East Coast

After two months of entering the workforce, I'm finally going for a well deserving break!I'll be leaving for Bintulu, a part of Sarawak that i've never been despite being hailed from the state.



To be really honest, I'm really tired and I just packed 5 mins ago and my cabbie guy will be here in 30 mins! But i'm very much looking forward to be in the airport, a place where I find my peace.

I'll be back tomorrow afternoon tho. Yes, cause I'm working on Monday. :s

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner 2010

It's the 10th day of Chinese New Year and I'm so glad it's coming to an end. Chinese New Year is the one festival that I least look forward to even when I was a child, and now as an adult. The spring cleaning is the bitchiest part and I never really fancy the visiting ritual as well. However that being said, I do have some salivating pictures that I took during the reunion dinner to share. :)



I'm a very "domestic" person so I've always love my family reunion dinner to be a private affair. You know, just me, my sister and both my parents. We had so much prepared for the dinner and it was definitely more than enough to feed the four of us!



First dish was, abalone and limpets served on a bed of kyuri and lettuce in garlic and chili lime sauce. It's actually my first time eating limpets - a type of shellfish and I didn't like it. It kinda looks wrong (go google the de-shell picture ;p) and I find it to be too soft. Both are from New Moon (the brand , not the movie. lol) with the abalone costing RM 70 per can and limpets RM 22.



A feast is not a feast for the Chinese without shark fin soup. So, shark fin soup we had! You can actually get the shark fin(uncooked one) easily from the wet market. Don't know how much is the market price but my parents got 500g for RM 170.



One of the many huge pieces of shark fin! We each had 125g of shark fin! :P I just hope the people from PETA won't come bashing me after I post this. :P



Braised sea cucumber and fish maw is another dish peculiar to a Chinese feast. My mum had it braised in dried scallops and Chinese leek. She cook quite a pot of it but we serve it on a smaller portion. And while it tasted great, I'm not a fan of anything braised.



We also had steamed fresh water tilapia. While most families have the best fish during reunion dinner, my family don't. Reason? Fishes during the Chinese New Year season are at ridiculous prices and it's also the time when it is the least fresh. My dad is very particular about the freshness of any seafood he put into his mouth so we have fresh water fish instead. The tilapia is from Batang Ai and this is the only fresh water fish we eat. No "weird smell" that most fresh water fish have, I guarantee!



I just realize that my family actually had quite a lot of dish from the seafood family. Hehe. But yes, we do have meat as well! The steamed chicken is something we have every year. I ate quite a bit of it because...



I have the great home made chili sauce to go along with! Orgasmic! :p

Using the stock from the steamed chicken and the canned abalone, my mum made fish maw, mushrooms and crab meat balls soup. We're suppose to eat the meat balls during Chinese New Year (affectionately called lion head) so that people will respect us. Heh.



Lastly! We had the beef curry with potatoes. We cook this in a big pot (I love curries!) but only took a bit during the reunion dinner cause we had so much dish already!



And of course, we did have rice. I know my "chicken plate" seems to be making a lot of appearance in my blog yea? Haha. I love classic Chinese plates. You can hardly find them these days!



Since there's 15 days in Chinese New Year, here's to a prosperous and auspicious Chinese New Year to all my readers! Thank You for reading! (Actually feel really bad not updating for a while when I see the un-dropped traffic. Thank You again!)



Have a great Chap Goh Mei weekend!

Where to go for Sarawak Laksa

My hometown- Kuching has always been very close to my heart and it always made my day to read about how people enjoy (and realize that we don't live on trees) their visits to Kuching. Just one thing that disappoint me - They go to the wrong place for Sarawak Laksa. I know, it's ridiculous but hey, Sarawak Laksa reflects Kuching, ok?

All over the blogosphere and travel webs, they will be recommending a place called "Chong Choon." I may have nothing against them, but seriously, for Kuching standard, their laksa is probably the worse. The last time(have been boycotting them for sometime but decided to give them another chance) I was there, I left more than half of it untouched. It was tasteless and watery and I went there at 7.30 am! I wonder how the laksa is gonna taste at 9am!

So, to do my part as a proud Kuching-nite, here is the list of places that you can go to taste the authentic Sarawak Laksa.

Madam Tang's (RM 5.20)


They have two branches in town and one in The Spring but it might be easier for tourists to drop by the one The Spring food court. For the locals who can't wake up early (the rule of thumb to eat laksa in Sarawak is to go as early as possible) , this is the place you can go. For tourists, this is also the easiest place to go since it is in a shopping mall.


Ah Yew's (RM4.50)


Again, they also have two branches - Sekama and Hui Sing(Sing Garden). I usually go to the one in Hui Sing since it's just five minutes from where I stay. It's a little out of the way from all the tourists spot, but here's the map.


They have excellent service as well but the laidback is that they seems to be off on no specific day.

Tabuan Jaya (RM4.50)


It is directly opposite Sweet Memory (a famous stationery shop in Kuching). The portion is really little tho' but the presentation is unbeatable.

If you have not tasted any of the Sarawak Laksa in these places, you have not tasted Sarawak Laksa.

** Just so you know, Sarawak Laksa is served with prawns. It's just that most of the visits was with my parents, which also means it is ordered by my dad, and he almost never eats prawns outside cause he is sceptical of the freshness.

Sarawak Laksa and Kek Lapis

I went back to Kuching last month , and within less than a month I flew back once again for the Raya holidays! Tickets were so expensive but I am rich, who cares? Ok fine, I cheated. :( I am staying over at my friend's place in Penang for the Raya break! I've been here since Friday noon, and will be back to my hostel tomorrow.



Cooking Sarawak Laksa was part of the intinerary but we only manage to cook it on Monday since the rest of the days were spend with us going to work out in... the shopping mall! ;p

No photos of the cooking process tho' because I wasn't confident if it will turn out to be the way it should be or otherwise.;p



Thankfully, the final product was good and almost similar to the one they sell in the shops. Of course, it wasn't the best Sarawak Laksa I've eaten but considering this is my first time cooking Sarawak Laksa, I think I did quite a fantastic job!


It would have been perfect if we have corriander leaves :P

And what's more, we even have Kek Lapis! Flown all the way from Kuching. Ahh!



Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya! Hope you guys had a great long weekend. :)

Singapore Chicken Rice

Contrary to popular belief, the chicken rice is not originated from Singapore but rather a homegrown brand in Sarawak. It's been around for decades now and has gain loyalty from the locals over the years. This is also an answer to why The Chicken Rice Shop is not popular in Kuching.



Judging from the interior, you would not have expect it to be a place for chicken rice if you didn't see the shop sign. It spots a modern design and is clean and comfortable. The stewards are all dressed neatly in uniforms and I find that a great plus.



Their latest branch in The Spring also has a comfortable al fresco dining area for those who prefer to take a puff while having their chicken rice.



The menu is not only restricted to the chicken rice category but instead, extended wide to the noodles category (including pasta!) and even the local favourites like tomato noodles and Laksa Sarawak.

Fried Wantan RM 4


My friend ordered this. I didn't take a bite because it looks too oily for my consumption. ;p

Chicken Meat Rolls RM 3.50


The last time I had this was two years ago and it was really good. But fast forward two years later, which is the latest visit, it tasted nothing like what I had. Not to mention that the price has hiked 75%.

Chicken Rice Set RM 5.30



I find the pyramid shaped rice something different as opposed to the normal round bowl shaped rice in most chicken rice shops. It was not the best chicken rice i've tasted but I can say that it falls under the satisfactory group. It was fragrant and cooked to perfection.



The chicken was however a total failure in texture, taste and presentation. I find it too bland and I thought the portion was too little for the price.



The soup that came along with the set was surprisingly good. The only complaint was that it didn't came hot(not the spicy hot) which is a major faux pas for me. I don't like cold soups.

Three Layer Tea


The three layer are not done artisticly perfect, but it tasted extremely good. Man, I am craving for one now!

Soya Bean and Grass Jelly


The Wacko Jacko tribute drink. ;P It was my friend's drink but I suppose it is just a normal soya bean drink with the addition of grass jelly cubes.

Their chicken rice is definitely not the best, but I would definitely come for the reasonable priced food, and the great atmosphere. They certainly have brought eating chicken rice into a whole new dimension. ;p

Related Post :
The Chicken Rice Shop
Delicious Chicken Rice
Melaka Chicken Rice Balls

Lamb + Pizza + Fries + Salad

I'm still feeling quite homesick now and was browsing through the photos yesterday night. I thought it would be nice to share with you what's my typical dinner at home.

Stir-fry lamb with broccoli and carrot.

1. Marinate the lamb shoulder cutlets with black pepper and seasonings for about 20 minutes.
2. Mean while, cut and clean the broccoli, carrot and onion.(That nob of butter there is for later use).
3. Stir fry the lamb and add the vege when the lamb is almost done. In my case, medium ;p
4. Ready!

Pizza

1. You will need mozarella and parmesan cheese.
2. For the toppings, sausages and canned mushrooms.
3. Have the coulis spread on the pizza skin and baked in the oven for about five minutes first - so that your pizza is not too wet. If you don't have coulis, get the seasoned tomato paste in can.
4. Arrange the toppings and it's back into the oven again!

Served along with fries.

And salad ( that i had forgotten to take picture :P)



Heaven! Home cook is always the best!

Koreana Restaurant (Revisit)

For Christmas Day, I went for dinner with my mum because my dad had to attend a wedding dinner. (Personally i find people having their big day during festivals are a bit selfish.)

We were quite undecided on where to go since most places will be serving Christmas set. More than often these Christmas set will be overpriced and taste awfully bad. After contemplating for more than an hour, we finally decided on Korean food.We went to Koreana in Premier 101. ( Anyone know if the one in Hilton is still operating?)


I've always love how in Korean restaurant they'll give you plates of appetizers in small portion. I don't know if it does magic on you guys, but it does boost my appetite. (which is good for them too.Talking about win-win situation.)



The kim chi used to taste so good but now it was so mild that it almost taste nothing but a "wet" cabbage. The rest of the appetizers are nothing to shout tho coz they taste almost the same.

and another hairy vege that didn't manage to be in the frame.

You get this vege in every Korean restaurant. I have yet to figure out the name tho.

Kim Chi Soup


I really like their kim chi soup a lot in my previous visit but this time, it was really disappointing. It tasted a lot like assam fish hence a tad of foul fishy smell and lack in the kim chi taste.

Stir-fry squid


Squid stir-fried with kim-chi that is. A bit too sweet. The squid's fresh tho.

Fried Tang Hoon


They use the thicker version of tang hoon but this dish comes in too oily for my liking. It tasted good nevertheless and probably one of the few dish in the menu that is without kim chi.

Hot Korean Tea


Not recommended.

Ice Lemon Tea


Recommended!

The bill came up to a total of RM 70.50. :) Oh yeah, i also met Ting Pek Khiing there. For West Malaysians who don't know who he is, he is the one who build the Kuching International Airport, Miri International Airport and if i'm not mistaken the one in Kota Kinabalu too.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a blessed and fruitful new year.

Related Post :
Koreana Restaurant
Seoul Garden
Seoul Garden(revisited)

Christmas Eve Dinner

Sorry, for I haven't been blogging actively. I don't have internet connection at home and i find no inspiration blogging outside. I'm now back in my uni so food posts will resume as usual. :)


I just got back yesterday morning and i'm not exactly in a good state of emotion. Homesick! Anyway, back to my posts. This year, for Christmas Eve, I spend it with my family.

Stuffed Chicken

We have Turkey every year but this year turkey cost almost RM 200 (unprepared one) and I thought that was a bit overpriced so we had chicken instead. We had the stuffing like Turkey and cooked like a Turkey. ;p

Baked Portabello with bacon

I love fresh portabellos!

Oat Baguette

No Western meal is perfect without baguettes along. Trust me.

Salad

I bought a miniature wine in Green Heights before dinner. My parents is not a drinker and I have never really fancied wine as well. I just bought it coz its Christmas!

I think the idea of having it this size is great for outdoors. ( i. e : dates in the beach).

For desert, we had Chocolate brownie Cheesecake.

The dinner itself wasn't extravagant but having to spend it with people that matters to you the most made the whole night perfect.

I miss you mum and dad.