Exam Week - Toddler Day Out at One Utama Shopping Complex

Ko ko (elder brother) and cheh cheh (elder sister) are preparing for their examination and I got kicked out from the house for disturbing them. Hooray, daddy brought me to 1Utama for kai kai (sightseeing).

Wah, MKA (Malaysian Kennel Association) dog show is on at the park opposite 1U new wing! But unfortunately the show was over by the time daddy parked the car and walked me over there. Daddy managed to snap some photos of some of the dogs and owners who were still hanging around the park after the show. A full grown German Shepherd and an active Spitz Ahhh, get to see cute little girls' fashion show....... Daddy's turn, to see some leggy models!

Pretty girls, I am not interested, I only want this, my dream sports car, BMW Z4 sDrive 35i.

I was very hungry after walking all over 1U shopping complex. Daddy bought me a Teriyaki burger but it tasted lousy so I ate daddy's Wantan Mee (Egg noodles) at the Jaya Jusco food court. The halal chicken char siew (bbq meat) was very nice! Daddy ended up eating the teriyaki burger for supper! LOL!

Making Makisushi with leftover Fried Eggs with French Beans and Onions – Recipe

Sushi rolling mat and sushi vinegar

When I had some leftover fried eggs with beans and onions, I know it is time for me to take out my makisu (巻簾, bamboo rolling mat) to make some sushi rolls (makisushi). It has been quite some time ago since I last made sushi for my eldest son. He loves sushi and this is a good way for me to make good use of the leftover food I have. I did not use the short grain Calrose rice but just improvise with some leftover rice from dinner. Generally you just need rice, condiments, nori (seaweed sheets), a dash of vinegar (normal or sushi vinegar) and a little salt to make Makizushi (巻寿司, rolled sushi) or makimono (巻物, variety of rolls).

Ingredients

Calrose rice (or normal rice), steamed or cooked

Sushi Vinegar (or normal vinegar), a few drops

Salt, to taste

Nori (seaweed wrappers)

Fried Eggs with French Beans and onions

Put a few drops of vinegar into the rice and stir it until well mixed. Add salt to taste. Put nori on the makisu (bamboo rolling mat). Put the fried eggs on the nori. Add rice and roll the nori to compress the rice so that it will not all off when you cut the makisushi. Cut the sushi and eat with a little wasabi (horseradish with mustard powder) with soya sauce or shoyu.

Fish Head Bihun at Hing Fatt Restaurant, Taman Muhibbah, Seri Kembangan

My friend who works in Bangi brought me eat lunch at this restaurant which is famous for its fish head bihun(rice vermicelli). We left his office early to avoid the lunch crowd. Although the stalls are lined up like normal hawker type of restaurant, the fish head bihun stall waitress would come over to the table to take orders. Once she takes your order, one of the helper would immediately bring over a tray that consist of two types of chillies for you to choose; sambal or chilly padi (bird eye chilly). We ordered two bowls of fish head bihun with normal thin bihun. The service is quite fast and two bowls of hot fish head bihun were delivered to our table in a jiffy. The soup which has evaporated milk in it is not too creamy; in fact just nice to suit my taste. I was slurping the savoury soup all the way once they served it! LOL! The bowl of fish head bihun was garnished with spring onions and crispy fried shallots. For a little tartness, tomatoes are added into the soup. I am not into eating fish head so I had a hard time removing all the bones in the crispy fried fish head. It tastes nice but I am little afraid of all the little bones inside. Anyway, I managed to finish eating all the yummy and crispy fried fish head. Overall the fish head bihun taste quite good. A bowl cost RM6.50.

Address
Fish Head Bihun at Restaurant Hing Fatt Jalan Muhibbah 4, Taman Muhibbah, 43300, Sri Kembangan, Selangor. GPS : 3.026071,101.711699

Map to Fish Head Bihun at Restaurant Hing Fatt

Original Penang Popiah (Spring Rolls) Recipe

My neighbour gave me some hand made traditional popiah skin that she bought from Melaka. Actually they are made for customers that pre ordered it but my neighbour managed to convince the owner to sell some of the popiah skins to her. I love this thin and fresh hand made popiah. They are real good for wrapping jiu hu char (fried turnips with carrot and cuttle fish strips). The original Penang popiah uses Or Cheo (black sauce) and Tnee Cheo (Red sweet bean sauce). I have Tnee Cheo but could not get hold of Or Cheo (black sauce) in KL so I have to improvise by using the normal Yong Tau Fu brown sauce that I bought from the wet market. The original popiah base filling consists of fried turnips, lettuce, scrambled eggs (sometime replaced with fried hard tofu, tau kua) and crispy fried shallots. Nothing fancy like the popiah that are sold nowadays which had extra ingredients like small bits of roasted peanuts or lap cheong (chinese sausage) added. I feel that the original ones still taste the best!

Ingredients
Jiu Hu Char (fried turnips, sengkuang)
Shallots, cut into slices and deep fried until crispy
Lettuce, Or Cheo (alternatively can also use
Yong Tau fu brown sauce)
Tnea Cheo, red sweet sauce (same like the one that are used as dipping sauce in Korean BBQ, Gochujang, Kochuchang, sweet bean sauce)
Scrambled eggs (or deep fried tau kua, hard tofu)
Chilly paste
Popiah skins

Spread the chilly paste, or cheo and tnea cheo on the popiah skin. Put the lettuce on the skin and top it up with some jiu hu char. Add some fried shallots and scrambled eggs. Wrap up the popiah skin as shown in the photo. Best if eaten immediately before moisture from the jiu hu char seeps in to the skin and make it soggy.

Assam Pedas and Nyonya Laksa – Penang Indian Nyonya Kuih Vendor

When I was a kid growing up in Butterworth (Penang), there were many Indian kueh vendors who would balance a pole on their shoulder carrying two baskets filled with lots of Nyonya (Malaysian Straits born Chinese who adopted the local culture) cakes and goodies. Among the common Nyonya kuih (cakes) they sell are pulut tai tai, kuih koci, rempah udang, bingka ubi, kuih ketayap, kuih koci, kuih talam, pulut inti, chai tow (radish) kuih and many more. However, presently, I don’t think I ever come across these Indian kuih vendors in Penang anymore. I remember eating the Nyonya laksa sold by these vendors. It is a little different from the normal Penang Assam Laksa. The taste is a cross between Nyonya Asam Pedas and Assam Laksa. I tried to cook this type of Nyonya Laksa by modifying my Assam Laksa recipe a little bit. Instead of using Indian Mackerel (kembong, short bodied mackerel) which is the normal ingredients for Assam Laksa, I used Narrow barred Mackerel (tengiri batang). I did not peel and remove the bones of the Mackerel (tengiri batang), added in more turmeric and chillies to the soup. I also use less tamarind juice because the Nyonya laksa I ate was a little more of a salty type. So, here is the final result of my food experiment and I gave this bowl of Nyonya laksa to my good neighbour.

Honey Iced Lemon Tea, Jelly Lolly; an Experiment gone awry but turned out yummy!

Last weekend was a hot day and I made some iced lemon tea for my family. I normally brew a pot of Jasmine Tea and use New Zealand Rewarewa honey as sweetener for my iced lemon tea. For extra flavour I added in the lemon rind and a few leaves of mint. Ahhh, it is very refreshing to drink this cool tangy iced lemon tea on a hot afternoon! Then, I suddenly got an idea to make jelly from the lemon tea. I have some leftover gelatine powder and this can help me turn the sweet lemon tea into jelly. So, I used 3 cups of lemon tea and added 3 tablespoons of sugar to it. Then I put in around 2 teaspoons of gelatine into the mixture before heating them up to melt the gelatine. I made a mistake of using too little gelatine and the mixture did not turn into jelly when it cooled down. To save the situation, I put them in the freezer for around 1 hour. The liquid turned into a jelly and ice lolly like texture. I can taste a little jelly and also a little of small pieces of ice in it. Actually, my iced honey lemon tea jelly lolly turned out quite nice and it also has a unique texture. LOL!

Night Char Kueh Teow Stall Next to Restaurant Ali Food’s Corner in Kepong Baru – Simple and Nice

After a round of post dinner walk with my little toddler at Desa Park City, I drove up to Kepong Baru to check out the food there. This must be my lucky day, as I wanted to post about this stall long ago but every time I came looking for this Char Kuih Teow (fried flat noodles), it was closed. I was surprised to see the old Chinese uncle there busily frying the flat noodles. This wet market area is quite dark at night; I thought I am seeing ‘things’! Ha ha ha! Anyway, I asked the helper why they were closed for so long and she became curious; she said that they were open on most days except on Sunday when the pasar malam (night market) is on. The old uncle added that he will not operate the stall if it rains heavily. Ahhhh, now I know why, I missed this nice Char Kueh Teow stall so many times! LOL! Don’t let looks deceive you, the mobile stall might look old and the char kueh teow looks simple but the taste is just delicious. The way of frying is more of Southern style; a little wet and dark, unlike the Char Kueh Teow in Penang which is lighter in colour and dry as well. It has a nice ‘wok hei’ (wok heat) aroma and it is one of the good ones in KL that I came across. Another thing I like about this stall is the assistant uses disposable plastic to handle the raw keuh teow (noodles) to ensure cleanliness. The cooking utensils used are also clean! My wife loves the Char Kueh Teow from this stall very much, so I ‘tar pau’ (takeaway) one packet for her. She was busy at home helping my kids with their exam revision, so couldn’t join us for a night out! Prices start from RM3; I guess must be ‘kosong’ (without condiments or eggs, written in Mandarin, sorry lah, ‘Bananaman’ cannot read); Small is RM3.50 and Large RM4.00.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t see any chairs or tables provided by this stall. The Ali Food’s Corner Restaurant actually allows this Char Kueh Teow owner to serve it inside their outlet. However, be prepared to wait during peak hours! Fancy having sawi (Chinese mustard) added Char Keuh Teow with a cup of Mamak Teh Tarik? (Milk Tea)

Location: Night Char Kueh Teow Stall Next to Restaurant Ali Food’s Corner c/o 28, Persiaran Mergastua, Kepong Baru (Same row, the other end of Mobil)
Operating Hours: 7pm to 12am
Google Map: Latitude +3° 12' 8.30", Longitude +101° 38' 41.84"

Hickory Barbecue Sauce Pork Ribs with honey – Simple Recipe

I love the taste of succulent and tender roast ribs. Many years ago, when my company sent me to Erie, Pennsylvania for 2 weeks, I had a great time eating bbq baby back ribs in the hotel I was residing in! Since there was not much things to do after training, I had plenty of time to slowly enjoy the tender barbecued ribs. It took me around 45 minutes to finish the whole rack! LOL! Recently, I chanced upon some nice ribs cut and decided to roast it using hickory barbecue sauce. Nothing beats the smell of freshly barbecued hickory sauce ribs!

Ingredients
Ribs, One rack
Hickory Barbecue Sauce (HP)
Pepper, a dash
Honey, 1 tablespoon

Marinade the ribs overnight with the hickory barbecue sauce and pepper. Wrap the ribs with aluminium foil and roast it in the oven at 200 Dec C for 1 ½ hour. This is to make the ribs tender. If you are afraid that your TNB (Malaysian Electricity Board) bill might shoot up, then you can actually steam it over high heat first before going on to the next step. Open up the aluminium foil and glaze the ribs with honey and hickory barbecue sauce again. Continue roasting with the aluminium foil open for around 20 minutes. PS : The ribs would taste better if you use charcoal to barbecue it!