Thai Panang Fish Curry (Spicy)

Panang Fish Curry

Hello Whimsical Readers,

F~ To those of you who loves curries, raise your hand..Wohoo! I absolutely love curries even though my tongue has a limited spice tolerance. The good thing is, overtime your tongue learns to get use to the spiciness but don't eat things that are too spicy too often as they can destroy your tastebuds.

So, this week I'm making Panang/ Phanaeng Curry, it is a dry type of curry and it's something from my neighbour, Thailand. Home to some seriously spicy mini chilies, you don't want to mess with these guys, its the small chilies that are the killer. But not to worry, i can't handle that much either so this recipe isn't gonna make to running for water. Chicken, beef and fish are the more suitable meats for these types of curries which contains coconut milk in it. Although beef is more popularly used for this curry, I would really recommend trying fish for this dish. It's GOOD.

Ingredients: Serves 4
100 gram Panang Curry Paste
600 ml Coconut Milk/ Santan
500 gram Pangasuis Fish (approx. 2x2 inch pieces)
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tsp Palm Sugar
1-2 Fresh Chili (sliced)
5 medium Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Lemongrass (cut into half or 3-thirds)
Basil Leaves (garnish)
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
100 ml Water

Panang Curry Paste

Method:
1. As soon as your Vegetable Oil is heated, add the Panang Curry Paste into the pan/ wok under low to medium flame for a minute or so.
2. Pour in your Coconut Milk making sure you give it a good shake before. Let it cook for another couple minutes whilst stirring under medium high flame..
3. Add in the Fish or your meat of choice and cook it until it is almost done.
4. Lowering the flame to medium again, add the Fish Sauce, Palm Sugar, Lemongrass and the Water to the mix. Let it simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on.
5. If you prefer some sauce instead of a dry curry, you can add some more water (but not too much otherwise you will dilute the flavour and spiciness of the curry) Also add the Kaffir Leaves and the Chili.
6. Garnish with Basil Leaves and serve with steamed white rice.

Wow, typing this is making me hungry again, and I just ate not too long ago..Haha. So, enjoy this recipe.


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Rice Going To Waste?

Hello Whimsical Readers,

J~ Good day! Ever scratching over your head for rice going to the waste? It's very wasteful to throw all the left over rice away, especially when it's A LOT! Not to worry, I'm here to help you with the left over rice =) The best way to make use of the left over rice is to use for cooking FRIED RICE! Yes! Left over rice are the perfect for making Fried Rice!

I like to keep my fried rice as "fresh" as possible. That's why I would rather use fresh vegetables instead of frozen vegetables like the ones easily available in the supermarket. The freshness of the vegetables definitely makes a lot of different to the dish's taste and attractiveness in terms colour. Presentation is important. Although it is ironic, since the most suitable rice to make this dish is left over rice.

Ok the dish I am going to share it's really simple typical chinese dish, it's suitable for lunch and even for dinner! This is how it goes..

Ingredients: Serve 2 (Depending on how much you have left over from the night before) Ingredients below are for 2 Cups of rice)

Left Over Rice
1 Tomato (chop into quarters) (for additional sweetness)
1 Fresh Carrot (diced)
2 Tbs Oil
2 Shallots (finely sliced)
2 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
2 Slices of Chinese Cabbage (optional)
2 Eggs (beaten)
4 Long Beans (1cm length)
4 Rashers of Streaky Bacon (if you are bored of bacon, you can always replace bacon with spam, luncheon meat or even chicken)
1 Tbs Chinese ShaoXin Wine
2 Tbs Light Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Method:
1. Fry the Bacon till tender, take them out and chop them into chunks.
2. Heat Oil in wok, pop in the Garlics and Shallots together till fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes, fry till it goes a little dry then add in the Egg, fry it turns into omelets like.
4. Mix in the Bacon, Cabbages, Carrots and Long Beans together. Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
5. Finally add in the rice, stir fry, add in all the sauces one by one and add salt and pepper to taste.

Told you it was easy! Cooking time takes approximately 20 minutes. Preparation time about 10 minutes. Enjoy this delicious, simple and easy lunch/dinner.


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 (Spicy)

Mapo Tofu

Hello Whimsical Readers,

F~ This week's dish is Tofu! Okay, I know what you're thinking..a block of white gelatin thingy that can substitute meat..yuck*. The thing with Tofu is, its very misunderstood. Its originates mainly from the East and Southeast Asian countries such as China, Japan, Korean, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia etc. Tofu are coagulated soy milk which have been pressed together and voilà! Tofu. To coagulate is to add edible acidic substance for example lemon juice but commercial Tofu producers use mainly salt and acids. So now you know some facts about Tofu.

My inspiration to make a Tofu dish happened in class. We were talking somewhere along the lines of housewives being an "occupation" and suddenly Tofu. Don't ask. The respond my class had about Tofu were like yumm from myself and an asian classmate of mine then yuck, err and "how do you eat that??" I don't blame them since their food knowledge of Tofu is under the exotic asian cuisine. Funny but very true.

Back to Tofu, so tonight I made Mapo Tofu. This is one of the Szechuan specialities, a spicy tofu dish. The secret to an authentic Mapo dish should consists of 7 descriptions; numbing 麻 "Má" , spicy 辣 "là", temperature hot 烫 "tàng", fresh 鲜 "xiān" , soft and tender 嫩 "nèn", aromatic 香 "xiāng" and flaky 酥 "sū". But be warned, the authentic one is seriously spicy. I remembered tearing like Niagara Falls but as we say it "Siok ar!"

So this version of the Mapo Tofu is very tone-downed, you should survive it..Haha

Ingredients: Serves 2 (as maincourse) Serves 4 (as side-dish)
1 Box/ 300 grams Silken Tofu (small to medium cubed)
60 grams Chicken/ Pork (minced)
1-2 fresh Chili (finely chopped)
1 Tsp Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp Spring Onion (finely chopped)
2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
2 Tsp Sesame Oil (for fragrance)
3-4 Tbsp Laoganma Chilli Bean Sauce (be warn this sauce can be quite spicy, start with 2 Tbsp and adjust to your spice tolerance)
100ml Water
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Laoganma Chilli Bean Sauce

Method:
1. Once your Cooking Oil is heated in your pan/wok, add the Garlic and let it fry until fragrant.
2. Put in the minced Chicken/ Pork and Chili. Let it cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Now add the Tofu and let the mix cook for about 3-5 minutes. Stirring it gently as you do not want to destroy your nicely cubed Tofu.
4. Turn the flame to a medium, then add Water and the Laoganma Chilli Bean Sauce. Close the lid for another 2-3 minutes for the sauce to cook. Here you can opt to add a couple Tsp of Flour if you prefer your sauce to be slightly ticker.
5. Add Salt & Pepper to your liking, just before you serve the Tofu, add the Sesame Oil and Spring Onions and give it a good gently mix to enhance the fragrance.
6. Serve hot and best accompanied with steamed white rice and probably a glass of water at the ready.

Note: I wouldn't recommend using beef because they have a distinct smell which can alter the taste of the dish. (Luckily my mom told me that otherwise mine would have gone wrong since I conveniently had minced beef in the fridge..Haha)

Enjoy!


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Carbonara

Hello there Whimsical Readers,

I'm the other half of the Whimsical Buddies! J~ This is my first time blogging! So do excuse my English.

I have been traveling around for the past two months from Melbourne City to ChristChurch. New Zealand definitely is a new experience for me, I got there right after the earthquake. Isn't it exciting? I stayed over at the Brownie's house, Lyttelton. Uncle Martin is a British Man, and his beloved wife, Kim is from Malaysia. Uncle Martin was kind enough to cook english breakfast for me every morning, british lunch and sometimes Mediterranean Dinner. Not to worry, I jotted down most of the recipes!

When I was in Melbourne, everyone was crazy about Master Chef (season 2), I was curious why is it a hit in Australia? So I watched it myself, and indeed the show was truly inspiring! I was so inspired by the contestants, especially Alvin from Malaysia! Do visit the website (www.masterchef.com.au) they are screening Master Chef (junior) in Australia right now. My brother Angus and I will never miss the show. We'll grab our food ready and wait right in front of the TV before the show starts.

Ok back to business, I would like to share one my favorite italian dish to the whimsical readers today, and that would be the famous Fettucini Carbonara. It's simple and easy.

Carbonara Fettucini

Ingredients: Serves 2
Fettucini
100gm Salted Butter
1/2 Cup of Full Cream
10 Fresh Cherry Tomatoes (slice into half)
4 Rashers of Streaky Bacon
70gm of Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Lemon
Salt and Pepper
50gm Broccoli

Method:
1. Heat up the sauce pan in medium heat, add the Butter, once the Butter is melted, pour in the Full Cream immediately, before the butter evaporates.
2. Cut the Lemon into half and squeeze it all into the sauce pan. Give it a stir for about 10 minutes.
3. Slice all Cherry Tomatoes into half (optional), personally I like it that way because of the sweet taste coming out from the seeds. Pop everything into the sauce pan.
4. Add the Parmesan Cheese into the sauce pan and give it a stir for about 5 minutes, season with Salt and Pepper to taste. Leave it to simmer low heat.
5. Meanwhile, cook the Pasta in a pot of boiling water, add some Olive Oil if you wish, as soon as the Pasta is tender, drain it.
6. Repeat the same thing with the Broccoli; cook in boiling water but for only 1-2 minutes and then drain it.
7. Fry the bacons in low heat till it is brown and crispy or leave it soft and tender, however you want your Bacon to be. Chop them into chunks.
8. Add in the Fettucini onto a warm plate, followed by the sauce, then the Bacons, sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese, and lastly garnish with Broccoli.

Hope you enjoy the Carbonara. By the way, it goes perfect with a glass of white wine.


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce

Chicken Wings in Soy Sauce

Hello Whimsical Readers,

F~ This week will be a simple and totally yummy chicken dish with soy sauce. My mom makes this all the time at home because my siblings like it very much and just last week a friend of mine decided to make this for dinner at my place so yes I think I'd like to share this recipe with you.

A little bit about this dish other than my siblings liking it is that it is to my knowledge an international chinese dish because my friend who reminded me of this dish was from Hong Kong, another lovely country filled with many good food to try and of course the shopping!

This is also a dish that goes amazing with plain white rice, I should know, I remember having an additional half a bowl of rice just to go with the sauce..haha. Ok, I'm starting to drool so I better start with the recipe before you drool all over your keyboard.

Ingredients: Serves 4
650 grams Chicken Wings
1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
3-5 Tbsp Cooking Oil
2 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Honey
1-2 Tbsp Flour
200 ml Water
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Method:
1. In a heated pot, add the Cooking Oil then the Chicken Wings and cook them until they're half way done on high flames.
2. Lower the flames to medium and add Light and Dark Soy Sauce, Honey and Water.
3. Mix a little Water with the Flour to avoid Flour "clots" in your sauce mix and for better mixing. Stir well.
4. Let the Chicken Wings simmer with the lid on for approximately 8-15 minutes. The longer you simmer, the softer they become.
5. Add Salt, Pepper and Sesame Oil to your liking and if needed more Light Soy Sauce. By now, your sauce should be of a thicker liquid.
6. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Thai-style Stir Fried Convolvulus Vege (Optional Spicy)

Thai-Styled Kang Kung

Hello Whimsical Readers,

F~ This week's dish is actually from a good friend of mine, it is a Thai styled Convolvulus vege. What a mouthful that name is, to be honest I didn't know the English name until recently because back home we use called it "Kang Kung" If you are still unsure which vegetable it is, I'll save you the trouble Googling and show you what it looks like before is it washed, cut, cooked and served on a plate.

I know quite a number of ways you can cook this vegetable but for now it will be the Thai styled. However just to satisfy your curiosity, "Kang Kung" can be made into clear vegetable soup or stir fried with a Southeast Asian shrimp paste called "Belacan". I'd love to explain more but that's for next time, now its Thai style, so on with the recipe.

Ingredients: Serves 2-3
1 Bundle Convolvulus/ Kang Kung
100 gram Beef (minced and marinated with 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce prior to cooking)
1 Tsp Garlic (minced)
2-3 small Dried Chili (thinly cut)
4-5 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tsp Sugar
2-3 Tbsp Cooking Oil
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Convolvulus/ Kang Kung/ Water Spinach

Method:
1. Heat up your Cooking Oil in the pan/ wok, then add Garlic and Beef.
2. Once cooked, remove the Beef and put it aside.
3. Reheat the same pan/wok and add Convolvulus/ Kang Kung neatly. Add some water and let it cook on medium high with the lid on for about 6-8 minutes.
4. When vegetable is soft, add fish sauce and sugar. Stir well.
5. Add Beef with vegetable and drop in the Dried Chili and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

Enjoy!


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Korean Potato Side Dish 감자 조림 (Optional Spicy)

감자 조림 "GamJa-JoRim"

Hello Whimsical Readers,

Its time to start cooking and this being our first recipe, I, F~ have decided to make a Korean side dish (감자 조림) its pronounced as "GamJa-JoRim".

(감자 조림) "GamJa-JoRim" is a super easy dish to make which takes around 25 minutes to prepare, cook and serve. It is a slightly sweet dish because of the corn syrup and an optional spicy dish, for those who like some spice in their food.

I got this dish off the internet when I was looking for some Korean recipes and found this. Personally, it is also fitting for a first post because J~ loves potato, anything and everything potato. Haha. So I would like to dedicate this dish to my bestie, J~. Luv ya!

So down to the recipe, you don't have to be totally accurate on it unless its something like baking, then I would advise you to follow to the dot. I remember screwing up a cake but that's for another time. ;)

Ingredients: Serves 4
6 Potatoes (cut into cubes)
3 Tbsp Cooking Oil
2 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
200 ml Water
5 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tsp Salt
4 Tbsp Corn Syrup
1 Tsp Sesame Seeds

1-1 1/2 Tbsp Korean Red Pepper Paste 고추장 "Go-Chu-Jang" (optional)

Method:
1. Heat up the pan/ wok and add the Cooking Oil.
2. Add the Potatoes and stir-fry for 5 minutes on a medium flame.
3. Add the Garlic and stir-fry for 1 minutes.
4. Add the Water, Soy Sauce, Corn Syrup and Red Pepper Paste (optional) then let the potatoes continue cooking for 5 minutes on high flame.
5. Add the Salt according to your taste and let it cook for 5 minutes. By this time, the liquid mixture should be like a paste.
6. Turn the flame back to medium and cook the Potatoes for another 5 minutes.
7. Add the Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil for smell and flavouring. Mix it well.
8. Serve dish hot or cold. Enjoy!

Notes:
Tbsp - Tablespoon
Tsp - Teaspoon
1 Cup - 200 ml - 2 dl

Hope you like it!


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Food for Thought

Welcome back whimsical readers, so did you stick around to see whether we got kicked out of the kitchen by mummy or you like us? Hehe. Either way, you’re here so welcome and thanks for reading.

Back to business, so we will be trying all sorts of cuisine from East to West and everywhere in between. So yes, expect some hot Asian spice to refine European herbs.

Not sure if you notice but the current eating trend is that Healthiness is IN or at least that’s what they told us. So we will try to reduce the mouthful of "regrets" or more commonly known as the malicious Calorie, the seductive Sugar and the devious Fat. No worries, tasteless is not in our food vocabulary, unless it’s suppose to be like that then sorry mate, it can’t be helped.

The next important thing is that your food should not only taste good but also look good. Remember you swallow with your mouth but your eyes eat too, visually of course. We highly doubt you would even think about eating something no matter how delicious it is if it looked like sh*t. Hence watch out for our food presentation pointers. We’re still trying to get the hang of it so excuse us if some information isn’t totally right.

To impress that someone special or just family and friends whom you want to enjoy some food with, there will be something about themed table setting too.

There is no particular order in which our recipes are chosen, usually its just what we feel like eating on that day unless it was requested or a special occasion coming up. So feel free to drop us a suggestion for our next recipe and we will do our best to get your "order" on the table. ; )


Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies

Testing the Water

If you are wondering who we are, who unwittingly decided to step into the World of Blogging after watching a cooking/blogging movie "Julie & Julia" or at least for one of us. Well this is us, just another person who wanted to give Blogging a go hence the name Testing the Water.

Along the way, you will get to know us more as would anyone when meeting a person so a proper introduction is not really needed except that, one of us is J~ and the other is F~. And we hail from Malaysia. The country that has two "pieces" and the one on the left looks like a sweet potato says F~’s art teacher.

As you read on, you will figure out who is who. The best of friends since a decade ago and still going strong, the ironic part is that we don’t meet up as often as we do with our other friends, yet we are like twins when we do. One of us is the louder and wackier of us and the other one although timid but in actually the sneakier one.

Coincidentally we are not write-in-your-diary-every-night type people (what a combination to start a blog). We do however admire how some can rewrite their daily lives again, whether they decide to sugar-coat it or curse their day in writing or these days on a blog.

So what the heck, we’ll give it a go with what better way than combining our passion of FOOD!! Yes, among the many things we love but FOOD has a big percentage of our love. Where we come from, our culture pretty much revolves around food.

Naturally we will be doing a Food Blog with bits of food photography. Throughout our cooking adventures, we will probably wreak some havoc in the kitchen which will surely drive out mothers up the wall (weee, fun!) Nevertheless, all fun will be safe fun because we cannot afford to any fingers or an eye.

We must warn you that unfortunately like any normal human being we feel anger and frustration so yes there will be explicit language on our Blog. Being friends is easy but being friends who are working together is a whole new ball game so do excuse us if some words came flying out the kitchen.

We will try to sugar-coat it with mouth watering pictures of food but that is easier said than done so do excuse us if you see a sad garnish here and there.
You have been warned.

Yours Truly,
The Whimsical Buddies