Tom Yam with Vermicelli

I woke up from a satisfying nap this evening, and was craving for Tom Yam. :) So tham chiak, hehe... However I feel like to cook my own instead of dining out, cuz I have lots of ingredients in the fridge. Too bad, I'm short of the most important ingredient, the tom yam paste. So, I just order my hubby to buy me a bottle from the nearby mini market. Fair right? Husband and wife got to work together mah... Agree or not?

Tom Yam with Maggie mee would be tastier, but I've restricted intake of instant noodle, so got to cook Tom Yam with vermicelli. After getting the dried vermicelli cooked and served in bowls, I continued with the Tom Yam soup base.

Ingredients for the soup base:

1. 100gms of oyster mushrooms.

2. 4 baby corns.

3. Half of tomato, slice into 4 pcs.

4. 8 medium size prawns.

5. 5 big fishballs, cut into half.

6. 5 pcs of kaffir lime leaves.

7. lemon grass, smashed the white part.

8. half onion, dice.

9. 2 & a half tbsp of Tom Yam paste.

10. Light soy sauce to taste.

For garnishing:

Mint leaves

Method:

1. Bring enough water to boil in a pot.

2. Add lemon grass, onion, kaffir lime leaves and Tom Yam paste and let it simmer for a while.

3. Pour in all the other ingredients and bring it to boil.

4. Add light soy sauce to taste.

5. Pour the soup over the vermicelli in the bowl and serve hot.

This is another simple meal to prepare and it will not mess up the kitchen. :)

The Best Wantan Mee @ Tian Tian Liang

Last Saturday morning after our morning walk session, hubby brought me to this coffee shop called Tian Tian Liang. It's located at the junction between the main road of Jalan Kampung Baru and Jalan Petani Jaya.

FIL introduced the wantan mee to us. It's the most famous wantan mee in Sungai Petani.

When we placed our order, I still have no idea what's so special about the wantan mee here. I'm quite impressed with their method of taking down customer's order. The method is similar to Nando's. They jotted down our order, and gave us a big number plate. We got the no 3! I thought it'll be our turn soon, but I was totally wrong. :(

After waiting for 20 minutes for our wantan mee, our stomachs were growling non-stop. To solve the problem, hubby order 2 yau char kuai for us. It was a wise decision, as this was the most superb yau char kuai that we've tried so far. The dough is freshly made and deep fried on the spot. It's hot and super crunchy. Dip it in coffee.......Oh, you'll feel like you are in the heaven. Some more it's so cheap!

After waiting nearly 35 minutes, finally our wan tan mee turned up. Here it is!

Appearance wise, there's nothing to shout about. It's like the ordinary wantan mee that you can find almost every where. But.......after you take a bite of the noodle, you'll realise the 30 minutes of waiting worth it. It's the most delicious wantan noodle that I've tried so far. It's not only just perfectly cooked and springy, it is also thinner than other wantan noodle. It was observed to be curlier than other noodle too......Oh, now I know, it's the home made noodle from the tauke. No wonder it's so special. Besides, you can find those small pieces of pork lard too. Needless to say, it enhances the taste. Small serving cost for RM2.50 and large for RM3.30. It's compatible to Penang's price.

Mee Suah In Herba Soup

Once in a while I’ll cook Sip Chuan soup with chicken drumsticks by using slow cooker.

Ingredient for Sip Chuan soup includes Ligusticum Wallichi, Angelica Sinensis, Paconia Lactielora, Rehmannia Glutinosa, Coponosis Tangshen, Poria Cocos, Atractylodes Macrocephala, Glycyrrhiza Uralensis, Ziziphin Jujuba, Astragali, Cartex Cianamani.

It helps to activate blood circulation and revitalize energy. The soup can be taken on its own, with rice or even with mee suah.

Here’s is how I prepare the dish:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook mee suah in the boiling water. Keep in mind that mee suah cooked very quickly. Within 30 to 40 seconds or even less, it will be ready. Drain the water and serve the mee suah in a bowl.

2. Pour the Sip Chuan soup in the bowl together with the drumstick. Add a tbsp of sesame oil and stir well.

Seafood Char Koay Kak @ Batu Lanchang Market

Located inside the Batu Lanchang Market foodcourt, there's a seafood char koay kak stall near the entrance that is closest to wet market building. This stall has been operating for the past 20 years by a couple. You can see a lot of certificates hanging at their stall. All of them belongs to this uncle. They were the recognition given to uncle's food, his fried koay kak.

When I was still a little kid, my parents used to bring me along during their weekly marketing trip to this market. Everytime without fail, we dropped by this foodcourt for our afternoon tea before the marketing task began. :) My mum used to bring along our own ingredients like squids and prawns. Uncle will add all these seafood when he fried our koay kak without extra charge. Of course you can request uncle to add other seafood based on the varieties that he has.

Hubby had not taste this koay kak before, so I brought him there for a try. He ordered a regular koay kak that cost for RM3.20. Not cheap, anyway.

Besides the normal ingredients like bean sprout, chai po and egg, you'll find 2 prawns, crab meat stick and some fish ball slices. If you are wondering why you can't find the ingredients, hehe....they are all hidden beneath the koay kak. So don't get disappointed.

Well, the taste is still above average. It's fragrant and full of "wok hei". However, the serving is quite small. It may not able to fill your stomach if you just have one plate. :P

Angle Hair Spaghetti

Honestly speaking, I don't really know what is the right way of cooking angle hair spaghetti. Once, I tried it out with meatball spaghetti Bolognese, but it didn't turn out as good as the normal spaghetti. It's too thin. The balance was kept in the kitchen cabinet until one day, I thought of cooking something simple for our dinner.

This is how it looks like - my angle hair spaghetti cooked in Chinese way. Not bad, isn't it? You just need 2 minutes to cook the angel hair spaghetti, and another 2 minutes to cook the soup base. I use half chicken cube to boil the soup, then add some ingredients like fish balls, prawns, crab meat stick, choy sam, and sprinkle some garlic oil. I would say the angle hair's texture fits for this dish. Furthermore, it's good choice compared to some other instant noodle. It does not contain artificial colorings, flavorings or preservatives. It's 100% Durum wheat.

Another method of preparing a simple meal will be the similar way of cooking dried wantan mee. As above, cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes. At the same time, prepare the sauce on a plate. Mix the sauce with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, dash of pepper, garlic oil, and sesame oil. Pour the spaghetti on the plate together with some boiling water. Stir it well. Next is to cook some ingredients like prawns and vegie in boiling water, then mix well with the spaghetti in the plate. Angle hair is easier to cook compared to wantan mee. Even you overcook it, the noodle will still springy. But of course it is much more expensive compared to wantan noodle.

This type of simple dish really suits my requirement, cuz the whole process takes less than half hour to prepare. Even I come back late from home, I still able to prepare a home cooked meal for hubby and myself. Sounds great?