Super Easy Thai Style Meatballs

I really like meatballs. They're super easy to make and really good to take to a party for appetisers and best of all they're really cheap. You can throw just about anything into some mince meat and come up with some pretty fantastic combinations! I happened to have some pork mince and some Thai style ingredients leftover from a green curry that I made and I wanted to experiment!

I also put together a little BBQ style sticky glaze to go on top which was really yummy and tasty. I glazed the meatballs at the last five minutes of cooking and then used the rest as a dipping sauce and it was really delicious.

It's really easy to make meatballs in the oven in muffin tins. Just spray a bit of nonstick spray and toss em in! It's a nice trick instead of frying them in a pan with lots of oil. Just let them cool completely before you scrape them out! The glaze that I made to go over them would go with a wide variety of things including chicken wings and BBQ ribs with an Asian flare. This recipe makes about 15 meatballs, but obviously can be doubled and trippled! Enjoy!

Time to party!

Ingredients for the Balls:
250g lean pork mince
1 tsp. Bart lemon grass paste
2 tbsp. Chopped green onions
1 egg
1 tsp. Grated ginger
1 tbsp. Chopped coriander
¼ tsp. Korean red c hilli flakes (optional)
½ red chilli (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 garlic cloved minced
½ tsp. Salt
1 rice cake (I used this for binding, you can use a slice of bread)


For the Sticky Glaze:
¼ c. hoisin sauce
3 tbsp. Brown sugar
¼ c. sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp. Soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp. Freshly grated ginger

For the Balls:
Preheat your oven to 200C
Get your ginger grated, chop the coriander, chilli, green onions and garlic.
Mix the pork with all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray, and roll the mixture into balls and place in there.
Cook for 15 minutes.
Then glaze and cook an additional 5 minutes.

To make the Glaze:
While the balls are cooking in the oven, mix all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Turn down and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Next turn off heat and use for the glaze or dipping.

They make great party food!

Crispy Tofu with Orange Sauce

Good with orange, lemon, teriyaki sauces!

First of all if you're reading this hello!

Welcome back me. It's been a while. I've been trying to do some work on images and setting up a new layout for my blog. It hasn't all transpired yet so I will just take some time to write a few things and post them as I go!

Anyways, as the new year came in I, like anyone else is more concerned about my waistline. Who isn't around new year? Well, as I wash away all of the holiday pounds, I also want to be more concious of how much meat I eat. Generally over the past two years I only eat meat 1-2 a week and on the weekend I usually do a big roast dinner. I'm not planning on cutting back that much, but I'm planning on being a bit more cncious of what I'm eating. I don't want to be a vegetarian but it makes me wonder sometimes at what point we became so dependant on beasts. Meat. Beef. Chicken. Pork. Whatever it is...we're dependant on it as a main staple of our meals. I think about the early people that roamed the earth and wonder what it was like to live off the land and eat meat when it was just a treat....

Ah, what at hought. Anyway's, this is some crispy tofu. I have never really liked tofu only dishes. I've always seen that really crispy tofu and wondered, “How the heck do they get it so crispy?” I never really tried to find out but I had some tofu laying around and a few ingredients and decided to whip something up. Of course this recipe is simply really just for the crispy tofu. You can change anything in the recipe to suit your own tastes, anything that you might want to replce chicken with tofu. Lemon tofu? Sesame tofu? Teriyaki tofu? The list goes on and on. Of course those were just asian suggestions bc it goes so well with those flavours!

Ok get on this folks. This is a simple recipe just for one person, as I didn't make a whole meal from it but use the method to suit your needs.

Ingredients:
300g firm tofu
125ml orange juice
zest of one orange
2 tsp. Brown sugar
2 tbsp. Soy sauce
1 tsp. Rice vinegar
½ tsp. Sesame oil
1 tbsp. Corn flour
oil for frying

To Start:
First we want to drain the tofu by placing it in between two plates and weight it down for about 30 minutes.
Keep replacing the kitchen roll to remove excess moisture.

Next:
While the tofu is draining, bring the orange juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil up to a gentle boil in a suacepan.
Check and stir constantly to prevent burning.
Leave to simmer until it's a thick syrupy sauce.

To Finish:
Cut the tofu in big cubes and dredge in cornflour.
Heat up the oil and fry fry fry. Make sure not to touch until it moves away from the pan with ease otherwise it will make a mess.
When crispy, pour in the sauce and toss to perfection.
Garnish with spring onions and serve with rice.

Orange Chilli Beef

Sometimes you want some takeaway but don’t want to go out because you know you can technically whip together a stirfry. If this happens to you this might be the perfect recipe for you. Sometimes I feel like I really don’t want to cook but I have ingredients in my cupboard and I’m able to pull something together that is far superior and far healthier than a local takeaway. This gave me the satisfaction of an ooey gooey sauce that I always find so moreish about Chinese takeaway, and there’s a lovely sweet sticky element that coats everything that brings my tummy happiness. There’s literally nothing to this recipe, if you’re prepared from the start of a meal everything can be very simple. In this case I used some cheap frying steak, and to get it tender I fry it first with onions and a little water before I add anything else in, you can use any type of beef you want, whatever works for you I say go for it! I also use a non-stick pan and am able to get away without using any oil to cook with which is fantastic for watching calories. I thoroughly recommend anyone investing in one, mine is a Le Creuset. Anyways, this recipe feeds 2-3. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
350g beef fry steak in thin strips
1 onion
3 large carrots
200g mushrooms
1 green or red pepper
1 chilli or however many you like
4 cloves garlic
1 bunch spring onions
3 tbsp. soy sauce
Juice and zest of one lemon + ¼ c. orange juice if orange isn’t juicy
1 tbsp. honey
1 ½ tbsp. corn flour
½ c. water
Rice to serve

To Start:
If you haven’t started your rice do so now.
Peel and slice your carrots.
Slice mushrooms, spring onion, pepper, chilli, onion, and garlic.
In a bowl, mix together corn flour 2 tbsp. soy sauce, orange juice and zest, water and honey; mix and set aside.

To cook:
In a large pan heat oil if you’re using it, add the beef and the onion, and a little water, cover it and simmer on medium for about 10-15 minutes.
Next add in the pepper, carrot and turn up the heat to high and keep uncovered at this point.
Add in the garlic, and remaining tablespoon of soy sauce.
Add in the chilli and mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. It’s important to cook the veg to your liking, I like mine crispy still.
Stir the sauce, and turn down the heat. If it gets too thick add some water.
Finish with the spring onions and serve over rice!

Duck Leg and Pak Choi Fried Rice

I have posted a recipe for cauliflower fried  rice which turned out pretty good but I wanted to try with actual rice. I had some duck legs and pak choi which is in season (Spring/Early Summer) and I decided to roast the legs off and make duck fried rice. You can use any meat you’d like for this as well as various vegetables. I will use this as a template to discover new flavours when making fried rice. It is my strong recommendation to use cold white rice that's been cooked prior. Leftover rice is ideal.

Ingredients:

1-2c cooked white rice (2 cups serves 4)

100g mushrooms of your choice
2 duck legs (Roasted; see below)

1 pepper
1 carrot

1 medium onion

1-2 garlic cloves

1 large head of pak choi (you can also use 4 of the smaller bulbs)

2 eggs whisked

½ c. frozen peas

¼ c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. Thai sweet chilli sauce

4 tbsp. oil

Spring onions, coriander (optional garnish)

Roast the Duck Legs:
In a 200C oven, salt and pepper the legs and roast for about 45 min to 1hr depending on size, to test doneness yank on the leg and if it pulls off easily it's done.
When done remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes, and tear off all meat and set aside.

To start:

Make sure that your rice cooked and cold.

Chop mushrooms, peppers, carrot, onions, set aside.

Dice garlic, and slice pak choi in thin slices.

Mix up soy sauce with Thai sauce and set aside.

To cook:

In a large pan or wok heat 2 tbsp oil until hot, add peppers, carrot, mushrooms, and onions.

Stir-fry until fragrant and starting to get tender about 5 mins.

Add the rice and stir to combine breaking down any clumps.

Add soy sauce and chilli sauce mixture, mix thoroughly.

When rice is heated through push all of the rice mixture to the side.

In the empty spot heat the remaining 2tbsp. of oil, when hot add the egg and scramble for about 2 minutes until nearly set.

Next combine the rice with the scrambled egg, add the garlic, peas and pak choi.

Stir continuously until the pak choi is tender and wilted.

Optional to garnish with spring onions and coriander leaves.

Serve immediately! Enjoy!

*Note: If you are going to use another type of meat, you can either cook it ahead of time (ie using leftover meats etc.) or if using raw meat, I would fry it with the vegetables and make sure it's cooked thoroughly before continuing with adding the rice.

Satay Noodles With Grilled Pork Loin

I love satay noodles; I can eat them cold or hot, for lunch or for dinner! It’s really a versatile menu item, and can be as easy or as interestingly difficult as you’d like it. I tend to keep it simple, but sometimes I jazz it up. This recipe I jazzed it up a bit but you can feel free to add in or omit any items depending on what you have and how you like it. Serves 4-6 (Leftovers are awesome!)

For the Sauce:
1 tbsp. sesame oil (toasted kind not the clear kind)
1-2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 tsp. dried ginger
1 tbsp. soy sauce (light)
2 tbsp. crunchy peanut butter (Use creamy if that’s what you have)
1 juice of a lime

For the dish:
400-500g (~1lb) pork loin
Pak choi (can substitute snow peas or any green crunchy veg)
Carrots (sliced)
Onion (sliced)
Red/green/yellow peppers (sliced)
250g fettuccine noodles

To Start:
Make the sauce by incorporating all the ingredients until smooth, if too thick add a little bit of water and thin it out. Set Aside.
Slice all vegetables if you need to at this point.

For the Pasta:
Heat a large pan of water and cook pasta as directed.

For the pork:
Salt and pepper.
Heat a grill pan with oil until near smoking.
Set the pork on it and let sit grilling for at least 6-8 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile the veg:
If your grill pan is big enough add the sliced pak choi, carrots, peppers and onion.
If it’s not add in another pan and cook separately.

To Finish:
Drain the pasta, immediately mix with the sauce and toss completely.
Add in the cooked vegetables.
When the pork loin is done, let rest for 5-10 minutes, then slice on the diagonal and serve accordingly. Enjoy!

Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork with Vermicelli)

This is my all-time favorite Vietnamese dish. I scour every city I am in to find an equivalent that matches the dish I love. I decided I was going to give it a go and try it myself. I took a recipe I read an adapted it to what I wanted in my dish. It’s a pretty time consuming dish so make sure you have some time to devote to it. The results are well worth it. This serves 2.

Ingredients:
250-300g (½ lb.) pork shoulder or rump. (The cheap frying steaks)
4 spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 chillies
1 lime
3 carrots
1 tbsp. jarred lemon grass
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. fish sauce
Iceberg lettuce finely shredded
1 cucumber
Coriander (handful)
Mint (handful)
Crushed peanuts
Oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
Fish Sauce for serving (recipe follows)

To start:
Put your pork in the freezer for 30 minutes for easy thin slicing.
Finely slice carrot into strips or grate, shred lettuce, chop up coriander, mint and finely slice cucumber into strips. (Set aside).
Dice spring onions, garlic, chilli peppers.

Next:
When the pork is firm to the touch in the freezer, slice it as thinly as you can and place in a large bowl.
To the bowl add spring onions, garlic, chili peppers, lemon grass, sugar fish sauce lime juice marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.

To Continue:
While that is marinating, bring a large pot of water to boil.
Blanch the carrots in the water and take out and place in ice water, being careful to save the water (Blanch means to lightly cook for a short period of time). In and out.
Put the vermicelli noodles into a large bowl and pour the boiling liquid over and sit for about 10 minutes until plumped.

To cook:
Heat a pan with the oil until the oil is smoking. (I prefer using a cast iron skillet for this)
Take the marinated meat and flash fry in the pan for about 5-8 minutes until the color is a charred type rustic grilled color. (There might be a lot of water you have to burn off before this)

To Serve:
Place the noodles on a plate or large bowl and layer with the coriander, mint, bean sprouts, blanched carrots, and peanuts.
Dress with the fish sauce (recipe below).

Fish Sauce:
I make this in a plastic seal tight container so that I can keep the extra. I kept this recipe exactly as I read it online as I really love the sauce and wanted it to be authentic.

Ingredients:
¼ c. water
¼ c. fish sauce
3 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1 garlic clove crushed
1 chili pepper sliced in rounds
1 carrot shredded or finely sliced

To Make:
Mix together all of the ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
You can adjust sugar and lime juice as needed to even out the flavor.
Make before you make your meal so the flavors can melt together.

Orange Chili Beef

It seems that Asian food has been a theme with my meals lately, but it’s just so convenient to whip up a stir-fry in a hurry. As much as I wanted to use loads of vegetables in this recipe I restrained and just used a few and it came out absolutely delicious. So enjoy!

Ingredients:
350g (~12 oz. or so) beef strips
3 carrots
1 whole bunch of spring onions
200 g button mushrooms
2 tbsp. corn flour (corn starch)
¼ c light soy sauce
¼ c water (possibly more)
½ beef stock cube
½ tsp. dried chili flakes
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. honey
Garlic puree
Juice of one orange
Orange part of the rind from one orange
2 tbsp. vegetable oil for frying

To start:
Start by sprinkling the corn starch over the beef and completely covering it with the corn starch, place in the fridge while you gather your other ingredients.
Peel and slice the carrots, spring onions and mushrooms. Set Aside.

Make the sauce:
With a sharp knife, carve around the orange and get all the orange rind off without getting the white part. Slice into tiny strips and add to a bowl
Next add to a bowl the juice of the entire orange.
To that add the honey, fish sauce, soy sauce, water, beef stock cube, and garlic puree and mix well to incorporate.

To cook:
In a large skillet heat oil until hot.
Add the beef and fry till half of the meat is browned, making sure to separate your strips well.
Then add the carrots and spring onions. Saute for a further 5 minutes until the beef is caramelizing and turning golden.
Next add the mushrooms, continue for about 3-5 more minutes.
Add the sauce and stir, to incorporate.
If it begins to thicken up too much add a little extra water to thin it out.
Serve over rice or vermicelli noodles.

Colors of the Rainbow Chicken Stir-Fry

This is the stir fry I accompanied with my light stir fried rice. The ingredients are objective and you can use whatever you have. The sauce as well, it’s just a guide to help creativity. I do use a lot of ingredients but I happen to buy a lot of ingredients that all build up flavour to make things taste delicious. I’ve attached photos of the veg I used as well as for the sauce so that anyone can see what goes in. This is also great vegetarian. So here goes!

Stir-fry Ingredients:
300-400g chicken fillets
200g (~1c) Sliced mushroom, any of your choice
1 rib of celery
½ onion
½ red pepper
½ yellow pepper
2 small carrots
Runner beans/ mange tout/ sugar snap peas – whichever you like
1/8th head of cabbage
1 thumb sized knob of fresh ginger

Asian Sauce: (none of these measurements have to be exact)
¼ c light soy sauce
½ c (~100mls) water
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp. corn flour (corn starch)
1 ½ siracha hot chili sauce (make it as spicy as you’d like)
½ tbsp. rice wine (mirin)
½ tbsp. garlic puree (if you don’t have it just use regular garlic)
½ tsp. dried chili flakes
½ tsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. vegetable oil for frying

To Start:
Blend all the seasonings and spices together for the sauce and let sit.
Slice the onion, peppers, celery, ginger, carrot, mushroom, cabbage into whatever sizes you like and set aside.
Slice chicken breasts in small slices for fast cooking, set aside.

To cook:
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok, when hot add the chicken and fry till almost cooked through.
Next add all of the vegetables and stir fry in the pan till about 50% soft.
Add the sauce over the veg, if it begins to thicken too much add some extra water.
Cook for 5 minutes and serve over egg fried rice!

Easy-Peasy (Lightly) Fried Rice

Of course this isn’t the normal heavy heavy fried rice you typically think about when you think "fried rice", but I was making a stir-fry and wanted something a little more exciting to accompany it besides the boring old plain rice. Enjoy this, I will post another delicious stir-fry soon.

Ingredients:
2 c cooked cold white rice
1 large lightly beaten egg
Handful of shredded cabbage (optional)
½ c frozen peas
1 medium onion
2-3 tbsp. light soy sauce
½ tsp. ginger (optional)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Note: It’s good to cook the rice the day before, or use leftover white rice. The firmer texture holds up better during the refrying process.

To Start:
Dice onion very fine, along with cabbage if you’re using it. Set aside.
Lightly beat your egg in a separate bowl.

To Cook:
Heat oil in a large pan until hot.
Add the onions, cabbage, peas and dried ginger. Sauté about 3-5 minutes until onions are soft.
Add the rice; flatten out in the pan to get a good sear.
Add the soy sauce and the egg and mix to incorporate thoroughly.

Enjoy this on its own as a main meal adding shrimp or leftover chicken, or as a side to a stir-fry.

Easy Weeknight Thai Curry

I didn’t realize how easy this recipe was going to be to make but when I set out to make it, the cook time was unbelievably fast. I recommend this as a quick dinner, and it’s very easily adaptable to what you have around the house. I reduced the fat by using a low fat coconut milk, but a full fat coconut milk will yield a thicker sauce which might appeal to some. Serves up to 4. My photo my not have come out the best but it is very delicious!!

Ingredients:
400g diced chicken breast
300g baby aubergine (baby eggplant, this is optional but reall is delicious)
1c slice fresh or frozen okra
2 tbsp. thai green curry paste
1 tbsp. lemon grass paste
1 can reduced fat coconut milk (full fat is fine)
1 small onion
1 chili
Handful Coriander
2 garlic cloves
½ lime
Basmati rice for serving

To start:
Dice onions, garlic and chili.
Slice aubergine in half or quarters.
Slice okra.

To Cook:
Heat a pan with oil.
When hot add chicken, aubergine, okra, onion, garlic, chili and stirfry until chicken is nicely brown.
Next add the coconut milk, coriander, and lime juice.
Cover with a lid and cook for about 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Open Sesame

Sometimes the quickest thing to eat in the world when you’re on the go is Chinese food. Who doesn’t love Chinese?! I know that I do, but it’s obviously such a guilty pleasure. And there are a lot of things going on in fast food Chinese that you just can’t replica at your own home, like those delicious little won ton things. Well, enough with that, we all know how to make a stir-fry or maybe we all don’t? I made a stir-fry as a quick meal the other night out of lack of time, effort and energy. I wanted to share the quick sauce I made up that could go with virtually anything you wanted. I made my stir-fry with lots of vegetables such as zucchini (courgette), carrot, celery, onion, mange tout (snow peas), cauliflower, leeks, mushrooms, yellow and orange peppers, and garlic. My protein in the meal was prawns (shrimp) but you could use anything your heart desires.

For the Sauce:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbsp corn starch (corn flour)
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp chilli flakes
shake onion powder
shake garlic powder
couple good squeezes of Sriracha sauce (the sauce with the bird on it)
 ½ Water

Mix together in a medium bowl and add the prawns (or whatever you wish to marinade)

After sauce has been prepared, go ahead and start your rice or egg noodles, whatever you’re eating with the stir-fry.

To start the stir-fry Slice all the veggies and group according to the time it takes to cook them:

1. Zucchini (courgette)
   Carrot
   Celery
   Onion
   Peppers
2. Cauliflower
   Leeks
   Garlic
   Mushrooms
   Mange Tout (snow peas)

To Cook:
 
Cook group one veggies in a splash of olive oil and sauté for 3 minutes on high heat

Next add group two and cook until they’re just getting soft, about 4 minutes

Then, add sauce and prawns and cook until vegetables are as firm or soft as you like.

---

This is just my version of a quick stir-fry, none of these ingredients are essential to having a great stir-fry. Anything that you like can be used, for instance you could add cabbage, or bean sprouts, or anything you have. The point is, the sauce is versatile, and you can make it as spicy or non-spicy as you like. Everything in cooking is about tailoring to your needs. As you can see this can make for a quick dinner, or it also keeps in the fridge for a delicious light lunch the following day. Beef up the fibre and serve with brown basmati rice or whole wheat egg noodles. Tofu is a great addition but I suggest you cook it separately, look out for my tofu marinade, guaranteed to make tofu taste like you’ve never had it before. Enjoy!