How to Make Easy Ice Sweet Corn Summer Dessert

Mega delish easy ice dessert. Just the perfect thing for this crazy sticky hot humid Hong Kong summer.

I saw this dish made by a celebrity in a Korean show called Happy Together, the Late Night Cafetaria segment. It's brilliant! It's savory-sweet, sweetness can be adjusted to any level, many different combinations can be done, it involves some sort of ice & super easy to make. I just had to try it!

Recipe (adapted from the show)

- 1 small can of coconut milk (the original recipe uses 1 box of milk)

- sweet corn kernels (fresh or canned - whichever lights your fire)

- condensed milk

Pour coconut milk into freezer friendly container, freeze. A couple of hours before serving, thaw in fridge until you can "mash" it with a fork. Or you can freeze the milk/coconut milk in smaller container so that you can use blender to make the "shaved milk ice". Place a serving of the granita-esque coconut milk in a bowl, add as much corn kernels (if you're using fresh corn, cook the corn & get the kernels) as you like & top it with condensed milk. 

Icy creamy sweet savory goodness. LOVE! 

Creamy Sweet Corn & Bacon Pasta Recipe

Sweetness of corn & saltiness of bacon. I always love such a combo. Initially I made this for my toddler (OMG, feeding my son bacon - that makes me a bad mom, right? Oh well... just once in a while... and mommy wants some too!). So here goes.

Recipe
(serves 2)
- pasta for 2 (measure using those pasta measuring rings), I used spaghetti
- 2 fresh sweet corn kernels
- 2 strips of bacon per person (I used lean back bacon and removed the fat)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- butter, cream, salt, pepper

Cook pasta according to the instruction on the packet - do not overcook. If pasta's done before sauce is done, drain and set it aside. Meanwhile, melt about a tbsp butter, add garlic, saute until fragrant, add bacon, add corn, cook until there's a bit of brownage going. Add cream to your liking (I added about 120 ml), season with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve hot.

Add some fresh herbs if you like. I didn't since I'd have to pick them out one by one as my big boss (the toddler) demanded. Oh man, I'm such a loser mom.

Anyway, enjoy the pasta!

Sweet Corn Crumble - My Island East Markets Loot

I heard a lottt about the super sweet corn from Island East Markets, and finally, this week I got my chance to buy some!

Look at these beautiful corn kernels. Super sweet, good enough to eat raw!


Yes baby, come to mama!


I decided to make them into a crumble.

Have you ever smelt the aroma of corn and butter in an oven?

OMG. Heaven!

Recipe
(yields 2 ramekins)
- Corn kernels from 1 corn
- 2 heaping tbsp plain flour
- 2 heaping tbsp sugar
- 2 heaping tbsp salted butter (divided)
- 2 pinches of salt
Preheat oven to 180C, divide corn kernels to two ramekins, add half of the butter into both ramekin. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and the remaining of butter, mix with your hand. Add crumble mixture onto corn, bake until golden brown.

OMG.

Yes.

Now, about Island East Markets. It is definitely something to look forward to every Sunday. Awesome fresh local produce, cute handmade/vintage stuff, fun for kids, delicious food, great crowd, and very close to Quarry Bay MTR Station! If you're in town, it is a MUST VISIT!


Click here to see more pictures from my visit.

Marcus wouldn't let papa's apple juleb go...

The first week of Island East Markets, I didn't get to shop properly because, my friends and I opened a stall sharing our love for vintage clothing! Click here to see more pictures.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to book another stall to spread more vintage love!
See you at Island East Markets, everybody!

Roasted Corn, Chicken and Coriander Soup

Summer's too hot for soups?
Hmpfh. I don't think so.
But I do prefer clear soup instead of the rich and creamy ones for summer.
This one started with a minimalist quick chicken broth, to which I added roasted corn, coriander and some citrus juice at the last minute.

Recipe
- 1 chicken, broken down to quarters, excess fat removed
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 3 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- a big bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
- 4 ears of corn (or you can used canned corn kernels)
- 1 lemon
- cooking oil, butter, salt, pepper, sugar, nutmeg, water (or chicken stock if you want it more intense)

In a stock pot, saute chicken, garlic and shallot in a bit of oil and butter until fragrant. Add hot water (or chicken stock), bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes to make the chicken stock soup base. While the chicken soup is simmering, slather corn with some butter and grill until golden brown. Remove corn kernels, season with salt and pepper, then set aside. Check on the chicken soup base, season with salt, pepper, sugar, and nutmeg. Turn off heat, add chopped coriander, squeeze some lemon juice, add roasted corn kernels and serve. You can add a bit of fresh chopped chillies if you want more heat.

I love mine with buttered toasts or sandwiches and a big glass of iced tea.

Chicken & Corn in XO Sauce

Hong Kong is a place where most of us don't really have to buy stuff in bulk and keep them at home. In fact, most of us can't afford to buy in bulk. It's not the money...it's the space! Everything's tiny mini mini here, I barely have enough space for my ass :D

However, I try to always keep a few things at home for some days where I don't have time am too lazy to shop. Instant noodles, some random frozen snacks, frozen chicken thigh fillet, assorted sauces and some random canned food. This was one of those days. I was even too lazy to get outta my pjs and dine out.

Just grab something out of the kitchen cupboard, the fridge, and put them together.

Recipe
- 2 chicken thigh fillet, remove skin and excess fat, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 can of corn kernels, drain
- XO sauce (can be purchased from most Asian grocery stores)
- soy sauce, white pepper, corn starch, sugar, vegetable oil

Mix 2 heaping tsp corn starch, soy sauce, a touch of sugar and white pepper with the chicken chunks. Heat up a bit of vegetable oil in a frying pan, add chicken pieces, let them caramelize a bit, add corn kernels, add XO sauce, cook until you see a bit of brownage on the corn kernels too, serve with rice.

What do you keep in your pantry for lazy days?

Canned Food Party

Celebrating our love for canned food, a few close friends and I decided to have a canned food party, or was it actually my excuse for serving my guests with bad food? Ahem ahem ;)

Here are the easy breezy food I served that day...
Canned Fruit Salad

- 1 can of mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 can of peaches, drained
- 1 can of grapes, drained
Dressed with mango yoghurt, a bit of condensed milk, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Easy peasy. PS. You can also use a mixed fruit cocktail.

Corn Kernels with Bacon and Coriander

- 1 can of corn kernels, drained
- a few slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
- a sprig of coriander, chopped
- lemon juice, black pepper
Cook bacon pieces in a hot pan until they're browned and most of the fat has been rendered, add corn, let brown, add coriander at the end, add black pepper and squirt some lemon juice.
Done and done.

Indonesian Home Style Sop Ayam (Clear Chicken Soup)

- 1 small chicken, remove excess fat and most of skin
- 3 cloves of shallot, cut into sections
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3mm thick chunks
- 1 small potato, cut into cubes
- a handful of macaroni (since I don't have them, I used fusili)
- half a can of hot dogs (cut into chunks)
- half a can of spam (cut into cubes)
- olive oil, ground nutmeg, hot water, salt, pepper, crispy shallot, spring onion/Indonesian celery/coriander

Saute shallot in hot olive oil, add chicken, add carrot and potato chunks, add hot water, bring to boil, cook until you have a nice chicken stock and the carrot and potato chunks are tender, add hot dog and spam chunks, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, garnish with crispy shallot and greens, serve.

Since back home we serve sop with perkedel (Indonesian potato cakes), I tried to make my own perkedels (again, after failing many times)...

Perkedel Kornet (Indonesian Potato Cakes with Corned Beef)
|
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced (about 2-3 mm thick)
- 3-4 tablespoon canned corned beef
- crispy shallot
- 1 egg, beaten
- ground nutmeg, salt, pepper, olive oil for frying and baking
I microwaved sliced potatoes on high for about 10 minutes, or until softened. They get a little watery after microwaving, thus, I drizzled a bit of olive oil and bake them in 200C oven until most of the liquid is gone (this way, it takes shorter time compared to baking the potatoes soft, and less greasy compared to deep frying the potatoes prior to mashing). Mash while the potato chunks are still warm (it's ok to leave a bit of chunks), add corned beef, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, crush some fried shallot into the mix (optional), and mix well. Roll about 1 tbsp of potato mix into a ball and flatten slightly. I refrigerated mine overnight, but if the potato balls are firm and dry enough, it is not necessary (I just couldn't risk another failure). Heat up oil for frying (medium heat), dip each potato cake into beaten egg and fry until golden brown. I've tried baking them, coating them in panko breadcrumbs etc, but nothing's as good as the authentic deep fried version ;)

My first successful perkedels! Yeahhhh~ it's a day to remember!

Baked Spam and Pineapple in Teriyaki Sauce

I've made this before...I liked it so much, I made it again! The recipe can be found here.

For dessert...I didn't wanna bake anything...I served a very summery Indonesian classic...
Iced Canned Fruit Mix

- 1 can of longan
- 1 can of lychee
- 1 can of rambutan
- ice, iced water
Mix the canned fruit with some of its syrup, add iced water and ice cubes until you achieve the desired level of sweetness, and serve ;)
Very very refreshing!

Could the above food (plus rice) serve 5 big eaters? Of course not! We also ordered 9 pieces of chicken from KFC with waffle fries ;) ...and we taught our Hong Kong friend to eat like a true Indonesian, i.e. plate instead of bowl, rice + corn + perkedel (carb+carb+carb), eat with your bare hand, shape rice and stuff into a small mountain, shove into mouth with your thumb...and don't forget...one leg up on the chair.

Too bad I didn't get a picture of that as my hand was dirty with food. The scene was priceless!

Pan Fried Meat & Corn Patties

Another easy peasy delight for weekday dinners :)
Some supermarkets have these patties ready-to-use in packages for you, simply pan fry, grill, or steam them...or you can make them for scratch.
It's no rocket science, it's tasty, hearty, satisfying, and it has both the meat and veggie factor :D

Recipe
- 0.5 lb minced meat (pork or chicken or beef)
- half a cup corn kernels
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp corn starch, fish sauce, chicken stock powder (optional), salt, sugar, white pepper
- olive oil for pan frying

Mix all ingredients and form patties. If you want to pan fry, but do not want to pan fry for too long, to ensure that the inner part is cooked, you can nuke the patties in the microwave for a couple of minutes before pan frying. Pan fry both sides until golden brown and serve with chili sauce.

To jazz up the flavors, you can add freshly chopped coriander and or chopped red chili into the patties. I didn't add them since SC has developed a sudden hatred towards coriander ^_^'

Tasted fantastic with rice, and maybe add them into soup like meat balls or serve with pasta and sauce.

You must have noticed that my posts get shorter and shorter these days.
No lame excuses, plain and simple, my ass grows bigger and I get lazier ^_^'
Maybe tomorrow the post will have no word and no photo at all :D

Creamy Chicken & Sweet Corn Pasta

Some of you wrote if I could post some recipes which are good for those who are "having a bun in the oven".

Ehm ehm~
I think I am not much of an expert on that. I didn't even know that I was not supposed to eat bitter melon, watermelon, papaya, banana, snake, crab, eel, lamb, and the rest of the 10000000001 things I should not eat according to various beliefs and tradition. Oppps.

Did "being delicate" change my eating habit?
Am I one of those super lucky ones who don't feel a thing throughout "the journey"?

I wish :D

These last few months, my old food-loving-eat-all-I-can self has been replaced my this new picky-hate-everything-love-nothing bitch.

To illustrate....
Old self - word association:
Mushrooms - Yum!
Foie Gras - OMG! Yum!
Sushi - Gimme more!
Fried chicken - Where?

New self - word association:
Mushrooms - Yuck!
Foie Gras - OMG! Yuck!
Sushi - Yuck! Yuck!
Fried Chicken - Yuck? Yuck. Yuck!

I literally hated everything. Including but not limited to things I usually adore. I hate everything from my favorite aromatics such as garlic, onion, scallion, etc, so say goodbye to cooking. I also hate my favorite food such as mushrooms; rich flavored, spicy food; chocolate cake; etc.
Hate. Them. All.

So, no cooking, no dining out, no nothing.
Those were the days when I no longer live to eat.
I just eat to live...or puke (Oppps. Sorry).

When I finally got a wee bit better, I tried cooking something simple & easy. Something that doesn't make me gag when I think of it....I decided to make...

Creamy Chicken & Sweet Corn Pasta

Normally, I'd totally use garlic, onion and cheese...but not this time.

Recipe
(serves two)
- your choice of pasta (fusili is my favorite)
- 1 can of sweet corn kernels, drain the water
- 0.5 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast meat
- a bit of cream (depends how rich you want it to be)
- freshly chopped parsley
- olive oil, salt, pepper, a bit of corn starch

While preparing the sauce, cook pasta according to the direction on the packet. If you are not a multitasker, prepare the sauce first to avoid overcooking the pasta.

Cut chicken breast into bite sized chunks, season with salt and pepper, dust lightly with a bit of corn starch, mix well. Heat up a frying pan, add a bit of olive oil, add chicken pieces, let cook on one side until you get a bit of brownage, flip and cook thoroughly. Add corn kernels, heat thoroughly, add a few dashes of cream and season with salt and pepper.

Once pasta is done, pour pasta over sauce in the pan, mix well, add a bit of liquid used to cook the pasta if necessary. Check if you need to adjust the seasoning. Add freshly chopped parsley and serve.

Finally! The word "yum" came back in my vocabulary.

Sweet Corn Fried Rice

Being a fanatic meat lover, I love my everything...meaty.

As in..."spaghetti bolognaise with more ground beef than pasta" or "can't see any lettuce in my chicken caesar salad as they are all covered with chicken pieces" or "BBQ pork rice with an extra side order of....another serving of BBQ pork". HAHA. Surely, you got the drift...and I surely love laughing at my own not-so-funny lame "jokes".

However, sous chef's health condition slapped this meat lover right on the flabby 'n chubby cheek. I need to reduce my overwhelming consumption of red meat (goodbye, Ms. can-eat-more-than-four-pieces-chicken-in-one-seating) and add more vegetables in his my our diet.

Thus, instead of chicken+bacon+sausages+mince meat fried rice, I made this...
Sweet Corn Fried Rice

While it may not be the healthiest option, but it is must better than my normal more-meat-than-rice variations.

Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of corn kernels, drained (if you have any leftover from a can, use it for another dish/add them into a soup)
- 1 cup rice, cooked, refrigerated overnight (I use a mix of short grain pearl rice and brown rice, they are wonderfully chewy and they separate themselves well, perfect for fried rice)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced finely
- 1 clove of shallot, sliced thinly
- a stalk of spring onion, chopped
- teeny tiny bit of olive oil, salt, black pepper, sugar

I used my new non stick, no chemical coating pan to minimise the use of oil (I added less than 1 tbsp olive oil, maybe just a teaspoon, simply to bring the fragrance and flavors of my aromatics). Saute garlic and shallot, add corn kernels, cook until some of them turned golden brown, add rice, mix well, add spring onion, mix well, season with salt, black pepper and sugar.

There will be a day when I cook fried rice with more veggie than rice...don't hold your breath though ^_^

Pumpkin, Carrot & Corn Chinese Soup in a Pack

One of the beauties of living in Hong Kong....apart from...
- HK$10 wonton noodle
- Coffee shop whole day breakfasts
- In some places, food being smashed on your table delivered to you within seconds after you uttered your orders
- HK$18 BBQ pork lunch boxes
...is Chinese Soup in A Pack

The locals drink their Chinese soup religiously.
Each soup has its own health benefits such as...as quoted the locals:
- good for skin
- good for the heart
- good for heat
- good for cold
- good for health
good good good...I wonder if they have some soups that's good for love/good for career/good for the economy?

My knowledge about Chinese soup is...nonexistent.
I don't know which ingredient goes with what, and I don't know which soup is good for what.
I might have been drinking soup which is "good for gentlemen"...since I seem to have grown quite a lot of moustache these days. Oppps. (No, Rita. Don't blame it on the soup. You've had moustache since...like..forever)

Anyway, based on my Chinese soup related cluelessness, soup in a pack is my best bet.

Last weekend I've chosen...
Pumpkin, Carrot and Corn Soup Pack

It's a Chinese soup combo that I haven't seen before, and despite the persistent scorching heat, autumn is coming, so something with pumpkin sounds perfect.

I just grabbed a pack, it costs HK$18.50 (around USD2.3), it has all the necessary ingredients for the soup. I've added another pack of pork tenderloin too.


...and it doesn't get easier than this.
Simply dump everything into a pot (an impatient bitch that I am, I used a pressure cooker ^_^), add boiling water, bring to boil and simmer for about 1 hour.

Since I use a pressure cooker, I could've been drinking a bowl of soup after just 15 minutes.
But I want everything richer, sweeter, thicker, and tender, so I cooked my soup for 25 minutes. For pressure cooking vegetables, that's like...forever!

See my darling cooker blowing off steams?

That promises deliciousness.

...wow!
The soup is naturally sweet from all the sweet ingredients with a touch of meatiness from the pork tenderloin, I simply added a bit of salt to make everything perfectly balanced.


Yum!...and the meat? Melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Now back to the most important issue again. Does anyone know any soup that can make me richer, slimmer, prettier, and also smarter?
(Note to self: Chinese soups can only do so much, not the impossible)

Athena's Bday Party - How to Host A Bitching Party?

You're not having a dejavu, there was really another party at my place, and the title of my post doesn't mean that I am good at hosting party (this was only my second time), it's a question, not a statement. Please share your party tips, pretty please?...

I remember my first time attending a "casual" dinner at my friend's place, in Singapore. I typed casual between quotation marks, as to me, it was really a stunning dinner. She was serving simple and delicious home cooked meal of tomato soup and lasagna, but the table was beautifully set, decorated with gorgeous flowers and candles.

Did I learn from that experience? Ehm, judging from how my party spread looked like (disposable plates and cups? Really?)...gosh, I still have a lot to learn.

What did I do prior to the party?
Is my place normally that pristine and immaculate? Do I always have fresh flowers at home? Of course NOT!
Not really, so here are the things that I do when preparing for a party:
- A week before: thought about the menu (Order in? Take away? Home cooking? What style? Western? Asian? Indonesian? Chinese? Who doesn't eat what? Are the guests big eaters/dieters?) Any other activities to be done after dinner? Xbox? DVD? Games?
- A couple of days before: menu should be pretty much decided, create a list of ingredients to purchase)
- The day before: purchase ingredients and prep or cook dishes which can be prepared in advance, tidy up my mountain-high piles of dirty laundry, collect and throw SC's game weekly magazines from every room, stash any messy tidbits into empty drawers
- The morning and afternoon before: roughly dust visible places, clean floor, and prohibit SC to throw more dirty laundry everywhere, arrange flowers into various vases and station them several rooms
- One hour before the party: start cooking rice, and prepare all ingredients for dishes, ready to fire up, and prepare to heat up dishes which had been cook the day before

What did I serve this time? Just simple dishes I knew I could handle.

Italian Herbs and Lemon Zest Grilled Chicken Wings

- I prepared about 2-3 pieces of wings per person
- Italian mixed herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage)
- Zest of 1 lemon, juice of 1 lemon
- Salt, black pepper, olive oil

The day before the party, I defrosted the wings by quick boiling it (dip them into boiling water until the skin changed color, but not necessarily cooked through), drain and pat dry, coat wings with all ingredients, store in fridge. You can opt to skip the quick boiling.
On the day of the party, preheat oven to 220C, grill wings until the skin turned golden brown.

Corn Kernels with Bacon and Sausages

- 1 large can of corn kernels
- 3 slices of bacon, cut into small chunks
- 3 chicken franks, cut into 2-3 mm thick chunks (or any other sausages of your choice)
- 2 pork and herb sausages, cut into bite sized chunks
- black pepper

Defrost sausages and bacon since the night before, if necessary. About one - 2 hours before the party (or the day before, if you didn't need to defrost anything), slice bacon and sausages, then keep in the fridge before cooking. When ready to cook, heat up frying pan, add bacon and sausages (with no oil), cook until golden. Meanwhile, open the can of corn kernels and drain. Once the bacon and sausages are nicely browned, add corn kernels, cook until a bit charred, add black pepper. No other seasoning necessary, all the ingredients are already very flavorful.

Initially, I planned to add raisins to this dish, which will add another dimension of flavor, but I...forgot. Opps, maybe next time.

Grilled Chicken, Pineapple and Red Pepper in Coconut Milk

- 3 pieces of chicken upper thigh fillet
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 can (around 200ml coconut milk)
- 1 small fresh pineapple, or 1 can of pineapple chunks
- salt, black pepper, fish sauce, sugar

In the afternoon, or 1 hour before dinner starts, start preparing the ingredients, all the slicing and dicing. When it is time to serve, heat up frying pan (with no oil), season chicken fillet with salt, black pepper and olive oil, and grill skin down until you get some color. Flip once, cook until you get some colorage, set aside and slice into bite sized chunks. Saute garlic and onion, add chicken pieces, add pineapple (without the syrup if you are using canned pineapple), add coconut milk, and use some of the syrup of the canned pineapple (if using), season with salt, pepper, sugar, fish sauce and serve.

Beef Brisket Stewed in Red Wine

The birthday girl wanted to try this dish, so I did another encore of Beef and Red Wine combo. This time using brisket. I cooked this dish the night before, to get the beef to be more flavorful the day I served it.

Sauteed Black Pepper Mushrooms

- Mixed mushrooms
- Butter and olive oil
- salt and black pepper
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Saute garlic in olive oil and butter, add mushrooms until they turn golden and slightly charred, season with salt and lots of black pepper. It was really that simple.

Poison of the Day:
Mandarin Orange, White Wine and 7Up Drink

I should've named the drink with something catchy like sex on the beach or screaming orgasm, but my creativity veins are blocked today (this is Monday!)...so I just called it what it is.
Suggestions please....^_^

- 1 small can of mandarin orange sections in syrup
- white wine
- sprite/7up/soda water

Fill a jug with the mandarin orange sections, including the syrup, add ice, fill up to 2/3 with chilled white wine, top it off with sprite/7up/soda water, stir and serve.

The birthday cake's from a bakery called Zoe, it's very chocolatey, rich, and satiny smooth delicious! Served with cups hot of earl grey tea.


Capturing Joe's cute gestures and expressions such as this one? Priceless!


The perfect party souvenir: Polaroid pictures!
Useful tips:
- If we're anything other than svelte, hide behind those who are ^_^
- If you wanna appear more fair skinned, move to the front
- If you wanna appear ridiculous, do my pose

A birthday isn't a birthday without some gift giving action. The gift which shocked Joe to the core...original soundtrack of Boys over Flowers and SS501 album (birthday girl's current favorites).

Guess what he was thinking when he saw the CDs?

Check out birthday girl's blog post to find out what her husband said about her outfit, at Athena's Little C9 (in Chinese).

Honey Roasted Pork Ribs & Tomato Corn Soup - 1 Slap 2 Bitches

I remembered when I first discovered those 2-in-1 shampoo + conditioner. Some of you might say "Eeeccckkk!!!". That's fine. I too, don't use them anymore. But when I first learnt about them, being a lazy bum that I was (and still am), I thought wow, genius! it's one of the most brilliant ideas ever, which deserves to be alongside others such as sliced, crustless bread, and Microsoft Word (for those who are old enough to relate, don't you guys remember Word Perfect? ARGGHHH!!). Yes, I loved 2-in-1 shampoo + conditioner, or whatever it is that could help me do two things in one go.

This time, the 2-in-1 factor is:
Flavorful soup + Tenderized-meat-falling-off-bones pork ribs...
Honey Roasted Pork Ribs & Tomato Corn Soup

Recipe
- 5 ripe tomatoes, cut into 8 sections each
- 3 sweet corn, cut into 3-4 parts each
- 3 small heads of wawa veggie (or you can use cabbage)
- 1 bulb of garlic, crushed
- 3 cm ginger, crushed
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 lb pork ribs
- olive oil, salt, white pepper, sugar, honey

Tomato Corn Soup
(In a pressure cooker, or in a deep pot) Saute onion, ginger and garlic in a bit of hot olive oil until fragrant, add pork ribs, add tomatoes, vegetables and corn. Cook for 20 minutes (if you are using pressure cooker), or 2-3 hours (if using normal pot, high heat then lower to low heat after bubbling). The tomato corn soup has been richly flavored by the meaty flavor of pork ribs, sweetness of corn, onion, vegetable, and the tang from the tomatoes. This soup needs very little seasoning. Just a pinch of salt will do.

Honey Roasted Pork Ribs
Preheat oven to 250C. Remove the tenderized pork ribs, the meat should be super tender. Place in oven tray, pour honey over them (rather generously), sprinkle a bit of salt, scoop a bit of soup to maintain juiciness. Grill until golden brown.

Consequently, there were 2 big bowls of rice in 1 stomach that evening. ^_^

Easy Bacon, Corn and Zucchini and My Pot Envy

Bacon, bacon, bacon.

Why isn't there a restaurant called "BACON" or "PANCETTA"? (or whatever fancy word that means bacon)...and bacon shall magically appear in every parts of the menu, beautifully stuck in the servers' cleavage (and we can pull 'em with our teeth-hoho), everything else only exist to glorify the majestic flavor of bacon, and I shall go home smelling deliciously like bacon. Hehe.

...and with the dish below, we can either flavor something healthy with bacon (and turn it unhealthy by adding wayyy too much bacon until all the good vegetables are buried and unrecognizable) or turning bacon to be something healthy (by adding more vegetables). Your choice ;)

Bacon, Corn & Zucchini

Recipe
(everything's adjustable to suit your taste)
- 1 can of corn kernels, drained
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into cubes, marinate with some salt to remove excess water, then rinse
- a few (or many) strips of bacon, cut into chunks
- salt, black pepper, sugar (optional)

Pan fry bacon pieces in a non stick pan (you don't need any oil for this), add corn kernels, add zucchini, cook until everything are cooked through, season with a bit of salt, sugar, and black pepper if necessary (probably not hehe, it should already taste fan-bloody-tastic)

That's it. I must stop this ridiculous crush on bacon (although I think it is not possible), and move on to bitch about my major pot envy. My sneaky, sneaky sis went back to my home town in Semarang, and cleverly raided my mom's kitchen! That biyatch!...and she scored this lovely little old tin pot in which we used to carry our take away food, and some gorgeous old pale salted egg blue tin plates. What's the big deal, right? Just get more from my mom....I wish!!! Those are the only ones left! ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Maybe I could ask my mom to raid my auntie's or cousin's place?