Tom Yum Instant Noodles Salad

Every time I visit Thailand, I just can't help grabbing a few packets of MAMA Tom Yum instant noodles back. So far, MAMA brand is the best tasting Tom Yum Instant Noodles I ever had. Instead of cooking it as a soup based noodles, I've wanted to try something different. Yes! Yum MAMA, Instant Noodles Salad. Probably this makes me feel less sinful for eating instant noodles. 

Surprisingly, it taste amazingly nice (but can be very spicy, so try not to put too much chilli padi). Here's the recipe:

Yum MAMA

1 package of instant noodles - MAMA brand - shrimp tom yum flavor (comes with 2 Pkts of seasoning)

3 small pcs of sliced squid

1 crab meat, sliced

40 g. ground pork

1 shallot, sliced

2 Tsp lime juice

2 Tsp fish sauce

1 Tsp sugar

Lettuce, sliced

Cherry tomatoes, halved  

Chili, sliced (put according to ur own spicy tolerance)

1. Add the instant noodles seasoning, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli padi in a salad bowl. Mix well and set aside.

2. Boil some water in a pot. 

3. Shape the ground pork in small balls and add in the boiling water to cook. Shaping the meat into balls will make it easier to scoop out when cooked. 

4. When the pork is halfway done, add in squid and crab meat in the water to cook. 

5. Remove pork, squid and crab meat when they are ready. Add them to the seasoning and mash the minced pork into smaller pieces. Add in sliced shallots.

6. In the same boiling water, add in instant noodles and cook about 2 min. 

7. Remove instant noodles from heat and add it to the salad bowl together with the rest of the ingredients. 

8. Add in lettuce and cherry tomatoes to the salad and mix well. Serve. 

Hope you enjoy this simple recipe. 

Korean Spicy Cucumber

Here's part 1 of 3 for the Korean side dishes which I made last weekend. These are easy to make side dishes and they are good to go with ramen or rice. Try it someday. ^_^

Ingredients:

2 Japanese cucumber

1/4 Tsp salt

1/4 Tsp Sugar

1/2 Tbsp Korean chilli powder

1/2 Tsp Sesame oil

1 Tbsp sesame seed

1/2 Tsp Mirin

2 stalk spring onion, chopped 

1. Slice cucumber thinly and season them with salt. Leave it for about 15 min or until the cucumber soften. 

2. The cucumber will produce water. Discard the water and squeeze any excess water.

3. Add seasoning (Korean chilli powder,sesame oil, Mirin, sugar) to the cucumber and Mix well.

4. Add in sesame seed and spring onions. Serve cold. 

Lor Mai Kai

I have not been cooking much for the past few weeks because I needed to urgently submit my assignments. Finally i submitted them last week. FREEDOM at last!!! This is why I've been doing a lot of cooking this week. 

One of the item on my mind is "Lor Mai Gai". Don't ask me why. This idea just suddenly came to me when I was doing my assignment. Coincidentally, my friend also gave me a packet of dried mushroom. Hence, this is gonna be the first dish I'm going to make this week. Here's the recipe, hope you will like it:

Ingredient:

500g Raw glutinous rice, rinsed, soaked overnight

350g boneless chicken thigh 

10 dried mushroom, soaked and stems removed

Seasoning for rice

3 Tbsp light soya sauce

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

3 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 Tsp salt

Seasoning for chicken

1 1/2 Tbsp light soya sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce

2 Tbsp sesame oil

Dash of pepper 

1 Tbsp cornflour

1 Tbsp Mirin

Method

1. Cut chicken thigh into bite-sized pieces. Marinate the chicken.

2. Discard the water used for soaking the rice and place rice in a heat-proof bowl.

3. Add the seasoning for the rice.

4. Fill with enough water to the same level as rice. Then place mushrooms on top. (Note: I forgot to use "lup cheong" aka Chinese sausages today, you may wish to add this)

5. Steam for 50 minutes to an hour until rice is cooked.

6. In a bowl, arrange the chicken and mushrooms (gill-side up) in a layer.

7. Fill the bowl with rice and pack it in tightly. The bowl should be filled to the brim. Do the same for the rest of the bowls.

8. Steam for ten minutes.

9. To serve, put a plate over the bowl, then flip over and remove the bowl.

Korean Army Stew Hotpot

A few of my friends came over to my place for our gathering yesterday afternoon. For gatherings, I try to make hassle free dishes such as hotpot because it's easier to prepare as compared to make a few individual dishes. Moreover, eating hotpot is a good way to bond as it allows us to eat slowly and catch up at the same time. Other than our usual Chinese steamboat, which we ate umpteen times during CNY, I've decided to make Korean Army base Stew (budae jjigae; 부대찌개).

 

The Korean Army base stew came about during the Korean War, when food was scare in Seoul, South  Korea. People started making use of surplus food supplies from US Force Korea bases. Food supplies such as hot dogs, spams, or ham, and incorporated them into their Korean traditional spicy soup base (made of red chilli paste, chilli powder and Kimchi. 

This dish is still very popular in South Korea and has evolved to incorporate more modern ingredients such as instant noodles, American Cheese, ground meat, baked beans, etc. Basically you can just add almost anything in there. 

A throwback to my Korea trip in 2011, when I first tried Army Based Stew. My then boyfriend (now hubby) and I were randomly shopping at Coex Mall and we came across this restaurant with a long queue outside the shop. As "Kiasu Singaporean", we went to see what's going on. When it was our turn, we just went in and give it a try without knowing what it was. I only got to know the name of this dish when I met up with my korean friend. 

Thereafter, I tried to find this dish in Singapore. Unfortunately, I felt that Korean food is too overpriced here. Hence, this motivates me to make this on my own. Here's the recipe:

 Korean Army base stew

Main Ingredient

1 Cup Oval Rice Cakes

½ Cup Kimchi

1 Onion

1 Pkt Enoki mushrooms

1 Pkt  Korean Plain Instant (I use ottogi ramensari. My friends likes the texture. Can be found at Shine Korean Supermarket)

1 Small Canned Baked Beans

¼ Cup Ground Pork

1 Can Luncheon Meat

4  Hotdogs

2 Green Onions

1 Red chilli

Broth Ingredients

6 Cups Water

1 Tbsp Maggie Concentrate Chicken Stock 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbsp Red Pepper Powder

1 Tbsp Red Pepper Paste

1 Tbsp Soya Sauce

1 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp Cooking Wine/Mirin/ Water

⅛ tsp Black Pepper

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce: red pepper powder, red pepper paste, soya sauce, minced garlic, cooking wine (or water), and black pepper to create a paste.

2. Pour water into the steamboat pot together with the concentrate chicken stock to make the broth. 

3. Prepare the rest of the ingredients:  Slice luncheon meat into ¼ inch pieces, and slice hotdogs diagonally. Soak oval rice cakes in water and chop kimchi into bite-sized pieces. Cut vegetables, mushroom, onion, green onion, red chilli. 

4. Place all ingredients into the broth in clumps. Place the ground pork in the center of the pot.

5. Spread the rice cakes over everything and pour the sauce paste on top of the ground pork.

6. Start boiling the stew. Once the stew boils, placed the ramen in and allow it to cook for 5 min until the noodles are cooked. 

I hope you like the Korean Army Base Stew. Do let me know if you are interested with the other Korean recipes.