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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Lunch: Grilled Pork chops w/ broken rice and Nuoc mam (fish sauce)

Looks a bit plain because I made the pork/egg meatloaf the night before and it failed very badly! The recipe I used it had a typo and had 2 tablespoons of pepper and a tablespoon of salt when it was meant to be a teaspoon >.<

However, I still wanted to make the pork chops. I love ordering the Broken rice dish at the vietnamese restaurants~ And I have a specific way of eating it too lol.

but OMG the pork chops are the best ever!! Better than some restaurants where the meat is dry. Mine were soft and very juicy! I can still smell the marinade as I type lol. I used the recipe that uses 6 pork chops so I had to cut it down at a ratio.

Marinade (for 6 pork chops)
3 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs dark soy sauce
1 tbs oil
1 tbs minced garlic

marinate the pork chops for at least 2 hours.

I was excited whilst cooking and being nervous knowing that I might overcook or undercook it. It's also my b/f favourite dish so I HAVE to do it justice! I failed the meatloaf although not all restaurants serve that.

I stared at my plate knowing something else was missing... our tomatoes were old and the meatloaf was fail... we were both happy with the pork chop that we forgot that the egg was missing!



Also can't have a vietnamese dish without the fish sauce (Nuoc mam) which I made! I didn't cheat and buy this time!The first batch I thought I killed it as soon as I added lime juice. It smelt funny too... but apparently it's still a sauce but used more for seafood and green mangoes. So I just made another batch but without adding the lime juice

Nuoc Mam:
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 garlic cloves, chopped
carrots, grated
2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)

Combine the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir well and cook until just before boiling point is reached. allow it to cool and add grated carrots and garlic.

You might wanna find jars to store them in... I was almost tempted to use a Bundaburg glass bottle... or a soft drink bottle.. which would be weird especially if someone wants to open your fridge and find that they think is a drink, pull it out and drink out of the bottle.... no... just... no...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Dinner: What to do with leftover jap curry

Had so much curry leftover last night and I had another crazy thought of having "curry udon" Although my b/f wanted "curry don" so I made rice for him. But it's still one way to use leftover curry since it's simple and it just needs heating up again.

However to make a curry broth, I needed dashi with the curry. Which is only sold in rare places so I just had a cheap substitute. heated up chicken stock and added a splash of soy and water and added lots of curry.

First time I used leftover curry was when I chucked in instant noodles instead of Udon xD

Monday, September 5, 2011

Dessert: Baked apple with Bacon & Saltana crumble

(again apologise for the quality of the photo... I let my mum borrow my camera for her holiday... phone camera is all I got unfortunately *sad face*)

This dessert doesn't really have a name... it was just something my boyfriend invented. he cooked it as part of our 6 month anniversary candlelit dinner and it was my favourite part of the dinner. Wanted him to make it again lol.

Now I know you think bacon and apples taste weird together but it's when I bite into the warm and juicy apple that reminds me more of myself eating an apple pie or an apple crumble.

He showed me how to make the dish and it was quite simple. Just need to make the crumble, put them on the apples and put them in the oven for 15 mins.

Used:
Crumble
bread crumbs
bacon diced (depending on how many apples there are)
a bit of saltanas
butter

granny smith apples decored and cut in half

more butter to coat the "stuffed" apples so apple doesn't dry out in the oven.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Sushi: Inari - plain


Omg the asian grocery I always go to finally stocked up new items and one of them was Inari Beancurd pockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy!!!!

So I saved the inari making for my 6 month anniversary at a picnic. What perfect food to take to a picnic but sushi?? I'm not a big fan of sandwiches cos I'm not good at making them lol but I'm hoping to have more picnic outings like this.

the instructions to using the Inari was all written in jap but with the help of a friend, Its just basically soaking them in hot (not boiling) water for a minute or 2 until you can open them.kinda hard when dipping fingers in hot water so had to work fast. I had a bowl of cold water to dip in afterwards and stuff rice in it too.

I just used plain rice, I kinda like just the plain rice because it's simple.

Used:
sushi rice (made 9 inari but 8 for due to the size of my bento box)
rice vinegar
Inari Fried beancurd pockets

I left them in the fridge overnight so they can stay cool for our picnic~