Halibut in Tomato-Shiitake Broth

This was a recipe from the Best of Cooking Light Special Edition book. I tried it for the first time. It was super easy to make and delicious!



8 ounces uncooked udon noodles
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 1/2 cup bottled clam juice
2 tsp red curry paste
4 cups of thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2/3 cup canned diced tomatoes undrained
1/4 tsp curshed red pepper
4 halibut filets
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp salt

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cook until tender. Add clam and curry paste, stirring with a whisk. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Add fish; sprinkle with basil and salt. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve over noodles. 4 servings.

Prawn Mee

prawn mee, originally uploaded by cloey17_98.

I've been saving up prawn heads for about six months now. To make more room in the freezer, I decided to thaw out the prawn heads and pork bones to make prawn mee. To be honest, I've never been a big fan of prawn mee, and it's been years since I had any.

Last week, on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Tony was treated to a home-cooked prawn mee meal. And since then, I've been craving a piping hot bowl of prawn noodles. I used Rasa Malaysia's recipe, but added dark soy sauce, salt, fish sauce, and sugar to the soup. It was quite yummy, but extremely tedious. Not sure if I have the stamina to make it again.
~Ray

Murtabuk

We recently bought a family-size bag of frozen pratha, but only bought one can of curry (which was promptly used up). The solution to leftover pratha? An easy, delicious murtabuk. I have to admit, I've never really had this before. But I came across this recipe on Teczcape . This is not authentic coz we used ground beef instead of mutton. My husband says it's just like Indian tacos!

IMG_4342, originally uploaded by cloey17_98.

1/2 chopped onions
1/2 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 beaten egg
4 frozen pratha

Fry chopped onions until transluscent. Add ground beef, curry powder, and tumeric. Add beaten egg and fry until cooked. Set aside. Heat up prata, spoon the ground beef mixture on one side, and fold. Enjoy!

~Ray

Happy 2008!

I can't believe how time has flown by! Sorry I haven't posted anything for awhile. I've been a bit busy with the new baby.
I haven't stop cooking but just haven't had time to post them. Hopefully between Rae and I, we will keep this blog going.

Mina

Hash-Brown Turkey

First of all, let's take a moment to welcome the newest member of the family: Jake Toshiro Whitehead.



Mina just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and while I was visiting her in Seattle, I came across a Rachel Ray magazine. Personally, I'm am not a fan of Rachael Ray. I can't stand when she says "EVOO" or "Yummo"! I don't think she's a great cook either. So, imagine my surprise when I saw the recipe for "Hash-Brown Turkey." It sounded really good! I tried it tonight and it turned out really delicious and easy-to-make.



One 16-ounce bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 scallions, finely chopped
Salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 turkey cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total), pounded thin

1. In a wide, shallow bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon flour, then with the parmesan and scallions; season with salt. Place the eggs in another wide, shallow bowl and beat lightly. Place the remaining 1/2 cup flour in another shallow bowl and season with salt.
2. In a large, heavy nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Working with 1 piece at a time, coat the turkey cutlets with flour, shaking off the excess, then dip in the eggs and transfer to the potato mixture, pressing potato onto each side.
3. Cook the cutlets in the skillet with more oil as needed, turning once, until the potato coating is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to parchment paper or paper towels to drain.

~Ray

Seafood Village

Last week, I made plans with an old friend to meet up for lunch. "I know a great seafood place in Montery Park," I said. "I know a great seafood place in Montery Park, too! It's called Seafood Village," she replied. Turns out, it's the same place I had in mind, except, I knew the restaurant as Bi Feng Tang. The lunch menu is super economical. You can get a whole fried fish for only $5.95. Unfortunately, my friend had to cancel, but I just could not get my head out of Seafood Village. So, I bribed my cousin with a bottle of wine to go with me.

Their specialty is garlic crab at $5.99 per pound.



They're also famous for their chicken. It's the closest thing to Hainanese chicken that I've tasted. Cold, succulent, juicy chicken.



This is our attempt to have some "greens" in our diet. Don't think it's very healthy though =)



My cousin was craving shrimp and eggs. I've never had this before but it's really tasty. The eggs are slightly undercooked, which is a nice contrast to the crisp prawns.



~Ray

Claypot Rice without the Claypot

I can't remember the last time I had claypot rice. But what I do remember is the crispy rice bits at the bottom, the sweet chinese sausage, and aromatic dark soy sauce. Since I had all the ingredients, I decided to make claypot chicken rice myself. I found the "cheat" version from rasamalaysia. The only difference is that I didn't marinate my chicken in cornstarch (ran out)!



Overall, it's an easy, fast, satisfying dinner.

~Ray