Spicy Cod & Asparagus Salad

I’ve been craving for spicy food lately. Yes! I do realize that it is summer and it’s burning hot, but I have come to the conclusion that eating spicy food in the hot weather can melt some calories that I’ve been collecting since the last few months in the winter as an alternative way to exercise because I would be sweating a lot from eating spicy food.  

Okay… ok…that is just my excuse since you might have already noticed that I am addicted to chilies!   So, this time I took out a package of rock cod fillet (kindly donated to me from my brother-in-law who loves fishing so much) from the freezer to unthawed and thinking of making spicy fish salad with the gorgeous asparagus I got the day before from the local supermarket. 

As you can see the picture of my salad dressing with those thinly sliced Thai chilies floating on top, I just wanted to warn you to reduce the chilies in half from my recipe because this salad was really really HOT! But if you like the heat, like me, go for it! And I promise that you will be crying and smiling at the same time! I did! ^___^

What you need: 

6 oz Rock Cod fish fillet, cut into thin slices

2 cups Asparagus, cut into 1-in long

1/4 cup carrot shredded

1/4 cup red onion thinly sliced

1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice

1/2 tsp fresh ginger finely grated

3-4 medium Thai red chilis

 2 cloves garlic finely grated

How to:

- Bring water to a boil and add a pinch of salt

- Blanch asparagus in hot boiling water for about 2-3 minutes or until they turn bright green and immediately using a slot spoon to take them out (you will need the same boiling water to cook the fish) to shock them in the ice water bowl (you should have it ready first) to stop the cooking process, drain and set them aside

- Cook the fish in the same pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Do not overcook the fish! Take the fish out after it’s cooked and put it in the large mixing bowl with the blanched asparagus, shredded carrot, red onion sliced, and set aside

- whisk together the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, lime juice, grated ginger, garlic, chili to incorporate all the flavors and until all the sugar is dissolved - pour the dressing over the prepared salad bowl, mix well and let it sit for another 5 minutes to blend all flavors together

Enjoy!

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Meyer Lemon Honey Frozen Yogurt

Tried and True.

I was trying to make Meyer Lemon posset with my own twist! As a result, it turned out to be something surprisingly good, really, especially when having this icy creamy sweet lemon flavor in the hot weather like this. I needed to confirm that this is not really Meyer Lemon posset as that original recipe in L.A. Times I found the other day when browsing the Internet because I did not use heavy cream as the recipe called for. Instead I used nonfat plain yogurt and 2% milk, and honey was added for a hint of natural sweetness. 

To be honest, I was really nervous with the result because the Lemon-milk-yogurt mixture was not set properly in the refrigerator. So, I put them in the freezer and kept checking on them for every 15 minutes. The mixture started to set after 30 minutes…huh…it worked! So, I stirred and freeze for another 45 minutes until it set in the middle. But to tell you the truth, the yogurt mixtures had become ice and I could not poke the spoon into it…..sigh…. So, I let them sit on the kitchen counter (and stared at them to speed up the melting process, just kidding!) for 15 minutes and I started to dig into it again…

Voila! I was surprised with the texture it came out. It was icy and creamy at the same time. And the taste…nothing could go wrong with the taste of sweet creamy dessert made from Meyer Lemon in the hot summer. Agree?  

What you need:

1/2 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp honey

1/3 cup fresh squeeze Meyer Lemon juice

A few raspberries for garnish - optional

How To:

- Combine milk, sugar, and honey over low heat, turn off the heat as soon as the sugar is dissolved
- Add yogurt to the milk mixture and stir to mix well­­­­­­­
- Pour the yogurt mixture among dessert glasses and freeze them for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes in the freezer, stir the yogurt mixture with a fork or spoon to incorporate them and freeze another 45 minutes or until they are set
- Let them sit in the room temperature for about 10=15 minutes before serving; garnish with a few raspberries with a little dusting of powdered sugar if desired

Enjoy!

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Yum-Woon-Sen Goong /Thai Spicy Glass Noodle Salad with Shrimp

In Thailand, we call any kinds of salad “yum.” And the word says it all…yummmm! (^o^)

This spicy salad is a perfect dish for the hot summer and it can be made with other kinds of meats or seafood whatever you prefer and even the leftover rotisserie chicken or tofu or anything that’s tasty and healthy! In the past years living in L.A, I’ve made yum-woon-sen quite often whenever I feel a little homesick and it helps me feel much better after having it.

This spicy glass noodle salad has reminded me of my younger years when I was in my 20s and still living in Thailand. We (girls) referred to this “yum” dish as a “trying to stay in shape” food! We would eat this “yum” for a week whenever we felt like there were 5 lbs of weights attached to our bodies and it was hardly to move around. I guessed it worked because by the end of the week after had been eating this spicy “yum,” we totally felt a lot better and lighter – I guessed we perspired a lot from the spiciness of “yum,” plus the hot humid weather of Thailand helped speedy up the process! Hmmm…that makes sense…what do you think?


Anyway, why wait? Let’s make some yummy-licious!

What you need:

1 2-oz vermicelli or glass noodle
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1 large tomato chopped
1-2 cups cooked shrimp
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice
2 tbsp sugar
1-2 tbsp Asian chili garlic sauce or dried chili flakes
1 big clove garlic
A handful of cilantro leaves + for garnish
1 small Thai chili and lettuce – optional
How to:

- in a medium bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, chili garlic sauce and chopped cilantro leaves until the sugar is dissolved, set it aside to blend flavors. The dressing should be the balance combination of salty, sweet, tart, and spicy, however, you can adjust it to your own preferred taste

- Soak the noodles in water to soften it for about 5 minutes, and drain

- Bring 2-3 cups of water to boil, add the soften noodles into the hot boiling water(turn off the heat) and let it stand for about 10-12 seconds and drain immediately, no rinse! The noodle will become sticky but it’s okay, then using a fork to hold them up and cut the long noodle to shorten them for a few times so they can be working on easier when combine them with the dressing. But long noodle can be fun, too!

- In a large bowl, add noodles, chopped celery, tomato, red onion, shredded carrot, and cooked shrimp - Pour the dressing over and mix well. Let the “yum” stand to mingle the flavors for about 3 minutes before serving on chopped lettuce/cup with a sprinkle of toasted peanuts and/or more Thai chili sliced if you like!

Enjoy!

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