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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Wordless Wednesday #10: Lunch



lunch
Steamed shrimp, as big as a plate.

Catch the wordless fun here.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Online Thai Cooking

Found this great site for Thai food fans. Now you can learn Thai cooking online with Dim Geefay at Thai Food Tonight for free! Dim Geefay was born in Thailand and is now based in the USA. She uses family recipes that was handed down from generation to generation. Each video is accompanied by a list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions. So head over to Thai Food Tonight and unravel the mystery of Thai cooking.

Pork in coconut milk

Thai food is so popular that a lot of Thai restaurants have mushroomed everywhere in the world. And as I've mentioned before I am currently here in Phuket for more than three weeks now - and yes, we are enjoying Thai food everyday! And I say, Thai food is more than spicy tom yams and curries - there are loads!

One dish that I always have my eyes on during mealtimes is the sweet, spicy and flavourful pork in coconut milk. It's somehow like adobo or pork bistek but more flavourful. I searched for it in the Internet hoping to cook this when I return to Cambodia, and luckily, I found this wonderful site, Appon's Thai Food Recipe. The site is owned by a nice woman named Appon. She uses her site to showcase her home country recipes and some Western-influenced dishes. The site is in English and the posts have accompanying pictures, which is great, or you can also download the audio file and play it on your media player. Downloading is free, and if you feel generous, make Appon happy by donating a small amount.

Anyways, going back to the pork dish, searching for the recipe is not a problem as navigating around the site is easy. All featured recipes are categorized accordingly and are located on the lower-left side the site. So I am borrowing the recipe to put it here.

Pork in Young Coconut Sauce (Mu Op Sauce Ma Praw On)

Ingredients
300 gms Pork Meat
50 gms Young Coconut Meat With Juice
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
2 Tablespoons Chilli Sauce
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Red Wine
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
2 Tablespoons Water

Preparation
1. Clean the pork meat and slice it into 8x4 cm strips.
2. Mix the pork with all ingredients and marindate overnight in the fridge.
3. Empty the pork and sauce into a saucepan and simmer slowly until the pork is cooked through and the juice reduced to half it's volume.
4. Serve with Thai fragrant rice and chinese cabbage.



Photo from < Appon's Thai Food Recipe.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Plastic containers: Silent Killers

In almost every household all over the world, you could find cupboards with plastic wares. These are things we use to make our workload easier, especially to store and re-heat our food. It is much cheaper than glass wares so it's commonly preferred by most households. However, the fact that the plastics can remain in the environment for hundreds of years, it is also quite detrimental to our health as scientists believe it can cause cancer. Here's some tips on controlled use of plastic from an article I read in Bangkok Post's My Life Magazine, Vol. 1, 019, dated July 24, 2008, page 6, written by Dr. Krisda Sirampuj under the Living Young column.

*Stop using containers that are made of plastic and polystyrene foam including plastic food wrap, disposable food trays and food cans.

*When you need to use plastic, avoid using in extreme environmental conditions, such as in high heat or freezing temperatures.

*Do not keep plastic bottles in the car when the weather is hot. Also avoid keeping the bottles for long periods of time in the car.

*Drink water from a glass, jug or stainless cooler instead of a plastic cup or plastic container.

*Replace all plastic food containers with glass, ceramic, or stainless containers.

*For children, use good quality plastic for baby bottles and choose organic dairy products instead of farmed or commercial dairy milk.

*For cosmetic products, look for "parabens-free" on the label, including lipstickm sunscreen lotion, foam bath, shampoo and conditioner.

If we try to do all of these, perhaps we can save the world from global warming and ourselves from dying young.



Photo from Mom Advice.com.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Friday Fill-ins #003



1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you makes you live longer? *lol*

2. If you're good at something, don't do it for free.

3. Why so serious?

4. Something is out there, it's the new RV!

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled My Life is a Sitcom.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see the bright stars over the clear sky and the sea dotted with flickering and bobbing lights from the fishermen's boats.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to pizza and movie night, tomorrow my plans include doing the laundry and Sunday, I want to watch the Dark Knight at the Central Festival Mall cinema with my husband!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wordless Wednesday #9: Shrimp Ouzi



shrimo ouzi

shrimp ouzi close up

For my birthday this year, my husband and I went back to our favorite Lebanese restaurant and the dish above, called Shrimp ouzi, was one of the dishes we ordered.
Shrimp Ouzi - Heavenly dish of rice, flaked shrimps with a concoction of pine nuts and other secret spices, and wrapped in a pastry.
A taste of Lebanon at the first authentic Lebanese restaurant in Phnom Penh, Le Cedre
No. 1, St 360
Bouengkengkang, Phnom Penh

Friday, July 18, 2008

Friday Fill-ins #002



1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would chitchat with the other flies on the wall. *lol*

2. Jealousy is a waste of time.

3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that I see more of them.

4. I'd rather be listening to the voices in my head than (instead of) politicians any day!

5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna scratch my head.

6. If time were in a bottle I would save every day.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a good movie, tomorrow my plans include going out with friends to see Phuket town and Sunday, I want to spend a quiet time with my husband!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Wordless Wednesday #8: Pork and Vegetables Stir-Fry



My husband and I make frequent visits to Wat Kampong Tralach, a local wat in Kep town. It is where my husband volunteered to teach English when I was assigned to work there in 2006. We became friends with the head monk Venerable Pring Phoeun and he wouldn't let us leave without having lunch or snacks at the wat. Here's one the meals served to us the last time we went there (April) to deliver a computer set and printer:

pork and tomatoes

See related story here. For more Wordless pics, visit us here.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Friday Fill-ins #001:

Hi...this week I am participating for the first time in the Friday Fill-ins meme. I hope new friends will find me here...


1. Oh, I can't wait until I have a baby.

2. Ice is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without my bag.

4. If I were a condiment, I would be a red chilli because I am hot. *lol*

5. Queue-jumping (or people who don't fall in line) is really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was how loving God is for taking care of me and my family.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a nice dinner with my husband, tomorrow my plans include sightseeing in Phuket town and Sunday, I want to go shopping!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Wordless Wednesday #7: Fish-n-chips



australian fishnchips

This Australian-style fish-n-chips is available at Nature and Sea Restaurant, on the corner of streets 51 (Pasteur St.) and 278 (popularly called the Golden St.), just a stone's throw away from Wat Langka. Simple yet healthy and tasty food are served there: several varieties of fish-n-chips, crepes, sandwiches, salads and fresh fruit shakes.

More Wordless participants can be found here.