Sambal Baked Fish

When i was living in KL, i always visited MidValley Megamall for 1 reason. The grilled fish / seafood stall at Oasis Food Court. I love that dish and would rather line up for half an hour to 1 hour just to taste the grilled stingray and clams / shrimps. Its cheap, spicy and delicious..and above, it satisfied my tummy.. That was the only time that i throw my diet to the dustbin next to me. Enjoyed the meal and worry later :)

Now, i keep trying to recreate the dish at home but never succeeded. The below recipe is close but not perfect but it is good enough to temporary ease my craving here in US. I hope you too will enjoy the recipe.

Sticky Rice with Mango (Kaow niaw ma muang)

Thailand is one of the my favourite vacation destination. I love the culture, the beaches, and most of all, I love the food too. One of my favourite is their dessert - kaow niaw ma muang which translate to Sticky Rice with Mango. Here is the recipe. Hope you will enjoy it

Coconut Jam (Kaya/SeriKaya)

I love Kaya... Its like strawberry jam for the westerner, Kaya is the Malaysian version. I love it when my bread one side is spread with kaya and the other side with butter or peanut butter.. The result? HEAVEN Here is the recipe.. Enjoy

Ayara Thai Sauce

Leaving Malaysia 3 years ago, i never thought i will miss Malaysia food this much. When i was in Malaysia, i always take things for granted because i can easily get all the kuih-muih (cakes/snacks) and wonderful hawker foods everywhere. To make things worse, whenever i went back to my hometown Penang, all I did was open my mouth and request whatever dishes that I wanted to eat then I would have my grandmama and my aunties getting all busy in the kitchen cooking all of my favourite dishes. I know I know, I'm pretty spoiled. What do you expect, I was my grandmama first grandchild for a very long time before my cousins were born like 12 years later. So i am that little princess at home!

Since I am married to my husband and settling down here in California, I have no choice but to learn how to create all those wonderful dishes that I adore. I do enjoy cooking even when I was back in Malaysia but I never thought that I would be able to cook difficult dishes like Penang Prawn Noodle and stuff like that. With the location I am staying right now, there is no way i can get authentic Malaysia food. My only solution is to learn and experiment in the kitchen to recreate those flavors that I was once enjoyed back home.

Tom Yum Soup - Picture from Ayara Thai Cuisine

Besides Malaysia food, I love love LOVE Thai food. I used to have Tom Yum twice a week from a Malay stall near my home. On top of that, I have a relative who is from Songkla, Thailand. So, you can imagine how lucky I was back then to be able to taste all these wonderful foods prepared by someone who actually knew exactly what they were doing.

Yesterday, I received a wonderful package from a dear friend, Bchoo from Gourmand's Simple Pleasures She had asked her friend from LA. California who is the owner of Ayara Thai Cuisine to send me freshly made Thai Sauce. They do sell it online. You can check it out here. I was very touched by her gesture that I couldn't help but cry while reading the message she had for me together with these wonderful gifts. With the sauces now I can try to create wonderful Thai dishes that I absolutely enjoy. I like the fact the sauce is freshly made in their kitchen everyday with no preservatives. This is awesome because I love my food/ stuff to be as fresh as possible. So, Bchoo, Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. I love it!

As for the rest of the readers that are not really into cooking or just looking for some Thai food in LA California, Fear not. Ayara Thai not only produce their own sauce and sell it online, but you can also visit their wonderful restaurant in LA. Check out their website here . You can also check out their facebook page here

Ayara Thai Cuisine located
6245 West 87th Street, 
Los Angeles, California 90045

Phone: 310-410 8848

Operatiing Hours
Mon - Thu:10:30 am-10:00 pm
Fri:10:30 am-12:00 am
Sat:11:00 am-12:00 am
Sun:11:00 am-10:00 pm

**Mention that you're their Facebook fan during Happy Hour (weekdays between 3 to 6pm for additional 10% off

**All opinions written are 100% honest. I am not affiliated with Ayara Thai Cuisine. The products were a gift from my dear friend for personal use.

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Crab Rangoon

One of the snacks that my husband enjoys is Crab Rangoon. I'm glad that I got the chance to learn this recipe from my ex-lady boss back in NY when I worked as a kitchen helper in one of the chinese take outs there.

According to Wikipedia, "Crab Rangoon are deep-fried dumplings served in American Chinese and, more recently, Thai restaurants, stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, lightly flaked crab meat (more commonly, canned crab meat or imitation crab meat), with scallions and/or garlic. These fillings are then wrapped in Chinese wonton wrappers in a triangular or flower shape, then deep fried in vegetable oil."

Here's the easy recipe. Enjoy