Thursday, May 24, 2012

Kitty's Pork

I never have to cook when I was a single girl. I either have my mother's home cooking or eat out. I was never worried about learning how to cook until a few months before my wedding. I am going to move to Bangkok after my wedding and then what am I going to eat? I have always enjoyed my mom's home-cooking and the thought of eating out every meal is starting to sicken me.

I asked around about cooking classes and I have an Indonesian colleague who assured me that 'cooking is automatic'. I will always remember her telling me not to worry about cooking, once you are married, the skill will come to you 'automatically'. I was quite skeptical about what she said. Some 'sabotagers', who claim to be my friends, even bought me cooking books as my wedding present. =)


Then in my first few months of married life, it just clicked. I started to understand what my Indonesian colleague was saying. Cooking is about producing something simple and edible on the dining table. You do not have to produce gourmet food every meal, you leave that to the restaurants. You need to know a few recipes with easy-to-find ingredients and learn not to undercook them.


My husband showed me how to make Kitty's Pork (affectionately named after a dear friend of his who introduced this dish to him) when he realized that I cannot cook. That's when I learnt how to 'simmer'.

After twelve blissful years of marriage, I am still cooking this dish for my husband on some Sunday evenings and he has no complaints. =)


Very simple to make .. Kitty's Pork
Ingredients:
- some olive oil
- a can of mushroom soup
- some slices of pork
- a can of water
- broccoli
- rice


Method:
1) Heat up olive oil and brown the pork.
2) Add in the can of mushroom soup and water.
3) Bring to boil and let it simmer at low heat for about 50 minutes or until pork is tender.
4) Steam the broccoli.
5) Cook the rice.
6) Serve and enjoy!


Simple ingredients
Till my next blog post, simple is good! =)



Saturday, May 19, 2012

Fuji Japanese Restaurant

Fuji is a chain of Japanese restaurant in Thailand. It has a branch in almost every major mall in Bangkok and is very popular among Thais for gatherings and family meals. Don't be surprised to see a queue outside its restaurants during lunch and dinner time. I eat at Fuji about once a month. The food is fairly good and at reasonable prices.


Of everything that Fuji has on its menu, my favorite is the Geso Karrage or deep fried squid legs. It is a dish that I would order and share it with my family as appetizer. Sometimes it is not enough to go around and we have to order 2 portions.
Geso Karrage, Baht 75
As for my main dish, if I am very hungry, I would have the Tempura Bento.
Tempura Bento, Baht 280
Or I would have the Tempura Udon if I am not so hungry.
Tempura Udon, Baht 140
My son's usual order is Salmon Teriyaki ...
Salmon Teriyaki Set
Sometimes a simple one-dish katsudon will also do for me.
Katsu Don
It is not gourmet Japanese food but Fuji does its job as a quick, good value-for-money Japanese food with mass appeal.

Till my next blog entry, have some Geso Karrage! =)


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Love yourself

A mid-week reminder that we are all beautiful!

Till my next blog post, love yourself always! =)

Friday, May 11, 2012

Magnanimous ...

Magnanimous means giving up your aisle seat for a middle seat on an airplane. I have tons of respect for people who give up their aisle seat to someone with a middle seat so that friends can sit together. I don't have such a big heart yet ... maybe someday ...

Till my next blog post, do something 'big'. =)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Laem Chareon Seafood

I have been with this blog for about 3 months now and in Blogger, they have a 'Stats' tab which tells how many pageviews your blog has and where your 'audience' come from. I have 'audience' from as far as the United States and Russia to nearby neighbors in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

For those visiting my blog and intending to visit Thailand, I am going to introduce to you some food places in Bangkok. When you drop by Bangkok, drop in on these food places. Everyone needs to eat. =)


First, seafood .......

The Thais have their own style of seafood which is very yummy. There are a couple of seafood restaurants chains in Bangkok like Laem Chareon and Je Ngor. I feel Laem Chareon has a slight edge over Je Ngor as the taste of its food, serving size and quality is more consistent.

For tourists, the Laem Chareon has restaurants in 'tourist-accessible' locations like the Central World (3rd floor) and the Siam Paragon (4th floor). Both of these are popular malls for locals and tourists. 

Thais call this 'seafood sauce'. This sauce is very spicy (chilli-hot) so be very careful.

I went to Laem Chareon with my son a couple of weeks ago and we ordered 2 dishes which are enough to fill our tummies for lunch. These 2 dishes are among its most popular dishes. If you walk around the restaurant, almost every table will have an order of each of these.

1) Deep Fried Sea Bass (pla-ga-phong tord nam-pla). I love this crispy fish! The caramelized fish sauce makes it even more delicious!

2) Fried rice with crabmeat. Squeeze the line and sprinkle some of the prik nam-pla (fish sauce with cut chili) onto the rice and it is irresistible.

If you go with more people, you can also try the steamed blue crab (phu-ma). The white meat comes de-shelled (read 'no need to use your hands') and is delicious with the green seafood sauce. =)

Till my next blog entry, eat well!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

You, not time, change things

Photo taken at the ArtScience Museum

Till my next blog post, SEIZE THE DAY and change!
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