Episode 612 - Break for the busy year end

Hi guys! I'm so sorry for not updating my blog since a month plus ago. Super busy and tired since Ramadhan up till the end of Syawal. So I'm posting up my last "Episode" for the year or maybe I'll come back soon with more food mania! I'm taking a break for now and will definitely come back with something fresh and new and probably some of the old school stuff!

So thanks for your support and will definitely see you soon!

Take care.

And ya, the above pic is of my fav type of pizza. Quarterly Stagioni preferably with Salmon XoD

Much love,
NH
Food Enthusiast
My Kitchen To Yours

Episode 611 - MUST GET! Flava of the Century...

BEN & JERRY's STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM

Eat with fresh fruits or top your waffle with it, it's just as good if you it out from the tub! YUMS! TO DIE FOR!!

Episode 610 - Prawn & Vege Fritters

Cucur udang with vegetables. This recipe I curi curi abit from the Cucur I bought at the tamu the other day which I mentioned in my previous post. Practically just dump all the ingredients in and deep fry until golden.

Ingredients: 15 prawns - deviened, shells off & cut into half or leave as it is (up to you) 1/4 cabbage - cut thinly 1/2 stick carrot - cut thinly in strips 1 large onion - sliced thinly 1 chilli - chopped 1 handful of fresh parsley - chopped 1 egg 1 1/2 cups Hong Kong flour Salt & Pepper 1 tbspn Chicken Stock powder 1 cup Water

Method: Mix everything in a large bowl. Batter should not be watery but slightly runny. Or you can swap the back of your spoon dipped in the batter and the batter should not come back together so quickly. Can add flour and water of it is not in a correct consistency. Heat up oil in a deep fryer and take a large spoon (use a ladder) and slowly slide in the batter in the fryer. Flip when its golden.

Serves around 6-8. Enjoy with sweet chilli sauce or mayonnaise. Serve while still warm!

Episode 609 - The Amazingness of the 'Kurma' or Dates

This years Kurnia from HM was by far the best I've ever had. Every year during Ramadhan, Muslim families have the privilege to get Kurmas packed in containers. One for every member of the family. It is said that Kurmas have high energy content and is good for one who fasts during Ramadhan. And that is a fact! I had a few Kurmas and 2 cups of water for Sahur and it was a great miracle that I wasn't as hungry on days which I 'Sahur-ed' with rice or noodles! Plus, you won't have to go back to bed with a blotted stomach. And dates are actually one of the best food to take when breaking fast. It has several other benefits such as containing high dietary fibre and natural sugars, all the sweetness you need for the day. Reportedly, one kilogram of dates contains nearly 3,000 calories which enough to supply the minimum daily requirements of an active man for one full day. But seriously, don't take a kilo of dates. Just take a few and you can see and feel the difference!

So, go get a date!

Episode 608 - 'Bayam' Crisps

Went to the gerai Ramadhan just now at Wisma Yakin and came across a lady who's selling crisps, acar and some other stuff which others don't usually sell then I saw this leafy like 'keropok' and asked what is it. She said that they're Keropok Bayam. Spinach leaves deep fried in a light batter and Viola! Bayam Crisps! So I tried it out just now and it's actually pretty tasty! Has a very unique taste to it, a greeny taste but surely crunchy and really good! If you do come across it, you should try it out. Or maybe try and experiment and deep fry some Spinach leaves if you do have a bunch at home. Rich in Vitamin A and I think if you eat a lot, you'd grow some muscles like Popeye ;oD


Here's how it looks like. I kinda broke it into smaller pieces because they couldn't fit the jar. They're quite huge actually.

Coming Soon In Kitchens Near You...

Chicken Curry with Potatoes, Prawn
& Vege Fritters & Smoked Oysters with Scrambled Egg

Episode 607 - BBQ at Babe M/ MT's Advance B'day

Had a ball for MT's B'day and a lil BBQ at Babe M's! They grilled King Prawns, Lamb, Sausages, Buffalo wings and also made Vege Egg rolls served with mayo! Yum berabis! I kinda regretted not eating the lamb!!!! Mannnnnn... I was so full with all the rolls.. But Happy Birthday MT (He's the one in blue!!) Great to catch up with you guys although a particular Babe SZ aeroplaned us! And oh ya, Babe M's parents make the best cheese cakes!! We had Boston Cheesecake that night and it was superfab!

From Top to Bottom: MT being Cool blowing his candle off the cake (Happy 1 Yr, dude LOL), BBQed Wings & Sausages & the super yummy popias!

Episode 606 - Choco & Sugar Snow Donuts

This is a great treat for Sungkai or even just for parties. Children loves this! Well, actually the adults would love them too. Anyone whose got a sweet tooth sure would go crazy on these. It's really straight forward as I'm using the ready made Donut mix but just add a lil bit of magic and it'll just like be of your own creation!

Choco & Sugary Snow Donuts

Ingredients: 1 Packet of Ready Mix Donut Flour 1 cup Icing Sugar 1 Large Bar of Cadbury Milk Chocolate 1 tbspn Unsalted butter 1/3 cup of Hundreds & Thousands Cooking Oil

Method: Ready the donut dough as instructed on packet. Set aside and let the dough rise. After, knead and use a rolling pin and roll the dough and use a donut ring cutter to cut out as many donuts as you can. Deep fry until both sides are golden. Double broil Chocolate bar with the butter. Stir until melted. Dip one side of donuts with the chocolate and sprinkle with hundreds and thousands on top. As for Sugar Snow donuts. While donuts are still warm, place donuts in a bowl of icing sugar and make sure that all is covered.

Serve after cooled in room temperature.

*Tips*: You may also top your donuts with crushed nuts or sliced almonds with the chocolate. Or for a sugary glaze, mix some icing sugar with a lil bit of food colouring & warm water and drizzle all over the donuts. Left over donut dough can be rolled into small balls and made into little donut balls.

Episode 605 - 'Perayaan' In Conjunction of HM's 64th B'day

Truthfully, I have been procrastinating on updating my blog. Mostly cos I've been tied up with work and been quite tired and mostly cos I'm lazy and that my social life has been quite active. But I have found my new glory! I got my hands on a Canon 550D! So all the pics on future posts including this one will be from the magic of my dear 550D! Still trying to work on how to use it. Alright, let's get back to food!! Past month has been makan only for me. That includes at the 'Perayaan' which happens yearly in celebration for HM's birthday. Took a few pics after work and just trying to show you this 'gerai' which sells very nice 'Cucur Sayur'!

From Top to Bottom: The really 'nyaman' Cucur Sayur, Different concoction of drinks ranging from ice Milo to chilled Coconut Juice, 'Salai' Fish & Chicken Wings, Stuffed Calamari & 'Sotong Tumbuk'

YuMsss~~

Episode 604 - Sweet Breadfruit Crisps

Sugary Sukun Crisps

I think these just taste yummy! Babe LY gave me not 1 but 2 breadfruits! They're called 'Sukun' in Malay/Chinese btw. A very thick, starchy and powdery texture but it has a rich taste to it. Something similar to a potato. But the fruit actually looks like some sort of a Jackfruit only with a smoother skin.

Anyway, I cut the Sukun in half and strip down the skin and sliced the sukun thinly, pretty much around 2 inch of length and wide. I only cooked half of it as a whole sukun can practically feed the entire Jon and Kate Plus 8. See below for further instructions. And yes, be sure to cut the core out.

Ingredients: Half of a Sukun; cut thinly (should look like diamond shaped pieces), Lots of Sugar, Salt, 5 cups of Cooking Oil; to be heated in a deep fryer with a large fire

Method: Deep fry the breadfruit cuts for around 10 minutes or until light golden. Remove and place in a large bowl. Scatter sugar all over. The more sugar the better. I reckon I used around 1 1/2 cups of sugar and a tablespoon of salt. Use both hands to mix, make sure the sugar adheres to the fried pieces.

Heat a pan and place 2 tablespoons of oil and stir fry the breadfruit pieces with the sugar and salt together. Add more sugar. Make sure this is done on low heat as the sugar may start to caramelise. Keep on stirring until most parts of the breadfruit are covered with sugar syrup like texture.

Remove and place on a plate to cool. At this point you should also sprinkle some sugar on top and mix with your hands once more before letting it cool. The heat from the crisps would melt the sugar away.

Makes a large jar (Horlick one). Make sure to try this cos I can't stop munching on them! Oh ya, you might get sap from cutting the sukun skin and it may create a sticky like thingy on your knife. Don't panic, just rub some oil on the knife and sponge it off with washing detergent and you should be good! Also, use a thin knife as it cuts through the Sukun much easier.

Episode 603 - Cheesy Chicken Chop & Sweet Potato Soup

Hi all, been so busy that I have no time to update but more like too tired to update. Two recipes that I've been meaning to put up. Pretty simple in preparation just takes a bit of time to cook and all. A great combination for a Western style dinner and a very delicious one too! Haven't been out and about to places, just went to Al Fresco, Miri to have the fish umai last Friday and it was still da Bomb! My egg Omellete came soooo late that by the time it came, I was pretty much full from the tit bits and munchies of Honey wings with sesame and the Umai. Oh well, regardless had great time with the girls and such a good laugh. Just the right thing to do after a real hectic week.

So here goes...

Cheesy Chicken Chop

Ingredients: Whole Chicken breast; cut into 4-6 pieces (thicker pieces to be sliced into the middle & half it) & marinated with salt & pepper (leave aside for 1/2 hour),
A: 150g of Bread Crumbs 50g of grated Parmesan Cheese 50g of Grated Romano Cheese,
1 egg; beaten

Method: Mix all of A up and place onto a dish. Place the beaten egg into a deep dish too and take a piece of the chicken breast and dip it into the egg. Make sure the meat is thoroughly covered with egg, then cover it up with ingredients in A. Should also make sure that it's nicely covered with the crumbs and cheese. Repeat until all chicken pieces are used up. Preheat a non-stick pan and place a few tablespoons of olive oil. Pan fry the chicken breasts until they turn golden brown and turn and do the same. Should take around 3 minutes on each side.

Serves: 5 - 6

Serve with fresh crunchy garden salad and a slice of lemon.

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients: A: 1 litre of Water 200g of Chicken bones 150g of Sweet Potatoes; cut into cubes 1 medium sized carrot; cut into cubes 1 cube of Knorr Chicken Stock
B: 1/2 cup of cream or milk 3 tablespoons of Cream Cheese
C: 2 large Onions - sliced thinly & 1 Garlic - finely chopped

Method: Boil A up in a pot until potatoes & carrots are cooked through. While waiting for A to cook, soften the onions & garlic in a pan with a few tablespoon of olive oil. Should be done on low heat until onions becomes transparent. This will take a bit of time to be done. When both are done, sieve A up and place only the sweet potatoes and carrots in a blender and dump in the onions & garlic. In other words, remove the chicken bones. Put 2 cups of the chicken stock into the blender and blend everything up until smooth. Pour the blended ingredients back into the pot with the rest of the chicken stock. Pour in the milk or cream, cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Stir and bring to boil. You can also add a few dashes of dried parsley.

Serves: 4

I hope that you try these out cos I bet they'll blow your mind off.
Cook with your heart. It tastes so much better!
See you in the next post :)

Episode 602 - Bobby Chinn @ HalalExpo & Chicken Wanton with Ginger Dip

Definitely framing this up! I look Super Cina in this pic man. Apparently we are "enthusiastic" fans with Internationally renowned Celebrity Chef Bobby Chinn
-Borneo Bulletin, 5th June

I had a Super exciting weekend! I personally met Celebrity Chef Bobby Chinn last Friday at the HalalExpo, ICC , Berakas! It was surreal that he just stood right in front of me. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears when I approached him, shook his hand and asked for an autograph. That reminds me, still have my Wild Wild East book with Dina hmmm Hope she did'nt sell it on e-bay. Ok, back to the HalalExpo. This is his second time in Brunei doing a demo show for HalalExpo and it was actually abit disappointing at the beginning because he had to wait for people to crowd up and actually start the show. Finally after an hour or so, the room warmed up and the show started. He was really funny and sarcastic. Kept on teasing about the lousy knife they had for him and that dude from RBC in the crowd who had his own idea of cooking. But all in all it was such a great experience and I was so damn lucky to be part of that event. It even earned my friends and I the front page news on our local paper the following Saturday. Groupies for the Chef. Wait, correction, more like Supermodels for the Chef.

Next, a lil recipe my mum and I whipped up. We make this once a while as it needs quite abit of time to prepare. Just devote some time in the evening and you can enjoy this for breakfast the next day.

Chicken Wantons with Ginger Dipping Sauce

Ingredients: 1 packet Wanton Skin (Round or Square shaped) A: 400g of minced Chicken 50g of Carrot; diced 50g of Water Chestnut; diced 50 g of Shitake Mushrooms; diced 2 tbspns Sesame Oil 2 tbspns Light Soya Sauce A pinch of salt & pepper B: (Dipping Sauce) Ginger; thinly shredded 1/2 cup light soya sauce 1/4 cup of Rice Vinegar

Method: Mix all ingredients A well. Spread a Wanton skin on the palm of your hand, take a tablespoon of the meat filling and place it at one side of the Wanton skin. Fold the other side over and seal it by pinching the sides. Repeat until all skins are used up.

Boil a pot of water and place the wantons into the boiled water until they float up. using a strainer, pick up the cooked wantons and place it in a lightly oiled dish.

Mix ingredients B and serve with the Wantons.

Serves: 5

*Tip*: Do not place so much filling as it might not get cooked. You can also panfry the cooked wanton until it is a lil brown on the sides and serve with the same sauce. After boiling, drizzle a little more oil on top to avoid the Wantons from sticking with each other. Serves really well with Noodles and a hot bowl of soup.

Episode 601 - Happy Birthday Daddy & Dinner @ Charcoal, BBQ & Grill

Happy Belated birthday, Daddy dearest! Celebrated his 54th birthday last Wednesday and we had Dim Sum from 11 Degrees Sports Cafe, Sutera Biru Hotel, Kuala Belait. They serve Halal Dimsum and they serve pretty good Dim Sum too! I mean, it's not as good as Dynasty's but can eat la~ Had the Siu Mai, Fried Carrot Cake (my favourite!), Prawn Salad, Yam Ko', Vege Popiahs, steamed chicken (supposedly with shark fin but I ain't seen any shark fin on that) and some fish balls. Pretty filling cos you know when you eat several small dishes, they just fill your tummy up easily but funny you can get hungry fast. Then we had cake from Mum Bakery. Chocolate Royale Cheesecake. I am very sure that this is one of the best cakes they have. Soft sponge chocolate cake layered with light cream cheese. Such a great combo! Mmmmm delish!

Fried Carrot Cake - Which part of it is carrot? hmmm..

Next, caught the Prince of Persia Sands of Time movie at the Empire. Pretty good movie as it was action packed and I love the effects where they kind of slow mo on some of the scenes when he jumps off from one building to another. Really great acting from Jake Gyllenhall though! Surprised me as he kinda gave me a stigma from the movie Brokeback Mountain! But seriously, anyone who could play out as a Homosexual lover can make any movie a hit! And the lines were pretty humorous too! A total must see movie of the year! Can't wait for all the upcoming Summer movies! Ok, enough about movies. After the movie, I went for steak at Charcoal BBQ & Grill. Asked the waiter what is the best lamb steak they have and he recommended the Mint & Pineapple Lamb. Cooked to perfection, I loved the taste. Complimented with the sizzling sauce and 2 side dishes. I couldn't finish the whole thing! My friends had the Piri-Piri Chicken, Sirloin Steak, Half a grilled Chicken and "appertisers" we all had Oyster mushrooms deep fried with a coating of batter, Mushroom soup, Calamari rings and the best one was the Salmon Crepe! - Sweet & salty sheets of Smoked Salmon wrapped in a thin crepe with some mayo/ creame freche! So freaking good! Didn't have my digi camera with me so I used my handphone. Blurry pics but better than nothing :) Which makes me think that I should get a bloody SLR!





From top to Bottom: My Mint & Pineapple Grilled Lamb, Half a grilled Chicken, Salmon with Mango Dressing Salad, d very nyaman/da-bomb four seasons (mixture of mango juice & several other fruit juices blended) & Salmon Crepe

Episode 521 - Two Delish Treats for the day! - Supasave's Beef Kebab & Bakerlyn's Caramel Sticks

Energy day, have you done your part? Well, I didn't get to pledge online but I did try as hard to save lotsa energy today by switching off any unused electric things. But I did hear that we didn't do well to save energy! Only a somewhat 1+% lower than the average Monday! That is really sad though. However, I want to share with you all 2 treats I had today! First is the Serikandi Express Beef Kebab (basically half of a pita bread, stuffed with savoury cooked meat & vege in the mid) I bought from Supasave, Panaga. Best kebab I've tasted but I do wish they put a lil bit more mayo hehe. Costs at BND2.20 a piece, the price is so-so but wished it was a bit cheaper too. Then again, quality is more important right? Next are the Caramel Sticks (price unavailable) from Bakerlyn Bakery, Qlap, BSB. Practically these are just buttery puff pastry cut into strips, twisted and embellished with lots of sugar! They are so darn yummy!!!!

Beef Kebab @ Supasave, Panaga. Doesn't look as appealing but trust me, it is slurpies!

Caramel Sticks @ Bakerlyn, Qlap

Well, that's all. Just wanted to share a lil something-something for those of you who got the blues on Mondays *ergh*. Will be catering for Viv's birthday on Wednesday so I'm going to cook Nasi Briyani and make Potato Egg Salad. Wait for the Briyani recipe. An easy dish made out of instant packets.

See you then!

Episode 520 - The Perfect Egg Sandwich

Eggs! Babe LY's favourite! I don't think anyone can hate eggs! Eat it with your Indomee or cook it with vege, dump it in your soup, make cakes with it, mash it, boil it, poach it, it all taste as good! You can never go wrong with eggs.

I discovered this recipe during my Uni days where Babe LY's mum would make a container of this egg sandwich mix and LY will be chomping her way to heaven. I knew it was really precious to her but regardless I didn't decline her offer! And my God, was it a damn good egg sandwich mix. Ok, not nearly the same but similarly close to the real recipe, this is my own blend of the perfect egg sandwich!

Ingredients: 3 hard boiled eggs - mashed 4 tablespoons of Mayonnaise 1 cup of shredded carrot 1 teaspoon of sweetened Condensed milk 1 tbspoon of Cream Cheese A dash of pepper & dried parsley 6 pieces German Bread - cut in halves

Method: Mix well all ingredients. Take the halved bread and make a pocket in the middle with a sharp knife and stuff 2 tablespoons of egg mix in it.
Serves: 6

*Tip*: Add some more mayonnaise for extra creamy egg mix. Serves well with fresh salad and fries on the side. Use Wholemeal bread for a healthier choice or a Crossaint if you like a little buttery flavour to your sandwich!

I added slices of chicken ham and fresh lettuce to my sandwich with this egg mix and it was absolutely tasty! Great dish for a breakfast meal!

Episode 519 - Thermomix a.k.a the machine which does anything (in the kitchen that is)!

Thermomix - The Superman of Food Processors

I had a very interesting time one evening last week. My Supervisor invited me to some sort of a cooking demo. Apparently he said there's a very amazing machine which cooks for you with a touch of few buttons. I had a glimpse of it on a brochure he brought but had a first hand experience during the demo we had at a colleague's place. I was truly amazed because this magical machine is like all machines in one. More precisely its actually 8 types of machine in one. It can basically do around 14 things which other machines can prolly do only 3 and that is one thing at a time. But this machine does 3 things at a time! Steams, cooks & blends! The other 100 things it can do are : weigh, chop, emulsify, whip, grinds, knead and more! So I had a chance to see how the machine can make and then steam 'Man Tou' (best Man Tou I've tasted & the dough the machine kneaded was just super smooth & fine!) , cooks & blends pumpkin into a creamy soup, stir fried Spinach, cooked rice & steamed chicken at the same time. I was totally impressed by it. However it is like darn expensive man. Cost around BND 2,000. But I guess it is a good investment if 1. you have no other machines like food processors, blenders or mixers in your kitchen, 2. if you have a supperrr busy life as the machine can cook anything for you in just less than 20 minutes, 3. if you can afford a 2k food processor haha But regardless, it is surely something worth to look at because practically it cuts cooking and preparation time into half. I just have one negative thing about it. This machine cuts the joy of cooking entirely! And ya, it doesn't deep fry food too because it is a machine which supports healthy cooking!

Go to this website for more info: www.thermomix.com

Episode 518 - Steamboat @ IceBar & Cafe Shabu-Shabu, Fresh Coconut Water @ Shahbandar , Lorenz Potato Chips & Chaw Kue Tiaw @ Sg. Liang

I tried something out today. Not food wise, but physicality wise. Karate! Haha, all I know is that the warming up session is wayyy intensive than hiking all the hills at Shahbandar. There was like coordination exercise, abs build-up and all the push ups and sit-ups. Walau. I tell you, don't play, play, I think after a few weeks of doing this I'll be having abs. Not too sure if I wana continue the next session as I'm pretty much having a hard time typing now. haha.

Noodles, slices of lamb meat & Large Seafood platter

The "buffet" of Sauces!

Your choice of soup in a hot pot waiting for you to dump in your meat slices

Ok, back to food. A few places I'd like to recomment in this episode, all gathered up from the past weekend. Saturday, jalan-jalan with the family in Bandar. Tried out Shabu-Shabu at IceBar & Cafe Shabu-Shabu at Qlap Plaza Hotel, Kiulap. Just opposite of Hua Ho Kiulap, 1st floor, straight up after the escalator. In other words it's actually just like Steamboat with lots of meat choices. They have several types of food sets that you can choose from large to mini sizes with a range of meat like seafood, beef, lamb & chicken. You can have them with either noodles or steamed rice. I'm not quite a steamboat fan but this was pretty exceptional. Prices weren't that bad either. Probably around BND 15 per head. They also have a buffet of sauces and free flow water. My mum actually went, "hah? water only free ah?". And I answered, got free water good already lor, other restaurants don't have. Haha. Anyway, if you haven't try it out, please do and I think bookings should be made cos it is always a full house there. Rate: 6.5/10.


So, I am a recent hiker at Shanbandar. Picked it up after so many years of not hiking. And I've pretty much gained my confidence in it after a few weeks of "training" as the first one, I was totally pucat and wanted to faint. What I'd like to recommend is to try out the SUPER COOLING fresh Coconut water (they actually cool the whole coconut in the fridge) at the stalls near the foot of Shahbandar. Cost at BND2 per coconut, it is such a thirst quencher after that exhausting hike. Plus, coconut water is a natural Isotonic drink and it seriously releases that heat from within your body! Totally natural detox drink!


Next, LORENZ brand crisps! They are really yummy! Comes in a few flavours (the Paprika one is the BOMB!) and types like chips, potato sticks and some others, get them from Supasave or Hua Ho at BND 3.60 for the large packet and the small ones for around BND1.80. I'm actually munching on em right now. Crazy, can't stop!

And lastly, my first taste of Fried Kue Tiaw at that Sungai Liang Kopitiam. I'll get the name of the place soon but it's just on your right after the junction to Labii (on your way up from KB-Bandar). It's a little blue wooden lot. Open-air concept , pure Kopitiam style but they have flat screen TV, man. I did find the side bench pretty interesting. Just a plank of wood nailed onto the side of the wall. Not forgetting the BANANAS! Din get a picture of that but they looked so huge as if they were gona explode anytime! LOL They did screw up our order but it was all good cos we were hungry.

I think I'll stop here. My arms are really killing me! See you in the next post!

Episode 517 - Thai Style Century Eggs , Mustard Wings & Fish Umai at Al Fresco, Miri

Thai Style Century Eggs

I think that would be the longest title for a post! haha hi guys! I'm back, been so lazy to blog but good news is that I've gathered a few things, some recipes and some food which I've come acrossed for the past week or so. First up would be the Thai style Century Eggs. This would either make you want to puke the moment you hear century egg or will make you go OMG! I love century eggs. Yes, they might have the most unique taste in the history of Asian food but trust me, this is exotic and it has a strong taste to it. Something which will linger on your tongue for a few seconds once it hits that spot. However it may be eaten, I like it fried with a little bit of sweet and sour sauce. So here's a simple and easy recipe to follow:

Thai Style Century Eggs

Ingredients:
3 Century Eggs; Shelled off and cut into half

A (for the Sauce):
3 tbspns of Thai Chilli Sauce (get the extra spicy one!!!!)
1 tbspn brown sugar
1/4 of a lemon juice
1/4 cup of water
1 shallot; thinly sliced & diced
1 chilli; diced
1 tspn of dried parsley (or better, fresh one, finely chopped)

Method:
Fry the century eggs for 1-2 minutes each on both sides or until the outer part turns golden brown and crisps up. Take out & drain the oil on a plate with paper. Mix A in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Arrange eggs onto a plate and pour sauce all over.

Serves: 3-4

*Tip*: Serves really well with pickled onions and topshells (canned). YUMMY!!!!

Had these during a BBQ over the weekend. It was again at the Croc Haven at Teraban and was accompanied by a very small group. Slightly disappointed with the rest who didn't make it (YES, I am talking about you Shannon!) but yea, an intimate crowd with good food, nothing better than that. And I think babe M, we kinda overestimated the amount of wings needed haha. Btw Babe LY, the longan I always use is the HOSEN brand one. Don't get the lousy cheap one, so masam man.

BBQ Mustard Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
1/2 kg of Chicken wings

A (Marinade):
3 tbspns of Mustard
3 tbspns of Oyster Sauce
2 tbspns of light soya sauce
A tiny pinch of salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 Chillies; finely chopped
2 tbspns of brown sugar

Method:

Marinade chicken wings with A. Leave in fridge overnight or a few hours before heating up your grill or barbecuing them on medium fire for 8 minutes on each side or until meat can be easily poked through with a skewer (got this great tip from babe LY, thanks babe!!!!).

Serves: 2-3

Hmmm where is the fish?? - BUURRRPPPP

Guys, it was my first time at Al Fresco, Miri on a Wednesday night. It's just a kind of cafe slash bar if you want to have drinks and snacks kind of place. I did find the atmosphere nice, the lighting was good, a pool table inside, easy sofas on the sides with high raised table tops and played quite a selection of nice ballads. Even the washrooms were interesting, I really like the wooden doors where you need to slide a piece of wood to lock. Hmm, don't really know how to explain that but yea, a great place to go and they served a killer Fish 'Umai'. Umai is actually raw fish "cooked" in lots of lime juice or vinegar. Mixed with sliced of large onions, chillies and sweetened with a bit of sugar. This is the best appetizer I've tasted so far! But fresh fresh slices of fish meat is the key ingredient to this! I have a Filipino uncle who makes this really well and he actually puts peanuts or cashews in the mix. The pic may not look nice, as it was all kena 'sapu' by the after - work , stressed and very hungry people I was with. Ok, Ok I was one of them. Couldn't wait for another bite after the first explosion in my mouth! WOW!

Episode 516 - Food for Thought : You Are What You Eat

I've been meaning to come up with something original in my blog and here it is. Food for thought! More like a small part of my blog which I write about what I feel about things like food, health or anything interconnected. This is much more personal as I'll be writing about my thoughts more and probably pick out something from a book, magazine or a website for you guys to read on similar topics.

For the first article on Food for Thought, I'd love to discuss about the theory of 'You are what you eat'. What do you think? Well, I definitely agree on this. When people say 'you are what you eat', sometimes they mean it as a sarcasm or a warning to someone who is binging or eating too much of something unhealthy like fried food and candies. In other terms, it is pretty much self explanatory, you will look like what you consume for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If you eat uncontrollably, you'll gain weight. If you eat too little, you'll be skinny. So with a well-balanced diet accompanied with regular exercise, you'll look healthy and feel healthy. Ever notice your friends or family members or some stranger at the food court eating a mountain of greasy fries when they are already heavy? I mean, people should realize the importance of staying healthy especially living in this much industrialised world where stress levels are high and the environment is deteriorating. It is sad to see that people get obese just because they don't care about their health and even much worse if their love ones do not tell them that they should start opting a better diet.

However the circumstance, I love good food. It makes me happy on a sad day. Even happier on a normal day. It's funny how good food usually pertains a giant cup of coke or a large bowl of deep fried chicken. I mean the fattier and higher in calories the food is, the better it tastes! Say, prawns. They are sweet and juicy no matter how you cook them but prawns are said to be one of the most high calorie type of seafood other than squid. Like desserts, usually creamy and sweet, is very much of a devil for the sweet tooths. A normal serving of a slice of cake usually contains 340 calories, 14 g of fat and 55mg of cholesterol. Imagine having 2 slices and in order to burn all the calories you have taken you would need to do running for around 40 minutes (burns 10-12 calories/minute). Now, isn't that just hard work?

And then there are certain people who are blessed with high metabolism rate which in other words mean that what they eat is pretty much broken down into their body faster than some others (like me). They will still be slim even if they eat double of a 'normal' person who has a 'normal' metabolism rate. This I guess is another theory because even if they don't have much fats stored around their body, it might not be the same for the calories that their body hold. So I think a regular check up would be advisable. Even better, go and get your butt shaking because exercising increases one's metabolism rate!

Conclusively, we are what we eat. Choosing the right food is good for your health but do indulge and pamper yourself with the lowest type of food in the Food Pyramid once in a while.

Go to this website where you can find which type of exercise burns the most calories:
http://stason.org/TULARC/health/diet/54-How-many-calories-do-different-types-of-exercise-burn.html

This website tells you the best type exercise for you to lose the weight you want:
http://www.weightlossforall.com/best_exercise_lose_weight.htm

Or even for a more life experience, watch 'Super Size Me' (2004). It is a movie made by a guy who thinks that Americans get fat because they eat too much fast food. So, he tested the theory out by eating ONLY fast food for 30 straight days! A very interesting movie to watch as the results of his theory were really crazy especially when he goes to the doctor! Check out the trailer on youtube for a quick preview.

Episode 515 - Parmesan Eggplant

Parmesan Eggplant

Many of you might not be very fond of the taste of egg plants. But it's one of my favourite vegetable especially when cooked with anchovies and dark soya sauce or in curries. So I came up with this recipe when I was watching an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother' where Ted was having a 2 minute date with Stella in Season 3. They had Parmesan Eggplant and surprisingly when I got home I had Parmesan cheese and egg plants in the fridge so I tried this out and they were actually not bad. Well, they were abit salty cos I forgot that the butter I used was salted. So ya, be sure to check whether the butter you're using is salted or not because it can make a huge difference to your dish!

Ingredients:
Eggplants; cut 1/2 cm thick and 3 inch long and score one side with the tip of a knife
(Or if you have the round and stumpy type just cut 1/2 cm thick)
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salted Butter
Pepper to taste

Method:

Before the eggplants are cooked

On a lightly greased baking tray, place all the eggplants,s cored side up and place a pinch of butter on top of each eggplant. Sprinkle as much parmesan on top, around a teaspoon each eggplant would do and bake in oven for around 10 minutes or more at 220 degrees (Gas marked 7). The eggplants are cooked when they have shrunk and the skin turns into army green in colour. Pepper can be sprinkled before or after baking.

A fantastic dish as it is or accompanied by any other American or Italian maincourses. Tastes good with the skin on but if you do not like the bitterness of the baked skin, you can just scoop the meat out with your spoon.

Episode 514 - Tuna Roll-ups

I was driving to Soon Lee to get some groceries for dinner and I was thinking how can I dish up something with tuna and bread. I love tuna and I was going to cook a Western dinner so I made this little roll-ups of bread filled with creamy tuna and crunchy cucumber. This is actually quite great as an appetizer or as finger food for your parties. Here's the recipe:

Tuna Roll-Ups -
Ok, so the pic may not look as appetizing as they are a little burnt (extra crunchy) but they seriously taste good ok? LOL

Ingredients:
8 pieces of bread; de-crusted & flattened with a rolling pin

Filling:
A can of tuna; drained dry
4 tablespoons of mayonnaise
A few dashes of dried-rubbed parsley
3 inches of cucumber; seeds spooned out and diced
Salt & pepper to taste
A few tablespoons of Olive Oil

Method:
Mix all 'filling' ingredients in a bowl and put a spoon full of the tuna filling onto the bread. Leave just a cm off the top and the sides when you put the filling on the bread. Roll the bread and press it gently on a baking tray. Repeat the same for the rest of the bread until the filling is finished. Lightly brush the outer part of the rolled bread (all over) with the olive oil and bake the rolls in the oven for around 10 minutes at high heat (or gas 7) until bread turns light golden brown.

Serves: +- 8

*Tip*: Fasten the ends of the rolled bread with half of a toothpick so that it won't open up when it is baking in the oven. You should not put too much filling as it may ooze out of the bread during baking time. Smaller roll-ups can be made by cutting the bread into halves with a teaspoon of filling. Too add a bit of spiciness, add a little chili powder into the filling.

The outcome would be little bite sized roll-ups, smooth and creamy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Try it!

Episode 513 - Malaysia Food Galore : 'Confirm' Must Try - Kuala Lumpur & Terengganu

Cuti- Cuti Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

Hey all, seems like I've been having some bad reviews from my previous posts! Just haven't come across anything very interesting of everyone's liking I guess. Anyway, just got back from a self-rejuvenating vacation from K.L and Terengganu last weekend. Didn't really get to take any photos of the food I came across as the whole trip was really jet-set on the go. However, I'd like to recommend a few 'confirm', must-try places to eat and what to eat when you do go to Terengganu and KL.

'Keropok Lekor'
(Image from mesra.net)

2 top food you must try if you are to be in Terengganu are 'Keropok Lekor' and 'Nasi Dagang'. Keropok Lekor is basically some sort of meat sausage, except that it's made of fish! I've had my fair share of Lekor here in Brunei but it doesn't really taste as good as the ones in Terengganu because I think they have much more fish flavour in it. One of my friend did say that there is a type which is not the deep-fried one but is actually served in a sauce? We didn't come across that one but we did have the Lekor served alongside Chilli sauce. It's a pretty interesting and tasty type of snack especially when you eat it with hot sauce right after it has been deep-fried, warm and soft inside and a lil bit crunchy on the outside.

As for the Nasi Dagang, it is actually something like Nasi Lemak which is also a very famous local Malay dish around here. When we tried this at the Central Market in Terengganu, it didn't look very appealing. It just looked like a plate of steamed rice, with some pickle on the side and a side dish of Chicken cooked in Soya Sauce. Don't judge a book by it's cover they say because this Nasi dagang is darn nice! The rice was cooked into perfection, with traces of shallots and lemongrass and some other spice. It was simply aromatic as I know they've put some coconut milk in it and the side dish was just a compliment to the rice with it's sweet and savoury soya sauce with soft chicken meat. The sour taste of pickled vegetable made from cucumber added a "zang" to the whole dish. Simply irresistible!

Laguna Beach Resort, Redang Island, Terengganu

And then there was a heaven on earth called 'Pulau Redang' or Redang Island. Just East of the coast from Terengganu, this island is definitely a place for a get-away from that routine and demanding job of yours. The food was pretty much of fusion type. However, if you do go to Redang island, stay at the Laguna Beach Resort where the side beach bar serves a very cooling 'Ais Kacang' or Bean Ice (usually a concoction of mixed fruits, boiled red beans, sweet corn, 'cendol' topped with shaved ice and milk and syrup) which you can enjoy on a hot summer holiday outside! Not to mention the fantastic full-of-taste Coconut Water, fresh and sipped from the fruit itself. Truly a summer get away experience!

Confirm, Must- Go! - the interior of Jogoya Buffet Restaurant, Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur

When we came back to Kuala Lumpur, the best place to go and not to miss is the Jogoya Buffet Restaurant at Starhill Gallery just across Pavillion. If you love food, you can eat your guts out at this restaurant where they serve all types of food from Japanese, Chinese, Western and of course Malay food up till 12 am! The chefs go all out by preparing all top notch dishes like Shark fin soup, Herbal soup, pasta, grilled food, seafood like King Crabs, hot pots and even the mouth watering deserts of macaroons, meringue, cakes and even waffles with ice cream (Haagen Daas!). For a RM51 buffet, I tell you it's so worth it, you feel like treating all your mates there! They do have a very special system though that each person gets to get 1 VIP pass meaning certain food will need a VIP pass to order it as they would be a bit costly such as Shark fin soup and Lobster. Guys, a definite place to go when you're in K.L. Plus it's a restaurant which serves no pork!

Other than that, I did go to Tin Dai Fung which is situated at the Gardens, Mid Valley Megamall, K.L. The dishes were pretty much the same. I had my favourite Beef 'La Mien' Soup and all the other tit bits. But I do feel that the one in Singapore was way better. But regardless I still enjoyed every single dish that they served such as the special fried creamy Mango, coated with bread crumbs and also the Prawns marinated in Salted egg! Yummy!

Alright, guys that's all for now. Do feedback on the CHATBOX you can find on the side of my blog or if you're too shy, you can always just tick the very convenient thumbs up or thumbs down box after every each post. Have a good evening all! :) Upcoming posts would be meaty lasagna and a hearty lamb chop recipe.