Bunga Telang (Scientific name, Clitoria Termatea), Colouring for Pulut Tai Tai (Nyonya Glutinous Rice Cake with Kaya Spread and Kelantanese Nasi Kerab

The Nyonya and Babas in Malaysia use Bunga Telang extract as food colouring. This dark blue extract is one of the important ingredients for a popular Nyonya ‘kuih’ (dessert), the Pulut Tai Tai. In Kelantan, it is use as colouring for their famous nasi kerabu. I remember, as a kid I used to see my mom collecting and drying these flowers which are then boiled in water. The blue coloured water was then added to a portion of the glutinous rice. My dad made a wooden mould with a top cover which heavy bricks are placed on top to compress the pulut tai tai (Nyonya Glutinous Rice Cake). The pulut tai tai is eaten with kaya spread (egg custard jam). Bunga telang roots have unique medicinal properties. It can help to alleviate the symptoms’ of stress and depression. The roots can also be used to cure whopping cough! I planted some seed that my mom gave me in my backyard and they do grow very fast. This creeper plant grew all over my fence and also on my neighbours’ rather quickly. It was growing too fast and one day I over trimmed it and the plant died. Recently I discovered there were new plants growing healthily at the back alley of my house. The seeds must have dropped there! Due to its’ resemblance to the human female genital, the bunga telang is scientifically known as Clitoria. I wonder what was in the botanist mind when he/ she named this flower!

My Favourite Wantan Mee at Matahari Coffee Shop (Kedai Kopi), Bandar Sri Damansara

At last, I found a good wantan mee that suits my taste buds. Matahari restaurant was newly renovated and they have different batch of hawkers occupying a stall at different time of the day. The first batch would operate the stall from morning till late lunch time and the next batch would take over at night. So, the same stall will sell different type of hawker food in the morning and at night. I was told that the young wantan mee stall owner actually paid a wantan noodles supplier extra money to put in additional ingredients in to the noodles supplied to him. The mee is more of the soft non springy type but have nicer flavour than normal wantan mee. He has also perfected the gravy for the dry wantan mee. Somehow the gravy is very special and I have I just love the taste! The wantan (sui kow) has nice sesame oil aroma and taste good. This is one of the best sui kow I ever tasted! His sui kow is a favourite among the night diners at this restaurant. Even the char siew has nice smoky smell. I would normally ‘tar pau’ the wantan mee for supper at night because the restaurant can be kind of stuffy and hot during peak hours. Whenever the helper sees me, she would know what I want to order. Before I reach the stall, she will say “Double large mee with char siew and wantan, sir?” (Double large mee RM5)

Kedai Kopi Matahari
Jalan Tanjung SD13/1 Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200, Kuala Lumpur

This wantan mee stall operates from 3pm to 11pm Map to Matahari Restaurant, Bandar Sri Damansara

PS : Jan 2010, As of to date the original owner has moved to Setia Alam. The new person running the stall changed the wantan mee taste a little bit.

Chee Cheong Fun and Fried Banana Fritter (Pisang Raja Goreng) at O&S Restaurant, Paramount Garden, PJ

After an appointment in Cyberjaya, my friend and I took a detour on the way back to PJ and dropped by at O&S for a meal of Penang Chee Cheong Fun. Both of us have been craving for Penang Chee Cheong Fun, so this was a good opportunity for us to satisfy our cravings! LOL! We ordered two plates of Penang Chee Cheong Fun with dark gooey har ko (prawn paste) gravy. The pungent gravy is nice and sweet. It tastes very good with the spicy chilli paste and crispy fried shallots. We finished out meal in no time and I drank a glass of iced coffee to my heart content. It was a satisfying simple meal indeed!

While walking out from the restaurant, my friend noticed the goreng pisang (fried banana fritter) stall. She wondered whether it is the same style as the famous one in Penang (like the one in Tg Bungah). I told her that it should be the same since most of the stall owners here are Penangites. So we bought 2 pieces as our dessert and ate them in the car. They taste quite good and the banana is sweet. The flour batter is very crispy. This is good dessert to complete our lunch meal. O&S Restaurant Address Jalan 20/14Paramount Garden 46300 Petaling Jaya GPS Latitude 3° 6'28.08"N Longitude 101°37'29.51"E MAP to O&S PJ

Steamed Silver Pomfret with Salted Vegetable and Plum (Scientific name Pampus Argenteus, Bawal Putih, Tau Tay) Recipe

Pomfret is a prized fish by local fishermen because locally caught pomfret fetch a good price. I am wary of buying imported pomfret (bawal putih) because they a normally laced with preservatives. Pomfret is one of the easiest fish to cook and it defrost easily due to its’ slim body. Steaming the fish is the fastest way to cook it; therefore this is one of my favourite fish in my list whenever I go to the market.

Ingredients
Pomfret, 3 to 4 fishes, cleaned
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Ginger, 4 to 5 slices, cut into strips if you like
Preserved plum, 2 pcs, crushed
Ham Choy (Preserved salted vegetable), 2 leaves, cut into strips
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into four
Salt to taste, (Note I did not add salt because salted vegetable and preserved plum is already salty)

Arrange all the ingredients in the steaming tray. Steam in high heat for 25 minutes and serve with white rice!

A Batch of Funny Shaped Carrots

I was at the Kepong wet market last Saturday and I dropped by at one of the vegetable stall to buy some carrots. The whole box was full of odd shaped carrots. Then I asked the Auntie...with my ‘mar mar tei’ Cantonese................

Me: Auntie, Tim kai semua kam yeong geh? Chong yau tai ya hap mou? (Why are all the carrots in odd shapes? Do you have another box?)

Auntie: Ee kor carrot leh, hai mou tak teng geh! Sek Sai, pau lei ya man hou keng! (These carrots are very special. If you eat, at night sure to ‘perform’ well)

Auntie at the market also can joke like that with me! Takut (scared) lor! Then I bought some home and ate the carrots..............................nothing happen also! Which one looks familiar? LOL!

Mi Goreng Sedap (Instant Fried Noodle)

My friend told me that Mi Goreng Sedap is quite nice and I bought a packet of five in a hypermarket when I was shopping for my groceries. I cooked it for supper that night. It came with three types of sauces; dark sweet soya sauce, chilli sauce and garlic oil. There are also the seasoning powder (bumbu) and extra 5x crispy fried shallots (bawang goreng). No wonder my friend says this mee (noodle) is nice. They are rather generous with the fried shallots. I throw in the instant noodle in pot hot boiling water and let it simmer for around 2 minute. Then I drain away the water. I put all the sauces, fried shallots and seasoning powder in a plate and then the noodles on top. I then mixed them up. Got to go and cook another packet again! Posting this is making me drooling for Mi Goreng Sedap. Ha ha ha!

Ho Ho Steamboat Restaurant, Manjalara, Kepong

Actually I would rather eat steamboat at home rather than eating out. Anyway, we ended up having our family meal at Ho Ho Steamboat in Manjalara, Kepong. They have been operating this branch for quite some time and my friend told me that their seafood is fresh. We ordered a steamboat set for 6 persons at a price of RM13.50 per person. The set came with all the usual steamboat stuff like fishball, fish meat, white tofu, fried tofu pok, pork balls, sui kow, prawns, fu chuk, fried yam and the long worm like fish paste. We also ordered an extra big plate of Golden Mushroom because my daughter likes them. My friend was right; the seafood here is really fresh and sweet! I like the fried yam. It has a nice soft powdery texture. The total bill plus drinks came up to be RM103.40.

Address : Ho Ho Steamboat Menjalara Branch (Next to UOB Branch)
Address : No. 86, Jalan Medan Putra 3, Medan Putra Business Centre, Bandar Menjalara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Telephone : +6 012-2911699 +6 012-6211338

Map to Ho Ho Steamboat, Manjalara Kepong, KL

Here is a list of Ho Ho Branches in KL and Selangor that I found at their website.
Ho Ho Steamboat Kota Damansara Branch Address : No. 22A, Jalan PJU 5/8, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Telephone : +6 012-312 8522 (Mr. Kah Yin)

Ho Ho Steamboat Segambut Branch Address : No. 67, Jalan Segambut, 51200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Telephone : +6 012-289 3119 (Peter Lee) +6 017-3192939

Ho Ho Steamboat Sri Petaling Branch Address : No. 19, Jalan Radin Anum Satu, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Telephone : +6 012-289 3119 (Peter Lee) +6 012-318 6321 (Boy) +6 012-234 2558 (Mr. Lee) Facsimile : +6 03-9056 1250

Ho Ho Steamboat Klang Branch Address : No. 2, Jalan Bayu Tinggi, 5/KS6, Batu Unjur, 41200 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. Telephone : +6 016-321 2080 +6 016-339 0203

You Solved the Rubik’s Cube Puzzle?

This cube puzzle created a craze in the 80s and was invented by Professor Erno Rubik. I remember that I used to bring this amazing puzzle to play at school. That was quite a long time ago and I have since forgotten the formula to solve the Rubik Puzzle. Anyway, I saw this Rubik’s cube with all the colours perfectly arranged on my table one day. I thought that my little daughter has finally managed to solve the puzzle. But then, my son let the cat out of the bag. He said, “Aiya papa, Mei Mei took out all the stickers and placed them back again”. Hah, cheeky little girl!