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Friday, April 23, 2010

Food Trip Friday 027: Soup trey ma'choo



The name of the food might be difficult for most of you to pronounce, but I tell you, the soup is really fantastic. Soup trey ma'choo, when translated, means fish sour soup, and this is the Khmer's version of our very own fish sinigang. The Khmers make it sour by using semi-ripe tomatoes and pineapples too.


So how did I get to  this steaming bowl of soup? My landlady :D She knew I wasn't feeling well that day when I went to get some stuffs from her small sari-sari store at the ground floor of our apartment building. Just after I closed the door behind me, I heard a knock at the door and saw her standing there holding in front of her this aromatic bowl of soup. She told me that this soup is perfect to eat when you are a little under the weather. It's not only very healthy - there are lots of fresh tomatoes, fragrant herbs and spring onions in it - but also very flavourful! Bless her soul. 


Now who wouldn't feel better after eating this? I did.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Food Trip Friday 026: Khmer lo'chaa noodles


This is one of my favorites in Cambodia. It's called lo'chaa and it is a kind of rice noodles, round, about 2-3inches in length, and looks like maggots (pardon the comparison). It is stir-fried with bean sprouts, spring onions, and some spinach or collard greens and your choice of meat - beef or pork. I prefer mine meatless but with fried egg (well done) and pate on top.


 The accompanying sauce is a blend of palm vinegar, palm sugar, salt, fish sauce, garlic, red chillies, lime juice and a bit of water.  Depending on your preference, you may also add a dollop of chilli sauce to complete the taste. As I love the riot of flavours in my mouth, I put chilli sauce. I have to say that the sweet and sour-chilli sauces concoction is absolutely da-bomb I could really live off this stuff. It is sold almost everywhere in the city, even in pushcarts that go around, but the best place for lo'chaa is along Street 178 near the National Museum. You should definitely try fried lo'chaa when you are in Cambodia.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Tuesdays at the Table 001: Tasty Chicken Wings

What is your favorite chicken part? If you ask me, it's the chicken wings! Though it doesn't have lots of meat compared to the thighs, it is way flavourful I think. My husband doesn't like wings, he favors drumsticks more but when I found a great marinade-recipe, he actually eats chicken wings more now. 


I'm participating in the new food meme that I found while surfing for recipes recently.  For my debut entry, I am posting the most-requested recipe of the tasty chicken wings I featured on Food Trip Friday last week. This recipe is by Delicious Asian Food and it is originally intended for back ribs. I just couldn't resist using it on chicken wings and I'm happy I did. Go visit her blog for really delicious and easy to follow recipes.

Here's the recipe: Tasty Chicken Wings (originally Tasty Baby Back Ribs)



Ingredients:  1kgs chicken wings
                    2tbsps corn flour
                    cooking oil for frying

Marinade:  3 tbsps oyster sauce
                 3 tbsps hoisin sauce
                 3 tsps cooking wine
                 3 tsps Worcestershire sauce  
                 salt
                 generous amount of white pepper powder
                 3 tsps of cornflour                                                                                


Here's how:


1. Marinate the chicken wings for at least 6hours.
2. Heat oil in wok. Whilst heating it up, pour the 2tbsps of cornflour over the chicken wings and coat evenly.
3. Fry chicken wings in medium heat until thoroughly cooked.
4. Serve hot.










You can also roast if you have an oven by basting it regularly with the marinade.
It's not that difficult to make, is it? Well, I hope you all like it.



Thursday, April 8, 2010

Food Trip Friday 025: Tasty Chicken Wings




My husband's favorite, the finger-lickin', sarap-to-the-bones tasty chicken wings in secret sauce.


The first batch of wings were a bit burned (I was watching something interesting on TV) but the burnt skin added extra oompph to the flavour. I managed to salvage the succeeding batches from getting charred, thank goodness. This is great for pulutan, also a sure-hit during barbecue parties. Best with ice-cold beer, or any beverage you prefer.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Wordless Wednesday 035: Szechuan Tofu




My favorite tofu dish, spicy Szechuan tofu.




Available at Peking Canteen near Psah Thmey (Central Market) in Phnom Penh.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Salt, salt... salt of the earth

I recently got my blood tests back and results showed that I have high uric acid in my blood. I was shocked to learn about this but, sensing my alarm, the Fil doctor assured me that it doesn't necessarily mean that I already have gout or kidney problems.

Just so you know, I am so fond of salty foods. Here in Cambodia, dishes are almost always seasoned with patis (fish sauce), prahok (preserved fish), kopi (bagoong, preserved tiny shrimps) which, as you know, are all salt-based,  plus the fact that my water intake is below the recommended level. It is when I realized that it's probably my over-consumption of salt/salty foods that caused this.  So, of course, I asked the doctor how can I lower my uric acid level. Avoid salt/salty foods and take lots and lots of water, she answered promptly. In addition to this, she advised me to maintain a healthy weight, to exercise regularly.

Back home, I tried searching for low-salt recipes for me and came across a kind of salt that is touted to do wonders to our health and well-being. It is called the Himalayan salt, and as the name suggests, it is mined only from the great Himalayan mountain range. It basically is used similarly to the ordinary table salt for cooking and it is also used for bath salts, but the Himalayan salt is packed with extra medicinal and valuable detox properties. The salt contains assorted minerals that, not only give therapeutic effects to one's body, but also give its pretty pink color. This wonder salt is actually very versatile - Himalayan salt does not only provide us culinary and well-being benefits, the salt slabs (cut or uncut) provide fantastic uses at home, whether as a serving-platter or crystal lamps. I'll surely add Himalayan salt in my wish list for this year.


Thursday, April 1, 2010

Food Trip Friday 024: Going Chinese



In observance of the Holy Week in the Philippines, I am sharing this Chinese dish I and my friends had in one of our meatless lunch dates.

Cold silk tofu with century egg. At first I cringed at the thought of eating chilled, raw tofu (the soft kind) but my curiousity was piqued. I wolfed down one slice of tofu with a bit of  the egg on top, of course, I dipped it first in the vinegar-soy sauce dipping with loads of garlic and chopped red chillies. Ooh-la-la. Tastes heaven.

The tofu dish also went absolutely great with this freshly-made noodles seasoned only with sesame oil, soy sauce and egg. All these and more (fried/steamed dumplings, Peking duck, and a lot more) are available at my favorite Chinese food haunt, the Peking Canteen near Psah Thmey (Central Market), which is just a stone's throw away from the Sorya Bus station. So if you are looking for incredibly cheap but yummy Chinese food, just go to Peking Canteen. Packed during lunchtime but worth the wait. Satisfaction guaranteed.