Simple life

Kaya

2010-10-24T03:51:00.001-07:00

I have not been 'making' kaya for the last couple of years I think, wasn't too successful at all my previous ttempts. Then out of the blue, my sister asked me to 'make' kaya yesterday. I wasn't too keen but do it lah. I checked out the two recipes of kaya available and finally decided to use the one from the Nyonya Flavours - A complete guide to Penang Straits Chinese Cuisine - the recipe book which I bought in 2004 from MPH bookstore. I was trying to get back that kind of kaya taste and look similar to the type from the old Indian man who used to sell nyonya kueh in Penang near my house when I was little. As I wanted to just make a small portion, I decided to half all the ingredients needed, for example I should need 10 eggs but cut down to 5 but at the end I used 6. Instead of 550 gm sugar I used only 250gm and for coconut milk I should use only 300 ml (half of 600ml) but when I measured the amount of coconut milk needed I poured 350 ml and later realised my mistake but it was too late!

It was not too difficult really but the non-stop stirring part needed 30 minutes. I am fine with this. And to my pleasant surprise the kaya turned out well. It was really that type that I wanted. It wasn't too sweet and even my sister gave me thumbs up!

Grilled Honey Chilli Sauce Chicken Wings

2010-09-26T06:44:00.001-07:00

Today is my niece's birthday and I was called upon to make 'Grilled Honey Chilli Sauce Chicken Wings'. No problem at all, I've made this dish several times and it gets better each time. The recipe is from Amy Beh and is quite straight forward, and the ingredients are easily available. Just chicken wings, chilli sauce (I used Lingam's, it's good), honey, grated ginger, chopped garlic, soya sauce and cooking oil. Actually, the recipe says use Olive Oil but I used 'Knife' cooking oil. I guess Olive Oil is more healthy but I don't have that at home. 'Knife' cooking oil is a good substitute. Try it out, the recipe is available at http://kuali.com/recipes/

Perut Ikan

2010-09-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

This is Nyonya restaurant in SS2. This restaurant has been around for almost 20 years serving nyonya dishes. One of the dishes served here is 'Perut Ikan' (fish intestines). I think only those from Penang, and the older ones only know of this dish. It's known to us as 'pulu ikan'. It is cooked with a variety of vegetables - pineapples, long beans, eggplant but the main one is 'lau heok' or daun kadok, which is called pepper leaves in English. This leaf is grown wild along fences and you can just go around and pluck them. But now with so many developments around, it's hard to find them any more. There is this small little shop in Chowrasta Market where you can go and buy the ingredients. I remembered my (late) mother brought me there before and just asked for ingredients to cook 'perut ikan' and the shopkeeper will just get them all and placed in a plastic bag. As for the fish intestines, I remembered we have to soak them in bottles and changed the water several times. It's real smelly mind you! Nowadays I think very few people cook this at home. You can get this in some Nyonya restaurants though. In 2008, I found the recipe published in the Star Papers.

The 'perut ikan' served at Nyonya Restaurant is not too bad but there is very little daun kadok in it and a bit too sourish. Nevertheless, the second or third best is still better than nothing! My (late) mother's 'pulu ikan' is still the best!

Sweet Potato Soup (Sweet)

2010-08-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

Do you know that the rice cooker is so 'multi-purpose'? It's not just for cooking rice, you can use it for steamboat too. But today, first time ever, I used it to cook 'sweet potato' soup. Fill the rice cooker with water, switch on the power and wait for it to boil. Meanwhile, just prepare the ginger - you have to bruise it after removing the skin. For the sweet potatos - remove the skin and cut it into small cubes. Remember to place the potato in a bowl of water, with water covering it otherwise, it will turn black.

Ok, when water starts to boil, put in the ginger and let it boil for 5 minutes. Add rock sugar (amount depending how sweet you want the soup to be) to the boiling water and once the sugar is dissolved, you can then add the sweet potato. Depending on how you want the 'texture' of the sweet potato, I like it a bit hard but some prefers it to be cooked until very soft. So after about 5 minutes, remove one piece of the sweet potato and test the 'softness' using a fork. Remember that even after switching off the power, the cooker will remain hot for a little while and this heat will continue to cook the sweet potato.

It's very easy and simple. It takes less than 30 minutes to cook it. Try it some time!

And in case you don't know, sweet potato is a vegetable.

The Pasembur Man

2010-07-03T00:50:00.001-07:00

This is the pasembur man in Penang, one of the rare ones left. There are 2 types of pasembur, which is also known as Indian Rojak - of course Indian and the other one - Chinese. The Chinese type of pasembur is also called "Chea Hu" in Hokkien and is of lighter 'version' in terms of the gravy, whereas the Indian type is 'heavier' in gravy and flavour, but nonetheless both equally mouth watering. It's a matter of preference. But they have one thing in common - very expensive. You pick the stuff - fried tauhu, prawn fritters, sotong, hard boiled egg, etc (all these stuff are pre-cooked or fried) that you want and they will cut them out in bite size and add in sliced cucumber and turnip and lastly, the gravy which we commonly called 'kuah'. If you want it more spicy, add chilli paste and yummy - you have your plate of pasembur!

KAU KEI

2010-04-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

What is this Kau Kei? Well my late mother used to tell us that this vegetable is good for our eyes. At that time, we were not bothered to ask any questions. We do consume it once in a while but now that has changed.

A couple of weeks back, while doing her weekly marketing, my sister saw a young man buying this type of vegetable and overheard him telling the vegetable seller that his mom had problems with her eyesight and apparently after consuming several rounds of this vegetable, her eyesight has improved. Now this has prompted my sister to include this vegetable in her weekly 'must have'. I have no complaints and no problem eating this vegetable on a weekly basis because I want my eyesight to improve also.

The stem of this vegetable is very hard and full of thorns. So when plucking the leaves, one has to be very careful. The leaves can taste bitter and best to make a vegetable soup out of this with some minced meat to make it tasty.

I even went to check out what is the scientific name of this vegetable. This is the website http://new.dpi.vic.gov.au/notes/horticulture/vegetables/ag1393-glossary-of-asian-vegetables I went to and it is very good. It shows you what is this called in other countries too.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop!

2010-03-10T04:38:00.001-08:00

I found it! I found it! The counter foil of the Michael Jackson History World Tour 96 concert ticket. After so many years, the print has faded. It was on 29 October 1996 at Stadium Merdeka. The ticket was RM160-00, quite a lot of money at that time and the seat is the cement seat at the stands. Nevermind, as long as we can get to see the King of Pop, it was alright. I remember asking my boss for permission to leave early from work, just in case I got stuck in a jam and could not reach there in time! My boss was quite sporting, he let me go off early!

I also found another ticket counterfoil - Roman Tam Concert - 1998.

Year of the Tiger in Penang!

2010-02-27T02:07:00.000-08:00

Went back to Penang on 11Feb 2010 for Chinese New Year celebrations. This year, the weather in Penang was simply unbearable. It was not just hot, but VERY the HOT! I was supposed to come back to KL on 19Feb Friday but decided to get back earlier instead. Though KL was also hot, it rained in the evenings so it was still bearable!

This time around, never got around Penang to taste all the good hawker stuff. Even the nasi kandar stall at Transfer Road which used to be opened on the first and second day of CNY was closed.

ANTS! ANTS! ANTS

2010-02-27T01:27:00.000-08:00

Do you know what is this? ANTS! Yes, I've set a trap for them using the ant killer. This is the only way I can get rid of them without using Ridsect because my nose cannot take that stuff. You can get this ant killer from Ace Hardware. It's about RM10+.

Just place a few drops of the ant killer on a plastic sheet and place it in the path of the ants. I think it must be sweet and the ants will start sucking it. However, if you see the ants avoiding it, what you can do is to 'catch' a few ants and drop them around the ant killer to force them 'drink' it (which is a poison I think) and after a while, you can see other ants joining their 'friends' - see picture. Best is to leave it overnight. The next morning, you will notice that the ants are gone and the ant killer dried up - all sucked up by the ants! During this time, do not spray any Ridsect.

Welcome to the Year of the Tiger 2010!

2010-01-31T22:19:00.000-08:00

It's another 2 weeks' more before the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year falls on 14th February 2010 this year - it's the year of the TIGER! It's also Valentine's Day!

The decoration at Pavilion is nice. I like the hanging lanterns right at the entrance. It gives you the 'mood'. I like it!

You should see the entrance of Tangs too! Everything is red here and you can see many shoppers snapping photographs using the decoration here as the backdrop. But this purple lion caught my eye. I've never seen one in that color before.

Kong Hey Fatt Choy to all my friends! Wishing you happiness, great health and prosperity!

OIL PULLING

2010-01-31T01:11:00.000-08:00

I started oil pulling late last month and couldn't stop since. I won't call it addictive but just that I want to do it every morning!

It started after I'd purchased a bottle of coconut oil from an organic shop back in Penang. It was supposed to be taken orally - one or two teaspoons daily in the morning, on an empty stomach. Of course this is for health reasons. But it's not easy to swallow the coconut oil on an empty stomach. No, its definitely not for the faint hearted.

After a few mornings, I decided to stop. But what am I going to do with this bottle of coconut oil? Then I remembered I read something about oil pulling in one of the many emails received. So I decided to check it out on the internet and found this website http://www.oilpulling.org/ Read quite extensively about oil pulling on the internet and decided to give it a try.

Apparently, oil pulling can heal headaches, ulcers, bronchitis, toothaches and many more illnesses. It's actually a very simple process, but you will a need to get up earlier in the morning to do it. It takes about 15-20 minutes to do it. You can go to the website to read more. I've finished using that first bottle of coconut oil and now I've bought another bottle of Sunflower oil, it's better to get the organic type.

After oil pulling for almost a month, I'd noticed that my mouth is not so dry. My sister has just started and she hopes it will cure her mouth ulcers.

Pak Tong Koh

2009-12-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

After visiting the herbal tea stall, most people will then walk to the next stall to buy either the pak tong koh and hum cheen pang. They operate only in the evenings and could be as old as the herbal tea stall - 60 years!

Famous herbal tea in Penang

2009-12-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

This herbal tea stall is another gem of Penang, operating at this same spot for more than 60 years - Cintra Street Penang. If I'm not wrong, it was operated by 2 sisters but only 1 elderly lady remains here and I think the other sister now operates another shop in Kimberley Street. But I still prefer to come back here. Apart from the herbal tea, try their cooling and thirst quenching 'chuk chea' drink. They packed this drink in plastic bottles and are kept n the freezer. It's sold at RM4.00 for the big bottle (2009).

My school badge - St George's Girls' School, Penang

2009-12-04T18:26:00.000-08:00

My school badge! I found it in one of the drawers in my Penang house. It's still in 'good condition' - the color has not faded. Not bad quality considering I'd left school so many years' ago! If I'm not wrong, it was 50 or 60 sen those days. And you'll be fined 10 sen by the prefects if you did not wear it in school.

Best Roti Canai - Transfer Road, Penang

2009-12-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

This is still the best roti canai for me. This roti canai stall has been operating at this spot since I was a little kid. But if I'm not wrong, I started eating the roti canai when I was in Standard 2. At that time, the curry was too hot for me, so I will just buy the roti and eat it with sugar. But after a while, I started to take it with the curry and never stop since! But this stall is not for the 'faint hearted', it's location is just beside a covered monsoon drain and some times, there's extra 'flavour' coming from somewhere else!

My favourite Nasi Kandar

2009-12-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

This nasi kandar stall is located in a kopitiam at the corner of Argyll Road and Transfer Road, opposite the abandoned Kowloon Hotel and Caltex station. If you want to sample delicious nasi kandar, this is where you should head to. It operates only in the mornings and there's even a board to ask you to queue up. But I'd forgotten to take a picture of the stall as I was too eager to sample the food. Look - how delicious!

Famous Char Kueh Kak - Macalister Lane, Penang

2009-12-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

My Penang trip is not complete without visiting this 'Char Kueh Kak' stall located at Macalister Lane. They are open for business only in the mornings. This stall has been operating for many many years, since I was a kid. At that time, if you 'tar pau', they will wrap the kueh kak on a piece of banana leave and newspaper, in a triangular shape with a long toothpick but nowadays they will place the kueh kak in a plastic bag!

My Favourite Laksa stall - Kek Seng, Penang Road

2009-12-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

I was back in Penang on 20th November and on reaching Penang Island, I headed straight for my favourite laksa stall at Kek Seng Coffee shop in Penang Road. This coffee shop is very old, more than 60 years I think but still thriving.

My father used to bring us here when we were kids for their home made durian ice cream. They still serve this durian ice cream and is delicious. It's not too sweet but full of durian flavour.

I'm just wondering why the notice shows NOW AVAILABLE when it was available since we were kids, many moons ago!

There is a Lobak stall here too and not too bad too.

Lizard in my hair!

2009-07-27T07:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, as I removing the table cloth from the knob, I noticed something jumped into my hair. Instinct had me using my hand to vigorously brush off whatever it was that has stucked there. Oh my god, it was actually a lizard. I didn't know it until it jumped onto the floor and escaped through the back door. I noticed the lizard was without its tail. I remember the tail of the lizard will come off when it sensed there is danger, and it will help them to escape. What if the tail is still stucked in my hair. I quickly used my hand to close my right ear. Then to my relief, I noticed the tail was on the floor still moving.

So the lizard was actually hiding behind the table cloth. And don't know for whatever reasons, it was trying to hide somewhere else but guess I was too quick and the lizard was to slow to react, it jumped blindly and landed in my hair. I remember some one told me before that the lizard has got to rest on a hard surface, luckily it didn't land on my neck or else I would have screamed my head off!

Road Ranger

2009-07-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Daily, I will have to pass Menara MAA on my way to work. Currently, there are ongoing road works around this area but thank god, traffic is still smooth until a few days ago, I noticed traffic slowed down when crossing an unlevel stretch. I believe the construction workers have dug a shallow ditch to lay cables and (as usual) did not level or tar back the road after completion.

Two days ago, without realising how 'deep' the ditch, I heard a sound from the left side of my car when crossing. I still did not do anything to 'correct' this situation even though I was cursing inside. Until yesterday! I was early to work and passing that area at 7.10 am. To my horror, I saw this jam in front of me - all caused by vehicles slowing down due to this 'ditch'. I told myself I have to do something about this. So when I reached the office I called Lite FM and reported this matter and hoped that they will highlight it to the authorities.

To my pleasant surprise on this beautiful Friday morning, the 'ditch' was levelled and tarred. Thanks to Lite FM! Great work!

So to all road users, if you see a problem, please call Lite FM at 03-95438880 and they will help us to solve the 'road' problems!

Sardines for dinner

2009-07-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

Do you know that it's quite easy to 'spice' up a canned of sardines. Yesterday evening, I decided to have sardines for dinner. I cut up some shallots, about 6 of them, 4 chilli padies, 1 big red chilli. Opened the can of sardines, have the bones removed. First I add a little oil, just half a teaspoonful to a non-stick pan. I didn't wait for the oil to 'get' hot, I put in the shallots, lightly fried it for a little while and added in the sardines. Next the chilli padies and red chilli. Poured in more tomato ketchup, 1/4 cup of water, a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of sugar. Stirred a little and let it boil, and yummy a spicy bowl of sardines to go with white rice. Should have taken a picture of the end product. I'll try to next time!

Cross stitch embroidery

2009-07-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

One of my hobbies is doing cross stitch embroidery. I have completed quite a number of pieces. I'll have them framed and give it to my friends, colleagues as gifts for Christmas, weddings, house-warming, etc. These are the balance that I still have with me. I haven't got them framed up yet. A little lazy on my part and also it is quite costly too. But I think I should do it soon.

Day 1 - blogging

2009-07-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to create my own blog ages ago but just didn't bring myself to do it. Finally, today - Saturday - 18th July, 2009 I did it! There are so many things that I want to share so this will give me the opportunity. Give me a little bit of time, I will dig up what I have stored and share with anyone who would like to visit my blog.