Dry Curry Shark Recipe

After tasting the yummy Dry Curry Shark at Hock Heng Huat, Tg Sepat, I tried to cook up my own version of dry curry shark. I love to eat shark meat with curry. These small sharks have only one long back bone without any tiny bones. Therefore you don’t have to worry about bones getting stuck in the throat! LOL!

Ingredients
Shark, 3 pcs, cut into 1” chucks
Fish Curry powder, 3 tablespoons, add water to make a paste
Serai (lemongrass), 2 pcs, crushed
Onions, 1 pc, cut into slices
Ginger, 5 pcs, cut into strips
Salt to taste
Coconut milk (santan kelapa), 5 tablespoons (optional)

Put around 3 tablespoons of oil in a hot wok and sauté the onions until fragrant. Add in the serai (lemongrass) and ginger. Pour in the curry paste. Stir fry for a short while. Add in the shark and coconut milk. Fry until the shark meat is cooked. Add salt to taste and serve while still hot. The curry shark is best eaten with steamed rice.

Fun Kok (Arrowroots) with Leng Ngau (Lotus Roots) Soup Recipe

Smallkucing Mama suggested that I add Fun Kok (Arrowroots, not hapi kok) into my Leng Ngau (Lotus Roots) Soup for extra sweetness. So, off I went to the wet market in search of Hapi Kok.....opps, Fan Kok! Luckily Smallkucing Mama thought me the correct Cantonese name for Fun Kok; I didn’t land myself in trouble and managed to locate a stall selling Fan kok. Ha ha ha!Fan kok is a type of tuber roots in the yam and taro family. It is a very suitable ingredient for soup and is widely used by Chinese chefs. Basically, apart from the addition of Fun Kok, I used the same ingredients as my previous Leng Ngau soup recipe.

Ingredients
Lotus roots, 1 large section, cut into rings and marinate with salt
Groundnuts, ½ cup
Chinese Dates (Ang Cho), 10 pcs
Pork Ribs, 500 gms or Chicken Carcass, 1 bird
Fun Kok (Arrowroots), 5”x3”, cut into big chunks
Salt to taste
Water 7 bowls

Pour water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add groundnuts, pork ribs, Chinese dates and Fun Kok. Boil for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more if you want the groundnuts to be soft. Add salt to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice. Thanks Smallkucing Mama for the cooking tips!

How to Cook Deep Fried Crispy Pig Intestine – Recipe

My crispy fried intestine was little burnt but taste yummy!

It is very easy to cook crispy pig intestine. The only hard part is actually, cleaning the intestine. It is a little tricky to turn the intestine inside out but you should get the hang of it after cleaning 2 to 3 pieces. Deep fried crispy pork intestine is eaten with soft porridge and it is one of my favourite foods! Some hawker serves this with kueh teow soup. There used to be a hawker in Paramount, PJ who sells kueh teow soup with crispy pork intestine but I am not sure whether she is still around or not because I have not been back to this restaurant for quite a long time.

Ingredients

Pork Intestine, cut into 1” length

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Heat up wok and put in the oil. Put in the pork intestine and turn the heat to low. Pork intestine tends to explode when they are deep fried. So, it is advisable to cover the wok with a lid. Fry until the intestine turned golden brown. Remove the intestine from the wok and drain away excess oil. Sprinkle some salt on the crispy intestine and mix well. The Crispy pork intestine taste good with plain porridge, chicken porridge or pork porridge.

Improvised Penang Fruit Rojak Sauce Recipe

I only have pineapple and senkuang (turnips) in my fridge when I made the fruits rojak sauce! LOL! My neighbour gave me this Gula Melaka (palm sugar). She bought it for me from one of her trip to Melaka recently.
The original Penang Fruit Rojak sauce is made from Or Cheo (Black Sauce), Tnea Cheo(Sweet Sauce, Gochujang), Heh Ko (Otak Udang, direct translation Prawn Brain, ha ha ha!, actually it is a black pungent sauce made from prawns and mantis prawns), chilly, toasted belachan (fermented shrimp paste) powder, sugar and peanut. However, it is not easy to find Or Cheo and Tnee Cheo in KL. In fact, many vendors in the market in Penang are not selling these sauces anymore. In view of that, I have to improvise the Penang Rojak Sauce with the ingredients that I have. This is a rather simple rojak sauce but it can satisfy my cravings for Penang Rojak until my next trip back! LOL!

Ingredient
Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar), 2 blocks
Dark Soya Sauce, 1 teaspoon
Har Ko (Otak Udang), 1 tablespoon
Toasted Peanut, 1/3 cup, crushed
Chilli Padi (Bird Eye Chilli), 3 pcs, chopped finely
Pineapple
Cucumber
Unripe Mango
Unripe Papaya
Sengkuang (turnips)

Put a little water in a pot and use slow fire to melt the Gula Melaka. Don’t use too much water. Keep on stirring the mixture until all the sugar is melted. Turn off the heat. Add dark soya sauce, har ko and chilly padi. Let the Fruit Rojak sauce cool down to room temperature. Cut pineapple, sengkuang(turnips), unripe mango, cucumber and unripe papaya into bite sizes. Pour the sauce over the fruits and garnish with crushed peanuts.

Soon Tuck Restaurant, Taman Cheras Makmur

My family and I was in Cheras visiting my brother in law’s wife who gave birth recently. We went there on a weekday and by the time we reached the hospital, it was time for dinner. For convenience sake, we just walk to the shop lots across the Pantai Cheras hospital for our meal. Since it was dinner time, the restaurant was packed with patrons. The fish that we wanted to eat were out of stock; business must have been good. We opt for some simple dishes like Assam Fish (Ma Yau, treadfin, senangin), kulo yok (sweet and sour pork), clay pot tofu and fried French beans. The total bill for 5 adults and 2 toddlers came up to be RM80. A little on the high side!

As usual we ordered Ku Lo yoke (sweet and sour pork) for the kids. This sweet and sour pork dish is quite nice.

We wanted a dish with gravy so that the kids can flood their rice with it. Clay pot tofu fits our requirement. The tofu is soft and the gravy is sweet and delicious.

The stir fried French beans have nice Wok hei (wok burnt) smell. I love the crunchy French Beans.

Somehow, the sweetness and sourness of the Nyonya Assam Fish are not very well balanced. The chef needs to improve on this. However, the fish is fresh and tasty. Address, Restoran Soon Tuck Jalan 1/96A, Taman Cheras Makmur 56100 Kuala Lumpur Map to Pantai Cheras Hospital and Soon Tuck Restaurant

Simple Stir fried Tempeh with Chilli Recipe

Tempeh is made from fermenting soya beans with fungus Rhizopus Oligosporus and is a popular meat replacement among vegetarians. This fermentation process increases the content of protein, vitamins and fibre in the beans. Although, tempeh originated from Java in Indonesia; nowadays you can buy tempeh in many places around the world. A good and fresh tempeh would have nicely arranged beans with white mycelia binding them together. Some would have a little black spot and uncooked tempeh is warm when you touch it due to the living organism activities inside it. There are many ways to cook tempeh and here is one of the simple but tasty recipe.

Ingredients

Tempeh, 1 pc (5”x5”), cut into bite size

Chilli paste, 1 tablespoon or more

Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste
Tamarind juice, around 3 tablespoons 

Deep fry the tempeh in hot oil until it turned golden brown.

Drain away access oil and put the fried tempeh aside. Put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the pan. Sauté chilli paste and onions until fragrant. Pour in the tamarind juice. Throw in the tempeh. Add salt and sugar to taste. Fry the mixture for a short while. Serve Fried Chilli Tempeh with steamed rice.

PS : You can also add anchovies and roasted peanut to this dish.

Check out my special Stuffed Boneless Chicken Recipe.

Hungry Ghost Festival and the Chinese Forever Vibrant Economy

My youngest son waiting for me to take him to see the Kotai. He is all dressed up, donning his Michael Jackson hat while holding a microphone and his favourite MJ cds. He kept on insisting of going up the stage to sing MJ most popular song, Beat It! ha ha ha ha!

The Yue Lan (Hungry Ghost) committee in my area organized their 5th hungry ghost festival recently. I can see there number of participants growing tremendously from year to year. My kids would wait for me to reach home everyday to take them to see the Chinese Opera show and also Kotai (live concert). My daughter loves to help out in folding gold and silver paper money, while my youngest son took the opportunity to run around all over the festival wide areas. Everyday the hired cook would prepare tasty mixed ingredients porridge , fried bihun and nice tong sui (Dessert). I see this festival as a time for the people in my community to get together and work hand in hand to make it a success. It is time to remember the dead too; Buddhist nuns are hired to chant for the soul of the dead. The hungry ghost festival is a part of our colourful Chinese culture which I believe should be carried on to the next generation to come. The Chinese spent generously whenever there is such festival. Some of the money collected is donated to the Chinese School in my area. With the large amount of cash spent on food and prayer, no wonder the Chinese economy is always vibrant. You need money in the economical system in order to make it move healthily. The is why no matter where in the world the Chinese community settle down, you can see businesses booming in that area!

Oppps, kotai singer too sexy......censored! ha ha ha!, Actually the lights were too bright!

The Chinese Opera show starts after the Kotai singing finishes!

Lots of offering on the final day of prayers. Yummy roast pork! Had a feast after the final sent off!

Final sent off Tau Sui Yeh (God of Hades). An excavator is used to cover the road with sand (Selangor sand! ha ha ha) before all the paper prayers material are burnt. I was carrying the horse! LOL!

Homemade Roselle Jam from Home Grown Roselle – Recipe

I have not been updating my blog because I was rather busy for the last few weeks. Anyway there is still some work to do but I took some time out to write this post. I made this Roselle jam from the fruits I harvested from the roselle plants in my garden. Pectin that are found on plant cell walls is a type of chemical that can help jam to set and turn jelly like. It acts as a gelling agent. Pectin is found in fruits and citrus peel. Citrus peel contains the most amount of pectin. Fruits normally have around 1% to 2% of pectin but citrus fruits peels have around 30%. I used lemon grind and lemon juice to help my homemade roselle jam set. Many jam recipes recommend the usage of equal portion of fruits and sugar. I did not follow this measurement because I reckon the jam would turn out too sweet. I used half portion of sugar against the fruits. It is nice to eat this homemade roselle jam on toast or white bread with a cup of hot Chinese tea! Ingredients Roselle fruits, 4 cups Sugar, 2cups (or less to taste) Citrus rind, around ½ teaspoons or more to taste Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon Water enough to cover the fruit Put fruits, citrus rind and water into a pot. Boil until the fruit soften and the water level is halved. Add in the sugar and keep on stirring so that the mixture would not burn. Turn off the heat when the jam turned gel like and all the water almost dried out. Put aside until the jam cool down in to room temperature. Store the jam in airtight storage jar. I put them in the fridge because the jam contains no preservatives.

Goldview Hakka Food Restaurant, Paramount

My sister brought my family to this Hakka restaurant which serve home cook style dishes like yam buttons. There is nothing fancy about this family restaurant with simple setting but the thing I like was halfway through our meal, the lady boss (Si Tau Poh) went around every table to ask whether the dishes served are ok or not. Goldview Hakka Food Restaurant is located opposite the post office and Giant in Paramount, PJ. It is not hard to find this place and there are lots of good eateries here as well. We ordered Pork Stomach Soup, Wine Chicken (Hua Tiao), Hakka Yam Abacus, Long Beans fried with Roast Pork and stir fried Romaine Lettuce (Yau Mak). The total bill for 7 adults and 1 toddler came up to be RM64. This is the first time I ate Hakka Yam Abacus. The yam abacus with are cooked with rice flour are fried with mushroom, dried prawns (hae bee) and black fungus. If you have not eaten this dish before, very likely it will take you some time to acquire the taste. The yam abacus is springy and taste good! Since the yam abacus is shaped like real abacus beads, you can use them to calculate your dinner bill...ha ha ha!

The dark soya sauce Wine Chicken was rather flavourful and my elder kids like it very much. It was garnished with Chinese parsley and served in a clay pot.

The Pork Stomach soup was a little bland in taste but there were lots of ingredients inside. Probably they didn’t add a lot of MSG or salt in it. This is the first time I ate pork stomach soup with oyster mushroom and straw mushroom. It is nice to drink the piping hot soup.

There is nothing to shout about the long beans fried with roast pork. We ordered this dish because my kids love long beans. Same goes for the stir fried Yau Mak (Romaine Lettuce).

Restoran Goldview Hakka Food, Paramount PJ Address : 26, Jalan 20/16A, Taman Paramount , Petaling Jaya Selangor 46300 Malaysia Opening Hours 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 9.30pm, Closed on Tuesday Map to Restoran Goldview Hakka Food with STP favourite landmark in PJ, the famous Lisa De Inn. LOL!

Plus Highway Gua Tempurung Rest Stop

There were many Rajah Brooke Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana) butterfly with striking green and black colour around Gua Tempurung Rest Area. Spotted a group of them near the water. Unfortunately most of them flew away when I went too near with my camera.

I stopped at the Gua Tempurung, Perak rest area during one of my trip back from the northern states. Since we were not in a rush, I decided to explore the area with my family. Actually there is a nice stream behind this rest area and I saw a few families having a picnic there. Then I took the Char Kueh Teow and Nasi Lemak that I bought from my favourite hawker stalls back in my hometown and had a picnic there too with my family! LOL! This is the first time we explore and enjoy the gifts of nature along the Plus Highway. Nowadays, we are living our life just like in the highway fast lane. Sometimes it is good to slow down for a while and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer!

Chinese Herbal Pork Soft Ribs Soup Recipe

I bought some nice pork soft ribs from the market to make pork ribs soup with Chinese Herbs. The thought of the superb taste of tender ribs meat with a dash of soya sauce in cili padi (bird eye chilli) is sure to make anyone drool! Actually the Chinese Sinseh (Doctor) do not encourage eating herbal soup with chilli padi, ha ha ha! It is rather easy to cook this soup. I always stock some Chinese herbs in my fridge and would mix them according to recipes.

Ingredients
Pork Soft Ribs, 600 gms
Hongzao (Red Dates), 5 pcs
Kei Chi (Qizi, Lycium barbarum), 1 table spoon
Yuk Chuk, 10 slices
Tong som (Dang Shen), 5 x 1” pcs
Tong Kwai (Angelica Sinensis), 1 pc
Chinese Shao Shing Chiew, Cooking Wine, 1 table spoon
Soya Sauce, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Water 8 bowls

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Put all the ingredients into the boiling water. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for around 1 hour or until the pork ribs turned tender. Garnish with parley and serve hot with white rice.

Benefits of Chinese Herbs 1) Hongzao (Red Dates, Ziziphus jujuba) – Improve Qi (vitality), nourishes the blood and reduces stress. 2) Yul Chuk (Polygonatum root, Polygonatum odoratum) – Moisturises our internal organ, balances Yin energy, clear wind and softens the sinews. 3) 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. 4) 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. 5) Kei Chi (Lycium Berries, Lycium Barbarum) – Brighten the eyes, moistens the lungs and enriches Yin energy.

Assam Laksa at Nanking Restaurant (Kedai Kopi), USJ Subang Jaya

This is my favourite haunt for assam laksa whenever I am around this area during tea time. Many restaurants would not operate during this hour and sometimes it is hard to find things to eat during tea time. Nanking Restaurant is located in the heart of busy Taipan commercial area and it is hard to find parking here during the weekdays. So, it is better to come here during the weekends. I would prefer the assam laksa without the har ko (prawn paste) because it make it sweet and change the laksa taste. Anyway, I have been eating the laksa in Nanking Restaurant for quite some time already and each time it manages to satisfy my cravings for this sour and spicy hawker food till my next trip back to Penang. The laksa gravy is not very thick but if eaten without the har ko, the sourness is just nice. Ask for more chilli padi if you like it spicy. After having our fill of Assam Laksa, I bought some yau char kwai from the stall at the back lane directly behind Nanking. Address, 36 Jln USJ10/1, Taipan, Subang Jaya, Selangor (Opening hours 11am - 8pm) Map to Kedai Kopi Nanking, USJ, Subang Jaya

Chinese Pork Chop Recipe

I love to have a good meal of pork chop once a while. The meat must be tender and juicy. Therefore it is best to use tenderloin to cook pork chop. The tenderloin is muscle used for posture and not movement, which explain why it is the tenderest part of the meat.

Ingredients

Pork Tenderloin, 500 gms, cut into thick slices

Lee and Perrine Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon

Corn Flour, 2 teaspoons

Thyme, 1 tablespoon (dried, 5 sprigs fresh)

Oregano, 1 teaspoon (dried, 3 sprigs fresh)

Pepper, to taste

Light Soya Sauce, 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Marinade the pork with all the ingredients for around half and hour. For best result, you can marinade it overnight. Heat up pan and put in a little vegetable oil. Fry the pork chop until they are cooked thoroughly. Remove and put aside. Use the remaining marinade to make the sauce. Pour it onto the pan and add some butter. Add a little water and bring to a boil. Thicken the sauce with corn flour and water mixture. Pour the sauce over the pork chop. Serve with boiled potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes.

Flat Heong Peah without Sugar Fillings – Sin Guan Hoe Teluk Intan

Flat Heong Peah without molasses filling above and normal ones with filling below

My post about Sin Guan Hoe Heong Peah refers. The normal Heong Peah (aka Beh Teh Soh in Penang) has molasses filling inside it. Recently, my wife’s colleague bought some heong peah for us from Sing Guan Hoe Teluk Intan, which are flat and do not have any molasses filling inside. Although they look like normal biscuit, the taste is rather unique. You can imagine eating a normal heong peah skin without the sugar. These flat heong peah have very nice aroma and crispy as well compared with the one with sugar filling. Sure taste good with a cup of Kopi O (Black Coffee)!

Address : Kedai Biskut (Biscuit Shop) Sin Guan Hoe 23, Jalan Pasir Bedamar,36000, Teluk Intan,Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Tel : 056215094

Infertile Tomato Plants

These tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants grew from the pulp that I that I used to make tomato juice. I put them in my flower pot as organic fertiliser and without knowing it they started to grow into tomato plants. Unfortunately, the flowers did not bear any tomato and I was forced to destroy the plants when disease started attacking them. Tomato belongs to the nightshade family of plants. Some of the well known nightshade family are potato, petunia, aubergine (egg plant) and bell pepper. The nightshade plants contain a range of toxic alkaloids and are poisonous to human. The leaves of tomato, stems and unripe tomato contain a small amount of tomatine which is a toxin but ripe tomato is safe for consumption. The level of tomatine is quite low but the leaves can be toxic for dogs. People with rheumatoid arthritis should avoid eating produce from nightshade family because the solanine inside it can cause pain. Anyway, there are also lots of good nutrients in tomato like lycopene and are also beneficial in preventing prostate cancer.

Kueh Teow Theng and Penang Curry Mee for Breakfast at Le Kwang Restaurant, USJ Subang Jaya

This is one of my favourite place for a good bowl of Penang style Curry Mee (noodles) and Penang Kuih Teow soup (Keow Teow Theng). I would drop by this place whenever I have appointments in USJ area. There is a Chap fan (economy rice) stall here that serves nice dishes and porridge. Overall, the food from the hawker stalls in Le Kwang is quite good. Le Kwang is normally packed with customers most of the time and it is quite hard to get a seat during peak hours. I was in Subang Jaya early last Saturday and decided to drop by Le Kwang for breakfast. I ordered the Curry mee and Kueh Teow Soup. The curry mee was served with a dollop of aromatic and spicy chilly paste. I added all the chilly paste to the soup for extra kick and flavours. The tofu pok (fried tofu) soaked up all the savoury and creamy curry mee soup which burst in you mouth as you put it in! Mmmmmm, nice and tasty. The kueh teow soup (keuh teow theng) is quite close to the one that you find in Penang. It is served with lettuce, spring onions, fish cake, fish ball and pieces of pork. Ask for extra crispy pork lard which would make the bowl of keuh teow soup tastier by ten fold! Ha ha ha, after that better do more exercise! LOL! After a nice hearty breakfast, I washed down all of the nice food with a cup of my favourite coffee!

Address, Restoran Le Kwang 1 Jln USJ 2/2C, Subang Jaya
(Opening hours 7.30am - 8.30pm)
Map to Restaurant Le Kwang

Grouper Fish with Sweet Soya Sauce and Garlic Recipe

This is a very simple home cook recipe. You have a choice of frying the fish till it turned crispy or just nicely cook. I would prefer to use thin grouper fish cut and fry it until crispy. The crispy grouper fish cut go along well with sweet soya sauce and crispy fried garlic. You can use sweet Japanese soya sauce or just use our normal light soya sauce and add in some sugar to it.

Ingredients
Grouper Cut, 3 pcs
Light Soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Sugar, 1 teaspoon or to taste
Ginger (optional), cut into strips
Oil for deep frying
Spring onions for garnishing

Deep fry grouper cut in hot oil until crispy. Remove and put aside. Pour the deep frying oil in to a storage container but leave a little of it in the wok. Sauté garlic and ginger with the remaining oil until they turned golden brown. Pour in a little water and then add in the soya sauce. Bring to a boil and add in the sugar. Pour the sauce on the deep fried fish and garnish with spring onions.

Japanese Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), Yau Char Kwai (Chinese Cruller) and Turnips (Sengkuang) Salad Recipe

This salad has all the ingredients that I love. It has a good mix of crunchy turnips and Japanese cucumber. Instead of topping it with the usual croutons, I used some of the leftover Yau Char Kwai (Chinese crullers) that I bought for breakfast. The Yau Char Kwai has already turned soft, so I fried it without oil at low heat in my non-stick pan to make it crispy again.

Ingredients
Japanese Cucumber, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Turnips, 1 small, cut into bite size
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Yau Char Kwai, 1 pc, cut into 1cm width
Salad Dressing Thousand Island Salad Dressing, 5 tablespoons
Extra Virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon
Cream Cheese (optional), 2 tablespoons, break into small pieces
A dash of pepper

Mix all the salad dressing ingredients thoroughly. Put Japanese cucumber, turnips and tomato in a salad bowl. Pour the dressing into the vegetables. Place the yau char kwai on top of the salad.