Ingredients
200 g large prawns
1/2 tbsp chinese rice wine
4 tbsp chicken broth

1/4 tbsp chilli bean paste
1-1/2 tbsp wine sediment
1/4 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 sprig of scallion chopped
pepper
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oil for frying

Preparation
Remove black vein from the prawns and pat dry.
If the prawns are really large, cut them into 2 or 3 sections.
Heat oil in work.
Add prawns and stir fry in the hot oil over high heat for a twenty seconds.
Sizzle with the chinese rice wine.
Add the chicken broth and cook for one minute.
Remove from flame.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the wok.
Add the chili bean paste, wine sediment, minced ginger, salt, sugar, chopped scallions, pepper and fry for 20 seconds.
Add some chicken broth if it is too dry.
Add the prefried prawns and fry together for two minutes till all the sauce has been absorbed.
Add the ketchup and fry for another minute or two.
Thicken with corn starch and a little water.
Add a few drops of sesame oil before serving.

since i think blogs are gay, i figure i'll just post recipes here that i've found particularly tasty.. probably a better idea since i actually care about what i eat..

Dtom yum Gkoong

Hot and sour prawn soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. prawns, or medium- to large-size shrimps, shells removed and butterflied (save shells for soup stock)
• 2-3 stalks fresh lemon grass
• 3 cups water, or mild soup stock, salted with fish sauce (nahm bplah) to the desired saltiness
• 6 thin slices fresh galanga (kah), or 2 dried pieces
• 3 fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-gkrood)
• 8-10 whole Thai chillies (prik kee noo), stem removed and bruised with the back of a cleaver; or substitute with 2-3 sliced jalapeno or serrano peppers
• 1/2 a small onion, halved again and sliced crosswise 1/4-inch thick
• 1-2 Tbs. roasted chilli paste (nahm prik pow)
• 3-4 Tbs. tamarind water: a chunk of wet tamarind, about the size of 1 Tbs., with the soft parts dissolved in 1/4 cup water, pulp removed
• 1 cup fresh brown mushrooms, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces, or 1 can whole straw mushrooms, drained
• 1 small tomato, cut in bite-size wedges (optional)
• 2 green onions, cut in thin rounds
• Juice of 1-2 limes, to desired sourness
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves or short cilantro sprigs

Cut the bottom tip off the lemon grass stalks and discard the loose outer layer(s). Then cut each stalk into 1-inch sections at a slanted diagonal all the way up to the greener end, near the start of the grass blades, exposing the inner core. Smash each piece with the side of a cleaver or the end of a large knife handle to bruise, releasing the aromatic oils. Place the cut lemon grass along with the prawn or shrimp shells and the water or stock in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer with a lid on for 15-20 minutes to draw out the flavors. Strain out the shrimp shells and some of the lemon grass.

Add the sliced galanga, kaffir lime leaves, bruised Thai chillies (or substitute) and sliced onion. Simmer a couple of minutes, then add the roasted chilli paste (nahmm prik pow), tamarind water and fresh brown or straw mushrooms. Heat stock to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the tomato wedges (if using), green onions and prawns or shrimps. After 20-30 seconds, turn off heat, add lime juice to the desired sourness and the cilantro. Do not let the prawns or shrimps overcook. Serve immediately.

i'll just start into this since otherwise i'll never get typing. dan came and picked me up at 7:30am to head off. goddamn these laptop keys are annoying to type on. anyway, it was bright and sunny and around 12 degrees or so. beautiful ottawa, so long. fuck you canada for not having spring yet. beat all the rush hour traffic out of the city except on hunt club, and made it to Toronto by around noon. already gettin to TO before noon is somewhat of a noveltly, seeing as that is normally considered a long trip at just under 450km. normally i'd only be travelling as far west as toronto, seeing as their isn't much reason to go further. not like i know many people in southern ontario. anyway, heading down thru london ontario, stopping at a wendy's and get this, it was snowing. i love canada. it was like 3 degrees and really windy and snow/rainy. got to sarnia and the border crossing by around 4pm. when the border guard asked us where we're going, dan said "portland oregon" to which the guard in a nice solid american accent "what the hell you guys goin all the way out there for?" then brought inside to the port huron border guard station. its now part of the department of homeland security. this being my first road border crossing through the usa since pre-9/11 things had changed a bit. the station probably had around 20 guards or so milling around, looking busy, tough, and ready to take on any infidels who may decide to take a border crossing to get in to the land of liberty and freedom. all the guards were dressed all in black. heavy body armour vests, all with hefty looking semi-auto hi-calibre handguns. welcome to the united states eh? hehe. dan had all his paperwork to work in portland, just that the guards were more annoyed by the fact they had to do paperwork, instead of heading out in teams of two all eager to rip apart some guy's car. heard them yelling at some indian (from india) guy who was travelling with his family, and he apparently had an outstanding warrent for fraud from like 10 years back. so they berrated him in front of all the others in the foyer of the guard station. no privacy.. anyway, i didn't even get asked for my passport again, and we were on our way into michigan after about 45 minutes of feeling nevous even though we weren't doing anything wrong. let me tell you, the highways are pretty shitty right after you get across. like we only fund the guards of our nation. the roads into flint michigan were pretty vacant. road kill was much more rampant, but so were tons of american cars. never seen so many non-highway patrol of military people driving crown victorias and impalas. ended up doing the limit which was pretty decent at 70mph i think. stayed on the interstate and drove between detroit and chicago south thru micigan, not really wanting to drive through either of those cities, especially with the traffic. ended up running into a HUGE 1 hour parking lot on the interstate where they had closed lanes in both directions and were even closing the first two sets of on ramps before/after. ended up getting off and just heading south instinctively on some non-interstate roads "secondary highways" the road map called them. ended up going a bit SE and ended up in ohio, which was still going in the right direction. really pretty farmland and hardly and cars or heavy trucks. looks like real real old style farming, but incredibly picturesque. just like one of the towns we drove thru before heading west into indiana. got back on the interstate kept going past thru fort wayne, indiana hoping to find a hotel somewhere near the bypass, but didn't find anything. so we kept going south until we saw signs by the road for a super8. thinking we were tired and hungry, figured it be a good idea. room ends up being just over $50, the guy who worked their had a great grey mullet and handlebar moustache with indiana accent to go. awesome. found out that it was an hour earlier there for some reason, didn't think i'd be changing time zones for a while, but the guy said it was an hour earlier, so i figured he was right. next mission was to find food/beer. thinking this would be an easy task, we headed to the gas station/subway across the road. 21:30 we shouldn't have a problem. at least, that's what i thought. go into the store, the chick working there is maybe like 18, red plaid wool shirt on, nose ring, bad mascara, she's sitting on a wood stool behind the cash smoking a cigarette. metallica's disposable heroes plays on the store stereo. dan asks for food while i check for cold beer. hmm. none to be found. thought i was in america, not friggin canada. le sigh. so we ask the girl if there's a place that sells beer, and she informs us "itsa dry county, yer best bet in the tavern down the road in town, they gots carryout" hmm.. sounds a bit strange to me, but thought we'd try. oh, and we found out we are in the town of Markle, Indiana. how appropriate a name for this interesting town of 1100 people. found the tavern all right, only person in there was the guy working there. asked how much beer was, he said depends whatcha want. apparently, a 6 pack if $5.50.. from a bar?! what the hell? ok, this sounds pretty decent. in ottawa you can't but a bottle of beer for under $3.75 and that would be a challenge in of itself. we ask for 2 six-packs, one of miller geunine draft (the guy goes, you sure you don't want miller lite?) haha. no fucking way. we're canadian. miller lite is like 3% booze. anyway, the guy tells us he doesn't have any cans, and apologized. whatever. not like i care. so we get two sixes for $10 and the guy seems happy. go to find food. find a grocery store/gas station, but the only food was cold wrapped sandwiches, and they didn't look so hot. so we got directions to the truck stop 10 mins up the interstate. open 24 hours. sweeeet. avoided Crazy's Ds truck stop across the road, with a big neon sign and about 60 or more big rigs parked all perfectly in giant imposing rows. had some funny truckers wander in one wearing overalls, huge round stomach, big bushy bear and shoulder lenght curly hair topped with a mesh had witha straight brim. duuuuuude. tried not to make eye contact lest i realize he's too funny lookin to NOT laugh. i think i ordered a philly cheese steak having never eating one in my life. turns out that it was pretty decent. big hot dog bun folded open, with a bunch of strips of fried steak on top, fried onions, fried green peppers and a lot of cheese melted on top. filling and not gonna kill me food. i can deal. listened to the round trucker try and pick up the equally round waitress, asking her thought-provoking questions like "whatcha get paid here?" $2.35 an hour plus tips, apparently. yikes. paid up and went back to the hotel to crash after having some well deserved beers.