Kai Lan with Rice Wine

With the whole household waistlines expanding sideways, have to curtail the meat and carb intake (aaw..it is killing the 'fun tung' in me).
Saw this bunch of lovely baby kai lan (kale) selling at the sidewalk outside Consfood. Usually, very cautious about veggies from China but just couldn't resist these. I soaked and re- soaked them in salt water for hours (ham choi, anyone?) hoping whatever chemicals present will leach out. Think that'd work? Don't know.

~Simply blanch in boiling water for a few minutes.

~Dunk into cold water immediately. Drain and arrange on serving plate.

~Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan, saute 2-3 cloves of chopped or thinly sliced garlic and a tbsp of julienned ginger until fragrant.

~Add 1 tbsp of oyster sauce and 1/4 cup of sweet rice wine, bring to boil.

~Add a tsp of cornstarch+ 2T water solution to thicken (optional). Off the heat.

~Pour sauce over the veggie and serve hot.

~Add some pacific clams on top if feel like indulging.

Chemicals laden or not, they were very tasty - sweet with a soft crunchiness. Can do without meat but got to have my rice.

Jo

Frankfurt 'Pasar Makan"

I was in Frankfurt late February and chanced upon a mobile food market very near the railway station. These mobile food market has different venues depending on the day of the week, very much like our pasar malams in Kuala Lumpur.


Street's food scene.


Makan German street style - nobody get to sit but at least they get a table.

A mobile smoked fish machine smack right in the middle of the city!

Cheese Stall

and another cheese stall.

BBQ Stall


with the bbq done on this hugh wire mesh tray.

Lovely bloom although not quite spring yet as the temperature was hovering just above freezing point.

K

Baba & Nyonya Recipes Curry House, Penampang

Curry Fish Head
We have frequented this place since end of last year. Come here so often that the boss always has a big grin whenever he sees us. Always wanted to blog it but somehow other posts got in the way and this was shelved.
Brought Heather here the moment she touched down in KK for the last CNY holiday and she loved it although we only had snacks.
During CNY we brought Mui Fung and we ordered 2 fishhead dishes - curry and asam as we were so hungry after 'working' so hard building 'the great wall of China' ;p
The curry fish head turned out too spicy with the curry powder overpowering all other ingredients. And I think it was totally outshone by the next dish.

Asam (tamarind) Fish Head

We keep coming back for this. The sauce is out of this world - with the perfect balance of sweet, salty, sour, chili hot and a blend of all the bunga kantan (ginger flower), lemongrass, duan kesum and minty flavours infused. Had to have second helping of rice just for the gravy. Blogging this makes me drool...

Over the many visits to this joint we tried many different dishes. Some we love and some we don't - like this steamed fishhead with soy sauce. The sauce way too salty and fish overcooked. K can do better at home.

Petai and ikan billies (anchovies) sambal. Tasty but a little too oily.

Gong Bao Sotong (squid). Nicely done with the sotong cooked just right, very tender but the sauce is not the expected fiery hot and spicy of gong bao's. Still tasty nonetheless.

Pucuk pakis with sambal belacan and dried shrimps.

Fried Meehoon (rice vermicelli) with sayur manis ( Sabah veg.) RM6.oo

This is very good. Very simple ingredients but done perfectly. A must-have for Don, Bryan and Leanne.

Cendol RM3.00

Saved the best for last - my favourite!! This is exactly the way I like it - coarsely shaved ice piled on top of the pandan-flavoured cendol and boiled red beans. Generously drenched in thick gula melaka syrup (palm sugar) and thick santan (coconut milk). Slurp! Love it. Will be back for more.

Although this is presently my favourite hound, there is this one detail that bugs me... I am not usually very fussy but the sticky plastic sheet (for protection?) they have over the batik tablecloth freak me out. I wanted to lift it up and fold it to one corner but it was thumbtacked to the table!! Why can't they just leave the lovely tablecloth alone? I had to do a complete wipe down before I dare place my hands on it. Sound rather obsessive but it just made me feel so sticky all over and I can't eat comfortably. When I mentioned this to the boss, he said they are going to change that. Hope that will happen soon.

Block E, Lot 34, ground floor, Grand Millenium Plaza, Jalan Lintas, Penampang. It is located the along the Donggongon highway. If coming from Lido along the Lintas highway towards KK international airport, turn left onto the Donggongon Highway at the Kepayan Ridge traffic light. The CKS Hypermarket is on the left. Turn in. The Krishna Curry House is next door.
Dishes come in s, m, l portions and prices except for desserts, breakfast and snacks.

It opens daily for breakfast (very good nasi lemak too), lunch, dinner and snacks until 10pm.

Jo

Lolo's 80th Birthday @ Royal China

Celebrated my father-in-law's 80th birthday last week, twice. One on the actual day itself and another a few days later when we managed to gather most of the clan together. Royal China (Tai Tung) was chosen not so much for its food but for the amenities it provides like ample car park, private rooms and lift.

Started with a four seasons combo appetiser. Only managed to grab one nori roll as everyone was hungry. That's always the case with the first course.

Shark's fin soup with crab meat.

Stewed pork trotter served with some soft buns. Very nicely done.

Steamed Grouper with four treasures, I found two only - slivers of mushroom and Chinese sausage.

Baked prawns with spicy coconut floss.

Braised mixed vegetables (enoki, shiitaki and button mushroom and sea cucumber too) with fermented bean curd.

Long life noodle, a must for birthdays.

Don took this shoot using my camera and commented that the cam is no good because it showed all the gravy smudges on the side of the bowl. Perfect imperfection (or the other way round)?? I said, 'Clean up before a shot!'

Dried longan with pumpkin and snow fungus for dessert.

Eaten together with these pancakes and jelly.

And the birthday cake of course.

With a few of his grand-daughters,

and grandsons

but not quite the whole clan...

Budding photographer

Happy birthday, lolo!!!

As I mentioned we chose the restaurant not for its culinary fame so we really didn't expect anything spectacular but much to our delight the food was quite good especially the pork trotters.

Maybe this is much like life, where there is no expectation, lovely surprises sping up at most turns.

Jo

Sentosa Island

To Leanne's delight, the rain stopped and we were able to tear ourselves from the stores to head for the Sentosa Island.


As it was still wet and slightly drizzling, we headed for Singapore famous underwater world.

Sea horse

Sea Dragon

Also a sea dragon. Maybe male and female.

This beauty was about 2 feet long. Is this the delicious 'hoi die li' ? (K asked if I was hungry as I kept pointing out the sea food that I love:p)

Manage to catch a shot of this very shy eel that was hiding inside a rock.

Feeding time for the sting rays.

Snakes, worms or fish??

Many of these colorful coral fishes.

Deadliest jelly fish, we were told but look so graceful and harmless.

Less harmful but just as lovely.

This is appropriately named a Spectacle Box crab (I thought it was a shell)

And this a Sponge Crab.

Looking for lunch??

Gracie the Dugong. Very adorable but nothing like a mermaid though.

After the undersea escapade, it was still drizzling and cold. So what could be better than sitting down for a hot cuppa and some cakes. This cheese cake we had was so much tastier with creamier and smoother texture than the one we get in KK. Why, eh? Maybe the moon is always rounder overseas :p

Hah, but the texture of this cheese cake with blueberry topping was a little dry. Luckily the smooth sumptuous topping saved the cake.

Dunk these into the latte (I had a Belgium chocolate latte)...em...heaven.

Happy Easter to you!!

Jo