re-Starting

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

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

 
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On Blending

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

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

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

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

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.