Beginner’s Choice: Noodles, Rice and Everything Nice

Noodle success

When my friend Marie, who is doing her post doc studies in the US, sent me a photo of her dinner of a piece of bread and a boiled egg, I was very concerned. But then she explained that she had had a late lunch out, and portions are huge when eating out.

She sent a second photo, this time of the noodles she cooked, which gave me more peace of mind. She was celebrating her small steps in cooking.

Val’s lunch box returns

Val was also into noodles, this time it was soba noodle salad with teriyaki chicken. She was clearing the fridge and pantry again.

Thai olive rice

If you ever need a simple recipe that is guaranteed to be a success, try Thai olive rice. It’s served with egg omelet, cashew nuts, lime/calamansi, chili and shallots.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of oil for frying omelette

8 cloves of minced garlic

8 shallots (chopped)

300 grams of minced pork/chicken

800 grams of rice

4 tablespoons of olive vegetables (they come in a bottle)

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

3 dashes of pepper

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

½ teaspoon of soy sauce

Method

Fry the eggs in oil at medium heat to cook the omelette, then cut the omelette into thin slices and set aside to add to the rice before serving

Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok

Fry the garlic and shallots

Add the olive vegetables and stir fry

Add minced pork/chicken and stir until brown

Add cooked rice, fry at high heat

Add fish sauce and sesame oil

Add soya sauce and pepper

Add omelette slices

The cashew nuts give a crunchy texture, the lime or calamansi give a refreshing citric taste, and the chili gives it the spicy touch.

The Special Desserts

Angie baked a not-so-sweet chocolate cake with light icing, strawberries and cherries, and she lined the sides with lotus biscoff biscuits. It looked like a tart, but tasted like a cake. Quite original and very good.

Elena never ceases to amaze us. She was given the challenge of making a birthday dessert with jelly. She decided on a jelly cheesecake with dragon fruit. She said that the hardest part was making the cream cheese balls.

We hope that the year has started off well for everyone. In case you missed Andrea’s new year’s resolutions post, the link is below.

RESOLUTIONS: BOOM OR BUST? – HomeBlog by HomSkil

And in case you missed Rose’s dressmaking post, do check it out at the link below.

Milkmaid Dresses and Dressmaking Revival By Rose – HomeBlog by HomSkil

If you enjoyed our first anniversary post, we hope you will be encouraged to contribute food photos, recipes and articles. ( Beginner’s Choice: Homskil’s Flavours of Happiness – HomeBlog by HomSkil )

Have a great week ahead.

By Chayo, HomSkil Editor 1,16 January 2022