I apologize for the terrible quality pictures.. I was so excited to get out of my house that I forgot my camera! Crappy iPhone camera quality will have to suffice, unfortunately

Being stuck at home really isn't all that fun. Being stuck at home studying is even worse. So I was very happy when Vince agreed to taking me out for lunch, at none other than Ichiban!

I love this Japanese restaurant at lunch time. They have great deals in the afternoon and their Japanese food is pretty good! It's not the best I've ever had, but a fantastic fix for lunchtime! Everytime we go, we get pretty much the same things, and the food flavour and quality is great as always.

At the beginning of the meal, everyone receives a complimentary bowl of miso soup. The miso soup here is pretty good, not too salty, accompanied by some tofu and seaweed. It's a nice appetizer to have and start your meal off with, warming up your tummy for the rest of the meal!

Yummy miso soup!

As you guys might already know, I'm not a big fan of raw fish, heck, I don't even eat it. It's too slimy for me! But when it comes to raw beef, BRING IT!


Beef Tataki

However, the beef tataki really wasn't on point. The beef was thickly sliced, the sauce too salty, and the seaweed to accompany it wasn't cut, but rather one long strand :( I was a little disappointed, not going to lie. But all the other times before it has been good! I'm just hoping it was an off day, and I will give it another shot the next time I'm there. I just love my raw beef with ponzu sauce!

For my main, I picked the tempura udon, another must have in my Japanese meals. Perfectly cooked, chewy noodles in clear broth - I am the noodle queen! The udon here at Ichiban is just like it is at other restaurants, there isn't much you can do to mess it up besides overcooking the noodles!


Tempura udon - my Japanese staple!

Another dish I like to have is the Tobiko, otherwise known as Flying Fish Roe. I love the texture of these little eggs, and how they're crunchy and bursting with flavour once you bite into them! mm, the tobiko was very fresh, perfect for my lunch!


individual tobiko

Vince on the other hand ordered a bento box filled with agadeshi tofu, teriyaki beef, sushi rolls & nigiri, fresh salad, and rice. The only complaint I had about the bento box is the fact that the salad is so plain! Theres nothing unique about it! Most restaurants will feature a unique dressing concocted with certain ingredients in their kitchen (for example, Mikado's salad dressing is my fave!), but Ichiban just pours italian dressing overtop of the fresh veggies. Otherwise, the bento isn't bad, especially for the price of $10 (or $10.95? I don't quite remember).


Lunchtime Bento Box

The two of us frequent this restaurant pretty often, and we're in & out within an hour for less than $30. As long as there's great food and service, we'll continue to visit this spot!

Ichiban Restaurant Japanese Cuisine
8750 149 Street NW
Edmonton AB

A couple days ago, Jobin invited Vince and I over to her house for some breakfast (but more like brunch cos it was around 11 :]). Once we got there, Claire, Jason, Philippe and Joy were already there, and Joy was helping Jobin cook up a storm! Jobin wouldn't let anyone touch food or help cook, so we sat around and chilled until the food was ready.

Here's the plate I put together for myself! The girls did an amazing job with cooking, and "breakfast" consisted of: pancakes with fresh fruit & whipped cream, hashbrowns, sausage, and omelette. The food was DELICIOUS! My place next time, I promise!

Sooo good

And of course, breakfast is incomplete without our family portrait :)


love you guys!

One of my uncles from my mom's side of the family recently came to Edmonton to visit, but with my family's busy schedule these days, it's so hard to find time to sit down and chat, even with your own family!

Lucky for us, today was the one day that everyone had a day off from work or from summer camps, so we called up my uncle and headed out for none other than.. dim sum! My parents have recently been talking about a new dim sum place that opened up in the West end of Edmonton, that they visited and actually enjoyed. As for myself, I really could care less. Once you taste dim sum in other cities like Vancouver, or even Calgary, looking at dim sum in Edmonton really turns you off. But once we went to this place, my perceptions of dim sum in Edmonton changed a little, not a lot, but just a little :)

My Placemat :)

The restaurant my parents brought everyone to was called 'Delicious Delicious'. It's a pretty big name to live up to, if you ask me. The restaurant has been open for approximately two months, and is located inside of the Albert's Family Restaurant that is inside of a Howard Johnson Hotel. Weird, right? Totally not where you would expect a Chinese restaurant to be! On the exterior of the hotel, there weren't many signs that a Chinese restaurant even existed inside the hotel, until you walked up to the door, where they had a couple small signs posted in the windows. Now, the best part is, once you walk into the hotel, it's hard to decide whether you're looking at a rundown area of the hotel, or some Albert's Family Restaurant filled up with Asians, young and old. Both are weird and awkward situations, but you kind of figure out where you're headed and you just follow your instincts!

We walked into the Albert's side of the restaurant, and were greeted by a nice Asian lady saying there was actually another entrance into the restaurant - one that was unmarked, haha. Anyway, she brought us to our table. At the time, there weren't too many tables filled, and the ones that were occupied had lots of elderly men and women sitting there - the type that have too much free time and go out for dimsum all too often.

One unique thing about this one restaurant is that the dim sum is not rolled around on carts with cranky ladies shouting out the names of the food she has on her cart. Instead, this restaurant uses the paper method, where every dish is listed and you can check off which dishes and the quantity of each you would like to order. This is the way I like it - guaranteed that the food will come to the table hot & fresh! We ordered most of the usual items (shrimp dumplings, siu mai, ribs, shrimp cakes, buns, etc.), so I don't want to review EVERY single item we ate, I just want to highlight a select few!

One that I want to mention in particular is their custard buns. These are not your typical white bun with gel-like custard in the middle. Instead, these have a hot, liquid egg yolk/sugar combination inside of them! I was really surprised when I ripped off my first piece, because the inside just leaked out of the bun and I knew I had to place it straight into my mouth. I particularly enjoyed the fact that it wasn't super sweet like most Chinese desserts, and you could feel the pieces of egg yolk in the liquid centre. Just beware though - make sure you eat these when they are still HOT. Otherwise you will be greeted with a solid, fatty mess in the middle, don't say I didn't warn you!!


Hot custard bun!

When our shrimp dumplings (ha gow) arrived at the table, I was surprised!! Those dumplings were MASSIVE. The flavour was just right to them too - not too salty, shrimp were deveined and you could taste the sweet seafood flavour to them.


Shrimp Dumplings

Another dish I particularly enjoyed was the shrimp wrapped in beancurd, with cheese in the middle. You would think to yourself that this is a bizarre combination, as did I, but after trying it, it actually tasted very good! The beancurd on the outside was fried to a nice, golden crisp, causing the cheese amongst the shrimp to be melted perfectly. It was a nice pairing that I will definitely try out again !


Shrimp and cheese wrapped in beancurd

Last but not least, one of my favourite dishes from the meal was rice rolls with pork ribs, served on a sizzling plate! Knowing me, Asian noodles are my food of choice, and rice rolls are no exception! The sauce for the ribs was infused with the taste of black beans, garlic, and chili, and kept at a nice temperature by the stone plate (I think thats what you call it?!). The heat from the plate continually cooked the rice rolls while they sat at our table, giving them a nice crisp/burnt texture. Add the sauce over top and I'm in food heaven.


Ribs & rice rolls in sauce

Overall, the dim sum was excellent for Edmonton standards. I've even read that the dim sum chef originated in China, and last worked in Vancouver. I have high hopes for this place! Make sure you guys go check it out :)

Delicious Delicious
15540 Stony Plain Road
Edmonton AB

Two days ago was the day of my mom and dad's wedding anniversary. Traditionally, my sister and I have usually gone out with our parents to celebrate for either lunch or dinner, and then the two of them figure out the rest of their day together. This year, Vince came along with us too - he's pretty much an important part of our family! :)

This year I was kind of lazy, and didn't know what gift to get them, so I decided to treat them to lunch at a Thai restaurant called Pad Thai. Gee, you'd wonder what kind of cuisine they serve *whistles* Anyways, this restaurant has been in Edmonton for quite a while now, and the people behind Pad Thai in Edmonton are the same people that opened the popular Tang Thai restaurant in Vancouver. I discovered this beautiful restaurant early this year, and returned a second time because their lunch menu had many options at a very good price - what university student doesn't love that?! So, when we arrived at the restaurant the other day (my third time), I was greeted with a sign that made me upset before even walking into the restaurant! On the door was a sign saying the restaurant was set to close this past weekend, because it would be torn down and replaced with a retail shopping centre/strip mall. I guess I was lucky to have eaten at the place one last time, on their second last day open.

View of the inside

Each time I have gone to the restaurant, it hasn't been very busy. It seems as though not many people know about this place, or don't really know how to appreciate the value of their food. I know a lot of people tend to head to The King and I, or Viphalay for their Thai food. I've actually never known anyone who goes to this place! But everytime I walk in, it's a very friendly environment, and the inside of the restaurant is decorated beautifully with thai paintings, statues and artwork. The staff are always very polite and friendly too! Although the restaurant was closing down, the staff were wonderful as usual, making it a great lunch for our family.

For lunch we ordered quite a few items to fill our five stomachs. At $8.95 or $9.95 per dish, it's practically a steal to be eating at this restaurant for lunch!


Yummy Pad Thai :)

The first dish to arrive was the Pad Thai. For a restaurant named after this popular dish, it'd better be good! And good it was. I like the pad thai at this restaurant because it's not too sweet, but still salty. The noodles are garnished with a lime, and once you squeeze it on top, you can taste the natural tangy flavours on the noodles. The noodles are cooked al dente, which is what I like - soggy is gross!


Thai Fried Rice

Next up was kau pad prik, which is a chili fried rice with vegetables and chicken. This was the first time I had tried a dish like this, and I particularly liked it because the rice wasn't super spicy, but flavourful, and the vegetables really picked up the thai spices as well. The rice wasn't soggy, but in their individual pieces and not stuck together. A very nice dish to have contrasting the noodles in pad thai.


Tom Yum Noodles

After trying the rice, our next dish was the tom yum noodles. As you guys probably know already, tom yum is my favourite soup, so it's a must to every Thai meal I eat! The tom yum soup at Pad Thai has some traces of coconut milk in it, and to add some variety amongst the bowl of noodles, this restaurant adds in fresh tomato pieces, red pepper, chicken pieces and onion slices in addition to the usual mushrooms and shrimp. It's a nice change from what you usually find in tom yum soups, but it's not the best one out there. I am not a big fan of the coconut milk - I like the broth to be clear and watery, rather than a little thicker. The soup at Pad Thai isn't very spicy or sour either, so it's rather mild.


Pad Kee Mao, Drunken Noodles

Our second last dish surely wouldn't disappoint, as it was another one of my favourites, the pad kee mao. This dish is made with flat rice noodles, stir fried in a thickened sauce with meat and vegetables. I really like this dish because each individual noodle is saturated with sauce, and therefore flavour. The noodles have a nice softer, but chewy texture, and it isn't spicy at all - love this dish.


Green Curry

Last but not least, we ordered the green curry with coconut rice. As you might know from my Boualouang post, I'm not a big fan of curry, but I always give it a try. My parents are big fans of curry, and they love to cook it at home all the time (mostly the Japanese kind, but they like to switch it up once in a while!). They didn't like this curry much, because it's different from most of the green curries available at other Thai restaurants. The one at Pad Thai is sweet, and not very spicy - opposite of what green curry is usually like. Adding this dish to the coconut rice wasn't the best combination, because each bite became overly sweet.

I'm really going to miss having this close-by Thai restaurant. Guess I'll have to settle for other types of food for lunch when I'm on campus!

After our lunch, we walked over to the Fringe grounds to catch a play, and my sister covered everyone's tickets as her contribution for the day. We bought tickets for a show written by and starring Tiana Leonty, called 'Spin'. But since we got there a little early, we walked around and found a street performer in a tutu!


So manly, no?

The play we watched was about an exercise enthusiast, forcing herself to train for the Ironman thriathalon in order to win the love of her trainer. Leonty actually put in a lot of effort for the play - half the time she was acting and riding a stationary bike at the same time! And she's actually VERY strong and muscular, having competed in marathons before. It was an interesting show, but not one I would run around recommending to everyone I know. The humor was rather sexual, and it would have been a little more interesting if it wasn't just herself playing the role of three different characters.

After our play, I had to pick up another one of my favourite festival treats - chocolate covered bananas! This one was covered in crushed oreo. It was an interesting mix, with the little oreo grains, but I wish they were in bigger chunks and less fine, to give a crunch to contrast the mushy banana.


Mmm chocolate covered banana!!

Finally, we finished off our afternoon watching another outdoor performance. This one was a lady from Australia (I think??), and she performed different tricks with hula hoops. She too was a provocative performer, inserting sexual innuendos whenever she had the chance to.


Crazy hula hoop lady

Summer is slowly coming to an end, and it makes me really sad to write this! Not only is school just around the corner, but my MCAT test date creeps closer and closer every single day. Guess I gotta get back to studying!

It's been a long time since I've had a chance to chill with some friends from work, so as Iman suggested, we went out together to try some Ethiopian food! Philippe, Joy, Iman, Jobin, Claire, Tara and I headed out to Langano Skies on Whyte Avenue to check out their food. I looked up some reviews on this place beforehand, and this place was RAVED about in every single one I read!

When I arrived, it was impossible to find a parking space. Either because it was a Friday night, or the fact that it was during the Fringe and it's impossible to find parking whenever there are festivals in this city! I quickly found a spot on a side street two streets down, and ran over to the restaurant!

Intriguing basket..

Inside the restaurant it felt very homey, with dim lighting and different works of art lining the walls. It was quite busy, with practically all tables occupied but one. In the middle of the table was a basket-looking centre piece, which I excitedly thought was filled with food.. unfortunately, it was only for decorative purposes. I wasn't able to see a menu (if they even had one?), but Iman took care of everything, as she was our resident expert!

We talked, laughed, and reminisced about the summer that had gone by, all the while wondering when our food would arrive at our table. The wait time for our food to arrive at the table was over an hour. AN HOUR. Surprising, right? We were crazy hungry, but this place is notorious for a long wait time. So, if you decide to drop by, make sure you're not about to pass out from hunger when you walk in the door.. if you do, you're in trouble. This restaurant is owned and operated by a small family, mother and two sons, I believe. This is why it takes so long to get the food. The mother is the only person in the kitchen cooking and preparing all the dishes, while the sons take care of patrons and serve all the tables.

When the food was presented on our table, it was served in two plates, with every single dish ordered served together in portions on the massive plate.


Vegetarian Options!

The first dish we had contained our vegetarian options: gomen wot, ater kik aletcha wot, and atekilt aletcha wot. From what I read, the word 'wot' basically implies the dish is like a stew, where the ingredients are mushed together. So, the gomen wot was a mix of collard greens, onions carrots and potatoes. This one had a nice smooth texture to it. It wasn't spicy at all, and was mainly a salty dish. It reminded me of the sukumawiki that I tried at the Heritage Festival. The ater kik aletcha wot on the other hand was a yellow split pea stew. I think this one was my favourite out of them all! It was very flavourful, and I liked the little bits of peas within the mixture. The last dish was atekilt aletcha wot, which was less like a stew because it didn't have a watery consistency. If it were cooked any longer, I'm sure the ingredients would start to fall apart and form a stew! Anyways, this dish was made with potatoes, onions, and carrots simmered in a sauce. In this dish, I liked how the potatoes were cooked through and melted in your mouth. As for the other items on the plate, the middle was occupied by fresh cottage cheese, and I believe the fresh salad on the side was meant to be eaten periodically to cleanse the palate and give it a break.


For the meat lovers

Our second dish contained kitfo and doro tibs. Kitfo is kind of like steak tartare, in that raw, extra lean beef is minced and seasoned with spices and served raw/medium rare. The one we had was cooked well, and served very spicy. It paired very well with the fresh cottage cheese, since the cheese toned down the heat. The doro tibs were boneless cubes of chicken sauteed with broccoli and spices. This one wasn't spicy at all, and a nice contrast to the kitfo.

The food lay on top of bread called injera, which you use to pick up the food and eat together. Now, what I didn't really know about Ethiopian food was that you eat everything with your hands. We didn't even have plates to hold food for us! Each person started with one roll of injera, ripping off little pieces to use to pick up food. The food tasted AMAZING!! I never imagined the food to be so flavourful! I could eat the dishes just by themselves. The only thing I didn't really appreciate was the sourness of the injera. All injera is supposed to be slightly sour, but after eating about half my roll, it was hard for me to ignore the sour taste. Maybe I should just make my own version of injera and bring it with me next time.. haha, just kidding!


Tara, Joy, Phil & Iman


Me, Claire & Jobin

The hour long wait really brought out the savages in us, and we wolfed down all the food in a matter of minutes. I'm sure we were done within ten minutes, with just a couple things left on the plate. Philippe took the courtesy of finishing everything off, throwing large pieces of injera over the food and devouring it. We love our piglet. All in all a fantastic night, I know I'll be back again!


Devoured

Langano Skies
9920 82 Avenue
Edmonton AB

So once again, Vince and I found ourselves with some time to kill before a Staff get together at our workplace. What better place was there to go than to the Fringe Festival in Edmonton, where the sun was shining brightly with no clouds in sight?

This year, we chose to go see the show 'Like Father, Like Son? Sorry', starring Chris Gibbs. The show was about Gibbs himself, fearing that his socially awkward personality would be a possible negative influence on the development of his son. However, he was hilarious in his performance, and really kept the show going! Time passed without us even knowing :) I really liked how he incorporated his own life experiences into his show, which made it realistic and easily relatable. I definitely agree with the ratings on this one, 5 out of 5 stars!

After the show, we still had time before the party, and to curb my hungry belly, we picked up some.. elephant ears!! I absolutely LOVE elephant ears, despite the ridiculously high levels of fat and sugar in them. You eat them once a year, might as well indulge while you can!


mmm, elephant ears!

While inhaling the elephant ears, we saw a performer setting up at one of the outdoor stages. This guy was nuts! He put on a show using a variety of different props, like knives, a three wheeled unicycle, and barrels to balance on top of. I don't think I've seen a fringer that talented in a while!







The party was fun, we ate lots of food and had time to just have a good time with our coworkers. They are a fantastic bunch!! And to top it all off, I won a $50 gift card to Costco, while Vince won a $30 gift certificate to Julios Barrio.. we know where we'll be visiting soon! ;)

One of my BFF's Andrew just left Edmonton today to head back to Baltimore - but there was one thing I made sure would happen before he skipped town.. and that was to go out for some yummy Thai food!

Yesterday night I rounded up our friends Crystal, Carson, Ronald and Vince to go out to dinner with us at Boualouang for Thai & Laos food. I've always heard great things about this restaurant, and it was about time for me to hit it up and give it a try.

This restaurant is located in Chinatown, right next to the Chinese restaurant Sai Woo. Vince and I got led astray when we followed directions to their old location - do not make this mistake like we did! It's pretty much on the main street in Chinatown, and hard to miss. When we finally got there, we went inside the restaurant, only to find that it was a small, cozy little restaurant with dim lighting. Not to be racist, but the other thing I noticed was that everyone in there was Caucasian, and our table was the only one with Asians! So funny.

We ordered our usual Thai favourites, and we ventured into new territory since we needed more dishes to fill more people. The service at the restaurant wasn't bad, considering they only had two waiters serving the entire restaurant of approximately 10 tables. We were taken care of, but having patience is definitely necessary when you visit this place.

To compensate for the long waiting time, we were given an appetizer on the house. Well, I think it was to compensate.. otherwise, they wanted to treat us very well since I had my planner out! Anyway, the treated us to an interesting appetizer, I have no idea whether or not it was an actual Thai dish.

Appetizer dish

A top of a BBQ flavoured crispy mini, was a mix of papaya strips and green onion, garnished with a peanut and a small scallop. The mixture was slightly tangy, and an interesting start to the meal.

Our first dish was the papaya salad. I always love ordering this dish, because the spicyness given by the peppers pairs well with the sour dressing. Most of the time when I tell people that papaya salad is sour and spicy, they give me a funny look. And now I know why. Many imagine that the papaya salad is made with the ripe fruit we usually eat, where the skin outside is usually green or yellow, and the flesh is deep yellow or orange. Contrary to this thought, the papaya used in this salad is indeed the fruit that we consume, but this dish is made using young papaya that hasn't had the chance to ripen yet. Therefore, the strips are green and crunchy. After marinating with the dressing, the papaya really picks up the spicy, sour, and salty flavours, making it a very unique salad to eat.


papaya salad

The papaya salad had a beautiful presentation, sitting atop of a lettuce leaf, and garnished with dried baby shrimp, and deep fried shrimp crackers. When I put the first bite into my mouth, it tasted great. We ordered the mildly spicy salad, so that we wouldn't get overwhelmed with spicyness throughout the meal. However, after a couple bites, my lips were on fire! This dressing really brings the heat, so just a little warning before you guys go out and order it!


Shrimp tom yum soup

Next dish to arrive was the tom yum soup with shrimp. I think by this point, everyone knows how much I love tom yum! I love the intensity of the spicy and sour flavour in this soup! Restaurants always make it the best, because they cook the soup from scratch, using all the necessary spices and herbs to flavour and concentrate the flavours. I love scooping out the deep red, opaque soup, knowing that it's going to taste amazing! The shrimp in our order were large and plump, and were much bigger than shrimp I've ever received in an order of tom yum soup. They were cooked perfectly! Thumbs up for the tom yum soup - which wasn't very spicy either!


delicious pad thai

Next up was the pad thai - a staple food to try out at every Thai restaurant! Here at Boualouang, the noodles were more of a deep brown colour rather than orange like most restaurants. This was probably due to the amount of soy sauce they added, which was actually a nice change. The noodles were al dente, and more on the salty side, which I liked because some restaurants cook it way too sweet.


Pineapple fried rice

With so much food already on the table, our server added another dish, which was pineapple fried rice. This was a dish that Vince suggested we try, and was the one dish we ordered that I was hesitant about. However, once I tasted it, I was pleasantly surprised. The rice was not sweet like I assumed it would be, but instead, you could sense that pineapple was present in the dish, without actually having any in your mouth. I guess I'm saying the flavour was infused into the individual grains of rice. We agreed that we mostly liked this dish, but Vince was disappointed since the rice was more on the soggy side, and borderline overcooked.


drunken noodles yum yum :)

The second last dish to arrive was the drunken rice noodles, or 'pad see iw' (I'm sure I butchered that one, sorry guys!). This dish is made using the flat rice noodles, and cooked using a salty, soy sauce based sauce. The fact that that the noodles are covered in sauce is one of my favourite things - you always know that they will be tasty and packed with flavour! The veggies in this dish, broccoli, onions, and peppers, also absorb the flavours and taste great when you eat them alone!


green curry!

Our very last dish was the one a Thai meal cannot go without - green curry. I'm not a big fan of curry myself, as I have never really liked the watery curry base, but I can have a couple bites just to test out the flavours. We paired our curry with coconut rice, which is a nice way to balance out the spicy flavours contained in the sauce. The curry tasted like most others I have had in the past, so it wasn't anything too special.

All in all, it was a great meal to share with some of my best friends, and a fantastic way to spend our last night with Andrew. I will definitely return to Boualouang in the future - I just hope they hire another waiter or waitress by that time! See you soon, Andrew. We miss you already!!

Boualouang Thai and Laos Restaurant
10669 97 Street
Edmonton

So for today's cooking adveture, I was supposed to meet up with a couple girlfriends to cook some Korean food (our favourite!) but two of the girls bailed out last minute so it was just me & Lisa cooking dinner for the night. She happened to be house sitting for a family that was away on vacation, so we had the house to ourselves! But of course there was a downfall: trying to figure out exactly where all the cooking necessities were stored!

I decided to keep it simple and cook foods with fresh ingredients, so I picked Pad Thai & Tom Yum Soup. However, I cheated and took the easy way out by buying pre-made soup base and Pad Thai sauce.. I promise to cook from scratch next time! It's kind of difficult when you're struggling to prepare yourself for the MCAT at the same time!

PC Pad Thai Sauce!

For the noodles, I went with President's Choice Pad Thai Cooking Sauce. The taste of the sauce is balanced between the tangy and and sweet flavours, and personally, I think this sauce is fantastic if you're looking for a quick fix!! Despite being on the sweet side (I prefer salty), that's easily fixed by adding a dash of salt. I first discovered this sauce when it was in the canned form, and the sauce they made was perfect, I didn't have to change a thing. It was saltier, and generally seemed to have more herbs and spices, creating a more authentic feel. Good thing Vince stocked up and has two cans in his pantry for us to cook! Otherwise, this new bottled version is very well priced at around $4, which is enough to make the noodle dish twice, on separate occasions. If you guys see the canned version, snatch those babies up right away! You won't regret it!


Wait til you see what this turns into :)

The rest of our ingredients for pad thai included: snow peas, egg, tofu balls, onions, and green onion. No meat for today, cause Lisa is a vegetarian! Not that I mind, because I don't really like meat that much.. I'm picky!


Lobo's Tom Yum Paste

As for the tom yum soup, my cheater method required the use of a packaged soup base. It's funny, because I never even meant to buy these, but they came along as a bonus for the konnyaku noodles I buy for hot pot. Anyways, if you are to buy them individually, they are also inexpensive, costing around $1.50 per packet. You can probably pick them up at your local Asian market. Hooray for deals :)


Lisa cookin' our soup!

With the soup base, it's super easy to use because it comes as a paste that sticks together, and is somewhat dry so it's easy to handle. (I don't think it's supposed to be dry, but that might've happened because they're getting pretty old.. oops!) All you do is add it to water, and add in any other ingredients you want to use. In our case, I went with green onion and mushrooms! The soup ends up somewhat dilute when you follow the package directions, so I like to double up and concentrate the soup, and adjust the flavour using freshly squeezed lime juice and my trusty Sriracha chili sauce.


Tom Yum in the making..


Noodles almost ready!

The food turned out great! We are obviously amazing cooks. The cost of the ingredients for the meal came out to $10. Perfect. :)


Yum yum in my tum tum ;)