A Malaysian Kitchen in Manchester

Nasi Lemak

2009-09-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

In the few weeks since I came back from Malaysia, I found myself craving for Malaysian food. This always happens after every visit. So, I guess this is one of the easiest dishes to replicate accurately, anywhere in the world.

To prepare:

Rice:
Boil it in coconut milk, pandan leaves (I used essence which I brought back from my hols!) and a pinch of salt.

Sambal:
Blended red chillies, shallots, garlic, belacan (prawn paste), and tamarind juice.

Method.
Soak some ikan bilis (dried anchovies) in warm water for 2 hours, then dry and fry till crispy. Remove.

Fry onions till brown, add sambal and continue frying till fragrant. Add the anchovies and salt and sugar to taste.

Serve with boiled egg (like I did) and roasted groundnuts and cucumber (like I didn't!)

Hokkien Mee at Section 20, PJ

2009-09-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

Location: Restoran Millenium Eighty Six
Section 20, Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya.
I don't know the exact road, but its a cornershop opposite the entrance of Giant supermarket.

Those old enough to remember will know that Hokkien mee used to come with squid and more meat / prawns that the ones you tend to get today. Since the mid 90s, I have found that the quality of this dish around KL and PJ has detriorated somewhat, and most of the regular vendors sold soggy noodles with very little meat and prawns in it. And more importantly, my favourite ingredient, the squid slices, seem to have diesppeared completely from the dish. Even the pieces of fried pork fat seem to have been reduced over the years.

I was reminiscing about this dish with an old school friend when he told me of this restaurant that cooked this dish the "old style", ie. with charcoal fire and with lots of meat, prawns, squid and pork fat. So off we went to savour it, and I was not disappointed at all! I'm afraid that the photo does not do it justice, but that's due to my lack of photography skills. The noodles had just the right texture and right amount of sauce and lots of pork fat pieces... which I left, but it was important to flavour the dish. Overall a very satisfying meal and worth another visit on my next trip to Malaysia.

We also had this Cantonese fried crispy noodle dish, which was very nice too. Again, it had lots of ingredients and not full of sauce like many other places.

To finish off the evening, we ordered some satay which was average but still very satisfying. I think this seller bought his satay from a bulk dealer as I have had identical tasting satay at many other places in PJ.

Whitney Houston - New ALbum - I Look To You

2009-08-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

Released 19/10/2009

When I heard about this new album being released, I looked forward to the new tracks from my favourite singer from the 80s and 90s. She looked absolutely radiant on the cover of the album. However, upon first listen, I was truly shocked!
What happened to the silky smooth yet so powerful and soulful vocals which she was so well known for??
I have never heard an artiste deteriorate so much in such a short time ... just compare this title track from her latest album:

to her 1998 album, My Love Is your Love...

it sounds like she has aged 40 years since that album!

While the songs in the latest album sounded well crafted and contemporary, they are simply not the Whitney we know from the past.
Even this big ballad, I didn't know my own strength, penned by the legendary Diane Warren, was poorly executed.

She now clearly struggles to hit the high notes, resulting the song being sung in no more than two octaves, which is a huge departure from the days when she had a five octave range.

So, is this the end of the Whitney we know from the past? Somehow, I feel it is going to be almost impossible to recover from her vocal deterioration, especially as she is also advancing in years. Let's hope I am wrong.

Jai Hind Indian Restaurant, KL

2009-08-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

This was the only not-nearby place I went to TWICE, during my 3 week visit to Malaysia earlier this month. Despite the variety of good food available all over the place in KL, I had to pay a second visit to this rather humble, run down establishment at Jalan Melayu, off Jalan Masjid India ( aka "Little India" ) in KL. It is located just 50m from the Masjid Jamek LRT station.

Although "Indian food" is widely available in KL, most of them are actually Malaysian - Indian food. Most would associate Roti Canai as being "Indian" but I doubt if you can find this bread easily all over India. The Jai Hind serves authentic North Indian food, a cuisine I have got accustomed to over the last 25 years in the UK where good Indian food is readily available in all big cities.

It was lunchtime and we were not very hungry due to a heavy breakfast. However, the sight of a person turning out fresh naan breads at the entrace of this restaurant enticed us in.

For me, a well baked fresh naan takes a lot of beating. And Jai Hind did not disappoint. The bread was served fresh from the tandoor oven and you pick your accompanying meat/veg/sauce from about 20 dishes available.

On this occassion, I had a keema curry ( coarsely minced lean goat meat with potatoes) and a chana curry (chick peas). Wish I had a bigger appetite as the food was absolutely delicious! Same style as what I have had for many years in the UK, except twice as good! The naan looked plain and boring but it was sheer perfection with a crispy outer layer and fluffy on the inside. We ordered another one just to eat on its own. 2 x this platter, together with a couple of cups of tea, cost RM16. Ok, not the cheapest Indian food in KL, but not dear either, especially for the quality.

On a separate visit, we had a cauliflower potato curry, just to see how it compares to the best cauliflower potato curry in the world (IMO!) from Yadgar Cafe in Manchester. Amazingly, it tasted almost identical! How likely is that?!

This place is a must-visit for all lovers of Indian food, but be warned that, on a hot afternoon, the heat in the place is almost unbearable. Half the fans are not working and if you have the misfortune of sitting near the two ovens making naan and chapattis, the discomfort could kill your appetite!

Hawker centre, ss2 PJ.

2009-08-10T02:41:00.000-07:00

My last visit to Malaysia may have only been 9 months ago, but still long enough for me to miss the food here, especially the hawker fare. So, on one of the first nights of this trip, I paid a visit to the hawker centre in SS2, also known as Wai Sik Kai (greedy street). Could not decide what to eat, so ordered a bit of everything ... well, more than just a "bit". But as it was cheap and the value of the sterling had appreciated against the ringgit over the last few months, I thought I'd indulge in this little feast pictured below.

I have no idea as to the name of the stalls we bought from, so as a guide, the first picture here is a grill fish (ikan bakar) vendor. All the food was bought at or around his stall.

This sambal fried pea in pods (or directly translated from Chinese, four angled peas ) were average, from the said grill fish stall. The sauce lacked sweetness and the peas were not crunchy fresh. But as he made this as a special request ( these peas are normally only used as a side garnish ), he is excused!

This char siu in Chicken Rice was also average. Char siu tasted very generic, but can't really expect too much for rm4!

Kam Heong lala from a neighbouring grill fish seller was quite good. You can always tell where was not enough of it to go round!

Pineapple fried rice from the thai food stall was also ok only! A bit too sweet and soggy, but I am happy with the amount of ingredients in it, especially the large prawns.

Prawn noodles were the best! IT was as good as any I have ever tasted and I look forward to having this again when I get the chance to go there again.

Razor clams in belacan from the same grill fish seller has a lovely tasting spicy sauce, but somehow, I felt there were more shells than actual meat!

This wat tan hor is not even worth mentioning! Rather below average.

After the meal we had a walk around the pasar malam and had some cempedak goreng ( jackfruit fritter) from this fella!

Overall a very satisfying evening's dining!

Seen these for sale in the market

2009-07-31T21:11:00.000-07:00

After a few days in KL, I have had a few culinary experiences worth adding to this blog. However, something I saw yesterday made me wonder, and although it may be related to food in Malaysia, I really hope it is not!

Doing the tourist thing yesterday, I walked along Petaling Street to take in the sights and street food and being hassled by store keepers whenever I even glanced for a micro second at their wares. Halfway down the street, I saw a discreet dark alley, with no signboards, drawing my curiosity. Well, as the saying goes, it killed the cat, but this could be true in the literal sense. This place turned out to be a wet market, like any other in Malaysia. However, I noticed that one stall had these two caged cats on display. They were adult cats and not particularly cute. So I cant see why anyone would be interested in them....... unless they were for, like everything else being sold here, food. They looked quite well fed too, which further backed up this idea.

So, can anyone reading this clear this up for me.... are these cats sold for food? If so, have you ever tasted them, and is there a restaurant that serves them?

I would not consciousely eat a feline creature, but if someone tells me it is a "must try" delicacy, then I may approach it with an open mind!

Restaurant Greenview, Section 19, PJ

2009-07-25T00:45:00.000-07:00

Can't believe its time for another visit to Malaysia already! I haven't even finished blogging about my last one yet! Thanks to Air Asia, travelling to KL from the UK has been made a lot more affordable this year. Even though I am from Manchester, it is still worth the trouble of driving 4 hours to London, paying to park the car for the duration of the holiday. Ok.. I have not actually flown with Air Asia before, but I am really hoping I wont regret the experience. More to come in the coming days!

This is a restaurant known to many PJ residents for its seafood. Located just off the roundabout where the factories of the Rothmans and Sin Chew Jit Poh factories .... hmm.. dunno if these places still exist today.

Always seem to be crowded on a Saturday night but we got there quite late and managed to get a table quickly.

Despite specialising in seafood, they do do a really good roast suckling pig. This half piglet came to around rm70.

I have no idea what this is called! It was made with a deep fried battered yam basket with stir fried chicken, mushrooms, cashews and veg inside it. Looks nicer than it taste, unfortunately. Not bad, just not outstanding.

Their fried ho fun with white fish slices was very good. Gravy was smooth and thick and yummy! I was not able to re-create this at home!

And this is their trademark dish - Sang Har Meen - or prawn fried noodles. Really rich tasting gravy with lage fresh prawns cooked just right. Noodles were fried to just the right level of crispiness too.

Soor, I got no prices for this visit as I did not pay for it. Anyway, I am sure I will be going there again in the next couple of weeks, so I will make a not of the prices this time.

Making the perfect Cantonese fried ho fun (rice stick) dish at home!

2009-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is a favourite of my wife's. Whenever we eat out, whether it be in the UK or when visiting Malaysia, she always asks for Cantonese Fried Ho Fun. It is actually quite easy to make at home. Only problem is that you need a tiny handful of a lot of ingredients to make it an interesting dish and as a result, I can only make this when I have enough leftovers accumulated in the freezer.

This dish consist of prawns, pork slices, char siu, fishballs, squid and pak choy.

It needs to be fried separately:

The fresh noodles (ho fun / rice stick) is tossed into a hot well greased wok, or a less greased non stick pan, then fried with a bit of light soy and sweet soy sauce. Keep sprinking it with water to ensure they stay separate, till lightly charred. If they start sticking together, then you have overcooked it. This is the most important part of the dish to get right and if you get it wrong, the whole dish will not taste right!

Then put the noodles aside.

To cook the sauce... you have to adjust the cooking method according to how hot you can get your wok. Assuming you are doing this at home and your wok does not achieve "wok hei"....

I first brown some garlic and ginger, then add all the ingredients except the pork. Fry lightly then remove.

Next, I brown more ginger and garlic and add marined pork slices. Add bones too if you have any. When they are fragrant, add chicken stock (enough to cover your noodles) and bring to boil. Add rice wine, oyster sauce, salt and sugar into it. This will take awhile to heat up if cooking at home, so it is like stewing the pork, hence why you add the bones. When the mixture starts bubbling add cornstarch to thicken. Then add the rest of the cooked ingredients and remove from heat within 1 minute. Add egg white for Malaysian style "wat tan hor" or leave as it is. I did not add the egg white cuz I dont want to waste the yolk!

Then, just pour over the noodles, remove bones and serve.

If your cooker is hot enough to heat up the stock within seconds, you do not need to cook this part separately. Just add everything in and fry them, add cornstatch and pour onto noodles.

Michael Jackson is not dead!

2009-07-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are 10 reasons why Michael Jackson might have faked his death.

1. Obvious! He was unable to fulfil his commitment to the 50 London dates but still needed to pocket the money.

2. He needed a boost in the sales of his music to pay off his debts.

3. Does Joe Jackson (his dad) look like a father grieving for a deceased son?

4. He was getting death threats from loan sharks for debts he was unable to pay.

5. His face has fallen apart so badly he can no longer face the public.

6. Nobody can really identify whose body it was. MJ never appeared in public without makeup and prosthetic face parts.

7. Clips of his rehearsal from the night before did not show a man who had eaten nothing but pills.

8. The real MJ has disappeared from public view in 1990. We have been seeing an imposter all these years. Hence the child abuse issues, and also this one can't sing! Listen to his public performances between 1988 and 1992 and look at the pics below. Clearly not the same person. Anyone can learn to dance like him, but not sing!

1988

1992

9. He was facing a new set of child abuse allegations. He neither had the money nor the will to fight anymore and knew he would not get away with it a third time.

10. Many major celebrities who died in the US had an open casket. Think Elvis, and James Brown. Why cant we see MJ's body? His face would certainly not look any different to whenhe was alive. What was (not) there to hide?

10th july 2009

Another bit about point 8 above:

Compare the singing of the song Human Nature in a 1987 and 1992 concert. He does not sound like the same person. The one in 1992 can hardly sing! I can sing better that this imposter!

1987

1992

Tandoori Chicken

2009-07-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and its barbeque time! I love having a bbq because it is the only time I get to cook certain dishes that cannot be reproduced properly in the kitchen.

Here is an internationally famous dish eaten all over the world. In the past, I have tried making the marinade from scratch, but it does not beat this cheap 69p pack from the Indian grocer down the road. In fact, this is so good, it's easily as good as the average takeaway in the UK or the roadside tandoori chicken sellers in KL. Only downside is that I would not have used any red colouring if I had mixed it myself.

The main ingredients are simple:
Plain yoghurt and this pack of tandoori mix.

Mix it with lime juice. oil and kewra water (I think this is pandan essence) and marinate chicken for at least 4 hours.

After that, cook it in grill, oven or barbeque fire.

Then serve!

Old Posts with missing Pictures

2009-07-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am looking to re-upload the missing photos linked so some of my older posts. I dont really have time to check it all, so please tell me which ones you want to see and I will try to re-upload the photos

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett dies

2009-06-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Sad day for fans of these two entertainment legends. Both have played a big part in my growing up and I will always remember the moment I heard the news today.

Farrah was probably the most beautiful woman in the world in her prime and although she had limited acting ability, managed through hard graft, to earn respectability as an actress.

I can't say anything about MJ that has not been said already. Despite his weirdness and eccentricities, he was truly an undisputed musical genius.

RIP, Farrah and Michael. I managed to find these pics of them in their prime, and how I want to remember them before the ravages of age and diseases.

Swine Flu A(H1N1) in Malaysia

2009-06-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

EDIT: 4th July 2009:
Have a read about the experience of this Australian father and son being held in quarantine here, after one was diagnosed with AH1N1.

Having read this article in the Star today, I have googled but could not find further information. I felt I therefore, that I had to write an email to the tourism board (enquiries@tourism.gov.my) to clarify the country's stance on this matter. I keep seeing these "Malaysia Truly Asia" adverts here on a daily basis, but I feel people enticed by it could unknowingly be subjecting themselves to a 7 day prison sentence!

Malaysia does not have a Swine Flu problem (under 100 confirmed cases to date), but the government's policy on swine flu could keep the visitors away.

I shall be publishing any response I receive on this blog.

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing on behalf of the many people around the world who may be planning to visit Malaysia. Having read the article below in the Star today, what assurance can you provide us, that foreign visitors from the same countries will not also be unnecessarily quarantined as a result?

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/23/nation/20090623120307&sec=nation

The country relies heavily on the tourism industry, and in the current economic climate, it certainly cannot afford to lose out on this avenue of income because of government policy, which is not in line with the World Health Organisation's stance on the virus. Back in April, the WHO stated:

"Given the widespread presence of the virus, … containment of the outbreak is not feasible. The current focus should be on mitigation measures.."

I shall be publishing this email in my blog here and would be grateful for a response and assurances you can provide which may affect the readers' decision whether to visit Malaysia or not.

Thanks in Advance

Mini food crawl with some floggers

2009-06-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

Back in November last year, when I was in Malaysia, I met up with veteran bloggers Teckiee, WMW and Preciouspea. As my visit was brief, there was no time to gather more people together but we had a good time and they introduced me to a couple of places I have never been and ate food I have never eaten before.

First off was this place in SS2, PJ. Not far from the LRT station near Sea Port school. It was a hawker street not unlike the one at section 17, but seemed cleaner and had more stalls.

Preciouspea had this bowl of rice porridge (congee). The most loaded congee I have ever encountered! I wish I had more stomach, then I would have tried this dish too, as well as the one I was having!

Then we had a bowl of some vegetarian dumplings. Looked like dim sum or yong tau foo, but it was very different. I dont really know how to describe this, except that it was different from anything I have ever tasted before, not in a bad, nor good way.. if you understand what I mean. Anyway, its very cheap and if you know and can get to this place, you have got to try for yourself to make up your mind about it.

My dish was a humble plate of Economy noodles. It was neither mee nor meehoon. Something in between. It was cooked with shredded vegetables and had a dollop of green chilli sauce on the side. It had a very home-cooked taste to it, which was a refreshing change to the msg-laden food you tend to get from hawkers.

After that, we moved on to Taman Tun Dr Ismail. I remember this area well and used to frequent it when it was a new town back in the 1980s. It has not changed very much apart from some of the gloss of from the area seem to be missing and it is not as clean as it used to be.

We went to a "famous" satay outlet called Satay Kajang Haji Samuri. It's the first time I have seen satay being cooked from a kitchen at the back of a shop, rather than in front, outside a shop. Looks like a sanitised version of you traditional grotty satay stall.

When they served the peanut sauce, the chilli was in a separate bowl. I think more satay sellers should do this as it allows you to adjust the spiciness of your peanut sauce.

We then had a plate consisting of perut (stomach / beef tripe ) satay on the top row pictured and chicken satay. I am really no expert judge in satay, but these taste as nice as all the satay I had on my recent visits. No less, no better. However, it was the first time I ever had stomach satay. I would love to have this again the next time I visit as I am a big fan of offal.

And so that rounded off the night. Thanks teckiee, wmw, preciouspea for the company and the food.

Thai Tom Yam Baked Fish

2009-06-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

This dish was inspired by a dish I had from a food court in one of the many malls in KL when I visited last year. I am sure most of the Malaysians reading this have come across Thai food stalls selling set meals like ikan Bawal & lala with rice, sotong and udang with rice ....etc. I had the bawal version and sussed out how it was made from the strong taste of Tom Yam in the dish.

So, I started with the fish, seasoned with salt, sugar and ginger, and separately, chopped lemon grass, onions, ginger and garlic, and some Tom Yam paste.

Firstly, I fry the chopped ingredients together till slightly browned, then add the Tom Yam paste and fry lightly till fragrant.

Then spread the mixture on both sides of the fish and add slices of tomato on top.

After that, I wrapped the lot in foil and baked it in the oven. Baking takes up to three times a long as steaming, so allow for this.

Here is the result ... not the best looking, I know, together with the broken bits because I was checking to ensure it was fully cooked! It could have done with a sprinkling of spring onions and coriander here for aesthetic reasons, but, it tasted wonderful, regardless!

Jamaican Curried Goat

2009-05-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at a Jamaican Curried Goat ... it has got to be called this way, and not "Curry Goat"! First had this at a local Caribbean takeaway and loved it. It tastes a lot lighter than Indian or south east asian curry, mainly because it does not contain any cream, yoghurt or coconut milk. Somehow, almost refreshing in taste, and still full of flavour. Then when I saw it being done in a cookery programme, I thought I just had to have a go myself as it was so simple.

First, I marinated the meat overnight with Jamaican Curry Powder (tbh, I have no idea what makes this different from other curry powder, but I thought I'd try it anyway!), thyme, chopped onions, chilli peppers, garlic, ginger, and capsicum.

Then the lot is added into a West Indian Dutch pot, and browned. After that, add water and stew for however long it takes to make it semi tender. This depends on your meat. You can use tender lamb which will take less time, or old mutton which will take hours!

After that add carrots and potatoes. Continue stewing and this will thicken the ssauce for you.

And when the meat is finally tender, serve with rice!

Homemade Char Siu (bbq roast pork) - again!

2009-04-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

This must be my third blog about this dish. Why? Well, I see it as a constant work in progress. Using the Char Siu I had from Seremban Char Siu as a template (see UGWUG's blog), which I had the pleasure of sampling on my last visit when Nic from KHKL brought me there.

On this occassion, I thought I got the perfect cut for it ... a shoulder joint. Nicely marbled, and not with big streaks of fat like in belly pork.
The ingredients for the marinade this time are:

Hoi Sin sauce - has to be the Lee Kum Kee dark red variety. Never use the brown type.
Dark soy - I stopped using light soy so that the marinade has a thicker and richer texture
5 Spice powder - Preferably fried in oil with a bit of garlic
Salt - to taste
Maltose Honey - Bee honey has a stronger taste than this, which is not desirable. Maltose gives it the sweetness without the smell.
Unsweetened Orange Juice - I prefer this over lemon as it gives it more of a sweet tang to the dish

Marinate overnight.

The cooking process is very important for the texture of the meat. I always grill it as domestic over-heating does not generate enough heat quick enough to seal the juices in to keep the meat succulent and moist. You have to cut the meat according to you grill's capability. Thinner if you have the less hot electric grill.

I turn over as soon as the meat has dried up. And keep turning over .. about 4 times ... until it is charred to your liking. If you have done this correctly, you can tell, because your grill pan will be dry and you have kept all the juices in the meat. If not, then you will see lots of liquid in the pan and the meat could be dry and rough inside.

At the end of the process, if the meat is not glazed looking, you can glaze with a mixture of heated honey and light soy.

Here is the dish fresh from the oven.

Here is a piece being sliced.

Nasi Kandar

2009-04-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Some pics I took from my visit to M'sia last year.
In the middle of a hectic shoppping trip in one of the huge malls in KL, it's great to be able to take a breather in a food court which serves up to hundreds of different dishes, to replenish your energy. However, the problem is that there is such a big variety to choose from, and when your time there is limited, what do you do?

For me, I always resort to the Nasi Kandar stall. A plate of plain or coconut rice, and I select the meat and veg from dozens of mainly spicy dishes on display.

This one above was from the food court in 1-Utama and consisted of a fried kembung fish (like mackerel) marinated with spices, four angled beans in sambal, and brown reconstituted squid in sambal.

This one was from Mid Valley mall in Bangsar. Seemed a bit pricey, so I dunno if I have been ripped off or not. It cost me RM10. Consisted of long beans with white squid strips in sambal, cockles in sambal, and a type of four angled bean (direct translation from its Chinese name!), also with sambal!

A you can probably tell, I am quite fond of sambal (chilli paste with other spices like belacan) over the curry dishes, mainly because I can easily get curries in Manchester, but not good sambal.

These were not the best nasi kandar I have ever had, but when you have been living away for so long, anything will do!

Prawn Biryani

2009-04-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

I hope it was obvious that my last post was an April Fool! I'd have to be really desperate to resort to eating that!

For this post, I am debuting my new Panasonic TZ5 online! It is the most automatic camera you will find, but I am still trying to get to grips with what available settings it has. Unbelievably, it does not have manual focus mode. However, it does have a preset for food pics! The last pic here was using that mode, without a flash. However, I find it less sharp than my old Pentax Optio 30. Any suggestions?

And onto today's meal....
A quick and easy dish for a busy lifestyle!

How this dish turns out depend on what spices you use and also the type of rice. Foe the prefect Biryani, you must use Basmati rice as it has that fluffy texture and ability to absorb the taste of the spices used. Be careful not to use too much water when cooking the rice or it will get crushed under its own weight and become soggy and stick together.

First, I use my favourite curry powder, mix into a paste, the fry with onions, capsicum, ann prawns. After that, set aside.

Then, separately, boil rice. Add one tbsp oil so they dont stick together. Salt to taste. When rice is nearly done, pour in the prawns on top. The flavour of the prawns and spices will slowly seep into the rice for the remaining 15 minutes of cooking and standing time. This is quite different from the traditional method, which require you to bury the meat with the semi-cooked rice, but it is quicker.

And there you have it!

Tikus Stew

2009-04-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

Tikus is the Malaysian word for mouse. In these hard economic times, we have to be resourceful and use all the resources available to us to save money. As a meat eater, I have no hang ups about what meat I eat as long as its edible. After all, what diffrence is there between a horse and a cow, apart from the sentiments some people have for the former? Likewise, having had rabbit, I dont see how different mice would be, apart from the size.

As the opportunity presented itself to me via a few unexpected visits, I managed to trap a few of these little creatures for my own consumption.

Cleaning, skinning and gutting them required the delicate skills of a surgeon as they were so small, but eventually, I managed it.

And here is the stew! Ratatouille, if you want to know the name. No, I did not concoct this from scratch as I did not know the recipe, so it was done with a packet mix. I did boil the mice in salt water for 30 mins first to get rid of any infection it may have prior to stewing them.

Cantonese Roast Meats

2009-03-07T10:49:00.001-08:00

A quick and convenient dinner is simply going to a local vendor and buying a portion of mixed Cantonese Roast Meat, containg Char Siu, Siew Yoke and Siew Aap. Translated, Sweet BBQ Pork, Crispy Roast Belly Pork and Roast Duck. This lot cost only £8. I have put a 6in ruler next to it to demonstrate the portion size here.. big enough to feed 3 - 4 adults!

For those living locally in Manchester, I actually bought this from Chi Yip, which is located in Chadderton. Their Char Siu is usually only average, but the Roast Duck is about the best I have tasted in Greater Manchester and the Crispy Pork is quite good too. The skin is usually quite crispy if you eat it straight away.

Mee Goreng Udang ( Prawn Fried Noodles )

2009-03-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

A quick, and simple dish, where the ingredients play a huge part in how good (or bad) it taste.

I had not bought anything to make dinner that night and decided to look around to see what was in the cupboard and freezer. What I found were the essential ingredients for this slight variation of a popular Malaysian mamak (indian-muslim) dish.

The noodles and prawns were fried separately, as the latter were quite big and I wanted to make sure they were cooked properly rather than frying them together with the noodles, and risk over or undercooking them.

Noodles:
I had some instant "straight to wok" noodles for emergencies, but its best to use fresh egg noodles. Not the thin variety.
I also had some sambal belachan frozen in individual portions. These were made by grinding belachan (pungent prawn paste), chillies, garlic and dried shrimps together.

Method:
Fry the paste in oil with sliced onions till fragrant - when the fumes start to make you cough and splutter, then that it the right time to add the noodles!
Sprinkle water so that noodles becomes soft and succulent. Then add tomato sauce, chilli sauce and sweet soy sauce. Add salt to taste.
When nearly done, crack an egg over it. Continue frying till egg becomes brown.
Then its done!

Prawns:
I used peeled and deveined raw tiger prawns (frozen). Fresh is better if you can get them.
Heat 50% butter, 50% oil, then add diced capsicum, curry leaves and garlic. Fry till brown (only takes seconds), then add 1 tsp curry powder paste.
Again, fry till fumes make you cough and splutter, then add the prawns and fry quickly. Add salt to taste. Remove when you start seeing moisture seep out of the prawns. You dont want to lose too much water from the prawns or they will not be succulent and juicy when you bite into them.

Serve noodles, topped with the prawns.

Chinese New Year Celebrations in Manchester 2009

2009-02-02T04:39:00.000-08:00

My first blog for the new year, so Happy New Year and also Happy Chinese New Year for those celebrating. The weather has been really cold lately and I have not spent as much time in the kitchen as I would have liked to, as it has no central heating in it. Hence, the break since my last blog. Come spring, and I should be more in the mood to experiment further in the kitchen. I also have a few more stories to tell from my last visit to Malaysia and I will try to drop them in occassionally.

On Sunday 1/2/09, Manchester Chinatown celebrated Chinese New Year in the most extravagant event of the year so far. The celebrations were held in two venues, outside the City Hall and in the centre of Chinatown. The weather was barely above freezing, but it did not deter the crowds, majority non- Chinese, from turning up. This is not to say that there were only a few Chinese, but we account for such a small proportion of the UK population, even if we all turned up, we'd still be outnumbered by the others. It was great to see people from all other walks of life making attempts to learn more about the Chinese culture, despite the fact that many stalls were obviously setup to exploit those who knew little... I will show a little more about this further down.

It was 12pm and Princess Road, which cuts through the city centre, were closed to traffic and there was a huge crowd gathered in anticipation....

.. for this! A huge 15 metre Dragon dance, which danced for 30 minutes in front of the City Hall before making its way into Chinatown.

There were also other shows on a specially erected stage. Lilke this impressive acrobat show from a troupe from Yunan. All paid for by the City Council.

Moving into the heart of Chinatown, and there was a sea of people with lots of roadside stalls selling goods and services related to the occassion.

This stall had tacky goods which were lapped up by mainly non-Chinese.

And this one too! Loads of parents bought these cheap paper dragons for their kids to wave about.

You had to pay £1.50 for someone to write your name in Chinese with a calligraphy pen.

I dont even know what this is suppose to mean!

This was a genuine religious stall, in that you were given free lighted incense / joss sticks to dedicate to the buddha statue. I dont know what the furtune cookie packets had anything to do with buddhism though.

As for food, well, that's what the Chinese are known for in the UK, and the amount of food stalls we saw today did little to disprove the stereotype. What surprised me this year is that there are more stalls selling "Thai" food than any other types of food. I said that in inverted commas because the majority of the food dished out here were not in the slightest bit authentic and way overpriced. It would not have cost much more to eat in the warmth and comfort of a restaurant.

The stall pictured here sold Thai food.

More Thai food. This was one of the better stalls which looked like they made some effort with the food they sold.

This one looked impressive. Also Thai ... but he was actually reheating the noodles in a wok rather than actually cooking then in front of the customer. The guy behind him was grilling Thai satay ..not sure if that was fresh or also just reheating.

These lovely ladies were actually cooking Thai satay from scratch. Smelt lovely too, but too expensive for me to want to buy them.... 4 sticks for £3!

This Thai bbq chicken also smelt gorgeous!

These ladies were doing vegetarian fried noodles and rice. Did not look too appetising to me, as, they overloaded the wok and the flames were too low. Definitely no "wok hei" there! But it would have looked impressive to the uninitiated!

Some examples of the exorbitant prices charged! The fried noodles and rice dishes either don't or contained little meat!

Wow! £1 for a cup of hot water with a couple of dried chinese tea leaves diluted in it!

Look at the state of the bins! The food cant have been that good, for people to throw away so much of it! Looks like its going to be a feast for Mickey and Minnie tonight!

After all that walking around, we sat down for a meal in a restaurant and managed to order a portion of roast suckling pig. This little portion cost us £13. In the UK, a pig cannot be slaughtered under 8 weeks old. Hence, it has become quite meaty by then and also the skin has grown thicker than those eaten in South East Asia. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the treat thoroughly!

However, it cannot be compared to this half pig we had at Greenview Restaurant, Section 19, PJ in Malaysia,a few months ago, during our hols!

Take That - The Circus

2008-12-04T02:56:00.000-08:00

A temporary departure from the usual theme because of a big event that happened this week.. the release of Take That's new album, The Circus! My favourite group at the moment. I have been listening to their songs for almost 2 decades, and even when they temporarily disbanded, I was still listening to their albums and Gary's solo efforts. Here is my review of the tracks.

The tracks:

1. The Garden

Starts with Mark whispering the vocals, and later, the others join in and the song eventually builds up to a crescendo, and has the same feel and sentiment of "Never Forget". I can see this being a later single.

2. Greatest Day

IMO, it was not the greatest preview for this album. There are far greater songs in this album, but maybe I need to listen to it a few more times for it to grow on me. I can see here that they have attempted to write an "anthem" like Queen's "We are the champions". If this song becomes really successful, it will be played at the end of sports events in years to come.

3. Hello

This also stars Mark. Reminds me of an uptempo catchy Herman Hermits song with an updated instrumental backing.

4. Said it All

Has Gary's trademark falsetto in the infectious chorus line. A midtempo track with a lot of jangly guitars and has a mid 90s Britpop feel to it.

5. Julie

Mark's solo. Simple and repetitive lyrics, which includes "sha la la la la I want you", underlaid by a slightly depressing tune. Probably not going to be a released as a single.

6. The Circus

Typical Gary Barlow easy listening composition in which he sings over a shallow piano with strings in the background coming in halfway. Simple yet pleasantly effective and easy to the ears.

7. How did it all come to this

Sounds like Howard and Jason took the lead on this. It is simply Reach Out (the opening track from Beautiful World which I absolutely loved) Mk2!

8. Up All Night

Started like Cecilia (Simon and Garfunkel), then launches into a lively chorus not dissimilar to Shine. This WILL be a massive single! Its Mark on lead vocals again!

9. What is love

Jason takes the reins here. Sang over a predominantly acoustic guitar backed track. The tune is simple but the chorus has an emotionally haunting feel to it, musically and lyrically. In the bridge, you actually believe that the singer is really pleading with all his heart for his love.

10. You

This is the closest to Patience you will get, in this album. However, it just does not have the same
catchiness nor adventure, despite having nearly the same song structure and tempo. The producers probably recognise this too, hence the reason why this has been relegated to near the end of the album.

11. Hold Up A Light

Mark on lead again! This has a driving chorus that will have you humming for hours afterwards. It is
irritatingly catchy and repetitive!

12. Bonus track

A 90 second epilogue. Has a caribbean party feel to it. Great way to end the album.. on a high note.

Overall impression:

The songs are definitely stronger than in the last album, in terms of their accessibility and instant likeability. However, it is not a big departure from the last album in terms of musical style, which, to me, is a good thing, as I liked Beautiful world a lot. This is nothing like the old 1990s Take That but fans of the old TT will still be able to enjoy The Circus because the strong melodies are all still there, although the musical style has moved on somewhat. Mark appears to be the leading singer in this album, which is fine for a studio recording, but I would have preferred to hear more of Gary, as he is by far the best and most experienced singer in the group. Mark's limitations will be really evident when they perform these songs live.

Link ini akan tamat
selepas satu ratus muatturun atau satu minggu. ®

Chinatown aka Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur

2008-11-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

This place brings back memories going back to my childhood days in the 70s. However, it was only in the 80s that Petaling Street started becoming this vibrant tourist trap that it is today. Back in the old days, it was just full of old shops with few stalls selling food and drinks and most people would not have heard of the the fake designer brands that they sell here today.

It has been seven years since I have been to this place, and during that time, they have built a roof over the street, good for avoiding the extreme heat of the midday sun, but also the monsoon rain, both of which I experienced in abundance during my two week stay here.

Getting off the LRT at Pasar Seni station, it was only a short 5 minute walk to Petaling Street. On our way there, I noticed that not much have changed, over the last few decades. The shop owners may be different, but the buildings and roads are still the same. Klang bus station is still the same, apart from that the imposing Toshiba neon sign has gone.

Along the way, we passed a Hindu, and then a Chinese temple. These two buildings have always been there, but I never really appreicated them until I moved away from Malaysia. The Hindu temple, especially was such an elaborately crafted structure, it would not look out of place in the holiest of shrines in India.

Two minutes later, we were at the Chinese temple ... you could have easily mistaken this photo as having been taken in China or Hong Kong, if not for the Malaysia flag next to it. No other place does the term "Truly Asia" holds more true!

Shortly, around the corner, we reached Petaling Street. In terms of traders, it has not changed much in the last 20 years. It is basically a trading ground for modern day pirates, ie, people who infringe copyrights rather that those with a eyepatches and hooked hands! Apart from food and souvenirs, it was actually DIFFICULT to find any stall that did not sell fake goods there. You would find fake clothes, watches, handbags, shoes, DVDs, CDs, games, sunglasses, toys and more there. In fact, if it is possible to fake it, they will sell it! Look at some of the merchandise we .. er..ahem.. "encountered". Some were very good fakes too!

One thing that struck me was that the traders along the street has changed a lot since my last visit. Although it is called Chinatown, Chinese traders were noticeably the minority today. At one stall, I encountered a trader who neither spoke Malay nor Chinese. Eventually, I haggled over the item in my best possible English with a Malaysian accent!

After an hour of browsing and haggling, my 8 year old somehow managed to spot a toy shop hidden behind the sea of stalls, and wanted to have a look inside. Once inside, it struck me that I have actually been here before .... over 30 years ago! My grandfather used to occassionally take me to a restaurant on Petaling street, before all these stalls existed, and after every meal, he would take me to the toy shop next door to buy me a small toy. This was the same shop, still standing after all these years! When we came out, I looked next door and the restaurant was still there! It was none other than the long established Yook Woo Hin. It must be about 80 years old now, and looking little different from what I remember of it, apart from the marble tables which have been replaced by stainless steel ones. However, they had no board outside bearing their name at all.

As we were hungry and thirsty by now, we decided to settle down for lunch at this famous landmark for a nostalgic meal at No. 100, Jalan Petaling.

Mid autumn had just passed a few weeks ago, so we did not get a chance to taste their famous mooncakes. Still, there were other things on we could try... we were quite late for Dim Sum by now, but they had some leftover.

This pair of fishballs were ok. Nice but not outstanding.

This lor mai kai was very nice. It did not have any unusual ingredients, but somehow it all worked well together. I would have liked the rice to be less mushy, but maybe it was because it had been steaming in the cabinet for many hours. I would imagine that the texture would have been a little firmer if I had come here 4 hours earlier.

I had mixed feelings about this wat tan hor. The gravy and ingredients were absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. However, the ho fun was a litle brittle and not smooth. I suspect that it had been fried a lot earlier and been left lying in the kitchen.

When eating in Yook Woo Hin, you cannot not have a dish of Char Siu, something that it is famous for. Char Siu and this restaurant seem to go hand in hand ... just google it and you will see! This plate must have cost around rm16 - 18... I was not disappointed, but neither was I overwhelmed. The marinade was fine and so were the cuts of pork (half lean half fat) I had. It was also crispy at the right places. However, it had a distinct lack of glaze, and the surface felt a bit dry. Or maybe the glaze had dried up after the meat have been left in the kitchen too long.

The restaurant was almost empty at Friday lunchtime, unlike what I remembered it to be, when it was bustling with mainly gossipping old men, back in the 70s and 80s. Well, maybe they have all passed away now. So with the slow turnover of food, it might explain why these dishes did not have the freshly cooked feel to them. Still I was glad I got a chance to visit this restaurant again and maybe one day my son will take his offspring there introduce this restaurant to the next generation. I just hope that their standards do not slip further.