Stir-fried Udon Noodle with Shrimp and Scallop

A simple stir-fried Udon noodle with shrimps and sea scallop with spinach, carrot and yellow onion.

Crispy Shrimp Chili Shrimps Fried Rice

This was one of my lazy lunch.  I had to eat and I have no food in the refrigerator.  Luckily I always make sure my refrigerator has eggs, frozen veggie and frozen shrimps.  Hence, this shrimps fried rice to the rescue.  Shrimp is easy to thaw and with some leftover rice, fried rice is an easy one dish meal.

I found the Malaysian's Spicy Tiny Shrimp Sambal by Mama's Delights at the Denver's Asian market so of course I had to buy it regardless of the price tag.  I couldn't be choosy when they were none to begin with right?  This sambal added a little spice and fragrant to the fried rice and we really enjoyed it.

I cooked this very easily, just add the spicy tiny shrimp sambal, soy sauce, salt, a little sugar and finish it off with white pepper.

Golden Shrimps to Welcome the Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai to those who celebrated!!  May this new year brings all of us much joy, peace of mind, great health, good luck and fortune!  I had experience a lot over the past three years.  Hell in 2014 and 2015 and basically had my world turned upside down.  Things that I have never thought could happen to me, happened to me and I had to wake up and be strong for myself and both of my girls.  Emotional roller coasters that I had to overcome and the responsibilities that I had to bear to ease the transition for my girls.  Glad to say that everything worked up well in God's hands.  Everything flown into place with the help of the invisible hands and the universe and I am very blessed.  We settled ourselves and move on in 2016.  That was the reason for the lack of postings all these years, I didn't have the luxury of staying at home and inventing and experimenting with new recipes anymore.  My time was limited to sending my girls to school and back, taking care of them and work, work, and more work.  My day off I just want to rest and/or bring my girls out to eat and do stuff.  I finally got more half day off for myself and spending more time with my girls and get to cook more home-cooked meal which was great!  I needed a break and learned to truly appreciate those working and full-time moms. It was not easy.

Okay, back to this recipe.  I made this super-easy deep-fried Golden Shrimps recently for a CNY party.  One bag of 2 lb extra large shrimps, shelled but with the tail on.  Made some cuts on the side of the shrimps to make it straight.  Then season the shrimps with sea salt, black pepper, organic no-salt seasonings from Kirkland, sesame oil and a little sweet potato starch.  Mix well.  And then wrap each in the wanton wrapper, seal with flour/water glue, set aside and finish the rest.  Lastly, deep-fry until golden brown and cooked through.  Serve with Thai sweet chili sauce.  Enjoy!

Penang Style Char Kuey Teow

This is my version of Penang Char Kuey Teow.  For the past ten years, I have never wanted to share this recipe of mine even though it had been asked by my readers. But today, I decided to share it so that for those living overseas who misses this Penang's hawker delight can cook them at home.

I have never measure when I cook this dish and I always cook in individual portion because my little one wants it non-spicy at all.  My elder one wants it mild and we adult like it spicy! Some like it more eggs, no chive, etc.  So, I always cook in individual portion to suit each other taste bud and preference.

You can add lap cheong, sliced fish cake, sea hum or sliced fish balls if you wish.  I would love to have some lap cheong but the ingredient lists scared me and I read that wax meat can cause cancer.  I am trying to eat as clean as possible and away from processed food if I can.  I already switching most processed food consumed in this house to be organic or non-GMO certified. Have to take care of our bodies so that our bodies can take care of us right?  It's common sense, if you keep feeding your body with junk and poison, what do you think it is going to repay you with?  Think before you buy!

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans

Have you ever heard of eat your beans, especially black bean?  When organic beans are on sales, I would love to grab some, mostly garbanzo bean, but now I also get some black bean and red kidney bean.  Got to have some beans in the diet right?

According to the Chinese medicine, green bean, red bean and black bean can detoxify the body.  Green bean is cooling so it is not suitable for women during their menstruation, but red bean and black bean are both considered a neutral food.  I have a recipe for these beans detoxification soup which I will share later.  Stay tuned!

This quinoa salad is pretty easy.  Like my recipe here, except added some black bean and cucumber and top it with shrimps instead of mixing it together.

Stir-Fried Curry Shrimps (炒咖喱虾)

The inspiration of this dish came from chatting with my mom on instant messenger.  While chatting, she happened to mention that to whip out a prawn (we call it prawn in Malaysia and not shrimp) dish is very easy for her, just need to slice onion and add curry powder.  And it sorts of stick to my mind and I want to make it too.  I kicked mine up a notch by adding more spices and bay leaves and this easy shrimps dish was really delicious.  See the black gooey stuff there?  It was really flavorful and little Edda kept picking on that black gooey stuff to put on her rice.  Hahaha...she even ate 5 of these shrimps, usually she only had 2 or 3 the max.  Thanks mom for this great dish!!  :)

Did you notice that I started to cook shrimps dish again?  The last shrimp dish I cooked was back in April, 2011.  I very seldom prepare a shrimps dish, I just use it in fried rice or add it in a noodle dish.

Deep Fried Italian Panko Shrimps

Have you ever wonder how the chef deep-fried the shrimps without it curled up?  One time when we were visiting our friend's restaurant, her chef made a similar dish for my girls.  His was without seasonings, just dip in flour, then beaten egg, then panko and deep fried.  What caught my eyes was that the shrimps were not curled up so of course I had to pick one to examining it.  When I tasted the shrimp, I sort of gotten the idea of how it was made.  I would share with you the secret in my next page.

I found the unseasoned one quite bland, so I seasoned mine and added dried herbs.  We all loved this, but who could resist this type of fried food anyway?  Flavorful and crispy, hard to stop at a few.

Spicy Green Beans with Shrimps

I like this dish and made it quite often.  I don't know if the green bean is in season but the farmer market here has been selling it for 99 cent/ pound.  If I would make this for my family, I would omit the extra chili and since I was making this for adults, I added my chili paste in oil to give it an extra kick.  I only added one teaspoon because I was afraid that it might be too spicy as this new batch of my chili paste in oil was kinda spicy.  I certainly wouldn't want to make it inedible for most because of the heat.

I have a similar recipe here.  Except for this I added some chili paste in oil to make it spicier.  Check it out, super easy to make for the overseas Malaysian who misses this dish.  You can substitute the green bean with asparagus, long bean, okra and eggplant.

 

Shrimp Ball Mushrooms

Sharing a picture of a dish we had on Lunar New Year 1st. day.  I had to confess I didn't make this.  We paid $25/person to dine a 9-course meal in a Chinese restaurant with some Taiwanese friends.  This was one item served on that day.  We couldn't finish all the food and this was what I brought back along with white chicken, sauce duck, crabs and mei chai three layers pork. :P

But I can tell you how it was made, it was pretty easy actually.  The top was shrimp balls, the bottom was Chinese mushroom.  First, you minced the shrimps or processed it in a food processor, then you seasoned it with salt, white pepper, rice wine (or however you would like to season it) and shaped it into a ball shape big enough to place on top of your soften Chinese mushroom.  Afterward, you steamed it until cooked, probably about 10-15 minutes.  You can cut some broccoli for garnish.  Quickly boil it in salt water to briefly cook it or you can cook it in the microwave.  Garnished the broccoli around the round plate and placed the cooked shrimp ball mushrooms in the middle.  Then, you can prepare the white sauce to pour on top.  As for the white sauce, heat up a pan, add in chicken stock and let it boiled.  When boiling, add in the cornstarch water mixture to thicken and stirred in some chopped scallion, removed from heat.  Pour the thicken sauce on top to serve.  Enjoy!

Deep Fried Shrimp Wontan

I happen to have some wontan skin in the freezer and also I haven't done any deep-fry food for awhile, so I thought I would give my girls some deep-fry treat. They loved crispy and crunchy food but I have cut down a lot of deep-fry food. So, whenever Evy asked for it, I will make them the healthy crunchy baked chicken strips or baked crunchy fish fillets. They all loved it and I can provide the crunch without the oil.

The idea of this dish came along from food bloggers who used the whole shrimp instead of minced shrimps with pork as filling. I added onion and carrot just because I always wanted to have some veggies in my cooking. By doing it this way, my girls tend to eat the onion too. Otherwise, they would just picked out the onion and put it on the side of their plates. No matter how I stress that onion (or ginger, or bell pepper) is good for their bodies, it just went it one ear and out the next. *sigh*

Special Fried Shrimps/Prawns

When I made my Emperor Herbal Chicken dish the other day. I took 1 Tbsp. of the spices out for this dish which I made the next day. It was for the fun of experiment and my curiosity of how it would taste like. Glad to say it tasted great, flavorful with a hint of herbal taste and my two girls loved it. They were not into shrimps until recently, not sure what made them to like shrimps suddenly. But I am so glad that they liked shrimps, easy for me to prepare dinner for them. Just hope that the little one will start eating spicy food soon.

Spicy Stir Fried Shrimps

This dish is so simple yet delectable. Minimal seasonings required yet packed with flavors. I love to chew on the shell of these shrimps because that's the best part. Even my Evy who hardly eat shrimps asked for more. Edda who complaint too spicy finished her share after I told her to eat with white rice then it won't be too spicy anymore. :P If you have a bottle of Szechuan peppercorns at home, this will be a great way to use it. Can substitute the shrimps with chicken too.

Scrambled Eggs with Shrimps and Asparagus

Have you tried scrambled eggs with asparagus or asparagus omelet? Let me tell you, it is delicious. I happened to discover it by accident three plus years ago when I was trying to finish few asparagus left in my refrigerator. Now, I used it often to fry eggs. Try my omelet recipe here.

Ingredients:

• Asparagus, about 10, chopped
• 8 large shrimps, cut into small pieces, 4 in 1
• 1/2 carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro (optional)
• 3-4 large eggs, beaten, season with soy sauce and white pepper
• 1 tsp. chicken stock granules
• Oil for cooking (olive or canola)

Method:

1. In a wok, heat up some cooking oil. When heated, add in garlic, fry a little while, add in shrimps. Cook until shrimp is almost cooked, add in chopped asparagus, carrot and chicken granules. Stir-fry until asparagus is cooked.

2. Add chopped cilantro (if used) in the seasoned beaten eggs, mixed well. Pour it on top of the asparagus and shrimps in the wok. Stir fry the eggs and mixture together until eggs are cooked. Serve hot.

Sambal Asparagus with Shrimps

Showing a picture of my dinner few weeks ago. Asparagus was on sales again during the week of Thanksgiving and I always took the opportunity to buy the on sales vegetable. The usual way of cooking asparagus for Malaysian was with sambal chili. I decided to add some shrimps and carrot to make it more complete. I used the shrimp paste in chili oil and my own chili in oil for this dish. This recipe is similar to my Sambal Dried Shrimps Okra.

Or you can try the western version: Season the asparagus (just cut the hard bottom off) with some olive oil, salt and pepper (toast well) and baked in preheated 450'F oven for 15 minutes. Remember to line the baking pan with aluminum foil (heavy duty prefer) so that no washing required, just fold and throw. Very easy!

Seafood Nyonya Assam Curry

Assam curry or sour based curry is normally cooked with seafood. Most commonly is assam fish or assam prawns. Since I didn't have any fish fillet at home, I opted for shrimps, bay scallops and fish balls. I also threw in some green beans and fried tofu.



I used the Singlong Instant Curry Nyonya Assam Mix (Spicy) that was given by a friend. I added a little whole milk for extra creaminess. Overall it was pretty good but it was too spicy for the kids.

Seafood Veggies Curry

On lazy day, I love to cook easy, throw everything in one pot meal. I love to add a lot of vegetable in my seafood curry because I love veggies. With Claypot curry mix, I don't even have to worry about preparing coconut powder or coconut milk because it has been included in the packet. However, I don't really like this Claypot fish curry mix as compared to it's rendang beef. I preferred Delimas vegetable curry paste better. That's solely my own opinion okay. This big pot lasted us for three meals!

Ingredients:

1 packet of Claypot Nyonya Fish Curry Mix (also available at mytasteofasia.com)
3 fish fillets, cut
1 bowl of shrimps
8 fish balls, cut into half
1 bowl of fried beancurds (taufu pok), cut into half
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup of frozen green beans
1/4 of head cabbage, cut

Method:

In a big pot, add in oil in medium heat, fry the spice mix until fragrant. Add in the recommended coconut milk and all the vegetable. Simmer until the cabbage has soften, add in the seafood and fish balls, simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with white rice.

Easy Stir-fried Shrimps

Sharing an easy home cook shrimps recipe here. It's so easy to make anyone can make it. You can add yellow onion, scallion, color bell pepper and red chili into this recipe as well. Just season to taste with more salt or soy sauce.

How to Make Your Shrimps Curl

D from Daily Affairs asked me to create a post on how I made my beautiful shrimps. Actually it is very easy, it's just some curl shrimps. First I deveined the shrimps, peel off the shells and then I just slit it into half lengthwise. When you stir-fry the shrimps, it will curl up automatically. Easy right? D, now you have it! :) However, some will curl this way, but some might not oh.

Butter Cornflakes Cereal Shrimps

Ingredients:

15 large shrimps, deveined
Cornstarch to coat the shrimps before deep-frying
4 Tbsp. butter

(A)
3-5 bird eye chilies, sliced
A handful of curry leaves (omit this if you can't find it)

(B)
1 cup of cornflakes, lightly crushed
3 Tbsp. non-dairy creamer (powder form)
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chicken stock granules (add more salt if omit this)
Dash of white pepper

Method:

1. Measure and mix (B) in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Coat the shrimps with cornflour and deep-fry in hot oil until golden and cooked. Dish out and set aside. Throw away the oil.

3. Heat wok, add in the butter, stir til it melted and add (A). Fry til fragrant. Then add (B), stir continuously to mix (be careful not to burn the creamer) and add the shrimps. Mix well and dish out to serve. Enjoy!

This dish is spicy from the chili and infuse with the fragrant of butter, curry leaves & milk and crunchy bite from the cornflakes and a tad sweet from the sugar, definitely worth a try!

Nonya Assam Heh (Nyonya Tamarind Prawns)

One of the Penang Nyonya dishes is Assam Heh or Tamarind Prawns. I first learned about this dish from my mom. My mom was from Alor Star, Kedah and thus a lot of her cooking has been influenced by the Nyonya in Penang. I guess any dish that tasted good would be adapted in a family, and in this case my mom. It has became my favorite because of how delicious it is and how easy it is to cook. Tamarind is a common item used in a Malaysian household. And I would love to share with you this easy Tamarind Prawns recipe. The used of tamarind made this dish a Nyonya dish (incorporation of Malay ingredient into Chinese cuisine).