First we pounded garlic, sugar, salt and peanuts.
We sliced/grated the banana flower into a bowl of water, and washed the fresh herbs (basil, mint, a bitter one with a long leaf that we eat with roast chicken, and the one some call Vietnames herb).
After picking leaves off the herbs stalks we put them in a bowl with the drained banana flower and added the pounded stuff. Also chopped up boiled pork- including the skin and fat.
After mixing it up we added some lime juice.
I think after that all we did was mix and check the taste to see if we needed to add more salt or sugar.
She said you can also make it with cabbage, also other salad veggies like capsicum, carrot and cucumber. KS said if you make it with cucumber its too watery.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Blue Cake
My mum told me not to make blue cake, as blue isn't a food colour. That was just after she gave me a bottle of blue food colouring.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Papaya Salad
In English fellowship groups I run we have been doing food words. So now its time to use those words in a real situation. Last week with the girls at Bible school we made papaya salad, and next week we'll be doing it at church.
As I was asking around I found people had lots of different ideas about the right way to make it. Here is one/some of those versions
First into the mortar you put garlic, chili, salt, sugar, shrimp paste and pound for ages. I'm not really sure of the order, but you also put in herbs, such as basil and saw herb, and any other ones the market sellers sell you when you tell them you are going to make this snack. Also dracoon (morning glory?) and beans, and some say cucumbers and salty crab. Also grated papaya and peanuts. Pound all this up together and then you've got a Khmer snack!
The type of papaya used for this is white and not sweet. If I make it for myself I leave out the chili and shrimp paste.
Oh, and i forgot lime juice is important too.
I might come back and fix this up later, after we do it at church.
As I was asking around I found people had lots of different ideas about the right way to make it. Here is one/some of those versions
First into the mortar you put garlic, chili, salt, sugar, shrimp paste and pound for ages. I'm not really sure of the order, but you also put in herbs, such as basil and saw herb, and any other ones the market sellers sell you when you tell them you are going to make this snack. Also dracoon (morning glory?) and beans, and some say cucumbers and salty crab. Also grated papaya and peanuts. Pound all this up together and then you've got a Khmer snack!
The type of papaya used for this is white and not sweet. If I make it for myself I leave out the chili and shrimp paste.
Oh, and i forgot lime juice is important too.
I might come back and fix this up later, after we do it at church.
Cambodian rice noodle salad
Well, that's what I call it anyway, in Khmer its something like "ynoum". We made it last weekend.
We used chicken, which I'd boiled and ripped up (I've also had it with pork, and this weekend we had it at a wedding with beef that was soaked in lime juice rather than cooked) ,
soaked rice noodles (actually they are made of mung beans, not sure why I call them rice noodles, in khmer mee soo-ah),(in the fancy version of this they fried the noodles)
raw veggies such as cucumber and carrot chopped finely, (capsicum,tomato etc)
herbs such as basil and saw herb (tastes like coriander, looks like a saw),
crushed peanuts to sprinkle over at the end,
a sauce (neither of us know how to make it, i think we should ask Soeun's mum before we try again, but its mainly water and sugar, with crushed garlic, some girls told me to use lime juice, some said vinegar)
It's really yummy!
We used chicken, which I'd boiled and ripped up (I've also had it with pork, and this weekend we had it at a wedding with beef that was soaked in lime juice rather than cooked) ,
soaked rice noodles (actually they are made of mung beans, not sure why I call them rice noodles, in khmer mee soo-ah),(in the fancy version of this they fried the noodles)
raw veggies such as cucumber and carrot chopped finely, (capsicum,tomato etc)
herbs such as basil and saw herb (tastes like coriander, looks like a saw),
crushed peanuts to sprinkle over at the end,
a sauce (neither of us know how to make it, i think we should ask Soeun's mum before we try again, but its mainly water and sugar, with crushed garlic, some girls told me to use lime juice, some said vinegar)
It's really yummy!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Hot Cross Buns (sort of)
Saturday April 3, 2010, Easter Saturday
If I’m in Australia for Easter I would normally be eating Hot Cross Buns. Out of the last 8 years I’ve only been in Oz for one Easter, so that’s a lot of buns I’ve been missing out on eating! In 2007 I made HCBs for Easter, but it turned out not to be very fun as this is the hottest time of year, so the whole kneading and baking thing becomes less of a novelty.
But this year Good Friday was so humid and hot, then during the night it started raining, so Saturday turned out to be a good day for baking! Also I have just bought some wholewheat flour for the first time since I’ve been in Cambodia, so I’ve been day dreaming about cooking bready things, plus Rachael just blogged about her recent baking- and it smelt so nice I felt like doing it too.
On our kitchen wall I have this recipe I photocopied from a flatmate’s cook book years ago. I had to use a conversion table and a calculator as it uses oz rather than cup measurements.
I glanced at the list and saw it was only for 1 cup of flour, so decided to double everything and make twice as much. I began, but got a surprise when I finally got to getting out the flour. It didn’t actually say 1 cup, it said 1 lb (I think that means pound?) So that meant I ended up using over SIX CUPS of flour!
As I was converting and doubling it was getting pretty confusing, so I wrote down the new amounts on the left top of the paper. I just noticed that on the top right, in my hand writing is the conversions for the original amount. And in the bottom left I have the conversions for half measurements (including half and egg?!!). I guess I’ve used this recipe before and each time work it out as I go.
Here is the recipe for the original amount:
30g /1oz yeast (about 7g instant yeast)
90 g/ 3oz sugar (about 1/3 cup)
300ml warm milk
500g/ just over 3 cups flour- I used some white, some wholewheat
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (I think I put about twice that in)
½ teaspoon of mixed spice (I didn’t have any)
60g/ 2oz/1/4 cup melted butter (I used Crisco ¼ cup, plus 1.5 teaspoons water
1 egg
they said to use 60g of sultanas and the same of currants, plus 30 g of mixed peel, but I didn’t have any
Mix flour, instant yeast, spices, salt. Add in beaten egg, melted butter, warm milk and sugar.
(If I was using non- instant yeast the first step would have been to cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the sugar add ½ cup warm milk, mix well and set aside.)
Mix in the fruit and knead until no longer sticky. I ended up having to add more flour at this stage as it stayed sticky for ages and ages, and I think I didn’t add enough flour at first- the whole maths of working out the conversions was tricky.
Cover and prove in a warm place. As it was a cool day I put the bowl of mixture in a big basin of hot water and put a towel over the top.
It didn’t say how long to leave it, but I had a look in other books and they said to wait for 30-60 min or until the stuff doubles in size.
Shape into 12 buns and place close together in a greased baking pan (they said 1”- 2”deep, I used the baking tray thingy that came with our oven, and cos I was doing double I ended up using a loaf tin as well).
Cover and allow to rise until very light.
They also gave instructions for doing a cross on each one, and a glaze , but I didn’t do that, but I’ll tell you what they said: For crosses, pipe on a mixture of 2 rounded teaspoons self raising flour and 2 tablespoons cold water.
Bake at 400F/200C for 15-20 min.
Brush with glaze while still hot.
Glaze: 1 teaspoon gelatine , 150 ml water
4 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
Dissolve gelatine in water. Place in saucepan with other ingredients and boil 10 min. Cool on rack.
If I’m in Australia for Easter I would normally be eating Hot Cross Buns. Out of the last 8 years I’ve only been in Oz for one Easter, so that’s a lot of buns I’ve been missing out on eating! In 2007 I made HCBs for Easter, but it turned out not to be very fun as this is the hottest time of year, so the whole kneading and baking thing becomes less of a novelty.
But this year Good Friday was so humid and hot, then during the night it started raining, so Saturday turned out to be a good day for baking! Also I have just bought some wholewheat flour for the first time since I’ve been in Cambodia, so I’ve been day dreaming about cooking bready things, plus Rachael just blogged about her recent baking- and it smelt so nice I felt like doing it too.
On our kitchen wall I have this recipe I photocopied from a flatmate’s cook book years ago. I had to use a conversion table and a calculator as it uses oz rather than cup measurements.
I glanced at the list and saw it was only for 1 cup of flour, so decided to double everything and make twice as much. I began, but got a surprise when I finally got to getting out the flour. It didn’t actually say 1 cup, it said 1 lb (I think that means pound?) So that meant I ended up using over SIX CUPS of flour!
As I was converting and doubling it was getting pretty confusing, so I wrote down the new amounts on the left top of the paper. I just noticed that on the top right, in my hand writing is the conversions for the original amount. And in the bottom left I have the conversions for half measurements (including half and egg?!!). I guess I’ve used this recipe before and each time work it out as I go.
Here is the recipe for the original amount:
30g /1oz yeast (about 7g instant yeast)
90 g/ 3oz sugar (about 1/3 cup)
300ml warm milk
500g/ just over 3 cups flour- I used some white, some wholewheat
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (I think I put about twice that in)
½ teaspoon of mixed spice (I didn’t have any)
60g/ 2oz/1/4 cup melted butter (I used Crisco ¼ cup, plus 1.5 teaspoons water
1 egg
they said to use 60g of sultanas and the same of currants, plus 30 g of mixed peel, but I didn’t have any
Mix flour, instant yeast, spices, salt. Add in beaten egg, melted butter, warm milk and sugar.
(If I was using non- instant yeast the first step would have been to cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of the sugar add ½ cup warm milk, mix well and set aside.)
Mix in the fruit and knead until no longer sticky. I ended up having to add more flour at this stage as it stayed sticky for ages and ages, and I think I didn’t add enough flour at first- the whole maths of working out the conversions was tricky.
Cover and prove in a warm place. As it was a cool day I put the bowl of mixture in a big basin of hot water and put a towel over the top.
It didn’t say how long to leave it, but I had a look in other books and they said to wait for 30-60 min or until the stuff doubles in size.
Shape into 12 buns and place close together in a greased baking pan (they said 1”- 2”deep, I used the baking tray thingy that came with our oven, and cos I was doing double I ended up using a loaf tin as well).
Cover and allow to rise until very light.
They also gave instructions for doing a cross on each one, and a glaze , but I didn’t do that, but I’ll tell you what they said: For crosses, pipe on a mixture of 2 rounded teaspoons self raising flour and 2 tablespoons cold water.
Bake at 400F/200C for 15-20 min.
Brush with glaze while still hot.
Glaze: 1 teaspoon gelatine , 150 ml water
4 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
Dissolve gelatine in water. Place in saucepan with other ingredients and boil 10 min. Cool on rack.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Frozen meals
Over the last year or so I've been making some meals and freezing them to eat later, I usually use them for weekday lunches when I get home feeling hot and tired around lunch time. One of the meals I freeze is meat and veg with a peanut sauce. I fry garlic and onion then add coconut milk. After that I add peanut butter and/or peanut powder (I make it by pounding cooked peanuts). At the end I add some other seasoning- salt, pepper, sugar, chili sauce, fish sauce etc.
Another meal is tuna and veg in a cheese sauce. The sauce is basically thicken milk with cheese and other seasoning.
Beer Bread
Last week I was excited cos I just got some wholemeal flour from a fellow expat (I normally buy white flour at the market, so its exciting to have something different). I wanted to make bread but I didn't have any yeast left, so I found this recipe instead.
3 and 3/4 cup of self raising flour (I used some white, some wholemeal and added baking powder as its not SR)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
a can of beer (they say 375ml, but i used 330ml)
Mix, knead lightly. Put in loaf tin, cook around 200 c for about 50 min
Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
3 and 3/4 cup of self raising flour (I used some white, some wholemeal and added baking powder as its not SR)
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
a can of beer (they say 375ml, but i used 330ml)
Mix, knead lightly. Put in loaf tin, cook around 200 c for about 50 min
Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Eggs and Tomato dish from North China
When I lived in a northern Chinese province I ate this dish a lot, it was one of the Chinese dishes that us Westerns seemed to like.
About 3- 6 tomatos, or a can of them
2-4 eggs
salt
4 table spoons of oil
1/2 tsp shredded chives/spring onions etc
1/2 tsp fresh shredded ginger
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1. Cook tomatos and take off the skins (or open the can)
2. Beat eggs with salt
3. Heat 2 table spoons of oil in fry pan until surface ripples. Pour in eggs and stir as they cook. Take the egg out. Put the rest of the oil in and heat it up. Add chives and ginger, stir fry for few seconds. Next add tomato, salt, sugar. Stir fry for half a min then put the eggs in too. Stir and it's just about ready to eat.
About 3- 6 tomatos, or a can of them
2-4 eggs
salt
4 table spoons of oil
1/2 tsp shredded chives/spring onions etc
1/2 tsp fresh shredded ginger
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1. Cook tomatos and take off the skins (or open the can)
2. Beat eggs with salt
3. Heat 2 table spoons of oil in fry pan until surface ripples. Pour in eggs and stir as they cook. Take the egg out. Put the rest of the oil in and heat it up. Add chives and ginger, stir fry for few seconds. Next add tomato, salt, sugar. Stir fry for half a min then put the eggs in too. Stir and it's just about ready to eat.
Pizza (Quick mix base)
Mostly we each get excited about different food, but pizza is something we both like. The last few years we've been using this pizza base recipe that makes a big thick bready base that we like. This time Soeun doubled the ingredients so it was even thicker! We cooked it for the same amount of time and it turned out well.
Pizza Base
Mix 2 teaspoons of instant yeast with 1 teaspoon of of sugar and 3/4 cup warm water.
Mix 2 cups of flour and a pinch of salt in another bowl. Mix these 2 together, knead and roll out.
After you've put it on a tray and put the toppings on, cook it for about 20 min on 200C. That's what works in our oven anyway.
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