Pad Kee Mao --Drunken Noodles

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

Occasionally, depending on the search engine, such as Google, other websites will appear before my blog address. You may need to look for the words, Enjoy Life, when looking for my blog as you scroll down the entries that appear first. Good luck! And thanks for visiting my blog.

 Lan

Pad Kee Mao, also known as drunken noodles, is a Thai stir-fry dish. The name of this dish can be confusing, which means that there must be a lot of alcohol in this dish to make us drunk after eating. However, that is just the way the Thai people want to name this recipe. Some Thai cooks explain that this dish is very spicy and that only a drunk person who does not know anymore can consume it. I think this explanation is funny. However, I am Vietnamese, so I do not fully understand the name of the dish, but I do know that it's a very easy stir-fry dish that doesn't have to follow any hard rules like many other stir-fry dishes. The ingredients used can also vary according to the taste of each family. The sauce of this stir-fry dish is very simple and commonly used for all the stir-fry dishes in Asian recipes. The only ingredient that I think makes this dish truly authentic Pad Kee Mao are the thick fresh rice noodles. I use pad Thai noodles for this dish, and it is always easy to find in many Asian markets.  With my style of cooking, I will introduce an easy Pad Kee Mao or drunken noodles dish that everyone can prepare at home.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, sliced (2 oz. meat per person)

1 tbs cornstarch

8 oz. Pad Thai noodles

2 tbs canola oil

2 shallots or 1/2 red onions, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 piece fresh ginger, minced (1 tsp )

3 red hot Thai chili peppers

Vegetables:

1 green bell pepper, julienned

1 zucchini, julienned

3 green onions, chopped

2 roma tomato, sliced

Thai basil (use as much as you like)

Sauce ingredients:

1/4 cup oyster sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbs dark soy sauce (I use black molasses)

1 tbs fish sauce

1 /2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbs sugar or honey

1 tbs sriracha sauce

Directions:

Soak the Pad Thai noodles for 15 minutes; then drain well. If you use different noodles, then cook noodles according to the package instructions.

In a bowl, mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

Place chicken in a bowl with 2 tbs of sauce and cornstarch to mix together well. Let chicken marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Heat 1 tbs of oil in deep sauté pan; then add onions. Cook onions until wilted and add chicken. 

Add garlic and ginger and cook for a minute. Add hot chili, if using

Add bell pepper, zucchini, and tomato and cook for 3 minutes.

Add noodles and pour sauce over noodles. Toss and cook further for the sauce to coat the chicken well for a few minutes. 

Add chopped basil and green onion and serve hot.

 

Tip : the amount of the sauce is more than necessary for this recipe. Save it for another dish. 

If life gives you a choice, don't hesitate to choose an honest life

The Sahara desert has always been considered a dead land, and it is difficult for people who go to this desert to find a way back alive. But in 1814, an archeology team broke it. At that time, seeing many white bones appearing everywhere in the desert, the team leader asked his members to bury the unfortunate dead people, then use branches or anything outstanding to make graves for them.

However, because the number of people dying in the desert was so many, they didn't have much time to bury each skeleton, so one of the crew members immediately said, "We are here to study, not to bury human bones."

The team leader was still very determined to say: "These skeletons may have been our colleagues; would you mercilessly watch them lie alone on the sand?".

A week later, the archaeological team discovered ancient fossils, these discoveries may shock the whole world, the archeology team decided to leave in glee, but a sandstorm emerged, the sun was obstructed, and the compass stopped working.

The archeology team was completely disoriented, the food and water that was brought with them was also about to run out; now they understood why their previous colleagues could not return. In the urgent situation, the suddenly team leader said, "Don't despair, do you remember we left a lot of signs on the way while burying all the skeletons?"

And so they followed the tombstones they had placed and finally found their way out. When responding to interviews, many members of the archeology team said: "It is thanks to our kind hearts that helped us get out of the desert!".

In the sandy and windy desert, they made the choice to do good, and it is the same good deed that helped them find their way home.

In our life, kindness should be the compass in each person's heart, because when we use our good hearts, we will not go wrong forever.

Tilapia with Lemon Butter Sauce

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

 Occasionally, depending on the search engine, such as Google, other websites will appear before my blog address. You may need to look for the words, Enjoy Life, when looking for my blog as you scroll down the entries that appear first. Good luck! And thanks for visiting my blog.

 Lan

Lemon butter sauce is another word for francaise sauce. This is a synthetic sauce made from butter, lemon juice, olive oil, and shallots or onions. It is a sauce that is made very quickly, so it is very suitable for people who have busy lives. Traditionally, this dish is cooked with very thinly sliced chicken, but, because of my family's way of dieting, I use tilapia fish. This sauce also can go well with shrimp or other seafood. 

Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillets

2 tbs flour

1/4 tsp salt 

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 egg

Sauce ingredients:

2 tbs olive oil

2 tbs butter

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped or 1/2 cup total

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 roma tomato, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

To make the sauce:

In a sauce pan, add butter and oil. Heat until hot and stir in garlic and onions. Cook for 3 minutes. Add wine and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced by half. Add lemon juice and zest; then add the roma tomatoes. Let cook for another 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir in fresh chopped parsley.

To prepare the fish:

Thaw fish if frozen

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and pepper.

In another bowl, beat egg; then flavor egg with salt and pepper as well.

Cover the fish on both sides with flour; shake the excess flour off the fish; then dip the fish in the egg mixture.

Heat about 1 tbs olive oil in a sauté pan; then add fish. Cook each side of the fish for 2 minutes over medium temperature.

Place fish on a serving plate and pour sauce over them.

Serve with noodles of your choice.

Malaysian Chicken Curry

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

 Occasionally, depending on the search engine, such as Google, other websites will appear before my blog address. You may need to look for the words, Enjoy Life, when looking for my blog as you scroll down the entries that appear first. Good luck! And thanks for visiting my blog.

 Lan

When I speak of curry, everyone knows that I mean Asian food. Throughout Asia and much of the world too, curry is very popular. The recipes are very similar except that each region will use slightly different spices to make it authentic. However, there will never be curry dishes without coconut milk, potatoes, and other vegetables depending on the region. Today, I will introduce a curry from Malaysia. I will make this recipe very simple, and the only hard part is the spices used. Even though I said it is hard, most Asian family kitchens already have all the necessary ingredients to make spices for curry at home.  Nowadays, curry spices are made available and sold in Asian food markets and in some American grocery stores. So, if you don't want to create your own curry seasoning, you can purchase a ready-made curry spice pack.

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into bite-size pieces

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced

2 shallots, peeled and minced

One 14.5 oz. Can of coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups green beans

1 small white onion, sliced

3 tbs curry powder (see at bottom how to create homemade Malaysian curry powder)

1/4 cup oil

Season with:

Fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and black pepper to taste

Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro

Serve with rice or bread

Directions:

Add diced chicken in a bowl with lid. Add 1 tbs curry powder; equal of 1 tsp fish sauce, sugar, salt and mix well. Cover and marinate the chicken for a few hours.

Heat oil in a deep sauté pan. Add garlic, ginger, onions and the remaining of the curry powder. Stir and cook until fragrant about 3 minutes. Add chicken; stir and cook until chicken coat with the curry powder mixture.

Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Season with some salt at this time.

Cook for 15 minutes; then add the coconut milk and green beans. Bring back to boil for 10 minutes

At this time, start to season again with fish sauce, sugar, and salt to your liking.

Cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, and add green onions and cilantro. Serve with rice or bread. 

How to make homemade Malaysian curry powder:

Combine and mix well the following and store in a glass jar with lid:

2 tablespoons turmeric

2 tablespoons curry powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

1 tablespoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon cloves powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon ginger powder

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 tablespoon cayenne chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika powder

 

The Perfect Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed.

"You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart. But, because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges - giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people, I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side. How sad it must be to go through life with a whole heart.

 

Author unknown

Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

 Occasionally, depending on the search engine, such as Google, other websites will appear before my blog address. You may need to look for the words, Enjoy Life, when looking for my blog as you scroll down the entries that appear first. Good luck! And thanks for visiting my blog.

 Lan

During this Covid-19 lockdown, I would like to share an easy recipe for preparing pork chops by grilling in a pan. Even though it is a quick recipe, it is not less flavorful than the pork chops that are served in the Vietnamese restaurants. There are so many recipes for marinating pork chops. The best are those that result in the pork chops being soft, moist and flavorful. This easy recipe will satisfy most of the hard food critics.

Ingredients:

2 pork chops

Marinate sauce ingredients:

1 stalk of lemongrass (the white part)

3 garlic cloves

2 shallots

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs fish sauce

2 tbs orange marmalade or honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbs ruou mai que lo (Vietnamese herbal liquor for marinating – optional or you can use sake)

2 tbs peanut oil

Serve with rice.

Garnish with green onions and cilantro

Vietnamese dipping sauce (see directions at bottom)

Directions:

Wash the pork chops with water, salt, and vinegar. Drain and dry well.

In a blender or food processor, combine all the marinate ingredients and blend into a paste.

Place the pork chops in a Zip Loc bag and pour the marinade ingredients over them. Seal the bag and coat well. 

Let the pork marinade for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator is even better.

Let the pork chops sit out at the room temperature for 1 hour to reduce the cold before grilling.

Heat a nonstick pan with a little oil. Grill the pork chops for 4 minutes on each side over medium heat, turning frequently until cooked through.

Serve with rice and dipping sauce on the side.

To make Vietnamese dipping sauce:

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs sugar

2 tbs water

1 tbs lemon juice 

Other ingredients: minced garlic and hot fresh chili, chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Easy Semi-Homemade Chicken Fajita

If you are viewing my cooking and baking blog, enjoyasimplelife.blogspot.com, for the first time or are a frequent viewer, I have not made many additional entries to the blog for quite some time.  The reason for this is that I have made a move to a new home in a different state, and the cooking arrangements are not quite ideal at this time. There are additional reasons that should be resolved soon. When this happens, I will gladly post additional easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated entries that I am certain you will enjoy preparing for yourself and others. In the meantime, I have already published more than 1300 recipes on this website that you can have access to now at no cost to you except for your time and your own desire to try something new. To search for something of your liking, simply enter a word or group of words, such as shrimp, chicken, egg rolls, or dipping sauce, etc., in the search box in the upper left-hand corner or the Search This Blog at the very bottom of this page. Then click the magnifying glass search symbol or the word Search to the right of the word(s). Immediately, all the recipes I have in my blog that contain the word or words just entered will appear in the order they were posted.

 Occasionally, depending on the search engine, such as Google, other websites will appear before my blog address. You may need to look for the words, Enjoy Life, when looking for my blog as you scroll down the entries that appear first. Good luck! And thanks for visiting my blog.

 Lan

A fajita is a type of Mexican cuisine that uses meat to grill or cook in cast-iron pan. It is usually served on a flour or corn tortilla. I am Asian, and rice traditionally accompanies Asian meals. I think fajita served with rice is healthier than corn or flour tortilla. Although, the other side dishes that come with fajita, such as shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream salsa, or guacamole are very good, but it is not necessary to serve it over rice. For this easy recipe, I like to use the fajita seasoning that is sold in most grocery stores with any brand that suits your taste. This method will save time, especially if your kitchen does not have the necessary spices to make fajita. I add fresh garlic to the marinade because it will enhance the flavor for this dish..

 Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

1 sweet red bell pepper or a combination of green and yellow peppers, julienned

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, peeled and sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Spices:

1 package fajita seasoning

1/4 cup avocado oil

1 tbs lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Serve with steamed rice

Chopped cilantro

Directions:

In two medium bowls, place chicken in one bowl and sweet pepper in the other bowl. Divide the seasoning equally and add to both of them. Add 1/2 of the oil, minced garlic, and lime juice to the chicken and mix well.

Heat the cast-iron stick skillet with the rest of the oil until hot.

Add chicken strips and cook until the turned chicken is no longer pink (about 5 minutes).

Add red onions and bell pepper.

Season with some salt and black pepper to suit your taste.

I use soy sauce to season my fajita (your choice).

Cook until bell pepper and red onions are wilted. Turn the heat off and add green onions and cilantro.

Now the fajita is ready to serve.

Tip: if you do not want to use ready-made fajita seasoning, here are the spices to make your own:

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes