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.