Peaches & Cream

Tom Yum Fried Rice

2010-06-01T01:09:00.000-07:00

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:

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

Remove the shell and veins of the prawns. Set head and shells aside.
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.
After 20 minutes, I take a sift to remove all the ingredients in the broth so that all is left is the stock.
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.
Once chicken is cooked, mix in the peeled prawns and stir fry until well cooked.
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.
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.
Add in the red chillies for the finishing touch and Voila! A dish to devour ;-)

OPI - Pretty and Privileged Review

2010-06-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

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.

1st Beauty Haul of May

2010-05-30T02:20:00.000-07:00

Went to Megamall yesterday for dinner and for Sis's Croc shoes. I had absolutely no intention to spend anymore but who could resist passing by the Mac store and not heading in to check out those inviting black cased cosmetics paired with the most vivid colours? However, I really do not agree with most of the makeup worn on the salesgirls; I mean for crying out loud, dark smokey greens and loud pinks during the day. I always thought they looked like cakes :-) The icing (makeup) is applied smoothly albeit too much and when they talk to me close, I feel like poking into the makeup and wonder if it would crumble just like icing. Well, I am a Mac lover but that is because of their quality not the impressions made by the salesgirls.

So before we could even walk 5 steps away from Mac, I succumbed to the urge and we gleefully walked in like sinners waiting to satisfy our lust for cosmetics (evil laugh).

Here's what I got from Mac:

1. Mac Select Sheer/Loose Powder NC5 - RM85

2. Mac Amplified Creme Lipstick (Blankety) - RM63

Sis got a Painterly Paint Pot for which I also currently own one (review coming soon) as well as a Mac Creamshine Glass. I heart I heart my Painterly, it really makes a big difference to the intensity of a smokey eye makeup lover such as yours truly.

Next haul happened in Sasa. Wanted to buy Kawaii Tokyo's Melting Dew makeup remover but apparently, the salesgirl told me they no longer restock on that. I was heartbroken. You see, I was a previous user of Kanebo Cleansing Oil until I went to Sasa and they told me they no longer restock it. Ok, so I bought Melting Dew since they recommended it. And now, when I totally heart Melting Dew, they discontinued it!Melting Dew just didn't break me out and cleaned my Dior foundation laden face thoroughly well. Anyway, I just couldn't leave Sasa without a decent makeup remover. So here is the list of items I hauled :-)

1. Cyber Colors Cleansing Oil - RM39.92 (NP: RM49.90)
2. Sasatinnie Makeup Artist's False Lashes Collection 02Clubbing - RM9.90
3. Sasatinnie Makeup Artist's False Lashes Collection 06Velvet - RM9.90
4. Cyber Colors Natural Dolly Eyes Lashes - RM7.92 (NP: RM9.90)

One thing I noticed about Sasa salesgirls is that they love to recommend Sasa or Cyber Colors brand. I wasn't too sure at all about the cleansing oil but I had no choice as they discontinued my favourite brands and they only had Cyber Colors in stock. I just hope I don't break out from it (fingers crossed) but am pretty glad there's a 20% discount on it. The lashes in the black box was labelled under Sasatinnie (Whatever that means *shrugs*) had a good review from Sis. Apparently, those lashes have soft lash bones. Well, I'll try them on soon and tell you what I think.

Cant wait for next week, as I've ordered the highly raved about Cyleina organic soaps, 2 bottles of OPI nail polishes and a 200gm bag of homemade herbal mask which was highly raved about online. All these costed me less than RM100, plus petrol fees to the bank to cash in to the sellers and that's why am pretty jolly :-) Will update on the haul once it arrives ;-)