Pad Thai My Style

Pad Thai formed a staple part of my diet during my time living in SE Asia. This dish has a bit of everything and then some. It is a fantastic dish to rustle up when you have scraps left in the cupboard. Don't be fooled though, although this is cupboard food it is incredibly tasty and dead easy to make! 

Pad Thai served the traditional way

One who hasn't been to SE Asia would be forgiven for thinking that Thai food is the same as any other Asian food; provided you don't say that to the Thai. The reality is that Thai food is some of the freshest and best tasting food in SE Asia. Thai food has many more different competing flavours in one dish and the only way to get the best dish is to keep tasting as you cook. With strong flavours of lime, lemongrass and chilli it is hard not to feel awake after a Thai meal.

Ingredients

400g Cooked Prawns

300g Cooked Brown Rice

4 Rashers of Smokey Bacon

2 Red Chilli

1 Spring Onion

1 Red Onion (half sliced and half diced)

2 tbsp of lime juice

2 tbsp of fish sauce (this makes the dish!)

1 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce

2 tbsp of Coconut Oil

2 tbsp of Chunky Peanut butter  

1. Heat the wok until it is smoking hot! Don't worry about the smoke its a sign that the wok is hot enough to make a proper stir fry. Add the coconut oil (or any other oil). I use coconut oil because it's super healthy and adds tonnes of flavour.
2. Fry the onions, chilli and bacon until crispy
3. Add the Prawns and fry for another minute. At this point drain off any excess liquid into a small bowl but do not discard. This liquid acts as a liquor which is packed full of flavour and heat from the chilli.
4. Add the brown rice and heat for 2 minutes until everything is heated through.
5. Add the soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce. Cautiously add more or less tasting each time until you get the right balance of flavour
6. Finally stir through the Peanut butter and drizzle with the liquor 

Investing in a good Wok is the best investment you 

will ever make and it doesn't cost a lot

Bon Appetite!

Stuffed Chicken Breast

I first learnt the basics of this dish from one of my Mum's healthier cookery books. Over the years I have modified this dish so much that it no longer resembles the original recipe (in other words it has got more calories in it). This dish is also special to me as it was the first time I taught my girlfriend that chicken doesn't need to be cooked until it is as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Cream Cheese and jalapeños

Recently I have started entering 10k and Half Marathons and in the week leading up to each race I eat a very lean diet. To make boring old chicken breasts more interesting I have gone back to the healthy basics of this dish and it still tastes pretty amazing!

Ingredients

1 Large Chicken Breast

2 Rashers of Smokey Bacon

30g Garlic and Chive Cream Cheese (light)

1 tbsp Red Pesto

5 Slices of Jalapeño (diced)

1. Preheat oven to 180'C
2. Mix together the Cream Cheese, Red Pesto and diced Jalapeños
3. Carefully slice into the chicken breast making sure not to cut all the way through. It should look like a little pouch in the chicken.
4. Fill the breast with the filling
5. Lie the rashers of bacon flat on a chopping board overlapping slightly and place the chicken breast at one end. Wrap the bacon round and tuck underneath the chicken.
6. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. There is no need to bake the chicken for more than this otherwise it will be dry and no one likes dry chicken.
7. Always rest the chicken under tin foil for 5 minutes when it comes out of the oven as this will help to retain the juices and make it extra tender.

Bon Appetite!

French Toast

Nothing beats breakfast in bed on a saturday. Especially if you have been out the night before. Normally when I have been out in Nottingham (Ocean Fridays!) I tend to go to the Warsaw Diner as their full American style fry-ups are incredible and nurture any hangover. However, this morning I am lacking my normal eating companion so I have decided to make up my own version of my favourite part of their breakfasts... Eggy Bread (or french toast if you are sophisticated)

French Toast served with Rocket and Parma Ham

Ingredients

3 large free range eggs

6 tbsp of whole milk

3 slices of bread (the thicker the better)

Handful of Rocket

1 Slice of Parma Ham

1. Beat the eggs and milk and season with a pinch of salt and pepper (eggs always benefit from a good seasoning of salt)
2. Tear the Parma Ham into strips and dry fry over a high heat to crisp up the Ham
3. Dip the bread into the egg mixture on both sides to ensure that it is fully coated.
4. Heat some butter (always use butter for eggy bread as it adds flavour) in a pan and fry the bread on both sides until it is golden Brown.
5. Serve up with Rocket and Parma Ham. If you feel fancy you could dress it with Balsamic Vinegar, however, I'm northern and so the only thing I'll be dressing it with is ketchup

Bon Appetite!

Jammy Biscuits!!!

These are a classic Jammy filled biscuits; just like the one you made when you were little (yet they still taste as amazing). This is a great recipe to play about with as you can make so many different variations. I have gone for a mixture of chocolate and plain biscuits, but you could easily make them savoury adding cheese and using a chutney or chilli jam as the centre

Ingredients

300g Self Raising flour

150g Caster Sugar

150g Butter

2 Eggs (beaten)

Any jam (I've used a mixed fruit jam)

All the ingredient you will need

1. Heat oven to 190'C 
2. Rub the flour, sugar and butter together (it should look like breadcrumbs eventually). You could also add a tablespoon of Cocoa Powder at this stage if you want to make them chocolate biscuits and use Nutella instead of Jam
3. Add the beaten eggs and mix into the crumbs until it is bound together in a dough.
4. The next stage resembles childhood the most; rolling the mixture into a sausage. 
5. Cut the sausage into roughly 2cm slices and round off into even size disks.
6. Place on baking tray, making sure to space them out as the mixture will spread when baking.
7. Using your thumb, make small wells in the middle of each biscuit and drop a dollop of jam in the middle.
8. Bake for 10-15 mins until slightly risen and just golden, and cool on a wire rack (don't eat them straight away like I did as it will burn like hell!!!)

No matter how much you space them out they will merge!

Bon Appetite! 

Pizza

Pizza and I have an abusive relationship. I love to eat it, but afterwards I just feel fat. During my first year of Uni I used to be able to eat two large pizzas in one sitting (it's a wonder why I got fat?). I still remember one of my first birthday parties at school being a Pizza party where everyone made their own pizza with faces on (except for me who loaded on as many toppings as possible). Little has changed since then, except I try to be a bit more artistic with the Pizzas I make and I restrain myself from just loading them with goodies.

Two pizzas I made for myself and a friend

Ingredients

500g Bread Mix

200ml Passata

300g Mozzarella

200g Mature Cheddar

Toppings

25g Parmesan (to garnish)

1. Make up the dough by following the instructions on the packet; it is usually just a case of adding warm water and oil.
2. Bring together the dough in a bowl or on a clean work surface. This will be sticky and you may be tempted to add extra flour but don't. Adding extra flour throws out the ratios in your dough and it won't rise as nicely. I use a little bit of olive oil because it is easier to clean up afterwards
3. Put the dough in a warm place and leave for an hour.
4. Meanwhile, empty the Passata into a pan. On a low heat allow it to simmer for as long as the dough needs to rise. Don't forget to season it near the end (I can't stand people who don't taste and season their food - it's lazy!!!). I usually season it with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar to cut the sharpness of the tomatoes. If you have some pesto kicking around a teaspoon of that (or a few) will give a nice basil taste to the sauce.
5. Take the Dough and knead it one more time before rolling it out to about 0.5cm thick.  This will mean that it rises a bit but does not turn into a thick crust pizza.
6. Bake the base in a preheated oven (180'C) for 10 minutes. This will stop the base from being soggy once you add the sauce and toppings
7. Take the base out of the oven and flip it oven onto it's flatter side. Add the toppings and put back in the oven for another 10minutes or until the cheese is golden
8. I tend to finish the pizza by topping it with rocket and grating parmesan on top with a good glug of olive oil

Bon Appetite!

Singapore and the Chinese New Year

Until 2012 I had never celebrated or really experienced CNY. After 2012 I wonder how???

Dragon Sculpture at the Singapore Firework Display

CNY is possibly one of the best experiences from Singapore itself, as it gave me a chance to see the traditional side of Chinese Culture in a modern day country. I recall asking one of my travelling companions about her opinion having first been to China Town when we arrived in Singapore to which she responded:

"I expected there to be more dragons..."

At first I had laughed at her (extensively), but actually what she said made a lot of sense. From a western culture we have very little concept of what Asian culture is like and many films often portrait it during CNY with the parades of dragons and fireworks. In all honesty this is nothing like Asian culture. I got the MRT (underground) every day, I ate in food courts, and fireworks are banned most days of the year (just like the UK). In desperate attempts not to look like a tourist (which is hard when you are 6ft 2" in a country that is roughly 80% Asian) I also avoided the rickshaws which were seldom found. There are obviously difference between Asia and the UK but they are perhaps not as stereotyped as we first perceive them.

Temples surrounded by modern city high rise 

CNY is perhaps the most important time of the year in Singapore for most of its population and everyone goes all out in celebrating it (even if you're not Chinese). It is a time for family, but more importantly, it is a time for food!!! For four days straight there was an epic binge on a variety of different foods with many different people.

Dim Sum

A collection of different Dim Sum and preying chop sticks

CNY was my first ever experience of Dim Sum and now I'm addicted. Although Dim Sum is traditionally meant to be a mid-morning meal I and several other Singaporean friends managed to eat from 2pm through to 5pm. An important point to note is that Singaporeans are machines when it comes to food, yet they make us British look American (and by that I mean obese).

Dim Sum is a collection of many little dishes; some steamed and some fried, ranging from vegetarian dishes to the dreaded chicken's feet (which don't taste as bad as they sound!). The trick with Dim Sum is to let your inhibitions go, and if you are lucky enough to know Singaporeans, let them order. Usually Dim Sum will be eaten over several servings (or as I like to call them "rounds") and you wait for the Aunties to wheel the Dim Sum round on their trollies in little steam baskets.

The etiquette of Dim Sum is some what precarious. In the first "round" you order a plethora of dishes and politely pick at dishes whilst chatting and sharing Green Tea. This is the chance to sample everything on offer and decide what to avoid next time round and what to hoard. I love this "round" because by the end the table has a mini bamboo basket city constructed on the table like a New York skyline. In the second "round" you know what you want and so you either wait for it to come to you or you order it specifically. By the time this "round" is over the stragglers (usually the Brits) are done. However, if you are like me (greedy) you will order again and this time you only order what you really love. For me these were the steamed "money bag" dumplings; a delicacy around CNY. "Money Bags" are small steamed dumplings filled with a soup like stock. They are best eaten with vinegar and strips of ginger.

Street Food Culture

Not my most flattering photo...

China Town around CNY is perhaps the best place for street food. In the above picture I am eating Bak Kwa. Usually pork, Bak Kwa is barbecued with a sticky sweet glaze. The price of Bak Kwa increases with each day as it gets closer to CNY as people give it as gifts. Other great street foods include custard tarts and Ya Kun aka Kaya toast.

Dragon and Lion Dances

The Dragon Dance

I was lucky enough to get invited to the CNY reopening of a shop owned my Singaporean friend's uncle. This is a occasion where tradition is still important. All of my friend's family were there, including distance relatives, and all of them were giving Red Envelopes. For those unfamiliar to Red Envelopes, it is a tradition whereby married couples of all ages give red envelopes filled will small sums of money to younger unmarried persons (usually kids, but also me).

Red Envelopes, some sponsored by Maccy D's

The shop reopening involved two traditional dances/performances. I cannot claim to know the exact tradition/function of these dances but the general gist of them is that they ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune for the new year. This is a fantastic event to watch as there is loud music from drums, everyone is enjoying themselves, and the grannies are slapping the arse of the Lion; apparently for good luck (doubt I'd get away with that excuse...)

The Traditional Chinese Lion Dance

My Asian Odyssey

As a student I spent a year living in SE Asia. I emphasise the word "student" as I do not want people to confuse this year with the infamous 'Gap Yah!" Till the day I die I shall maintain that I was living in Singapore to study.

If a potential employer was to ask me (and it is a common question in interviews) why I chose Singapore over any other country in the word I would probably have to lie and say:

"It was because it was a long term decision to improve my career prospects as Asia has a growing economy which many businesses are expanding into."

In all honesty I doubt anyone believes it; I'm still not sure that I believe it. To my eternal shame (of which I'm not really that ashamed) the honest answer to the question is that I chose Singapore for it's food and location. My choice had nothing to do with the Law Modules I could study, I simply ate exotic food, in exotic countries, and butchered their language (much to the local's amusement).

The Outdoor Infinity Pool on the 52nd floor of the Marina Bay Sands (Singapore)