The cooking explorer

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I know I like to cook more than write. This is why I haven’t updated my blog for a while, but I have cooked a lot of dishes.
After nearly 9 years of living in Australia, which is a multicultural society, I have cooked and eaten many different cuisines.
The first dish I would like to present is the Malaysian national dish “Nasi Lemak”. This is the dish I always order when I’m at Malaysian restaurant or in Singapore. There are many elements in this dish, including coconut rice, beef rendang curry, deep fried dried anchovies, peanut, boiled eggs and sambal (chilli sauce) I like this dish because the mix of elements on the plate make it feel like you are having a banquet, not just one dish.
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Easy and tasty Peaches and Cream Cake

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I got this recipe from a cook book. The first reason I’m trying this is because I want to get rid of a can of peaches which has sat in my pantry for a while. If I don’t use the peaches soon they will be thrown in the bin, an experience that may be familiar to you. This recipe looks so easy and simple, and I don’t need to buy anything more. I might say I’m not a big fan of sweets but I love to eat this cake so I warn you, maybe one piece may not be enough.

Ingredients (makes 1 cake)

• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 425g can peach slices, drained and chopped
• 100g packet flaked almonds
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My curries

Published on by CharinyaLeave a comment

Talking about Thai food, I bet that many people will think about curry before other dishes. I’m not a big fan of curry, mostly I make it for others.

Here are the curries that I have made in my kitchen! I haven’t put up the recipe at this stage but I will do it for sure.

The first dish is “Mussaman Beef”. This famous Thai curry is rich and full of flavour. It is a Thai Muslim food that has become the most famous Thai food ahead of “Pad Thai”.
I like to cook this dish when I get western visitors, they really love it. The best result is to cook it a day ahead.

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The second dish is “Chicken with pineapple yellow curry”. If you love pineapple I bet you will love this dish. In Thai cuisine there are many menus that use fruit in the savoury dishes. The taste of sweet and sour from pineapple makes the dish very interesting.

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Fried Rice ข้าวผัดแหนม

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Fried rice is a dish that is easy to make. Sometimes we call it a fridge cleaning dish as you can include anything that you want to get rid of, such as left over roast meat, ham, prawns, any kind of vegetable etc. Today I made “Kow Pad Nam ข้าวผัดแหนม”, which is a fermented pork fried rice. You can substitute fermented pork with any kind if protein or you can go vegetarian.

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Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms

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Are you a mushroom lover? I am! I love all kinds of mushroom and no matter what method you use to cook them they always taste good. When the Asian grocery shop near my home has fresh veggie and meat delivered I see the lovely and fresh king oyster mushrooms.

King oyster mushrooms are also known as Pleurotus Eryngii, but in Thailand we call them Eryngii mushrooms. This mushroom has a thick, white flesh that is firm-textured and meaty from the base to the cap.
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Agedachi Tofu

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As much as I like cooking, going out and experiencing new cuisine is another thing I love to do. When I go to a Japanese restaurant I love to order the dish call agedachi tofu. Agedashi tofu is a traditional Japanese tofu dish, which is deep fried and served with dashi-based sauce.
I thought I might try to make this. I tried to find a recipe for this dish and ended up getting this recipe from the “just one cook book” website, and of course adapted it to my way:-)
I’m happy with the result, which tastes just like what I got from the restaurant. There are not too many ingredients and it is easy to prepare.
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