Aglio Olio topped with eggs

I guess what makes creating a home made pasta so appealing is that you can always add in ingredients that make you happy. Now I'm not too sure if anybody has had eggs together with their pasta before but I like mine this way at times.

I made my usual olive oil base aglio olio spaghetti cooked with sliced onions & minced garlic bits, sliced sausages/bacon & mixed it all up with my Italian herbs seasoning, but topped it all up with some chopped hard boiled eggs with a dash of ground pepper.

What you end up with is a fiery concoction of fragrant spices balanced by the calmness of the hard boiled eggs. Is it interesting enough for you to try it in your home? :)

Mayo's Cold Soba with Bonito Sauce

The weather is always kind of erratic over here. Can you imagine a hot day of 30-34 degrees with high humidity as well? For times like these, I would recommend a nice cold home styled Soba meal. It is nutritious, fulfilling & delicious. It's nice to stay in for a bit & create this dish to reward yourself. Here's how...

Cold Buckwheat Soba with Bonito sauce

~Ingredients~
Buckwheat soba/Green tea soba
Fried egg (sliced)
Ham (sliced)
Bonito/seaweed flakes
Bonito sauce
Sesame oil
Wasabi
Salt (optional)
Spring onions (chopped)

~Method~
1. Boil a small pot of water with a little bit of salt added and add in the soba & leave to boil for 5-7mins.
2. Get ready a bowl of ice cold water with ice cubes when the soba is ready & transfer it to the cold water.
3. Prepare sliced ham and fried egg slices and put them aside first.
4.Mix the soba with bonito sauce, sesame oil, wasabi & a dash of salt.
5.Add in sliced ham & egg slices.
6.Add bonito/seaweed flakes and chopped spring onions for topping to finish dish.
7. Mix well & eat for instant happiness. :)

Tips: If you don't like soba you can replace it with pasta or a noodle of your choice.





Buckwheat soba version


Green tea soba version

Mayo's breakast #5

Now what happens when Mayo has a pasta craving yet my kitchen ran out of the Italian stringed goodness!? Never fear, the queen of improvisation is here! Haha.. :p I ransacked my shelves & decided to make do with some Korean instant noodles as a replacement. They were chosen over my Japanese instant noodles as the Korean ones tend to be thicker & firmer in texture. After boiling the noodles to a slightly softer stage, I transferred it into a pan & stirred it together with some garlic oil & bonito flakes till the noodles get a little firmer & ready for serving. I added pieces of sliced ham & made soft Japanese egg rolls that I cut into sushi bite sized pieces. Sprinkle some dried seaweed on top & it's time to dig in.

Looks messy but it sure tasted yummy!

Mayo's Penang Lor Mee

Here is a dish that I have been wanting to do for the longest time. I did the Penang version which is basically having a less thick & starchy sauce base. For those that are not familiar with this dish, it is a traditional recipe where by either yellow egg noodles or vermicelli is the main staple cooked together in a flavorful black sauce made from a mixture of pig bone broth, five spice powder, corn starch & some eggs (& that's just for the sauce!) served with an assortment of tasty toppings to your own preference.

Toppings (Clockwise from top): Chopped spring onions, fried shallots, tau kua (dried toufu), chopped red chillies, 'cai por' (chopped fermented vegetables) & 'wu xiang' (middle: five spice meat rolls)

After preparing the sauce overnight, heat up & prepare the additional toppings & noodle of choice. I added in half a braised egg & a table spoon of spicy sambal paste for extra taste & fire! Serve hot. :)

Now just mix everything into the sauce & dig in or you can slowly savor the toppings while scooping up a mouthful of noodles underneath. The sauce will have you craving for extra servings guaranteed. Yum. :p

Mayo's ramen & pasta

What you see before you is a box of instant handmade ramen that I had bought from the ramen museum in Japan. Unlike most instant noodles where you can keep it for several months, this had to be consumed within 3 weeks from it's manufactured date. Thumbs up to quality control from the Japanese.

This is the exact same noodles that I had ordered when I was at their ramen stall/shop.

Instructions for a perfect authentic Japanese ramen noodle soup.

This was the brochure that I had taken from the ramen museum. It features all the different ramen stalls within the museum serving the best & famous shops from all over Japan.

This is my version of the delicious char siew ramen that I ate. Instead of the char siew (sliced pork), I used bacon slices which I pan seared to a light crispy texture with the meat well done. Top the dish off with some fried chopped garlic & chives & a serving of soft boiled egg cut in half.

I also made another dish of scallop pasta with sliced sausages mixed with wasabi flakes. With a seemingly European dish, the taste took a Asian twist when the wasabi hits you & leave you teary eyed. Food awakening is what I call it. :) Try it at home yourself & you'll fall in love with it.

Mr K Bday @ Tampopo Restaurant Liang Court

Happy birthday Mr K! Thanks for suggesting to have your celebration at a Japanese restaurant after knowing that I am still suffering from post Japan trip syndrome. Hehe! Decided on trying out the Tampopo Japanese restaurant after reading much about their special air flown 'black pork' cutlets & char siew ramen. These pigs are apparently stress free while being nurtured purely for better meat quality & taste.

Char Siew Ramen Deluxe. An extra large serving of ramen with equally generous servings of ingredients. The soup base was decent with a strong miso flavor. The char siew slices were soft and easy to bite into. Overall a satisfying dish but still taste different from those in Japan. Can't explain why. Hmm...

Pork (Kurobuta) cutlet spicy ramen. A recommended dish from the restaurant. The black pork cutlet was nicely deep fried without retaining the oil which the outer layer of bread crumbs kept it's crispiness throughout my meal. Meat was tender, juicy & flavorful. The broth was spicy but somehow lacked any other flavor other than that.


Our side dish of pan fried Gyoza. A little disappointing with the presentation, wet soggy skin and bland filling. :(

Japanese style soft boiled eggs with our ramen dishes.

Mayo's brunch #4

Sunday's are all about brunch due to late night outs on Saturday. Woke up dazed & confused but wanted some quick hassle free food. Fast. I chose the main staple to be what else but instant noodles. Balancing the timing carefully, I cooked some eggs at the same time while toasting some bacon strips and cooking some bacon rolls wrapped around some chopped melted mozzarella cheese bits. Finished cooking everything in 30 mins tops.

Here is a quick snap of my quick meal! Nice?

Here is my creation of bacon rolls with melted mozzarella cheese in between. The combination of the salty bacon with the sweetness from the cheese is heavenly.

Meet my 2 furry friends who visited my dish. : )

Mayo's Thai Noodles

Got home late again due to work but I was too tired to prepare a full meal. Ransacked my kitchen cabinets & decided on yummy Thai noodles in creamy Tom Yum soup. Made a soft boiled egg on the side coupled with ripe juicy tomatoes to add a dash of sweetness to the spicy soup with 3 squid balls to munch on.

Mayo's Kimchi Ramen

Who said instant noodles should be boring? Here's what you can do with your off the shelf instant noodles.
I chose the kimchi flavoured version offered by Nongshim (Korea brand) and together with cocktail sausages, a half-cooked egg, fried chopped garlic & spring onions, does it still look boring to you? I always feel that food always taste best after midnight, don't you think?:p

Suggestion: For maximum results, only throw in the noodles when the water comes to a boil. If noodles are put in too early and left to boil with the water, it will definitely become too soggy.