Thursday, 30 November 2006
Nutella Cupcakes
I must be the last of the food bloggers to have sub the peanut butter in this Peanut Butter Cupcakes recipe, with Nutella. I tell you, the simple cupcakes turned so Heavenly!
Technorati Tags: cupcake + donna hay
Rude Encounter
It was already 7.30pm and I was waiting for my train to arrive at Masjid Jamek Station (Star Line). The moment I see the train approaching, I moved and stood next to the yellow line. I was lucky that by the time the train stopped, the door was right in front of me and I shifted towards the left of the door to let passengers to disembark. It is clearly seen that there were quite a number of seats were empty inside the carriage.
As the last of the passenger disembarked, I put my right foot onto the carriage and before I could step in further, this man...
... cut into my path from my right. Thank goodness I managed to stopped on time and grabbed onto the side of the door, otherwise I would have missed my step and something untoward could have happened.
Luckily (my good luck, his bad luck) I got a seat opposite this fler! I stared
Being a man, he's so ungentlemen! Super kiasu (scared of losing) that he won't get a seat. No wonder he's so errr (fill in the blank)!!! Just look at his size. For goodness sake, even if he's behind me, he would have gotten a seat at that hour. And most importantly, he had never thought of the safety aspect of other passengers.
Dear sisters, if this guy is your boyfriend or husband, I really pity you. If you can, please run far far away from such a man. All I can see is that his face told me he's definitely an MCP, a typical cinapek that will not respect his woman.
I've mosaic a bit of his eyes but seriously if you wanna see a clearer picture of this man just let me know. I will post his photo big big for you to see clearly haha.
Thousands of apologies if the languages and his pic I've used in this post have offended you but seriously I can't stand such man and I'm not usually so
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
Cabbage Fried Rice
Seriously, I've ran out of names for my fried rice!!!! I've used so much ingredients that I've no idea what to named it, since this has cabbage in it, I'll called it Cabbage Fried Rice then. Maybe I should start naming my rice with version numbers. LOL!
Let me recall what's inside... diced chicken meat and shrimps, carrots, cabbage, onions, baby corn and garlic. As usual, fry onions till translucent before adding chopped garlic. When its fragrant, dump in the meat and shrimp. Chuck in cabbage and carrot. Add in some salt and pepper for taste. Put in the one day old rice last and sprinkle in some soy sauce. Stir till they're well mixed and dish up.
There, another fried rice dish...
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + fried rice
Tuesday, 28 November 2006
Have You Started Baking Your Christmas Fruit Cake??
Well I did!!! I started early this year as compared with my previous fruit cake attempt. I still have one loaf in my fridge... yeah going to be a year old already! I still feed the cake occasionally with brandy as and when I'm not lazy. Can't wait to savour it this Christmas!
Hahaha this is my first batch... more to come! This recipe can bake up to 3 loaves of fruit cake. Just remember to buy extra nuts and cherries for the decor. I've baked them in foil container so that I can give them away as gift. Now I need some ideas on how to wrap them up... stay tune.
It's still not too late, go start baking yours now!
Technorati Tags: fruit cake + Christmas
Monday, 27 November 2006
Chinese Chives Pancake
Anyway, the ingredient's the same but I added eggs to my batter for a fluffier pancake. Just mix flour, eggs, salt, water and a bit of oil into a smooth slighly runny batter. Then add in chopped Chinese Chives and pounded dried shrimps. In a non-stick pan, fry the batter by the ladleful in some oil. (I find frying them in some oil lead to a not so dry pancake. Trust me hahaha cos I made one sans oil and its kinda tough!) Flip over when cooked. Best eaten with some chili sauce (I find Life Chili Sauce, the plain one, is great with this pancake! Yeah the chili sauce you see on KFC's tables.)
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + pancake + chinese chives
Friday, 24 November 2006
Geolocation Hit Counter
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Braised Pork Ribs With Spices
After I've posted my Braised Chicken With Carrots, Cyrene came about telling me that this dish reminded her of her late granma's version with the exception of the addition of a cracked nutmeg and that this dish tasted better with pork ribs.
That weekend, I made this dish using pork ribs (by all means, use chicken if you want) and since I can't find whole nutmeg, I sub with the powder version and with of course a couple of smses to confirm things with Cyrene.
I marinaded the meat with some soy sauce, pepper and a wee bit of corn flour for a while. Heat some oil and put in cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and nutmeg. Fry till fragrant, add in large chunks of onions and the pork ribs. When onions and ribs are lightly browned, place in carrots and potatoes (cut into large pieces). Then add in enough water to cover the content. Pour in some light soy sauce according to taste. Cover and simmer. When it boils, run a taste test and adjust your seasonings (you may need a wee bit of salt if you do not wish to add any more soy sauce). Cover and simmer till ribs and potatoes are tender. By now the water would have reduced, else remove the cover and continue to simmer till gravy is further reduced and thickened. I doubt you'll need any corn starch to thicken the gravy as the potatoes would soak them all up.
This dish was great with plain rice but could have been better if I have whole nutmeg instead. The nutmeg powder is simply not aromatic enough. Well, no choice since I can't find whole nutmeg in Tesco, Giant and dried goods stalls at the wet market. Guess where I found them later??? In my neighbourhood mini mart cum medicine hall! Duh... I quickly bought one packet and they're still sitting on the larder shelves haha... and this was way after I made this dish.
Anyway, I would like to thanks Cyrene for the tip and also a big congratulations to her and her hubby on the arrival of their newborn baby girl. Baby Gloria will be turning 4 weeks old next week, wow time flies. I hope their bundle of joy will bring them loads of happiness. Gloria is such a cutie that I think her daddy will bring out his parang to fend off boys when she turns 16! LOL
Happy Weekend!
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + pork rib
Thursday, 23 November 2006
Braised Chicken With Potatoes
Deep fry potato wedges or rounds till lightly browned and set aside. Can omit this step altogether actually. Stir fry some chopped garlic and soy bean paste in some oil till fragrant. Put in the chicken pieces and fry till browned. Next add in the potatoes and enough water. Don't add too much water as the cooking process will draw out liquid from the chicken pieces. Add in salt and a little sugar to taste. Cover and simmer until chicken and potatoes are tender. Best served with plain rice.
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + poultry + potato
Wednesday, 22 November 2006
Ikan Bakar @ Gerai Seri Menanti, Jalan Bellamy
Those familiar with Jalan Bellamy will know this place is famous for its grilled fish (ikan bakar in Malay). So we picked a medium sized squid (sotong in Malay) and 2 medium sized pieces of stingray (ikan pari in Malay). We asked them to grill both of these. It's sad to say that this Gerai Seri Menanti grill their food on large hot plate instead of charcoal grill. Somehow it's not that shiok (fun??) anymore on the first hand account of this stall.
Setting that aside, the grilled squid came slattered with spicy sambal all over. Taste wise was not bad and thank goodness the squid is not rubbery. Quite spicy I would say for this dish. I spied other table having their squid deep fried in batter (goreng tepung in Malay is commonly known) which looked crunchy. Maybe next time huh.
Next came the stingray, lightly grilled in some tumeric based marinade. The fish was fresh but the marinade was just too light. Had to eat the fish with the accompanying sambal dip which had a whole lot of ommpphhh!
When this plate of stir fried kangkung belacan came, hubby and I stared at the dish a while before digging in. Haha we have never seen this dish swimming in so much gravy!!! It's seriously very lacking in belacan taste, very watered down and not enough wok hei (breathe of the wok in Cantonese) I would say. So please don't order this if you're used to Chinese style stir-fried vegetables like us.
The 3 abovementioned dishes with 2 plates of plain rice and 2 glasses of limau ais (iced lime drink) came up to RM27. Generally the parking here is definitely easier in the evening as compared with the busy lunch hour which can get chaotic. For dinner, Gerai Seri Menanti serves ala carte dishes only whilst for lunch they have a whole lot more dishes to go as their nasi campur (Malay for mixed rice). The ikan bakar here is not as great but this is the only stall opened that evening. You might wanna try those recommended by The Foodsters instead.
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + ikan bakar
Friday, 17 November 2006
Coconut Tart
I had some leftover sweet shortcrust pastry from the Apple Crumble recipe, enough for a small tart base. So what to do with it??? I surfed a bit and got myself an idea to make a coconut tart with whatever I have in my larder. The coconut filling seems enough for a small 6" tart. Hubby likes this a lot as the coconut aroma is fantastic but I might want to try this using freshly grated young coconut next time to get a moist coconut filling. I'm wondering if I need to dry up the grated coconut a little first before using... anyone?
COCONUT TART
Filling
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
Roll out pastry into a tart tin. Brush in some strawberry jam on the base. Mix together all the ingredients for the filling. Pour filling into the pastry. Bake till golden brown.
Technorati Tags: coconut tart
Thursday, 16 November 2006
Apple Crumble
So have to browse again and I decided to use the pastry and apple filling based on Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2 but with little adjustments here and there. As for the toppings, I roughly based them using Nigella Lawson's crumble topping found in How To Be A Domestic Goddess.
Here are the apple fillings in the pastry before topping the crumble. I have slighly over cooked my apples so it looked a bit mushy here.
APPLE CRUMBLEFresh out of the oven Apple Crumble. The cinnamon gave out a wonderful smell!
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
2 cups plain flour
3 tbsp caster sugar
150g cold butter, chopped
2-3 tbsp iced water
Rub flour, butter and sugar with fingers until resembles fine breadcrumbs. You can do this in a food processor. Then add in iced water to form a smooth dough. Knead dough lightly. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface or in between 2 pieces of non-stick baking paper to thickness required and line the tart tin.
Preheat oven to 180C. Place a sheet of non-stick baking paper over pastry and fill with baking weights or uncooked rice/beans. Bake for 10 mins then remove the weights and bake for another 10 mins or until pastry is golden brown.
Spoon in filling and top with the crumble. Bake until crumble turned golden brown.
Apple Filling
8 green apples or enough to fill the tart tin, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp almond meal
To make the fillings, place apples and water in a pan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, shaking pan occasionally for about 5 mins or until just tender. Drain and cool completely. Stir in lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon.
Crumble Topping
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced
1 2/3 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp organic brown sugar
a handful of toasted sliced almond
Rub butter into the flour with fingers until they resembles breadcrumbs. Fork in the sugar and almonds and set aside for a moment.
This Apple Crumble is great when served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream on top.
Technorati Tags: apple crumble
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Sweet Peanut Broth (Thor Tau T'ng)
This Sweet Peanut Broth (in Hokkien known as Thor Tau T'ng) is basically whole peanut in a sweet broth. Very easy peasy to make and it's best served with some Chinese crullers (yau zhar kwai in Cantonese). I did not follow the amount of ingredients in the recipe so I just guesstimate along.
Sweet Peanut Broth
300g skinned peanuts
150g sugar
2 litres water
2 pandan leaves, knotted
Wash the peanuts and soak for at least 30 minutes.In a pot, bring sugar, water and pandan leaves to a boil before adding the peanuts. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the peanuts are soft. Serve warm with fried Chinese crullers.
I have been shoved with a new project of late so I have been rather busy, hence updates could be sparse here.
Technorati Tags: peanut
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
BoiBoi's Status Report
BoiBoi's x-ray of his left elbow... everything seems fine here.
Thanks for everyone's concern over BoiBoi's twisted elbow. BoiBoi is back to his usual antics and naughty self. I checked on him last night asking whether he still feel any pain. He went flapping his left arm up and down... "See mummy, I can move my arm already". A sign of relief for all of us indeed.
So remember ok, the same message again - NEVER EVER lift a child by their wrist or arm! Thank you once again.
Monday, 13 November 2006
Kiddy Menu: Pulled-Elbow Syndrome
My boiboi was rushed to the A&E in Pantai Bangsar on late Sat evening after his daddy accidently hurt him whilst playing with him. All daddy did was pulling boiboi up by just holding on to his wrist, which is a big NO NO! He had forgotten that his baby now weighs a hefty 42 lbs (about 19 kg). Poor boiboi was screaming and crying away in pain which in no way sounds like his normal type of wailing. Initial diagnostics, boiboi pointed that his left elbow and wrist are in pain until he could not even move his fingers. Right arm is still all right. We were at lost and there is no way I'm going to allow hubby to take him to those Chinese sinseh, so A&E was the order of the day.
The attending doctor ordered a paracetamol suppository for pain relief and a few shots of x-ray. According to this doctor, it is commonly known as Pulled-Elbow Syndrome where the bones could be dislodged or twisted which in boiboi's case, after diagnosing the x-ray, thank goodness there is no fractured nor twisted bones. The doctor said that the bones are slightly twisted and she had twisted it back in place. However, boiboi still could not lift his left arm. A cutesy light green arm sling plastered with Winnie the Pooh was slung over to keep his arm at rest.
We got the doctor to call our family orthopedic doctor, Dr Pasupathy to check on this situation. Dr Pasu asked us to get back to the A&E this morning for an appointment. Luckily boiboi managed to sleep thru the night mostly with a couple of occasions I knew he was in pain when he accidently moved his arm.
Dr Pasu explained to us the situation after he asked boiboi whether he's still in pain. Boiboi pointed to him where and Dr Pasu managed to diagonosed the situation in that instant. Well, Dr Pasu is a very very experienced orthopedic doctor and surgeon. It seems that the cartilege in between the bones for kids aged 0-4 years are still soft and did not even managed to even appear on the x-ray. He said boiboi's bones were not twisted back properly the night before. He asked hubby to hold boiboi tightly whilst he went on to pull boiboi's arm. Omigosh it must be dang painful that boiboi was screaming his lungs out! I heard a loud click and Dr Pasu said in no time boiboi will be able to move his arm, there is no need to even stay back home to rest and he could go back to school. True enough my boisterious boiboi was showing us that he could lift his arm and wriggle his fingers within 20 minutes of the procedure.
Thank you to Dr Pasu for a job well done and he did not even charge us for the time he spent on boiboi. So if any of you need to see an orthopedic doctor for whatever reason, do check him out at Pantai Bangsar. Psssttt... he's errr very suave and handsome one but he's married haha...
To all parents and those adults who are handling children, NEVER, NEVER lift your kid by holding on his wrist or arms. Lift them up by cupping both armpits with your palms! It's a painful experience for us and we hope you could pick this lesson up on our expense.
Not to worry ok, boiboi is extremely fine now and he managed to run up and down, jump, dance, and sleep as usual the whole of today after the procedure. Phewwww... another hectic and adventurous weekend!
Thursday, 9 November 2006
Review: Restoran Fei Por
"Fei Por" in Cantonese means fat lady but the numerous time I was there, I don't see any fat ladies around... haha hmmm maybe there was a history sometime back I guess. Anyway this Restoran Fei Por is located along Jalan Pudu, opposite a pretty famous porridge steamboat place errr I'm not sure if it was Farmland or QQ.
Restoran Fei Por sells steamed chicken, roasted pork (siew yuk), grilled meat (char siew), porridge (fish, shredded chicken etc etc), rice, noodles, curry laksa and a whole load of other things. Best part is they're open for dinner till early morning for those who fancy supper. I won't say the food here is superb but to find something hearty in the middle of the night, this place will do more than to just satisfy your hunger.
We were there one err early morning, more like midnite actually. Hubby was hungry so he ordered a bowl of plain porridge, a portion of steamed chicken and roasted pork for himself. I didn't eat, just picked a few pieces of meat since I do not have the habit of eating this late.
As usual their roasted pork came extra crunchy on the skin side which is what we liked. The smooth porridge went well with the steamed chicken and the roasted pork. These 3 items costed hubby RM10.00 which I'm sure Mama Bok will say it's very very cheap but I would say its pretty reasonable for that portion.
Should you have cravings for such grubs at an unearthly hour or feeling your tummy drumming in hunger after clubbing, do head on to Restoran Fei Por. You could also actually go there for your dinner as well.
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + porridge + chicken + roast pork + pork
Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Oreo Cheesecake
Made this cheesecake but it's really not up to mark as the texture is not creamy enough and since my brother had experimented this recipe twice and failed badly, I tried to improvised here and there too. Still it is not satisfactory, so I'm gonna try another recipe later on.
Oreo Cheesecake
Crust:
120g Oreo biscuits, removed filling* and crushed (I've used the whole pack)
70g unsalted butter (cut this down to 40g, still works but slightly crumbly)
Filling:
250g cream cheese, softened
125g caster sugar (I've used 80g instead but I think 100g would be just nice)
2 pieces Oreo biscuits, removed filling and crushed
*Oreo biscuits' fillings from crust
150g dairy whipping cream
1 1/2 tbsp gelatine powder
80ml full cream milk (I've sub with low fat)
1. Crust: Combine all ingredients and press into a 7" (18cm) round springform pan. Chill in fridge till firm.
2. Filling: Beat cream cheese and caster sugar till smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Combine gelatine powder, full cream milk and double boil until dissolved. Pour into cream cheese mixture and mix well. Spread onto crust.
4. Chill in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.
Ref: Kelly Tang, 2005, Taste of Cold, Sweet Temptation, Yum Yum Publications Sdn Bhd
Technorati Tags: cheesecake
Friday, 3 November 2006
Scones
I've made these scones using the recipe from Alex Goh's The World of Bread. After hubby's first bite, he asked me whether I've "thau gung kam liew" (in Cantonese literally translated as cut down on work and ingredients)!!! LOL... well indeed I did but not in the way of substituting the ingredients, more like picking the simplest of recipe with ingredients that I've available on hand. So I was indeed guilty!!!
These scones looked kinda nice but taste wise, they're not good at all! There were simply not rich and buttery enough. Hubby told me next time must remember to use orang putih (Malay for westerners) recipes for orang putih food! Urrghh so pandai (Malay for clever)... asked him to drive up to Cameron Highlands for his fix of scones. I guess you won't want the recipe, right? Haha...
Technorati Tags: scones
What Do You Do With Leftover Ang Koo???
Should you have plenty of ang koo (a type of glutinous rice cake) around, store them in the fridge. Next day, just simply pan fry them lightly with a bit of oil but since I was using a non-stick pan, I omitted the oil. Flatten the ang koo while you're at it to achieve even browning. Very yummy one...
Technorati Tags: ang koo + malaysian food + tip
Thursday, 2 November 2006
Review: Kedai Makanan Toong Kwoon Chye
Kedai Makan Toong Kwoon Chye is truly a culinary institution in Kuala Lumpur selling one of the better wantan mee (dumplings noodles) back from 1930s. Wow that means my grandfather's days!! 3 generations on, the Yap family is still holding on strong here. The kopitiam (coffee shop) still have a few old school marble topped tables which have since turned a gray completes with wooden kopitiam chairs.
This is how the cooking station looks like with the 3rd generation Yap working on our noodles.
Their noodles are still homemade which is done the way I liked - al-dente, still springy like in Mandarin they termed it as 'Q'. Its specialities include noodles serve with braised mushrooms and chicken feet; char siew (chargrilled pork) and wantan (dumplings) where the noodles can be served in soup or dry; a true Hakka dish of deep fried pork (char yuk) braised with black fungus (mook yue); steamed chicken and dry curry chicken.
Hubby ordered the dry style curry chicken noodles (RM6.00) which costed slightly on the high side since he order one and a half portion of the noodles. When it arrives, his eyes literally lit up as this is the dry curry noodles he likes. Other places usually mix their noodles with the dark soy sauce concoction before ladle on the curry. Toong Kwoon Chye's style was simply curry over plain noodles. I had a bite and I have to say its pretty good. The santan (coconut milk) nor curry powder did not over power the taste of the curry chicken.
I ordered my favourite char siew wantan meen (RM4.00 for small portion) in dry style. My taste agreed with the dark and slightly oily sauce. I can practically eat this everyday! The wantans are a major disappointment though, lacking in fillings and taste.
Other times I've eated their steamed chicken noodles (wart kai meen) where the chicken meat is tender and juicy. They used to served steamed soup as well for lunch but has since stopped. Their herbal chicken soup is extremely hearty with a large piece of drumstick sitting inside the bowl but too bad you'll need to go else where for this.
Kedai Makanan Toong Kwoon Chye 'Mee'
9, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 7.00am to 7.00pm daily but closed on alternate Wednesdays
Toong Kwoon Chye is located next to the Royale Bintang Hotel right towards the end of Jalan Bukit Bintang. Map can be found here.
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + wantan + noodles
Wednesday, 1 November 2006
Sardine Fried Rice
I first ate this fried rice at my sister-in-law's place. I was blown over by the simplicity of this dish. I couldn't have imagined that a can of sardine in tomato sauce can do wonders for a fried rice dish. Since then, hubby had told me this is their family favourite. He had cooked this for me before but I have since perfected it.
All one need are just a can of sardine in tomato sauce, day old rice, french or long beans and seasonings. That's it, very simple. Mash the sardine up together with the tomato sauce, hubby likes them all mashed up finely where else I like mine chunky, so it's entirely up to you what kind of texture you like. Squeeze in a bit of lemon juice if you fancy some tang.
First heat up some oil in the wok. Pour in the diced french beans which worked best for this dish. You may also add in some diced onions. Next add in some salt. Stir and dump in the rice. Mix throughly to coat the rice with the oil before pouring in the sardine. Stir fry to coat the rice with the sardine until evenly. Remember to eat this fried rice while its hot, otherwise, store them in the rice cooker with the keep warm setting until you're ready to eat them.
Technorati Tags: malaysian food + fried rice + rice
Not So Cheap Lunch Afterall Part 2
I've mentioned on December 29, 2004 about this place that sells delicious char siew, siew yoke and siew pai kuat. The price have gone up again of late... a plate of this Siew Pai Kuat Farn (roasted pork ribs rice) now costs RM8.00!!!! OUCH... but they're delicious, how?
It's just a stone throw away from Bidara Condo.
Coordinates: 3°8'53"N 101°42'34"E
Technorati Tags: malaysian food