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I cooked: Sarawak Umai scallops

Umai is a local delicacy from Sarawak (raw fish salad). It is traditionally made with fish or prawns. It is a staple food for the Melanau ethnic group, especially the fishermen (I read somewhere that the fisherman would make umai from freshly caught fish on their boat for their lunch). It is sometimes nicknamed as "Sarawak sushi" due to the use of raw fish/seafood.

Umai scallops


To make umai, the most important thing is to use fresh produce since no cooking is involved. I was a little wary about using local fish or prawns to make this since I wasn't 100% sure how fresh they were, so I used sashimi-grade scallops instead but still sticking to the umai preparation method. The recipe I am using is adapted from Chef Rossham Rusli - I made the Sarawak braised beef soup using his recipe and it turned out really well so I was confident to use his recipe again.



The method of preparation is similar to the Peruvian ceviche, where the seafood is marinated in citrus. Both umai and ceviche require no physical cooking,the citrus (in this case lime) does the cooking - the citric acid causes the protein in the seafood to become denatured, the same way as heat does.I watched as the scallop turn from a translucent pinkish to white in a matter of minutes.



What makes umai different from ceviche is the addition of lemongrass, chillies ginger and garlic. I liked it a lot - light, refreshing and appetizing with tangy flavours - the umai scallops would work very well as an appetizer. It can also be prepared as a quick lunch, as it takes less than 30 minutes to assemble. Best of all, no pots and pans to wash after I finished eating them all. ;)



Umai scallops
Recipe adapted from Kuali.com - Chef Rossham Rusli
Preparation time: 25-30 minutes
Serves 2 as appetizer


Ingredients (A)
8 large scallops (approx. 150g)
6 limes, juiced (limau kasturi)
A pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp salt
A pinch of white pepper

Ingredients (B)
4-5 red chillies (I used cili padi)
3cm lemongrass
1/2 clove garlic
1 shallot
1.5cm ginger
A few coriander leaves

Garnishing
2 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
Ulam raja, 4-5 leaves

1. Wash the scallops and pat dry. Using a sharp knife, slice each scallop into 3 thin slices. Place in a bowl with lime juice, sugar, salt and white pepper and mix well. Marinate the scallop in the lime juice for 10-15 minutes. You can place this in the fridge as it is nice eaten cold.




2. Meanwhile, finely chop the lemongrass, shallot, garlic, ginger and coriander. The red chillies (or cili padi) can be roughly chopped.

3. Put ingredient B into the bowl with the marinated scallop and toss well. Leave to marinate for a further 5 minutes and for the flavours to infuse.

4. On a plate, arrange the ulam raja and then place theumai scallop on to the ulam. Garnish with tomatoes and drizzle with some of the marination juice.




Check out my other Sarawak dishes here: Sarawak braised beef soup and stir fried manicai with eggs.

*Note: Feel free to substitute scallops with FRESH fish or prawns.

I am submitting this dish to Malaysian Food Fest, Sarawak Month hosted by Sharon of Fe ats of Feasts.

Favorites List (9.14.12)

Before we jump into this favorites list, a quick question for you all. I'm planning a trip to India(!), specifically New Delhi and Rajasthan. If you've been (or live there), and know of spots/shops/eats that we absolutely can't miss, please please give a shout in the comments. Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra, Udaipur...so far, all are in the cards and I'm out-of-my-mind excited. A couple of my favorite experiences in Japan came from you all, so, thanks in advance. Enjoy the favorites list and I'll be back in a few days with a new recipe. xo -h

- Garden-Grown Cocktails

- The Oyler House | Outside Inside

- Maryam's Marrakesh

- My Friend Maia (via my friend Bonni)

- HomeMade Winter

- Reading this.

- Ruth Reichl's Fresh Apricot Jam

- Bonbons in Paris

- Essex (huge congrats guys!)

- A lifetime with Leica

- Readerly promiscuity

- This story

- Ten Questions for Sophie Dahl

- Grown-up pinatas

- Magic Measured in a Pile of Salt

- You've all seen this right?

- This site.

- Love Home Swap

- Blackberry Lillet Sangria

Continue reading Favorites List (9.14.12)...


The Press Room, Nerovivo & No Black Tie

One way to spend a chilled-out evening: start with a light meal at Pavilion's Press Room.

A take on the French Landaise salad. Lacks foie gras but still features the crunch of duck gizzard, the succulence of breast meat and savoriness of duck rillettes.

Cream of potato and leek soup with scallops. Not bad at all for RM22++.

The Press Room's signature salad (RM18++) represents what the people want: a poached egg over grilled artichokes and asparagus.
Earlier entry on The Pressroom at Pavilion: Sept. 11, 2012.

For dessert, take a drive over to! Neroviv o; the Italians sure know their sweets.

Chocolate indulgence: dark choc fondant with white choc ice cream, expertly executed.

Rum baba _ brioche in rum and sugar syrup, served with whipped cream and fruits.

After stuffing the stomach, walk over to No Black Tie for music to soothe the soul.

Performers like the Az Samad Trio ensure that a lovely time will be enjoyed by all.

No Black Tie's cointreau ice cream is a pleasure, even if the liquor content seems low.

Rest assured though, the lychee martini is potent enough to end the night on a high note.

The Press Room, Nerovivo and No Black Tie,
Kuala Lumpur.

Oversea Kickstarts Mid-Autumn Festival By Celebrating 30 Years Of Mooncake Making

This is my 3rd mooncake review for the year 2012. I am going to show you the goodies that Restoran Oversea brought to the table in conjunction of this upcoming mooncake festival.

Just look at the moist and color of the mooncake . look like a real moon on a plate.

Oversea always use the premium grade ingredients in their mooncakes. Each were hand crafted by their chefs.

Lotus seeds on mooncake maker mold.

To make the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration more meaningful, and in conjunction with its 30th anniversary of producing the much appreciated pastry, Oversea has put together a variety of mouth-watering Mooncakes and a special set menu just for the occasion.

Along with its collection of signature mooncakes, this year Oversea features the scruptious Shanghai Mooncake made with luscious egg yolk and lotus. The hand-made Shanghai Mooncake was created in 1982 and is specially baked fresh in the kitchens of Oversea Restaurants. Availability is exclusive and limited time only, it is served warm so that its crumbly crust and fragrance can be fully appreciated. However when you go Shanghai, you can find this goodie. This is invented in Malaysia by the founder of Oversea Restaurant.
Below is the video showing how the Shanghai Mooncake is done.

The lotus paste wrapping the golden egg yolks.

Th e Shanghai Mooncake pastry dough.

Ensuring the highest standards of excellence, over the years of Oversea has become recognized as a pioneer of delicious and best-selling Mooncakes. In addition to its most popular scrumptious lotus seeds, Oversea has created several other great favourites such as the delightful Pandan Lotus or better known as the Golden Emerald;

the delectable Golden Starlight, Malaysias first double layer paste of pandan and mung bean with an egg yolk; the popular flavourful Noble Delight which is made with dragon fruit essence and lotus, and its delightful Snowy series.

This is the signature Snowy series mooncake which place in the fridge frozen part. You can still see the frost on the mooncakes.

The best way to enjoy it is to wait for 15 minutes and let the frost melt. You can tell by looking at the mooncake sweating.

Sweating mooncakes

After 15 minutes cut them into mouth size and eat it. You will get the melting sensation like you are eating Haagen Daz ice cream. Give it a try! You will love them!

The founder of Oversea Restaurant (Cheng Kor) which everyone call him Brother Cheong.

Mr Yu also explained that mooncake was not just about eating, but is also an experience. Oversea has tried to take the appreciation of Mooncakes to the next level. The mid-autumn festival is about appreciating the value of sharing and reunion with family and friends he explained.

Most of the time the night start off with dinners and mooncakes served as dessert. We were served a four course dinner where the starter resemble a Yee Sang tossing ceremony. But we dont toss it this round.

The main key ingredient for Mid-Autumn Festival is the Lotus Seeds.

Lotus seeds means prosperity and good harvest in Chinese terminology.

This is how it look after it is tossed.

Our main dish for the night is none other than the famous Poon Choi! It is a luxuriously crafted besen of good foods.

The Poon Choi consist of roast duck, chicken feet, braised sea cucumber, abalone, black mushrooms, lotus seeds, tiger prawns, 3 layer porks and best of all the soup boiled from all these ingredients. The soup is served last and taste very rich. It may look simple that 9 dishes piled up together in a big besen. But in realit! y it is so muchtediouswork. Each dish are cookedseparatelylike for example a roast duck. You know the pain of preparing a roast duck from scratch.

Fried lotus roots with asparagus and almond flakes.

Steam Lotus leaf glutinous rice

Slight salty but full with fragrant result from the lotus leaf wrap. This is a finale for most of the wedding banquets.

Finish with the main course and I get to enjoy a slice of freshly oven baked Shanghai Mooncake.

Oversea Mooncakes are specially packaged by exceptionally designed boxes to reflect its uniqueness and are certified HALAL by JAIS. Oversea Mooncakes can be purchased from Oversea outlets within the Klang Valley, Ipoh and Hypermarkets throughout Malaysia. During the mid-autumn festival period, Oversea Restaurant is also offering a set menu meal featuring key contemporary Cantonese dishes like the Poon Choi above.

The mid-autumn festival is the perfect time to show appreciation for the ones we care about, so call Oversea Restaurant at tel : 03-7845 9911 or checkout the restaurants Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Overseato place your order of superior, great tasting Mooncakes or to make dining reservations.


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