in my studio | prawns

Posts Tagged With 'prawns'

Apr
17
2014

creamy garlic butter prawns

When you have 3 small kids, making dinner can be quite tough when you have 1 clingy baby, 1 throwing tantrum toddler and 1 demanding little girl. Some days, I just want to get dinner over and done with, so this is a perfect meal to make in just under 15 minutes. Although it looks simple, its packed full of flavour! If I find I have a bit extra time, I’ll make some steam veges on the side, or whip up a quick soup to go with it.

RECIPE FOR CREAMY GARLIC BUTTER PRAWNS

Servings: 2
Cook time: 10-15mins

Ingredients
2-3 clove garlic, crushed
1 – 2 tbsp butter
20 prawns, deveined (about 200g)
1 cup thickened cream (or less)
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp stock paste (if you’re using a liquid stock, you might need more cornflour to thicken it up)
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
1. Saute butter and garlic for a few minutes then add the cream and stock, cover and bring to a boil.
2. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 1 tbsp water then gradually add it to the cream mixture.
3. Add prawns in a single layer and cook for a minute on each side. Stir until sauce thickens.
3. Finally, serve hot with some white rice*

*Making rice will also take approx 15 minutes, so make the rice first before making your creamy garlic butter prawns. Your rice will be ready just in time when you finish cooking the prawns :)

No comments
Category: halal, in my kitchen, seafood

Nov
15
2011

thai inspired pattaya (omelette) fried rice | nasi goreng pattaya

Nasi goreng pattaya, or simply nasi pattaya, is a Malaysian dish made by covering or wrapping fried rice, in fried egg (omelette). It is often served with chili sauce, cucumber, and/or keropok. The name comes from Pattaya, Thailand.

Source: Wikipedia

In Malaysia, nasi pattaya is just chicken fried rice wrapped in omelette. The flavours are basically the same as you would find in any nasi goreng. This dish was inspired by Secret Recipe (again! My last pasta dish was also inspired by SR) when they extended their menu and included a Thai Inspired Pattaya Fried Rice, it was so irrisistably good! This is a thumbs up from the hubby!

And because I am so in love with chilli, I made my own special batch (aside from my daughter and husband’s) for me to indulge in. If you love spicy food, it taste even better when its hot. You’ll be wiping your nose every second but its all worth it! Can you spot out those little nasty buggers in there? Don’t bite it of you can’t handle it. Hubby accidentally did and in his words ‘ I felt like a knife was slicing through my throat’. Oops!

RECIPE FOR THAI INSPIRED PATTAYA FRIED RICE/NASI GORENG PATTAYA
Inspired by Secret Recipe

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients

3 cups cooked basmati rice (you can also use leftover rice)
16 prawns, shelled and deveined
1 chicken breast, cut into small bite size chunks
1 bulb garlic, sliced
Handful of basil leaves
1 chilli, cut
1 large carrot, diced
1 cup baby peas
1 large red capsicum
4 eggs, beaten (to make omelette)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (for rice colouring)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp basil infused olive oil (optional)
1 tsp chilli oil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry chicken pieces and prawns until cook. Remove and set aside.

2. Using the same oil, sautee the garlic until slightly brown then add the vegetables and chilli.

3. Add in the rice, dark soy sauce and basil infused olive oil and stir till evenly coated.

4. Season well with salt and pepper.

5. In a large pan, heat up a little oil and add the beaten egg (1 egg for 1 pan, covering the entire pan). Flip once and remove onto a plate. Do this for the remaining 3 eggs to make 4 serves of omelette.

6. Dish the rice from the wok into the middle of the omelette and cover the rice completely with egg. Drizzle with chilli oil and serve immediately.

2 lovely comments
Category: asian, chicken, halal, in my kitchen, rice, seafood

Nov
10
2011

creamy spaghetti napolitana with prawns

When I’m in a rush, I think of pasta. Spaghetti to be precise. This one here, can be whipped up in a jiffy. All you need are a handful of fresh ingredients (well, not the pasta unless you want to make it yourself :p) and you’ve got a quick meal for a midweek dinner that the family will love. I know my husband would! Here is the recipe for this wonderfully quick pasta dish.

RECIPE FOR CREAMY SPAGHETTI NAPOLITANA WITH PRAWNS

Serves: 4
Prep time: 15mins
Cook time: 20-30mins

Ingredients

400g spaghetti & some water to boil
16 medium sized prawns
300ml thickened cream
1 cup chicken stock
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 small-medium sized onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large red capsicum, sliced
1 large green capsicum, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp basil, to garnish
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Bring water to a boil then put spaghetti in with a bit of salt.

2. While pasta is boiling, heat up oil in a saucepan and sautee onions and garlic.

3. Add the prawns and vegetables and cook for a few more minutes before adding tomato paste.

4. Then add the thickened cream and stock, and bring to a boil.

5. Simmer on a low heat and season well with salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

6. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and mix it with the creamy napolitana sauce.

7. Serve onto individual plates and sprinkle with some basil.

4 lovely comments
Category: halal, in my kitchen, pasta, seafood

Oct
25
2011

chicken and prawn noodle soup

chicken noodle soup

The day before yesterday I got sunburned under the scorching sun at our local Sunday market. It almost hit 30 degrees. Then within a flick of a swith, that all changed. Wave goodbye sun and hello rain! From 30 down to 11, SubhanAllah. So yesterday I had to wear 3 layers of clothing because it was freezing. But why am I acting all surprised? I’ve been living here for the past 10 years. That’s Melbourne! So if you ever want to experience 4 seasons in a day, book your next flight down here!

chicken noodle soup

This is what we usually have on a chilly day. Soup. Chicken noodle soup. A hot bowl of this in your hands on a couch with the family is what I call comfort food. And don’t forget the blanket of course.

chicken noodle soup

Yes I know I’ve been making a lot of easy dishes lately. I don’t exactly want to scare you off Malaysian cooking. Buy hey, if you’re an adventurous cook, why not try my chicken rendang recipe here. You can also make it with beef but let me warn you, be prepared to stay in the kitchen for up to 4 hours! For now, here is the recipe for this amazingly yummy and easy soup.

RECIPE FOR CHICKEN AND PRAWN NOODLE SOUP WITH ASIAN GREENS

Serves: 3
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, quartered into chunks (this will then be shredded to serve)
1/2 kilo chicken neck/bones/carcass (this is only to make stock, will be thrown out)
12 prawns
2 cloves garlic
500g hokkien noodles (egg noodles)
1 bunch of Asian greens, Bok Choy or Choy Sum
2 cup vegetable stock (or 1 veg bullion)
3 cups water (or enough to cover chicken)
3 boiled eggs, halved
10 tofu puffs
1 packet of fish cake, sliced
Handful of bean sprouts
Handful of spring onions, sliced (for garnishing)
3 tsp fried shallots (for garnishing)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 birds eye chilli, cut
Salt and pepper, to taste

To make chicken broth:

1. Marinate the prawns with garlic and set aside.

2. In a stock pot, boil water with the chicken neck/bones along with the chicken breast chunks and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil. Remove excess chicken foam floating on the surface. Then leave to simmer for 40 minutes covered.

3. In a pan, sautee the marinated garlic prawns until evenly cooked through. Set aside.

4. Blanched noodles in warm water for a couple of minutes and strain. Set aside

5. Throw away chicken neck/bones as well as the 2 garlic cloves from the stock pot and remove the chicken breast pieces to a chopping board. Back to the stock pot; season with salt and pepper and add the cooked prawn pieces and asian greens. Give it a quick stir.

6. Turn off the stove but lid on.

7. In the mean time, slice the chicken breasts into thin long strips and divide them as well as the noodles, tofu puffs, fish cake slices, boiled eggs, bean sprouts, spring onions and fried shallots between 3 bowls.

8. Pour the hot soup and serve immediately. While pouring the soup, divide the poached eggs and prawns evenly between bowls. (Optional: Serve with chilli soy sauce.)

To make chilli soy sauce:

1. In a small serving bowl, combine soy sauce, chilli and sesame oil.

My tip for a tastier soup is to put one teaspoon of fried shallots in the pot just towards the end. It’ll be soggy, but boy, I tell ya…it adds a hint of shalloty flavour that simply bursts in your mouth!

Click ‘Read More’ to print the recipe and leave a comment.

4 lovely comments
Category: chicken, in my kitchen, noodles, soups

Oct
18
2011

spring spaghetti with basil, chilli & garlic

I love this weather. Currently sitting at 24.3 degrees, I couldn’t ask for a better start to a perfect week ahead, inshallah. Inspired by my fresh garden (thanks to hubby!) and the wonderful sunshine we’ve been getting lately, I whipped up this quick meal in no more than 15 minutes. Can I tell you about the flavours? Well they just bursts in your mouth: left, right and centre! Thanks to a few powerful ingredients; garlic, chilli and basil…with a dash of extra virgin olive oil is all you need to turn it into an absolute flavoursome meal. Trust me, its really that good.

organic cooking oil

Ok, lets be honest. I need to give credit to where it all originated from. Secret Recipe. That’s where I first had it (i’ll post a review of this place soon). But for $16.90 a plate, ouch! I seriously felt guilty. Not to my palate but to my husbands pocket. So I decided to try and replicate this and oh la la, what a dish we have here for just under $5 per person. You can substitute prawns with chicken for an even cheaper meal. Hmm, now I really do sound cheap don’t I? yikes!

Slice the vegetables. Slice the garlic. Don’t chop them finely. You want to be able to taste the garlicky flavour.

Sautee the marinated prawns in olive oil. Add a bit of salt and pepper and chilli flakes.

And you have yourself a winning dish. Say hello to Spring!

RECIPE FOR SPRING SPAGHETTI
Inspired by Secret Recipe’s Thai spaghetti

Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients

2 cups cooked spaghetti
10 prawns (marinate with salt & pepper for an hour)
1 bulb garlic, sliced
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 red capsicum, sliced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
10 mushrooms, sliced (I didnt have any but if you do,add them)
1 red chilli, cut
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Handful of basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp basil infused olive oil
1 tsp chilli oil, for dressing (optional)
100g feta cheese, for dressing (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. In a saucepan, sautee the marinated prawns in olive oil for 2 minutes.

2. Add garlic and stir until prawns are evenly cooked. This should take another 2 minutes.

3. Add all the vegetables and chilli flakes. Season well with salt and pepper.

4. Add pasta to the sauce mixture and pour over with basil infused olive oil. Toss to combine.

5. Finally, topped with some feta cheese and drizzle with some chilli oil.