Homemade Soup: Lotus Root Soup

**Non-halal Entry**

Today's Miss Sweet 16 Burpday. She loves homemade soup. Hence, I'm dedicating this blog to her. Happy Burpday Miss Sweet 16 Burpday! Oh yeah, Happy Burpday to Uncle Chirpy too :p hehehe

Even though my mother is not a Cantonese, we almost always find such homemade soups on our dining table. At least 3 times a week, my mother will painstakingly boil such soup for more than 3 hours. The soups range from ABC (carrots, potatoes and tomatoes); Old Cucumber; Herbal Chicken to many others.

I've took on to this as hubby likes to drink soup too and yes, he's not a Cantonese either. The Cantonese loves their soup as they believed such soups are invigorating and good to balance the body's health. However, I only boil them once in a while. Usually both of us will go back to my mother's place for dinner twice a week to check on boiboi and bring him home on Friday. So those two days we get to drink my mother's yummy soup. We're very lucky eh?

I've made this Lotus Root Soup recently. It's very simple, just that it need to be simmered for about 3 hours.



I washed one dried cuttlefish and soak in water for a couple of hour. I usually reserve the water to be used as a stock for the soup. Clean the cuttlefish thoroughly by removing the membrane before slicing them up.

I chose some ribs meant to boil soup. My friendly lady butcher recommended these as she said it's not oily. I cleaned the ribs and dunk them in hot water and boil for about a minute. Then I rinsed out the scum before placing them in the pot.

Added in sliced lotus roots and some red dates to the pot. Do use a large pot and pour in the reserved cuttlefish stock. Fill up with generous amount of water (well this one you'll have to guesstimate) as the water will reduce whilst you simmer for 3 hours on low heat.

Best served hot. We usually don't add salt to our soup, prefering the natural sweet taste. However, you may add some salt to your taste. No harm there.

Miss Sweet 16 & Unker Chirpy, hope you two have a great day today!

Dragon I Restaurant Review

**Non-Halal Review**



If you can read the Chinese characters, the western name of this place doesn't seems to jive... it is known as Lung Tik Tzuen Yan in Cantonese. How it become Dragon I... it really beats me! Ok no debate on this naming issue. Let's get down to the real thing - FOOD!

I'm so glad I brought along the digicam. Managed to capture some wonderful photos here. This Dragon I Restaurant is located on the Ground Floor of Cititel KL. It can be accessed via Mid Valley Megamall near a narrow entrance next to Coffee Bean. The ambience and decor seems posh as they've some pseudo terracotta warriors scattered around. They specialised in la mien (freshly pulled noodles) and Shanghainese cuisine. You can witness how they make the noodles and the xiu loong bao (Shanghainese Dumplings) at the open kitchen, err actually thru the glass, so it's not so open. Majority of the chefs are from China it seems.

When you're in a Shanghainese restaurant, I guess there is no way you won't order these...



These are the infamous Shanghainese Dumplings or also known as Shanghainese Soup Dumplings. In Cantonese it's known as Xiu Loong Bao (literally translated as little steamer buns). It's basically a thin dough wrapping filled with minced pork filling. The special thing about this dumpling is... there is a surprise burst of sweet tasting soup concealed inside the dough wrapping. Gotta be careful when you eat one as the hot soup may burn your tongue. I usually place one on a spoon, then bite a tiny hole on the wrapper. Suck out the soup and wait for the dumpling to cool for a short while before biting it. Heh, I heard eating this is an art, just like the way we eat our onde-onde (a type of Malay kueh).



Dragon I's dumplings are fabulous, can taste the freshness of the meat and the soup is certainly sweet. Well, I can't comment much as I've yet been to Shanghai to taste the real thing. Hubby gave it a pass since he has eaten the real ones. Price wise, kinda expensive, RM2 per dumpling. Dragon I serves 4 in a steamer. I've tasted them at Xin Shanghai (another Shanghainese cuisine place but it's nothing to shout about, hence no review on it hehe) along Jalan Sultan Ismail which also charged RM2 per dumpling but theirs come in 6 per steamer. Best eaten with a dip of finely sliced ginger and black vinegar.



This is the Ja Jiong Mien, otherwise, widely known in Mandarin as Zha Jiang Mian (RM12). Basically it's mince meat cooked with bean sauce ladle over the pulled-noodles. Dragon I's noodle is of the right texture, slightly chewy and the sauce compliments it pretty well.



I stole some bites from hubby's bowl as I can't have the slighly spicy noodle since I've a large ulcer right smack on my lower lip. The chili stinged my ulcer urrrghhhh but I ate it carefully without letting them to touch my lips heh! I'm greedy.

I've picked this Shanghainese Nian Gao (rice cake in Mandarin) (RM14). My first encounter of this dish was when my aunt who married a Shanghainese cooked them for us to try. I like the rice cake as it's slighly chewy and superb when cooked with various dried version of fried noodles. In Malaysia, the best I've tasted so far is fry it ala Hokkien mee style.

This version did not dissappoint me. Plenty of celery slices and prawns. The sauce have loads of a certain preserved vegetable that I've no idea which type. Maybe it's peculiar to Shanghainese style? I might be bias here cos I really love celery!



Been there a couple of times, we've tried other style of noodles. All of them so far so good except for some they complained it's slightly too salty for them.



This photo is specially dedicated to Miss Sweet 16. I know she likes almond beancurd... by the way I ordered this cos not much choices that day as most stuff sold out during the long public holiday weekend. Luckily the almost extract taste is not overly strong, else I would have shoved everything to my darling. Very generous portion for RM6. My only complain is they gave too little longan!!! 3 miserable longan sitting on top. Gosh, gimme more!



Hubby had this... no fail tong shui which I make occassionally too. It's basically dried longan, white fungus and red dates sweet soup (RM6). Nothing spectacular to report on this.

Now, this is my favourite Chinese dessert... wor pheng (Cantonese for Pancake). A thin pastry with red bean paste. I simply love Dragon I's one cos it's thickly filled with red bean paste and the pastry is thin. It's not oily at all even though it's deep fried! Generously topped with sesame seeds... oooo yummy! However, whilst I was saviouring this... hubby bite into tiny bits of pebbles/stones (which ever is the correct term). When raised this up, the manager said it could be from the sesame seeds that was not cleaned properly. She immediately went to the kitchen and tell the chef about it. Well we heard her cos we sat near the kitchen door. Harrkk... we were there subsequently, hubby will joked with her "No stones please" when he order this dish and she gave a huge grin. This baby costed RM10... slighlty on the higher end but I'm not complaining.



I'm very glad there is finally a decent place for a nice meal in Mid Valley Megamall!

Dragon I Restaurant
Main Lobby, Cititel Hotel
Ground Floor, Mid Valley City
Tel: +603 2282 0155

Fried Rice With Cubed Chicken & Bell Peppers

Here's a quickie... cubed chicken meat and bell peppers (I've used green and red). Marinade the chicken in some soya sauce, pepper, dash of sesame oil and corn flour.

Scrambled some eggs with some oil and dish up. Sauteed some onions in hot oil till soften. Added in chicken and lightly brown them. Next added in some chopped garlic. Stir fried quickly. Next, added the bell peppers and stir in enough salt to taste. After that place in the rice (preferabily left over rice). Stir fried quickly and taste again. Adjusted the seasonings by adding more salt and pepper.

Poured in the scrambled eggs and mixed well. Dish up! Voila... simple and fast!

Happy belated Mother's Day

Been busy... running around like headless chicken. Here's a belated post to all mommies. This has been circulating around in cyber space, so don't know who is the author.

TO MOM WITH LOVE

When God set the world in place,
he hung the stars in space,
he made the land and sea,
he sat back and saw all that was good,
he saw things to be as they should,
just one more blessing he had in store:
as everyone can see, he created a mom just for me.

There are many lovely words to describe my mother
you gave the gift of life to me,
then in love, you will never flee
who, like an angel, loves right from the start,
covers us under her wings, close to her faithful heart,
that special place,
that shines her reflection on her child’s face.
The bond that grows will never falter.
Her love is so strong it will never alter.
For you, she will always do her best.
Constantly working, there's no time to rest
she is the sweetest and most delicate of all.
She knows more of paradise than angels can recall

She has the magic gift of intuition
to teach and guide, she will always be by your side.
Eternally lending a helping hand,
until you have the strength to stand.
She'll pick you up when you are down,
she'll constantly stick around.

Continually able to perform a colossal task
she filled my days with rainbow lights,
fairytales and sweet dream nights
with the sweetness and patience of a saint
a kiss to wipe away the tears, something nice to ease my fears

The world is full of wonderful pleasures-
beautiful flowers and butterfly wings,
infinite sunsets and numberless trees,
a countless array of treasures that pleased.
The magical keys to sun rays, that open up your heart to days,
happy with what hope betrays
but search the world over, one shore to another,
and you will find there is no treasure
as precious as my "mother."

Yes, there are many beautiful ways to describe a mother
but there is no description that will ever do justice.
To a mother who's loved more than words can say!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Braised Ribs

**This is a non-halal entry**



Don't they looked yummy?? *evil grin*

Rather simple to cook. Just got some pork ribs meant for braising, cleaned and poured some boiling water over them. Next, marinaded the ribs with some oyster sauce, pepper and corn flour for a while. Fry them in shallow oil to quickly seal in the juice.

Fried some garlic bulbs (I used loads of them) and thickly sliced green onions in some oil until browned. Added in one star anise. Had wanted to add in some cloves but I can't get the darn cover open!!!

Dumped in the fried ribs and poured enough water to cover them. Added in some oyster sauce and dark soya sauce to taste. Braised for about 45 minutes. Well 45 minutes as instructed by my leng lui (pretty girl in Cantonese) butcher. She's a very nice lady. Always adviced me which cut of pork to buy as she usually asked me how do I want to cook my meat.

This is my first time cooking ribs this way. In fact, I just agak-agak (Malay for guesstimate) my way thru with the kinda ingredients I have on hand. The onions actually gave this dish a certain kind of sweetness which I feel it's oh so delicious. I purposely did not reduced the sauce too much as I dunked some bread into it for my errr late lunch. Later on, I served this heated up with hot rice for dinner. I lapped up all the sauce whilst hubby finished off the ribs.

Will definitely cook this again!!! Can't wait actually... cos it's so yummilicious!

Sea Coconut

Haha they looked like something from outer space, don't they? Fret not, these are Sea Coconut. The brown one is with the outer layer or is it known as husk?? Anyway, after peeling and washing them, it will reveal the jewel bits as seen there, almost opaque.

I've blogged this before here but that one was made by my mother. I've bought a pack of sea coconuts from the wet market and I guesstimate thru what my mother could have done to cook this tong shui (sweet soup). I can't call her to find out since she was overseas enjoying her holiday whilst I have to chase my little bull round home. Sighhh...

Cleaned the sea coconut and prepared the rest of the stuff whilst my boiboi was napping. Dunk into the pot and simmered for a couple of hours.

And this was my version...

Window on Holland 2005

If you have some time in the next few days, do drop by this exhibition at Mid Valley Megamall. It's on till Sunday so be quick! This event showcased a series of economic, educational and cultural activities all related to the Netherlands. Hubby and I were there on Monday.

Several Dutch craftsmen, such as the wooden shoe maker, a Delfts Blue painter, traditional barrel organ players and costume fashion show, are available to demonstrate their skills.

I'll let some photos to do the talking:

The wooden shoe (or widely known as clog) maker demonstrated his skills in fashioning not only clogs from a block of wood but he crafted wooden dagger and wood shavings for kids, yes, only for kids! He will ask the kid's name and engrave his/her name into them before passing out to the kids as souvenirs. I will definitely bring boiboi there this weekend.





These are some beautiful out of the traditional clogs on show.



This caught my eye as it's a child shoes. Looked really cute!



And here's a sandal, perfect for Malaysian whether as the maker claim hehe... and a pair of high heeled dancing shoes.



These are the traditional clogs on sale. You can have your name carved onto them right on the spot. According to the maker, it's cheaper to buy it from him direct as compare to Netherlands. He quoted hubby sized 10 for RM75 only and in Netherlands it's going for 15 Euros! Well not sure if it's true or not.



Souvenir versions.





This is the Delfts Blue painter. He's painting into this piece of ceramic and when he's done, the ceramic will be fired in the kiln for 7 hours and cooled for 2 days before the art piece is deemed completed! Do check out the activities schedule as there was a ceramic painting session with this artist. They provided the ceramic piece, paint and brush. I did not stay on but I guess they'll let you keep your own masterpiece.









Here's the traditional barrel organ player. Urrghh he got this serious looking face on him. Looked like he's forced to turn the wheel on the player to feed the "music sheet" which looked like carved notes on wooden sheets.



Now the so called traditional costume fashion show... is merely a group of ladies young and old parading on the small stage. The lace head dress looked cute on the little ones.





And this dutch baby really caught our attention cos she's so adorable!!!



A fair will not be complete without food isn't it? Hehehe... We tried some “stroopwafel” (treacle waffle). The guy just cut a portion of the dough and place it onto a electric waffle maker. Once it's done, he will remove the waffle and spread the treacle on one before topping with another piece of waffle. Tasted a bit soft when it's hot. Managed to caught some cinnamon flavours on them. Left to cool down and it will turn crispy. It's RM2 a piece.







There were “poffertjes” (small pancakes) but it didn't interest us to buy any. All they did was to add the flour mixture on those hot mold and fry till cooked. Sprinkle some icing sugar on top. However, they serve huge cotton candy!! Am gonna buy one for my boiboi this weekend! Or maybe two... hehehe one for myself hahaha...

There were Edam and Gouda cheese and Dutch beverages such as Dutch Lady milk for sampling. However no free sampling for Heineken beer and Douwe Egberts coffee.

Some tulips and plants were on display but they weren't impressive. The photos did not turn out well so no point posting here. There were booths on consumer promotions and activities include a contest with KLM and MAS flights to Holland to be won as well as Philips TV units. Several Dutch universities are promoting there as well.

Do drop by if you have the time!

Date : 29 Apr 2005 - 8 May 2005
Venue : Mid Valley Megamall Exhibition Hall 3
Time : weekdays 12pm - 8.30 pm weekends 10 am - 10pm