Baked Macaroni

I saw in a forum, someone described a quick simple meal by merely cooking some pasta, then pour a can of canned creamy soup all over and topped with grated cheese. Next bake the pasta till the cheese melts and browned.

So I did just that one day... cooked some macaroni till al dente and set aside. Fried some chopped garlic and onions in some olive oil. Next placed in some ham, carrots, mushroom, spring onions and celery. Stir till cooked before pouring in a large can of cream soup. Mixed in the cooked macaroni and poured into a heat proof dish. Topped with grated mozarella and parmesan cheeses. Baked till browned.

Very easy and delicious but I think my version here does not have enough soup. Next time, I'm gonna use 2 large cans instead. Try it, it's a wonderful dish to hide in vegetables for fussy eaters.

Technorati Tags: pasta

Review: Restoran Makanan Laut Yoke Heng, Seri Kembangan

**Non-Halal Post**

Hubby took me to this place here located in Seri Kembangan sometime back for a slightly different version of claypot loh shue fun (rat tail noodle literally translated from Cantonese) but I never got on to write something about it cos the pictures I took turned out super duper small, no thanks to my boiboi. This time I got them right! Those whom have worked in TPM or Cyberjaya would definitely know this Kedai Makanan Laut Yoke Heng.

Yoke Heng is famous for this version of thick gravied loh shue fun, almost like loh meen but better. The slippery noodles are generously topped with fragrant and crunchy deep fried dried shrimps which gave this dish the edge. Very different indeed from the usual dried version like Seng Kee's or Goon Wah's.





We have tried their dishes here as well which tasted generally good and reasonabily priced too. I knew our family did enjoyed the dishes. One of the favourite that I tend to see appearing on the tables is this Yim For Kuat or was it For Yim Kuat, not sure the translation... but its sweetish sticky pork ribs that came wrapped in aluminium foil. Quite similar to mutt chup (honey coated). The ribs are tender and the sweetness is not over cloying.



Tekko of eatinout have a map to this place. I've marked this place at Wikimapia. Look out for East of Highway Restaurant and turn inside this road. Yoke Heng is just further down the road. Sorry no price placed here cos I can't recall but it will be better cos I got myself a notepad for this purpose haha...

To stir fry your own loh shue fun, try this or this.

Kedai Makanan Laut Yoke Heng
No. 33, Jalan SR 8/4,
Taman Putra Indah,
Serdang Raya,
43300 Seri Kembangan
Tel: 03-8943 8753

Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday 10:30 am - 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + noodles

Flood Relief Exercises Updates

My recent call for assistance of the Orang Asli in Endau Rompin is highlighted in today's The Star - Mercy Mission. Here's the article...

Monday January 29, 2007
Mercy mission
By JAMIE KHOO

ENTIRE orang asli villages in Endau-Rompin in Johor were submerged in flood waters recently but fortunately, a group of volunteers from Kuala Lumpur went to their rescue.

Having forged friendships with the orang asli of Kampung Peta, film producer and director Michael Chick took the initiative to gather supplies from friends and associates, and organised a trip into the thick jungle to take emergency supplies to several villages.

He led the team of 13 to Endau-Rompin in the first week of January, using four 4WDs and one lorry to transport over five tonnes of rice and food supplies, cooking utensils, clothes and shoes. They even took live chickens and organised a large cookout for the villagers who relished their first hearty meal in weeks.

Desperate measures: The team was forced to transport supplies by Kampung Penan by boat when they discovered that the bridge had collapsed.Contributions were also donated by organisations such as Kechara House Buddhist Association, Kiwanis, Lions Kluang, Transmarco Crocs and the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Videographer’s Association. These went towards funding the transport and volunteers’ food and shelter.

Chick befriended the orang asli community about six months ago while filming the Endau-Rompin jungles for the Discover Malaysia documentary.

He soon became fast friends with the orang asli and has been back to the village five times, taking with him clothing and shoes for the children. Close friends and colleagues supported his initiative by donating in kind or buying the supplies.

When the floods hit Johor, Chick learnt that Kampung Peta was submerged, which prompted him to secure necessities and arrange for a trip to transport supplies to the villages. The journey to the remote site takes some six hours, so Chick had problems getting volunteers.

“As there is no telecommunication there, people didn’t know that the villagers had been hit by floods and needed help. Many people didn’t want to go because they were afraid of the jungle and the orang asli. Up until the day before we left, we didn’t know how many volunteers would be coming,” said Chick.

When the team got there, they found that the only bridge to another village, Kampung Punan, had collapsed. They were totally cut off. Supplies had to be transported using boats instead. One of Chick’s friends, Paulyne Leong, is organising another trip into the villages with medical professionals to administer medical care.

Again, many volunteered for the mission but backed out upon discovering that they would be going into the jungle. The area was hit by a second wave of floods just after the team left Endau-Rompin. Roads are still impassable, so the medical team will only go in when the waters have subsided.

Helping hand: The volunteers provided families in Kampung Peta and Kampung Punan with basic necessities like food and clothing.Chick said the emergency rations which the group took were just enough for the 120 families in two villages. There are another 13 villages in need of help.

“I hope other individuals and teams will go in to provide relief for these communities, instead of only going into the towns.”

Chick advised that donations in kind would be most useful and appropriate. “Cash is more troublesome for them as they will then have to come out to buy supplies and they end up spending more money on petrol for their motorbikes. They are rebuilding a whole village so all supplies will be welcome, as long as they are in good working condition.”

The team is also in need of 4WDs and drivers to assist with the transportation of items to Endau-Rompin.

To make contributions or volunteer for the next trip, contact Paulyne Leong at paulyne88@yahoo.com.

Also please check out boo_licious of Masak-Masak on her own account of Buaya 4x4 Johor Flood Relief Trip @ 27 January, 2007. They'll be making another trip down this weekend, so please come back to check what are the goods they'll be needing for this coming trip.

Thank you all for your effort.

Kiddy Menu: Shepherd's Pie

**Non-Halal Post**



I had watched Nigella's Christmas Bites during Christmas where she had made a scrumptious Shepherd's Pie using minced venison and pork. I picked up a couple of tips from her for this recipe, one of them is to use part pork to make the pie juicier and the other is to simmer the meat for an hour. I've made Shepherd's Pie previously using minced beef meat and another time chicken meat. Urrgghhh the meat turned out tough on both occasions. So with these 2 information, I confidently set out to make my third pie. Traditionally Shepherd's Pie is made of minced lamb but this time, I made one using minced beef and pork.

I guesstimate my way as usual, so I had a portion minced beef and equal amount of minced lean pork, some sliced button mushrooms, chopped carrots, chopped leek, chopped celery and some chopped onions. I marinade the meat together with some Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce and corn flour(very Asian of me huh? haha).

In a pot, heat up some olive oil and fry some chopped garlic and onion till fragrant before putting in the meat. Brown the meat thoroughly and add in carrots, leek and celery. Stir a bit and break up the meat pieces in the process. Add in some salt and black pepper to taste. Pour in water enough to cover the meat up. Season with more Worcestershire sauce. Add in one bay leaf; some dried basil and oregano; and the sliced mushrooms. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour on low heat.

Meanwhile prepare the usual mash potatoes and add in butter and some hot milk for a fluffy mash. When the meat is ready, pour into baking dish and top with the mash potatoes. Another tip I learnt from Nigella was to fluff up the mash with a fork to have some peaks all over in order to have some browned crispy bits. Dot the mash with butter all over. Bake in the oven till the mash is browned.

I'm very satisfied with this version... finally got the combination right, more or less. Best served hot and I have to put this pie under Kiddy Menu as this is one of the best dish to hide all sorts of vegetables from fussy eaters. My boiboi, a mash potatoes lover, walloped two servings and stole more mash from my plate! Cheeky lil fella there.

Technorati Tags: Shepherd's Pie + nigella lawson + kiddy menu

Review: Restoran Makanan Teow Chew

**Non-Halal Post**

In the same episode of Ho Chak! that featured Hon Kee porridge, I managed to catch this bit of Teow Chew porridge place in Desa Aman, Cheras. Since I can't really grasp the address properly, I just told hubby agak-agak (guess in Malay) where about this place would be. He should know better since his mother's place is near by there. Since Desa Aman is not that big, this place can be found easily what more with its bright signage that I managed to caught in that show. Just look out for the Pusat Penjaja Desa Aman that houses Klana Seafood Restaurant signage and follow them. When you reach the hawker centre continue to go straight till you see some old flats on your right. Look out for Hoo Yee Restaurant (below the flats) and turn right at Jalan Desa Aman 2. You should be able to see the signage as shown below.





Since we arrived there rather late like 10pm, got a bit panic cos we see their staff were busy cleaning up. When we went up to the display counter... the sexy lady in that short skirt in the pic above told us they're still opened but not many dishes left. Since the guy manning the counter had kept away the trays, the poor fella had to take them out one by one to show us what are still available.

Not much choices though but my main aim was to try the stewed or was it braised duck ala Teow Chew (loh ark if not mistaken but not sure which dialect is this) since the hosts of the programme were raving how tender and tasty the duck were. This small portion costed RM6.00. I have to say, the duck is absolutely tender and there is no gamey smell nor taste. Most likely the spices predominantly 5 spice powder have masked them all out. Other than my favourite loh ark at Jalan Alor, this one really won me over now, at least.



I asked for the beancurd which is braised in the same gravy as the duck. Hubby took one bite and he asked me why it tasted sour. I guess the beancurd have been around the whole day hence must have gone bad. We sent the beancurd back.



We also have a plate of choy poh (a type of preserved vegetable) omelette (RM2.00), kinda cute cos each piece of the omelette fit the round plate just nice. Nothing special huh this dish but great with porridge.



Next, hubby picked a plate of steamed mince pork with tung choy (salted cabbage) (RM3.00) which kinda reminded me of a home cooked meal of jook (Cantonese for porridge).



Their plain jook is served in a rice bowl (RM0.80) and take a look at the consistency... this is the kind hubby and I, both liked. Not too watery and not too thick. Very smooth and velvety! Plain rice is available too.



It seems like they serve claypot rice too and patrons were streaming in even after we sat down and have our meal. Next time, I'll go early and try the claypot rice and other jook condiments!!! Hope they won't disappoint me.

Restoran Makanan Teow Chew/Mr Claypot
19, 21-Block C
Jalan Desa Aman 2
Taman Desa Aman, Cheras
Tel : 012-6800729
Opening hours: 11.30am - 10.30pm

Just read that Honey Star commented their claypot rice is good which gave me more reasons to go back there one day. Honey Star also gave a brief history of this restaurant which seems to have made it from hawker stall to a decent restaurant.

Technorati Tags: porridge + poultry

Stir Fried Celery and Fresh Lily Bulb

Another easy peasy stir fried vegetables dish. Heat oil in wok and once its hot, put in chopped garlic. Once fragrant, chuck in the celery, carrot and capsicums (bell peppers). Stir and sprinkle with some prawn stock. Add some salt to taste. Next, stir in fresh lily bulbs. Dish up and serve with rice. Don't you love all the colours??

Technorati Tags: malaysian food

More Flood Relief Exercises

A couple of plugs for more Johor flood relief exercises. This time round these good samaritans are going to distribute the goods by themselves rather than going thru the "channels".

First one is posted by boo_licious over at Masak-masak. Here's the excerpt:

Buaya 4x4 Johor Flood Relief

I'm sure you know of the sad situation in Johor where thousands of families are displaced because of the flood situation. One of the 4x4 groups we hang out with a.k.a the Buayas have organised their own flood relief. A team was sent down last weekend to recce the place namely Sri Medan, a small town near Yong Peng as advised by the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. As of yesterday, the village is still under almost 3 feet of water and the people have been evacuated to relief centres.

We'll be going down again this coming Saturday (27th January, 2007) to deliver items collected. If you wish to donate items, contact me at boo_liciouskl@yahoo.com to make arrangements for collection and etc.

The items needed are:
Toiletries i.e. toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo and etc
Clothes and undergarments (preferably new)
Milk and diapers for the kids
Rice and cooking oil


Second one conducted by Earl-ku:

I have just got a call from Peter(9W2TKC), that him and some fellow members from the Lutherans Church in PJ is going down to Kota Tinggi, this weekend(27th January 2007). So i was hoping that we can get another round of collection and get another batch of stuff to be sent down together with him. But I am not sure if i can follow them down there, or not. If i cannot be following them, money collected will be used to purchase stuff which will be passed to them to be brought down to Kota Tinggi... more details here.


So if you can help out in which ever way, please lend a hand. Thank you in advance.

Baked French Toast

'Twas Sunday morning and we're too lazy to go out for breakie. I checked the fridge and found some stale bread which is good to be converted into french toasts but I was too lazy to fry them one by one. So what I did was pile the bread slices onto a baking tray. Mixed up some eggs, milk, castor sugar and cinnamon powder. Poured over the bread slices, making sure they're enough to be soaked up by the bread.



Sprinkled some brown sugar on top and dotted some butter all over too. Lastly, I placed some grated cheese all over and bake in the oven till browned.



Cut them up and serve while they're hot. Very easy, not much cleaning and best of all very yummy too! Boiboi had 2 servings!!!



Technorati Tags: bread + breakfast

Review: Fried Noodles at Weng Hing

**Non-Halal Post**


Did you know that Kedai Kopi Dan Makanan Weng Hing have stalls selling:

• Delicious pork ball noodles, chicken rice and char kuey teow for breakfast and lunch;


• All sorts of deep fried fritters ie banana, sweet potatoes and kuih bakul (sticky glutinous rice cake that is usually available during Chinese New Year) for tea;


• Seremban siew bao (baked pork/chicken buns) and mini egg tarts for breakfast and tea; and last but not least...


• Fried noodles ie Hokkien char (fried Hokkien noodles), Cantonese style fried noodles, loh meen (thick soupy noodles) and so forth for dinner and supper!!!

Yeah different stalls serving all these grubs all day long at different hours of the day! Amazing aint't it? The great thing is most of these stalls serves pretty good food.

Today I'm featuring the dark side of Weng Hing haha yeah... the stuff available at night fall in this coffee shop. We have one serving of Hokkien Mee (RM6.00) which is the Kuala Lumpur's version that came dark due to the generous usage of dark soy sauce. Take a good look of the plate below... did you noticed that it's full of ingredients instead of noodles??? This is their trademark, the price is slightly higher but its compensated with lots of sliced pork, fish cake, cabbage, choy sum, squid, brown sotong and of course tonnes of lard! Their noodles have enough wok hei (breath of the wok) and its not too wet nor too dry, best suited our tastebud.

If you can't wait to go there for your fix, you might want to try cooking this. Recipe can be found HERE.



We ordered one portion of wart tarn hor (fried kuey teow Cantonese style at RM6.00). I loved the eggy gravy here which is not too starchy and see how it glistened up the rice noodles! The amount of ingredients which are the same as the Hokkien noodles were not compromised too.



Parking might be a bit of a problem cause the parking spaces opposite Weng Hing turned into a hawker square at night. We usually park along the road after turning left at the hawker square.

Kedai Kopi Dan Makanan Weng Hing
183, Jalan Imbi
Kuala Lumpur

Technorati Tags: malaysian food

Tzai Choy (Vegetarian Dish) Version 3.0

Today is 1st day of the 12th month in Chinese lunar calendar, which means Chinese New Year is exactly a month away. Have you start preparing for the celebration? For myself, there's nothing much to prepare...

Spring cleaning - not needed cos I keep the pigeon hole clean whole year round but its time to change the curtains though.

Bake cookies - don't think I'll bake any since (1) my oven's heating element has gone haywire, replacement only coming in 2 weeks time; and (2) visitors these days hardly touch any cookies.

New clothings - errr since we buy clothes whole year round unlike our childhood days, don't think we need any more new clothes except for my boiboi. Else his grandparents will come twist my ear for not getting new clothes for their bao bei (precious in Mandarin)! That already been handled cos I usually buy some larger sizes clothings when I see nice shirts or trousers.

Gifts for parents & in-laws - my mother had already warned us last week not to buy her anything to prevent wastage. I guess this year some yuk korn/bak gua (dried meats) and some mandarin oranges will do.

I supposed we just need to buy some drinks, change some new notes and hassle for some angpow packets haha from friends working in the banks. Looks like another simple new year for us.

Since many of us observing vegetarian today, I'm gonna post up my Tzai Choy Version 3.0. I realised I did not mention much on Version 1.0 and 2.0. I'm getting very forgetful these days. I find it so hard trying to recall what I can use for variety sake, so what better than documenting them here. This round I'm gonna put down all the ingredients that I've used.

Ingredients used this time were dau foo pok (deep fried tofu), cabbage, canned button mushrooms, dao bao (beancurd skins a type of vegetarian beancurd made from layers of beancurd sheet, usually found frozen in vegetarian supply shops or supermarkets), deep fried beancurd sheets (I used to deep fried them myself until I saw them ready fried, wahhh so happy cos not so messy deep frying the beancurd sheets), soaked fun si (mung bean noodles), dried lily buds that I've soaked and tied into a knot for a chewy bite, carrot, soaked and sliced dried black mushrooms and soaked cloud ear mushrooms.

Pan fry the cut dao bao in a bit of oil till browned in a non-stick pan. Set aside. You can opt not to cut them up and use the whole piece instead.



For flavouring, only a few pieces (not too much as it can be too salty) of lam yue (fermented red beancurd) and vegetarian oyster flavour sauce to taste.

First, heat up oil in wok, add in fermented red beancurd. Smash them up while frying till fragrant. Place in cabbage and stir. Add in the rest of the vegetables and mushrooms. Mix well before adding enough water to cover them up. Season with the oyster flavour sauce. Next add in the dao bao and mung bean noodles. Place the deep fried beancurd sheet on top, cover and simmer on low heat. Uncover and stir, the water should have reduced by now. Once the ingredients are cooked, dish up and serve. Wonderful with rice or even on its own!



Tip: I've watched an episode of Good Idea, a Taiwan show on one of the Chinese channels on Astro. With my smattering knowledge of Mandarin I managed to catch this tip shown on screen. To hasten the process of soaking dried black mushroom, place the mushrooms in a bowl of water and add in some sugar. Then place a piece of cling wrap directly on top of the mushrooms so that the mushrooms are under the water. Microwave on errr I supposed high power for 3 minutes. The mushrooms surprisingly came out soft right till the core! So far I haven't tried yet cos I cooked this dish before watching this. Let me know if this had work for you. Fantabulous show they've got there.


Technorati Tags: malaysian food + vegetarian

Review: Hon Kee Porridge

Many bloggers have wrote about this place so I didn't really bothered to put this up till I saw a bit of this in Ho Chak! on channel 8TV or was it NTV7 sometime back??

So I dug up the pictures and post them here, we do come here once in a while for breakfast. Hon Kee had been in the rice porridge (jook in Cantonese) business aeons ago. It's located at Jalan Hang Lekir, besides Yui Kee chu cheung fun. You can cross order from both stalls which is great.

I have always enjoyed their smooth porridge and this time round we have shredded chicken meat porridge (kai si jook in Cantonese). What we liked is this is they really shred the chicken meat unlike some places where they just chop up the chicken. In a way chopped chicken is not kai si (shredded chicken meat), right?? Hubby will be kinda irked by this haha even though he's not fussy. Look at the amount of kai si on top!!!



This bowl is fish porridge with deep fried pork intestine (siu cheong in Cantonese). You can actually ask them to serve the raw fish slices separately ala sashimi just like what boo_licious had. The siu cheong here do not have unpleasant smell or taste and its very crispy. I like!



Deep fried crullers are available in separate orders. Check out the porridge available here plus their prices.



Technorati Tags: Porridge + Malaysian Food

Dai Yee Ma Kar Lui using Chayote

I used to eat this dish named Dai Yee Ma Kar Lui (Aunt marrying off the daughter in Cantonese, not sure how to name it in English) at one of my fave mixed rice stall along Jalan Mesui. Frankly speaking, I've absolutely no idea how this dish got this name hahaha... It seems that's how people of the older generation often called this dish including my mother. Anyway, one day the aunty was telling someone that she had used Chayote instead of the normal jit gua (Cantonese for fuzzy melon). Strangely they tasted the same to me but I was intrigued by it since I've never cooked Chayote before.

Chayote can be easily found in the wet market these days so I when I saw them one day, I decided to give it a try.

Just slice chayote and carrot (for some colour) into strips. Soak and wash some dried shrimps. Soak some mung bean noodles (fun si in Cantonese).

To cook, heat up some oil in wok. Dump in the dried shrimps and fry till fragrant before adding some chopped garlic. Fry a bit more and place in the chayote and carrot and stir well. Pour in some stock be it chicken or in this case I've used prawn stock, just enough to cover the vegetables. Season with some salt to taste before adding in the soaked mung beans noodles. Cover and simmer till chayote is soften according to the texture that you fancy and the stock have reduced. Dish up and serve.



Technorati Tags: malaysian food + chayote

Menu For Hope III: Raffles Winners

Pim had announced the recently concluded Menu For Hope III's raffles winners. Congratulations to all winners and those of you whom did not win anything... a big THANK YOU for your generousity to feed the kids around the world. You're a winner nevertheless! We managed to raised USD60,925.12 to support the UN World Food Programme.

Scoot on to Pim's to check out if your name is on the list!

I'm waiting for the following winners to contact me at babe_kl(at)yahoo(dot)com. Ensure that you state the same email address that you've given in your donation form over at firstgiving.com. This email address will identify you as the real winner. Next, you'll need to provide me your shipping address so that I can mail your winning(s) as soon as I could.

There might be some delay over in this part of the world cos we're celebrating Chinese New Year on 18 Feb 2007. The local postal office will be loaded with lots of greeting cards during this festive season. So please bear with me.

AP26 six mini books on Malaysian cuisine Andrea

AP27 Two Nyonya Cookboos TOAST

AP28 Two cookbooks on vegetarian cuisine RobA4

AP29 Dining coucher at El Cerdo RobA4

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Werner of El Cerdo for his generous contribution to make this programme a success over in Kuala Lumpur.

Stir Fried Broccoli

I'm very sure this is another dish widely appeared on Malaysian dining tables. There are a variety of vegetables one can use ranging from broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, capsicum (bell pepper) and so forth, so just mix and match or picked your favourites.

This version of mine contained broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and capsicum (red and yellow). First, quickly blanched broccoli florets in boiling water and dump into a bowl of cold water to stop them from cooking further unless you liked your broccoli softer.

Heat up some oil and stir in some chopped garlic till fragrant. Chuck in the vegetables and stir quickly. Sprinkle some water all over for the steam to cook the vegetables. Next pour in some oyster sauce to taste. Dish up and serve hot.



Technorati Tags: brocolli + malaysian food

Flavours and Whatever Nots

I've just gotten hold the latest copy of Flavours magazine...

Recipes

Wahhhh I liked this issue cos it has a mini cookbook that contains a collection of recipes named Flavours of Malaysian. It's certainly for keeps!!!

This issue is like Heaven sent for me cos it had answered some of my questions about the various types of rice that I had wanted to try out recently other than the plain old white rice. Best part was they even have pictures of the various rice varieties for noobs like me... wooo hoooo! Thank you, thank you.

There were some Chinese New Year recipes by a few famous VIPs and the lady boss of New Formosa Restaurant. I've also gotten some insight on the lesser known cuisine, to me at least, on the Chitty (Indian Peranakans). Oh yeah and some delightful recipes provided by the famous Justin Quek!


Food Guide

Wonderful wonderful suggestions of food places in the vicinity of Bandar Utama, TTDI and Hartamas. I didn't know Cocomo had shifted to Damansara Perdana until last night... awww man their chocolate cake is to die for! It's very blind of me cos we're always in that area at night, hence we can't get to see what they have there except for those visible by the road. Most of the time we tend to end up at Mum's Place. Damansara Perdana... here we come!


Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day (VD) is coming... it's about one month away! Urrrghhh so commercialised these days, adverts were already all over the papers, thank goodness, hubby and I have already way passed our lovey dovey days hahaha... don't need to pay thru our noses for flowers, chocolates, fancy dining nor blings-blings! An hour or two away from the terrorist at home to surf or update my blog would be much appreciated rather than all these stuff! *stick out tongue*

Anyway, Flavours this issue have suggested a few places for some romantic time for love birds this coming VD. I've fond memories at two out of the five romantic hotspots. I had a fantastic time dining at The Dining Room, Carcosa Seri Negara. It was a surprise dinner for my birthday and we spent some time going thru the place, hoping secretly that we can have our wedding reception right at the lawn one day haha... Well we did not eventually cos the price is simply too exhorbitant but still it was great - day dreaming about it.

My favourite of all time have to be Villa Danielli, Sheraton Imperial!!! We simply loved that place and the food quality have been consistently good. The menu is limited but it keep changing so there is hardly anytime I get repeats on our visits. Since it has been some time, I do hope they are still great.

We haven't try the other three suggestions as they were not established back then. So guys and gals... especially those celebrating the occassion, get your head cracking and place your reservation. There are plenty to choose from this year as compared to those days, yeah my time... like ermmm more than 6 years ago! Happy Valentine's Day in advance.


My Dream Gadget

Other than the once bitten forbidden fruit that I've been longing for... again Flavours stirred up my desire for that missing piece of gadget in my kitchen!!! Darn , this really sounds like a love hate relationship with this issue... they just have to feature on food processors!!! Sighhh I've been looking around in the stores as well as my credit card redemption catalogue but so far nothing have caught my fancy, except for one but its kinda outta my budget currently. Needless to say that two models featured in the mag are really way beyond our means! I've left so much drool on that two pages and thank goodness I was the only one at home reading the mag.

I would love to have the pastry making feature instead of getting my fingers dirty. Anyone have a good and cheaper recommendation?

Apologies for being so "long winded"... just a lil ranting and nostalgic moments. Sighhh...

Flood Relief Updates: Orang Asli at Endau Rompin

Dear readers/friends,

Thank you so much for your contributions be it donations or plug in your blogs. The team managed to send the goods safely to the Orang Asli. I've received the email on the team's account dated 12 Jan 2007 and I'm gonna post here to share with you what they have done with your contributions.

The latest news as of last night, the Orang Asli in Endau Rompin got hit too by the second wave of the flood. Their current need is medical volunteers instead. Will try to get more details on this if I could.

Read on and do click on the link to check out the photos... your contributions could be somewhere there in the photos.

************************************

03.01.07 :

9pm. Cheque presentation ceremony at KH (Kechara House).

04.01.07 :

Went shopping to Giant Kelana Jaya with Katherine Pan, new KH member. Purchased items not donated like tooth paste & brushes, bathing soap, bath towels, condensed milk, tea, 3 sets of cooking utensils (kuali ,pot, kettle, frying spoon, ladles, knifes, cutting boards, veg. peelers, tin openers, plastic collanders, etc) , including single-burner gas cookers, 3 tanks of gas. Another team went shopping for extra rice, cooking oil, salt, candles and matches.

9pm. at Kiwanis centre: was told the tragic news that our lorry driver's son was killed in an accident. Even though he offered to continue helping us, we couldn't accept his offer. At the same time, owners of 2 4WD called to say their vehicles have broken down and could not help transport the volunteers even though we offered to subsidize their petrol. Hence the frantic search for a lorry and transport started but thank our Protector, at 11pm. we confirmed a lorry for RM1,500 and soon after that 2 gentlemen came to our rescue. Refer to pic labeled GdSamaritans, these are the 2 guys who helped us. Mr.Chong and Mr. Chu, both from Jinjang. Together with Dennis, from M'sian Nature Society and Randal Tay, an agri consultant, they formed the convoy into Endau Rompin.

05-01-07:

6.30am Mr.Gopal arrived with his lorry with 2 workers, and together with our volunteers stacked all heavy items into his lorry, while the 4WD carried passengers and lighter items.
Stopped over in Kluang to collect more items from the Lion Clubs of Kluang & Sg. Rengam. Bought all the frozen chickens we could find there before entering the jungle at 3pm. The journey was rough and tough as expected but much easier than expected as many parts were already dried up. Arrived at the park's HQ at 6.30pm and unloaded immediately. Dennis and the lorry returned to KL immediately.

Had the orang asli BBQ the chickens for as many people as they could round up and ate with them at their community hall. After dinner we went back to the park HQ to sort out all the donated items and arranged them by categories. Before retiring, team leader gave briefing and assigned individual duties.

06-01-07 :

Set up our own temp "kitchen" underneath our dormitory. It was then we were informed that the volunteer cooks cannot cook rice without rice cookers! Well immediately I was appointed chief cook or rather the only cook! I made sure the team had their 3 proper meals for all the days. For most of us we were on veg. diet. Chong and Chu went back to Kahang in the morning, they had to send an asli lady to the clinic as she had very high fever. At the same time they bought petrol for 3 boat trips to the next village which was still cut off by road. The 2 bridges leading into their village has been washed away.

Spent the morning arranging and sorting out items, while waiting for the S'pore team to arrive. 6 of them came with another lorry load of donated items. Together, we had more than $14,000 of items purchased with donated cash. Sorting continued, while Theresa registered the names of the head of each family, totaling to 64.

After lunch, the guys came back with the petrol, immediately we loaded as much food as we could into 1 boat. Together with 2 asli guides, Michael and Peter left for Kg. Punan in a motor boat. The journey by boat took 1 hour each way and returned after unloading the items to the village headman.

After dinner, all of us headed back to the park HQ where the distribution started by a gesture by Michael handing over a pack of rice to Tok Batin, the headman.

Theresa was stationed at the entrance, where she controlled the traffic, we only allowed a rep from each family to collect the goodies. Volunteer asli were at hand to help the old folks to carry their items back to their homes.

We stood in a line and handed out the packed items as they pass us. We had too much of donated clothings that we allowed the women to select what they wanted. Other than clothings, these were the items each family received:

Rice (min. 10kg, larger families 20kg.)
Cooking Oil (min. 5 kg, larger families 10kg.)
Bee Hoon (2 pkts.) / salt (2 pkts) /
Sugar (1pkt) / Salt fish (1pkt) / soap powder/bathing soap (1pkt)
Bisquits (1 tin / 2 tins for larger families)
Condensed Milk/Tea/Milo (1pkt each)
Sardines/Baked Beans (1tin each)
Blanket (1 each) / sarong for older men
Tooth paste & brushes for family
1 bundle (Candles & matches)

For the women only:
1 sarong / 1 pkt. sanitary towels
Milk Powder
Diapers

For children:
1 school bag filled with goodies
1 towel
Books

When all the 64 families have collected their items and clothes, we packed the remainder into big bags.


07-01-07 :

Some members of the team left in 2 boats for Kg. Punan, bringing them the excess clothings and food items. Helped to clean up some of the mess in the village. Was treated to a lunch by the village headman. After lunch the S'pore team headed home.

At night we had a great time getting to know each volunteer better, this was truly a great effort from individuals from different walks of life, our ages ranged from 20 to 62. The youngest was Jon, 20 who's just out from college and he prays to Kuan Yin. Then there's Yoges and Azmi from Help University's maintenance dept. Peter came with his wife and daughter Theresa, who works in UOB and they brought Mdm. Ngiam their neighbor. Chong and Chu, 4WD hobbyists from Jinjang, Dennis from MNS, Randal the agri consultant, Su Jin, who got us the Kiwanis Centre, Michael and myself.

We spent the evening discussing community work and it was truly a very enriching trip. Not only we managed to bring cheer to more than 800 orang asli in the 2 kampongs, I've met a group of caring people with big hearts who are willing to help out in any disaster. They will help Kechara House's future aid missions whenever there's a need to. We lived without electricity throughout our stay, making use of a few oil lamps and plenty of candles at night. Most of the team had experienced being bitten by leeches, met a few snakes, a huge wild boar, a dead civet cat! but everyone is healthy and happy.

08-01-07 :

I handed a box of medication to Tok Batin, Michael taught his grown-up children how to use it. The medication is mainly for children, consisting of cough syrups, fever tabs, and panadols for the adults. Tok Batin will keep the medication to control proper usage. We donated all our kitchen equipment to the village community centre and left Kg. Peta, after saying goodbye to Tok Batin and his family. We have been invited to back to Endau Rompin anytime, especially in August. The team has decided that we bring more cheer to them during their new year, which falls on 8 August.

For the time being, there's no need to bring them more food as there's another team going in, in 2 weeks' time. The Govt. has stepped in to aid the children's education. I have requested the next team to source for school shoes and uniforms for the children. If they are unable to, then we'll have to get into action again.

Attached are some pics ... more to follow.

For more pic please click HERE


Paulyne

Stir Fried Eggs With Prawns

Easy peasy dish, loved by both kids and adults. For this round, I've stir fried some bell pepper (capsicum) and carrot strips in some olive oil. Then pour in the eggs. Let it set a bit before stirring and flipping. Cook till the consistent you prefered. I prefered to have not too cooked eggs so I lift up from the pan when its slightly runny. The heat will continue to cook a bit whilst resting on the plate.

Technorati Tags: malaysian food + egg

Kiddy Craft: Boat

Some simple crafts that my friend had requested me to post up for him to have some fun with his son.

Here's one simple boat made from recycled materials.

Materials:

Styrofoam tray (those that came with the meat you buy from supermarkets)
Thick paper, I find those promotional flyers or catalogues from departmental store are great for this
Straw
A blob of playdough/plasticine
Some cellophane tape



Steps:

1. Draw a triangle shaped sail on the catalogue. Let kid cut it with a pair of child-scissors.

2. Assist kid to stick the sail to the straw with some cellophane tapes.

3. Have kid stick on the straw on the blob of playdough.

4. Help kid to stick the playdough onto the bottom of the tray. Voila... a boat with very simple effort.

Have a basin of water to float the boat or let kid play in the bath tub. Ensure you're around to supervise when your child is playing with water. Even a few inches of water in a pail could drown a child!!!!

Chicken Varuval, the Modern Way

My colleague gave me this recipe... a very simple or rather modern way of making Chicken Varuval. Chicken Varuval is one of our must order dish whenever we eat Banana Leaf Rice. This version is slighly different and very easy to cook. Great with beer! Even though the recipe suggested it is best with some chilli sauce but seriously the chicken is best on its own.

New Chicken Varuval

Ingredient
1 chicken, deboned and cut into small chunks
4 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
10 dried chillies (cut into pieces)
10 shallots (shredded)
2 pc cinnamon stick
4 pc cardamoms
2 pc star anise
black pepper and salt
oil for frying

Method
1. Clean the chicken and cut into small cubes. Add ginger-garlic paste, curry powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well and marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Fry the chicken till golden brown and set aside.

3. In another wok, add a little oil. Sauté the onion, spices and dried chilli until onion turns light brown.

4. Add the chicken and stir well. Add black pepper and salt, if needed.

5. Best eaten with rice or as evening snacks with chilli sauce.

Technorati Tags: poultry + malaysian food

Carrot Cheesecake

I've gotten hold of Yum Yum Publications' latest Chinese-English bi-lingual cookbook - Yummy Cheesecakes by Kelly Tang. It contains mostly baked cheesecakes recipes. Since I was too lazy to do anything heavy over the holiday period, I picked this Carrot Cheesecake from this cookbook to experiment.

When I was going thru the recipe, it really struck me that the recipe looked more like a butter cake instead of a cheesecake and I didn't bothered to add more cream cheese knowing very well 125g of them is seriously very little to impart much cheese taste. So much so that my hubby proclaimed that I thau kung karm liew (Cantonese for stinge on work and ingredients) after tasting one piece of it!!! Grrr... all right lah actually if you really want more cheese flavour, I suggest you use more cream cheese and a little more carrots if you want extra bites. This cake need to be baked in a water bath, so remember to boil some water before hand.

Check out my cake surface... its very dark cos my oven temperature had gone bonkers and I need to get the technician to come and adjust the oven. Apart from the darkened surface, the centre of the cake is not fully cooked too (I managed to hide that part in the shadow in my pic haha), funny though that the skewer came out clean when I checked for doneness. So this means no baking will be done the next couple of weeks, must get the oven done up before Chinese New Year. I have been dragging my feet since a few months back...

Carrot Cheesecake

Ingredients A:
125g softened cream cheese
150g softened unsalted butter
230g castor sugar
5 eggs

Ingredients B (sifted together):
230g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Ingredients C:
50g grated carrot, squeeze out the juice
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in sugar and beat till creamy and pale.

2. Add in eggs one at a time and stir well. Slowly fold in B.

3. Lastly mix in ingredients C. Pour mixture into a lined 8"/20cm round cake pan and place onto a baking tray filled with water and steam bake at 180C for 40-60 minutes or until well cooked. Remove and leave to cool. Serve.

Ref: Yummy Cheesecakes, Kelly Tang, Yum Yum Publications Sdn Bhd first published in Sept 2006

There were some extra batter which was enough for a few cupcakes. They really looked good here.



Technorati Tags: cheesecake

Review: Nihon Kai Japanese Restaurant

Nihon Kai, ring a bell anyone? Haha I doubt so cos this is a hidden gem to me but who knows you might have been a regular here. Seriously the location of this Japanese restaurant is so obscure but yet this place could really fill up especially on weekends. My brother took us here once and we have returned because the food is good, comparable to many Japanese places we have been. Best of all the price is so reasonable without compromising on its quality.

Below are the upstairs dining area where there are about 3 tatami or private dining rooms and a sample of their offerings. Look at the price... what do you think?

We had a portion of Sake Sashimi (RM20.00) and it's fresh. Absolutely yummy.



I ordered the Beef Sukiyaki (RM19.00) dinner set that came with rice, miso soup and chawan mushi. The price here definitely beat those fast food sushi joints in terms of quality and service!



I've got loads of thinly sliced beef which cooked just right. I slurped the slippery slices up after dipping into the raw egg. In the pot has slices of mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and mung bean noodles (fun si in Cantonese). I wiped up every single morsels that were served to me *wide grin* which is bad cos there is no more room left for dessert. Grrrr...



Hubby ordered Salmon Shioyaki (RM17.00) dinner set which he complained not up to mark. He said that there isn't enough salt being rubbed over the salmon before grilling, hence the fish was rather bland. When he commented to the waitress whilst paying the bill, she told him it was supposed to be dipped in the soy sauce. We took a look and there isn't any sauce served in the platter. Ahhhh so they have forgotten to serve the accompanying sauce but then again from our experience, shioyaki style would have enough salt on it to render it tasty even on its own. Okie so far this is the only boo-boo we have experienced here. Anyway this set also came with the same accompanying condiments, miso soup, rice and chawan mushi like mine.



On other occasions, we absolutely loved their potato salad and the various sushi offered on their menu. At times there are some promotional item where the price could be a steal, so do check out with the waitress.

It's pretty easy to locate Nihon Kai, coming from KL (Mid Valley) side, go towards Old Klang Road. After the underpass, keep left, look out for the Kee Hing Tyre with big Michelin Tyre logo on signage and turn left right there (which is the road just before Shell). You should be able to see Nihon Kai at the double-storey shoplots. Parking is a breeze too unless you come on weekends.

Happy eating folks!





Technorati Tags: japanese