Acha Curry House @ Petaling Jaya

During the lazy weekends, we often opt for Banana Leaf rice as one can take your time eating it unlike during the weekdays. One of my all time favourite places is at Acha Curry House in Section 5, Petaling Jaya which always hits the right spot with my tummy for their delicious food.



Assorted vegetables and fried anchovies (ikan bilis) for your rice

Unlike the other Indian restaurants, Acha allows you to help yourself with their vegetables. A tray with all the assorted vegetables are placed next to you and you choose between sambal ikan bilis (anchovies), spinach, cucumbers and cabbage. You are charged according to how many types of vegetables you take.

My all time favourite is their deep fried bittergourd. It's getting rarer and rarer nowadays to get this at Indian restaurants. This version is softer and freshly made unlike some other shops that fry it ahead and keep it in air tight tins.

You can choose from a variety of curries to flavour your rice that includes crab curry, salted fish curry and my all time favourite, mother-in-law curry which is onion curry. This is also one of the few Indian restaurants that do this vegetarian curry which comes with lots and lots of tiny onions. There is also a father-in-law curry which is yellow dhal curry.

We tried this deep fried fish cutlet which has a new marinade. The owner tells us that it's a new way of marinating his fish which has gotten rave reviews. The fish is lovely - fresh and spicy with all the black pepper in it.

They make really nice chicken curry here - this is known as no. 46 as the owner invented this dish when he was 46 years old. You can also get crab curry if you are feeling a bit indulgent.

Another favourite of mine - the dry chicken curry which is also known as no. 36 as it was made when the owner was 36 years old. Even the fried chicken is nice and chopped up in smaller pieces which makes it so much easier to eat. Most importantly when you chop the chicken in smaller parts, it always taste nicer as it absorbs more marinade or curry.

Food in Achas is always great whenever you go there but be warned as it's not cheap compared to the other banana leaf rice outlets. I don't mind paying that extra premium as the food is different from the rest of the Indian places (I had actually had banana leaf rice in another Indian place the day before which was horrible!). Hope you will enjoy it and who knows maybe you may strike lottery with Acha's predicted lucky number.

Acha Curry House
271, Jalan 5/51
Petaling Garden

Petaling Jaya

Opening Hours: 12.00 pm to 3 pm

(At the end of Jalan Gasing, turn left upwards to go to Petaling Garden. At the junction take a right and then the first right, you will see a row of shophouses facing a big open area. Achas is located at the side of the corner shophouse under metal awnings)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Indian Food + Malaysian Food

Vietnamese Food - Luxury vs Budget

Within these two weeks, we have had quite a bit of Vietnamese food and it was really amusing to compare the two versions - luxury and budget. I honestly don't claim to be an expert in Vietnamese food since I have never visited Vietnam before so this is purely from a layman's point of view.

Bong Sen @ KLCC

My luxury experience was at Bong Sen - a French Vietnamese restaurant located on the fourth floor of KLCC. Splashie Boy ate here a few times with friends or for work hence he decided to take me to try it out when I visited him at KLCC for lunch last week. I am not sure why they call themselves a French Vietnamese place when the food they serve seems to plain old Vietnamese food to me - assorted rolls, noodles, caramel chicken and etc.



We had the assorted platter of appetizers that came with different varieties of rolls (steamed, deep fried and paper), minced prawns with lemon grass and sugar cane plus some meatballs in a tomatoey sauce. The platter is actually for four people but you can size it down to suit two people (RM18++ for two people). I liked the meatballs - very tasty stuff plus the steamed rice rolls which had a bit of minced meat inside. They serve this platter with a dark brown peanut sauce and the dipping sauce with chillies.



Since Splashie Boy has been here before, he knew what to order which was the dried vermicelli noodles that came with deep fried spring rolls, chicken pieces, bean sprouts, shredded cabbage and peanuts on top of white vermicelli noodles (RM14.90++). You are given a dipping sauce to go with it and you pour it over the noodles according to how wet or dry you like it. They also have a beef version which Splashie Boy said was much better than the chicken one.

I had the Hue Beef Noodles (RM16.90++) which was exactly like a pho (beef noodles) with a touch of spicy chillies to get your tongue wagging. The noodles were chock full of beef balls, slices of beef and a kinda meat patty. You are given bean sprouts and onions to add into your noodles.

I thought the Noodle Salad which Splashie Boy had looked good even though I did not manage to eat any. I wasn't too impressed with the Beef Noodles which I found bland but I liked the steamed rolls and meatballs from the platter. This place is a definite one off indulgence due to it's prices and I thought it was so-so. Not really a place I would recommend as an excellent Vietnamese place to try out. One thing they have going for them is they took excellent pictures of their food so you get to choose what you want just by flicking through their album.

Bong Sen
Lot 416, Level 4, Suria KLCC
KL City Centre
50088 Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2164 6313

Vinh City Enterprise @ BB Plaza

Yesterday we decided to do a bit of computer shopping at Low Yatt down town. We weren't too keen to eat any Hong Kong food even though the cafes dot the area around there and were scratching our heads on what to try out. Then I remembered reading Babe in the City's recommendation for a Vietnamese outlet in Bukit Bintang so I dragged Splashie Boy there.

It was an excellent choice - the outlet operates out of the BB Plaza's Food Court located at the Lower Ground Floor next to Johnny's Steamboat and Rasa Utara. They have pictures of the food to show you what each dish is all about - lots of different kinds of fried rice, noodles and rolls.



I ordered the Noodle Salad - the same one that Splashie Boy had in Bong Sen. It was a real steal at RM4.80+ and came with one deep fried spring roll which was cut up, pieces of grilled chicken, peanuts, shredded vegetables and white rice noodles. The sauce they give you was full of chillies including the fiery little chilli padi (bird eye's chilli) so you can really feel the heat in the sauce. I thought it was excellent stuff even though a bit spicy.



Splashie Boy was tempted to order his Pineapple Fried Rice but I suggested he should try the Ginger Beef Fried Rice(RM5+) instead since he likes beef. He found it just too spicy so I had to switch my Noodle Salad with him so I ate his fried rice which was excellent. It had a lovely "wok hei" i.e. the smell of the wok, fluffy rice grains and the ginger shreds and beef added extra oomph to it all.

This place was a real gem like what Babe said and I definitely will come back to eat here as the prices are so reasonable plus most importantly the food is really tasty. The food here tends to have more fire compared to the other Vietnamese outlets though so if you are not use to lots of chillies like Splashie Boy, I suggest you need to tell them to spice it down a bit.

Vinh City Enterprise
BB Plaza Food Court
Lower Ground Floor, BB Plaza
Opening hours: 11 am to 8.30 pm

(To get there, take the escalator opposite the Theme shoe shop on the Ground Floor. Alternatively look for signs to Johnny's Steamboat)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Vietnamese Food

January 2006 Calendar

I better get my act together for this month's food events as it's a very busy month with Chinese New Year. Hopefully I can get to do all of them while juggling preparations for the New Year.

• 10 January, 2006
  Hari Raya Adiladha (also known as Hari Raya Haji/Qurban)
  
  
  
• 18 January, 2006
  2005 Food Blog Awards Voting Deadline
  Organised by Accidental Hedonist
  
  
• 19 January, 2006
  Blog Party #6: Retro Party
  Hosted by Dispensing Happiness
  
  
• 22 January, 2006
  Hay! Hay! It's Donna Day #2 - Macaroons
  Hosted by Pearl of the Orient
  
  
• 27 January, 2006
  Sugar High (Low) Friday #15
  Hosted by Becks & Posh
  
  
• 28 and 29 January, 2006
  IMBB #22 - Use Your Noodle
  Hosted by Cooking with Amy
  
  
• 29 and 30 January, 2006
  Chinese New Year - Year of the Dog

Malaysian Food Finds @ 9 January, 2006

Food, glorious food! Lots of them to feast your eyes even though I am super late in my today's post. For those of you who love lemang, rendang and ketupat, drop by Taman Tun Dr. Ismail as the stalls are out in full force just off the highway selling them for tomorrow's Hari Raya Haji celebrations.

What's cooking in the kitchen?

New Journey who is back from a hiatus in Italy cooks up his version of East West pasta - Italian pasta with Bak Gua (barbequed meat) and anchovies. Looks very interesting. If pasta is not your thing, how about trying out Some1's Voice Out There's Mee Goreng? It looks good with a Ramly burger crumbled over it. If you want to make noodles for your birthday, head over to the Malaysian Receipes Blog which has the recipe for you.

Gulengz Daily talked about his mother's Chicken Rice which sounds like a yummy homecooked meal. Lilian from Malaysia Best made my mouth water with her delicious looking sambal prawns with four angled beans. She also took some lovely pictures of the pinkish mushroom beans which can be used for Chinese soups. Coincidentally, Green Apple from My Felicity Corner also cooked these beans which she calls cranberry beans in soup last week.

Foodcrazee was a lucky guy as he had a very interesting lunch his classmates whipped up - stuffed portobello mushrooms, stuffed crabs and Christmas cake. He even came up with his unique version of Fried Rice with wolfberries, baby carrots, egg and sambal ikan bilis (anchovies sambal) that looks great. Usually people eat their English muffins with jam or butter but Babe in the City has a few savoury versions up her sleeve that are so simple to make at home. Month of May made her version of the Kampar Chicken Biscuits and wow, they look so good that I wish I had some to try.

Just Heavenly was baking away last week and whipped up many goodies to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth. There was a very cute Chocolate Banana Monkey cake made for a birthday, apple strudel, portugese egg tarts and soya bean pudding. If you are gearing up for Chinese New Year, why don't you make some of Month of May's peanut dainties? You can even get a podcast from Eat First Think Later on a step by step guide on how to make peanut cookies. Don't forget to indulge a bit on molten lava flourless chocolate cake that Have your Cake and Eat it too made.


Just Heavenly's Chocolate Banana Monkey Cake

If you want to try something new, why don't you join the next Hay! Hay! It's Donna Day # 2 which is all about macaroons and hosted by our very own Pearl of the Orient. Do check out Sweets for my Sweet's new look - it's delish and she shares with us her baking efforts for the whole week that includes an interesting Broccoli Upside Down Cake, Peanut Soup, Pandan Chiffon Cake, Orange and Poppy Seed Cake and Pumpkin & Sesame Seed Bun. Tham Jiak posted up her New Year party pictures and it looks like she had a ball with all that yummy food. She also posted a very healthy Chrysanthemum Ginseng Tail drink that looks so simple to make. KampungboyCitygal made delicious looking noodles, deep fried tofu and thai style dory fish.

Eats around Kuala Lumpur

Colonel Sanders over in Kentucky Fried Chicken went fishing and hooked a "big" KFC Fish Sandwich which was launched last week. Wyejon from Wantan Productions tried it out and has some pictures of the sandwich. Splashie Boy and I tried it during the weekend and found it not too bad even though there could be a bit more herb sauce to make it tastier.

Memoirs of a Chocoholic had a family dinner at Monte's which is a favourite of theirs since the food quality is consistent. Chillis is the place to be when you are in KLIA as Sixth Seal found out but don't stay too long or else you'll miss your flight. Wantan Productions introduces us to Cafe De Kowloon at Sri Hartamas and offers us a tip that boiled Coke and ginger helps clear your blocked nose. If you need a place to hang out with friends, try Ah Lok Cafe in ss2 recommends Boredworkers.

Acrix69 tried out Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Loong Bao in Lot 10 and found it great. I am so glad as that is one of my favourite places. Aprilcherrie visited the new Crystal Jade outlet in Mid Valley Megamall, C-Jade Express. A slightly different concept from the Lot 10 outlet - this one is more like a Hong Kong style cafe with barbequed meats, Korean rice and noodles. Will be blogging about this place next week as I also visited this place last week. Aprilcherrie also had Sushi King for dinner, so drool over her pictures of the sushi.

Yummy Corner brings us pictures from New Paris - that place with the no-nonsense service and cheap plus great food. Kopitiams seem to be sprouting up everywhere and this is a new one at 1 Utama Old Wing, called Oldtown Kopitiam. It's doing brisk business as it's right next door to the cinema. Good Food, Good Life had a bit of a dismal time at the Japanese outlet in Mid Valley Megamall's food court but he fared better at Haeun Khon in Amcorp Mall. KYspeaks had a great time trying out Yang Mooi's beef noodles in Pandan Indah, Cheras.

Sometimes whenever the snack attack hits you, how about trying out some Carrot Cake that New Journey loves. If not, try Some1's Voice Out There's recommended murukus and egg rolls, yue tiao, nasi lemak and bak chang.


New Journey's Carrot Cake

Far away eats

Point of View introduces us to Dry Bak Kut Teh in Kuching that looks really good. Elb's hovel of thought brings us Yo! Sushi all the way from good old England. Treasurable Memories made a trip to Malacca and had Chicken Rice Ball for the first time. The cendol they had looked good too. KampungboyCitygal may be busy with work but they still managed to bring us pictures of Lorong Selamat's famous food. Good Food, Good Life made me drool over the famous Kemaman Coffee that I had to put a picture of it up for all of you to see.


Good Food, Good Life's Kemaman Coffee

* Photos are "borrowed" from the individual blogs and if you object to me using them, do drop me a comment and I will remove them.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 31

Hello everyone,

Please pay homage to my big bro - King Kits who is sitting on his "throne" at our front door. Doesn't he look great? I absolutely love him as he takes care of me whenever Mum is not around. Sometimes when his mood is good, he even cleans me a bit on my head with his tongue just like what my Mummy cat used to do. Recently he has been super generous and lets me sleep on the bed with him and Mum since the weather has been rainy and cold. It's really nice to snuggle up with Mum at night as she is so warm. That's the good side of my bro but when he is in a super mad mood - he will whack me on my head or hiss at me to tell me to go away.

For more kitty stories and pictures, do hop over to Auntie Clare at eat stuff. She is having such a great holiday that she almost forgot to post WCB this weekend - Kiri is also having a relaxing time in the sun.

Lots of love, hugs and meow kisses

Boo the cat

Beard Papa @ Mid Valley Megamall

I finally got to sample a bit of the famous Beard Papa cream puffs at Mid Valley Megamall which opened last month. These cream puffs have been creating quite a bit of a stir all over the world as it seems there were long queues for the puffs when it first opened in the USA. No long queues in Malaysia though but business seems to be quite brisk. I guess all they need is some publicity in the papers as I don't think many people are aware of them unless they are major foodies. So far, I have only seen them advertising their arrival in Malaysia in the Japanese papers.



Beard Papa works on a franchise concept and originates from Muginoho, an Osaka based fast food restaurant chain. What makes their puffs unique are a couple of things: firstly it's the filling which is softly whipped cream custard. I managed to catch a picture of one of the workers whipping a batch of the custard behind the counter so I know it is pretty fresh. Can't really see what she added but based on their website, one major ingredient is the Madagascar vanilla beans.



They were also making the choux pastry shells so I caught some pictures of it. It looks like the pastry is made ahead and frozen. They will have trays with the pastry shaped in small rounds near the oven ready to be baked.

When they run low on the choux pastry shells, they will pop the trays into the oven. Amazing that the small little rounds will puff up to those big choux pastry shells.



These choux pastry shells are ready to be piped with cream when people turn up at their counter. The shells are unique as they consist of two layers - a choux pastry shell inside and a piecrust on the outside. The piecrust bit makes it crispy while the choux pastry has the layers for the custard to be filled in.

I had one puff which is being sold at RM3.30. You can buy them in multiples of three and five which they will give you a long yellow box to hold them with. Once you order your puff - they will use a metal contraption to poke a hole at the back of the puff to fill it with the whipped cream custard. Icing sugar is then sprinkled on top and it is wrapped in white paper for you to take away to enjoy.



Here is the inside of the puff with the whipped custard filling. See those teeny weeny black dots - that is the Madagascar vanilla beans they use. I found the filling to be nice and soft but you don't really taste the vanilla though. The shell is nice and crisp on the outside and soft inside making it really different from the other cream puffs in town. Usually the filling of the cream puffs we get are pastry cream or custard which is not as soft. The closest I can compare this cream puff with is to Sun Moulin Bakery's Jumbo Puff which comes with a crisp pastry shell and whipped cream piped within it. Unlike Beard Papa, the Jumbo Puff is prepared ahead and kept in a fridge to maintain the cream and crispness of the pastry shell. However I find that they put too much cream vs too little pastry shell hence it can be too rich for me. Beard Papa's proportion of cream filling and pastry shell is just nice and one will not find it too rich but decadent enough to ask for more.

Beard Papa
LG 007
Mid Valley Megamall
(Opposite KFC. Same floor as Jusco Supermarket and Carrefour.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Beard Papa + Cream Puff

Lai Foong Beef Noodles @ Kuala Lumpur

Ever since I was a wee little kid, I always love going down town as it meant visiting my cousins who lived on Petaling Street. They lived on the upper levels of a pre-war shophouse which was only accesible by climbing this steep and slippery wooden staircase. It was pretty scary stuff for me when I was a kid and I used to clutch on to the rails and gingerly take each step as I was so scared of heights. Besides those scary memories, I always had a wonderful time discovering all the great food around the area. One of my all time favourite places we ate just round the corner from their house was the Lai Foong Restaurant. Everytime we went there, we will only eat the beef noodles which to me has never changed ever since I was a little girl.

I still regularly eat at this place whenever I am down town as I love their beef noodles with slices of beef, beef balls and beef tripe. It comes with a flavoursome broth that is sprinkled with chopped preserved vegetables and coriander. I will slowly savour the noodles, eating bit by bit with the broth until everything in my bowl is finished. Another essential bit that must go with my beef noodles (if you can spy at the background) is a cup of local coffee with a dash of condensed milk.

If you do visit the restaurant, remember to stop by the Tong Kee Brothers confectionery which has a stall in front selling egg tarts, buns, biscuits and etc. Their egg tarts are superb - flaky crust and quivering egg centres. When I was a kid, it was a real treat for me to bring to school an egg tart and a coconut bun for my snack.

Lai Foong Restaurant
138, Jalan Tun HS Lee
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2072 8123
(Opens from early morning till lunch time. The beef noodles costs RM4 a bowl)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Beef Noodles + Malaysian Food

Retro Party

To usher in the New Year, I attended a wonderful Retro Party at Mau's place where there was lots of good food, drink and of course, those retro tunes that made us all go aaahhh! Not sure if anyone of you have guessed but to us, retro is the eighties with the likes of music from Wham, Culture Club, Bananarama and etc. I have always loved the British pop music scene probably because of my older siblings' influence since they used to bring back their singles whenever they came back for summer holidays. In school, it was also hip to tune in to the BBC Worldwide's Top Twenty (I still listen to it once in a while on BBC1's Internet Radio) and watch Top of the Pops on video.

On to the food bit - Mau decided to have a potluck party that was themed "Chap Fan" or Economy Rice style where you have lots and lots of varieties which is the food you get at home that is best eaten with rice. The economy rice stalls are extremely popular among the lunch crowd as they offer good value for money at prices from RM3 to RM4 depending on what you take. I love them as I can get to choose more vegetables with my meal.



Sorry about the quality of some pictures - I started taking some without flash as I thought it was sufficient light. As things were kept simple, people were given two options: pack a food item from your favourite stall or cook something at home. S decided she will bring some the famous Loong Foong roast duck for us. Very yummy stuff and it's something I often pack some home for myself to eat whenever I am feeling lazy to cook a meal.



Mau made this wonderful vegetarian fried rice which went so well with the other dishes. I kept eating loads of this fried rice as it was so yummy.



To save cleaning up time, most of the food were packed in plastic containers. Here you have a selection of lor bak, roast pork, sausages that were packed from the economy rice stall. Usually economy rice stalls will also have deep fried luncheon meat slices, baked beans and sardines.



SG made her first steamed egg and it was perfect - so soft and smooth. It was her second attempt making it as the alarm did not go off for her first attempt. Lots of slow fire and patience went into making this.



This is the four angled beans or kacang botol in Malay that was tossed in a chilli sauce that was a hit as the whole bowl of beans were finished at the end of the party.



Robyn made this salad of cucumbers, thai sausages and coriander which was very nice and refreshing. The thai sausage reminds me a bit of the Chinese lap cheong (waxed sausage).



KG bought this yummy rojak from his all time favourite shop, Bayu Timor. The picture does not feature the gooey rojak sauce that went with it. Now I know why I often spy ladies eating this rojak during lunchtime as it is very good stuff.

KG also brought items from his auntie's kitchen made from his grandmother's recipes. This was the Kari Kapitan - a curry chicken with lots of shredded kaffir lime and lemongrass that made it so fragrant and yummy. Fantastic stuff! I have been offered a lifetime supply of this since they now have a servant to help cook it - will definitely take up their offer.



This is part of the dish below, hard boiled eggs and potatoes that were cooked in soya sauce.



Instead of Tau Yew Bak, this is the chicken version and is called Tau Yew Kay that is cooked with dark soya sauce.

What did I make? Two home cook dishes which I cooked ahead since I wanted to enjoy my weekend. One was the mui choy minced chicken which I added a bit of chillies and chilli padi.



Another dish I made was chicken with canned mushrooms and carrots, a very simple dish that my mother used to make for us at home. It's flavoured with a bit of oyster sauce and soya sauce. Dessert was a yummy flourless chocolate mud cake that S made.

The party was great fun and we even had vodka cocktails to drink - lychee vodka or peach vodka anyone? They taste great but pack a punch. We even watched an 80s' classic television series, Macgyver on projector - brings back lots of memories as that was the show everyone talked about in school. Who would have thought you can use chocolate to stop an acid leak? See, now I know why chocolate is my favourite, not only can I eat it, I can even save nuclear labs from an explosion with a Hershey bar!

Thank you Mau for the great party - we both had a wonderful time with the food, music and Macgyver.

You Are What You Eat Meme

I feel bad as I have been dilly dallying over this meme ever since Glutton Rabbit from Pearl of the Orient tagged me for it - excuses was the festive season plus the lack of photos. Okay, new year resolution is not to procrastinate and "Just Do It", so here is my meme.

In this meme, you need to list down ten of your favourite foods. Sounds easy but it ain't as I find it hard to narrow down my likes to just ten since I am a real fickle gal and love everything in sight. Using what I have cooked and blogged about the past year, I came up with this list. Now some bits may overlap itself.

1. Salmon

I love salmon in any form and will not get sick of eating it. I love the buttery thick salmon sashimi slices especially when they are super fresh dipped in soya sauce and smeared with a smidgeon of wasabi for that extra kick. Then there is the pan fried salmon just done right until the pink flesh flakes off nicely when they are cooked with a crisp skin. Even the salmon head is my favourite as it tastes great when you put some teriyaki sauce over it and grill it.

2. Japanese Food

For me, Japanese food is a bit more than just the usual sashimi, tempura and sushi dishes. I love their home cooked dishes which I often replicate at home whether it is oden, Japanese curry, teriyaki salmon or chicken, oyako don and etc. Besides Japanese food, I collect Japanese plates and bowls as my favourite is their blue and white patterns.


Yoshinoya's Gyu Don sprinkled with lots of shichimi

3. Chocolate

I will be kidding if I did not put this on my top ten list but I love all kinds of chocolates whether they are luxury versions or just plain candy bars you can get from the newsagents. I recently discovered Royce chocolates ever since Isetan opened a counter and they are really fantastic stuff. Try those almond chocolates and you will be in heaven. Other brands which I love are Leonidas - their white chocolate pralines with the whole hazelnut i.e. Manon Cafe is my absolute favourite, Godiva (I discovered them when I went to the USA) and Thorntons from England. They can't be bought here but I love their Viennese Truffles with the creamy centers. Oh, another childhood indulgence of mine is Cote D'Or - I love the Bouchees which come individually wrapped.

Besides the high end chocolates, my favourite chocolate bar snack is the Cadbury Flake - makes me want to sit in a bath tub enjoying my Flake, Galaxy's Minstrels - perfect for cinema trips, Cadbury's Wispa which is now discontinued, Aero - I love anything with bubbles in them, it is also Splashie Boy's absolute favourite chocolate, 3 Musketeers - an essential buy whenever I am in the USA, Terry's Orange Chocolate - you whack it to break them into segments and Cherry Ripe - always a must whenever anyone goes to Australia.



Top Left: Leonidas Manon Cafe, Top Right: Cherry Ripe
Bottom Left: Cadbury Flake, Bottom Right: Aero Mint Bar

4. Mushrooms

Another must in my diet are mushrooms and they always seem to sneak into my grocery basket whether they are just plain button ones, fresh shitake ones, portobellos, japanese enoki ones, honshimeji and etc. When I was in university, my signature dish was Stir Fried Chicken with Chinese mushrooms on top of egg noodles. I used to bring back bags of the dried chinese mushrooms to prepare this for my friends who loved it.

5. Mango and Pineapple

I generally love fruits of all kinds but ask me to pick specific ones and I will narrow it down to mangoes and pineapple which I love to eat all the time. The great thing is we get these fruits all year round so I don't run out of supplies of them.


Honey Mangoes from the Bangsar Pasar Malam

6. Noodles of all kinds

I am a noodle gal and they make great light lunches or dinners most of the time for me. Whether they are fried or boiled, noodles are always my first choice. I tend to prefer eating beehoon (or what some of you know as vermicelli), loh shee fun (rat's tails in Cantonese) and kuay teow. Somehow I don't have a strong liking for the yellow mee they use in cooking Hokkien Noodles. My first preference is always noodles with soup unless it's an extremely hot day. I love to drink the soup whether it is just clear soup or laksa and will finish it up that my friends often laugh at me for making sure the bowl is clean for them to clear up.

7. Street foods

I am sure you all should know that I am love street stalls from all my walkabouts, whether it is the pasar malam (Malay for night markets) and the festive stalls like the Ramadan bazaars and Deepavali stalls. Must go visit Petaling Street soon to check out the Chinese New Year stalls.

8. Pies

Splashie Boy and I love pies of all kinds but somehow his absolute favourite is Shepherd's Pie. Not sure why but I guess because it combines all the favourite bits like mash potatoes and minced lamb.

Shepherd's Pie with Cheesy Leek Topping

9. Sandwiches

Another must have are sandwiches for me, whether they are bought from outside or made by myself. There is something comforting about bread and I love all kinds.


Dunkin' Donuts Egg Croissant Sandwich

10. Ais Kacang (Air Batu Campur)

My all time favourite dessert whenever I feel the heat coming on is Ais Kacang and I love it as plain as possible - only with a dash of gula melaka syrup and evaporated milk. It must also have lots of fine ice so they melt in my mouth straight away.


Ais Kacang from PJ's Medan Selera

11. Marmite

I confess a liking for this even though Splashie Boy does not like it's smell as it reminds me of my childhood days. My mother always kept a bottle of Marmite in case of emergencies as it was great with toast or just as a quick soup. Nowadays I cook it with chicken drizzling it to make a sticky black sauce that smells divine only to me.


Marmite Chicken

*Update - Someone just pointed out to me I have eleven items on my favourite list. Typical of me, I can't even count early in the morning! Actually I just realised I have twelve items as I listed mangoes and pineapples on one bit - see how crazy I am, I managed to sneak in two more items I love in a top ten list!

Malaysian Food Finds @ 3 January, 2006

It's a new year already so I hope you are all re-charged to tackle the challenges ahead. Last week's food finds saw lots of people getting busy in their kitchens whipping up goodies, there were also celebration feasts and holidays.

Kitchen Stories

I know some of you may have resolved to eat more vegetables this year to keep healthy so why don't you make some yummy-licious Chocolate Zucchini Brownies that the Month of May made. They have veggies in them i.e. Zucchini but taste so divine that one does not know they were even added.


Month of May's Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

If chocolate and veggies are not your thing, how about some of May's sticky date pudding and big soft gingerbread cookies? Now if you are a fan of flans - Just Heavenly is really into them and made a sausage cheese flan and tiny orange flans.

Rachel from Tham Jiak gets me hankering for naan to go with her Kheema. I was drooling over Elb's hovel of thoughts' lovely looking Roast Lamb Rack. Shaolin Tiger who sports a new look for the new year made a hearty English breakfast that looked so good to start a lazy weekend with. Just Heavenly made Chinese Chicken Parcels for a Christmas potluck party they had. If that is too complicated, how about trying out their Tomato Bruschetta which looks very easy to make. Babe in the City tried another version of spaghetti vongole but found the clams too tiny for her liking. I guess a third version will be in the works soon as she looks for the perfect vongole. Going [Wild] & Glowing [Charm] made an Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake in the wee hours of the morning which was a bit of disaster when the digestive biscuit base seperated itself from the cheese bit. I am sure she will get it right the next time round so I am looking forward to the pictures of the cheesecake.

Foodcrazee was a lucky guy when the chefs at the restaurants he work at cooked up a lovely New Year Eve's lunch. Everything looks so decadent and yummy. Greenapple from My Felicity Corner kicks off the new year with a lovely breakfast and made a beautiful Christmas feast for her loved ones. It must be really good as she was rewarded with a lovely Christmas present. Glutton Rabbit from Pearl of the Orient celebrated going back to work after the Christmas holidays with some yummy looking Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mycoffee from Sweets for my Sweet cooked up a storm for her Christmas feast - everything looks so good.

Foodie Finds around Kuala Lumpur

Recently, Wantan Productions visited the Taiwanese noodle house in ss2 and the noodles look good. I must go and search for this place one day. Pam from Foodyumz has her little top ten of food picks for 2005 and recent dinners at Ka Soh, Jalan Bukit Bintang and Green View in Petaling Jaya. I love the Prawn (Sang Har in Cantonese) Meen at Green View and the Fish Head Noodles (Yee Tow Mai in Cantonese) at Ka Soh - essential stops whenever my cousins are in town. KY Speaks introduces us to Mini Laksa from Jalan Pasar. I never knew something like that existed until I saw it on his blog. He continues his eating adventures to seafood porridge in Petaling Jaya and Shabu-shabu King Steamboat in ss2.

Foodyumz's Sang Har Meen from Green View

Lilian from Malaysia Best was down in Kuala Lumpur for a short trip and caught some Ipoh Kuay Teow Noodles on her new camera. She also griped about Paddington House of Pancakes which didn't impress her too much with her service and prices. Acrix69 finally made it to Tenka Daiichi Ramen and found it pretty good. The pictures of the ramen and gyoza are making my mouth water.

Boredworkers introduced us to Mali's Corner for Nasi Lemak and Char Kuay Teow Penang. He also takes us for a bit of Bak Kut Teh over in Restoran Sin Wah, Cheras. There are lots of celebration seafood feasts with the long holidays and Kimberly from Narcissism is Necessary celebrated the end of college at Port Village, Klang. Coincidentally, Just Heavenly also visited Port Village and had a seafood feast there. More celebrations continue from the Memoirs of a Chocoholic who visited Nine at One Bangsar recently with a whole group of friends. KampungboyCitygal celebrated a friend's birthday in TGi Fridays at 1 Utama Shopping Centre. Looked like real good fun with the birthday song being belted by the crew for the birthday girl.

Foodie Finds Far Far Away

Acrix69 is on location in Malacca and brings us the modern version of Chicken Rice Ball (made by machine) and snaps from his first day in Malacca. Can't wait to see more pictures as Malacca is one of my favourite eating places. Mark from Good Food, Good Life brings us seafood from Pak Su in Kuantan. I remember eating at this place during my last visit to Kuantan and spying the fresh fish being delivered for the day.

Acrix69's Chicken Rice Ball

If you are up in Genting for a day, how about trying out Ming Ren which Foodcrazee recommends for Chinese food. How about a change from Penang hawker food? Try out some Korean food instead as recommended by Glutton Rabbit. If coffee and Bak Kut Teh is your thing, Sandakan may be the place to be according to the Malaysian Recipes Blog. Remember Aprilcherrie? She's back from her trip to Shanghai and she brings us lots of pictures of the place and yummy food of course.

*Pictures are from the respective bloggers' sites which I have "borrowed" to show all of you the yummy food. If you are uncomfortable with me using your pictures, do tell me and I will remove them.

Tagged with: Malaysian Food

Weekend Cat Blogging (WCB) 30 - Happy New Year

Happy New Year everybody including my four legged pals

Here are happy pictures of my kitty family. Excellent news! Mum told me the three kittens are all adopted by a very nice lady called Auntie Laura on Friday night. Ain't that great? I love Auntie Laura - now I don't need to fight with other kitties, so please accept my kisses and hugs for taking them in.

Lots of love, meow kisses and hugs

Boo the cat

P/s I am so upset! So many fireworks tonight hence I woke up from my beauty sleep and I am at the computer.

P P/s join Auntie Clare at eat stuff for kitty pixs.