Tomorrow is the 5th day in the 5th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar. This marks Duan Wu Jie or also known as Dumpling Festival. Chinese all over the world will be celebrating this festival. So, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Duan Wu Jie!!!
I'm not going to elaborate on Duan Wu Jie as many articles have been written about it. Renee of Shiokadelicious have written one about it and it came with steps on how to wrap the dumplings plus another one about the dumplings itself.
Umami have a couple too. Seadragon of Cafe of the East have a recipe. The latest copy of Flavours magazine featured some awesome dumplings too.
I've eaten some and I will write about them once I uploaded the photos. My personal fave is the kan sui (alkaline) type, hmm yummy yummy...
Friday, 10 June 2005
Wednesday, 8 June 2005
North Ocean Seafood Restaurant Review
**non-halal posting**
With so many restaurants around in KL, sometimes it’s hard to decide where to eat… a real big headache. We have to host dinner recently; hubby and I were enlisted to think of where to go… ouch… as usual the task will be bestowed upon me! Urrghhh… so this time, hubby gave me a huge task indeed, to go somewhere special, unique and different from the normal Chinese fare. Sighhh… headache man!
Anyhow, we debated and finally got round to this North Ocean located in Selayang. Actually we’re not going to North Ocean as the main criteria per se but more like to shop for fresh seafood direct from the tank before heading to North Ocean to chow down! Located next to North Ocean Seafood Restaurant is Jin Chwan a seafood supplier. Many years ago, they started off with many tanks selling all sorts of exotic (read expensive) fish and shellfish (king crabs, mantis prawns, geoduck etc). Shoppers can opt to bring them home or else where to have them cooked. Otherwise, you can tell the seafood you’ve bought to either Chef Tam across the street or North Ocean next door. Before we managed to try Chef Tam, they’ve gotten big and shifted to Sunway. I’m not sure if they’re still around or not cos I heard business wasn’t that good over there. We find North Ocean is not too bad plus service is pretty good too.
We got there first with my parents and boiboi in tow. I think it’s his second visit there but since he’s older now, he’s more expressive now. He went away with all his “wows” after going thru the introduction by his daddy, tank by tank of various fish and shellfish. I guess he was excited and amazed with so many tanks around him. I forgot to bring my digicam down from the car, hence no photos of Jin Chwan’s tanks. The place is clean and no fish smell can be detected (I have extra sensitive nose hehe). There will be someone around to serve you. All you need to do is tell them which fish you want and for how many pax it should serve. They then fish them out from the tank and place into rectangular bucket. Actually you can also point which fish you want and they’ll fish it out for you too. Next, they'll weigh the buckets and place bar code stickers on the receipt and buckets.
This round, we did not picked any fish since we almost always order a fish dish for our meal. We picked huge mantis prawns and razor or commonly known as bamboo clam (much larger than those small and thin bamboo clams one usually find in restaurants in town) instead. They don’t come cheap either… RM198 and RM98 respectively! After paying for them, we instructed them to send over to North Ocean.
Once we seated, the captain came around and took my Jin Chwan receipt from me. Then he recommended ways to cook our goodies. We chose Jiu Yim (salt bake?) for the mantis prawns and steamed razor clam with garlic. Also in the order list were a bean curd dish, chicken and vegetable.
First one up was this lovely plate of bean curd dish… well I can’t remember what’s it name in Cantonese but it’s deep fried homemade bean curd cut into rectangular blocks cooked in a delicious sauce which tasted of oyster sauce and black beans (dau si in Cantonese). Other ingredients detected were garlic, spring onions, sliced meat and some red chillies. It’s a huge plate for RM22 and there were 9 adults and my boiboi. My boiboi and I liked this one… he kept asking for more! The dau si impart a lovely flavour to this dish.
Next up was the chicken with chestnut that came in a claypot (RM28). Hmmm very yummy too!!! It’s basically braised chicken with chestnut and slices of garlic, ginger and spring onions gave a fresh flavouring to this dish. The sauce is superb with white rice.
We have lai pak (almost like pak choy but with stems that are shorter and fatter) stir fry in garlic. I liked the crunch in lai pak, which seems to be the current rage in vegetables replacing xiu pak choy.
Wooohoooo these razor clam are really fresh and was superbly steamed by North Ocean chefs. Loads of chopped fresh garlic and ginger topped with fried garlic once it’s done. We have to eat them fast as it won’t taste good when it’s cold. In China or Hong Kong, these clams are known as zhing tzi (errr Cantonese for the scrolls or orders directed from the Emperors). We were charged RM30 for the cleaning and cooking job. Wahseh, so expensive huh the garlic and ginger hehehe…
When this plate of mantis prawns came, my boiboi stood up and said he want that. Hmm he usually doesn’t do that but maybe the prawns looked really appetising to him. Baked in salt I think or maybe just a quick deep fried in the wok. My boiboi is very impatient even though we told him it’s hot and his hand reached out and grab a piece which he quickly drop it as it was really hot. I can’t imagine his next action was to pick up his piece of serviette and grab one of the prawns with it!!! So dang smart kids these days! Anyhow, it was still too hot but he bite into the shell slowly but surely he can’t eat the flesh hehehe silly fella. Managed to coax him to pass on the prawn for us to remove the flesh for him. I guess this prawns were given 2 thumbs up. The price to clean and cook them was RM28.
We were really stuffed by the end of these 5 dishes. The captain came and asked if we wanted any dessert. He said they’ve lovely mango that day but we declined. My mom joked with him how come no complimentary dessert like mixed fruits platter, he smiled and we were offered FOC (free of charge) tau foo far (a type of soft bean curd usually eaten with white or brown sugar syrup) in brown sugar syrup. Hahaha it pays to have thick skin. Nothing to shout about though but who's complaining??
We paid RM296 for the seafood at Jin Chwan and RM182.70 at North Ocean. A rather expensive affair but we all agreed it has been a wonderful meal. All tummy satisfied haha…
Syarikat Pengedar Ikan Jin Chwan
9 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves
North Ocean Seafood Restaurant
10 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves
Tel: +603 6120 1778
With so many restaurants around in KL, sometimes it’s hard to decide where to eat… a real big headache. We have to host dinner recently; hubby and I were enlisted to think of where to go… ouch… as usual the task will be bestowed upon me! Urrghhh… so this time, hubby gave me a huge task indeed, to go somewhere special, unique and different from the normal Chinese fare. Sighhh… headache man!
Anyhow, we debated and finally got round to this North Ocean located in Selayang. Actually we’re not going to North Ocean as the main criteria per se but more like to shop for fresh seafood direct from the tank before heading to North Ocean to chow down! Located next to North Ocean Seafood Restaurant is Jin Chwan a seafood supplier. Many years ago, they started off with many tanks selling all sorts of exotic (read expensive) fish and shellfish (king crabs, mantis prawns, geoduck etc). Shoppers can opt to bring them home or else where to have them cooked. Otherwise, you can tell the seafood you’ve bought to either Chef Tam across the street or North Ocean next door. Before we managed to try Chef Tam, they’ve gotten big and shifted to Sunway. I’m not sure if they’re still around or not cos I heard business wasn’t that good over there. We find North Ocean is not too bad plus service is pretty good too.
We got there first with my parents and boiboi in tow. I think it’s his second visit there but since he’s older now, he’s more expressive now. He went away with all his “wows” after going thru the introduction by his daddy, tank by tank of various fish and shellfish. I guess he was excited and amazed with so many tanks around him. I forgot to bring my digicam down from the car, hence no photos of Jin Chwan’s tanks. The place is clean and no fish smell can be detected (I have extra sensitive nose hehe). There will be someone around to serve you. All you need to do is tell them which fish you want and for how many pax it should serve. They then fish them out from the tank and place into rectangular bucket. Actually you can also point which fish you want and they’ll fish it out for you too. Next, they'll weigh the buckets and place bar code stickers on the receipt and buckets.
This round, we did not picked any fish since we almost always order a fish dish for our meal. We picked huge mantis prawns and razor or commonly known as bamboo clam (much larger than those small and thin bamboo clams one usually find in restaurants in town) instead. They don’t come cheap either… RM198 and RM98 respectively! After paying for them, we instructed them to send over to North Ocean.
Once we seated, the captain came around and took my Jin Chwan receipt from me. Then he recommended ways to cook our goodies. We chose Jiu Yim (salt bake?) for the mantis prawns and steamed razor clam with garlic. Also in the order list were a bean curd dish, chicken and vegetable.
First one up was this lovely plate of bean curd dish… well I can’t remember what’s it name in Cantonese but it’s deep fried homemade bean curd cut into rectangular blocks cooked in a delicious sauce which tasted of oyster sauce and black beans (dau si in Cantonese). Other ingredients detected were garlic, spring onions, sliced meat and some red chillies. It’s a huge plate for RM22 and there were 9 adults and my boiboi. My boiboi and I liked this one… he kept asking for more! The dau si impart a lovely flavour to this dish.
Next up was the chicken with chestnut that came in a claypot (RM28). Hmmm very yummy too!!! It’s basically braised chicken with chestnut and slices of garlic, ginger and spring onions gave a fresh flavouring to this dish. The sauce is superb with white rice.
We have lai pak (almost like pak choy but with stems that are shorter and fatter) stir fry in garlic. I liked the crunch in lai pak, which seems to be the current rage in vegetables replacing xiu pak choy.
Wooohoooo these razor clam are really fresh and was superbly steamed by North Ocean chefs. Loads of chopped fresh garlic and ginger topped with fried garlic once it’s done. We have to eat them fast as it won’t taste good when it’s cold. In China or Hong Kong, these clams are known as zhing tzi (errr Cantonese for the scrolls or orders directed from the Emperors). We were charged RM30 for the cleaning and cooking job. Wahseh, so expensive huh the garlic and ginger hehehe…
When this plate of mantis prawns came, my boiboi stood up and said he want that. Hmm he usually doesn’t do that but maybe the prawns looked really appetising to him. Baked in salt I think or maybe just a quick deep fried in the wok. My boiboi is very impatient even though we told him it’s hot and his hand reached out and grab a piece which he quickly drop it as it was really hot. I can’t imagine his next action was to pick up his piece of serviette and grab one of the prawns with it!!! So dang smart kids these days! Anyhow, it was still too hot but he bite into the shell slowly but surely he can’t eat the flesh hehehe silly fella. Managed to coax him to pass on the prawn for us to remove the flesh for him. I guess this prawns were given 2 thumbs up. The price to clean and cook them was RM28.
We were really stuffed by the end of these 5 dishes. The captain came and asked if we wanted any dessert. He said they’ve lovely mango that day but we declined. My mom joked with him how come no complimentary dessert like mixed fruits platter, he smiled and we were offered FOC (free of charge) tau foo far (a type of soft bean curd usually eaten with white or brown sugar syrup) in brown sugar syrup. Hahaha it pays to have thick skin. Nothing to shout about though but who's complaining??
We paid RM296 for the seafood at Jin Chwan and RM182.70 at North Ocean. A rather expensive affair but we all agreed it has been a wonderful meal. All tummy satisfied haha…
Syarikat Pengedar Ikan Jin Chwan
9 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves
North Ocean Seafood Restaurant
10 Jalan 2/4, Taman Bidara
Selayang, 68100 Batu Caves
Tel: +603 6120 1778
Thursday, 2 June 2005
Liang Xin
Hahaha there is no new restaurant in town named Liang Xin. Today no food talk ok, today is pampering day :) My darling hubby treated me a pampering session at a rather new reflexology centre in the city, Liang Xin is the name. Since they were opened less than 2 months, they were offering a very reasonable package that is so hard to refuse. They charged us RM100 for one session of foot reflexology and one session of accupressure body massage. The normal price per session is RM80. I'm not sure how long this promotion last, so if you wanna check them up, better hurry!!!
The moment we walked in, we were impressed with it's oriental decor which looked very exclusive. I checked their brochure and it says "Where Kings Relax". Looks like their moto and tagline for the business.
Check how happy this particular Emperor (King) seems to be enjoying himself.
Wait!!! Look properly at the Emperor again!!!! Hahahaha did you notice something on his hand???? Yes...
What a funky Emperor... kekekeke he has got an iPOD and listening to it too. Well true to its tag, Liang Xin actually do provide you an iPOD upon request if you choose to isolate yourself from their pipe-in music and the din created by your "neighbours". This is not a hanky panky place ok cos the massage area is kinda open concept, only separated with a thin blind. They have two huge area where one is for female and the other for male. Since business is new and there is not many customers, only one area is in operation. However, if you opt for a ladies only area, I'm sure they can accommodate.
Back to their tagline "Where Kings Relax", it's really true to their words. Fruit juices are served and they're freeflow. Premium Chinese Tea is available too. Fresh premium fruits are provided. Really shiok (Malay word for enjoyable)! Everything served are healthy things... hmmmmm... I'm already impressed!
Since we have opted 2 sessions, we went for the foot reflexology first. When I heard they're using the Taiwanese method, I nearly fainted... gosh this method is painful type... sweating already hahaha... First the masseur (you can opt for a male or female) came and wipe clean my feet with a damp towel. Next they place my feet into a basin of warm water and they keep adding hot water inside. Super hot hot... but it was supposed to make the blood circulate. When I removed my feet, I can feel the melt down effect. It's so relaxing. Whilst the masseur wipe dry, another person came and gave me a shoulder rub. Wahhhh 2 staff pampering at the same time, really made me feel like a Queen! Then one staff came with a bottle of hand lotion and gave us a quick hand massage. They placed a warm pad at my back and asked me to lean back. Shiok shiok man!
Next... the foot reflexology session. I'm usually very tense when it come to this cos I really can't stand the itchiness hehehehehahahahehehe gosh I can stand the pain but this is super geli (itchy in Malay). Poor masseur have to keep on telling me to relax. Me hubby is an expert in relaxing... already lying down and relaxing whilst I squirm around. Anyway, this is not as painful but very relaxing instead. Did I tell you how shiok it was??? This went on for about 45 minutes. More juices, warm water and fruits were served.
I went on to change to a tee shirt and shorts provided by them since I was in my work clothes. Poor hubby can't fit into their tee shirt hahaha... I seriously think he need to go on a diet!
My masseur seems to be an experienced lady and she went on and on for the next one hour, pressing and kneading the pressure points. I peered at my hubby, aiks he seems to be going on a Thai massage kinda thingy. I learnt that his masseur is giving him some kind of chiropractic type of massage. The friendly centre's owner was around to serve and explain to us the process and so forth. Nice fella.
Two hours gone by and our pampering session came to an end. We linger on for a while chatting with the owner and we found out more information about the centre. They do have staff from the People's Republic of China and you may request to have them to massage you. They have other services too like facial, manicure and pedicure. Perfect for a all-girls-outting. Listen my chee muis (sisters in Cantonese), one day we all go ok ;) Very shiok one.
On my way out, hey I saw one Malay staff... cool! Pretty muhibbah (harmonious in Malay) eh!
I had a great time, relaxing like a Queen whilst my hubby like a King. They do have packages where 2, 3 or 4 masseur attend to you at one time. Yes... to make you feel like an Empress or Emperor!!! Extremely shiok ok.
On our personal note, not that we really enjoyed the body massage cos we've tried better place than this. I personally prefered the Malay traditional massage where the makcik (aunty in Malay) really unknot all the tired muscles plus they provide cures to various ailments. The makcik I used to visit, managed to get rid of the wind off my body especially calves. Ermmm she used her thumb and pressed into belly button AND she told me the maximum number of children that I can bear! Yes, she did that... well, I'm not telling what's the number until it really bear any truth hehehehe...
If you feel like some pampering yourself, do try them out here...
Lots 1-01 & 1-02 Level 1, Wisma Bukit Bintang (opposite Low Yat Plaza's BB Park)
28 Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603 2145 2663
Don't forget to bring along your partner!!!
Thank you my darling *muaks* He's such a sweetie!
Wednesday, 1 June 2005
Japanese Purple Sweet Potatoes Tong Shui
Now this is more like the ori(ginal) version as compare to my previous attempt but using Japanese sweet potatoes instead. I have to give two thumbs up for these Japanese purple sweet potatoes are indeed much sweeter in taste and they're not fibrous. Yippeee!!! I hate those fibres cos they tend to stuck in between my teeth urrghhhh....
Just as before, wash, peel and cut the sweet potatoes. Add in a knob of ginger and sugar (I usually use rock sugar) into a pot of water. Simmer in the water till the sweet potatoes soften. Voila... sweet potatoes tong shui (sweet soup).
Tuesday, 31 May 2005
Nostalgic Homemade Dish
**Non-halal post**
I'm sure our mother's and grandmothers will be so proud of us... getting their poor man's dish to be publicised in the World Wide Web! This is another round of my homemade dish effort. My previous one seems to be quite well received by the Malaysians. Some of them so homesick, aiyoh poor souls. Never mind, cook your own ok.
Check this dish out...
Familiar??? It's something either you hate it or love it. Yes, it's salted fish steamed with some lean meat. In the olden days, salted fish is a poor man's staple food. All they do is either steam it or deep fried the salted fish to eat with their rice with some fu yue (a type of fermented beancurd in Cantonese). However, the price of salted fish has been escalating and it's no longer a poor man's dish. Thanks to the ever enterprising restaurants who uses salted fish in their dishes like claypot chicken rice, stir fry kailan with salted fish or stir fry beans sprout with salted fish!!!
Well, not that I really fancy salted fish cos I will not go all the way to eat or find them but my hubby suddenly developed a craving of it one fine day. He went on a salted fish hunt, yes, to find a type of salted fish he used to take when he was a child. With the wide array of salted fishes available... he went on a wild goose chase for not knowing the actual name of the fish nor knowing how it looked like before cooking! Each time we go to the wet market, he sure stop by some of the stalls just to check out the salted fish. Sighhh... anyway, he beh tahan liau (can't stand it or can't wait any longer) one day, he just took one bottle of salted fish soaked in oil off the supermarket shelf. After we got home, he had totally forgotten all about it until one day I saw that and suggested to him that we make something out of it. Wahhh his small small eyes suddenly grew so big hehehe waiting in antipation for his long awaited craving.
So there I was, slicing lean meat into thin slices before adding a wee bit of soya sauce and cornflour. Topped the meat with one slice of salted fish. I forgot what's the type of fish ok, well not that I can differentiate them hehehe, it could either be kurau (Treadfin in Malay) or tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel in Malay). Next, sprinkle ginger strips all over before steaming. Best eaten with hot hot rice or rice porridge. Hmmmm...... it has been a while but to see the delight in his face... hehehe so cute! Needless to say he wallopped everything...
Here's a better photo of carrot omelette.
I'm sure our mother's and grandmothers will be so proud of us... getting their poor man's dish to be publicised in the World Wide Web! This is another round of my homemade dish effort. My previous one seems to be quite well received by the Malaysians. Some of them so homesick, aiyoh poor souls. Never mind, cook your own ok.
Check this dish out...
Familiar??? It's something either you hate it or love it. Yes, it's salted fish steamed with some lean meat. In the olden days, salted fish is a poor man's staple food. All they do is either steam it or deep fried the salted fish to eat with their rice with some fu yue (a type of fermented beancurd in Cantonese). However, the price of salted fish has been escalating and it's no longer a poor man's dish. Thanks to the ever enterprising restaurants who uses salted fish in their dishes like claypot chicken rice, stir fry kailan with salted fish or stir fry beans sprout with salted fish!!!
Well, not that I really fancy salted fish cos I will not go all the way to eat or find them but my hubby suddenly developed a craving of it one fine day. He went on a salted fish hunt, yes, to find a type of salted fish he used to take when he was a child. With the wide array of salted fishes available... he went on a wild goose chase for not knowing the actual name of the fish nor knowing how it looked like before cooking! Each time we go to the wet market, he sure stop by some of the stalls just to check out the salted fish. Sighhh... anyway, he beh tahan liau (can't stand it or can't wait any longer) one day, he just took one bottle of salted fish soaked in oil off the supermarket shelf. After we got home, he had totally forgotten all about it until one day I saw that and suggested to him that we make something out of it. Wahhh his small small eyes suddenly grew so big hehehe waiting in antipation for his long awaited craving.
So there I was, slicing lean meat into thin slices before adding a wee bit of soya sauce and cornflour. Topped the meat with one slice of salted fish. I forgot what's the type of fish ok, well not that I can differentiate them hehehe, it could either be kurau (Treadfin in Malay) or tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel in Malay). Next, sprinkle ginger strips all over before steaming. Best eaten with hot hot rice or rice porridge. Hmmmm...... it has been a while but to see the delight in his face... hehehe so cute! Needless to say he wallopped everything...
Here's a better photo of carrot omelette.
Friday, 27 May 2005
More Goodies But This Time From Philippines
A couple of hubby's friends from Philippines came over for some business and they brought along some gifts and goodies for all of us, yes my boiboi got something too. It's very very sweet of them and finally I got to meet them after hubby talked so much about them.
Amongst the goodies received were these two boxes. Can you take a wild guess what are these??
Haha maybe you might wanna take a closer look...
Clear enough?? Seems like baked food right? Yes, they were, indeed. Take a peek what's inside then...
The moment I opened them, I nearly jumped for joy. One box contained the oh so familiar ensaymadas which I have not eaten for more than 2 years!!! The other contained something that I've not tasted before... cheese roll. This is my first time trying this Mary Grace bakery and my first seeing each of them being individually wrapped. They looked so neat. Hubby usually buy the other brand (which I can't recall now what it was) from the airport.
You might be wondering why am I so excited over the ensaymadas hehehehe... it's actually a buttered roll topped with grated cheese. Some come with fillings like yam paste. The roll looked like a potato bun (from Giant/Carrefour/Jusco bakeries) but it's thicker. The texture is very very fluffy and it's rich buttery taste is really unforgetable! The slight salty Edam cheese helped to overcome the cloying sweetness of the roll. Can't eat too many in one go, else you'll feel stuffed the whole day. I can say this Mary Grace's ensaymadas are so much better than those from the airport and they are very very fresh.
My new found love... cheese roll! These are super soft, fluffy and melts in the mouth. How the heck they made the roll so soft and fluffy??? Amazing! I supposed they must have used a lot of butter heh. They're not as rich as ensaymadas though. These cheese rolls are dough wrapped around a stick of cheese (I think could be Edam) with a sprinkling of castor sugar over them. Hmm... and the cheese stick actually did not melt at all. Well maybe the dough is thin enough to be baked for a very short time only in the oven. My boiboi thoroughly enjoyed them.
Thank you so much to the both of them for all the wonderful gifts and especially these two lovely delicacies! *muaks*
Amongst the goodies received were these two boxes. Can you take a wild guess what are these??
Haha maybe you might wanna take a closer look...
Clear enough?? Seems like baked food right? Yes, they were, indeed. Take a peek what's inside then...
The moment I opened them, I nearly jumped for joy. One box contained the oh so familiar ensaymadas which I have not eaten for more than 2 years!!! The other contained something that I've not tasted before... cheese roll. This is my first time trying this Mary Grace bakery and my first seeing each of them being individually wrapped. They looked so neat. Hubby usually buy the other brand (which I can't recall now what it was) from the airport.
You might be wondering why am I so excited over the ensaymadas hehehehe... it's actually a buttered roll topped with grated cheese. Some come with fillings like yam paste. The roll looked like a potato bun (from Giant/Carrefour/Jusco bakeries) but it's thicker. The texture is very very fluffy and it's rich buttery taste is really unforgetable! The slight salty Edam cheese helped to overcome the cloying sweetness of the roll. Can't eat too many in one go, else you'll feel stuffed the whole day. I can say this Mary Grace's ensaymadas are so much better than those from the airport and they are very very fresh.
My new found love... cheese roll! These are super soft, fluffy and melts in the mouth. How the heck they made the roll so soft and fluffy??? Amazing! I supposed they must have used a lot of butter heh. They're not as rich as ensaymadas though. These cheese rolls are dough wrapped around a stick of cheese (I think could be Edam) with a sprinkling of castor sugar over them. Hmm... and the cheese stick actually did not melt at all. Well maybe the dough is thin enough to be baked for a very short time only in the oven. My boiboi thoroughly enjoyed them.
Thank you so much to the both of them for all the wonderful gifts and especially these two lovely delicacies! *muaks*
Thursday, 26 May 2005
Goodies From Ipoh
Miss Sweet 16 went up north to the town of Ipoh (about 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur) in Perak recently and she bought me some delicious goodies. She has always been very sweet and generous especially to her chee muis (sister in Cantonese) like me. How not to share with you guys huh? Hehheh...
Inside the goodie bag, there is this packet of spice biscuits.
They looked oh so pretty in spirals and the brownish part is where the spice part of the biscuit. From what I gathered after one mouthful of it (whilst photopgrahing them, hehehe me greedy greedy, can't wait hahaha), the spices in there may have contained 5 spice powder, cinnamon and pepper but I may be wrong. The label doesn't help much as it just mentioned spices as one of its ingredient. The biscuit is rather thick and its slightly chewy instead of crispy. Rather wonderful texture to munch on whilst savouring the spices taste.
Now, this is how typically a packet of hiong pheng (literally translated as Fragrant Biscuit in Cantonese. It's a type of Chinese pastry found here in Malaysia.) looked like in the olden days. The hiong pheng bakers knead the dough and slap on the sticky muk ngar thong (maltose in Cantonese) mixture in the centre. Roll into a ball before flatening it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and they are then sticked (err due to the stickiness of the dough actually) on the sides of a cylindrical charcoal oven to be baked. Strangely such pastries are usually found in a few towns located in Perak state ie. Ipoh (the city of Perak), Sitiawan (where the concentration of the FooChow clan is located. BTW, I'm a FooChow gurl from KL who can't speak a single word of the dialect. Oit, don't blame me ok cos my grandfather don't speak to my dad in FooChow since my grandmother is a Cantonese.) , Bidor, Kampar and Tanjung Malim.
The hiong pheng has very very crispy pastry that practically breaks when one bites into it. Kinda messy when one bite into it. The pastry practically "fly" everywhere! And when you bite into the centre, the filling is soft, sticky and chewy... striking a very contrasting balance indeed. Hmmm... lovely!
Thank you Miss Sweet 16! She bought these goodies here (I presumed) as stated on the goodie bag. Hey, next time drive the bigger car and bring me along ok ;-)
OK, now the modern version of hiong pheng packaging looked like this. These were given to me by my colleague whom balik kampung (go back to hometown in Malay, a very famous two words used especially during the festive seasons where the town dwellers will back back to their home towns scattered across the country) recently to Kampar. Each hiong pheng is individually wrapped in foil packaging to ensure freshness. I must say the modern packaging does served it purpose well cos each biscuit is extra crispy and fluffier. However, to the die hard fans of olden method of packaging, this particular bakery DOES have the usual plastic bag packaging as well. I know cos my colleague had bought me those before from the same bakery.
Once opened up, they looked like these. This one you can see the maltose centre clearly. I've friends who bought me some plain hiong pheng before. It's not that readily available and not all such bakeries have them. Actually I quite like this version too cos the pastry is very flaky and crispy minus the sweet and sticky centre.
To get the modern packaging ones, try this bakery next time you are in Ipoh.
Inside the goodie bag, there is this packet of spice biscuits.
They looked oh so pretty in spirals and the brownish part is where the spice part of the biscuit. From what I gathered after one mouthful of it (whilst photopgrahing them, hehehe me greedy greedy, can't wait hahaha), the spices in there may have contained 5 spice powder, cinnamon and pepper but I may be wrong. The label doesn't help much as it just mentioned spices as one of its ingredient. The biscuit is rather thick and its slightly chewy instead of crispy. Rather wonderful texture to munch on whilst savouring the spices taste.
Now, this is how typically a packet of hiong pheng (literally translated as Fragrant Biscuit in Cantonese. It's a type of Chinese pastry found here in Malaysia.) looked like in the olden days. The hiong pheng bakers knead the dough and slap on the sticky muk ngar thong (maltose in Cantonese) mixture in the centre. Roll into a ball before flatening it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and they are then sticked (err due to the stickiness of the dough actually) on the sides of a cylindrical charcoal oven to be baked. Strangely such pastries are usually found in a few towns located in Perak state ie. Ipoh (the city of Perak), Sitiawan (where the concentration of the FooChow clan is located. BTW, I'm a FooChow gurl from KL who can't speak a single word of the dialect. Oit, don't blame me ok cos my grandfather don't speak to my dad in FooChow since my grandmother is a Cantonese.) , Bidor, Kampar and Tanjung Malim.
The hiong pheng has very very crispy pastry that practically breaks when one bites into it. Kinda messy when one bite into it. The pastry practically "fly" everywhere! And when you bite into the centre, the filling is soft, sticky and chewy... striking a very contrasting balance indeed. Hmmm... lovely!
Thank you Miss Sweet 16! She bought these goodies here (I presumed) as stated on the goodie bag. Hey, next time drive the bigger car and bring me along ok ;-)
OK, now the modern version of hiong pheng packaging looked like this. These were given to me by my colleague whom balik kampung (go back to hometown in Malay, a very famous two words used especially during the festive seasons where the town dwellers will back back to their home towns scattered across the country) recently to Kampar. Each hiong pheng is individually wrapped in foil packaging to ensure freshness. I must say the modern packaging does served it purpose well cos each biscuit is extra crispy and fluffier. However, to the die hard fans of olden method of packaging, this particular bakery DOES have the usual plastic bag packaging as well. I know cos my colleague had bought me those before from the same bakery.
Once opened up, they looked like these. This one you can see the maltose centre clearly. I've friends who bought me some plain hiong pheng before. It's not that readily available and not all such bakeries have them. Actually I quite like this version too cos the pastry is very flaky and crispy minus the sweet and sticky centre.
To get the modern packaging ones, try this bakery next time you are in Ipoh.
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