Merdeka Open House 2009: My Sweet Malaysia Round up

Updated 14 Sept 2009

Erina from Penang of Sembang and Talk, made this Red Bean Soup but she added a special ingredient inside which is alkaline dumpling. My mom does this too! It makes the soup super smooth and the chewy dumpling bits added great texture to the soup. Yeah this is a late entry due to streamyx issue. Thanks Erina for the effort even though you're so busy now.

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Updated 12:31pm

I'm so daft hahaha I've put in everyone's entries except mine!!! So here we go I added mine right at the end.

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Just like our previous open house, let's pay respect to our country first by singing the National anthem - Negaraku.

NEGARAKU

Negaraku
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Raykat hidup
Bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta

Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta


This is the fourth installment of Merdeka Open House that I've hosted. I'm glad that I soldiered on this year even though I was a bit lazy earlier and now I'm really swamped with work. It's really crazy busy!

For our first open house, we came up with the theme Recipe Long Forgotten where we made recipes of our grandparents era. The subsequent year we have a Muhibbah themed affair. Last year we have a fantastic Mee and My Malaysia with a record of 27 entries.

This year we're going on a very sweet theme of My Sweet Malaysia. Actually I would really apologise for choosing this theme without knowing there will be a shortage of sugar in the country. It's funny but I guess someone's hoarding the load to inflate the price for the start of our festive seasons.

Without further adieu, let's sweeten up this 52nd Independence Day (Hari Merdeka Ke-52) with the following entries that I've received...

FoodnTravella of Kuala Lumpur made some Sweet & Colorful Glutinous Rice Balls for the occasion. In Cantonese, they're known as Tong Yuen or for the Nyonya it's Kuih Ee. These glutinous rice balls are served with sugar syrup. Do check FoodnTravella's version of the colourful glutinous rice balls.

Jin Hooi who is residing in Melbourne owns Smell & Taste Are My Memory attempted Ondeh-ondeh. I love how I could stuff one whole ondeh-ondeh inside my mouth waiting for the burst of gula melaka!




Lianne of Imbi n Itchy has recently married and shifted to Ahaus, Germany came up with a beautiful Honeycomb Cake. I tell ya, it's not easy to achieve the honeycomb texture but she had done it so well. Atta girl!



Alice hails from Malaysia and blogs at Bits of Taste. She concocted our fave dessert of Sago Gula Melaka. It's hard to say no to this dessert of pearly grains topped with thick gula melaka syrup and creamy fresh coconut milk.



We have our second Onde-onde recipe submitted. Sam residing in Adelaide, Australia blogs at Come Have a Bite made these lovely chewy textured balls coated with grated coconut with a melted gula melaka filling.



Nyonya Food is a very young blog even though it's owner has been blogging at a different blog for years. She's very famous and this Penang lass stays in Irvine, CA, USA. Yes, I know she hardly make sweet stuff but I can count on her to cook up something for My Sweet Malaysia. She submitted one of Malaysian's favourite tong shui (sweet soup), Bee Koh Moy (Bubur Pulut Hitam).




Another USA resident but from Pennsylvania, Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets submitted Kuih Koci. This kuih is wrapped individually with banana leave and once you open the parcel, you'll find the kuih of glutinous rice flour with a gula melaka flavoured grated coconut filling.


Tummywise from Penang cooked up a delish looking Kaya, a spread made of coconut milk and eggs. Seriously, I could hardly find anyone who makes their own kaya these days as it's rather tedious to keep stirring the concoction for hours :P since we could easily buy them off the shelves but of course homemade ones can't beat the commercial kaya. Well done Tummywise!

Sam of Adelaide, Australia sent me a second submission. This round she made a Kuih Bakar. I'm not really a kuih fan but I liked this kuih bakar. Perhaps the action of baking make it really fragrant coupled with the usage of pandan juice got me hooked.


I would like to apologise to Little Chef of Yau Tuck Sek from Kuala Lumpur for rejecting her entry earlier as her Mama's Moist Chocolate Cake is not something traditional. I was in a dilemma actually but what the heck, we'll accept this huh in the spirit of Merdeka. This is her Ma Ma's recipe which looked so simple to make, perhaps I should try this one of these days.


Ching of Little Corner of Mine resides in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, made everybody's favourite Red Bean Soup but her version have homemade glutinous rice balls also known as tong yuen which add a rather Q texture to the soup.


I tell ya, I always look forward to Kong Kay's submission cos he always spring me surprises. Who can forget the year he submitted the sago worms??? That post was a hit with foreign bloggers! Kong Kay from Kuching made a very very apt dish this time to celebrate Malaysia's 52nd birthday. A T'nee Mee Sua (Sweet Longevity Tread Noodle) is basically mee sua served in sugar syrup with red hard boiled egg. According to him, this noodle is a traditionally served to the elders in Hokkien households where the daughter-in-law would need to cook this up in the morning and serve it ala tea ceremony. Do hop over to his blog to view the step-by-step guide to make this special dish.


Thanks to Sugar & Spice for kicking my butt this year to make this open house a success. If not for her, I would just let this year go by just like that. Sugar & Spice from Kuala Lumpur blogs at Masala Heaven made a very delicious and creamy Kulfi. Seriously, I never realise Kulfi is so easy to make!!! Do you think this will be nicer if made in an ice-cream maker? I've been itching to lay my hands on one of this machines!


Dedicated mummy, Sue Momster from Kuala Lumpur who blogs at Cookingmomster made these beautiful Kuih Gula Hangus (Steamed Caramel Cakes). I can imagine sinking my teeth into these soft cakes with sweet caramel taste.


Reese from Boston sent me the recipe for Kek Pisang (Banana Bread) which I've posted on my blog on her behalf. Thanks Reese for the lovely looking loaves.


From Vancouver, BC, Canada, Angie of Sea Salt With Food cooked up Bubur Ca Ca. Bubur Ca Ca is another Malaysian favourite tong shui (sweet soup). Capt'n Hook will be crazy enough to drive to Pulau Tikus, Penang for a bowl!





Hahaha Sam of Come Have a Bite equalled my record with 4 entries! She made two tong shuis (sweet soup) - Sweet Potatoes Soup and Bubur Cha Cha! Thanks Sam for being such a sport ;-). I hope you can break this record next year!


Newly wed Daphne from Perth, Australia who blogs at More Than Words made Bubor Char Char as well. Told ya it's a Malaysian favourite, so good enough that there were a total of 3 entries!


Pei-Lin who was studying in USA but should be back home in time for Merdeka celebration blogs at Dodol & Mochi. I'm impressed that she took the effort to make Tambun Biscuits (Tau Sar Beng). I guess when you're overseas and crave for some, the only way is to make them yourself huh but for us who stays in the country really take these widely available biscuits for granted heh :p


By now Nate and Annie from House of Annie should be settling down in Kuching. I can't imagine how they manage to cough up with a Honeydew Sago dessert in the midst of packing. I guess it must be so hot that they have to make one to cool themselves down. Well, I wish both of them great new adventures especially in terms of the discovery of Sarawakian food.







Baking Quinn who is currently in Adelaide, Australia made it just in time for the event. She blogs at Quinn's Baking Diary. She submitted two entries. One of them is Angku Kuih in the shape of Disney's characters! She uses her Peranakan grandmother's recipe. The next entry is Kuih Seri Muka which is basically steamed coconut milk infused glutinous rice topped with a sweet pandan custard. I recently tasted a good Seri Muka at my cousin's wedding party, she got them from Lulu Kueh (you can find the kiosks at various malls).


Lisa all the way from Netherlands of Lekker lekker lekkerste made one of my fave kuih raya - Kuih Makmur. I liked it just the way she did... the pleasure of the sweet melt-in-the mouth dough followed by the exploding texture of crushed peanuts!








On my side, I've made my favourite kind of doughnut, Kuih Keria that is made up of sweet potatoes. For prosperity, I've cooked up a pot of 8 Treasure Tong Shui (Sweet Soup), something very different from the ordinary red or green beans.


Thank you to all participants for being such a sport to cook up such a feast. To the readers who feasted their eyes on our virtual open house, thanks for coming by. Till the next installment of Merdeka Open House, Selamat Hari Merdeka to all Malaysians.



Note: I've merely crop your pics into squares so that they looked uniform. Hope you don't mind.





Technorati Tag: merdeka open house 2009

Merdeka Open House 2009: Entry is Closed

All right, entries to Merdeka Open House 2009 is officially closed. However, if you've already made your sweet little something, you could still send them to me by today. I won't guarantee that it will be posted together with the earlier entries that I've received as it takes time to prepare the round up. They might be posted up later but I'll try to include them all before the open house. Email me your entries ASAP!!!

Thanks. Do come back and feast your eyes on all the sweet treats on the 31st!

My Sweet Malaysia: Kek Pisang (Banana Bread)

I'm posting this on behalf of Reese Darragh who is residing in Boston, MA. Reese is submitting a Kek Pisang (Banana Bread) which is best served with Kopi O or Teh Tarik.



Actually I can't decide whether to admit this or not cos from the look of it, the cake doesn't look like our local Kek Pisang but since Reese is such a sport, I decided to accept this entry since I've always been flexible about this. Thanks Reese for participating and I hope you'll contribute next year, perhaps this would entice you to start a blog soon :p

Kek Pisang (Banana Bread)

INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter
* 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 5-6 overripe bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup of chopped walnut
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 8-cup mini loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and dark brown sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Add chopped walnuts into batter. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack.

My Sweet Malaysia: 8 Treasure Tong Shui (Sweet Soup)

I just made this today, so I decided to include this for Merdeka Open House as well. It's my first time making this after tasting it at Zun Kitchenette. It's basically a tong shui (sweet soup) that consists of 8 different type of ingredients to signify a prosperous ending to a meal.

The 8 types of ingredients I've used were red beans, green beans, black eye peas, pearl barley, gingko nuts, dried longans, lotus seeds, and sago pearls. May our country Malaysia will prosper and the citizens continue to live harmoniously and peacefully.

8 Treasure Tong Shui

100g red beans
100g green beans
100g black eye peas
100g pearl barley
150g gingko nuts
150g dried longans
1 rice bowl full of lotus seeds, soak with hot water for 20 mins and remove stems when soften
20-30g sago pearls
water
rock sugar to taste

Boil red beans, green beans, black eye peas and lotus seeds with about 2" amount of water above the beans. Simmer in low heat until they are almost soften before adding longan, gingko nuts and pearl barley; taking care to add more hot water when it dries up.

When all ingredients are softened, add more hot water until to the level you prefer your tong shui to be, either thick or thin. I liked mine half ingredients, half water. Add in rock sugar to taste (you can use normal sugar). Turn off fire and serve hot.

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

My Sweet Malaysia: Kuih Keria

I was kinda proud when I decided on the theme for this year's Merdeka Open House. I thought it would be so easy to simply pick any of the lavish sweet traditional spread we have in Malaysia but how wrong I was. Well, all due to so many things I could cook up but I tell ya, it's not easy to decide on which recipe... decisions, decisions, decisions!

Anyway I ended up making Kuih Keria, one of my favourite local "doughnut", the other being the simple fried up dough with castor sugar coating which we can find in our local market or hawker stalls. Kuih Keria is doughnut shaped kuih made of 4 ingredients that are sweet potatoes, self-raising flour, baking powder and sugar for coating. Simple as that... usually the yellow variety of sweet potatoes are being used but this smart alec decided to make some multi-coloured ones just to spice up the entry.



I bought some purple, orange and yellow (well, I thought it was yellow but after steaming they still look whitish!!!) sweet potatoes just to experiment. After steaming them separately, I mashed them up. I find the orange version is easist to mash and it's soft plus very moist where else the other two were kinda dry. I had to add a little water to bind the dough up. After frying them up, I noticed the orange ones puffed up nicely but the other two retained it's original shape.



The original Kuih Keria usually have a hardened sugar syrup coating but I find them too sweet, hence I just coat mine with caster sugar.





The test bunnies only gave praise to the orange version and I know Capn't Hook would loved to throw the other 2 versions at the wall to see if they could make any dents on the wall hehe. So I should know better to adhere to the experts (recipe/cookbook writers) by using the said ingredient instead of pandai-pandai (cleverly) modifying them to my fancy.

Kuih Keria

300g yellow or orange sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
120g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups oil for deep frying
Caster sugar for sprinkling

1. Place the cubed sweet potatoes on a plate and steam until soft, about 15 mins. mash them, removing and discarding any fibre.

2. Placed the mashed sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Combine with self raising flour and baking powder. Knead into a soft dough.

3. Divide dough into 30g pieces. Dust hands lightly with flour and roll each dough piece into a round blall. Flatten it slightly with the back of your hand until it's about 7cm large. Slowly using your finger to poke a hole through and fashion dough into a ring. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

4. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high fire. When smoking hot, add dough rings in batches. Deep fry for 5-8 mins or until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towel.

5. Sprinkle caster sugar over and serve hot.

Do wait up and come back on Merdeka Day for the round up of all recipes submitted for this year's Merdeka Open House!

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

Technorati Tag: merdeka open house 2009

Review: Buffet Brunch at Hakka Republic

**Pork Free**


On Sunday, courtesy of Sunshine Chicken and Hakka Republic, Capt'n Hook, BoiBoi and myself enjoyed ourselves tremendously over a delicious Sunday buffet brunch. Thanks to Jon, someone I gotten to know over the years via Friedchillies forum ;-), his brother Gerald (Operations Manager of Sunshine Chicken) invited us together with Jaya from The Star and Tan Bee Hong of NST (wow we finally got the face after reading years of food reviews in The Sunday Times, so honoured to meet her) to taste their free range chicken done ala Western at Hakka Republic.

We have learnt so much from Gerald about chicken farming but the unique points about Sunshine Chicken were they have 2 types of free range chicken ie. Free Range Chicken (Ma Cho Kai which literally translated "horse grass chicken") and Free Range Castrated Rooster or Capon Rooster (Yim Kai). They were named as such as these Ma Cho chickens roam freely on the ground where horse grass is planted. The chickens peck and eat these grass plus other soft vegetation on top of their usual chicken feeds. We were told they could graze down an entire banana tree, trunk and all!!! Oui scary, what sharp beaks they have!

As for the Yim Kai, I guess the younger generation won't know much what are they. I know a bit but don't remember tasting any. Capt'n Hook being a kampung boy had witness the whole process as occasionally someone would go round the kampung asking anyone would want to have their rooster to be castrated! Castrated rooster meat texture was supposed to be smoother, well, I'm not sure since we didn't get to try as the best way to cook this is to steam it ala Hainanese way. Gerald was showing BoiBoi how tall these roosters were and judging from the height, they were like as tall as 2 feet?? What more when the weight could reach 4kg!





It was my first visit to Hakka Republic which is seriously not a Chinese restaurant heh but more of a Chinese themed bar and bistro serving western style food. The decor is very Chinese but yet modern chic. There is an oval room which contained a few sets of comfy sofas followed by a room filled with high table and chairs plus a dining set with a large display of wine bottles. According to Capt'n Hook, this was the typical layout of a Hakka home where the oval or round shaped room is to receive guests.



At the bar, you'll noticed 3 shiny machines holding bottles of wine inside. They looked like fridge but they're more than that. These machines are called Enomatic machine which preserved opened wine bottles. Hakka Republic is proud that they're first in Malaysia to have such system.



About the buffet brunch spread, it was certainly a hearty one even though the choices are not as wide like a hotel buffet but seriously, it's just nice for me. Chef Adi did a wonderful job here. Otherwise overloading and suffering at the end of the meal, something not very pleasant indeed. Priced at RM65+ per person, free for children below 10 years. This price doesn't include drinks but there is happy hour prices all day long or free flow of barley/rose oolong tea at RM9+ per person. We all opted for the rose oolong tea as recommended by Arby which is absolutely fantastic to go with all the meaty dishes.



Let's check out some of the spread... start with appetisers which you can find salad, cold meat etc







Then there's a hearty wild mushroom soup with assorted breads.



Close up of the appetisers, we have Smoked Duck Salad With Honey Hoisin Dressing, Salmon Gatteau, Creamy Peas and Ham, Tuna Salad...



... fresh prawns with various dips and sauces, greens and pasta salad.



There's a carving station serving Roasted Whole Sunshine Free Range Chicken, Oven Baked Lamb Leg and Yorkshire Pudding. Gerald informed the first roasted chicken was underdone hence they roasted a second chicken. I tasted the first one though the thigh meat which was passed on by BoiBoi, was a bit tough but the subsequent chicken was juicy. The Yorkshire Pudding was great to go with the meat and brown sauce.



Mains of Beef Wellington with steamed vegetables, Baked Salmon Fillet with stir-fried vegetables, and Chicken Roulade with potato confit.



I personally loved the Beef Wellington which was perfectly done... oops sorry the gravy covered the beef portion hence you can't see the pinkish bit on it; and of course the Chicken Roulade. You can really taste the chicken meat and the texture is smooth and err how to say huh... chewy? Reminded me of how real chicken meat texture should be like just like those my mom used to rear festives seasons.



Since it's brunch, we got to order how we like our eggs to be done. Capn't Hook asked for omelette which I would say perfectly done. The centre of the omelette is still runny! Superb... the chefs at hotel breakfast should learn this is the way how an omelette should look like :p

I "shared" an Egg Benedict with BoiBoi but the moment it arrived at the table, the little fella started poking his fork and spoon into it. I reminded him he's supposed to share with me but omigosh I had to stop him since he ate quite a lot of food already. You should have seen me struggling to remove the plate from him whilst he's still stuffing himself hahaha... Luckily there were 2 bites left and no wonder he was so gelojoh cos it's simply delicious. The egg was poached nicely topped with a light creamy hollandaise sauce.



Desserts you can find quite a good mix of mixed fruits, Carrot Cake, Cheesecake, Fruit Flan, Apple Pie, Bread Pudding, Gugelhope Marble, Mango Pudding and Creme Brulee.





Of all, the Creme Brulee is really mean! BoiBoi was the first who started on dessert and he told me he liked it a lot. So later on when I had my share, I had to concur with him. It's luscious, firm on top with a crispy layer of burnt sugar and creamy at the bottom. I never had such a great creme brulee in Malaysia.




I captured these pics of BoiBoi enjoying his second serving of Creme Brulee but you'll need to imagine the mmmm and yummms sound coming from him... need I explain anymore how great it was??? In fact the rest, Capt'n Hook, Bee Hong and Gerald, gave thumbs up too!



It was indeed a great brunch in the company of so many people, which includes Jon and his family. Later on we met Thomas, one of the partners of Sunshine Chicken. Can see he's really passionate about his chickens and food haha. Upon his initiation... we're now going to organise a nice drive (about 2 hours) to Kuala Lipis to visit the farm (1 hour) then followed by a lunch of steamed Yim Kai and freshwater fishes in a restaurant nearby before heading back to KL. If you're interested please note down in the comment and remember to include your email (regular floggers don't need as I have your email already hehe). Tentatively it should be either Sat or Sun in October.

At the moment, you can only get your chicken here but you can always call 03 9102 3950 to place your order to be delivered to you. Otherwise, you'll need to visit these places to taste the chicken.

During the month of Ramadhan, Hakka Republic has a Ramadhan buffet priced at RM68+ per person with free flow of selected drinks. Remember to make your reservation!

Thanks to Jon; Gerald and Thomas (Sunshine Chicken); and Sue, Arby, Chef Adi and team (Hakka Republic) for such a wonderful time.


Sunshine Chicken (Sales and Marketing)
45-2, 2nd Floor, Jalan Menara Gading 1,
Medan Connaught
56000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 9102 3950


Hakka Republic
Lot 2.05, Level 2, Menara Hap Seng,
Jalan P.Ramlee
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2078 9908
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: Lunch 12-3pm; Drinks/Dinner 5pm-1am
Sat: Lunch - closed; Drinks/Dinner 5pm-2am (kitchen opens at 7pm and last orders at 10pm)Sun: Buffet Brunch 1130am-330pm; Drinks/Dinner 5pm-1am

For a nicer full album of the food, check out my Flickr album.

Reminder: 2+ Days to Merdeka Open House 2009 Submission

You have 2 days, 10 hours, 41 minutes to submit your entry for Merdeka Open House 2009. Submission will be closed on Midnight of 29 August 2009.

Submit your sweet dish to me (babe_kl(@)yahoo(dot)com) with the following info:

Name or nick
Location
Permalink/URL of your post
Name of the dish
A picture (minimum 500x375 pixels) of your dish

Thank you ;-)

It's Babe_KL's Turn

Would you tell your Ob-gyn to hang on there and wait for another hour to deliver your baby so that baby can share the same birth date as yourself??? Whoever who does that I tell ya, must be out of her mind especially after in labour for 13 hours!

So that was why BoiBoi's birthday was yesterday and today's mine :D

On my birthday, I'm going to count my blessings and not the candles. Otherwise, everyone will need to stand around all day waiting for a piece of my cake heh. Well, thanks in advance for all your wishes ;-)

Also, Birthday shoutouts to more August babies, Lisa (21st), Dafthamta (26th), Lyrical Lemongrass (27th) and my mom (29th). Best wishes for the day and a year filled with happiness and laughters. Many happy returns of the day!

BTW, I've just got involved in a mega project and I need to go to some darn ulu places with hardly any food for lunch since it's Ramadhan month and the net is crawling like a tortoise... plus keeping late hours just to rush off the works, hence postings will be sporadic.

Guys and girls, don't forget... the last day to submit your Merdeka Open House entry is 29th August, so hurry yah cos you have only 4 days to do so!

To all Muslim readers, Selamat Berpuasa.

Happy Birthday To Our Darling Babe

Darling,

Your birthday brings back loads of memories since the day you were born. We supposed it's natural for us to look back and recall all the happiness you've brought us and through the years brings so many changes to us and to everyone surrounding you. There's one thing that never change that is our loving pride in every thought of you.

You're very special to us and you really deserve the best from us. Hope you can weather all storms and be all you want to be. We wish you a wonderful life filled with love and happiness.

May you be well and happy, and have a blessed 7th Birthday.

With loads of love,
Daddy and Mummy

Review: Chicken Duck Rice @ Semua House Food Court

**Non-Halal**


The place where I work now is freaking too far to walk to our fave lunch hang out places. Since we're back in the HQ where all the hawk eyes are watching, it's hard to have leisurely lunch. So most times I bring my own food, otherwise will just pack my lunch nearby. Having pork dishes are also out of the question unless and until I go over to Masjid India area to run some errands.

Yes, you heard me!!! There is pork in Masjid India area and it can be found inside Semua House Food Court. One part of the food court have non-halal stalls which I only discovered quite recently :p heh. Most times I only managed to stop at the little bakery but once I walked down a few steps and stumbled upon rows of glistening char sius (BBQ pork), siu yuk (roast pork) and of course plump just roasted chicken. Err so far I haven't seen any duck despite the name etched above the stall.

I've packed the rice back a few times since I hardly have much time to sit down and eat. I was even messengered to pack some back to my colleagues when they saw the delicious meats laid on top of the fragrant rice. Once I had Chicken and Char Siu Rice (RM4.80), I loved the tender chicken breast and oooo the char siu was sticky but not sickly sweet. Most importantly their chilli sauce has the right amount tang with the usual garlic, ginger and chilli.



The latest, I was greedy after hearing a girl asking for all 3 combi the previous round... yes yes I have to get the Chicken, Siu Yuk and Char Siu Rice (RM7.50)!!! Hahahaha... the siew yuk doesn't look great on the rack, looked kinda dry but surprisingly the skin is crunchy and the meat was tasty enough. It was worth all the RM7.50 but I should have asked for half rice, I know I could have just stop short of eating the rice but the rice was so good with the meats. I was too stuffed :p in the end. Ahhhh the peril of being greedy!


Chicken Duck Rice
Lot 16 Food Court
Basement, Semua House
3, Lorong Bonus 6,
50100 Kuala Lumpur


Technorati Tags: chicken rice

Slow Cooked Pork Ribs With Black Fungus and Tofu Puff

**Non-Halal**


Let me describe another lazy way to have a hearthy meal without having to do much especially the cleaning part :p All one need to do is to use their slow cooker which is usually stashed away somewhere inside kitchen cabinets or like most people would just use it to boil soups.

I've done quite a number of posts on how to cook using the slow cooker without adding much water and this is another one of it...

First, clean up one stick of chopped pork ribs, remove all the fats and scald with some hot water. Marinade the ribs for a couple of hours with maybe around 1/4 cup of water (there isn't any vegetables used hence you'll a wee bit of water), 2 cubes of red preserved beancurd, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and a wee bit of sugar to bring out the flavour. It has to be slightly more salty as the rest of the ingredients are kinda bland.

For the first layer, place halves tofu puff on the bottom of the slow cooker.



Second layer, soaked, cleaned and sliced black fungus.



Next, layer on the ribs together with the marinade and some crushed garlic. Put on the lid and cook for 3 hours.



This was how the ribs looked like at the half way mark.



Towards the end of the cooking time, pour in some Shao Tsing wine and give it a quick stir. Can switch off the cooker now as the heat will continue to cook the ribs.



Dish up and serve hot with rice! The meat is superbly tender and definitely full of the red preserved tofu flavour, almost like Hakka Char Nyuk (braised deep fried pork belly with black fungus).

No wok or pan to wash, no need to clean your stove or cooking area, plus no need to mop the kitchen floor! Without counting the prep work, just need to wash the slow cooker ceramic pot, the spoon used for stirring and the serving plate! Best for lazy people like me :p

Other ideas of cooking using a slow cooker:
Slow Cooked Chicken and Potatoes
Slow Cooked Chicken With Bittergourd
Slow Cooked Pork Ribs
Slow Cooked Roasted Pork with Potatoes and Leeks


Technorati Tags: pork rib + slow cooker

Review: Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant

**Halal**


Back in the days of the yore before Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant shifted to the current hip and happening One Bangsar, it was located next to Jolly Green. I used to frequent the then known as Bangsar Seafood Village Restaurant as there isn't that many Chinese restaurants that were halal. Unka Leong concurred with me and the other halal place to bring Muslim guests would be Kelana Seafood Centre which has since closed due to development to the location.

Yesterday, we have quite a large group of floggers gathered at the restaurant for a review of a new menu plus the revealing of Ramadhan Set Menus, more on this later. Thanks to Jade for the invitation and Fatboybakes for the arrangement.

We started off with Boneless Chicken With Fruit Sauce which is basically deep fried chicken pieces served on a bed of sauce with some mango slices in between to cut off some oil of the chicken. The chicken pieces were crunchy on the outside but warm and tender inside. Then we have a Red Snapper With Bean Sauce. In the menu, it stated steamed but when it came the fish is deep fried. The piece that I had tasted over cooked as it was a bit tough but I liked the sauce though, would be great if eaten with plain rice.



The Stir-fried Prawns With Special Curry is really special indeed. Not only it came serving in a bamboo steaming basket, the curry sauce was really tasty. From the creamy curry, I could derived fragrant lemongrass and thinly sliced kafir leaves in it. Everyone agreed that the sauce was great, especially if they serve with steamed mantaos.

Egg Omelette With Crabmeat is just pretty normal except how it was presented. There were some ooo-ahhs when it arrived wondering how the spring onions could stick outta the stack of omelette... I won't let out the secret, so you gotta order this to find out ;-)



Braised Beancurd Combination is a platter of gently deep fried smooth homemade tofu on a bed of lovely pumpkin sauce, topped with crunchy water chestnut and carrots plus deep fried pumpkin pieces. I really loved this dish but then I could be bias since I like pumpkin a lot. The sauce is subtle and slightly sweetish. The soft deep fried pumpkin pieces are my fave part of this dish. I think I could recreate this dish at home!

Surprisingly the dish that looked kinda plain really lived up the moment. The Stewed Cabbage With Dried Scallop and Mushroom came with a whole cabbage that has been braised till soften, quartered before being topped with stir-fried strips of chicken meat, mushrooms and black fungus. Funny I didn't tasted any scallops, perhaps the chef improvised and gave us something else instead which I'm mightly glad. The stir-fried bits were fragrant and were excellent with the plain cabbage.



Our table were served with Stir Fried Crabs with Salted Egg Yolk, whilst the next table got the Butter Crabs. I "seteng" (derived from setengah which means half in Malay :p) a piece with Jek, licked the salted egg yolks coating clean before devouring the fresh firm flesh. The next table was generous enough to move their remaining Butter Crabs over but I was too chowtutted for any. I tried the sauce though which I find too much curry leaves in it that overpowered the creamy buttery taste.



Err my dishes are not in order actually, the crabs were the last before dessert. Before the crabs we have this Fried Rice with Prawns. There were so much prawns in there! The unique part of this dish is there were buttery egg floss that usually come with the dry style of butter prawns surrounding the rice. These were topped with deep fried stuffed crab claws. We ended the dinner with Chilled Mango Puree with Sago.

From 20th August till 21st September 2009, for every Ramadhan Set Menu ordered, you'll get a voucher to redeem 1kg of crabs on your next visit and here are the sets available:

RM 498+: Appetizer, Shark’s Fin Soup, Chicken with Ginger, Spicy Fried Fish, Lychee Prawns, Signature Beancurd, ‘Kampung’ fried rice, Custard Buns, Dessert

RM 598+: Appetizer, Sharks Fin Soup, Chicken with Plum Sauce, Pomfret with
Bean Sauce, Prawns with Sweet Corn Sauce, Steamed “Sang Gan”, Tom Yam Noodles, Banana with “Gula Melaka”, Dessert

RM 698+: Appetizer, Double boiled soup, Roast chicken, Red snapper, Otak Otak Fried Prawns, Braised Sea Cucumber, Oyster Fried Rice, Chinese Pastries, Dessert

RM 898+: Homemade appetizers, Sharks Fin Soup with Pumpkin, Boneless Duck, Curried Garoupa, Braised Seafood, Mango Prawns, Garlic Fried Rice, Banana & ‘Gula Melaka’, Dessert

My photos won't do any justice to how good looking the dishes were, so do check out the Queen of DSLR's pics :p

Many thanks to FatBoyBakes, Nigel, Paranoid Android and Jek for the boozes; Jade and the management, chef and staff of Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant for having us.


Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant
One Bangsar
63, Jalan Ara
Bangsar Baru
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603) 2282 2555
Opening hours:
Lunch: 12:00pm - 2:30pm
Dinner: 6:00pm - 10:30pm


Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Eat, Drink and Be Merry... Happy Weekend!

Sorry, this is nothing to do with food ermmm but then again it's drink related though...

Yesterday I was invited for a food review dinner at Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant with a whole lot of floggers, will blog about this later ;-)

As I walked into the reserved room, I saw Meena; Jek and Lisa in there. As I approached the table, I saw Frat lying down with a silly smirk on his face. His boss, Jek, told me that Frat is highly intoxicated with some sweet nectar and apologised for not being himself. Poor Frat.

Then Frat went for a leak, and he came back standing straight, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"More nectar into the system please!!!" says Frat.

Eat, drink and be merry... happy weekend!

Steamed Mashed Tofu With Fish Paste

Another dish learnt from my mother which is also easy peasy and very healthy as well. Mom's cooking is the best, I tell ya!

To make this, just mash one block of soft tofu with 200gm of fish paste which you can make yourself or just buy ready made from the wet market. I find the best way to mix them thoroughly is to use your fingers to squash the fish paste. Mix in one egg (can be omitted but it will be smoother if used), a bit of sesame oil or shallot oil or garlic oil :p, some chopped spring onion, salt and pepper to taste. Steam for 15 minutes (I've used electric steamer, so you might need to adjust your timing accordingly). To serve, just sprinkle more chopped spring onion on top. Told ya it was easy peasy!

This was how the mixture looks like before steaming...



And this was the end result...




Technorati tags: tofu

Review: Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur

We have been frequenting Hard Rock Cafe after their major uplift last year, no thanks to BoiBoi. He got hooked with the kiddy menu after we brought him here the first time (gosh he was so young then). So far the food have never failed us, no complains about their attentive service either. Capt'n Hook and I lepak (hang out) here one evening recently when the entire Kuala Lumpur was jammed up after an evening downpour.

These are what we have ordered. Hard Rock Nachos (RM32) is our all time fave. On a bed of crispy tortilla chips, Jack and Cheddar cheeses and seasoned pinto beans are piled all over. Served with sour cream, chopped spring onions, pico de gallo, jalapeños and a side of fresh salsa. We loved the contrast of crispy chips with melted cheeses, and also the amount of inches added to our waist heh :p



Potato Skins (RM28) is a must order definitely. The potato shells are filled with Jack and Cheddar cheeses topped with crisp bacon, spring onions and parsley. Best dipped into the sour cream.



We also shared a Grilled Salmon Steak (RM35). The thick slab of salmon was perfectly done. I quickly swish the garlic butter around so that it can melt all over the salmon. We ate up all our greens but stop short of finishing the mashed potatoes cos we're filled to the brim.



Since we sat next to the window, we checked out the traffic along Jalan Sultan Ismail which is still crawling even way pass 8.30pm, not only that the rain started to pour again. We decided to have a few more drinks until Capt'n Hook beckoned for the dessert menu. A Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae (sorry I forgot the price) was ordered. A large piece of brownie topped with vanilla ice-cream and hot fudge, garnished with almonds, chocolate sprinkles, fresh whipped cream and a cherry. Sounds sinful already, but guarantee hits the yummilicious chart!!!


Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur
Ground Floor, Wisma Concorde
Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2715 5555
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sun 11:30AM - 2:30AM
(Kitchen Closes at 10.30pm)


Technorati tags: hard rock cafe + kuala lumpur

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cupcake

I can't help but to pimp this recipe again :p

I made this with larger dollops of PB and N, and half way thru I turned my oven setting to just using the upper element heat and I managed to get evenly browned (you might not need to do this as my oven seems to be a bit cranky) Peanut Butter and Nutella Cupcake, YAY!!!

Make your own healthy cupcakes this weekend cos I'm gonna be selfish and not sharing mine! :D

Happy weekend!!!


Technorati tags: cupcake + peanut butter + nutella

Review: Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant

Recently, Capt'n Hook was looking around for a decent Indian vegetarian to bring a group of nuns from Kopan Monastery & Nunnery for lunch after prayers. We went around trying to find a suitable place and I remember there was a place in Brickfields that boo_licious had blogged about. Her post got my Indian colleagues excited as they were wondering where the heck is Jalan Thambipillai. I was roped in to google for the map and later on we found out where exactly Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant was located.

So one evening, we both set out to check out the restaurant. Parking was quite easy as there's an open air car park a stone throw away but look kinda weird cos it's actually a widened road complete with bright street lamps. However, the road is blocked both ways. Upon checking with the attendant, we were told there is no way they'll open up the road as the end of the road there's a temple sitting on it. As it's sensitive to demolish temple at the moment, hence the road leading into the many worship places around Jalan Berhala never materialise. If you want to save on a few ringgits, just watch out and pray for empty parking lots in front of the restaurant.

It's not difficult to look for Gopala as there's a huge signage over 2 shoplots. One lot is air-conditioned and there's no guessing which lot we stepped into :p with the current weather. The place is absolutely clean and pleasant. Service was attentive too.



We were told they practice Hare Krishna beliefs, hence all food served here is vegetarian and cooked without garlic or onions. The menu dotted with photos is quite extensive and there were Chinese and Western dishes as well. We placed our order and the food came rather quickly.

I had the Chapati with Keema set (RM3.50) which came with 2 pieces of chapati and the vegetarian keema. The keema was quite all right but I forgot to tell them I wanted freshly made chapati, hence my chapati was a bit limp.



Capt'n Hook asked for Kashmir Fried Rice (RM4.50) which we found ingredients like vegetarian bits, mixed vegetables, cabbage, cashew nut, raisins and dried chillies. This fried rice had enough wok hei and even though fried chillies were used, they only give the rice a slight hint of hotness.



We ordered a Stir-fried Kai Lan with Salted Fish (RM8). We find the kai lan were too fibrous swimming in a pool of light gravy with shreds of ginger, otherwise it's quite decent but of course can't compare with stir-fried vege at Chinese tai chow.



This is the Satay Set (grilled soy bits, RM5.50 for 5 sticks) which was strongly recommended to us. No regrets ordering this as they were good even on it's own without dipping into the mediocre peanut sauce.



The Mango Lassi (RM4.60) lacked the fruity mango goodness while the ABC (ice-kacang RM4) was vibrant with all the colourful toppings ranging from red kidney beans, creamed corn, cendol, jelly, peanuts and huge sago pearls.




Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant
59 Jalan Thambipillai
Brickfields
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 2274 1959
Halal. Open from 7am till late every night.


Technorati tags: vegetarian + indian food

Review: Restoran Mei Gai Hup

**Non-Halal**


I've wanted to come to Mei Gai Hup forever, yes, forever but each time we come by, they're packed to the brim!!! I was told to be here before 7pm and yes we did at 6.30pm and yet still packed! Earlier this year they opened up another shoplot a stone throw away but it still doesn't help the situation. Sighhh... so one day we decided just to brave the crowd and took the brunt of waiting like 45 mins for our food to arrive :(

I was told this restaurant serves really good shark fins soup and they have the cheap and expensive options, since we're sharks friendly, we did not order any :D

So was it worth the wait and numerous drive-bys??

Let's see, we have their signature Siew Haw Kuat (RM15) which after translated it means Smiling Ribs. A thick slab of a rack of pork ribs were served. I loved the visual of the caramalised ribs with a slight sweetish sauce drizzle over. Surprisingly the ribs were fork tender and a set of fork and knife were provided to cut the ribs into smaller pieces.



My mom opted for an Assam Squid and Prawns(RM15) that came sizzling in a hotplate. This is not too bad, would be good if it's slightly more sourish.

I loved how this Homemade Tofu Topped With Minced Meat Sauce (RM10) is served! The tofu is placed in a bamboo steamer lined with banana leaf and topped with the minced meat sauce. The homemade tofu is smooth and went extremely well with the minced meat sauce. Wished there were more minced meat sauce though :(

Next we have a Chiong Tzing Fei Chau (Steamed Tilapia with Special Sauce RM15). We all loved the sauce here, coupled with the fresh fish from the tank... lovely combo indeed!



Then the obligatory green, Fu Yue Yau Mak (stir-fry romaine lettuce with fermented beancurd RM8) which is not as great as Restoran Makanan Laut Fook Kee.

Since we did not order lavishly I guess the total bill of RM72.30 for 6 people sounds very reasonable.



So was it worth the wait and numerous drive-bys, it's definitely YES but next time we'll call and order our dishes in advance or perhaps try their other branches in Menjalara which I've forgotten which part.


Restoran Mei Gai Hup
No 20 Jalan Ambong Kiri 1
Kepong Baru
52100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 012 370 1382 or 012 213 2798
Opening hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm
Check out the map at Nic's.


Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Steamed Tofu With Minced Meat

My mom make this a lot as it's simple and healthy, plus hardly much cleaning up since it's a steamed dish. My boiboi loves this, hence I created this at home using very very basic ingredients which one can easily subtitute with others. One of the best dish to hide vegetables for fussy kids.

All one need is minced meat, here I've used minced chicken fillets which you can substitute or have a mixture of fish paste, prawn paste, or pork, if using chicken or pork, do add some water to the mixture to soften it. Add in chopped or diced carrots, and/or turnips and/or water chestnuts, very flexi here, some spring onions will be nice as well. Pour in some soy sauce and pepper to taste. Mix in some cornflour thoroughly. Set aside.

We use the smaller tubes of egg tofu, if not mistaken it's RM2 for 3 tubes but can use the larger tubes. Cut the tube into half then halves the tofu lengthwise, so each tube will make 4 pieces. Arrange the tofu on a heat proof platter. Place the minced meat mixture on top of the tofu pieces.



Steam the tofu pieces for about 12-15 mins, I'm using an electric steamer so you might need to adjust your timing according to the heat. Serve hot with rice.




Technorati tags: tofu