chaokar smokes...

Il Bacaro @ Campbell House

2012-01-08T03:13:00.001-08:00

So after a long day at work, I head out splurging on food to reward myself. Even though I’m in the island of hawker’s food paradise, I do miss good ol’ Klang Valley bakuteh (Penang bakuteh sucks) and the Westerns fares. I drove myself around and I came across this interesting shop house. It says Campbell House and there is this dainty Italian restaurant tucked away cozily by the name Il Bacaro.

As I walk in, I love the tiles. The 19th century tiles, restored and geometrically arranged did thrill my OCB positively. Yeah, I’ve got this thing on organized stuffs and etc. And I like restored buildings. Since the UNESCO recognition, there’s a lot of restoration works going around and many of these building is being restored into charming landmarks.

And so, I ordered my dinner. A glass of wine, vongole al pepe, and pan seared salmon with wilted spinach. Immediately they set my table, served my wine and the bread. I am trying to make myself comfortable avoiding glares of other diners, as I hog away the only available table for 5. Well dining alone can sometimes be interesting, the waitress check on me frequently and attempted small talks which leads into introducing me to the kitchen crew and show me the whole place after my dinner. The wine wasn’t great, but the bread reminds me of steamed Chinese sponge cake, in a good way.

I love the attentive service and the timely flow of the entire dinner. I am guessing this 6 months old establishment has got a good food culturist advisor to begin with.

And next came the appetizer, vongole al pepe. Clams with white wine sauce is my all time favorite. And they have cook it well. All the flavours are right, well infused with fresh herbs and chilies. The parsley are home-grown herbs from their roof top.

And then came the main, pan seared salmon with wilted spinach and Béarnaise sauce. Love the crispy skin, but a teeny bit over salt for me. The sauce goes well together but the kitchen crew got to mind those bones I found tho.

After dinner I got a tour with my coffee and dessert was on the house. I chatted away with Eric, the person in charge of running the place. And I was lucky enough to be given a tour at the rooms on the first and second floor. The boutique suites and the restaurant is lovely, and topping up with lovely people that runs the place. And they change their menu on monthly basis, it would be interesting to check them out regularly.

Il Bacaro @ Campbell House
106, Lebuh Campbell,
10100 Georgetown,
T: +604 4261 8290
W: www.campbellhousepenang.com

P/S: By the way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :P

Here’s a thought

2011-11-13T04:04:00.001-08:00

It has been stormy. As things are trying to settle itself in this new environment, emotionally life was shaken by the few takes. Over the weeks, while I’m swamped with work and maneuvering the unusual, surprises bite me. Few times.

But before that, the last gastronomical adventure took me around Pengkalan Weld. The place is famous for the houses in stilts, built along the straits and and categorized by clans and Chinese surnames.

Walking on the wooden planks, every steps creaks and to the residents it became daily rhythm of life. The creaks vary by speed, weights, walking style and of daily routine sorts. (ahem!) And while I walked out from the neighborhood, I spotted this little restaurant, Kar Bee Cafe with a line of people waiting. It is a seafood place servicing noodles and porridge, where you pick your choice of seafood, carb, soup base (or porridge) and wait.

That evening I feel like having Tom Yum with thick beehoon (rice vermicelli), prawns, fried fish and squids. Using the plate stacking system, I’d say they are pretty fast for a restaurant with just one cook. And the continuous buzzing gas-flame that whirrs loudly, a sign of a good ‘wok hei’ (a very hot stove, to a point of slight burnt, significant in Chinese cooking).

So I slurp away my noodles, and first thought it felt like under salt. Or not. Second slurp, I could taste the sweetness of the fresh seafood. And later it all came in harmony it was perfect. Perhaps over the years, I have gotten use to stronger stock that it somewhat camouflaged the freshness of ingredients used. Here, it reminds me of the ‘just-right-subtleness’ stocks and it brings out the seafood flavors better. Kinda like my grandma’s cooking, slightly under salt but the protein taste better.

So the meal came up to about RM 15++ with generous portion, definitely fresh and wholesome. Twas a good meal!

Kar Bee Cafe,

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And about the emo-surprises.
1) I missed an accident by inches on one of my drive back from Penang to KL. Mr. Sleepy 3 tonne lorry decided to sway to my lane at 1am. My massive honking woke him up or otherwise, catastrophic.

2) I had fever, and I pop in aspirins, thinking it would go away. But it didn’t, next day woke with a woozy feeling strange metallic taste in my mouth and sores on my tongue. Couple of hours later, my tongue hurts and it bleed. Then I lost my sense of taste for few weeks. Doctor couldn’t find anything wrong about it and told me about tongue cancer and ask me to observe for and anomaly. Tongue cancer!? Thankfully, the sores went away 2 weeks later and I regain my taste bud again. But during that period, it’s was depressing. I didn’t even know how to share it and kept it to myself for that 14 over days. Depressing shit.

3) The passing of an inspiring musician that I had briefly work with, Brian Tan of pancreatic cancer (during my 2 weeks of tongue/mouth observation). Depressing that he had left and more depressing thinking about what will happen if it I had cancer. Sounds silly, but I couldn’t escape thinking about death, funeral, love, family, friends and all.

Geez, it’s far off the usual foodie post, but it did wake me up on life. Still recovering from the depressing thoughts, but have set some priorities right too. Stay tuned !

From the pearl of orient

2011-10-15T01:06:00.001-07:00

And it has been about 3 weeks now that I’m living in Penang. Yup, if you didn’t know already, work sent me to this lovely island and I’ll be based here for some time. I do miss Klang Valley but settling here isn't too bad. To begin with I got a lovely condo by the sea. The layout of the place had all the rooms and the living room with sea view.

So when I’m not work, and not staring blank at sea from my room, I go stuff myself silly. Well, it’s Penang folks, there is always something to munch on, every corner, all the time. So last weekend I went to look for char kuey teow. I have sampled few including the notorious ones, the hidden ones, the dancing ones and so on, and I think I found my favorite.

This is char koay teow @ Sin Guat Keong Kopitiam. They only sell from evening to late night, and it’s char koay teow with a twist; by adding deep fried mantis prawns at RM 5 per plate.

From a distance I could already hear the clanking of their wok and when I got to their stall, the air is filled with aroma of chilies, charcoal and awesomeness. So I ordered my portion, and before anything, it’s served. This is fast! Super fast! The glistening flat rice noodles is packed with flavours, of being spicy, salty and this unexpected sweet-ish taste. The fresh prawns with the plump cockles and the meaty mantis gives a lovely combination to the oily charcoal scented noodles. Makes me salivate just to rewrite the experience again.

And unlike the other infamous notorious yet arrogant char koay teow stall, this guy is very very friendly. His wife and his workers have a welcoming gesture despite swarming with orders and work. And they love sharing their stories whenever they can. I chatted with the wife, shyly but proud she told me about all the media feature they had over the years. Their char koay teow stall has been around since his grandfather’s time. That’s like 3 generation ago, and the same night I was there, his teenage son is helping and honing the cooking skills under the watchful eyes of his parents.

Then I asked about the speed, how could they serve it so quickly. The trick is pre-fried koay teow. As part of the preparation he would pre-fried plain koay teow and upon orders he would refry them again with the rest of the ingredients, plate by plate. That way they could serve it faster and at the same time keeping the ingredients cook time and taste, just right.

Thumbs up for char koay teow @ Sin Guat Keong Kopitiam.

86,Lebuh Kimberly, 10100 Georgetown, Pulau Pinang

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Hip Hip Hooray.

2011-08-25T18:06:00.001-07:00

And here it goes.

I guess I have got to stop starting my entries on being apologetic for non regular updates or so. Life has been hectic. Over the past months, there were some travelling, show producing, house renovation, working assignments outside Klang Valley and all that jazz.

collage: bens’, bea;s wedding, assam laksa, nasi lemak

Right now, I am in Penang. The ‘rojak’ of cultural integration and street food abundance. I look forward to every meal and I am equally surprised with the space available in my stomach. And reasonably priced too.

collage: curry mee, nasi kandar, ais kacang, lengcheekang & sunset bridge

And another reason I blame of lack of post is... my outdated camera. Hang on EOS 60D. I will be back. Soon.

collage: sunday roast, wholemeal sandwich, piggy door stopper, tommy le baker & night bridge

… Selamat Hari Raya !

Comforting porridge

2011-07-12T00:25:00.001-07:00

And it bring back a lot of memories whenever I eat porridge. Back then, porridge is one of the few things I hated, same goes for bitter gourd, durians, canned black beans fish and etc. I couldn’t remember how it all gradually became my favourite food as I grow older. Having porridge for lunch was like a regular affair, especially for my dad. Even though Cantonese, I think my dad grew up around the strong Teochew community in Kedah and Penang making Teowchew porridge a regular lunch for us. But be it Teochew or Cantonese porridge, I just simple don’t like it. Whenever mum cooks them, I thought someone at home is sick. And when she does cook it for lunch, I would cycle out from the house and head over the nearby Thai food stall for lunch. Of course I would get a good scolding when I got home later.

So, somehow somewhere between the times that I am ready to leave home for tertiary education, I mysteriously discovered a new appreciation for porridge (and also the rest of the food that I hated earlier).

It is comforting and it feels like home. Really.

And one reason that I like to cook them is, they are really easy. For Teochew porridge; just boil it with water and prepare some side dishes and for Cantonese porridge; just chuck everything in timely and let it cook.

Here’s my Monday comfort dinner:

CMCC porridge (kinda mouthful to name it, but it’s: Chicken + Mushroom + Clams + Century Egg porridge)

Using Asian agak agak techniques, boil some rice (washed) with a knob of ginger and some dried oyster. While waiting for it to simmer, soak some mushrooms and prepare the chicken. I use chicken thigh particularly. And once it come to boil, add in the chicken. Once the chicken is cook, debone it and shred the meat. The remaining of the bones can go into the porridge. Then wait for the porridge consistency to thicken up. In between that, give it a good stir to avoid if from going lumpy and burnt. After a reasonable amount of time, add in the shredded chickens, coarsely chopped century egg and diced mushroom. And of course the pacific clams, and the brine is optional. A dash of sesame oil and salt to taste.

Bring to boil and it’s ready to be served with a dash of pepper and a whip of soy sauce.

Easy?

‘Spring clean’ lunch

2011-06-26T08:54:00.001-07:00

Once in a while, you got to clear up the fridge. Thing about grocery shopping is, I tend to over do it, sometimes. So it’s like spring cleaning the freezer day. I found half a chicken in the freezer and knowing it’s been frozen there for a while, best way to deal with it is to cook it in stronger flavours.

So a quick curry chicken it is.

I pounded a mixture of garlic, ginger, turmeric, white pepper, star anise and close together. Finely diced some onion and chop the chicken into bite sizes. And a bowl of thick curry paste.

And I got some idea to make spiced rice, so using the same pounded ingredients, I sauté about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and add in 1 stick of cinnamon. Then I fry together with some rice (washed then strained to get rid of excess water). Then pop it into the rice cooker and a slab of butter.

Back to the curry, sauté the rest of the pounded mixture, add in the onions and let it turn golden and aromatic. Then add in the curry paste and give it some time to turn slightly reddish. Then add the chicken, and give it a good stir fry, coating the chicken with the paste. Then enough water to preferred consistency, and let it simmer till it’s ready. Salt and pepper to taste.

And within minutes, rice is ready and serve it hot with the quick curry chicken.

Yumz.

A night of discovery

2011-05-09T02:34:00.001-07:00

And when I received the invitation to Le Meridien, from Damien, it seemed pretty mysterious. From the e-mail, first thing that came to my mind was … blindfold dining? Well, it wasn’t of course.

Braving the horrible Friday traffic, and end up taking LRT to Le Meridien, we (qwazy monkey) are the earliest to arrive (and possibly the last two to blog about this). Gathered with Cumi & Ciki and Fat Boy Bakes, then greeted by Damien who organized the event.
Still with no details on where we’ll be dining, we start off with flute clanking session at the Conservatory. Flows of Mumm’s Champagne makes ice breaking easy, and soon KY Speaks joined us at the bar. The servers brought this lovely looking amuse bouche; of 5 different types. Pacing myself, I tried the tomato and strawberry gazpacho served in test tubes, pan seared tuna sashimi and sesame wakame salad, and martini of tomato salsa with mozzarella mousse and pesto.

The gazpacho is a good start and it has the right blend of tangy and saltiness. But the camel inside me wished it could be a bigger portion. Alternatively, sip in more tubes. And the pan seared tuna was a good compliment. I guess it’s the current hot spell that I chose the fresh and cold alternatives; martini of tomato salsa with mozzarella mousse and pesto. Although not served in a martini glass, the layers of flavours are great; with the creamy mozzarella the jellied tomato and the sharp pesto trace.

As dinner begins, we were directed to Favola, the Italian restaurant of Le Meridien, where executive Chef Antoine Rodriguez awaits us like a happy Santa. In his thick Italian and Malaysian accent, Chef Antoine certainly has larger than life personality and even greater reputation in the industry. Passionately he introduced us the next course of antipasti duo (a formal before-the-meal servings). But before that (that makes it a before the antipasti i.e. before-before meals, LOL), a quick introduction and sampling of tomatoes, mozzarella cheeses and some wholesome bread.

Antipasti duo is served, starting with freddo; (the cold dish) of smoked salmon with cold cucumber and macadamia puree. The combination of cucumber which is usually waterish is being given a bodied texture by the macadamia nuts and it became this lovely green paste. The smoked salmon sits on it with glory and take it all in one bite is just splendid. The cucumber paste lingers on your palate and your breath is filled with the smoky salmon scent. Excellent!

And that just made a great line up for caldo; (the soup dish) of wild mushroom risotto with clear beef broth and pan seared duck liver. This unassuming dish is my favourite for the evening. The rich beef consommé with the silky rice works like genius. If it is not as comforting already, the risotto dish is paired with pan seared duck liver. Spoon in the rice, a dab of broth and a cut of liver, it is all the basic flavours and simply umami-ish. This dish is so good, I kept talking about it for weeks.

And just when we thought the dinner will continue on, we were asked to leave. In a good way! It would be at Prime for the mains. By now, we figured out the system, the discovery journey is dinner around Le Meridien’s restaurant selections. Starters at Conservatory Bar, appetizers at Favola, mains at Prime and desserts … somewhere.

Prime, is the famous steak house which has won numerous awards throughout its term. We are quickly reunited with Chef Antoine again (some shortcut he took from the kitchen) and once we entered the room, lo and behold - blocks of beefs presented to us. And yet again it’s the enlightening session where chef explains on the different beef grades, the origins, the feed and the all that is relevant.

Quickly and gracelessly we moved to our seats, anxiously waiting for the mains to arrive. Throughout the evening, in between waiting we were also given pairings of drinks from champagne, prosecco, red wine & ... to go with. And so, the beef dish is served!

It is again a duo dish, of charcoal grilled blackmore wagyu chuck flap tail marble 9 with roma tomato confit, brocolini and braised intercoastal on mascarpone polenta. That is mouthful, just to say it out and to eat it. The wagyu, cooked medium rare, locks in all the necessary flavours; of the freshness and the beautiful fat marbling. The braised intercoastal portion is yet another dimension by itself. With the signature BBQ sauce pairs up so well, it is an embrace to the sexy Argentine-Tango dance. (What?!)
Being tipsy and full, the restaurant hopping continues. The last stop would be at Latest Recipe, for desserts. Flouncing our way there, while trying our best to hold in the tummy and look sober, we were presented with the dessert platter. It is comprise of honeydew sago shot, carrot cake, lychee tart, choc mousse with citrus jelly, vanilla crème’ brule, and agar agar.

There is always room for dessert. And the night is end with White Russian (cocktail), coffee, laughter and good company. Thanks to the team that efficiently manage the evening. The discovery journey has showed the essence of each restaurant and the thinking process behind it. Note that the restaurant hopping is not available to the public, but we all agree that that the same concept can be a great dining journey itself to those who are interested.
I will come back for the risotto.
p/s: Must not forget my flash gun next time

Restoran Bukit Tinggi BBQ

2011-03-17T08:32:00.001-07:00

It has been my fourth trip to this place and I am just about to blog it. Qwazy Monkey introduced me to this place, and it instantly become one of my favourite place, despite it’s arrogant flair. VERY.

About 40 minutes drive from Damansara to Bukit Tinggi, (not Klang) through Bt. Caves then Karak Expressway (towards Genting Highlands), you will quickly escape the bustling city and be greeted with greeneries as far as it goes. You will come to a small very-Chinese village which is easy to spot on your right and soon after it’s the exit to Bukit Tinggi/Janda Baik on your left. The restaurant is right behind this BHP petrol station. Confusing? I’ve attached the goog-map for your convenience at the end of the post.

So the 10 of us arrive at noon, and we quickly being asked to sit. They don’t allow you to choose where you want to sit, and you have to follow their instructions instead. Being a regular, Qwazy Monkey ordered their signature dishes (almost all of them actually) till the captain stop us for ordering more. Yeah, they stop you.There’s a policy of no over ordering as the crew just do not tolerate wastage, and there is no take-away policy too. Cannot tapau!

While waiting for our food, I was drawn to the ceiling. They are filled with umbrellas. No idea what about it and I dare not to ask why either. All the umbrellas had signatures and messages on it and they are hung upside down. I couldn’t stop imagining if there is a sudden strong gush of winds blowing and how the dust, debris and possibly dead insects that has been accumulating would fall upon us. Since no questions allowed, the hanging ceiling umbrellas remained mystery.

The walls are pretty ‘bare’ where it’s constructed by sandwiched planks of wood with empty wine bottles, liquor bottles and sometimes bicycle’s rims. Interesting shades of greenish-colour they form. And looking at the conditions of the bottles, it could tell that the restaurant has been around for quite a while. Again, no questions asked, so the age of the place is equally a mystery.

Then first dish is served, spotting this quirky Cantonese name: “wu li dan dou” which means ‘chapalang’ or very-mixed matched. Doesn’t look as appetising, but this rice dish took me by surprise. With a mystery (you will see frequent use of this word throughout the post) stock, and grilled vegetables and gourds, it's comforting. It’s a lovely consommé with cooked rice and it is paired with the earthy flavours from the cabbage, mushrooms, grilled peppers and pumpkins.

Proteins are served next , and we have the “hoi sin bou”, roast juicy chicken and roast rack of lamb.

“ Hoi sin bou” which is a pot of seafood is a simple steamed seafood dish. On different occasions, you get different potpourri of sea produce, depending what’s the fresh the cook could get. It is steamed over a refreshingly mystery stock and I can definitely taste a hint of chinese cooking wine. Served along with the steamer pot, it is kept warm till you finish the last bit of it.

Then the roast chicken came. I love the smell, the color, the charred-crispy skin and the ohmygod-juicy meat. I am guessing that it involves a two-step cooking process here. First it is cooked in a hot oven covered with a foil. This helps to make the meat juicy and produce more essencely-sauce. And toward the last cooking mile, the foil is removed and with a honey glaze rubbed on the top, and a high oven heat, it gives a lovely skin-crisp hot chicken! And the chicken-juice. Itellyiu, it’s awesome!

Then, roast lamb is served. The rack of lamb used is imported from New Zealand, and it is given an interesting twist; to me it's like a combination technique of the West and Chinese way of roasting. The meat is superbly tender with it’s distinct lamb-slightly gamey and the skins reminds me of skin of a Chinese roast duck. And that zing! from the homemade mint sauce. It is sharp yet tangy and cuts very well with the lamb fat. Zinggg!!

And with that much meat, we need some green balance. Something unusual from your regular veggies, this is stir fry green chillies with garlic and a dose of soy sauce. It spots a lovely crunch with a mild heat and a surprisingly sweet after taste. When the dish is being served, a friend forgotten about the no questions policy and he started to ask if this is “yong toufu” (stuffed bean curds/veggies) dish, and he got the sharpest gaze from the server and in her high pitched fortissimo reply, my friend was warned, if he ever wanted “yong toufu” he can go have it in some other restaurant! And then there was a moment of silence!

Chomp Chomp Chomp!

And remember the earlier “hoi sin bou'”

…once we finished the seafood, they took the steamer pot back to the kitchen and the cook make a lovely water cress + oyster mushroom + “tien chat'” ( seeweed-like) soup. With the earlier stock plus the excess sweet drips from the steamed seafood, this is really good.

And that was almost the end of the dishes, and we wanted more. We asked to have another dish added, but the captain refuse to put our order in. He insist that we should finish up everything on the table first. And when we did, we asked for him again. This time after inspecting our table, he just walk away after we said we wanted another tofu dish. The thing is, there were no acknowledgement of our order, no eye contact and he just walk away. That left us wondering for the next 15 minutes until they brought us the signature tofu.

Looking simple, this is one of the best tofu dish I had so far. The tofu as fresh as the morning dew (quoting Iron Chef’s dub, as I am typing this) is paired with a kungfu-fried sunny side up (or INSIDE, in this case) and a generous drizzle of the local Bentong soy sauce. Spoon a sandwich of tofu + egg + soy sauce, and you will get the silky runny egg yolk oozing out with glory. I can’t help but to order a bowl of rice to go with it. Ah, heavenly!

Despite their eccentric and arrogant flair, this restaurant is one of the best kept secret. Be prepared to deal with the not-so-friendly and in-your-face service staff and the cook, but for the great food that they have, I’d say it’s worth the tolerance.

Here’s a summary on how to deal with the restaurant:
1. Sit wherever you were told to, even if there is aplenty of tables to choose from or even if you wanted a table with good ambient lighting for photography, you can’t choose. Just sit as instructed and sit quietly.
2. DO NOT walk into the kitchen! Friends who was curious walked in to take pictures and they were chased away by the cook that was watching some HK TVB drama on his DVD while he grills the fish.
3. DO NOT make comments about the dish in front of the service crew.
4. DO NOT tapau or takeaway. It’s strictly prohibited
5. DO NOT be surprise if they walk away out of a sudden, abruptly. Even before you finish your sentence.
6. ENJOY YOUR MEAL!

Restoran Bukit Tinggi BBQ
PT 15792 & 15793, Jalan Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Pahang, 28750
Tel : 09- 233 0330

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meat+vege/fruit-combi

2011-02-10T07:50:00.001-08:00

Interesting how a random lunch outings lead to series of discovery of similar taste buds and crave for good-ol’ hometown-ish cookings. I think this is also the ‘northern’ thingy, where most Penang’ites, Kedah’ans, Perlis’ian and Perak’ian share in common. They so love their food. Wait I think all Chinese do. Including the partial Chinese, and the dan lain-lain (pun intended and, and not being racist). <—these days say something discomfort even at your own blog you ‘may’ get RM6m legal suit.

So after a heavy lunch, the conversation goes on … and it’s mostly about food. Actually just about food. And without question, it sparked up my let’s-rush-to-cook thingy. Dashing off from office with the unusual amazingly smooth Thursday traffic, I got happier when I’m able to get all the ingredients I had in mind from my trusty lil-vege-shop. The plan for dinner is to make stuffed bitter gourd with salted fish + pork marinade and pineapple prawns.

So once I got home, I start to cut the bitter gourd into 2 inches length wise and cored the seeds. After washing them, soak them with same salt just to cut away excessive bitterness. Thaw minced pork, while waiting get into chopping garlic, slicing ginger, julienne half an onion, diced a handful of carrot, and chopped some 2 chilli padi away. While waiting for the frozen pork to unfroze itself, peel the prawns, slice the pineapple and pop some rice into the cooker of course. And do something decent with the coriander.

Then, next 20 minutes while watching TVB drama on TV, knead the minced pork with a dash of sesame oil, two quick rounds of soy sauce, pinch of pepper, half a teaspoon of oyster sauce, half a teaspoon of molasses sugar, and a teaspoon of corn starch. Once it get all mushy, add in a pinch of chopped garlic and ginger. Add in the diced carrots too. Now at this time, scissors in sufficent mui heong salted fish into the meat loaf. Lastly sprinkle some wolfberries. See the whole idea is simpler than the name of the dish - ‘Stuffed bitter gourd with salted fish + pork marinade. So what’s next is merely assembling, by stuffing them into the earlier brine-soaking bitter gourds. Arrange them on a place and steam it. For about 20 minutes or just when the bitter gourd turn pale and soft. You don’t need any other sauce preparation as, the steam and the dish itself will work it’s magic to allow a sufficient shallow sauce. Seriously simple !

And the next dish, while waiting for the gourds to steam, coat the clean prawns lightly with corn starch that has been mixed with black pepper and salt. Coat them lightly, which is like, pick up the cleaned prawns with chopstick and front-back-dip-repeat onto the flour and sizzle them into the hot frying pan like. Do not overcoat. Nasty and rubbery they would be. And pan fry the till golden crisp, all curled up and set aside.

Then the simple sauce, sauté ginger and onion, adding in garlic and chilli when it get aromatic. Slide in the pineapple, and I use the canned pineapple rings here, as they spot a sweeter flavours from their sweetened marinade mix. Once it gets sizzling, add in like 4 table spoon of the earlier can leftover syrup. Add in a pinch of salt then the stems of coriander together with earlier crispy plump prawns. A quick stir fry and throw in the balance of the coriander leaves. Then serve-lah.

The dish today is inspired by meat+vege/fruit-combi. Both dishes have the right mix of both vegetables / fruits and protein. And just so you notice, there is no exact measurements mentioned this time. I just feel the best rule of thumb is cook by taste. Your own taste.

Here, try your version and drop me a feedback!

Cheerios.

re-Starting

2011-01-28T00:20:00.001-08:00

I have been bad!

My apologies being being un-disciplined, uninspired and being missing in for the past months. There is a long list of belated festive greetings and interesting food and places that I have ventured yet to be featured. And to feel even worse, I still get visitors stopping by and read the old posts and hoping for new posts.

Chaokar Smokes would be a two years soon, since I started in Feb 2009.

2010, is a great year. And for 2011, I am going to adhere to how things started. *Fingers crossed

The Perak invasion #1: Anson Food Company

2010-11-12T19:24:00.001-08:00

Everyone have this spot for homey hearty meals. Most of the times, they are simple food prepared at home with lots of love, passion and usually for the longing return.

Back then when I come back from the morning school, I always wonder what mom is cooking. And I could instantly tell through the lovely smell while walking up the stairs. Opening the blue plastic-net-like cover would reveal what I smell and initiate the hungry nerve reactions.

Similarly now whenever I ‘balik kampung’, it is the hearty nostalgic meals and lots of ‘makan’ session (and family of course) that is meaningful the long driving distance.

Jenifer invited the few of us to sample her hearty ventures, in Section 17. Known as Anson Food Company, it is also under the same management of the nearby Food Foundry. To get as homey as it could, Jenifer is from Teluk Intan (Anson) also the chef hails from the same town too.

Nyonya acar (RM 7) is a good way to start with its tangy and spicy flavors; tossed with chili sauce, crushed peanuts and topped with toasted sesame seeds. The ‘bakkien’ (RM 8) which translates as pork rolls is a common dish during festive seasons is the next dish. You get seasoned pork with minced pairing vegetables all wrapped up in a bean curd skin and fried to golden crisp.

There is the aromatic crispy duck (RM 25) which is pretty much interactive food. You get to wrap together in their home made popia skin with minced roast duck with cucumber, spring onions and sweet sauce.

More appetizers coming in with the sesame prawn toast (RM 6). A simple white bread covered with sesame seeds with prawn fillings. This is new for me, and I immediately love the aroma from the sesame seeds. There is this crunchy bite with the sweet prawn filling which would make this dish great for an all day snacks. While we’re almost full with the appetizers, the mains are served, we’ve got steamed pork with salted fish (RM 18), sweet sour pork (RM 19), stir fry vegetable (RM 11), Hakka pork belly with yam (RM 26), curry chicken (RM 19), steamed fish with Anson sauce (RM market price), Anson braised duck (RM 26) and Assam Seafood (RM 30). This is one heavy lunch!!!

Overall I like the appetizer choices and the pork dishes. To sum up, Anson Food Company is inspired by memories of a childhood filled with good food. Their menu comprises home-style Chinese dishes, with Nyonya influences. They currently serve lunch every Tuesdays to Sunday.

Anson Food Company
619, Jalan 17/10
46400 Petaling Jaya

Tel : 03- 7955 2336

View Larger Map

On Blending

2010-10-26T09:36:00.001-07:00

I’ve always wanted to get a blender but never seem to found the one I liked. Well, I do have a food processor, but I wouldn’t want to mix the usage as most of my cooking tend to use strong herbs and ingredients. And a random field work last Friday around Shah Alam, found me a blender. A blender with a bloody good deal.

Supposedly working, we then happen to be in the compounds of the renowned home appliances warehouse sales, where it’s up to 80% off the usual retail price. Instantly a colleague of mine got herself hooked to the ‘cult’ (apple-lah) accessories and I was browsing around aimlessly. And little did I know, I am standing at this special ‘Happy Hour’ section.

Out of no where, a pallet of mixed home appliances were park right in front of me. I reached out for the blender, and there was this tornado of people pushing me left, right, centre and out of the radius. Apparently the ‘Happy Hour’ section is where random selections is being sold at a even cheaper price. Discounts plus more discounts.

I hugged my blender. Tightly. And I should have hugged that bloody deep fryer too. Or that LED TV. Or that Micro Hi-Fi. But seriously RM39 for a blender that is retailing for RM129.90, I am happy!

Since then, I have been blending up concoctions I could think of, and be merry with it. Banana + milk on Saturday, Banana + orange juice + evaporated milk on Sunday and I have been reading about Aguas frescas too.

Wikipedia: Aguas frescas (Spanish for "fresh (cold) waters") are a combination of either fruits, cereals, or seeds with sugar and water, blended to make a beverage.

Aguas Frescas: Termerry = (watermelon + strawberry)

So for Tuesday’s blend I have a combination of any preferred amount of: orange juice + watermelon + strawberries + ice

Method: Blend everything and served chilled.

Perfect for the hot weather.

Curry crab + prawn

2010-10-24T10:06:00.001-07:00

And over a wedding dinner, an ex colleague whom I’ve not seen for months said, so you don’t update anymore? It’s straight forward statement and yeah, I was being lazy and I blame the recent hot weather and the spoilt air conditioner which only I got it fixed yesterday. It’s just sweltering hot recently and I couldn’t blog. (I am attempting tactical excuses here! LOL.)

And so, I was at this sales conference recently, and seated among the seniors during lunch time. Now to have meals with senior management, one must hold back, somehow eat lesser and laugh gracefully. But the good curry I had keep appearing in my mind during the second half of the full day conference. The hotel serve this good blue crab curry!

I love crabs and knowingly I would mess up my white shirt, I had to take a small piece of it. Freaking small piece. So on the drive back, I decided to make dinner and it’s going to be the crab curry I had earlier.

Curry crab + prawns

2 blue crabs

200gm prawns

2 medium sized eggplants

2 onions

Pounded paste of 2cm ginger + 3 cloves of garlic + 1cm turmeric + 1 buah keras + a few white peppers

1 bruised lemon grass

Thick curry paste (5 tablespoon of Adabi crab/prawn curry powder + 2 tablespoon of cili boh + enough water for a thick paste)

100ml of evaporated milk

Heat up wok with oil and sauté the pounded paste till aromatic. Add in the lemon grass and a teaspoon of mix spices (cumin + mustard seeds + 2pc of cloves). Then add in the onions and the curry paste. There’s this change of colour you can easily spot when making curry, it turn darker and that is the time to add in the protein. Once it come to boil, lower the heat and add in some water and the evaporated milk. Then put in the eggplants and let it simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.

Blue crabs make great seafood stock and adding prawns make it even better. The curry spot this a sweet hint and creamy gravy from the evaporated milk. I didn’t bother making another dish to go with it so there is just white rice and curry.

Long Weekend

2010-09-13T07:53:00.001-07:00

And so with the Hari Raya holidays making it a long weekend, my parents make their way to visit me, and went for their shopping spree as well. Coming over to the Klang Valley during Hari Raya holidays seems like a yearly affair since they always like the city without its usual bustling crowd and traffic. And when they are in town for visits, I get goodies. Kampung goodies.

So mum brought me two chickens and a basketful of dokong.

Knowing how I like things certain way, mum get the chicken cleaned, chopped up and froze in containers. All sealed in a polystyrene box all the way from Kelantan. And unlike the usual chicken you get from the supermarket, I know mum has definitely chose the best and the freshest of all.

Fresh ingredients make a huge difference even with the simplest way of cooking it. So I thaw the chicken, and prepared a simple sauce for steaming.

Steamed Chicken with dong quai

1 chicken (cut and cleaned)

3 slices of dong guai (adjust to your preference, more if you like it more ‘herby’)

Sauce mix (a tablespoon of soy sauce, a dash of black pepper, a dash of sesame oil, a tablespoon of Shaoxing wine and two to three tablespoon of water)

A few slices of ginger

A teeny bit of garlic (a clove, chopped up)

The garlic and ginger on the base of a heat proof place, then arrange the chicken on it. Pour the sauce mix over and slot in the dong guai slices evenly. Steamed for about 20 minutes or till the chicken is tender.

And like all meals, balanced it with vegetables.

I call this,

Cabbage crunchies

200gms of cabbage, sliced

100gms of carrots, sliced

A handful of wood ear fungus, sliced

A teaspoon of dried shrimps

A teaspoon of chopped garlic

A few slices of ginger

In a hot wok, fry the ginger, and the dried shrimps with a mix of sesame and cooking oil. Add in the garlic and fry ‘em till it's sweet smelling. Then add in carrots and the wood ear fungus. Add in teaspoon oyster sauce, then put in the cabbage. Stir fry till its soft, then add in a dash of soy sauce, nampla and pepper. Plate it.

A simple dinner with awesome kampung goodness. Yumz.

Buka Puasa charity dinner

2010-09-09T18:24:00.001-07:00

Not something that I would usually post up but I joined monkey & “fairy God mother” at a recent buka puasa dinner, hosted by the Empire Shopping Gallery. With 25 orphans from the Rumah Amal Kasih Bestari, this is the first social responsibility effort by the Empire Shopping Gallery which opened just a few months ago in Subang. It has shone as a one-stop neighbourhood mall that provides for all the needs of the surrounding area, in fashion, food, fitness, beauty, leisure and education.

So without further adieu, I help myself with Kelantanese food by Belanga.

A simple and tasty East Cost delights, there’s Rendang Daging, Ikan Tongkol Masak Lemak, and Nasi Dagang. There is something about buka puasa ‘ramai – ramai’ , where everyone sits together and wait till the time to break fast. And especially for the children, a tinge of excitement and shyness didn’t deter them from having fun.

It was time for giving, in the big-hearted spirit of Raya. The Empire Shopping Gallery management had RM10,000 to present to Rumah Amal Bestari which is located in Kampung Melayu Subang. Ustaz Johari B. Maksom, who runs the home, accepted the cheque from Danny J.Y. Cheah, group executive director of Mammoth Empire Holdings, Yap Chiew Lee, director of Mammoth Empire Project Management Sdn Bhd and May Woo, general manager of Empire Shopping Gallery.

Selamat Hari Raya !!

Ramadan Bazaar, Kg. Sg. Penchala

2010-08-28T00:47:00.001-07:00

During Ramadan, food bazaars sprouts out in every corner, campaigning like the Malaysia Mega Sale. Whether you’re fasting or not, streams of hungry people would double park, pushing their way, just to check out the mishmash of Malaysian food. So, despite the sweltering heat of a hot Saturday afternoon, I make my way to Kampung Sg. Penchala to let myself willingly ‘seduced’ by the abundance of food medley.

Swaggering around with joy with hungry ‘eyes’, the folks in the bazaar greets with excitement and inviting note for me to photograph them. Well, much to my knowledge there were journalists earlier there that goes around snapping away for Sunday write ups. That is why there’s flair of volunteering poses for me to photograph their food and stalls.

While snapping away and like all impulse purchases, I bought too much than what I could handle.

And. Stuff. Myself.

I feel like a thanksgiving turkey.

BURP.

Now, which Ramadan bazaar should I go next …. Decisions, decisions.

Buka Puasa, Rama V

2010-08-23T18:36:00.001-07:00

Put together a group of people with good food, comfortable ambience, flows of wine and it will soon filled with laughter and a heck of a good time. It is hard to stay composed despite being in this fine Thai cuisine restaurant. The buffet line, the ooohs and aaahs, the jokes are hard to miss. Over heard during dinner;

Is the oyster half in, or half out?! <Intelligent quote of the day>

Suck the oysters! <Authoritative>

In Thai, bitter gourds are called “Fakiu” <Suggestive quote>

Hey! I wanna touch Meens’ pad pad ! <Feline curiosity>

Why are you vandalizing my table?! <Caught RED HANDED>

How to stay composed and eat properlylah.

And over the buffet line, we’re being spoilt with varieties of (take a deep breath):

Appetizers

Chả Giò (Spring Roll)

Tod Mun Pla Krai (Fish Cake)

Chor Ladda (Flower shaped dumplings stuffed with minced chicken and peanut)

Thung Ngen Young (Deep fried minced chicken and shrimp wrapped in bean curd)

Fresh Oyster with Thai Sauce

Fresh Green Mussels

New Zealand Steamed Mussel

Kurma (Imported Turkish Dates )

Salads

Som Tam (Spicy papaya salad with peanuts)

Yam Nue (Egg Plant beef salad)

Yam Yai (Mixed vegetable salad served with shrimp and chicken)

Ulam-ulam (Fresh Green Vegetables)

Soup

Tom Kar Kai (Spicy chicken soup with coconut milk)

Main Courses

Kao Ob Sab Pa Rod (Stir-fried pineapple rice with shrimp coral)

Pad Thai Kai (Thai fried noodles with shrimps)

Steamed Rice

Pra Chon Pad Prik King (Crispy fried fish with Rama V sweet dried chili sauce)

Kai Pad Mamuam (Chicken fried with cashewnut & dry chili)

Gaeng Ka Ree Kai (Yellow chicken curry with sweet potato)

Hor Mok Kung (Otak-otak prawns)

Mussaman Nue (Mussaman style beef)

Stir-fried Four Angel Beans with Belacan

Ka Na Pra Kem (Kailan fried with salted fish)

Pra Meong Tod Krathiam (Deep fried squid with garlic)

Dessert

Assorted Mixed Fruits

Lod Chong Nam Kati

Jelly

Mango Sticky Rice

Condiments

Sambal Belacan

Chicken & Shrimps Sauce

Rama V Special Spicy Sauce

Drinks

Coffee / Tea

Teh Tarik

In the next 3 hours, we were singing birthday song, listening to a solo, posing for pictures, lighting up plates with torch lights for photos, pose some more, slurp an oyster and all that Jazz. All thanks to Andre (of Rama V), the “makan” gang and the lovely venue.

Rama V, a fine Thai cuisine is tucked among the embassies rows are currently serving the Ramadhan Buka Puasa Buffet, charging RM 75++ per adult.

RAMA V,
5, Jalan U-Thant, KL
Tel: 60 3 2143 2428

Open Hours
Lunch: noon-3pm daily.
Dinner: 6p-11pm daily.

Mid Autumn

2010-08-22T06:41:00.001-07:00

In about a month’s time, it’ll be the Mid Autumn Festival. I still remember how it is back at home. Mom will be preparing dinner and dad’s friends would send box and boxes of moon cakes. After dinner, my siblings, cousins and me would so look forward to go around parading with lanterns and lighting up candles.

My parents would set up the tables and lazy chairs at the porch with trays of fruits (Pomelo is a must!), Chinese tea, peanuts, and of course moon cakes. Friends and neighbours would join us and chatting and laughing away with the charming tea scent filling the air. Mom says, it’s Mid Autumn, everyone has to get together and gaze at the beautiful moon. And so we gaze.

An over the years, mid autumn festival has evolved into a multimillion business (there’s my favourite HK TVB drama too), reminding people about family ties, reunion and getting together chomping down moon cakes. And with the ever demanding consumerism, moon cakes are taking a bolder step forward.

I was at Golden Phoenix Restaurant, of Equatorial Hotel recently for their moon cake contemporary flavours launch. While maintaining the regular moon cake range, Equatorial also include a 6 new range of modern day flavours. There have the German Black Forest, Pumpkin Taro, Charcoal Baked Yam, Bamboo Hazelnut, Espresso Chestnut and Red Yeast Sweet Potato. Besides the new contemporary moon cakes, there is also the limited (only 20 boxes per day) puff pastry Gold Ingots for ordering. The bite size ingots makes lovely door gifts too.

German Black Forest

Clockwise from top: Red Yeast Sweet Potato, Charcoal Baked Yam, Bamboo Hazelnut & Espresso Chestnut

Pumpkin Taro

More often, people avoid having moon cake for it is to sweet. My take, if it is not sweet, it is not a moon cake. The German Black Forest in an immediate favourite. But the rest fares well too, with it’s innovative stint, pop it in your mouth and guess what you could taste. And to complete the gift festive, the packaging boxes are also crucial. Here, the bright oriental boxes comes with a set special edition of fork and knife. There’s a Chinese saying, gifts should look presentable and generous.

Now after a good chunk of moon cake, it is good to wash it down with a nice cup hot of jasmine tea.

Causeway Bay Spicy Crab

2010-08-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

There’s a new restaurant in town!

A Hong Kong seafood chain, Causeway Bay Spicy Crab (CBSC) makes its way to Sri Hartamas. Thanks to Su Teng, Ciki and Qwazy Monkey I got to try out the ‘typhoon shelter’ cuisine.

Spotting a modern chic interior, CBSC has a widespread range of seafood menu, which comes a long way from the typhoon shelter - way of living. The infamous dish is the Typhoon Shelfter Crab (避風塘炒蟹). Mega size crabs are deep fried then coated with a heavy (HEAVY) dose of garlic, chillies, spring onions, black bean, salt (SALT) and etc. Presentation wise, it looks as if the crab is crawling out from desert.

The Typhoon Shelter Crab (or Garlic Chilly Crab) spots a spicy, salt’ish and garlicky flavour. With that dose of garlic, vampires and neighbours would be raving mad. According to the host, about 100 kg of garlic is being used within the span of 3 days.

The next dish is the Baked Crab with Salted Egg Yolk (流沙黃金蟹) and this is my favourite dish. Unlike the usual salted egg yolk crab, CBSC has a different way of preparing it. Even so, we didn’t manage to catch the busy host on ‘dissecting’ this dish, but from the looks of it, they manage to get the salted egg yolk coatings into this nice crunchy and crumbly covering. Thumbs up!

Another garlicky dish is served and we have the Steamed Scallops with Garlic (蒜茸粉絲蒸扇貝) and garlic and garlic. Always love the texture of fresh scallops. YUM!

An array of compliment dishes came along, and we have the soy sauce fried noodles, honey garlic fried pork ribs, sweet and sour pork, braised chicken feet , and a platter of duck’s tongue, silver fish and chicken gristle.

And to ‘carb-up’ the evening, we have the ‘Sang Har Meen’. Fresh river prawns toppled with deep fried ‘sang meen’ and thick gooey sauce.

In true spirit of chaokar, I shall attempt the Baked Salted Egg Yolk at home. SOON!

Stay tuned!

Causeway Bay Spicy Crab

26 & 26-1, Jalan 30/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 50480

+603 6205 2280

ciki wrote

fbb wote

Bayan Indah

2010-08-12T07:53:00.001-07:00

I was talking to qwazy monkey about how blogging has actually leads one surprise to another. From getting invites, to meeting people that I’ve been reading their blogs and to getting to know even more friends. Through the recent the Hot Can event, I got to know Babe_in_the_city_KL through FatBoyBakes, and after a chain of e-mailing, it leads to this cooking session with Rohani Jelani. And of course I met even more people and made friends.

So on that Saturday morning, I ventured through the Kampung Sungai Penchala looking for Bayan Indah, the cooking school. Despite being close to the city, Bayan Indah sets in this calm kampung environment with it’s charming kitchen and lovely herb garden.

I got there slightly late, with the rest of the bloggers and cook enthusiast waiting while chomping down cucur udang and FBB’s lovely cake. After a quick round of ice breaking session, we were then spilt into 3 groups and being briefed about the menu. After the briefing session, we then put on our denim apron and head to our work stations.

Menu of the day:

Nasi dagang with acar timun and ikan tongkol masak lemak

Rendang ayam

Soto ayam

Mee rebus

Kuih talam

Kuih bengka ubi

And I shall let the pictures do the rest of the ‘bloggin’

Nasi Goreng Kampung, with salted fish

2010-08-02T06:17:00.001-07:00

And with some leftover rice in the fridge, and wanting some pedas stuff. I put together my version of nasi goreng kampung.

So the ingredients are for 2pax:

Ginger 1.5cm + garlic 3 cloves + a pinch of cumin + a pinch of white peppercorns + 4 cili padi + belachan agak-agak portion – all pounded to paste

White rice – about 3 bowls (leftovers are the best),
Onion – 1pc, sliced into wedges,
Eggs – 2pcs,
Udang kering (dried shrimps) – about 2 tablespoon, soaked then pounded to flossy,
ikan Bilis (anchovies) – about 3 tablespoonful, deep fried,
Mui Heong salted fish – 2-3pcs, deep fried ,
Spring onion – a handful, chopped

The cooking:

Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil and fry the udang kering till crispy then add the paste and wedged onions. Once you get the nice aroma and the onion is starting to get soft, crack in the eggs and stir fry for about 3 minutes. Chunk in the rice, and the Ikan Bilis. Give it a good stir fry over high heat, and add the seasoning of salt a dash of nampla and soy sauce. Give it a few rounds of stirring then add in the chopped Mui Heong salted fish and spring onion.

It’s a pretty busy texture you get from the crispy salted fish and anchovies. And the flavours are from the paste and do adjust the heat level from adding chillies or otherwise. Do improvise with other ingredients.

Are you cooking? Yes sir yes sir, 3 dishes full.

2010-07-29T06:47:00.001-07:00

It’s lazy Sunday and having nothing much to do, I took an evening nap. And right before that, took out spare ribs to make soup later.
640pm, Catherine called and asked, “Are you cooking?…. Are you cooking?”
“Yes, I am making soup“, I replied. OK I am coming over, then she hangs up.

Geez, initially I wanted to make just a soup for dinner, and since Cat is coming over, I decided to make more dishes. So while I have the spare ribs thawing for the soup stock, I found in the fridge that I have bitter gourd, persevered Szechuan vegetables (zha choi), carrots, tomato and pork belly cuts.

I have the the pork belly cut into thin slices and marinate them with sesame oil, a dash of salt, some dark soy sauce, a dash of light soy sauce, a teaspoon of sugar & chilly sauce and some pepper.

Then I prepared the stock for the soup using the spare ribs, dried oyster, a thumb size cut of ginger, a whole onion, and half a clove of garlic.

I sliced the bitter gourds and the carrots thinly.

Pao Far Yuk (Fried Sweet Pork)
With a hot skillet, drizzle some oil and just let the pork brown each sides about 3 minutes. Towards to end, I pour in the balance of the marinade and let it reduced.

Zha Choi Thong (Presevered Sezhuan Vegetables Soup)
With the stock simmering, wash off the chilly coatings and cut them to smaller pieces. Add into the soup, and since it is a salted persevere, just some pepper will do. Let it simmer for another 45 minutes in medium heat.

Now I have a sweet dish, and a soup, and I wanted to make a bitter gourd omellete, but like most of the time when I cook, I would love to have something spicy. With some improvisation, I have

Stir Fry Curried Bitter Gourd
In a hot wok, I fried some dried chillies, mustard seeds and cumin. Then I add in garlic. When everything is aromatic and getting caramelize, add in the bitter gourds and the carrots. Salt and pepper and two tablespoons of curry powder. Fry lightly, and let the curry powder coat the vegetables. Add in few slices of tomatoes for a balance.

8pm, Catherine is here and dinner for two is served. She officially owes me a dinner now.

twenty.one _ tables + terrace

2010-07-25T10:26:00.001-07:00

The last time I was at the third floor of BSC was on the last show of The Actors Studio before it relocate to Lot10. Now, spotting a total makeover, BSC also house this sleek and chic restaurant + bar. Richard and Dinesh hosted the dinner and I got tag along thru qwazy monkey and weeshiong

After a round of introduction, Richard introduced us the bar tender and the chef, and soon we have a taste of their signature cocktails. There were, 21 Degrees, T&T martini & popcorn martini. Creative take on the popcorn martini, a blend of creamy butterscotch and vodka. My vote goes to 21 degrees, the sweet x-rated cocktail that is infused with brown sugar and lime.

First for the starters, we’ve got;

-sautéed green asparagus with hollandaise alioli, poached egg, beef bacon, lettuce & balsamic reduction
-rolled smoked duck breast with cucumber, carrot, spring onions, garlic & chilli Hoisin sauce
-roasted wild mushroom soup with cheese croutons, truffle cream & crispy beef bacon

I love the the asparagus dish that is served with hollandaise sauce and a perfectly poached egg. It is a very “textural” starter of a good crunch with the rich and creamy sauce from the mix of hollandaise and the silky runny yolk. Then, we have the mushroom soup, or rather mushroom smoothie, with cheese croutons. I could taste the mushroom and pepper very well, and it’s that well-bodied you could actually chew your soup. My take, I still like my soup, being more soupy and I’ll love an additional dollop of cream to mellow it. Next up we have the mains, with ‘meaty’ choices of:

- spicy linguini with braised lamb, coconut cream, sautéed mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, basil, mint & red curry
- slow braised beef cheek with mash, fresh vegetables & potato chips
- braised lamb shank with steamed potatoes, green asparagus, pesto, tempura eggplant & chilli mint salsa
- braised beef burger with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, English chips & gherkin alioli

My vote goes for the braised lamb shank. The meat is tender and the perfect pairings seals the deal. The refreshing taste from the pesto sauce with steamed potatoes and blanches asparagus is like a surprisingly summer (that same feeling when you pair watermelons with bubbles). The tempura batter eggplant gives a nice compliment to the soft, melt’y meat. The beef burger, yum is nasty. The patty is thick and beef’ey and the the sauces are silky but could get a little messy.

The concept of Twenty.One_tables + terrace is a dining bar + club. The flow of the “pumped-up” evening goes from, dressing up, walk in to greet your friends, get cocktails, the gourmet & fusion dining, hang at the bar, chill and sway a little. It is ideal for hosting 21st birthday parties I’d say. It is energetic, young and hip, and if you want a quiet meal, go during lunch time or an early dinner before the party’ish crowd come in. Currently, there are lunch and happy hour promotions going on.

Lastly, the sweet ending with;

- baked dark chocolate ganache with warm chocolate cream, lemon curd & choc soil
- passion fruit mousse with poached berries & variations of caramel

Twenty.One _tables + terrace
t1, 3rd floor, bsc 285
jalan maarof, bkt bandaraya,
59000 KL

t: +603 2287 0021
w: www.drbar.asia

Whisk’ed

2010-07-01T22:55:00.001-07:00

Yet another new mall, with more interesting food joints mushrooming, when I explored the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya, SS16. I came across to this cafe Whisk, and you got to love the flooring and the decor. Whisk is a cozy espresso bar that serves freshly brewed coffee, lovely pastries and other menus.

Feeling full from late lunch and the difficulty to resist a cake and coffee, I ordered a Hummingbird cake and cafe con leche.

The cakes taste fresh and the coffee is a perfect pairing. The cake has a strong banana-ish aroma and the cream cheese icing is gentle and not overly rich. My vote goes to the coffee, cafe con leche. According to Whisk, this is a breakfast staple among Cuban. To me, this is like a stronger kick of cafe latte. Love it!

Soufflé Omelette and Hot Coffee

2010-06-29T08:51:00.001-07:00

There are days that you just want breakfast all the time. So after a long day at work and craving for some sort of eggy-breakfast, I came across this simple omelette recipe. The ingredients are simple, but first the sauce:

Mushroom sauce:

Melt a tablespoon of butter, and add the sliced white mushrooms. Fry for about 4 minutes (try not to stir it too often to prevent sweating) then add a teaspoon of flour and enough milk to your preferred consistency. A dash of pepper.

Soufflé Omelette:

Whisk the egg whites (2 large eggs) until stiff. Beat the yolks with a a dash of salt. Fold the whites into the yolk. Then melt some butter and pour the mixture into the skillet. Cook over gentle heat for about 4 minutes then place it in the oven till the top is golden brown.

Dish out and pour the mushroom sauce over.
Now breakfast (or rather my dinner) is ready. Now to complete the breakfast (or rather dinner) a hot cuppa coffee would be great.

I’ve gotten some Hot Can coffee during a launch last week, so in a wink:

Peel the anti-tempered label
Push the base to active the self-heating mechanism. (watch out for that steam)
Shake it and when the indictor turns green, it’s ready.

The drinks are courtesy of Hot Can, during it’s recent launch. Thanks Nazeen for the invites.

Udang Masak Lemak Cili Api

2010-06-27T02:54:00.001-07:00

Haven’t been cooking for a while, and walking along the fresh food aisle, I think I over shopped again when I came back with pork, chicken, fish, prawns and some greens. So a quick clean up and repack before going into the freezer while I put together the ingredients for masak lemak cili api.

So I have:

2 stalks of lemongrass – bruised

5cm cube of ginger, 2cm cube of turmeric, 1 onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 6pcs of bird’s eye chilies – pounded into paste

300gms of medium sized prawns,

3pcs of kaffir line leaves, 1pc of assam keping

100gm of coconut milk

Tumis or saute the paste and the lemon grass for about 5 minutes with medium heat. The lovely gingerly scent is refreshing along with the golden ray from the turmeric. Add the coconut milk and stir it well and let it simmer. Depending on the consistency, and feel free to adjust it by adding some water. Add in the assam keping, kaffir lime leaves and the prawns. A few dashes of nampla sauce then salt and pepper to taste. Pop in more chilies if you love it hotter.

Pretty simple isn’t it.

Yut Kee

2010-06-17T00:07:00.001-07:00

Overly blogged, talk about and frequent. I shall let the pictures do the talking.

Yeah, all these for breakfast.

Sometimes it is stressful to dine there. You have like crowds waiting in front of the shop, and they are staring at your food.

Tanjung Sepat

2010-06-13T21:31:00.001-07:00

While my schedules are settling back to normality, I still needed a short excursion to refresh myself off the madness. So with my trusty Garmin, I decided to venture to Tanjung Sepat.

About an hour journey from Damansara, equipped with Glee soundtrack and mostly self-composed-duwaaabs with unknown scats, I got there late in the afternoon. The plan is to do a quick tea break, walk around the fishing village, watch the sunset, seafood dinner then back home.

First stop is to Hai Yew Hin, the famous pau shop of Tg. Sepat. The age old coffee shop is furnished with countless fading newspaper-review cut outs. The joint has seen better days and right opposite their dine in, it’s their new mini-production facility where everyone could just walk in to place a bulk orders and look at the busy ladies working on the steamed buns.

I ordered the sang yuk pau and the mui choy pau, and within second they are served. Pair it with the local coffee, you get yourself a lovely tea break.

Mui Choy Pau (preserved vegetable steamed bun)

Sang Yuk Pau (steamed minced pork + hard boiled egg bun)

Before dinner time, a drive & walk around the fishing village;

This particular temple caught my attention,

Look closer and you will learn that Batman and Robin originates from Tanjung Sepat, not Gotham City. Hahahaha

By dinner time, most of the local seafood restaurant is packed with customers, I chose Ocen Seafood Restaurant. And 45 mins later (the price you pay when you choose a restaurant based on number of crowd in it), dinner is served.

Sizzling O’chien (clam’s omelette)

Hands down to this, I feel this is one of the best o’cien I had. They altered theirs to a deconstructed version, with a nice crispy layer of omelette and the fresh clams, unlike the usual o’cien which is too starchy for me. This version gives a great texture and the sizzling plate keeps it warm too.

Stir fry potato leaves with sambal

Every meal got to have some greens, so here it is. Nothing to shout about but no complains too.

Steamed lala

Seafood at it’s best when it’s being cooked in the simplest way. Here the clams are being steamed with ginger, chilies and rice wine, and you get lovely broth.

Crab in salted eggs sauce

Mud crabs, deep fried then coated with salted eggs sauce. A nice aroma from the curry leaves.

All in all, there’s is nothing to boast about of the cooking style, the main difference here is the freshness of the seafood. And yeah, it make a huge difference when it is this fresh.

A night walk after dinner.

There are few other things I discovered, which it’s available in the morning, and I shall come back to:

1. savour the seafood bakuteh (breakfast only)

2. visit the coffee house (they roast their beans everyday at 7am)

3. orchard visit (longan & dragon fruit)

4. seafood maggie mee (where instant noodle is cooked with the freshest catch of the day)

How is your weekend?

Frog Porridge

2010-04-24T23:07:00.001-07:00

Nestled in the busiest streets and being crowded round the clock, Jalan Alor has seen many days and nights. Almost being taken it’s infamous identity last year, this street has never failed with its’ abundance choice of food. One of my favourite supper in Jalan Alor is the the frog porridge, where the stall is smack right in the middle of the stretch. The frog porridge is a popular supper choice for party goers and sleepless hungry city owls. This is a joint of having it’s food done at it’s best. They only serve plain porridge, frog porridge and ‘kung-pow’ frogs. That’s all.I chose the plain porridge and the must have ‘kung-pow’ frogs. In a wink of time, the staffs would snips away the ends and into bite sizes from a basin full of frogs and feed it thru the Pyrex wares over the flaming stove. A pretty simple, effective and fast system. Within minutes supper is served, with that lovely steam and that volcanic gurgling. Now usually, kung-pow is a stir fry sauce of cooking dried chillies, cashew nuts with onions and other base. But here, it’s being improvised to this thick gooey sauce and laden with bird’s eye chillies. Warn you, the heat could set you up to the moon. The best way of eating it is to dilute the heat, so you mix the ‘kong-pow’ frog with the plain porridge. You’ll love the sweet frog texture, like a cross between chicken+fish+scallop. Yum, I love great suppers and look that crowd.

Sambal Kerang

2010-03-22T09:24:00.001-07:00

A long day at work, and reading that nasi lemak post by thenormadgourmand, I brave thru the traffic, did a quick shopping and attempt nasi lemak and sambal kerang.

Nasi Lemak

About 150ml of coconut cream/milk with a knot of screwpine leaves and a thumb size ginger with a pinch of salt. Cook as usual with your rice cooker.

Sambal Kerang

About a kilo of cockles boiled, and peeled off the shells. Pound some ginger, garlic, and add in chilly paste. Heat up wok and saute the ginger and garlic paste. Add in lemon grass and the chilly paste. Salt, sugar and onion rings with few slice of assam keping. Add in the cockles and adjust the taste accordingly. Don’t cook too long as the cockles would get too rubbery.

I decided to go old school and pack it with plastic and newspapers. It was pure fun !

At the same time, making the sambal is not difficult but tedious. Peeling the cockles, pounding the paste, making hard boiled eggs and etc.

The gatecrasher MayYee got lucky to be fed and the returning from Ghana, Annette got the royal supper. Bless the nasi lemak.

Chai Boey

2010-03-21T06:33:00.001-07:00

Just got back from a week-long business trip from China and gosh, it was pretty difficult without facebook and blogspot. In case you don’t know, China blocks these sites. Sigh.

After a week long of bland tasting Chinese food, I’m craving for something strong and exciting tasting.

Chai Boey

I make stock using chicken + dried squids + dried oysters + onion + ginger + garlic. Chai Boey is great with leftovers of roast pork/chicken/duck/etc but since I don’t have any, I brown some pork ribs and shoulder cuts that simply marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. After that it in the stock I prepared earlier and add in the mustard greens, mushrooms, tamarind and dried chillies. Salt and pepper to taste. And adjust the acidity and the spiciness to your preference.

Stir Fry Siew Pak Choy

A simple stir fry siew pak choy with oyster sauce and crispy dried prawns.

Ginger, spring onions prawns

Saute ginger then garlic, then add in the prawns. Add in soy sauce, salt and pepper and some water, then spring onions. When the prawns are fresh, the sauce would taste good by itself. It’s really a simple dish.

So, here’s my Sunday dinner.

BURP !

Pusat Penjaja Air Panas, Setapak

2010-03-14T09:11:00.001-07:00

One of my very first food hunting adventure. Been getting raving reviews about this ‘dai chow’ in Air Panas, Setapak.

Pretty hot day, hot crowd and smokin hot kitchen.

The trademark, you won’t miss the stall where they hang Hennesy boxes around.

Spicy, crunchy and goes great with anything. Must have more of this on my next visit.

The ginseng red dates tea. Definitely a great thirst quencher. And lunch is served;

Hmm…I will be going back again.

Soon.

p/s: Next stop, China for a week.

Salted Fish Curry

2010-03-10T05:59:00.001-08:00

Something you don’t find it everywhere, is this salted fish curry. It’s pretty simple and it’s full of great flavours. So I had flabby Nick to join the dinner and I have; salted fish curry, stir fry spinach with lentils, acar and some leftover hamchoy soup.

Salted fish curry

3 portion of salted fish bones (ikan kurau)

1 portion of salted fish (meat chunks)

4 onions

2 tablespoonful of garlic and ginger pounded to paste

A dash of mustard seeds

Fish curry mix

Egg plant & ladies finger

Saute the garlic & ginger paste with the mustard seeds, then add onions. Once it brown a little, add in the curry paste. Let it simmer then add in the salted fish. Add two bowls of water and let it simmer on low heat for the next 45 mins. Add in the egg plants and the ladies fingers.

Simple acar

Half a pineapple

1 Carrots

2 Cucumber

4 Chillies

1 Onion

Vinegar, salt, pepper & sugar.

A handful of mint leaves

Julienne everything and toss it with the sauce. Keep it in the fridge.

Stir fry spinach with lentils

A bunch of spinach

A handful of lentlils (soak in water for about an hour)

2 Dry chillies

1 tablespoon of garlic & ginger paste

Fry the dry chillies then add in the garlic & ginger paste. Then add in the lentils and keep frying on low heat till everything is soft. Then add in the greens and salt and pepper to taste.

Leftover charchoy soup

A simple leftover soup using charchoy and old chicken.

I must be mad for cooking so much for a Wednesday dinner.

p/s: dear Sandy (my colleague), Yes I am saving some curry for you and will bring it to the office tomorrow. Don’t worry I didn’t put lizards in it.

There was a time.

2010-03-07T05:33:00.001-08:00

Breaking away from the usual cooking and food post. I met some friends and got reminded one of the best times in my life.

It was about 8-9 years ago. I was between college and university and decided to work a lil to get some money.

So being in my early twenties, I took up this table waiting job, in a cafe right opposite Hock Choon Supermarket and a stone throw away from my aunt house.

So I take orders, send the food, clean the tables, make coffee and all that. And I get to spend time helping the cook to prepare the ingredients for the next meal. So one day, the grumpy-owner had a big fight with the cook and she immediately pack her stuffs and walk off.

So, no cook and guess who step up to fill in. Me.

I still remember the stares and the laughter from my other fellow table-waiting colleagues.

“I can cook mrs. Kwek” I repeat myself.

So the next morning and for the rest of the 8 months, I was the cook until I had to stop working and go back to uni.

That 8 months passes so quickly as I was counting moments of planning the menu for the cafe, making shopping list, and adding twist to the usual menu.

And I remember the compliments from the lunch crowds. It’s an embassy area, where dine-customers are mainly foreigners and they do ask for the chef whenever they tasted something they like.

There was a time, where life is good.

p/s: nice meeting with you guys, thenomadgourmand & UnkaLeong.

Garlic Chilly Prawn Spaghetti

2010-02-27T20:18:00.001-08:00

I know I’ve been missing. But it’s always with the usual things, work and all. This is my late lunch after I got home from Saturday meetings. Yes, I’m workaholic.

The ingredients:

A handful of prawns, shell them and deveined it.

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

3 Chilly (of cili padi variety), diced

1 Onion, diced

A handful of sweet basil leaves, chopped

A handful of brown Mushrooms, sliced

Spaghetti (of course)

The Process:

Suffice olive oil, in a medium-heat skillet (you don’t want to burn them) and fry the garlic and onions. Add in the chillies then the prawns. Once the prawns turn orangey, pour in enough (it means to your own preference) of white wine. Depending of the whites you have, you have to taste and adjust the acidity of the sauce.

Once reduced, add in the cooked spaghetti and give it a good swirl and add in the basil. I prefer my basil to be raw-ish.

Dish onto a plate.

Now the mushrooms, simply fry it on the same skillet with butter, pepper and salt.

Same recipe goes well for clams & mussels.

Easy? So what did you had for a late Saturday lunch?

Fried Noodles

2010-01-25T03:47:00.001-08:00

With the newly opened supermarket nearby it gives more reason to shop for fresh ingredients and cook on my own.

Here are the ingredients:

Stir fry ginger, dried prawns then garlic, and in onions. Add in pork and sliced mushrooms. Crack two eggs and continue frying.

A dash of pepper and salt.

Add in the noodles, and a combination of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Chao ar chao ar chao ar (fry fry fry!)

Add in the spring onions and beans prout. Tadaa, my TV-dinner is ready.

Little Collins’

2010-01-17T05:21:00.001-08:00

For weekends, I usually go for the heavy Chinese breakfast or some place that’s got good coffee and pastries.

A quick MSN chat and we decided for a quick brunch and passing the long overdue Christmas gift. Not an easy decision to make since there’s a good variety including Cafe Coffee, Departure Lounge, Killiney’s Kopitiam, and yada yada.

We decided to try out Little Collins. It’s a bakery and florist (and gifts) shop.

We ordered the salmon and egg island on a wholemeal and banana French toast. Coffee and tea is served. I love coffee with milk, and Little Collins put in some effort to froth the milk, so when I add it into my coffee it is still a nice and warm.

The breakfast for sharing, is served:Salmon & Scrambled Egg Island.

There’s a choice of white bread, wholemeal, oregano or croissant for this. I had mine with wholemeal. The bread is very and it is lightly toasted with the generous slices of smokes salmon and scrambled eggs on it. It is served with honey mustard salad.

Banana French Toast

The reason I walked in to this shop. While browsing for menus, it caught me. A thick French toast with bananas, and dust with cinnamon powder, sugar and honey. It’s such a simple dish yet, so delicious. It’s like having dessert for breakfast.

Would definitely return to try out more stuffs. Lovely Sunday.

Little Collin’s Bakery & Florist

17, Jalan Solaris 4,

Solaris Mont'kiara,

50480 KL, Malaysia

Open from 8am – 8pm.

balik kampung dinners

2010-01-16T18:06:00.001-08:00

I pick up cooking from my mum.

spicy & tangy

2010-01-08T18:47:00.001-08:00

One of my all time favorite Penang food is Assam Laksa and Hockkien Mee.

Especially Assam Laksa, I need to have it once a week. Back in Penang, this tangy fish stock noodle is a common late afternoon meal. Sometime around 3pm, you get peddlers selling at your doorstep and others including shop owners and hawkers gearing up for the crowd.

There’s some variation when this food travel down to Kuala Lumpur, despite using the same ingredients. But I’ve found a few good ones in Klang Valley.

Aik Laksa – Sea Park

Smacked between the junction of Jalan 21/17 , Sea Park, it is hard to miss the truck selling Assam Laksa and Hockkien Mee.

The tangy spicy fish stock paired with rice noodles and good vege mix of crunchies- onions, mint leaves, cucumber, pineapple. And drizzle the rich prawn paste and a touch of bird’s eye chilies. A meal that makes you sweaty, I tend to finish up the soup to it’s very last drop or help myself a second servings.

Heavenly.

When I am not in the mood of sour food, I opt for the rich prawn flavours. Penang Hockkien mee.

Back in Penang it' is commonly known as Hockkien Mee. But in Klang Valley, it’s prawn mee or mee yoke. Hockkien mee here refers to the fat udon-like noodles fried with thick slab of dark soy sauce.

So, the soup is rich and sweet, and adding the spoonful of chilly paste blends the flavors all together. Kangkung and beansprouts pairs up as a good crunch for the meal.

Talk to the friendly owners order ice kacang from the nearby stall.

Rm 4.00 for a small bowl of noodles or RM 4.50 for a big one, you get some sun, piping hot soup, loud owners talking, buzzing traffic and a happy stomach.

Oh yeah, bear a lil with the drain stench.

I did cook

2009-12-30T01:16:00.001-08:00

A glimpse over the pictures folder, I did cook even though I was caught up with work. It must be one of the occasions where I need to clear off the fridge.

Tau Yiu Bak.

Mix cuts of belly and shoulder, marinated with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, salt and sugar. Stew them over gentle heat with mushrooms and dried oyster. I add in some ‘dongkuai’ (also known as female ginseng) to whish out some herby flavors. Serve it with hard boiled eggs. I’m still trying to perfect the skills of making hard boiled eggs with the yolks runny.

Stir fry sprouts.

A good source of greens with crunch. Stir fry in a hot wok, with dried shrimps, salt and pepper to taste. A dash of nampla to add flavors. Simple, tasty and cheap!

Steamed pomfret

Chopped ginger and garlic, and sauce made of combination of sesame oil, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Slice in some mushrooms and steam in high heat for 15minutes.

And here’s Yeow, joining the dinner.

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery

2009-12-28T19:02:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year everyone.

Yes, I find little time to cook these days. But never stop me from stuffing myself.

Recently, I discover this little cafe in Subang Jaya, run by Japanese husband and wife team. Known as Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery, it specialize in charcoal roasted coffee & pastries. The fusion-menu very much inspired by a blend of French, Italian & Japanese.

Set meals comes with a complimentary cup salad, soup and/or butter bun. I’ve always prefer clear soup and Haikara perfected that little cup-servings of soup before your get main course. The little touch of mixed herbs gives a subtle hint of herby taste to your palate.

Seafood Aglio Olio.

The spaghetti is al-dente, and the dressing is tastefully done with the rich seafood essence. Using seafood stock and the combination of prawns, squids, octopus, some kind of-roe and watercress gives a great chewing texture that burst with seafood soul. This is my first encounter using watercress in pasta. First look I thought it was our dearly Malaysian ‘kangkung’, and I do love the crunch from watercress.

Golden Curry Rice.

Out of my 5 visits in two weeks, I’ve ordered this dish 4 times. It is highly recommended. According to the owner, they curry sauce is being stewed over two days with onions, carrots and potatoes, before it’s being spread onto the crispy breaded boneless chicken steak. Definitely my choice of comfort food. Did I mentioned this is highly recommended.?

3 color cream puff.

One of their French inspired desserts, the cream puff uses 3 different types of cream; chestnut cream, custard cream and whipped cream. Lightly sugar dusted with bits of crunched nuts, a messy bite of the puff radiates joy and positive sugar energy.

Charcoal Roasted Coffee.

Freshly brewed and served with that cute teeny-weenie creamer cup (which I am always tempted to keep it). It’s a good cup of coffee for a lazy weekend.

On other visits I’ve also tried banana roll, strawberry roll, ice cream blueberry french toast, macha roll, shokupan toast, beef stew, Omu-Spa pasta and some other buns there.

This is a great hangout for coffee and pastry, but do compromise with the small space and quickly sold out pastries. Greet the friendly owners and be inspired by their dedication in making food. And say hello to their cat PuPu.

Bon Appetite!

Haikara Style Cafe & Bakery
E-Tiara , GF SS16/1 Subang Jaya
T: +603 5630 0743

Tuesday-Thursday: 11:00am - 11:00pm(10:30pm Last order)
Friday and Saturday: 10:00am - 11:00pm(10:30pm Last order)
Sunday: 10:00am - 6:30pm(6:00pm Last order)
Closed on Mondays

Hiatus

2009-12-07T00:48:00.001-08:00

Not because I’m abandoning the blog. It’s just that with my recent projects and travelling, I didn't manage find much time to cook.

But I do get reminders.

The place I’m staying in Bangkok, during my business trip. And it comes with a full functioning kitchen.

Drawer #1

Drawer #2

Drawer #3

I love that colander.

Basic plates and all.

And lobsters.

Saw that in the Sukumvit Soi24 Seafood Market. But I didn’t cook it myself la. It was an interesting seafood market, where you buy your life seafood and get it cooked in the restaurant. And it’s funded through ‘entertainment claims’.

Seafood Porridge

2009-10-26T01:25:00.001-07:00

I’ve got this cook book entitled ‘bowl food’. One of my all time favourites, it features meals in a bowl. Comforting and one go kind of meals. And nothing is more comforting to me, than a bowl of porridge during those rainy days.

So, a quick boil of the stock using, 2 cloves of garlic, dried cuttle fish and a thumb-cut size of ginger. Once the stock is ready, add in 2 cups of rice. I use Thai-fragrant rice, with their higher starch content and the fragrance it’s perfect for porridge.

Add in dash of sesame oil, salt, pepper and fish sauce to taste. Once you get the right porridge consistency, add in fresh prawns and pomfret.

Corn Soup

2009-10-21T08:37:00.001-07:00

Since I had some leftovers of corns and carrots, I decided to make a simple clear soup.

Stock made of pork ribs, dried cuttlefish and garlic.

Once the stock is ready, add in corns and carrots.

A dash of sesame oil, and rice wine then salt and pepper to taste. This is really easy. Try it.

chick and veg

2009-10-04T06:51:00.001-07:00

Sunday sunday,

A mixture of carrots, broccoli, baby corns and tomatoes. Like how i always stir fry my veges, I would give a quick blanch on those ‘crunchies’; everything except the tomatoes. A 2-3 minutes blanch then let them cool under running water. The gives then crisp and soft texture.

Heat up work, fry teeny bit of ginger and garlic. Put un the tomatoes, and then the rest of the vegetables. A dash of fish sauce and half a teaspoon of oyster sauce. A dash of pepper.

That’s for the side kick, and now the for the main:Lightly fry some cinnamon, star anise and cloves then sauté the mashed ginger, garlic, shallots and turmeric. Add some curry leaves then the curry paste. Fry till reddish and oily then add the chicken. Turn to medium heat and keep stirring. Add enough water to cover the chicken and throw in the potatoes. Let it simmer. 30 minutes later, add some yogurt (i use yogurt instead of coconut milk). Cook to your preferred consistency. Salt, pepper to taste.

Happy Sunday.

Wake me up, before you go go

2009-09-26T23:37:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning.

I love Sundays, watching CSI re-runs back to back . And to make it even more comforting. A nice, warm, comfort TV meals.

So I decided to cook, ‘Tau Yiu Bak’

Literally it means soy sauce meat.

I marinate some pork shoulder meat cut into chunks, with sugar, salt, pepper, clove, soy sauce, sesame oil. and Saoxing wine. Let it rest while I soak some mushrooms, muk-yee fungus.

Clean up half of a whole garlic, and a thumb size of ginger I prepare few half boiled eggs.

And then make myself coffee to continue watching CSI.

You start to cook, when you feel it. No rush in preparing meals, and so I cook some rice, and start to heat up the stew pot. A drizzle of cooking oil and sesame oil, fry the ginger and the garlic lightly. Then brown the pork, both sides. Add in the mushrooms and the muk-yee fungus, give it a good stir and add in the balance of the earlier marinade. A good drizzle of more Shaoxing, some dried oyster and a bowl of water. Let it cook gentle over low-medium heat for the next 45 minutes. Add in peeled hardboiled eggs. Then, add sugar, salt, pepper and oyster sauce to taste.

Serve it with white rice and sit continue watching TV.

Bread

2009-08-25T07:34:00.001-07:00

The ingredients:

700gm of flour

1 packet of instant yeast

100gm of sugar ( i use brown sugar)

1 teaspooon of salt

1 egg

400 ml water

70gm butter / shortening

50 ml milk

150 gm of mix fruits

Step 1: Sieve flour and mix well with the yeast and add in the water. It’s going to be messy and wet and after mixing/kneading it let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Step 2: Add in sugar, salt, egg, butter and milk. Mix them well and let it rest for another 20 minutes.

Step 3: Add in the mix fruits, and by now it should have risen up nicely. Feel free to apply the punch technique.

You can weigh about 50gm and set em on the baking tray, otherwise I just freehand-rustically throw in unevenly on a greased tray.

Let it rest another 15-20 minutes, milk glaze it then bake for 170’c 45 minutes. If the top starts to turn too brown, cover loosely with aluminium foil.

Happy breading

I’m pretending it’s summer

2009-08-09T08:40:00.001-07:00

Yeah with the strawberries I got from the flea market @ the curve, and few tips from Bernie, here it goes.

- puff pastry

- mascarpone cheese

- heavy cream

- sugar

- lemon zest

- vanilla essence

A 3 simple step:

Step 1: Roll the puff pastry thinly and lay e’m on a baking tray. Poke randomly with a fork. Pop it into a pre-heated oven on 210’c for about 20 minutes or till golden crisp. Let it rest on the cooling rack.

Step 2: Whip the heavy cream with sugar still it’s whipped up and fold in the mascarpone cheese, add in zest from a lemon and vanilla essence. Spread the cream onto the pastry once it has cool down.

Step 3: Lay those strawberries and some icing sugar. And EAT.

I’ve been cooking despite being busy

2009-08-05T23:09:00.001-07:00

Haven’t been updating recently, but that doesn’t mean the kitchen ain’t smokin’.

It’s always smokin hot. Always!!!

In the midst of balancing my corporate side of life, I still made time to tend my lil-balcony garden, rearranging furniture, sing and of course cook.

Over the past few weeks I’ve made:

Spicy grilled fish. With ladies finger and a squeeze of lime.

Ooomphy.Assam Pedas fish, (My mom’s version)

By now most of you would know by now I’m a big fan of assam pedas ( i cook this dish so often) and I’m lucky to have different people sharing with me their different recipes. Keep em coming!Being adventurous on one of the weekends, I decided to make Penang Assam Laksa. And making this dish means, I have to cook a huge portion out of it. I spent the next hour calling, sms-ing, e-mailing, facebook-ing people to come eat. I just can’t finish it on my own and I’ve love to share my food. :) And I love tiffins too!

Minced meat porridge with salted eggs and century eggs. Using anchovies stock, it gives the porridge the seafood tinge and I flourish the usual blandness of watery porridge using this beautiful taste of salty ‘taucu’ generously.

A good blend of Cantonese style porridge with the Teocheow ‘s taucu sauce.

This is for one of those rainy days, and I want something warm and fuzzy. Blanched baby potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Some rosemary, a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 4 pieces of medium browned steak (marinated with wine, chopped rosemary, oregano, paprika, salt, pepper) all popped into the oven for the next 20 mins @ 180’c.

Steak is tender, vegetables are crunchy and caramel-ly. Throw in some apricot kernels for the crunch and some easy stacking just to complete the presentation.

So yeah, I’ve been cooking.

Roast Ribs

2009-07-19T08:45:00.001-07:00

For more reasons to celebrate life with food, here comes an impromptu lunch. Beer marinated, honey glazed pork ribs with caramelised onion. Very very un-halal indeed.

About a rack of ribs, soaked in a can of beer (about an hour or so or more …)

And the marinade consist of:

- 3-4 tablespoons of honey,

- 2 tablespoons of chilli sauce

- 2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

-a pinch of cayenne pepper

- a pinch of fennel seed

-a pinch of oregano

- 1 piece of bay leave

- 4-6 bulb of garlic

- 1 onion

- salt & pepper

So after soaking the ribs long enough in the beer, rub the marinade and massage it well onto the ribs.

With layers of sliced onions as the base, roast the rib, bone side up in 170’c for an hour. Then turn over to the meat side up and roast for another 45 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the balance of the beer with some sugar, salt pepper and a dash of flour.

Now … chomp chomp

a weekend of pound

2009-07-09T08:23:00.001-07:00

So over the weekend while camping at home trying to finish up proposals is, of course stressful. And like my typical way of managing my stress. I cook.

250gm of self raising flour

250gm of butter

200gm of sugar

4 eggs

two tablespoon of milk

a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

handful of mix fruits (raising, orange peel, nuts and etc.)

How difficult to bake? Easy peasy,

40 mins in 160’c and here you go. Fresh aroma of the butter and eggs.

Sitting at the balcony, watching tv and having fresh pound cake with a dollop of NZ icecream-fruits of the forest.

Oh, de-stressing.

Now back to my proposal.

King of all kings

2009-07-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

The king of all fruits, the craziest burst of flavours, always the sharpest smell that fills the air and texture one will always remember.

So, my parents came for a visit (yet again) and this time, mum pass me this bag of filled with damp newspaper, and surprise surprise… it’s durian. All the way from Kelantan.

There’s this breed, which my parents would only eat, as they pre-order them when they start to fruit on the trees. No joke here, these breed are in high demand, and over the years my parents had made friend with the orchard owner. It’s the ‘kunyit’ / turmeric breed. And according to my parents, they have lotsa immitation breed claiming they are kunyit durians, and charge you for something it’s not.

Well, having durian the old school way isn’t too bad, and that reminds me of the excitement of ‘opening’ my durians when I younger.

So I decided to do it at the balcony, with newspapers all placed and a cleaver in hand.

First you cut/chop along the lines. Two cuts at least, and after doing so, use the sides of the cleaver to push for space.

Then using upper body strength, open the crack! There’s the excitement when you see some of the golden flesh. And the smell…. Yum yum.

Look at those beautiful baby.

And without further adieu, you feast.

I like my durian sweet with a tinge of bitter after taste. The bitter aftertaste that lingers in the mouth always give a nice conclusion to it’s early creamy, pungenty texture. And especially if they have those smaller-wrinkly-shrinkly seeds, you know that you’re getting more durian flesh than seeds.

Then came the part you work your way thru other goodies. Squat down and use upper body strength again to crack open them.

Oh what a beautiful day.

Recipe from my 4th Aunt

2009-06-21T09:53:00.001-07:00

Coming back from my working trip, I had this cravings of my 4th aunt’s version of ‘assam fish’. So while driving back home, I called her and ask for the recipe. And she’s more than happy to share;

Steamed rice with a sunny side up, and a dash of soy sauce.

Assam Fish with cucumber.

Her version is easy to make, but it doesn’t compromise the taste, in fact, I love it very much.

All you need is:

1. 2-3 inches of turmeric, a handful (green) cili padi –> all mashed up / blended into paste,

2. 1 tablespoon of rice soaked in hot water, 1 onion, 3 pcs lemon grass, 4-5 pcs of assam keping, 100ml of assam jawa juice, a tablespoon of belachan,

3. ikan kembong – 6pcs (abt 800gm)

4. 1 large cucumber

Method:

1. boil about 2 litre of water, and add in the blended paste and let it simmer for about 35 mins.

2. Add in ingredients #2. and let it simmer for another 20 mins.

3. Add in fish and cucumber (can be replaced with ladies finger too) and let it boil for another 15 mins, and salt to taste.

Simple?

My Sunday Lunch

2009-06-14T08:30:00.001-07:00

Winter Melon Soup,

With a handful of anchovies, dried squids, dried oysters, half a garlic and some sesame oil, I had them boiled over 60mins to make the base of the soup. An hour later, I sieve thru to get clear seafood stock and I add in cuts of chicken and the winter melon. Boil over gentle heat for the next 45 mins and they are ready, with a dash of salt and pepper.

I always prefer my soup to be clear, and sieving helps to keep the soup clear.

And I’ve got some fried rice. Will save some for tomorrow’s lunch at work, since I’ve make quite a lot.

Stir fry sambal French beans

Bought some nice French beans from the ‘pasar malam’ few days ago, and with a twist of my mum’s ‘sambal belachan’ in the fridge, i throw in some minced meat and ‘choy pow’ salted carrots. Fry everything in the hot oiled wok with generous amount of chopped garlic. Simple.

So, that’s my Sunday lunch. What’s yours?

give me my crab

2009-06-07T07:42:00.001-07:00

I frequent this place 3 times in 6 weeks. Give me a messy dining table, dirty hands and full load of crabs, I’ll be a happy man.

I’m talking about this fatty crab restaurant in Taman Megah, PJ.

As usual, from far you’ll spot a crowd sweating while waiting to get a table. There is no first come first basis system, the two experienced lady sort the guess thru the headcounts.

From personal experience, always go there in groups of maximum 4 per table. It’s easier to get a table when you are less than 4 people, cause they have lots of 4-seater tables than bigger ones. Second rule is to maintain regular eye contact with the two aunties so they won’t forget you’re standing in front of the shop waiting and lastly, make sure they take your order before you’re seated, so the food would pop out as soon as you get a table.

So, what do you order when you go to fatty crab:

1. Deep fried chicken wings; this is usually served fast and goes perfectly well as an appetizer.

Fried rice; how can someone not order our staple food. The fried rice with prawns, carrots, eggs and french beans. All fried to perfection with suffice ‘wok hei’

Now the mains:

Sweet sour chilly crab. No words to describe this. I’ll licking my fingers in front of hundreds of people for this dish. What etiquette?

Look at them, it just scream lick me lick me, hit me with the hammer and take my meat. AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa

Besides that, I also like this soupy Teochew steamed fish. With generous amount of salted vegetable, I find myself keep drinking the gravy for it’s tangy flavour. A good blend of plum, salted vegetable, tomatoes and fresh essence from the fish.

Well, having 3 times in 6 weeks can be alarming since i never knew my cholesterol level and etc. But hey, anyone want to meet there in the coming Sunday?

My basic cupcake

2009-05-23T18:39:00.001-07:00

110gm of self raising flour

110gm of sugar ( I use 90gm)

110gm of unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Cream up the butter and sugar, add in flour and the rest of the binding agents. Cream up everything.

In a preheated oven, baked for 15 mins at 160’c.

Simple?No?

Last Sunday

2009-05-16T10:38:00.001-07:00

It’s 130am now, and while waiting for my chiffon cake, I’ll post up what i had last Sunday.

Running around every weekends (well till mid June) white getting things organized and planning for the choral event burns my fuel and the way for me to recover … is to cook.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, that cooking is therapeutic for me. Now that explains why am I waiting for my chiffon cake in this crazy hour.

So last Sunday I made 3 dishes. A chicken dish, a seafood dish and a veg dish.

With one induction cooker and an oven. I present you a dinner for two:

Garlic and choy sum, fry over hot oily work with garlic and soy sauce, a pinch of salt and a stir of fast ‘chao chao chao’

Decided to make this dish when I was watching Martin Yan’s show on AFC. He made the chicken version, and since I’ve got some of this lovely squids in the freezer, I have it ‘gong POW sotong’

Hot wok with few dried chillies, then ginger and garlic. Then add the squids in, then add in the sauce mixture of sugar, salt, oyster sauce, vinegar, corn starch, dark soy sauce. Easy right?

Lastly, ‘steamed’ Kampung chicken with wolfberries, ginger and ‘dong quai’ I have it steamed in an oven, covered with foil and a tray of water. Add in some sauce sauce and pepper before serving. Lovely weekend dinner.

Grilling my weekend

2009-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

The hot weather didn’t deter our BBQ spirit. For a surprised birthday party, for welcoming a return from Canada, for Wesak day, for mothers’ day … for all you need is just great company of friends and good food.

So we grill our evening away while laughing out laud and chomping down 10 pieces of lamb steak and 20 over pieces of chicken wings.

So, by default I’m the chef of the day and I just enjoy doing it.

Siew yoke for appetizer, and salad with dips, non-basmati Briyani. All these complementing side dishes, all wash down with home made sangria and cold beers.

While waiting for the food.

And so, dinner is meaty, I mean ready !

Setting up the dining table, enjoying the sun set, the gentle breeze and lovely company.

And to end the dinner with a splash as we all wanted to be synchronize swimmers.

F is for friends and food

2009-04-30T10:09:00.001-07:00

So, it’s a public holiday eve,

and in no particular order there were those: just got back from Netherlands, going buying graphic novel, recently got into a musical castings, flying to Melbourne, been staying in Klang, THE royal queen of Ghana, fatso who just got back from Sydney,auntie took cab from Shell, and … so we created more reason to celebrate and feast.

Restaurant hoping is fun, after having hearty meals at Fong Lye, we spoke loudly in Alexis while having wine, desserts and coffee. Perfect company to end the day.

Selamat Hari Buruh !

Fong Lye Taiwan Restaurant Lot T208 3rd Floor The Gardens Mid Valley City Kuala Lumpur Tel No: +603- 2282 8699 (Non Halal. Open daily till 10pm)

Alexis Bistro & Wine Bar Lot f209 1st Floor
The Gardens, Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: +603 2287 2281

loving spicy

2009-04-27T09:21:00.001-07:00

Growing up in an interesting culture, I like my life of constant being spiced up. Or drama. Hence the spiciness in my choices of food. Hah. So lame.

So for Sunday dinner, I happen to have every dish to be … well spicy. And I had ‘em in peranakan version. Improvise peranakan version.

1. I had curried roasted sting rays

I use about 400gms of sting ray cubes, marinated with generous amount of curry powder, two onions, some garlic, chillies, fish sauce, salt and pepper.

Pop into the oven at 180’c for about 25 mins. Then serve with some cilantro and a squeeze of lemon.

2. Blanched okra with mum’s sambal belachan

It’s hard to wrong with this dish, and it’s EXTREMLY EASY. Since mum came for a visit, she never fail to being me some goodies from the kampung. Speaking of which, now i have 5 tubs of chopped and skinned ayam kampung in my freezer. This time, she add in a jar of sambal belachan. Lovely, thanks mum.

So you blanch the okra with a dash of salt and few drops of oil for about 3-4 minutes. And all you get is crunchy vegetable with perfect sauce pairing.

3. The instant prawn curry

I forgot to cook something with sauce (I love nasi banjir) i decided to make the oh-so-instant-prawn curry. I had some prawns, had them cut into half and remove the veins. For the sauce I use garlic and ginger, add in the tomatoes, the curry mix water and chicken stock. Salt and pepper to taste.

4.And everything on the table

See, a spicy Sunday dinner.

*note: this is dedicated to crazymonkey’s weekend where he had to work* Hahaha.

pimp my noodle

2009-04-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

So, instant noodles deserve some … kinda respect too. For being one of the easy, cheap, satisfying and very available kinda food, it is under appreciated. I feel. :P

So coming back late from work, and feeling hungry. I ‘upgraded’ my instant noodle dinner.

Big prawns, fishballs, and chow sum, and my tom yum flavoured noodle become even more yummy.

Since mum is in town, she brought me a jar of home made ‘sambal belachan’. as usual.

Chao Fan

2009-04-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

Let’s fry rice again and feel free to improvise.

This time I have some diced prawns, sliced lap cheong, diced carrots, chopped choy sum, an egg, onion and garlic.

The on a hot work, I use corn oil generously, and saute the onion and garlic, add in the lap cheong, then the prawns. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, crack in an egg, then the vegetables.

I have this tip that I always season the rice with the seasonings first. So few dashes of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Mix them well then pour into the wok. Stir here and there.

Serve and enjoy!

YumYumYum

Weekends and eggs

2009-04-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

Well, having late brunches on weekends is always a comforting luxury. And for no apparent reasons, I always feel eggs and milk is comforting. These easy and basic ingredients.

It take less than 10 minutes to whip out this beautiful breakfast. I whisk some eggs with a splashes of milk, a pinch of salt and few dash of black pepper.

Heat skillet and grease ‘em with some butter. I insist on pure butter. Not margarine, and etc. While stirring the egg mixture over the medium heat with a wooden spatula, pop in some toast.

Cook till you get the right consistency on those golden scrambled eggs, then serve it with a dollop of cream cheese spread, fruit jam, a glass of milk and sit by the balcony. ENJOY.

Easy to make, a lovely weekend breakfast.

How is your Sunday?

Muffins

2009-04-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

2am, vanilla muffins. YUM

Almond Biscotti

2009-04-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

Friday evening and here’s what I’m baking in my lil’ oven.

I use:

45g of butter (use real butter, not margarine)

2 large eggs

and 530gm of the right mix

Cream up the butter then add the egg, one at a time, then the mix.

Get messy with you hands and knead it till it sticks together and forms a dough ball

Make it like a baguette slightly apart from each other.

First bake: 180’c and about 20 minutes, then let it cool down about 15 minutes

Using a bread knife have them cut into…well appropriate biscotti sizes.

Second bake: at 140’c for another 12 minutes.

Tadaa ! all done in about an hour !

Okay I cheated, I used the easy biscotti mix !

7 + 1

2009-04-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

7 dishes,

a dinner for 8

The signature tofu. I just point, at the picture on the wall, didn’t know what is it called. It’s so good, we ordered two. YUM YUM

‘Yat Chi Kuat’ literally means, a bone. Not too greasy, reminds me of chicken breast it’s actually a pork dish. Taste; like a combination of ‘char siew’ and braised meat.

Sweet potato leaves, stir fry with garlic.

Stir fry bitter gourd with salted egg. YUM.

Steamed ‘pak sou gong’ Freshwater catfish. YUM.

Pineapple pork, YUM YUM YUM.

‘ Siu har’, sizzling prawn. YUM

7 beautiful dishes and a lovely Thursday evening dinner with close friends.

Restoran Sun Yao Tak Teng (1st Floor)

(Corner lot, next to Guardian Pharmacy)

Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, KL

Thursday

2009-04-02T05:50:00.001-07:00

Heavy rain. Cloudy. Windy.

So a warm, soupy fuzzy meal would do the trick.

No special skills required to cook porridge, just chunk everything in and have it to your preferred consistency. So i add in chunks of carrots, potatoes, thin slice of pork shoulder cut and few pieces of the rich flavours of dried oysters.

Cook till it’s mushy and soupy, add in few dash of sesame oil and salt.

I always like my porridge with salted eggs. Oh, my nasi kandar too.

Serve with some fried shallots, a dash of pepper and some chopped cilantro.

Fuzzy? YumYum.

Wednesday

2009-04-01T05:22:00.001-07:00

Mid of the week, I always feel happy and exited on Wednesdays. Not to mention when I cook too, it’s like a constant supply of ‘happiments’

A simple Wednesday dinner, I’ll have a stir fry vegetable, and some soupy meaty dish (so I save time on a soup & meat dish)

The ingredients;

For the stir fry vegetables dish, I’m going for … I call it my ‘crunchies’. A rojak of any vegetable that I can use, as long as they are crunchy. Feel free to improvise this, cause the main thing that I am looking for is the texture.

So I have broccoli, baby corns, carrot, wood ear- fungus ‘muk yee’, and Chinese mushrooms. The flavors would come from ginger, garlic, dried shrimps, and the sauces.

Cooking this dish is not difficult, but the texture to me is very important. So i give attention to it’s cut, and I prefer a match stick cut or ‘julienne cut’. And I’ll have them blanched for about 3 minutes and then stop the cooking process under cold running water.

The objective is to get a nice soft but crunchy texture but at the same time maintaining the shape. If you stir fry then straight away, and to get the texture as I preferred, it would be overcooked. or unpleasant looking.

Well, maybe this is just me. :P

So, then I’ll heat the wok and oil, put in the dried shrimps and ginger, then the garlic. about 20 winks later, add in the wood ear fungus and mushroom, about 3-5 tablespoon of water, a dollop of oyster sauce , soy sauce and pepper then put in the blanched vegetables. Stir fry for about 40 winks, ( agak agak, 3-5 minutes lah) and it’s ready.

And start munching the ‘crunchies’

Optional: Can also use: cauliflower, celery, zucchini, radish, turnips, and some other crunchies la.

Then the meat dish, this is less tedious to prepare.

I have sliced pork marinated in generous amount of ShaoXing wine, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Lay the dish with garlic and ginger and pour over the meat and the marinade.

Steam it for 13-15 minutes and serve it with a touch of cilantro.

Ooops, I suppose to put the wolfberries ‘kei chi’ on the meat but I accidently had them hiding beneath em.

Have a happy Wednesday everyone.

Pavlova

2009-03-28T21:08:00.001-07:00

It’s a stunning piece of artsy-dessert, beautifully inspired by this Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Fig: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AP_Cygne.jpg

I would love if someone could name me after a dessert. Well, like how her beautiful ballet moves, pavlova is a gentle meringue dessert which is crispy on the outside but light and fluffy inside. Think marshmallows.

With my reference from page 39 “Jamie at home” and from http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004356pavlova.php. I’m inspired to make mini pavlova like the ones I read from http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2009/03/pavlova-berries-and-spring.html

It’s not too difficult to put everything together, I’ve used:

-4 large eggs whites,

-1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence ,

- 1 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch,

- 2 tsp of wine vinegar,

- pinch of salt

I whip everything and in no time everything is fluffed up and have them spooned to the tray with baking papers on it.

about 3 large table spoon and a gentle press to create a ‘valley’ for the toppings later.

130’c, 45 mins (or till they are crisp) later:

Well, I think over baked mine, it’s not suppose to be so tanned. Something not so right with the sugar / baking time. But hey, it taste perfect. (mind you this is my first time making this dessert)

I just love how it look on the tray and my sweet tooth calling is just hard to resist.

It’s almost midnight, and I took out some mascarpone cheese, spread it over two piece of the meringues and a handful of strawberries. Yum.

Lotus Root

2009-03-27T23:05:00.001-07:00

Cooking time is specially crucial in making Chinese soups.

‘Lou four thong’ literally means soup boiled over gentle heat, for a long period of time. And there’s a huge difference when cooking soup gently, rather than boiling everything in a mad rush.

So i got back home late last night, well past midnight and I quickly want to make lotus root soup for the Saturday.

Trying to minimize neighbours complaints, I have the lotus roots peeled and cut into half an-inch think. A generous amount of spare ribs, and throw in dried oyster and stripes of dried cuttle fish. All in with half a garlic, and 1.5 litres of water into the slow cooker pot.

On low heat, I have it cook till this morning, about 8 hours.

And the morning greets you with a wonderful smell from the soup. And you know it’s a beautiful ‘lou four thong’ when you can taste the rich yet clear flavours bursting out, even before I add in salt.

Soup got to be less oily, not too salty and not too much of dried seafood pairings so that it not too overpowering. I just love soups, it’s healthy, tasty and seriously easy to make one.

Well, the next time I make the same this lotus root soup again, i got to remember to cook it with peanuts and red dates.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Getting adventurous with pork’s tripe

2009-03-26T09:09:00.001-07:00

Grandma would make this mean soup, every time she’s expecting us. It’s her way of showing love, and I believe like many other Asian families it’s a way, to show the unspoken care and love among family members.

Just the smell of it, reminds me of the journey back home.

Well, this is my very first time making the soup. No joke here, cleaning the stomach does take a lot of perseverance. Really.

Unpleasant sights and weird smell is just synonymous.

Well, the lady boss ‘sales talk’ me to buy one when I was getting my regular supply of meat. “aiya lengchai, it's very easy to clean it one”

Plus my 10 minutes over the phone instructions from my mum, I nailed it.

“Scrub with tapioca starch, massage in and out, exfoliate it with salt, wash off, boil it in hot water, take it out scrape the membranes and fats, boil again, repeat and finally cut it to bite sizes.” and one hour spent just to do so.

A chicken + pork ribs stock, a whole garlic, a handful of crushed white pepper, all thrown into the crockery pot and cook for the next 6-8 hours.

The next day just smell nice, with the peppery, soupy and soupy, and soupy and … soupy …

So the simple lunch comes with a simple side vegetable pairing. Finely shredded cabbage, carrots and black fungus ‘wood’s ear?!’ all stir fry with a dash of chopped garlic and ginger and infused with soy sauce and oyster sauce. A pinch of salt and dash of pepper. 4-6 minutes cooking time max.

And since I’ve got extra tiramisu ingredients, why not making more of it for desserts. Oh, my sinful weekend.

a tiramisu

2009-03-19T10:06:00.001-07:00

I always wanted to make my own tiramisu since I read about it from http://imbinitchy.blogspot.com/2009/03/easy-tiramisu.html. I give it a try.

It’s really easy. Get the ingredients right , and get creative.

Quoted from Lianne’s recipe:

Ladies Fingers (1 packet)
Mascaporne Cheese (250 grams)
Espresso Coffee (1 cup)
Coffee Liquor (3-4 tablespoon, or adjust to your personal taste)
Sugar (1 cup)
Cocoa Powder (1/2 cup)

Method

Combine sugar and coffee liquor into a hot cup of Espresso.
Soak the Ladies Finger, one by one until it is thoroughly soaked. Set aside.
Beat Mascaporne Cheese until its light and fluffy. Set aside.
Layer the soaked Ladies Finger in the glass, and alternate them with Marcaporne Cream.
Do break the Ladies Finger when necessary for it to fit into the glass.
The ideal layer would be between 2-3. The last layer should be Marcaporne Cream.
Lastly, sprinkle cocoa powder on top.
Bring the glass to fridge to chill for at least an hour. Done.

Oh yummy.

Well, there’s an hour wait, to chill it before gobbling it, so while waiting. I ‘selongkar’ my fridge and decided to .. ahem try my new lenses.

And in my fridge I found:

Two ripe passion fruit.

Tomatoes

Dried Chillies

Dried Chinese Mushrooms

Spices

breakfast for supper

2009-03-16T10:27:00.001-07:00

One of the hardest thing for me to resist. Eggs.

Well, it’s way past midnight and having some re-runs of shows over the satellite TV, it’s got to have some nice warm supper to go along with.

So when I open the fridge, I’ve got half a loaf of bread, eggs and milk.

Pop two slice of white bread with generous amount of butter, I toast the bread for 3-5 mins in 160’c. Take em out, and slowly pour over the egg.

I want my yolk runny, so another 5-7 mins in 200’c would be just nice.

A dash of pepper, few drops of soy sauce.
I just had breakfast for supper.

Goodnight :)

Nyuk Lan Satay

2009-03-14T00:47:00.001-07:00

I spoke to one of the chief ‘griller’ of this satay restaurant with over 30 years of existence,

‘Saya kerja disini sudaaa lamaaaaa, start tahun 1982’

The friendly Chinese lady cum owner attended us with over 650 sticks of ‘satay’. Well, there were about 35 of us, and after a fun cycling event at Putrajaya’s Botanical Park, ‘satay’ chomping seemed to be the right snack for everyone.

Located in the old town of Kajang, the coffee shop known as Restoran Malaysia (Nyuk Lan Satay) serves halal food from satay to the typical Chinese style of noodles (dai chao).

A sugarcane juice section at the side of the shop is also worth mention. With the hot weather and the grilled snack, it is all washed down with the icy cold freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.

Restoran Malaysia (Nyuk Lan Satay)

31, Jalan Semenyih, Kajang.

03-87331160

10am-11pm, closed on Tuesday

Serves: Beef, chicken, duck, fish, satay,

the casual DimSum

2009-03-12T05:37:00.001-07:00

There’s this thing about casual dim sum. Well, with aplenty of casual dim sum shops these days, it’s just hard to resist the calling of steamy lil baskets filled with goodies.

Steamed, deep fried or chilled desserts, I always find myself busy peeping over the trays whenever the dim sum staffs passes by. A point here and there, I got myself a table load of food. I still never learn the lesson of, my eyes is always way more hungry that the stomach can fill. Oh well,

Love the siew mai, the wu kok, fried yaochar kuai with filling, char siew pau, pai kuat, and salad ha.

So far these are the default dimsum must haves.

Burp.

I just love the busyness of these casual dim sum places. Noisy, fast, sweaty and cheap, the whole mad rush just make the dining experience interesting.

Eat your shoes those who are running expensive-cheongsam waitress dimsum places.

Find it at:

Hong Kee Tim Sum

No 18 & 20, Jalan SS22/25, Damansara Jaya

47400 Petaling Jaya. Tel: 012-6069787

Opening hours: 7.00am to 3.00pm daily.

I’ll visit again to try other stuffs. Now give me my siew mai.

it's easier to cook,

2009-03-10T16:24:00.001-07:00

It's 1030pm, and while waiting for my Hong Kong TVB drama that starts on 11pm, I needed some sugar.

Oh I remember having some sweet potatoes I bought last Sunday, and why not. Throw in a thumb size ginger, pandan leaves, boil till it's soft and a handful of rock sugar.

See it's much more easier to cook than to drive out for a takeaway.

and a dinner for 3

2009-03-06T10:26:00.001-08:00

And since I got a 4pm meeting in Bangsar, and I could end it by 530pm. Making dinner is like a good Thursday plan. And a quick MSN invite to get the guest sorted.

Bought a nice chunky cut of sting ray, and I decided to make fish curry, the Indian style and some suitable side dishes to go along with.

Flaming Sting Ray Curry

Well, like everyone would have they own way of making curries, I’ve also develop my own preferred way of making curries. There’s no definite way to cook curries, but stick to the ones you prefer. After all, how wrong can you go with curries.

My personal style is closer to the Indian style. Never like the too-diluted Chinese style and healthier than the ‘santan-ny’ Malay style.

A splash of oil, and fry those lil mustard seeds, then add in the mashed ginger, garlic and wedges of onions. Fry till it’s aromatic and add in a teaspoon of ‘cili giling/boh’. Then add in the fish curry mix (I use 5 tablespoon Adabi fish curry + 1 bowl of water).

Fry the mixture till it’s ‘cantik’ then add a bowl of water and let it simmer. Once it starts to boil throw in the tomato wedges, eggplants, then the string ray cubes. Turn to medium heat and let it cook for the next 25 mins before turning to low heat, and 30 mins before serving it, put in the lady’s finger and let it blanch to crisp.

Kobis goreng kunyit

A very simple side dish made of shredded cabbage and beans with a twist of garlic and ‘cili padi’. Stir fry consistently while adding a dash of turmeric and curry powder. Of course you can’t be so ignorant to forgot the salt.

Eggy prawny omelette

Seriously you don’t need instructions for this dish.

And there you go, all ready in 1.5 hours.

Yin

And the lucky guest, snap snap snap and makan.

Handmade Chocolates,

Lovely isn't.

Oh, there one with Vodka filling. Twas absolutely delicious.

in a meeting?

2009-03-02T08:34:00.001-08:00

I had a day long meeting today, and being Monday it’s always a great challenge to beat the Monday-ey-blue.

So while I listen to some meeting updates from other department, I was looking attentively at my debating-colleagues’ expression and an occasional nod of affirmation.

But in actual fact, I’m thinking about cooking….. and food

I was imagining about roasting pumpkin with onions and sage. A simple serving of pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes and wedges of onions. Toss with a handful of sage, salt and pepper.

Roast with some olive oil for 30 mins at about 180’c. Lovely, peppery flavour with the sweet golden pumpkin

It’s an imagination. No end product picture. Yet.

a Dinner? for four?

2009-02-24T05:16:00.001-08:00

How to whip up a a storm in the kitchen in less than 2 hours?

You just cook … smart.

And I pop by my favourite mart at 600pm and rush home at about 630pm and finish cooking by 800pm.

That’s including defrosting the pork, chopping up, cook rice, and BOOM…. I present you:

Spicy LalaYou get two handfuls of ‘lala’, throw in fresh basil, chopped ginger, garlic, cili padi, and a paste of cili giling + lime juice + onions. Hold your breath and let everything spice up and sizzle. Salt, pepper to taste.

Choy Sum to balanced the meal… like every mama says so…You really don’t need to know how to cook this. Just cut everything to the right size and chao ar chao ar chao ar chao ar …

Last but not least;

The ‘Tau Yiu Bak’ Soy sauce pork, … Heavenly … so self praise… I so know.
So a good balance of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, all heighten to it’s full taste with a dash of Shao Xing.

I lied, I use a few dashes.

And throw in those beautiful chunks of pork belly cut, mushrooms, and serve it with half boiled eggs. Oh my.

Burps

Fresh

2009-02-21T07:31:00.001-08:00

Been said many times, many ways… The key for delicious food is still based on the ‘freshness’ of the ingredients you get.
Personally I’m okay with shopping from hypermarkets, strolling aisle to aisle with recipes popping up every time I pass by some fresh / gorgeous looking meat / vegetables / seafood.

So Friday, a day I look forward every week and so I was driving back from the city when I got caught in a traffic caused by onlookers of this overturned lorry in the OPPOSITE side of the road.

So, being mad, I went on to this lil-fresh mart in TTDI. My favourite place to stock up. Not that it measures over 10000 square feet of selling space, but there is something about this humble shoplot. Because it’s a small shop, turnovers are faster and somehow things are much fresher.

So, after being stuck in that time-wasting traffic, cooking Friday dinner would be therapeutic. It always work. A quick glance, and I got myself:

-a white pomfret , some choysum, spring onions

So dinner’s going to be steam white pomfret and stir fry choysum.
A simple Friday dinner.

So, the array of other ingredients; spring onions, garlic, chillies and 'salted plum’.

Throw in some mushroom and ginger, and a gentle mixture of sauce, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, ‘nampla’ and bind them all with some sesame oil and two tablespoon of water.

Steam the fish for about 10 minutes and, stir fry the choysum with some garlic, salt and soy sauce.

Overly said tips of getting fishes:

1. clear, bright eye

2. shiny, taut, bright skins,

3. Flesh that feels firm and elastic

To avoid:

1. Strong of fishy odour

2. Dull, bloody eyes

3. Fading skin and gill colour

Have a nice weekend :)

instant Dessert

2009-02-14T19:50:00.001-08:00

Well, dessert is one of the things that is hard to go wrong. As long as it’s sweet, refreshing and looks good, there is always room in your stomach. Even if you just ate a whole lamb. or Cow.

So, in less than 2 minutes, vanilla ice cream, passion fruits, and mints from the garden.

There you go.

I love the ‘poppin’ seeds of the lovely passion fruit.

Leftover Rice

2009-02-13T05:30:00.001-08:00

So I always love to cook extra rice whenever I make dinner. So the next day I get to make fried rice.

Like one of the simplest thing to cook, it’s really hard to go wrong with fried rice. Unless, you never been to a kitchen before, or you're like.... dumb.

Fried rice had come a long way, and from it’s humble beginning of not wasting food; it is now part of the staple menu in regardless who you are and which part of the world you’re in.

From the Chinese style, to Malay style, Mamak style, Thai style, Indonesia style, and etc…. you can have it dirt cheap or pay a cut throat price for it.

So a quick search in my fridge i found ‘lap cheong’, eggs, carrots and ‘choi sum’. Throw in some chopped garlic and sliced onions it would be served with my must-have 'cili padi' and soy sauce.

Here’s a 3 steps guide:

1: Hot wok, oil, garlic, onions, then ‘lap cheong’ then eggs, then vegetables.

2. One tablespoon of oyster sauce, dashes of ‘nampla’, soy sauce, pepper, dark sauce sauce, salt and scope in the leftover rice.

3. Stir everything well and 10 minutes later, lunch is ready.

I like my fried rice ‘greasier’.

‘Homey’ lunch

2009-02-11T08:03:00.001-08:00

Being Chinese, we’re all mostly stuffed with arrays of mouth-watering food at all festive season. Feasting is the highlight during festive seasons, and speaking of which I just realised we always have food being associated with any Chinese festivals. From moon cakes to ‘bak chang’ to ‘tong yuen’ to birthday noodles, to baby showers, and even during ‘ching ming’.

But sometimes having all savoury can make me feel ‘jelak’. So this pre-CNY we had this simple lunch. Oh I am craving for the feel now, maybe because I’ve been staying own my own for the longest time and having meals as such is just fantastic.

Again, having 'popo' eyeing on everything in the kitchen just make everything taste right. So for that afternoon, we have this lunch after the prayers. It’s an interesting ceremony where we’d be praying for the ancestors and the lunch is the offerings.

And after the ‘ancestors’ are done with it, it’s our time to feast.

So there are, stir fry mix vegetable. A crunchy mix of celery, baby corn, broccoli and all being bind with the soft mushrooms, chicken, soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Then there’s ‘ju hu char’. A Peranakan & Penangite staple. Finely shredded carrots and radish and cook till soft with the stripes of ‘ju hu’; the dried cuttle fish.

What’s a prayer offerings without a chicken? So there is always chickens involved in any Chinese prayers. Like the Cantonese sayings; ‘Tong Kai Wan San’.

So the broth from the boiled chicken is being used to make the simple vegetable soup. It had the chicken gizzard, liver feet and neck that boils with the Chinese cabbage and carrots, then garnished with parsley and spring onions.

And there, you have the boiled chicken, and boiled pork belly too. After the prayers ended they are being chopped into bite sizes. And with a simple ‘cili padi’ + soy sauce dip, it is all perfect.

And, definitely must have fish, ‘Nien Nien You Yu’ an auspicious dish. So it’s a simple ‘Yao Cham’ literally mean dipping in the oil, the fresh grouper is being deep fried in hot oil after a simple marinate of salt and pepper. And one it’s crisp crunch, squirt in dashes of soy sauce and if you hear the sizzles, you’re on the right track. Serve it with some fried ginger and chopped spring onions.

So, as simple as the meal is, it bring a strong feel of being back home and dining with everyone happily. At most times, less is more.

Happy ‘Chap Go Meh’ (belated!)

LYJ ‘Pun Choi’

2009-02-09T03:36:00.001-08:00

One of the hidden gem in Sg. Buloh, spent almost an hour driving and braving thru the journey of potholes. So it’s a CNY cum birthday surprise dinner. Parking at the side of the road can get a lil tricky, and we parked about 200 meters away and walked towards the restaurant.

And there, there’s two restaurant with the same name, not sure if they are related but we booked a table at the intermediate unit.

And what to order when you go to a hakka ‘pun choi’ restaurant?

The ‘Pun Choi’

Literally means a tub of braised meat and vegetable it is among the famous Hakka cuisine. Roast Duck, Fried Prawns, Steamed Chicken and Fried Fish topped the special braised pork, mushrooms, abalone chicken feet, ah… the list is just long.

This is my first time eating ‘pun choi’ and i don’t know where to start. Everything is just so delicious. And i spent the next 5 minutes standing filling up my plate and bowl with chunks of meat.

The ‘Lor Mai Kai’

It’s more challenging to prepare than it’s ‘ordinary’ looks. The meat and most bones were carefully being removed and being stuffed with glutinous rice. Being steamed to perfection and then deep fried to golden crisp.

Ginseng Chicken & Pork Soup

And I thought why the waitress serve us two cups of tea. And apparently it’s chicken soup. And I love the idea of having small servings of these soup in those Chinese tea cups. Having a strong distinctive taste of the ginseng, and being kept warm in it’s special pot, this soup is non-greasy type and its stimulate your taste buds from the strong flavour of the ‘pun choi’. A great pairing.

And here’s the whole thing, for 11 of us.

Restoran LYJ Sdn Bhd

PT 11-12 & 16-17, Jln. Perkhidmatan

Kg. Baru Sg. Buloh 47000 Sg. Buloh

Tel:03-6140 2678

the kampung taste

2009-01-29T18:26:00.001-08:00

Like every true Chinese families, family gatherings and celebrations is about chomping down food and gamble. Well, at least my family keep this tradition.

Despite having to find comfy spot in the overcrowded house of over 30 people, no internet, and shouting babies, I look forward for every meal, back at my grandparent’s house.

With every meal prepared, I notice how my 70 year old grandmother make sure things are prepared her way. The long hours and the old kitchen with character, seems to be the busiest place all the time.

And since I started this ‘chaokar smokes project’ I tend observe on food preparation and I notice carefully that my family loves the nyonya / peranakan influence in our daily meals.

Just look at this simple lunch, we ate while waiting for the rest of the relatives to come back.

A simple ‘ikan kembong goreng’. And it’s heavenly crisp and tasty to fins and bones. So how grandma prepare the dish?

Popo: salt, tumeric powder, and fish

Me: that’s all?

Popo: yeah, and fresh fish. Like real fresh. Fish never taste good anymore if you refrigerate them.

So that’s her secret, she never keep fishes in the freezer, and she buy them fresh off the market whenever she’s cooking them.

So, after frying in hot oil, serve along with other dishes and most important, the sambal belachan.

oh my yin tsai

2009-01-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

One of my all time favorite leafy herb which is also know as yin tsai or cilantro. It's a love-hate herb, people seemed to love it or hate it, hence the contradicting name in Chinese xiang chai (frangant vege) vs. chou chai (smelly vege).

I love it in my soups, stir fries and raw. It's like a stronger taste of celery.

Whenever my mum make pak cham kai (steamed chicken) this would be a must-have side dish that we we eat it fresh with the tender steamed chicken, and dipping.

Whenever I buy them from the market, I would choose a tender / younger bunch, for it's leafy crunch. The roots made great stock too. Keep then in the freezer after cleaning it and brushing off the dirt, and add it in to your soups, stews, and any soupy / gravy-based dishes.

So this is what I use my yin tsai for; steamed eggy prawns and scallops.

This is also another easy dish. To me, seafood always taste better when you steam them, as they maintain the sweetness and the freshness of the texture. This is how it goes;

- 6-8 pcs medium prawns (butterfly cut: spilt the middle, twist the tail from the bottom and turn it back, and it opens up beautifully)

- 6-8 pcs of scallops (i bought these frozen Korean scallops, they add in excellent texture)

for the sauce:

- few drops of sesame oil

- few drops of nampla

- few drops of soy sauce

- pepper

- half a teaspoon of oyster sauce

and mix them all with two tablespoon of water, then pour over the prawns and scallops.

add in:

- thinly sliced ginger

- kei chi (wolf berries)

- a beaten egg and some water

Steam for 10 minutes, and serve hot with fresh yin tsai and a dash of soy sauce

Assam Fish

2009-01-10T07:03:00.001-08:00

Growing up with Penang + Kelantan + Thai influence, it is hard to go wrong with anything that is spicy and sour. So with my cravings like a pregnant women, I spent my Saturday afternoon cooking this. Assam Fish.

Steamed assam siakap.

Generally, there are two types of assam fish, there's the tumis style and there's the soupy style. The tumis style is more popular and also you can easily find it in many places. But I remember this soupy version in my family.

With a little improvisation, I decided to make steam assam fish for my Saturday dinner.

Ingredients;

- siakap x 1 (usually I prefer kembong / selar kuning; but it all depends on what's fresh in the market)

- lemon grass x 3 stalk

- 2 onions

- chillies to your spicy preference

- a handful of daun kesum

- 3 pieces of assam keping (i ran out of assam Jawa, so there's some improvisation)

- a tablespoon of belachan

In this soupy version, instead of frying everything, most of the ingredients are being boiled over medium heat. So I had about 800cc of water, and boil them with the lemon grass, chillies, daun kesum, belachan, assam keping and onion.

For flavors I add in;

- a tea spoon of serbuk kunyit (galangal)

- two tea spoon of chilly powder

- a tea spoon of sugar

- a table spoon of nampla'

- salt and pepper to taste

So boil them for an hour.

I also add in slices of cucumber (seed and skin the cucumbers and cut it to 1cm thick and 3cm long)

Let it simmer and put the fish in the steaming tray, and scoup the soup and the filling over.

Steam the fish with the sauce for 10 minutes.

Yum....

This version of the soup assam fish is close to assam laksa.

welcoming ChaoKar

2009-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Chao Kar, simples means kitchen in Penang Hockkien.

With my love for food, cooking, tasting and all, I want to document things I've tasted and get into making them.

I blame all this food craze to my parents whom now stays in Kelantan (east cost Malaysia), but would drive over 300 kilometres back to Penang (west coast Malaysia) just for their fix of Koey Teow Th'ng, Assam Laksa, Chee Cheong Fun, Java Mee, Passembor, Char Kuey Teow, and more. And being raised in Kelantan, with the neighbouring Thailand (Southern Thai) enhances my experience in chomping down beautiful and tasty food.

This is going to be an interesting journey.

Chao Kar tuk huei liao

(the kitchen is smoking)