Braised Ribs With Bean Curd Strips In Teriyaki Sauce

**Non-Halal Post**

I've bought a bottle of teriyaki sauce and when I took a taste, it doesn't taste like one... got loads of ginger taste in this one, gosh and its really sweet too. So what should I do with it.

So I went and buy those type of ribs for braising, ask your butcher which part ok. I'm using these bean curd strips as well. They came fried and can be stored in the freezer for a couple of weeks.



Fry the ribs in some oil till lightly browned. Add in a few cloves of smashed garlic. Stir in the bean curds. Next add in the teriyaki sauce to taste and some water to cover the ribs. Let it boil and add salt according to taste. Braised for about 45 minutes or until the ribs became tender.

Dish up and serve hot with white rice.



It doesn't really tasted like teriyaki... kinda sweet and slightly tangy. Weird but it's a whole new taste. Finally getting out of my one sauce for all dishes - oyster sauce that is!

Be forwarned that this dish is high in fat and sodium, so one may want to simultaneously look for information on individual health insurance while reaching for the antacids.

Yet Another One On Glutinous Rice Dumpling

Ok Ok I'm breaking my earlier promise that THIS will be the last on rice dumpling (bak chang). However, I found something that is so hard to resist to write about. What??!?

THIS...



Got it?? Hahaha these are the modern way of getting your dumplings all wrapped up in plastics!!!! Gosh these are freeze dried dumplings found in the freezer section of the supermarkets. The manufacturer, KG, started coming out with them last year. My aunty was so curious how they taste like, she bought a few of Regular and Nyonya flavoured ones and we tried them out at my parents' place. BTW, I forgot to check if they are halal or not but I think they should be.

My mother steamed them up and by the time I fished one out to eat, I saw the instruction that says one need to cut some slits on the plastic before steaming. Aiyah, my mother didn't and luckily they did not explode in the pot whilst steaming! Phewww... These dumplings can be microwaved as well. Very convenient huh?

Once the plastic wrapper is removed for the Nyonya dumpling, it revealed one piece of bamboo leave wrapped loosely around the dumpling. I guess the leave is there to re-create the bamboo leave fragrance in the dumpling. Hmmm kinda oily.



I dug open the Nyonya dumpling and inside there are some dried shrimps, sambal udang kering (dried shrimps sambal) and one piece of black mushroom. The glutinous rice is infused with a reddish oily tinge that came from the sambal udang kering. Taste wise, the rice is kinda dry. What to expect from freeze dried stuff?? Maybe also because mother did not cut some slits first before steaming??? The sambal was ok, not too spicy but there are just too little of them. My general verdict would be - this dumpling is good for those who craved for rice dumplings beyond Dumpling Festival or in the middle of the night. Great for those who are residing overseas and homesicked for some rice dumplings.



I've blogged about the Alkaline Glutinous Rice Dumpling (kee chang) but the photo showed one with red bean fillings. I've one here that is plain served with kaya. This one is near perfect as the glutinous rice you can see here is kinda translucent. Very springy in texture... lovely.



Ok enough said! No more rice dumplings for the year!

Meme: The Cook Next Door

UPDATED on 29 June 2005:

Arrghhh, my post half disappeared. Thanks to my itchy fingers for updating this. Sighhh I gotta recall what I wrote. Darn I shouldn't have hit the Recover Post... super duper cheesed off now!

This was what left after I hit Recover Post:

I’ve got my first meme tagged by Lilian.
So what I should do now??? Answer them kar??? Ok lah… here we go…

What is your first memory of baking/cooking
on your own?

I have very vague
memory of this. Must have been during my teens and since I was in commerce
stream, I do not get to attend home science. My cooking interest was sparked by
those early days cooking shows on TV2 or TV3 (local stations and we do not have
cable TV back then). I’ve made Coconut Candy a few times on my own and did not do much cooking as I find it a
trouble to use my mother’s kitchen with the constant “supervision and
nagging”.

Who had the
most influence on your cooking?

It gotta be my mother and also those cooking shows. Well, not that
she really started cooking until she was way beyond her mid-30s. No choice I
supposed as my grandmother who cooks for us had passed away. She had to take
over else the whole household will starve to death. Luckily she’s those type who
can experiment her way around. I’m proud to say she’s a good cook now.

Do you have an old photo as
“evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to
share it?

Sorry don’t have any,
in fact I’ve only started most of my cooking after I’ve shifted into my own home
with hubby.

Mageiricophobia - do
you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Making pastry dough from
scratch. I always find it a great challenge but maybe someday I'll tackle it.

What would be your most valued
or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was t

So here I go again to continue what I could recall. Sigh it might be slighty different ok. Damn it!

I’ve got my first meme tagged by Lilian. So what I should do now??? Answer them kar??? Ok lah… here we go… might be slightly different from my earlier post.

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?

I have very vague memory of this. Must have been during my teens and since I was in commerce stream, I do not get to attend home science. My cooking interest was sparked by those early days cooking shows on TV2 or TV3 (local stations and we do not have cable TV back then). I’ve made Coconut Candy a few times on my own and did not do much cooking as I find it a trouble to use my mother’s kitchen with the constant “supervision and nagging”.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?

It gotta be my mother and also those cooking shows. Well, not that she really started cooking until she was way beyond her mid-30s. No choice I supposed as my grandmother who cooks for us had passed away. She had to take over else the whole household will starve to death. Luckily she’s those type who can experiment her way around. I’m proud to say she’s a good cook now.

Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

Sorry don’t have any, in fact I’ve only started most of my cooking after I’ve shifted into my own home with hubby.

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Making pastry dough from scratch. I always find it a great challenge but maybe someday I'll tackle it.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?

I used to use a Japanese brand cleaver/chopper. It's very heavy and I got tired easily after using it for a while. One day whilst we were shopping, we dropped by the Zwilling JA Henckels boutique. Whoa, hubby were amazed with all the sharp stuff or shall I say "gadgets" (men just love gadgets! sighhh...) in the shop. They even have some fruits and vegetable to help you test out their wares. I tell you, once we started chopping and slicing there's no stopping! Best test was the carrot slicing, whoa the knives slide thru the hard carrots without much effort. We were converted! So far the Zwilling JA Henckels Chefs Knife has been a great help in the kitchen. We've added a few more items from the same family - a couple of sharpeners and paring knife. Would love to buy the whole range but that's greedy hehehe cos I doubt we'll get to use every darn knives in the whole knife block. Did I mention how expensive they are in Malaysia??

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!

I love to mixed smashed up hard boiled egg in a cup of local sweetened black coffee. My paternal grandma taught me how to eat hard boiled egg this way. The yolk creamed up like thick creamer. It's utterly delicious.

Hehe I also like to have my durians with hot white plain rice. My paternal grandma taught me this too. Whooo, hot fluffy rice with creamy durian... it's divine!

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?ONLY 3!!??!!

1) Bread - I can have bread every meal which hubby would detest! I love them plain; sweet; with jam, peanut butter, kaya, cheese, ham, tuna etc; dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

2) Curry Laksa with loads of kerang... drooling.

3) Eggs in all sorts of way as they're so versatile.

Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!

Three quickies:

Your favorite ice-cream… : Sherbets from NZ Ice-cream

You will probably never eat… : Dog

Your own signature dish… : Can't single out one.

Who do you want most to cook you dinner? (added in by Oslo Foodie)

Renee of Shiokadelicious.

And my own question that I would loved to answer:

OK I've forgotten what I've asked myself.

I've tagged the following people:

Cyrene of My Monologues. She have posted up here and you must read Shook Me All Night Long reply after he got tagged by her hahahaha... it was so hilarious.

Dr Chen of Ramblings... Woohoo, she qualified for the Malaysian chapter of Fear Factor!!!

Elise of Simply Recipes Nothing from Elise, I guess she dislike meme. Sorry Elise.

Is My Blog Burning No. 16: Eggs!

I was so eggcited when I read that this month's theme is eggs, well just about any type of eggs. Is My Blog Burning's (IMBB) 16th installment is hosted by Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant. Thank you Viv for thinking up such a great theme.

I'm so egg flushed as there are many many types of eggs, let alone the many ways of cooking them too. Egg is so versatile. You can cook it sweet or savoury and the possibilities are endless!

In my mind, I was conjuring what I could possibily cook up for this IMBB. Arrrgggghh I was egged... there were just too many things I can make with them... Hmmm however, when the date neared deadline, I picked something easy instead. Since I didn't have time to cook for lunch nor dinner over the weekend, I decided to make tong shui (sweet soup in Cantonese) again hahaha. Well, I boil tong shui almost every weekend, so why not huh??

As I walked into the Chinese medicine hall cum mini market (it's quite common to find such shops in the suburbs in Malaysia selling Chinese herbs and groceries), immediately on the right they placed trays and trays of eggs (all sorts in fact, regular, omega, and gosh know what else) but those cute lil quail eggs caught my eyes. So what can I do with them leh???

Went down the pre-packed herbs aisle and saw rows and rows of soups and herbs. Aha finally nailed down on the pack that say Luk Mei "something" hahaha sorry ler, I can't read Chinese characters but I know the first character though, it was Six. *stick out tongue*

We have something that called Luk Mei tong shui which literally translated as Six Types (of ingredients). The six ingredients are as shown below:

Clockwise starting from top right is dried longans, dried lotus seeds, wai sharn (correct arh??), dried lily buds, I've no idea what is the name (anyone?) and yuk juk. I'm terrible with Chinese herbs name. I only know how to eat them *grin*.

In one pot hard boil the quail eggs. Once it's done, let them cool down before shelling them. The trick to shell eggs easily in one peel is knock the egg evenly all over on a hard surface, then roll the egg with your palm on a hard surface a few times. The shells will come off in a few peels. Try it, it makes shelling eggs so much easier especially quail eggs!

Wash the six ingredients up and place them inside a pot. Filled with loads of water and boil till lotus seeds are soft. Usually take about an hour or more depending on the heat used. Should the water dried up more than necessary, remember to top up with some hot water. The ratio of ingredients with water depends on your liking. If you prefer more liquid then use more water. Add some rock sugar to taste.

Lastly add in the quail eggs and serve the tong shui either hot or cold.

Thank you Viv for hosting this round of IMBB.

June's Mambo Jambo

As the Malaysian bloggers primming up for the PPS 2nd Anniversary Bash, I was gearing up for a pampering session with my chee muis (sisters in Cantonese).

Mambo Jambo was coined in one of our many outings usually all gurls only with some bois occasionally as our special guests. How it came about, I'm not gonna have my loud mouth open. Hahaha I remember "someone" kept smsing asking where were we that night (which btw was not any of our partners)!!! Yesterday's Mambo Jambo was called for after my chee muis - Miss Sweet 16 and Cyrene, saw my Liang Xin's post.

We were chatting and then suddenly everyone asking "WHEN??" Aiyah after all the dings dongs we finally decided to pamper ourselves yesterday evening. I headed over to Liang Xin and waited for the 2 princesses to arrive and finally they did. Off we went...

We were quickly ushered into the massage pavillions and changed into comfy clothings. I've gotten a local uncle to perform the foot reflexology and acupressure massage, whilst the 2 princesses gotten themselves YOUNG Cina-mali (China origin) bois. Lucky that place pretty dim else I would have protested! Hehehe... anyway Cyrene and myself were like squirming every now and then during the torturous reflexology at certain time it was more like ticklish rather than pain. Goshhh... what have we gotten ourselves into????

From my location, I can see both of them but I was wondering why Miss Sweet 16's whole body was shakin' whilst she was chatting using her latest 3G phone (jealous). Hmmm never mind...

After that one torturous hour, we have our body massaged by the same guys since there weren't sufficient lady masseurs around that day. Darn why the hell I called for booking?? Cheh, tak boleh pakai (cannot be used in Malay) one. Well not that we really mind... so I was in bliss, kinda pain especially when uncle pressed hard on those tangled knots but at the same time it's nice. Am I sick or what?? I must stressed, it's very shiok!

Since Miss Sweet 16 was the furthest away from me, all I could hear was giggling and laughing... NO, NO, it's not her, it was her masseur. He was laughing to himself and kept mopping his head with a towel. I was wondering why until she told us what happened during dinner. Hahahaha apparently this fella kept on asking Miss Sweet 16 if it's painful or not and she kept telling him no. I think he really use all his mighty strength trying to penetrate her pain threshold but somehow he did not succeed kakaka... Well she have regular massage sessions, so she had gotten used to them, that's why. Then she said he was kinda rough at certain times... kakaka now I know why her whole body shakin' during the foot reflexology. Poor fella! Next time if he see her again, I doubt he would want to service her kekekeke.

After we were done and gotten downstairs, Miss Sweet 16 complained she was hungry and started to sing this repeatedly "Siu kai yek, hoe hoe sek..." (grilled chicken wing, very nice to eat in Cantonese. Hahaha made famous by Stephen Chow in one of his movies.)

For the locals, they'll know about this famous Wong Ah Wah Grilled Chicken Wings at Jalan Alor. It's located right at the end of this famous street and has been around for decades. They serve other dishes, fried noodles, grilled fish as well.

As we sat for dinner of grilled chicken wings, Hokkien noodles, fried lai pak with loads of garlic and siong tong lala (lala cooked in superior soup in Cantonese); we were comparing notes over our pampering session. So many hilarious moments BUT we're going to be back hahaha... Thank you, gurls for the wonderful time. Can't wait for July's Mambo Jambo!!!!

So here's the aftermath...


Photos courtesy from Miss Sweet 16 using the latest Nokia's 3G phone which I forgot what the heck model number :p

Psstt... you guys noticed my plate?

Which Malaysian Blogger Are You?

I just walked passed my colleague's cubicle and I heard him giggling away... I took a peep and he showed me Kenny Sia's latest personality test - Which Malaysian Blogger Are You?

He was commenting that each test result have the infamous face of Kenny Sia's hahaha... I promised him I'll get back here and run the test. Here's my result hahahaha...

Congratulations babe_kl, you are...

5x Mom of chanlilian.net

You have a maternal instinct secretly hidden deep inside you. To many people you are this well-meaning, protective mother always readily sacrificing yourself helping others. Unfortunately this sometimes can be seen as nagging or being over-protective. Then you become confused because the person you're trying to help suddenly turned on you. But you are diplomatic and you have the patience to slowly but surely patch up any animosity that may exist between you and your detractors. The best thing about you is that no matter how bad the whole world treats you, you are forgiving and never attempt to hold any grudge inside you. For that, you are golden.

Which Malaysian Blogger Are You?

Hey Lilian, if you're reading this... am sure you'll be dang "kembang" (literally proud in Malay)!!! Anyway, I guess once you became a mom, the maternal instinct just can't run away...

Thanks Kenny, I had fun and I hope you'll win tonight and oh yes, Happy 2nd Anniversary to Project Petaling Street!!! I'm contemplating to join you guys, should I???

Mien Sien Soup

**Non-halal Post**

Hubby was feeling under the weather recently and he gotten sick of eating bread. I told him I'm gonna cook him some mien sien (Cantonese for fine wheat noodle or popularity known as mee suah in Hokkien) soup. He gave me that "urrrghh" face and turned down my offer. He said he don't wanna eat sick people's food. Aiyoh this man hor dang picky! I have to tell him I'm cooking a different style and finally he gave in as his stomach started to growl. Hahaha... yay!

I've got some lean meat which I've cut half into tiny strips and minced the other half. Added in some soya sauce and cornflour to marinade for a while. Boil some water enough to make a soup base. I placed in some garlic oil (fry chopped garlic in oil till golden brown) with heaps of garlic (this gives the soup a very nice fragrant). When it's boiled roll the minced meat into balls with a spoon and dropped them into the water. Add in the meat strips.

I've a packet of Szechuan preserved vegetable (char choy in Cantonese) which already been cut into strips. I prefer to use these as they're not so salty. Washed them before adding into the soup. I've some fishballs which went in too. Lastly I put in some yin choy (Chinese spinach in Cantonese). Season the soup with some salt to taste. You may add in white pepper powder as well.

In a separate pot, cook the mien sien in boiling water for a short while depending on which type of mien sien you're using. The thick ones need a longer cooking time. Dish it up in a bowl and ladle in the ingredients plus soup. Served hot.

Hubby ate up everything including the soup :-)

Alkaline Glutinous Rice Dumpling aka Kee Chang

Whoopeee... finally got my dose of karn sui chung (Cantonese for alkaline glutinous rice dumpling)!!! Ok this will be my last installment on rice dumplings after this and this.



This was my alkaline glutinous rice dumpling filled with red bean paste. In actual fact this dumpling is already delicious on its own but I love to slather on some kaya (egg and coconut custard jam). If it's plain dumpling, usually they are eaten with some sugar or kaya or both haha.

Hmmm... I'm satisfied, at least for the year.

Ok I just got a new project and I'll be pretty busy for the next 6 months. Hence, posting will be sporadic :( I'll missed reading blogs hrrpppmmmhhh!

Happy Father's Day

We may not shower him with praise
Nor mention his name in song,
And sometimes it seems that we forget
The joy he spreads as he goes along,
But it doesn’t mean that we don’t know
The wonderful role that he has had.
And away down deep in every heart
There’s a place that is just for Dad.....
~Author Unknown

My dad is one of those olden days Asian parent where affections are not shown to us openly but deep down we all knew he love us all. There were just too many sacrifices he have done whilst bringing us up. It was great to see him bond so well with my boiboi doing things he missed out during his own children growing years due to work commitment. Even my late father-in-law came from this old school of thoughts. Hence, me and hubby swore by that this is not the right way to bring up our children. Boiboi is now showered with loads of hugs, kisses and many I love yous. As he grew, he displayed his genuine feelings of love in his little own ways which are priceless! Oh we're so blessed!

This is a little tribute to my daddy and also my boiboi's daddy ~ Happy Father's Day!

Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

Lap Cheung Fried Rice

Yet another fried rice kekeke sorry la, its one of the simplest thing around to cook up plus can use anything you have in your fridge or freezer. I've one huge bag of Chinese sausage (lap cheung in Cantonese) that my MIL gave us during Chinese New Year. Decided to sliced them up. Rummaged thru my fridge and found a bag of celery. So, I cut off the outer stalks and reserved them for juicing purposes. I've used the inner core which is young and tender. I chopped them up.

First, I scrambled up some eggs with oil. Remove and set aside. Add more oil into the wok and fry chopped garlic till fragant. In went the sliced sausages and stir fry till slightly browned. Next, dumped in the celery and continue to stir. Added in some salt and pepper as seasoning before putting in the cooked rice (preferably left over night in the fridge). Stir and taste. Adjust the seasoning. You may use soya sauce too instead of salt. Lastly add in the scrambled egg and mixed throughly. Dish up and eat whilst it's hot.

Glutinous Rice Dumpling aka Bak Chang

Now come the exciting part of Duan Wu Jie or Dumpling Festival, haha the rice dumpling or also commonly known as bak chang (in Hokkien dialect) or ham yuk chung (in Cantonese dialect).

This year I've the pleasure to get hold of some homemade Hakka and Hokkien chungs. My parents have lovely neighbours who gave loads of chungs to my family knowing that my mother doesn't know how to make them. Mother don't make, hence, me also don't know how to make it too hehehe.

First one up is Hakka chung. Looked ordinary pyramid shaped.

This is how it looked like once removing the bamboo leaves. The dark spots are actually red beans. The special part of this chung lies in the usage of some coconut milk in the glutinous rice which looked whitish here.

Now, since this is homemade, see the ingredients bursting to the seams?? It has salted egg yolk, chestnut, mushroom, dried shrimps and a piece of meat. This chung have a slight fragrant which I can't tell until I learnt that it has coconut milk in it. Very very lovely and delicious.

I have some Hokkien chung here. Basically looked the same type of pyramid. The Hokkiens used dark soya sauce here, hence the glutinous rice looked darker in colour.

Once opened up revealed loads of mung beans, mushroom, a piece of meat and some dried shrimps. Hmmm this is also yummy.

I miss having alkaline (karn shui or kee chang) ones. Will get some soon to eat with kaya (a type of egg custard jam).

This Month's "Is My Blog Burning"

The 16th IMBB has been announced and the theme is Eggs! This round is hosted by Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant.

Hmmm... this should be easy but so many things that can be done with all sorts of eggs. My brain is running on high speed now.

Remember, if you want to participate, submit your entries between 24th - 26th June 2005.

Duan Wu Jie or Dumpling Festival

Tomorrow is the 5th day in the 5th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar. This marks Duan Wu Jie or also known as Dumpling Festival. Chinese all over the world will be celebrating this festival. So, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Duan Wu Jie!!!

I'm not going to elaborate on Duan Wu Jie as many articles have been written about it. Renee of Shiokadelicious have written one about it and it came with steps on how to wrap the dumplings plus another one about the dumplings itself.

Umami have a couple too. Seadragon of Cafe of the East have a recipe. The latest copy of Flavours magazine featured some awesome dumplings too.

I've eaten some and I will write about them once I uploaded the photos. My personal fave is the kan sui (alkaline) type, hmm yummy yummy...

North Ocean Seafood Restaurant Review

**non-halal posting**

With so many restaurants around in KL, sometimes it’s hard to decide where to eat… a real big headache. We have to host dinner recently; hubby and I were enlisted to think of where to go… ouch… as usual the task will be bestowed upon me! Urrghhh… so this time, hubby gave me a huge task indeed, to go somewhere special, unique and different from the normal Chinese fare. Sighhh… headache man!

Anyhow, we debated and finally got round to this North Ocean located in Selayang. Actually we’re not going to North Ocean as the main criteria per se but more like to shop for fresh seafood direct from the tank before heading to North Ocean to chow down! Located next to North Ocean Seafood Restaurant is Jin Chwan a seafood supplier. Many years ago, they started off with many tanks selling all sorts of exotic (read expensive) fish and shellfish (king crabs, mantis prawns, geoduck etc). Shoppers can opt to bring them home or else where to have them cooked. Otherwise, you can tell the seafood you’ve bought to either Chef Tam across the street or North Ocean next door. Before we managed to try Chef Tam, they’ve gotten big and shifted to Sunway. I’m not sure if they’re still around or not cos I heard business wasn’t that good over there. We find North Ocean is not too bad plus service is pretty good too.

We got there first with my parents and boiboi in tow. I think it’s his second visit there but since he’s older now, he’s more expressive now. He went away with all his “wows” after going thru the introduction by his daddy, tank by tank of various fish and shellfish. I guess he was excited and amazed with so many tanks around him. I forgot to bring my digicam down from the car, hence no photos of Jin Chwan’s tanks. The place is clean and no fish smell can be detected (I have extra sensitive nose hehe). There will be someone around to serve you. All you need to do is tell them which fish you want and for how many pax it should serve. They then fish them out from the tank and place into rectangular bucket. Actually you can also point which fish you want and they’ll fish it out for you too. Next, they'll weigh the buckets and place bar code stickers on the receipt and buckets.

This round, we did not picked any fish since we almost always order a fish dish for our meal. We picked huge mantis prawns and razor or commonly known as bamboo clam (much larger than those small and thin bamboo clams one usually find in restaurants in town) instead. They don’t come cheap either… RM198 and RM98 respectively! After paying for them, we instructed them to send over to North Ocean.

Once we seated, the captain came around and took my Jin Chwan receipt from me. Then he recommended ways to cook our goodies. We chose Jiu Yim (salt bake?) for the mantis prawns and steamed razor clam with garlic. Also in the order list were a bean curd dish, chicken and vegetable.

First one up was this lovely plate of bean curd dish… well I can’t remember what’s it name in Cantonese but it’s deep fried homemade bean curd cut into rectangular blocks cooked in a delicious sauce which tasted of oyster sauce and black beans (dau si in Cantonese). Other ingredients detected were garlic, spring onions, sliced meat and some red chillies. It’s a huge plate for RM22 and there were 9 adults and my boiboi. My boiboi and I liked this one… he kept asking for more! The dau si impart a lovely flavour to this dish.



Next up was the chicken with chestnut that came in a claypot (RM28). Hmmm very yummy too!!! It’s basically braised chicken with chestnut and slices of garlic, ginger and spring onions gave a fresh flavouring to this dish. The sauce is superb with white rice.



We have lai pak (almost like pak choy but with stems that are shorter and fatter) stir fry in garlic. I liked the crunch in lai pak, which seems to be the current rage in vegetables replacing xiu pak choy.



Wooohoooo these razor clam are really fresh and was superbly steamed by North Ocean chefs. Loads of chopped fresh garlic and ginger topped with fried garlic once it’s done. We have to eat them fast as it won’t taste good when it’s cold. In China or Hong Kong, these clams are known as zhing tzi (errr Cantonese for the scrolls or orders directed from the Emperors). We were charged RM30 for the cleaning and cooking job. Wahseh, so expensive huh the garlic and ginger hehehe…



When this plate of mantis prawns came, my boiboi stood up and said he want that. Hmm he usually doesn’t do that but maybe the prawns looked really appetising to him. Baked in salt I think or maybe just a quick deep fried in the wok. My boiboi is very impatient even though we told him it’s hot and his hand reached out and grab a piece which he quickly drop it as it was really hot. I can’t imagine his next action was to pick up his piece of serviette and grab one of the prawns with it!!! So dang smart kids these days! Anyhow, it was still too hot but he bite into the shell slowly but surely he can’t eat the flesh hehehe silly fella. Managed to coax him to pass on the prawn for us to remove the flesh for him. I guess this prawns were given 2 thumbs up. The price to clean and cook them was RM28.



We were really stuffed by the end of these 5 dishes. The captain came and asked if we wanted any dessert. He said they’ve lovely mango that day but we declined. My mom joked with him how come no complimentary dessert like mixed fruits platter, he smiled and we were offered FOC (free of charge) tau foo far (a type of soft bean curd usually eaten with white or brown sugar syrup) in brown sugar syrup. Hahaha it pays to have thick skin. Nothing to shout about though but who's complaining??



We paid RM296 for the seafood at Jin Chwan and RM182.70 at North Ocean. A rather expensive affair but we all agreed it has been a wonderful meal. All tummy satisfied haha…

Syarikat Pengedar Ikan Jin Chwan
9 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves

North Ocean Seafood Restaurant
10 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves
Tel: +603 6120 1778

Liang Xin

Hahaha there is no new restaurant in town named Liang Xin. Today no food talk ok, today is pampering day :) My darling hubby treated me a pampering session at a rather new reflexology centre in the city, Liang Xin is the name. Since they were opened less than 2 months, they were offering a very reasonable package that is so hard to refuse. They charged us RM100 for one session of foot reflexology and one session of accupressure body massage. The normal price per session is RM80. I'm not sure how long this promotion last, so if you wanna check them up, better hurry!!!

The moment we walked in, we were impressed with it's oriental decor which looked very exclusive. I checked their brochure and it says "Where Kings Relax". Looks like their moto and tagline for the business.



Check how happy this particular Emperor (King) seems to be enjoying himself.



Wait!!! Look properly at the Emperor again!!!! Hahahaha did you notice something on his hand???? Yes...



What a funky Emperor... kekekeke he has got an iPOD and listening to it too. Well true to its tag, Liang Xin actually do provide you an iPOD upon request if you choose to isolate yourself from their pipe-in music and the din created by your "neighbours". This is not a hanky panky place ok cos the massage area is kinda open concept, only separated with a thin blind. They have two huge area where one is for female and the other for male. Since business is new and there is not many customers, only one area is in operation. However, if you opt for a ladies only area, I'm sure they can accommodate.



Back to their tagline "Where Kings Relax", it's really true to their words. Fruit juices are served and they're freeflow. Premium Chinese Tea is available too. Fresh premium fruits are provided. Really shiok (Malay word for enjoyable)! Everything served are healthy things... hmmmmm... I'm already impressed!

Since we have opted 2 sessions, we went for the foot reflexology first. When I heard they're using the Taiwanese method, I nearly fainted... gosh this method is painful type... sweating already hahaha... First the masseur (you can opt for a male or female) came and wipe clean my feet with a damp towel. Next they place my feet into a basin of warm water and they keep adding hot water inside. Super hot hot... but it was supposed to make the blood circulate. When I removed my feet, I can feel the melt down effect. It's so relaxing. Whilst the masseur wipe dry, another person came and gave me a shoulder rub. Wahhhh 2 staff pampering at the same time, really made me feel like a Queen! Then one staff came with a bottle of hand lotion and gave us a quick hand massage. They placed a warm pad at my back and asked me to lean back. Shiok shiok man!

Next... the foot reflexology session. I'm usually very tense when it come to this cos I really can't stand the itchiness hehehehehahahahehehe gosh I can stand the pain but this is super geli (itchy in Malay). Poor masseur have to keep on telling me to relax. Me hubby is an expert in relaxing... already lying down and relaxing whilst I squirm around. Anyway, this is not as painful but very relaxing instead. Did I tell you how shiok it was??? This went on for about 45 minutes. More juices, warm water and fruits were served.

I went on to change to a tee shirt and shorts provided by them since I was in my work clothes. Poor hubby can't fit into their tee shirt hahaha... I seriously think he need to go on a diet!

My masseur seems to be an experienced lady and she went on and on for the next one hour, pressing and kneading the pressure points. I peered at my hubby, aiks he seems to be going on a Thai massage kinda thingy. I learnt that his masseur is giving him some kind of chiropractic type of massage. The friendly centre's owner was around to serve and explain to us the process and so forth. Nice fella.

Two hours gone by and our pampering session came to an end. We linger on for a while chatting with the owner and we found out more information about the centre. They do have staff from the People's Republic of China and you may request to have them to massage you. They have other services too like facial, manicure and pedicure. Perfect for a all-girls-outting. Listen my chee muis (sisters in Cantonese), one day we all go ok ;) Very shiok one.

On my way out, hey I saw one Malay staff... cool! Pretty muhibbah (harmonious in Malay) eh!

I had a great time, relaxing like a Queen whilst my hubby like a King. They do have packages where 2, 3 or 4 masseur attend to you at one time. Yes... to make you feel like an Empress or Emperor!!! Extremely shiok ok.

On our personal note, not that we really enjoyed the body massage cos we've tried better place than this. I personally prefered the Malay traditional massage where the makcik (aunty in Malay) really unknot all the tired muscles plus they provide cures to various ailments. The makcik I used to visit, managed to get rid of the wind off my body especially calves. Ermmm she used her thumb and pressed into belly button AND she told me the maximum number of children that I can bear! Yes, she did that... well, I'm not telling what's the number until it really bear any truth hehehehe...

If you feel like some pampering yourself, do try them out here...
Lots 1-01 & 1-02 Level 1, Wisma Bukit Bintang (opposite Low Yat Plaza's BB Park)
28 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 2145 2663



Don't forget to bring along your partner!!!

Thank you my darling *muaks* He's such a sweetie!

Japanese Purple Sweet Potatoes Tong Shui

Now this is more like the ori(ginal) version as compare to my previous attempt but using Japanese sweet potatoes instead. I have to give two thumbs up for these Japanese purple sweet potatoes are indeed much sweeter in taste and they're not fibrous. Yippeee!!! I hate those fibres cos they tend to stuck in between my teeth urrghhhh....

Just as before, wash, peel and cut the sweet potatoes. Add in a knob of ginger and sugar (I usually use rock sugar) into a pot of water. Simmer in the water till the sweet potatoes soften. Voila... sweet potatoes tong shui (sweet soup).