Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Thai Dressing and topped with Chicharon

The perfect partner for grilled pork, this salad is so refreshing and easy to prepare.  The chicharon (pork crackling) is optional but we highly recommend it.

TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD WITH CHICHARON
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 medium sized cucumber, cubed
5 tomatoes, cubed
1/2  red onion, chopped

For the dressing:
3 tbsp cane vinegar
3 tbsp patis (preferably the premium kind)
3 tbsp lemon or dayap juice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 siling labuyo, chopped (depending on how much heat you can take)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp of coriander, chopped


1. Mix together the cucumber and tomatoes in a shallow bowl.

2.  In another bowl,  whisk together the patis, vinegar, dayap or lemon juice and brown sugar.  Toss in the siling labuyo, chopped garlic, onions and coriander.

3. Pour the dressing on the cucumber and tomatoes.

4. Top with chicharon.

Weekend Breakfast: Pancakes and Soft-boiled Eggs

A pancake, right out of the box and Asian style soft-boiled egg.

I love having breakfast on weekends.  It's so nice to wake up unhurried, without any pressure to be somewhere or do anything in particular.  It's just you, your mug of hot coffee and those pancakes and soft-boiled eggs.

HASSLE-FREE SOFT-BOILED EGGS

1.  Eggs must be at room temperature before boiling.

2.  Put the eggs in a saucepan.  Pour in  water just enough to cover the eggs.

3.  Bring the water to a boil.  As soon as you see the water boiling, wait 2 minutes then remove the eggs from the saucepan.

4.  You can either put the eggs in an ice bath or a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

5.  Serve your soft-boiled egg with a pinch of white pepper and a teaspoon of light soy sauce (Lee Kum Kee is just fine). I promise you, you'll get addicted.