Sesame Chicken

Simply delicious pieces of chicken slathered in a scrumptious sauce!

Hi everyone!

I have been so busy with college and I absolutely love every minute of it. I just had my mid-term practical assessment and it went well! I was so nervous before it, I was waking up in the night reciting the different muscles each exercise would work. The upright row works the trapezius, anterior deltoids, medial deltoids and the biceps! So on and so forth. It’s good stress I assure you.

Since I was having my mid-term break, I was looking up new recipes to try and I thought I would make this sesame chicken. Oh, it goes so well with rice. Make more sauce if you want, you will not regret it.

Chinese Peanut and Beancurd Sheets (Foo Chuk) Soup

Delicious Chinese style soup perfect for lifting your spirits and warming you up.

Hi everyone!

It is officially the end of summer and the weather has certainly gotten rainier and slightly colder. I always want soup on gloomy days, I find that it is a real comfort food.

This soup is so easy – really, you can count the ingredients, 5 in total, not including the water. I used raw blanched peanuts here, the ones you can buy from the Oriental shop.

In Malaysia, I used a different variant that is specially for boiling soup. It is much softer but I can’t seem to find it here in the UK so this will have to suffice. You can use beancurd sticks if you prefer, though those are slightly harder and hence you would have to boil them a little longer.

In other news I was listed in an infographic published on Rebates Zone as being one of the Top 50 food blogs in the UK! I must say I feel very proud and happy to be included – Yippee! Here is the infographic.

I get to have this badge of honour!

In further news, I am going back to college. I will be starting my first day at Loughborough College tomorrow and I am so excited. Sure I am twice the age of most of the students but I have not felt so happy and excited in a long time. I don’t ever recall feeling so happy or excited when I enrolled for my A Levels and or University half a lifetime ago. I will be training to be a gym instructor, it will be tough so, wish me luck! Be sure to follow me on Instagram for all the exciting updates of life as a mature student. I am going to prove to myself that at 33, I have still got it.

Now click on for the soup recipe! 

Thai Minced Pork Salad (Larb Moo)

This is a really delightful and fresh salad, the meat makes it quite filling and satisfying. Eat with some vermicelli noodles or just wrap in some lettuce leaves for a low carb meal. 

I am always on the lookout for different salads to try.

One of my favourite salads these days is this fabulous Thai Minced Pork Salad or Larb Moo.

It is everything you can ever wish for in a salad! Fresh and a little tangy, it tastes so good with some plain vermicelli noodles. It is also totally delicious wrapped up in lettuce leaves as a low carb wrap. You can add in some mint as well. Go on and give this salad a try!

Mamak Mee Goreng

This dish is a favourite street food in Malaysia. Today I am sharing my recipe for it with you.

In essence, this is fried noodles. It’s quick, it’s fast, and it is delicious.

All credit for this dish needs to go to my husband. He was the chef here.

Being typical of a Malaysian dish the noodles have a nice spicy kick in it. This dish was so on point I can’t get enough of it.

If you can, don’t skip the crushed peanuts, it just adds another level of tastiness to the noodles. Squeeze on some lime juice just before eating to add a nice tangy zest to this dish.

Cambodian Fish Curry

A mild curry that is not overly spiced, yet the flavours are not at all compromised. It is also very easy to cook – always a bonus in my books. 

If you are looking for a mild type of curry then you have found the right one to try. I got inspired to make this from watching Cambodian Amok Fish Curry being cooked on Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey TV series. I did some searching on the recipe and found many all with slight variations to them.

In the end, I just used what ingredients I had available to me and modified it to make it work for me. As such, I thought it would be best not to call it Cambodian Amok curry so as not to ignite the wrath of any foodie purists.

This curry is slightly different to what I am used to. It is very mild and not overly spiced, yet the flavours are not at all compromised. It is also very easy to cook – always a bonus in my books.

A point to note, this curry does use peanuts in its base so if you are allergic, you need to find a substitute. I hope you make this and enjoy. See you soon!

Roast Thai Pandan Chicken (Gai Hor Bai Toey)

This dish is a classic and perennial favourite. I roasted this instead of the traditional way of steaming and deep frying the chicken.

I love pandan leaves. They are a real sensation. Everything from sweets to savouries can taste so much better with the addition of pandan leaves.

Thai Pandan Chicken is an internationally renowned dish that utilises pandan leaves. It’s a good dish to start with if you are new to using pandan leaves in your cooking.

Traditionally, the dish is steamed and then deep fried or simply just deep fried. The pieces of chicken are also cut into small pieces and then individually wrapped in pandan leaves.

For me, I wanted this to be an easy week night meal so I shortened the process. I also have an aversion to deep drying at home. So, I just wrapped the whole chicken thigh with pandan leaves and roasted it. The verdict? It may not be as pretty to look at but it sure did taste good! Oh, and so easy to do as well. The marinade really gets into the chicken meat. Scrumptious!

I have made this twice already, once with coconut milk and the other time without. I would say, if you can, keep the coconut milk in as it just brings all the flavours together. Another note, try not to skimp on the marinade time, it really allows the flavours to get into the chicken.

Roast and eat with a side salad for a totally delicious and easy meal.

XO Fried Noodles

XO sauce takes this fried noodle dish up a notch. Noodles just got serious. Try it!

Hello folks!

Guess what? I just had my first experience of an exploding watermelon. I went to bed and the watermelon was fine and sitting pretty on my kitchen counter. In the morning the husband is shouting “Oh No, Oh NO!” I ran down to the kitchen and was greeted by a watermelon mess. Dripping down the counter and flooding the kitchen floor with watermelon goo. Since I had to clean everything up I thought it was a sign that I should mop the whole kitchen up as well. Boo.

So now that my kitchen is back in a clean state let us talk about this noodle dish. I made this fried noodles a few nights back and you must try it. Really. You just must.

It is truly a quick mid-week or an any time super fast of meal. Home made fast food. Delish.

For those who are wondering, XO sauce is really a savoury Chinese seafood based sauce. You can certainly make it yourself but for other mere mortals such as myself, you can buy it ready made.

Since we are talking FAST meal here, I added half a bag of ready packed stir fry vegetables. Of course if you prefer, you can chop up your own favourite veggies and add them in. I also used ready peeled prawns, but once again, if you want to use chicken, tofu, other types of seafood – go right ahead.

I loved it so much I can’t wait to make it again. Let me know if you like it.

If you make this you can always show me on Twitter or Instagram by tagging @leowailin or using the hashtag #nomsieskitchen. Enjoy!

Malaysian Seri Muka Kuih

A sweet dessert made from glutinous rice and flavoured with gorgeous pandan (screwpine) leaves and coconut milk, it’s a real tea time treat.

Hello!

It has been a long time since my last post hasn't it? I blame the house move and no internet for my absence. Now, I finally have fibre broadband installed and have moved out of the dark ages.

So, what have I been cooking? Well, I made this delicious Malaysian dessert last week. Pandan and coconut milk always make such an aromatic and tasty combination.

I hope you don’t get overwhelmed by the recipe, it’s just a few steps that you need to plan for. Otherwise it really isn't that daunting and is very do-able! If you make this you can always show me on Twitter or Instagram by tagging @leowailin or using the hashtag #nomsieskitchen. Enjoy!

ABC Soup

Healthy chicken based soup made with potatoes, carrots and onions. My kind of “diet” food. 

Hello! When you read this I will be in the midst of my house move. So, how am I posting this ABC soup recipe you ask? Well, that is down to the wonders of scheduling posts.

This soup has a catchy and rather funny name considering that it is not an acronym for the ingredients in it. Neither is it anything like alphabet soup.

If you look at it, it is essentially a good nourishing chicken soup. I have been having this soup for as long as I can remember. I think my mother made this for us every other day way back when.

Asian Style Salmon Pasta

A simple pasta dish with salmon cooked with Asian inspired flavours for a light and delicious dinner any day of the week.

Hi guys!

This pasta is very easy to make. 

Right now, I have been up to my ears with house moving stress. It just seems like one hurdle after another to clear when it comes to this whole house move. Not the smoothest process to say the least. 

Vegetarian Fried Rice

Straight up super easy fried rice. French beans and frozen peas are the key here.

This vegetarian fried rice really saved me one lunchtime when I was starving and had to be fed F.A.S.T.

I used Ketjap Manis here instead of Soy Sauce as I wanted that little extra burst of flavour that comes from this thick caramel like wonder-sauce. If you are unfamiliar with Ketjap Manis, it is essentially an Indonesian take on Soy Sauce and has sugar in it resulting in a very thick syrupy sauce. If you have been to Indonesia before you will notice it on every table at most eateries, it’s like a must-have sauce that goes on everything. Amazing!

Best part of this vegetarian fried rice was that I made a bit more so I had some leftovers for the next day’s lunch as well. It is so ridiculously easy and good, you almost don’t need a recipe for this, just taste as you go along.

In a way I guess I am not that fussy and don’t mind eating the same thing dish twice, be it in the same day or over two consecutive days. Are you like that too?

Baked Salmon with Spicy Coriander Sauce

Give baked salmon an Asian twist with this spicy coriander based sauce.

Hello everyone!

I feel like I have been missing from my little blog for a very long time. I am so happy to be able to be back blogging today!

Since the last post I am proud to report that I have successfully run my very first marathon at the Berlin Marathon. I am so blessed that everything went well and I had so much fun. It was definitely one of the happiest days of my life. Just pure unbridled joy – it’s difficult to describe. I guess mostly it really is just conquering all my little demons and proving to myself that I could do it. I am now looking ahead to my next Marathon in London in April 2015.

Spicy Nonya Fried Rice

If you like your fried rice with a twist, this is the recipe for you. Super savoury and slightly spicy, this is my favourite fried rice recipe! 

Hello!

Here is another Nonya recipe for you. It is a recipe for spicy Nonya fried rice. I must say it is my favourite fried rice recipe because it is so flavourful and really hits the spot.

I have previously given a little insight on Nonya cuisine and its origins. You can read about that in my post for Nonya Chicken Curry.

This recipe’s Nonya influence is evident in its use of dried prawns and lots of shallots and garlic. It also calls for a tablespoon of chilli paste.

If you are afraid of spicy food, you can always reduce the chilli in the recipe or omit it altogether. I have not cooked it without chilli before so I am unable to comment on whether that will have an impact on the taste.

On the other hand, if you can handle your spicy food, you might want to add an additional tablespoon of chilli paste.

Sago Gula Melaka

A truly classic Malaysian dessert. Served cold with coconut milk and Gula Melaka syrup, it is perfect on a hot day!

Hello hello!

I am introducing a classic Malaysian dessert on Nomsies Kitchen today. It is Sago with Gula Melaka.

It is rather simple to make. Sago pearls are boiled with water and then chilled to make little puddings. It is then served with coconut milk and Gula Melaka (palm sugar syrup). It is really easy to do as most of the time used in its preparation is actually inactive time. My British friends have told me it is somewhat similar to rice pudding.

This dessert is perfect eaten on a hot day. A bite of this and you can just imagine that you are at a beach resort in the Tropics. Ahh, now who wouldn’t want that?