My Very Own Spicy Fried Noodles

I woke up yesterday feeling very much like a plate of really spicy, oily fried noodles. It may have been the couple of magnums I downed with friends in anticipation of yet another lock-down, but whatever its was, the result is this entirely delicious noodle recipe that I claim as my very own! It’s part

Fried Mackerel with Cassoulet Beans & Herb Garlic Crumbs

Here’s a dish that packs a punch! I wanted to make a cassoulet that our pescatarian friends could eat as well, but still preserve that depth of flavour and that heartening warmth of the meaty versions. Fat is an important part of a good cassoulet, so don’t be shocked by the quantities of oil I

Kimchi Jjigae – Kimchi Stew

If you are Korean, please stop reading right now and save me the embarrassment. Here’s what happened: The fully Korean mother of a semi-Korean friend of ours gave us a tub of wonderful, homemade kimchi, so we’ve been munching on it for a while and there was some left over in the chiller. There were

Minestrone Soup

I’ve bemoaned the lack of interest in soup before, but I’ll say it again: A good soup is deeply gratifying to make, heartwarming to eat, soul supporting to digest and furthermore it is an excellent indicator of a cook’s abilities . In a soup, especially a clear one, there is no hiding. All your flaws,

Baked Chicken with Black Olives

This is one of those dishes you can very quickly throw together if you have only an hour to cook. Even if you don’t have readymade tomato sauce, you can cheat and I’ll show you how. Just please don’t go out and buy tomato sauce in a jar. There simply isn’t a good one. So

Not a Japanese Potato Salad

I thought I had to point this out. Possibly because the only potato salad one is likely to order in any restaurant here in KL is a Potato Salada, which really is more like mashed potatoes with Japanese Kewpie mayo thrown in for good measure. Don’t get me wrong; Japanese potato salad is a very

Macaroni Cheese

You’ll be laughing and telling me that no one needs a recipe to make macaroni cheese. But this is a special one! Somewhere between a liquid Japanese style one and my good old sliceable Luxembourg one. Oh, and I’m actually lying, it’s not macaroni at all, but penne. Reason being that I had a lot

A Good Egg

How to Fry an Egg One of the great pleasures in life is a properly runny egg for breakfast, at least in my books. Whether poached, boiled, fried or scrambled, I like them all as long as they are runny. Apologies to those of you who like their eggs firm – I’ll never understand you

Tortilla with Smoked Salmon & Saffron

This is my second Tortilla recipe, simply because one can never have too many tortillas! I love them, they are tasty, filling and they are as good cold as hot and just so easy to make! AND you can use just about any leftover to make them with. In this case, I had some smoked

Pineapple Fried Rice

Is Pineapple Fried Rice Thailand’s equivalent of Chow Mein or Spaghetti Meatballs, or is it a genuine Thai dish? I may be offending my Thai friends by casting asparagus, but I’m honestly wondering. There are some dishes a white person like me simply cannot order unless they want to be given the worst table in