Fish Trip Cafe

I and my neighborhood squirrels love nuts. munch munch.

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— Penne with gorgonzola & walnuts (serves 2) —

200g penne

2 cloves garlic

100g gorgonzola, crumbled

50ml single cream

2 tablespoons olive oil

40g walnuts, roughly chopped

20g wild rocket

Some black pepper

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Add the penne to lightly salted boiling water, cook until al dente (follow the package directions). Drain and set aside.

Peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves, place into a large frying-pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Fry the garlic until golden, then remove and discard.

Add the gorgonzola and single cream into the frying-pan and stir over low heat until the gorgonzola is melted. Add the cooked penne and toss well with the sauce.

Turn off the heat, add the chopped walnuts and wild rocket and toss gently.

Transfer to serving plates, sprinkle with black pepper.

This stir-fried rice noodle dish is called “Pad Thai”. One of the national dishes of Thailand.

There are several regional variations, and this is my favourite version of Pad Thai recipe. It has a light, fresh and full of umami taste.

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— Thai Fried Noodles with Prawns (serves 2) —

180g Thai rice noodles (sen lek)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons tamarind juice

1 & 1/2 fish sauce

1 tablespoon palm sugar or sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped  shallot

8 raw king or tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined

1 egg

1 tablespoon pickled white radish, chopped into small pieces

1 tablespoon dried shrimps, ground or pounded

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

2 spring onions, slices

40g fresh bean sprouts

3 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts

Some chopped coriander for garnish

Lemon wedges for garnish

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Soak the noodles in lukewarm water for about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water, and drain well again. Set aside.

Mix the lemon juice, tamarind juice, fish sauce and palm sugar in a bowl.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or frying-pan, stir-fry the garlic and shallot over medium heat until golden brown. Add the prawns and cook until turn pink. Break in the egg and stir-fry quickly for a couple of seconds.

Add the drained noodles and stir-fry, pour over the sauce mixture, add the pickled white radish, dried shrimps and chilli powder and spring onions. Keep stirring until the noodles a cooked through for 3-4 minutes.

Transfer to serving plates, arrange the fresh bean sprouts over the noodles, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and garnish with chopped coriander and lemon wedges.

This hot and bold flavoured chilli oil goes great with stir-fried / steamed vegetables, plain rice or plain tofu. It spices up meals.

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— Pak Choi with Almond Garlic Chilli Oil (Serves 4) —

800g pak choi

Some vegetable oil for frying

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– for Almond Garlic Chilli Oil –

4 tablespoons sesame oil

2 cloves garlicm, minced

2 tablespoons onion, minced

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1/2 teaspoon paprika powder

1&1/2 tablespoons light say sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 salt

20g toasted almond flakes

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Place the sesame oil, minced garlic, minced onion, chilli flakes and paprika powder in a small sauce pan. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes until the onion and garlic became golden.

Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly. Add the say sauce, sugar, salt and almond flakes and mix well. Set aside.

Cut the very ends off the pak choi and separate the leaves.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large frying-pan or wok, stir fry the pak choi for about 3 minutes until it’s lightly cooked.

Transfer the stir fried pak choi to serving plates and drizzle with the almond garlic chilli oil.

I trust the power of spinach.

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— Spinach Risotto (serves 2) —

200g fresh spinach, washed

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

180g arborio rice

100ml white wine

500ml chicken stock

A pinch of grated nutmeg

1/2 tablespoon butter

40g parmesan cheese, grated

Some grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Black pepper

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Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add washed spinach and cook about 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Gather up the spinach and squeeze out excess water. Chop the spinach into small pieces. Set aside.

Heat the chicken stock in a pan and keep it gently simmering.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan, add the chopped onion and garlic, stir-fry for about 5 minutes over a medium heat until the onion has softened.

Add the arborio rice, stirring until all of the rice is coated in the oil. Add the white wine and boil for 1 minutes.

Add the simmering chicken stock a ladleful at a time, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until all the stock is absorbed. When the rice is almost ready, stir in the spinach and butter.

Remove from the heat and stir in the grated parmesan cheese and nutmeg. Season with salt, if needed.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and black pepper.

It’s time to wrap up cosy and warm. Asparagus wrapped in bacon. Pole wrapped in pink scarf. I wrapped in a blanket.

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— Bacon Wrapped Asparagus —

Smoked streaky bacon

Asparagus

Black pepper

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Trim the asparagus of the woody ends. Cut the asparagus into 1 inch pieces.

Cut the strip of bacon in 1/2, Wrap each piece of asparagus in the bacon and thread onto skewers.

Grill the skewers for 5-6 minutes, then flip and grill for another 5 minutes until the asparagus is tender and the bacon is crisp.

Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

I’ve been down with the cold for 2 weeks (well, I went out for drinking few times…),  and I’m very bored to stay at home now.

Lemon & Honey is the famous home remedy for cold. So, I made a Lemon & Honey cake today and eat it a lot with ginger tea.

Go, vitamin C. I really want to go out this weekend… please.

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— Lemon & Honey Upside-down Cake (7 inches round cake tin) —

– for sticky lemon & honey topping –

4 small lemons, thinly sliced

5 tablespoons honey

100g caster sugar

4  tablespoons water

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3 eggs

100g caster sugar

100g plain flour

100g ground almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

120g butter, melted

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Preheat the oven to 170C/340F.

To make the sticky lemon & honey topping: place the sugar, honey and water in a frying-pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the sliced lemon and simmer for 15 minutes until the syrup became sticky and the lemon is translucent. Transfer the sticky topping into a cake tin (7 inches), arrange the lemon slices slightly overlapping to cover the bottom of the cake tin.

Place the egg and sugar in a bowl, whisk with electric mixer for about 8 minutes until the mixture is thick and tripled in volume.

Place the flour, grated almonds and baking powder in another bowl and mix well to combine.

Add the butter and flour mixture into the egg mixture, stir gently until just combined.

Pour the mixture over the lemon slices and bake for 40 minutes. Turn out onto a plate.