Friday, August 28, 2009

Fish Maw (Hu Pioh, in Hokkien, Chinese name: 魚鰾,花膠 ) Soup Recipe

Fish maw is actually the air bladder of a fish and it is one of the authentic ingredients in Chinese cooking. Dried or deep fried fish maw is available in many Chinese shops selling food ingredients. I love to cook using fish maw and the simplest dish is the fish maw soup.

Ingredients
Fish Maw, 5 pcs, soak in water to get rid of oil
Pork Ribs, 700gms
Water, 4 bowls
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Ginger, 1”x1”x”, smashed
Whole Pepper, 1 teaspoon, crushed
Dried Scallops, 5 pcs, soak in water
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Salt to taste

Bring water to a boil and add in the pork ribs. Boil until the pork ribs are soft then add in the rest of the ingredients. Boil for another half an hour. Serve with steamed rice.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic – Back To Basic; Explained in Layman Term

I have been receiving many email and advice about H1N1 that was somewhat misleading. There are many people out there that are trying to cash in on the fear that this fast spreading flu virus is creating. Therefore I would like to share this basic knowledge about virus; how it spread, prevention and cure. How virus attack our body. 1) Virus enters human body 2) Virus injects RNA into our cells and take over our cells' function. 3) Virus uses our cells to multiply 4) Virus offsprings breaks open our cells wall and infect our body other cells How our body stops virus attack Antibiotics are commonly prescribed whenever we visit the doctor. ANTIBIOTICS CANNOT KILL VIRUS. Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria. It helps you weaken body to fight secondary bacteria infection. You have to depend on your body natural defense, ie antibodies to counter the virus attack. Every type and strain of virus have different active site configuration, so every time a new type of virus enters our body, our body reacts by producing a new antibodies which are mainly consist of protein to inhibit the active spot of the virus, thus render the virus inactive! 1) Human defense cell gather information about virus active spots 2) Human defense cell produces antibodies to close the active spots of the virus How Virus Inhibitor Medicine/Drugs, like Tamiflu Works Flu virus use a protein called neuraminidase to break the human cells wall. Tamiflu inhibits this neuraminidase protein so the virus cannot break open human cell wall anymore. Some of the offspring’s would be trapped in the human cells because the neuraminidase has been inhibited, therefore they cannot come out to replicate it self. Tamilflu are made from skimic acid that is extracted from our common kitchen spice, the star anise. Skimic acid are also found in pine, gingko and spruce. Tamiflu cannot stop the flu from spreading. It only helps the body by inhibit the virus that is already inside your body from replicating further. It will shorten the duration of the flu. Tamiflu helps our body to inhibit the virus active protein, so if it is taken early when the flu symptoms appear, it will help our body to recover faster and prevent the illness from getting worst. Your body is the best natural defense. In order to recover from virus attack naturally, we have to build up our body natural defense. Eat well balanced meal and lots of greens. Protein and carbohydrates are important part of our diet. Minerals in green vegetables would help your body to absorb vitamins efficiently. Minerals and vitamins work hand in hand, so make sure your daily intake consists of these two important supplement. Take plenty of fluids and exercise regularly but don’t overly exert yourself.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Hungry Ghost At Permatang Pasir Election Site

With the election campaign getting hotter and also the hungry ghost festival around the corner, two of these Hungry Ghosts that have just been released by the King of Hades found their way to Permatang Pasir, Butterworth.

Ah Kau : Wah, so many flags celebrating our homecoming ah?

Ah Too : Wah Lau leh, how come no Chinese characters on the flags ah? Only logos and they are not in triangle shaped anymore! No direction to follow leh!

Ah Kau : Where is the Kotai?

Ah Too : I hear some loudspeaker noise over there.....lets’ go and see!

Ah Kau : What is the Chinese speaker talking about ah? What is blogger?

Ah Too : That must be the modern Chinese Sai Kong lah (Taoist Priest)! Using microphone to chant some more leh!

Ah Kau : He said everything now online, everything www dot com. Want to do everything must go online leh! Cannot cover up already! Everything can check and post online!

Ah Too : Cannot cover up ah.?.....I heard online got many pictures also no cover up (naked) leh!

Ah Kau : No wonder no Kotai and no makan (food). Must ask my living relatives to burn some PC Notebooks, modem, wifi router, webcam and subscribe Hellnet for us leh!

Ah Too : Ya lor, next year we don’t have to travel to earth again to celebrate Hungry Ghost Festival. Just go online to watch Kotai! Some more got sexy singers with ‘no cover up dresses’ ha ha ha, Jolly good man!

Ah Kau : Instead of Blogger we can become Hellger! Ha ha ha!

Copyright : Peteformation Inc

Hungry Ghost Festival is Here Again

The flags are up! No no no, I am not talking about Permatang Pasir Election. The hungry ghost festival flags have been put up in many places. These flags represent sponsors of the celebration. The stage for kotai (live concert) and canopy for the event has been set up near my area. There will be a prayer session for lost souls tonight at 12 midnight by Buddhist Monks. I will be attending this prayer session. Tomorrow night the Kotai will start officially and my kids, especially my daughter is looking forward to it! This is the only time the whole neighborhood will get together! I found this funny Indian Version of Michael Jackson Thriller, a misread version. Enjoy the Girly Man! DARKNESS ALL ACROSS THE LAND. MIDNIGHT HOURS..........HA HA HA!

Related Post 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/08/events-chinese-hungry-ghost-festival.html

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Spending Quality Time with my Daughter on a Saturday Afternoon – UFO Chocolate Cake?

Last Saturday, I went out early in the morning to attend a talk on Investment Software. Normally I would go out later in the afternoon to see my clients but since I could not get any appointments, I went home after the talk. By the time I reached home, I found that my daughter has already finished doing her homework and was loitering around the house looking for things to do! She was delighted when I told her that she can bake a cake together with me. She was even more excited when I told her that we were going to bake a chocolate cake. Instead of using a round flat mold for the cake, we used a metal bowl. Actually I was trying to make a UFO shaped chocolate cake but unfortunately, the bottom layer diameter was too small and the shape turns out to be a dome instead of a UFO. We spread some chocolate cream icing and chocolate flakes on the cake. To add a little more effect, we sprinkled a little icing sugar on it and then decorated the top with a bright red cherry. It was a good quality time spent with my daughter and she will remember this moment for the rest of her life! We then shared some of the cake with our nice neighbor. Here is the end result! The 'UFO' Chocolate cake......................................and shaving the chocolate bar to make flakes
For chocolate cake recipe you can check out my post, Peteformation Chocolate Cake Recipe

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

New Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Mutation!

Picture of owl taken at the recent KL Bird Park Exhibition in Ikano Power Centre

Jack : Hi Gary, you don’t look so good today. Gosh, don’t tell me you are down with Influenza A, H1N1!

Gary : Choi choi choi, I am not sick, just that I did not get enough sleep last night.

Jack : What happened? Got into a big fight again with your wife?

Gary : Ya Jack, she kept on nagging me non stop for coming home late! Why can’t I go out and enjoy a couple of drinks with my friends! Now, my head is spinning and I am feeling very sleepy!

Jack : Gary, you better go home and take a good rest. I will inform Human Resource Department that you are down with B1N1 syndrome that infects mostly married men! Ha ha ha! (In Malay language Bini means wife)

Redfox Wireless FM MP3/WMA Modulator

I bought this cool FM MP3/WMAModulator for RM43. The display price was RM45....a RM2 discount is better than nothing! I just have to copy all my mp3, wma and mp4 songs from my CDs into a thumb drive or SD/MMC card, then plug in the MP3 Modulator into my car cigarette lighter compartment and set my radio to receive the frequency transmitted from the range of 87.5 Mhz to 108.0 Mhz. The model of the modulator is FT44A and it can support up to 16GB thumb drive or SD storage card. I can play many songs with such a big capacity of storage without ever have to fill up my glove compartments with lots of CDs. This model also supports switching of folders using the remote keypad provided. When I first used it I experience some radio frequency interference. I keep on changing the frequency until the sound coming out from my radio becomes clear, ie. use a frequency that has the least interference. Now I can listen to all my favourite songs inside my car!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

White Fungus, Pear and Matt Chor Dessert for Prevention of Flu and Respiratory Related Illness


The combination of white fungus, pear and matt chor (preserved Chinese Dates) is very good for our respiratory system. With the current Swine Flu (H1N1) and Influenza A epidemic at it’s peak, it is advisable that we take good care of our respiratory system to reduce the chances of infection. This nice dessert drink will moist our throat and hence help to trap impurities before it reach the inner part of our body. This is also a cooling drink for the body. I have added in longan in this recipe to make it taste better, but actually it is not advisable to add longan because it can be very heaty!

Ingredients
Matt Chor, 10 pcs (small ones, if large ones just use 5pcs)
Pear, 1 fruit, cored and cut into small slices (can also use yellow Chinese Ya Pear or Green Pear)
White fungus, 4 pcs, soak in water until soft
Dried Longan (optional, can be heaty), ½ cup
Water 5 large rice bowls or More (if too sweet add more water)
Rock Sugar to taste (please note that
Matt Chor is already very sweet)

Boil all the ingredients for around 1 hour. Let it cool down. Chill the dessert in the fridge and serve.

Nice Bright Star next to Moon. Is it Planet Venus?

I noticed early this morning, around 6.30am, when my son was about to leave for school that there was a very bright star near to the moon. It was crescent shaped moon and this bright star next to it really caught my attention. I took my camera and tried to take a photo of it. The moon and star might not look very bright it the picture I took but it real life they were very bright. This star might be Venus and around this time of the year, it can be view around 4 Degrees away from the moon. The nice view of the moon and Venus together really mesmerises me and I stood amidst the cool morning air to enjoy it! What a sight! I wonder if they will be side by side again tonight.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Chinese Rice Wine Tong Fun (Green Bean Transparent Noodle)

I grew a little bit tired of eating normal noodles like kuey teow and yellow egg noodles all the time. It is time to try something new. It was a rainy night and I told myself, ‘why not try to cook tung fun with Chinese wine!’ Anyway, it is quite nice to warm up the body with the Chinese wine in the tung fun soup in a cool rainy night. The recipe turns out quite ok.

Ingredients
Tung Fun, around one serving, soaks in water until it turns soft
Pork, 10 pcs, marinade in soya sauce, pepper and 1 teaspoon of corn flour
Prawns, 3 large prawns
Cilantro, 2 stalks, chopped finely
Sawi Vegetable, 5 leaves, cut into 1” length
Chinese cooking rice wine, 5 table spoons or more
Salt to taste
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely and fried in oil until golden brown

Put a bowl of water in cooking pot and bring to a boil. Add the marinated pork and Chinese cooking rice wine. Add prawns, sawi and tung fun. Boil for a short while. Add salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro and garlic before serving. Taste good with cili padi (bird eye chili) in light soya sauce.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Petaling Jaya SS14 Jackson’s Burger – Homemade

Jackson's Burger Van in between the big tree and house number 144
Very clean cooking utensils and van
Sorry, the burgers a little 'kemek' after I remove them from the wrappings and took the pictures in my car!
Enjoying Jackson's burger in my car!
It has been quite some time I drop by to buy burger from this stall which is located outside house number 144 along Jalan (Road) Dato Abdul Aziz, not far away from the Digital Mall and the collapsed old Jaya Supermarket building. I don’t think the name of this burger stall got anything to do with the late king of pop, Michael Jackson. When I was working as a Junior Engineer in Section 19, my office colleagues will call the owner of this burger stall to place our orders for lunch. Then we will send someone to collect the burgers during lunch time. A Chinese husband and wife team manage this stall and they have upgraded their little stall in to a minivan over the years. The van and utensils used are very clean. Jackson burgers are home made, with available choices such as beef, chicken, fish, crab and prawn burger, including hotdogs as well! Yes, there are crab and prawn burgers sold here! I was rushing to pick up my son in KL after submitting my sales at Jaya 33 and as I passed through this area, I slowed down to see whether Jackson burger is still operating. To my surprise, they are still in business after all these years. It must have been at least more than 10 years ago since I last ate Jackson’s burger. I bought two burgers, one beef burger for my son and a chicken one for myself. Boy, they are sure tasty and I enjoyed my Jackson burger in my car while waiting for my son at his school! Price : Beef and Chicken burger, RM2.80 each Fish burger, RM3.00 Hotdog, RM2.00 Operating hours : Around 11am to 5pm Location : 144, Jalan Dato Abdul Aziz, Section 14, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Map to Jackson’s Burger

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Vegan Pork Trotter Recipe

Check out Vegan Pork Trotter recipe at my vegetarian blog http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2009/08/chinese-vegetarian-mock-pork-trotter.html

Be careful When Using Your PC Notebook at Public Places

I met up with my old time buddy just now at a Kopitiam near Jalan Kuching and we had a great time chit chatting. We were seated at the non air-conditioned place outside the coffee shop. As we were about to settle the bill, we witnessed a snatch theft that happened so fast that we were unable to give a chase. A man who sat directly behind me was using his PC Notebook to surf the net and without any warning a motorbike pillion rider came by and snatched his notebook away. By the time I turned to have a look at the commotion, the snatch thief had already reached his accomplice who was waiting on the bike and they were gone from the place in just mere seconds. The poor victim only managed to shout at them because it happened so fast. By the time, I was fully aware of what was happening it was already too late to give a chase! So, if you have to use your pc notebook at public wifi places, please make sure that you are seated in an enclosed area away from the roadside. Sadly, nowadays the city is full of lowlifes and trouble makers!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

On Night Shift Fever

I have been quite busy lately trying to close some new sales and have not been updating my post for almost a week. The year end is approaching and I have some catching up to do! Anyway it is also a good time to take a look again at the stock market! I received a call in the late afternoon that my little toddler (20 months old) was having high fever due to teething and I rushed him to see a doctor immediately. Luckily I was around my housing area after meeting up with a customer before that. My ear type thermometer showed the temperature as 38.80 Deg C but when the doctor checked his temperature using a digital thermometer, it showed 39.7 Deg C. Immediately, the doctor told the nurse to give him a sponge bath and the they inserted a rectal fever medicine to reduce the body temperature. Anyway, I was told to take his temperature from time to time and monitor his progress at night. So, now I am doing my night shift and typing this post at 4 am in the morning but did not manage to finish it because I was real tired that time............continue.....! I tried to give him some Chinese medicine, leng ngeong (deer antlers) drink that is quite effective to lower down body temperature but he refused to drink it. I have to add some of the concoction in his milk. Genuine leng ngeong will have a very strong aromatic smell and the price is around RM15 for one serving. The original ones are made from deer antlers but imitation ones are made from mountain goat horns! Well, my kids have been taking leng ngeong whenever they have fever and I have been using them for years. Gotta go! Have to check his temperature again and sponge bath him. Then I will need to take a short nap before tonight baby sitting night shift again!

Maggi Mee Assam Laksa with Bacon and Fu Chuk

Whenever I feel a bit lazy to out for supper, I would cook Maggi Assam Laksa to fill my tummy. Maggi Mee Assam Laksa is one of my favourite instant noodles but I wish they would make it a little bit sourer and spicier in taste. I remember, it used to be very sour when they first launched this product back in the 70s. My auntie cooked a bowl of Maggi Assam laksa for me that time when I came back from school, and it taste real good back then!....yum yum! Well, I made this bowl of Assam laksa maggi mee for supper, added some bacon and fu chuk (fried bean curd) into it so that I will not wake up hungry in the middle of the night! Sometimes, if I have some leftovers mint leaves and bunga kantan (wild ginger flower), then I would add them into the assam laksa as well. How do you cook Assam Laksa Instant noodle? Related Post on Instant Noodle 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-way-to-eat-maggiinstant-chicken-mee.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/05/quickie-fried-maggi-mee-recipe.html 3) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/nissin-tomyam-instant-noodle.html

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Cute Animal Figures Biscuits

I bought these cute biscuits for my little toddler who took some time to look at the animal figures before eating them. Well, I guess he is curious about the animal shape in the biscuits! My eldest son sorted out the ten types of animals like owl, bird, cat, tortoise, rhinoceros, chicken, swan or maybe duck, elephant, fish and rabbit on the plate. My mom would buy this biscuits for my elder son whenever we visited her during the early days when she was stronger and able to go to the wet market all by herself. How time flies, I can still remember vividly the little biscuit and fruit shops in the Butterworth New Ferry Road wet market that sells this type of biscuit and I would be as happy as a lark whenever my mom buys some for me. These rows of shops are no longer there except the structure that hosts the wet market which is still being occupied by morning market traders. It seems like with a blink of an eye, my mom and dad are already in their eighties and I would go back to visit them as often as I could so that they will get to see their grandchildren. Maybe I will get some of these animal figures biscuits in Butterworth and compare the taste with the one I bought from KL. My little toddler will be the judge of the animal biscuits tasting. LOL! Related Post 1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/10/penang-roti-tapai-biscuits.html 2) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/11/beh-teh-soh-roti-gula-putih-hiong-piah.html 3) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/04/pong-piah-and-hiau-piah-chinese.html 4) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/malaysian-attap-chi-attap-palm-fruit.html 5) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/sheng-hiang-tambun-biscuit-biskut.html 6) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/mini-rempeyek-malaysian-traditional.html 7) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/07/shat-kei-ma-crispy-egg-flour-with.html

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Lunch and Karaoke At Neway One Utama New Wing

We had some leftover funds from one of our Agency Leaders training program and my business partner Shirleen which is our Group Treasurer organized a lunch and karaoke session at Neway One Utama. It was a nice gathering for all of us and Noraini who is staying overseas 7000km away managed to make it to this gathering as well. Kudos to Shirleen who managed to get every participating leader to attend this get together and help to liaise with Neway staff to get everything going smoothly! To capitalize on the special weekdays lunch and karaoke package of RM9.80 per person (excluding 15% tax) , we actually had this gathering on a Tuesday. Neway is a nice place and the sound system is quite good. Well, I must say that every one of us enjoyed the good food and karaoke singing session but most importantly we got together as a group again, FRIENDS FOREVER! Here are some of the random pictures I took!
Neway reception and our 'big' room with four sections, four miccorphones and 3 big screens located at strategic angles. Very nice and comfortable.
Getting our food at the salad bar and pasta section.
Fruits, salads and toast. Jam, peanut butter and other stuffs for the toast.
Jennifer's food selection.................................................CheaHos@n's food selection!
I think the first one is pumpkin soup. There was also lotus roots soup available.
The porridge section!
My set lunch of shrimps and tofu. I can't remember how it taste like because I was too busy entering songs into the system. The second picture is the notice board with all the available packages.

Neway Karaoke Outlets Address & Telephone Number, Website link and map customer@newaykb.com.my.
1) UtamaPetaling Jaya Level 5 & 6, 1 Utama, New Wing +603.7728.1499
2) Times SquareKuala Lumpur Level 4, Berjaya Times Square.+603.2143.3999
3) City SquareJohor Bahru Level 5, Johor Bahru City Square +607.228.1499
4) Jaya Square, SubangSubang Jaya Level 4, Jaya Square. +603.5637.5888
5) Casa Square, PuchongPuchong Level 2 & 3, Casa Square.+603.8070.8383
6) Cheras PlazaCheras Mezzanine Floor, Cheras Plaza.+603.9131.1499
7) KlangLevel 2, Centro Mall, Klang. +603.3344.2600

Making Tofu (豆腐, 豆腐, とうふ, 두부, đậu phụ, tokwa, tauhu, เต้าหู้) Using Nigari Salts Solution, yummy marmite tofu!

The tofu that are commonly available commercially are normally made using gypsum (sek ko fun, calcium sulfate) as coagulant. Sek Ko Fun is widely used in China to make tofu. Many claim that sek ko fun is not good for health. However, Sek Ko Fun (Calcium sulfate) is a good source of calcium that helps to make our bones strong. The Japanese people have been using Nigari salt (sea salt, magnesium chloride) as coagulant for tofu and I was told that Nigari is a better choice than sek ko fun. Anyway there are many types of coagulant for tofu like for example the Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) that is popularly used to flush gall bladder stone. Our normal kitchen vinegar can also be used as a coagulant but I have yet to try this method. I do no have a tofu making box with drainage hole, so a plastic sieve that I use to soak vegetables will work just fine. In order to make the tofu with fine texture, you must stir the coagulant and soya bean juice mixture one time clockwise and one anti clockwise. Pressing it using some weights will turn the tofu into blocks. Here is the step by step instruction to make tofu.

1) Soya Bean milk that I bought from the Kepong wet market, around 5 cups. Nigari salt solution.
2) Heat up soya bean milk to around 60 to 70 Deg C. Do not boil. Add 2 table spoons of Nigari salt solutions. Nigari salt has bitter taste so use it sparingly. The soya bean milk will start to coagulate after 15 to 20 minutes.
3) Drape a fine cloth over the sieve. I guess my new handkerchief works just fine. The best material would be your Pagoda T-shirt.....but you better use a new one or else, no one will eat your tofu...ha ha ha!
4) Pour the coagulated tofu into the cloth.
5) Tie up the cloth and put some heavy stuff on top of it. I used a bowl filled with water
6) When the tofu hardened, soak it in clean water to wash away the nigari salt so that it will not taste bitter.
7) My tofu, Peteformation production! See the sieve pattern on it?
8) Cook the tofu immediately because there are no preservative in it. I cooked Marmite Tofu with it. Want to know the taste of my home made tofu? Fresh and yummy!