The Tom Yam Dinner

I like to cook for my family, even though I do not do it often. I like coming up with different dishes to cook, thinking of what ingredients to use, and if the combination of dishes goes well together. Because I am on vegetarian diet at the moment, I try to add in more vegetarian dishes, but I will have a separate dish like meat or fish or chicken for the rest of the family.

Tom Yam Seafood.  With the different types of tom yam ready mix nowadays, it is pretty easy to cook this dish. I use fish slices and squid for this tom yam soupy seafood dish.  The trick is to add in other ingredients/condiments like onions, tomatoes and straw mushroom. Stir fry the onions and add in the tom yam mix and water. Add in sugar according to taste so that the tom yam is not too spicy sour. Then add in the fish and squid to cook and the dish is ready in 5 minutes. 

Spinach with Mushroom and Wolfberries.  My niece likes spinach and my nephew (who does not like veggies) does not mind spinach occasionally. I add in some big button mushroom and wolfberries, stir some oyster sauce, salt and sugar into the dish and before the dish is ready, stir in a little cornflour mix with water, so that the taste will be 'smoother'.  

Braised Hoo Kee (Beancurd Skin Sticks). This is one of our regular vegetarian dishes at home, a dish which I learned from my grandma and mom.  Rinse the beancurd skin if you do not want the dish to be too oily.  When it is softened, slow cook the beancurd skin in a pot, with chinese mushrooms, cloves of garlic, and a few aniseeds. Add in dark and light soya sauce, salt, and pepper (optional) to taste. This is an extremely easy dish to prepare. 

Chai Por Onions Egg.  I like eggs and I prepare different variations of fried eggs.  I use chai por (sweetened radish) and onions this time. Other times, I like to add in wolfberries, or luncheon meat cubes, or crabsticks or minced meat, in fact, anything you like. 

Sweet Corn Radish Fishball Soup. We like our soup boiled for hours.  For this soup, I added corn, carrots, radish, fishballs, dried cuttlefish, pork ribs, red dates, wolfberries.  The char-burnt taste of the soup which is boiled for hours is so exquisitely satisfying.  

This was one of the simple dinners I prepared at home, the highlight being the Tom Yam Seafood for the night.