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

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

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

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?

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

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?

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!