Fried Egg Noodles with Prawn

Awesome way to use egg noodles. So flavourful and satisfying. Using prawn stock is optional but highly recommended. I honestly eat 2 servings on my own... yeah I know I'm not supposed to.

 
Here is what you will need for 2
 

About 200 grams of egg noodles
About 250 grams of prawns – Peeled and cut into 1cm pieces.
Set the meat aside or in fridge until ready to fry

Bunch of baby spinach or your preferred Asian greens
 
For Prawn stock:
Put the heads and shells in a small saucepan
Add about 1 -1.5 cup of water in saucepan with prawn heads and shells
Bring to a boil and then Simmer over low heat for 10 mins
 
Half a large yellow onion – Sliced
1 stalk chopped spring onions for garnish
8 - 10 cloves of garlic chopped
 
Sauce:
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Mix all the above in a small bowl
 
Method
Heat oil in wok over high heat
Add onions and fry for about 15 seconds
Add the chopped garlic - Fry for about 1 minute or so
Add the prawn meat, fry for about 1 minute
Add the eggs and scramble
Add the spinach and wilt them a little
Add the noodles and fry
Add the sauce and mix well
Add the prawn stock - you may not need all of it
Fry for another 20 seconds or so and you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!

GARLICKY EGG FRIED RICE - NO WOK REQUIRED

 

A method for garlicky egg fried rice that does not require a wok. A wok is almost always better for fried rice but if you don’t have one or not inclined to use one, this is a viable alternative.
The steps are also easy to follow and stress free.

What you will need:

• 400 grams cooked short grain rice (refrigerated overnight)
• Beat 3 eggs with a splash of soy sauce
• 1 Large yellow onion - chopped up (I used a food processor)
• 12-15 garlic cloves – chopped
• 2 stalks spring onions -sliced
• Soy Sauce
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Heat some oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat
• Add the onions - Fry for about 3-4 mins - until they soften a little
• Add in the chopped garlic
• Fry for until browned, about 6-8 mins
• When onions and garlic are browned and fragrant - Remove from pan and set aside
• In the same pan - add the rice on a Medium high heat
• Allow the rice to fry and dry out a little in the pan
• After about a minute add the beaten eggs
• Mix well, coating the rice grains with egg
• Add the fried onions and garlic when eggs are almost cooked through

(Note if you adding a pre-cooked protein/meat - add it at this point.)

• Add about a tbsp of soy sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Turn of the heat and mix in the spring onions

Serve and enjoy!

SPICY MINCE BEEF WITH THAI BASIL STIRFRY. (PAD KAPRAO)

Pad Kaprao - My favourite dish when I was living in Thailand. Chicken and Pork variants are the most common, but I love the minced beef variant the most. It’s a typically very spicy dish, a big part about what I love about this dish. The deep fried egg just makes it even more enjoyable. 

It actually made using Holy Basil (Kaprao) but couldn’t get my hands on any so I used Thai basil instead. 

I just bought a couple of very young Holy Basil plants. I will upload a version using holy basil when I get a good harvest of leaves of the plants. (Fingers crossed)

300 grams of beef mince
150 grams long beans

To make the sauce:

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light/regular soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Mix all the above in a bowl

1. Separate the leaves of 1 bunch Thai basil
2. Cut 150 grams of beans into 1 cm pieces
3. Dice half an onion
4. Slice 1 large chilli
5. Slice 8 bird's eye chillies (Reduce or increase to your preference)
6. Chop 6 garlic cloves
7. 300 grams of beef mince
8. Season with salt and pepper

Method:

Fry an egg, Thai street style (It just means use more oil and high heat, almost deep frying)

1. Oil in hot wok with high heat
2. Fry chillies and garlic until garlic is golden brown and aromatic
3. Add beef mince into the wok - break the mince up
4. Add the beans and onion into the wok
5. Add sauce and mix well
6. Turn off heat and mix in basil leaves

Ladle onto steamed rice – making sure to get some of the sauce.

I hope that you enjoy this dish as much as I did!

Spicy Asian Lamb Cutlets

 

I ordered the rack of lamb online. It was everything I expected when it arrived. Was afraid to screw up the lamb so I decided to try sous vide this time. Pairing it with an awesome fish sauce caramel (inspired from my visits to Chin Chin in the Melbourne CBD). The results where amazing. Charred tender lamb that is sweet, sour and savoury at the same time.
 
1kg rack of lamb - I cut it into 2 bones per cutlet
 
For the marinade:
2 tbsp Garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp kecap manis
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp white pepper powder
1 tbsp water

Mix all the above in a bowl.
Put in with lamb in resealable bag and leave in fridge overnight.

For the Fish Sauce Caramel
slice 1 stalk lemon grass
slice 4 kaffir lime leaves
slice 1 knob of ginger
1 handful of Thai basil
250 grams dark brown sugar
half cup of fish sauce
50 ml water
1-2 star anise

Method:

Fish Sauce Caramel

1. Put all the above in a small pot or saucepan
2. Bring to a boil over stove
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 mins
4. When cooled down, strain into a jar and store.
5. It keeps in the fridge up to 3 weeks.
6. Strain into jar and store in the fridge up to 3 weeks

Cooking the Lamb

1. Cook the lamb in a water bath at 59 degrees Celsius for 1.5-2 hours. (For medium)
2. I started the charcoal fire 20 mins before searing
3. I used a charcoal BBQ but a cast iron skillet or huge blow torch would work too.
4. Grill the cutlets fat side down first. Then char-grill the rest of the surface area.
5. With sous-vide the lamb is already cooked to the temp that you want you do not want to cook the cutlets further. Just want to get some nice charring on.
6. When at desired charring, remove from heat and plate.
7. Drizzle fish sauce caramel liberally .

Enjoy!

This is a simple chicken stir-fry and I don't feel like using a wok. Your basic East Asian ingredients and sauces. A dish that anyone can put together.

Ingredients that you'll need:

500gm chicken thighs - - cut to 2 cm pieces

1 red capsicum - cut to 2 cm pieces

1/2 yellow onion - cut to 2 cm pieces

2 bird's eye chillies - sliced

4 garlic cloves - chopped

1 knob of ginger - sliced

1 stalk curry leaves

(There was broccoli stem in the video, I just happened to have some around)

Chicken marinade 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine 1 tbsp corn starch 1 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder (or to taste) Sauces added into stirfry 2 tbsp soy sauce 2-3 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine Optional suggestions Add 1 -2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce for some colour and sweetness

Method:

• Mix the cut chicken with all the marinade ingredients.
• leave in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight.
• When ready to start frying, take chicken out of the fridge.
• In a large frying pan or wok, heat some oil over medium high heat.
• When oil is hot, add chicken pieces into the pan.
• Cook for about 15 mins until almost cooked through and there is some browning on the chicken.
• Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Wipe the pan down
• In the same pan, add some oil and heat pan - Medium high heat.
• Fry garlic and curry leaves till fragrant - about 2-4 minutes
• Fry rest of the vegetables till lightly browned
• Chicken back in the pan and cook through
• At the end, add all the stir fry sauces.
• Mix well for another 1-2 minutes.
• Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy!