who needs takeout when you can master the simplest chicken padthai, ever!?

i think everyone should be able to make a good chicken padthai from scratch! i'm always trying to imrpove my own recipe by trying others and tweaking it to my own personal preference... and here's a super simple and balanced rendition!

sweet, sour, salty, tangy, delicious! it's a tamarind-based explosion of traditional southeast asian flavors in every bite... and definitely one of my favorite dishes to try when exploring a new restaurant because seldom do you find them made exactly the same.




note: i improvised with the ingredients i had on hand (as i usually do) - so instead of bean sprouts and roasted peanuts i threw in fresh chilies and cilantro! nonetheless, the sauce is what makes/breaks the dish and this one's delicious!


soak your rice noodles in warm water. in a small bowl, combine all (pictured) ingredients to make the sauce. once your rice noodles are al dente, strain them and set aside. mince some fresh garlic and shallots. slice your chicken... and have eggs and chilies on hand. also, chop up your herbs and vegetables. it's important to have everything prepped and ready to go before the actual cooking because it's quite fast once you start! :)

in (preferrably) a wok, heat up vegetable oil and add in the garlic, chilies and shallots - until aromatic. add chicken and once it's almost cooked, move it aside in the wok and scramble your eggs. once the eggs and chicken is cooked, throw in the noodles (it's important to keep stirring to avoid sticking) - heat should be on high. drizzle in your sauce to preference; the more you add, the stronger the flavor! once your noodles are cooked through, take the wok off the heat and add the green onions... making sure they steam in the heat from the noodles. garnish with cilantro (and roasted peanuts + bean sprouts) and enjoy!

trust me, it took longer to type this out than it actually does to whip this baby up! :) enjoy!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: khapoun

hands down, one of my favorite comfort foods, ever..! this dish is what we call khapoun. it's a savory coconut-based curry + fried chilies chicken and vermicelli noodle soup, quail eggs and bamboo... among a delicate combination of several other herbs and spices; garnished with cabbage, carrots, cilantro and green onions for texture and crunch! mmm... nostaglic complex flavors in this simple bowl :) absolutely divine!

although i've always enjoyed it, i don't think i've ever ordered it from a restaurant that had it on its menu. too easy of a dish to half-ass if not prepared with the love and care it deserves. even if it's "passable," i heart it too much to let anything less than amazing fly when it comes to khapoun in paricular. and like most soups, it's definitely the best serves after a day!

i've seen people adding similar condiments they do for pho - a vietnamese noodle soup - in their khapoun; call me old-fashioned, but i think that's the wrongest thing of all! maybe i've been spoiled all my life, but if made correctly, this dish needs no additional seasonings for it's the fusion of the herbs and spices stewing in tandem with the broth - coconut, fried garlic/chilies and curry - that makes it robust and hearty in and of itself! anything extra, other than a spritz of lime juice, just overpowers it - either that, or it's not good to begin with and needs to be masked. haha, jk. at least that's how i've always had it :) and yes, it's always been that good! mmm.


what's your go to comfort food?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: banh cuoun aka fawm kauv

steamed pork rolls. i still remember how much i'd crave these little bad boys after i'd moved away for college. it was during those days when i yearned for a little taste of home (or, missed my mum) that i found myself trying to make them, only to fail... every. single. time. call me crazy, but i still have vivid memories of watching the mixture go down my drain as i poured it out after many honest but failed attempts... and the feeling of defeat as it overcame me was just as traumatic.

a little dramatic here? yes, haha, but i can laugh about it now. then? then, i just remember feeling so damn sad each time i built enough courage to try again, convincing myself of only positive thoughts, only to fail and fail again.

it was because growing up, banh cuoun was what my mum always made me as a special treat because of how time-consuming they are! maybe it was just because it was her who made them, but they definitely were and still are one of the most nostalgic foods that always has a way of invoking an emotion of love and brings me back to a sense of security. strange how food can do that to a person...

needless to say, i didn't go on very long after that not knowing the trick to making fawm kauv. i made sure that during my next visit home, they weren't ready and waiting for me, as they have been in the past, and instead, spent my time in the kitchen with my mum making them together... her showing me the ways. :) after several more visits and the confidence from her guidance, she was phasing out her own involvement - and before i knew it, i was mastering them on my own!

i like to believe i've gotten the technique to making steamed rice rolls down to an art now; i'm even experimenting now. and for the record, yes, the pan does in fact make an incredible world of difference; that's what i didn't have in college, the right pan. i also had neither the knowledge to get my mixture right, nor the meticulous skill set required for the assembly too... so, thanks mum! <3 these days, it's not so much the rolls i'm worried about anymore, but moreso the endless ideas with dipping sauces to complement them! again, another blog post for yet another rainy day. :)

i foresee a tutorial on how to make these little guys in the near future with how often i make them. it just hasn't happened yet because it's one of those processes where rhythm and timing are everything and although it's fairly simple... the learning curve proved to be fairly steep, as i learned the hard way. haha. i don't know how i'd handle the relapse of another failed attempt if it happened! lols.