PeteFormation Foodie Adventure

Chinese New Year 2011 and 2012 - Mom

2012-01-19T11:55:00.003+08:00

It was 2 days before 2011 Chinese New Year, my mom was diagnosed with cerebral bone spur (very painful symtoms) and was temporarily bedridden. She has already bought all the ingredients to cook for our family reunion dinner. I know that this dinner is very important to her and she would very much like our family to enjoy her cooking. Although I can whip up the same dishes, my cooking is not up to her standard. The only dish that she managed to prepare was the lobak (Five spice meat roll). Anyway, I have to take over her kitchen and cooked up the festival dish below.

Clockwise from the top : Lobak, Curry Chicken, Fried Mix Vegetable, Tau Eu Bak (Dark soya sauce Pork Belly), Pork Stomach soup, lobak again, Accar (Nyonya Spicy Sweet Mix Salad) and Jiu Hu Char (Fried Turnips with Dry Squid strips, Not in photo). My mom says the dishes are ok but I think my Accar was a little lack of flavours.....got to work on the recipe! LOL!

Pre Reunion Dinner Meal - Tau Cheo Fish for mom to eat with rice......

Pre Reunion Dinner Meal - Crispy Butter Cereal chiken for the children.

Morning breakfast- My signature Fried Mee (Yellow Noodles)......

My sister has already bought all the ingredients to cook Penang Assam Laksa, so we cooked it on the 1st Day of New Year....yum yum!

Year after year, ever since my mom married my dad, she never fails to pay respect to our ancestors in the form of food offering. Last year was the only year she was not able to do so. My dad, wife, kids and me took over her role and set up this simple altar in the house. I want my kids to remember their ancestors, pay respect to them and also learn about Chinese Tradition.

You can see my youngest son doing his lion dance routine while we were busy praying. LOL! Look at all his toys that he left at my dad's house in the box next to our old fridge. My mom's wheelchair is next to the fridge.....my son would push it near to my mom's bed everynight. He will also place the walking stick next to my mom at night before going to bed. Never ask him why he did that...........

I was very busy the last six months and didn't blog much because I was getting my house ready to bring my mom and dad to stay with me, so that they can have proper home cooked meal and care. My mom has been caring and cooking for my siblings and me for far too many years. I guess it is time for us to do the reverse. In my house, most of the time my kids would be around to accompany them too.

For this year (2012) Chinese New Year Celebration, mom told me that she and my sister had bought some of the ingredients from the wet market. I was still wondering how she managed to go there, walking so slowly with her walking stick???

Anyway, I have prepared some of the dishes upfront and would be bringing them back home!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

CHERISH EVERY MOMENT YOU SPENT WITH YOUR LOVED ONES DURING THIS FESTIVE SEASON!

Late Night Chu Char (Fried Food) Supper at a Marine Parade Promenade Coffee Shop

2012-01-18T18:02:00.000+08:00

After a full day out around Singapore we went back to our hotel to freshen up. Then our stomach start to growl again, so we went out for supper at a Food Outlet in Marine Parade Promenade near Marine Parade Food Court. This coffee shop is open 24 hours for late night drinkers but the Chu Char (Wok Fried Food) would close around 11.30 pm. We managed to make the last order for the day and was happilly tucked in the food when we suddenly realised that we need to order more. Too bad, the chu char owner would not take anymore orders because they are preparing to close the stall.....sigh...

Although it is about 11.50pm and the next day is a working day, there is still a good crowd at this eating place. Most of them are here for a nite shot of beer! Yam Seng

The first dish that came, Fried Hor Fun (flat rice noodles) with fish slices and garnished with bean sprouts(taugeh)......very nice.

Fried Ee Mee (Fried Egg Noodles) which is known as Man Ee Mee in KL. Another tasty dish from this stall.

Ahhhh, I love this Fried Singapore Bihun........
Fried with to perfection! Yum Yum.....

Location :

This makan place (eating place) is very near to the Marine Parade road overhead bridge. If you are crossing the bridge from the opposite site, then walk towards your left. When you see the Marine Parade Promenade Arch, you will notice a corner restaurant with a large 24 Hours sign board.

Oppps, Misua (Wheat Flour Vermicelli) Looked like Angry Bird.....

2012-01-17T18:25:00.001+08:00

I cooked this misua for my youngest son who turned four end of last year...............

It was early in the morning and when he woke up, he kept on staring at the misua.....
Misua is his favourite food. I was wondering why he didn't start eating the misua immediately.

Then he said., "Papa, this misua looks like Angry Bird lah"......, "I want to eat the eyes first..".
Hah, must have been playing too much angry bird game the night before this!

Steamed White Snapper Fish with Assam Laksa Gravy Recipe

2012-01-16T11:49:00.000+08:00

Before Steaming......

After Steaming.........

This is another one of my 'quickie recipe' which I would prepare whenever I am rushing to cook for my family. I used white snapper fish (pek chor) here but you can replace it with other type of fish. Ikan kembong (Indian Mackerel) would be a good choice for this recipe. You can add 'har ko' (prawn paste) to dish if you like it.
For this quickie recipe, you just have to arrange everything in a steaming tray and steam the fish for around 20 minutes. As easy at that! LOL! It is also a suitable dish to satisfy your cravings for Penang Assam Laksa.

Ingredients,
White Snapper Fish, 2 medium size
Daun Kesom (laksa leaf, Persicaria Odorata, Vietnamese Coriander), a few stalks
Serai (Lemongrass), 1 pc, crushed
Onions, 1 pc, cut into slices
Turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder or chilly paste, 1 table spoon or to taste
Tamarind juice or Lemon Juice, to taste
Bunga Kantan (Torch Ginger, Etlingera Elatior), cut into small pieces (Optional)
Salt to taste
Mint Leave for garnishing.

Arrange all the ingredients except Bunga Kantan and Mint leaves in a steaming tray. Steam the Assam Laksa White Snapper for 20 minutes. Garnish with mint leaves and bunga kantan before serving.

Random Photos of Visit to Singapore 2011 (Vivo City, Singapore Zoo, Universal Studio, Orchard Road, Fullerton Bay Hotel)

2012-01-12T21:48:00.001+08:00

Some random photos of my trip to Singapore,

Nice Xmas decoration at our hotel......, take a closer look of the next photo...

The roof is made from bread......maybe ginger bread? Hey, who bit off a chunk? lol

Kids having a whale of fun at Singapore Science Centre Water Exhibition area

This is probably the most photographed structure of Singapore Universal Studio....at Resort World, Sentosa, Singapore...

Puss in Boots.........here, kitty, kitty, kitty......

Opps, let's see some mummies..........

2 balls during climax?.....ha ha ha.......kena wash brain liao......lol!

Spectacular lights decoration in the most famous shopping street in the world, Orchard Road, Singapore....

Singapore Fullerton Bay Hotel was named one of the world’s top new hotels by Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2011 and Travel + Leisure It List 2011.
Fullerton Bay Hotel is located in the heart of Singapore Business district. This is the latest addition to Marina Bay waterfront. I love the nice view of Marina Bay from this hotel.......

The luxurious Fullerton Bay Hotel lobby........

The ladies want to shop at Singapore latest and largest shopping complex, Vivo City......walk until 'pengsan'.

A playground in the middle of Vivo City.......

View of Sentosa Island cable car from the park behind Vivo City.......

A lot of all these elephants everywhere in Singapore......

Hanging around Vivo City while the ladies shop............

Wanna check out Marche at Vivo City?......

Finally, the Water Play Park in Singapore Zoo. My kids played for hours here......while I 'tidur' (slept) on the bench......to tired lah! ha ha ha

Riunite White Lambrusco Emilia

2012-01-11T22:59:00.003+08:00

I have a bottle of Riunite White Lambrusco Emilia sitting in my shelf and have totally forgotten that I bought it. This wine is made from Lambrusco, Emilia region, Italian grapes . There are around 60 to 70 varities of Lambrusco grapes. Lambrusco is famous for it's high yield grape vine.The grapes itself are not sweet but this Lambrusco sweet wine might be a result of fermentation or addition of other types of grapes.

Due to it's sweetness, this wine is suitable a after meal dessert or for those who don't like dry strong wines.

This bottle of White Lambrusco is a rose casual wine made from red grapes. It has a sweet, pleasant and cool fruitty taste. A great alternative to White Zinfandel (White Zin, sweet pink coloured blush (rose) wine).

Since the wine came with a screw cap, I don't have to worry about finishing all of it at one go. Instead I can keep it in the fridge after opening without worrying that it will turn into vinegar....lol!

Actually, any wines that have a screw cap can be kept after opening, just like port wines.

Yam Seng!....eerrrr, not bottom up ah.....wine must sip slowly.......

Trip to Singapore Continue in to Marina Bay Sands

2012-01-10T22:44:00.006+08:00

After having our fill of nice Singapore Hokkien Mee and a refreshing hot bath at our hotel, we headed towards Marina Bay Sands.

The photo below shows the Giant ferris wheel, Singapore Flyer which is 165m high. Marina Bay Sands is behind the ferris wheel. The boat shaped structure above the building is Marina Bay Skypark.

Night shot of the Singapore Flyer....

With the kids tagging along, I didn't gamble in the Casino......sobs! sobs.....

Ahh, we managed to find other things else for the whole family to do together! We bought ticket to take the elevator up to the 57th floor, Marina Bay Sands Skypark!

A large crowd gathered at the viewing platform nearest to the elevator. We were greeted by a spectacular and awesome night view of Singapore city with glittering lights everywhere!

The water ways with round white flotillas floating above it. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a good shot of the flotillas.

I love the view of this football field which is located within the Marina Bay Sands vicinity! Must have 'sampan' (boat) ready to retrieve the football whenever it goes over the fence! LOL!

Clothes That Poke Eye - Enter the Post Monsoon Season Latest Fashion

2012-01-07T23:28:00.001+08:00

Ground breaking news! The 'burung marah' fashion craze have been taken over by 'Clothes That Poke Eye'!

Hot! New Fashion Trend!......Enter the latest post monsoon season haute couture Musang King Durian inspired unisex Clothes That Poke Eye!

These latest 'eye poking clothes' have been snapped up by the fashion conscious community and celebrities alike. They are available at all durian stalls throughout the country.

'Eye Poking Clothes' are reported to be bullet proof and very suitable for military ground infantry jungle camouflage wear. Furthermore, these versatile clothes act as weapon whenever the soldiers ran out of ammunition. The thorns on these clothes can 'poke eyes' of the enemies!

Since the crime rate against women in the country is rather high, Eye Poking Wear is very popular among the young ladies. The thorns can poke and blind the eyes of rapist the moment they lay their eyes on their would be victims.

Peteformation, the inventor of this special durian skin based fabric spent 20 years in his research before he perfected the technology to commercially produce it. Coincidentally, the inventor also loves to eat durian very much. His favourite food combination is durian and rice with sambal belachan.

Thanks to Peteformation Fashion House for inventing the greatest wear for 2012 !

Singapore East Coast Lagoon Food Village (Hokkien Mee, BBQ Chicken Wings)

2012-01-07T01:06:00.001+08:00

After a nice walk along the Singapore East Coast Park seafront, we hopped over to East Coast Lagoon Food Village to have our dinner. There are many varieties of food to choose and I walked for around 2 rounds before deciding what to eat. If I am not mistaken, there are at least 40 to 50 stalls here selling a wide range of hawker food.

For starters\, I bought these barbecued chicken wings from Haron 30 Satay stall (Stall no 55) for SGD1.20 each. These chicken wings are very tasty, have very nice aroma and are barbecued to perfection. Very worth it and price is also quite reasonable. The chili is very spicy! Damm Shiok to eat with the chicken wings! lol!

Stall Location and contact number :
Haron 30 Satay
Stall No 55, East Coast Lagoon Food Village
Contact person : Lynna, 64410495

I missed Singapore style Hokkien Mee (noodles), so quickly I ordered one from a stall run by a lady not far away from Haron 30 Satay. Sorry ya, I forgot the stall number liao! A small size plate of Singapore Hokkien Mee cost SGD4. From the photo, the Hokkien Mee might not look very appealing but it is actually very tasty! I love the sweet and rich gravy! At first my son hesitated from trying it but after the first spoonful, he was hooked.

My daughter returned from bicycling and complained that she is very hungry. I wondered whether she has covered the 15km seafront bicycle track but she does looked very hungry and tired. LOL!

So, I went over to the same stall and ordered a medium size Singapore Hokkien Mee. I paid SGD6.00 for this delicious plate of medium size Hokkien Mee. I was amazed when my daughter finished the whole plate......! This is also the first time she tasted this dish and she likes it very much!

This is the Singapore style Oh Chien (fried oysters with eggs) that we tried out. If sure looks different from the Oh Chien that we have in Malaysia. The Oh Chien here is rather pale in colour and have lots of eggs in it. Although the Oh Chien looks plain, it is rather tasty. .....can't go wrong with food fried with eggs! yum yum!

We tried other food from the stalls here as well but there are nothing to shout about them.
The evening crowd at Lagoon Food Village....

Ok, tummy filled liao! Next stop....Singapore latest casino! It is 'Picture!' 'Picture' time! ha ha ha!

Map and Location of Singapore East Coast Lagoon Food Village

For Direction, See Google Map Coordinate : 1.307024,103.935835

1220 East Coast Parkway

Singapore 468960

Singapore East Coast Park Beach

2012-01-05T23:07:00.001+08:00

After having the tasting lor mee (braised noodles) at Toa Payoh we drove East to our hotel to check in. We decided to drive to East Coast Park to have a casual walk by the beach there. I love this well kept and organised beach front. East Coast Park has a long stretch of sand and tarred pavement for bicycling.

There are many people fishing on this long jetty. Next time I would bring my fishing rods along!

A good weekend crowd at the East Coast Park seaside.

My kids rented bicycles to cycle along the tarred track by the seaside.

Then we came across a very enterprising proprietor selling sand castle plastics mould. Many visitor bought these moulds and were busy building their sand castles.

Oh, oh, this boy is going to destroy the sand castles.......

They even sell little figurines for you to decorate your sand castles.

A wizard....or maybe Gandalf of Lord of the Rings fighting with a giant winged lizard....lol!

Opps, stomach hungry again.....we just walk over to East Coast Lagoon Food Village which is a very big food court selling many varieties of hawker fares......yum yum....., stay tune to find out what we ate there!

Tasty Lor Mee at Kim Seng Eating House, Block 168, Lor 1, Toa Payoh, Singapore 310168

2011-12-29T11:00:00.005+08:00

After crossing the second link, we took the PIE (Pan Island Expressway) and finally arrived at Kim Seng Eating House, Blk 168, Toa Payoh Lor 1. The coffee shop (kopitiam) is located in the vicinity of HDB flats. This place is rather small but all the chairs, tables and hawker stalls are neatly arrange to fill up the little space to the maximum capacity. There was a good early lunch crowd in Kim Seng when we walked in.

Anyway, we found a small unoccupied table and my brother in law immediately went to our favourite stall to order the food.......

Enter the famous Toa Payoh Lor Mee (Braised noodles)......

The lor mee here taste a little different from Penang Lor Mee, which has a stronger star anise aroma.

Anyway, Kim Seng Toa Payoh Lor Mee has a nice combination of mild spices which makes it unique and tasty. We love the crispy fried yam base fritters (smells like yam to me, lol) that comes with it which goes along well with the gooey dark soya sauce based soup.

A bowl of tasty Toa Payoh Lor Mee which cost SGD2.50 comes with a generous amount of pork slices, eggs, fritters and sambal......yum yum.......makes me wanna go back and eat it again....lol!

Tao Payoh Famous Lor Mee Address
Kim Seng Eating House, Blk 168, Lor 1, Tao Payoh, Singapore 310168,

A Foodie Road Trip to Singapore - Crossing the Second Link Bridge

2011-12-28T15:02:00.000+08:00

It has been 4 years since my family last visited Singapore. Anyway, we managed to squeezed in some time to take the kids to Singapore recently. Ahhhh....good to visit Singapore again, a great food haven.....

At Singapore Custom check point in Tuas, Second Link....
This is where we get our passport stamp and every car have to buy a Cash Card from the office you see in the photo. If you already have Singapore cash card, please remember to put it in the card reader machine at the custom booth to register your entry or else you will have to pay a small fine when you exit the country. If you do not have any Singapore Cash card, then you must purchase one at the office you see in the photo and swipe it at the card reader machine.

After Tuas checkpoint, we drove through PIE (Pan Island Expressway) towards Toa Payoh, Lor 1 (Road 1)to have our favourite noodles.......Wanna know what it is?.....check out my next post.....coming soon!

Spaghetti Farm, Mid Valley Mega Mall

2011-12-08T23:43:00.001+08:00

It was just around 1 hour after we had breakfast and my youngest son complained that he was hungry again. I took him to the lower ground level of Mid Valley Megamall to look for some light snacks for him since it was still a bit early for lunch. I spotted The Spaghetti Farm outlet not very far away from the escallator and decided to give it a try.
I was wondering whether he can finish his food so I just ordered a plain Pomodoro Spaghetti (RM6.90) for him. They have a promotion during that time; for every spaghetti meal ordered, you are allow to add a soup and soft drinks for RM3.50 only. So the total bill came up to be RM10.40.

The spaghetti was quite delicious and my son loves it. I guess he likes everything that has tomato sauce in it! LOL!
Nothing to shout about the mushroom soup.....

Since it was still early for lunch, there were still many empty tables. By the time we finished our meal, the crowd started to come it.
A good place to have a family meal!

Angry Bird or Catapult?

2011-12-07T23:00:00.002+08:00

When my 4 year old son saw this, he says it is an Angry Bird! I was going like, huh? Angry Bird?....then I suddenly realised that he was referring to the famous angry bird game. LOL!
Well, video games influence our kids so much nowadays. English teachers would have a hard time teaching them proper English. ha ha ha!

Then, after I put some rubber bands on the catapult for him to use, he said, 'Dad, can you give me some angry birds to shoot!'. Pengsan liao!

3rd visit to MCY Restaurant....Signature Dish, Boneless Chicken

2011-12-06T23:45:00.001+08:00

This is my third post and review on MCY Restaurant. I didn't get to try out the famous MCY House Speciallity Chicken, so I took my family back there recently. This time around the boneless chicken dish was available. It is actually chicken skin with fish paste like fillings underneath. The chicken is then deep fried using bamboo net as support until golden brown. The taste? Simply delicious.....dunno how to describe, because it is a completely new taste to me!

The homemade Choy Heong Beancurd is very soft and smooth. Taste really good!

This Curry fish Head is actually a complimentary dish and cost only RM8, available for food orders of above RM50. The curry fish head might not look very attractive but it is very tasty. It has a perfect mix of spices.

I love the tender young shoots of sweet potato plants. Sweet and taste when fried plainly with garlic.

The piping hot Ham Yee Fah Lam Poh (Pork Belly with Salted fish). Can't go wrong with this dish.....always taste good!

The total bill came up to be RM 101.20 for 5 adults and 3 children.

Address, map and contact number for MCY Restaurant, Desa Aman Puri

N0. 19-A, Tingkat Bawah

Jalan Desa 2/8,

Desa Aman Puri

52100 Kepong Selangor

Tel : 03 62763178

Fish Maw - Sand or Salt?

2011-12-05T23:21:00.004+08:00

At first I was shocked when I saw these pebbles like stuff in the fish maw that I bought from a vendor in Chai Leng Park, Butterworth. The first thought that came to my mind was the supplier might have put in pebbles into it to increase the weight because the fish maw alone is very light.
But when I investigate further, the pebbles like stuff is actually sea salt. Did they put it in to preserve the fish maw? This is the first time that I encounter this after buying fish maw for many years!
Have you come across this before?

I Won I Won, Thanks Wendy

2011-12-02T15:46:00.000+08:00

Received this letter from Wendy of Table for 2 or more a few weeks ago. This is the first time I ever won anything from a blog site. It is such a privilege to receive this gift from Wendy, who won the Malaysia's BEST Masterchef Blogger title recently. Well, Wendy can certainly cook very well and I enjoy reading her recipe posts.
Since I didn't blog hop that often these days, I didn't know that I won until Smallkucing informed me to claim the prize from Wendy's site. Ok, lets see what is inside the envelope.......

Yay, 3 BHP petrol vouchers worth RM30.......good lah, this is a very usefull gift. Thank you very much to Wendy and also Smallkucing. Cheers and have a nice weekend!

Stir Fried Pork Belly with Pineapple, Fresh Turmeric and Cashew Nuts

2011-11-30T00:50:00.000+08:00

This is another new recipe that I discovered accidentally. Initially, I wanted to fry the pork belly with just turmeric and a little soya sauce but I ended up adding other ingredients to the dish. Anyway, the dish turned up quite well and my kids love it. I guess the combination of flavours from the ingredients brought out a taste for their taste buds.....LOL!
Here is my recipe for Stir Fried Pork Belly with Pineapple, Fresh Turmeric and Cashew Nuts.

Ingredients
Pork Belly or Pork Tenderloin, 300 gms, slice thinly
Cashew Nuts(roasted), 1/2 cup
Fresh Turmeric, 1 ", cut into thin slices
Tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon
Light Soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Pineapple, 10 bite size slices
Shallots, 5 pcs, cut thinly
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and put in a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Saute shallots and fresh turmeric until fragrant. Add pork belly. Fry until they are cooked. Add tomato sauce, light soya sauce, salt to taste, cashew nuts and pineaple. Serve with steamed rice.

Crab with Cross Like Mark on its Shell

2011-11-26T22:28:00.000+08:00

I was about to work on my Curry Crab with Prawns posting when I noticed the distinct cross-like mark on the shell. Then I remembered reading in The Star about this species of crab causing a stir among Malacca Christians in Sept 2011. The photo of the crab in The Star has a cross like mark with black background on the shell. The one I have is of a lighter coloured shell, probably a close family to the Charybdisferiatus.

According to The Star, during the 16th century, Sir Francis Xavier was sailing from some Indonesian islands to Malacca when he was caught in a storm. He then dipped his crucifix into the sea and pray to God to calm the raging storm. Unfortunately, the crucifix slipped from his hand and dropped into the sea. He prayed to god that he could get it back. When he landed in Malacca he saw a crab on the beach clutching the same crucifix in its claw.Sir Francis was surprised and he knelt down to retrive the cross from the crab.
He then blessed the crab and the cross appeared on the crab shell.

So, next time whenever you are eating this species of crab, remember to look out for its distinct cross mark!...........
.....errrrr, if you spot any numbers on the shell, please let me know.....so I can go and bet on some 4D or Toto....lol!

Cooking Misadventure - Crispy Burnt Bak Hu (Pork Floss)

2011-11-25T13:50:00.000+08:00

Just a short post, while waiting for my customer response before a meeting.......

This is what happened when I added to much sugar when cooking Bak Hu (Meat Floss, click here for Bak Hu recipe). Instead of using 4 tablespoons of sugar, I thought that 7 tablespoons for 1kg of lean pork would make the Bak Hu taste nicer. It was rather hard to fry the bak hu because it burnt easily and at the end the Bak Hu turned crispy because the sugar caramelized. Anyway, this bak hu has a new taste and is rather crispy! LOL!

Gotta run.....Cheers and Have a nice weekend!

Stir Fried Leeks With Roast Pork Recipe

2011-11-22T00:11:00.001+08:00

I bought a nice cut of roast pork leg to cook soup and used the meaty part to fry with leeks. Although I normally cook leeks with tofu, I find that it also goes along well with roast pork. I wanted to cook up a leeks and roast pork dish like the one that I had in Ah Shun Siew Char stall.
Everyone in my family loves to eat leeks and it tasted even better with roasted pork! LOL!

Ingredients
Leeks, 3 stalks, cut into large strips
Roast pork, 7 to 8 slices
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely or just cut into slices
Salt to taste
Corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy

Heat up wok and add in a little vegetable oil. Put in the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add roast pork and stir fry for a short while to bring out the flavours. Add leeks and fry until it is slightly cooked. Pour in a little water and bring to a boil. Add corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy. Lastly add a little salt to taste.

Cooking Hazard

2011-11-18T00:15:00.000+08:00

If I don't write something soon in my blog, Bananaz would be calling 911 as he was wondering whether I was still stuck in my room because of the spoilt circular door lock. LOL!

Actually I was still a little busy and didn't update my blog or blog hop. Sorry ya!

Most of the time, whenever I was rushing to cook for my kids before going out for an appointment with my customers, I got a little careless and burn my arm with the hot oil from the wok. This is one the common hazard we have to face for the love of cooking. ouch ouch!

I guess cooking is more dangerous than playing around with my metal nunchaku. ha ha ha!

How to Open(Release) Jammed and Change Circular Bedroom Lock Sets

2011-10-20T23:06:00.000+08:00

A) To open (release) jammed Circular (Knob) Lock

This type of commonly used circular lock get jammed up rather often. In order to release the jammed lock, hold on to the center piece and turn the knob. The fingers holding the center locking piece must not move when you are turning the knob. The locking center should pop up to its' original position after this procedure.

B) Step By Step Procedure to change Circular (knob) locksets

First you will have to remove the old circular lockset. Use a nail or tool provided with the lockset to deoress the knob (lever) catch hole and slide (pull) the knob off the spindle.

This is how the lockset looks like after you remove the knob (lever)

Remove the two screws that hold the lockset to the door.

Pull out the other end of the knob.

Remove the screws that hold the latch unit to the door frame. Then pull out the latch unit.

The old lockset is completely removed from the door.

To install the new lock. use a nail to depress the knob catch hold and slide the knob out from the spindle.

Put the latch unit into the side cavity. Push the lockset into the round cavity of the door. Make sure that the lock housing engages with the latch prongs and the retractor interlocks with the latch bar. This is to ensure that the latch would move in or out of the box strike whenever the knob is turned.

Depress the knob catch hole with a nail or tool provided with the lockset. Slide in the knob into the spindle. Install rose by snapping it in place or for some circular locks models, you just need to turn it clockwise until it touch the door. Your circular lockset is ready for use!

Tanjung Bunga Restaurant - Penang Nyonya Cuisine, A night out with my foodie friend

2011-10-13T00:03:00.001+08:00

Once a Penangite, always a Penangite. My lady foodie friend from Penang and I love Penang Nyonya food very much. Ever since coming to KL, she didn't could not find any outlet that sell good Perut Ikan dish (pickled fish stomach). I took her to Tanjung Bunga Restaurant in SS2 ChowYang. I have been eating at this restaurant for the pass 20 years, ever since I came to KL. Tg Bunga serve very good Penang Nyonya food at very reasonable price.After so many years, this little restaurant is still drawing a good crowd. Most of the table was occupied when we walked in. Luckily, we managed to find one empty table before more dinner crowd arrive.

My friend was really delighted to eat here. She commented that it was a very satisfying meal!

After processing the food photos below, I suddenly realised that we really ate a lot of food that night! LOL!

Perut Ikan, a pungent dish made from Daun Kadok (Piper Sarmentosum) plant. Love it!

Penang Nyonya Otak Otak (Fish paste with coconut milk and spices). Nice!

It has been quite some time I didn't eat Nasi Ulam liao! I have Cekur plant growing in my garden but did not make ulam with it. This is a very healthy dish! Another yummy dish!

Another must have in this restaurant, the Jiu Hu Char (Turnips fried with strands of dried squid). Best eaten with lettuce.

Another one of our favourite dish, the Sambal Petai (stinking beans) Prawns. Delicious!

The total bill for the night? Aiya forgot liao! Only remember that it was reasonable! Food too tasty....happy until forgot to note down...ha ha ha!

Address
Restoran Penang Nyonya Kari Kepala Ikan Tanjung Bunga
No 117, Jalan SS2/6, 47300, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03 78774531

Business Hours: Mon – Sun 11.30 am to 3 pm 6pm to 10 pm
Closed every Thursday

Map To Restoran Penang Nyonya Kari Kepala Ikan Tanjung Bunga, SS2, PJ

Desa Aman Puri Food Court Ah Shun Siew Char - Simple, Cheap and Nice Food

2011-10-11T23:59:00.001+08:00

I was looking for a place to have a simple and quick meal when I found Ah Shun Siew Char Food Stall tucked in the middle of Desa Aman Puri Food Court. This food court used to be packed with patrons when it first opened a few years back but now business is kind of slow. I guess there are too many food stalls in this area and the competition must have been really stiff. I noticed that Ah Shun stall has a steady stream of diners coming in.

Ah Shun offers quite a wide range of vegetable which is displayed in small basket. I ordered leeks fried with roast pork which is very tasty and fried to perfection. The Roast Pork is delicious too. There are not many places offering leek vegetable. So far, I think this is the first stall that I came across having leek in the menu.

Fu Yong eggs, a little burnt at the side but tasted ok! Sorry lah, half eaten then only remember to take photo! LOL!

The total bill for three person plus rice came up to be RM16.50! A really good price for a simple but tasty dinner!

Address and Map to Ah Shun Siew Char Food Stall

Ah Shun Siew Char Stall

Desa Aman Puri Food Court

Jalan Desa 1/4

Desa Aman Puri, Kepong, 52100

Kuala Lumpur

Coffee Shop Talk with My American Friend and Hawkers - Baby Day Care Business, Ah Beng's Marketing Strategy

2011-10-11T00:47:00.003+08:00

After reading Bananaz post, Don't Mess With Retired Husband, I remembered this funny coffee shop talk with my friends many years back.....

John : Hey Pete, this area sure has many baby day care centres. How come the authorities allow these people to use normal residential houses for day care business and playschool.

Pete : Hah, here everything also can! lol!

Ah Lian (coffee shop owner) : Actually I also thought about setting up baby day care centre. My friend who is one of the owner made quite a tidy sum of money leh! Hey John and Pete, you want to become my business partner?

Ah Beng (Chicken Rice stall owner) : Woit, count me in also. I want to put in my share!

Ah Lian : Aiya, Ah Beng, you only know how to sell chicken rice.....errrr sometime also know how to look for 'chicken', what can you contribute to this baby day care business?

Ah Beng : Cheh, don't say liddat (like that) lah! I can help you to do marketing mah. I have very good marketing plan and strategy leh!

Pete : Wah, Ah Beng talking about marketing strategy! ha ha ha!

John : Hey Beng, what is your strategy? Can you share your idea?

Ah Beng : Sure lah! You know ah, in baby care business, it is a number game. The more babies we have in our centre, then the more money we make lah.

Ah Lian : That I also know lah! How to make sure more babies enrol with us?

Ah Beng : Easy, every night, whenever I am free liao, I will visit every shops, pharmacies and hypermarket in this area. Then I will poke all their condom packets with needle. Then we will a baby boom in this area. Business will also boom lah!

Ah Lian : Boom your head lah! Talking nonsense! ha ha ha!

Chinese Style Pork Meat Floss Recipe (Bak Hu, Yuk Si) Recipe - How to make

2011-10-09T22:27:00.001+08:00

I posted Chicken Meat Floss Recipe in 2008. This time I made some bak hu (meat floss) with lean pork meat. The process of frying the meat until dry might seem very tedious but the end result is really great. Everyone in the family gets to enjoy preservatives free and tasty home made meat floss (yuk shi, bak hu). Since I didn't use any preservatives, I kept the Bak Hu in the fridge to prevent them from turning moldy.

My kids love to eat meat floss with porridge or plain bread.

Here is my Chinese style Meat Floss recipe,

Ingredients
Lean Pork, 1 kilogram, cut into 1" cube
Light soya sauce, 7 table spoons
Dark soya sauce, 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste (around 4 to 5 tablespoons)
Water, enough to cover the pork meat

Put all the ingredients in a pot and boil in low heat until all the pork meat turned tender. Separate the meat into thin strands using your hands. Put all the meat into a non stick pan and fry until all the gravy dries up. Keep frying the Bak Hu at low heat until they become dry. You can fry them longer if you want the Bak Hu (meat floss) to be crispy. Let the bak hu cool down before storing it in air tight container. Keep the bak hu in the fridge.

One large container of tasty and savoury Pork Meat Floss (Bak Hu, Yok shi)

Cauliflower with Quail Eggs Recipe

2011-10-06T00:17:00.001+08:00

Hi Everyone, sorry for not visiting your blog lately. Too many things are happening at once and I hardly have time to blog.
Anyway, this is a simple cauliflower recipe. My kids love both cauliflower and quail eggs. They snapped up all the quail eggs during dinner time rather quickly. Somehow, I found that quail eggs go along well with cauliflower after experimenting with this recipe. However, you can also add in prawn and squid to enhance the flavour of this dish.

Check it out, your kids are sure to love this!

Ingredients
Quail Eggs, 10 pcs, hard boiled
Cauliflower, 1 small bunch, cut into bite sizes & boil in hot water until cooked
Carrot, 1 pc, cut to thick slices
Corn flour and water mixture
Shao Shing Chiew (Chinese cooking wine), 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Pepper, to taste
Ginger, 5 slices
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices
Sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon
Oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon

Heat up wok and put in around 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Saute shallots until fragrant and add in the ginger. Add carrots, shao shing chiew, pepper, light soya sauce, sesame oil, salt to taste and oyster sauce. Put in the couliflower and add a little corn flour & water mixture to thicken the gravy. Lastly, put in the hard boiled quail eggs.

Chinese Restaurant Style Braised Broccoli Recipe

2011-09-12T23:55:00.004+08:00

Broccoli with either Taukan or Dried Chinese Mushroom are normally served in Chinese restaurants, especially during 8 course meal. The secret of each Chef's recipe lies in the soup stock that they used in this dish. Normally, the Chef would also use this soup stock in other dishes like Sharkfin soup.

You can make similar stock in a simple way by boiling dried scallops, ~~dried dace~~ (Suppose to be dried sole. Thanks lena for highlighting it in her comment) and old chicken (ayam pencen) in water. Since a little of the soup stock is required in this dish, you can keep the rest for making very tasty and flavourful soup.

Ingredients
Broccoli, 1, cut into bite size
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into slices
Ginger, 5 slices
Shao Shing Chiew (Chinese Cooking Wine), 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Dark soya sauce, a few drops
Pepper, a dash
Soup Stock, desired amount
Salt to taste
Corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely
Sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon
Prawns, 5 pcs

Heat up wok and put in a little vegetable oil. Saute garlic until fragrant. Put garlic aside. Boil broccoli in hot hot water until you notice that the colour changes. Drain away excess water and put brocolli aside.

Heat up wok and pour in some vegetable oil. Fry ginger until fragrant and add in the sliced carrot. Put in the broccoli, pepper, sesame oil, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, shao shing chiew and prawns. Stir fry the mixture for a short while. Add in soup stock and corn flour to thicken the gravy. Add salt to taste. Garnish with crispy fried garlic before serving.

Note : You can also add Taukan (Wet beancurd blocks) or Dried Chinese Mushroom to this dish.

Thyme and Oregano Roast Chicken Recipe

2011-09-09T18:09:00.000+08:00

I love the aroma of oregano roasted chicken. Instead of using rosemary herbs, I opted for thyme, which is not overpowering so that I can still keep the aroma of oregano on the chicken. You can soak the chicken in brine solution and keep it in the fridge overnight. The brine solution would keep the chicken juicy even after roasting in the oven.

Ingredients
Chicken, butterfly cue, 1 whole, soak in brine solution overnight
Sugar, 1 tablespoon
Oregano, 1 tablespoon, dried powdered
Thyme, 3 springs or 1 teaspoon of dried ones
Worchestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
Dark soya sauce, just enough to rub the whole chicken skin

Remove chicken from brine solution and drain away excess water. Rub the chicken with all the ingredients and leave it for around 30 minutes to 1 hour. Roast chicken in preheated oven for 1 hour at 180 Deg C. Check it from time to time to make sure that the chicken is not burned.
Happy Cooking!

KFC Maggi Mee Assam Laksa

2011-09-08T23:35:00.000+08:00

When I was about to cook Maggi Assam Laksa instant noodle for supper, I noticed that there is still one piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken breast meat on my dining table. This always happen whenever KFC packed chicken breast meat for my take away meal; sure to have left over....lol!
Anyway, instead of wasting it or let it sit in the fridge till the next morning, I removed the meat from the breast bone and cooked with my instant assam laksa noodle.
Yum yum.......my KFC Maggi Assam Laksa....ha ha ha!

Kepong Kaka Bak Kut Teh Restaurant

2011-09-07T23:31:00.000+08:00

Kaka Bak Kut Teh has been around quite some time and I think this is the second time I ate here. I dropped by here to have my favourite bak kut teh meal with my lady foodie good friend a few weeks ago. Kepong Kaka bak kut teh has been enjoying very good review from many bloggers. Therefore the place is always very busy during dinner time. I heard that they open till the wee hours in the morning; till 3 am; so to all the nightbirds out there, you know where to get your shot of bak kut teh after your late night clubbing! LOL!

We requested for lots of vegetable for our bak kut teh soup!

Pushing the vegetable aside to reveal the tender and aromatic pork. The soup is flavourful and full of Chinese herbs aroma! Nice!

We ordered a plate of lettuce with shallots, vegetable oil and oyster sauce.

My lady friend opted for yam rice and I went for white rice. She said the yam rice is 'so so' only.

Aiya, I forgot the bill amount liao!.....sorry ya!

Kepong Kaka Bak Kut Teh Address

Jalan Kepong (Opposite Carrefour, same row as RHB Bank)

Simple Kung Po Chicken Recipe

2011-09-06T23:58:00.002+08:00

Still remember my Kung Po Paddy Field Frogs dish ? Well, this time I used 'real' chicken instead of Thin Kai (Paddy field frog)! LOL! Normally deboned chicken meat are used in kung po recipes but I found that cooking it with pieces of chicken with bones intact would make the dish nicer.

Check out my simple kung po chicken recipe

Ingredients
Chicken, 1/2 bird, cut into small pieces
Ginger, 7 slices
Garlic, 5 cloves, smashed
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Dried Chillies, 7 pcs or to taste, soak in water and remove seeds
Dark Soya Sauce, 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Shao shing chiew, 1 tablespoon (Chinese cooking wine)
Oyster Sauce, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Spring Onions, 3 stalks, cut into 1" length
Cashew nuts, ½ cup, (optional)
Corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy

Put in around 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in hot frying pan. Sauté ginger, garlic, onions and dried chillies until nice aroma fill the air. Add in the chicken and stir fry until they are cooked thoroughly. Add a little water if the dish is too dry so that it will not get burned. Add in dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, shao shing chiew, oyster sauce, cashew nuts, salt and sugar to taste. Pour a little corn flour water mixture into the wok. Garnish with spring onions, celery and serve.

Simple Cucumber Tofu Salad with BBQ & Thousand Island Dressing Recipe

2011-09-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

This is a very simple recipe to prepare and I would make this whenever my kids grow tired of stir fried vegetables. There are so many ways of cooking tofu and it can also be made into nice salad dish. For some greens and crunchiness, I topped the tofu with some fresh cucumber strips. You can also add some croutons to this salad.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients
Tofu, 3 blocks, cut into four each
Cucumber, 1 small, remove seeds and cut into strips
Hickory Barbecue sauce, to taste
Thousand Island Salad Dressing, to taste (Alternatively you can also use Mayonaise)
Salt, to taste
Pepper to taste

Deep fry tofu in hot oil until they turned golden brown. Drain away excess oil and arrange to tofu on a plate. Top the fried tofu with the cucumber strips. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the hickory barbecue sauce and Thousand Island Salad Dressing on the Tofu Cucumber salad.

Curry Pie - Support Curry Cooking Day for Singaporean Indian Family

2011-08-24T02:01:00.001+08:00

I just cannot imagine that anyone would complain about the wonderful curry smell. A Chinese immigrant in Singapore reported to the Community Mediation Centre (CMC) about their Indian neighbour curry smell (link, Yahoo News). After reviewing the case, CMC requested the Indian family to cook curry only when the Chinese immigrant family is not at home. Well, I think this complain and decision by CMC is shear nonsense! Curry is part of our culture and many people loves this dish very much. I guess it is more of an attitude problem of that Chinese immigrant family rather than curry smell problem!

Therefore, I decided to cook this Curry Chicken Pie in support of the Indian family.

Ingredients 1 - Fillings
Chicken Meat, 300 gms, cut into small pieces
Potato, 1 large, cut into small cubes (use US Russet potato which would softhen easily)
Curry powder, 2 tablespoons
Onions, 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Ingredients 2 - Pie Pastry (please refer to my previous Apple Pie Recipe)

Heat up wok and put in a little oil. Saute onions until fragrant and put in the potatoes. Cook until the potato turn a little soft. Add curry powder and chicken meat. Keep on stiring the mixture. Add a little water and boil until the potato is soft. Put in the salt and sugar.
Pour the curry chicken with potato fillings into the pie pastry. Cover up the top part with the rest of the pastry. Bake in oven at 200 Dec C for 20 minutes.

I wonder if this Chinese immigrant family can 'tahan' (stand) the smells of my Durian Pie? ha ha ha!

A 'Whole' Bunch of Fresh Shallots

2011-08-19T23:57:00.002+08:00

I bought this whole 'bunch' of shallots (scallions, Allium cepa var. aggregatum) from a Malay vendor at the Kepong Baru Wet Market. This is the first time I came across shallots being sold with the leaves (aka spring onions) still intact. However the leaves are already dried up.

Anyway, these shallots are very fresh. You can see the shinny, clean and brightly coloured skins in the first photo, unlike those that are sold loose (without the dried stalks).

Ok, gotta go.....now can cook fried bihun (rice vermicelli) with crispy fried shallots as garnish! Yum Yum!

Stir Fried Pandan Chicken Meat Recipe

2011-08-18T11:36:00.000+08:00

Pandan chicken is a must order dish whenever we are at Thai restaurants. In the original Thai version, the chicken are wrapped with pandan leaves (screwpine) and then deep fried in oil. However, when I am cooking for three hungry kids, I don't the luxury and time to wrap each individual chicken with the pandan leaves.

In order to save some time I also marinated the chicken before putting them in the frezzer. It will taste better too because the ingredients would be absorbed throughly into the chicken meat.

Here is my shortcut Stir Fried Pandan Chicken Recipe....

Ingredients
Chicken meat, 400 gms
Pandan leaves, 3 pcs, cut into 1" length
Light soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon
Cumin, 1/2 teaspoon
Chili powder, optional, 1 teaspoon
Lime (limau nipis) juice, from 3 limes
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Corn flour, 1 tablespoon
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four

Marinate chicken with light soya, turmeric powder, cumin, salt, sugar, lime juice, chilly powder and cornflour. It is best if they are marinated overnight. Heat up wok and put in some oil. Saute pandan leaves and onions until fragrant. Add in the chicken and fry until they are well cooked. Put in a little water if the dish is too dry.
Best eaten with Nasi Lemak (coconut milk rice).

Simple and Easy Szechuan Preserved Vegetable Soup with Prawns & Chicken Recipe

2011-08-18T00:38:00.002+08:00

I seldom cook this type of thick Szechuan soup but would normally boil the Szechuan vegetable plain with chicken bones. My family members prefer clear thin soup instead of thick ones to go with their rice. Anyway, I tried cooking this soup with starch as thickener last week, just like the ones served in many Chinese restaurants.
I like this Szechuan soup with some chilly oil floating on top it. Salty, sour and spicy.....is the soup for me! LOL!

Ingredients
Szechuan Preserved Vegetable, 1 medium size, cut into thin strips
Prawns, 200 gms, shelled and cut into small pieces
Chicken meat, 100 gms, cut into small strips
Chicken carcass, 1 pc to make chicken stock (boil in 8 bowls of water)
Onions, 1 pc, cut into slices
Chili oil, 1 tablespoon (fry some chilly powder in hot oil until fragrant)
Chinese Cooking wine (shao shing chiew), 1 tablespoon
Corn flour with water mixture to thicken soup
Pepper, to taste
Vinegar, 1 tablespoon

Add szechuan vegetable into chicken stock and bring to a boil. Put in the onions, chicken meat and prawns. Boil for a short while. Add shao shing chiew, vinegar and pepper. Pour the corn flour and water mixture into the soup to thicken it. Pour the chili oil into the soup. Garnish with parsley before serving.

Note : I didn't add salt because Szechuan Preserved Vegetable is already very salty.

Quickie Nyonya Style Sambal Prawn with Cucumber - A Recipe for Buka Puasa

2011-08-16T21:43:00.003+08:00

I tried cooking sambal (chili with fermented shrimp paste) without blending or pounding the ingredients to save some time. I just cut the main ingredients like onions, galangal(lengkuas) and lemongrass (serai). The sambal udang (prawn) with cucumber dish turned out quite well when cooked this way although I did not use buah keras (candle nut). So, I am sharing this simple quickie recipe with my Muslim friends who are fasting (puasa) during the Ramadhan month.

Ingredients

Prawns, 300 gms, remove shell

Cucumber, 1 pc, remove seeds & cut into bite size (I used Japanese cucumber which is crunchier)

Chili powder, 2 tablespoons (less if you do not want it to be spicy)

Galangal, 1"x1"x1", cut into thick slices

Onion, 1 large, cut small

Serai (lemongrass), 2 stalks, smashed

Belachan (fermented shrimp paste), 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste
Dried Prawns, 1 tablespoon, fried until crispy

Tamarind juice from, 1 tablespoon of tamarind

Heat up wok and put in some vegetable oil. Saute onions, serai and galangal until fragrant. Put in the chilly powder and belachan. Add tamarind juice, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and add in the prawns. Fry for a short while or until the prawns are cooked. Add cucumber and crispy dried prawns. Serve while still hot. Best eaten with Nasi Lemak.

Selamat Berbuka Puasa!

Stamped on The Toilet Door - Private Sex Massage, AMOI SIAP MAIN (Lady Ready to Play)

2011-08-14T00:06:00.002+08:00

I saw this 'advertisement' with Hand phone contact number stamped on the Gents toilet door in a shopping complex. As in the photo above, it says 'Private Sex Massage', Amoi (girls) Siap (ready to) Main (play).
Play what? Play 'bakuli' (marbles) meh? lol

Anyone knows how to translate the Mandarin character correctly?

Well, some enterprising pimps must have been using the toilet door in this shopping complex to advertise their 'services'!

Are there any similar advertisement in the ladies toilet? If there are, I wonder how they would read?

'APEK SIAP MAIN'? (Old Man ready to play?), ha ha ha !

Burdock Root Soup with Chinese Herbs (Ngau Pong, Gobo, U-Eong, Niupangzi)

2011-08-10T07:52:00.000+08:00

Young Burdock Roots can grow to about 1 metre in length and are widely used in Asian countries as food. This wonderful root contain potassium, amino acid and calcium. It is also believed that Burdock roots can increase lactation. However, it is not suitable for pregnant woman because it can cause premature uterus contraction.
Burdock root soup is good for detoxifying our body. It has a little earth taste and goes along well with pork ribs in soup. I do not have pork ribs in stock, so I just used some chicken bones instead.
This is a simple Burdock root soup recipe.

Ingredients
Pork Ribs or Chicken Carcass, 500 gms
Burdock Root (Ngau Pong), 1 pc, remove skins and cut into 2 inches length
Chinese Red Dates, 10pcs
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into bite sizes
Pepper, to taste
Garlic, 1 bulb
Salt to taste
Water, 10 rice bowls or enough to cover ingredients above 3 "

Pour water into pot and bring to a boil. Add in pork ribs or chicken carcass. Put in the rest of the ingredients. Boil under low heat for 2 hours.
Serve while still hot.
I love my Burdock soup with some chilli padi (bird eye chilly) in light soya sauce. yum yum!

Yap Tong Klang Bak Kut Teh in Desa Aman Puri

2011-08-09T12:26:00.001+08:00

This Yap Tong Klang Bak Kut Teh branch is located in Desa Aman Puri, Kepong. It occupies a shop lot, which is on the same row as Kpoh Restaurant, Khuntai and MCY Restaurant. We ordered a pot of bak kut teh for 2 persons with extra Romaine Lettuce toppings and Kam Cham Ku (straw mushroom). My daughter loves Yau Char Kwai, so I ordered a bowl for her. As for the bak kut teh, I requested for pork ribs and lean meat because my kids don't take innards like instestine and all the other 'spare parts' stuff.

This is a typical Klang type bak kut teh with dark and flavourful soup. The spice and herbal combination for this bowl of bak kut teh is just right and I love the taste very much. The ribs and meat are very tender. The meat taste really good with chopped garlic in chili padi (bird eye chili) and light soya sauce.
Taste delicious till the last drop! LOL!

The total bill for 2 adults and 1 child is RM35.00

Address : Yap Tong Klang Bak Kut Teh

15-A, Jalan Desa 2/8,

Desa Aman Puri,
52100 Kepong, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-627 5777 / 016-651 5777

Business Hours: Mon - Fri, 10am - 2.30pm & 6pm - 9.30pm.

Sat, Sun & Public Holidays, 9am - 2.30pm & 6pm - 9.30pm

Map to Yap Tong Klang Bak Kut Teh, Desa Aman Puri,

Yee Wen Tomyam Thai Food, Jalan Helang Merah, Kepong Baru

2011-08-08T00:57:00.000+08:00

Yee Wen Tomyam Thai Food Restaurant is nestled behind some tall trees and elevated from the road level. One can easily miss this Thai restaurant if he/she is not familiar with this area. Furthermore, the road in Kepong Baru have different local bird name (Jln Helang Sawah, Jln Bubut, Jln Chiak Padi, Jln Helang Laut) and without any sequential numbering. It is really hard to find your way around this area. I wonder which 'dung dung' and short sighted dude that came out with these bird name without sequential numbering for the road?

Back to the food.........

This restaurant is run by some Thais and it has been operating in this place for quite some time. It was packed with dinner crowd when we arrived there around 7.45 pm.

I like the way they serve the Seafood Tomyam (RM35). The earthen pot is placed on top of a charcoal stove. However, I was a liitle worried that my little over active toddler would try to touch the hot charcoal stove.
Anyway, the tomyam is really spicy and sour. The prawns and sotong (squid) are very fresh. It is full of flavour and this is one of the best tomyam I have eaten. Ok, this one made it to my good Tomyam list!

Nice and flavourful seafood tomyam soup

Everyone snapped up the Thai deep fried squid(RM25) before I could take the photo. This explain why there are only a few left on the plate. The batter is very crunchy and squid is tender. Thumbs up for this dish!
We had 2 plates of this deep fried squid........LOL!

I was a little disappointed with The Pandan Chicken (Screwpine)(RM20). It has a strong cooking wine smell. Need some improvement on the recipe..

I was expecting Cha Om (Thai Omelette) like the one I had in Khuntai when I ordered this dish. This is actually prawn and kuchai (Chinese Chives) omelette. I guess RM12 is a little pricey for an omelette dish.

There is nothing to shout about this Kailan dish (RM12)

I like this Prawn Tofu (RM15) and it's gravy. Really sweet and the tofu is tasty as well. I recomend this dish for family with kids that cannot take spicy food here.

The total bill for Tomyam Seafood, Pandan Chicken, Egg Omelette, Kailan, 2XDeep fried Sotong, Rice for 5 adults, 1 child & 2 toddlers and Tea came up to be RM156.60.

Khop Khun Krap..........

Address : Yee Wen Tomyam Thai Foods
Jalan Helang Merah
Kepong Baru

Map to Yee Wen Tomyam Thai Fodds Restaurant

Magical Musical - London West End

2011-08-06T23:49:00.003+08:00

I managed to catch the Magical Musical in Sunway Amphitheatre with my family and sister on the very last day. I know that the show ended more than 3 weeks ago and I am a little late in publishing this post about it. Anyway, my kids really enjoyed the show, including my little 4 year old toddler although he was a little tired that night because he did not take his afternoon nap on that day.

The West End performer really did a good job and gave an explosive performance. They sang a series of songs from different era. Love all of them especially, Footloose......my favourite!

NOTE: Since it was the last night, the MC announced that photography is allowed.

The Sunway Amphitheater...

Nice lighting effect........

Even, our local Bhangra (Punjabi Dance Group) performers were there!

Tong's Kitchen, USJ 19 , A Friendly Neighbourhood Restaurant

2011-08-01T23:53:00.001+08:00

This is my second visit to Tong's Kitchen in USJ19 Digital Mall. This restaurant is a popular neighbour hood restaurant and you will notice that most of the patrons know each other so is the owner of the restaurant. I forgot to blog about it during my first visit here. I can see that this restaurant has a good crowd nowadays. There are many families dining in here when I was there for dinner. In fact the place was packed with diners and all the tables were taken.

For a start, we tried out this unique dish, the Volcano Tofu. As per its' namesake, you can actually see the smoke coming out from the tofu! The sauce is nice and a little spicy but I think it would taste nicer if the tofu used is softer type.

The kids love calamari and for a change we ordered fried squid rings with salted eggs in flour batter. You can't go wrong with salted eggs.....! This dish taste really nice! yum yum!

This is the Mongolian Fried Chicken....opppps, sensitive 'word'! ha ha ha! The chicken is fried until crispy and topped with thick flavourful gravy. Red wine vinegar gave the sauce the reddish colour. Alternatively, the red wine vinegar can be substituted with Dry Sherry. The Mongolian Chicken is delicious!

All the dishes that we ate!

I forgot how much we paid for the meal......next time must write it down liao! Sign of getting old......sigh! LOL!

Address : Tong's Kitchen, G.2 Ground Floor, USJ 19 Digital Mall, USJ 19 UEP Subang Jaya, 47620, Subang Jaya Selangor

Tel : 03-80236153

Map to Tong's Kitchen, USJ 19 Digital Mall

Durian Klon Bersih (Clone)?

2011-07-28T23:27:00.000+08:00

Woo weee, sore throat is gone.......time to sapu (wallop) durian! The durians below might look a little wrinkled but they are bitter, sweet, dry and creamy. Excuse me ya, time to 'makan' (eat) my durian!

Then sapu everything until 'Bersih' (clean) ! ha ha ha!

Ikan Selar Kuning Recipe ala Bersih? (Yellow Banded Scad with Turmeric ala Clean recipe)

2011-07-26T23:47:00.001+08:00

No no no, this dish has got nothing to do with 'bersih'. It just happened to be yellow in colour because of the turmeric powder I used. I love the sourish gravy and would flood my rice with it. The fish I used in the above photo is Selar Kuning (Yellow Banded Scad). I pre fried the fish before pouring the gravy over it so that this wonderful dish taste better.

Here is my Ikan Selar Kuning Bersih recipe! ha ha ha!

Ingredients
Ikan Selar Kuning (Yellow Banded Scad), 5 pcs
Turmeric, 1 teaspoon
Vinegar, 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Garlic, 3 cloves, smashed
Fresh chilly, 1pc, for garnishing, cut into slices
Vegetable oil

Deep fry the Yellow Banded Scad fish in hot oil until they turned a little crispy. Take out the fish and drain away excess oil. Put a little oil in wok and saute garlic until fragrant. Add a little water, turmeric, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Bring to a boil and pour the gravy over the fried fish. Garnish with fresh chilli slices before serving.
Simple and delicious!

Sausage, Potato Wedges and Romaine Lettuce for Breakfast.....opps, wait, What is this?

2011-07-26T00:11:00.001+08:00

One day, I cooked sausage and potato wedges to eat with Romaine Lettuce for breakfast. Then I snapped the photo below......

When I downloaded my photos into the computer, I found the photos below and was puzzled for a while! Coconut tree growing on the potato wedges! Who was the culprit?

Then I discovered this photo!

Later, I found out that my daughter had taken the plastic tree from her 'Ti Ti' (Younger brother) toy soldier set and used it in the photos. Mmmmmm, no wonder she didn't manage to finish her homework........!

Sesame oil, Eggs, Ginger and Pork Soup - A Confinement Dish

2011-07-22T13:26:00.004+08:00

My wife loves this soup which she used to take during her confinement period. We still cook this dish occasionally to eat with rice. The soup has very strong sesame oil aroma and sweet flavours from the pork. I normally use lean pork but those with a little fat would make the soup taste better.

It is good to drink this soup, especially during rainy days when you need some hot soup to perk yourself up!

Here is my recipe for Sesame Oil, Eggs, Ginger and Pork Confinement Soup.

Ingredients
Lean pork or pork belly, 100 gms, cut into bite sizes
Eggs, 2 pcs
Sesame oil, 1 tablespoon
Light Soya sauce, 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Celery for granishing
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Ginger, 2"x1", cut into strips

Fry eggs, sunny side up and put aside. Add some vegetable oil in wok. Saute ginger and garlic until golden brown. Pour in the sesame oil. Add lean pork and stir fry for a short while (Opps, missed this step, thank you Yvonne for highlighting it to me). Add aound 2 to 3 rice bowl of water. Put in the light soya sauce and salt. bring to boil. Pour the soup on the sunny side up eggs. Garnish with celery before serving.

Cooking With Microwave Oven - Maggi Assam Laksa Instant Noodle

2011-07-21T23:05:00.000+08:00

I tried cooking instant noodles with the microwave oven and found that it is very easy do so compared with using my gas cooker. I don't have to wait for the water to boil and it only takes me 2 and a half minutes to cook it with in microwave oven.
I put a packet of maggi assam laksa noodles in a bowl and add in the soup mix. Then I throw in 3 pieces of Fu Chuk (Fried bean curd skins). After that I pour hot water into the bowl. Lastly, I cook the bowl of maggi assam laksa noodles in the microwave oven at high heat for 2 and a half minutes.
Simple and easy! Going to enjoy my Maggi assam laksa supper now........bye!

Rain Rain Go Away, I want to Cycle Everyday!

2011-07-21T11:02:00.002+08:00

My youngest son loves to cycle and he would want to ride his bicycle almost everyday. Sometimes he would bug me to take him cycling around the neighbourhood. Then, I would would have to run after him whenever he cycles too fast!
Everytime when it rains, he would start to sing Rain Rain go away! LOL!

Braised Black Vinegar Chicken Feet with Star Anise Recipe

2011-07-20T17:32:00.000+08:00

Mmmm, chicken feet dish, yum yum! I love chewing away on tender braised chicken feet. For extra flavours, I added black vinegar to the chicken feet. The chicken feet would taste better if you marinade and pre fried them in hot oil.
Here is my Braised Black Vinegar Chicken Feet with Star Anise Recipe.

Ingredients
Chicken Feet, 10 pcs,
Light soya sauce, 3 table spoons
Dark soya sauce, 1 teaspoon
Star Anise, 2 pcs
Cinnamon, 1 stick
Garlic, 1 bulb
Black Vinegar, to taste (I used around 3 tablespoons)
Salt to taste
Water, enough to cover the chicken feet
Corn flour and water mixture
Pepper, a dash

Marinade the chicken feet with a little light soya sauce. Deep fry it in hot oil until golden brown. Put the pre fried chicken feet in a pot and pour in some water. Add light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, star anise, cinnamon, garlic, black vinegar, salt and pepper. Boil until the chicken feet become tender. Add corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy. For some greens, I put some sawi vegetable into the chicken feet dish and boil for a short while. Taste reall good with steamed rice.......

Thin Kai Chook (Paddy Field Frogs Porridge) Lunch at Pan Heong Restaurant, Batu Caves, Gombak

2011-07-20T11:18:00.001+08:00

I have been to the famous Pan Heong Restaurant before but this is the first time I blog about it. Pan Heong has been around for quite some time and the food here are delicious. After a good exercise of stairs climbing at Batu Caves, I took my niece and her friend to Pan Heong for lunch. She has never tasted paddy frogs, so I ordered a bowl of paddy frog porridge for her to try our. The broth is very sweet and tasty! The paddy frogs in the porridge goes along well with the century eggs in it.

The sauce for this crispy fried mantis prawn is very special and tasty. It taste a bit like the sauce for Pai Kwot Wong (special sauce ribs). My little toddler loves this dish very much. Thumbs up!

This Wat Tan Hor (Braised Flat Rice Noodle) gravy is very rich and full of flavours. Taste good with a little chilly padi in light soya sauce. Yum yum!

The total bill for 4 adults and 1 toddler plus drinks (Chinese Tea) came up to be RM43.

Address and Map to Pan Heong Restaurant, Batu Caves

No. 2, Jalan Medan Batu Caves 2, Medan Batu Caves,
Selangor, 68100
03-6187-7430

Opening Hours 8am to 3.30 pm

Batu Caves, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur

2011-07-19T16:25:00.000+08:00

My niece and her friend from Australia dropped by for a visit in KL and wanted to see the famous Batu Caves in Gombak. My last visit to Batu Caves was 8 years ago and this time my little toddler tagged along.
Here are some random photos of the famous tourist spot in KL...

Majestic Gold Statue of Lord Murugan at the steps leading to the caves. This is the tallest Lord Muruga statue in the world. It was drizzling when we started to climb up the 272 steps. I have to carry my little toddler half way up the steps. Gosh, I am a little bit out of shape liao! lol! It was a good morning exercise for me.

Finally, we reached the entrance of the caves.

Nice formation of lime stones and mineral deposits inside the caves...

One more round of steps to climb to reach the end section.....

Why did the chicken enter the cave?

It was drizzling out side, so most of the monkeys went indoor into the caves.

Another monkey......The Malaysian Long Tail Macaque

An opening in the middle of the caves. A nice view up!

Have to carry my little toddler all the way down again. The steps are wet and a little slippery. I proceeded slowly down.
The dark cave is at the bottom of the steps. There is a counter at the entrance of this dark cave, in which you can register for guided dark cave exploration for a small fee. Look out for the Trap Door Spider here. My little toddler wanted to go in the dark cave but I guess he is still too small for dark cave expedition.

Braised Mixed Vegetable Recipe - Time to clear the fridge

2011-07-15T22:33:00.001+08:00

I was clearing my fridge when I discovered that I have small portion of cabbage, a capsicum and carrot left. They are still fresh and I have actually used them in my other dishes before hand. I mixed all of these vegetables together to cook Braised Mixed Vegetable dish.
Here is the recipe

Ingredients
Capsicum, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into slices
Cabbage, 5 small leaves, cut in to bite size
Onion, 1 pc, cut into 4
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely
Shao Sing Chiew(Chinese Cooking Wine), 1 tablespoon
Corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon
Prawn, 5 pcs, shelled
Pepper, a dash
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and add in some vegetable oil. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add in the onions, bell pepper (capsicum), carrot, prawns and cabbage. Stir fry them for a short while under high heat. Add a little water, light soya sauce, shao sing chiew, oyster sauce, pepper and salt to taste. Thicken the gravy with corn flour and water mixture.
Serve while still hot.

Have a nice weekend!

Microwave Oven Ee Mee

2011-07-15T13:40:00.000+08:00

The bowl of ee mee (pre fried egg noodles) in the photo above is not cooked; before I put it in the microwave oven. My daughter complained that she was hungry, so I decided to use the leftover soup for steamboat to cook ee mee for her. The steamboat soup is very flavourful and this bowl of ee mee must have been very tasty because by the time I realised that I forgot to snap a photo of the cooked ee mee, my daugther already finished half of it.

To cook this ee mee, I put a block of ee mee into a bowl of steamboat soup. Then I add in an egg, a few drop of sesame oil and a little pepper. After that, I put the whole bowl in to the microwave oven and zapped it at high heat for around 5 minutes. The ee mee is ready to eat!

Angry Boss - Dare to paste this at your workplace?

2011-07-14T01:51:00.000+08:00

Angry Bird......nom nom.......Angry Bird......nom nom...........Angry Bird......nom nom.....

Arrrrrrr, here comes Angry Boss....

Dare to paste this at your workplace? ha ha ha!

Cooking With Microwave Oven - Lean Tenderloin Char Siew Recipe

2011-07-13T16:21:00.000+08:00

Meat that are cooked in Microwave oven tends to be tougher and would hardened when cooled. In order to solve this problem, I experimented with tenderloin which is the tenderest cut of pork. I put the whole tenderloin strip in the microwave oven to cook so that the juice would be sealed inside it. I do not want to end up with dried meat! LOL!

Here is my recipe for Lean Tenderloin Pork Char Siew

Ingredients
Pork tenderloin, 1 strip
Sugar, 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Five Spice powder, 1 teaspoon
Fish sauce, 1 teaspoon (optional)
Corn flour, 2 teaspoons

Marinade pork tenderloin overnight with all the ingredients. Cook the marinated pork tenderloin in microwave oven over high heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the microwave oven power and take out the pork tenderloin. Turn the meat over to the other side. Cook in microwave oven for another 10 minutes. Take the pork tendeloin char siew out from the oven and let it cooled down a little before cutting it into slice. You can make char siew sauce from the leftover marinate by heating it up and bring to a boil. Drizzle a little char siew sauce on the tenderloin char siew before serving.

Sunday Brunch of Curry Mee and Teow Chew Porridge at Sun Fatt Kee

2011-07-13T00:04:00.001+08:00

I brought my family to Sun Fatt Kee Restaurant in Seapark, Petaling Jaya last weekend. While my wife and kids settled for the rice and porridge, I tried out the famed Sisters' Curry Mee(RM5 per Bowl). The curry mee soup has really nice spices aroma, not too strong, just right. Somehow, they managed to get all the right combination of ingredients to create this "Masterpiece Curry Mee"! LOL!This is one of the best curry mee I ever tasted. Thumbs up! (Note, I don't eat See Ham(cockle), so I requested for a curry mee without See ham).

The photo below show the dishes that my family had with rice and porridge. We had Fried Anchovies, lobak (5 spices meat rolls) and Steamed Minced Meat. These are the three main dishes that my kids love very much. I have been eating the Teow Chew porridge from this stall with friendly owners for almost 16 year already! The food quality is still as good as ever. These 3 dishes with 1 rice and 2 bowls of porridge cost RM11. A very reasonable place to have very tasty Teow Chew porridge.

Address: Restoran Sun Fatt Kee 2, Jalan 21/11 B, Sea Park, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor (Directly at the back of Maybank Seapark and opposite the wet market)
Google Earth Coordinates: Latitude 3.109909, Longitude101.622376

Map to Sun Fatt Kee, Seapark

Stingray with Salted Vegetable (Local Ham Choy, Kiam Chye) Recipe

2011-07-08T16:14:00.001+08:00

The original recipe uses shark meat but I tuned it a little and used stingray instead. Shark and stingrays meat have almost the same texture. Local ham choy (salted vegetable) is suitable for this dish. Imported ham choy are normally used in soup and locally produced ones are often stir fried. You can eat this dish with rice or porridge.

Ingredients
Stingray, cut into large chunks
Local Ham Choy (Salted Vegetable), 2 stalks or more, cut small
Plum Sauce, 2 tablespoons
Ginger, 10 slices, cut into strips
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely

Soak ham choy in water before cutting to get rid of the salt a little so that the dish will not turn out too salty. Heat up wok and put in a little vegetable oil. Saute ginger strips and garlic until they turned golden brown. Add in the sting ray. Keep on frying until the stingray is cooked.(Alternatively you can prefry the stingray first). Add a little water and cover the wok with a lit to let the stingray cook evenly. Open the wok lid and add plum sauce. The Stingray with Salted Vegetable Dish is ready.

A Trip Up Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) in the New Funicular Train

2011-07-07T15:07:00.003+08:00

My last trip to Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera) was almost 20 years ago. Gosh, time really flies. I was in Penang during the recent school holidays and my wife suggested that we take the kids up to Penang Hill. At first I was a little reluctant to go because of the holidays crowd and the usual heavy traffic up Dato Keramat and Ayer Itam road. Anyway, I was glad that I finally made it up there again. Penang Hill brings back lots of fond memories during my younger days!
Here are some of the random photos I took....

The old entrance to the Funicular Railway station is still standing.....

Queuing for the tickets. Family packages are available. Be ready with your family members' ICs to proof that you are Malaysian so that you will get to purchase specially priced tickets.

Much more comfortable waiting area before going to the boarding platform...
On the way up Penang Hill in the brand new Funicular Train!

View from the top. The air is cool! Most of the places on the top Penang Hill still look the same as the last time when I went up there.

This old bungalow is still around! I think I stayed here 30 years ago!........Had some great time with my friends here!

Then I met Mr Ulat Gonggok (Malaysian Giant Millipede, Diplopoda), all curled up nicely....

Met another friend, Mr Ulat Bulu (Hairy Caterpillar).....better not touch it....your skin will itch badly if you do!

This time not Ulat but Mr Ular or aka Mr Long (snake). I am always fascinated with snakes. When I was young, I asked my sister to buy me a book about snake written by a local professor. I am still keeping this book! Snake has very nice and smooth skin, just like your leather sofa.
My little toddler wanted to take photo with the snake. Aiyo, he thought that he can play with the snake (python) just like a pet! LOL!

When I saw this little hawker stall up at Penang Hill.....my little headache went away! Wooooopie....time to eat! ha ha ha!

Sapu (wallop) ice kacang (shaved ice with sweet syrup) first.....damm nice!

Then go for Kueh Teow soup (mixed with bihun, rice vermicelli, kueh teow theng). Another nice bowl of food! Glorious Penang hawker food! yum yum yum!

Still not enough, order another plate of Char Kueh Teow (Fried Flat Rice noodles)...he he he! Really nice and delicious! Then I down all the food with a can of cool 100 Plus...LOL!

Hearthy Dinner at Khunthai Village Restaurant Butterworth

2011-07-06T23:30:00.002+08:00

I didn't know that authentic Thai restaurant, Khunthai has an outlet in Butterworth. During my last trip to Butterworth, I had a large dinner gathering in Khuntai which is located very near to Li Hwa school where I used to play badminton very long time ago! lol!
It was a Saturday night and the restaurant is packed to the brim. This photo below shows the main dining hall. There are many small huts around this main structure which gave this place a cosy village like atmosphere.

Tomyam, the fiery hot, spicy and sour soup! A must have at Thai restaurant. This pot of Thai Tomyam is packed with flavours! Soup is good till the last drop. My son who loves Tomyam soup enjoyed it very much!

Kailan fried with salted fish.

Everyone loves this Thai Cha Om omelette. Cha Om (Acacia Pennata) has pungent water weed smell when raw but this smell would disappear after cooking. It is slightly bitter and the leaves are normally used to make omelette. This simple omelette is very tasty. We had 4 plates of this omelette! I recomend this dish! Thumbs up!

Steamed white Snapper, Thai style!

Crispy fried squid for the kids!

This dish is called the Nameless Chicken! What a unique name. The chicken are fried with spices and granished with crispy fried shallots. It has nice aroma and taste delicious! We ate 4 plates of this Nameless chicken!

27 of us ate 2 pots of Tomyam, 2 plates of Salted Fish Kailan, 4 plates of Cha Om Omelette, 4 plates of Deep fried Squid, 4 plates of Nameless Chicken and 2 plates of Thai Style Steamed fish. The total bill for 27 people was around four hundred Ringgit plus! Gosh, we really ate a lot that night! ha ha ha!

Map and Address of Khuntai

KhunThai Village Restaurant (BW) Sdn Bhd

No 104, Jalan Permatang Tengah, 12300

Butterworth

Tel : 604-3327523

Email : info@khunthai.com

KhunThai Village Restaurant (PJ) Sdn Bhd

No 6 Jalan 5/44, Petaling Garden, Off Jalan Gasing,

46000, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel & Fax : 603-77817523

Email : pj@khunthai.com

KhunThai Desa Aman Puri

17A & 18A Jalan Desa 2/8,

Desa Aman Puri, 52100 Kepong, Selangor

Tel 012 4905220

Email : kepong@khunthai.com

Map to Khunthai Butterworth...

Modern De Cafe, Kepong Industrial Park (KIP)

2011-07-06T15:19:00.002+08:00

I did not bring my camera along with me because this was not suppose to be a food outing. Somehow I ended up in this Kopitiam (Cafe) style restaurant in KIP, Kepong for my morning breakfast. I blog about it because I found the food in this air conditioned Cafe reasonable and it is a good place for a morning cuppa.

I took the photos below using my HP, so it is not very clear. Sorry ya!

I like to have half boil eggs with toast for breakfast. This set of 2 toasts (already ate one before taking photo), 1 coffee and 2 half boiled eggs cost RM3.90.

This wantan mee tasted ok only but it has a generous servings of small fried wantans. 6 pieces all together. The wantans are still hot and I guess they must have just fried them before servings them with my wantan mee.
This plate cost me RM4. This is the price same as dining in normal hawker coffee shop.

The total bill of all the food above plus one Barley drink came up to be RM10.10.

Address, contact and Map to Modern De Cafe, KIP

No 6, Jalan KIP 1, Kepong Industrial Park, 52200, Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03 62802019 Fax : 03 72774320

Another outlet in Metro Perdana Barat,

No 16, Jalan Metro PErdana Barat 3
Taman Usahawan Kepong
52200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel 03 62522019 Fax 03 72774320

Elmer The Elephant Live Stage Show and Light Snack at Jaya 1 Yat Ka Yan

2011-07-05T23:40:00.001+08:00

This is a long delayed post. I was with my kids at Elmer The Elephant Live Stage Show in Pj Live Arts Studio at Jaya One a few months ago. Elmer the Elephant was created by British author, David McKee in 1989 and the show is presented by Blunderbus Theatre Company (Gardner & Wife Treatre). This show is suitable for kids above 4 years old and it is a story about Elmer the patchwork elephant who wants to be like the other normal elephants.The audience consists of mostly foreigners and there are not many Malaysians around. Actually this stage show is very good for kids because it is interactive and helps to enhance their imagination. My kids really enjoyed this funny and entertaining life show.

Here are some of the photos I took. Sorry ya, not very clear because I was using my small little digital camera. LOL!

Only 2 actors and 1 actress performing the entire live show but it is an entertaing and exciting one!

One of the cast warming up with the audience before the show starts....

After the show, we went for a light snack at Yat Ka Yan restaurant which is in the same building, Jaya One, PJ.

Wah, Sungai Lui (Money in Hokkien) logo, owner sure Fatt Tatt (rich) lorrr!

As usual, we had siew mai which is the most common choice when eating dim sum....

My daughter wanted to have the fish porridge which I think is a little bit plain.

Ahh, I love this Wong Tai (Emperor) Noodles......nice and tasty!

My daughter has sweet tooth and requsted for this shaved iced mango dessert.....

Back Again to MCY Desa Aman Puri for Lunch

2011-07-05T13:40:00.000+08:00

We went back to have lunch at MYC Restaurant Desa Aman Puri last week to celebrate my daughter's birthday. While waiting for our food to be served, we ordered some dim sum which MCY has to offer for breakfast and lunch. We do not want to fill our stomach so much, so we had only a light starter of 3 baskets of dim sum.

As for our lunch dishes, I wanted to have MCY famous Fried Chicken with Fish Paste but they were all sold out the night before. Maybe, next round I will be there early for dinner! LOL!

Since, we can't have their famous fried chicken with fish paste dish, we ordered another of MCY signature dish, the Red Wine Ribs. I love the tender, succulent, sweet and delicious ribs! Thumbs up for this dish!

Since we have ordered more than RM50 of food, MCY offers this plate of Nyonya Assam Squid for only RM5. The last time we were here we had the prawns for RM5 as well.
I love to eat the gravy with my rice. Sourish food made my day! LOL!

As for some greens, we ordered the 4 types of vegetable stir fried with har mai (dried prawns). This dish has a good 'wok hei' (hot wok) smell. It consist of Four Angle Beans (kacang botol), long beans, okra (ladies fingers) and brinjals. Normally, we would order this dish fried with chilly but this one without it, tasted equally good also!

We ordered this Braised Tofu so that the kids can flood their rice with the gravy. The savoury gravy is cooked to perfection and tasted yummy! It goes along well with the soft tofu!

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I decided to have something different and ordered this Butter Fish. The serving was rather large but we finished every pieces of the crispy fried fish. This Butter Fish taste nice but I would prefer Butter mantis prawn.

Complimentary dessert from MCY Restaurant, very sweet fresh mango!

The total bill for 6 adults and 2 toddlers came up to be RM114 (including the dim sum)

Address, Map and Contact of MYC Restaurant, Desa Aman Puri, Kepong

Address:

19-A, Jalan Desa 2/8, Desa Aman Puri, 52100 Kepong,

Kuala Lumpur.

Contact Tel No: 6036276 3178

Cooking with Induction Cooker - Chayote Soup

2011-07-04T23:54:00.000+08:00

I bought this Induction cooker quite some time back during Chinese New Year and have been using it for Steamboat ever since. The copper coil in the cooker produces oscillating electromagnetic field which would induce electric current in the ferromagnetic pot. There are no flames, so it is much safer than using a gas or electric cooker. The food gets heated up very much faster as well. Apart from Steamboat, the induction cooker can also be used for boiling water, stir frying, heating milk, cooking rice, boiling soup and even roasting meat. When boiling water, the cooker will stop by itself when the water boils. You won't end up with a dry cracked and burned pot if you forgot to turn off the heat. An induction also uses less energy as compared to conventional cooker! Save time and money! However there is one disadvantage, the cooker will only works with ferromagnetic pot with flat bottom.

I have been stir frying Chayote just like green vegetable for quite some time already but didn't actually know the real name of this gourd shaped vegetable until I came across Sonia's Blog, Nasi Lemak Lover, Chayote with sweet corn soup. I tried cooking chayote soup with my induction cooker the other day but have modified the original recipe with ingredients that I have in stock.

Here are the ingredients that I put into my Chayote soup.

Ingredients
Chayote, 1 pc, cut into large cubes
Celery, 2 stalks, cut into bite sizes
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Ang Cho (Chinese red dates), 7 pcs
Tomato, 2 pcs, cut into four
Pepper to taste
Chicken Carcass, from 1 chicken
Water, 7 bowls
Salt to taste

Put water into ferromagnetic pot and bring to a boil. Put in the chicken carcass. Boil for around 45 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Boil for another half and hour. Serve Chayote with steamed rice. I love to drink this soup with chilly padi (bird eye chilli) in light soya sauce. Yum yum!

Cooking with Microwave Oven - Roast Chicken Wings with Ginger Wine Recipe

2011-07-03T01:42:00.000+08:00

This is my second adventure in cooking with microwave oven. During the first round, I found that microwave oven saves me some cooking time and also be able to make the chicken skin crispy. For my this second experiment, I tried out some chicken wings and zapped it with the microwave oven for around 20 minutes as I do not want the meat to be too dry.

The wings turned out really nice and the skin is crispy too but you will have to eat it while still hot or else the skin would hardened when cold.

Here is my Roast chicken with ginger wine recipe

Ingredients
Chicken wings, 10 pcs
Ginger wine, 1 tablespoon (you can substitute this with ginger juice)
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Dark soya sauce, 1/2 teaspoon
Mak Ngah Tong (Maltose), 2 tablespoon
Plum sauce, 1 tablespoon
Five spice powder, 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper, to taste
Salt to taste

Marinade the chicken wings for around 2 hours of more. Roast marinated chicken wing in microwave oven under high heat for around 20 minutes. As per Wendy's advice in my previous post, you can use the grill or convection function in you microwave oven (if it comes with these functions) so that the meat would not become dry. Serve the roast chicken wings while still hot.

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng, Brem Mall, Kepong - A Quickie Meal

2011-07-01T19:27:00.003+08:00

Kid sure gets hungry real fast, especially when they accompany their parents for shopping. I was in Kepong Brem Mall last weekend with my family and I took the kids for a quickie meal at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng, the famous Hong Kong restaurant franchise. This famous trademark of Hong Kong landed in our Malaysian shore in 2003. Wong Kok in Kowloon means flourishing or busy corner.
I was not hungry yet, so I just ordered some drinks while the kids filled their stomach!

As usual, my daughter would go for her favourite soupy wantan mee (egg noodle, RM9.90). It is served with a plate of succulent and sweet char siew (roast pork belly). My daughter is a small eater and to my surprise, she managed to finish all the wantan mee. She said that the wantan mee tasted really good. Mmmmm, maybe she is really very hungry too! LOL!

My daughter loves soupy wantan mee but my son loves the dry (kon) type. This dry wantan mee (RM9.90) also came with a generous amount of char siew. My son 'sapu' (ate) all the dry wantan mee and char siew.

Address and contact number of Wong Kok Char Chan Teng in Malaysia

2, Ground Floor, Wisma Caesars Club,

Jalan SS2/67, 47300 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor. Tel : +(6)03 - 7874 8611

Lot F225, 1st Floor, 1 Utama Shopping
Centre, Bandar Utama, 47800 P.J.
Selangor. Tel : +(6)03 - S7710 8611

Lot GOOB3A, Ground Floor, IOI Mall,
Batu 9, Jln Puchong, Bandar Puchong
Jaya, 47100 Puchong, Selangor.
Tel : +(6)03 - 8070 8663

L2-26-03, Cheras Leisure Mall,
Jln Manis 6, Taman Segar,
56100 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : +(6)03 - 9132 8611

LG05, AEON Tmn Equine Shopping

Centre 2, Jln Equine, Tmn Equine,
43000 Seri Kembangan.
Tel : +(6)03 - 8941 6857

Lot No MB-06, Level Basement 1,
Johor Bahru City Square,
Jln Wong Ah Fook, 80000 Johor Bahru.
Tel : +(6)07 - 2211 800

G 167, Upper Ground Floor,

Holiday Plaza, 80250 Johor Bahru.
Tel : +(6)07 - 3312 179

G77 & G78, Batu Pahat Mall,

Jalan Kluang, 83000 Batu Pahat, Johor.
Tel : +(6)07 - 4321 590

Lot 6.01.E(1), Level 6, Pavilion Mall

Lot 168, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 03 - 2141 8407

Lot BD 81-82,

Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall,
Jalan Merdeka Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka.
Tel : 06 - 2810 211

G12-G13, Ground Floor,
Brem Mall, Jalan Kepong, 52000 KL.
Tel : 03 - 6250 5486

Lot OB.K4 C & D, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, No 3, Jln PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel : 03 - 5636 2585

Sunway Giza unit C-06, Ground Floor and Mezannie Floor, Kota Damansara,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel : 03 - 6148 2988

G-R-17 & 18A & 5, De Garden,
No 3, Persiaran Medan Ipoh, Medan Ipoh,
31400 Ipoh, Perak.
Tel : 05 - 545 1592

Syopz Complex Subang (Taylor)
G-7, Lakeside Plaza, No. 2, Jalan Taylor’s,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Tel : 03 - 5631 3997

Lot L1-99, KSL City, 33, Jalan Seladang,
80250 Taman Abad, Johor Bahru.
Tel : 07 - 289 1736

On the Run - Have a Cuppa, Cappuccino!

2011-06-30T23:10:00.001+08:00

I stopped by Esso petrol station, On the Run Shop for a coffee break during my recent trip to Kajang. This cup of Cappuccino cost me RM1.20 (USD0.40). I also noticed that they have several set meal like chicken with rice, hot dogs and chicken chop at very reasonable prices. Since I already had my breakfast, I didn't try out the food in this shop. Next round, maybe!

Cooking with Microwave Oven - Roasted Chicken Thigh

2011-06-30T01:29:00.001+08:00

I am not familiar in cooking with a microwave oven. In fact this is the first time I used microwave oven to roast chicken. That explains the burnt part at the bottom of the chicken because I set the timer to 45 minutes under high heat. Actually 20 minutes are enough to cook this quarter chicken. It is real easy to cook with a microwave oven as it require less time than electric oven.

Since this was my first experiment and cooking adventure with microwave oven, I just used a simple marinate for the quarter chicken thigh. The meat is a little tougher compared with the ones I cooked using electric oven but the skin is crispy.

Ingredients
Quarter chicken, 1 pc
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Dark soya sauce, enough to rub the chicken skin
Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon
Salt, 1 teaspoons
Honey, for glazing

Marinade chicken with all the ingredients except the honey for around 3 hours. Roast chicken in microwave oven for around 20 minutes under high heat. Take the chicken out and glaze with honey. Roast for another 5 minutes.

Deep Fried Grouper Fish with Assam Jawa (Tamarind) and Turmeric Recipe

2011-06-29T16:00:00.002+08:00

It is not advisable to marinade seafood, like fish too long or else you would end up with soggy flesh. Fish should only be marinated around 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Furthermore, the texture of the fish flesh allows it to absorb the marinade easily as compared with meat..

I have these two medium table size Grouper and I was curious how they would taste liked with Assam Jawa (tamarind). I added some turmeric for additional flavour and colour. The deep fried Grouper with Tamarind & Turmeric taste good if eaten with Sambal Belachan (fermented shrimp paste chillies)

Ingredients
Grouper (garoupa) Fish, 2 medium table size
Turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Tamarind (Assam Jawa), 1 tablespoon (without seeds)
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Marinade the fish with turmeric, light soya sauce, tamarind and salt to taste for around 20 minutes. Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Deep fry fish until they crisp a little. Take out the fish and drain away excess oil. Serve with Sambal belachan!

PS : You can also barbecue, grill or bake the fish.

Early Morning Breakfast at Tin Hoe Hweeh, Jalan Ipoh, KL

2011-06-28T22:36:00.000+08:00

Tin Hoe Hweeh is located in busy Jalan Ipoh Road in KL. It is rather hard to find parking in this area and you can see many customers park their illegally by the road side during peak hours to dine here. Everytime, whenever I passed by Tin Hoe Hweeh, I noticed that there is always a good crowd in it.

I happened to be in town rather early one Sunday morning and decided to try out the food in Restoran Tin Hoe Hweeh. The Si Tau Poh (lady boss) recomended the chiu pai (restaurant specialty), Hong Kong Noodle. It is actually flat noodle with a little gravy and taste a little like Singapore Heh Mee. The serving is rather generous but I paid around seven ringgit plus for it. The gravy is sweet and flavourful. It goes along well with the springy flat egg noodles. Overall, I was quite satisfied with the Hong Kong noodles.

There are many patrons having their morning dim sum here, so it would be a shame if I did not try my favourite chicken feet dim sum! LOL! Taste really good! Ate the flesh and skins until clean.....only bones left! ha ha ha!

Address : Tin Hoe Hweeh Restaurant, Jalan Ipoh and Jalan Merak Junction

Google map coordinate : 3.18139,101.682372

Map to Tin Hoe Hweeh

Spicy Sour Fried Eggs with Udang Geragau (Dried Shrimps) Recipe

2011-06-24T13:45:00.000+08:00

I missed the cincalok (fermented fresh shrimps) eggs that my late grandma used to cook. Since, I do not have any cincalok in stock, I just used udang geragau (dried shrimps) as replacement. Although the taste of this dish is way different from my grandma's cincalok eggs, it helps to remind me about all the nice food that she used to cook. LOL!

Ingredients
Onions, 1 pc, cut into slices
Udang geragau, 1/3 cup, soak in water
Lemon, 1 slice
Fresh chillies, 2 pcs, cut into slices (chilly padi, optional)
Light soya sauce to taste
Vegetable oil, enough to try the eggs
Eggs, 2 pcs, slightly beaten

Mix the soya sauce with eggs. Heat up wok, put in oil and saute the onions until fragrant. Add udang geragau and stir fry for a short while. Add in the chillies. Pour in the eggs mixture. Fry until eggs are cooked. Squeeze some lemon juice onto the Udang Geragau eggs before serving.

Tea Time- Chop chop, Time for Bihun (or Mee) Bandung

2011-06-23T16:32:00.000+08:00

I know it is tea time, so I set this post to auto publish at this hour. Hi Yvonne, another tea time post leh......he he he.

Actually I normally cook Mee Bandung, or in this case Bihun Bandung for supper which happens to be my wife's favourite food.

As usual, I would have pre fried crispy shallots at home, so I can use it for my Mee Bandung. The addition of prawns in the soup would make it tastier but you can use any other type of sea food like squid or even fish fillet. As for me, I will use whatever suitable ingredients that I have in my fridge. Sometimes, I add in fish ball, fish cake, mushroom, celery, fu chuk (fried beancurd skins) and tofu as well.

You can click here for my Mee Bandung Recipe.

Happy Tea Time! LOL!

MCY Restaurant, Desa Aman Puri, Kepong

2011-06-22T22:58:00.000+08:00

I have passed by MCY restaurant many times and also noticed that they have a good crowd during peak hours. Last week I dropped by here to have dinner with my family. Sen Kee duck satay have a stall here as well. We had 2 plates of duck and chicken satay for starter while waiting for our ordred dishes to arrive. The duck satay taste real good and everyone loves the nutty satay sauce! The photo below shows the Sen Kee Duck Satay stall workers busy barbecuing satay.

Instead of ordering curry fish head, we had this fish slices with ginger and spring onions so that the kids can enjoy it too! The fish slices are fresh and taste very delisious with the dry sauce that coated them. Thumbs up for this dish!

We got this prawn dish for only RM5 for ordering food more than RM50. Can remember the name of this dish but prawns are fresh and you can taste the natural sweet flavours in them!

I love this fresh, young and crunchy sweet potato leaves. Everyone commented that this simple stir fried vegetable with garlic taste yummy!

Hah, another claypot tofu dish for the kids. This is one of the best I have tasted. Love the savoury roast pork in it! yum yum!

Fried squid in flour batter. Really crunchy and taste good with the chilly sauce that accompanied it.

Then my camera ran out of battery. But I managed to take this shoot after shutting it down for a short while and wait for it to recharge a little. So by the time I took this lemon chicken dish, only one piece is left.

The total bill for 5 adults and 3 kids came up to be RM97. We were very satisfied with the taste of the dishes served. All of them are nice!

Address, Map and Contact of MYC Restaurant, Desa Aman Puri, Kepong

Address:

19-A, Jalan Desa 2/8, Desa Aman Puri, 52100 Kepong,

Kuala Lumpur.

Contact Tel No: 6036276 3178

Braised Ee Mee (Fried Egg Noodles) Recipe

2011-06-22T14:00:00.000+08:00

It is very easy to cook Ee Mee, therefore this is my usual family supper meal and everyone loves it! This is the same type of Ee mee that Steamboat restaurant serve with their dishes.

I would normally have some pre fried garlic in oil in my larder, so that I can use it as garnish whenever I cook Ee Mee at night.

I don't have any fixed recipe for Ee Mee because I would cook it with whatever ingredients that I have in my fridge.

Here is another simple version of my soupy Braised Ee Mee

Ingredients

Ee Mee, 1 pcs

Water, 2 bowls

Egg, 1 pc

Pork or chicken meat, 5 pcs

Prawns, 3 pcs

Sesame Oil, 1/2 teaspoon

Light Soya Sauce, 1 tablespoon

Corn Flour and water mixture

Prefried garlic for garnishing

Celery or Spring Onions for garnishing

Salt to taste

Pour water into pot and bring to a boil. A pork or chicken meat. Put in the light soya sauce and prawns.. Add in sesame oil. Pour in the corn flour and water mixture to thicken the soup. Beat egg slightly and pour into the boiling soup. Add salt to taste. Put in the Ee Mee. Stir and cook until the ee mee softhen. Garnish with prefried garlic, celery and spring onions before serving.

Simple Roasted Salted Egg Yolk Chicken with Turmeric Recipe

2011-06-22T07:30:00.001+08:00

This another version of my salted egg fried chicken recipe. I added curry leaves and turmeric to give it an additional flavour. I did not add chilly powder or curry powder here, so that young children can also savour the fried chicken. You can roast or grill the chicken after marinating it. I used chunk of chopped chicken instead of whole chicken because I want the chicken to cover the meat evenly. It tastes very much better this way! I love the grainy texture and salty egg yolk on the chicken!

Ingredients
Chicken, 1/2 bird, chop into chunks
Salted Egg Yolk, 2 pcs, crushed
Turmeric, 1 teaspoon
Light Soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Brown sugar, 1 tablespoon
Lime juice, from 3 limes
Curry leaves, 3 sprigs
A little salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and put it aside for 1 to 2 hours. Heat up oven to 200 Deg C. Roast chicken for around 20 minutes, then turn the temperature to 180 Dec C. Continue roasting for around 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken turned golden brown.

Southern Indian Style Fresh Tomato Curry Chicken without Coconut Milk (Santan) Recipe

2011-06-21T13:15:00.001+08:00

I made some changes to my usual curry chicken recipe by adding tomato, ginger and garlic to it. The addition of these ingredients infused some additional unique flavours to the dish. I love the nice natural sweetness from the tomatoes. Sometimes we need to make a little changes to our usual way of cooking a dish to stimulate our tastebuds or else everyone in the family would get bored with it. However, not everyone can accept new flavours and they missed out on the adventures of the culinary world has to offer.

Here is my Southern Indian Style Fresh Tomato Curry Chicken without Coconut Milk (santan) recipe

Ingredients

Chicken, 1/2 bird, cut into chunks

Potato, 3 pcs, cut into four

Tomato, 2 pcs

Onions, 2 pcs

Garlic, 5 cloves

Ginger, 5 slices

Curry powder, 5 tablespoons

Chilly powder, 2 tablespoons

Turmeric, 1 teaspoon

Garam Masala, 2 teaspoons

Cinnamon stick, 1 pc

Star anise, 2 pcs

Cloves, 2 pcs

Curry leaves, from 3 springs

Salt to taste

Blend tomato, onions, garlic and ginger. Saute the blended ingredients in around 4 tablespoons of oil until fragrant. Put in the cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves. Add water to curry powder, chilly powder, turmeric and garam masala to make a paste. Pour the mixture into the wok and stir fry with the rest of the ingredients. Add in the curry leaves and potato. Turn the heat to medium and keep on stiring until the potato is cooked. Add in the chicken and salt to taste. If the mixture is too thick, you can pour in a little water. Keep stiring until the chicken is cooked. Serve with roti or steamed rice. Enjoy!

STOLEN RECIPE Restaurant, Desa Aman Puri - Meal on BED?

2011-06-19T17:43:00.001+08:00

I must admit that it is the name of the restaurant, Stolen Recipe that attracted me to try out the food here. Although this is a place that youngsters like to hangout, the food here also cater for everyone in the family. So, it is quite usual to see families with little children and elderlies dine here. They have western fare and also local food like fried rice & char kueh teow.

Anyway, Stolen Recipe is an interesting concept restaurant with unique setting!

Jail liked grills and large metal chain with padlocks at the entrance.

Notice the stage, bed, pillows and bolsters? You can have your meal served on bed! ha ha ha! There is unplugged performance by local artist at 9 pm.

Grilled chicken chop with Capsicum sauce (RM13.88). You can choose 2 choices of side dishes. My son says the grilled chicken taste quite good. I guess any meat would taste nice for him.

This is Jumbo Earthquake (RM19.88), a large dish consist of deef fried green mussels, tiny calamari, sausage, prawns, potato wedges, fusion satay and chicken wings. The salsa sauce taste good! I ate the fried food with Tabasco sauce. The fusion satay taste a little weird to me. It was coated with flour and deep fried.

Caesar Salad (RM11.88) with a choice of chicken meat or salmon toppings. The bacon bits are too small. Salad tasted ok.

Since my daugther is below 12, she entiltled to order kiddies meal (RM10.88) which comes with salad starter with tartar sauce, 3 choices of Entrees and Ice Cream dessert.

They served the ice cream first! I thought it is supposed to be for dessert. Maybe they want to keep kids quite.....LOL!

Kiddies meal starters, salad with tarter sauce. Plate from IKEA?....he he he!

Kiddies meal Magherita Pizza.

The ice cream portion was quite small so my daughter's had another dessert, Tiramisu (RM3.88).

Address and Map to Stolen Recipe, Desa Aman Puri
3-23A, Ground Floor, Jalan Desa 2/2, Desa Aman Puri, 52200, Selangor
Contact number, Tel 03-62613683

How to Make a Good Pickled Mango - Recipe

2011-06-18T23:35:00.000+08:00

The mango tree at my MIL house bears lots of fruits recently. This is common small size mango and many people do not eat it because it is very sour. I couldn't resist but to pluck some for making pickled mango.

You can make a good pickled mango using the procedure below!

First wash and cut the mango into bite sizes. I ate some with the homemade rojak sauce that I have in my fridge. Wow wee......very sour but nice.....spicy, sweet with the sauce.......saliva dropping! ha ha ha!

Pour some salt onto the mango and drinking water to make a brine solution enough to cover them. The salt is for removing the sour taste of the mango. You must use boiled water (cooled down) or else the mango would turn bad. To be save, I put the whole container in the fridge for 2 days.

After soaking the mango in brine solution for 2 days, pour the water away and add drinking water. Put it back into the fridge for one day to remove the salt. Pour away the water and add drinking water again to wash away the salt. Store in the fridge for another day.
When the mango are no longer salty, pour away the water and add sugar syrup. Leave the container in the fridge for one day before consuming to ensure that all the sugar are absorb by the mango.

The photo below shows the end result of my crunchy pickled mango!

Stuffed Tofu Pok Balls with Chicken and Water Chest Nut Recipe

2011-06-18T00:06:00.000+08:00

Previously, I cooked Stuffed Tofu Pok Balls with prawn meat but this time I added in chicken meat and water chest nut to change the fillings texture a little bit.
To see how you can turn the tofu balls inside out, please refer to my previous post.
These tofu balls with stuffing are good as finger food for parties or picnic outings. They taste good if eaten with chilly sauce.

Ingredients
Tofu Pok, 10 pcs

Fillings
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
Water Chestnut, 2 pcs, chopped finely
Sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Corn flour, 3 teaspoon
Pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
Prawn meat, 100gms, minced
Chicken meat, 100 gms

Make a small cut on the tofu pok and turn it over. Mix all the filling ingredients together. Stuff the tofu with the fillings mixture. Deep fry the tofu pok balls in hot oil until they turned golden brown. Drain away excess oil. Serve with chilly sauce.

My First Attempt at Making Pop Corn!

2011-06-17T12:47:00.000+08:00

I always wanted to try my hands at making pop corn. Actually, it is rather interesting to hear the corn popping inside the hot pot.My kids listened patiently to the corn popping with funny expression on their face! LOL!
I did not control the gas stove fire very well, so I ended up with one bottom layer of burn out pop corn in my pot. I used the nice ones on the top part and threw away the burned ones.
The pop corn I made was not very crunchy, maybe because I washed the corn and did not dry them properly. I adapted this pop corn making technique from Simple Recipes.

Ingredients
Pop Corn, 1/3 cup
Butter, 1 tablespoon
Honey, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons

Heat up a heavy lid pot. Put in the vegetable oil. Add a few corn and close the lid. When these few corns start to pop, add in the rest of the corn. Remove pot from heat and let all the corn pop. Then put the pot back on the stove and turn on the heat. Open the lid a little to release water vapour to make the pop corn crispy. Add salt, butter and honey. Remove from heat and stir to mix well.

Pop corn before adding honey, butter and salt

Pop corn after adding honey, butter and salt

Chinese Herbal Black Chicken ( wu gu ji,烏骨雞), Soup Recipe

2011-06-15T22:34:00.001+08:00

The black chicken or commonly known as silky (silkie) chicken have black skin, flesh and bones. This unique chicken also have only four toes as compared with other types of chicken. Scientist believe that silkies chicken originated from China as it was documented during Marco Polo time.
This black chicken flesh is very sweet and tender. I would normally cook this chicken with Chinese herbs like huaishan, kei chi, tong som, tong kwai, yuk chok and hongzao. You can double boil, steam or just boil this chicken just like cooking soup.
Here is my Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
Black chicken (wu gu ji), 1 whole bird
Huaishan, 1 pc
Kei chi, 1 tablespoon
Tong Som, 1 stick
Tong Kwai, 1 or 2 pcs
Yuk Chok, 10 pcs
Hongzao (red dates), 5 pcs
Light Soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Put chicken, light soya sauce and all the Chinese herbs into a pot. Pour water enough to cover the chicken. Boil for around half an hour. Turn to low heat after 10 minutes of boiling. Add salt to taste.
Serve while still hot!

Benefits of Chinese Herbs
1) Huaishan (Discorea Yam, Dioscorea opposita) – Improve digestion, respiratory function, kidneys and increases vitality(Qi).
2) Hongzao (Red Dates, Ziziphus jujuba) – Improve Qi (vitality), nourishes the blood and reduces stress.
3) Yul Chuk (Polygonatum root, Polygonatum odoratum) – Moisturises our internal organ, balances Yin energy, clear wind and softens the sinews.
4) Tong Kwai (Angelica Sinensis Root, Radix Angelicae sinensis) – Stimulating effect on the uterus, tonic for blood and regulating menses, lubricate the bowels, improve immune system, antioxidant, protect digestion system and improve blood circulation.
5) Tong Som (Dang shen, Salvia Root, Dang Shen (Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae)) – Tonic for the blood, spleen, stomach, Qi, lungs and lowers blood pressure. It also can increase our white blood cells count.
6) Kei Chi (Lycium Berries, Lycium Barbarum) – Brighten the eyes, moistens the lungs and enriches Yin energy.

Salty Fried Chicken Wing Recipe

2011-06-15T07:43:00.000+08:00

I soaked these chicken wing in brine solution for around 2 hours before frying them. Soaking chicken in brine solution would make the meat moist and salty. However, if you are worried about the chicken being too salty, then you can just rub them with salt. Actually brine solution is more suitable for whole chicken or whole turkey. If you are using whole chicken or turkey, then you can soak them overnight.
You can deep fry, roast or barbecue the marinated chicken. Since, it would be a hassle to start up my barbecue pit, I just fried the chicken wings in vegetable oil.

Here is my Ham Ham Kai (Salty Fried Chicken) Recipe.....not 'ham sup kai' lah......he he he!

Ingredients,
Chicken Wings, 10 pcs
Brine Solution, enough to cover the chicken
Dark Soya Sauce, 1/2 teaspoon
Honey, enough to glaze the chicken
Lemon Juice, from 1 lemon
Five spice powder, 1 teaspoon

Note : To make brine solution, add half cup of table salt to 1 gallon (around 3.7 liters) of water.

Soak chicken wings in brine solution for around 2 hours. Pour away the brine solution. Marinade the chicken with dark soya sauce, five spice powder and lemon juice. Deep fry the chicken wings until they turned golden brown. Remove chicken from the wok and drain away excess oil. Rub honey on the chicken while it is still hot before serving.

Nice Roast Duck - Stall Outside Wangsa Permai Ipoh Road Hakka Yong Tau Foo

2011-06-14T13:55:00.000+08:00

I would buy the roast duck from this small stall which is located just outside the Wangsa Permai Ipoh Road Hakka Yong Tau Foo restaurant, whenever I am in this area. Half a bird cost me RM19. The meat is juicy, well marinated and tender. I love the nicely done duck skin as well. The husband and wife team would start selling the roast duck around lunch time and most of the roast duck would be sold out around 4pm.

Drive slowly as you pass the bridge towards the juntion of Wangsa Permai and Desa Aman Puri. The duck stall is on your left.

Map to Roast Duck stall outside Wangsa Permai Ipoh Road Yong Tau Foo restaurant.

Chinese Syle Curry Fish Head with Candle Nut & Okra(without Santan, coconut milk)

2011-06-12T21:44:00.000+08:00

The Chinese Style Curry Fish Head that are normally served at restaurants don't use spices like mixed halba and the amount of curry powder is lesser compared to Indian curries. I have created this version without using coconut milk. In order to make the gravy creamy and rich, I used Candle nuts (buah keras, kemiri, kukui tree nut, Aleurites moluccana). This hard candle nuts have very high oil content and can be used to make candle. The nut contain saponin and phorbol which is a little toxic in uncooked (raw) state. However, you can also use Macadamia nut in replacement of candle nut if you worry about the toxicity..

Ingredients

Fish Head, Garoupa Fish or Red snapper, 1 pc, cut into small chunks

Squid,5 pcs, cut in to bite sizes

Curry Powder, 3 tablespoons

Turmeric, 1 teaspoon

Chilly Powder, 3 tablespoon

Candle nut, 2 pcs

Garlic, 5 cloves

Onions, 2 pcs

Belachan, 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves, 3 sprigs

Salt to taste

Okra, 6 pcs

Vegetable oil 5 tablespoons

Blend candle nut, garlic and onions. Mix curry powder, chilly powder, turmeric, belachan & blended mixture with water to make a paste. Saute this paste in hot oil until fragrant. Add curry leaves and a little water. Put in the fish head and close the wok lid. Let it simmer for around 20 minutes or until the fish head is cooked. Add in salt, okra and squid. Don't cook the squid too long.

Serve with steamed rice.

Various uses of Mulberries

2011-06-10T23:05:00.000+08:00

My sister in law cultivated this mulberries plant in her garden. Morus or more commonly known as Mulberries are native to subtropical countries and we can also grow them in Malaysia. The black mulberries plant in China are famous for silkworm cultivation. The mulberries can be used to make cakes, jam, drink and pies.

It can also be used as food colouring. Mulberries contain anthocyanins, water soluble pigment which a powerful antioxidants. It is also known to be beneficial for fighting cancer, slow down aging, fight neurological diseases, anti inflammation, fight diabetes problem and has anti bacterial properties.

Some people believe that mulberries are good for the eyesight.

Mulberries taste a little sour and the ripe ones which are black in colour are slightly sweet.

My sister in law also planted other type of berries. Below is a photo showing the various type of berries I plucked from her garden. Can you identify them?

Dinner at Rung Reang Thai Seafood Restaurant, Jitra, Kedah -Authentic Thai Food

2011-06-09T14:08:00.001+08:00

My food hunting adventure up the northern states of Malaysia continues with dinner at the famous Rung Reang Thai Seafood Restaurant (Restoran Thai dan Makanan Laut) in Jitra, Kedah. This is my second visit to this authentic Thai restaurant operated by a Siamese family. They have since renovated this place after the area was flooded a few years ago. Rung Reang have a few signature Thai dishes that I like very much. It you love original Southern Thai cooking, this if the place for you.

This is squid with Thai sauce. The squid is tender and it soaked up all the spicy Thai sauce because they make a few diagonal cuts on it. Simple and delicious.

I love this deep fried catfish very much. It is very well marinated and fried till very crispy. There is no mud smell at all. This is a must have if you visit Rung Reang. I recomend this dish. One can easily finish 7 to 10 of this fried catfish! Thumbs up!

Another claypot tofu dish for the kids. The gravy is sweet and tasty!

Instead of the usual sambal asparagus, we opted for plain stir fried asparagus to that the kids can eat this dish. Crunchy and fresh.

This is Thai style steamed Red Snapper. There are cucumber, cabbage, bamboo shoots and ladies fingers (okra) in this spicy & sour dish! The soup is really nice. Beware, it is very spicy! Sure to make you eat more rice! LOL!

You can request for this super hot and spicy Thai Sambal. Really can burn your tongue but damm nice!....ha ha ha!

The total bill for 4 persons came up to be RM92 (plus drinks).

Address : Rung Reang Thai Seafood Restaurant
Jalan Kelubi,
Jitra, Kedah

Google Map coordinate, 6.263846,100.429724

Map to Rung Reang

Afternoon Tea Time- Delicious Ah Beng Assam Laksa at Kangar, Perlis

2011-06-08T13:38:00.001+08:00

I went food hunting with my Foodie Brother in law up far north to Perlis, near the border of southern Thailand. Ah Beng Laksa (sour spicy rice noodles soup) located in Jalan Bukit Lagi right in the heart of Kangar which is the capital of Perlis.

At first I wanted to eat the assam laksa from a stall that is operated by a Thai lady but my brother in law told me that she has moved elsewhere. This particular small coffee shop which is opposite the Perodua outlet also has nice lobak like fritters. Anyway we have to decide whether to have lobak or laksa. Our final decision was to eat the laksa at Ah Beng's stall which is directly opposite Kangar Maybank.

At 4.30pm, they have ran out of thick rice noodles, so we settled for fine rice noodles assam laksa (RM2.50). The gravy is sourish and have really nice 'laksa' (daun kesom) aroma. The saltiness is just right. All these flavours make up a perfect combination. This is one of the best Assam Laksa I ever tasted. Beat any of the stalls from KL anytime!

My brother in law says that I should try the Thai Laksa (RM2.50) which has coconut milk added. It taste equally good as the Assam Laksa. I love the sweet aroma of the fresh coconut milk (santan) in the Thai Laksa. Yum Yum!Sweet aroma, sourish, saltiness, generous amount of fish meat; All in one! Another thumbs up for this Thai Laksa. It beats all the Thai Laksa that I have ever eaten! Really Delicious!

We down all the assam laksa with a cool bowl of Ais Kacang (sweet shaved iced) (RM1.70). Just the right sweetness for me!

Ah Beng Laksa, Food Stall

Roundbout, Jalan Bukit Lagi, Kangar, Perlis

Google Map coordinate, 6.434686,100.192534

Map to Ah Beng Laksa, Kangar, Perlis

Claypot Tofu with Pak Choi (Chinese Cabbage) and Salted fish Recipe

2011-06-07T21:21:00.000+08:00

To get the best out of this dish, you must use tofu that are made for frying. This type of tofu is hard on the outside but really soft inside. After deep frying this tofu, the skin would be crispy but the inner portion remains soft. It would be easier to use a non-stick wok when frying tofu as the stick easily to normal wok.
I love this claypot tofu dish because it has all the main ingredients inside it; no need to cook other dishes liao! ha ha ha!

Ingredients
Tofu, 3 pcs, cut into 4
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into slices
Onion, 1 pc, cut into 4
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Pak Choi (Chinese Cabbage), 5 leaves, cut into 1" length
Salted fish, 2 pcs, deep fried and cut into small pieces
Egg, 1pc
Prawn, 5 medium
Corn flour and water mixture

Deep fry tofu until the skin becomes crispy and golden brown in colour. Put aside and drain away excess oil. Hea up wok and add in a little vegetable oil. Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant. Add carrot, onion and prawn. Pour in some water and bring to a boil. Add in the pak choi. Add corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy. Beat egg and pour it into the gravy. Pour the gravy on the deep fried tofu. Garnish the top with deep fried salted fish and spring onions before serving.

Lunch at Happy Wok, Tropicana Mall

2011-06-07T11:30:00.000+08:00

While waiting for our Painted T'shirt to dry at Crafts with Parenthots event in Tropicana Mall, I took my family for lunch at Happy Wok. It was way passed lunch time and all of us were very hungry. I quickly ordered Fish Slices with ginger, Brocolli with Tofu and Onion Chicken dishes. Happy wok has an ambient atmosphere and it is a great place for families to dine in. Service was rather prompt and the overall food taste is quite good.

This is fish slices with ginger and spring onions (RM12). Very generous with the spring onions and ginger slice. My daughter loves the fish.

There is nothing to shout about this tofu with brocolli dish (RM12) but my kids seem to like it a lot. I guess they must be very hungry liao! he he he

I know I will not go wrong by ordring this dish. The Onion Ring Chicken is cooked it the way I wanted it to!
Nice grave, succulent crispy chicken and crispy onion rings. Everyone loves this dish! The sauce is sweet and have a nice tinge of spices in it!

The total bill came up to be RM50.60, including one small pot of tea and rice..

Address : Happy Wok, Lot L1-12, Level 1, Tropicana Mall, Petaling Jaya

Tel : 03 77106112