My Fingertips are Burning

It was a typical Monday morning at work.  Until I started working on my first patient.  I noticed my thumbs and fingertips are having a burning sensation while holding my instruments.  First thought was that I have developed a sudden neurological disorder and my neurons are firing away for no reason.

Google saved my life.  A quick search on my phone under "burning fingertips" and instantly many results linked to "from handling/cutting hot peppers" and the various remedies.  Aha! I was cutting these hot habanero peppers the day before....

Lemongrass and ginger broth with lobster and shrimp


Rick Stein's original recipe uses a whole crab for the soup, I decided I am not ready to buy a whole crab, let alone killing one.  I bought 2 frozen lobster tails and went for it.

Lemongrass, it was nice to finally get to know ya!  A short youtube video taught me how to crush it to release the flavours.  I have had similar soups in Thai restaurants but did not realize the work put into it - the straining, skimming and clarifying to get a clear broth from a milky state.  I put a little too much pepper at the beginning but was able to tone it down with more chicken broth and water. (Thanks to Julius's Mom)  Phew.

It was a bit spicy and I wish it had even stronger seafood flavours but overall very crisp and a perfect compliment for the main course.

Singapore Chile Shrimp

Shrimp is my favourite food. Period.  My last meal will definitely be steak and shrimp.

After realizing how spicy the pepper was, I went a bit easy when I made this dish and it turned out PERFECT.  A picture speaks a thousand words:

I butterflied the colossal shrimps so that it can soak up the flavours.  One of the ingredients in the sauce was ketchup.  Julius had a funny look on his face when he saw me whipping it up.  In fact, grandmother Mrs. Chow used to make a classic Ketchup Shrimp that we all used to love.  Hmmm, maybe next time.

Sauteed Zucchini

A quick side dish of zucchini from Julia Child turned out real flat.  My mistake into using garlic paste from a tube instead of fresh ones.

Lessons learned: I love eating shrimp more than ever and I will wear gloves when handling hot peppers!

Soup 8/10

Shrimp 9.5/10

Zucchini 7/10

P.S.  Now you can leave me comments about the blog - love to hear from you!