These pork burgers look lovely with the green finely chopped herbs dotted within it. Instead of the celery stalks, I used the celery leaves (which is quite rare to find in supermarkets. But I found it from a Chinese grocery)  in these burgers.

I always find the fragrance of the celery complement very well with pork for some reasons!

Ingredients: (make 10 medium size burgers)

1. 500g pork mince
2. about 1 cup bread crumbs
3. 1 egg
4. a large bunch of parsley (finely chopped)
5. same amount of celery leaves (finely chopped)
6. salt and pepper to taste
7. about 2 tbsp olive oil
8. about 2 tbsp soy sauce
9. about 2 tbsp corn flour

What a lovely and sunny the  last few days. The sea was calm and gentle breeze as I walked along the Thames Estuary. 

There is no reason not to eat fresh home cooked food at home. Microwave prepared food is just plain laziness! :-) kidding aside! I understand some people just hate cooking or no time to cook!

This is so simple...all you need to do is to slowly poach the meat (over low heat) until cooked (not hard boil). Remove it from the heat. Leave the meat in the "soup" until you are ready to serve. To make it a bit special, you can poach the meat in Chinese herbal soup (shop bought herbal soup package).

Meanwhile, finely chopped garlic, chillies (red and green) and fresh root ginger. Put all in the bowl, add a zest of lime, 1/2 lime juice, 1 tbsp pepper syrup (or 1/2 tbsp honey), 1-2 tbsp light soy sauce. Mix the sauce with generous amount of finely chopped coriander. Mix well and set aside.

Serve the pork warm or slight cold with the sauce...good appetiser to stimulate your taste buds for the main course!

Another Quick, simple and effortless meal for a busy day...again, It is easy to write down the recipe too. (I have been busy with a proper job! A good sign nevertheless...)

Ingredients: (enough to serve 2 meals)

1. 450g diced lamb
2. 1 large onion (roughly chopped)
3. 1 tbsp Ginger ( Chopped)
4. Few cloves of garlic (roughly sliced)
5. 3 tbsp Schwartz curry powder
6. 1/3 cup of cloudy lemonade (Blend 1 whole lemon (with skin on) with 1 -2 cups of sparkling mineral water, sift and discharge the bits) (Left over lemonade can be served with the curry as drink!) (Can be substitute with 1 lemon's juice.
7. A handful of whole cherry tomatoes
8. A handful of fresh coriander (chopped)
9. 1 tsp soy sauce (or pinch of salt to taste)
10. 1-2 tbsp oil
11. 3 tbsp Almond powder (or coconut)

Fry gently onion, ginger and garlic in the oil until lightly brown, add the diced lamb. Cook for few minutes. Add curry powder and mix well. Cook for further 5 mins. Add the lemonade, mix well. Under low heat, stew the lamb for ± 20 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and almond powder. Cook for further few minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the chopped fresh coriander.

Serves with nice home-made bread as starter or with rice as main dish. But I think the quickest way is to serve it with couscous!

Garnish the curry with seedlings and it is always good with pickled vegetables too.

This SO simple to make, almost effortless. The freshness of the skate wing works nicely with the slighted salted, peppery garlic butter sauce. the leftover garlic butter sauce is delicious as pasta sauce too.

Ingredients:

1. Skate wing
2. 1 bulb garlic (sliced thinly)
3. 100g butter
4. 2 tbsp olive oil
5. 1 tbsp green pepper corns (crushed)
6. 1 tsp dried coriander leaves
7. 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

In a pan, melt butter and oil under low heat. Add salt, garlic, pepper corns, and fry gently until softed. Add dried coriander leaves and fry further until the garlic is very lightly brown.

Meanwhile in a separate pan, poach the skate wing in the boiling water for 3-5 minutes or until just cooked. Drain and put it on a serving plate. Pour the garlic butter sauce onto the skate (just enough to cover it) and serves hot.

Very often when I mention porridge to my non-Asian friends, they immediately associate eating porridge with being not feeling well. In Malaysia, we often have congee as a breakfast or lunch or dinner; actually it is a all-rounder food.

They are quite a few different variety of congees you can find in Malaysia, some with chicken pieces, with thinly slice raw fish and even flog legs. Century Egg and minced pork congee is one that I particularly like. For some reason, the last whole week, I kept thinking (in Mandarin) about 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (Century Egg And Minced Pork Congee). Then I came across this phrase, "I eat merely to put food out of my mind." by N.F. Simpson. What an accurate expression for my situation. I think I have to have century egg and minced pork congee to put it out of my mind!

Congee is such an easy meal to prepare, and it is a rather nice and "fulfilling" meal during colder evenings.

For the congee, you need the following ingredients: 
(depends on the amount of water, you should have plenty of congee to serve at least 2-4 people)

1. Approximate 1 cup of basmati rice
2. Lot of water (approximately 15cm deep in a large cooking pot, you can add more water during the cooking time if the congee become too thick, some people prefer it to be quite runny)
3. 500g minced pork
4. Few floret of broccoli (optional - to add some colours to the congee)
5. 1 century egg per serving/person (cut into quarters) (warning: Try not to wash the egg with water, or else you might find the smell of it become too pungent for your liking!) 
6. Thinly sliced fresh ginger (to taste)
7. Few cloves of garlic
8. 2 tbsp oyster sauce
9. Salt and finely ground white pepper (to taste)
10. Soy sauce (to taste)
11. Thinly sliced spring onion (for serving)
12. Sesame seed oil (for serving)

The process for making the congee is rather easy. In a large and deep cooking pot, wash the rice and pour in the water. Add the garlic cloves and ginger in the pot. Bring the water to boil and cook until the rice are disintegrated. Stir in the minced pork and the broccoli. Season with the oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Cook further until the rice is finely disintegrated. Stir the congee frequently to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the pot. 

The congee is ready! In a serving bowl, stir in the century egg pieces with the congee, drizzle some sesame seed oil, ground pepper and soy sauce (to taste) and decorate the congee with some spring onion. Serves hot.

Ps: Most people do not like the smell or look of the century egg, but with the congee, you will find the taste of it is very subtle but it's does add an unique flavour to the congee. The black jelly-like colour of the egg complement nicely with the pale congee!

Pss: Remembrance a friend who hated porridge, who is now in heaven. R.I.P Ingvar

Have a read of the information about century egg here