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If authentic Thai Cuisine is what you are looking for, you must try Prik Nam Pla. This gem of a restaurant opened right around the middle of 2010. Coincidentally, that summer I had traveled to Thailand for the first time. Upon my return, I found I had a taste for traditional Thai food that could not be satisfied. I was sure to sample Prik Nam Pla the first week they were open and have been hooked ever since. This restaurant has become a San Marcos favorite, as well as a weekly stop for me personally.

Prik Nam Pla is truly 100% authentic Thai down to the garnish. After being in Thailand for a while, I tasted no difference between the food I ate there and the food being served at Prik Nam Pla. The pineapple fried rice is completely spot on. I eat this dish at least once a week since they opened.

Do I have to say I was and am still impressed with this place? The curries are all as fresh and complex as they should be and you can get them made at any spice-level you want. I must also add that their Thai Omelette passed my father’s “vigorous” taste test. The soups are delicious and made fresh with obviously wholesome ingredients. I could go on and on. Once again, if Thai food is on your mind, get over to Prik Nam Pla.

Prik Nam Pla is located at 1917 Dutton Dr. right behind Frost Bank. The restaurant is well equipped for large and small parties and never has any wait times. Their business hours are Monday-Friday lunch 11:00 am-3:00 pm Dinner 5:00-9:00 pm and Saturday 12:00 pm-9:00 pm.

Pineapple Fried Rice

This restaurant is great for lunch or dinner. Further, If you are someone who is looking for fast, convenient take-out, Prik Nam Pla can help you out. They usually can get your order out in around 10 minutes. I have come to rely on their takeout when I am too tired or busy to cook but still want a real meal. They know me by name at this point. I could eat this food for every meal of the day.. Further, If you are someone who is looking for fast, convenient take-out, Prik Nam Pla can help you out. They usually can get your order out in around 10 minutes. I have come to rely on their takeout when I am too tired or busy to cook but still want a real meal. They know me by name at this point.

Tom Yum Gai

Additionally, Their prices are really reasonable. This is increasingly true considering the great and authentic food that they consistently produce. Prik Nam Pla also can cater to vegans and vegetarians, quite successfully substituting and removing ingredients without sacrificing flavor. The service is fantastic and the owners and managers are all very nice and accommodating. This restaurant puts a marked amount of care and thought into their service and should be commended for it.

If you are in the San Marcos Area and want real, delicious Thai food at great prices with great service, I highly and enthusiastically recommend you try Prik Nam Pla. I am sure You will absolutely love it.

I just LOVE a good Asian hot and sour soup, and I’ve just discovered the easiest recipe in the world for making it. In fact, it’s so easy, it takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Slivering the bamboo shoots into thin sticks was the longest part of the process. I like it hot, so I doubled the amount of chili-garlic sauce, but you can regulate that as you like! This is a low-calorie, low-fat, highly nutritious meal that will warm your innards, perfect for a cold, foggy summer’s night in San Francisco. Here’s how it’s done:

The Cast of Characters

Ingredients: 
- 6 dried wood-ear mushrooms (or any dried mushroom)
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 lb. reduced-fat soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 8 oz. can bamboo shoots, drained and thinly sliced
- 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Chopped scallion for garnish (optional)

The Process:
- Combine dried mushrooms with enough hot water to cover by 2 inches in a bowl; let stand 15 minutes, then drain.
- Bring the broth, soy sauce, chili-garlic sauce, vinegar and sesame oil to a boil. Add the drained mushrooms, tofu and bamboo shoots. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl; stir in about a 1/4 cup of the hot liquid, then pour into soup.
- Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and thickens slightly, about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat; slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the soup while stirring in a clockwise motion.
- Top with sliced scallion.

Voila! Asian Hot and Soup Soup!!!

Check out these healthy stats!
Serving Size: 1 1/3 cups
Calories per serving: 115
Fat per serving: 3.25g
Saturated fat per serving: .5g
Sugar per serving: 3.3g
Fiber per serving: 2.5g
Protein per serving: 8g
Cholesterol per serving: 0mg
Carbohydrates per serving: 19g

2 Jun 12 – Sydney – Shanghai Cheng Huang Miao Snacks @Ashfield

Location:  Bridgeport Mall, 7463 SW Bridgeport Rd., Tigard, OR

Order:  My husband and I ordered a small plate of Egg Rolls ($4.95), Kung Pao Chicken ($13.95) and Pepper Steak ($13.95).  I also ordered a cup of Hot & Sour Soup ($3.25) and a pot of Tangerine White Tea.

What I Think:

We visited during the lunch hour, and while it was a little busy, we were seated pretty quickly and the food arrived to our table amazingly fast.  Everything arrived at pretty much the same time:  the soup, the appetizers and the entrees.

The tea was very good.  So good, in fact, that I’d love to know where they get their tea from … as I’d like to have the opportunity to contact them to review some of their teas for the SororiTea Sisters blog.  It was light, refreshing and delicious, with sweet, juicy tangerine flavor.  It was a really nice accompaniment to the meal.

Just as I often measure Mexican restaurants by the quality of their chili rellenos (and whether or not they offer horchata!) and I often measure Thai restaurants by the quality of their Pad Thai, I usually measure Chinese restaurants by the quality of their Hot & Sour Soup.  I love Hot & Sour soup, it is probably my favorite Chinese “dish” – but I’ve had some really bad Hot & Sour soup before, so it’s one of those things that I want to be right … and if it’s not, I probably won’t ever be back, nor will I have good things to say about the place.

Fortunately, PF Chang’s Hot & Sour soup is AWESOME.  There are lots of vegetables within their spicy, sour broth.  Lots of mushrooms (my favorite part!) and I was happy that the mushrooms had a good, meaty texture and did not feel slimy.  I would revisit PF Chang’s and be happy with just an order of soup.  Yes, it’s that good.

Since I ordered the soup for myself, I had ordered the egg rolls with the intention of letting my husband enjoy those, although, I did take a bite or two just to see how it tasted.  They were delightfully crispy, and the vegetables were tender-crisp on the inside.  Tasty.

The Kung Pao Chicken was good and had a spicy kick to it just like Kung Pao should.  However, I was a little surprised by this Kung Pao, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.  The Kung Pao I’ve had in the past has been very much like a sauce-laden stir-fried dish with lots of chopped vegetables and chicken, and that’s the way I like it (and the way my husband loves it!)  However, this wasn’t at all like that.  There was very little sauce and very few vegetables in this dish.  It was tasty, the chicken was tender, but, it was just was not what we expected and a little disappointing, especially to my husband who loves Kung Pao Chicken.

The Pepper Steak was the star of the afternoon, as far as my husband was concerned (I think it was a tie between the soup and the Pepper Steak).  The sauce was delicious – a hint of spice to it, not overly spicy, but just enough to keep the palate happy.  The beef to pepper and onion ratio was good – that is to say, it wasn’t mostly vegetables with a few slices of beef.  There was plenty of tender beef and the vegetables were tender-crisp and tasted fresh.

My Final Thoughts:

Although we found the Kung Pao to be a little disappointing, I think that we were pleased enough with the Pepper Steak to make this a place we’d visit again.  Plus it gets bonus points for it’s location, as just across the way stands Sweetest Thing Cupcakes, and I’d love an excuse to go back there!

Noticed that this soup is three times Hot?

Hot in terms of temperature
Hot in terms of Spiciness
And Hot because of the very name of the soup

The sourness is from the white vinegar, which I have used in this recipe.
It is important that this soup needs to have the above attributes in order for it to really work.

You have to , as Emeril  used to say , ” Kick it up a Notch”. Since this soup is mainly a broth with some spices it is very easy for it to go bland and tasteless.

Ina  Garten from Barefoot contessa said in one of her shows, be cautious while making soup with just broth as it can easily look  like dirty dish water if you don’t treat her right.

So , spice it up with bold flavors and no doubt you will be smacking your lips away and By the end of the last spoon your eyes will be filled with tears and nose all watery, you can feel the heat running down your throat and you will be feeling good.

I have decided to make peace with the grim cloudy weather. The Sun seems to have taken a sabbatical. It has been 2 weeks and it has been incessantly raining and it is cold.

How do I make peace with the weather and with myself who has been denying that it is cold outside?

By  preparing this ” Three times Hot soup”!!!

only three soups have made it to my favorites list so far. 1 The classic  tomato soup 2. Sweet corn soup and 3. The Hot and sour soup

My husband made me experiment with the Beetroot and Carrot soups which turned out pretty good too, but for me they do not provide comfort during such weather conditions

so here it is.  Its pretty simple  really. Browse around your refrigerator and couple of cabinets and you will have all the things needed for this soup.

This version is greatly inspired by the recipe of Chef Harpal Singh sokhi from Sanjeev Kapoor’sKhazana

What we need:

1/4 cup of shredded cabbage
1/4 cup of shredded carrots
1/4 cup of shredded cauliflower florets
1/4 cup of string beans very finely chopped
1/4  cup of shredded shitake mushrooms

5 cups of water

salt to taste
Soy sauce…( I picked up a nice , organic, low sodium soy sauce from Trader’s joe)
1tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp red chilli sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tbsp finely minced Garlic.
1 tbsp sesame oil.
2 tbsp Corn starch mixed in water to form a thick paste

Method:

1. heat a thick bottomed wide pot and add the sesame oil.
2. once heated add ginger and garlic and saute for few minutes
3. add the shredded vegetables and  fry for a minute. Not more!
4. Now add 5 cups of water, reduce the heat to simmer and let the water boil.
5. Once the water starts boiling , its time to spice it up
6. Add salt, Soy sauce, chilli sauce, black pepper and vinegar and let it boil further for few minutes
7. lastly add the corn starch paste to the boiling soup. It thickens the soup. You can adjust the thickness by adding more or less water.

Sprinkle some fresh spring onions and serve right off the stove.

Note:
I am not using any broth here. Since I am using raw vegetables with fresh water the broth is made by itself while it is boiling. That way it has fresh and natural flavor of the vegetables and we will be consuming less salt/sodium

do not overcook the vegetables. They are already shredded. All they need is one quick stir.

Please be cautious while adding salt as the soy sauce may be too salty depending upon the type you are are using.

To kick it up a notch, add more chilli sauce, black pepper and vinegar.

I swear.

It’s just that I recently stumbled upon this article on 7×7′s website discussing the top 10 places to get a good meal under $10 in my neighborhood, the Inner Sunset.

I am pleased to say that in the 8 or so months that I have lived in the neighborhood, I have tried half of the restaurants mentioned. Not too bad for someone who usually cooks at home.

Just putting it out there, I love good Chinese food. Trouble is, I have had very little good Chinese food in my day – despite the fact that I live in San Francisco for Christ’s sake! I believe excellent Chinese cuisine exists, the problem is if I am ordering Chinese its because I don’t want to cook and I am hungry. So it needs to be close – by way of delivery or within a few blocks of my house.

A few months ago, I was suffering from a bad case of the stomach flu, so my dear friend Scott drove me home. Scott has been working in the kitchen for the better part of 10 years and knows the best places to eat in the city so when he says a place is tasty I take his word for it. No questions asked (except for what I should order).

While he was driving me through my neighborhood he was pointing out various places where delectable morsels could be found, but since I was on the verge of barfing I wasn’t retaining much of the tidbits he was throwing out. I vaguely recall him mentioning a Chinese place where you could order any, and he meant ANY, part of a chicken dry fried.

A week later, when I was up for eating real food again I wracked my brain for the name of the place he had mentioned. Because of my decrepit condition at the time, I couldn’t for the life of me remember which Chinese place he had pointed out amidst the dozens that dot the streets of my neighborhood.

So bless the foodie gods who dropped the 7×7 article in my lap, for it talks about the very same restaurant!

Which brings me, finally, to the afternoon lunch Matt and I spent at San Tung.

When we walked in I noticed that we were the only non-Asian patrons in there, I took this as a good sign. If the food is authentic enough for those from the same culture, its good enough for me.

We were seated at a table with some other people sitting there. Sort of family style, we just didn’t share food. While I was scoping out what they ordered I noticed the illustrious dry fried chicken and I drooled a little bit.

(For a look at the complete menu, click here).

San Tung has an extensive lunch menu so we couldn’t help but take advantage of the cheaper prices. As we scanned our options we sipped on some beautiful Hot and Sour Soup.

This is one of my favorite soups, I have been know to eat it by the quart. Tofu, peas, willow tree fungus, bamboo shoots, and delicate whipped egg swam happily in a tangy yet slightly spicy broth.

In between sips of soup we nibbled on some complementary kimchi. Both of us LOVE this stuff so much, I think we asked for 3 plates throughout the course of the meal.

Neither of us were starving, but next thing we knew we had ordered 4 dishes, plus rice!

I pray my waistline will forgive me.

Our order went a little like this:

The lunch menu special of Curry Shrimp – complete with crunchy onions, green bell pepper, and thinly sliced carrots. Unlike a lot of places offering shrimp, San Tung did an upstanding job of not overcooking the succulent meat. The sweetness of the shrimp and the slight kick of the curry were quite the pair atop a small mound of rice.

We got brave and ordered cold Pig’s Ear with a five spice rub and soy garlic sauce. The flavor was nice, but preparation was not my cup of tea. The fat on the ear was slightly congealed giving each bite an overly gelatinous mouth feel. I’d try it again, but I think I would prefer them fried.

The star of the meal was hands down the dry fried chicken Scott recommended. By far the most wonderful fried chicken my mouth has ever had the pleasure of meeting. The golden brown, perfectly crisped skin burst open to reveal tender and juicy meat. We ordered the sauce on the side, which is definitely the way to go. Doing so allowed us to appreciate the heavenly taste of the meat on its own. The sauce though. The sauce. Whole chilies, diced green onion, and minced garlic basked in a sweet yet spicy sauce that clung to every crevice of the chicken each time we let the two meet. This is the dish that will keep me running back to San Tung again, and again.

A little background – I adore nuts. Nut butters, nut sauces, nut flours, candied or spiced nuts, nuts in my yogurt, nuts baked into sweet treats – you name it, I’m nuts for nuts. The 7×7 article praised the Noodles with Peanut Sauce so of course we just had to order it. I was giddy with excitement for these house made noodles topped with shrimp, baby scallops, water chestnuts, mushrooms, onions and peas smothered in a spiced peanut sauce to arrive at our table.

By the time our other dishes arrived the lunch rush hit, and hit hard, so every employee was running around in a frenzy, giving us no opportunity to inquire about our noodles. It was only when we were finished with our meal that a waiter dropped them at the table topped with a handful of julienned cucumber, but without an explanation as to why they were so late.

The dish certainly looked good, but the sauce did not live up to my nutty expectations. The sauce was lackluster – overly spiced and watered down and the noodles held no texture, turning to mush before I even had a chance to chew. Perhaps a result of the overwhelming rush, but I was disappointed.

Working as a waitress in a restaurant, I understand that things get chaotic and mistakes happen on occasion. Having been on both sides of the dining experience though, I believe that an apology goes a long way and I would have left a much happier customer if one had been provided.

We packed up our leftovers (all 5 boxes of it) and nibbled on fortune cookies after we paid and headed out. As a firm believer in second chances, I have no trouble saying that San Tung hasn’t seen the last of me. I fully intend on returning soon to reunite my taste buds and with that dry fried chicken and give those noodles another try. Maybe I will just try ordering earlier in the day.

There is a long list of goodies in hot and sour soup.  I’ve seen versions featuring sea cucumber (a marine echinoderm that looks a lot like an oversized slug) and pig’s blood pudding, but a more usual yet unusual ingredient is black or cloud ear fungus – so named as it sprouts up in ear-like shapes.  Cloud ears may be somewhat lacking in flavour, but are prized for their crunchy texture and are often added to stir fries just before cooking time is up.  They are usually sold in a dried form and are easily reconstituted by soaking in water for at least fifteen minutes, but remember to trim off the tough stem (where it was attached to the wood) before slicing.

Dried lily buds are also a common ingredient in hot and sour soup, but I haven’t been able to source them here yet, so I just used cloud ears, oyster mushrooms (shitake are usually used but I had some oyster mushrooms that needed using up in  the fridge), tofu and fresh bamboo shoots.  After all, pandas do like to chew on bamboo.  This soup is all about the shredding and a bit of extra effort is worth it, as it tastes much more delicate and refined the finer the slice and dice.

I must admit that I find it particularly hard to write down a recipe for this soup as it really is a matter of keeping tasting and adding in more vinegar, soy or pepper and I always lose track of how much of what I’ve actually sloshed in.  I guess that for one litre of water you could start with four tablespoons of vinegar, three of soy and one and a half teaspoons of white pepper and then see how it goes…

RECIPE:HOT AND SOUR SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

     Two or three teaspoons of minced ginger and garlic

     A handful of thinly sliced pork belly

     A handful of julienned bamboo shoots

     A handful of shitake mushrooms

     A handful of black ‘cloud ear’ fungus

     A handful of lily buds (if you can get your hands on them)

     A small block of finely diced tofu

     2 eggs

    A generous glug or two of black vinegar

    A splash of rice vinegar (this is the real sour stuff)

    A generous swig or two of soy sauce

    A teaspoon or two of white pepper

    A tablespoon or two of cornflour mixed to a smooth paste with water

    A dash of chilli and sesame oil

INSTRUCTIONS:  Soak the cloud ears and shitake (and lily buds if you have them) in boiling water for fifteen minutes or until softened and finely shred them.   Put a splash of oil into a large pot and add the minced garlic and ginger paste, pork, cloud ears and shitake, lily buds and bamboo shoots. For an extra kick you can add a sliced red chilli if you wish.  Fry for a minute and then add water so the soup is not overcrowded with ingredients.  Add the tofu and bring to a gentle simmer.  Now it’s time for the egg drop.  Beat the eggs and slowly pour them into the soup in a thin stream, stirring like mad so the egg forms delicate strands.  Add the vinegars, soy sauce and pepper and boil for ten minutes.  Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning to your liking by adding a bit more vinegar for sourness, pepper for hotness, soy for saltiness.  It might take a few dashes and splashes to get it just right.  If you find the soup too sour you can always add a bit of sugar to offset it.  Now add the cornflour paste and bring the soup to the boil so it thickens.  If you prefer a thicker consistency add more cornflour mix, but be sure it is a smooth paste or you’ll end up with coagulated clumps of flour in your soup.  Add a dash of chilli oil and sesame oil and enjoy…

Galangal is a rhizome, a striking root that shoots underground (yeah, that’s right. A striking root that shoots underground. How cool is that?), just like ginger or tumeric. If you can’t find fresh galangal you should try harder. Someone will get it for you. It’s worth the effort.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP with prawns and stuff (for 4)

1lt chicken stock

500ml tamarind water

1 thumb sized knob of galangal, sliced into 5-6 pieces

1 stalk lemongrass, bruised in a bar fight

2-3 long red chillis, deseed, slice

1-2 scud or birds eye chillis if you want to spice it up a bit

5 kaffir lime leaf*

¼ lemon, diced small, flesh and peel and all

3-4 tbls fish sauce

16 king prawns, peel and de-vein, keep heads

2-3 bunches asian greens, chopped, dredged in cold water to remove grit

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

4-5 fresh shitake mushrooms**, quartered through the middle

2 shallots, sliced

2 limes

• Make a broth with the chicken stock, tamarind water, galangal, lemongrass, chilli, kaffir leaf and prawn heads. Simmer for 10-15 minutes
• Strain it if you would like to be refined or don’t if you don’t want to I guess
• Put back onto a heat and add all other ingredients except shallots and lime juice. Simmer 5 minutes
• Check seasoning. Add a little more fish sauce if needed. It should be hot and sour and a little bit salty… and really tasty
• Add the shallots and lime juice for that final I’m-sexy-and-I-know-it goodness

*kaffir lime leaf. Essential in Thai cooking. If you can’t find these you should stop this recipe now.

**shitake mushrooms. You can find them. Someone will get them for you. Let’s not go through this again

Here are some photos of our recent dinner at the Shangrila Bistro in Marietta, Georgia, a lovely Tibean and Chinese Bistro http://shangrilamarietta.com/

We did not have it this time but they do have Yak dishes that are very good. We started off with the Hot and Sour soup as seen below:

Then we had the Spicy Cold Beef and the Amdo Momo:

Followed by orders of the Tofu with Black Bean Sauce and Cashew Chicken.

They also have a number of gift items and clothing for sale and while this nice restaurant is part of a gas station don’t be fooled as the food is very good.  Only note is that on this particular night they were a little heavy on the salt for our taste, especially on the Spicy Cold Beef.  I recommend that you make your way to this lovely establishment and treat your taste buds to a culinary adventure.

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First I have to show off an awesome addition to my kitchen, thanks to my amazing fiance!! I’ve gotta show off both what a great guy he as, as well as his mad welding skills (he is a welder). I mean, how lucky am I to have a guy that does this for me…and actually not just for me but for both of us because we cook together often! It makes it way easier for both of us to be in the kitchen.

How did I live without this stainless steel beauty before?

That’s the food dehydrator stored at the bottom. A great place for that massive thing which used to hang out on our kitchen table because it didn’t fit anywhere else.

Now…on to the FOOD! I got the idea of making this soup from another blog, luminousvegans. I’ve always wanted to try hot and sour soup but never have! The recipe is from Vegan Yum Yum.

Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup
Serves six?

1 Tbs Oil
1 Small Onion, minced
1 Small Cabbage, about the size of a grapefruit
2 Large Carrots, chopped
1 15oz Can Tomatoes, blended smooth
6 Cups Water
1 Cup Cubed Pressed, Baked Tofu (like wildwood baked) – I changed this and just used firm tofu, couldn’t find baked
1/4 Cup Tamari, low sodium
1/3 Cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar (or if you only have regular rice vinegar like I did – use 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1  1/2 Tbsp sugar and 3/4 tsp salt)
1 tsp Hot Red Chili Flakes (I used Asian hot chilli sauce – to taste)
1/2 tsp Salt
Black Pepper, to taste (a lot!)

Heat a large 5 qt soup pot that has a heavy lid over medium heat. Add oil and onion, and saute until golden.

Meanwhile, quarter your cabbage, remove the core, and shred the cabbage with a large chef’s knife. Add carrots, tomatoes, cabbage and water to the pot and stir well.

First time using tofu cubed up in something - loved it in this soup!

Add the tofu, tamari, vinegar, chili flakes and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, then turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until cabbage and carrots are the desired tenderness.

Grind a lot of fresh black pepper over the top and serve.

The flavor in this soup was so great, I am going to make it again very soon. The tofu absorbs the soup flavor and it is melt in your mouth goodness – it’s addicting. This soup is also easy, and you can keep it in the fridge and eat it all week.

This one is a winner – try it out for yourself!

[Back Track Post]

Last night was way too rough. I hated myself for being human and having to get up and pee, cuz I thought I was going to freeze to death in the hallway. The room was hot and I knew it. I saw reason A over there sweating up a storm, but she didn’t dare to turn on the AC cuz she knew I was freezing out of my skin in bed. (*Pets her) The whole night was rough, and I would fall in and out of sleep. I think I kept trying to wake up to text Kenny, but I could never gather up enough energy to actually type anything meaningful in a text to send him.

I woke up this morning around 10am, feeling extremely tired and dizzy. I called Kenny. His background noise was loud. I knew he was out and about but didn’t know where. He told me he was out eating and drinking with some co-workers. At the moment, I felt very annoyed. He asked me how I was doing, I told him I’m still alive. He asked if I took my meds yet and I said yes, and he again insisted that I eat something, although I simply just didn’t feel like it. We only spoke briefly both because he thought I needed to go back to sleep since it was early, and cuz he had to get back to the table, as he stepped away to speak to me cuz it was too rowdy there. I felt rather irritated when I knew I didn’t have the right to be. I knew I was just being grumpy cuz I was sick and felt like ass, but I was upset nonetheless that I was over here sickly and dying and he was drinking his life away and partying. I thought to myself. If he was as sick as I was, running a high fever and throwing up. I would NOT be in any mood to go out drinking and partying. I would be at home worried sick!! Ugh. The more I thought about it the more upset I was. I wanted to kick him in the head.

Being grumpy and sick, I couldn’t fall back asleep. I decided to get up and mope around a little bit. The weather was nice, unfortunately I was in a crappy mood and still going in and out of a fever. I attempted to eat a little bit more congee, and watch a little TV. I laid my head on reason A’s lap as we watched TV together for a couple of hours. Its times like this that I feel really blessed that I have a mom. reason A asked me if Kenny knew I was sick and I said yeah. She was like “Oh…” I guess she expected him to call and ask me how I was doing. Before she could say anything else, I said “We spoke earlier this morning, and he asked me how I was doing and stuff.” She said she didn’t hear me talkin’ on the phone and I said because it was really brief. She said, “Probably cuz he knows you need rest.” I just agreed. Then, a few minutes later, Kenny calls again. It’s about 12 noon my time, so his midnight. I hurry and pick up. How about he was still not home yet!! *FAILS* I asked him if he was still out drinking and he said yes. He said they are bar hopping and they just switched to a new location. I couldn’t mummer anything other than “Oh…” He asked me if I was up or still in bed, I told him I was up. He asked if I had anything to eat. I told him what I had and he said I need to eat more. I think he was rather tipsy by this point, they had been drinking for a few hours now. We joked around for a little bit longer, and I told him not to drink too much. Then we hung up again. I felt a little bit better that he checked up on me again. At least I knew he still cared although he was out having a good time.

After I watched a little more TV with reason A, I felt really tired, so decided to go back to bed. I slept from 1pm to about 3:30pm, when I heard my phone vibrate. It was Kenny again. I thought he wouldn’t call again, cuz last time he called, it was already his midnight, but now it’s his 3:30 in the morning! I pick up and how about the boy was STILL outside! WTF!!! I asked him if he was STILL out drinking and he said he was and that he was really drunk. I didn’t really know what to say. I told him to stop partying so hard like he’s still young. He asked me if I was napping and I told him I was. He said he’d probably head home soon, and he won’t be calling anymore so he just wanted to let me know where he was going. He said he’ll probably be too drunk to figure out where he lives AND be on the phone with me at the same time. *FAILS* But I felt guilty in getting low key upset at home for going out for drinks. I know he almost NEVER goes out. The last time he went anywhere just for fun was probably when I was in Canton!! When we first met, he hung out with friends a lot. That’s how he usually spends his weekends, but in recent years, all he does is spend ALL his time with me and yet I am STILL greedy with his time!! WTF!! I need to stop that. -__-;; So considering that he called me 3 times in one outing to check in with me, I forgive him. Lol. But he’s the one that always says that he’d rather spend time with me than be out with friends! *DIES*

Later that night, I felt a little bit better. But everything around the house was starting to annoy me. I think it gets like this when the weather is hot. I am less tolerant of “mess” around the house. So I started to clean my room. Technically I should have been in bed resting, but I started cleaning my desk and drawers and everything else. It was cool in the house, cuz we finally turned the AC on since I wasn’t running a fever anymore but I was breakin’ out a cold sweat. Maybe it was a good thing. I always heard, its good to sweat when you have a cold, cuz it helps cure it.

After I finished cleaning my room, reason A asked me what I wanted for dinner. The only good thing about being sick? You get to eat whatever you want. I told her I felt like some Hot & Sour Soup, although my taste buds weren’t really working and I couldn’t taste anything anyways. *FAILS* Bad news was that we didn’t have any of the ingredients at home so that means we had to make a trip to the grocery store. Ugh!! No!! I didn’t feel like driving. I still felt like asswipe!! But it’s always good to drink some soup when you’re sick so we went. By the time we got home, it was 10pm already. But I have to admit, that was some damn good soup!! Hot & Sour Soup is really polarizing. Meaning that you either love it, or hate it. There’s rarely anyone in between. Some people can’t deal with drinking down a big bowl of something that sour, but I personally LOVE it. Especially reason A’s. In matter of fact, I won’t drink anyone else’s Hot & Sour Soup, cuz its so far from the real deal!! No matter what Chinese restaurant I go to and try their soup, be it a fancy restaurant where the soup is $20 a bowl, or some random Chinese fast food place, their soup always sucks. REASON A’S HOT & SOUR SOUP IS THE TRUTH!! Lol. Yes I am passionate about it. I have to admit, after I had it. I felt a lot better.

While I was crossing the street I found myself reminiscing, as I tend to do at all hours of the day, how wonderful it would be if T and I were in first year again, when we didn’t care about grades and would jump at the chance to drop all responsibility and run away to Wal-Mart in the middle of the storm, or wander around the hidden boroughs that is Montreal.

Anyways, a couple of hours after I returned from the gym, whilst in the kitchen making tea and thinking about what a waste of a beautiful day, T came in and stated that she would like to go for a walk, this is it, I thought, my chance!

M: Yea, it’s really beautiful outside.

T: Yea, I think I’m going to go for a walk.

M: You know what I was thinking? How in first year we would have walked down to old Montreal.

T: You want to?! Let’s, and then we can go to Chinatown!

M: (In my head) YES, YES, YES (out ward emotion) OK!

M: Man, how I longed for the days when you didn’t give a shit

Both girls laugh.

Mission accomplished, T & M will be indulging in a beautiful day and even have hot and sour soup in Chinatown, after T finishes her thesis of course.

Hot and Sour Soup Served Here...

After pushing himself to perform (and score well)  with his 7th grade band at the annual evaluations, my son decided that he was indeed miserably sick and asked for some hot and sour soup from his favorite place in Snellville-Mah Jong. He told me that it always made him feel better and was probably the cure for the common cold.

I always feel better after a nice steamy bowl of the nearly slimy stuff. Mah Jong has been serving up H & S Soup to my now teenager since he could swallow. “Our” waiter, Ben, who has moved on to have his own family used to fish out the tofu from the big pot in the kitchen and bring Drew a bowl of flavored goodness. Ben even sat down when it wasn’t busy and fed Drew himself. It may well be why the kid rarely ever gets sick and why, when he does, it is what he craves.

Not really sure what is actually on the ingredient list and may not want to know, but it is the stuff that cures are made of. Drew popped up out of bed this morning ready for his day…thanks to his bowl of Hot and Sour Soup.

http://mahjonga.com/home

6 Mar 12 – Taipei – Lomo Food Shots

Sunday Familia Dinner done right.

Pork blood hot pot. I’m not into that whole vampire blood bizness but the soup/sauce on top of rice was money!!

Fried tofu with spicy chili salt. sooo good. Crispy, hot and buttery on the inside.

the hot and soup soup was full of pepper… ulcer inducer. But again, it hit the spot and then some.

Vegs x lots of garlic

this was a neat dish. Fish encrusted in fried pieces of tofu.

Oooh yeah. Fried prawns in a mayo/pineapple sauce. Life doesnt get better than this my friend.

A must eat here in vancouver. now go get your Szechuen on!

It’s not the first time that we did a cooking class either at home or when we went abroad. This time in Thailand it was one of the nicest ever: directly on the beach, the sea as a view and a chef just for the two of us. Epic! Lucky as we were we could even chose the dishes to cook the day before and we only chose our most favorite meals of our holiday: green papaya salad, Thai glassnoodle salad and tom yam goon (hot and sour prawn soup). Those are actually all starters but after I’ve done curries in a course four years ago already we wanted to focus on those.
Our chef prepared all the ingredients and when we came the restaurant manager helped him with translating everything. They built up a small mobile kitchen on the beach next to the restaurant and after the introduction it started with hands on! Not even 2hours later we were the happy people enjoying a lovely meal, fresh, tasty, boasting with Thai flavors and the best news: it was so easy to make! We left happy and hoping to get all the ingredients back in Malta. Three days after our return four of our best friends were the first guinea pigs. It took me 2hours to get around different supermarkets and veggie stores but finally I got everything and I was really impressed by the huge choice of the Asian supermarket in Gzira. Abroad I guess you’ll have less stops to get all the fixings you need Everything came out really well and nearly the way we had it on the beach just a couple of days ago. The only thing I was adding to our menu which was not totally authentic was the dip to start with our aperitif (pinapple prosecco btw). So if anyone knows a Thai dip to start a meal I’m curious for ideas! Instead I tried out another SmittenKitchen’s Bean & Pepper Dip wich came out really nice too – check out the recipe here (really nice food blog btw).

All recipes serve 6:

Thai Glassnoodle Salad with chicken

Soak glass noodles (1 bunch p.p) in cold water for a couple of minutes, drain, put aside. Chop up some cherry tomatoes and mushrooms, chilies as well as fresh corenader. Fry some garlic and ginger in coconut oil and fry approx. 400g of minced chicken. Season with fish sauce and lime juice to taste. In the meantime put the prepared glass noodles in cooking water for like 10min, drain. Add them to the chicken, add tomoatoes and shallots and some sweet and sour chili sauce. Stir everything and decorate with chopped coreander. Top with fresh chilies depening on your love for heat
Note: If you can’t get fresh coreander celery greens is also great. You can also take spring onions instead of shallots. This dish can also be done with prawns, seafood or all of them together.

Tom Yam Goon (hot and sour prawn soup)

Chop up 2 pieces of galanga, a bunch of lemongrass, some cherry tomatoes and shallots as well as fresh coreander. Wash some kaffir leaves (dried or fresh would be even better if you can get them). Put everything but the prawns in a pot with boiling water and let it simmer for some minutes until nice and fragrant. Add  2-3 tablespoons of high quality tom yam paste (I prefer the brand COOK from the Asian supermarket which they also used in Thailand) and season with lime juice and fish sauce, some sugar if it tastes too sour. At the very end add the prawns (or seafood) until they turn pink and finalise with a splash of coconut milk. Divide it in nice bowls and decorate with fresh coreander. Serve with fresh chilies so everybody can take spice it up to taste.
Note: can be served with rice to make it a full meal (or handle the heat )

Banana in sweet coconut milk

Slowly heat up 750ml of coconut milk. Add some tablespoons of brown sugar and some pinches of salt. Cut up 6 bananas in half and half them another time. Put them into the hot coconut milk for some minutes. When they are soft and tender serve them in little bowls.
Note: This dish can also be done with sweet pumpkin, melon, lychees or other fruit.