As Cynthia of Tastes Like House puts it: “Separately (mango & lobster), they are heavenly. Combined? They are sinfully good.”
She was spot on.
This mango and lobster salad was refreshing, light, and mangolicious. For me, the ideal ratio is approximately 1.5 mango: 1 lobster to get that perfect and harmony balance. Plus, mangoes are just too good, so the more the merrier…
Click the image above to see my mango and lobster salad gallery and here for my baked lobster with cheese.
This is a seriously good recipe and I hope you’ll get to try out my mango and lobster salad Recipe soon. Bon Appetit!
RECIPE: MANGO AND LOBSTER SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
2 lobster claws
2 ripe and big mangoes
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Some sweet basil leaves (chopped)
METHOD:
Boil the lobster claws in hot water for 10-15 minutes or until cooked. Remove from shell and cut the lobster claws into small pieces. Peel, slice and remove the seed from the mangoes. Cut the mangoes into small cubes. Put the mangoes and lobsters in a bowl. Add in the cream, lemon juice, honey, and chopped sweet basil. Mix well, cover, and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Scallops within the 50 percent shell are difficult to locate, as far as I know. I’ve been searching higher and low for them for rather some time now. I asked, I looked, I googled, but I hadn’t observed any stores that sell them in SoCal–until I identified the seafood shop that I mentioned in my crawfish post. (The seafood shop sells live crawfish, scallops on the 50 % shell, cockles, different fresh oysters, crab legs, etc.)
I love frequent scallops (in particular the untreated ones), but scallops within the half shells are–in my opinion–better, tastier, and prettier! Plus, I can take great pictures using the scallops strutting in their half-shells.
Anyway, to preserve probably the most original flavors of these scallops, I opted to steam them with the simplest of ingredients: soy sauce and garlic oil. Succulent, sweet, and delicious…
Now if only the scallops are larger. Well, that’s just me, I am just by no means satisfied. *wink*
The soft shell crab season is about to begin (it normally runs from Might to July) and I thought I would share a soft shell crab recipe that I genuinely like with you.
Usually uncovered in Japanese restaurants, these homemade soft shell crabs were coated with panko, deep fried, and served with ginger ponzu sauce. The radish sprouts–seasoned with just a wee bit of olive oil, salt, and black pepper–add extra punch and lend a tint of peppery flavor to this dish without requiring too much effort…
anko, or Japanese bread crumb is one of the a lot of secrets of Japanese cooking. The roughly shaped bread crumbs produce light, airy, and extra-crunchy coating on fried foods, specifically on these soft shell crabs. Packed in a plastic bag, panko is usually very easily discovered in Asian markets…
I simply adore soft shell crab. It™s a real delicacy and a true treasure as the whole crab might be eaten as is–which is a great perk in my opinion as I don’t have to crack up a storm to extract the crab meat from the shellso less hardwork and far more gastronomic goodness. Now, that’s a keeper.
August 9th, 2010 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Indonesian recipes | 2 Comments
I have been so busy recently I can hardly find any time to have a breather. If you’ve been following my blog and Twitter, you will know that working on my cookbook has pretty much consumed all my time. As a result, I have been eating out more, and cook only when time permits.
In the past, I would always attempt to make my Asian dishes from scratch. If that means tedious work and hours of making my own spice paste, I would do it. But I can no longer afford the time. As a result, instant spice paste and seasonings have become my easy and go-to ingredients nowadays. I absolutely love them, especially the World Foods line of instant paste, condiments, and sauces, which I bought from my neighborhood Whole Foods market. (World Foods products are made in Malaysia and Thailand.) As an Asian food enthusiast, I can’t live without my rice, noodles, and I am just so glad that I can still enjoy authentic and scrumptious Asian dishes in practically 15 minutes, with these instant paste products…
For my lunch today, I made Mie Goreng, or Indonesian fried noodles, using World Foods IndonesianFried Rice Paste. It was delicious and so easy to make. Most importantly, it satisfies every ounce of my craving for this noodle dish, and totally reminded me of my holidays in Bali when every lunch, the hotel butler would bring a serving of this flavorful noodles to me!
Here is my mie goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles) Recipe. Please take note that this is a very simple version of this iconic Indonesian dish. It fits my busy schedules and doesn’t compromise on the taste. You can also use the same paste to make nasi goreng, or fried rice.
2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz chicken meat, cut into small pieces
6 medium-sized shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 oz cabbage, shredded
6 oz bean sprouts, rinsed with cold water and roots removed (optional)
1 lb yellow egg noodles, rinsed with cold water and drained
3 tablespoon World Foods Nasi Goreng paste
1 1/2 tablespoon kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Tomato wedges, garnishing
Chopped scallion, garnishing
Method:
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the minced garlic and stir-fry until aromatic, then add the chicken and shrimp. Stir continuously until they are half cooked.
Add the cabbage, bean sprouts, and noodles into the wok or skillet and stir fry for about 10 seconds before adding the World Foods Nasi Goreng Paste, kecap manis, and salt.
Using the spatula to toss the noodles and all the ingredients back and forth until well combined, about 1 minute or until the noodles are cooked through.
Dish out, garnish with chopped scallion and a couple of tomato wedges. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Note
World Foods is a Malaysian brand, with its manufacturing facility in Thailand. It offers a range of Asian-flavored sauces and pastes for everyday cooking. The products are available worldwide. In the United States, you can find them at Whole Foods markets and other outlets.
I’m a Costco (a wholesale mega shop in the US) junkie. I adore shopping there and a single of the items I frequently purchase from Costco is madeleine—an adorable shell-shaped French cake/cookie well loved by several.
Even though I adore madeleine, I have never attempted to bake them at house. Very first of all, I’m not a wonderful baker and madeleine is one of those things that doesn’t deserve failure. Secondly, I actually like the wholesale madeleine at Costco—they are made by Sugar Bowl Bakery in San Francisco and have a firm texture yet delicately crispy at the same time. Finally, I do not have a madeleine pan, until yesterday…
I got my pan at the outlet store, for a really low price. I had no more excuses not to make madeleine, plus my elder sister is in town and she loves eating little cakes with her morning coffee.
I did a thorough research for the ideal madeleine recipe on the net and finally turned to my favorite food blogs for inspirations. I checked out David Lebovitz, Chez Pim, 101 Cookbooks, Taste Buddies, My Cooking Hut and improvised their recipes to produce my incredibly own madeleine Recipe.
It worked.
My madeleines are not perfect, but they are quite good—firm with crunchy edges, with the cutest signature humps! And yes, they’re oh-so-good with a cup of hot coffee or tea.
Sate (Indonesian spelling) or Satay (Malaysian spelling) is one of probably the most loved foods in Southeast Asia. Today, I have the talented Dhi at Cooking Etcetera as a guest writer on Rasa Malaysia. In collaboration with Pepy of Indonesia-Eats, both of them will be writing about “Highlights of Indonesian Cuisine” and begin the series with Indonesian sate. I am personally extremely excited to find out a lot more about Indonesian cuisine and I hope you’ll enjoy (and follow) their guest posts here on Rasa Malaysia. Please welcome Cooking Etcetera.
In light with the growing interest in Asian cuisine, particularly Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean cuisine, Indonesia-Eats and I’ve started a guest post series “Highlights of Indonesian Cuisine” on Rasa Malaysia. We aim to introduce Indonesian food to the food blog community and explain what Indonesian food is definitely all about. To kick start the series, we are sharing some of the most famous Indonesian Sate recipes with you.
Indonesia is really a nation comprised of much more than 17,500 islands that span across a wide geographical area. As a result, Indonesian cuisine is diverse as it’s paired with the influences from the a lot of culture within the archipelago…
Sate (or Satay) is often a dish consisting of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, or fish. Sate is commonly threaded onto bamboo skewers, grilled over charcoal fire or coconut-shell charcoal, and then served with numerous spicy dipping sauces. Sate is believed to have originated from Java, Indonesia, but it is also famous in quite a few Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Sate is often a quite popular street food in Indonesia; it may be served being a side dish, or a primary dish at lunch or dinner. (Source: Wikipedia)
Indonesia is THE house of Sate. Indeed, sate is claimed as Indonesia’s national dish, and its reputation can only be matched by “Soto” or the aromatic and higly fragrant Indonesian soup. You can find no less than 29 kinds of Sate readily available in Indonesia and they’re commonly named after the town of its origin or its approach of cooking. (You’ll be able to scroll further down on Wikipedia in the event you are interested to study far more about Sate.)
Vietnamese BBQ Shrimp Vermicelli or Bun Tom Heo Nuong is one of my favorite Vietnamesebundishes. If you have tried Vietnamese food, I am sure you are familiar with bun, or dry rice vermicelli in nuoc cham (fish sauce) and topped with either grilled pork (thit), BBQ shrimp, sugarcane shrimp (chao tom), cha gio, tau hu ky, or a combination of them. I love Vietnamese bun because it’s not only tasty, but very healthy as it’s not greasy and comes with all sorts of vegetables and herbs. Every bite is refreshing and appetizing; a noodle dish that is both filling and satisfying…
Summer is in high gear now so I made some BBQ shrimp and turn them into this BBQ shrimp vermicelli. It’s really quite easy to make. All you have to do is gather your fresh vegetables: cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, cilantro, and mint leaves. (You can also add herbs such as perilla and Asian basil leaves, if you like.) For the rice vermicelli, you can get them dry at Asian markets. Please take note you will need rice sticks, which are slightly “fatter” than rice vermicelli. The packaging has Vietnamese and it will say “Bun” and the English label is “Rice Sticks.” For the fish sauce or nuoc cham, I have a great recipe that goes well with the vermicelli, as well as other Vietnamese recipes on this site.
If you love Asian noodles, this is a great dish to try. As I mentioned above, you can have a few toppings if you want—shrimp, pork, cha gio, tau hu ky, etc. Regardless of your choice, it’s absolutely pleasing to the palate.
If you love Vietnamese food, do check out my collections of popular Vietnamese recipes.
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 heavy dashes black pepper powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
Method:
Cook the rice sticks according to the package instructions. Rinse with cold water thoroughly after cooking, drain in a colander and set aside.
Marinate the shrimp with all the ingredients in the BBQ Shrimp Marinade for 30 minutes. Prepare and cut all the vegetables and herbs.
Fire up your BBQ pit and grill the shrimp until they are properly cooked. Divide the rice sticks, vegetables and herbs into 3 portions and transfer them into 3 bowls. (The rice sticks should sit on top of the vegetables and herbs). Transfer 4 shrimps into each serving, sprinkle some ground peanuts, and pour some nuoc cham (fish sauce) into the noodles. Serve immediately.
Nuoc Cham (Fish Sauce or Vietnamese Dipping Sauce) Recipe
Ingredients:
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar (if you like it sweeter)
3 tablespoon lime juice
Method:
Add fish sauce, water, sugar and lime juice in a small bowl and mix well. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.
Cook™s Notes:
To jazz up the taste, add some garlic chili sauce and mix well with the fish sauce (nuoc cham) before serving.
For fish sauce, I recommend 3 Crabs brand Fish Sauce.
Yue Dishes, namely Guangdong flavor dishes, is one particular in the four Chinese cuisines. It enjoys really beneficial reputation at residence and abroad for its unique forms of dishes and particular charm. Situated along the southern coast of China, Guangdong abounds with meals of animal and plant sources. At a similar time, Guangzhou has been a long-standing treaty port town, which attracted and absorbed several foreign cooking components and approaches. And so Yue Cuisine was gradually perfected. Furthermore, overseas Chinese brought the cooking tactics from Europe, America and Southeast Asia returning to their hometown and accordingly enriched the recipes of Yue Dishes. There are extremely clear traces of Western cooking strategies in Yue Food. Yue Dishes is represented by Guangzhou dishes, which are characterized by a wide selection of supplies, intensive variety of supplies, elaborate strategies, significant varieties of dishes. Guangzhou dishes are in particular skillful in approaches of stir-frying, frying, stewing, frying in boiling oil, bao or cooking with Chinese pot with steep wall, braising, and Kou. Unique attentions are paid for the heating temperature and duration. Emphasis is laid around the color, fragrance, taste, and forms of the food ready. The tastes attribute pure delicacy, freshness, tenderness, and crispness. Unique care is taken to produce confident that the tastes are light but not tasteless, clean although not vulgar, tender although not raw, oily but not greasy. The widespread Guangzhou dishes are Simple Boiled Chicken, Plain Boiled Shrimps, Piglet Barbequed over open oven, duck grilled on hanging oven, snake soup, oil fried shelled refreshing shrimps, shark’s fin braised in soy sauce, plain steamed sea foodstuff, braised shrimps and sea cucumber..<br>.
Authentic Chinese foods isn’t the sort of foods that you get from your neighborhood takeaway restaurant. Authentic Chinese foods is regional, provincial and 1 of those regional cuisines is from the Hunan province.
Additional than sixty four million individuals live inside the Hunan province of central China where the cooking continues to be influenced by all sorts of cuisines. The region has vast areas of agricultural land producing plentiful crops too as becoming residence to one of the largest freshwater lakes in China, which naturally has had its own influence about the cuisine.
You will find so many ingredients from which to select that Hunan chefs can’t just make a simple meal by chucking meat and vegetables into a wok. No, Hunan cuisine consists of complex flavours and is prepared really carefully, taking as long as necessary to get the results totally perfect.
A single typically elaborate dish is Orange Beef – beef which continues to be left to marinate overnight in wine, white pepper and egg whites then deep fried in very hot oil, drained then fried again until crisp. The beef is then added to stir fried dried chillies, ginger, garlic, fresh chilli, spring onions and orange peel. A sauce mix of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, Chinese white rice vinegar, chicken stock and ground white pepper is then additional to coat the beef.
Another characteristic of Hunan cooking could be the liberal use of chillies.
Dishes are generally made utilizing lots of fresh chillies, complete with seeds, so if you’re tasting Hunan cookery for the very first time, be certain to have plenty of yoghurt or bread to hand to mitigate the heat or you may discover that beer is additional pleasant and equally effective.
Oh and you will need paper handkerchiefs to mop up the tears likewise……. tears of delight, naturally.Rice is prevalent in Hunan province, so unlike other Chinese cuisines, such as Mandarin which uses additional wheat, Hunan cookery characteristics rice likewise as beef and pork which are abundant here.
Naturally, the Dongting lake is house to fish and seafood likewise as ducks.
Shellfish is typically served dressed with shallots and garlic although the duck (and chicken as well) is often seared before getting simmered or fried, giving it a wonderful crispy skin, also typical of this region.
Steamed and stewed meat are also standard of Hunan cooking which together with the use of chilles, result in the tasty and wholesome meal. Frequently, the meat applied is smoked, cured pork which is a local speciality and outcomes in the delicious dark gravy.
Hunan cuisine is extremely varied, depending around the season. In summer the climate is extremely warm and humid so spices are utilised liberally to open the pores and allow sweating. In winter a dish referred to as Lover’s Hot Pot is usually eaten that is part spicy and partly mild.
Whatever you eat of this cuisine, you’re bound to love it.
My good friends Farina and Michael came over to visit last week and we made some Malaysian-style BBQ seafood, inspired by this popular hawker fare in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. They are called Portuguese-style baked seafood. There is really nothing Portuguese about it but Malaysia do have some Portuguese descendants because Malacca was a Portuguese colony in the 16th century. So perhaps this is how they bake their seafood—with fiery sambal, okras, and wrapped with aluminum foil.
Farina and I enjoyed our BBQ so much. As Malaysians, we concluded that this is probably the best way to serve seafood BBQ-style. Our favorite is the BBQ clams with sambal and okras. It was simply lip smackingly delicious…
To prepare these mouthwatering Malaysian-style BBQ, all you need are your favorite seafood and shellfish: shimp, squid, fish (we like stingray or white pomfret), clams, and some okras. Mix the seafood of your choice (you can also do a seafood combination) with sambal, okra, and wrap the aluminum foil tightly (preferably two layers to avoid leakage), and off onto the grill. That’s it.
Try this new Recipe this summer. You will not be disappointed!
Farina’s Malay-style Sambal Recipe
Source: Salt n Turmeric
A:
1 small bottle of store-bought sambal oelek, 8oz
2 medium-sized onion, quartered
5-in ginger
1-2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, grated
1 tablespoon toasted belacan powder
B:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons tamarind juice (extract from tamarind pulp and water)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 cup sugar
1. Grind all the ingredients in A.
2. Heat up the oil in the wok on medium high heat. Put the above the ground ingredients A in. Keep stirring for about 10 minutes.
3. Add water, tomato paste, tamarind juice, salt, and sugar. Continue stirring for another 10 minutes. Add more salt or sugar to taste. Dish out and set aside.
Cook’s Note:
Bottled sambal oelek is very spicy, but the above sambal recipe will “dilute” the spiciness. The recipe yields about two bottles or more sambal. You don’t have to use up all the sambal for the BBQ seafood, just use enough for each seafood parcel.
You can also try out my grilled fish sambal recipe here, which is more Nyonya-style.
