Spicy Pad Thai

Commonly found in most Thai restaurants or eateries, Pad Thai is definitely a no-fail when it comes to authentic Thai food. Know what? It was listed as number 5 on World's 50 Most Delicious Foods reader's poll compiled by CNN Go in 2011.

It's the ultimate street food with an exotic fish sauce flavour, hints of lime zest and
mild spiciness to it. For a vegetarian version, you can substitute the shrimps and chicken with fried firm tofu.

Ingredients:

   1/2 package Thai Flat Rice Noodles (pre-soaked in water or boiled according to instructions)
   1/2 cup Chicken Breast (sliced)
   6-8 Shrimps (de-shelled with tail attached)
   1 Egg
   2 tbsp Tamarind paste (mixed well in water)
   3 tbsp Fish sauce
   1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
   2 tsp Lime juice
   2 tsp Sugar
   1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
   Garlic (minced)
   Scallions (chopped into 2 inch strips)
   Bean Sprouts
   Crushed Roasted Peanuts

Instructions:

Heat the pan or wok with cooking oil and stir fry the minced garlic for a while before adding in the chicken strips and shrimps. Continue for about 15 more seconds with high heat and then add in the flat rice noodles and begin to add in the fish sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar and mix everything well. Continue to stir and add in the sugar and tamarind paste juice.

After that, just toss in the bean sprouts and scallions and stir fry again under high heat. Push the noodles aside on the other half of the pan and crack an egg on the wok surface. When the egg is still runny, mix in everything together and finally add in the crushed red pepper flakes according to how spicy you want it to be.

Serve immediately with crushed peanuts and drizzle with lime juice!

Spicy Thai Basil Beef with Pandan Rice

Coming back home late in the afternoon after a series of morning classes would sometimes make me feel dreaded to cook, but we still got to eat no matter what. So here's a simple foolproof recipe if you feel like having something flavourful but not time consuming. If you do not consume beef, you can substitute it with pork, chicken or turkey. With the ingredients readily available, you would be enjoying your meal already by the time your take out Chinese or greasy pizza arrive!

Preparation & Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

   20  x Basil Leaves (depends how strong you want the flavour)
   2    x Red Bird's Eye Chillies (chopped finely)
   3 cloves of Garlic (chopped finely)
   1/2 a bulb of Onion (chopped into fine strips)
   1 pound Choice of Meat (ground or cut into small slices)  *I used Sirloin Steak for its tender texture

For the sauce:

   1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
   2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
   3 tbsp Fish Sauce
   1 tsp   Cane Sugar

Instructions:

   Stir-fry the chopped onions on high heat and then followed by the garlic and chillies until golden brown but make sure the garlic is not burned. Add in the beef and spread evenly without stirring constantly to get a 'caramelized' coating on the meat.

   Start to add in all the sauces (you can pre-mix it in a small bowl but not really necessary) and stir fry for another one minute on high heat. Finally toss in the basil leaves and continue for another 1 minute until you see all the leaves have wilted.

   Serve over hot white rice for a lazy laid-back late lunch.