Trip to Cascais, Portugal

In mid September, my team from work were sent to this seaside resort near Lisbon for a few days of work, teambuilding and play. The weather was pleasant and sunny ( mid 20s ) throughout the stay and it was a very enjoyable experience and I have added some photos for you all to see.


We were housed in a pleasant 4 star hotel and here is the view from my balcony. In the distant background is the sea. They also have an indoor heated pool which I had a relaxing dip in one afternoon. Mid 20s is a bit cold to swim outdoors, despite the lovely sunshine.


In the evening, I took a walk along the beach and took this picture of a fort from the 1st or 2nd world war. This place is full of forts. Each one reminded me of Melaka's 'A' Formosa. The Portuguese must really be fond of these buildings.


At night we took a walk into the town centre and this is the main area where all the bars are and where tourists frequent. It was early and midweek, hence not many people yet.


Opposite the hotel was a small supermarket. It seems they have a fishmonger in even the smallest stores. I saw this on the counter but had no idea what they were. Anyone got a clue? They dont look edible to me.


Earlier that evening, we were treated to a slap up meal in a seafood restaurant, apparently frequented by the rich and famous! It was said that Bill Clinton had visited there when President and so has many other dignitaries. You could tell it was really upmarket when there were loads of old men with their 20 year old girlfriends with plastic boobs eating in there. See details at www.portosantamaria.com

Upon entry, we were greeted by a tank of live lobsters. It may look appetising but these lobsters seem to have very small claws.


Next to the lobster tank was a live seafood display. Very impressive! Unfortunately I did not get to pick my meal from there as it was a set menu.


When we sat down, we were presented with a couple of side dishes. This was a prawn fritter and deep fried minced fish meat.


We also had some Portuguese ham (like Parma ham) and some bread rolls on the side.


Next came our starters. This was a lovely prawn with marie rose dressing salad.


My second starter was the highlight of the evening for me. Huge prawns, grilled and lightly seasoned. These were about 7 inches long each!


The main course was nice, but not as good as the previous dish. A pleasant seafood rice dish consisting of tiger prawns and lobster meat with a lightly flavoured seafood sauce, a bit like a paella, but not as strong in taste.

The bill was fairly reasonable too, considering we had a few bottles of the finest wines included in it. If you google for this restaurant, you will see what the fuss is all about.



And that was the first part of my visit. Next time I will have more pictures of the local sights and more seafood!

A cholesterol laden Kebab!

One of my favourite fast food meals. I have pictured a kebab consisting of bbq'ed chicken tikka pieces, slices doner kebab meat, topped with salad and chilli yoghurt sauce, wrapped in a freshly baked nan bread.

I dont have this often due to obvious health reasons, but everytime I have it, it is like meeting an old friend after being years apart. Every bite is simply culinary ecstasy and I defy anyone with a taste for spicy food not to like this. Costs only a reasonable £3.80, it is cheaper than a portion of Yung Chow Fried Rice and much better value as there is a whole chicken breast in there. It will probably cost over £7 in Central London, but I have knack of finding the best value eats in Manchester and this is one of my favourite!

Desperately looking for Yee Sang ( raw fish salad )

It has been over 14 years since I had it. That was the last time I celebrated CNY in Malaysia. I was wondering if anyone knows of any establishment in Klang valley that serves this all year round as I would desperately love to eat this again when I visit next month.
Thanks in advance.

This is not for the faint hearted diner used to nice looking westernised food! Do not proceed unless you have the stomach for real Chinese food!

Are you sure you want to proceed? You may not have the stomach for this!
















OK, so you have been warned!










Stewed Pigs Maw ( stomach )

Growing up in Section 17, I used to have stewed pigs maw from this restaurant:
http://www.rasarasa.net/article.cfm?id=3582

I believe they are still going strong, and I have never tasted better pigs maw since I left Malaysia. Although we can buy them poached in the Chinatowns in the UK, nothing compares to the ones I have tasted from Weng Kee. So I have set out to recreate it from home, with just a distant memory of the taste.

Starting from scratch, ie. the preparation of the stomach ... so, are you sure you want to go on??? If you're European, American or Australian / Kiwi, you may want to stop eating your dinner before proceeding!

















I got this frozen maw from a local Chinese grocer, for only £1.20




Cleaning it was a real chore. First I marinated it in salt for an hour, then, under running water, I used a knife to scrape off all the slime from the inner lining. This in total took about 20 minutes.



After that, I blanch it for 5 minutes.



After that, I clean it again, like I did earlier, for another 15 minutes.



Next, I fry lots of ginger and garlic.



Then add the blanched and twice cleaned maw.



Add light soy, sweet soy, dark soy, pepper and 5 spice powder. Adjust amount to taste.





Add stock and let it stew.



After 90 minutes, it should be still crunchy, but gives as soon as its bitten into.



Here is what it looks like, whole cooked.



And her it is served!

Assorted meat Ho Fun ( Rice Stick )

Here is my submission for Merdeka Open House: Mee and My Malaysia from http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/

I'm afraid what I thought may have been my most appealing dish has already been blogged about here:
http://malaysiankitchen.blogspot.com/2008/02/lobster-fried-ho-fun.html

Well, here is another one along similar llines. Fried Ho Fun (Rice Sticks) Cantonese style is my favourite type of fried noodle dish. So, here, I have concocted one that makes use of bits of frozen seafood cocktail, but based its main flavouring comes from fresh slices of chicken, marined in soy soauce and black beans.

I first fry the noodles with a few drops of sweet soy and light soy,then set aside.



Next, I stir fry the chicken pieces, then add bits of seafood, in this case a few pieces of shrimps, fishballs, squid and choy sum. After that, add hot boiling stock (knorr cube, with oyster sauce, and shaosing wine). Then thicken sauce with cornflour. Stock must be boiling as you dont want to bring it to boil in the wok, resulting in overcooking the meat.



After that, just pour over the noodles and serve.

Yung Chow Fried Rice

After the lame for a plate of Yung Chow Fried Rice I had at an Dublin Chinese restaurant, it was a relief to be able to eat something more wholesome and authentic from my own kitchen. Now, I have never thought my homecooked fried rice could ever compare with one from a restaurant, mainly because of the inability to re-create the wok-hei taste from the home. However, on this occassion, I must honestly say that I have won! Ok, so it was compared to a really bad restaurant, but nevertheless, it was a restaurant!

This is probably as authentic a dish of fried rice you will ever find, made from mainly leftovers, and in this case, also mostly natural ingredients without the use of shop bought cooking sauces. I dont know what its like in the supermarkets in the far east, but here in the UK, you can get all sorts of cooking sauces, including sauce for fried rice, chow mein and even soy sauce for steamed fish. Sometimes I wonder what goes into these sauces, as they defeat the notion of these dishes completely by adding artificial flavouring to them.

This dish made from leftover homemade char siu therefore not red in colour), leftover plain roast chicken and some frozen cooked prawns. The spring onions used to garnish it is also homegrown. See picture below. Cooked in a well seasoned wok, therefore no need to use too much oil. So, in terms of health, homecooked is definitely best!

I dont know if it looks appetizing to you folks, but I am still learning my photography and this is one of the first few photos I have ever taken with blurred background. What do you think?

Dublin city in the summertime

Last month, we paid a visit to the Irish capital of Dublin for the first time. It was not exactly something I had planned a long time for, but when I came across some heavily discounted flight tickets, I thought it was worth a visit.

The first thing that struck me when arriving was how similar to the UK it was. Even before we left the airport, I saw some pallets in a corner suppplied by the company I work for!

So it was onto a bus into the city centre and we got off at probably the most famous modern landmark of the city, the millenium spire.



Then we walked a few hundred yards and we were at the river Liffey, with the Ha'penny footbridge spanning across it.



Then it was on to Dublin Castle. Here is a picture of the scenic castle garden.



Then before we checked into our hotel, we went to Parnell Street for some chinese food. I was told this was the unofficial chinatown of Dublin (it does not officially have one). Well, that was the last time I go there!! Restaurants were run by mainlander first generation immigrants and ordering Cantonese dishes were a huge mistake!

The worst wonton noodle soup I ever tasted! Wonton filling was chicken filling and the noodles were not fresh egg noodles.



This Young Chow fried rice was greasy and had hardly any taste nor meat.


That's all for part one.. more next time.