Immunization jab

Last week, when I checked Amber's immunization schedule, I realised she was supposed to have her Hep A booster done in Nov 08. How terrible of me to forget. Since moving to our new house, I've sort of lost track of things and was too lazy to dig up her immunization card and the card is in a form of booklet which is outdated. There's so many new immunizations - meningococcal, preumococcal, prenavar, rotarix, all of which is not stated in the book. The nurse updates the book and tries to squeeze the new jabs into the existing 2 page and i missed out on the Hep A booster jab.

I quickly made an appointment with her paed.. last Saturday. As I can remember the last occasion Amber went for a jab was almost a year ago, she's too young to remember and I did not warn her then but this time, I prepared her for it. I told her an injection is just like an ant bite, or like rubber band 'piak'! lol...

She said :

I no scared one.. injection like ant bite .. like rubber band piak
I no scared !
If I cry, then Papa Mama sayang me lor...

and she's singing this phrase for days right up till Saturday.


Doctor did the usual check and when the needle finally came, she squealed, Papa had to hold her tight. Cried waahhh ! waahhh !


Still shedding tears but only for a while.

She's a big girl now and I believe in telling her the truth, that the injection hurts but just for a while. I don't want to tell her, not to worry, it does not hurt because it does.

Later I asked : does it hurt ? She said :

Boh ! A little bit pain oni.. then Papa sayang lor.... (with the innocent look in her eyes. * Boh = No , in Hinghwa)

My little girl has grown up.

Seafood Padprik

I love the nasi goreng with seafood padprik from Restoran Santai at Tesco Ampang. I heard they have an outlet at Taman Tun which is equally as popular too.

I tried to cook the 'padprik' dish and this is what I came out with :


Ingredients

Recipe :

1 bowl of prawns, shelled and deveined, leaving tails intact
1 bowl of white sotong, cut criss cross on the insides
2 garlic pips, chopped
1 large onion, wedged
80gms long bean, cut to 4cm length (blanched)
80gms cauliflower florettes (blanched)
2 tbsp oil
pinch of salt

Sauce:
2tbsp oyster sauce
2tbsp tomato sauce
2tbsp chilli sauce

Heat oil, fry garlic till fragrant, add salt
Add in onions, long beans & cauliflower, stir for 1 minute
add in prawns & sotong
add sauce and stir well till prawns turn pink and sotong curls up.

Goes well with white rice or garlic fried rice.



Seafood, padprik style. Another easy 15 minutes dish

Turns out to be wholesome and easy dish, the quantity I used was enough for 4 pax. We couldn't finish it and the main had the leftovers for her lunch.

Orange cupcakes

I made orange cupcakes for Ching Ming prayers.



ingredients

I used the basic buttercake recipe and baked the batter in cupcake trays lined with size 12 papercups.

Recipe :

250gms butter - 1 block 250gms self raising flour

200gms caster sugar

4 large eggs

30ml fresh milk

60ml Sunquick orange concentrate

Cream butter and sugar till fluffy, add eggs, one at a time, continue creaming and slowly add in milk and orange concentrate.
Fold in flour and pour to cupcake casing.

Preheat oven and bake at 180 celcius for 20-30 minutes. Cakes are done when the top becomes golden or test with cake tester

my little helper and cakes in the bake


golden orange cupcakes ! Yumz !

Easy peasy and tasty baking.. Amber loves it and I packed some for her breakfast. I'd better discipline myself to limit my cake intakes, otherwise fei sei lor..

Ching Ming

Last year we were caught in a traffic deadlock on our way for Ching Ming prayers and this year we decided to start our little adventure early. Left sis place at 6.15am and took the hilly way up, via Hulu Langat to Semenyih. It was a dark drive, not many cars and misty all the way up, just like in Genting Highlands but minus the streetlights.

Arrived early, no traffic and parking problems too. Just in time to view the beautiful sunrise from mom's resting place. It was an easy and pleasant trip and we were home by 9am.

beautiful sunrise from mom's resting place

Mom left us 15 years ago and brother, 13 years ago. Both left in a sudden with no warnings. I was the last to see mom alive before she was wheeled to ICU and never came out alive. I was the first to discover bro's passing. Both sad moments remains etched in my memory forever.

When mom passed away, I kept having recurring dreams of her and it was always a sad one. As years go by, she was more and more distant in my dreams. I take it that she has left for good and her soul has finally rested in peace.

She has left many good teachings behind and being a mom and wife now, I fully understand the meaning of her actions and words of wisdoms. She is simple woman with simple needs and truly loved and missed by relatives, friends and acquaintance alike. In the recent years after her passing, friends and acquaintance in the market keep telling me what a nice woman she was and how shocked they were to hear the news.

Being the youngest child and my mom had a lot of time for me. I share with her my work, friends and problem and she'll always give me her advise on any problems I face. Thinking of of those sweet memories always ends up with tears in my eyes for I still miss her very much. The what-if's are never ending (what if she's still alive, what if there was no traffic jam and she made it to the hospital in time, what if the doctor did not pull her off the ventilator ?). Her passing left a big void in our hearts and till today, we are still trying to fill up the void.

It was very tragic to have lost 2 family members in such a short span of time but it made the rest of us appreciate and treasure each other more. Like someone once told me, it's god's will along with fate and affinity that we have each other as family members (cho tak yat kar yan, hai yuen fuen)

A lot of people take for granted their moms. I envy my friends and cousins who have moms to care and concern for them for a mother's love is undying and unconditional. So, for those who still have a mother, treasure her for she will leave us one day, don't wait till it's too late.

Father and Daughter

It's nobody's guess as who's Amber's favourite when they see the family together. My little girl sticks to her father like glue and it's always papa who makes her smile and laugh. Papa speaks to her in mother tongue and he's darn proud when Amber speaks Hinghwa. Papa proudly tells everyone Amber is a Hinghwa mui and can even speak well too.

When I discipline Amber, sometimes with a cane if it's necassary, she'll hate me with no end and asks me to go away. When hubs discipline her, she'll wail till no end, tears of a broken heart more than anything else.

They enjoy doing little things like feeding the fishes together, a father daughter activity I don't partake.

They were supposed to share the same birthday, doctor wanted to induce her on hubs birthday, but when he found out about hubs b'day, he said to do it 2 days early, he'd rather father n daugther not share the same birthday (for whatever reason, I don't know). Even then, Amber was born a day later so their birthday is only a day apart. Hubs proudly tells everyone that father and daughter's birthday is only a day apart.

When Amber was born till she was about 4 months old, it was hubs who swaddled her every night and rocked her to sleep. Sometimes, Amber will even sleep in papa's arm watching tv together. In the early months after the confinement lady left, I was taking care of Amber alone and was a nervous wreck. Bathing her was my biggest concern, I could not handle a slippery newborn in water. I waited for hubs to come back from work and we'll both give her a bath with hubs holding her and me, soaping and washing her.

When Amber had bad eczema and was weeping all over, I was afraid to touch her. It was hubs who applied cream and medication for her.

When Amber had a bad fall and lost her tooth, hubs was hurt and I could sense he was upset with me, not because it was my fault but only because he had nowhere else to place his anger for that accident to happen right before my very eyes.

Last week hubs went for a jog after work, he passed by the babysitter's house and called out for Amber. When Amber heard him, she quickly ran out with joy and shouted to the other kids :

My Papa Is Here ! My Papa Is Here !

When hubs told her Papa is just dropping by and Mama will fetch her later, her expression of joy turned to disappointment. It broke hubs heart to see her disappointment.

When hubs put Amber to sleep, she will hold his hand till she falls asleep.

I am thankful for a husband who loves his family and partakes in all his daugther's activities and I am thankful for a lovely girl who clings to us like glue. She's our one and only...

Earth Hour 8.30pm

Should I participate in the Earth Hour, tomorrow, 8.30pm ? I have a long to do list in the evening tomorrow : bake cake, make yam cake and roast pork for Ching Ming on Sunday.

I'll need the oven for baking and roasting and I can't possibly keep the lights off , need to keep a close watch on the roasting and baking. So how ? how ? how ?

I can't do the stuff any earlier, will take me at least 3 - 4 hours to complete. Evenings are the only time I have. Mornings are taken up with sending Amber for her Hepatitis A immunization (long overdue-just check her immunization card and was supposed to go for the jab last November !!!) and hubs has a couple of appointments in the afternoon.

Gee... should I participate and keep unnecessary lights and electrical items off for the ONE hour ?

No, but I shall practise very prudent electricity consumption, switch on lights only when necessary, lavoid using dryer, opt for fresh air, fan and air cond only when it's necessary, use a thermos flask instead of thermopot and iron clothes only when necessary and do it quickly,

My maid can iron for 2-3 hours and she irons like drawing a masterpiece ... slowly pull the shirt over the ironing board, slowly glide the iron, one side then the other .. sloooowwwlly turn the shirt over.. sllllooooooowwwwwwlllllyyy fold and iron again.. really, watching her ironing will make you jump, i can do it twice as fast in half the time but why should i when I've paid her ?

Our electricity bill chalks up a big bulk of our monthly household expenses, apart from giving mother earth a break, I should give my wallet a break too...

Tonic soup

After almost a month of coughing, I had dizzy spells therefore I went to see a doctor. He said prolonged coughing can affect our blood circulation make us feel dizzy. He gave me a round of antibiotics and anti-emetic pills and I feel much better now. Hubs been pestering me to see a doctor much earlier and asked me not to be my own doctor by prescribing my own medications and pills.

Now, to rejuvenate, I made this soup in the office : 6 red dates, 1tsp kei jee (chinese wolfberries) and few slices of ginseng. I slow cooked on 'high' for 2 hours and it's ready to drink. A nutritous healthy rejuvenating tonic.

Tonic concoction

Luckily we have a small office of our own, and we have a mini fridge, microwave and toaster, very convenient, almost like our second home. We have our breakfast in the office and sometimes home 'bento' for lunch (actually, leftovers from previous nights dinner)

My first cake - Butter Cake

Since moving to our new home, I’ve been more creative in my cooking and embarked on a baking project. I’ve avoided baking cakes due to bad experiences. The last cake I bake, a banana cake, 12 years ago, turned out more like banana pudding instead. Cake did not rise and I was left with a soggy pudding like cake. Not nice at all.

I’m fine with cookies but baking cakes is something I’m not adept at. Last Tuesday evening, I plucked up the courage and started with the most basic cake – butter cake. So, after picking up Amber from babysitters, we went Giant to get the stuff : flour, eggs, butter and caster sugar. I used Buttercup instead of pure butter to reduce my capital cost, in case my cake ‘tak jadi’. My little girl was very excited and happily helped me collect the ingredients from the shelf.

She also sibuk-menyibuk in the kitchen, bringing along her stool with following me from the island to the sink, back to the island again to get a better height to watch what I’m doing and also to lend a hand.

The recipe was quite simple :

Block of butter 250gms
Caster sugar 240gms
Half cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
Self Raising flour 250gms

Cream butter and sugar till fluffy, add eggs one at a time
Add in milk & vanilla essence
Fold in flour

Like cake tin with baking sheet and pour in batter. Bake in oven baking mode (upper and lower heating elements on, fan off) for 1 hour at 180C

Ingredients and what a mess !

Completed batter, ready for the bake

Amber sibuk-menyibuk. She's standing on a stool, following me everywhere around the kitchen

I told her not to stand near the oven coz it's hot. Here, she stands 3 ft away, again on a stool.

Result ? Tadaa......

My first successful cake and I'm darn proud of it

Verdict :

Quite okay but a bit dense and you can see specs of sugar (in small yellow dots) on the cake.I think I did not cream the butter and sugar well enough, sugar can be reduced to 220gm as I prefer less sweet cakes.

I shared the cakes with my colleagues and Amber's playmates at the babysitters. They'll be my guinea pigs for my future bake projects.

Once, the butter cake is successful, I will embark on flavoured cakes : marble cakes, durian cakes and orange cake. Then, hopefully I'll move on to cupcakes. That's my to-do list for 2009.

Birthdays

March and Aprils are busy birthday months. My niece, parent's, Amber's, hub's, FIL's and friends kids.

Our first birthday celebration was for my father. Took him for Japanese buffet at a friend's hotel, Oriental Crystal at Kajang. All of us enjoyed the dinner except the birthday boy, Japanese cuisine is not his cup of tea but we made up for it when second sis got him a Hazelnut Cheesecake from Secret Recipes. This is my favourite cake and hubs got one for me for my birthday too. It's a new cake and not as 'jelak' as the other cheesecakes, put it this way, it leaves you wanting for more after the first slice.

Amber has most fun during birthdays, getting excited in all the candle blowing sessions, just like her own birthday.

looking eager to cut cake


helping koong koong blow the candles



hazelnut cheesecake.. very yumz

Then last Sunday, we attended another birthday party, the first kids party for Amber. It was Ei Leen's twins - Alysa and Alyna's 9th Birthday Party at the Selangor Shooting Club. I give Ei Leen thumbs up for the party she organizes are all full of activities. Starting with swimming in the morning, then lunch followed by games (Musical Chair, Who Shoots The Furthest and many many more). She orchestrates the games and keeps a close watch on the kids. When I left, I even saw a pail of water balloons, I think the kids are all going to go home wet and happy.

We left early as Amber is too young to join the older kids for games (and also because we were fully fed and sleepy.... Apart from games, every kids has a goody bag (chocolates, chewing gum, snacks, stationery) and shooting rocket (whatchamacallit - the soft styrofoam ones where kids push and shoot like a rocket), soap bubbles and water pistols. Every kid left the party with a smile on their face.



Cade aiming at Lizie's bum bum.. haha

She does not know how to operate the shooting whatchamacallit toy ??

loads of presents for the birthday twins and goodie packs for guests

Kids, having fun

Amber filling up the water pistols with water from the pool.

Duck ! she's shooting !!

The birthday twins, Alysa and Alyna

Monkey See Monkey Do

My ex-colleague from Singapore visited us last week. Her husband was on a business trip to KL and they extended for the weekend. I managed to catch up with her one evening for dinner and supper. Both of us has interest in good hawker food and we started the evening with a visit to my new home and later to Hokkien Mee and Jalan Maharajalela (another occasion where my thoughts were feasting on the hokkien chau meen, forgot to take picture to blog).

She has a lovely daughter Renee, 5 months older than Amber, and they both have a lot in common :
- left hander by instinct, unless corrected
-double twist/turns on their head ( I dunno about Renee but Amber is stubborn and garang)

The 2 girls got along very well, they don't even need to talk to have fun. You know how kids are like when they have fun, they just laugh over anything and everything and imitate each other. You laugh, I laugh ! You jump, I jump ! Monkey see, monkey do.


Renee brought a lollipop for Amber. One for you, one for me.


Both have hokkien mee sauce all over their mouth


Street dancing at Lorong Pudu !! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun !

this a video of them dancing somewhere in Jalan Pudu, while we were having the best supper tong sui in town. Yes, we were terrible, stuffed full with fried hokkien noodles, fried white cakes, fried sotong, loh meen and we still had room for black glutinous rice soup, red bean soup and a host of kuihs.

After supper, we sent them back to Traders Hotel. I told Amber, she's to stay the night with uncle, aunty and cheh-cheh and go back Singapore with them. Papa & Mama will go home. I wanted to test her independence. I told hubs, she'll surely cry for us after alighting from the car but no sign, she just followed friends hubs into the hotel not turning around to look for us at all. Alamaks ! That's my daughter. One minute later my friend sms me : AMBER SAID BYE BYE MOMMY ! sei mou ???

We had to park our car and coax her back home with us. I think I'd better keep a closer watch on her. I am worried if she leaves home for studies in future, she will not miss papa or mama but me and hubs will be pining sick for our only child.

Tim-ber !

Last Friday's afternoon rain was very heavy. Sis, my parents and me was out visiting our koo mah and had lunch and did some shopping. When I sent father home, we were greeted by a surprise at home.

The retention wall at the front of father's house had collapsed, right down to the drain, affecting the water supply. Father frantically made calls to MPAJ, JBA and the contractors who built the wall to come take a look. No one is claiming responsibility and looks like it's going to be a costly repair. Another nga toong affair for father, after the emergency eye operation, now another emergency repair work need to be done.


retention wall collapsed



sand, soil, concrete blocks gone tiimmm-berrr !

Little Missy Inspector arriving at site to kaypoh

The Social Bird

We attended my cousin's wedding dinner last Saturday and what is Amber to do in a 3 hour dinner ? Find some fun of course. Little children, especially mine are not known to sit still, what more for a couple of hours.

She walked around, disturbing the bride and groom, danced on stage (alone and no one paid attention to her), sing karaoke -luckily no karaoke videos and the microphone was in 'off' mode and when the bride and groom did the toasting session with yum seng - Amber also yum seng along the stage was full of confettis.

So, my social bird went on stage, on all fours and had fun with confettis strewn on the floor. Me ?? I'm enjoying my dinner, 'mou ngan tai'. Last thing I want to do is be like a mad screaming mom, goingo on stage and get her to come down (which she would turn a deaf ear to!)


wah, so colorful and nice. hehehe..


mama, see ??? colorful wor...



then, Rachel cheh cheh join the fun



then more kids went on stage to sweep up the confettis. I'm sure they were bored while the adults were chit chatting and eating.

So, how many moms would have done like I did and let their kids run wild. Some may say I do not jaga my kid properly and get her to behave but to me it's harmless fun lah.. Can't expect to see me chasing her on stage right ??

Downgrading to XP

Unable to download photos for a week. Downgraded my laptop to Windows XP cos some of the programmes I need to use is not supported by Vista.

I'm lucky to have my own IT Consultant, he's a good friend of hubs and me and also our makan kaki. He'll help us in any software or computer issues.

Over the last weekend, he fixed up my notebook but I need to re-download each programs one by one. I have problems with Picasa3, the downloaded copy is in Chinese, I dun understand leh..
and.. cannot get Yahoo Messenger up, feel so handicap without it.and.. cannot download photos from my camera for one whole week until this morning, after scrummaging my office for the download cd.

Anyway, to thank him, we went for a hearty lunch of hokkien mee, lor mee, and what nots at Ayer Panas, Setapak. This is a gem of a place with many hidden treasures of yummy good, reasonably


Look out for this sign, the food court is next to the field. rather run down, zinc roofed.


This is it. The stall we patronized,
Stall No 22 Ayer Panas Hawker Center.
8.30am - 6.00pm, Tuesdays to Sundays.
012-6247610

Some of their chiu pai choy is henessy lor meen, cantonese fried with wild boar meat or venison, lala & fish fillet fried noodle. I do not like wild boar meat but hubs and friends said it taste as good as usual pork meat, very tender.


Henessy boxes decorating the stalls.

Lor meen with a small portion of Hennesy. RM11 for a small bowl but the small serving is rather huge. The brandy makes the soup extra sweet and nourishing.

Also, don't miss the ais kacang next door. For RM2.70, you get all the works including roasted shandong nuts.. yumz !!!

Her favourite places

Her favourite kai kai place, next to the amusement rides at shopping centers, is the hardware shop. Hubs was at Ace Hardware getting some spare parts and the little one had lots of fun messing around. Me, I was just too tired to run after her with don't touch this and that. Aiya, let her have some fun as long as it's safe lah.

Wah so many keychains to choose from, and standing on the aisle pedestal for a better view.

Amber 'cooking'. See her shirt ? "Big Trouble in Little Shirt"

Next, she decides to paint the floor.

Not happy with the previous brushes, she decides to go for a bigger one. Naughty, naughty !

I'm sure there are some parents who are like me, guilty of letting their children off with ransacking the whole store and not buying those items. I do it for a moment of peace and to also see her have some fun but I make sure the items taken are not spoilt and placed back to their respective aisles.

Random Ramblings

I never have issue with Amber's speech, despite not attending kindie school yet but have to bear with her is lah, mah and lor's which I hope she will outgrow.

These days, she'll pick vocab from adults speech and use the words in her own way. I'll correct her if she's wrong.

Just the other day, she gave me some chocolates :
Me : Amber, why don't you want to eat the chocolates ?
A : I give you because I love you mah !

When she shares her Strawberry Shortcake body bath with me :
A : Nah mama, I give you some. I give you because I love you mah !
Nobody can touch her Strawberry Shortcake body bath.. smells so strawberry and mmmm...

Evey mornings are a rush to get her ready to the caregivers.
Me : Amber, hurry up, late already ! 8 o'clock ! very late !
A : Late ah ? looks up to the clouds .. dark ah ? no.. not dark wor ?
lol.. she associates late with night time.

Evenings, getting her to bed is one looong procedure.
A : Siaw Tien, you sleep here .. places ST on my side of the bed
Siaw Tien's mama, nah,, you sleep there .. places the big pink teddy bear (aka ST's mama)
next to ST
and she'll place her 3 bolsters and 2 pillow on our bed,leaving her own bed empty !
Me: You took my place, where is Mama sleeping ?
A : You, you, make work, there ...you go to the room (points study room) and make work there.
use computer and draw A , I, 1, 3, 4, 5 (she's refering to the keyboard)
lol... I corrected her :
make a cake or cookie is 'baking' but 'working' is not make work !

When I chide the maid or speak on a louder tone.
A : Kakak, so naughty !

Once I was watching tv and my maid was at the garden, peeps in with her hands hanging on the grills (god knows why she loves to pose with her hands up hanging on the grills)
A: Mama, why you don't let kakak in ah ? Kakak naughty ah ?

Another occasion, she does not want to sit on the table to finish her dinner. She holds the bowl and scoops the rice.
Me : Amber, don't eat like that ! You'll spill your rice all over the floor. Eat with your bowl on the table
A : Nooo ! Cannot ! Very difficult !
Well, she's right, with her height, it's quite impossible to eat with comfort sitting on our chair and dining table.

I accidentally used hub's toothbrush. His is always green and mine's purple or any other color
A: Mama, why you use green ? Your one is purple ! You use papa's one !
'ooopss'
So, a few occasions, while brushing teeth, she'll repeat like an old tape recorder
A: Mama, you use purple ah, don't use green. Green is papa's one. Use purple okay ?

I want to note her ramblings down before she grows up and speaks like an adult.

Bukit Antarabangsa - Lightning Never Strikes Twice ?

Take a look at the picture below. On the left, taken last wk of Dec 08 and on the right, taken last week, ie 1st week of March 09.



Just when the cabinet announced RM70million approved for repair works and strengthening slopes at site of disaster, residents there sighed a big relief. Although I don't live there and I am not an affected resident, above right is what I see NOW, at site and I AM WORRIED.

- the magic blue sheets washed away. Scary huh ? I know, it takes time to rebuild the slopes, but can't RM70million buy you some sort of protection to the current bare slopes ? Mind you, it's raining cats and dogs every other day. Untimely April showers ?

- hardly a handful of people manning the site, unlike the early weeks where meals were provided round the clock.

- check out PT's blog, what's priority to residents and affected homes, may not be priorities to others.

I hope something is done soon before tragedy strikes again. Lightning never stikes twice but what about landslides and landslips ?

Apa pun tak jadi

Our way in to Thai fish farm - Jalan Hulu Langat. No nice food to show, just traffic, traffic and more traffic.

Over the weekend, many of our plans were foiled. Sunday evening, we wanted to go to a fish/vege farm at Hulu Langat, about 15 mins drive from my father's house. I've heard about this place from a friend and googled for directions. It's a minute away from the Ampang Lookout Point at Jalan Hulu Langat-Ampang. Our Garmin nuvi did not register this address but the road was labeled as B62.

I called on my way there to make a booking only to be greeted by : come lah come lah, no need to book lah. Off we went on a very very hot early Sunday evening. Was told to get there early as there's no streelights on the way in. The place is quite easy to locate but hard to get IN. Immediate exit after the Lookout point and it's another 5 minutes drive on a rocky terrain but surprise surprise, while navigating ourselves in, many cars were coming out, a kind man on the way out told us "PAU PANG ! PAU PANG !" (full house). So boh kam muan, we still made our way in, and finally reached the place. It's actually a fish farm own by locals but ran by Thais.

The place was packed! I never thought such out of nowhere place would be packed.
No place to park and worst, you could be stuck in a gridlock of parked car, incoming and outgoing cars all stuck on a narrow lane of rocky terrain. No doubt the place is very nice and inviting, I'll be smarter the next time around and avoid it on weekend evenings.

Really boh kam muan, I shall be back on another day for lunch or perhaps a weekend lunch.

On Sunday morning, we planned to bring Amber to Bird Park at Lake Gardens. Again, tak jadi, sky was dark and we didn't want to risk paying for admittance fee and getting caught in the rain.
Amber kept grumbling:

ai kee Bird Park ah... ai kee Bird Park.. ai kua bird ah.. (wanna go Bird Park, wanna see bird)

Luckily we suggested Ikea and she changed her mind, sing a different song.

ai kee Ikea ah...

Lucky she didn't ngam ngam cham cham Bird Park anymore ... lol...

So, now I have 2 items on my to-do list. Bird Park and Thai Fish Farm ..

New recipe - yam rice and shrimp paste chicken

I had some friends over for lunch on Sunday. It was quite last minute, can't plan much so I whipped up a yam rice, from 5xmom's list of easy to follow recipes and shrimp paste fried chicken. Turned out quite yummy.

Shrimp paste chicken
===============


This is interesting. I bought a bottle of shrimp paste, made in HK from the market and didn't know what to do with it. I've been frying nam yue chicken all this while and wanted to a change in recipe. I remembered a very nice har cheong fried chicken I had at Jalan Alor sometime back, so I got the idea.

Very simple and easy party food.

Ingredients:
9 drumsticks
Kentucky or any fried chicken flour. I use Tesco Value brand

seasoning:
1 tablespoon of har cheong, Yue Yick brand.
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
dash of pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Slit vertically across drumsticks to enable marinate to seep in and easier cooking,
marinate with seasoning for an hour, coat with flour and deep fry.

I've tried a couple of fried chicken flour brands, I find Tesco Value the best but it's a bit on the salty side, so go easy on the seasoning. TV's is crispier than the rest. I avoid eggs as it makes the batter bulky, thick and soggy, thus absorbing more oil when frying. Just a light coat of flour will do.

Shrimp paste or har cheong is different from belacan. It's in paste form and has a very sharp and pungent flavour. I add sugar to tame down the pungent-ness.

Yam rice
======

ingredients




garnishings



Recipe :
--------
4 cups rice, rinsed and drained
half bowl of oil
1 small yam, cubed
half a bowl of dried shrimps, rinsed well
5 mushroom, soaked and diced
3 lap cheong, diced
6 small onions, sliced
half a garlic, minced
sprigs of spring onion and chinese parsley, rinsed & chopped

seasoning:
2tbsp abalone sauce
2tbsp sesame oil
1tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 cube of Knorr no-msg chicken stock

heat oil in wok, fry onion till golden, remove and let it cool
remaining oil, fry lap cheong till cooked and slightly crispy, and remobed
then fry garlic till fragrant, add in dried shrimps, stir well
add in yam & mushrooms, fry for half a minute, and add rice and seasoning
fry well
put in rice cooker, add in 5 cups of water and pandan leaf
cook rice, leave to stand for 3o mins and serve with garnishing of chinese parsley, spring onion and fried onions.



I was very busy getting the food served and walloped with my friends, forgot to take picture of finished product. Alamaks !!!

Curry Laksa and Wantan Mee - Cheras

Discovered a new laksa haunt on Saturday evening at Taman Sri Bahagia , Cheras. Coming from Taman Len Seng, pass Bukit Cheras and The Peak @ Cheras, right at the junction turning in to Taman Sri Bahagia on the left, there's plenty of fruit stall and one stands out right under a big tree selling noodles. It's right opposite the old PC Chai coffeeshop and pasar malam on Saturdays.


Prices of the food. small, medium, big.

My BIL highly recommends this place and the evening we went was just perfect, slight drizzle and cooling, an evening that's perfect for curry laksa.

I had the laksa and hubs had the wantan mee. He's very particular about his wantan mee and he gives a thumbs up for this. Plenty of home made char siew (sweet and succulent) and topped with mince pork. My laksa was yummy yum yum, lots of taupok, cockles, 2 piece of wat kai (steamed chicken) and long beans. I would think it's very cheap for just RM4.50. I stopped myself short of slurping every single drop of soup because of my sore throat and cough. Otherwise I would sapu everything.


Each piece of sui kao has 1 big prawn


Wantan mee, plenty of minced meat and char siew

Curry laksa, filled with generous garnishings

The laksa is so hot selling, they need to replenish the soup every 2 hours, soup is boiled on the spot from their homemade laksa sambal, coconut milk, rock sugar, salt and A1 curry chicken paste. I actually stood to watch how they make the soup but the secret recipe lies in their home made curry paste, that one I cannot tau see .. hmmph..

There's no name to this outlet but the owner said they are known as the Tai Shee Tau (big tree) @ Sri Bahagia. Open from noon - 10pm, closed on Mondays. Call 019-2074638 to check availability.