typical at home food

this above, is our "version" of auntie uma's ring of fire pasta. we didn't quite stick to her recipe coz we couldn't get cili padi here so we substituted with a jalapeno pepper that wasn't quite as hot. garlic and chopped chillis are fried in butter and oil, then i added ikan bilis chopped into tiny pieces. a food processor would've been useful but we didn't have one. then, slices of sausage are added [we used "hot continental" sausage. stir that around, then add cooked pasta, then salt, pepper, italian herbs and cheese. [we used shredded tasty cheese] we also added shredded carrot, a tomato and lettuce leaves and a crumbled sao cracker at the end. don't know why that was in the recipe!
it was interestingly...tasty. but i doubt i could recreate it. every stir fried pasta is unique....

this was our lunch. we thought we'd try something german so we got some don pork sausages. dont know what they are exactly but they were from a euro looking deli. the sauerkraut and gherkins were from a jar and i didn't like the sauerkraut that much. perhaps i'm just not used to it, and we tend to reject the unfamiliar..but still, it smelled so... bad! like something was rotting..
i loved the potato salad though, made with kipflers that are perfect for this coz they keep their shape. for the potato salad, i used mayo, basil, italian herbs, lotsa black pepper and 1/2 a chopped salted egg. [that gave it a bit of an interested twist...] yum.

our dinner last night, which is more typical of us malaysian chinese. rice, stir fried asian greens [choy sum] and simmered tofu with chicken pieces and other odd vegtables lying around such as carrot, mushroom or peas. i told my (anglo) clinical educator that stir fries are the easiest things to do and you could have a stir fry everyday and not get bored. i don't think she went for that idea but it's true. just look in your fridge, take out a protein, take some vegetables, cut them into uniform pieces and stir fry with oil, garlic and onion. then add your seasonings, the sky's the limit. soy sauce, salt, chili flakes, miso paste, sesame oil, lemon juice, oyster sauce, barbecue sauce...? 9/10 times it'll be good.

the black stuff is gav's bovril "soup".