Vegetarian Laksa~! ^^

My boyfriend loves Laksa so much, and I thought, as a good girlfriend, I should try and learn how to make it! How difficult could it be right?

As I've sort of made a promise to be a vegan for a month, this recipe is vegan/vegetarian. For all you meat-eaters roaring displeasure, I'm sorry! The vegetarian version is delicious still! It may not be as fragrant as I've omitted dried shrimps, but I substituted chopped mushrooms instead. Stir-fried mushrooms are really fragrant too, right? Haha!

Don't let the amount of ingredients scare you. Most of them are easily found!

Warning: Wear gloves when handling chilli. The seeds burn into your hands and your hands will feel like it's constantly on fire. It's a miserable feeling. If you have chilli burn, prepare a bowl and some salt. Rub your burning hands or finger with salt. Rub THOROUGHLY, until burning sensation is gone. Wash with water. I've tried all other methods: alcohol, mayonnaise, milk, cucumber...goodness gracious. Salt is the only one that worked.

Ingredients (serves 3~4):

Noodles:

- you can choose any noodles you like. I chose beehoon (rice noodles). You can even serve it with rice if you want to.

Laksa Paste:
- 50g garlic, chopped
- 50g shallots, chopped
- 1 slice ginger, coarsely chopped
- 50g dried chilli, sliced, seeds removed, soaked in hot water
- 1 tablespoon vegetarian belachan chilli
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of water/ 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, for easy blending

Broth:
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk/coconut cream
- Laksa paste (see above)
- Lemongrass stem, crushed (optional)
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 4 tablespoons sugar

Toppings:
- Shiitake Mushrooms
- Tau Pok (Tofu Puffs)
- Beansprouts
- Laksa Leaves or Basil Leaves, ground finely
- anything else you like. :) For non-vegetarians, you can try fishcake, egg, etc. :)

1. Soak Beehoon in water to soften it.

2. Put all the ingredients in Laksa Paste into the blender and blend it to a nice consistency.

3. In a nonstick pan, fry Laksa paste over medium heat.

4. In a pot, bring vegetable stock to a boil. You can use chicken stock if you are not a vegan/vegetarian.

5. Turn to medium heat. Add in Laksa Paste and Lemongrass stem. Stir the broth.

6. Add coconut milk/cream. Add salt and sugar to taste.

7. Add all the toppings you want into your broth (except beansprouts and Laksa/basil leaves). Let broth simmer for 5 minutes under low heat.

If using mushrooms, fry the first before adding into the soup.

8. Pour away soaking water for Beehoon. In another pot, cook beehoon.

9. Drain beehoon. Serve in a bowl and put some beansprouts on it.

10. Pour broth over your noodles with toppings on top. Sprinkle Laksa leaves/ Basil leaves on top as a beautiful garnish.

Verdict: My boyfriend insisted that once I'm off my vegan diet, we should try to make the Laksa Paste with fried haebee (tiny dried shrimps) to make it really fragrant. This was super spicy because of the belachan chilli I bought... -__-" It was just a sweating good time eating this, but yea, I do agree with my boyfriend that the broth could be more fragrant. For anyone who has made Vegetarian Laksa before, any suggestions to make my recipe better??

Special thanks to my friend, Evelyn, who helped me a lot in my Laksa-cooking adventure. She gave me her grandmother's recipe and I modified it to make it vegan-friendly.

Will you try this???  Hehe! It's impressive, don't you think? The ingredients are easily found in vegetarian stores and markets.

Where to Buy:

- Vegetarian Belachan Chilli

This is what I used. I bought it in a Chinese vegetarian shop downstairs where I live. Most of these ingredients (beehoon, tofu puffs, dried chilli, coconut milk etc) can be bought in Chinese vegetarian shops. This little jar of spice is only S$3.40.

20 cute date ideas~! ^^

Sorry for not updating for awhile! I have so many recipes waiting to be posted...I'll do it soon I promise!! 

In the meantime, let's check out some cute date ideas! ^^

1. Sneak into hotel pools! ^^

2. Go to a major chain bookstore, and leave notes to future readers in copies of your favourite books.

3. Create photo evidence suggesting that you went on an adventure that didn't really happen.

4. Build forts out of furniture and blankets, and spend time doing all kinds of things in it!

5. Try and visit as many people as you can in one night, and turn as many things inside their apartment upside down as you can, without them noticing.

6. Go to the airport, get the cheapest, soonest departing flight to anywhere when you show up, and stay there for a weekend.

7. Write a piece of fiction together. Outside at a cafe. Ask strangers when you get stuck.

8. Dress to the nines, pretend to be married, and test drive very expensive vehicles at an auto dealership.

9. Walk around a city and perform short silent plays in front of security cameras.

10. With camera and pair of boots, make photolog of a day in the life of the invisible man.

11. Walk around the city all night and find a place to eat breakfast at dawn.

12. Go to a restaurant and convince the cook to create something completely new for you.

13. Rent a movie you've never seen before. Set on mute and improvise dialogue.

14. Do the lamest tourist thing in your area that you have both secretly wanted to do forever. Have an unabashed good time!

15. In the middle of the night, drive to the beach, so you arrive just as the sun is rising. Have a breakfast picnic, then fall asleep together. Bring a sun umbrella.

16. Drive somewhere unknown and have dinner in a city you've never been to. With fake names.

17. Go around the city with sidewalk chalk and draw hearts with equations inside on random things.

18. Borrow a cookbook from the library. Choose something to make. Make it a 3-course meal. Buy ingredients and make a meal together.

19. Dress in a pretty white dress and have him wear a suit. Take pictures in a photobooth together.

20. Stay in a boutique hotel/ local hostel in your city for the weekend and pretend you are tourists.

Mushroom Aglio Olio

Aglio Olio.

It sounds so fancy and impressive, is delicious, and the best of all, it's extremely easy and fast to make.

So, if you're thinking of whipping up a quick dinner for your friends or your family, or your boyfriend's family (haha!), why don't you try this easy recipe?

There are so many kinds of aglio olio you can make. The name literally means 'garlic and oil' in Italian. So to keep it authentic, I guess you just need to flavour your olive oil with garlic by some light stir-frying in the pan for a few minutes before adding whatever you want to your pasta dish. ^^

The family was really hungry when I got home from work. It was a lazy rainy evening. My mum was really tired and had no inspiration to cook that night. My brother was hungry but did not feel like eating out. I was actually feeling a little lazy, but I had this urge to cook for my family. It was getting really late though, so I wanted to make something quick yet something different and special for a change. So, mushroom aglio olio it was~! ^^ Here are the ingredients!

Ingredients (Makes 3~4 servings):

- 232g elbow macaroni
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 100g mushrooms, washed and sliced (I used shiitake because those were the only shrooms I could find in my fridge. Feel free to use any other mushrooms you like. ^^)
- 3 dried chillies, milled coarsely, or 1tbsp of chilli flakes (optional)
- 40g fresh parsley, milled coarsely, or 1 tbsp of parsley flakes (optional)
- sea salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- juice of 1/2 a lemon (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to instructions on package. Drain and set aside pasta in a large pot/bowl. Reserve a small cup of pasta water.

2. In a medium-sized saucepan over a medium flame, heat olive oil. Add garlic and chilli flakes. Saute for about 3 minutes until garlic turns a light golden brown. Add mushrooms. Saute for about 6~8minutes.

3. When there is a lovely fragrance, turn off the stove. Be careful not to burn your garlic~

4. Pour all ingredients in the pan to the pot/bowl of pasta. Toss pasta in this oily mixture. Add parsley flakes. Toss some more. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Toss some more. Drizzle more olive oil if you find your pasta too dry.

5. Garnish with a fresh stalk of parsley. Beautiful! You may drizzle some lemon juice over your pasta too just to give it an extra oomph. :)

Easy isn't it? My family polished everything off and raved about it. Totally worth it~! ^^

Enjoy~!!

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Sorry for the long hiatus over here in my blog! I was feeling rather down and uninspired to write since my last post here. I updated everyday on my facebook page though, and I'm really happy to see new people on my facebook page from all over the world! I really wish one day I can meet everyone here~~ ^^

Well, anyway!

Despite me feeling blue for the past month, I've been trying my best to bring cheer to my other friends with my baked goods at that same time~! ^^

I've made peanut butter cookies, lemon drop cookies, very dark chocolatey cookie balls and so on~!

They are all very delicious, and today I'm going to share what was a huge hit with my friends and family!

These are classic peanut butter cookies and as you can see, they don't look exactly pretty. Hahaha! Oh but who cares when they are so delicious! They are fragrant and moist on the inside, yum yum!

I used Skippy's Creamy Peanut Butter. I'd wanted to get Chunky because I just love to bite on things, haha, but I grabbed the wrong bottle. -____-"

If you are very particular about the food you put into your tummy, go ahead and grab some organic and pure peanut butter~ ^^ If yours is just pure peanut butter without other added additives (read the ingredients list!), do add some salt into this recipe. A pinch or 2 will do. 

Ingredients (Makes about 20 cookies):

- 3 tbsp water + 1 tbsp flaxseed meal (or 1 egg, beaten)
- 150g all-purpose flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 150g peanut butter
- 50g raw sugar
- 50g brown sugar
- 40g shortening / refined coconut oil (if using this, measure 40g of the coconut oil in its liquid form as the 1st step and pop it into the freezer until you need to use it)

1. Preheat oven to 180℃. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift flour and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the peanut butter, sugars, and shortening (or solidified coconut oil). Scrape down the sides, then beat in the flaxseed mixture (or egg).

4. Stir in (2) until thoroughly combined.

5. Use a small ice cream scoop and drop the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared sheets. If you do not have an ice cream scoop, you can use your hands, grab a piece of dough, and roll it into a ball, and place them onto the lined sheets.

6. Using a fork, press the cookies down in a criss-cross pattern.

7. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the tops no longer look wet. Be careful not to overbake!

8. Transfer cookies to cooling racks and wait for them to cool before storing them in pretty glass bottles or cookie containers~! ^^

These cookies can keep for up to 5 days in room temperature in an airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months. ^^

I hope you enjoy them! They are so very delicious, easy-to-make, and make great gifts for friends!

Choose to buy organic refined coconut oil if using it to bake. The unrefined one has a strong coconut taste and smell, which you might not want or like in your baked goods. ^^

Where to buy:

Currently, I'm using this one and I got mine from Organic Sunny's Choice at The Rail Mall. You will be able to find many other excellent choices of coconut oil in selected Cold Storage supermarkets, Yes Natural organic shops, and other healthfood/organic stores, and even Indian provision shops. 

Coconut oil is just lovely. It's the only non-meat oil that can be solidified naturally in lower temperatures. ^^ Read about the other awesome use of coconut oil here!

Random, but I wonder if anyone missed this blog's updates at all. Probably not, because there are so many blogs out there to keep you entertained, and this blog hasn't been particularly entertaining I guess. Hahaha! But well, anyway, remember to like Happy Girls Cute Food on Facebook if you like reading my updates. I update there everyday with recipes, food porn (haha!), and some nice fashion for girls. So, check it out, and like the page if you like it! ^^

Chef Chloe's Ginger Nutmeg Spice Cupcakes~!

And again, I want to share another of Chef Chloe's amazing vegan recipe!

In her book, this is called Chloe's Award-Winning Ginger Nutmeg Spice Cupcakes.

I love spices so I really wanted to make this and try how it tasted! In her cookbook, she has a date caramel sauce for this, which I didn't make. I also made my own frosting. If you want the original recipe, please support her cookbook! It has 125 recipes inside, and although she's well-known for winning Cupcakes War, the savoury recipes in her cookbook are really interesting and delicious! There's even a cookie recipe for your dog~!

I think Chef Chloe is such a sweet girl~ She's my idol!!!!

So, anyway, I'm going to share with you the recipe for the basic spice cupcakes and also the recipe for my own frosting. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients (Makes 6):

- 85g all-purpose flour
- 2g baking powder
- 1g baking soda

- 2g ground ginger

- 2g ground nutmeg

- 1g ground cloves

- 1g ground cinnamon

- 2g salt

- 65g sugar
- 55g pumpkin puree, canned or cooked fresh
- 55g coconut milk, mixed well before measuring
- 23g canola oil
- 4g white or apple-cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 175℃. Line a 6-cup cupcake pan with 6 cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk in sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, coconut milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

Date Caramel
- 2 medjool dates
- 55g maple syrup
- 10g water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place dates in a small saucepan with water to cover, and bring to a gentle boil. Let the dates boil gently for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool to the touch. Peel the dates with your fingers and discard the skin.

2. Remove the pits and coarsely chop the dates. Place in a blender; add maple syrup, water, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until chilled.

Vanilla Frosting
- 25g cold vegan vanilla whipping cream (I used Toppin' Pride)

1. Beat on high until light and fluffy~! Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble the cupcakes, spread a thin layer of the frosting on the Spice Cupcakes and drizzle with the Date Caramel.

Enjoy~!

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