This is a great dish to make during the summer months, because it’s easy to make, it’s light, and it can be served cold. This is also a great way to use up leftovers. Feel free to substitute with any vegetables and/or cooked meat that you like or happen to have on hand. I served this Thai inspired noodle salad alongside a Thai mango salad for lunch (recipe here).
Posts Tagged ‘recipes’
Thai Mango Salad Recipe
In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Asian, Other Asian Foods, Sides and Sauces on September 1, 2013 at am
This Thai mango salad is delicious and very easy to make. The key to success is to use mangoes that have the perfect ripeness, just starting to ripe and still firm. Some recipes call for green mangoes, but I’ve found that using green mangoes results in a crunchy salad that lacks mango flavour and colour. I made this for my sister’s lunch group at work and everyone loved it. I served it as an appetizer to a cold Thai noodle salad (recipe here).
Favourite Slow Cooker Fish Recipe
In Asian, Fish / Seafood, Seafood on August 28, 2013 at am
I have had the toughest time trying to figure out how to cook using a slow cooker. I’ve tried different recipes from different cookbooks and websites, and I’ve tried using different meats and/or vegetables, but 9 times out of 10, I end up with overcooked slop. I’d love to hear how you mastered the slow cooker! The only other recipe that I’ve had success with is this slow cooker pulled pork. So I tested this fish recipe a few times and even had John (a beginner in the kitchen) make it once by himself before I shared this new favourite slow cooker recipe with you. We love this dish. It is Thai inspired, mild, and light yet creamy. My family approves of this dish too, and that’s saying a lot because they strongly dislike slow cooker cooked food. But I should warn you, this recipe requires a bit more work and attention than typical slow cooker recipes. In my opinion, it’s worth the extra effort, because your meal won’t look or taste like it came out of a slow cooker.
Malaysian Cincalok Dip and Steamed Pork Belly Recipe
In Asian, Meat and Eggs, Seafood on August 25, 2013 at amI traveled to Malaysia for the first time in May 2013. It was an amazing food experience and I am excited to share what I learned about Malaysian cuisine with you. The best part of the trip was watching my dad enjoy nostalgic food from his childhood. While souvenir shopping in a Malaysian grocery store, my dad spotted a bottle of cincalok and told me that when he was a child, his family’s servants would toss nets into the ocean during shrimp season to catch tiny shrimp for his mom to make cincalok from scratch. After hearing that story, I had to bring some home.
Malaysian cincalok
Favourite Chocolate Cupcakes with Light and Fluffy Nutella Frosting
In Cupcakes, Desserts on August 22, 2013 at am
This is my new favourite chocolate cupcake recipe. I have also used it successfully to make a layer cake. This recipe is very similar to the previous favourite chocolate cake recipe (see here), with the main difference being that this new recipe includes cornstarch. The difference in result is very subtle, but I’m convinced that the texture of these cupcakes is slightly better.
This nutella and chocolate frosting is also worth mentioning. I never knew that such a simple frosting could be so light in weight, smooth and delicate in flavour, and still hold its shape when piped. In fact, Sweetapolita calls it “nutella cloud frosting” to describe the texture. It is comparable to swiss meringue buttercream in heavenly texture but requires much less work, time, and ingredients. Note that I’ve also paired this chocolate cake recipe with a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and it was incredible. See instructions here.
How to Render Lard
In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Asian, Breakfast, Desserts, How-To, Main Course on August 18, 2013 at pmI recently jumped onto the lard band wagon and I saved a seat for you. I know what you’ve heard about lard. I heard the same warnings about high cholesterol and clogged arteries. In fact, I grew up listening to my dad blame his blocked arteries on the use of lard in every day cooking during his youth. But the truth is that home rendered lard can actually be considered a healthy fat! (See here for more details.) It is better for you than butter and is a rich source of vitamin D. But I want to be very clear that only home rendered lard is good, and it’s best if the fat comes from naturally raised hogs. Processed store-bought lard, however, contains trans fats – the very bad fats – and preservatives.
Home rendered lard
I am so glad that we’ve cleared up that misunderstanding, because lard makes everything taste better. For example, it’s perfect for deep frying foods, because it has a high smoke point. This allows your food to cook more quickly, meaning that your food will be crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, all the while absorbing less oil. Also, lard is necessary for making the best flaky pastries. You may be surprised to know that lard is one of the secrets to many delicious Asian dishes as well. Cooking your stir fried noodles in lard will result in an inimitable flavor and silky texture.
Orecchiette with Sausage and Rapini Recipe
In Pasta, Rice, and Doughs on August 6, 2013 at amHi everyone! This is the first recipe that I’ve shared in over a year. It comes served with a side of apology. By now, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t learned food photography yet. But, more than 3 years into food blogging and I think my photography skills are actually getting worse. I will forever cringe whenever reminded that I posted a photo with an electronic date stamp on it. Please see below, please forgive, and then please never think of it again. (I had to borrow my dad’s old camera at the time and I was too hungry to try and figure out how to remove the date setting.)
Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Recipe
In Cakes on July 6, 2012 at amI love making baked goods that use sour cream, because I always have trouble finishing a tub of sour cream. It also happens to give cake a great moist texture. I made this sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake for co-workers and the flavour and texture received great reviews. For those of you who aren’t familiar with coffee cake, coffee cake doesn’t necessarily contain coffee. It is often simply served with a cup of coffee.
Favourite Broccoli Salad Recipe
In Soups and Salads on July 2, 2012 at amI don’t actually like broccoli, but I really like this salad. Everyone that has ever tried it has loved it. In fact, I made it for my dad’s packed lunch recently, and he said that it was the best salad he has ever had. It’s perfect for bbqs, pot lucks, and picnics, because you can make it in advance.
Hong Kong Egg Tarts Recipe
In Asian Desserts, Pies & Tarts on June 28, 2012 at am
Chinese (Cantonese) egg tarts are subtly sweet snacks/desserts that consist of a egg custard filling (notpudding-y) that is baked in pastry shells that are either flaky puff pastry or soft, shortcrust pastry. Eventually, I will make the pastry from scratch, but for now, the store bought puff pastry tart shells work beautifully and make these egg tarts one of the quickest and easiest desserts to put together. My family thought that these were even better than the ones that we buy from Chinese bakeries. Now that I know how easy they are to make, I’ll never buy them again.
Chinese Chicken and Rice Wine Soup
In Asian, Drinks, Soups, Soups and Salads on June 24, 2012 at pmCooking with Alison’s Mom (Part 1)
I have always wanted to learn how to make traditional Chinese soups and health drinks. So this chicken and rice wine health drink/soup is the first of my new recipe series, Cooking with Alison’s Mom. (Be sure to check out the Cooking with Alison’s Grandma recipe series.)
This Chinese soup is often served to women who have just given birth as it is supposed to be nourishing and warming. I particularly like drinking this healthy soup in the winter. It’s also a great way to enjoy/use up homemade glutinous rice wine. This soup could be made using only 2 ingredients – chicken and glutinous rice wine, but my mom likes to add a few more ingredients to enhance the health benefits and flavour.
Hot Chili Oil Recipe
In Other Asian Foods, Sides and Sauces on June 19, 2012 at pmChinese hot chili oil is versatile, delicious, and cheap and easy to make. Use this as a condiment (e.g. for dumplings), use it in sauces (see bang bang chicken recipe here), soups (hot and sour soup recipe here, Chinese borscht (lor sung tong) recipe here), add this to a noodle dish (even instant noodles), or use it as a substitute for cooking oil to add heat to any dish.
Normally, this is made using whole, dried red chilies, which gives the hot chili oil a red colour. However, I happened to have a lot of red chili flakes on hand, so I used that instead.
Cooking with Alison 