Lobster Noodles

Lobster Noodles

Saw that the lobster tails were on special at the local supermarket. Bought 4. I didn’t weigh them though. This is a fairly easy recipe and a wok is not a must but recommended. 

We really enjoyed this dish. The sauce is crucial and it was so good.

What you will need:

About 400 grams egg/Hokkien noodles (Cooked weight)
5 stalks spring onion cut to 2 inch lengths
6-8 garlic cloves chopped
1 inch knob of ginger sliced
half a yellow onion sliced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 cup shaoxing wine
1 cup lobster stock (made with reserved tail shells)
 
Split the lobster tails lengthwise down the middle. 
Remove the meat. Reserve the shells
 
Cut the meat in to 1 inch chunks. Season with a pinch of salt and set aside in the fridge until ready to fry.
 
Lobster stock:
Boil shells with some garlic and a quarter of the spring onion
Set to low simmer for about 20 mins
 
lightly dust the meat in plain flour and shallow fry for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes each side.
Set aside on a cooling rack
 
Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a wok.
Fry onions and noodles in a hot wok with some oil until some charring is present on the noodles. Add a splash of soy sauce
Remove from wok and set noodles aside
 
100 grams of butter in a wok in over medium heat.
When fully melted add in the ginger, garlic and spring onions.
Fry until fragrant and spring onions are fully wilted.
Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. mix well.
Add Chinese rice wine and stock. Use stock to adjust the viscosity of the sauce to your liking.
Ladle the sauce over the noodles and place fried lobster meat on top.
Garnish with more spring onions if you like
 
Enjoy!

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!

Prawn Noodles

Hokkien Prawn Noodles / Har Mee



A mainstay of the street food scene in Singapore and Malaysia. The dish is Hokkien noodles served in a stock that is made with pork bones and prawn heads/shells which gives it its unique flavour. The stock is sweet and savoury at the same time, which leads to lovers of this dish slurping to the bottom of the bowl.

Each family will have their own version of this dish. This is my version of the dish, a variant of my mom's recipe. She didn't really give me a recipe though. This is based of what I remember while watching her cook, plus some tweaks of my own. Being a meat lover, I serve this with braised pork ribs.

Also, when I serve this dish, I don't like shells on my prawns. Many famous stalls that leave the shells on, even after butterflying the prawns. Its a personal preference, I am using chopsticks and I don't really want to be putting them down to shell the prawns or to be spitting shells throughout my meal. I find it very distracting.

What you will need to serve 4 - 6

Stock:
Pork Bones - About half a kilo at least.
Prawns - About 600 grams - Shelled, save the heads and the shells. Store flesh separately.
Pork Ribs - About 600-800 grams - Cut to individual rib bones.
White peppercorns - 1 Tablespoon
Garlic - 1 bulb or a dozen cloves - Lightly crushed.
Oyster Sauce - 3 Tablespoons
Dark Soya Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
Light Soya Sauce - 2 Tablespoons
1 Chicken Stock cube
Sugar - 1 Tablespoon

Noodles and Garnish:
Fried Shallots (Store bought is fine)
Crispy Fried Pork Lard bits (Optional)
KangKong (Water Spinach) - Washed, cut to 4 cm lengths. About a handful per serving,
Beansprouts - About 100 grams. About a handful per serving,
Chilli Powder / Fresh Chillies - Optional
100grams - Egg Noddle or Hokkien Noodle per serving.

Making Lard Cubes. (About .5 Kg of Pork Lard is a good amount)

The Pork Lard is optional. It is my opinion that it just takes the dish to another level. Cut the pork fat into 1 cm cubes or slightly larger. In a pan, slowly heat up the cubed fat. The lard cubes will start to sweat and you will see liquid fat will start to pool in your pan. Keep the heat medium low. Before long, the cubes will be swimming in oil. At this point you can turn up the heat to get a good browning on the cubes. Do not walk away if you can help it - as they can burn very quickly from this point.

Once you get a nice brown colour on the cubes, separate the solids from the liquid fat.

I like to store the crispy cubes in a paper-lined air tight container and the liquid fat in glass container.

The liquid fat stores well in the fridge. Up to weeks. Try using them in your stir fries, its next level stuff. 1 thing to note when using pork fat with stir-frying, us a smaller amount than you would with regular cooking oil, or your dish might get a tad greasy.

Making the stock:

Heat up 2-3 Tablespoons of oil (or Pork Fat - recommended) in a large stock pot or a wok. Add the garlic, white peppercorns, ginger and the prawn heads/shells and roast till the shells turn pink/red and garlic just starts to brown. Add the oyster sauce and continue roasting. You want the oyster sauce to start caramelizing but not burn.

If you are doing the roasting directly in the stockpot, add in 2.5 litres of water.

If using a wok or frying pan - deglaze with some water, about half a litre or so. Bring to a boil and then transfer to a large stockpot then add the rest of the water into the pot.

Add the pork bones, chicken cube, sugar, Light and Dark soya sauce into the pot.

Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and let simmer for 2 hours.

Tates and adjust as needed with Soya Sauce, pepper and sugar.

Optional Step - Strain the stock. Save the pork ribs and you can discard the rest of the solids.

Or you can just pick out the ribs with and strain the stock as you ladle it into serving bowls.


When Serving:

Have large pot of boiling water ready.

Blanch/cook each serving of noodles according to package instructions and place in the serving bowl.
Blanch/cook each serving of the beansprouts and kangkong and place in the serving bowl.
Blanch each serving of prawns in the stock for 2-3 minutes and place in the serving bowl.(Be careful not to overcook).
Place desired amount of pork ribs in each serving bowl.
Ladle hot stock into the bowl.
Garnish with Shallots, Crispy Lard Cubes and Chillies as desired.

Enjoy....

Pan Seared Salmon with Carrot mash and Leek Cream sauce.

I was at a nearby supermarket and the salmon fillets and leeks looked really good that day. I decided to use them both for dinner so I bought both, together with some cream and carrots and went home and made dinner.

Very enjoyable dinner. The leek infused sauce really brought the dish together. I thought the highlight was the crispy skin on the Salmon. Getting that skin nice and crispy is so crucial to the enjoyment factor of this meal.

Pan Seared Salmon with Carrot mash and Leek Cream

Here is what you'll need for 4 servings.
4 Salmon fillets - About 200 grams each.
200ml whipping cream
1 leek - sliced (White and light green parts only. Discard the dark green and leafy parts)
3-4 large carrots - peeled and cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-3 sprigs of Italian Parsley - Leaves only, roughly chopped
1/4 Milk (For when the puree is too dry to blend)
Chopped chives for garnish (Optional)

Steps
For the Carrot Mash
1. Boil the carrots for about 40 mins in salted water, until they are soft enough for a fork to go through them easily. Strain and set aside. (alternatively, you could bake them wrapped in foil for about 45-60 minutes in an oven at 160 degrees Celsius).

2. Let them cool for a while then puree in a food processor or blender. To ease the blending use some milk if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in 1 tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Leek Cream Sauce
1. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt some butter. When butter starts to heat up and bubble, add in the leeks. Fry the leeks until they soften and start to give off a nutty aroma, just before they brown. Should take 3-5 minutes. Then add the cream and parsley. Turn of the heat when cream is heated up or boiling. Set aside.

For the Salmon Fillets:
1. Season the fillet with salt and pepper. Heat some oil over medium heat in a frying pan. When oil is heated up, lay in the salmon, skin side down. Cook for about 3 minutes and turn over and cook for about 1-2 minutes. You want the skin nice and crispy. Cooking times may vary based on the thickness of your fillets. If your skillet/pan is not big enough to cook 4 at the same time, you may need to cook in batches. When done, remove the fillets from pan and set aside.

Serve the Carrots and Salmon together and pour the sauce over the fish and carrot. Garnish with chives if using and serve immediately. 
Enjoy!

Spicy Garlic Prawns with Corriander, Chorizo, Macadamia and Cherry Tomatoes

This is a rather common dish you'll encounter at many western restaurants. I recently had a variation of this dish at one of the local establishments which left me rather dissatisfied. It was really just some prawns on a hot plate with garlic oil and some chilli flakes. After the meal, I decided to make my own rendition of it. In fact I actually went and bought the prawns for this immediately after leaving the restaurant.

I added macadamia nuts, chorizo, tomatoes and corriander to give some additional flavour dimensions. The macadamia add a mild nutty flavour and textural contrast. Chorizo are savoury spicy sausages with some fat which makes it meld flavours very well with the whole dish. The tomatoes provide some sweetness and the corriander give the dish a fragrance which lifts the whole dish.

Excellent dish as an appetiser or a side to a main meal.

Spicy Garlic Prawns with Corriander, Chorizo, Macadamia and Cherry Tomatoes. 

Serves 2-4 people.

300 grams Large Grey Prawns - Shelled
50-70 grams Chorizo - Thinly sliced
8-12 macadamia nuts - Halved.
5-8 cherry tomatoes - Halved
6-8 cloves of garlic - Sliced/Chopped.
Handful of coriander - Roughly Chopped
2-3 teaspoons dried chilli flakes.

Olive oil for frying.

Your preferred bread.

1. Season the shrimp with some salt and pepper.

2. Lightly toast the macadamia nuts on a large dry pan over medium heat. Toast them just till they start have brown patches on the exterior. Be careful not to burn them. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

3. Wipe down the pan and then add a good amount of olive oil. (This forms the sauce). Roughly a quarter to a third of a cup. Heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is heated add the Chorizo, garlic, chilli flakes and tomatoes. Cook for about a minute or so until the garlic just starts to brown and the Chorizo should start to crisp up. Careful not to let the garlic burn. (Or you can crisp up the Chorizo first in the oil together with the tomatoes, then set them aside when you fry the garlic with the chilli flakes. You can add the tomatoes and Chorizo at the end just before the corriander in step 4 below)

4. At this point and in the prawns. They just take like 10-20 seconds per side so turn them over as needed. When the prawns are almost cooked though turn off the heat and in the toasted macadamia nuts and coriander. Toss and mix well.

5. Serve immediately with crusty bread and a slice of lemon. The bread is awesome for mopping up the garlicky spicy sauce.

Enjoy!

Pan Fried Fish Fillet and Red Pepper Sauce

This is a simple and healthy dish to put together at home. The hardest part about the dish is the sauce, which is really not that hard.

Fish Fillet with Red pepper sauce and asparagus.

The sauce is sweet and slightly spicy, which I feel goes great with the fish. Great as a carb free meal but I will recommend complimenting the dish with oven roasted potatoes if you are looking for a more substantial meal.

As any pan fried fish dish, be careful not to overcook the fish. There is no special reason I used asparagus here. I like asparagus and just happened to have them in the fridge. I used a halibut fillet but you can use any white fish fillet you prefer.

Ingredients for 2:

2 pieces of white fish fillet. About 150-200 grams each.

180 grams asparagus

1 average sized red capsicum - diced

Half a yellow onion - diced

1 clove of garlic - sliced

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (regular sweet paprika is fine too)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Light olive oil/cooking oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

1. In a sauté pan, heat some cooking oil over medium heat. When oil is heated, add in the capsicum, onions and garlic. Fry until soft. About 5-7 minutes or so. Then add in the paprika and fry for another minute, for the paprika to release its aroma.

2. Then deglaze the pan with the white wine and remove from heat and set aside to let it cool.

3. Blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for a minute and a half. Remove and shock in cold water to prevent them cooking further.

4. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.

5. Puree the sauteed capsicum in a blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a saute pan, heat some cooking oil over medium high heat. When oil is heated, sear the fish fillets about a 1-2 minutes per side. Depending on the thickness of your fillet. 

7. Serve the fish with the asparagus and sauce immediately.  

Enjoy!

Spicy Angel Hair with Shrimp, Bacon and Rocket

This is a dish that is relative easy to put together and works just well with frozen shrimp if you can't get fresh ones.

Spicy Angel Hair with Shrimp, Bacon and Rocket

If you are one of those that love savoury and spicy dishes, you will love this dish. Can't go wrong with shrimp and bacon really.

Here is what you will need for 2:

150 grams shrimp - Peeled and chopped into bite sized chunks.

180 grams angel hair pasta

100 grams streaky bacon - cut into small strips.

5-6 cloves of garlic- sliced

1/2 cup Chardonnay or dry white wine

2-3 bird's eye chilli/chilli padi - sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup rocket leaves

Cooking oil (canola, light olive etc)

Steps:

1. Cook pasta In a pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Strain and set aside. Add some olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.

2. In a large saute pan, heat some cooking oil. When oil heated, fry the bacon strips until they almost turn crisp (4-5 minutes) then add in the garlic and fry for one minute and add the shrimp and chillies and fry for another minute, cooking the shrimp through. 

3. At this point deglaze by adding in the wine. Scraping up the brown bits from the base with a wood spoon or similar implement. Allow to simmer for about a minute or so.

4. Add rocket and pasta into the pan and mix well. Allowing the rocket leaves to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Dish onto pasta plates and garnish with some fresh rocket leaves. Serve immediately.

Hope you will like this. Enjoy!

Spicy Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp

Great simple dish to do at home. Nice savoury flavours with the corriander cutting through. Light and fresh tasting. This meal for 2 can be done in 30-40 minutes. Adding lime juice at the end can help lift up the dish, make it fresher tasting.

Spicy Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp

Ingredients for 2
180 grams Angel Hair Pasta
200 grams grey/tiger prawns - shelled and de-viened (reserve the heads)
4 cloves garlic - chopped/sliced
2 large chillies - sliced
2 stalks spring onion - sliced
handful of corriander - roughly chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
Juice of 1 lime (optional)
cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:
1. In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, place the prawn heads with 1 tablespoon of butter and cook until the prawn heads turn fully pink. Then add the chicken stock and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes over low heat and reduced by about 1/2. Strain and reserve the liquid. (You can cook the pasta or prep the herbs/chillies during this time)

2. Cook pasta according to package instructions in salted water. Angel hair usually takes about 2-3 minutes. Strain and set aside. Add a little olive oil to prevent from sticking together. 

3. In a large saute pan, heat some cooking oil over medium heat. When oil is heated, add in the spring onion, chillies and garlic. Fry for 2 mins.

4. Add in the prawns and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. Until prawns are almost cooked fully. Add in the stock and white wine. Allow to simmer for 1 minute and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix well and allow the butter to thicken the liquid to form a sauce. Then add in the pasta mix well with all the stuff in the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Turn off the heat, toss with corriander and lime juice (if using). Dish on to 2 dinner plates or deep sided pasta dishes and serve immediately.

Hope you like this one. Enjoy!

Pan seared Shrimp and Scallops with shrimp bisque

This is an amped up version of another dish I posted on this site. Tried to spruce it up a little since it was for our anniversary. The sauce was rich and flavourful. Not overcooking the seafood is key. The truffles took the flavours and aroma to another level. We really enjoyed this one, hope you will too!

Shrimp, scallops and breaded slipper lobster in a shrimp bisque and black summer truffles

Ingredients for 2
6 king tiger prawns - shelled and deveined (reserve the shells and heads)
6 scallops - with shells removed

For the sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 yellow onion - roughly chopped
1 carrot - roughly chopped
1 stalk of celery - roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic - sliced/roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
Pinch of cyanne pepper
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs Italian parsley
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup cognac
1/4 cup single/whipping cream
2 cups chicken or fish stock

For garnish
Few stalks of chives for garnish
Few slices of black summer truffles (optional)
Drizzle of black truffle oil (optional)

To make the sauce:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the prawn shells and heads with the butter. Stirring occasionally. Cook until all the shells and heads turn pink and give off a nice fragrance. Then deglaze the sauce pan with the white wine and cognac.

2. Allow the liquids to simmer for 2-3 minutes and then add all other sauce ingredients in the list except the cream. Allow the liquids to simmer over a low heat until reduced by half. About 20 mins.

3. Strain the mixture and discard all the solids and reserve the liquid. This will form the sauce. In a small saucepan, continue simmer the sauce and add the cream. Mix well and allow to gently simmer for another 3-5 minutes then turn off the heat.

Cooking the Seafood:

1. Season the scallops and shrimp with salt and pepper. In a heavy based sauté pan over high heat heat some cooking oil. When oil is almost smoking, cook the shrimp and scallops. Sear them about 1-2 minutes per side then remove from the pan and set aside. Leave the pan on the stove, turn down the heat to medium low.

2. Deglaze the pan with the sauce. About 1 cup worth. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape off all the lovely brown bits from the base of the pan. Maxing imp them into the sauce.

3. Arrange the seafood in 2 shallow soup bowls or deep sided dinner plates however you prefer. Ladle half the simmered sauce over each plate of seafood. Garnish with chives and sliced truffles(if using). Serve immediately.

Note: The picture you see above has a slipper lobster (aka bug). To prep that, remove the tail flesh from the shell, clean it. Season with salt and pepper then coat it with flour and pan fry for about 2-4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside on paper towels.

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree

This dish is inspired by something that I had when I was out with the wife one evening. It was a rather interesting combo, which inspired me to try it at home. I do recall seeing something similar on MasterChef Australia.

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree

Can't go wrong with bacon and scallops. The parsley vinaigrette adds an acidic hit that cuts through quite nicely.

Ingredients to serve 2.
6-8 large scallops - seasoned with salt and pepper
2 rashers of streaky bacon
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Cauliflower Puree
200 grams cauliflower - roughly cut into large chunks
1/2 cup milk
1/2 yellow onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
handful of fresh parsley - finely chopped or blitzed in a food processor.
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Steps:

1. Cook bacon in an oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes, until crispy. While the bacon is in the oven, mix all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. Or you can use a jar and shake it really well. When bacon is done, remove and allow to cool for a short while. Then break up the bacon into bits.

2. Boil the cauliflower in salted water for about 3-4 mins. Remove from water when cooked and set aside.

3. Over medium heat, fry the onions and garlic until they soften, about 2-3 minutes.

4. Add all the puree ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Reserve/set aside when done.

5. Heat a tablespoon of unsalted butter and 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a saute pan. When pan is really hot, sear the scallops about 30-45 seconds on each side. Remove from pan and set aside when done.

6. Spoon half the puree onto each serving dish. Place scallops on the puree itself and then garnish with bacon bits and the vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Asian Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Spicy Garlic Shrimp

A really tasty dish that packs a punch. Serving it over steamed rice is ideal. The rice just get soaked in the sauce. Simmering the shrimp heads with chicken stock really draws out the flavour from them, bringing this whole meal to the next level.

Ingredients:
400-500 grams shrimp/grey prawns - shelled and deveined. (weight was with shells on)
Note: Reserve all the heads and some shells for the sauce.
5-6 cloves garlic - sliced
2 shallots - sliced
1 large chilli - sliced
2 chilli padi/bird's eye chilli - sliced (replace with large chilli if your heat tolerance is low)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cups chicken stock (optional but highly recommended - water is an acceptable substitute.)
1 teaspoon light soya sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
Cooking oil for frying

Steps:
1. Heat up a small saucepan over medium low heat. When heated, add in the shrimp heads. You should heat a low sizzle immediately. Stir them a little and add 2 teaspoons unsalted butter and stir well. Keep stirring occasionally until the prawn heads turn fully pink/red. At this point add in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil.When the stock starts to boil, turn down the heat and gently simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and generous amount of pepper. Strain the mixture and reserve the "prawn stock". You may discard the shells/heads.

2. In a saute pan, add some oil and heat over medium heat. When pan is well heated, add in the shrimp. Cook each side for about 20 seconds, until almost cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil in the same pan. Heat up the oil and then add the garlic, all the chillies and shallots into the pan.  Stirring frequently, fry the ingredients until they start to turn brown.

4. Add the "prawn stock" into the pan and allow to simmer for about 1 minute. Then add in the shrimp and light soya sauce and rice vinegar. Mix well and turn off the heat.

Serve on steamed rice and garnish with fresh coriander.

Shrimp and Scallops with White Wine, Garlic and Butter Sauce

I got this idea a while back when there was left over Chadonnay, Garlic butter/spread and shrimp at a friends BBQ. I improvised by using the pan that belonged to the chalet. It was a hit. After that, I get requests to do this at a bbq, but now I bring my own pan, herbs etc...

Shrimp and Scallops with White Wine, Garlic and Butter Sauce

 Here is what I did for my most recent rendition at home.

300 grams tiger prawns - peeled and deveined
6 scallops

4 cloves garlic - sliced
2 sprigs of thyme
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock (optional)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. In a saute pan, heat some cooking oil over a medium heat. When oil is heated, add in the shrimp and scallops and fry for about 20 seconds each side. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

2. Add the garlic into the pan and cook for about 1 minute, till they just start to brown on the edges.(Add a little more oil if pan is too dry)

3. At this point add in the wine and deglaze the pan. (Using a spatula something similar, scrape the brown bits off the base of the pan) Allow to simmer for about 1 minute and then add the chicken stock. Simmer for another 2 minutes over low heat, or so, allow the liquid to reduce by about 1/3.

4. Then add butter and thyme. Mix well and simmer for another minute.

5. Add in the shrimp and scallops, turn off the heat and mix well. Serve in the deep sided dish.

Recommend to serve with crusty bread, to mop up the sauce.

Its actually very easy to do. Just have to watch out, not to over cook the seafood.

Enjoy!

Tiger Shrimp Tagliatelle

I was thinking, bacon works with shrimp, bacon works with asparagus, why not put all 3 in a pasta dish? So I went out and got some shrimp, bacon and asparagus and made dinner for 2 =).

Tiger Shrimp Tagliatelle

We enjoyed the end result. This works with almost any store bought pasta. I just happened to have some tagliatelle at home.

Here's what you'll need to serve 2:

180 grams Tagliatelle
300-350 grams Tiger Prawns (I used king tiger prawns.) - shelled, keep the heads aside
2-3 rashers streaky bacon
150 grams asparagus - cut into 1 inch lengths, separate the tips from the rest.
2 cups chicken stock (you can use water if not available)
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves - sliced
1 sprig of thyme - leaves only
Parsley for garnish

Pan Seared Salmon with Mashed Peas

I was walking around Cold Storage, looking for something to cook dinner. The Salmon fillets look nice and I thought sure why not? I had half a pack of frozen peas that have been in the freezer for a while, so I thought I might as well use them. Peas and fish usually go well together. This brought me to my next thought "sauce". I decided on a simple white wine butter sauce. Then I thought, why not throw in some shrimp in the white wine butter sauce. So one thing led to another, which led to dinner being served :)

Pan Seared Salmon with mashed pea, white wine butter shrimp and double baked potatoes

Just gotta love the crispy salmon skin. Wifey thought it was good, so that's a win for me. :)

Here's what you'll need for a meal for 2:

2 Salmon fillets - about 180 grams each, de-boned

Mashed Peas:
200 grams peas (frozen will do fine)
1 yellow/white onion - diced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil

White wine butter shrimp.
100grams shrimp - shelled
2 cloves of garlic - sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1-2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
salt and pepper to taste

Salmon Rillette

Inspired by something I saw on Food Network "Best thing I ever ate" segment. After seeing how it was described, I had to try it.

Salmon Rillettes on toasted Focaccia slices

A rillette is actually cooked meat in seasoned fat, which is then shredded to a consistency that is spreadable and almost paste-like. It is a very traditional method of preserving meats.

My resulting attempt was a creamy, rich, chunky and savory spread. Works great as a starter or appetizer. (Which is what we didn't do. We liked it so much, we ate it as a meal) I don't think mine is anywhere near Chef Keller's standard but it was enjoyable nonetheless. We had it with leftover Focaccia I baked the other time.

About 200-300 grams fresh salmon fillet
About 200 grams smoked salmon - cut into chunks
Salt and pepper
230 grams unsalted butter- softened at room temperature (1 pack)
1/2 cup shallots - finely chopped or minced
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chives - finely chopped (about 1 pack would do)

Sambal Udang (Prawn)

Sambal is a chilli based condiment or sauce with its origins in Java Indonesia. Sambal usually comes in a paste-like form. It is also usually very very spicy. Traditional way of making Sambal is with a mortar and pestle, grinding the herbs and spices by hand.

This is a super spicy, super shiok Sambal prawn recipe I stole from my mum. Sorry mum, and erm oh, Happy Mother's Day Mum.

Sambal Udang

I adapted it a little, as the one my mom makes is often unbearably spicy when served to those outside our family. The wife ever called my family's need for this heat, shocking. Initially, I found it shocking that she found it shocking. I wonder if I can say that 5 times really fast.

Anyway, I adapted the use of tomato puree and more sugar. I have even made the effort to de-seed the chillies. I think I have managed to take it from my mum's "set your mouth ablaze" level of heat down to a more bearable level of "oh more water please!".

Here's what I used:

50 grams dried chillies - de-seeded and washed
2 purple onions (150 grams or so) - roughly chopped
2 yellow onions - sliced (you can use purple onions too, but I ran out of purples at this point)
4 tablespoons of sugar
1 can tomato puree (400 grams)
600 grams prawns - peeled and deveined (lightly seasoned with salt and pepper)

1/4 cup water
Juice of 1 large lime (or 2-3 small ones)

Oil for frying

Salmon Poached in Miso broth

Got this recipe when reading one of Gordon Ramsay's books.

Thought it was nice healthy looking dish, so I decided to give it a try.

Salmon poached in Miso broth

This dish is rather easy to prepare. Results were surprisingly good. The salmon remained moist, the broth was pleasantly savory and the pek chye stems gave the dish a nice crunch. The chilli added another dimension to the miso broth, which was quite good.

This is what used to serve 2.

1 Salmon fillet - about 400grams (preferably with skin on as it helps to hold the flesh together during cooking) and bones removed (if any still remain)
2-3 tbsp Miso paste
1 red chilli, de-seeded and thinly sliced. (cutting the chilli lengthwise is an easy way to de-seed it)
2 bunches of Sio Pek Chye or Bok Choy
3 stalks of spring onions - chopped
150gms of broccoli - chopped
1 small pack of enoki mushrooms - Roots off, washed and roughly separated

1 liter Vegetable or fish stock (Optional)
A few drops of sesame oil

Spaghetti Arrabbiata with Shrimp and Scallops

Wife had this dish sometime ago while we were eating out and she began suggesting that I try it out at home. So I decided last weekend to give it a shot.

Spaghetti Arrabbiata with Shrimp and Scallops

The name "Arrabbiata" actually comes from the word "Angry" in Italian, referring to the spiciness of this dish or sauce. Its a tomato based sauce that is spiced up with chillies. Some places use sweet peppers but the best Arrabbiatas I've tasted use dried chillies/peppers. Dried chillies have that slightly bittersweet flavor and aroma, coupled with the heat that it gives off.

I was rather pleased with how it turned out, the sauce had a good flavor. Most importantly, wifey was happy with it.

Here's what I used to serve 2:

Cooking oil or light olive oil for frying.
1 can diced tomatoes (drain off the liquid from the can)
1/3 cup white wine (you can get cooking white wine at most supermarkets)
1/2 cup tomato puree (passata)
1 yellow onion finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 stalks dried chillies, blitzed with a food proccesor or grounded with a mortar and pestle.
(To reduce the heat, cut them open lengthwise to remove the seeds)

About 160gms No.3 Spaghetti (You can use regular spaghetti. No.3 is a personal preference)

8 pieces of scallops
8 grey prawns (peeled)

For garnish
2 teaspoons flat leafed parsley chopped
2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes