Cellophane Noodles with Mushroom Fritters & Say EEEE!

A recent comment from Tigerfish hit me in the head (in a very good way ^_^). I realised that lately I've been trying (maybe a little to hard?) to cook more challenging things, which required more effort. A simple stir fry with classic ingredients does not satisfy me anymore, I wanted MORE, MORE & MORE!...which I believe is a somehow good thing, as it unleashed the little adventurous bitch in me, and cured my:

1. Bake-O-Phobia
The idea of baking, especially baking, used to scare the heck outta me! I could feel the oven staring at me icily as I walk back and forth past it, it demanded me not to grill another batch of meat, its authoritative glance ordered me to get over myself and at least try baking something sweet, for the title of my blog's sake!!! Finally I did my first attempt of baked goodies! Gosh! The closest I got to baking anything before was to take the elevator to a nearest bakery, buy the damn thing and eat it faster than the time required to measure a cup of self raising flour HAHA!
2. Home-Sick-O'xicosis
I always think Indonesian cooking is as easy as Calculus in my university days (hope you got my hint ^_*...I failed Calculus miserably by getting 4 out of 10 in first year of uni. If you didn't get the hint = I thought it is SUPER HARD hehe). So, I used to only "cook" Indonesian food out of instant spice packets, which wasn't bad, but certainly could not compare to doing things from scratch. I braved myself dicing, chopping, pounding, & grinding the raw ingredients and the dish ended up pretty close to Mbak Yem's version, yay!
3. Boring-ausea
I am a 9-6, routine-loving, boring gal, who hates change, and I love eating the same thing again, and again, and again...the idea of eating bbq pork rice daily for one whole straight month (or more) does not daunt me the slightest. But I bet you guys would throw up reading the same blog post about bbq pork rice daily...so I set a new challenge for myself: never to bore myself, my sous chef, and my fellow bloggers. Although my "experiments" might not end up great, as some things sound good in my head, but might taste like a pair of facebook's raggedy old boots on my plate, but I will try my very best NOT to make you think "Oh gawd, if I see another _ _ _ _ _ _*insert your choice of something booooring here*, I'll go & bury my head in my toilet bowl throwing up".

I can't believe I 've already been blabbering so long and haven't even talked about the challenges of being newly adventurously complicated yet???!!! OK, to be continued in my next post then...

Now let me bore you and the Presto Pasta Night gang with my last night's experiment...hehe
Cellophane Noodles with Mushroom Fritters (Soun Goreng & Bakwan Jamur)

Recipe
Cellophane Noodles (Soun Goreng)
(serves 4)
- 4 packs of cellophane noodles , soak in water to soften
- 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- 5 cloves of thinly sliced shallot
- 2 red chilli, core and seeds removed, sliced thinly
- a few sprigs of corriander, finely chopped
- a handful of dried shrimps (optional), you can use fresh shrimps instead
- 2 heads of small napa cabbage, thinly sliced (you can also use beansprouts)
- olive oil, kecap manis, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce

Saute aromatics, add napa cabbage, add noodles, add seasonings, garnish with corriander, serve with...

Mushroom Fritters (Bakwan Jamur)
- about 0.5 lb fresh straw mushrooms (Chou Gu /草菇) or you can use white button mushrooms
- 1 small clove of finely chopped garlic
- 1 small red chilli, core and seeds removed, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dried shrimps (optional or use fresh shrimps instead)
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp corn starch, 3 tbsp plain flour (you can use self raising flour if you want it fluffy)
- 1/2 tbsp salt, 1/4 tbsp sugar, a bit of white pepper

Wash mushrooms, chop into small pieces, soak in hot water for 3 minutes, drain, set aside to remove most water. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well, scoop 1 tbsp of mixture into hot oil (if you are not using self raising flour, you do not need so much oil) fry 1-2 minutes each side until golden brown, serve. You can reheat these bad boys in the oven and eat em as snacks.


Millions of thanks to Taste Memory whose gorgeous blog I newly discovered but inspired me aplenty :) I am so honored to have been given this award...tonight is the night of celebration! Woohoo!

Now, passing on this award is not an easy task (another SUPER HARD mission). There are just soo many fab bloggers out there! After thinking real hard (which you might notice from how late I posted this today), I've decided to pass the award to the following bloggers, who continue to amaze me daily:
Kevin from Closet Cooking> his ecclectic & creative cooking, topped off with beautifully styled food photographs have me oohhh-ing and aaaah-ing every day. Is there anything you cannot do, Kevin?
Daphne from More than Words> I love her innovative savoury baked or layered creations, she totally sees my visions, she gets my inspirations, our taste just clicked!
Peter from Kalofagas> His blog opened my eyes to a whole new world of rustic gastronomical pleasures, namely Greek food at its very best!
Tigerfish from Teczcape> I love reading her episodes of food adventure, her Chinese touch, her one pot dinners and her recent comment which made me realise that I have improved so much, but I should not forget to get back to basic and keep things simple sometimes
Mba Retno from Kedai Hamburg> Her expertise on Indonesian food guided me to brave the exotic world of Indonesian cooking, not from packets

If you're bored now...get a copy of sudoku or Nintendo DS LOL