Great Combination

I went to the market with my parents early that Thursday morning. Dad exclaimed excitedly, "He's here! Do you want to try one?"

Who? What? But ok. I'd try anything.

Dad placed an order, and had to wait for a good 10 minutes. Really, the queue was long. Hmn ... the buns had to be good.

Well, there was this vendor who came on a motorbike to the market on certain days. Not sure which days apart from Thursdays. he sold toasted buns with barbecue meat and chicken floss. Hmn ... I'd never had buns with both barbecue meat and floss. I'd usually have one or the other. But since the vendor sold his buns that way, it had to be a great combination. 

Anyway, the vendor came on a motorbike. It had a grill, a table top and a glass display case attached on the side. As I watched him, he was busy toasting buttered buns and then assembling them on the table top. He deftly cut a piece of barbecued meat into half, and then placed it on the toasted bun. Then he sprinkled some meat floss on the centre of the bun and placed 2 slices of cucumber on top. Mayo and chilli were squeezed over the ingredients and then closed off with the other half of the bun.

 Assembly line ... 

Back home, I took a bite of the barbecue meat & floss sandwich .... and yum ..... it was delicious. Unexpectedly.

Yummy ... 

The barbecue meat was reasonably thick and yet it was not tough to the bite. Quite juicy and tender, in fact. I could not make out the taste of the floss, which was probably overwhelmed by the barbecued meat. But the bread was still slightly crispy, the burnt edges exuding a smoky flavour.

And that made a great breakfast! 

Homemade Shaomai

I arrived home near midnight. I did not think I was going to be that late. ;(

At first, the flight delayed for 10 minutes. Then, when we were taxiing into the parking bay, we were made to wait for 5 minutes as the spot was occupied by another aircraft. I jumped into the bus and waited 20 minutes for it to fill up. And when we finally reached the terminal, the driver was uncertain about the drop off point ... and brought us for a 5 minute ride.

People seemed to think that it was alright for a few minutes delay here and there. But they all added up, and I was certainly rather annoyed.

"Are you hungry?" Mom asked as soon as I stepped into the house.

"No," I said.

But she had made some shaomai in the afternoon, in case I got hungry. So, how could I resist?

Homemade Shaomai

I popped one into my mouth. And followed by another one. And another one. Lols. Cause they were yum.

As far as I remembered, Mom had never made shaomai before. This was probably her first attempt. I told her it was yum, and that made her happy. ;))

Mom's shaomai was really compact. It was full of texture, and was mildly flavoured. As a result, I could taste the natural sweetness of the fresh ingredients she used. What went in there were minced pork, minced fish paste, some chopped bacon, chopped lotus roots, chopped pumpkin, chopped carrots, chopped water chestnuts, and chopped roasted peanuts. These chopped ingredients provided much bite to the dumpling. I really enjoyed nibbling on them to slowly savour the taste.

Since we liked it, I'm sure Mom would not hesitate to make them again. Yayy!

Salmon

While shopping the other day, I felt like eating salmon ... so where better to head to than Sushi King, especially when it's just a few steps away?

Nitsume with wasabi, and Gari

I prefer Nitsume rather than Shoyu, because Nitsume is sweet and thick.

So I had raw salmon .... 

Salmon Sashimi, RM14.90

Only 5 slices of reasonable thickness, but honestly, they look miserable on the large plate. 

And cooked salmon .... 

Salmon Steak Set, RM21.90

There's broiled salmon in a Barbecue sauce, mixed vegetables, a chawanmushi and a miso soup. Well, the chawanmushi was nicer than it was the last time I had it; I liked the boiling hotness of the miso soup; the vegetables did not have much taste; but I did like the fish which was crispy ... yummm ... the fish was nice when dipped in the wasabi and nitsume mixture and then eaten with rice.

The bill ... RM42.70 .... expensive? But when craving calls .... one would have to pay no matter how costly. Lol. 

Noodles & Soups

Well, I can't say that there's anything special with the noodles ...

Braised noodles, RM5.50

There's noodles in a thick dark sauce which taste was not so memorable .. some pork, prawns, carrots and greens were the other ingredients used to cook this dish.

Stir-fried Cantonese Style Kueh Tiaw, RM5.50

The kueh tiaw or flat rice noodles had a smoky flavour ... but I thought the egg gravy tasted a bit bland ... also in there were pork slices, prawns and greens ... not bad but not that great.

The soup here is only RM3.00 per single serving.

Ba Zhen with Duck
My friend had this and she said it was tasteless - neither sweet nor salty ....

But I did like my soup ...

Chicken with ginseng roots
I liked the clear soup which had a robust herbal flavour. Inside the bowl was a piece of chicken, some red dates, wolfberries and lots of ginseng roots.

We had our dinner at Hong Kong Duck Restaurant, actually. I'd come back for the soup ... and maybe try the other stuff here. 

Indulgent Tim Tam

I always want to eat something sweet and rich after a meal. And chocolate is both sweet and rich. Lol.

I love Arnott's Tim Tam. There are many flavours but I always buy either original, double coat or classic dark.

Imported from Australia, but widely available locally in supermarkets .. 

Delicious biscuit fingers

They melt rather easily, and hence in Australia, they are packaged in a brown insulated bag! We got some of those bags at home ... really come in handy when travelling! 

I Could Not Wait For It To End

Hmn ... I was at Imperial Hotel again for a function. It being the end of the year, schools are busy organising graduations and prize-giving ceremonies. This one I attended was a really elaborate event and graced by a VIP politician.

But, it was a lengthy event and hours later, people got restless. I was tired and unwell. I could just close my eyes and doze off while sitting there .... but thankfully my friend was sitting beside me, and we killed time by chatting and catching up.

Food was served only at 2.30 p.m. (that was 3 hours after arrival!), and in a rushed manner as the hotel needed to finish serving the 9 course meal within a short time. As a result, the food could not be savoured and enjoyed. The event ended at 4.00 p.m., a good 5 hours later.

I was rather impressed with the food at Imperial Hotel the other day, but the food was not as great this time. My friend and I thought it was probably due to the fact that the food sat for too long, waiting to be served.

Five Hot & Cold Dish Combination

The starter 

Followed by a Sea Cucumber with Dried Scallop and Crab Meat Soup. Though we could taste the sea springy cucumber bits, my friend and I found the soup to be too thick and starchy. 

After that came the fish, 

Pan-fried Weever Fish in Teochew Style

My friend and lots of folks around the table liked the fish very much. My friend even said she wanted to replicate this dish at home. Lol. Well, I thought the fish was nicely fried, and would taste nice even without the gravy. Not sure what's a Weever fish though .... 

Lychee Wood Roasted Crispy Chicken came next. Did not take a photo but it looked like a ordinary roasted chicken. I thought the meat was a bit dry this time.

Braised Assorted Mushrooms with Broccoli

I liked the fungi and the veg ... 

Double boiled duck with Eight Treasure Herbs

Lol ... it's just a mass of blackness ... if I had time ... I would like to slowly savour this dish for I liked herb-infused meat which was really very soft. 

Stir-fried Chicken Dices with Cashew Nuts in a Yam Basket

The yam basket was nice, but I did not bother to eat the stuffing ... I did however, picked at the cashew nuts,

And finally, the desserts came ... there were fresh fruits and cake which I did not eat. But I helped myself to the Red bean and Sago with Coconut Milk dessert. This time, however, the consistency was not right - too thick! And the taste of orange peel was too prominent .... so I was rather disappointed.

I was only glad that the event had finished, I dutifully thanked the hosts and left. Phew! Well, I think I still prefer my events to be short and sweet .... 

Noodle & Sandwich

My friend and I shared a noodle and a sandwich at X Cuisine the other day ...

Scrambled Egg Hor Fun - RM8.90

Beneath the starchy egg sauce was kueh tiaw, or flat rice noodles. They were lightly stir-fried and were pale in colour. Diners could opt for a selection of meats to go with the noodles - seafood, pork, beef or chicken. I   chose seafood - and in my noodles were 2 slices of fish, some prawns and some squids. Vegetables provided texture, and X Cuisine had some French beans and beansprouts in there. The egg sauce was rather tasty. I quite enjoyed the noodles with lots of  fresh chillies.    

Cheese & Egg Sandwich, RM6.90
The egg omelette was fried rather thinly. As thin as the cheese slice. But at least the sandwich was moistened with lots of shredded carrots in a sweet dressing and lettuce.

There were lots of people during lunch time, but the waiting time was reasonable. My friend wants to try the sea cucumber thick soup. So we WILL be back soon. 

PB&CM

I'm exhausted. And not feeling so good because of the sniffles... for the nth time this year ... it sure sucks.

So it's just a PB & CM thick toast for me 

And with a cup of hot coffee, of course.

PB & CM = Peanut butter & condensed milk. Lols .... was inspired by the good old PB&J or peanut butter and jelly. And pretty popular at Hong Kong style cafes.

Ordinary

Hmn ... I liked the dishes here at the Nasi Padang stall at Food Stop, the food court at Merdeka Mall. So when my friends and I had lunch at Merdeka Mall, I would not hesitate to patronise the stall.

Today however, I scanned the food trays up and down, and was undecided about what to eat. When there are too many choices, it can be difficult to make a decision. Lols. Finally, I took ....
 

My rice platter

Spicy stir-fried eggplant, stir-fried baby kailan, and also a spicy chilli-soy chicken to eat with my white rice. Hmn .... nothing special about the dishes, merely ordinary. Lunch cost me RM6.00.

Pineapple Pastries

My friend recently visited Taiwan and brought back some pineapple pastries as it is one of the things that Taiwan is famous for.

Many thanks!! I love pastries, and have been in love with pineapple pastries forever!

Pineapple pastries

Well, the make it square in Taiwan. Each cake has pineapple paste encased with crumbly and soft buttery pastry. Different brands have a different taste. The one in the yellow package tasted more tart and with a saltier pastry, while the one in the white wrapper was sweeter and had more textural feel to the pineapple paste. So which one do I prefer ... Hmn ... I think the one in the white wrapper was yummier.

See the fibrous pineapple filling ... yummmy ...

The pastries made a good snack .... if you like to snack, that is. ;))

Found!

I've found it. What? The best kolo mee!

My friend and I actually went to eat laksa that morning. I had a craving. And since I liked the laksa at New Yakin Food Court, my friend was more than happy to come with me. She claimed that she could eat laksa on a daily basis. Lol.

Laksa, RM4.50

What I liked about the laksa here was the gravy which I found to be richly flavoured with coconut milk. Very lemak. That was the most important for a good bowl of laksa. In my opinion though, they could improve the laksa by using thicker vermicelli noodles. They could improve on the garnishing too. I could not even recall whether they had omelette strips and blanched beansprouts in there! Despite this, the laksa here is still tasty, compared to many places in Miri. 

On a whim, I decided to order kolo mee as well. My friend claimed that she needed to order a "side dish" to eat with her laksa. She always went for dim sum, but since the stall was not opened yesterday, I persuaded her to share the kolo mee with me. Lol.

I ordered from stall no. 13, as recommended by my friend. The best kolo mee, according to him. So I was so eager to try it.

Kolo mee, RM2.50
And guess what? It was FANTASTIC!
A good kolo mee had to be fragrant, and this one met my standard. This one was moist and coated with the fragrance of shallot oil and lard. After one spoonful, I shoved away my laksa and concentrated on the kolo mee instead. Lol. It was even tastier than the laksa.

And so, I was really jubilant that morning, as I had found the kolo mee I liked! Yay! 

ABC & Fritters

My friend and I headed to Krokop 5 to enjoy some cold drinks and fritters. It was a really hot day. My friend said that she liked to eat here at this stall at the market. It is usually very packed, and sometimes she had to share tables with other people!

The stall

I ordered an ABC ...

ABC is essentially shaved ice, flavoured with palm sugar, milk or coconut milk. Hidden under all those ice, one would find red beans, cendol, grass jelly and sago pearls. Stir to mix well and then enjoy!

The colourful ingredients 

The ABC was not too sweet when the ice melted, but I think I would prefer MORE red beans in there. 

My friend and I shared a RM5.00 plate of fritters ... 

 Deep-fried fritters

It had cucumber slices, prawn fritters, sweet potato fritters, yam fritters, and deep-fried tofu. The fritters were sliced and then arranged on the plate and then served with a black rojak sauce.

Beneath the sauce .... 

My friend sang praises of the fritters. However, I did not like it much as I thought it was tasteless. Well, the fritters were crunchy and crispy, but that was about it. I could not taste prawn in the prawn crackers. I could not taste the sweet potato nor the yam. You know what, probably the tastiest fritter in there were in tofu. Lol. The sauce was also lacking in taste and flavour. 

Hmn ... I do not think I'd come all the way here for the ABC and fritters anymore ...

Bakuteh Lunch

I had not eaten here at Good Taste for a while, so I quite enjoyed lunch today!

Bak Kut Teh, serving for 1

One could have a choice of meats. My friend and I asked for lean meat, but the Auntie persuaded us to have pork ribs too. I was hesitant. I was not too impressed with the ribs here the last time. But Auntie assured us that we would be served a lean and meaty cut. So we both gave in. 

Well, I must say that the Auntie kept to her word! Besides, there was a button mushroom and a shiitake mushroom, some beancurd sticks, some deep-fried tofu, and a leaf of lettuce. I enjoyed today's Bak Kut Teh a lot!  

Rice
The shallot rice was savoury and fragrant, very yum when eaten with the soup ...

 Youtiao or deep-fried crullers
A really delicious accompaniment to the soup .... I love to have this dunk in the herbal soup before tucking in ...

Baby Kai Lan with Garlic

Crisp and green and generously garnished with deep-fried garlic, this vege platter was delicious as well.

The bill came to RM33.30 for the two pots of bakuteh, 2 rice, a bowl of youtiao and a veg. Lunch was satisfying indeed!

Chicken & Mushroom Stew

I realised that I had not have homecooked rice and dishes for a while. I suppose that I was carried away with noodles for the past 2 weeks at least. Also, I was a bit busy with work. And I was feeling quite lousy about stuff. So anyway, I was starting to miss my rice and vegetables.

So, I decided to cook myself a stew. It's pretty easy to cook. The part which I did not like was to clean the chicken. I hate cleaning chicken. Lols. But there wasn't choice but to grit my teeth and get my hands dirty with it.

These were the ingredients I used. Just chicken, pre-soaked Shiitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic.

The ingredients : I'd marinated the chicken for a while with sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce and some Shaoxing wine

Then I heated up the pan and sauteed the aromatics in a bit of oil and then dump in the chicken and mushrooms.

Cooking .... 

After that, I added seasoning and water and let it stew till the flavours were infused. The seasoning comprised merely of some soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and salt. Not sure how long I stewed the chicken and mushrooms for, probably about 30 minutes on very low fire. 

 Yay! Time to eat ...... 

I served my stew with plain whtie rice and a cabbage stir-fry. 

Goodness! I hadn't eaten rice for 3 days! 

Onsen Tamago Experiment

I was browsing Youtube the other day, and I chanced upon a video that teaches how to make Onsen Tamago or hot spring eggs. The ones shown in the video weren't those with runny whites, only runny yolks.

It looked pretty easy, so I decided to experiment. Today.

According to the video, boil the egg over medium fire for 6 minutes. Which I did. I think I boiled for about 7 minutes cause the egg was pretty big.

Then I dropped the egg immediately into iced water, like instructed. Not sure for how long, but I soaked it for about 2 minutes.

After I drained the egg, I rolled it on the cutting board to crack it. But I must have pressed too hard, and the whole thing cracked open and splattered all over the chopping board. Lols. I AM SO STRONG. Either that, or I'm so klutzy!! Lols!!

Well, look at that! 

If I had not squashed the egg, it would have been a nice onsen egg, wouldn't it? 

So I scooped the egg out with a spoon and served with a pan-fried cheese sausage and a set of cheese toast.

A simple meal for a starving person 

Despite everything, the egg tasted good! I liked it, and I do look forward to my next onsen tamago experiment. Based on what I get today, I'll probably boil the egg for about 7 minutes or even 7 minutes and a half.  And hopefully I'd not squash the egg next time! 

Butter Milk Bun

I was at the supermarket the other day, and I saw these on the shelf. There was still sweat in the package, implying that the buns were freshly baked. I just love freshly baked bread!

So I could not resist but bought myself a packet. The buns were baked by Singapore Cake House, its bakery located at Morsjaya.

Back home, I ripped open the package ...

This is what it looked like inside ....

 Butter milk filling 

The bread was light and fluffy, and though the filling looked meagre, it did not feel so. The filling was adequately sweet and tasted buttery. On the whole, I liked nibbling at the bun .... with a cup of hot coffee ....

There were other flavours too ... next time, I'd like to try the peanut bun.

I Love Dabai!

My friend bought some dabai. But she was just letting them sit on the table. This afternoon, we decided to have them for tea! So I washed them and put in them in a large bowl. Then I added a bit of cold water as I was told to. Only after that did I pour in the hot water. I had the dabai fruits covered and soaked for about 10 minutes.

And I was quite happy because they weren't sticky at all! On my previous attempts, the fruits was slightly sticky because of a layer of latex that covered them. Everything else got sticky - the bowl, the spoons and even my hands. It was sure annoying.

Anyway after that, I poured in a generous amount of soy sauce to coat the dabai, and served.

Dabai, RM20.00 per kg

Yum .... I enjoyed the rich flesh and the distinctive taste. The shaved ones tasted better - softer. The unshaved ones had harder skin. We finished half a kilogramme in one sitting.

Pleasurable

It's been 3 years since I***'s durian harvest. I*** is my colleague, and whenever there is durian, I would make sure I get some fruits from him.

Ever since the flowers bloomed and the fruits grew, I'd asked him when they would ripen. The last time I had asked him, he told me, "Two more weeks."

Well, I guess today is finally two weeks later because I managed to get myself 2 pieces!

The smaller fruit was RM8.00 while the bigger one was RM10.00. 2 pieces for RM18.00

I need not tell him. He knew I wanted him to wedge the fruits open for me. And he did. All I had to do when I got home was to pull the wedges apart (and it was harder than I thought!!).

Then I tucked in happily. I polished off the bigger fruit. It had 23 little seeds inside. I could eat all but 1 seed. That seed was already enjoyed by a writhing white little worm ... ;p

Anyway, much as I would like to eat the second fruit, I decided not to overdo it.

A yummilicious seed ...

Smells awful? Not really ... to me it smells decadent. 

Tastes like bile? Not really .... it's really rich, smooth, creamy and gooey, sweet, buttery and custardy ... real heavenly ...

And so I had to save the second fruit for another day.

In an airtight Tupperware lest I pollute the whole fridge with the overwhelming smell ;p

Well, durian is one of the greatest pleasures in life! Lols. That would be true for anyone who loves durians. Like me. ;))