Stir-fried Lala Clams with Blachan Chilli

January 6, 2009 – 2:38 pm by wiffy

nc_din_plate

Stir fry lala with blachan chilli
Stir-fried lala clams with blachan chilli (served with warm, fluffy rice)

This is my lazy bones way (as usual) of wokking ‘lala’ (the malay name which everyone calls this clam by). Lala is a type of bamboo clams which is popular in Chinese and South East Asian cuisine. I used fresh (not frozen) lala clams that have already been de-shelled when I bought them at NTUC supermarket (in Singapore), so it’s a huge time saver. I also use ready made paste … in particular Taho brand blachan chilli (see photo below) which I really really like because it is so … ooo-lala hot ;p You can use this paste to stir fry many fiery dishes like prawns and other seafood, it’s good stuff.

I am not sure if lala clams are available in western countries or what other names it goes by, but it has a distinctive orangy appearance and you can see what they look like in my picture collage below. While preparing this dish, you can cook the rice at the same time, and you will have a delightfully tummy warming meal of delicious fiery hot lala served atop warm rice within 15 minutes ;p

Stir fry lala with blachan chilli
Making of stir fried lala clams with blachan chilli

Ingredients
(Serves 2)

- 150g lala clams (de-shelled)
- 2 stalks spring onions, cut to 2 inch lengths
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 onion, cut to rings
- 1 tbsp blachan chilli paste (I use Taho brand, very hot… shiok!) - adjust according to your liking
- 1 tbsp vegetable/olive oil

Directions

1. Heat oil in wok, saute garlic, thick spring onions stalks (white part) and onion rings till fragrant.
2. Add blachan chilli paste and the lala clams and stir fry for a few minutes (remember to open your windows to air your kitchen… the blachan can be very pungent smelling :P).
3. Add the rest of the spring onions, stir fry for a minute, mixing everything well. Serve with warm rice.

Stir fry lala with blachan chilli
Stir fry lala clams with blachan chilli



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Posted in 15-minute shorts, Chinese, Quick Meals, Recipes, Seafood Stir Fries

NoobCook’s 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!

December 31, 2008 – 10:22 pm by wiffy

Today is new year’s eve. 2008 is a year where I did some serious cooking and actively posted my culinary adventures on this blog. I hope to keep it up in 2009 hehe ;p Here are some of my favourite recipes which I have chosen from each month of 2008.

January
popcorn3 NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Freshly made popcorn

February
2382050797_23b4011496_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Cabbage Rice

March
2379326271_4cf1e8abbc_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Wasabi Prawns

April
2379326763_1bbeb825cd_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Pumpkin Rice

May
2649853260_fe895ac6a6_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Chrysanthemum Tea

June
2574690782_b7a91a6999_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Aglio Olio with Prawns

July
2680005752_db1c4425de_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Old Cucumber Soup

August
2731437201_ebb61f1998_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Lemon Barley Drink

September
2898478830_6951390fb3_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Tom Yum Seafood

October
2983234707_ea4ff829b5_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Pumpkin Chawanmushi

November
3055189885_d554b2ca12_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Stir fry broccoli with hoisin sauce, cashew nuts, orange and baby corn

December
3127256507_cf3eb9ecc2_o NoobCooks 2008 Picks, Happy 2009!
Chicken and Mushroom Baked Rice

Thank you for visiting my humble food blog. I have learnt a lot from your comments and suggestions. Have a delicious 2009! =D



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Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Thyme

December 26, 2008 – 1:57 pm by wiffy

Season’s Greetings!! :-)

Perfect Roast Chicken
Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, Thyme & Assorted Herbs … very yummy!

I had the perfect home-cooked dinner of roast chicken with roasted vegetables on Christmas eve! For the first time, B volunteered to cook with me and he was a great kitchen helper, opps I mean sous chef! I ‘chickened out’ (bad pun ;p) when it was time to chop the chicken neck, but I went back to the kitchen when the deed was done … good job sous chef! ;p I basically ’supervised’ the cooking so it was all very relaxed for me, and having an assistant made me felt really pro for once, hehe. We were extremely satisfied with the roast chicken and both B and me thought that it was one of the best roast chicken we ever had (so un-bashful). To my surprise, it wasn’t difficult at all, and they make great party food for all occasions and when you have friends visiting.

Perfect Roast Chicken
A view of our cosy Christmas eve dinner plate

I don’t think I can wait till next Christmas to make this, maybe I’ll make one again next week xp

The reason why we had chicken and not turkey was because there were only two of us, and this is the first time I am roasting a whole bird so chicken sounds more manageable than turkey, it being much smaller (hence easier to cook) and it’s also much cheaper as well (bought the chicken for only S$7). Also, I think turkey somehow tastes more tough and drier than chicken =p

Ingredients

- 1 whole chicken
- 1 lemon
- 15 garlic cloves, bruised
- a few sprigs of thyme
- a few sprigs of rosemary
- a few sprigs of parsley (I use the curly type)
- a few bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- a small knob of butter
- kosher or sea salt
- black pepper
- olive oil

Directions

1. Wash chicken, remove innards and neck. Pat the chicken dry.

2. Use a grater to make lemon zest from lemon. Set aside the lemon.

3. In a bowl, mix butter, chopped parsley and lemon zest together into a paste.

4. Place chicken in a roasting pan (breast side up). For aesthetics (optional), tuck the wings under the chicken and tie the thighs together using kitchen twine or unwaxed white dental floss (I skip this step because I can’t find kitchen string or unwaxed dental floss).

Perfect Roast Chicken
Sous Chef carefully loosing the area between the skin and the flesh to insert the buttery paste - step 5

5. Carefully pull the top chicken skin (where the breast portion is - see photo above) and slowly stuff the paste made in step 3 under the chicken skin (technique from Foodwishes.com’s YouTube recipe)

6. Cut lemon in two and microwave for 40 seconds. Carefully use the tip of a small knife to prick all over the lemon. Squeeze the lemon juices into the cavity and put the whole lemon inside (technique from Jamie Oliver’s recipe).

7. Besides the lemon, stuff the cavity with thyme, garlic, rosemary and other herbs you have. If you have leftover herbs, sprinkle them around the pan near or on the chicken

8. Brush the chicken skin all over with olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.

9. Bake chicken in preheated oven at 200C (400F) for about 40 minutes. Take the chicken out and brush the chicken with the juices that are collected in the drip pan. If there are not enough juices, use olive oil to brush chicken.

10. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, adjust baking time according to your oven. The perfect and ultimate roast chicken is cooked on the inside while its skin is crisp like peking duck =D

Perfect Roast Chicken
Sous chef chopping the parsley

Perfect Roast Chicken
Chicken before roasting

Cooking Notes:
- The key ingredients for stuffing the cavity are garlic, lemon and thyme. Feel free to add other herbs that you have in your pantry.
- Kosher or organic sea salt is preferred over normal pan salt.
- You can also cook some roasted vegetables at the same time (seasoned with salt, pepper and the leftover herbs from making the chicken). I roasted my vegetables on a separate rack with a separate dish (so that it’s not so oily). Look out for my upcoming roasted vegetables recipe!
- The roasting juices can be used to cook aromatic chicken rice! Look out for my upcoming recipe ;p

Perfect Roast Chicken
Delicious roast chicken … ultimate comfort

Perfect Roast Chicken
Another view of our cosy Christmas eve dinner plate

Perfect Roast Chicken
Close up of our sumptuous Christmas eve dinner plate: Roast chicken (check out the crispy skin) with roasted vegetables.

=== my little hamsters Christmas diary ===

I brought my aging but very loved and adorable hamster Neko Chan to our Christmas table and his supersonic nose (think remy in ratatouille) immediately sniffed out the chicken we had. I usually only give plain boiled chicken to hamsters but since it is Christmas, I made an exception and gave Neko a little bit of the chicken which he enjoyed thoroughly.

Season's Greetings from Neko
Neko is enjoying the roast chicken too!

I had the best Christmas present this year because Neko Chan is by my side. He was really sick early in the month due to a sudden respiratory illness, and we all thought he wasn’t going to make it. But he recovered miraculously after we treated him with a thyme remedy for hamsters and I am so happy. Neko was extra bouncy & playful on Christmas eve and day and that really cheered me up a lot to see him so happy.

Neko biting cage bars
Playful Neko chewing his cage on Christmas Eve

Neko scaling cage bars
Playful Neko scaling up to the top of his cage (he succeeded) on Christmas Eve

I gave Neko and Nihlus (new ham on the block) each a ‘Christmas Sampler Platter’ consisting of their favourite foods as well as 5 different kinds of cheese and assorted nuts as a foodie treat for Christmas.

01_hamster_christmas_platter
The hamsters’ Christmas Sampler Platter ;p

Season's Greetings from Neko
Neko chan checking out his Christmas Platter *sniff sniff*

Season's Greetings from Nihlus
New ham on the block Nihlus making his debut and enjoying a piece of cheese *nom*

Season's Greetings from Nihlus
Santa’s little helper, the adorable Nihlus BB

Happy Holidays!



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Posted in Baking, Chicken, Life, Recipes, Western