Ref: The Significance of Wesak Day
Friday, 28 May 2010
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Vegetarian Fare
Since tomorrow is Wesak Day, some of us might observe a vegetarian fare for the day. We're not as lucky as our PM to have Gordon Ramsay to cook for us on such occasion. So, here's a compilation of vegetarian ideas, recipes and places you can go for some hearty vegetarian food.
For pure vegetarian dishes that do not contain onions, garlic, egg and dairy products, there are Braised Dao Gan (a type of layered beancurd skin), Stir-Fried Kei Chi Mix Vegetables (just sub the oyster sauce with the vegetarian kind), and Stir-Fried Snowpeas and Eryngii Mushrooms (just remove garlic and wine from the recipe). My many versions of Tzai Choy that I normally cooked on the first day of Chinese New Year.
Simple one dish noodles like this fried bee hoon will keep your hunger pangs at bay. Did you know you can cook pak gor meen or Shanghai nian gao into this delicious noodle dish? Have you tried olives leaves? If not, try this Vegetarian Olive Leaves Fried Rice.
No time to cook? No worries, just chuck these yummy Veaty Bites' Pandan "Chicken" Style into your oven. There's a plain version which some cooking need to be done. They're very versatile where you can practically use this in your curry, soup, rendang or how about a tangy sweet and sour style?
Dong Zhi is coming soon and if you're a lover of karn shui tzung/kee chang (Alkaline Glutinous Rice Dumpling), Kawan manufactures a nice frozen mini dumplings. I hope Kawan still makes them today! Kawan also manufacture really good chapati that is great to go with their instant vegetable curry or dhall curry (but do check the label as it might contain garlic and onions).
One of my favourite restaurant that serves really good Chinese vegetarian cuisine is Yin Futt Kuok. Loved their assam fish and yam ring basket here! Check out Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant for some decent Indian and Malaysian vegetarian cuisine. Food in this restaurant are not cooked with onions or garlic as they practice Hare Krishna belief here.
For some new age vegetarian cuisine, one must check out Kechara Oasis. This restaurant has a nice ambiance apart from having a healthy alternative vegetarian food.
When I'm hankering for vegetarian hawker food, I would naturally head to Blue Boy Food Centre. Ah Wah can certainly fry up a mean plate of char kuey teow and it's fantastic to be able to savour yong tau foo, assam laksa, curry laksa, mixed rice, burger and chee cheung fun at this hawker centre.
Trouble finding vegetarian cakes, buns, onigiri and western cuisine? Try MG's Cafe or Tian Yian Cafe & Restaurant!
If you can partake onions, garlic, egg and dairy products, I have some lovely tapas recipes here such as Avocado Dip, Aubergine in Tomato Sauce and Marinaded Mushrooms. EggPlant Fritters with Spiced Yoghurt is a great dish to hide vegetables away from the prying eyes of children. And I have to say, Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce is one of the best pasta sauce I've ever tasted.
For pure vegetarian dishes that do not contain onions, garlic, egg and dairy products, there are Braised Dao Gan (a type of layered beancurd skin), Stir-Fried Kei Chi Mix Vegetables (just sub the oyster sauce with the vegetarian kind), and Stir-Fried Snowpeas and Eryngii Mushrooms (just remove garlic and wine from the recipe). My many versions of Tzai Choy that I normally cooked on the first day of Chinese New Year.
Simple one dish noodles like this fried bee hoon will keep your hunger pangs at bay. Did you know you can cook pak gor meen or Shanghai nian gao into this delicious noodle dish? Have you tried olives leaves? If not, try this Vegetarian Olive Leaves Fried Rice.
No time to cook? No worries, just chuck these yummy Veaty Bites' Pandan "Chicken" Style into your oven. There's a plain version which some cooking need to be done. They're very versatile where you can practically use this in your curry, soup, rendang or how about a tangy sweet and sour style?
Dong Zhi is coming soon and if you're a lover of karn shui tzung/kee chang (Alkaline Glutinous Rice Dumpling), Kawan manufactures a nice frozen mini dumplings. I hope Kawan still makes them today! Kawan also manufacture really good chapati that is great to go with their instant vegetable curry or dhall curry (but do check the label as it might contain garlic and onions).
One of my favourite restaurant that serves really good Chinese vegetarian cuisine is Yin Futt Kuok. Loved their assam fish and yam ring basket here! Check out Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant for some decent Indian and Malaysian vegetarian cuisine. Food in this restaurant are not cooked with onions or garlic as they practice Hare Krishna belief here.
For some new age vegetarian cuisine, one must check out Kechara Oasis. This restaurant has a nice ambiance apart from having a healthy alternative vegetarian food.
When I'm hankering for vegetarian hawker food, I would naturally head to Blue Boy Food Centre. Ah Wah can certainly fry up a mean plate of char kuey teow and it's fantastic to be able to savour yong tau foo, assam laksa, curry laksa, mixed rice, burger and chee cheung fun at this hawker centre.
Trouble finding vegetarian cakes, buns, onigiri and western cuisine? Try MG's Cafe or Tian Yian Cafe & Restaurant!
If you can partake onions, garlic, egg and dairy products, I have some lovely tapas recipes here such as Avocado Dip, Aubergine in Tomato Sauce and Marinaded Mushrooms. EggPlant Fritters with Spiced Yoghurt is a great dish to hide vegetables away from the prying eyes of children. And I have to say, Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce is one of the best pasta sauce I've ever tasted.
p/s: plus there's an egg free chocolate cupcake!!!
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Mung Beans and Sweet Potatoes Soup (Tong Shui)
Kindly excuse the colour of the above pic, due to my lack of skills instead of making it look real and better, I turned it looking a bit retro which reminded me of photos taken by my dad in the 70s.
This tong shui is one of the simplest but big in taste! Just boil the mung (green) beans in some water until they're soften before adding the orange sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes that I've bought is the easy to cook variety, hence do not need to cook it for long. I've used gula melaka (palm sugar) for this tong shui which is the key ingredient to enhance the taste.
I like this to be serve cold but it's as good when it's hot.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Chocolate Guinness Cake Is Now Known As Black Velvet
Thanks to the Munkey, the Chocolate Guinness Cake is christened with a new name - Black Velvet! It's very apt as it is really dark and moist cake.
I've turned the recipe into cupcakes, just need to reduce the baking time to about 20 mins for the large Soufflé cups or 15 mins for the small Soufflé cups. Happy baking!
p/s: The white cups you see in the pic are known as Soufflé cups when I searched for the proper name but I think it's known as muffin cups here.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Review: Sushi Zen @ The Gardens
**Pork Free**
Of late, BoiBoi has taken a liking to Japanese food especially sushi. His fave is inari even though he has tried a bit of this and that. I'm glad at least now he has one more item added into his reply whenever we asked him what we would like to eat. It's very refreshing indeed after the same old replies of spaghetti, pasta or fried rice!
In one of our recent dinner trip to Ichiban Boshi, as usual he would go for his sushi plates and gyoza. When my cold soba arrived, he was looking at me curiously on how I ate the noodles even though I've ordered this numerous times. I offered him a bite, letting him doing all the work. After lifting the strands of noodles from the soba tsuyu and into his mouth, the sentence that rang out was utmost sweet... "hmmmmm nice". Ever since that experience, I think he's really hooked! So far he got us detoured at least a couple of times just to have cold soba and over a period of 1.5 weeks, he had them thrice!
Last weekend, we were in The Gardens cos someone wanted to get his leopard from Machines. Come dinner time, BoiBoi says he wanted to eat cold soba. We usually visit Sushi Zanmai but their queue is almost always rather long be it at 1U or The Gardens. Remembering there is a Sushi Zen at the lower ground level, we headed there instead. After all, both of them are from the same operator, SuperSushi, which was spawn off from Rakuzen.
Ahhh no queue... perfect but we have to wait for a short while for them to clear a table. Capt'n Hook and I spotted the banner promoting their Bento for the month of May and we both went... wahhhh really value for money!
BoiBoi have his usual Cha Soba (small portion RM8.80) and Chicken Gyoza (RM9.80). He slurped his noodles happily. The chicken gyoza to me is just so so and have very little fillings.
Capt'n Hook placed the order for the Bento of the month which costed only RM28.80. Actually I didn't want to eat but I'mkiasu not to be outdone... I followed him and order the bento as well :p BIG mistake cos when the food arrived I knew I'm screwed. The portion is really like a lot, even the so called mini udon is to me... is normal!
The entire bento set consists of chawan mushi, a bowl of fresh salad, bento box that contained lots of goodies (will get to that later) and a bowl of mini hot udon in soup. Loved the light eggy custard and has lots of ingredients in there when you dig deep. The bowl of udon can be just my main course as it's rather a big portion!
The bento box contained 3 tempura pieces - inoki mushrooms, prawn and salmon! The last one was a bit of a surprise and under the tempura batter, I saw an orangey shade which I thought is the usual sweet potato. In the box there were also 2 large pieces of tamago, 1 shishamo (pregnant fish), 1 piece of chicken karaage (deep fried), a bunch of edamame beans, a piece of cold tofu wrapped in raw salmon, 2 pieces of gyoza and 7 various types of sushi. You tell me, a lot or not for RM28.80?
Heh not only I struggled so did Capt'n Hook. We ended up asking for take away container to pack up most of the sushi and tamago pieces.
We paid RM89.95 for all the above items plus 2 cups of hot ocha after the additional 5% Government Tax and 10% service charge.
Pardon the photo quality as it's taken with my SE W800i.
Sushi Zen
LG-K02 Lower Ground Floor
The Gardens, Mid Valley City
Linkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 9492 3080
Of late, BoiBoi has taken a liking to Japanese food especially sushi. His fave is inari even though he has tried a bit of this and that. I'm glad at least now he has one more item added into his reply whenever we asked him what we would like to eat. It's very refreshing indeed after the same old replies of spaghetti, pasta or fried rice!
In one of our recent dinner trip to Ichiban Boshi, as usual he would go for his sushi plates and gyoza. When my cold soba arrived, he was looking at me curiously on how I ate the noodles even though I've ordered this numerous times. I offered him a bite, letting him doing all the work. After lifting the strands of noodles from the soba tsuyu and into his mouth, the sentence that rang out was utmost sweet... "hmmmmm nice". Ever since that experience, I think he's really hooked! So far he got us detoured at least a couple of times just to have cold soba and over a period of 1.5 weeks, he had them thrice!
Last weekend, we were in The Gardens cos someone wanted to get his leopard from Machines. Come dinner time, BoiBoi says he wanted to eat cold soba. We usually visit Sushi Zanmai but their queue is almost always rather long be it at 1U or The Gardens. Remembering there is a Sushi Zen at the lower ground level, we headed there instead. After all, both of them are from the same operator, SuperSushi, which was spawn off from Rakuzen.
Ahhh no queue... perfect but we have to wait for a short while for them to clear a table. Capt'n Hook and I spotted the banner promoting their Bento for the month of May and we both went... wahhhh really value for money!
BoiBoi have his usual Cha Soba (small portion RM8.80) and Chicken Gyoza (RM9.80). He slurped his noodles happily. The chicken gyoza to me is just so so and have very little fillings.
Capt'n Hook placed the order for the Bento of the month which costed only RM28.80. Actually I didn't want to eat but I'm
The entire bento set consists of chawan mushi, a bowl of fresh salad, bento box that contained lots of goodies (will get to that later) and a bowl of mini hot udon in soup. Loved the light eggy custard and has lots of ingredients in there when you dig deep. The bowl of udon can be just my main course as it's rather a big portion!
The bento box contained 3 tempura pieces - inoki mushrooms, prawn and salmon! The last one was a bit of a surprise and under the tempura batter, I saw an orangey shade which I thought is the usual sweet potato. In the box there were also 2 large pieces of tamago, 1 shishamo (pregnant fish), 1 piece of chicken karaage (deep fried), a bunch of edamame beans, a piece of cold tofu wrapped in raw salmon, 2 pieces of gyoza and 7 various types of sushi. You tell me, a lot or not for RM28.80?
Heh not only I struggled so did Capt'n Hook. We ended up asking for take away container to pack up most of the sushi and tamago pieces.
We paid RM89.95 for all the above items plus 2 cups of hot ocha after the additional 5% Government Tax and 10% service charge.
Pardon the photo quality as it's taken with my SE W800i.
Sushi Zen
LG-K02 Lower Ground Floor
The Gardens, Mid Valley City
Linkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 9492 3080
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Moist Coconut Cake
I have about 1 and a half tub of sour cream left in the fridge and I badly need to use them all up before they expire. I ran thru my books but funny there were so few recipes that uses sour cream. Darn!!! That's seems to be the problem all the time when I need to find something the very last minute but not when I'm browsing freely.
Anyway, with the few options in hand, I went thru the rest of my larder and found desiccated coconut which I've bought without knowing yet what to do with them :p
I've checked the books again and I found this recipe in Australian Women's Weekly's Food We Love. The recipe is also available in their website over here.
I adapted the recipe and added a handful of chopped toasted pistachios. Since I've more sour cream than needed, I added all in and omitted the milk which worked out fine. I've also cut down the amount of sugar and couldn't be bothered with the icing since it required raw egg whites.
The cake is indeed very moist and have this coconutty fragrant that smell so lovely especially during baking. The pistachios added a nice bite to this cake, this recipe is definitely a keeper.
Anyway, with the few options in hand, I went thru the rest of my larder and found desiccated coconut which I've bought without knowing yet what to do with them :p
I've checked the books again and I found this recipe in Australian Women's Weekly's Food We Love. The recipe is also available in their website over here.
I adapted the recipe and added a handful of chopped toasted pistachios. Since I've more sour cream than needed, I added all in and omitted the milk which worked out fine. I've also cut down the amount of sugar and couldn't be bothered with the icing since it required raw egg whites.
The cake is indeed very moist and have this coconutty fragrant that smell so lovely especially during baking. The pistachios added a nice bite to this cake, this recipe is definitely a keeper.
Moist Coconut Cake
Adapted from Australian Women's Weekly
125g butter, soften
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 & 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
350g sour cream
Preheat oven to 180C and grease a deep 22cm round cake pan; line with baking paper.
Cream butter, essence and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.
Stir in half the coconut and flour with half the sour cream, then fold in remaining ingredients; stir until smooth.
Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour. Stand 5 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Review: Susan's Bistro @ Bandar Mahkota Cheras
**Pork Free**
I've blogged about Calabria Cafe & Restaurant way back in 2007. Not long after that it seems that the people who ran this cafe went over to Bandar Mahkota Cheras and opened up Susan's Bistro, I gather so since it's the same few faces who served us. Anyway, Calabria Cafe has been renamed not too long ago, can't remember what since I only passes by there.
Susan's Bistro stuck out like a sore thumb between the many Chinese food courts, Mamak shops and dai chow (stir-fries) restaurants around Bandar Mahkota Cheras' commercial area. However, there is a steady stream of patrons visiting this Italian cafe from around the neighbourhood. We tend to drop by whenever we ran out of options or when BoiBoi decided that he wanted to have pasta or pizza. Considering the prices in the menu and the stuff churned out from the kitchen, it's not a surprised that they're still standing strong amidst all the competitions around here.
So far their food has been consistently good except for a couple of times when Capt'n Hook was there with just the kid. We visited again not too long ago, seems to be ok this time round. For this occasion we have a Golden Garlic Escargot (RM16) as starter. Half a dozen of escargot complete with shells came on a bed of light and creamy sauce and topped with some croutons. Loved the sauce which is not rich at all and great if you're a garlic fan, great when soaked them up with the croutons! The texture of the escargot was firm and bouncy unlike another place we have been recently that was all too soft.
I asked for a Wild Mushroom Soup (RM7) since I know very well BoiBoi won't be able to finish up his dinner. BoiBoi loved mushroom soups and he did not hesitate to ask me to have some. Served with a crunchy garlic toasts, this soup packed with mushroom bits and it's certainly not the instant kind. Again it's not overly creamy that will overwhelm your entire dinner.
BoiBoi ordered a Smoked Salmon Spaghetti (RM17.50) which according to him is his favourite *roll eyes*. If I remember clearly, he had ordered this each time we're here and he's not someone who fancy fish unless they're deep fried! The spaghetti here is done al dente and you can just look at the pic how much smoked salmon slices are in there! The creamy white sauce is thickish and peppered with capers.
I need to get this out of my system - Capt'n Hook always order rice with cheese be it at those Hong Kong style cafe or Italian cafe!!! Ahhh that feels better :p This time, not his first either, he asked for Beef Doria (RM18). Ehhh... we were surprised they have changed the dish served to us. The portion has grown large due to a larger dish used! Still cheesy and tasty!
At the end of dinner, our "boss" requested for dessert and he picked a Creme Brulee (RM8.50). I raised my eye brows when it arrived as it was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hmmm... but it doesn't really matter as the boss likes ice cream. Digging into the creme brulee, it's not cloying at all, not too bad to end the meal.
The other times we have tried other stuff such as Cioppino (RM8) which is a tomato seafood based soup packed with seafood. Pardon the pics cos they're taken with my trusty W800i.
Seafood Doria (RM19) is delicious and packed with seafood as well. Guess who had this???
Gamberi Aglio Olio With Linguine (RM18.80) is a prawn filled linguine, just check the amount of prawns versus linguine. It's light and not laden with oil.
As for dessert we have the Tiramisu (RM7) which is quite all right and served in a teacup. Not sure why they don't serve the alcoholic version anymore :( which was of course better.
This cosy Italian-style family bistro also serves set meals for both lunch and dinner. Menu varies and it's noted at a blackboard outside the cafe. I've had them before and it's really value for money with a main that comes with a glass of iced lemon tea, best when it's below RM20! If you're around the area, mark this down!
Susan’s Bistro
No.6 Jalan Temenggung 3/9, Seksyen 9
Bandar Mahkota Cheras
Selangor
Tel: (+603) 9010 4588
Click here for map
I've blogged about Calabria Cafe & Restaurant way back in 2007. Not long after that it seems that the people who ran this cafe went over to Bandar Mahkota Cheras and opened up Susan's Bistro, I gather so since it's the same few faces who served us. Anyway, Calabria Cafe has been renamed not too long ago, can't remember what since I only passes by there.
Susan's Bistro stuck out like a sore thumb between the many Chinese food courts, Mamak shops and dai chow (stir-fries) restaurants around Bandar Mahkota Cheras' commercial area. However, there is a steady stream of patrons visiting this Italian cafe from around the neighbourhood. We tend to drop by whenever we ran out of options or when BoiBoi decided that he wanted to have pasta or pizza. Considering the prices in the menu and the stuff churned out from the kitchen, it's not a surprised that they're still standing strong amidst all the competitions around here.
So far their food has been consistently good except for a couple of times when Capt'n Hook was there with just the kid. We visited again not too long ago, seems to be ok this time round. For this occasion we have a Golden Garlic Escargot (RM16) as starter. Half a dozen of escargot complete with shells came on a bed of light and creamy sauce and topped with some croutons. Loved the sauce which is not rich at all and great if you're a garlic fan, great when soaked them up with the croutons! The texture of the escargot was firm and bouncy unlike another place we have been recently that was all too soft.
I asked for a Wild Mushroom Soup (RM7) since I know very well BoiBoi won't be able to finish up his dinner. BoiBoi loved mushroom soups and he did not hesitate to ask me to have some. Served with a crunchy garlic toasts, this soup packed with mushroom bits and it's certainly not the instant kind. Again it's not overly creamy that will overwhelm your entire dinner.
BoiBoi ordered a Smoked Salmon Spaghetti (RM17.50) which according to him is his favourite *roll eyes*. If I remember clearly, he had ordered this each time we're here and he's not someone who fancy fish unless they're deep fried! The spaghetti here is done al dente and you can just look at the pic how much smoked salmon slices are in there! The creamy white sauce is thickish and peppered with capers.
I need to get this out of my system - Capt'n Hook always order rice with cheese be it at those Hong Kong style cafe or Italian cafe!!! Ahhh that feels better :p This time, not his first either, he asked for Beef Doria (RM18). Ehhh... we were surprised they have changed the dish served to us. The portion has grown large due to a larger dish used! Still cheesy and tasty!
At the end of dinner, our "boss" requested for dessert and he picked a Creme Brulee (RM8.50). I raised my eye brows when it arrived as it was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hmmm... but it doesn't really matter as the boss likes ice cream. Digging into the creme brulee, it's not cloying at all, not too bad to end the meal.
The other times we have tried other stuff such as Cioppino (RM8) which is a tomato seafood based soup packed with seafood. Pardon the pics cos they're taken with my trusty W800i.
Seafood Doria (RM19) is delicious and packed with seafood as well. Guess who had this???
Gamberi Aglio Olio With Linguine (RM18.80) is a prawn filled linguine, just check the amount of prawns versus linguine. It's light and not laden with oil.
As for dessert we have the Tiramisu (RM7) which is quite all right and served in a teacup. Not sure why they don't serve the alcoholic version anymore :( which was of course better.
This cosy Italian-style family bistro also serves set meals for both lunch and dinner. Menu varies and it's noted at a blackboard outside the cafe. I've had them before and it's really value for money with a main that comes with a glass of iced lemon tea, best when it's below RM20! If you're around the area, mark this down!
Susan’s Bistro
No.6 Jalan Temenggung 3/9, Seksyen 9
Bandar Mahkota Cheras
Selangor
Tel: (+603) 9010 4588
Click here for map
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
"Emergency/Rainy Days" Dishes
Not sure about you but during my childhood days, my mom would usually have some canned food and rice grains stashed up, she says... it's for rainy days or at times for emergency cases. Can't blame her when she have experienced 13th May incident.
Those days as I recalled there isn't much frozen food unlike now when it's so convenient to store ready-to-eat where one just heat up with a microwave oven. Just like her, in my larder I would usually have a can or two (err may not have all at the same time though) of the following stuff for rainy days when I did not manage to go to the market and too lazy to go out to eat.
Tuna Fish: I usually have both in spread or in brine. The spread is convenient for snacks and sandwiches. Can be toasted with some grated carrots and cheese. Jazzing up by topping a piece of toast with tuna spread with homemade tomato sauce (based on Marcella Hazan's recipe).
Baked Beans: I loved baked beans!!! Yes I really do. I liked mine cooked rather than straight out of the can. Can just simply stir fry with celery and carrots as a dip for English muffins or cooked with scrambled eggs (yikes how come I haven't posted on this??? Let me go find the photo first!). I've even tried braising pork ribs with it!
Fried Dace with Salted Black Beans: Loved this with congee (rice porridge) but when fried with kai lan... can dress it up to another level!
Luncheon Meat: I hardly have these but once in a long long while I would get a can. Very handy to just slice and fry, at times lightly coated with egg dip. Most times it can turn into a delicious fried rice.
Sardines in Tomato Sauce: Before tuna fish came in with a bang in the 90s, sardines no doubt IS the only ever ingredients people ever use in their sandwiches for parties or picnics!!! I remember helping my aunties making them on many occasions. Chopped shallots or onions are a must into mashed sardines and just seasoned with a squeeze of lime before spreading on buttered white bread. Capt'n Hook introduced me to fry rice with sardines and seriously this is good stuff too!
One dish that I'm sure you can find it on your dinner table is sardines that are just simply stir fried with onions! This dish is so simple to cook up, all one need to do is fry sliced onions in oil till slightly soften, add in sardines (I liked to remove the bones and internals first) and stir, mash up a little along the way depending how chunky one like the sardines. Just need to season with a bit of lime juice or in this case I've used lemon juice. Simply served with hot rice or in between 2 slices of bread and it's good to go.
Well, of course there are eggs and frozen goodies but those are reserved for another time ;-)
Those days as I recalled there isn't much frozen food unlike now when it's so convenient to store ready-to-eat where one just heat up with a microwave oven. Just like her, in my larder I would usually have a can or two (err may not have all at the same time though) of the following stuff for rainy days when I did not manage to go to the market and too lazy to go out to eat.
Tuna Fish: I usually have both in spread or in brine. The spread is convenient for snacks and sandwiches. Can be toasted with some grated carrots and cheese. Jazzing up by topping a piece of toast with tuna spread with homemade tomato sauce (based on Marcella Hazan's recipe).
Baked Beans: I loved baked beans!!! Yes I really do. I liked mine cooked rather than straight out of the can. Can just simply stir fry with celery and carrots as a dip for English muffins or cooked with scrambled eggs (yikes how come I haven't posted on this??? Let me go find the photo first!). I've even tried braising pork ribs with it!
Corned Beef: This comes in handy too to stir up some quick snacks by using onions, capsicum, corns, eggs... the possibilities are endless.
Fried Dace with Salted Black Beans: Loved this with congee (rice porridge) but when fried with kai lan... can dress it up to another level!
Luncheon Meat: I hardly have these but once in a long long while I would get a can. Very handy to just slice and fry, at times lightly coated with egg dip. Most times it can turn into a delicious fried rice.
Preserved Olive Leaves: Great with congee (rice porridge) too. If you have some minced meat stashed up in your freezer, you could come out with more variety of dishes such as Minced Pork With Preserved Olive Leaves. Packed a punch too when use it to fry rice.
Sardines in Tomato Sauce: Before tuna fish came in with a bang in the 90s, sardines no doubt IS the only ever ingredients people ever use in their sandwiches for parties or picnics!!! I remember helping my aunties making them on many occasions. Chopped shallots or onions are a must into mashed sardines and just seasoned with a squeeze of lime before spreading on buttered white bread. Capt'n Hook introduced me to fry rice with sardines and seriously this is good stuff too!
One dish that I'm sure you can find it on your dinner table is sardines that are just simply stir fried with onions! This dish is so simple to cook up, all one need to do is fry sliced onions in oil till slightly soften, add in sardines (I liked to remove the bones and internals first) and stir, mash up a little along the way depending how chunky one like the sardines. Just need to season with a bit of lime juice or in this case I've used lemon juice. Simply served with hot rice or in between 2 slices of bread and it's good to go.
Well, of course there are eggs and frozen goodies but those are reserved for another time ;-)
Monday, 10 May 2010
NST's Life & Times Cover Story
Hello there! As if being listed together with the top food blogs in the world is not humbling enough, we would love to inform that we're being featured on the cover of NST's Life & Times section!!! And so... we're no longer anonymous :p
If you've found your way here via today's NST, welcome to Babe in the City - KL!
Do stay on and come back often for more goodies coming our way.
If you've found your way here via today's NST, welcome to Babe in the City - KL!
Do stay on and come back often for more goodies coming our way.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Friday, 7 May 2010
Review: Karl Biesl
**Non-Halal**
Edited 10 May 2010: Added link of A Lil Fat Monkey
A few weeks back, I got an SMS by Pure Glutton inviting me for a review hosted by Karl's Biesl. I told her I ate at Karl's Biesl just the week before and the food was just so-so. I told her perhaps I had ordered the wrong thing so I decided to join her and a group of floggers for this review. Needless to mention, I have to say one ought to judge a restaurant by its signature dishes and restaurants should educate their staff on what to recommend to patrons heh!
The restaurant is rather big but yet cosy with the woody interior. Little did we know that there is a very nice mezzanine floor above, perfect for private functions.
At the start of our lunch, we were told Karl is the name of the owner, Karl Rathswohl and beisl means a bistro, beer house or a casual dining place. I searched the net for more info and stumbled upon this link and the explanation really summed up what Karl's Beisl is!!!
As it was a very hot day, we were offered Franziskaner weiss beer, a German beer. It was indeed very smooth and a great cooling agent. This is available on the tap here. Oh thank you to Ciki to model for us :p
OK, let's get straight on to the food served to us. We tried a Spinach Salad that came with red peppers and pork bacon strips (RM18). The baby spinach are from Australia which is sweet and crunchy. We loved the light cream based dressing which has just the right amount! I hate overly drenched salad. If you look close enough, you'll see cubes that resemble chu yau char (deep fried lard) but chu yau char they are not! LOL they're actually roasted potatoes which are crisp on the outside.
A Cold Platter (RM38 for 1 portion or RM70 for 2) was quickly cleaned up. Not surprising when it has serrano ham, chorizo, roasted pork belly, olives, cheeses, roasted red peppers, gherkins, sun dried tomatoes and baguette. The cheeses were superb especially the blue cheese (which I don't like cos it stinks :p) according to FatBoyBakes, Ciki and the Lil' Fat Monkey.
Then we have 2 types of soup - Cream of Forest Mushroom (RM18) and Cream of Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper (RM15). The mushroom soup is robust and not rich at all with cream but the red pepper soup is a real winner. It was the group favourite as the flavour was quite unexpected, ermmm where it looked a bit like laksa soup but the taste was refreshing with a light rosemary fragrance. My advice is try not to stick to the usual mushroom soup!
The mains started to arrive once we were done with the starters. The first was half a portion of Roasted Suckling Pig (whole at RM199 and half at RM110). This piglet have very crispy skin and a whole lot of succulent meat as compared to the fatty Chinese style's.
It's so delish that FBB couldn't resist gnawing on the whole thigh. Since I sat next to him, I could hear the crispy skin crackle under each bite.
The Roasted Suckling Pig served with steamed Cabbage (or you can opt for sauerkraut) and mashed potatoes. We have steamed cabbage and wow it has bits of pork bacon in there that made the cabbage very flavourful indeed. The mash was the creamy kind and not goey at all despite looking like one, perfect!
When the Farmer's Platter (RM95 standard portion 3 to 4 persons; big portion 6 to 8 person RM130) arrived, I can see everyone's eyes lit up. Can't help it when the plate is filled with Roasted Pork Knuckles, Pork Belly, Kasseler Ham, Bratwurst, Frankfurter Sausage and this platter is served with Steamed Cabbage/Sauerkraut. I personally like the bratwurst and sausage here. It was then revealed to us that they make their own sausages as they owned a smoke house!
Next, Double Rib Pork Chop (RM50) was served. It's such a huge serving! The chop is very thick and lean which made it a bit tough to chew on. I would love to have a little bit of fat on a chop.
Of all dishes, this Pork Wiener Schnitzel (RM38) is my favourite! Served with one of the best potato salad around (not just cos this is an invited review ok but it's really my honest opinion). The meat were flatted, seasoned and coated with flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before deep fried. The outside is crisp but the inside is ooooh soooo tender! This schnitzel was so good that Ciki and FBB just burst out singing My Favourite Thing (click to watch the video and listen to the song) from The Sound of Music (one of my fave movie that I've watched countless times). If you go to FBB's post, you'll understand why (pssst check the lyrics!).
A final meaty plate of Black Pepper Spare Ribs with Garlic Butter Rice With Pickled Veggies (RM60) came by which we were up to the brim. We savoured the tender ribs slowly. The fork tender ribs have juicy meat and not laden with sauce, the black pepper is not over powering at all.
Don't worry if you're not a babitarian (pork eater), you can opt for this Seafood Spaghetti With White Wine Sauce (RM30). A crowd winner even amongst the babitarian! The white wine brought out the sweetness of the seafood. There are huge prawns, scallops and mussels in there, value for money indeed.
Thank goodness the mains stopped here and out came the desserts. We have a Palatschinken (RM18) which is crepes with apricot jam served with a scoop of rum & raisin ice cream.
And of course a must have is Calvados Apple Strudel (RM20), a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria. This strudel is a rolled layered pastry heavily stuffed with pieces of apples cooked in sugar and cinnamon with raisins. Since I liked cinnamon, this is absolutely lovely but if you don't you might find the cinnamon overpowering.
Karl's Biesl is located at Solaris Mon't Kiara or rather known as SohoKL which the host explained it meant Solaris Hot Spot! It's just besides Häagen-Dazs. I would like to thank Pure Glutton and her friend, the host, chef and staff of Karl's Biesl for the lovely afternoon.
Check what my fellow floggers have to say about this review:
Cumi dan Ciki
Kampung Boy City Gal
PureGlutton
My Story
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Memoirs of a Chocoholic
a lil' fat monkey (new)
Karl's Beisl
Lot K-OG 13 & 14, SOHO KL
No. 2, Jalan Solaris,
Solaris Mon't Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 6204 0628
Operation Hours 12 noon till late daily
Lunch: 12 noon - 3 pm
Dinner: 6:30pm - 10.30pm (last order)
Bar Food: till midnight
Click here for map
Updated 3 November 2011
This restaurant is closed.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited 10 May 2010: Added link of A Lil Fat Monkey
A few weeks back, I got an SMS by Pure Glutton inviting me for a review hosted by Karl's Biesl. I told her I ate at Karl's Biesl just the week before and the food was just so-so. I told her perhaps I had ordered the wrong thing so I decided to join her and a group of floggers for this review. Needless to mention, I have to say one ought to judge a restaurant by its signature dishes and restaurants should educate their staff on what to recommend to patrons heh!
The restaurant is rather big but yet cosy with the woody interior. Little did we know that there is a very nice mezzanine floor above, perfect for private functions.
At the start of our lunch, we were told Karl is the name of the owner, Karl Rathswohl and beisl means a bistro, beer house or a casual dining place. I searched the net for more info and stumbled upon this link and the explanation really summed up what Karl's Beisl is!!!
The word Beisl (or Beisel) is probably Jewish. It oroginates from the word Bajiss, which means house. Beisls, which evolved in the 18th Century are inns offering local specialities. The style of a Beisl is like trattoria in Italy or Kneipe in Germany.
The characteristics of a Beisl are the followings: measuring beverages, panelled walls, hooks for clothes on the wall, mobile partition walls, wooden tables, checked tablecloth, choice of food and beverages displayed on blackboard, spice rack on the table and marking the frequenters' tables. You can choose among Viennese specialities such as Tafelspitz (braised beef garnished with chips, chives sauce, spinache, horseradish and apple puree), Vanillierostbraten (roasted meat with garlic) and Schnitzel (fried meat). Besides the meat dishes soups are also very popular. The choice of beverages consits mainly of ales and porters and in most of the Beisls one can buy also the so called mixed beer (ale mixed with porter). As a dessert we recommend you the famouse apple strudel.
A stratum of Beisls developed in the past few years, which matches the quality restaurants. These inns offer their services at a higher quality. That means that they take aim at affluent Viennese citizens and tourists. Visiting such kind of an inn can equal a gastronomic trip.
Ref: Vienna Hotel Online
As it was a very hot day, we were offered Franziskaner weiss beer, a German beer. It was indeed very smooth and a great cooling agent. This is available on the tap here. Oh thank you to Ciki to model for us :p
OK, let's get straight on to the food served to us. We tried a Spinach Salad that came with red peppers and pork bacon strips (RM18). The baby spinach are from Australia which is sweet and crunchy. We loved the light cream based dressing which has just the right amount! I hate overly drenched salad. If you look close enough, you'll see cubes that resemble chu yau char (deep fried lard) but chu yau char they are not! LOL they're actually roasted potatoes which are crisp on the outside.
A Cold Platter (RM38 for 1 portion or RM70 for 2) was quickly cleaned up. Not surprising when it has serrano ham, chorizo, roasted pork belly, olives, cheeses, roasted red peppers, gherkins, sun dried tomatoes and baguette. The cheeses were superb especially the blue cheese (which I don't like cos it stinks :p) according to FatBoyBakes, Ciki and the Lil' Fat Monkey.
Then we have 2 types of soup - Cream of Forest Mushroom (RM18) and Cream of Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper (RM15). The mushroom soup is robust and not rich at all with cream but the red pepper soup is a real winner. It was the group favourite as the flavour was quite unexpected, ermmm where it looked a bit like laksa soup but the taste was refreshing with a light rosemary fragrance. My advice is try not to stick to the usual mushroom soup!
The mains started to arrive once we were done with the starters. The first was half a portion of Roasted Suckling Pig (whole at RM199 and half at RM110). This piglet have very crispy skin and a whole lot of succulent meat as compared to the fatty Chinese style's.
It's so delish that FBB couldn't resist gnawing on the whole thigh. Since I sat next to him, I could hear the crispy skin crackle under each bite.
The Roasted Suckling Pig served with steamed Cabbage (or you can opt for sauerkraut) and mashed potatoes. We have steamed cabbage and wow it has bits of pork bacon in there that made the cabbage very flavourful indeed. The mash was the creamy kind and not goey at all despite looking like one, perfect!
When the Farmer's Platter (RM95 standard portion 3 to 4 persons; big portion 6 to 8 person RM130) arrived, I can see everyone's eyes lit up. Can't help it when the plate is filled with Roasted Pork Knuckles, Pork Belly, Kasseler Ham, Bratwurst, Frankfurter Sausage and this platter is served with Steamed Cabbage/Sauerkraut. I personally like the bratwurst and sausage here. It was then revealed to us that they make their own sausages as they owned a smoke house!
Next, Double Rib Pork Chop (RM50) was served. It's such a huge serving! The chop is very thick and lean which made it a bit tough to chew on. I would love to have a little bit of fat on a chop.
Of all dishes, this Pork Wiener Schnitzel (RM38) is my favourite! Served with one of the best potato salad around (not just cos this is an invited review ok but it's really my honest opinion). The meat were flatted, seasoned and coated with flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before deep fried. The outside is crisp but the inside is ooooh soooo tender! This schnitzel was so good that Ciki and FBB just burst out singing My Favourite Thing (click to watch the video and listen to the song) from The Sound of Music (one of my fave movie that I've watched countless times). If you go to FBB's post, you'll understand why (pssst check the lyrics!).
A final meaty plate of Black Pepper Spare Ribs with Garlic Butter Rice With Pickled Veggies (RM60) came by which we were up to the brim. We savoured the tender ribs slowly. The fork tender ribs have juicy meat and not laden with sauce, the black pepper is not over powering at all.
Don't worry if you're not a babitarian (pork eater), you can opt for this Seafood Spaghetti With White Wine Sauce (RM30). A crowd winner even amongst the babitarian! The white wine brought out the sweetness of the seafood. There are huge prawns, scallops and mussels in there, value for money indeed.
Thank goodness the mains stopped here and out came the desserts. We have a Palatschinken (RM18) which is crepes with apricot jam served with a scoop of rum & raisin ice cream.
And of course a must have is Calvados Apple Strudel (RM20), a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria. This strudel is a rolled layered pastry heavily stuffed with pieces of apples cooked in sugar and cinnamon with raisins. Since I liked cinnamon, this is absolutely lovely but if you don't you might find the cinnamon overpowering.
Karl's Biesl is located at Solaris Mon't Kiara or rather known as SohoKL which the host explained it meant Solaris Hot Spot! It's just besides Häagen-Dazs. I would like to thank Pure Glutton and her friend, the host, chef and staff of Karl's Biesl for the lovely afternoon.
Check what my fellow floggers have to say about this review:
Cumi dan Ciki
Kampung Boy City Gal
PureGlutton
My Story
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Memoirs of a Chocoholic
a lil' fat monkey (new)
Karl's Beisl
Lot K-OG 13 & 14, SOHO KL
No. 2, Jalan Solaris,
Solaris Mon't Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 6204 0628
Operation Hours 12 noon till late daily
Lunch: 12 noon - 3 pm
Dinner: 6:30pm - 10.30pm (last order)
Bar Food: till midnight
Click here for map
Thursday, 6 May 2010
50 Best Food Blogs for the Avid Traveler by Online Degree.Net
I got a surprised mail from Online Degree.Net earlier today and when I clicked on the link it brought me to 50 Best Food Blogs for the Avid Traveler. I read the list and woohooo Babe in the City - KL is listed under Asia & Middle East amongst EatingAsia, Nibble & Scribble and StickyRice! On top of these, we're also there together with delicious:days, Anthony Bourdain, The Traveler's Lunchbox, David Lebovitz, Chocolate & Zucchini, Grab Your Fork and a whole lot more!!!
Oh yeah... it does feel nice to self-pimp after such a long while heh :p
Oh yeah... it does feel nice to self-pimp after such a long while heh :p
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Review: Restoran Sang Kee (Yes, Again!)
**Non-Halal**
I can't help it but post this up quickly even though I have other impending posts cos I'm having a sudden craving for Sang Kee's Goe Low Yuk (Sweet and Sour Pork). As I've mentioned before Sang Kee's version is how goe low yuk should taste like where the pork pieces are not fatty and remained crispy even after cooking in the sweet and sour sauce.
We're having rice this round instead of sang har meen, so we ordered a Steamed Tofu with Fish Paste upon recommendation. Apparently, this dish was mentioned in Taste of Jason, sounds like a must order item. When it arrived, I was like thinking aloud "Aisay, my mom always cook this dish hahaha". In fact, I've cooked them as well, easy peasy, simple and nice.
We decided on Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Belachan after the captain rattling off the short list of vege available. Enough wok hei but not sambal belachan no ommpphh PLUS the stems are sooo fibrous indicating the vegetable is very matured! Took us so long to chew them up!
Actually these 3 dishes would be just nice for us but Capt'n Hook saw the waitress sending a plate of Foo Yoong Darn (omelette) to the next table and immediately beckoned for one as well!!! *roll eyes* Someone just ate with his eyes which is bad cos 2 of us definitely can't finish all these up! Sang Kee's version contained quite a number of prawns, char siu (I think), onions and lots of spring onion which gave it a very fragrant flavour. What I liked is the omelette is fluffy and crispy on the sides, not soaking in oil.
Since we were there on a weekday, service was quite good even though the dishes came a tad slower. I can't imagine what it is like on a weekend which I saw people commenting in Jason's site about bad and slow service. I guess have to avoid this place on weekends.
We've paid RM48.70 for the 4 dishes, one bowl of normal sized rice and one small bowl of rice plus a pot of Chinese tea.
Restoran Sang Kee
Off Jalan Hang Jebat
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 20785092
Opening hours: 11:00am-3:00pm; 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Coordinates: 3°8'36"N 101°41'57"E
I can't help it but post this up quickly even though I have other impending posts cos I'm having a sudden craving for Sang Kee's Goe Low Yuk (Sweet and Sour Pork). As I've mentioned before Sang Kee's version is how goe low yuk should taste like where the pork pieces are not fatty and remained crispy even after cooking in the sweet and sour sauce.
We're having rice this round instead of sang har meen, so we ordered a Steamed Tofu with Fish Paste upon recommendation. Apparently, this dish was mentioned in Taste of Jason, sounds like a must order item. When it arrived, I was like thinking aloud "Aisay, my mom always cook this dish hahaha". In fact, I've cooked them as well, easy peasy, simple and nice.
We decided on Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Belachan after the captain rattling off the short list of vege available. Enough wok hei but not sambal belachan no ommpphh PLUS the stems are sooo fibrous indicating the vegetable is very matured! Took us so long to chew them up!
Actually these 3 dishes would be just nice for us but Capt'n Hook saw the waitress sending a plate of Foo Yoong Darn (omelette) to the next table and immediately beckoned for one as well!!! *roll eyes* Someone just ate with his eyes which is bad cos 2 of us definitely can't finish all these up! Sang Kee's version contained quite a number of prawns, char siu (I think), onions and lots of spring onion which gave it a very fragrant flavour. What I liked is the omelette is fluffy and crispy on the sides, not soaking in oil.
Since we were there on a weekday, service was quite good even though the dishes came a tad slower. I can't imagine what it is like on a weekend which I saw people commenting in Jason's site about bad and slow service. I guess have to avoid this place on weekends.
We've paid RM48.70 for the 4 dishes, one bowl of normal sized rice and one small bowl of rice plus a pot of Chinese tea.
Restoran Sang Kee
Off Jalan Hang Jebat
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 20785092
Opening hours: 11:00am-3:00pm; 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Coordinates: 3°8'36"N 101°41'57"E
Monday, 3 May 2010
Fried Bee Hoon With Dried Shrimps and Chives
When I was young, I remember tasting a very simple stir-fry bee hoon (rice vermicelli) that contained just bee hoon and dried shrimps. My mom just fried the bee hoon till they're dry and almost crispy, quite a feat I would say during pre-nonstick pan days.
I was helping my aunty to fry bee hoon few months back but she didn't have enough ingredients so to make the bee hoon "presentable", I rummaged my fridge and I managed to find a handful of dried shrimps in my fridge. I added pounded dried shrimps to the bee hoon and thank goodness it was a hit.
So I decided to use up half a packet of bee hoon by frying it with very simple ingredients like carrot strips (just for colour), taugeh (beansprouts, tailed, such a hard job removing the ends!), chives cut into 1.5" in length (kow choy), egg and of course dried shrimps. Clean and soak the dried shrimps for a while. Drain and pound it up or just use a electric chopper like I did :p
Start off by scrambling beaten eggs in hot oil, dish up and set aside. In hot oil, add in dried shrimps. Be careful here as the dried shrimps can go popping out from the wok. Once they're fragrant and crispy, add in chopped garlic. Fry till garlic is fragrant before adding carrot strips, beansprouts and chives. Pour in some water and put in seasoning like oyster sauce, salt and pepper, plus a wee bit of sugar to taste. Add in soaked bee hoon and mix well. The water level should cover about 3/4 of the bee hoon. Cover the wok with a lid and let it simmer under low heat.
Once the water is drying up, keep stirring to prevent bee hoon from sticking on the wok. Add in egg. Cook till bee hoon is dry. Serve hot.
Loved how the chives and dried shrimps compliments each other just like Chinese Chive Pancake. The beansprouts lent a crunchy bite to the bee hoon.
Other styles of bee hoon that I''ve made:
Fried Sambal BeeHoon
Stir-Fried Bee Hoon (Zhau Mai Fun)
Vegetarian Fried Bee Hoon
I was helping my aunty to fry bee hoon few months back but she didn't have enough ingredients so to make the bee hoon "presentable", I rummaged my fridge and I managed to find a handful of dried shrimps in my fridge. I added pounded dried shrimps to the bee hoon and thank goodness it was a hit.
So I decided to use up half a packet of bee hoon by frying it with very simple ingredients like carrot strips (just for colour), taugeh (beansprouts, tailed, such a hard job removing the ends!), chives cut into 1.5" in length (kow choy), egg and of course dried shrimps. Clean and soak the dried shrimps for a while. Drain and pound it up or just use a electric chopper like I did :p
Start off by scrambling beaten eggs in hot oil, dish up and set aside. In hot oil, add in dried shrimps. Be careful here as the dried shrimps can go popping out from the wok. Once they're fragrant and crispy, add in chopped garlic. Fry till garlic is fragrant before adding carrot strips, beansprouts and chives. Pour in some water and put in seasoning like oyster sauce, salt and pepper, plus a wee bit of sugar to taste. Add in soaked bee hoon and mix well. The water level should cover about 3/4 of the bee hoon. Cover the wok with a lid and let it simmer under low heat.
Once the water is drying up, keep stirring to prevent bee hoon from sticking on the wok. Add in egg. Cook till bee hoon is dry. Serve hot.
Loved how the chives and dried shrimps compliments each other just like Chinese Chive Pancake. The beansprouts lent a crunchy bite to the bee hoon.
Other styles of bee hoon that I''ve made:
Fried Sambal BeeHoon
Stir-Fried Bee Hoon (Zhau Mai Fun)
Vegetarian Fried Bee Hoon
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