Thorny business

Durian is a tropical fruit and also one of my favourite. I find durian a very mysterious fruit. Each and everyone has its own unique taste. Personally, I like mine creamy with a tinge of bitterness. To many of us, either you hate it or you love it. In my family, most of us love this fruit except for my sister in law. I remembered when we were young, eating durian is a major event. My dad will buy the whole basket load of durians and all my aunties, uncles, cousins and our grandma will have a feast. It was such a joyous gathering. Over time, durian is easily available during the year and somehow, it kind of lost its authencity. But still eating durian around June till July has the best harvest than any other months. There are so many recipes created from this fruit. Tomorrow, I will share some of mine which is popular in my family.

Sweetie sweetie

Was down at the supermarket and saw three different types of sweet potatoes. On impluse, I bought all the variety. Then it got me busy looking for a recipe.

Since, we never eaten Sweet Potatoes in Syrup (Vietnamese Style), I decided to try it.



What you need

320g sweet potatoes
80g each of sago
30g green bean vermicelli (cut to shorter length)
1/2 cup coconut milk (I substituted it with fresh milk)
5 tbsp sugar
2 cups water

Method

Wash sago clean, soak for 20 min, boil over medium heat until translucent, pour out and soak in ice water.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into cubes

Soak green bean vermicelli in hot water till soft. Then in cold water to prevent it from being sticky.

Put sweet potatoes in water and boil till soft.

Add vermicelli, sago and sugar over medium heat for 5 mins.

Pour in coconut milk and a 1/4 tsp salt.

Bring to boil

The quantity required for the above was just a portion of what I have bought. In order to finished it up, I did another batch the traditional way. Sweet Potatoes Tong Shui



This one only requires ginger, pandan leave and sugar.

I found packets of sesame seed in my fridge while I was cleaning it up. So let's have Sesame Chicken for dinner.



What you need

70g plain flour
50g corn flour
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
60g sesame seeds
4 pcs of chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water oil for frying

Method

Sift flours, pepper, paprika and stir in salt and sesame seeds.

Dip chicken into egg mixture and then coat well in seasoned flour.

Heat frying pan, add oil and fry chicken till golden brown.

100%

Scene One Me, busy preparing dinner in the kitchen while my daughter was napping. Scene Two Daughter: Mommy, mommy, can you help me to paint my nails? Mommy: Later on sweet pea, mommy is busy at the moment (without turning my back). Daughter: Mommy, mommy, can you help me to paint my nails pleeeeeeeeeassse? Scene Three Mommy turned her back and saw this. (nearly fainted). This is not all, she did her toes as well. I was trying to figure out how she can do both hands and feets. On top of this, she even painted her lips with my lipstick. Thanks God not with the nail polish! Phew! Well, at least I am sure I got a 100% daughter.

Is this the one?

I heard so much about Japanese Glutinous Rice Flour being different from the local ones. To kill my curiousity, I asked my sister to get me a packet from Daiso when she was in the vicinity.

Let's see whether this Red Bean Daifuku is any different from the mochi skin that I made some time back.

I have reduce the sugar to 30g to counter balance the sweetness of the red bean paste.



This is the packet of gluntinous rice flour that was from Daiso. Did I use the right one as I seriously doubt about the authencity of this product because it is made in Thailand. Have yet to find out when my hubby next make a trip to Japan.



Verdict: Hubby said it is more chewy.

After a few days lapse of not really functioning in the kitchen. I prepared Minced Pork with Mushroom using a special sauce that mom bought from China.



I got some fresh scallops from the supermarket and I wanted something healthy, we had Broccoli with scallops. To counter balance the steamed broccoli, I used dried scallops to make the sauce.