Easy Little Bread

Right this second I'm eating a slice of butter-slathered homemade bread. And quite frankly, it's the least interesting looking bread you've ever set eyes on. But at this particular moment, there isn't anything on this earth that would taste better. I'm convinced of it. It reminds me of the bread my dad would sometimes bake for us as kids. A dead simple yeast bread recipe made from ingredients I can nearly guarantee you have on hand. My dad's bread was made using all-purpose white flour, whereas this bread is made with a white, wheat, rolled oat blend. I've baked it three times this week, after I came across the recipe for it in a beautiful, heartfelt cookbook by Natalie Oldfield.

I snapped a few shots of the book to give you a sense of it. Super cute, right? I love the grids of vintage family pictures, and the soft color palette of the recipe pages. Really well done. It's a collection recipes inspired by the notebooks of Dulcie May Booker (who must be 96! by now), written by her granddaughter Natalie. It was published in New Zealand, then Australia and the UK. I stumbled on my copy of it the other day at Omnivore Books here in SF, although I don't think it's been published in the U.S. yet. The recipes are classic and no-fuss. The kind that can and (clearly) have been whipped up a hundred times over - scones, fruit pies, chocolate cake, lemon bars, shortbread, and a selection of savory dishes as well.

So, to all of you who embraced the soda bread recipe, yet still shy away from yeast-based rec! ipes - y ou've got to try this one. You can have the dough in the pan in 5-10 minutes. It sits around for 30 minutes while I'm in the shower, then straight into the oven. Thank you Gran & Natalie. It's a beautiful book.

Continue reading Easy Little Bread...

Ramadan Bazaar at Bandar Sri Damansara

Admittedly, I am not one that will scoured the bazaar and night market for food and supplies. The humidity, parking and traffic are huge deterrents. But then good food esp. those off the charcoal fire and varieties of Malay food do attract me. Especially attractive are the huge pots of beef soup almost devoid of MSG, the charcoal grills churning out seafood, chicken and sate , the hot flat pans cooking the martabaks, and the not to be missed kuih-muih sweet desserts and cakes.

I don't usually go noodles as they were pre-packed and the multi-coloured drinks. Well, with food everywhere there is something for everyone even for that matter this modest size bazaar. My personal favourite is at TTDI.

So what did I have for dinner? The beef soup was delicious despite the dilution was a bit more than I would like. The beef pieces were tasty and beefy but just enough for a person but not to share. There was lots of soup though. The economy is biting in really hard. As for the grill, I had stingray but sadly the piece was not fresh and the meat was soft. I will try another vendor next time round. For carbohydrates we had martabak and Fried Koay Teow with cockles.

Chicken WIngs

Beef Soup

< br>

Pari, Terubok, Kembong and Cincaru.

Economy Fried Rice, Mee and Koay Teow at RM2 per portion.

2011 Ramadan Bazaar @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail

stained glass jelly


Taman Tun Dr Ismail's bazaar may be oldie but it still draws a big crowd here.


One of this bazaar's draws is their fruit puddings. They're so pretty that since you eat with your eyes, you are immediately lured into its colourful charms. It is RM3 a piece and eaten chilled, it is perfect to break fast with. The girls who run this stall that also serves creme caramel, that sweet essential are both very friendly.



rainbow hued dadih similar to yoghurt




I find a lot of colour here, there's even multi coloured dadih, a milk based dessert that has a texture similar to agar-agar. Ice cubes were laid on top of the containers to try and keep it cool in the hot heat.



beef satay


There are quite a few grill sta! tions se t up around the bazaar. One of my big favourite is the satay stall, since the whole combination of smoky grilled meat combined with rice cubes and peanut sauce.



roti arab murtabak


Murtabak is definitely a big favourite everywhere and each bazaar has their own versions.


This place sells an unusual combo served akin like a 10 inch burger - a thin murtabak sandwiched between roti arab. It lacks the condiments and sauces that it can be a little dry so it may be best to add on the tomato and chilli sauces yourself.



grape pudding


I was fascinated with the Raja Murtabak stall as they added pieces of cheese within the murtabak - yummy combination indeed.



ayam masak merah


Since I was! early, I didn't manage to catch my favourite briyani rice stall as they often arrive at the last minutes. Despite their lateness, people will queue up ahead for their food. Will definitely try and catch them another time.



ayam percik


One stall sells two versions of ayam percik that make my mouthwater since you get to choose between the Northern pale thick coconut rich version and the Southern orange spicy version.





grilling ayam percik


Kudos to those guys who stand under that heat and cook up the ayam percik over a hot grill.


They are really our food champions since it is not easy to do that when fasting.



putu piring on a steamer

! < br>Putu piring is always a big draw here too and this version (the one with this lady on a poster) is quite small. They have also expanded to two stations to tackle the queues a little faster.



fluffy putu piring


It is simple to assemble - place a mound of ground rice flour on top of the mould, add a pinch of the semi melted gula melaka, top it off with more ground rice flour, sweep it over to flatten and wrap it with a piece of white muslin cloth. Place it over the steamer (upside down and take away the mould).


Once it is ready, remove and sprinkle with freshly grated coconut and a piece of pandan leaf. Eat when hot as it is fluffy and soft with a meltingly good sweet center.



kiwifruit jelly


Whole lamb stalls seem to be growing here. There's two of them here slowly grilling the lamb over charcoal fire.



roti jala


I stumble on this roti jala stall with four stoves going on at one go. They have a great rhythm - one guy swirls the batter, another will take it out once it is done and another folds it for packing.



popiah basah (wet popiah)


One of the most popular popiah stalls is Power Popiah (I can't remember the actual name) with his tall stack of deep fried popiah rolls but I reckon this smaller stall is a better draw. It always make a great picture with the spread of popiah skins and the different stuffings.



Bread and butter pudding


Sweets always dominate and this innovative stall came up with their various bread and butter puddings. Each piece is RM1.80 and you get flavours like banana, chocolate chip, almond, peanut butter, blueberry and strawberry. And don't forget the custard sauce.


Like all newly started bazaars, the authorities are out in great force checking to make sure the stalls are orderly and following rules. Have a go at the bazaar ! but watc h out for the crazy traffic around it since the infamous jam for the road that leads to 1 Utama is forever clogged up.


Ramadan Bazaar
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
Fronts the Guardian Pharmacy


Starts around 4pm onwards. For more pictures, see my Flickr set. See the past years, 2010, 2006, 2007

Review: Ramen Santouka @ Tokyo Street, Pavilion KL

**Non-Halal**


When we were invited for this review of ramen chain Ramen Santouka, little did I know it was actually a preview prior to the opening day of Tokyo Street on Level 6 of Pavilion KL. When Capt'n Hook and I arrived at 6.15pm, there was an entourage of people leaving the stage area on Level 6. Not knowing what's happening, both of us just followed the crowd in while I call FatBoyBakes who forwarded us the invite. The next thing I know, the security guards closed up the temporary gates to Toyko Street. Hmmm... but we wandered in further :p letting the crowd in front of us leading the way.





I looked around and saw the Pavilion's management staffs whom I recognised from the print medias. The next thing I know, apparently the Japan's Ambassador to Malaysia was there to officiate Tokyo Street! Whoa but not all the shops were ready and opened though. Anyway, we took a look round the area and was impressed with the number of Japanese restaurants and a few stalls selling snacks. Some of the smaller lots are selling Japanesecrockery. Then there's a Daiso towards the back but it wasn't open yet, so was the Japanese mart.



It was only after the look-see, we both went to scout out David at Ramen Santouka. We were then introduced to Julian and Inggrid. Next we were led into the restaurant. Inggrid informed us that we will be served based on a selected menu of ramen and side dishes. The other dishes will only be available after the official opening. Sounds promising already when I scan through the menu card. While we were waiting for the rest to turn up, we browsed the actual menu that have some pictorial guide on top of some mock dishes shown up front of the restaurant.





Our server suggested that we order our choice of ramen and all the rest of the side dishes showcased will be served to us. Sounds great already. As our noodles arrived, the rest of the food bloggers arrived and started ordering their ramen.



For pork based ramen, the soups are made by simmering pork bones for 20 hours before adding vegetables, dried fish, kelp and etc. The colour of ! the soup s are milky which indicates long hours of simmering of bones. If you're not into pork, don't fret as they have chicken versions and they do not contain pork at all. The soup served here are not boiling hot and is maintained at a certain temperature so that one can enjoy the noodles without scalding themselves.

For pork based ramen, there are 4 flavours of soup available ie. Shio (salt flavour), Shoyu (soy sauce flavour), Miso (soy bean paste flavour) and Kara Miso (hot soy bean paste flavour). The ramen comes in 3 different sizes - small, regular and large.

Marion Eu, Capt'n Hook and I tried each other's soup base. All of us decided the Shio and Shoyu came out tops. The soups were a tad too salty but we gave our feedback on this and hopefully it has been rectified. The ramen have a bouncy texture but do eat up quickly before they turn soft in the hot soup.

Everyone loved the signature Shio Ramen (S RM22.50, R RM25, L RM29). The small bowl came with a thick slice of char-shu, sliced bamboo shoots, seaweed, a slice of naruto (fish cake) and shredded spring onions plus a pickled plum. I can clearly taste the robust flavour of the soup base.



The Shoyu Ramen (S RM22.50, R RM25, L RM29) is another clear winner. This was Capt'n Hook's fave. The soup is made from a mixture of pork and soy sauce. The accompanying condiments were similar to Shio Ramen with the exception of the dried seaweed is used instead and there is no pickled plum.



Miso Ramen (S RM22.50, R RM25, L RM29) soup ! is made with the addition of miso paste. This was the saltiest of the lot but as we dig in, the saltiness just went melded in. The condiments are exactly the same as Shio Ramen except that there's no pickled plum.



Kara Miso Ramen is the only hot flavoured soup amongst all. The price is RM2 more. I did not get to taste this so no comments at the moment. Perhaps can check out Cumi Dan Ciki since they shared one.



The sliced cha-shu in all pork based ramen is simmered in soy sauce which is so tender and delicious. It was really a pity that we only get one slice in the small portion. It was that good that FatBoyBakes kept lamenting why there is only ONE slice served when it was sooo good. Inggrid mentioned that for small portion, one sliced is served, 2 slices for regular and 3 slices for large!

As for the sides, it's slightly unusual to have Caesar Salad in a Japanese restaurant. Santouka's version has a coddled egg on a bed of lettuces, crispy croutons, parmesan cheese with creamy dressing drizzled over.

We loved the Komi Tamago (soy boiled egg)!!! It came whole like hard boiled egg but the yolk is still a bit ru! nny. Can taste the soy sauce coating the egg beautifully.

Tori Karaage (deep fried chicken) came looking a bit dark to me. Looks kinda over fried but the 3 pieces of chicken are still juicy and the skin... oh so crispy.

Then we have Tori Gyoza (chicken dumplings or pot stickers). The sizes are rather largish as compared to other Japanese places and they served the pan-fried side up instead. The minced chicken is loosely packed and as compared to Chinese dumplings, can taste the garlic flavour in the fillings here.

Okie, I'm saving the best for last... the Tokusen Toroniku which is pork cheek simmered in soy sauce. As each pig has only 2 cheeks, hence this meat is rather rare. So each day, there's only a certain amount available! David explained that the raw cheeks are perfectly marbled hence these cheek slices are really very tender, almost melt in the mouth texture. To me, this is a must order definitely!

Other than as a side dish, one could actually have them in ramen but the cheeks will be served separately and not inside the noodles. Tokusen Toroniku Ramen is priced at S RM33.50, R RM36 and L RM40. I can just tell, it's really worth it.

These were the items served to us and from the menu, they do have chicken soup based ramen, rice dishes and some sets which some have great combination of rice and ramen ;-) I can see the menu is very friendly for our BoiBoi. Will definitely bring him here soon.

Hopefully by now, a week after our tasting session, things would be running smoothy and most importantly the soup has been fine tuned.

Thanks so much to David, Julian and Inggrid, and of course FatBoysBake for the invite.

I know, I still haven't posted up the theme for this year's Merdeka Open House as I was still deciding which to go for. So give me a day or two to finalise the theme and we'll be good to go. I will try to publise on The Star to get in more participants :D


Ramen Santouka
Tokyo Street, Level 6 Pavilion KL

168 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia

Tel: 03-21438878

Opening hours: 11:00am - 10:00pm

Chasio Garing ACC (Chinese Restaurant)

I came all the way from Sudirman to Jalan Pangeran Jayakarta, in Glodok, because I was told this street had some of the best Chinese street food stalls and warungs in Jakarta.

When I arrived, it was already late but some venues were still crowded. I chose one of them, Chasio Garing Acc, for a simple reason: They had air-conditioning. It turned out their unit was not functioning very well, so I had a chance to sweat a little, and also to get a few mosquito bites.

There isn't much to say about the inside as it looks like any typical warung: 4 walls with kitschy ornaments and posters, basic chairs and tables, and uncertain hygiene.

I had eaten the best Grilled Duck ever a week earlier in Liyen, and the one in Chasio Garing Acc was quite disappointing. Since it is twice as cheap in the latter, there wasn't much to expect anyway. I also tried the Beef Kwetiaw: The ingredients were not very fresh and the meat low quality. I only had a few bites and couldn't finish.

Kwetiaw Sa! pi Kuah (Boiled Kwetiaw with Beef, Rp22k)Hainan Peking Bebek Panggan (Grilled Duck la Hainan, Rp38k)

Overall: I was hoping I would find a gem in Jalan Pangeran, and it didn't happen. Chasio Garing Acc is fine if you love Chinese food and live 50 meters from the restaurant. If not, I don't think it is worth it.

Opening Hours:

Everyday from 10am to midnight

Chasio Garing Acc (Chinese restaurant)
Jalan Pangeran Jayakarta (Pang-J)

No. 34 DD (Panca Warna), Jakarta
Phone number: +62-21 659 7263 / 625 0767

They also have two other branches:
Jalan Danau Agung Utara,
Blok G3 No. 12 (Satu Arah Sunter Mall)
Phone number: +62-21 913 02 943 / 6400 974/5

Jalan Boulevard Raya TB2/30
Kelapa Gading
Phone number: +62-21 452 0575 / 451 4331 / 96 445 222

En Ginza Cafe

This spacious, welcoming hangout seems suitable for resting the feet after a shopping spree, but while we like its casual vibe, we have mixed feelings about its fusion food.

Seaweed-flavored fries with wasabi dip. A simple snack; not sure how to describe something that fades in the memory almost immediately after it's consumed.

Spaghetti in tomato sauce with mussels, scallops, prawns & squid. Supposed to be topped with shirasu and laced with sake, but the shirasu at least appeared absent. What remained was a run-of-the-mill pasta recipe. To be fair, there's much more on En Ginza Cafe's menu, so maybe other items might taste better.

Bread fans should nonetheless make a beeline for this cafe, since lots of doughy delights line its shelves, including freshly baked rolls stuffed with pumpkin paste.

Blue cheese bun. An agreeably stinky alternative to conventional cheese-topped buns.

Coffee art! Say Hello, Kitty, to this latte. Or was it a cappuccino?

Can't recognize this winking character, but it was cute all the same.

EN Ginza Cafe @ Pavilion,

Tokyo Street, Level 6, Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur.