Sambal Egg Prawns

I would have never thought that sambal sauce from a can, tastes good. As the Ayam brand Sambal sauce was on special,  I thought I would give it a go.

Frying some onions and then prawns... pouring the sambal sauce over it...letting the egg set over it.. The creamy eggy yet spicy taste goes very well together. One thing though, this sambal is hardly what I know.. it's on the sweet side. Still, it tastes good.

Sambal Egg Prawns
1 can of Ayam brand Malaysian Sambal Sauce
300 grams of shelled prawns
1 red onion sliced
4 eggs beaten lightly.

Sauté onion. cook prawns till nearly done. Add sauce and wait for the aroma to hit u. When it does, pour beaten eggs over it. Let it set for around 5 minutes. Serve with rice.

I'm Back!!

I'm BACCCCKKKKK!!!!!

Wow! What a 3 weeks. I can't believe it has been THAT long since I posted a post. AR and I spent 10 days in KL/SG last week and it was a blast. Wedding planning + good food + Chinese New Year celebrations = Happy Daphne.



It has also been at least 2 years since I last celebrated CNY at home. Sitting at our round table, enjoying our steamboat dinner, laughing, joking...and then my customary walk with grandma to the flower markets. Life is simple but oh so good.



Meeting up with my girlfriends was so much fun. How I miss their company and our girly chats.


This trip back, AR and I were reminded that we have 3 more months till we say our vows.


I will be back with more food posts soon! =)

Mee Mamak-Mee and My Malaysia

Over the past year or so, I have taken food blogging more seriously. This blog started with lots of whinging and de stressing moments. Then I decided to grow up and blog about more positive things- Food came to mind.

One of the first food blogging events that I participated in was MUHIBBAH-an annual event organized by Babe in KL. This event invites Malaysians from all over the world to celebrate Merdeka day. Now, I'm not Malaysian but I do have some family ties to Malaysia-and given that I'm getting married to one, my mother is married to one (i.e., my dad) and even my auntie is married to one (Irene!), I asked Babe for permission to participate in that event.

*Ok, by this time you are probably wondering what is it about Malaysian men and Singaporean women in my family. I have no answer to that!*

This year though, I asked AR to contribute by giving me a suggestion on what should I prepare for this event. So to push it-it's really his contribution but I cooked it. Teamwork! LOL

Looking at my past entry, it did struck me that I have gradually learned how to improve in my photography/lighting skills. Long way to go but I'm happy that I have progressed over time.

The theme this year is "Mee and My Malaysia". AR first response was "MEE MAMAK!" and my response was... "what's that?!" What a good start hey? So I goggled it up and even that hardly revealed any answers. AR patiently tried to explain it to me and said that the dish is usually eaten at Mamak stores (which I have grown to love!, pass me that plate of thosai please!). It features balachan and have ground nuts sprinkled on top of it.



So that got me intrigued. Is that not Mee Goreng? He said they are not quite the same. Firstly Mee Goreng does not have sambal belachan or ground nuts sprinkled on it. Secondly, Mee mamak also have a more tangy/sour taste to it. Thirdly, Mee Goreng is more tomatoey.

Since he has such an emotional response to the topic, I decided to go with Mee Mamak. His smile was worth the research... I think!

With that answer and some adaptation of versions that I found online, I came up with this recipe. I'm really not sure if this is the authentic version but AR claims that it is as close as it can get. He did say was that the mamak version doesnt have squid, the noodles was slightly too soft and the home cooked version is less oily.

I'm happy though that he reckons it is close to the real thing. Seriously, I have NO idea if this is or not because I was cooking blindly!

So Malaysians out there! Let me know! =)



Mee Mamak (Serves 4-5)

500 grams of yellow mee
A
7-8 baby squid


B
1 onion chopped finely
3-4 tablespoons of sambal belachan
4 pieces of dried chilli chopped
1/2 cup of dried shrimps chopped
1 red chilli chopped

C
2 chopped tomatoes
1 cup of bean sprouts
3 fried tofu sliced

D
4 tablespoon of light soya sauce
3-4 tablespoons of tomato sauce or tomato paste (diluted with some stock)

3 eggs lightly beaten
ground nuts
lime
shallots
green chilli

1) Score squid. Fry on high heat quickly till done. Set aside.

2) Heat wok with a little oil. Add in B and stir till the mixture gets fragrant. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to in. Simmer till done.

3) Add C and fry briefly till the tomatoes turn soft. Add the yellow mee in.

4) Mix D in a jug. Toss the mee with D. Taste and see if the taste is sufficient. Add more soya/tomato sauce if it isn't.

5) Make a well in the middle and add the eggs. Toss it through. Don't forget the squid!

6) Serve it with green chilli, deep fried shallots, ground nuts and lime juice.

I'm sharing this with my Malaysian friends at Mederka Day Open House 2008 hosted by Babe in KL.

Adventures of the Thosai and Chicken Curry

(the 8th attempt)

"flip"

and

"flip"

and

aRghhhh.....

I tested out my flipping skills recently by indulging in the art of thosai making. Rather than grinding the thosai mixture myself, I decided to take a stepwise approach and use a packet of thosai mix.

Flipping thosai is like flipping pancakes right? Easy peasy stuff. but nooo.. flipping thosai isn't as easy as it seems (for me anyway).

(see the broken pieces)

After the 8th attempt, my thosai finally resembles one. Almost anyway.

Now, I have a greater admiration to thosai makers and their flat, round pans!

(6th attempt, looking slightly decent)

What's that in the pink bowl? Surely I haven't gone out of my mind and serve ice-cream with thosai? Rest assured I didn't. It was easy chicken curry that I have there. Ar and I are blessed with helpful and great parents/grandma and our fridge has like a year supply of curry pastes. This one was made by AR's mum.



I would have made some dhal but I was craving for some spicy hot stuff hence the chicken curry.


Easy Chicken Curry (serves 4)
4-6 generous tablespoons of AR's mum curry paste (obviously it will be your choice of curry paste =) )
1/2 of lite coconut milk
1 cabbage sliced
500 grams of chicken cutlet/breasts diced
1 onion.

1) Saute curry paste till fragrant. Add onions.

2) Cook chicken till through. Add cabbage. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

3) Add coconut milk. Taste. Season if required.

4) Serve with broken up thosai.

Summary Kl Trip May 2008

I'm so glad to be blogging again. My hands are itchy after a month of "suitcase blogging". Instead of individual posts, I managed to consolidate the photos into mosaics and I'm really proud of myself! Considering that I can be a technology idiot, this is huge for me!

So I'm starting where I left off. THE KL trip. Besides eating and meeting up with Malaysian floggers, we did heaps of wedding stuff..and I'm proud to say our outfits have been settled. Nothing like the photos I have posted previously but it is a lace gown. Reception venue was inspected as well.

The amazing thing about KL is the variety of food there. The stomach flu episode left us weak with little to no appetite but we were determine to eat!

1) We stopped by at Du Viet for a late dinner.




Ah..a warm bowl of pho shared between the two of us calmed our tummies. I ordered a hot honey drink and AR took the soya bean drink. The soup was terrific. I was surprise to see the thick sauce that went with the paper rolls but we weren't complaining. I was disappointed by the durian pancakes though as they tasted more whipped cream than durian!

Du Viet
Damasara Uptown
Petaling Jaya
Selangor

2) I have previously arranged a meeting with a girl from the bridal forum at Fong Lye, The Gardens. Unfortunately, for some reason, we missed each other despite being there at the appointed time. Well, I still enjoyed the food at Fong Lye though!



Seriously. We had the rice vermicelli beef noodles (see the soupy noodles trend here?), Taiwanese sausage on glutinous rice and this spicy flaky beef pastry item. What impresses me most was the accompaniments that went with the beef noodles. The marinated lotus root, fried dumpling and tofu were addictive. While the food was a tad too salty for our tastebuds, it was certainly delicious. One of our best finds in Malaysia so far.

Then we decided to go healthy.

3) Lei Cha (Thunder tea) to the best! From my aunt Irene recommendation, we traveled to Puchong just to taste this. The ingredients were pounded finely-hence the name Thunder. A green tea soup was provided and u can pour the soup over the rice. We had the brown rice Lei Cha.



One thing I like about Ho Boh was their 60s style decor. While their menu wasn't extensive, the thunder tea rice served was filled to the brilled with ingrediants. The tea wasn't too strong and was palatable (unlike others that I have tried). I had the sour plum drink which was refreshing for sunny Malaysia.

Restoran Ho Boh
21A, Jalan TK 1/11A,
Taman Kinrara Seksyen 1,
Jalan Puchong, Batu 7 1/2,
47100 Puchong,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 012 2797312

See also
A Whiff of Lemongrass


So here we go! The Malaysian food done! We have the Singapore one next!

Floggers and Food!

A few more days and I will be back in Perth. Yikes, so many more posts to go. I think I might do a summary post instead of individual ones.

This one has to be backdated to a few weeks ago, where I met the Malaysian Floggers. How can I NOT meet them when I'm on their turf? We decided to meet at Pick N Brew at 1 Utama. Being a coffee lover, I wanted to try what Jackson has recommended.

Alas, Ar and I fell ill with stomach flu the day before we met. Still, we refused to cancel the meeting. Brave smiles and cramping tummies, we managed to last through the session and boy were we proud of ourselves. The welcoming smiles from the floggers and wonderful conversation helped as well.
My coffee- probably against doctor's orders but how can I resist? Beautifully brewed and I simple love the little pot that keeps the coffee warm.
Ar's main and Lianne's- Please beg my pardon because I can no longer remember what we ordered (must be the mixture of sickness + nervousness!). I think this was seafood pasta? Look at the jumbo prawn! To be honest, I found this dish lacking in tomato flavour-perhaps, i was too pampered and always used fresh tomatoes in making a similar dish like this. AR said he felt quite thirsty after having this as well.
My order- oat crusted fish I believe. I love this. The spinach mixture underneath the fish was soo soo good....The fish was on the dry side but the spinach made up for it.


Teckiee's order- How did it go Teckiee?


WMW's n Ashley's main. It certainly looks good!

What's a gathering without alcohol? *wink*



And a lovely slice of cheesecake by LifeVsAnime.

Weren't we pampered?

Pick n' Brew
1 Utama


Fast forward 2 days later.. and we met up with MORE floggers!
This time round, we met at at a roadside stall..and ate this fabulous fried noodles. I have no idea where were we then though.. LOL.

I couldn't stomach (pun intented) anymore food. But couldn't resist...

Apple Cheesecake from BigBoysOven

and the long awaited...

Macarons from them.

NOW, we were really pampered!

Just Heavenly

As the name implies, the desserts from Just heavenly were..... just heavenly. We made our way to the bansar branch of Just heavenly desserts and got lost mid way. Turns out that we printed the map to the residential branch of just heavenly desserts instead of the shop front! yikes! A quick phone call followed by some directions, we arrived.

Difficult decisions were made.
I decided to order 2 portions of the Chocolate Durian and Death by Chocolate. Seriously, who can resist that combination?
This was gobble down quickly by Ar's mum, myself and AR. It was soo good and rich. SErIOUSLy GOOD! Generous chucks of durian flesh covered with proper dark chocolate. Not the FAKE milk chocolate that u get out there.
Death by Chocolate- We were more impressed with the Chocolate Durian than this one. If you are a chocolate lover, this will be one for u. Choc mousse encased in a shell of dark chocolate.
A chocolate éclair for AR and I.

Yum!

Allen and Nigel- nicely done!!


Just Heavenly Pleasures
G1.05 & G. 1.06, Epicure
Jalan Medan Setia 1
Bukit Damansara
Kuala Lumpur

Memories and tastebuds- Thosai

If you ask me what was my favourite meal during the recent trip to Malaysia, it would have to be Thosai.

Perhaps it was the fond memory of having breakfast with AR's family the first time a few years ago; or perhaps it was just the lovely taste of savory thosai that enticed me. Either way, I enjoyed this breakfast heartedly.

They (Ar's parents) laughed when they learned that I enjoyed thosai. They understood, however, that it was the simplicity of the meal and the welcoming gesture that I was silently after. Afterall, a breakfast with the family is just as important as the dinner.

Or maybe, they assumed that as a Singaporean girl, I would be expecting better dining options. Not at all.

How can I resist Thosai? The pancake with spicy condiments.

A warm cup of teh tarik to warm the tummy up. Ah, so much better than the AUS$3 cup that I paid in Australia (Malaysian readers will probably say I was cheated by the vendor).

Sinful crisp on the outside but soft on the inside- Vadai. Oh how I missed this.


Masala thosai- lovely curry potatoes encased in the thin pancake. Notice the sauces served. cooling yogurt/spiced mixture, dahl and curry sauce.


Rawa Thosai-the sinful one among all the thosai(s). The addition of vegetables did not make it healthier. Hot oil and ghee was poured on to the side of the thosai as it cooked. The crisp texture made the calories worthwhile.

Telur Bawang Thosai- how i miss this. Egg and onion thosai. The sweetness of the red onion went so well with the thin pancake.
Apum or hoppers were bowl shaped pancakes. The server generously placed a small bucket of coconut milk on the table as AR ladle scoops onto the apum. Creamy and tasty. It was not complete without the coconut.

An extremely satisfying meal. Any visitors to Malaysia must not miss this.

Sri Devi
SS15/4D
Subang Jaya
(near row of shops, along with Maybank)

Malaysia Trip- Restoran Teow Chew Meng

We arrived in Malaysia via Aeroline comfy coach. We alighted at Sunway Lagoon.

Conveniently right outside J.Co donuts!
Notice my haircut?

AR's mum came to pick us up. She recommended Restoran Teow Chew Meng and we readily agreed.
According to AR's mum, the sharkfin mee sua is their signature dish. We were disappointed when this arrived. It was very starchy. There were hardly any sharkfin in this bowl. (not surprisingly, since it was RM$10).

The seafood porridge faired better. It was tasty and filled with prawns and fishballs. A dash of pepper made this a comforting dish.
Out of the 3 dishes, the 3 taste oysters was my favorite. Sweet, sour and spicy. this was the first time I tasted oysters this way. It went very well with the seafood porridge. The oysters were plump-which was a bonus.

A reasonable priced lunch. The portions were generous and filled the 3 tummies up. I would go back there just to try their Kerabu Mango-which apparently they are famous for.

See
Masak Masak
You get what you give..


Restoran Teow Chew Meng
SS14
Subang Jaya
Malaysia