Yummy Malaysiana: 04/05/11

Yau Char Kwai / Ham Chin Peng @ Jalan Dato Sheikh Ahmad, Seremban

Recently, we made a trip back to Seremban for yet another wedding dinner. While we were there, we looked forward to eating some really good food. Other than visiting our favorite haunts which I have blogged about previously, we made it a point to visit some other famous Seremban favourites to feature in our blog.

Two of our favorite late night snacks from Seremban are yau char kwai (Chinese crullers or dough fritters) and ham chin peng (fried dough with glutinous rice or red bean filling). There are a few other varieties but I have no idea what they're called as I usually just point to the ones that I want! This particular stall located on Jalan Dato Sheikh Ahmad in front of Farmasi PD, operates from 6.30pm onwards and churns out excellent yau char kwai and ham chin peng.

Man at work

Located in front of Farmasi PD, Jalan Dato Sheikh Ahmad

The stall is operated by a family team; the father cooks while the mother and daughter takes orders. There is often a long queue of people waiting to get their hands on some of these snacks. True that it is perhaps not one of the healthiest things to be eating, but an indulgence once in a while is acceptable.

Hot from the pan

Waiting patiently in line

On this ocassion, we only bought 3 ham chin peng with glutinous rice filling (I think they're also called "kap chung"). Each piece is priced at RM0.60. I love how its pillowy soft on the inside and that they are not stingy with the glutinous rice filling. Sinful.

The yau char kwai here are also good, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. We usually buy them as an accompaniment to porridge but we decided to skip them that night.

Kap chung with glutinous rice filling

Yummy yummy

Opening times: 6.30pm - 11.00pm.

Price: RM0.60 per piece.

Location: Outside Farmasi PD / near Carlton Star Hotel, Jalan Dato Sheikh Ahmad, 70000 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

GPS Coordinates: 2.723808, 101.938158

Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie is a meat pie made of ground beef, some vegetables, and mashed potato.

Some say that this pie dish is a variation of Cottage Pie which is made of minced beef or lamb. Instead of using mashed potatoes, Cottage pie is traditionally made by topping slices of potatoes over the minced meat. The potato arrangement that looked like tiles of a roof might be the reason why it was called such.

This delicious meat pie recipe is worth all the effort. Im sure that you will enjoy eating this pie dish during anytime of the day.

I like to eat my Shepherds pie during dinner. Although it is filling, I feel less bloated before going to bed.

Try this Shepherds Pie Recipe and let us know what you think.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

4 cups mashed potatoes

2 cups mixed vegetables

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup butter

1 cup beef broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Watch the cooking video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGjD1Maw-Tg

Cooking procedure:

1. Heat a cooking pot and melt the butter.

2. Put-in the onion when the butter melts, and then cook until the onion becomes soft.

3. Add the ground beef and cook until brown (about 5 to 10 minutes)

4. Put-in the Worcestershire sauce, salt, ground black pepper, and beef broth. Stir and simmer for 12 minutes.

5. Add the mix ve! getables . Stir and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Turn-off heat and let itcool.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Transfer the cooked mixture to a baking tray.

9. Arrange the mashed potato over the cooked mixture, and then bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven and serve.

11. Share and enjoy!

This recipe is good for 6 to 7 persons.Related Posts:

Kam Mou Pahang Durian @ SS2, Petaling Jaya

You dont need me to tell you that Durian season is here again, those road side durian stalls are surely a good indication. I still remember the durian buffet I had at Donalds Durian at SS2 for RM10 more than a year ago. Now, the price has gone up to RM15 due to low harvest.Instead of buffet, we had ala carte durians this time around at the stall opposite Donalds Durian, just behind the SS2 police station. It has no particular name except for the banner that says Pahang Durian. But you could easily identify the owner by his gold-dyed hair, which is also why people usually refer him as Kam Mou.We opened a Bamboo Leg (Chook Keok) first but personally I did not fancy even though it is considered second only to the Raja Kunyit. The pulps texture is just too dry for my liking and durian is supposed to be creamy, no? Next we went for the XO Durian but found it to be half dry. But being a Sure Eat Guarantee stall, you could always request a new one as replacement.
So we got a XO replacement that turned out really creamy and tasted so much better.Then we had two Red Prawn, known for their sweet and bitter aftertaste. Among the durians we had that night they had the thickest taste, nice to build up the momentum for our last durian the Raja Kunyit/Musang King/Mao San Wong. Being the number 1 variant, Raja Kunyit is usually taken last so that the flavor wont overshadow the others that taste more subtle.Now the Raja Kunyit durian has received a lot of attention recently because Stanley Ho, the M! acau cas ino mogul sent his private jet to Singapore just to pick up 88 of his favorite durians. I am very sure you have read this in the news. Well, I am pretty sure those durians were grown in Malaysia.But too bad for us the better quality durians are usually exported to Singapore, where the people there could well afford it than us. When I was working in Singapore I would join my colleagues for durian sessions often at Tampines or Geylang. And it is true that their durians are better in overall, nothing surprising.
As for the Raja Kunyit that we had that night, errrr I think it was a major disappointment. Despite the smooth and creamy flesh and the small seeds, the ooomph was just not there and actually paled in comparison to the Red Prawns we had earlier. The best Raja Kunyit I ever had so far and yet to be beaten was still at Geylang, which costed me $40 a fruit!In total we spent RM145 for 5 durians, averaging at RM36 per pax (1 Bamboo Leg, 1 XO + 1 replacement, 2 Red Prawn and 1 Raja Kunyit) Raja Kunyit was priced at RM20/kg while the rest was RM12/kg. It was certainly not a cheap meal but at least you get what you paid for unlike the buffet one where only the cheaper durian kampung (RM5/fruit) is served. Thanks to the Red Prawn durians for being the saving grace of an otherwise disappointing durian outing.

Kam Mou Pahang Durian (buffet @ RM15, subject to durian availability)
Jalan SS2/24 (Behind SS2 Police Station)
GPS Coordinates: N3 07.051 E101 37.415

An eating place with no name from the outside and I reckon its called something like Sin Fatt Kee. Its a wooden shed located along Jalan Perusahaan Ringan. Another hideout recommended for Tai Chow in the surroundings of Air Panas.

A deep fried Ma Yeaw Yee fish with finely shredded ginger & soy sauce was superbly yummy.

Steamed eggs of three kinds salted, century & normal is a common and delicious dish found in all Tai Chow eateries in Malaysia.

Kai Lan veggies stir fried with Siew Yok (roasted pork) of generous portion was awesome.

Bitter gourd stir fried with salted eggs was another good choice of veggie on the table, the amount of salted eggs was just right for a perfect taste of this simple fry.

This taste of these pork ribs was not that excellent probably the meat was over done.

Another lovely deep fried fish cutlet with similar style of soy sauce & ginger. Of course it was an additional order necessary for the long and winding talk & drinks.

Chicken meat steamed with finely grinded ginger which can "de-wind" whatever wind you might have in your body.

Wee, a Kelantanese friend brought 2 packets of uncooked crackers from his recent balik kampong (Ching Ming festival) trip for us to try. With the help of the kitchens wok we got lots of crackers to munch. Danny & Ronnie were enjoying the taste of Kelantan prawn & fish crackers.

Sin Fatt Kee Tai ! Chow

Jalan Perusahaan Ringan

Setapak

GPS : 3.198075,101.717991

Super Natural Every Day: Published

I want to start this post off with a thank-you. Today is the day my new cookbook will be released, and I feel like a huge thank you is in order. I wouldn't be celebrating a day like today if it weren't for your support for my last book. Please, just know, I think about that often, and I couldn't be more appreciative. Those of you who have been long-time readers know how much I love the collaborative spirit of the book-making process, and I feel very fortunate to be able to share what inspires me in my own life and kitchen, not only here on the site, but also in book format. So, thank you. I hope this new book finds its way into welcoming kitchens near and far.

Super Natural Every Day Round Up

I thought it might be helpful to wrangle all the Super Natural Every Day info into one round-up post. I've done a good number of posts related to the making of the cookbook - and they're sort-of sprawled across the site right now. So, here it goes:

- Super Natural Every Day website.

- The cover image on Amazon got a little janky - but the good news is, you can now search inside the book.

- Events! Here's the event/signings page: Hope to see you in San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, or Seattle.

- Six recipe sampler: includes the Millet Muffins, Ravioli Salad, Avocado & Mustard Seeds, Black Sesame Otsu, Tinto de Verano, and Tutti-Frutti Crumble.

- Desktop wallpaper and iPhone backgrounds.

- Book-in-progress series of posts: A First Look, The Manuscript, Choosing a Cover, Preview, and the Recipe Sampler, Making Postcard Packets.

- Green Lentil Soup at Little Flower School. If you're interested in pictures of the lovely class, have a look here and here.

Some of my favorite people have also started cooking from Super Natural Every Day, and I've done a number of Q+As this week - here are a few links to start. I'll do my best to keep it updated in the coming weeks! If I missed you, it was unintentional - give a shout in the comments please.

- Completely flattered to be featured on joy+ride.

- I answer a few fun questions for my young, inspiring friends at The Kitchen Generation.

- Lottie + Doof features one of my favorites, the Baked Oatmeal.

- Jaden takes on the cover recipe. White Beans & Cabbage on Steamy Kitchen.

- Helene's beautiful shots of the Shaved Fennel Salad & Macaroon Tart.

- Quite honestly, my Baked Stuffed Tomatoes have never looked this good.

- The Cooking Channel shares a trio of salads - Mostly Not Potato, Orzo Salad, & Kale Salad.

- And I always love seeing how Shauna goes about making my recipes great & gluten-free. Thank you friend - the crepes look delicious, your kind words made my morning.

Continue reading Super Natural Every Day: Published...

ARSE 3: The People

I tweeted yesterday that of the 54 photographs I had taken at the Sunday ARSE3 tasting 5 were not actually taken by me, 18 were blurred and 4 were of a building in Reading. I would also have added, if not constrained by the 140 character limit, that 6 were of a cupcake, 3 were of a couple of the girls looking very stern indeed and actually all were blurred to one degree or another. Very disappointing really in having so few images to illustrate the event; I even neglected to snap the obligatory group shot before we began. Rubbish...

Gracing this little post is a photoshoped image (photo to a pencil drawing) in honour of Ailbhe of AilbheTweets who done the previous ARSE tasting well proud with a cartoon immortalising our climb up Coombe Hill. This picture is of Hennie Huskisson who we were damn lucky to lasso into the tasting and for him to showcase his South African wine range, Linton Park.

As is the tradition of these ARSE tastings - ARSE being Andrew's Really Secret Event - the participants were given little information prior to the day; apart from being told to gather at West Brompton tube station for midday. With so little info it is surprising ANYONE would pay me money in advance! But they did despite the inevitable drop outs citing Mothering Sunday guilt, and almost all managed to turn up at the allotted hour.

Just to keep them all guessing they were informed that after a quick stop for a glass of lubricating bubbly we would move on to the venue proper. The delightful Finborough Wine Caf has a downstairs cellar that I had hired for the day, which could, just, be construed as a different venue... the bubbly incidentally was the New Zealand Morton Estate Sparkling.

Who came? An excellent cross section of people- some of the most influential bloggers in the UK and each to the man some of the most interesting people you could ever hope to meet, each one oozing enthusiasm and interest in that most fascinating of subjects: wine. It is they that make these ARSE tastings so much fun.

Half the people at the ARSE3 tasting, Finborough Wine C! afe < /a>

Many thanks to Hennie and the girls from Westbury PR for helping make ARSE3 so successful. And to the Finborough Wine Caf for allowing us to use their cellar. A follow up post will detail the wines tasted. Photos on flickr.

These simple, fail-proof recipes are easy to whip up and makes

These simple, fail-proof recipes are easy to whip up and makes entertaining at home a real breeze!

Grilled Chicken Skewers with Yoghurt Dip

Serves 4 6 persons

1 pc Chicken Breast

1 stalk Lemongrass

1 tbsp Coriander Powder

1 tbsp Cumin Powder

tbsp Fennel Powder

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Red Capsicum

1 Slice Pineapple

3 sprigs Fresh Basil (optional)

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Yoghurt Dip
1 cup Low-fat Yoghurt
3 sprigs Coriander
Juice from 1/2 Orange

Methods

1. Soak skewers for 1-2 hours in water.

2. Cut chicken breast into bite-size cubes. Bruise lemongrass stalks lightly.

3. Marinate chicken with spice powder, lemongrass, fresh basil, salt and pepper for 1-2 hours.

4. Remove seeds from capsicum. Cut capsicum and pineapple into 1cm dices.

5. Thread chicken cubes onto skewers alternating with capsicum and pineapple dices.

6. Lightly brush chicken skewers with oil. Grill skewered chicken for 15-20 minutes until thoroughly cooked.

7. Chop coriander finely. Whisk yoghurt with orange juice. Add in chopped coriander and stir evenly.

8. Serve chicken skewers dressed with yoghurt dip.

Chef's Tips:

Chicken can be substituted for your preferred choice of meat such as beef, lamb or duck.

Use your favourite combination of spices or herbs or both as marinade. The sky's the limit!

Instead of capsicum and pineapple, try tasty options like sweet potato, pumpkin, leek, shallots or any other vegetable or fruit that can withstand grilling.

**************************************************************************

Almond Tuiles

100g granulated sugar
120g egg whites (approximately 4-5 egg whites)
5 ml vanilla extract
1g salt
1 Orange for its zest
45g flour
60g unsalted butter (melted)
100g almond flakes

Whisk sugar, egg whites and vanilla. Add in salt, orange zest and flour. Stir well to ensure no floury lumps in the mixture.

Line baking tray with parchment paper and brush melted butter thoroughly on it.

Drop teaspoon amounts of earlier blended mixture on the buttered paper.

Flatten into disk shapes using a fork dipped in butter.

Sprinkle almond flakes onto each disk.

Bake at 200C until golden brown for about 8-10 minutes.

After cooling, place almond tuiles in a tight fitted container.

Chefs Tip: Almond tuiles can be eaten on its own with coffee or tea or serve with ice cream or your favourite cream-based dessert.

Wild Cockatoo Bakery, Redfern

There are parts of Botany Road in Redfern that are like a shopfront cemetery filled with empty display windows or long-shut doors. So you instantly notice when a once-vacant space starts showing vital signs, encouraging proof of a new existence.

I came across Wild Cockatoo Bakery on the weekend, when it had been open for only "three and a half days". It is run by a lovely gent by the name of Ray, who has been mostly based overseas but has worked at Brasserie Bread and Bourke Street Bakery on his return to Australia.

He likes baking so much that he even has a commercial oven in his garden, to make loaves for his friends.

The bread and treats at Wild Cockatoo are baked in a more conventionally located space. And its shelves feature pies, quite a few sourdough varieties, croissants studded with Belgian chocolate (all gone by the time I turned up, sadly) and a few fruit tarts (pear poached in shiraz and lemon-cured plum were the ones on offer that day). I especially liked the fragrant and sweet Apple Galette ($3.50).

Ray was surprised by the keen demand and explained that more savouries and sourdough loaves will be added to the line-up. Judging from the many people who crowded into the bakery in the short time I was there including the older couple who cutely identified themselves as "breadies" there will be just as many visitors keen on walking away with a bag of she! lf-liber ated goods.

Wild Cockatoo Bakery, 30 Botany Road, Redfern

Announcing My Food Styling & Photography Workshop in France

And it is April already, which means there are only a few days left until my parents return back home to the Basque Country.

Where does time go?

It also means that all the new projects that I am really excited about this year are fast approaching. Yesterday, I turned in the second chapter of my cookbook. A sigh of relief and really looking forward to feedback from my editor.

And then, there is the France workshop!

It was a few weeks ago when Stephanie Brubacker of Stephmodo contacted me. "Would it be crazy if you hosted at workshop in our newly renovated maisonette in Dordogne?" she asked. "Crazy? How about fabulous!".

I am so excited about the opportunity to do a 3-day hands on food styling and photography workshop where we will be visiting local markets, cooking with local ingredients and then photographing it all. All in an intimate setting, which will! allow a ll of us to really learn and explore.

The workshop will take place OCTOBER 2-5, 2011 in the Valley of the Five Chateaux. The number of participants will be limited, so stay tuned as we will have sign up information and more updates in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned!

Nutty Biscotti

Remember the kek lapis episode? Prune and horlicks? Now one would ask, what did you do with the rest of the egg whites ? Easy, just make biscotti! This recipe for biscotti uses only egg whites and quite a number of them! SO what better that these thinly sliced crunchy twice baked cookies filled with assorted nuts!

Nutty Biscotti
(adapted from Pigpigscorner who adapted from Joy of Making Cookies by Alex Goh)
(A)
4 egg whites
100g sugar
a pinch of salt
(B) sift together
120g plain flour
30g rice flour
(C) roasted and chopped
50g pistachio
100g walnuts
100g almonds
50g pumpkin seed
Method:
1. Whip egg whites in (A) till soft peak, gradually add in sugar and salt and whisk till stiff peak.
2. Fold in (B) into the meringue. Scatter (C) into the meringue mixture and mix till well incorporated.
3. Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin (makes 2 loaves 17 x 8 x 6 cm)
4. Bake at a 175 C preheated oven for 40 minutes. Let it cool then keep in the freezer over night
5. Cut into thin slices (about 2mm thick) and bake again at 150C for 15 minutes or until crisp.

Easy isnt it? Make sure u cut them thinly so its crispy!

marketing

Review: Restoran Chat Masala (Vegetarian)

Phewwww... am so glad the PC is finally fixed. I so missed out reading all my fave blogs!Okie, let's roll...

Let's do some back logs. We visited Restoran Chat Masala back in January, the day before Ponggal festival and what a day to pick to drive through Brickfields *roll eyes* 45 minutes crawled from the police station to front of Chat Masala! Actually we wanted to check out another place further down but the just-after-lunch-hour-cum-Friday-cum-Ponggal jam was just really bad and we were both getting hungry! Law abiding Capt'n Hook couldn't even bothered to get a proper parking lot :p he just joined the shoppers and park by the road side. There's a massive sprucing up in Brickfields but seriously it's not helping with the parking and traffic woes here :( What a pity as the transformation was really colourful.

Anyway back to the restaurant... whilst Capt'n Hook went to park his car, I went to the restaurant to grab a place as it was jammed pack since it's a Friday where a lot of Indians go on vegetarian diet. I joined a lady who was finishing up her lunch. I managed to browsed at the dishes available at the heated server right up front and I couldn't believe they are all vegetarian dishes heh. I even checked with the staff twice kekeke but it's not helping when he kept saying it's Chicken Varuval, Mutton Curry etc! These vegetarian dishes are cooked using mock meat made of soy products, hence they do look and at times tasted like real meat.

We have a very simple lunch of vegetarian chicken varuval. Very spot on except the "chicken" was boneless :p

Capt'n Hook had a tosai that is crispy on the sides. It was served with dhal and tomato chutney.

I had a chapati which was served with dhal and "chicken" curry. Too bad the chapati was pre-made, hence it's not a fluffy as I would like one. The dhal and curry arecommendable though.

We both loved the fresh cow's milk masala tea! It's creamy but yet light and not overly sweet, just nice with the right hint of spices.

Seems like Chat Masala is popular with their afternoon snacks but they weren't available yet when we left the place. Capt'n Hook did pack some Indian sweetmeats back and he told me they were good and not sickly sweet unlike the usual sweetmeats. Anyway I do noticed that I do not need to ask for "kurang manis" (less sweet) these days after the rise on sugar price, was it just me?

I can't verify for sure if Chat Masala uses onions and garlic in their cooking but if you're looking for an Indian restaurant that do not uses onions nor garlic, do check out Gopala Vegetarian Restaurant which is located a short distance away long Jalan Thambipillai. Gopala serves not only Indian style food but a rather Malaysianised menu where the satay is really good.

Restoran Chat Masala
259G Jalan Tun Sambant! han
B rickfields
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2260 3244