Category Archives: Just Food

TalkChef Bruschetta

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I guess I am not very good with making a quick 5 minute meal or perhaps the person who is lazier than me has a better idea on how to make this simple finger good food. I said this because I charred the first half of the french bread after I got carried away  watching food channel.

My hubby’s face was as black and charred as the charcoal after that. heheheh He said he dont like wasting food so I still put the black bread on his plate. *palm on my face*

This time, with the other half of the french bread left and his supervision – hmm the appetizer turn out not bad!! Even better! 

For your info, he doesn’t know how to cook but he seems to have many ideas when comes to food. I shall say he is a TalkChef! Talk only! In this circumstances I am the executor, sous chef he call it.

This bruschetta was his idea. Toasted French Bread Bruschetta with Garlic butter,  top with Cheese, Salami and mustard.

 

Wine Mania

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Recently we have been drinking wine at home more often than we used to be 5 years ago. There’s no special occasion to celebrate but we will just open a bottle or two to enjoy at home. Then one day out of nowhere hubby got a text message from his brother, recommending him a bottle of wine and the address of the wine house. So Hubby has been keeping it until last month when we almost finish our wine supplies at home we made a trip to check out the wine that BIL recommend. Since then we made 2 trips to the same wine house and I think we’re going again sometime soon. You’ll see why later.

Here’s the bottles of wine we got last weekend.

This is the bottle of wine we bought  at first, Baron de Prats. It is surprisingly  inexpensive and I love the aromas of the red wine! The taste of the wine is easy to drink for me too, I hate wines that gives bitter aftertaste. So we went back and bought  a box of 6 to keep. I can also use this wine to cook (and cheat drink) heh heh heh heh

Another bottle of wine that I would REALLY like to recommend ( I stuggle a bit here as I’m selfish to share about the goodness of this wine). The name of the wine, Obsession really suits the wine. I can say its very hard to get a good white wine, and this one I can’t imagine not being able to buy it anymore. So I am heading back to the wine house to get more of it. Once you open the bottle, you can smell the beautiful aromatic and fruitiness of the white wine and the taste is so beautiful I enjoyed every drop of it . I wish I could open another bottle only for myself to drink.  

 

 We bought this bottle of wine too because its on sale. Can’t describe  because we haven’t tried it yet.

Also bought this

 

We spend about RM500+ just for the wines last weekend but really can’t help it. The wine house is having a SALE and we kiasu scare it’ll be out of stock.

Bacon and Courgette Aglio Olio

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Recently I bought a good deal voucher online knowing that the voucher can be utilise for dine-in or getting the meat at the counter. Look at our selections of Chicken Sandwich Ham, Turkey Hams, Honey Glaced Ham, Pancetta, Bacons Affummicata  Cotta, Salami Napoli and Brutwurst Sausages all for the price of RM54.90 only.

Got so excited over those meats, I decided to cook pasta again for dinner. Here’s the ingredients:

  1. Spagetti
  2. Chilli Flavored Olive Oil
  3. Olive Oil Margarine
  4. Feta Cheese with Olive
  5. Courgette sliced
  6. Bird’s eye chilli finely chopped and seeds removed
  7. Bacon Slices
  8. 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  9. Rock Salt
  10. Chilli Flakes

Bring a large pot of salt water to boil, add a teaspoon of cooking oil and cook the spagetti to ‘al dente’. Follow the instruction printed on the package. Once cook, drain the spagetti but reserved 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

After that, heat the pan with Olive Oil Magarine add  bacon and the  chopped garlic and brown it. Set aside. With the heated pan cook the courgette until soft, you may add another knob of the margarine/ olive oil if the pan is too dry. When the courgette is cooked, throw in the bacons, garlic, chopped chillis, chilli flakes give it a good quick stir fry. Pour in 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water into the pan, and add the spagetti  and stir thoroughly with all the ingredients. Do not reduce the heat, make sure the water is reduced and add salt to taste, then its done!

Korean Chinese Restaurant

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A couple of weeks ago, I dined at this Korean-Chinese Restaurant located at Desa Sri Hartamas (on the 1st floor upstair near to  the little .black .book ). This restaurant is frequented by Korean mostly as not many locals knew the existence of this restaurant. When we enter the restaurant, the waiter speak to us in Korean not  just usual anyeong haseyo  - so imagined la, they dont expect us locals to know of their restaurant and they never advertise except in Korean newsletter.

This restaurant is authenticated by my Yeobo’s Korean boss as this restaurant’s food taste very similar back in Korea.

The ambiance of the restaurant, look like chinese upper class restaurant. The ventilation is not so good, so after we dined and left the restaurant our clothes smell a bit. Anyway, just focus on good food and also excellent service they offers!! The waiters are attentive!

Firstly unlimited Kimchi and other side dishes! They just keep on refilling it even before we finish the first 2 plates -they already have another 2 new plates on the table! Very very generous!

Chajang Myun is the star of the menu.

The one with the separate sauce is Seafood Chajang Myun and the plate with the sauce on top is normal Chajang Myun. The sauce is mainly made with lots of onion and black sauce. We shared the 2 plates of noodles divided to 3 person and it is super filing! I personally thinks that 2 plates of Chajang Myun is enough for 4- 5 pax because you’ll order other dishes too. Use the scissor provided to cut the noodles!  I had a hard time to get the noodles into my bowl and didn’t know why they left the scissor on the table until they show it to us. For a reason! fml!

This restaurant offers authentic Chajang Myun which taste very closely with those sold on the streets in Korea. Chajang Myun in Korea is known as the labourer’s food and it is a controlled food item by the Korean Government. It is actually noodle derived from the chinese version of Zha Jiang Mian who once upon a time, a chinese man in Korea make a simple bowl of noodle which is very cheap to feed the labourer during the World War II where many are poor and food are scarce. My Yeobo retold this story to me, a version from his Korean boss.

This is an excerpt from Wikipedia, to read more click  here .

Jjajangmyeon was first created in the city of Incheon, where early Chinese migrants to Korea began to settle in the late 19th century. The dish was arguably first developed in a Chinese restaurant called Gonghwachun (공화춘; 共和春 – meaning Republican Spring) in Incheon around 1905. The city of Incheon sponsored the “100 year anniversary of the birth of jajangmyeon” in 2005.[1]

The dish originated from zha jiang mian (炸醬麵, literally “fried sauce noodles”) in China’s Shandong region. The pronunciation of the dish’s name is nearly identical to that of its Korean counterpart. But Korean jajangmyeon differs from Chinese zha jiang mian, as Korean zajangmyeon uses black Korean chunjang including caramel, and onions that Chinese zha jiang mian does not use. Korean-style jajangmyeon has also been gaining popularity in China recently.[1]

We also ordered this Chinese Fried Chicken as recommended, the serving is huge and I like it very much. This dish is similar to the chinese version of sweet and sour pork – Gu lou yok. Very tasty and must finish it quick because when it is cold, the starchy sauce turns slightly gooey to chew on.

 

They also prepared this dipping sauce, basically is soya sauce with some vinegar and abit of chilli powder very appetising.

 This one is given free! Korean Style Fried Gyoza! Look nice right? I only had a bite and the rest I let Yeobo to finish it. I am too full to stuff it and I had to stop drinking water as I think it might be the noodle expand in my stomach.

They even serve us some dessert thingy, like watermelon cubes in a glass for each of us complimentary. This is a place that I wont mind going the 2nd time but with more people instead so we can try more dishes from this restaurant.

Korean-Chinese Restaurant Address if you wish to go:

16-1 (1st Floor), Jalan 24/70A,
Desa Sri Hartamas
50480, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +60362013201

Malaysian Wood Noodle – Pan Mee

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I made wood noodle or known as pan mee in commercial terms. At home this noodle is known as ‘min fun char gor’ or as Hubby called it ‘min fun gueh’. SO many names for this noodle wtf. I wonder who name it as wood noodle in the first place as it doesn’t resemble wood anyway.

Well pan mee is a popular noodle in KL and I grew up eating one cook by my mum. To enjoy the home made noodle at home usually it is added with Kampong Koh’s garlic chilli in the thick  anchovies soup, and that just shout yummmy!!! with all the childhood memories flashbacks.

Due to some cravings for a homecook pan mee, the first time I made my own pan mee was 3-4 years ago it was a total failure. The pan mee turns out too thick and we eat it like chewing on uncook flour like dat. Its horrible, but Hubby still finish it nonetheless. I don’t really have any experience in making pan mee except looking at my sis working the dough and my mum do the rest of the cooking. Its okay, one failure doesn’t mean I cant try again. So I tried the 2nd time recently and it was successful.

What I did was  mix 1 egg with 1  1/2 cup of flour, and abit of water together and work the dough until it doesnt stick on my hand, add more flour if the dough is too moist. Then I add 1 tablespoon of oil on the dough and continue kneading until the dough absord the oil and leave it to rest for about 30 minutes because I went for a jog with hubby before it rains (it was a couple of weeks back I cook this).

Then I just use the rolling pin to roll out the dough to the thinness I want and hand peel the dough and throw into the wok ready with the anchovies stock to cook.

This is how it looks. When everything is cooked, add the vegetables last.

I also cook some chicken gizzard, just stir fry with soy sauce and separately cook minced meat the same way.

Tadaaa.. At last I have successfully made the very smooth pan mee with homemade anchovies soup.

Self praised. Its YUMMY!!!

Mackerel Fish No Waste Meal

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 I have a pack of Kembong fish in the fridge and god knows how long its been there but not me. I have no idea at all. Perhaps I should label the food/meat I put in the freezer with dates from now on.

I thought I can steam the fish ala sweet and sour asam but because the freshnest of the fish is in question so I change my plan. Thought of throwing it into the dustbin, but if Hubby knows about it I am as dead as the fish! Just kidding.. I wont waste it!

So I decided to fry the fish only.  There’s nothing to show about frying the fish. So I didn’t take any picture. I just pan fry the fish.. no deep frying in my house.

After frying the fish I change my mind and change my menu.

First with the fried kembong fish (mackerel) I peel the flesh of the fish meat and set aside. I also painstakingly remove tiny fish bones if there is any as I doesn’t want to choke anyone. There’s still bits of flesh left on the stomach part and I just left it be, as I don’t really fancy eating fish stomach.

Then with some chopped bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped onion and a little bit of salt all add to the fish meat and fry on high heat using a pan. I use the same pan I fried the fish earlier, so I didn’t have to add more oil, there’s not much oil left either.

Fry Fry Fry on high heat until you reach a point where you cannot breathe because of the spicy air that make you choke and gasp and run for tissue because you start to sneeze and your throat getting itchy. You may turn off the heat and stop frying by then.

The end result of the Kembong fish will be like this.

Thought of just serving this with plain rice, but with the extra time, I decided to add soup for this meal. I use the kembong fish bone to make soup.

Put all the fish bone in a small pot and boil for 2 hours, with low fire. You may want to know what else I put in the soup.

Nothing………. 

After the soup is ready, then pour the soup through a sieve to remove bits and bones from the fish. Again safety first, I doesn’t want to choke anyone. Boil the soup again and add vegetables.  This time I use instant rice instead of cooking rice with a rice cooker. The instant rice can be bought from any Japanese market, just add boiling water and wait for 30 minutes for it to cook.

To serve, pour the soup over the rice, and top with the fried spicy kembong meat and enjoy!

The soup is very sweet because, there’s about 4-5 fish bones in it in a small pot, enough for 3 person only. I dunno why there’s no fishy fishy smell in the soup, but I still add a little bit of pepper powder just in case. Don’t forget salt to taste too.

This meal must be serve hot!

You may prepare this in advance, just boil the soup again before serving.

All in one-Steam

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I am so lazy lazy laziiiieeeee one Sunday, and I dread cooking dinner and having to wash pot, wok, cooking utensils, the stove, the floor anything that can compromise my clean kitchen after a afternoon Sunday spring clean. So I opt to steam everything in one dish!

I still have a box of Kampung chicken in the freezer. Bought the chicken a couple of months back and speaking of that I dont even remember when’s the last time I go to a wet market, and the few kilo’s of pork I stock up and other meat in the freezer is finally gone. I guess its time to go to the wet market again, probably next month. Haha people go wet market every weekend, or everyday and I do my marketing once in several months.

Back to the Kampung Chicken. Marinate it with some soy sauce, add a teaspoon of sesame oil, lightly chopped garlic and wolfberries for an hour. Then transfer it into a bowl or casserole or a plate, whatever you have. Boil the water in a wok and then transfer the chicken to steam for 15 minutes.

Up close.

When the chicken is almost done, say about 85% cooked lay some vegetables on top of the chicken, whatever vegetables is fine

Then fill on top of the vegetables with rice. I use brown rice, kept the rice in the fridge for a week already. If you are using overnight rice, make sure you thawed it first.

Crack an egg on the rice as shown and steam again for 5-10 minutes.

When everything is cooked, remove from wok and flip the bowl onto a plate and serve hot! Simple isn’t it? Healthy isn’t it?

Korean Fermented Stingray

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This morning Hubby told me that his CEO came from some Southern part of Korea which is very famous for their fermented stingray. I know we have fermented fish kind of food here in most Asian countries.

Food/condiment like  fish sauce commonly used in cooking of like a dipping sauce in substitute to soy sauce or even salted fish which I very much like when you fried it with bean sprout (taugeh) or to cook curry, the good ones are namely Mui Hiong Salted Fish is the best among the many varieties of salted fish sold here in Malaysia.

But Fermented Stingray? An expensive delicacy in Korea? At first I thought the stingray should look like salted fish too- dried. Anyway I am just curious how they made it as Hubby just describe it vaguely like they didn’t sun dried it, but undergoes some fermentation process that makes it rotten raw flesh with very strong ammonia taste and pungent smell as describe by his boss who eats anything and everything but can’t even have the fermented stingray on his plate, even a Korean.

Here ‘s how the Fermented Stingray looks like. To be eaten with kimchi and sliced BBQ Pork wrap in lettuce

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Apart of finding the fermented stingray I continued browsing and looking at other foods which are a delicacies to others. I would never ever ever ever try these no matter what but I am game for Squid Ink Icecream coz hey I tried Squid Ink Pasta before so this one is a pass.

Squid Ink Icecream

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Blood Pudding – look like gourmet food right?

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Blood Jelly – very common among chinese community, I had it before when I was still a kid, it taste quite nice but its too unhygienic to have it here. And eating blood.. I choose not to.

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Cocks comb

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Donut with baby mice. My mum had baby mice before when she is young. She said she just swallowed it and drank a whole glass of water to drown it in her stomach. Eww!!! Ewww!! Eww!!!

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Maggot Cheese – Although I love Cheese (I almost type I love maggot fml) this one no matter how good it taste, it’ll end up in my rubbish bin.

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Mexican escamole – eggs from giant black ant, looking at this my head already start spinning. Is there any delicacies like cockroach eggs? I hate hate hate cockcroach!

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Telur Pindang – Marble Hard Boiled Egg, suppose to be Malaysian delicacies but I never knew it existed.

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Balut, very common household food in Phillipines and Vietnam, maybe Cambodia too. They said it taste like chicken. My head continue spinning its awful to look at really, to me.. no offense okay

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Cannibalism Sushi – they are sicko!

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Human Placenta – more sicko!

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Enough looking at these awfull pictures credits to :  source