"Barriga llena, corazon contento"

8/8/2013 (2nd day of Lunar 7th month)

"A full belly and a happy heart"

I think it is  rare for everyone to get up early especially when it was on a public holiday.   However that was what we all did on the 2nd day of the Hari Raya holiday.  We were meeting our eldest brother in SS2 for dimsum. (yes more dimsum) for a family gathering.

Plates empty, stomach full and yet still sleepy faces!:D

The dimsum shop with tables spilling onto the roadside and it was only before 8.30 am on a public holiday.
The popularity of this shop is that they make their own dimsums- none of those mass manufactured stock. The lady boss herself goes to the market to get her fresh supply of fish everyday.

Upstairs - basic no frills furnishing, we are here for the food not the decor. Sorry this photo was taken after we had finished our meal, hence all the empty plates!

Noted for their own hand-made/crafted dimsums- fresh bouncy fishball, steaming hot smooth rice noddles (with big fresh prawns), Char Siew Paus with its sweet/savory, dark, moist fillings with the right balance of lean and fat meat; and Loh Mai Kai - soft glutinous rice with choice chicken meat.

After the dimsum my brother took his grandchildren and his family went to Sunway Lagoon Park while we went home (to sleep again- hahaha).

It was his birthday according to the Chinese lunar calender.

We decided to meet again for dinner in SS2. I think SS2 is a food lover's paradise- there are so many restaurants and cafe of all sorts of cuisine available, not to mention the roadside stalls as well especially the Curry Chee Cheong Fun stall.   

The Restoran New Paris  was formerly a "tai chow" stall only by the roadside.  Due to its popularity - again reasonably price good food, it had expanded into this 2 storey shoplots.  There are pictures of their former stall hanging on the wall- maybe this would serve as a reminder to the owners themselves to maintain their standard and keep serving good food and to the diners that this restaurant is still the same even in its new premises. Sometimes it is sad to note that when a restaurant move to its new premises the standard of food would change as well as the prices too!

The sweet sour tangy chilli dip with chopped shallots- not too spicy hot but addictive.

Here are just a few of the dishes which we ordered that night.   The service was fast, we only waited just about 10 minutes before the plates started coming, even though there was a huge crowd and most of the tables were seated.

Steamed fish with chili bean paste.

Mantis (lai liew har) deep fried with salted egg yolk.

Deep fried pork knuckle - crispy skin with the  layer of fat so melting in every mouthful. Best eaten with the chili dip above- very yummylicious!   

 I took the bones home for the Juju and Phow-phow.  See Juju almost finish the whole bone!

Phow-phow enjoying the bone - you cannot go near her now.

We are full and happy so were our doggies too!

I was telling my brother about the Merdeka heritage walk and asked whether he had photographs of "the Mushroom". He took this old box out but sad to say we cannot find any photos. 

Anyway to share this catch-phrase with you from their facebook: "Dalam hati ada Taman, dalam Taman ada Mushroom" Please check out Rakan KL in their facebook. They are having walks every weekend for this Merdeka month.

DIM SUM AT IMPERIAL POT

7/8/2013

I have bought a voucher for dimsum at the Imperial Pot and it was expiring on this very day. So we made our way there for brunch.  

Tea Pot soup with yuk chok Chicken - herbal and tasty soup - definitely refreshing and revitalizing,  there was none of the aftertaste of thirstiness (which is normal with heavy doses of MSG). The tea pot seems bottomless and we were drinking like endless cups (see very mini cups only) of the soup throughout the meal.! In fact, I felt that it would be quiet unnecessary to order the chinese tea unless you are the type that must have chinese tea with your dimsum. 

   

Unagi puff in BBQ sauce(left) and Imperial honey glazed char siew (right).  The pastry is flaky but I am not a fan of unagi but they are tasty alright.  The char siew is nice balance of fat and lean meat but rather ordinary.

The siew mai with fish roe- again fresh meat but ordinary.

The cute little Oinky custard buns.  These buns will win your heart with their cute presentation but taste-wise just custard- on the sweet side too.

We both loved this pot of plain porridge- it's smooth and plain (but not actually tasteless?!) just like the Cantonese style  congee. Perfect foil to the oiliness and richness of the dimsum.
    

Pan fried lotus roots.

Lastly chilled soft silky beancurd with its ginger flavoured syrup. Delicious.

The large kitchen at the back of the restaurant.

The "grand entrance" to the washroom

The above set dimsum meal caters for 2 persons satisfactorily (though could be we both have small appetites!), so we did not ordered anything else from their menu. 

    

SWEET POTATO ONDEH-ONDEH

7/8/2013 

To celebrate Hari Raya Festival tomorrow, I decided to make Ondeh-Ondeh, a Malay Kueh.

Sarah loved this malay kueh but the ones that are normally found in the market are made purely of glutinous rice flour only.  I told her the authentic Ondeh-Ondeh is make with sweet potatoes and glutinous rice.

I bought some orange and yellow sweet potato (200 gm). Steam them till soft and mash them while they are still warm.
I rubbed the sweet potato into 300 gm glutinous rice flour + 2 tbsp. wheat flour (instead of tapioca flour).

Gradually add in about 1/2 cup of water (adjust accordingly) and knead until dough is smooth and spongy. Test with a small piece, it should be able to roll into a ball without breaking. Set aside to rest.

Prepare the filling: I use the grater to get about 1 cup of the gula melaka- much easier than chopping.

To prepare the grated coconut - I use about 2/3 of a coconut, the balance I pan fry them to make some kerisik. Mix grated coconut with 1/4 tsp of salt and steam for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  

Roll a  piece of dough into a ball and then flatten it.  Place about 1 tsp of grated gula melaka in the centre. 

Seal well and roll into ball again.  (Sarah's hand seen here hehehe).

Drop the ondeh-ondeh into pot of boiling water.  When it is cooked through, it will float to the surface of the water.   Scoop up with strainer and place them into the grated coconut.  Shake the plate to coat the ondeh-ondeh evenly.

I test one piece almost immediately.   The dough was still hot and hence was soft but the gula melaka inside has melted.

After cooling the dough is firmer and you get the squirt of gula melaka as you bit into them.
Sarah really liked these and she is surprised that she can taste the sweet potato as well.
Enjoy.

THE FAIRY AND THE COWHERD

14/8/2013

Yesterday (13/8/2013) was the 7th day of the 7th Chinese Lunar month.
What's so significant of this day?
In today's society - nothing.
In the yester-years this is the day we commemorate the ONLY day when the fairy is allow to meet her husband, the cowherd.

Photograph taken from The Star Publication 13/8/2013

I am reminded of the story behind this "special day".  I am telling the story as told by my late mother and hope that the next generation will be able to tell the same story to their children (p.s. even my son was not aware of this folk tale ):

7th day of 7th Lunar month is called the "chat lui" (7th sister) festival.

In the heavenly realm, there were 7 daughters of the Jade Emperor of the Heaven.  One day the 7th daughter saw and fell in love with a cowherd.  Secretly she decided to leave left the heavenly realm and all her riches to become his wife.  They got married.  She became a weaver and he carried on being a cowherd without knowing her background. They seemed to live happily ever after until......

When the Jade Emperor came to know of this, he was very angry and sent the heavenly gods to bring his daughter back.   The godly warriors came and forcibly took her back to heaven. She pleaded with her father.  The Jade Emperor was finally convinced with their love for each other, but she being a heavenly being could not be permitted to stay on earth .    So he ordained that she be allow to see/meet her husband once a year only. That day fall on the 7th day of 7th Lunar month.

There were prayers offered on this night.  My mother could laid the table with 7 types of food or offerings. The must-have  were 1 tin of  growing padi (rice) and 1 tin of growing beansprout. These 2 items were grown and being sold at the market just for this day.  There were also  mini cakes (7 pieces stacked up); a type of small bitter/sour green fruit; oranges, apples,  sponge cake etc and not forgetting the box of face powder ("hai tang" brand)! After prayers, she could tell us to put on some of the face powder, so that we always have smooth complexion and no pimples! True or False?

I just realise that there are 2 types of these powders available - white and pink!

    

Now, how could we know whether the couple actually get to meet?  Of course there is the milky stars that the Jade Emperor cause to form a bridge for her to descend to meet her husband.  

For us, my mother could get us to wash the rooftop in the evening before the prayers (our rooftop was not as glamorous as the one featured in Jay Chou's movie- The Rooftop which by the way is a very good movie).   Early the following morning, we could eagerly rushed up the rooftop and sure enough there would be a tiny line of powder as if it fell from heaven above!   Believe it or not!

So, children did you learn anything besides keeping this tale alive to the next generation?

     

JAPANESE MILK BREAD

6/8/2013

Hip hip hooray! I finally did it!

Doesn't this look tall!

This is the first time I tried using the Tangzhong starter.  I have read about this tangzhong starter in making soft and fluffy bread. After various breadmaking sessions, from the straight method as well as overnight starter dough method; some breads successfully soft and fluffy (feeling elated) and some of which ended up so dense and hard that became my doggies snacks (what did I do wrong!?)

So I finally decided to try this method. Recipe from Food & Travel Magazine November 2012.

Making the tangzhong: 1/3 cup of bread flour mixed with 1 cup of water. Make sure there are no lumps. Cook over low heat, keep stirring all the time till it become "gluey". Remove and set aside to cool.

To prepare the bread dough: Mix together 2 1/2 cup of bread flour (I use 2 cups bread flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour); 2 tsp instant yeast (thanks May, I am in the process of finishing the big packet that you gave me).   Add 120 gm tangzhong starter, 1/2 cup milk and 1 large egg and knead at low speed till dough just starts to come together.  Add 50 gm sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and knead on medium speed to form a ball.  With machine running slowly add 45 gm butter (room temperature) a little at a time. Knead about 15 minutes till it look smooth and elastic.  I took out the dough after 15 minutes and hand knead for another 10 minutes.  The dough is supposed to pass  the "window pane" test at this stage.  However I have done this recipe 4 times yet I am unable to get the "window pane" test and it still ended ok.  

Place the dough in a bowl to proof -  see this is where those hotel's shower caps becomes handy! 

Let dough proof for 40 minutes or till double in size.

Tranfer dough to lightly floured work surface and gently deflate into a big circle.  Cut into 4 pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and let is rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out each ball into oval shape and then do a three-fold as shown.

Flip dough over so that the folds face downwards and roll out again into a long strip. Flip the dough back up and roll it up as like a swiss roll.  

I place each roll into the well-greased loaf tin.  Cover with damp towel and leave to proof 2nd time around 30-40 minutes.

Well risen dough ready for the oven. You can egg-wash (1 egg yolk mix with 2 tbsp water) if desire.  I prefer not to touch the dough at this stage.     

Bake in pre-heat oven at 150C for 30 minutes until golden.(more or less depend on your oven). 

I cannot resist the temptation to take a photo before turning it out of the loaf tin immediately.

I prefer to rub a piece of  cold butter over the crust, you get a soft crust this way.  Oh, a piece of bread stuck to the tin.  So remember to grease the loaf tin well and maybe a bit longer of baking time - maybe extra 5 minutes to get the side brown as well.

Cool completely before cutting.  Wonderfully soft and fluffy.

This will be my favourite recipe now for healthy home-baked bread.  No preservatives and no artificial flavourings and chemicals.  

The last time I baked this bread, I used about 1/2 cup of raisins- sprinkle them onto each strip before rolling them up.  This way the raisins stay inside the bread. Lovely. 

 

HAKKA LUI CHA AT BIG BIG BOWL

4/8/2013 

Sunday dinner. 

One of my favorite food when I feel the need to detoxify my body is Hakka Lui Cha. Its a vegetarian dish and it has all sorts of herbs(vegetables) that are recommended for our body.  

   

I was not feeling well top notch, but I have dropped the pineapple tarts order to my friend in Desa City for the raya.   There is a short cut to Kepong from this area and we decided to take our dinner at the Big Big Bowl Cafe in Metro Prima Park,  Kepong. 

Even the interior decor is green. The cafe occupies the ground floor of the shoplot along the quieter road (or is it because it was a Sunday/pre-public holiday) so it was not too noisy.

Big bowl of green, herbal aromatic,  thick and  hot lui cha- drink to the last drop.

 Vegetarian condiments: rice, preserved radish, lettuce, long beans, peanuts and more greens.

Warm soothing Lemon Honey drink for my sore throat.

This is my 2nd visit to the cafe and I find that the standard of the food is consistent.  Service was a bit slow due to the weekend dinners. Relaxing place for a healthy meal.