Mee Pok / Bak Chor Mee Recipe

Bryan Y made an awesome version of 'mee pok' last night. I had previously tried a recipe from Food Made With Love, which was really yummy too, though, possibly not quite as authentic. Before my infamous goldfish memory kicks in, I thought I'd write it down and share it. When I say share, I really mean, more people will be able to cook it for me. That really did not need to be said. Pfft.

I've combined the best of both recipes and come up with this one. It may look complicated, but it really is very simple. Unfortunately, the pig that I am, I scoffed everything before I managed to take a photo. So, I've stolen this image from Ugwug.

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Minced Pork:
500gm minced pork
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Ground white pepper

Marinate the minced pork with all of the above ingredients. Leave it to marinate whilst your soup is boiling.
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Soup:
1 stalk of spring onions (roughly chopped)
A few slices of ginger
1 tbspn of tung choy (Tian Jin preserved vegetable)
2 chicken marylands (or 800g chicken bones)
App. 10 cups of water (2.5 lt)
Salt to taste
Sliced champignons (button mushrooms)
Fish balls (substitute with pork/beef balls if you wish)
Fish cake

Bring the water to a boil. Throw in the chicken, spring onions, tung choy & ginger, cover and let it boil on medium heat for a good 45 minutes. The longer, the better. Add salt to taste. When the soup is ready, throw in the button mushrooms, fish/pork/beef balls and fish cake. Let them cook for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, using a fork or teaspoon, scrape small bits of the marinated minced pork into the soup. This creates small lumps of mince which will later be placed on top of your noodles.
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Noodles:
Fresh flat egg noodles
Splash of fish sauce
1 tablespoon chilli oil / bottled garlic chilli
2 tablespoon black vinegar
1 tspn oyster sauce

For each bowl you serve, combine the fish sauce, chilli, black vinegar and oyster sauce and mix. Using your hands, loosen the egg noodles. Bring a pot of water to boil, then throw the egg noodles in for about 45 seconds before draining. Mix the noodles with the sauce.

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Serve it up:
Get soup bowls ready and serve the soup, along with the fish/pork/beef balls, mushrooms and minced meat. Or, if you're feeling hardworking, sieve out the ingredients and place it on top of your noodles, serving plain soup on the side.

Done. Easy peasy, japanesey.

Cooking time: Approximately 1 hr 15 mins

Lisha's Good Food Guide

No. I am sorry. I am not about to post up a whole list of recommended places to eat. I'm not feeling that selfless today. Instead, I'm talking about me. After all, this whole thing is about me, isn't it?

Every now and then, I get people asking me about my strange and complex food preferences. So I decided to have a little think of it, and came up with a little guideline for my psychoanal tastebuds.

Chilli Queen
I believe tabasco, chili and sambal are gods of their own. Rarely do I eat a meal that does not involve me adding some form of chili to it.

1. Oysters are almost never to be eaten without tabasco.
2. Neither should pasta and pizza. So, shoot me, Italiano. You say, "That is an insult!" I say, "Franculo."
3. Sambal belacan is a must for all forms of fried rice, even if it's belacan fried rice or tom yum fried rice.
4. Soup noodles must be accompanied by some form of chili, and it has to be the right kind of chili. Don't give me pickled green chili for 'pan mee'. I keeel you.

Fish Are Your Friends. Not Food.
When people ask, "Do you eat fish?", I find this difficult to answer. I generally go with, "Only if it's not fishy." This section ties in closely with the above.

1. Deep fried fish is generally okay, especially when there's chili or sambal to accompany it. Fish & chips are an exception - tartare sauce is accepted.
2. Steamed fish really depends on the sauce, but no matter how awesome, still requires fresh cut chili to go with it.
3. Raw fish is A-okay, with wasabi, of course.
4. Anything made of fish (fish cake, fish noodles, fish balls, fish paste, what-the-fish) can go into the next bowl, thank you. For this reason, steamboats are not a particular favourite of mine unless I get to order additional meat.

Condimental Meals
I believe:

1. Fries should go with chili sauce, or aioli sauce. Mayonnaise just doesn't cut it.
2. Laksa should always have a squeeze of lime.
3. Nasi lemak should only be wrapped in a packet, not served on a plate or packed in a styrofoam box. What's with that? Did you run out of banana leaves? Grow more trees, goddammit!
4. Pies and pasties can't be eaten without tomato sauce. I'm Aussie like that, I apologise.
5. You can't have chocolate mud cake or a brownie without some ice-cream or cream. I go for both because I'm an unabashed glutton.

Sweet & Savoury
I am simple. Your main course is meant to be savoury, and dessert is meant to be sweet. Don't screw with the simplicity of that.

1. Sweet & sour. One word - gross.
2. Savoury pancakes & crepes is something I have yet to be able to bring myself to order. It just seems so unnatural. It's like a chimpanzee trying to be a house cat - confused.
3. Cheese platters as dessert is something I have yet to comprehend. It's like rolling me in mud, and then giving me a mud bar to wash it off. It doesn't make sense.

That's just a little preview. I love my food, and I am not afraid to love it a certain way. Fusspot, I am. But I promise I won't pull out a gun on you if things don't go my way. It'd be too heavy in my purse, anyway.

living up to my astrological sign: the pig

i think i may have an eating disorder. an excessive-eating disorder. i am going to eat my future husband dry. and i do not mean that in a kinky way, whatsoever. okay, maybe a little of that too.

sunday went something along the lines of this:

12.00pm: yoghurt

01.30pm: chicken rice

04:00pm: chilli bratwurst with sauerkraut

06:30pm: 8-course degustation

i basically stuffed myself silly in a span of about six hours. the reason why i ate so much prior to dinner was because i did not realise we were doing a degustation. to welcome mili back, we went to Cutler & Co. two thumbs up for the casual atmosphere and excellent food. my three favourite dishes were the king fish, duck leg and wagyu beef. the desserts were pretty delectable too.

anchovy pastry wrapped in i-can't-remember-what-cured-meat

salmon with roe & capers

cured king fish, avocado, octopus and pickled cucumber

baby beetroot salad, goat's curd, apple & walnut

'mandarin duck' crisp leg, smoked fillet, foie gras parfait and lentils

wood-grilled sher wagyu, smoked corn, mushroom, onion and young garlic

sheep's milk yoghurt, granola and rhubarb granita

violet ice-cream, chocolate ganache and sour cherry

ally, mili & i

vum, mili, bryan & danny

all photos stolen from ally's camera. thanks to bryan and ally for the early birthday present! you popped my degustation cherry.

portobello mushroom burger

seeing as the weather has been fairly warm, i thought it'd be nice to have burgers. sure, it's been tropical thunderstorms, but hell, when i crave for food, i've damn well got to have it.

thus, the inspiration for this delectable burger, if i dare say so myself.


portobello mushroom beef burger with bacon & blue cheese sauce

blue cheese sauce
80gm blue cheese
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of sour cream
squeeze of lemon juice
1 clove of finely chopped garlic

cut the blue cheese into small cubes. add in the mayo, sour cream, lemon juice and garlic. mash the cheese and stir everything well until it becomes a creamy texture. easy peasy!

the burger
burger buns halved
burger patties
streaky bacon
large portobello mushrooms
2 sliced onions
finely chopped garlic (3-4 cloves)
olive oil
cayenne pepper
salt
black pepper
oregano or italian herbs
thin slices of cheese (swiss cheese or mozarella is best)
worcestershire sauce

first, the mushrooms. preheat the oven to about 180 degrees. meanwhile, line an oven tray with foil to put your mushrooms on. gently break off the stem by wiggling it. rub a generous dose of olive oil all over the portobello mushrooms. they tend to soak up the oil. then sprinkle some salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, herbs and garlic all over. marinate them for about 15-20 minutes.

once the oven is heated, pop in the portobellos and let them cook for 10 mins before turning them over, and let it cook for another 5 mins. when that's done, put your cheese slices over the mushrooms (facing upwards like a bowl). pop it back into the oven to melt the cheese.

meanwhile, sautee your onions til they start to turn transparent. add in a few dashes of worcestershire sauce and some black pepper.

fry the bacon til crisp. fry the burger patties. butter your burger buns. put your burger patty on, some blue cheese sauce on top, the portobello mushroom and lastly the onions on top. cover with the other bun half. you can opt to put your salad in the burger as well, but i found the burger to be barely manageable as it was. hence, the salad on the side.

enjoy!

Malaccan Odessey Visual Feast

i figured if i wait til Alice posts up her pictures, i'll never get around to posting any. =p


Alice - the melbourne girl who spurred TY into food mania


TY - food is her passion, as you can clearly see


William was our tour/food guide for the day


oh scrumptious chicken!


delightful durian ais kacang - heavenly gula melaka


i love the colourful facades of the buildings in Melaka. it's a pity KL hasn't made any effort in maintaining and restoring our old buildings.


TY chowing down on pork satay


it was good shit - pork interlaced with layers of fat


Alice trying out for Mr Universe


this reminded me of those chinese movies set in the olden days where all the wives and their children live within the same house, creating havoc and sabotaging one another. ah, gotta love the chinese dramas.


reminiscent of melbourne's alley ways


you can tell they're tourists from a mile away

Malaccan Odessey

i went to Melaka with TY & Alice for a gastronomic adventure. TY had already planned about 5 meals for the whole day. crazy woman.

we started off the journey with a huge Homi curry puff. yum yum. then we bee-lined to the shop selling chicken rice balls. 4 of us had a whole chicken and assam fish head.

then, we walked further down the street to try the durian ice kacang. awesome. the gula melaka was so thick and full of flavour. unlike the diluted brown sugar we get here in KL. the durian flavour was a bit weak though, for someone who loves durian as much as i do.

next up, we walked yet a little more for pork satay. TY ordered 20 sticks. we were already so full, but the crazy woman insisted we could eat 20 sticks. the pork was soft and tender, and in between chunks of pork were little cubes of pork fat. YUM!! i would've liked it a lot more if it wasn't so salty though.

by this time, it had only been less than 2 hours into our arrival in Melaka. we were all stuffed, but decided walk a little before going to look for this place that's famous for its ice-blended coconut shake topped with vanilla ice-cream.

it was heeeaaavennn. not too sweet. really good refreshing drink in the hot weather. TY then suggested we go look for wanton mee. it was only 5.30pm.

"let's go have wanton mee now."
"are you kidding me? then what about satay celup?"
"ok. we can go tapau the wanton mee and then have satay celup."

Alice's expression was full of disbelief. and trust me, the woman is a food-lover. i, myself was feeling a little scared too.

so we went round looking for wanton mee but it wasn't open yet. we were all so tired by then, we decided to skip satay celup as well and head back to KL. i think our bodies were shutting down because our metabolisms were working overtime. it was probably still digesting our food from the day before!

on monday, we went to Klang for bak kut teh and stuffed ourselves silly. on the way back, TY and Alice stopped off at the dentist for a check-up. after that, TY decided to bring us for some cendol. it was already 5pm.

and we had seafood dinner booked at 8pm at Wong Poh.

i don't think any of us believed we could eat much for dinner. and this is what we had between 6 of us:
- kam heong lala
- bamboo lala
- 1 pot of butter cheese crabs (heaven!)
- 1 salted egg crab
- 1 steamed fish
- sotong
- kangkung
- buttered prawns

i think i'm developing a muffin top. oh god. i'm dragging TY to go swimming soon. she's supposed to lose 5kg over the next two months. at this rate, i don't see it happening!

waiting for Alice to upload her pics and will post it up here... maybe. =p

twit. food.

admittedly, since i joined the twitter-mania, i barely blog anymore. twitter is just so addictive. it's the ability to do a mini-blog without having to elaborate on anything. it allows you to just post whatever nonsense comes up in your head, without feeling committed to at least a 100 word post. that's my opinion, anyway.

i've been slacking off over the last week. not good, not good. time to buck up and get a whole lot of shit done. we'll be updating Threadbarn later this week, so watch out for that. =)

Alvin and i will be going to Melaka tomorrow for a day trip with TY & tai lo Alice. she's down from HK for a week, so it's going to be a food-filled week. there goes TY's diet out the window.

the other day, we brought Alice to Jln 222 for some hawker goodness. we ordered pretty much everything. halfway through, everyone was sitting back with their cannot-make-it faces whilst Alice was scanning the stalls.

"what are you looking at?" i asked.
"i'm looking to see what else i want."
"what?! no! finish all this first!" i pointed at all the food on the table.

yesterday, Alvin and i had dinner with Lam & Bass at Bumbu Bali in Puchong. yummy food. Bass made a comment.

"is it me, or are you putting on weight?"

i shrugged it off, figuring it was probably his imagination. when we got home, i asked Alvin if i was putting on weight.

"mmm, yeah i think so."

-_- if i only some of it would go up to my boobs.

fancy some keratin for breakfast?

while getting ready to go to work this morning, i got a call from PowderQueenBryan asking whether i wanted nasi lemak.

i haven't had much nasi lemak since i banned myself from it, so i was looking forward to the lovely spicy sambal and fragrant rice.

when i opened the packet, the first thing that caught my eye was a tiny length of hair - probably an eyelash - which i figured i could safely ignore. then i stuck my spoon in and noticed something else... a long strand of hair entangled in the rice!

so i got both eyelash AND hair! man... whoever was packing it must be having hair loss problem or something. i was quite put off the nasi lemak by then and decided to skip it.

sigh. there went my breakfast. i really didn't fancy having keratin for breakfast.

for all you know, the person could have lice!
or hadn't washed their hair in a week.
or had been sweating all morning while cooking the nasi lemak and the sweat covered strand of hair fell in.

katherine added in
"maybe you got some cibai hair in there too!"

yuck.

pigging out at el cerdo

cam, mei yin, soon wei, alvin and i celebrated jin min's bday at el cerdo on changkat bukit bintang on sat night, recommended by soon wei.



a very animated soon wei

i was told it was a spanish restaurant so, naturally, i was expecting tapas, paella and sangrias. so shoot me for having stereotyped all spanish restaurants. how was i to know it would be a pork affair?

the first thing i noticed were pig statues greeting me at the entrance. how cute. i found myself suddenly wondering whether i had stumbled upon a chinese restaurant instead. after all, show me a malaysian chinese whose face doesn't light up at the mere mention of 'pork'.

i felt like a kid in a candy store as i looked at all the pork dishes available on the menu.

pork! pork! oh look, more pork!!

i kept forgetting to take pics of the dishes coz i was ravenous and scoffed everything down before i realised. oops.

our menu:

green pea soup with smoked kassler ham

boquerones

hickory smoked pork soft ribs

paella


roasted suckling pig

rum & raisin pancake

complimentary dessert

bottle of red wine


by the time the suckling pig came, i was rather over-porked and salad started to look more appealing.

the bill came up to rm880+ between six people. O_O my jaw dropped.

i have to say my favourite part was definitely the ribs. it was lip smackingly awesome. not to mention the injection of spanish customs like breaking plates for good luck and serving dessert by order of age/importance.

mei yin obliging me with a half-smile

soon wei, JM & mei yin

what an uncanny resemblance

"who should i give it to first?"

happy & well fed birthday boy

el cerdo is definitely an experience.

the lady joiner returns!!

oh yeah baby... i'm off to bangkok again! it's become a yearly tradition now.

well, i guess there's no better way to learn lady joiner skills than learn it from the country of its origin. this time it'll be cam, hunter soon and myself. a fraction of the old melbourne crew.

there's room for one more, if anyone wants to join.

here are some photos from my last trip...


awesome thai & italian restaurant which served yummy mojitos


me and my lovelies - ally & cam


anti-pasto at zanotti


the DFSes at Vertigo Sky Bar (Banyan Tree)


partying at slims in costume

places i MUST visit:
pratunam market
suan lum night market
zanotti for awesome italian food
thong lor

things to eat:
larb gai (mince chicken salad)
som tam (green papaya salad)
tom kha gai
red duck curry
lime minced pork noodles
beef noodles

a taste of thai

i can't wait for the new house to be ready and hopefully be able to do some cooking. it's been awhile and i really miss it. nothing gets my mouth watering like thai food, so just for future reference, i'm posting up my self-made menu for a thai dinner.

managed to dig out a recipe for tom kha (tom yum with coconut milk) from way way back. definitely authentic and super yummy.

Tom Kha Gai


one stick lemongrass
5-6 kaffir lime leaves (fresh ones are better than dried, more flavour)
2-3 limes
3-5 chillis (depending on where the chilli is from and how hot it is i guess)
a quarter head galangal (ginger is ok if you can't find galangal)
4-5 cloves garlic
fish sauce (to taste)
sugar (to taste)
chicken stock
one can coconut milk/cream
500g chicken

• cut up the lemongrass into 1 inch pieces and smash them. peel and smash the garlic. cut the lime. slit and smash the chillies. peel the galangal and slice.
• bring the chicken stock to boil. when it starts boiling, put in the lemongrass, garlic, lime and galangal. but you can leave the chillies til later.
  
• abuse the kaffir lime leaves and put them in.. all of them..
• leave to boil for about 5 mins so all the flavour from the herbs come out. then simmer and add lime. add fish sauce and sugar to taste... you may want to add more.
  
• put in the chicken and put in the chillies. simmer everything for about 5 mins. then slowly add the coconut milk/cream. but make sure there are no lumps so you might need to turn up the heat and stir it a bit.
• have a taste and make sure it's yummy... and the chicken is cooked. then serve and impress your guests.
  

Moo Pad Gra Pow (Stir-fried minced pork with basil)


2 tbspns vegetable oil
chilli flakes
1 tspn sugar
a handful of basil
500g minced pork (can be substituted with chicken or beef)
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
a few dashes of fish sauce

• Fry the garlic in oil over high heat. When garlic starts to turn brown, drop the minced pork in. Stir constantly. The juice will start to come out.
  
• Keep stirring until all the juice is gone. It might take a couple of minutes.
• Add chilli flakes, sugar and fish sauce. Then add Thai basil.
  
• Quickly turn it over a few times to mix the leaves with the meat and then remove from the fire.

Roasted Duck Red Curry (Kaeng Phed Ped Yang)


a whole roasted duck, deboned and cut into strips
2 and a half cups of coconut milk
10 cherry tomatoes
half an eggplant cut into cubes
6 canned rambutans or pineapple slices, cut into bite-sizes
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
few dashes of fish sauce
half cup of chicken stock
1 tbspn cooking oil
3 heaped tbspns of red curry paste (the cheating way)

• Put vegetable oil into wok over medium heat and add the red curry paste. Fry til the paste becomes fragrant.
• Add 3/4 cups coconut milk and stir to mix thoroughly.
• Add the duck and stir well. Next pour the mixture into a pot, add the remaining coconut milk, water, tomatoes, rambutans/pineapples, eggplants, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, salt, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil then let
  
• it simmer for about 15-20 mins.

this is not helping my hunger at all. -_-

food, glorious food!! i live for thee.

out of the box

is how i seem to live my life. i don't think i've ever had a period in my life since i was 14 where i have not had things in boxes. and before i get everything out of the boxes (which admittedly, can be quite awhile) it's time for me to move again.

my family's getting ready to move out into our new house in ara damansara soon... as soon as the renovations are over.

just as well, most of my things are STILL in boxes since i moved back to KL one and a half years ago! =p

whilst packing, i came across a recipe my stepmum's brother wrote for me. one of my absolute favourite chinese dishes - vinegared pork trotter or chu keok shin. he makes a killer vinegared pork trotter. i better archive it here before i lose the piece of paper. it's just too precious.

Vinegared pork trotter (one big pot enough to feed half an army)

Ingredients:

1 bottle of vinegar

500 ml of water

2-3 pcs of gula melaka

750g of local ginger

2kg pork trotter
a few dashes of soy sauce
dried chillies optional
scotch whisky optional

Directions:

Blanch the trotters in boiling water for a couple of minutes to get rid of all the yucky scum. Then bruise the ginger with a good smacking and fry it in sesame oil to get the flavours going.

Throw the trotters in and add in a dash (or a few) of scotch and flame the muthas. Not recommended if you have never tried this before. I won't be held responsible for any fires caused by this recipe. Fry the trotters til they're slightly browned.

Pour in the vinegar and water then bring it to a boil for 5-10 minutes. Throw in the gula melaka, chillies, soy sauce and voila! Let it simmer away for a few hours til the meat is ready to fall off the bones and melt in your mouth.

YUM YUM!!
_________________

i've just discovered a whole directory of online shopping in malaysia.

uh oh.

guess wat i'll be doing a lot now. the amount of time i used to spend on ebay... is the amount of time i'm going to be browsing through these online stores.

feel like getting a shopping without lifting ur arse off the seat? then go to emmagem and have a look for yourself!! you kind of have to sift through the junk before u find some gems. i found a few of promising sites (i only got up to E):

button my buttons
cat in a bowl
etoffe clothes

i'll be in singapore from tuesday to friday setting up a new store. it's going to be a super hectic and exhausting week. but it should also be fairly fun and interesting.

alrighty, i'm off to do some online shopping!! =D

merrilicious christmas

i haven't had a good christmas since i was a kid. this year, i did.

i can't believe it's over already. i love christmas for the christmas carols, food fests, gift shopping, wrapping, giving & receiving presents and most of all, the gatherings.

what made this christmas good:
- receiving cool presents eg. polaroid camera - thanks G!!
- preparing christmas eve dinner
- christmas shopping with my baby
- costume parties
- excessive eating

i don't think i've ever had so much lamb in so little time. not complaining. not complaining at all!!

new year's coming up next. no one seems to have any solid plans. wat to do, wat to do?

how do couples decide who to celebrate new years with? his friends or her friends? i'm always celebrating occasions with his side. when's it my turn?

taste of japan

alvin won a voucher for a 2D 1N stay at Palace of the Golden Horses months and months ago, so we decided to use it this weekend.

truthfully, i was expecting a small, old, dingy room dressed with the bare neccessities. we were pleasantly surprised. it was an old but big room with a huge king sized bed, big bathroom and amongst the complimentary toiletries they provided - was shoe shine.

kind of indicates that they gave us a business suite. that, plus the executive desk in the corner of the room.

but the room is really nothing to shout about. it's the japanese restaurant downstairs that alvin and i have fallen in love with. we decided to go for the buffet at kin no uma. it's rm69+ per head. not much more than rakuzen, but the food is fresher, better, tastier.

and because it's all the way out in the mines, it's quieter. so you don't have to fight the crowd for that piece of sashimi. the good thing is, they only prepare a few at a time, so you never have to pick up a piece of sushi that's been sitting there for hours while the rice becomes rock hard and the fish looks like it's half-rotten.

the oysters. oh my god. the oysters are huge. i regret not taking my camera. i guess you'll just have to go and see for yourself. totally recommended.