Lok Lok- Malaysian Street Food

 Lok Lok, is all about  a van surrounded with food skewered on sticks, pots of boiling water and many types of sauce right. It is our version of street food-something that will lure you over, as you walk along the street. Good lok-lok stalls or pushcarts have so many types of sauces like tomyam, satay, super hot green chillies, sweet sauce and garlic and lime chillies sauce.My favourite is the satay sauce, can't blame me for being a true Malaysia, can you?
 A choice of delicacies are inserted to bamboo skewers, and once picked by the customer, is immersed into a pot of hot, boiling water to allow it to cook through. Dip your food into the array of sauces available, and that is the best way to enjoy our lok-lok.

This is rather hygienic way of eating, because there is one hard and fast rule- you cannot dip your food into the cooking pot more than once.  Cooking time depends on the kind of food, and don't worry, it comes with experience.  Don’t ever take a bite and dip it back into the water.YUCKSS....

An interesting tom-yam broth, to dip the food into. Hmm...not the traditional hot water.

My Favourite Jelly- 2 Layer Jelly

I am not a jelly fan, but I just lurrrrrrve my mom's 2 layer jelly, which I can keep on eating and eating and eating and eating..................x 1mil times. That's how much I love eating it.
The ingredients are very little:
Agar-agar/Jelly packet - Agar or agar-agar is a gelatinous substance derived from a polysaccharide that accumulates in the cell walls of agarophyte red algae.

Tempura Fried Calamari

It has always been a challenge for me to get crispy fried seafood, and I decided to raise the bar and try tempura fried calamari instead...hmmm...talk about being ambitious!!

Anyway, I did some research over the net, and found of some "tips" which I will share with all of you.

Weekend Breakfast-Hotel Style

It was one of those weekends that you feel like eating a luxurious breakfast, one that you normally have in the hotels during vacations. So I had to use my creativity to come up with something interesting.

Since my hubby decided to sleep in late, so it was preparation from me and my boy only.

This is what I cooked up for my boy... Toast, cocktail sausage sautéed in butter, scrambled eggs with herbs and baked beans. A wholesome and nutritious breakfast for a kid.

Fish Head Curry-My Favourite Comfort Food

The Fish Head Curry dish is a all time Malaysian favourite. We have even heard news that Singapore claims this dish to be their national dish, but I am not going to that debate.

There many versions of the fish head. Indian, Nyonya, Malay and even the Chinese version. I have tried this delicacy in many restaurants, but I still prefer my own home-made version. The fish head curry is served in a clay pot, in most eateries, but I cook mine in a clay-pot. I believe cooking the curry in a clay-pot, enhances the flavour.

Beutiful Lights @ I-City, Shah Alam

You will be able to see lights shining from a small hill just behind Sungai Rasau Toll Plaza along Federal Highway. A pretty sight, indeed! I-City is the latest MSC Malaysia Cybercentre Zone @ Shah Alam, Selangor.

If you have  a free week-end, why not take the kids over. I find this is good place to spend some quality time. However, to be honest, not all adults will enjoy this place, but  it would be a fun day(or should I say night) with kids, besides the usual window shopping in ever so many malls.

I tried my best to take some nice shots...so bear with me.

Best Currypuffs I have eaten from a humble stall

It was a cold and rainy day , and as usual the cold made me hungry. At 4.00pm, my stomach craved for something savoury.Currypuffs come into our mind when we think of what we want to accompany our hot cup of tea with..

Seafood @ Kang Guan, Pulau Carey

Since our moved from Penang, I am still trying to explore good seafood in KL/Selangor. A friend of mine suggested Pulau Carey, and I went through the blogs, only to find most people recommending this restaurant.
Pulau Carey is basically an oil palm estats and has some oil palm refinery on the island. The seafood restaurant I went to was at the mainland just before the bridge.

Since we went on a Sunday night, the restaurant was already crowded, and we had to wait for some time for our food. Nevertheless, the owner or staff were fairly nice and courteous. My friend's family and mine, which consist about 8 of us went there for dinner.

Butter prawns @ RM30, it was  not oily and fresh. The dish was huge for us, the crowd of 8. The prawns were flavoured well, with the right amount of curry leaves and chilly.

Homecook meals are the best

I am not against banana restaurant leaf restaurants and I don't mind splurging a little once in a while. But to be honest, sometimes the price can be rather ridiculous. Imagine, the 3 of us can spend up to MYR50 for a meal.
However, being an Indian, I rather save the allocation to spend on non Indian food when we go out.
Therefore, I make it a point to cook a simple, delicious and classy meal for the family. This is could be an effort to curb the ever increasing food prices. In addition to that, we don't have to be stingy with home-cooked home. You can have up to 3 times serving, without a worry of insufficient food.
Typical home-cooked meal as below :

Plain rice, vege + dhall curry, chicken variaval, beans and some sambal belacan

The nutritious meal featured  above consist of protein, veges and carbohydrates, and is full of taste.

Breakfast at Day to Day, Puchong.

 On a Sunday morning, we decided to go for breakfast somewhere near

 Puchong.  There is this simple, typical family restaurant situated in Bandar Puchong Jaya. The things that interest me, is the variety of the breakfast there, and the good service. The owner himself, takes the initiative to mingle with the customers.

Our morning beverage, "Teh-O"(tea without milk), Milo and BRU coffee, which another brand of coffee, which is stronger than Nescafe.

Nasi Lemak

Tapioca Cake, Something We Used To Have During Tea Time in Those Days

I remember when I was little, I used to help my mom to make this cake. As I grew older, I completely forgot about it. All of a sudden, I had a craving for tapioca cake, and my thoughts went back into the time when I was a kid. To tell you the truth, I don't think my son has ever tasted tapioca before, and I think
it is time to introduce it to my kid now.

LUXURIOUS PASTA- My Pride & Joy

Pasta is not always all about spaghetti with carbonara or bolognese sauce. Inspired by Lillian's blog, I decided on my version of luxurious pasta, using high-end ingredients :- salmon, prawn, portabelo mushroom, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, preserved olives and a dash of liquor. It can't get more luxurious than that, can it?

Idli- Steamed Rice Cakes & Mock Mutton Meal

Idli is a south Indian savoury cake which is popular throughout India. It is normally eaten for breakfast or dinner. This steamed rice cakes is ideally eaten while it is hot. Paired with Indian gravy is makes a superb meal. As I planned for a full vegetarian meal for the day, I had to come up with a vegetarian gravy dish. 

Prepared idli with mock mutton curry

Flluppy, white rice cakes paired with hot, spicy "mutton" gravy

Vegetarian Thursdays.... Elegant, simple meal of soft tau-fu and Portabelo mushrooms

I have abstained myself from eating meat on Thursdays. It is more for religious purposes, but then again, it is beneficial to the health too. Somehow, being vegetarian limits us, but that is, in fact, a myth. So, in order to beat the odds, I make my Vegetarian Thurdays as interesting as possible, for myself.

This is what I had for lunch. Soft tau-fu with minced Portabelo mushroom. Tasty, and yet healthy, a perfect meal for those who are on a carb free diet. I just used Portabelo mushroom, because these mushrooms are meatier, and you won't feel deprived of the meat in your meal. Chopped garlic, vegetarian oyster sauce, salt and pepper were also added to the minced/mashed tau-fu. And finally top it up with olive oil, and put it on the steamer.

Add the minced portabelo mushrooms, chopped garlic, oyster sauce, salt, pepper and olive oil.

And that was my lunch for the day....simple, elegant and healthy.

Amazing Chada Beach Resort, Koh Lanta, Krabi.

We had an excellent time at this resort, having been upgraded into a gold suite. This was probably the nicest accommodation we had ever stayed in.  The food was good, and we had breakfast everyday at the hotel. We realise we were here during the off-season so there were not much activities that we could do around the island, so we spent a lot of time in the hotel .Our suite opens into this amazing private pool. There is another general pool near the coffee house, beside the beach, which is also very nice. It is for those who are not staying in the Gold Suite. The view is amazing in the evening as its backdrop is the beach.

View from our suite. The veranda opens to the pool.

Super-duper Chicken Curry in a Jiffy

In the modern era, cooking curry is simply a breeze. No more mummies pounding the ingredients in mortal and pestle like yesteryear. By making use of the conveniently packed "raw materials", it can be done in a jiffy. But don't expect it to be as good as grandma's cooking...
A picture says a thousand words, so here is my step by step recipe:

From the left: Tumeric, curry powder (brand does not matter), chilly powder, black pepper, garlic-ginger paste, chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, curry leaves, onions, cinnamon, cloves,cardamon seeds.

Trip to Krabi-June 2010

I wanted to post this blog but I never got to do it. So finally, I have disciplined myself and sat in front of the computer. Last year, I made a trip to Krabi, Thailand, thanks to Air Asia and its Go Holiday packages. Fortunatel,y we went during the off peak season so we had the island to ourselves.

Penang Hawker Food- Coffee Shop on Penang Road

A couple of weeks back,  we all went back to Penang for a short trip. Our palates were, by then deprived of good, tasty food, and in an attempt to devour the best of Penag food, we stopped by Penang Road.
All Penangites know about the famous Penang Road Cendol, and the shop next to it (a corner shop) serves one the best Ais Kacang too. No need for me to rave about the Cendol, so just enjoy the pic. The size of the red bean says it all. I have never seen such huge beans in any other state. Just the right amount of coconut milk and gula melaka, makse it a perfect tasting dessert.

10th Wedding Anniversary Dinner in Krabi, Thailand

For our 10th anniversary, we went to Krabi, and had a rather romantic dinner by the beach. The food was nothing to shout about, but the ambiance was just perfect.

Fussy Kid, Happy Meal (Home-style)

There are days when kids just get the worst out of you....they just don't want to eat. How to handle this fussy eater, my of my ? My son loves Italian, and I can't afford taking him to the restaurant everyday.

So, I have "my friends to save the day". These are my "safety stocks", and add on with some spaghetti, cloves of garlic and a little butter, you can cook up a meal of pasta. Hurray!

 It is so easy that there is no need for a recipe sharing here. Just some photos, and to share the idea with other moms who face the same dilemma as me.

There you go, the results....

You might also like this :
1.Home Cooked Food ala Restaurant Style
3.Homecook meals are the best

Exotic yet simple dinner : Thai basil Chicken with steam rice

There some types of food that forces you to eat, even though you are not hungry. And this is the kind of food- Thai Basil Chicken, not your everyday food, exotic and nevertheless tantalizes your taste buds. The key player here is the Thai basil. It has a more assertive taste than many other sweet basils. The herb has small leaves, purple stems and a subtle licorice or mint flavor. Thai basil, which has an anise flavour, is used as a condiment in Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

I was just shopping around in Tesco, and to my luck, I found it, so I decided to make this recipe for the very first time. I would like to share this simple recipe with you.

Home Made Chicken Rice, healthy and delicious

My boy just loves chicken rice. Take him to any Chinese hawker stall, and he will choose chicken rice as his meal. As we know, hawkers do not really emphasize on good hygiene, and is neither are health conscious. So I thought, why not cook up something on my own. You get a not only delicious, but healthy meal in a jiffy...

My humble recipe listed as below :

Simply Delicious Eggless Semolina cake

It was a boring weekend, and I wanted to created something different. Surfing through the facebook, I came across my cousin's wall where she made this cake. It was a unique using semolina as the base instead of the common flour, so I thought I try it.