Thai Food With The Family @Awet Thai Garden, Semenyih

Today is not talking about what I cooked for dinner.  Today post is about this Awet Thai Garden restaurant in Sungai Chua , where we had our dinner when we spent our break with Joanna and her other half (okay my son-in-law )  LOL!  They both gave us a treat and we all love the food there.  The big sister knows that the lil brother loves the food there thus took us all there to have a hearty meal .  I have been to this restaurant ...you can check the past post here...my first time there and this is my second time eating there. For WB, it is his first time and I can see he enjoyed the food very much.   These are their famous and popular dishes.  

BBQ pork neck.....thumbs up !

seafood tomyam...very savory

mango kerabu...fantastic and a must order

tempura kangkung....very nice...crispy and they have

a special dip sauce

my Piggy Josh :)

we choose the floating platform ...the lake is man made lake

it is beautiful at night especially at dusk

why is WB glaring at me ??? hahaha

WB praying for the food, the guys are chatting and

that lil piggy Jo is looking thru the menu....aptly named

Piggy Jo...always looking at menu even after we have

ordered our meals LOL!

Enjoy !

AWet Thai Garden

Lot 1283, Kolam Takungan, Taman Cahaya, Sg. Chua 43000 Kajang, Selangor.
Tel: +603-87332396 / +6019-2630828

Oven Baked Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

A simple to prepare and no denying , a healthily delicious chicken nuggets ! ...any takers ? The first taker was Piggy Josh and followed by WB the hungry boar.  I made these healthy nuggets when Piggy Josh came back last Christmas. 

I added parmesan cheese to the potato starch and rice flour coating for extra oomph . The parmesan cheese truly adds a nice flavor to the bland flour and making the nuggets taste extra good !   The chicken breast cut into nugget pieces , must first be seasoned with a pinch of sea salt, dried mixed herbs and a dash of freshly ground black pepper and let the nuggets rest for at least 2 hours before coating them with the parmesan cheese flavored flour.  Allow the coated nuggets to dry and make sure the coated flour  is absorbed and stick on the surface of the nugget before baking them in the oven at 200C.   I was impatient and did not actually wait for this important step ( have to make sure the nugget is aired through and the flour coating is absorbed into the nugget ) or after baking you can still see the white flour on the surface.  Place the nuggets on raised rack with bottom tray lined with aluminium for easy cleaning.  Once the oven is hot and hitting 200C temp. put the tray of nuggets in and bake for 30 mins or until both sides are brown and crispy.  Serve with Nando's chilli sauce or Sriracha sauce...Yumm!   Needless to say, the plate vamoosh in seconds LOL!   I helped myself to a few pieces too.. reason being this is healthy cooking !

seasoned nuggets with olive oil, dried mixed herbs, grounded black pepper, a pinch of sea salt

leave to marinade for at least 2 hours before coating with the cheese flavor flour

leave to air until the flour is absorbed into the surface of the nuggets

this is the most important part or the nuggets will have 

the white flour sticking to it.

place on wire rack with a bottom tray lined with aluminium foil

so that any oil dripping can be collected and also

for easy cleaning :)

serve this with Sriracha sauce or Nando's hot chilli sauce

Yumm yumm yummy!

Oven Baked Parmesan Chicken Nuggets - WB's  Kitchen

2 large chicken breasts- remove skin and debone, cut into nugget sizes

seasoning- rub on the chicken nugget pieces and leave to marinade for 2 hours or overnight

sea salt to taste3

1 tbsp of dried mixed herbs

1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp of olive oil

Coating

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup of rice flour

1/4 cup of potato starch

Method:

Marinade the cut nugget pieces with seasoning above and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight for a  much flavored meat.

Mixed together parmesan cheese , rice flour and potato starch till well blended together.  Coat each piece of nugget till all surfaces are coated.  Arrange all coated nugget pieces on a wire rack with a bottom tray lined with aluminium foil to collect drippings from the nuggets and also for easy cleaning.

Air dry the nuggets till the coating is no longer dry but moist and stick to the nugget pieces.  Heat the oven to 200C . Put the whole tray of nuggets into the oven and bake for 30 mins or till the nuggets are crispy and golden brown and cooked through.  Serve with  Sriracha sauce or Nando's hot chilli sauce.

Enjoy !

Gyoza

I learned how to pleat gyoza from my daughter...can you believe it ? I taught her ABC and now she is teaching me how to pleat it LOL!   Now is pay back time I guess.  I was with her after Christmas and we had fun making gyoza.   Such a wonderful bonding time with her.  I do miss my kids the last 7 years when they were in college.  After end of January , I can have more time with them :)  Seriously, I can't wait to be with them again.  A time of cooking, baking and chilling out with them is what I will be looking forward to in February 2015 onwards !!!!   Sorry, my thoughts are running wild again.  Okay, back to this Gyoza or Japanese Pan Fried Dumpling/ Potstickers.   Okay, she showed me how to pleat them nicely and I grasp it and came back home , tried pleating them like a pro...Whoa...I got it right !   Thank you Piggy Jo for having the patientce to teach this old Momsie.   

this is how she pleats the dumpling.....

Gyoza or potstickers are easy to make and they are freezer friendly too

I made many and stored them in freezer so that whenever WB is hungry

I can just pan fried a few for supper !  Perfect for busy days too

the skin are store bought from Jusco   :)  when I retires in end of Jan, I

will try making my own gyoza skin  

pan fried it for a few minutes till the bottom is cooked, add some water 

and cover 1/4 of the gyoza . Cover with a lid and cooked the gyoza

till the water evaporated and the bottom is slightly golden brown.

eat with black rice vinegar and ginger shreds dips

 Gyoza / Potstickers - adapted from Just One Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1 package (or about 45) gyoza wrappers (or make Homemade Gyoza Wrappers)
• 1½ Tbsp. oil for frying each batch of gyoza
• ¼ cup water for frying each batch of gyoza
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil for frying each batch of gyoza

Filling

• 10 oz (290 g) ground pork
• 2-3 (140 g, 5 oz) cabbage leaves
• 1-2 (15 g, 0.5 oz) green onion/scallion  * I used chinese chives
• 2 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. grated ginger

Seasonings

• ½ Tbsp. sake
• ½ Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• ¼ tsp. salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Dipping Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. black rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• young ginger shreds

Method:

Mix all fillings  and seasoning ingredients together in a bowl and keep stirring with a pair of chopsticks till the mixture is sticky. Leave aside.

Wrap the fillings with gyoza wrappers.  Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place the gyoza in a single layer, flat side down (in two rows or in a circular shape). 

When the bottom of the gyoza turns golden brown, add ¼ cup of water to the pan.

Immediately cover with a lid and steam the gyoza for about 2 minutes or until most of the water evaporates.

Remove the lid to evaporate any remaining water. Add sesame oil and cook uncovered until the gyoza is nice and crisp on the bottom. Transfer to a plate. For the gyoza lined up in circular shape, place a serving plate on top of the pan and quickly flip.

1. For the dipping sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a small plate and mix all together. Serve the gyoza with dipping sauce.

* Notes

After you wrap gyoza, cook or freeze it right away; otherwise water from the ingredients will start to make the wrapper wet.

To save gyoza for later, put the gyoza on a baking sheet leaving some space between to keep them from sticking, and put it in freezer. Transfer frozen gyoza into a freezer bag and store in freezer up to a month. When you use frozen gyoza, do not defrost. Cook while they are frozen.

Enjoy!

Crispy Roast Pork

My boy was back for his year end break and we spent quality time together from Christmas eve till Jan 4th 2015.  He requested that we make our own roast pork.  *Wink . First time making this roast pork and it turned 90 percent as good as the bought one :)  I need to practice more and I am sure I will succeed in making a perfect one soon :p  The skin is crispy but not puffy enough.  So I need to perfect the skin.  Taste is good.  Anyway, the skin is crispy and the meat tender and succulent.  Will be making this again for CNY.   My boy and WB ate this with chilled beer and whiskey !  Forget about dieting.  I joined the guys and had a wonderful time forgetting about my diet :p  I used Sonia's recipe ( Nasilemaklover )

Crispy Roast Pork   - adapted from Sonia's blog

2.8kg pork belly, with skin on 
2tbsp salt

Dry rub
2 tsp garlic salt  (you may replace with garlic powder or grated garlic and salt)
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp ground white pepper

1. Try to have a flat and same level of pork belly (for even browning when roasting) by cutting off those extra meat underneath ). Blanch the pork in a pot of boiling water for 5mins.
2. Remove and wipe dry with paper towels.
3. Prick the skin all over with a sharp skewer, the more holes you can make the better.
4. Then use a sharp knife to lightly score the skin.
5. Massage the dry rub into the meat and rub the salt on the skin.
6. Place pork on a wire rack, uncovered, place in the fridge and let it dry out slowly overnight. (Alternatively put in a oven with a fan blowing for 3hours to dry the skin)
7. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the pork, skin side up, on a wire rack in the oven, and place a tray underneath to catch the drippings.
8. Roast for 25mins and then switch the oven from bake to grill function (upper heat only), increasing the temperature to 230C. Grill until the skin is evenly blistered and browned (around 50mins)
9. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly. Cut into long strips then slice and serve warm.

Enjoy!