Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish

It's back to a Monday and how does one get some quick, simple and hot dishes on the dining table in the evening. My best strategy would get everything prep the day before and one can get things going quickly then. This Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish could be one of the dish but the only thing is one can't keep bean sprouts for long.

You can pre-fry the salted fish and store in an air-tight container. The tofu can be pre-fried too and keep in the fridge but if you're not, sprinkle some salt all over the firm tofu and place in an air-tight container to store in the fridge. You'll need to use the firm tofu up very quickly as they turn bad easily.



This is a classic homestyle dish in almost every Chinese household. Am sure many of you, your mother would have dish up this for your meals. Usually it will just comprises of bean sprouts and salted fish but at times tofu is added to make it more substantial. Sounded lame huh but so far I know there are people who need to have recipes to guide them to cook based on my experience working in a culinary school.

If you can find short, fat and juicy bean sprouts from Ipoh, it will be so much better but the ordinary ones are just as fine. I like to tailed mine and my aunt would even topped them!

Stir-Fried Beansprouts With Tofu And Salted Fish
300 g bean sprouts (taugeh), tailed
2 pieces firm tofu, slice halved crosswise then into four so you'll get 8 square pieces
1 small piece salted fish, cut into small pieces and fry lightly in oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk spring onion, slice into 4 cm length
1 tsp Chinese rice wine
Salt & grounded white pepper to taste 

Lightly fry the tofu pieces with some oil on both sides till brown. Dish up and set aside. 

In the same pan/wok, heat up about 1 Tbsp oil before adding in the garlic. Fry till fragrant before tossing in the bean sprouts. Keep stirring, sprinkle in some water if the sprouts are very dry. Add the tofu and seasonings. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. 

Pour in the rice wine around the pan/wok and not directly on the sprouts so that the heat will let out the wine's aroma. Stir and add in the spring onion last. Dish up and sprinkle the salted fish pieces all over. Best serve with steamed rice.  

For vegetarian version, just omit the salted fish.

Steamed Pumpkin Cake

**Non-Halal**




My mom made the utmost delish Steamed Yam Cake that is filled to the brim with yam, Chinese sausages and dried prawns. I've asked her a few times how to make it and amount of ingredients was base on the size of the "antique" tall round tin that she have. Kinda difficult for me to adjust it so I just let it be. I know I can get tonnes of recipes online but somehow it just didn't move me. Other than Steamed Yam Cake, there are versions using different ingredients like radish, black eyed peas or even pumpkin.

My boss gave me a huge chunk of pumpkin after a photo shoot. I love pumpkin but not everybody in the household really likes it :( So to mellow out eating pumpkin in chunks or slices, I remember there's this Steamed Pumpkin Cake recipe in Agnes Chang's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum book. I guess having grated pumpkin in a steamed cake should do the job.

I've adapted the recipe just a little, omitting chicken stock granules. In fact I've used far more grated pumpkin than stated in the recipe hence my cake is packed with pumpkin. Thank goodness everybody enjoyed the steamed cake even BoiBoi did not make any fuss and asked for more. This recipe is definitely a keeper as the proportion of batter versus ingredients melded up nicely and feel free to add more pumpkins.

Steamed Pumpkin Cake
(Adapted from Agnes Chang - Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum)


4 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 shallots, chopped
60 g dried prawns, soaked, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 pair Chinese sausages, diced
200 g minced pork meat
800 g pumpkin, seeded with skin removed will yield about 600 g, coarsely grated
Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Batter (mix them together):
300 g rice flour
60 g tapioca flour
1 litre water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Garnishing:
Spring onion, chopped
Fried shallots

In a fairly large pan or wok, heat oil and fry up chopped garlic and shallots till soft and fragrant. Add dried prawns and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Next add in sausages and minced meat. Stir fry until meat is cooked and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Give the batter a stir before pouring into the stir fried mixture together with the grated pumpkin. Add in salt and pepper. Keep stirring until batter became thick. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off the heat.

Pour mixture into a 22 cm square or even round tray. Even the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Steam on high heat for about 45 minutes. The surface should be quite firm. Remove and leave to cool completely.

Garnish the cake by scattering chopped spring onion and fried shallots on the surface before slicing. Serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Note: For a more fragrant cake, pan fry the slices with some oil before serving especially the left over, if there's any!

PSA: RM1 Chicken Promo @ Dragon-i and Canton-i

Quickie post, just saw this on 1 March 2013. RM1 chicken promotion is back at Dragon-i and Canton-i for the entire March. Click here for more details and the T&C.

Do enjoy your chicken :p for the month of March.

One-Pot-Rice-Cooker Chicken Rice

Well this fantastic easy peasy one pot wonder is not discovered by me. I've read it on Celine's blog Live Love and Me on the post 4pm Chicken Rice and I had it on my mind like forever but never got round to make it. One day I decided to give it a try and gosh it was really so easy but yet so delicious. I've made this quite a number of times but never got round to take any pictures of them as ermm they're not exactly photogenic.

I've shared this on my Facebook and I'm glad to know that there are some friends have made use of the simple no recipe to make a complete meal of its own. Best of all, their family members liked it as much as we did, just like Celine's. Happy to know that they in return have shared their discovery with their friends. Hmm sounds like Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food project eh?

This one pot wonder chicken rice is made entirely inside a rice cooker. So simple that there's really no recipe to it. All you need to measure is the amount of rice and water needed. The rest, just go with your feel and liking.

To start off, get ready with some chopped ginger and garlic. Clean and prepare chicken legs (I liked mine without skin), chop into half if you like. Rub in some salt and a dash of grounded white pepper. Wash your rice as usual, drain and set aside together with the required amount of water. I've used brown rice here.

Turn on your rice cooker (I guess this should work with conventional or mechanical jar rice cookers) and push the button down to Cook. Let the pot heat up before pouring a little cooking oil inside. Wait for the oil to heat up before putting in the chopped ginger first. Fry till fragrant before adding the garlic. At this point, my rice cooker button popped up to Keep Warm. No matter how I've tried it remained there. Over time I've learnt that it's ok... just let the ginger and garlic in the pot and they'll brown a little.

 

Next, pour in the drained rice and stir. Pour in the water and add in some salt to taste. Place the chicken pieces on top. Press the rice cooker button to Cook and wait patiently till it's cook. When the button popped up, please remain to be patient and let it keep warm for another say 15 - 20 minutes to let the chicken and rice to continue cooking. Taddaaaa and your chicken rice is done!



To serve the chicken rice, I've made some chilli sauce by blending together some red chillis, young ginger, garlic, lime juice and some salt. I've also made an oyster sauce gravy by diluting some oyster sauce with some warm water and a little deep fried garlic oil till combined (consistency depends on your choice which can be thickish or slightly on the runny side).

Instead of just serving cucumber plain as it is, I've came up with the idea of slicing Japanese cucumber rather thinly and toss them up with some soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil. Sprinkle on some roasted sesame seeds. If you wish to have your cucumber crunchy, then have it straight otherwise let the cucumber macerate a little in the soy sauce. Capt'n Hook loved this so much that he said I can feed him just these as his fibre intake!



BoiBoi loved this Chicken Rice too and kept asking me to make this. When I told my mother of this, she said they have eaten a similar version at a wedding banquet at a Chinese restaurant (which I can't recall) as the obligatory carbo dish. However the chicken were hand shredded into pieces and served separately on a dish. The waiter would then mix the chicken pieces into the rice before serving to the guests. Hmm this is my first time hearing of such dish served in a banquet but she told me the rice was so popular even though they were all stuffed from the earlier dishes. And guess what??? She replicated this using the same method as I did, just that she hand torn the chicken pieces after cooking before tossing back into the rice!

Ok I think my version is really told in a rather long grandma story but do head on to Celine's post for the shorter version :D

Try it this weekend!

Review: Makanan Thai Pek Sak @ Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh

**Non-Halal**


It's always great to have adventurous parents when it comes to food. I guess it must have been that upbringing that somehow I've turned into a foodie. Makanan Thai Pek Sak is merely a shack in Sungai Buloh was rather elusive as my parents have attempted to bring us earlier the year but was closed and we ended up in LYJ instead which is located near by.

Operated by a man who married a Thai wife, hence we got a combination of Chinese and Thai food. Actually the man cooks dai chow (stir-fries) Chinese style and he manned the kitchen all by himself! The Thai element here are the grilled seafood!



An assortment of fishes, squid and blood cockles are grilled over charcoal stoves. Served with the utmost appetising chili dip, way much better than Nong & Jimmy.



We have a platter of blood cockles, so juicy and yummy with the hot hot dip.



Then came the Braised Fish Head. Amazing flavours of soy bean paste with slight hint of chili melded well with the firm fish head that have quite some meaty parts. This was so good with rice that I overate my quota of rice that evening. The cook was rather generous too that my mother said he actually taught her how to cook this dish at her previous visit. However, our only gripe is the okra... so tough and old!



Thinking that they were Thai specialist, we ordered a mixed Tom Yum soup. Disappointed that it doesn't taste good at all. As the kitchen is in an open area, I could actually see the cook scooping tom yum paste from a huge tin meant for catering purposes. So stay away from this.



The star dish that appears on every table - Stir-Fried Dried Shrimp Belacan Fern Shoots. The fern shoots were blanched quickly before stir frying in sambal belacan and tossed with pounded dried shrimp. No wonder it's a must order for everyone. The fern shoots still retain their crunch and the addition of dried shrimps is a marvelous idea.



Next up is Harm Yue Far Larm Poe (Claypot Pork Belly with Salted Fish). There is no denial that I have to declare that they serve the best in Klang Valley! The pork belly are sliced thinly but broadly, unlike most places where the pork belly pieces shrivel down to nothing after cooking. The size of the pork gave a good bite to the dish. Apart from this, the portion of salted fish is really generous. The salty gravy with a hint of hotness from the dried chillies packed a punch... so now you know why I overate my quota of rice heh.



We added this crab dish later on but really, the portions here are kinda big and we struggled with these crabs. A rather unique style for a crab dish. This is done "kiong yung" (ginger paste) stir fried. Even though heavily peppered with ginger but the crabs retained it's natural sweetness. Thank goodness they were not meaty crabs, otherwise would have a lot of wastage. We managed anyway to finish up the crabs, right down to the last drop of its sweet broth. Finger lickin' goodness.



For 7 of us with rice and Chinese tea, if I can remember correctly, the bill was between RM120 - RM130 or there about. Very reasonable but then again... this is a shack at the corner of Jalan Public and Jalan Welfare, opposite RHB Bank and Yin Ma Cash & Carry. I've asked for the phone number, as the building at the back is near completion, so there might be a chance that they'll be shifting to another location.


Makanan Thai Pek Sak
Corner of Jalan Public & Jalan Welfare
Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh
Selangor
Map
Opposite RHB Bank, same road as the famous Kong Mah Dim Sum
Tel: 016 256 1020 (Ah Pheng)

Vegetarian Thursday: Tofu With Mushrooms

We're observing vegetarian once a week and Thursday is the day. So I'll see if on the days I'm around to cook I can jot down what I've cooked to share out here. We're not on strict vegetarian basis, just basically no meat, that's it! So if you're not taking garlic and onion, by all means omit them.

I've made this tofu dish when BoiBoi was around as he loves eating tofu. He would be happy with just lightly steamed soft tofu drizzled with shallots oil and dark soy sauce. So this time round, to add more zest to the usual minced meat topping, I've made a medley of mushrooms topping. Easy peasy by just gathering all sorts of fresh mushrooms of your choice and stir fry them with some sauces. Serve by placing the mushrooms on top of steamed tofu... tadaaaa... yes it was just that simple.

Tofu With Mushrooms
(Serves 4 - 6)

Combination of fresh mushrooms:
60g enoki mushroom
60g shiitake mushroom
90g oyster mushroom

2 blocks Japanese silken tofu
3 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped
2 stalks spring onions, sliced into 4 cm length
2 Tbsp oil

Sauce (mix together):
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
Dash of ground white pepper
1 tsp corn flour (optional for a lightly thickened sauce, I did not use this as I prefer no starch in my sauces but it will look nice on the dish when served)

1 - 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (Hsiao Tsing), optional

Heat a pan and add in the oil. Stir in all the mushrooms. Let the mushrooms sit a while in the pan so that they'll caramalised before stirring. Once they're browned thoroughly, add in the garlic and stir. As the garlic turned fragrant, stir the sauce ingredients before pouring into the pan.

Let it come to a boil, taste and adjust accordingly as my tasted is more on the low salt side :p

Add in the spring onions and Chinese cooking wine. Turn off the fire. Pour on top of lightly steamed tofu (you can do this in the microwave if you do not have a steamer. Sometimes I just place the tofu on a heatproof plate and put on top of the cooked rice in the rice cooker under keep warm mode.). Serve hot with rice.

Review: Little XiGong Restaurant (Sai Gong Tzai) @ Taman Kepong

**Non-Halal**


We have passed by this crowded restaurant a couple of times and was just wondering what's the fuss since the place was rather new. I just know why when the first review came in by Ivy. Her pictures really made me salivate and can't wait for the right occasion to bring my parents. We finally made it there and upon entering the restaurant, my mother declared "hey this is Sai Gong!".

The next thing we know, the guy who came to take our order was an all too familiar face. He confirmed that this shop belonged to the younger of 2 sons of Sai Kong (Kepong Baru). I guess the older son must be helming the wok at Sai Gong (Menjalara)! Knowing that we're in for a real treat!!!



At 7.00pm, the corner lot restaurant which also uses the space of the chicken rice shop called Popeye o.O was filled to the brim. Luckily we managed to secure a table at the 5 foot way in front of Popeye. We put in our oder and sad to say we waited about 40 minutes before dinner was served. Shouldn't gripe since it's peak hour plus the place is full.

First dish recommended was 3 Cups Chicken (RM33) but Little XiGong's version is totally different. There weren't any Thai basil but instead curry leaves were used. Not the usual taste of 3 Cups Chicken but this was good though. Everyone dug into the claypot with gusto.



We next have a wok-hei (breath of the wok) full of 4 Heavenly King (RM12) which on that day consisted of four angle beans, brinjals, ladiesfingers and long beans fried in sambal belacan. Our main issue was how come there isn't any petai (stink beans)? :p



The next order sighhh seems of be our standard order now to suit BoiBoi's love of Sweet & Sour Fish (RM33). Almost all our dai chow meals would have this dish >.< The garoupa was perfectly deep fried - crispy on the outside whilst the flesh inside remained moist and tender. Even though most places use not-so-fresh fish for deep frying but over here, it's fresh! The sweet and sour was balanced out all nicely in the tomato based gravy.



Can't resist to order the signature tofu dish (RM13) shown in the banner but not sure why they don't look the same when arrive on our table hehe. Anyway, everyone liked this... well cos it's deep fried obviously. The sifu chef in the family (the mother, not me!) claimed that the tofu was mashed up and mixed with meat, steamed before cutting into fingers. There are several uniqueness in this dish with one, the tofu fingers were dipped in a thickish batter before being deep fried. The batter was light and crispy... and one can hear the crunch as you bite onto them. Secondly, the sauce which made up of something lemony which I know it's not using fresh lemon but most likely prepared lemon sauce and the sauce was laid at the bottom of the plate instead of being poured all over the tofu. Thirdly, together with the sauce there's a mixture of raw onion slices and cucumber strips PLUS deep fried butterflied ermm some sort of ikan bilis. This was served with housemade chilli sauce on the side plates. Are you salivating yet?



We were keeping our fingers crossed when we ordered the crab dish as the man said not sure if the crabs have arrived urgggh and the thing is... he didn't come back to update us until we asked him after all our above dishes arrived. So happy when he said yes and the dish is coming soon!

Again we played safe by ordering the signature crab dish with a coconut milk gravy. We asked for 2 crabs (RM91). When it arrived on our table, everyone went oooo wahhhhh lol. Visually the crabs are very pleasing. Seems like a totally different interpretation of "lai yau" (buttermilk)... the gravy have a nice coconut milk fragrant where the curry leaves boosted it more. Then there's addition of onions and tomatoes which lighten up the gravy and giving it a slight tang. If you look at the plate closely, you'll noticed there's a small trail of chilli oil for the hot kick.



Everyone gave thumbs up to this crab dish. They have totally nailed it! There were ample gravy to be mopped up with mantou which we did not order as we're very full already by the time the crabs arrived. If we're returning, this would be on our must-have!

There were 6 adults plus BoiBoi, we have a pot of Chinese tea and 4 plates of rice and the total bill (shown below if you know how to read Mandarin) added up to RM177! Very reasonable I would say. I guess the next time, we are going to make our way here by 6.30pm and would keep our fingers crossed that food would arrive faster.




Little XiGong Restaurant

23, Jalan Development

Taman Kepong
52100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel No: +6 012-303 6645 or +6 012-303 4466

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy Version 2.0

**Non-Halal**




My first version of Mui Choy Munn Chue Yuk (Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Cabbage) was not really satisfactory. It took too long for the pork to become tender that I have to use pressure cooker after braising for 45 minutes. The taste wasn't that great as well, way too salty and watery. I tweaked the recipe and I managed to perfect this dish to our liking. However, there are some extra steps to make them this tasty :D

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy Version 2.0

500g pork belly, with skin removed
6 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
2 Tbsp oil

150g preserved sweet mustard cabbage
150g preserved salted mustard cabbage
5 slices ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Gravy:
1 litre water (more when needed)
1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce, more if you like really dark (mine's 1 Tbsp :p)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
A good dash of white pepper
3 - 4 small pieces of rock sugar

Wash preserved mustard cabbage throughly, going thru the leaves as there plenty of grits in between. Soak for about 3 - 4 hours separately, changing water a couple of times. Squeeze out all the water and sliced into 1 - 1.5 cm length. Set aside.

Feel free to trim off more fats from the pork belly which I did. I've already asked my butcher for the leanest belly until to the point he said your mui choy dish won't taste nice like that!!! lol

Sliced pork belly strip into 3 large chunks. Boil water in a pan and cook the pork belly in rapid boiliing water for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and rinse the pork belly under running tap water. Slice pork belly into 1 - 1.5 cm thick pieces. Set aside.

In a medium pan or wok, dry-fry (without oil) prepared preserved mustard cabbage, chopped garlic and ginger slices under medium heat until dry and fragrant. Dish up and set aside.

In the same pan, heat up the oil and fry the garlic cloves until fragrant before adding the pork belly slices. Stir and toss in the fried preserved mustard cabbage until well mixed.

Pour in the water and gravy ingredients. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Give it a taste and adjust the seasonings like oyster sauce or light soy sauce or rock sugar to your taste. Cover and simmer under low heat for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Check the pan in between, if needed add in some hot water when the water dries up too much. Preferably the meat ought to be covered with liquid.

It is done when the pork belly is tender and the flavour has been absorbed; and the gravy is thickened. If you find it has too much gravy, open the lid and let it braise. We like ours with loads of gravy, so yummy to go with rice!!!

Happy Duan Wu Jie

Today is Duan Wu Jie aka Rice Dumpling aka Dragon Boat Festival. This festival is celebrated by Chinese all over the world by cooking and enjoying glutinous rice dumplings which is also known as bak chang in Hokkien or zhung in Cantonese. Usually there dragon boat races are held too.

If you're celebrating, we would like to wish you a happy Duan Wu Jie!

Steamed Rice Noodle Parcels With Recipe

I've posted about Steamed Rice Noodle Parcels but I did not measure out the ingredients then and I've promised that I'll make up to that. So I've made these parcels again with all ingredients weighted and measured out. It's really very easy to cook up, the only trouble is the time taken to julienne the turnips (yam bean), carrots and French beans! So by all means, use a grater for carrots and turnips hehe...

Celine of Life, Love and Me commented previously "OMG!! THIS is my favorite too!!! :) My "Ah Mah" used to make this for me when I was Boi Boi's age. It has been ages since I have taken it. Don't think I am at the league to re-create this at home. I am still at the "only know how to fry one type of vege at the time" stage. :) xoxo"

What league??? hahaha Celine, if you read the recipes below, you'll know why I've asked you to make them this weekend cos it's really simple. Make your Ah Mah proud ok! ;-)


Steamed Rice Noodle Parcels/Rolls

1.2 kg (2 medium sized) turnips (yam bean), peeled (clean weight about 1 - 1.1 kg)
80 g (1 small) carrots, peeled
80 g French beans, both ends removed
30 g (4 cloves) garlic, chopped
30 g dried shrimps (omit for vegetarian version), washed, soaked and drain
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp grounded white pepper
2 Tbsp water
1 1/2 Tbsp oil

10 sheets of uncut rice noodle* (2 packets as 1 packet has 5 sheets)
Bean paste sauce* (mixed with hot water to dilute)
Chilli sauce** (optional, recipe below)

Garnishing:
Spring onion, sliced
Deep fried shallots (can be bought or best if self made)

* can be found at wet market at stalls selling fresh noodles

Prep:

Slice yam bean and carrot into thin strips as shown the pic. You can use a coarse grater, of course. Diagonally sliced French beans into thin strips (also shown in pic).



I've roughly chopped my dried shrimps cos they were big and longish. If you have the smaller ones, just keep them whole.

Cook:

Using a wok with lid, heat it up before pouring in the oil. Put in dried shrimps and fry till they "pop" or smell fragrant. Add in garlic and fry till light brown. Stir in carrot and turnip strips until they're well mixed. Sprinkle in 1 Tbsp of water, cover and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat.

Stir in the French beans, salt, white pepper and sugar (please note my salt level is on the low side, so adjust it according to your tastebud). If you feel the vegetables are a bit dry, sprinkle in the other 1 Tbsp of water. Put on the lid and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir and check if they're cooked (meaning the turnips have turned soft). If they're not, cover and cook for another 3 minutes or so (I guess you'll have to judge as it will depend on your heat and how juicy the turnips were). Set aside to cool down a little.



Do note that when you cook with the lid on, you'll noticed some liquid would form in the wok. This would hasten the cooking process as opposed to frying in a open wok (which I did once and took so long to cook up). Just cook till vegetables are soft and moist but yet still retained a slight crunch and the liquid is dried up. In any case where 2 Tbsp of water is not enough, by all means keep on adding by the tablespoons.

To assemble:

Carefully unroll the rice noodle sheet on a clean surface. Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of fillings into a thick log diagonally towards one edge. Fold the shorter end over and roll once towards the opposite end. Tuck in left and right ends. Continue to roll till the end, just like how you roll a parcel.

I know I've promised earlier for step-by-step pics but I was alone at that time and hands all oily from handling the rice noodle sheets, so it's quite difficult unless I wash my hands 600 million times hehe.



Otherwise, you could roll them into a log. Just spread out 2 generous tablespoons fillings on the long edge of the sheet like a long log. Then roll up like a swiss roll till the end.



Place parcels or rolls onto heatproof plates and steam on low heat for 5 - 7 minutes. Not on high heat though as the parcels will break.

To serve (best when warm):

Slice the parcels or rolls. Spoon over bean paste sauce and chilli. Sprinkle with spring onions and deep fried shallots.

Easy peasy... not??? Let me know ;-)




Chilli Sauce**

60 g (4 medium sized) red chillies, sliced
50 g young ginger, skin removed
3 cloves garlic
Calamansi juice, to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients into a rather fine chilli sauce.

Review: Restaurant Wong Poh (Revisit)

**Non-Halal**


A friend recently discovered Restaurant Wong Poh serves fantastic crab dishes with reasonable prices. She has always been a big fan of Green View Restaurant but noticed that it was getting expensive as time goes by plus the cajoling of her son, she decided to give Wong Poh a go. So in order to taste more dishes, she rounded up some other friends making up to 7 of us for this trip last week.

Since she doesn't like the signature creamy butter crab that appears on every table, we have this Stir-fried Mee Hoon Crab. I have to say the rice vermicelli is fried with full of wok hei (breath of the wok) where the noodles remained stringy and chewy. It's not easy to fry rice vermicelli without it turning soft and not breaking up! The flavour was great too with the fresh sweetness goodness from the crab pieces.



The friend was raving over the Sang Har Meen (Fresh Water Prawns Noodles, RM72 for 2 portions) and so we have that too. Loved the rich eggy gravy that is so full of fresh prawn flavour. The prawn size is commendable too!



Next we have a Sweet and Sour Crab. In total we have around 7 medium sized crabs for the 2 crab dishes, I believed which costed RM201.10. Quite reasonable eh? As for this style of sweet and sour, the balance is there just that I didn't like how the egg appeared. I like mine to have an even small thin ribbons of egg.



The sweet and sauce sauce was a delight to be mopped up with deep fried mantous (6 pieces RM4.20).



We have 2 greens, one is the Stir-fried Baby French Beans (RM13). Can't really go wrong with this when the French beans remained crunchy as one chomped them up.



The friend had overheard us discussing about 4 Heavenly King (RM10) earlier, and so that's how a plate of that ended up on our table. This dish of spicy stir fried 4 variety of vegetables was one of the dish that went empty first. Wong Poh's version has my fave petai, yum yum, ladies fingers, 4 angle beans and long beans. It's not too hot and loved that the sambal paste has bits of fragrant dried shrimps.



The total bill of the above dishes plus a pot of Chinese tea with ice (RM10.50) came up to RM310.80! What do you think of the price we have paid? Was it reasonable in your pocket too?

Btw, it's pleased to note that they have expanded to 3 shop lots now as compared to 2 when we first went there. Best to call to make a reservation especially on weekends as it can be really packed. I doubt you would want to wait for a table when everyone is slowly enjoying digging into their crabs!


Restaurant Wong Poh
36 & 38 Jln BM 1/2
Bukit Mayang Mas
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603-7803 3527

Steamed Rice Noodle Parcels

My mother had made Rice Noodle Parcels for us when we were young. They are chee cheung fun sheets (flat rice noodles) filled with a yam bean (jicama/sengkuang)) fillings served with bean paste sauce and chilli sauce. It's my BoiBoi's favourite and every weekend he'll ask me to buy from a nearby coffee shop for breakfast but that particular stall made them into rolls (fun guen in Cantonese).

I liked it a lot too and when I eat them, I know it can't be that difficult to replicate at home. This is my first attempt, hence I did not measure the ingredients. I promised to do that the next round. I did not make the rice noodles since I can buy them from the wet market at the stalls that sells all sorts of noodles, assorted fish cakes, fish balls etc. So that saves a lot of time.

For the fillings, the rough portions would be 1 portion (1 medium sized) shredded yam bean (use a coarse grater), quarter portion of shredded carrot (use the same coarse grater for uniform size) and quarter portion of French beans, sliced thin diagonally. Normally only yam bean is used but I've added carrots and French beans for colour. I've also added a small handful of dried shrimps (omit this for vegetarian version), soaked and drained. 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely. Some oil, salt and white ground pepper.

To cook the fillings, heat about 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok (cos I find it's easier to stir the fillings in one). Fry the dried shrimp till fragrant before adding the garlic. Once garlic begins to brown, put in the yam beans and carrots. Stir to mix well. Once they begin to soften, add in about quarter cup of water. Cover with a lid and cook under low heat for about 5 minutes. Then stir and add in the French beans. Add in salt and white pepper to taste. If it's too dry, add a little more water. You may need to do this as you go on to achieve a dry mixture but yet the vegetables are soft. Stir and cover with lid. Cook until vegetables are softened.

If you noticed that your vegetables have softened but still very wet. Cook and keep stirring until mixture has dry up but yet retain a little moisture. Hehe sound complicated huh??? Just use your feel... the yam bean texture ought to be soft like popiah fillings but dry like ju hu char! Gosh I hope you got what I've meant hahaha...



Once the vegetables are done, let it cool down. To assemble, on a clean surface, take a piece of the flat rice noodle sheet and unfold it gently. Spoon fillings into a thickish log towards one of the edge, fold the short end over and roll once towards the opposite end. Tuck in both the left and right end. Continue to roll till the end... just like folding a parcel. Ok ok I promise to make a step-by-step pics next time.

Otherwise, you can make things easier by placing the fillings in a long log throughout the entire length of the sheet and roll it up like a swiss roll.



Next, place parcels on a heat proof plate and gently steam for about 6 - 8 minutes. I've used my electric steamer set at 10 minutes and felt that it's a little too hot that a couple of parcels burst. Next time, I should just reduce the timing.

You can serve the entire parcel on its own or sliced into halves with a drizzle of bean paste sauce (which you can buy from the same stall that sells the noodles, just need to add a little hot water to dilute the thick paste) and chilli sauce (I've used a blend of fresh red chillies, young ginger and garlic with loads of calamansi lime juice). Sprinkle with some deep fried shallots (but I did not have any on hand) and chopped spring onions.



Hope you got what I've meant and successfully replicate this easy peasy recipe. I know you can cos my friend (whom does not cook much) did just that the next day after showing her these 3 photos and simply by just telling her the ingredients with no instructions! Good luck!

Yes yes, I promised that I will measure my ingredients and do a step-by-step guide soon!!!

Deep Fried Nam Yue Chicken Wings on Venusbuzz.com

My mother is a Hakka descendant, so is my husband. Since young I’ve been fed with all sorts of delicious food cooked by my maternal grandmother ranging from salted chicken, braised pork belly with black fungus, braised duck in soy bean paste sauce, braised pork belly with yam or sometimes preserved mustard cabbage, and deep fried pork belly. I guess now I know why how I got to become a foodie and grew up being a chubby little girl.

At that time I’ve no idea they are Hakka food in particular but as I grew up, I have learnt the various cooking style and dishes from various Chinese clans. My grandmother has long gone and my mother had sort of retired from cooking labourious dishes. It is also not helping that the hubby reminisces and described the dishes his late father conjured for them. Looks like I have no choice but to slowly learn up some Hakka dishes as the craving for such dishes with the authentic taste as how I remember them is getting strong.

The family used to frequent a restaurant that serves this crispy and salty deep fried chicken wings but sadly this restaurant has closed down. So the better bet now is to make them myself! I’ve asked my mother how to make them, sighhhh just like a typical Chinese housewife, all she could contribute was a little this and a pinch of that. I know I cook like that too but somehow there must be a formula to get things right in the kitchen and to pass on the recipes so that the legacy can carry on.

So here I am, sharing my Deep Fried Nam Yue Chicken Wings recipe on Venusbuzz.com, tried and tested, with the feedback from the husband that they are tasty with the right amount of seasonings. On it’s own, red fermented beancurd (nam yue) can smell and taste rather off-putting but with the right combination of ingredients, it can turn dishes out beautifully.

Review: Reunion Lunch at Sek Yuen

**Non-Halal**


Today's the third day of the lunar new year. How has the new year gone so far with you? Am sure all the visitation filled with feasting, drinking, and gambling are still on going. This year, we have asked my mother not to toll herself to cook our reunion lunch. Since I knew Sek Yuen Restaurant, the legendary old school Chinese restaurant in Pudu which is still using firewood stoves, would be open for lunch on new year's eve, I booked a table for 10 to feed the family and even pre-ordered the food. We preferred the non-aircon side as we find the servers were more jovial and helpful.



I walked in from the back and saw a queue right till outside the doorway. Wow whatever is that for? As I walked further in... ahhhh... they were queuing to take-away yee sang (raw fish salad) and pei pa duck (a type of roast duck). Then we saw a familiar face and turned out to be my brother's friend. She said she queued for 45 minutes just for one pack of yee sang, hmmm...



The pace at the yee sang station is frantic! There were 2 people assembling the yee sang onto plates and the take-away orders. 2 - 3 people preparing the pomelos, crunchy nam yue crisps and an uncle busy shredding carrots, radish, and etc away. Just to note, all these are done using a well-worn cleaver by hand and grated using a mandolin and as we sat down for our entire 2 hours lunch, he has been slicing non-stop! I've a video of him here shredding kaffir lime leaves, just check out the speed!

It took quite a while before our yee sang arrived. Dad prep the fish (only one type available here is sang yue - snakehead) by squeezing in the lime juice and toss in the white pepper powder and 5 spice powder. Then he add the fish onto the colourful and myriad ingredients of shredded radish and carrots, sweet pickled young papaya, pickled ginger, pickled leeks, deep fried yam strips in red and green, pomelos sacs, nam yue (red fermented tofu) crisps, coriander leaves, toasted sesame seeds and crushed peanuts. The dressing is a concoction made of plum sauce.



Once the fish, dressing and some peanut oil are poured onto the yee sang, everyone at the table would grab their chopsticks and start to toss the yee sang whilst spewing out all the good sayings in Chinese wishing everyone good fortune and best of health. As my youngest brother devoured his yee sang, he declared that this is the most authentic and very old school tasting yee sang he has ever had! We all agreed with him ;-)



Next came the signature Pei Pa Duck. "Pei Pa" is actually a Chinese musical instrument. The Pei Pa has a halved pear shaped sound box, a crooked neck with 4 - 5 strings. Hence the name of this roast duck dish.

Image from Cultural China 

Normal roast duck would be roasted whole but Pei Pa Duck has the body flatten and spread out like the sound box of a Pei Pa, while the head is the narrow part of the body. The duck is then seasoned and air dried before roasted in firewood here in Sek Yuen. The taste was great but the texture of the meat is a little on the tough side. My mom commented that usually Pei Pa Duck is not so meaty and flatter which I agree with her. Maybe the duck is a little on the large side as the other time we ate, it wasn't so meaty.



We have a beancurd dish which consisted of Yue Wart (fish paste), Dau Kan (beancurd sheets), Tofu (beancurd). Quite plain and ordinary. We also have a platter of Hai Joe (crabmeat balls) which is made of a mixture of crab and pork meats, wrapped in beancurd sheet and deep fried. Sorry no photo of them.

This signature vegetarian dish of Kah Hiong Chai (Hometown Vegetarian literally) is everyone's favourite. Everyone concurred that it's very very fragrant of nam yue (fermented red beancurd) and well seasoned.

I took the recommended Thai-Style Deep Fried Garoupa since we would like to have a whole fish for reunion as opposed to BoiBoi's fave of Sweet and Sour Fish Slices. This didn't went down well as the fish is over fried making it dry and there's too little Thai sweetish and sourish gravy to go round.

As we already have Pei Pa Duck, we opted for 8 Treasures Trotter instead of Duck. The trotter is fork tender and stuffed with delicious fillings of chestnuts, gingko nuts, lotus seeds etc making up 8 ingredients in the fillings enough to name them 8 Treasures. Given a choice, I would go for the duck as there were more meat where else the trotter is mostly skin and fats as most of the meat has been removed to put in the stuffings.

All 10 of us are impressed nevertheless with the old school offerings with tastes of how they were like when we were young. All the above dishes with one big bowl of rice (dai dau farn :p they usually serve small metal bowls of steamed rice but if there are too many people, they serve rice in one large bowl) and tea came up to RM299.80 (sounds prosperous already!). 

Don't miss this Chinese New Year to pay a visit to Sek Yuen for authentic old school yee sang and dishes. I'll post more of Sek Yuen later of the other dishes we have on normal days.

Sek Yuen Restaurant
313-315, Jalan Pudu, KL
Tel: +603 9222 9457 (non-aircon)
+603 9222 0903 (aircon)
(You'll have to call the correct number to make your reservation of the section you preferred!)