I have not made nearly enough curries or South East Asian food lately, so  Beef Rendang was a good choice for this week’s date night.

Rendang originated in Indonesia and spread to Malaysia and Singapore when the Minangkabau settlers migrated to those countries.  This is a slow cooked dry curry, rich with spices and  full of flavour.

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People tend to associate ramen noodles with the dried noodles you zap in the microwave for a quick cheap meal.  This does not compare with freshly made Japanese ramen noodles.

Ramen also refers to the Japanese dish of noodles served in a broth and topped with meat and/or vegetables.  I decided to make ramen noodles with a miso broth and miso roasted pork belly for this week’s date night.

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Of all the Thai food we ate in Chiang Mai (and we ate a lot), 2 of our favourite dishes were Khao Soi (a soup like dish consisting of egg noodles and meat in a curry coconut sauce) and Khao Kha Moo (braised pork leg on rice).  When Adrienne brought home fresh turmeric last week it was a sign to make Khao Soi, and in keeping with the Thai theme I decided to try and recreate the fabulous Khao Kha Moo from the famous “Lady with the cowboy hat” at the Chang Phueak Gate in Chiang Mai.

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I could not decide which country’s cuisine to make for my South East Asian Date Night menu, so I decided to make a few favourites from different countries and a few new dishes never tried before.  I ended up with quite a lot of dishes, so I’m doing this in three separate posts.

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A friend of mine recently gave me a nice cut of bacon. Upon first seeing the piece of meat I thought it was a duck breast. The idea of duck got stuck in my mind and I decided to convert an Angry Duck recipe into  “Angry Pork”.  This will then be a starter for date night  where the two other dishes are Mexican Soup and Lamb Shank with oven roasted veg.

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