Welcome to Haley’s Story Kitchen! I hope you enjoy these three stories about the foods that bring us together.
Tom Yum Pasta
Recipe courtesy Hazirah Helmy
- Tomyum paste (3-4 tbsp with ¼ cup hot water)
- Shelled prawns
- Halved cherry tomatoes
- Halved straw mushrooms
- Onions (sliced)
- Basil leaves (optional and Coriander leaves (optional)
- Pasta (or bee hoon)
Preparation for pasta to be cooked al dente- means slightly undercooked (typically ard 5 mins) Place 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into frying pan, add onion slices, stir fry till fragrant. Add prawns and seafood or chicken slices then straw mushroom to pan, stir fry till cooked. Add tomyum mixture to mix well then pour in pasta to stir properly. Add basil and coriander leaves to garnish. Serve hot
optional: add shredded Thai lime leaves and cut lime wedges
Korean-American 칼국수 (Kalguksu)
- Ingredients for Soup Base
- 5-6 cups dashima or chicken stock
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- salt/pepper to taste
- green onion, chopped
- Ingredients for Soup
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 zucchini, matchsticked
- 2 small potatoes, matchsticked
- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken
- 1 stalk celery, chopped finely
- ½ white onion, sliced
- Ingredients for Noodles
- 1.5 cups (180g) flour
- dash of salt
- 0.5 cups (90g) water
- Combine noodle ingredients, kneading for 5-6 minutes. Allow to rest for >20 mins.
- Combine soup stock ingredients in a pot and bring to a gentle boil
- Roll out noodles into a sheet about ⅛ inch thick (⅓ cm). Flour generously, then fold the dough on itself like a letter. Cut into strips with a sharp knife.
- Add potato and celery into boiling stock and return to boil.
- Add other vegetables and noodles, stirring to separate noodles. Return to boil and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add cooked chicken and drizzle in beaten egg. Boil for 1 minute.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot and enjoy!
Celebration Cake
- 2 boxes funfetti cake mix, prepared according to directions
- marshmallow fondant (basic recipe from tastesbetterfromscratch.com)
- 3-4 cups buttercream frosting (a great recipe here)
- gel food color
- edible ink
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F (175 C). Line and grease three square 6-inch (15 cm) baking pans.
- Prepare cake mix according to directions, and pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool cakes and chill overnight
- Prepare buttercream, and layer the three cakes with a generous layer of buttercream in between. Chill iced cake in refrigerator for minimum 12 hours.
- Color fondant using gel food color, with half as yellow, and smaller portions of green, fuchsia, blue, orange, and red.
- Roll out yellow fondant to a thin thickness and cover iced cake. Roll out other colors, and cut into 1.5 inch (3.8 cm) squares.
- After colored squared have dried, decorate using edible ink.
- Carefully attach colored squares to the yellow fondant-covered cake using water.
Background and Synopsis
In this project, I sought to build HGSE connection on a personal level by sharing cooking experiences and stories. I’ve documented these experiences and stories in short-form video format, so that they can be easily shared as small connection points.
In this experience, I learned that I can and should design my own learning. There is so much value in investing time and energy into learning something, even if that something has no immediate value other than satisfying curiosity.
Most of all, I learned how food bonds people. It is deeply personal, yet accessible. It allows us to build new experiences that are linked to old memories. Most of all, it is a practice of connection as we perform this ritual of cooking and eating across time, language, and culture.
Title/cover image generated using Deep AI Standard Logo generator with the prompt “Create a logo that embodes storytelling through cooking and food. Include the title “Haley’s Story Kitchen.”
