Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach - 3S's

Look at those big and juicy shrimp! I got the idea to make these Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach from Justin of Justcooknyc. His sauce is of course more elaborate and basically from scratch while my sauce is straight from the bottle.

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Spinach
serves 2

Spaghetti - I use whole grain
1 cup spaghetti sauce - more if you like extra sauce
10 pcs shrimp - cleaned, de-veined and de-shelled
1/2 bunch of spinach - cleaned and drained
Salt and sugar

1. Cook spaghetti as per the instruction, drain and put on 2 plates.

2. In a pot, heat the sauce on medium heat and add salt and sugar to taste.

3. Add shrimp and stir for like 30sec to 1min.

4. Turn the heat off and add in spinach. Gently fold the sauce on the spinach.

5. Pour the sauce onto the plate of spaghetti and enjoy immediately.

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Kalamansi Lime

If you have been reading and/or following my blog, you would realise that I have mentioned the name kalamansi lime a few times. It is to me, the best kind of lime. It looks like key lime but with a much softer skin. It is the most popular lime used in Southeast Asian's cuisine and drink. I have been looking for it for quite a while. Going in and out of Home Depot, nurseries, asian supermarkets and Lowe's only to be very disappointed. Not only they don't have it, most of the times nobody would even know what I was talking about. But my luck was about to change.

Last month when we went to Home Depot on Warner Ave, Huntington Beach to get a couple of plant pots, I decided to again try my luck. Michael keeps teling me that they are not going to have it but I told hm I will ask anyway. Asking is by the way, free, no? So I asked the guy at the nursery section about kalamansi lime. After a few misunderstanding and long conversation, he took me to the lime/lemon tree areas and we looked and searched one by one. The he asked me, "what is it called again?". So I told him it is kalamansi and he showed me this tree and said, "is that it?". There in the middle of the jungle (ok, that's an exaggeration :P) stood 3 kalamansi lime tree. Not 1. Not 2. But 3 of them! You can't imagine how happy I was to have found it. Already I am thinking of hot spring/summer and sipping ans ice cold lime juice made from kalamansi lime. Well, I am not sure when exactly will I get to see the fruits but I sure do hope very soon. I just hope that those pesky insects would leave my kalamansi lime tree alone.

So if you are a fan and/or have been looking for kalamansi lime tree, go to Home Depot. As you can see from the picture, it is stated as calamondin / kalamansi lime. Good luck!

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Crab Curry with Pineapple / Kari Ketam Nenas

Last week the weather has been kind of cold. Too cold and gloomy that we did not even go for our walk on the beach last weekend. Of course it was not as cold as in the East Coast who got another round of snowstorm but still cold for Orange County in March. In a way, it is good since it makes me want to cook even more. And I really cook a lot more last week.

I have been meaning to cook Crab Curry with Pineapple for a while but I never remember to get canned pineapple when I go groceries shopping, until recently. I may not fancy curry much but every once in a while I would have this craving for some. Here is my Crab Curry with Pineapple recipe. I hope you will try it and love it as much as I did.

Crab Curry with Pineapple
serves 1-2

2-2.5lb crab, cleaned and cut (I separate the claws and cut the body in half)
3 shallot, sliced
2 garlic, sliced
2in ginger, sliced
4-spice (2in cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 4 cloves and 4 cardamom seed), rinsed and drained
2-3 tbs curry powder, mixed with a little water to form a thick paste
3-4 pineapple ring, each cut into 4-6 pieces
1 small can coconut milk (165ml)
165ml water (I used the coconut milk can)
Salt and sugar to taste
3 tbs vegetable oil

1. In a wok or big pan, heat the oil and add the 4-spice until fragrant. Add shallot, garlic and ginger. Stir until fragrant.

2. Add water and coconut milk, stir until boil. Add sugar and salt to taste.

3. Once boiled, add in the crab and give a little toss so all the crab parts are covered by the sauce. Cover and let it cook. Just like other seafood, this should not take too long. Once the shell is bright orange, they are cooked.

4. Take the lid off, add the pineapple and stir well. Taste and serve with warm white rice.

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Steamed White Pomfret

I love going to the asian supermarket. Maybe because I am asian. :P Finding stuff that I am familiar with and in the shape that I am accustomed to and with price tags that would not make me cry. True isn't it? Somehow the stuff sold at the asian supermarkets are cheaper and fresher (for veggies and seafood at least). I don't buy prawns/shrimps at the regular supermarkets where it would cost me maybe $5-$8/lb since I can get them for $4/lb at the asian supermarket. They also have a wider varieties of fish and would clean them for you which is the way I like it since for the life of me, I can not clean them myself.

Anyways, the last visit to the asian supermarket, I bought a few types of fish and usually would eat them for a whole straight week. Previously I posted Baked Trout with Vegetables so today I am going to post my Steamed White Pomfret recipe that I made a few weeks ago.

Steamed White Pomfret

1 whole white pomfret, cleaned (mine was about 1.5lb)
2-3in ginger, thinly julienne
4 shallot, thinly julienne
2 garlic, thinly sliced
2-3 thai chili, sliced (or 1/2 serrano chili)
1 red chili, sliced
Juice from 2 lime
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

1. Make 2 slits on each side of the fish and set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients well and taste. Add salt or sugar or lime juice to your liking.

3. Pour some of the juice into a pyrex bowl (or any bowl that you are using to steam the fish), lay the fish and pour the rest of the juice on the fish. Let it marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. I did mine overnight.

4. Take the bowl out of the fridge an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.

5. Put it in a steamer and steam until cooked. You will know the fish is cooked when the meat will flake easily with a fork or chopstick.

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Red Snapper In Ginger and Vinegar Soup Recipe

Yup, I made up the name for this dish. I dont want to fry it and make sweet and sour fish as I would usually do. Neither have I made this dish before but somehow I had the taste in my mind. Although I have the rice vinegar, I decided to use the juice from the sweet bread and butter pickle and I am happy with the result. So did my friend J who called saying that she was coming for lunch. ;)

Red Snapper In Ginger and Vinegar Soup

Serves 2-3

1 red snapper, cleaned, cut into 2 pieces

3 in ginger, thinly sliced

3 garlic, pound or finely minced

1 lemongrass

1 tomato, cut into 6 wedges

1 red chili, sliced

4-5 tbsp sweet bread and butter pickle juice
1 cup water

salt and sugar

4 tbsp cooking oil

1. In a wok or deep pan, heat the oil and saute ginger and garlic.

2. Add in water, lemongrass, pickle juice, salt and sugar. Turn the heat to high. Stir. Let it boil and taste.

3. Slowly add in the fish and tomato, cover and reduce the heat to medium. About 1-2min.

4. Uncover, flip the fish and cover again for another 1 min.

5. Add the sliced chili into the soup, stir a little bit and turn off the heat.

Just like other typical asian dishes, this is to be enjoyed with warm white rice. Just add a few spoon of the soup on your rice and eat the fish together with the rice. You can also add some light or sweet soy sauce.

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BBQ - 080808

Honey Barbeque Chicken Wing

We had a few friends over last week for a barbeque on that auspicious day 080808 which was the day chosen by China for the opening of the Olympic Games. Besides hotdogs and burgers, I decided to make honey barbeque chicken, mango & apple salad, chicken rice (and I totally forgot to take pictures of) and Argentine Salsa Criolla. For dessert, we had lemon meringue pie, brought by S&D. Thank you S&D. ;) This time, I added a tablespoon of chili powder (for 2.5lb of chicken wings) into the chicken marinade to make it a little bit spicier and yummier. Do try adding some if you want to make them.

Mango & Apple Salad

You might also realise the changes in how the pictures were taken. Yup, one of our 3 guests is who else but Rasa Malaysia. She patiently taught me how to take the pictures. How many pictures were taken of the food that day? Almost 50! Snap crazy? You bet! ;) Thanks BY.

Argentine Salsa Criolla

For the salsa, I got the recipe from my newly found foodie friend, KitchenGirl. Here is my version of the salsa.

1/2 red onion; finely chopped

1 green bell pepper; finely chopped

2 tomato; seeded and finely chopped

1 clove garlic; finely sliced

2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves

1/2 cup EVOO, extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar (i used rice vinegar)

lime juice from 1/2 lime

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients and serve. You can eat it immediately or put it in the fridge for half an hour and serve chilled. Michael didn't really like the taste of pepper in it so the next time I am just going to make it without. This is of course, a personal preference.

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Mango & Apple Salad (Kerabu Mangga & Epal) Recipe

Nothing lifts my spirit up (and open my eyes!) like sour-y stuff do. Not chocolote and definitely not cheese. :P Back during my working days in KL, I always make sure I have asam in my drawer. They are important in making sure that I dont fall asleep especially after the heavy lunch which usually would consist of rice with dishes like grilled fish, bbq lala, black pepper liver, sambal belacan with ulam and etc. All for just RM5-7 or USD1.6-2.30. You got the idea, right? ;)

Here in the US, you will find candies and chocolates sold by their weight. In Malaysia, besides candies and chocolates, we would have variety of asam, nuts and dried cuttlefish. I would spend quite sometime staring at them just to choose which ones I should buy eventhough usually I would end up buying the same things that I bought the last umphteenth times I was there!

So a few weeks ago when I was visiting Gert's blog at My Kitchen Snippet, I saw that she made some mango salad. And yes, I always have young mango in my fridge. Almost. All. The. Time. And. No. I. Am. Not. Pregnant. Yet. :P

Anyways, that gave me the idea of making some myself and of course with my own twist since the truth is, I dont really have much of the 'essential' ingredients in my kitchen.

So here's how I made my Mango & Apple Salad.

1 young mango, julienned

1 apple, julienned

half red onion, thinly sliced

3-4 thai chili, thinly sliced

Mint leaves, chopped

1-2 tablespoon crushed peanut (i used dry-roasted peanut)

For the dressing;

1/8 cup lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1.5 teaspoon sugar

1. Put all the salad ingredients except peanut in a bowl.

2. Mixed the dressing in a different bowl and stir well. Pour onto the salad, sprinkle the crushed peanut and serve.

Now, isn't that the easiest salad to make or what?

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Sweet & Sour Tilapia

Sweet and sour is basically the easiest cooking style you can make. It is great with chicken, beef, seafood or even eggs.

I usually use tilapia since it's the only whole fish that I can find at the regular supermarket. For other kind of fish, I would have to go to the asian store.

Sweet & Sour Tilapia

1 whole tilapia (for easier frying, cut it into 2 pieces)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

vege oil for deep frying

For the sauce:

2 shallots

1-2 garlic

1" ginger

1/2 medium onion (sliced abt 1/2cm thick)

1 red chili (sliced)

1 large tomato, quartered (I used 5-7 grape tomatoes)

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoon vege oil

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon flour for thickening (optional)

Salt and sugar to taste

Scallion (for garnishing)

1. Covered the fish with salt and turmeric and deep fry it. If you dont have a fryer, use a wok or deep pan. Once its brown, leave it aside.

2. Thinly sliced shallot,garlic and ginger or pound using mortar and pestle.

3. In a pan, heat the oil with medium heat and sauteed the shallot, garlic and ginger. (abt 1min)

4. Add the water, ketchup, salt and sugar. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir. (2min)

5. If the gravy looks diluted, mix the flour (or cornstarch) with a little bit of water and add to the gravy. Continue stirring.

6. Add the rest of the ingredients and taste.

7. You can either add the fish into the gravy or pour the gravy onto the fish on a plate. Garnish with the chopped scallion.

8. Served with a plate of warm white rice.

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Assam Pedas

1-2 piece of fish (any kind except salmon)
1 cup water
daun kesum or polyganum leaves

7-10 okra/ladyfinger/bendi
4-5 tablspoon tamarind juice (1tablespoon tamarind soup powder)
salt and sugar to taste
3 tbspoon vegetable oil

Blended ingredients;

2 shallots
1/2 red onion
1 garlic
2in ginger
10 tbspoon of sambal oelek (chili paste)
1 teaspoon of tumeric powder
2 teaspoons belacan

1. Heat the oil (medium heat) and add the blended ingredients. Stir for 5-6min

2. Put in the water and add the rest once its boiled. Flip the fish one or twice.

3. Cover and simmer for 10min.

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