Shrimp and mango summer rolls, Sauteed steak in Asian style

Who doesn't like Summer rolls in a hot summer night? It can be served as a quick main dish, or, if you want something extra fancy, try pairing with a delicate piece of Asian sauteed steak! Asian inspired healthy meal ready in 30 mins!

Servings: 1
Preperation time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Summer rolls
3 pieces Rice paper(you can get pre-packaged dried ones from international supermarkets)
A few lettuce (shredded)
1 Mango (cut into pieces)
1 Cucumber (cut into slices)
A few Shrimps (cooked)
1 Avocado (cut into pieces)
Rice Vermicelli (cooked according to package instructions)

Fishsauce
3 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
1 Chili ( finely minced)
2 tsbp Sugar
6 tbsp Fish sauce
4 tbsp Hot boiled water

Steak
1 Steak
4 tbsp Soysauce
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp light flavoured vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil


1. Marinate the steak with soysauce, sugar, vegetable oil and seasame oil. Set aside.
2. Prepare the fish sauce. In a bowl, add in garlic, chili, and sugar. Then pour in the hot water and stir until the sugar is well dissolved.
3. Add fish sauce. Adjust the amount according to taste.
4. In a seperate bowl, put in lettuce, mango, avaccado, cucumber, vermicelli, and shrimps. Add 2-3 tbsp of the ready made fishsauce. Toss well. Save the rest of the sauce for dipping.
5. In a shallow round plate similar to the size of the rice paper, pour in a little bit of boiled water (room temperature). Soak a piece of rice paper in the water for 3-4 seconds, take it out and place it on a paper towel to gently pat dry.
6. In the center of the softened rice paper, assemble lettuce, mango, avaccado, cucumber, vermicelli, and shrimps. Fold in the bottom part of the rice paper, then the left and right part, and finally wrap the rice paper to form a roll. Repeat the process to form more rolls.
7. Preheat a skilet in high heat, drizzle a little bit of light flavoured oil. Sautee the steak for 2-3 minutes per side, depends on the thickness of the steak.
8. Remove the steak from the pan, cover the steak with alluminium foil and leave it to rest for 2-3 minutes. After that slice the steak in pieces.
9. Assemble everything on a nice plate and enjoy!

Tips:
1. When making the fishsauce, always taste to adjust the amount of ingredients used.
2. When soaking the rice paper, be gentle and do not over soak the paper as it will become soggy.
3. When assembling the roll, do not over do the fillings or paper will break apart.

Lemon and lime chicken

Do you know the differences between lemon and lime? Besides their obvious differences in appearance, lemon in fact contains higher vitamin C value while lime contains more vitamin A value.  Taste wise, lemon is mostly sour but lime is sweet and sour with a bit of nutty tangy flavour.

Combing the two citrus flavours, this dish is a perfect combination for sweet and sour lovers.

Preparation time: 15 mins
Servings: 2


Ingredients:
2 Boneless chicken thighs (with skin)
1 tsp Thyme
1 tbsp Salt
1 tsp Corn starch
2 tsp Light flavoured oil

Sauce:
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lime
Juice of 1/3 Lemon
Juice of 1/2 Lime
1 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1 tbsp Corn starch
1 tbsp Butter


1. Cut the chicken thighs into bite size pieces. Add in thyme, salt, corn starch, and oil. Mix well. Set it aside.
2. In a bowl, add in zest of lemon and lime, juice of lemon and lime, soy sauce, sugar, water, and corn starch. Mix well. Set aside.
3. Preheat skillet in medium heat. Sear the chicken, skin side down. Sear the chicken for around 5 mins one side and 3 mins on the other side, or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Put the chicken on a serving plate. In the same skillet, add in the sauce mixture. Stir occasionally until the sauce is thickened and the sauce is well heated through. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter.
5. Pour over the chicken. Garnish with some zest. Enjoy:)

Tips:
1. If you find the sauce too sour, you can add water and sugar to balance out the sourness.

Clams in white wine sauce

I recently read an article about 20 dishes that you should know how to cook. I forgot the link but it was not surprised to see mac'n cheese, perfect steaks, guacamole, grilled cheese sandwich, and more classic dishes on the list. Among all, mussels in white wine sauce is also on the list. Speaking of this, there is in fact a similar version in Chinese cuisine.

While French cooks mussels with Western white wine, Chinese cooks clams with Chinese white wine. No matter what wines you are using, they are both finger-licking good and they both leave you with fantastic dipping broth for toast, french fries, rice, rice vermicelli, or pasta!

Perpetration time: 10 mins
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
3 cups Clams (fresh)
1 Shallot
1/2 Onion
some Cilantro
1 Chili (Optional)
1 tbsp Light flavored oil
1 cup Chinese white wine (or Western white wine)
1/2 Chicken broth (salted)
1/2 Water

1. In a bowl, fill up with tap water and add 1 tsp of salt. Put the clams into the water. This will help removing sand from the clams. If you use frozen clams, you can leave this step.
2. Finely dice shallot, chop onions into bite size pieces, and thinly slice the chili.
3. Preheat a sauce pan in medium high heat, add in 1 tbsp light flavored oil. Add shallot, onion, and chili. Sautee them for 1 to 2 minutes until flavorful.
4. Add 1/2 cup of white wine then quickly add in the clams and put on the lid.
5. 10 seconds later or after the sizzling sound disappeared (which means the wine has evaporated), add in chicken broth and water. Put on the lid.
6. After 2 minutes or the first clam opens, turn off the heat, pour in the remaining 1/2 cup of white wine, then put on the lid again for 30 seconds or until all the clams are opened.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro. Enjoy!

Tips:
1. Since clams are salty, make sure you taste before seasoning.
2. You can add more or less wine depends on your preference.
3. Be careful not to overcook clams. You should serve quickly as possible once the first clam is opened since clams only take minute to cook. Even though you remove them from heat, the remaining temperature in the broth will continue to cook them through.
4. If a clam is not opened even though it is cooked through, do not try to eat it since the clam might be rotten.

Cilantro garlic butter pan sauce for steak

Who doesn't like steak? Especially when they are served along with creamy mushroom sauce, BBQ sauce, red wine sauce... This pan sauce recipe takes only 1 minute to make, so quick that you can make it when the steak is still resting!

This sauce is a classic garlic butter with a little twist. The cilantro will give you that extra kick of freshness. It would be even better if you serve it with some mash potato or french fries!

Preparation time: 1-2 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

11/2 tbsp Butter (salted / unsalted)

1 cup Chicken broth (salted)

2 tbsp Minced garlic

2 tbsp Minced cilantro

some salt and pepper

1. Sear the steak and veggies with a skillet in medium high heat. While the steak is cooking, mince the garlic and cilantro.

2. After the steak and veggies are ready, put them on a plate and cover them with aluminium foil to rest.

3. In the same skillet, heated it up with medium low heat. When the skillet is hot, pour in chicken broth and garlic, then quickly before the the broth evaporates, use a wooden spoon to lightly scrap the remaining residue which was stuck on the skillet.

4. After 15-30 seconds, turn off the heat and add in the butter and cilantro. Stir well until the butter is melted. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Serve it with the steak. Enjoy:)

Tips:

1. Be aware of hot steam when pouring broth into the hot skillet.

2. Be careful not to burn the garlic. You just want to brown it not burn it. Turn to low heat if necessary. 

Vegan chocolate- Good chocolate

People say chocolate is junk food. It is high in sugar content, saturated fat, calories. Some people say chocolate will lead to acne breakouts, headache, toothache, and of course obesity... In fact, cocao itself has a lot of benefits to our body. Not only its phenyl ethylamine makes us happy, it also boosts our metabolism, regulates cholesterol and blood sugar. Unfortunately regular pre-packaged chocolate mostly contains huge amount of artificial additives and high in sugar content, which negates cocao's health benefits.

I am recently in love with this Vegan chocolate recipe. It just needs 3 healthy natural ingredients, and trust me, it tastes exactly like normal pre-packaged chocolates! 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Extra virgin cold press coconut oil (If the oil is in solid form, melt the oil into liquid consistency by heating it in the microwave in 10 seconds)

4 tbsp Coconut nectar/ maple syrup/ honey( note that honey is non-vegan ingredient)

2 tbsp Coco powder unsweetened

Some Shredded coconut (Optional)

Some sea salt (Optional)

Some paprika (Optional)

1. In a bowl, pour in coconut oil, coconut nectar, and coco powder, mix well. 

2. In a container, line it with parchment paper. pour in the mixture.  You can also pour the chocolate mixture in fluted cups. Decorate and add your favourite toppings to the mixture. For me, put shredded coconut in half of the chocolate, and another half with sea salt and paprika.

3. Pop it in a freezer for 30 mins to 2 hours, depends on the depth of your container.

4. Enjoy:)

Tips:

1. You can adjust the proportion of the ingredients to match your perfect consistency and sweetness level.

2. Be aware that the chocolate will eventually melt into liquid form under room temperature.

Fast and easy ginger noodle sauce for instant noodles

Sometimes you just can't be bothered to make an impressive meal? Or are you home alone and nothing to eat but instant noodles? Try this noodle sauce recipe! It is quick, easy, and most importantly, it is way healthier than the msg broth from the noodle pack!

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients:
1 Instant noodles (Or noodles of your choice)
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tbsp Asian chili sauce (optional)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

1. Cook the noodles according to package instructions. However do not add any flavourings to the noodles.
2. While the noodles is cooking, ground ginger and put it in a bowl. Add chili sauce, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
3. Drain the noodles then pour in the sauce.  Mix well and enjoy:)

Tips:
1. Since there is fresh ginger in the sauce, it could be a bit spicy. Remember to do taste tests. If you over do it, take out some ginger, add more fish sauce or soy sauce or even water to make it less spicy.

Chicken Satay with Konnyaku noodles salad

If you know me well, You will know I am a huge fan of Thai and Vietnamese food. Probably because of its richness of flavour, i.e. Sweet and sour at the same time salty and spicy, that makes me so addicted to it. One of the best Thai dishes is definitely satay. This recipe is a healthy version of Thai satay, perfect for a hot summer day.

Preparation time: 30mins
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
Chicken satay
2 cups Chicken breast (bite size pieces)
5 tbsp Curry powder
2 tbsp Natural almond butter/ peanut butter
1 tbsp Water
1 tbsp Light flavoured vegetable oil
2 tbsp Salt

Salad
1 package Konnyaku noodles
some Romaine Lettuce
some Red cabbage
some Cherry tomatos

Salad dressing
1 clove Garlic
2 Thai chili (amount depends on your personal preference)
5 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Hot water
1 Lime


1. Cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces. In a zip-lock bag, put in the chicken, curry powder, almond butter/peanut butter, water, oil, and salt. Mix well and massage well. Set aside to marinate.

2. Cook the konnyaku noodles according to package instructions. Normally you just need to remove the noodles from the package, rinse them under running water, then cook them in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. After that put the noodles in cold water. Set aside.

3. Mince the garlic and thinly slice the chili. In a bowl, put in garlic, chili, sugar, and hot water. Stir well until the sugar dissolved into the sauce. Add fish sauce and lime juice of a lime. Set aside.

4.  Preheat grill pan in medium heat. Soak a kitchen paper towel with a bit of oil. When the pan is hot, lightly oil the pan using the towel. Add in the chicken. Cook the chicken around 2-3 minutes per side.

5. While the chicken is cooking, drain the konnyaku noodles. Chop the lettuce, cabbage, and tomatos. Assemble them on a plate. Lightly pour the salad dressing over the salad.

6. When the chicken is ready, put it on top of the salad.

7. Enjoy:)

Tips
1. The grill pan needs to be hot enough to create the beautiful grill marks.
2. Chill the salad and dressing for better taste.