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Saturday 27 September 2014

Recipe - How To Make Tom Yum Soup

The clear tom yum soup with prawns is my favourite Thai recipe. Somehow, the combination of the tom yum trio of herbs lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves gives this dish a unique flavour like no other.

When I think of prawns, I will think of this Thai tom yum soup. This tom yum soup also goes very well with other seafood, like squid, clams and mussels.

Typically, fish sauce (or light soy) and lime juices are added to give the exquisite sour and salty taste. Chillies can be added to spice up the dish.

This tom yum soup is relatively easy to prepare. It is also very healthy. The best part is you cannot go wrong preparing this dish. There are many ways to prepare this dish. You can either cook all the ingredients in one go or you can prepare the stock separately.

In this recipe, I prepare the stock separately. It is easier for eating.

Ingredients (serves 4)

16 prawns (shelled and de-vein with tails on)
Keep the shells and head to make stock.
2 squids, clean and cut into rings (optional)
1 can of straw mushrooms, cut into halves to drain off the salt.

2 tbs fish sauce or light soy (to taste)
Juices from 3 limes (to taste)
1 tomato, slice (optional, for taste and health)
1 sprig of coriander leaf (chopped) for garnishing.

Herbs

2 stalks lemon grass, bruised and cut into inch length
5 pcs kaffir lime leaves, bruised
1 pc galangal, cut into slices
1 large onion, sliced (for extra flavour and health)

Method

In a pot, bring 1.5 litre of water to the boil
Add lemon grass, lime leaves, galangal and onion.
Add prawn shells.
Bring to a boil and let mixture simmer for about 20 minutes.
You should be able to smell the fragrance.
Drain the stock.

Use the same pot or another pot, heat the stock and bring to boil.

Toss in the prawns, tomato, mushrooms and squid.
Add fish sauce to taste
Bring to a boil and soup is ready.
Add lime juice and taste.

Serve and garnish with coriander leaves.

Yummy

 


Get some yips from the videos.

Mark Weins cooks everything together.




Another delightful way. Hot Thai Kitchen cooks the prawn stock separately.



Here is how she cooks the prawn stock




This chef uses ready made Thai tom yum paste which can be bought from the suprmarket

Saturday 20 September 2014

Maths - Singapore Math

This is a collection of mathematical problems solved in a different way.

Singapore Math 1 - A Grade 5 Problem

Problem Statement

Jeremy bought 8 identical pens and 5 identical notebooks.
The cost of 8 pens is the same as the cost of 5 notebooks.
Each notebook costs 30 cents more than each pen.
How much did jeremy spend altogether ?

Watch video for solution.




Singapore Math 2 - A Grade 7 Problem

Problem Statement

Mr Rosario bought some apples and oranges.
The ratio of the number of apples to the number of oranges that he bought was 2:5.
He gave 3/4 of the apples to his sister and 34 oranges to his brother.
The ratio of the number of apples to the number of oranges is now 2:3.
How many apples did Mr Rozario buy ?
How many oranges did Mr Rozario buy ?

Watch video for solution.




Singapore Math 3 - A Grade 7 problem

Problem Statement

There are 8 more girls than boys in a particular class.
3/5 of the boys and 1/3 of the girls were born in Georgia.
If the number of boys who were born in Georgia
is the same as the number of girls who were born in Georgia,
how many students (boys and girls together) in that class were born in Georgia ?

Watch video for solution.




Friday 19 September 2014

How To Choose The Best Durians

This 22 minute video explains how to choose the best durians.

Bao Sheng explains the different flavours of durian, how to choose a good durian, how to open and eat, how to find a fresh durian and how to smell durian.





Tuesday 16 September 2014

Friday 12 September 2014

Morning Prayer

Good Morning God! 
You are ushering in another day, 
untouched and freshly new. 
So here I am to ask you, God, 
if You'll renew me too.
Forgive the many errors that I made yesterday
and let me try again dear God
to walk closer in Your way.
But Lord, I am well aware,
I can't make it on my own.
So take my hand and hold it tight,
for I cannot walk alone. Amen.

Sunday 7 September 2014

Recipe - Pan Fry White Snapper Fillet With Thai Chilli Sauce

The white snapper fish is native to the Pacific and Indian oceans. It lives among the reefs in schools (link).  It is a lean fish with mild flavour.

In this recipe, I use the white snapper fillet which I bought frozen.

It is quite easy to pan fry the fish fillet. In normal pan fry, I would just season the fillet with a bit of salt and pepper and flavour with lemon juice after it is pan fried. It is tasty and delicious on its own.

In this recipe, I make a Thai chilli sauce as a topping for the fish. This will give the fish a sweet, sour and salty taste.

For this recipe, I thaw the fish, pat dry and season lightly with pepper. No salt is added as I am making a sauce for topping.


Ingredients (serves 3)
pan fry snapper


3 white snapper fillet, about 100 gms each
Dash of pepper
3 tbs of cooking oil

Thai Chilli Sauce

Half cup water
2 tbs lime juice (vinegar or tamarind juice)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs light soy or fish sauce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 small red chillis (chilli padi), chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 sprig of coriander leaves for garnishing

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Method


Pat dry the snapper fillet with paper towel
Season with a dash of pepper on the flesh side.
Sprinkle with corn flour on both sides and shake off excess.

In a pan or skillet, heat the oil till hot but not smoking.
Place the fillet in the pan flesh side side down.
(A good practice is to place the presentation side down first)
Cook until golden, about 3 minutes.

Turn the fish over and cooked for 3 more minutes.
The fish should be done.

Plate the fish and put aside.

In the same pan, pour in the thai chilli sauce ingredients and cooked until mixture boils.
Reduce heat and let simmer for a minute to release flavour.
Add more water if necessary.

Pour sauce over the fish or on the side as you wish.

Serve and enjoy !

 



A nice 15 minute video on pan fry fish fillet with sweet and sour sauce




This 5 minute video shows a whole fried fish with Thai chilli sauce, in Thai





Another way of pan fry fish fillet with dijon mustard and ginger and other condiments.