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It's hard to find a good pad thai in Sydney with the exception of Thai La Ong  where I had the most delicious pad thai with sliced pork. I've only been there once quite a few years ago, but I vividly remember the pad thai which was moist, saucy, and bursting with flavours of tamarind and the charry smokiness from the wok. Nothing like those pale-looking, bland and boring pad thais some other restaurants serve. That was my benchmark for pad thai, and today, I've got the perfect recipe that I hope you will enjoy. The only thing was that I couldn't find thin pad thai rice sticks at the supermarket. So I had to make do with the broader version which was about 1 cm wide. When the craving hits, you just have to make do with what's available! Continue reading to find the recipe. Pad Thai Serves 1 | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 10 mins Ingredients 60g thin pad thai rice sticks Vegetable oil 1/4 large red onion, sliced 1 eggs 2 tsp chopped preserved radish/t...

I was pretty excited when I saw that Lorraine  had posted this wonderful recipe for Pad Thai on her blog. The photos simply said it all. The almost deep and rich orange hue of the noodles was the sign of a winner and it's as authentic as it gets. None of the dry, pale-looking noodles with dry chunks of chicken meat and scattering of chives, egg and tofu that I usually get in Sydney. For the record, I never order pad thai though Mr TFWL likes to always give it a chance. My preference is still to order pad kee mao (my favourite pad kee mao is from Pom's Thai in Burwood, now Strathfield). Anyway, this is how I like my pad thai - saucy and moist noodles with the right balance of sweet and sour from the tamarind and palm sugar, with saucy bits of egg crumble tossed through the noodles. Notice the key word is saucy. Loving this pad thai sauce and if you make a big batch of it, the rest of the preparation and cooking is a breeze (well, almost!). Thanks  Lorraine  for the recipe!...

 Here's a new and improved recipe for Char Kuay Teow (fried rice noodles), a popular street food in Malaysia. Try this version and let me know what you think :) Char Kuay Teow Serves 1 Ingredients 2-3 tbsp lard (or substitute with vegetable oil) 4 prawns, peeled 6 thinly sliced fishcake 6 thinly sliced Lup Cheong (Chinese sausage) 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic 200g fresh rice noodles (separate the strands before cooking) 1 cup beansprouts A handful garlic chives (cut into 2 inch lengths) 1 egg Sauce (mix together in a bowl): 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2 tbsp Cheong Chan thick caramel (dark soy) 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp kecap manis 1/2 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp chicken stock powder Dash of white pepper 1 tbsp water Chilli paste: 1 cup dried red chillies, deseeded and soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours 1-2 fresh red chillies 2 shallots 3 cloves garlic Sugar and salt to taste Vegetable oil for frying Method Prepare chilli paste first. Drain the dried chillies that hav...

  Chicken Cacciatore is a simple and delicious Italian-style chicken stew made with tomatoes and white wine. "Cacciatore" means "hunter" in Italian, so this is also known as hunter's stew. I first made this a year ago when my friend Tracey shared her recipe with me. I think she visited some cooking school on her Italian holiday and kept raving to me about chicken cacciatore. Get hold of fresh pappardelle if you can (here, I've used cracked black pepper and basil pappardelle), but otherwise, any of your favourite pasta will work too. You can omit the red peppers if you like, but I find that it lends a lovely sweetness and flavour to the dish. This is ideal for those big family dinners, where you can cook up a big batch, let it simmer on the stove while you sit, relax and have a sip or two of wine. That's stress-free cooking for you. Read on to get the recipe. Chicken Cacciatore Serves 4 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 50 mins Ingredients 1.2kg (2 lb) ch...

  In all my years of eating and cooking, I have only recently embraced bittergourd into my cooking repertoire. I was visiting my mum and she was wondering what to do with the leftover roast pork she had in the fridge. She suggested doing a stir-fried bittergourd with roast pork dish, which I've heard of but never tried before. I can't remember if she ever cooked that during my childhood, but back then, I shunned anything that had bittergourd in it. I was a picky eater when I was young. Dare I admit that I never ate my veggies until I was in my late teens. Okay, my kids don't have to know this. Really. Anyway, back to the bittergourd. I decided to use beef instead of roast pork in this dish, cooked with salted black beans. To make it a one-dish meal, I tossed it with some flat egg noodles (we call this Mee Pok in Singapore, though I'm not sure why) and added a splash of black vinegar, and it turned out to be a most slurp-worthy and delicious bowl of noodles. Mee Pok (Fla...

I cooked "Lor Mee" (Singapore-style) this weekend and updated my earlier post with new photos. Lor mee simply refers to braised noodles, which typically uses thick yellow noodles served in a bowl with a thick flavoursome gravy (thickened with starch solution and/or egg). They are usually topped with sliced pork, deep-fried yam or other fritters, hard-boiled egg, fish cake or fresh seafood, and then served with a generous drizzle of black vinegar, chilli and minced garlic. I still have not had Lor Mee in Sydney, though I'm sure it would be available in one of the many Malaysian/Singaporean eateries that have been popping up in many places recently. I remember many years ago, there were only a couple of such eateries in the city, but now, there are just too many to keep track of. Of course, everyone claims to serve Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine, but whether they are authentic or not is something else.   I happened to find  a packet of nood...

  As Mr G was clearing the dishes after dinner, he started whinging about how he's always clearing the dishes. I told him "I've always offered you the chance to cook while I babysit and clean up, but you always say that I'm the cook". Well, I knew he would rather "clean up" than cook anyway, and dare I say that I trust my cooking more? Haha. I have to give him credit for some of his culinary skills. Let's see now... Mr G's forte lies in his famous Hainanese chicken rice . Famous because anyone who is invited to our home for the first time is usually treated to this Singaporean favourite. Oooh...he bakes a good pineapple-glazed Christmas ham, and roast beef too. We'll be looking forward to that soon! And last but not least, he does a pretty good lasagne. I say "pretty good" because the recipe is in his head, and sometimes it can be a little inconsistent. The last lasagne he made had too much béchamel and mozzarella cheese in it. He b...

It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning. I was riding in the car when this song started playing on the radio:   Whatever I said, whatever I did I didn't mean it, I just want you back for good, (Want you back, want you back, want you back for good...)   Does that sound familiar? Well, Take That! Listening to the song evoked memories from my 21st birthday which I celebrated with my college friends. I still have photos from that day, when I had my first go at ice-skating and ended up with cuts and grazes from constantly breaking my fall with my bare hands. A couple of my friends had brought a guitar along and made a notable attempt to serenade me with " Back For Good ", which is why hearing the song again made me feel quite nostalgic. Like music, food can sometimes trigger feelings of nostalgia too. Back in my childhood days, before my cousins and I grew up and went our separate ways, we used to come together during festivit...

  Char Kuay Teow with sweet soy  If you know and love Malaysian food, then Char Kuay Teow needs no introduction. In terms of popularity, I would think that Laksa ranks number one, followed by Hainanese chicken rice, and then Char Kuay Teow. These three dishes are commonly found in most menus of restaurants serving Malaysian-style food in Sydney, but more often than not, the authenticity of the Char Kuay Teow is questionable. Char Kuay Teow (CKT) literally means fried rice noodles, but a plate of greasy fried rice noodles with black soy sauce does not qualify as CKT. I find that the CKT sold here usually omits the eggs, which is a must in every CKT. It coats the rice noodles and gives it flavour and texture. Cockles are another must-have in CKT, but I have omitted them in my dish as I was unable to find any at the shops here. I made two versions of CKT. One is the savoury Penang-style, and the other is the sweet version, typical of that found in Singap...

It took me this long to finally attempt making Assam Laksa,  and if mum says it's easy to prepare, she's quite right there. Just steam (or boil) the fish , add the blended ingredients to the stock and simmer before adding the flaked fish. Then serve with noodles and garnishing. Sounds easy doesn't it? In fact, I think I took more time preparing all the ingredients then the actual process of cooking it (man, those shallots sure took forever to peel, and they brought buckets of tears to my eyes). In Sydney, mention laksa to anyone and his or her eyes will light up. But if you say  "Assam Laksa" , chances are you'll be met with a quizzical look. It's not a dish commonly found in Malaysian restaurants around Sydney, perhaps because it's an acquired taste for the local palate, with its sour and spicy tamarind-based fish gravy served with a dollop of black prawn paste (used in Chinese rojak ). There is no coconut milk in it, and the flavours in the soup ...

When Ms T asked me if she could make duck soup using chicken stock, this Thai duck noodle soup instantly came to mind. I then realised that she must have been referring to Cantonese-style roast duck noodle soup where the duck is served on top of egg noodles in a chicken broth. The Thai-style version that I've featured in this post uses a stock made using duck bones , galangal, coriander root and some aromatics, and is served with wide rice noodles that I hand-cut to size. Though already tasty on its own, this noodle soup is really best eaten with some tangy, garlicky vinegar chilli sauce that also makes a great dipping sauce for the duck meat. This dish is absolutely delicious and pretty easy to cook if you can buy (as opposed to make) roast duck from the Chinese restaurant or shop which sells barbecue and roast meats. Then, all that's required is to boil the duck bones to make the stock and serve that with some fresh rice noodles, ...

The moment I did a preview of the photos on this post, I knew I had forgotten to add something to the pasta. Peas! That's what was missing! It would have added such a nice pop of vibrant green to the dish. Well, at least I didn't forget the parsley, for both flavour and colour. It's been a while since I last cooked pasta, and when I do, it's usually a spaghettini with bacon and mushrooms in a creamy lemon butter sauce. I can't help it. Those are all my favourite ingredients and it's the only way I know how to incorporate them all in one delicious  meal. Well, up until two days ago when I made this super delicious pasta (I used bowtie or farfalle) with pork and fennel sausages , mushrooms, pancetta in a creamy tomato sauce . It was an absolute hit with everyone in the family (even my picky toddler, who often scoffs at any food I place in front of him, was too happy to finish his bowl of "butterflies" -that's what I told him they were). I'...

I am pleased (and utterly thrilled!) to announce that I am doing a guest post for Rasa Malaysia today. Ever since I got that email from Bee a couple of weeks ago, I have been looking forward to this, plus I have also been feeding my family with loads of wonton noodles over the last two weekends. Thankfully (for all of us), my second attempt at perfecting the recipe was a success and I was really happy with how it turned out. I have to say my favourite part of the dish is the pickled green chillies because that's how I remember enjoying these noodles back in Malaysia. If you prefer to omit these chillies, try mixing the noodles through with Sriracha chilli sauce instead. Sriracha has a tangy zing and bite that lifts the flavours of the noodles and gives a subtle kick of heat to the dish. Do check out my Wonton Noodles guest post at Rasa Malaysia ! Wonton Noodles are known in Chinese dialect as " Wantan Mee ", as...