Food Minia

Khua Kling, literally dry frying (“Khua” means the kind of cooking process with little water or no water at all and cook until the food is very dry, for “Kling” means tossing or rolling, and for “Moo” means pork), is one of  well known southern Thai dishes. Southern Thai food is significantly different than the food from the other parts of Thailand as Southern Thai food got a lot influence from Indian, Arab and Persian cuisine. Turmeric is an important ingredient and plays a big part in Southern Thai food. In general Southern Thai food is very spicy it can be burning hot so when you go to a restaurant in Southern Thailand , they always give you a basket or big plate of fresh vegetables covering with ice. These vegetables help to reduce feeling burning hot your tongue. For this recipe it is not that spicy compares with Khua Kling in Southern Thailand but the flavor is still real Southern Thai food. You can use other kinds of meat like chicken, beef or fish but if you use fish then...

The arrival of Seville oranges must be one of the few seasonal food events left to us who live in the world of strawberries in December.  I couldn't wait for them to arrive this year as my supply was well and truly depleted.  Not a spoonful left to glorify my morning toast or add to my favourite fruit cake. That said they did sit in my fridge for a few days as you really need time to make marmalade.  It can't be thrown together in minutes. Marmalade requires time to prep all of the ingredients but once that is done it can be switched on and left to its own devices for a couple of hours. I coerced my husband to help me get the fruit ready. Out came the fruit juicer and we were away. To make a lip puckering marmalade and why make anything else, you will need: 1kg of Seville oranges. Make sure that they are fresh as the fresher the oranges the easier it is to get the marmalade to set. 1.9kg sugar. The juice of 1 lemon 2 Lt water. You will need at least 6 jam jars. ...

It's Vietnamese New Years (Tet) in our home.   As a child I remember my mom involved in Vietnamese new years parties at our home.  I'm sure that every Vietnamese person would come to these parties...  I loved receiving the "red envelope" from "aunts and uncles" with money inside. Now that I have my own family I try to carry on the traditions of my mother's culture. Started decorating the house last year  This year I printed out my own banner and found some year of the house signs to print and place in photo frames..  I found some inexpensive decorations at Oriental Trading such as the red envelopes, chop sticks, paper fans as gifts, Chinese take out boxes, lanterns, and more.   Here's my son Aiden helping me put up the mini lanterns.   I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of this year with everyone at the table... maybe because I was busy eating... someone even had to remind me to take a picture of my plate of food. I made a Co...

This is a delicious coconut curry seafood stew with a lot of ingredients common in Vietnamese and Thai cooking. INGREDIENTS: 1 tablespoons canola oil 2 tablespoons grated ginger 2 tablespoons pureed lemon grass 2 tablespoons curry powder 6 cups chicken broth 2 tablespoons fish sauce 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 1 tablespoon tamarind soup base  (or 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice at the very end) 2 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk 1 teaspoon chili oil 1 pound medium peeled and deveined shrimp 1 pound hardshell clams 8 ounces mussels 8 ounces halibut (cut into 1x1 inch pieces) or fresh Alaska king crab meat 1/4 cup chopped cilantro cooked jasmine rice about 4-6 cups Siracha Chili paste (optional to add heat) DIRECTIONS: Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Cook and stir in ginger, lemongrass, and curry powder in oil for 1 minute.  Pour in chicken broth over mixture and stir continually to incorporate irall ingredients.  Stir in fish sauce and brown sugar; si...

This noodle dish is considered a healthy food as more than half of the dish is fresh vegetables, basically it is a salad dish and we have a bundle of noodles and grilled chicken to complete a one dish meal food.                                                                                                              This dish can be lunch or supper and the process is pretty straight forward. You can find all the ingredients at Asian grocery stores. For 3...

Who doesn't like biscuits?  Crumbly ginger biscuits are my current favourite especially when they are made with preserved stem ginger. These aren't the traditional gingernuts but something different as they arfe light and buttery with a hint of ginger in the shortbread and a punch of it in the chunks of stem ginger. You will have all of the ingredients in your store cupboard so let's get on. To make approx 12 biscuits. 110g butter 70g castor sugar 1 large egg yolk 200g plain flour pinch of salt 1 tsp ginger powder 80g chunked preserved stem ginger Heat the oven to 180C. Cream the butter and sugar. Doesn't need to be too light. Beat in the egg yolk. Mix in the chopped stem ginger. Gradually add the flour, salt and ginger powder and mix until the mixture all comes together in a firm lump. Roll into a log shape about the size that you want your finished biscuits. About 6cm is good. Wrap and chill in the fridge for about half an hour. Remove from the fridge and slice into m...

Yesterday my brother phoned me and asked me where he could find my recipe for lasagne. He pointed out that there wasn't one on my blog. A big omission in hie eyes. Thinking about it, I suppose that lasagne has been done so much that I didn't feel the need to add a recipe here. However, to keep my brother happy, here's a recipe for lasagne with a few tips from a Bolognese lady that I used to work with. I'll start with the Ragu alla Bolognese. For the sugo or ragu as it is called in Bologna. 500g of mince meat. A mixture of pork and beef mince is the best option and the one most used in Italy.  Keep it as one lump. You'll see why later. The meat should not be too lean or it will be dry. 100 g pancetta, or failing that, chopped bacon. 1 large onion, finely diced 1 stalk of celery, finely diced 1 medium carrot, finely diced 1 tablespoon of butter 1 clove or garlic 1 glass of red wine 1 stock cube 1 - 2 tablespoons of tomato puree this will depend on how red you like you...