From a fish to a two-drinks-max

I am a cheap drunk, and i'm happy about that.

In my twenties, i used to be able to hold my alcohol real well, or as they say in my neck of the woods, "drinks like a fish". It was an occupational hazard, as i used to own and run a pub. a bottle of jack daniel's per night used to be the norm, on top of the beers and God knows what else i used to gulp down. oh, and the bottle of JD, i meant that the whole bottle for me, not one that i opened and then shared amongst the lot of us. hard liquor, beers, cocktails, shots, you name it, this Ah Moi could down it, and then some.

Nowadays, all it takes is 2 drinks, and i want to sleep after that. Nicely tipsy is how i like it. Happily nicely buzzed :) and it's way cheaper too, do you know how much a bottle of Strongbow costs??!!?

Now when i see "young" folks having photos and showing off all the alcohol they have lined up or consumed, only one phrase and then one word comes to my mind. the phrase, "are you driving?", and the word, "stupid".

yeah, yeah, yeah, so you and your lot can drink a lot. is being an alkie really something to brag about? been there, done that, wrote the book.

as i said, i'm a cheap drunk, and i'm happy about that.

CoreyKitchen - Pasta Puttanesca

I am such a pasta junkie, but i've never been a fan of olives and capers until about a year back. now, i'm hooked to the piquant taste of those lovely gems.

Being a south east asian, i have a palate for robust, strong flavours; and what would please a pasta junkie more than the decadently aromatic pasta puttanesca. The basic recipe is below, i do add in fresh or dried herbs according to my fancy of the day, or maybe throw in some onions, or dress it up with grilled prawns, or end it up with a sprinkle of good parmesan. On most days though, when i have a deep yearning for a simple, satisfying dish, this basic recipe does the trick every time

Ingredients

olive oil, 2 swirls
4 cloves garlic, skinned and roughly chopped
1 can whole tomatoes (preferably those in tomato juice)
a handful kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1 heaped tbsp capers
1 tin flat anchovies, drained
dry chilli flakes, omit for a non spicy version
dried pasta cooked al dente, use long pasta like spaghetti or liguine, etc. i use spaghetti every time.

Method

swirl the olive oil in a wide, deep pan over a medium flame, add the garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes. add the tomatoes, juice and all and use the spatula to break or mash up the whole tomatoes.

add anchovies, chilli flakes, olives and capers. mix to incorporate. turn down to flame and let simmer for 10 minutes. throw in the cooked pasta, mix, and enjoy!

CoreyKitchen - Choy Keok (chai buey)

Choy Keok, as it's known in cantonese (or Chai Buey in hokkien) literally means the end of a vegetable/dish. This is normally prepared right after a festive occasion when there's lots of leftovers. Be it roast meat of all and any sort, in fact any kind of meat. And as most chinese would celebrate with an abalone dish, leftover abalone (there would NEVER be any leftover abalone in our family!), the addition of this shellfish takes it up a notch or two. Some also throw in mushrooms, another item that's always on the festive menu. Basically, almost anything can be used in this wonderful, mouthwatering dish.

It basically these leftover meat, mustard green (and it has to be mustard green, no other kind of vegetable would be able to produce the distinct aroma or taste that blends so well with all the ingredients in this dish), dried chillies, tamarind skin/tamarind pieces and garlic

Ingredients

There is not really any measurements of how much of each type of ingredient to put in. It all depends on the amount of leftovers, how spicy, or sour do you prefer it to be. This below is just a guideline. It's up to you to tweak the amount needed to suit your palate.

1kg leftover meat, etc
3kg mustard greens
10 pieces dried chillies, stalk removed and soak in hot water for 10 minutes
10 pieces red chillies, stalk removed
8 pieces tamarind skin (can be substituted with tamarind paste)
2 bulbs garlic, removed from the stem
salt to taste
water

Method

in a big stock pot, fill up half the pot and heat up the water

throw in all the leftovers and let boil for 30 minutes

add the dried chillies, chillies, garlic and tamarind skin. let boil for 1 hours to let the flavours emerge

while the soup is boiling, wash and drain the mustard greens, separate the leafy part from the hard stalks. cut the stalks into bite pieces, and cut up the leafy part into shorter pieces

after the 1 hours, add in the hard stalks and let boil for 15 minutes, and then add the leafy parts. boil for another 10 minutes.

dish up and serve hot, goes best with white rice

CoreyKitchen - Seafood Chowder Soup

the reason what I call this seafood chowder SOUP, instead of just plain seafood chowder, is because I did not thicken it up with the flour. I find it quite "jelak" once the chowder has cooled down, so I omitted the flour and ended up with a thinner soup instead of chowder

INGREDIENTS

mussels
lobster/prawn
scallops
(whatever suitable seafood will do. I don't like to use fish as it tends to disintegrate)(shell and clean the seafood, keep the shells, boil in a small pot of water to make stock for use later in this recipe)

carrots
celery
yellow onions
potatoes
(all diced)

butter
bay leaves
dried parsley (if using fresh parsley, finely chop the parsley)
cream
salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD

in a medium pot, heat up butter until just melted. add the onions and cook for 5 mins. add the bay leaves, dried parsley, celery and carrots, cook a further 5 mins. add the stock (can be substituted with water or clam juice or fish stock if preferred), bring to a boil and add the potatoes. cook for about 10 minutes, add the seafood, salt and pepper. cook til the seafood is just done, stir in the cream and once it boils, turn off the flame and dish up, and if using fresh parley, sprinkle on the soup and stir in to let the heat bring out the aroma

note: I prefer to cook the potatoes a bit longer than 10 minutes as I like to have almost disintegrating potatoes to help thicken the chowder as I'm not using roux in this recipe. plus, I also prefer the texture of softer vegetables