My Recipes diary.

Baby Bran Muffin Recipe

2009-07-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Baby Bran Muffin Recipe

These bran muffins are delicious hot out of the oven with a touch of butter and sprinkled with a few grains of salt. They are made from a yogurt and whole wheat base with minimal butter and can certainly hold their own against their not-as-nutritious counterparts. Adapted from Bran Muffin recipe in The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook published 1971.

2 cups white whole wheat flour OR stone ground whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons raw natural cane sugar OR brown sugar
2 cups full fat yogurt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup honey, preferably a light honey such as clover
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup of add-ins of your choice - raisins, chopped dried fruit, nuts, etc (optional)

Preheat oven to 425F degrees, racks in the middle.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, wheat bran, salt, baking soda and sugar.

Beat together the yogurt, egg, honey, and butter in a second larger bowl. Add the dry ingredients and fold in until everything comes together. Fold in any optional add-ins, raisins, nuts, and the like. Resist overmixing.

Either grease a mini-muffin tin with butter or line the tin with small muffin papers. Fill each 3/4 full. Bake 10 -15 minutes, until muffins are golden on top and cooked through. You can also make larger muffins in a standard size muffin pan with this batter, you just need to bake them about 5 minutes longer.

Honey-Ginger Baked Salmon With Jasmine Rice

2009-07-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

* 2 (3.5-ounce) bags SUCCESS Jasmine Rice, uncooked
* 1/3 cup orange juice
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
* 4 (4-ounce) salmon fillets
* 1/4 cup sliced green onions

Preparation

1. Prepare rice according to package directions.

2. Preheat oven to 375°. Cook orange juice and next 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 1 minute; let cool slightly.

3. Reserve 2/3 cup marinade; transfer remaining marinade to a large shallow dish or zip-top plastic freezer bag; add salmon. Cover or seal, and chill 15 minutes. Remove salmon from marinade, discarding marinade. Place salmon in an aluminum foil-lined pan.

4. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or to desired degree of doneness.

5. Meanwhile, cook reserved marinade in a small saucepan over medium heat 5 minutes or until sauce is thick and syrupy.

6. Transfer rice to a serving platter, and top with salmon. Drizzle with sauce, and sprinkle with green onions.

หัวไชเท้าทอด,ข้าวโพดทอด ,แครอททอด

2009-07-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

หัวไชเท้าทอด,ข้าวโพดทอด ,แครอททอด
เครื่องปรุง
1.หัวไข้เท้า 1 หัว
2.แครอท 1 หัว
3.ข้าวโพด 1 กระป๋องเล็ก
4.ถั่วดำ 1/2 ถ้วย
5.แป้งข้าวเจ้า 1 ถ้วย
6.แป้งมัน 3 ช้อนโต๊ะ
7.เกลือ 1/2 ชช
8.น้ำเปล่า1+1/2 ถ้วย หรือมากกว่า
9.พริกไทย 1ชช
10.แป้งข้าวโพด 1/2 ชต
11.แป้งสาลี 1 ชต
จัดการปลอกเปลือกหัวไชเท้า ให้เรียบร้อยจ้า ใช้ที่ขูดมะละกอขูด แครอทก็ขูดแบบนี้เหมือนกันคะ ถั่วดำแช่ค้างคืน ถ้าลืมแช่ก็จัดการแช่ด้วยน้ำร้อนจัด แล้วก็ปิดฝาไว้ซักชั่วโมงกว่าก็ใช้แทนได้เหมือนกันคะ
ผสมแป้งมัน ข้าวเจ้า เกลือ พริกไทย ให้เข้ากัน ใส่น้ำ…ลงไปแล้วก็เอาพายคนให้เข้ากัน ถ้ายังไม่เข้ากันก็ใช้มือเลยคะ บี้ๆให้แป้งไม่เป็นก้อน… ต่อไปนี้เป็นการผสมสำหรับทอดแล้วนะคะ… เริ่มจากหัวไชเท้าก่อน แบ่งมาหนึ่วถ้วย ผสมกับ น้ำแป้ง 1/3 แล้วก็ผสมกับแป้งข้าวโพด แป้งสาลี ถั่วดำ เล็กน้อย…แล้วก็นำไปทอดคะ..
ทอดด้วยไฟกลางให้กรอบนอกนุ่มในนะคะ ข้าวโพดก็เช่นกันคะ ใช้ครึ่งกระป๋อง แล้วก็ผสมแป้งเหมือนกับหัวไชเท้า…แล้วก็นำไปทอด กรอบนอกนุ่มใน ถ้าใครชอบให้แป้งมากๆ ไม่ชอบให้เวลาทอดออกมาเป็นเส้นๆ ก็ใส่แป้งเยอะกว่านี้นะคะ ลองดูนะค่ะไม่ผิดหวังแน่นอน

Plan for next week meals.

2009-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately with many things to think and plan.

I still want to be better in cooking healthy meals, fast and delicious for my family.

I have to organize my mind and my activity about it. Right now, I have a blog to write down things that I have accomplished. I want to make it like 101 cookbooks where she explore each recipes with entertaining details. I like it, I like to know what she does in a day, why this recipes and etc. I think that's how writer connect to readers and I believe that I can do it, too.

OK. Where do I start?

- organize each recipe posts in the blog where you think it's appropriate, leave some room for ideas and variations.
- Don't worry of how you can organize everything all at once. Start small and simple by finding easy recipes and increase complexity over time.
- You can gather ideas and put it in to a post to share, too. Don't limit yourself with anything.
- Manage to learn simple things every week. Repeat or make variations as you plan meals each week. Plan times to write down all things that worked. ( You can feature 2-3 recipes a week, depends on what works) Keep a notebook with you in the kitchen to adjust recipes as you go.

How much can I do in 3 months?
- Well. If you manage to keep posting and communicate with people everyday. It doesn't matter so much of how many posts you have on the blog. It's the quality that you share that matters. Don't focus on only posting recipes, people can find recipes anywhere, focus on providing ideas and useful advice on things that could help people or share your experience. You know, like talking to connecting to people. (At least a post a week) You may about 50- 60 posts and that's enough to keep going on with it.

Any other things?
Keep it fun as your passion. It is not supposed to be a work. Center yourself, visualize, and adjust your attitude everyday so you will always have energy for it. This is your own truth and you can do anything you wish to it.

ขนมเปี๊ยะดอกไม้ น่ารักสุด ๆ

2009-07-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

ดูสูตรทางนี้เลย

ส่วนผสมแป้งชั้นนอก น้ำหนัก (กรัม) สูตรตวง
แป้งสาลีตราบัวแดง 250 2 ½ ถ้วยตวง
แป้งสาลีอเนกประสงค์ตราว่าว 175 1 ¾ ถ้วยตวง
ไอซิ่ง 20 2 ช้อนโต๊ะ
น้ำมัน 150 ¾ ถ้วยตวง
น้ำเย็น 180 ¾ ถ้วยตวง

ส่วนผสมแป้งชั้นใน
แป้งสาลีตราบัวแดง 150 1 ½ ถ้วยตวง
แป้งสาลีอเนกประสงค์ตราว่าว 125 1 ¼ ถ้วยตวง
น้ำมัน 100 ½ ถ้วยตวง

ส่วนผสมไส้ถั่วกวน
ถั่วเขียวเลาะเปลือก 500 2 ½ ถ้วยตวง
น้ำตาลทราย 500 2 ½ ถ้วยตวง
น้ำมันพืช 100 ½ ถ้วยตวง
เกลือแกง ½ ช้อนชา
ไข่แดงเค็ม

น้ำสลัดเพสโต้

2009-07-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

น้ำสลัดเพสโต้

◊ น้ำมันมะกอก ๓/๔ ถ้วย
◊ น้ำส้มสายชูหมัก ๑/๒ ช้อนโต๊ะ
◊ น้ำตาลทราย ๓ ช้อนโต๊ะ
◊ น้ำมะนาว ๑ ช้อนชา
◊ เกลือป่น ๑ ช้อนชา
◊ พริกไทยป่น ๑/๒ ช้อนชา
◊ ใบโหระพา ๑/๒ ถ้วย
◊ กระเทียมสับละเอียด ๒ ช้อนชา

สลัดผักย่าง โดย... การ์ดตำรับอาหาร สนพ. แสงแดด

เครื่องปรุง

◊ เห็ดเข็มทอง ๕๐ กรัม
◊ ฟักทองหั่นชิ้นบาง ๓ ชิ้น
◊ มะเขือเทศหั่นแว่นหนา ๑/๒ เซนติเมตร ๑ ลูก
◊ กระเจี๊ยบเขียว ๓ ฝัก
◊ กระเทียมกลีบใหญ่ ๕ กลีบ
◊ เห็ดญี่ปุ่น ๕๐ กรัม
◊ มะเขือม่วงไทยหั่นแว่นหนา ๑/๒ เซนติเมตร ๑ ลูก
◊ น้ำสลัดเพสโต้ ๓ ช้อนโต๊ะ

น้ำสลัดญี่ปุ่น

2009-07-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

น้ำสลัดญี่ปุ่นหลาย ๆ แบบ

***น้ำสลัดญี่ปุ่น***
ซีอิ๊วญี่ปุ่น 1/4 ถ้วย
น้ำตาลทราย 1/4 ถ้วย
เกลือป่น 1/2 ข้อนชา
น้ำส้มสายชูหมัก 2 ช้อนโต๊ะ
น้ำมันงา 1 ช้อนชา
น้ำมันมะกอก 1/2 ถ้วย
งาดำคั่วบุบ 1 ช้อนชา
งาขาวคั่วบุบ 1 ช้อนชา

. ซีอิ้วญี่ปุ่น KIKOMAN 1/2 ถ้วย
2. น้ำส้มแอบเปิ้บไซเดอร์ 1/2 ถ้วย ((ถ้าชอบเปรี้ยวใส่ 3/4 ถ้วยได้ค่ะ))
3. น้ำตาลทรายแดง หรือบ้านเราน่าจะเรียก น้ำตาลสีรำ 1/2 ถ้วย
((กดให้แน่น เดี๋ยวดูรูปว่ากดอย่างไรให้แน่น))
4. น้ำต้มสุก 1/2 ถ้วย
5. งาขาว+งาดำ 1/2 ถ้วย (งาขาว 1/4 ถ้วย งาดำ 1/4 ถ้วยค่ะ)
6. มิริน 1/4 ถ้วย
7. กระเทียมสับ 2 ชต
8. พริกไทยดำป่น 1 ชต
9. น้ำมันงา 2 ชต

สลัดเทอริยากิ

เครื่องปรุง
ผักสลัดหั่นชิ้นพอคำ 1 ถ้วย
กระเจี๊ยบเขียวหั่นเฉียง 3 ฝัก
มะเขือเทศหั่นชิ้นพอคำ 1 ลูก
เนื้อไก่ย่าง 1 ชิ้น
น้ำสลัดญี่ปุ่น 3 ช้อนโต๊ะ
ไก่ย่าง
เนื้ออกไก่ น้ำหนัก 120 กรัม 1 ชิ้น
ซีอิ๊วญี่ปุ่น 2 ช้อนโต๊ะ

Justmycooking is my cooking journey.

2009-07-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

check this post

After reading this. Then I realized that I don't have to know it all but I must know what I am doing and be my authentic self. Give the real value and never claim something that I don't really have knowledge of.

So my story is, I'm a beginner in holistic health, I've been working in my family's restaurant for two years now. I have some cooking exp at some level.

What am I looking for is more ways to be creative in my cooking. Make it more fun and healthy and that's when creative cooking come into play. I don't follow recipes much, I am even more interested in cooking without a recipe. That means using your intuition to cook. This blog will be the place that I can share my journey with you.

The flavor that I am looking for is more of Tropical, Asian way because of my background. I like spices, herbs, and flavorful aromatic food. So that is what you can expect from me.

That's also another thing, I'm looking for ways to make my life more simple by learning how to cook basic food that I can make variation out of it. That means the possibilities are endless. It is kind of fun, isn't it? I was so overwhelmed by many mouth-watering food pictures and recipes on the internet and my cookbook collections. After browsing through so many recipes, my brain start to crack because of information overload. (ha ha) So I took a deep breath and tell myself to calm down and get to the point of what kind of recipe do I really need. Then I realized that it is really not a waste of time at all to learn from the simple and basic technique to make a steady foundation for my cooking before I attempt to make something extravagant that will turn out to be a failure.

My friend was a chef, now she is a cooking teacher and she told me that cooking is science and art in the same time. You have to know why we do such thing that we do. Everything has its own reason. Why do we put a certain ingredient before another? I used to ignore it and that ruined my brownies because I didn't add ingredients in the right order.

Aside from baking and some type of cooking, most of my cooking doesn't really have exact recipe of how much of each ingredient I put in to a dish. I can actually tell how it would taste like, but you have to adjust to your own taste. Don't be afraid that it is not going to be authentic. The same kind of dish can taste many different way with the same character that is still the essense of the dish. Some people like some flavor more than other. For example, I like to add a little bit of palm sugar in my Thai curry to blend with saltiness from fish sauce. Some people doesn't like sugar in thier curry. :)

So what you can expect from me it the idea of how you can use the idea to make something on your own. So have fun with it!

Organizing recipes with less paper so you can enjoy cooking more.

I make a recipe diary separate from my cooking blog. My blog is where I post t

Fun fun meal planning. borrow from library.

2009-07-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Wanna go for something easy and asian-flavors.will find some more at the library on Saturday.

I'll look for.

Recipes for rice and grains. (prefer asian style because no milk and cheese)
Recipes for noodles. (ways to cook noodles)
Salads and dips and salsa.
Slow cooking or crockpot. (สำหรับข้าวหน้าต่าง ๆ )
Stir fry variety.
Soups and curry.
Bake meals ( using oven )
Bread book
Cake book
Ice cream (healthy one)
Easy snacks or app.
Healthy desserts

Sources : internet and books. list on the blog and make them! Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Philipines, and etc.

Plan for my recipes site.

2009-07-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ok! my definition why I blog are : enjoyment to express and interact with other people. Create and organize my recipes. Earn income.

After I have searched about what kind of blog that makes money..Then I realized how didn't I think of it before. It doesn't matter what you blog about. It matters that readers give good feed back and like you. That's what counts. It's like your are making friends in the real world. Show them who you are. There will be people and like you and people who doesn't like you. Everyone comes to your blog because they can get something from it. What do I have to offer? Well.. I know I can offer many things. My knowledge that is.

As I study about holistic health, I will start to write about my dream vacation, too. I will use sometime to research and write about it.

From now, to make my blog more friendly I will :

Change the ads to my book list, instead of shop.
Write all the topics that I can put in pillar post.
Have section where I can add favorite friends and blogs that I like.
Plan what to make and make it. Take pictures and post it.

Research :
What people ( the same kind as me) interested in? What kind of topic that I like to write or know about?
How can I get use from the community that I join? How can I make friends and develop my skill at the same time?
What kind of ads that I can put in that can benefit readers. ( Not trying to sell much)

RELAX! Always relax and have fun. Don't put stress on yourself.

Recipes diary.

2009-06-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

After leaving this blog for a while, I have decided to make it like a recipes diary for my cooking practice.

After trail and error, I have come up with some outline of how I want to plan my own cooking lesson so I can become good at it.

My purpose is to be able to fix up a dish or two in no time, using the skills that I have to create a dish without having to look up in a recipe book.

But in order to do that, I have to master the basic skills and develop some ingredients knowledge.

So this place is going to be the place where I collect the recipes that I want to make (as a guideline to make my own variation)

For now I want to know: (Focus on Asian taste)

( Start from water to dry cooking)

Simple slow cooking (stew and crock pot)for busy night

Simple stir fry and steam fry ( recipes and sauces to make)

Namprik, salads and vegetable dips (Favorite salad dressings)

Oven Roast and simmer (using oven)

Soups with rice and noodles ( no cream or milk product)

For snack ( Snacks and appetizers can come in many forms, stick to what you want to know for now)

How to bake bread ( all kinds )

How to make cake

Simple steamed dim sum (many kinds)

How to make ice cream

Simple desserts ( fruit and sweet roots with coconut syrup) Thai desserts

Many more to explore : See, now I have many tools to help me with cooking such as food processor ( mix dough, too), steamer, Ice-cream maker, waffle maker, blender, and a toaster.

So, look for recipes that I like to make and list them in here for the next meal planning will be much easier and more fun!

After mastering some basic, every meal planning, then you can move up to cooking for entertaining and practice plate presentation by watching videos and stuff on cooking site such as

www.foodtv.ca
www.foodnetwork.com

Basil ground pork with duck eggs.

2008-12-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

From the last post. I have shown you how to make stir fry basil with beef. This one is no different, except that I put it on top of preserved duck eggs. I know that some of you might not know what kind of egg is it. This one is not particularly salty or sweet. It is just a different taste of egg, in my opinion. (A little bit smell too, ha ha)

This time, to make it more special, I fried some basil leaves and put it on top to get some contrast in texture of the food. I added more chili to give some it some hint to compliment with the eggs. Try this one and see if you like it;)

Just follow the pictures. You know how to make it already!

Enjoy!

Related post "Stir fry basil with Beef"

Pad Se Ew ( Pan fry noodle in black soy sauce )

2008-11-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here I am again! Making some quick-dish to serve my husband. I could say that I am very good in stir-frying food because I do it everyday. Today, I have another easy dish for you to try.

Anyone like noodles? I'm sure you are, right? :)

Let's prepare the ingredients real quick!

All you need is :

Fresh Noodle (you can buy it from any Asian store) see the picture
Meat (Chicken, pork, beef or anything you want.) I use pork. Slice into pieces.
An egg
Minced Garlic
Black soy sauce
Soy sauce or Fish sauce
Sugar
White pepper powder
vegetable oil
For vegatables : you can add anything such as carrots, mushrooms etc. For the authentic one, we uasually use Chinese Broccoli. see the picture

Let's Make it

1. Heat the oil until warm, fry the garlic for a about 3 seconds, add meat and stir-fry until the meat is cooked.

2. Add the fresh noodle and flip a few times. Add a little bit of black soy sauce (just to give it a little bit color). Then season it with fish sauce or soy sauce, sugar and pepper. I like it a little bit sweet more than salty. Just make it the way you like it.

3. When the noodle is compleatly mixed with the seasoning, add an egg and then flip a few times for it to cook through. At this time, add Chinese broccoli and stir it for a bit and it's done.

Tips : Because Chinese Broccoli cooked fast so we add it at last. For other vegetables that takes longer to cook, you have to add it after the meat is half cooked so the vegetables will be completely cooked when the dish is finished

Another thing is that if the oil is not enough, it will stick to the pan. To fix it and prevent the food from burning is to add a little more oil and a little water and don't over do it.

Stir fry basil with beef. ( Pad Kra Prao Nua )

2008-11-29T09:31:00.001-08:00

There are two kinds of basil that we use in Thai cooking. First is Thai basil (Horapa), and the second one is Holy basil(Kra Prao). Mostly, whenever the recipe is Pad Kra Prao, it is always the Holy Basil. But here, my home town in Canada, it is hard to find holy basil everyday. Mostly, I can find only Thai basil. So today, I used Thai basil instead :)

Stir-frying method is my favorite way of cooking because it's fast and helps keeping the freshness of the food. You can try stir fry basil with any thing your like such as, ground pork, shrimp, etc.

All you need is :

Beef (or anykind of meat)> desired amount
Basil leaves (fresh)
minced garlic
minced chili (increase if like hot)
vegetable oil
oyster sauce, fish sauce or soy sauce, and sugar
For vegetables, you can add onion, sweet pepper, etc. Sometimes I added onion, but I decrease the amount of sugar because the onion is already sweet.

Let's make it :

1. Prepare all the ingredients at hand.

2. Heat the oil in the pan. Fry garlic and chili in the oil and then add the meat. Don't wait for it to be yellow or it's going to burn when you cook the meat later.

3. When the meat is cooked, add vegetables if you prepared it.

4. Season with a little bit of oyster sauce, fish sauce (or soy sauce), and sugar. There is no exact portion here, you have to taste it. It should be a combination of salty and sweet. Add a little water at a time to prevent it from burning. If you don't like to add one seasoning at a time (because you have to do it quick), I suggest that you mix the sauce before start stir-frying. It's better that way.

5. When you like the taste, add basil leaves at the end. Stir a few more seconds and then serve.

Easy, isn't it! :)

Enjoy!

Beef with garlic and pepper ( Nua Tod Kra Tiem )

2008-10-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is also an easy dish to make. Most of the stir-fry dishes are quick to make and it's healthy because it is always contained with vegetables, meat and less oil. Today I make this dish to serve with blanched carrot and broccoli (to add vitamins and fiber to the meal ) and a fried egg because my husband likes it that way. I also make hot sauce on the side for him. It contains fish sauce and dry chili powder.

You can substitute the beef with any kind of meat you like such as chicken or pork or even shrimp :).

Prepare :
Beef cut into strips

Crush garlic, cilantro roots and pepper corn together using mortar and pastel or blend it together in a food processor to make a paste for the marinade. Mostly I use a few cloves of garlic and a few of cilantro roots in the same amount and a little bit of peppercorn.

Fish Sauce and Sugar for seasoning.

Cilantro and fried garlic for garnish

Cooked rice ( of course :)) to serve with the dish

Let's make it :

Marinate the beef with the paste that you prepared from above, add fish sauce and sugar to taste. Don't add too much of the seasoning or it will be too salty. For beef about 1 cup , you can add fish sauce about 1 tbs at the most with 1 ts of sugar. Let marinate for 10 minutes.

While waiting you can blanch vegetables or fry an egg if you wish.

Now heat the oil about 1/2 tbs just to cover the surface and when the pan is hot, put in the marinated beef and stir fry until the meat is cooked all over and golden brown. If it's too dry, add a little bit more oil at a time. Don't add water.

Now serve with rice and garnish with cilantro leaves and fried garlic. Enjoy!

Tips for making fried garlic :
Heat the oil until it's warm then add the chopped garlic. The oil must be more than the garlic always to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the garlic turns to pale yellow. Turn off the heat and let it cool down. The garlic in the oil will cook a little bit more and you will get a nice golden brown fried garlic with crunchy texture if you got it the right way :). If you put the garlic too early ( when the oil is not hot enough), you will get a mushy one but usable so don't throw it away. We can use it for soup and other dishes as well ;).

Baking pie ^_^

2008-10-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time that I didn't post anything on this blog. The last few weeks was busy and I really miss coming back here :).

Today I want to bake some pies. I like pineapple pie and also cream corn pie. I tried to make it the way I used to have it when I was in Thailand. Sure there are some coffee cafes in my neighborhood with delicious cakes and cookies, but they don't have these pies :(.

I don't really have exact recipe here but I will explain how I do it. I'm still learning how to bake and there's a lot more that I have to learn :).

Preheat the oven for 350 F

To make the pie crust :
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbs of sugar ( I like my dough sweet so I add sugar )
1 Cup of margarine or unsalted butter ( I used margarine )
a little bit of cold water

Let's make the crust :

Combine margarine with flour and sugar with your fingers. Don't Knead it. Just gently mix it until the flour and margarine form in to small bits. Like in the picture

Now add a little bit of cold water into the mixer while you mix it with your fingers, a little at a time until the dough is soft and you can form it into a ball of dough. Wrap with plastic wrap and let rest while you make the stuffing.

Pineapple filling :
1 can of crushed pineapple, sugar and a little bit of water and salt
Put these in to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Mix 1 tbs of cornstarch with some water and pour into the pan and mix it well. Taste it and add more sugar if you want it more sweet or add more cornstarch( it has to be mixed with water before putting into the pan) if the mixer is too thin.

Cream corn filling :
1 cup of cooked corn
1 tsp of salt
1 tbs of butter
1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cups of milk
2 tbs of cornstarch
a little bit of vanilla extract
Mix these ingredients in a sauce pan and bring it a boil. Taste it and season with sugar or salt if you like. Add more milk if the mixer is too thick or more corn starch if it's too thin. Don't make the stuffing too thin because it's going to be runny and creep out of the pie shell while baking.

Now roll the dough out with your roller and form it into the pie mold. Bake the shells for the first 5-8 minutes and then take it out and add the filling. You can close the top of the pie with strips of dough or the plain one to specify the filling. Brush the top with beaten egg. Bake for about 20 minutes or until yellow brown and the pie is done. :)

It's ready! ^_^

How to make authentic Thai Curries

2008-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Many people that I know here in Canada have once been to Thailand and told me that they loved the food there :).

I am certain that they must have known at least one kind of curries and they would love to have it the same way as in Thailand.

Now, authenticity of the curry doesn't mean that you need to buy the exact same vegetables or meat to make it like that. The authenticity is in the flavour and the ingredients that makes the curry paste, the fragrance of herbs that can not be missed in making Thai curries.

Curry Paste

Curries in Thai food is different in color and ingredients that makes the curry paste. Green Curry in Thailand is more sweet and mild than the red one. It's good to make curry paste for your own use but it's also fine to buy the finished curry paste at any store. Each brand are different in flavor and sometimes it's not really like the fresh made curry paste that we can find in the market place in Thailand (Which is most likely to be well made and authentic). Some brands that you can find here will produce a little bit of more salty flavor because they need to preserve the curry paste for a long period of time. Sometime, using the bought curry paste, you need to taste the curry before seasoning because it might already be salty enough and you don't need to add anymore fish sauce. The brand that I like is Mae Ploy. If you prefer to make the curry paste on your own, you can find the curry paste recipes which I will add later on.

Coconut milk : For first time user, when you bought the coconut milk from the store, never put it upside down. The coconut milk has 2 parts, the upper part is thick and creamy which you will be able to use it in making curry or other desserts, the middle-lower part is thinner and that one you can mix with 1 part of water to make the body of the curry or anything that requires less creamy part of the milk.

Another thing is the way of cooking the coconut milk. You need to make the coconut milk separated before putting in any curry paste. When the coconut milk is cooked and the temperature is hot enough, you will see that the milk start bubbling and looks like it is exploding everywhere. If your coconut milk is acting like this, you have come to the right way.

Why do we need to do this? In my opinion from what I have noticed, It makes the curry paste dissolved and cooked , it pulls more flavour and fragrances combine with the coconut milk that makes the curry and finally, it gives the perfect color that it should be in the finished dish. As you can see that Thai curries will have a layer of oil above the curry and the color is bright and it smells so good in its own way.

I used to make curries and didn't succeed. My curry doesn't taste right as it should. The color is pale even I put a lot of curry paste in it. With frustration, I tried and tried and notice the difference that the secret lies in the cooking of coconut milk. Make it separate before making any further attempt. The curry paste will be fully cooked because it should be cooked in the oil of coconut milk, not the liquid of the coconut. Imagine frying garlic vs. boiling garlic in water. Sure that it will not taste the same way, isn't it?

The final tip

Add a little bit of coconut milk at a time so you will keep the color and the fat that you produced at the earlier state. If the color is pale or the fat is gone, turn the heat to high and let it boil for a while and let rest.

Making curries is not a quick-dish and it needs time and patience but I guarantee the results that it will be satisfying.

Kang Kiew Wan Moo (Green Curry Pork)

2008-09-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

แกงเขียวหวานหมู

For first time making curry, See my post on How to make authentic Thai curries
Prepare : Pork / cut into chunk or pieces, zucchini /cut, Thai basil (Horapa), lime leaves and fresh chili (if you like it hot)

Green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce and palm sugar for seasoning

How to make :

The reason why I didn't specify the amount of the curry paste or coconut milk in the recipe because you will determine it in the process of making. A can of coconut milk will produce enough curry for 2-3 people. The amount of curry paste decides the degree of hot and salty flavour(for bought curry paste) that you want in the curry. The usual amount is 1 tbs of curry paste for 2 cup of coconut milk (approximately) or 1 cup of meat(to desired hotness).

Tips : If you have time,stew the meat (beef,pork or chicken)in coconut milk in a separate pot until it reach the desired tenderness, especially for beef and combine with the curry sauce that you make later will make a perfect curry.

OK! Let's get started :
Follow the picture

1. Make the coconut milk separate by heat the pot very hot and pour the thick creamy part of coconut milk into the pot about 3-4 tbs. Stir the edge constantly to prevent from burning.

2. When it separated, you will see the oil layer on the surface bubbling. Put in the green curry paste. ( I put in 2 tsp because I make just a small bowl) Stir and cook the curry paste in the coconut milk. Add more thick part of coconut milk a little bit at a time and keep it bubbling and separate in to oil layer. You will see the green color now in picture 2.

3. Add meat and vegetable and gradually add coconut milk (that you mix with water) a little bit at a time. Bright to high heat. Add lime leaves and taste it. Add palm sugar and fish sauce to your taste. Green curry should be a little more sweet from palm sugar and coconut milk with the salty flavour from fish sauce.

4. When everything is cooked add Thai basil and serve.

You can make a large portion and keep it in the freezer, too. Just don't cook the vegetable too much or it will be over cooked when reheat :).

I hope you enjoy the curry!

Nua Nam Mun Hoi (Beef in oyster sauce)

2008-09-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

ผัดเนื้อน้ำมันหอย

I have a lot of mushrooms in my fridge. Let's make this quick dish and serve with a hot bowl of rice for lunch !;).

I like to marinate the beef in a little bit of water, a pinch of topioca flour, pepper and soy sauce. It makes the meat more tender that way.

All you need is :
Beef cut into strips, bite size and marinate (like above)
Chopped garlic, onion, green onion and mushrooms (desired amount) see pictures

Sauce : 1 tbs of oyster sauce, 1 tbs of soy sauce/fish sauce, 2 tsp of sugar and a pich of pepper

Mix the sauce in a cup, That way you will not miss anything during the stir-fry process. It needs to be quick and the temperature of the oil must be really hot before you put anything into the wok/pan.

Heat 1 tbs of oil in the wok/pan, you can see a little smoke from the surface or feel the heat above the wok with your hand. It means that the oil is hot enough and ready now.

Add the following > garlic > meat > onion and the rest. Add the sauce, and if necessary, add some water to keep it from burning during the process. When everything is fully cooked,then it's done! :)
Serve with jasmine rice :).

Moo Yang (Grilled Marinated Pork Chop)

2008-09-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

หมูย่าง

This is my favorite. It's easy and very delicious. My husband is good at grilling and he has done an excellent job! :D

Marinate the pork chop : Marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Grind these ingredients together with mortar and a pestel or in a food processor >>
A few cloves of garlic ( peeled ), a few of coriander roots, and 1 tea spoon of white pepper corn.

Mix with : 1 table spoon of oyster sauce
1 table spoon of soy sauce or fish sauce
1 tea spoon of sugar

Increase the amount of each ingredients as you need to marinate all the pork chop that you want to grill. This recipe can marinate 1-2 pieces of pork chop. (1 cm thick)

Dipping Sauce Hot and sour!

Combine these together in a cup:

Chopped green onion (as much as you like)
Diced tomato (as much as you like)
Lime juice 3 table spoon
Fish sauce 3 table spoon
Sugar 2 tea spoon
Dry chili powder (if like hot)
Roasted rice powder (as much as you like) : make this by roast uncooked rice in the pan at low heat until golden brown. Grind it finely and keep the rest in a container for future use. I like the sauce with roasted rice because it smells so good when eating together with the pork chop.
Garnish with coriander leaves

Grill and Enjoy!

Kanom Mun ( Steamed Cassava )

2008-08-27T07:28:00.003-07:00

ขนมมันสำปะหลัง

Cassava is a root vegetable that is widely used in Thailand in making MSG. (Monosodium glutamate) To see the picture and description, click here.

However, we can make dessert from it. It is very starchy so we just mix it in with a little flour and it's ready to be steamed.

Mix these together in a large bowl :

2 cups of grated Cassava ( about one pack )
1-2 table spoon of topioca flour
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of coconut milk ( get the thick, creamy part of the top of the can )
coconut meat mix in a little bit of salt for garnish
food color ( if like )

Mix these and let sugar dissolve for about 10 minutes. If want to add color, you can add it now.

Lay small cups in a steamer and pour the mixture in each cup and top with coconut meat. Steam for 15 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Garnish with grated coconut meat.
Easy and delicious :).

Corn Milk

2008-08-27T07:28:00.001-07:00

If you know how to make soy milk, I have used the same method for this one ;p. I just wanted to know if we can make any milk from corn as well. It worked but you have to strain it very well with cheese clothe to get a smooth liquid texture. I tried it and I liked it :).

I used cooked corn blended with water and some cream. You might want to mix it with soy milk if you want a vegetarian drink but I just want something creamy so I added cream.

There is no exact portion of how much cream or corn that I used. Make it your own experiment and try it! I used buttermilk syrup to make it sweet instead of brown sugar and honey. Have fun and enjoy your milk!

Tod Mun Moo ( Curried Pork Patties )

2008-08-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

ทอดมันหมู

This is the easy one to prepare for an Appetizer or have it with rice and other dishes to accompany with :).

Ingredients :

1 Cup Fresh ground pork
1 Table spoon Red Curry paste
1 Table spoon Fish sauce ( Use less if making as appetizer )
1 Tea spoon of Sugar
1 egg
a pinch of corn starch and baking soda
2 Table spoon of minced lime leaves
I added some vegetables, it's optional

Arjard ( vegetable relish )

3 Tea spoon of Sugar
1 Tea spoon of Salt
1/8 Cup Vinegar
sliced cucumber, chili and shallots ( I added carrot, it's optional )
ground roasted peanuts
minced coriander ( optional )
mix everything together, serve with Tod Mun Moo

Lets make it :

1. Mix everything together

2. Form to patties with your hands, if it sticks, rinse your hands with water before forming it.

3. Deep fry!

Easy, right ?;)

Cashew Cookies

2008-08-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite cookie when I was a child. It is hard to find in my hometown because my province has a lot of seafood but not bakery or dry goods.( it was like...10 years ago ) So, whenever our family to another province in Thailand, my dad always buy me a big pack of these cookies :). I loved it.

Ingredients :

All purpose flour 1 cup
Icing powder 1/2 cup
vegetable oil 2 Table spoon
A pinch of salt
A pinch of baking soda
Crushed cashew nuts 1/4 cup
1 egg

Let's make it :

1. Prepare your tools.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add crushed cashew.

3. Pour oil into the bowl and mix it to form a dough if it's too dry, add more oil a little at a time. Don't knead it. Just mix it with your fingers gently like making pie crust.
4. Rest the dough for 5 minutes. Prepare the baking sheet.

5. Roll the dough 1 cm thick and cut into shapes.
Put on baking sheet and decorate with cashew nuts if liked. Beat the egg and brush over each cookie a few coats. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden yellow.

Let cool before keeping in container :).

What do you gain from cooking?

2008-08-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

Since I have been working in the kitchen for more than two years now. I got a lot from practicing my skill in cooking. Besides from the organizing skill, I became more patient with everything in my life.

Since I have found my interest in cooking and desire to know my own cuisine more and more, I have tried a lot of things such as traditional Thai desserts and many kind of dishes that has it's own unique way in preparing and cooking some ingredients. These things takes time to practice the skill to get the perfect result. I failed many times , but each time I have always learned something new.

Cooking can be come sort of meditation when you put your mind into it. I notice that the more I put my heart in every detail of the process, the more perfect result will come. When I space out during cooking, my food become less favorable to anybody. Try this and you will know that it's true :).

These are the vegetables that I carved into flowers.
Thai cuisine is usually decorated with carved fruit and vegetable. I am amazed at how people in the past can carve vegetables so beautiful like that. It takes heart into making such delicate thing not only as a beautiful display, but the perfect blend of flavours as well. This became my inspiration in creating something new and practice always makes perfect.

These are some inspiration I got from cooking. It's a way to learn about myself and express my creativity. You don't need to be a great cook or a great artist. Just put your heart into it and everything will be a great creation, created only by you. :)

Type of flours used in Thai cooking

2008-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of arrow-root flour and tapioca flour which I usually buy from the store. There are many brands out there. I will add more pictures later.

Flours that usually use in Thai cooking are :

1. Rice flour : made from rice. Usually it's the same as jasmine rice. It doesn't contain much gluten as all purpose flour. This one has white colour and comes in both fresh and dry form. I usually use the dry one. The fresh one can be use with the same recipe as dry one. Just decrease the amount of water use in the recipe. Usually you won't find much of the fresh one. Besides, it's has to be used by the time purchased or it will spoil in a few days.

2. Tapioca flour : Made from Tapioca. It's a root vegetable, same like potato. It gives the food starchy texture. Mostly use in desserts and many dishes.

3. Arrow root flour : Made from Arrow root. It's the same family as tapioca. This one also gives the starchy texture to the soup or desserts. Sometime can be use in substitute of Tapioca flour.

4. Mung bean flour : Made from Mung bean. This is usually be used in desserts mostly. It gives the dessert fine and soft delicate texture.

5. Glutinous rice flour : Made from Glutinous rice. It has both black and white kind. Use in desserts only as far as I know. This one has a fragrant smell of rice when used in making desserts, too.

6. Corn starch : This one is used mostly in soup and sauces. It gives fine, thick body to the liquid. It can also be used in desserts also, but rarely. I prefer to use corn starch in soup and sauces more than tapioca flour because somehow tapioca seems to change the taste and smell of the food when added the last.

These flours can be found in any Asia food store. Once you get to know and use it, you will know the differences between each flour. Since I will add more recipes that included these flours. You will not waste any flour that you bought in your pantry ;)

Kanom Kluay (Steamed Banana Cake)

2008-08-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

ขนมกล้วย

Today's dessert is steamed banana cake. Actually in Thai is called 'Kanom Kluay'. It's traditional Thai dessert that is easy to make and you can find it anywhere in Thailand. I got a lot of banana today and it's riping more and more quickly so I decided to something about it. I have some banana leaves in my fridge so I wrapped some of the cakes with it. It looks nice, isn't it? ;)

Even you don't have any banana leaves, it doesn't matter. Just small little cups will do just fine :). Besides, it cooked faster!

The banana that you use must be very ripen and yellow so the cake is sweet. (Sweetness from banana)

Ingredients
Mashed banana 2 cups
Topioca flour 8 table spoon
Glutinous rice flour 4 table spoon
Rice flour 1 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Cononut milk 1 cup
Shredded coconut meat (optional) 3/4 cup

All of these ingredients can be found at any Asia food store. If you can find only Rice flour, it's fine, you can use only rice flour, but the blend of flour in the recipe give a little bit more flavor and texture to the cake.

Let's make it

1. Combine all the flour, sugar and banana in a bowl. Knead and squeez the mixture with your hand for 10 minutes. This will give time for the flour to absorb sugar and banana.

2. Gradually add coconut milk and stir for another 5 minutes until well blend. You can use the blender,too.

3. Now bring your steamer to a boil, while waiting, arrange small cups in the steamer and drop the mixture into each cup. You can fill the whole cup, it's not going to fluff out when it's cooked. Top it with shreded coconut meat. Usually I put a little salt to mix with it so when eating, it's going to be a contrast between the sweetness of the cake and a little salty and creamy from coconut meat. I put some on banana leaves as shown.

In the picture, I use my old traditional cups which is ceramic and in Thai it's called ' Tuoy Ta Lai'. I also found some stanless steel cups for dipping sauce in the mall. I bought a set of it, too. It works just fine as the ceramic cups, as long as it can stay in the heat of the steamer. So any kind cups will do.

4.When the water is boiling, steam the cakes for 10-15 minutes and it's done! To get more chewy texture, steam for more time. (about 5-10 minutes as you like)

Tell me how do you like it :)

Soy Bean Cookies

2008-08-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

Remember the remains that we have left from making soy milk?

I don't really want to throw it away because soy bean is rich in protein and vitamins and can also be a good fiber source. Besides, it tastes good in desserts, too.

So, today I make cookies from it.

Ingredients :
All purpose flour 2/3 cup (sifted)
Sugar or Icing powder 1/2 cup (I use brown sugar instead)
Soy remains 1/3 Cup
Butter 1/2 Cup (I use margarine instead)
1 Egg
Baking soda 1/2 tea spoon
Vanilla 1 tea spoon

Making cookies : Preheat the oven for 350 F

1. Beat Butter and Sugar together until well blend, add the egg and mix well until it's creamy yellow.

2. Add all the dry ingredients and mix well. (Baking Soda, flour and soy remains) Add vanilla.

3. Drop a spoon full on cookie sheet and leave the space about 1 1/2 inch for each cookie. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Tips : I don't follow the recipe exactly because sometimes the moisture in the soy remain is more, sometime is less. If the dough is too runny, I have to add more flour into it and never use more butter or margarine as the recipe indicated because the cookies will be flat and spread all over the sheet. ( It will not be cookies anymore, he he ) I learned it the first time I have made it. The dough should be firm enough to stay in the shape when we put into the oven. Or else, it's going to be soft and flatten.

Making Soy Milk

2008-08-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

A healthy drink which you can make at home. Soy milk. It's easy and fun! Make it your own favorite style.

All you need is : Soy beans, water, a blender, strainer and cheese clothes

How to :

1. Soak the soy beans in water for at least 6 hours for it to soften.

2. When the beans is ready, put in the blender with water, blend it well and squeeze out the milk with a strainer line with cheese clothe. The less water you put in, the more concentrate the milk is going to be. In my case, I want to make as much milk as I can so I use more water.

3. When you got the milk, put in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir constantly to prevent it from over boiling. You may add any seasoning as you like. I put pandan leaves (sometimes vanilla), honey and brown sugar in it. It taste so good! It's my night time beverage. Good enough to keep me not hungry at night.

Now you might wonder what you should do with the remains. Keep it in the fridge. I will show you some ideas to use it in the next post ;).

The organized cooking

2008-08-12T21:17:00.001-07:00

I used to think that cooking is not something that I would do. I lived with my mother who loves to buy food more than cook food. So I never really wanted to learned how to cook. Everytime that I started to cook something, it seemed that everything was all messy. Even one dish made me feel tired the whole day. ( Wheew! )

Now that I grew up. I got married and have to cook for my family. That was when I started to cook everyday until I became more organized. It took some time and patience. Now I realize that cooking is not messy anymore when you know how to manage it. It will be fun and everything will be ready on the table at the same time !

First thing we need is to plan a meal. Let’s say you are planing a dinner. I have posted about meal planing before. Now you have come up with a menu with a soup, salad, and 2 main dishes. ( for example) One dish is a stir- fry dish. Another one is a curry. Now where should we begin?

I always make a preparation first so when I start to cook, it will be done faster than preparing only one dish at a time. ( plus the dish will be hot and ready to serve at the same time. Some of the dish will not be good once it’s reheat such as a stir-fry dish because the vegetables can go mushy and not crispy anymore.)

OK. Now we prepare everything on the table. Get the pots and pans handy and get ready ;).

Make soup by boiling water. While you wait for the water to boil, you can slice meat, cut vegetables, herbs etc. as required for the recipe ( of each dish ).
Now the water is boiling, make the soup
While waiting for the soup to be done, make the curry because you need to watch it until everything is in the pot and then you can leave it on the stove for a while to let the ingredients cook and tender.
Now move to the Salad. Get the ingredients in the bowl. Dressing on the side and ready to mix .
When soup and curry ready. It’s time for a stir-fry dish. Heat the oil until it’s hot enough and then you start to cook the dish….only 5 minutes approximately.
Mix the Salad and dinner is ready!
This process can take only 45 mins to an hour which is not bad at all for a dinner, isn’t it?
Don’t worry about the bowls and plates that you have to use while doing the preparation. Don’t put everything together on the cutboard. It will not be easier at all and besides, the meat and vegetables when they are on the same cutboard using the same knife, it can go cross-contamination. You can do dishes after dinner, right? If you can wash dishes along while you cook, that would be the best way because you won’t have to handle those dishes later.

Quick tip for pots & pans cleaning !

I tried it before and it works :). After you’re done with the pots & pans, there will be some burnt stain on them, right? Just pour hot water in the pot/pan that you used and then let it sit there while you have dinner with family. After you’re done with the meal. Turn on the stove and let the water boils for a while, this will get the stain out quickly. Use a pot scrubber scrub it in the sink with runing water and dish detergent. It will come out easily. Wipe pots/pans with dry clean towel and keep it its place.

Try to be organized a little bit at a time and it will get easier everytime you do it. Practice makes perfect and I hope you will get some inspiration and have fun with your cooking.

The secret of delicious fried rice.

2008-08-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

Fried rice is a quick dish that you can make easily at home.

Because rice is the main dish that we must have every meal, sure there must be some leftover that we must keep it for the next day.

And the perfect choice for the next meal is fried rice! Why? Because the rice is cooled and dry enough to make a delicious-non-greasy-fried-rice dish. :D

Tips for your fried rice meal
1. If you don't have leftover rice but want to make fried rice, cook rice by decrease the amount of water a little bit, so the rice will not be too soft. For rice cooking method, you can look at my post here.

2. Use a little bit of oil to fried garlic (or other fragrant herbs/vegetables) until golden and aromatic, then add meat, vegetables and rice. If you want to add an egg, set aside the rice in the pan to give enough space for the egg. Add the egg and stir in a steady quick motion so the egg is cook throughly with the rice until done.

3. The tempurature: Medium-High. Always.

4. Want it to be more enjoyble? Have it with a bowl of clear soup and close the meal with a sweet tooth dessert. :D

Today, I have a fried-rice recipe for you. It's an original one from Thailand. You can order from any restaurant on the streets. This is my first picture. Sorry if it's kind of dark and not so colorful haha. Please forgive me. I'm try to take food picture to be more bright and nicer so I can put in more pictures for you as I cook along.

Thai fried rice

1 cup of rice (cool in the fridge before use if you have just cooked the rice)
1 egg
1/2 table spoon of chopped garlic
4-5 slices of tomato
Chinese broccoli, cut in pieces. Only leaves and soft stems.
sliced onion, as much as you want
Meat, any kind of meat that you want. In this recipe, I use pork.
fish sauce
dark soy sauce ( to give colour )
sugar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
1 table spoon of vegetable oil
coarsely chopped cilantro and green onion

1. heat oil in the wok or pan, when the oil is warm ( you can feel the temparature with one hand above the wok/pan, it feels warm) fried the garlic until aroma.
2. Add pork stir fry until the pork is cooked throughly, stir in vegetables( onion, tomato and Chinese broccoli) and rice. Season with a little bit of dark soy sauce to give color, fish sauce, salt and sugar. Taste it until you like it.
3. set aside the rice in the wok/pan to give space for the egg, add the egg and beat lightly stir the rice back on to the egg and wait for a minute than stir quickly in a steady motion until the egg in goden and throughly cooked.
4. Now we're done. Serve on a nice plate with chopped cilantro and green onion on top. Add a pinch of pepper if you like.

For spicy lover : Make a hot sauce to go with the dish.
Mix fish sauce with coarsely chopped Thai chilli or add a little bit of lime juice if like.

Cooking Jasmine Rice

2008-08-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

What is the most necessary ingredient in a Thai meal that you can never miss ?

Yes. It’s rice!

There are many kinds of rice in the market that you can buy, but the rice for Thai food must be Jasmine rice. The other kind of rice will never give the same unique taste as Jasmine rice. Jasmine rice quality is different from brand to brand. It’s up to the season when the rice is grown. Absolutely we have no control over it, but we can fix it when the rice is not cooked right.

There are a few tips that you can use to cook the rice just ‘right’.

How the perfect cooked rice should be? Taste it. It should be soft enough but not mushy. It should not be too sticky or hard. All you need is a rice cooker. A small one can do a perfect job as the big one.

When you bought a rice cooker, you will see a measuring cup that comes along with the rice cooker. This is the easiest way to cook rice and the result is always perfect. The secret is the amount of water you put into the pot. Use this measurement :

1. If you put in a cup of rice, add water until it reaches 2 cups as measured in the rice cooker. ( They have marks inside the pot for you to measure already ). Always add water more than the rice for one cup. For example, 3 cups of rice with 4 cups of water.

2. Spread the rice all over the pot so it’s at the same level. The rice will be cooked throughly.

3. When the rice has just cooked. Don’t open the pot yet, let it cool down for 5 minutes and you will have a perfect cooked rice. The reason is that when the rice has just been cooked. It can be mushy a little bit at the time and some of it will stick to the bottom of the pot. Letting it cool down will help. After that fluff it up and it is ready to eat!

Fluff it up like this.

If the method mention above doesn’t give a satisfying results. There must be two reasons :

1. The rice is mushy. It can rarely happen but if it happened, it’s becuase the rice is very new from the year it has been collected. Use less water when you cook it next time.

2. The rice is hard and not cooked. It can happen sometimes when the rice has been keep for so long. It’s the old rice. Even the same brand can have different type of rice sometimes. ( old or new ) I experienced it myself before. If It’s not cooked, Sprinkle water on the rice and warm it up in the microwave until it’s cooked. Next time when you are going to cook the rest of it, use more water ( add about 1 more cup from usual ).

Meal Planning, the blend of flavors.

2008-07-30T22:47:00.000-07:00

Thai food is the cuisine that the family get to eat together as a group. We used to live in a big family society. Now that things changed. The size of the families are smaller but still, they eat dinner together and a meal will have 3-4 different kind of dishes to go with rice.

Anybody that is familiar with Thai food will know this fact. When you are planing for a nice dinner. There are a few tips which can help you plan a variety one.

The dishes should have different type of cooking or a blend of different textures. I mean, if you have one stir-fry(mild) dish, you might want another dish as a curry (soft texture, hot) and the other one will be something deep fried(crispy) to go with curry. Not that we can’t have dishes with the same cooking method. It’s about flavors and texture that you can make it more interesting. Two stir fry dishes can go together if they don’t compete with each other. For example, one hot dish can’t go with another hot dish. Remember to blend the flavors : Sweet, Salty, Sour, hot and bitter.

Anything that cooks with a lot of oil can cut the oily taste with the sour one. Mostly you can make Thai salad dishes which mostly use lime dressing as the main ingredient.

One hot meal ( spicy one ) finish with a sweet tooth dessert will be really satisfying. I will show all the hot and cold desserts I used to make for my family. I will be fun :).

Even a beverage can support or distract the flavors of the meal. DON’T drink coffee with Thai food. It doesn’t really go together. You can have it after the meal.

Anyway,the most important thing that matter is the person who's going to have the meal. What do you want to eat and what’s your family favorites? Get all that on the table! Make it your own style.

Enjoy!

Steamed Pork Bun

2008-07-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

This recipe is not Thai Cuisine. It's Chinese-influence recipe. A lot of Chinese cultures and cuisine have come to influence in my country because most of the population is Chinese-Thai. Chinese had been with us for more than 100 years in the history. They came to trade their goods and some moved here and never gone back to China. So, the next generations are the mix between Chinese and Thai and it's very common in Thailand.

In this recipe, I don't use yeast but using baking powder instead. The texture of the bun is not the same as in yeast bun but this is delicious and easy to make. Use less time than the usual yeast bun. Let's make it!

Ingredients
All-purpose flour 2 1/4 cup
Sugar 1/2 cup
Baking powder 3 1/4 tea spoon
Milk 6 table spoon
oil 2 table spoon

Making the dough

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together ( flour, sugar and baking powder ) and make a well in the middle.

2. Pour milk into the well and stir will your fingers until dough from into small pieces. Then pour in water and oil and knead with two hands. If the dough is too dry, add more water, a little bit at a time.

3. Knead well until the dough is smooth and soft. Test it by poking the dough, if it springs back then it's ready.

4. Rest the dough in the room temperature for an hour or 45 minutes.

Pork Filling

Ingredients
Ground Pork 1 Cup
Chopped Onion 1/2 Cup
Chopped scallion 1/4 Cup (optional)
Chopped coriander 1/8 cup (optional)
1 egg
baking soda 1/4 tea spoon
Oyster sauce 1 table spoon
Soy sauce 1 table spoon
sugar 2 tea spoon
pepper to season

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and let marinate in the fridge until the dough is ready.

Making the buns

This is the fun part. Roll the dough and cut into small equal size. Flat the dough with your hand or using the roller. Fill in the filling and then close it. Put it on a piece of paper to prevent it from sticking in the steamer. Steam in boiling water for 15-20 minutes for small buns ( 1 1/2 inch wide ), a little bit longer for big buns.

I've got a lesson from making these buns, too. I put in too much stuffing. When the dough is done, the stuffing just came out of the dough a little. :( It looks funny than yummy. ha ha Next time I must fix it.

You don't have to eat the whole lot of these buns. Wrap individually with plastic wrap and keep in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge ahead of time when you need it. It doesn't take long for it to thaw. Put into the microwave and you got a fresh hot steamed bun ready to eat.

Taste Buds

2008-07-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

My little brother is not well today. He doesn't taste anything in his food. Losing the sense of taste can happen from time to time when we are sick. I lost my sense of smell and taste when I catch a cold or having a fever. This condition is vary from person to person.

But there is another reason why some people can never enjoy the taste of the food when everybody seems to enjoy it. For them, the food is always doesn't taste right.

Here's what I found out from my family's eating habit (especially, the kids).

1. Always eat MSG snacks which you are already know as some commercial brands on TV.

2. Food that contains artificial flavour too much. Some citric acid in sour gum and such ruins the taste buds. That's why it hurts in the tongue after eating these sweets.

3. When eating in the restaurant or even at home, always added more seasoning that is unnecessary. Make it too salty, hot or sour really hurts the taste buds even it feels good when eating but it's not good for health.

4. Too much alcohol drinks. ( for adults )

So, to change these habits, I need to help them chose what to eat and make food that doesn't contain MSG or too much seasoning. In this way, we decrease the toxin that we take into our bodies. Drinking lots of water will help flushing out the toxin and healing the taste buds. I am helping them to enjoy the natural flavour of the food. This takes time but it can be healed. :)

Also I have noticed lately with myself that every time that my period has come, my food will taste more salty. ( That's what my family told me ) It's possible that my sense of taste will be abnormal for a few days, especially for salty flavour. This is just my case :). I don't know if anyone have a problem with it or not.

Change Eating Habit

2008-07-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Summer weather is really hot! Especially in the kitchen where I have to work there everyday. Hot air drains out your energy and makes your skin dry. I put moisturizing cream on my face every few hours.

I must confess to you that I used have a bad eating habit. I love to cook for my family but when they left the food behind, I just have to finish it. I gained weight a little bit and it made me feel heavy in my body. Furthermore, when I was very hungry in the busy time, I just grab a 'ready to eat' snacks or potato chips to eat without hesitation. That is a very bad habit of mine to cook for the others but lazy to cook for myself. From then, I have made a very strong decision to cook something for myself!

Now I make my own meal everyday, at least once a day. I have more energy to work. Even though, sometimes when the restaurant is very busy and I don't have time to cook, I will always have healthy snack to help me through. Now I have stock many healthy snacks in my pantry. Eating less but more frequently during the day really helps me get going and less tired.

Anyone would like to join me in this journey? If you know that you have an eating habit that needs improvement in some way. You can start it today ! You will feel more healthy and have more energy. Your brain will be more effective and your mood will become more stable. This is what I keep as a commitment to myself to do everyday.

1. Start the morning with a big glass of water. Drink as much as you can but don't force yourself. I try to drink a lot of water everyday, every time I can think of.

2. Always eat breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your day will be smoother with more energy.

3. Eat when hungry and if you crave some snack or sweet, choose something more healthy with nutrition. For example, choose bakery instead of a bag of potato chips (Which has MSG in it).

4. Build a habit of enjoying fruits and vegetables in anyway that you can. Add vegetables in your meal at least once a day,or have some of your favorite fruit during the day.

Strawberry and grapes in summer is very sweet and juicy. Delicious! I dip in brown sugar. It's my favorite treat. >>

To tell you the truth, I also have likes and dislikes in some kind of fruit, too. I don't eat fresh orange so much because when I was young, my mother always fed me with orange juice too much that I don't want to have it for the rest of my life. ha ha ha My father told me that if I don't try to like what I hate, I might have some disease for lacking of nutrition. As I grow up, I know that and can eat other fruit that I like and get the same vitamins! So I don't have to force myself now. he he

PS. I do drink orange juice sometimes though, just occasionally but it is not my favorite anymore.

Vegetarian Basil Fried Rice

2008-07-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Today I'm starving for something spicy. So I made this Vegatarian Basil Fried Rice You can put any kind of vegetables in there, but don't forget the basil. he he

Ingredients
Fresh basil (Just the leaves, no stems )
A few cloves of garlic, crushed
Fresh chili, crushed (just a few if you don't want it too hot )
Vegetables, chopped into small pieces
In this picture I use onion, zuchini, green pepper and red pepper in it.
Cooked rice, Chilled in the fridge.
Soy Sauce, Sugar, and white pepper for seasoning
vegetable oil

To cook

1. Heat the oil the wok or frying pan until the oil is warm. ( Just one tablespoon of oil or less )
2. Fry garlic and fresh chili until golden color, add other vegetables and rice.
3. Season to your taste. Stir the rice until mixed well and the rice are all covered with seasonings.
4. Add fresh basil to the rice, stir a few times and done.

Now enjoy it! ^_^
* Sometimes, I also add tofu in it, too.