Fried Shrimp Dumplings / Fried Shrimp Rolls

I’m sure many of you out there loves to eat all kinds of dumplings.  My family for sure loves them that is why I have collected a variety of cookbooks with dumpling recipes in them.

At my home we eat dumplings at least once a week.  Either steam, sautéed or deep fried, they are our favorite appetizer dipped in either mayonnaise, sweet and spicy ketchup or garlic soy sauce.   I prefer homemade instead of bought dumplings though because I get to eliminate unwanted ingredients such as MSG and some pork fats that are always if not often added to dumplings, that includes even the vegetable dumplings.   Last week I made some special fried seafood dumplings which I got from a cookbook called Thai Way of Life (The Dusit Cookbook )

I say special because the taste is no ordinary dumpling.  It is actually hands down the tastiest seafood dumplings or rolls I have ever had.
Here are the Ingredients : ( makes 16 pcs )

• 16 Large Prawns
• 10 grams garlic cloves
• 10 grams fresh coriander roots
• 20ml  Soy sauce
• 20ml  Oyster sauce
• 10 grams Sugar
• White pepper to taste
• 16 pcs Wonton Wrappers or 32 pcs spring roll sheets
• 15 grams Egg noodles
• flour paste : mix equal amounts of flour and water

1. Prepare the prawns: Clean and wash the prawns, peel and de-vein leaving the tail on.  Pound them gently to straighten. ( Pounding them also prevents the prawns from curling when being cooked)

2.  Prepare the marinade :  Pound the coriander roots, garlic and white pepper in a mortar until fine.  Combine the pounded ingredients with soya sauce, oyster sauce and sugar in a bowl.   Add the prawns and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Note : do not over marinate this. Trust me.  It won’t taste good.  30-40 minutes in the fridge is all it takes.

Next blanch the egg noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes or until done.  Drain and wash under cold water.  Cut the noodles into 30 centimeters lengths.  Set aside.

3. Perforate the wanton sheets with 4 to 5 holes before wrapping each prawns with it. ( this prevents the sheets from ballooning while being fried ) Then band with a piece of egg noodle.  Seal with flour paste.

4. Fry the wrapped prawns in oil in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown and crispy.  Use paper towels to remove excess oil.  Serve this appetizers with either mayonaise or sweet chili ketchup.

Tips :

• If you can find a finer/thinner egg noodles than the ones I’m using the better.
• Either use 2 pieces spring rolls sheets or 1 pc wonton sheet per prawn.  If using spring roll sheets, you need to cut them into 10×10 cm before using.

BON APPETITO !

Cutest Tomatoes

At my sister’s garden I saw the cutest little tomatoes.

Holy Week 2013

I’m not a devoted Christian as I would like to be, but at the least I try to do something religious during the Holy Week instead of just planning a “non-religious vacation” like I use to.  This is my Holy Week 2013 in pictures.

Palm Sunday : For the longest time I thought these palms leaves are used to ward of evil spirits or hungry ghosts…ignorant me.   I know now that these palm leaves are actually bought to commemorate the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.  We brought this to church on Palm Sunday to be blessed by the priest, afterwards hung them anywhere inside or outside our home.

We bought palm leaves last Saturday to prepare for the beginning of Holy Week on Sunday — Palm Sunday

Good Friday :  Husband and I attended the ecumenical Stations of the Cross at Saint Pio Chapel in Libis.   This chapel has built several crosses of different sizes for you to carry while walking the 14 stations set up in the empty driveway at the church.  This created the feeling and ambiance that quite resembles the time when Christ was crucified.  I’ve seen children as young as about 8 years old took part in this, and some people even tried walking barefoot too .  ( I only took two pictures because I didn’t want to disturb the people praying inside. )

Cross of different sizes are stacked neatly outside the Church’s front door. Ministers of the church distribute the crosses to  devotees who wanted to walk the 14 stations of the cross.

Each of us were give a piece of paper containing prayers and short stories about each station.

Black Saturday :   I spent time at home preparing food for Easter Sunday as my family will be coming over. I made my daughter’s favorite sweet korean chicken and my newly invented taro-coconut pudding.  Yeah the pudding doesn’t look very nice but they are actually very creamy and deliciously baked in the coconut shell. ( I can’t think of any garnish or decoration to make it look more appealing than this one in the right photo.)

Korean style baked chicken and taro-coconut pudding for dessert. YUM!

Easter Sunday : Spent time resting at home with my family, eating, eating, and eating.

Adults ate while kids swam all sunny afternoon.

How was your Holy Week?

Homemade Creamy-licious Berry Ice Cream

The Summer long Holy Week vacation is finally here! And everyone is in the ice cream mode again and so I thought I should give my little bug a good taste of her very first ice cream.  Marionberry ice cream! YUM! Nothing will inspire me to make homemade ice cream more than Summer long break and endless supply of fresh berries right at my sister’s garden (and have I ever told you that we live just 7 minutes walk away?!)

The first time I made ice cream was chocolate mocha flavor and it was amazing, way better than store bought, so I wanted to make again but this time I want it to be child friendly so I decided on Berry Ice Cream.  This will definitely not compare to supermarket ice creams that are often loaded with food colorings, flavorings and preservatives.

I was going to make ice cream using my sister’s ice cream machine but then she lent it to a friend so this time I had to make my ice cream the “old fashion” way.   But that’s fine, making ice cream without the machine is easy and the advantage is that I can make so much more than a pint at one time and I don’t have to carry big heavy machine.

Homemade Berry Ice Cream ( makes about 4.5 cups )

• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 Cup white sugar ( more if you want it sweeter )
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ almond extract
• About 1.5 Cup marionberries ( any type of berries will do as long you get about a cup of mashed berries )
• 2 cups all purpose cream
• 3/4 Cup Full cream milk

Equipments :

• Electric Mixer
• Metal or plastic or Glass container
• large saucepan
• spoon

First and foremost i put my glass container where I want to put my ice cream in the freezer.  This will help my ice cream freeze faster making it so much creamier.

Next, I carefully wash my fresh squishy berries –> remove their stems —> then mash them with the back of a spoon to bring out their juices.  You may puree them with a blender if you want extra smooth ice cream.  I personally prefer ice cream with bits of berry texture.

Using an electric mixer on med-high speed, whisk the 6 yolks, white sugar and salt until pale.  Add in the vanilla extract and almond extract. In a large saucepan over medium heat, add in the cream and milk. Heat until it simmers.  Turn off heat.  Slowly pour this mixture over the egg –sugar mixture while the mixer is turned at low-medium speed.  ( pouring it slowly prevents the egg from getting scrambled and making the custard smooth ) .  This makes a really creamy custard mix.   Turn off the mixer.

Pour the custard mix into the saucepan and add in the mashed berries.  Simmer while stirring constantly for about 15 minutes- 20 minutes. The mixture will slowly turn into beautiful deep purplish foamy liquid.

I let the custard cool down before pouring it into my frozen glassware.  Freeze it for 1 hour, then pour it again into my mixer and mix it on high speed to incorporate air and break off the ice crystals.  I did this procedure (Freeze –> Remix )  2 more times to make it all perfect; no ice crystals, very smooth, very creamy!

After the third mix, leave the mixture in the freezer  overnight.  There you have it, irresistibly creamy and amazing marionberry ice cream!  Love the deep, vibrant berrylicious color of this!

This will perhaps keep fresh up to 2 weeks???  I’m not sure.  It never last more than 3 days in my house.

Optional flavor boosters : sprinkle chopped toasted walnuts and fresh banana slices!!!

ENJOY!

I’m a Versatile Blogger!

I was nominated by three kind bloggers for this award and I’m very grateful.  First by Natalie Beech, she’s a “writer, editor, and a professional language whore.”  Thank you so much Natalie for the nomination, all your thoughtful comments on my blog, and for inspiring me to continue blogging

Second was by Pondering Spawned who’s kind enough to host the WTOE (World Through Our Eyes) for all artist out there.  Several artist including me have already participated and it was fun!  Thanx so much Pondering Spawned for the nomination, for featuring my gingerbread art and for your kind comments on my posts.

And third most recent was by Ajaytao whose blog is just so full of fascinating and inspiring arts and photographs.  Ajaytao, thanx for nominating me, reading thru my posts, and encouraging me to keep blogging.

Rules : 

•  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
•  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers who you think deserves this award.  Include a link to their blog.
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Seven Things About Me

1.)   I make my own ice cream (without using ice cream machine). Recipe right HERE!

2.) I only go to parlor to trim my hair every 6 months.

3.)    I’m curious about almost anything when it comes to baking and cooking.   Last week, I successfully made organic cream cheese.  I simply got a pint of Organic Greek Style yoghurt, pour it on a cheese cloth and let the whey drip overnight like the photo on the right.  The end result is all natural cream cheese

4.) I made a rabbit costume for my daughter on her birthday, which goes pretty well with her cake

         So many food to eat but she only ate chips that day.  < a mouth full of chips >

5.) I found my prey camouflaging in my sister’s marionberry tree. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Can you spot it ???  His not exactly cute but it’s right in the middle, it’s got red head and dark blue body, similar to the color of the marionberries.  How awesome is nature!  I let him go since he made it to my blog post.

6.) My height is 5’5.  Quite short, yet I don’t wear heels more than an inch high.

7.) I dedicate 4-7 hours a week to blog —  writing new posts and reading other blogs.  Usually during my lunch hour or when my daughter is already asleep at night.  I then schedule my post to be published the next day.  That too much? Too little? Too late?

My Nominees :

1. Kikay Mommy Sha

2. Razca Origami

3. Intrinsic

4. Avani

5. My Life After Glow

6. Pravin Aswale

7. Petit 4 Chocolatier

8. Musing & Rants

9. Rarasour

10. Everyday in a Dress

11. Third Culture Children

12. Sufey

13.

14.

15.

To receive the award you must :

•  Thank the person who gave you this award.
•  Select 15 blogs/bloggers who you think deserves this award.  Include a link to their blog.
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Here are my other awards:

• Inspiring
•  Lovely
• Readership

Trixie and I

Daily Prompt __ Menagerie 

Do you have animals in your life? If yes what do they mean to you.  If no why have you opted not to?

I’m an animal loving gal but I don’t wanna own any because I’m already too busy and not rich enough to take care of an orangutan, a horse, an owl and a tiger.  ( I got tired of dogs lol ) I used to own and love two mini pincher dogs when I was little, they died of old age after 8 years or so and I never wanted to replace them ever since.  I’ve grown up and didn’t want the added responsibility of taking best care of them.

We were at the Ark Avilon mini zoo last Sunday.  Below are some pictures of me with Trixie the friendliest prettiest Orangutan I’ve ever encountered.  She kept smiling for the camera and would even kiss you willingly if you tell her to.

Her hands are surprisingly soft.

She wanted to do a high five lol

According to my mom-in-law, this mini zoo started as a hobby of an animal lover couple who just loves to buy and collect animals.  I love this zoo as it is very interactive and educational especially to kids.

Antique Machines

Found this old fashion electromechanical digital calculator at my mom’s house which used to belong to her mom.  It’s called the 1949 Merchant Figuremaster.  Grandma used this one during the 1950s while running her family business.  According to her, this was fast, accurate and dependable.

While researching about this I came across this ad on ebay. ( you may click on the image on the left to go to the source on ebay ) They call this the Merchant Figuremaster calculator “Heaven on Earth.”  Not according to it’s weight definitely,  I tried carrying this and it is so much heavier than the heaviest laptop.  This perhaps culminates in the line of mechanical calculator evolution that started in the early 1900s. It could add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers at the touch of a button.

I’m guessing this one is a newer version, perhaps in the 1950s since it looks less complicated since it has fewer buttons.  I still have not found a single source online about this but will update when I do.

An antique Singer brand sewing machine is still existing at our home.

My husband’s grandma (the owner ) is turning 91 this year and she’s still using this.

This last one originally belongs to my husband 30yrs ago.  A Matchbox brand antique toy phone.