the pot with water enough to cover the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil on high heat and then leave it to boil for 7-10 minutes or until the potatoes become soft. Remove from heat and then scoop the cooked potatoes out of the boiling water and then place into a blender, set aside.

Return the pot with the water to the stove and add in the chicken and then leave it until cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken from the water and set a side to cool. Pour the water into a container and set aside.

Using the same pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and once the oil is heated, cook the onion until it becomes transparent. Add in the thyme and garlic and then cook for 2 minutes to get rid of the raw taste of the garlic. Remove from heat and transfer into the same blender as the potatoes, add some of the water into the blender and blend for a minute until smooth. Add some more water to help with the blending if it’s too thick.

Return back to the pot and then add in the cream and then leave it to heat up on medium heat. While waiting for the soup to heat up, separate the chicken into pieces and then add them into the soup. Allow the soup to heat up to a simmer or once you see bubbles popping out remove from the heat and then it is ready to serve. Serve as it is or with french bread.

 

 

 

 

 

VEAL SCALLOPINI

by siow on in Beef, Meat, RECIPES

Scallopini is a beautiful and an easy Italian dish to make. I’ve always been a fan of mushroom sauce and I can’t say no to this veal scallopini. Sometimes I just find it hard to believe that such simple ingredients can make such a beautiful dish. We encountered the dish in an Italian restaurant close to where we used to live, my partner ordered the dish and had fallen in love with it since. He’s been wanting to have it again but cooked by me and finally it’s here. 🙂

As a cook I love to see how much people enjoy the food I make and feel/see the satisfaction on their faces. I often feel very satisfied with what I make, and I must say that this dish is one that I’m actually proud to make. The veal was tender and cooked just right and when topped with the sauce, it was a bomb in my mouth. The smell was unique and that creamy mushroom sauce was just soo good. I didn’t use stock like the original recipe or the way other people make it (I just find it healthier not to), I only use salt to flavour the whole dish. There’s no right or wrong though, so if you prefer to use stock feel free to do so.

Note: if veal isn’t available at your local you can use beef, pork or chicken instead. They all go well with the sauce. 

I used tarragon in my recipe, but if you don’t like the smell or the taste of it you can use coriander or dill instead. If it’s unavailable in your local, but you still want to have that citrus smell in your sauce you can use grounded mixed herbs or grounded anise as a substitute.     

I accidentally placed half of my veal into the pan before the oil heated properly so some of the flour came off and stuck to my stainless steel pan. So when cooking the steak remember to wait until the oil is nice and hot so that your steak cooks nicely and prevents it from the risk of boiling in it’s own excess liquid.  

 

VEAL SCALLOPINI 

Prep-Time: 15 mins                    Serve: 2-4

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients 

4 thin veal steaks

1 cup plain flour

Salt and Pepper

Oil

side 

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, chopped

2 Chinese broccoli, cut in half

1/2 red capsicum, sliced

1 cup snow peas, topped and tailed

sauce 

1 tsp garam masala

1 small red onion/ shallot, sliced

6 medium button mushroom, thinly sliced

1 tbsp chopped tarragon

1 tbsp chopped chives

2 sage

1/4 cup white wine

3/4 cup cream

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp oil oil

1/4 cup water/chicken stock

salt to taste

Method

Place potatoes in a pot and fill with water, enough to cover the potatoes. Cook the potatoes for 7-10 minutes or until half cooked (not cooked through) once the potatoes started to cook, add in the chopped carrots and cook for further 3 minutes or until the carrots are just cooked. Drain and set aside.

In that same pot heat butter and oil over medium high heat and then add in the onion and mushrooms. Sauté until most of the mushrooms soften and then add in masala, sage, wine, salt and water. Then sauté for 4 minutes further. Once all of the mushrooms have softened, pour in the cream and cook until it thickens. Stir in the tarragon and chives once the sauce has thickened, give the sauce a quick stir and then remove from the stove.

         

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat, throw in the Chinese broccoli and snow peas and then sauté in the oil for 1 minute to soften. Add in the rest of the vegetables including the carrots and potatoes and then sprinkle a small amount of salt and sauté for further 2 minutes. Transfer into a bowl and set aside.

         

Lightly salt and pepper the veal steak. Dredge in the flour and lightly shake to dust off the excess flour. Heat the oil in the same pan that you used to sauté the vegetables over medium high heat, once it is nice and hot place the veal steak away from you into the pan. Cook each side for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Transfer onto a serving plate, top with the mushroom sauce and serve with sautéed vegetables.

                  

 

OVEN BBQ PORK RIBS

by siow on in Meat, Pork, RECIPES

Pork ribs are one of the most beautiful parts of a pig. The way my mum makes pork ribs is completely different from the classic American style BBQ ribs, but my mum doesn’t make BBQ ribs though which is a bit of a shame. But as she lives in America I think she will eventually give it a go. I taught myself this recipe and method, this is my 5th time making BBQ pork ribs and I have to say that I have improved with each time I made it and I’ve found the best way to get this result when cooking it in the oven. What I did with the marination maybe a bit different from the way others do it, well this is my way!

What I like about my mum’s ribs is the marination that she used. It’s very simple and flavours the ribs all the way through rather than just the outside layer that will be glazed with BBQ sauce. The base seasoning is still an asian seasoning but because of the 2nd base marination which we will use BBQ sauce, the pork ribs taste the way they normally would. The first base is just to help flavour the inner part of the meat and help to keep the meat moist when cooking for a long time in the oven. It will be a lot of waiting time for the marination to complete as well as the cooking time. However it’s definitely worth waiting for and the effort.

Note: ribs don’t have much meat on them so when cooking for a long time it can become dry and hard which will make it hard to eat (not the way anyone likes it). When cooking the ribs in the oven as long as the I do (4 hours), what I like to do is fill 1/4 of the baking tray with water and then place a metal rack in the water filled tray. There are spaces between the water and the rack so don’t worry about your ribs getting boiled and becoming soggy. What I do next is lay the ribs flat on the metal rack and then cover the ribs and the tray with aluminium foil. Covering the tray with foil will contain the heat and the vapour from the boiling water in the tray from evaporating out. The heated vapour helps to keep the ribs moist.   

Here is another method if you prefer not to use water. Instead of just the normal seasoning I use for the first base marination, I would also add some oil with it because the oil helps to prevent the meat from getting too hard and burn, especially if the meat gets dried out from the marination. So without using water and the metal rack, spray the tray with oil and then place the ribs in the sprayed tray and cover with foil. The foil will help to keep the excess liquid from evaporating out. 

OVEN BBQ PORK RIBS

Prep-Time: over night or 4hrs                           Serve: 2-4

Cooking Time: 4hrs

Ingredients 

2 racks of pork ribs

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp grounded pepper

3 cups smokey BBQ Sauce

Method

Marinate ribs with salt, sugar and pepper and then massage the ribs until all the seasoning has dissolved. Leave in the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.

After the hour it’s been marinating remove the ribs from the fridge and start marinating the meat with 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Rub the ribs until well coated on both sides. Leave to marinate in the fridge over night or for another 3 hours.

Preheat oven on 160°C Fan Force

Fill 1/4 of water (1/2 cup) in a large size deep baking tray and then place a metal rack in the tray (similar to what you may use when cooking a roast). Lay the ribs on the metal rack and then cover the tray with aluminium foil. Cook in the oven for 3 hrs and 15 minutes.

After 3 hrs and 15 minutes remove the tray from the oven and remove the foil. Glaze the ribs with 1 cup of BBQ sauce or until nicely coated. Return to the oven without the foil and cook for further 35 minutes. After 30 minutes repeat the glazing and cook for further 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with steak fries or salad.

 

 

SEAFOOD TOM YUM

by siow on in RECIPES, Seafood

Tom yum is a soul food for me, I love how the flavour balances out so well together with seafood. The dish is traditionally from Thailand and originally made with prawns, but can also be made with chicken or pork. This dish has been a source of inspiration for many other cultures including it’s surrounding neighbour countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and etc.. There are two different types of Tom yum soup. The first Tom yum soup is Tom yum nam Sai which is a clear broth Tom yum soup and the second Tom yum soup is Tom yum nam khon which became popular from around the 1980s. This version of Tom yum soup is thicker and creamer due to the addition of coconut cream or evaporated milk. The main ingredients that are used to make the broth are the same for both types of Tum yum which are usually fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai chilies, tomato, coriander, galangal, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce.

In Cambodia Tom yum was first served in the city and in tourist areas, but overtime that has changed because many Cambodians from the countryside moved to Thailand in order to find better paying jobs, especially those who lives in the upper part of Cambodia and then returned with the influence of Thailand’s food culture. Just like many other countries the soup has gained high popularity and is served as a special dish to some Cambodian families. What I love most about Tom yum is the sour sweet and salty flavour of the soup and also its very similar to most Cambodian sour clear soups because we often have them with prawns which is my most favourite seafood besides crabs.

Note: when making Tom yum I recommend making it from scratch rather than using the pre-made paste. Using fresh herbs gives the soup it’s original authentic aroma and a fresher flavour. However if you are unable to find the fresh herbs you can still use the pre-made paste, but the flavour will be slightly different.

Becareful with the amount of thai chilies that are added into the broth, because when the chopped chilies are boiled in the broth the flavour and spice will become more dominate.

The version I’m making is the clear soup Tom yum, I used mixed seafood for this soup, but you can use which ever you prefer or just make it the original way. The sour, sweet and saltiness of the soup can vary depending on your own specific taste. 

SEAFOOD TOM YUM

Prep-Time: 15 mins                Serve: 2

Cooking Times: 17 mins

Ingredients 

350g sea marinara

2 stork coriander, chopped (keep roots if available)

5 Thai chilies, roughly chopped

5 slices galangal

5 kaffir lime leaves, washed

2 lemongrass, finger length diagonally cut

5 medium size button mushrooms, half

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cube stock powder

1 tomato, roughly chopped

1-2 lime juice

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1.8-2L water

Method

Bring water to boil in a medium sized pot over high heat. Once the water starts boiling add in salt, sugar, stock and fish sauce. After this add in the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chilies and coriander roots. Leave the pot to boil for five minutes to allow the aroma of the herbs and spices to flavour the broth.

Add in the mushrooms, tomato, onion and seafood … and stir to separate, then leave it to boil once again for 2 minutes or until the tomato softens.

Squeeze in 1 lime juice and then stir. Give the soup a taste and adjust the sour, sweet and saltiness to your liking. Turn off the heat and then toss in the chopped coriander, stir and then remove from the stove. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

 

 

 

 

   

SALMON TERIYAKI

by siow on in RECIPES, Seafood

Who out there hasn’t had salmon teriyaki before? I hope everyone reading this has. If you haven’t you are missing out on one of the most delicious and famous Japanese dishes. Don’t worry though if you haven’t tried it. Here is my version of the dish, it’s so delicious I hope you will give it a go.

Teriyaki in general is one of my favourite flavours. I first encountered teriyaki sauce when I was in year 10. The school I went to was a private international school in Cambodia so we studied with many international students. One of my close friends was Cambodian-Japenese and her lunch box was always filled with different Japanese foods. Besides watching Japanese anime and then falling in love with their language, at the time I’d never actually had Japanese food. One day we decided to share our lunch and on that day she had beef tempura with a thick teriyaki dipping sauce. I tried it and it was heaven, the thickness and sweetness of that teriyaki sauce melted in my mouth with any thing so since then she would always offer me the dish and made it my favourite Japanese food.

My story behind this dish today is that I didn’t plan on having it today. I got sick and strangely I have cravings when I’m sick most of the time. I went grocery shopping yesterday to get food that will satisfy my craving after a hospital appointment. I was out of it all day so when I saw salmon and tuna at the fish market window I just craved for sashimi and ended up buying a nice piece of salmon steak. I got home and remembered I can’t use those ones for sashimi and remembered that only the freshly caught salmon is used for sashimi. Despite that I still want to eat it 😀 thanks to my partner who stopped me, I would probably have ended up with food poisoning and a bad cold. So I thought well I can still have Japanese and my favourite one too. So here it is today!

Note: there are many ways of making teriyaki sauce, I often add ginger, garlic and sesame oil to the sauce but since I’m not very well I simplified it. It still tastes very good because the main ingredients are still there.

If you prefer a different way of making this dish with less mess and reduced time it’s best to probably oven bake/grill it, but I like to make it the traditional way.

SALMON TERIYAKI 

Prep-Time: 1 hr                         Serve: 1

Cooking Time: 8 minutes

Ingredients

1 piece salmon steak, without skin

4 asparagus, bottom cut

5 brussel sprouts, washed

5 button mushrooms, quartered

3 tbsp water

oil

teriyaki marinate sauce 

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

pinch salt and pepper

Method   

Mix the marination ingredients together in a mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Coat the salmon steak in the marinating sauce and leave it to marinate for 30 minutes – 1 hour.

          

Heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat, sauté the asparagus and brussel sprouts in the oil. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the asparagus changes colour. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan add in the marinated salmon and mushrooms. Sprinkle the marinating sauce over the mushrooms and salmon. Add some water to prevent the sauce from burning and cook the salmon for 2 minutes. Turn the salmon over and cook for another 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Transfer on to a serving plate along with the sautéd mushrooms, asparagus and brussel sprouts. Pour the remaining sauce from the pan onto the salmon. Serve with steamed rice.