Tom Yum Fried Rice

I love hot, spicy and sour goodness. It is bad for the skin, the tummy lining but life is short and as long as you practice moderation, I think it is good to eat what makes you feel happy. In my case, anything sinful makes me and my ever hungry tummy go wawavoom hahahaha.

I prepared my own style of Tom Yum Fried Rice. I did not follow any particular recipe but devised it to the way I like it. This is a recipe which I kinda agak-agak on quantity.

List of ingredients:

A. Stock/Broth
1. Prawn head and shells
2. 6 pieces of lime leaves/daun limau (tear the leaves)
3. 3-4 stalks of lemongrass (cut lengthwise 2cm)
4. Half torch ginger flower/bunga kantan (sliced)
5. 50 ml of water

From top clockwise: torch ginger flower, lemongrass, lime leaves

B. Fried Rice
1. 2 cups of cooked white rice (I always make it a point to use overnight rice)
2. 11/2 tbsp. Tom Yum paste
3. 1 carrot julienned
4. 4 cloves of chopped garlic
5. 150 grams of chicken fillet
6. 200 gms of prawns
7. 2 red chillies sliced diagonally



Method:

1. Marinade chicken pieces with 1/2 tbspn. of Tom Yum paste. Set aside in the refrigerator.
   
   



2. Remove the shell and veins of the prawns. Set head and shells aside.
3. Boil the 50 ml of water and throw in all ingredients A. Bring to a boil then cover and let simmer for 20 minutes to release the flavour.
   
   
4. After 20 minutes, I take a sift to remove all the ingredients in the broth so that all is left is the stock.
   
5. Place chopped garlic in the wok, pour in about 3 tbspn of cooking oil on medium high fire. Then, put in your marinated chicken and stir fry until chicken is well cooked.
   
   
6. Once chicken is cooked, mix in the peeled prawns and stir fry until well cooked.
   
   
7. After the prawn is cooked, add in the julienned carrot, half of the broth (you can add more later if the rice is still too dry. I prefer to add half first so that the rice won't turn soggy)and 1 tbspn. of Tom Yum paste to the wok and bring to a boil before simmering for about 3 minutes.
   
   
8. Add in the rice and start to mix the rice well with the gravy/broth on high fire to get "wok hei" (just pretending to be a pro but I actually am not yeah lol). Add more of the prawn shell stock if the rice is too dry for liking.
   
   
9. Add in the red chillies for the finishing touch and Voila! A dish to devour ;-)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

OPI - Pretty and Privileged Review

I just got my 2 bottles of OPI polishes (Pretty & Privileged and Calendar Girl) :-) I was bent on doing my own manicure for the 1st ever time in my life when I made this purchase. Pretty & Privileged is from the 90210 collection and though it looks like a red I've seen many a times, fact is, I liked the color very much!

It sort of exudes a glamorous feel instead of a whorish red lol. My Mom always told me not to wear red polishes as it reminds her of showgirls or nightclub girls from the 80's. On the contrary, I love reds, pinks and neutrals. No dark, corpse lookalike nails such as black, blue or greens for me. Not a truly filial daughter but at least I don't wear colors which screams "Lala Mui"! (Lala Mui is sort of like a name for punky Malaysian Chinese girl).

Here is the polish on my nails:



This is only one layer of the polish, so it is really pigmented and shiny. Perfect for a night out or a date :-) but am not going for a date, it is just for self gratification.

Best of all, the polish only costed RM27, excluding postage. They sell it at RM50 or more at nail salons; don't we all just love the Internet? I bought 2 bottles and the total was only RM60 for both inclusive of postage. And that my friend, could only probably get you a bottle of OPI if you buy retail and perhaps some change for part of the cab fare or parking ticket.