Unexpected Find

We had been regular visitors to the Saratoga Farmer’s Market for years before we left for Malaysia. It’s a place where you can get to know the growers and interact with them from week to week. It is a place where you can find not just seasonal staples but also unexpected items that aren’t sold in the supermarkets.

The Prevedelli Farms stand sells organically grown apples from their farm in nearby Watsonville. They grow our favorite apple variety, the Mutsu. I wasn’t expecting to see any so late in the season, but they just happened to have some left – the last of the last. We had to get some.

Prevedelli Farms Apple Stand

Fishy Friends

We really wanted to see our good friend, Pat the fishmonger from Mission Fresh Fish. Over the years, he has supplied our fish for many a dish such as our Cioppino Hot Pot, our Indonesian Spiced Fish, and our Ahi Limu Poke. Unfortunately (for us), Pat’s business has grown so much in our absence that he no longer comes out to the farmer’s market, as he needs to be out fishing to provide stock to his markets. Still, the other sellers remembered us, and supplied us with some fresh caught sardines plus some salmon collars which we intend to broil for a meal later on.

Sardines and Salmon

Still There

Another vendor that we were glad to see still at the Saratoga Farmer’s Market is Heirlooom Organics.

Heirloom Organics Stand

Heriloom Organics is one of the original organic farms in California. They offer lots of unique and delicious leafy and root veggies. A couple of interesting and tasty ones we tried were this heirloom variety of broccoli dicicco, and a red mustard leaf.

Broccoli Dicicco and Red Streak Mustard

Cole-what?

One of the veggies we brought home with us is kohlrabi. When asked, most of our friends don’t even know what it is. We describe it as kind of like a root vegetable, except that it grows above ground. It tastes like sweet broccoli stem and can be eaten raw or cooked.

Have you eaten kohlrabi before?

Since we’re staying temporarily at a friend’s place, with pantry and fridge nearly bare, we don’t have a lot of seasonings and condiments to cook with. So we prepared this kohlrabi in a very simple manner.

Sauteed Kohlrabi

Remove the stems and fibrous skin, then cut the bulb into large sticks. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Toss in a couple of tablespoons of chopped garlic and stir until fragrant. Add the kohlrabi sticks, season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir-fry for a 5-8 minutes until softened. Serve hot.

As I said, this preparation is very simple. Other, more involved recipes can be found at Simply Recipes,  Viet World Kitchen, Chocolate and Zucchini, Herbivoracious, and Artisan Bread in Five. I encourage you to try out this wonderful vegetable!

Being Back, but Better

We are excited to be back in California, with its wide abundance of fruits and produce. We have decided that we’re going to try to eat more in line with Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual: Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It’s a sensible way to eat healthy and hopefully will help us lose some of that weight we put on while living in Malaysia.

Aloha, Nate

View expanded pics from this post on our Facebook Fan Page

I am entering this post in the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup, hosted this week by Elena from Zibaldone Culinario and organized by Haalo from Cook Almost Anything.

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Peppers, Pimientos, and Pervs in Palo Alto
2. Ono Pops and Grilled Abalone @ KCC Farmers’ Market
3. California Mangosteens at San Carlos Farmer’s Market

Our Bags are Packed

We have loved our time here, and loved all the people we met. These experiences and relationships have enriched us immensely.

Having given up or sold off most of our possessions (twice), we have learned that life is not about the accumulation of stuff, but about the relationships we make.

We have been blessed with many good friends in Sarawak. We also know that we are blessed with many good friends in San Jose, where we will be returning for the time being.

We are looking forward to the next chapter! Not forgetting the many chapters that have been written during our stay in Sarawak, which we hope to document in the coming months.

Cheers and Aloha,

Nate and Annie

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. House of Annie is Moving
2. Merry Christmas from the House of Annie
3. House of Annie’s 20 Best of 2009

I love Indian food and mamak food in particular. We often go to one particular place in Kuching almost weekly for roti and thosai. The thosai comes with dipping sauces of dhal and coconut chutney but we like the fish curry sauce the best.

One day I got some pieces of fish to go along with the curry. It was delicious! But then we got the bill and it turned out that the fish pieces were 5 ringgit each! Being the pake person that I am, I decided that I should learn to cook fish curry for myself because then I could buy a whole fish for 20 ringgit and save some money.

Armed with just my instincts and the flavor profile that I got from having this fish curry over several visits I decided to try to recreate it.

Indian Fish Curry

Learning Process

First of all, I knew I was going to need some fish curry powder, which I got at the grocery store. And I knew I was going to need the general condiments that go into curries which are garlic, shallots and ginger. I got some nice tenggiri (mackerel) and, because I love ladies fingers (okra), I made sure to get a lot of that as well.

My first attempt, I threw in some fenugreek just because I had it at home and I had this feeling that it was going to work with fish. I sauteed my aromatics, added the curry powder with water (following the instructions on the back of the package) brought it to a boil, and let it simmer a little bit.

After tasting it, I thought it needed some sourness, so I added a slice of assam keping. Let it simmer some more and tasted it again – whoa, it’s pretty sour so I took the assam slice out. I threw in the ladies fingers and then the fish and let it cook for under 10 minutes or just cooked, and served it.

The first attempt was all right but meh – definitely not as good as the one we had. Some things that didn’t quite work were: I could still taste the “chalkiness” of the powder in the curry – it had not cooked through so there was a raw, powdery flavor. It lacked heat – it needed some chilies to go with it. The assam keping added sourness, but it wasn’t a rounded, well-balanced flavor.

Try, Try Again

So I set out to try again. My second attempt was a little better. This time I kept the assam keping but left it just long enough to give it sourness. I boiled the curry a lot longer before adding the ladies fingers and let that cook for a while too, then I added the fish.

The second time was slightly better. This time the powdery chalky flavor was gone, but I had overcooked the ladies fingers because I let it boil too long before I added the fish.

Tips from a Pro

Before I tried the third time, we had gone to KL for a visit, and my friend took us to a really nice Indian restaurant in Brickfields for some banana leaf rice. She knew the owner and so I had a chance to chat with her when we had finished our meal. During the conversation, it came out that I had tried to make fish curry, and I told her what I did.

She said that I did it all right. Her advice was to not use assam keping but to use tamarind juice instead. She said that cooks in restaurants put the fish in and take it out just as the fish is about done, and then let the curry continue to simmer. They let the curry cook for 2 hours to get rid of the raw taste, then put the fish back in at the end.

The other way to get rid of the raw taste of the the curry powder would be to fry it in oil before adding the liquids, but that makes it more oily because the powder sucks up more oil.

She did confirm that fenugreek is the perfect spice for fish curry.

Third Time’s the Charm

So for my third attempt, I decided to just simmer the curry longer before adding the veggies and the fish. Instead of using assam keping, I used tamarind. Instead of just cutting up the onions, garlic and ginger, I decided to pound it along with a couple of chilies into a paste.

This time round, I would say I came very close to what the restaurant served. It could have used perhaps a little more heat, but seeing as I have two young children, this was the right amount of heat. Nate pronounced it, “very good!”

Indian Fish Curry Recipe

Prep time:20 min, Cook time:50 min

Ingredients

1 lb to 1.5 lb mackerel, cut into steaks about 1 inch thick
10 whole okra (choose young ones)
2 tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 large red onion, large dice

Aromatic paste (blend or mash these ingredients)
3 cloves garlic
3-4 shallots
2 whole red chillies
1 inch of ginger, roughly chopped

3 heaping Tbsp of fish curry powder
1 tsp fenugreek
2 sprigs curry leaves
3 cups water + 1/2 cup water for tamarind pulp
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp

salt to taste

3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Ingredients for Indian Fish Curry

Method

1. Start by pounding or blending the garlic, chilies, shallots and ginger into a paste.

2. Heat up the wok medium-medium low heat and add the oil. Throw in the curry leaves and the fenugreek, stirring constantly to make sure the fenugreek doesn’t burn. When the curry leaves start to smell really fragrant, throw in the rest of the paste. Stir-fry that until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Make sure you don’t burn your spices.

Frying Curry Leaves and Aromatic Paste

3. Add the 3 heaping tbsp curry powder. Stir it quickly. At this point you won’t have enough oil so have ready your 3 cups of water to throw in. Throw in the water, stir, and bring the heat up to high to bring the curry to a boil.

4. Mix the other half cup of water together with the tablespoon of tamarind pulp. Mash the pulp until the water is muddy looking. Using a sieve, add the tamarind juice to the curry, pressing to get all the liquid out of the pulp and into the stock.

At this point, your curry will taste sour and not very flavorful. Don’t worry about it – the fish will add sweetness.

5. Add about 1/2 tsp to a tsp of salt and allow the curry to come to a boil. Throw in your tomatoes and your onions. Turn your heat down and let it simmer on low heat for about 1/2 hr.

Adding Curry, Water, Tamarind, Tomato and Onions

6. Throw in your fish and vegetables. It should be almost stew like. If you are using okra, leave them whole as if you cut them, they will release their sticky sap and thicken your soup. (If you do want to cut the okra, deep fry them first.)

If you don’t like okra, you can use other vegetables, like eggplant or long beans. But who doesn’t like okra?

Adding Okra and Mackerel to Indian Fish Curry

Simmer for 10 minutes or until the fish is done. Adjust the flavors. if it needs a little bit more sweetness, you can add a bit of fish sauce or some ikan bilis bouillon. (I normally use about a 1/2 teaspoon.)

Serve it over rice. If you like it to be more spicy you can throw in a couple more whole chili padi.

Indian Fish Curry

Good For You

Indian fish curry is a really good alternative to coconut-based Malaysian curries because the flavors are punchy yet the ingredients are so much more healthy and good for you. However, it’s almost impossible to eat this dish with just a little bit of rice, so that will still get you in the end. (You could, of course, eat it with chapati or roti. Curry sauce is a wonderful dip for these flat breads.)

Cheers, Annie

For its use of fenugreek, I am entering this post in the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup, hosted by Haalo of Cook Almost Anything.

Check out other recipes using fenugreek:
Chicken Drumsticks, Ethiopian Style by Simply Recipes
Sujuk, Armenian Style Sausage by Tony Tahhan
Whole Roast Chicken with Fenugreek by The Culinary Life
Indian Lentil Soup with Fenugreek by Herbivoracious
Fenugreek Seeds with Potatoes by eCurry

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Assam Curry Chicken Recipe
2. Thai Son-in-law Eggs Recipe
3. Indian Take-Out

KL has an assortment of Vietnamese restaurants serving noodle dishes like pho and bun but I wanted to see if I could find some banh mi instead. Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with a baguette, spread with mayo and butter then filled with your choice of meats, topped with strips of pickled daikon and carrot then lightly drizzled with a savory sauce. It’s one of those foods (like Mexican) that we dearly miss here in Malaysia.

Thanks to some comments off these two blog posts, I found out that yes, there is a legitimate banh mi shop in KL!

Vegetarian Banh Mi from Quick Bites, Solaris Dutamas

Quick Bites is located inside a small space on the Upper Ground floor of the Publika Shopping Centre at Solaris Dutamas, a newer high-end mall in a well-heeled part of KL. It faces the Korean noodle stall, a few storefronts down from the E.A.T Food Village, on the opposite end from Ben’s Independent Grocer. The decor is simple and clean, nicely lit and laid out.

Quick Bites Storefront and Counter

There are only a few menu items to choose from. Unlike the banh mi shops in the US which feature porky products like pâté, char siew or chả lụa (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Roll), this shop is halal – essentially meaning no pork products allowed. You can get your choice of chicken, lemongrass chicken, beef meatballs, or “garden” (tofu) banh mi, or you can order some spring or summer rolls. Drinks are limited to peach iced tea, fresh soy milk, Vietnamese coffee, soda or water.

Quick Bites Menu

The very helpful staff person told us that the lemongrass chicken was their most popular sandwich, followed by the beef meatball. So we ordered those two (on whole meal baguettes) in sets with soy milk, plus a couple of summer rolls. The great thing about this place is that they bake their own baguettes on site. They also build the sandwiches using fresh ingredients, including jalapeno peppers.

Quick Bites Banh Mi Building

The proof of the banh mi is in the eating, though, and we were eagerly anticipating that first bite.

Quick Bites Banh Mi

Banh Mi Brings Me Back Home

The first bite told us that this was a legitimate banh mi. The baguette had that perfect crispy, crackly crust with a soft, chewy crumb. The meat fillings were nicely complimented by the vegetables, with the savory sauce adding another layer of flavor. We were transported back home to San Jose in that one bite.

Do you like banh mi? Tell us where your favorite shop is!

We got to talking a little bit with Bryan, the Director of the shop. He’s actually a Vietnamese American from San Francisco, where his family runs two other Vietnamese sandwich shops. He had just recently moved with his Chinese Malaysian wife back to KL and decided to open a Quick Bites outlet here.

Bryan is the one responsible for baking the amazing and authentic baguette himself, since no other bakeries in KL can do baguettes as well. He is committed to making a banh mi just like home, despite the added cost of the ingredients here. One of the things he bemoans is that he can’t use pâté in his banh mi due to the halal status of his shop.

“Some of my customers want me to open a non-halal shop so that I can make sandwiches with pâté and char siew. We’ll have to see,” he says.

Back for More

We devoured our banh mi and felt quite satisfied. In fact, even more satisfied than our meal at Fresca Mexican Kitchen, which was way more expensive. After walking around Ben’s Independent Grocer for a while, we went back to Quick Bites to pick up another sandwich, this time a vegetarian one, to take home. While we waited for them to build the sandwich, I ordered up a Vietnamese iced coffee.

I love that dark bitterness of the coffee, blended with the creamy sweetness of condensed milk!

Quick Bites Vietnamese Coffee

How Does Quick Bites Rate?

I’m giving it a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5.

The summer rolls, unfortunately, did not impress. I think it was missing ingredients like shiso which took away from the flavor. As for the banh mi and the coffee, these were definitely very good and close to home. The sandwiches and coffee, plus the cheerful and helpful staff added to our experience. I would return again and recommend it to others.

Quick Bites
Lot 22, Level UG1, Publika Mall
Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-6211-6398

Reviewed by Nate. Other reviews of Quick Bites @ Publika by: Go Makan and Linora Low

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Vietnamese Take-Out
2. El Paisa Taqueria (San Jose)
3. Chả lụa (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Roll)

Klang Bak Kut Teh

One of the KL foods we miss is bak kut teh or pork bone tea. The nearby city of Klang is famous for it, with hundreds of bkt shops operating there. When most people think of Klang bkt, they expect it to be served in a clay pot, swimming in dark, soy-based broth and served with veggies, tofu and shiitake mushrooms, with lots of chopped raw garlic on the side as a condiment. But our foodie friend told us that this wasn’t the “real” style of bak kut teh from Klang, and promised to take us to his favorite restaurant in Klang for some authentic bkt.

This restaurant, in the Taman Berkeley area of Klang, doesn’t have all those “extras” like the claypot restaurants. Their bkt is purely meat and (very little) broth. We even had to buy our own you tiau from a stall on the way there!

Ah Her & Samy Bak Kut Teh, Taman Berkeley, Klang

We got four plates of rice to go along with the bowls of pig trotters and chicken feet we ordered. The meat was falling-apart tender from the long hours of braising, and you could really feel the stickiness of the collagen on your lips after eating it. Delicious. Honestly though, we like the “typical” style of Klang bkt just as much.

One interesting thing I hadn’t seen before is that patrons bring their own loose leaf Chinese tea to add to their teapots, rather than drinking the tea served by the house. It’s neat because people can drink the tea they want instead of choosing from the house options.

Ah Her & Samy Bak Kut Teh
No. 17, Ground Floor, Jalan Angsa, Taman Berkeley
Klang, Selangor

Some other reviews of Ah Her BKT by VKeong, Lingzie, and Small Kucing

Taiwanese Shaved Ice Desserts

After our late breakfast of bkt, our friend took us back to his own neighborhood of Subang Jaya for something cool and sweet at Snowflake Taiwanese Desserts.  He had taken us there on a previous trip and we were craving it again. These desserts are made with sweet flavored ices, shaved thinly and topped with different condiments like red bean, tapioca pearls, taro balls, or boiled sweet potato.

Snowflake Taiwanese Desserts, Subang Jaya

These dishes were larger and more substantial than any Hawaiian-style shave ice cone. We shared both bowls between the five of us. I enjoyed the big pieces of sweet potato and the springy-chewy taro balls. After that, though, we were too full for lunch or even afternoon tea.

Snowflake Taiwanese Desserts
No. 61A, First Floor, Jalan SS15/8A,
Subang Jaya, 47500 Selangor

Other reviews of Snowflake by Tummy Rumble, My Taste Heaven, and Live to Eat

Shanghainese Cuisine

But we weren’t too full for some Shanghainese cuisine for dinner. We made arrangements to meet with a couple of Annie’s cousins for dinner at Dragon-i in the 1Utama MegaMall. Our reservations were for 8 PM – rather late by Kuching standards but standard for KL. The restaurant was full but they were able to seat us right away.

By the time the cousins arrived, we were starving and had actually gotten started on some dishes. This being a Shanghainese restaurant, we of course ordered some Xiao Long Bao. We also got some other pan-fried dumplings, a couple of bowls of hand-pulled la mian noodles, some cucumber pickles, and a lot more (did I mention that we were starving?).

Dragon-i, 1Utama Mall

While waiting for our order to arrive, I took the opportunity to capture a video of the cooks hand-pulling the la mian noodles in the glassed-in kitchen:

Dragon-i 1Utama
Lot S313A, New Wing

Other reviews of Dragon-i 1Utama by A Table for Two and Masak-Masak

Mexican Food

If there is a cuisine that doesn’t seem to be very popular in Malaysia, it would be Mexican food. Which is sad, because I happen to love Mexican food and think it’s one of the great cuisines of the world. We had access to some good ones in the San Francisco Bay Area when we were living there. There’s nothing remotely like that here in Kuching, which is why I had to make do with my own homemade fajitas a few months back.

So I was glad when I saw a review by Caroline May Ling of a new Mexican restaurant that had opened up at the Gardens at Mid Valley called Fresca Mexican Kitchen. The review focused a lot on the mixed margarita drinks available, but the food looked better than the usual pseudo-Mexican fare commonly found in other family chain restaurants in KL. When one of our friends asked about where to go for lunch, I readily suggested Fresca.

Mid Valley Mall is a very big shopping complex with lots of high-end stores. It took a while to find parking and then to even find the restaurant, but we eventually got there a little after the lunch crowd had left. We were seated right away.

We went for some of the set lunch specials, including beef burritos, chicken enchiladas and chicken fajitas. Daniel got a mac-and-cheese off the kids section while Esther got a fish and chips. We also shared a quesadilla plate. Drinks came with the set lunches but I also got a classic margarita.

Fresca Mexican Kitchen, Mid Valley Mall

Overall I found the food to be fairly authentic in flavor compared with what I had in the US. My burritos were smaller than I expected, but still delicious. My margarita hit the spot. Annie enjoyed her chicken enchiladas. Daniel devoured his mac-and-cheese. Our friend’s fajita platter was pretty substantial, but did not come with enough tortillas.

The wait staff were helpful and attentive and the ambiance was nice. The only problem I have with this restaurant is the price. I could not believe how expensive the dishes were – 28 ringgit for a simple quesadilla is ridiculously high. But I guess if you’re the only game in town, located in a high-end mall, you get to set your prices as high as people are willing to pay.

Fresca Mexican Kitchen and Bar
Lot G-242A, Ground Floor, The Gardens, Midvalley City
59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Other reviews by Masak-Masak and Baby Sumo

Italian Food

Our friends wanted to take us out for one last dinner and gave us a choice of Chinese (nah), Thai (mmm, nah), Belgian sausage (hmmm…) or Italian (yes!). I felt like I had to turn down the Belgian sausage as we were having too much meat on this trip. Also, we can get decent pork sausage at My Restaurant in Kuching but good Italian food is hard to come by.

We ended up at Pizza Uno which had recently opened in a new location in the TTDI neighborhood of Petaling Jaya. Our friends made the reservations and came to pick us up for another late evening meal. We were seated right away and handed our menus.

We were feeling quite hungry, so everything looked good. We ordered some appetizers such as mushroom soup (very good), bruschetta (nice), an Italian salad (over-dressed) and clams in white wine (beautiful). We also got a couple of “half-and-half” combo pizzas: Bianco – smoked chicken with mushrooms (really good) / Sicilian – pepperoni, tomatoes and basil (nice) and Margherita (cheesy) / Al Funghi – mushrooms, parmesan and anchovy (tasty!).

We also ordered a Napoletana pasta (a bit sweet for me), and a braised lamb shank dish (don’t know – too full!). For dessert we shared a tiramisu cake (decent) and I got myself an affogato (okay).

That was a serious amount of food and we were quite stuffed. Too stuffed to go out for late night mamak, even.

Wan Tan Mee

One thing we always have to eat when we are in KL is wantan mee. Our favorite place to go is Restoran Okay in the Chow Yang neighborhood of SS2 in Petaling Jaya. Annie’s dad brought us there for a late lunch on the last day of our trip.

While most of the other stalls at this kopitiam had already shut down and closed up, the wantan mee stall was still going. Our dishes came in short order and we devoured them quickly. The egg noodles, simply tossed in sweet soy sauce and served with char siew, delicate wantans and blanched veggies, were simply satisfying.

Restoran Okay, Chow Yang, SS2, Petaling Jaya

After that, it was time to go back home to pack up all our stuff and take the cab to the airport.

Other reviews of Restoran Okay by Kampung Boy City Gal and Eat Till U Drop

And Back Again

So in addition to all that eating, we did manage to get some shopping done. We spent some time at 1Utama Mall buying clothes for the kids. For ourselves, though, we somehow ended up buying more food to bring back.

Annie the tea lover brought back some lovely (and expensive) teas from the TWG Tea shop at the Pavilion Mall. We also found some Choya umeshu (honey plum wine) on sale at one of the Tokyo Street stores on the top level of Pavilion. In Subang Jaya after the Taiwanese desserts, Annie stopped at a roadside stall to buy packages of muruku – fried Indian snacks. Annie’s friend also brought her a whole large container of a different kind of muruku.

Goodies from KL

The strangest thing we came back with, though, was a couple loaves of Massimo brand whole wheat sandwich bread. You might be thinking, “who in their right mind brings back bread in their luggage?” Well, actually some people do that because we can’t get this brand of bread here in Kuching. It’s nicer and also a better value compared to the breads we buy at the bakery shops here.

What strange or funny things have you brought back home from your travels?

It’s really nice to be able to go to KL, catch up with friends and family, and eat all the kinds of food we haven’t been able to get. But it’s also nice to get out of KL with its traffic, higher crime rate, and pollution and come back to comfortable Kuching. In the end, a Hobbit is happiest at home.

Aloha, Nate

I am entering this post in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, hosted this month by Suresh from 3 Hungry Tummies.

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Goveas Mexican Restaurant (San Jose)
2. Eating Halfway Through KL
3. Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Restaurant (Sunnyvale)

I loved this carrot cream cheese cake so much after tasting it, I made it twice in a row!

Let Them Eat Cake

Recently, I finished a book called “Eat Cake: A Novel” by Jeanne Ray and it was a fast and easy read. Being a baker myself, I enjoyed the main character’s love of baking. One particular portion of the book resounded with me and I actually highlighted it because I agreed with the sentiment of it. I will quote it here for you:

“Cakes have gotten a bad rap. People equate virtue with turning down dessert. There is always one person at the table who holds up her hand when I serve the cake. ‘No, really, I couldn’t,’ she says, and then gives her flat stomach a conspiratorial little pat. Everyone who is pressing a fork into that first tender layer looks at the person who declined the plate, and they all think, ‘That person is better than I am. That person has discipline.’ But that isn’t a person with discipline, that is a person who has completely lost touch with joy. A slice of cake never made anybody fat. You don’t eat the whole cake. You don’t eat a cake every day of your life. You take the cake when it is offered because the cake is delicious. You have a slice of cake and what it reminds you of is someplace that’s safe, uncomplicated, without stress. A cake is a party, a birthday, a wedding. A cake is what’s served on the happiest days of your life.”

I couldn’t put it any better. As someone who bakes, I love to share my cakes with others. Part of the reason I bake is to see someone else biting into my cake and then seeing the look of enjoyment on their faces as they taste the love and care that went into the baking of the cake. To see the affirmation that what I baked was worth it, that it was delicious and comforting. This is why I would never malign anyone who offers me a home-baked piece of cake even if I didn’t like it very much (though I seldom find home-made cakes to be bad).

Don’t be a Hater

Recently, I had a friend who shared a carrot cake that she had made. I’m not a particular fan of carrot cakes and Nate is even more a hater of it (for Nate, he just can’t find enjoyment in any cake that is called a carrot cake). But I accepted the slice and the first mouthful forever changed my opinion of carrot cakes.

It was moist without being overwhelmingly so, sweet without being cloying, with just the right amount of tang from the cream cheese that was hidden within (yes, it was not covered in cream cheese like most carrot cakes, but had it layered between the cake).

I LOVED that cake and immediately asked for the recipe which she graciously shared with me. And she was so happy that I enjoyed her cake so much.

I returned home and raved about it to Nate telling him that it was a cheesecake with carrot in it which made him sniff and say, you’re trying to cover that it’s a carrot cake. Undaunted, I set about getting all the ingredients and then baked it not just once, but twice, over a period of three days..

Esther Grating Carrots for My Second Cake

The first time, I made it for guests who came to dinner, and the second time, I made it to bring to a friend’s house for a party. Nate took a slice the first time, and didn’t say very much. The second time, at the friend’s house, he took another slice and then said, “I like it very much and even though it’s a carrot cake, I must say that it’s very good.”

Wow, what a concession!

This cake is a really dense cake which doesn’t use any leavening ingredient other than the creaming of butter, sugar, and eggs. Everything else (the grated carrot, cranberries/raisins, nuts, flour) is just folded into the dough and then baked. Though dense, the cream cheese adds the tangy element that balances out the rest of the ingredients. I never have problems finishing off a slice of this cake. Once you take that first bite, you just cannot resist the rest of it.

Carrot Cream Cheese Cake Recipe

Prep time: 30 min Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
A:
250g butter, at room temperature
150g sugar
4 eggs
220g all-purpose flour
100g walnut, chopped
100g raisins
200g carrots, grated
1 tsp cinnamon
B:
150g (or 250g if you want) cream cheese, at room temperature
50g sugar
1 egg

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F or 170 C.
2. Cream butter & sugar till fluffy then add eggs one at a time, scraping down after each egg.
3. Fold in flour to mixture, add in chopped walnuts, raisins, grated carrots & cinnamon and mix well.

Making Carrot Cake Batter

4. In a separate bowl, cream ingredients in B till smooth for the cream cheese portion.
5. Butter and flour a 9 inch baking pan. Divide the carrot cake mixture (A) in half, pour in first half into the pan, then pour in cream cheese mixture. Finally, add in the rest of the carrot cake mixture (A) by placing small mounds all over the top and gently smoothing the batter flat–don’t worry if you don’t cover the cream cheese portion well, just try to get most of the cream cheese portion covered by the cake mixture.

Assembling Carrot Cake

6. Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Baker’s Notes

A few observations I have made after baking this cake for several times:

1. If you like your cake to be very moist, use the fine grater when you grate the carrot for this cake. That will make the cake texture more fine and moist. If you like a cake with more of a crumb, use the large grater to grate your carrot. This will give a drier consistency (still moist but maybe less fruit-cake like in texture).

2. Even though the original recipe calls for only 150g of cream cheese, you can use the whole 250g block which will give an even better balance of tangy-sweet flavours (if you want to save the rest of the cream cheese for your bagels, that’s fine, but for me, if I leave some cream cheese behind, I inevitably end up tossing it as I don’t use it plain for much else).

3. When smoothing on the second half of the carrot cake dough after putting on the cream cheese layer, it is easier to plop down small mounds all over the top and then gently pushing the batter to cover the cream cheese. It’s ok if some of the cream cheese shows up at the edges.

4. Be careful not to overbake. If you overbake, the cake won’t get dried out but the texture of the cream cheese portion will become less creamy.

Carrot Cake Slice

Cheers, Annie

Have you ever had a dish that you initially hated, but now love? Leave us a comment and tell us about it!

For its use of carrots, I am entering this post in the Weekend Herb Blogging roundup, organized by Haalo and hosted this week by Fragoliva.

Check out these other carrot cake recipes:

Carrot Cake Cookies by Baker’s Royale
Carrot Cake Cupcakes by The Cilantropist
Carrot Cake Pancakes by Smitten Kitchen
Carrot Cake, Brazilian Style by Nasi Lemak Lover

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Marble Cream Cheese Cake Recipe
2. Pandan Chiffon Cake
3. Marble Cake Recipe

Mum’s Popiah is Still the Best

It’s been a while since we were last in KL so we’ve got some pent-up food cravings to satisfy. Halfway through our trip, here’s a short list of things we’ve eaten so far.

Japanese Food

One of Annie’s good foodie friends took us out to Fukuya Authentic Japanese Cuisine. It’s one of the best Japanese restaurants in KL, specializing in kaiseki cuisine – high-class, multi-course, seasonal dishes in beautiful presentations. Annie got the sushi kaiseki meal while I ordered the mini-kaiseki set meal.

Sushi Platter from Fukuya Authentic Japanese Cuisine

Both sets were exquisitely done. Not quite as perfect as the kaiseki meal we had at Rakushokushu Maru in Shibuya, but remarkable nonetheless considering this is in Malaysia. I will have to cover the entire meal later in another post.

Seafood

Mum’s birthday is coming up, so we wanted to take her out for an early birthday dinner. We decided on a restaurant which we had gone to last year to celebrate Annie’s dad’s birthday, Pantai Seafood Village. It’s part of a chain of restaurants which features live seafood kept in an array of glass tanks along the wall near the kitchen.

Wall of Seafood at Pantai Seafood Village

Besides the fresh seafood, the kitchen also turns out other Chinese dishes. Instead of going ala carte like last time, we went with a set banquet menu. There were some hits and misses that I’ll need to cover in (you guessed it) another post.

Ramen

The shopping choices are kinda limited in Kuching, so one of the things Annie was looking forward to was going shopping in KL. The 1Utama Mega Mall, being nearest  to Mum’s place, is the one we frequented the most. Lots of new shops have opened up since we last visited, including a new Isetan department store. At the top floor is a food court called “Eat Paradise” featuring different Japanese restaurants, including this Gantetsu Hokkaido Ramen.

The foodie friend who took us to Fukuya Restaurant said that this restaurant’s ramen was pretty good. They had a special deal of a bowl of King Chashu Tonkotsu ramen, 3 gyoza and green tea for 29 ringgit. That is what I ordered.

King Chashu Tonkotsu Ramen from Gantetsu, 1Utama

Unfortunately, my high expectations were not met. Though the egg was hard boiled just right, everything else was so-so only. The microwave-reheated chashu was lean but lifeless. The noodles were uninspiring, and the broth was flat. I would say it was a step below Ippudo in Singapore, and nowhere near as good as Hakatakko in Machida, Japan. But, that’s what you get for Malaysian mall food, I guess.

Have you had any mall food that really ‘wowed’ you?

West Malaysian Food

If there’s anything we’ve learned during our time in Sarawak, it’s that East Malaysian cooks can’t do West Malaysian food as well as West Malaysians can (the reverse is also true). Another foodie friend of ours took us to the Ming Tien food court in Taman Megah to order up a whole bunch of West Malaysian dishes. Here, we have Muar-style grilled otak-otak and Penang-style assam laksa.

Both were deliciously authentic, and Annie and I gobbled them down. We also got some Ipoh-style kai hor funn, some wonderful assorted loh bak, some tasty oh chien, steamed la la clams and sotong, and steamed ikan kembung. It was a definite pig-out session!

Durians

Nearby the Ming Tien food court, just opposite the Fatty Crab restaurant is a vendor selling durians and other local fruits from his truck bed. Of course, we can get durians as well in Sarawak, but they’re not available year-round like they are on the Peninsula. Being durian-crazy, we could not pass up the chance to take some home with us. The vendor opened each fruit up for us to try before we brought them home.

Fresh Durians for 14 Ringgit per Kilo

These durians were a bit on the watery side, but had very sweet flesh and not so much stringy fiber. The cool thing is, these durians didn’t smell offensive to me. I don’t know whether it’s because I’ve gotten used to the smell, this variety of durian had the smell bred out of them, or something else. Could be a combination of reasons. But I’m beginning to think that durians have been getting a bad rap all this time.

More to Come

There’s half a week’s worth of eating yet to blog about, which will have to wait until after we get back. So stay tuned!

Aloha, Nate

What foods do you crave when traveling? Leave us a comment and tell us about it!

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Tokushima do-Henkotsu Ramen (West San Jose)
2. Eating halfway through Hawaii
3. Miso Ramen

Sarawak is a wondrous place that is distinctly different from the other states in the Malaysian Federation. Their history is different (they gained independence from the British in July 1963 whereas Malaya or Peninsular Malaysia became independent in August 1957). Sarawakian culture is different (the ethnic mix is balanced between native Ibans, Malays, Bidayuh and other tribes plus Chinese while Malaya is majority Malay with Chinese and Indians making up the rest). And, Sarawakian food is different as well.

A Whole New World

There are a lot of delicious foods we’ve seen in Sarawak that are not commonly prepared in Peninsular Malaysia. Some foods are famous like Sarawak laksa and Sarawak layer cake. But other foods like midin (fiddlehead fern) and dabai (Sibu olive) are so unique to Sarawak that I never knew they existed until we moved here.

One unique food that I heard about only when we first moved here was durian flower. One of my coworkers told me that they actually sell the flowers in the market when it’s in season. I’d never heard of such a thing before, and thought he was kidding. Who would want to eat the flowers of the durian?

(Check out this post on My Sarawak’s Travelogue to see what durian flowers look like on the tree.)

But he said that Sarawakians love this dish. They usually cook it with curry or belacan (shrimp paste). When I asked other Sarawakian friends about it, they confirmed the story.

I was intrigued. I decided that I had to try this dish!

Time to Spare?

Over in Peninsular Malaysia, they can get durians almost year-round. But Sarawak only has one or two durian fruiting seasons per year, depending on the weather. In addition, the durian flowering season doesn’t last very long either. Sometimes they’d be in the market one week and gone the next. I had to wait this whole three years (God, has it been three years already?!) to actually see some with my own eyes.

But when they do come, they come all at once. Durian flowers are right now in season in Kuching, and the markets are flooded with them. People are snapping them up to cook at home, and even some food outlets are featuring special durian flower dishes on their menu.

Durian Flowers at Market

(Oh, in case you’re wondering, durian flowers do not smell anything like durian fruit. They are faintly sweet and fragrant. No need to hold your breath whatsoever!)

Score!

Annie picked some up at our local market. They were selling for 7 ringgit per kilo, and she brought home half a kilo’s worth. But you can’t just cook them right out of the bag. They have to be cleaned first by removing the anthers (the pollen producing part of the stamen) which can be bitter.

The stamens are sticky with nectar, so the pollen is not easy to rub off your hands. We also cleaned some of the curly durian flower petals to add to the dish. It’s a tedious process, but thankfully many hands make light work.

Picking Pollen Off the Durian Flowers

In the meantime, Annie prepared a sambal belacan by dry-frying some belacan paste, then adding it to the mortar with some chopped chiles, shallots, garlic, and rehydrated dried shrimp. I pounded the whole mess down into a thick paste.

With the stamens and petals cleaned and rinsed, we were ready to fry.

Sambal Belacan for Durian Flowers

We had some friends over for dinner, and so we asked one of them (an excellent cook in her own right) to fry the flowers up for us. She started off by heating up some oil in the wok, then frying the sambal belacan until fragrant.

Next she added the durian flowers and tossed it to coat the flowers evenly with the sambal, seasoning with a couple of pinches of salt. She poured in about a cup and a half of water, then covered the wok and let the flowers steam-cook. A few minutes later, she gave the flowers another quick toss and then plated it up.

That’s it. Easy peasy.

Cooking Durian Flowers with Sambal Belacan

What D’ya Say?

I took my first bite of the durian flower. The first thing I noticed was the very faint fragrance of the flower itself. Then the crisp crunchiness of the stamens. It was light and smooth like midin. The stamens themselves tasted plain to me, with a slight sweetness. Most of the flavor came from the salty sambal belacan.

Durian Flowers with Sambal Belacan

Actually, I was a bit underwhelmed by the dish. I’m not sure why. Maybe our flowers were not at peak freshness and had lost their vitality and flavor. Maybe the sambal we made was too over powering for the delicate flower. Maybe I need to enjoy more of this dish to get used to the way Sarawakians like to eat it.

Other ways Sarawakians have prepared durian flowers:

Durian Flower Curry with Pork by Mike from Kong Kay
Tempura Durian Flowers Salad with Pork also by Mike from Kong Kay
Thai-style Durian Flower Salad by Suituapui

So, I’m willing to try eating durian flowers again. You only live once, they say. I’m glad that part of my one life has been here in wonderful Sarawak.

Aloha, Nate

I am entering this post as part of the Uniquely Malaysia roundup, hosted by Babe in the City – KL and also to the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, hosted by Shaz from Test With Skewer.

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Sambal Ikan Bilis
2. Belacan Fried Chicken
3. Eating Halfway Through KL

Mee Sua: Foochow Long Life Noodles

One of our commenters, Melissa, guessed correctly that it was mee sua inside the mystery box. Mee sua (also spelled mee suah or misua) is a dried wheat flour noodle, thinner than angel hair pasta. Also known as “long life noodle”, it is a favorite among the Chinese from the Foochow / Fuzhou community who serve it as a must-eat food at Chinese New Year, on birthdays, and other special occasions.

Most mee sua is made in factories nowadays. But some places with large Foochow populations like Sarikei and Sibu in Sarawak, and Sitiawan in Perak, Peninsular Malaysia still have people keeping the tradition of hand-pulling these noodles.  I once saw an episode of “Taste with Jason” on the Asian Food Channel where he visits one such person making mee sua by hand in Klang. It made me want to visit a hand-pulled mee sua maker and see it for myself.

We had been getting mee sua from Sarikei through our friend who came from there and often receives care packages sent from her hometown.  When the opportunity came for us to journey to Sarikei with them, I asked if they could arrange for us to go see the mee sua maker there. She said she’d call and try to make the arrangements.

Hanging out in Sarikei Town

The second day we were in Sarikei, it was raining and they weren’t making any noodles that day. But on the third day, they said we could come over. So we hopped in our cars and off we went.

Soon we found ourselves pulling up to an end terrace house, where the drying frames for the noodles were set up in the front and side yards facing Jalan Century. I was rather surprised that this place was located just a few minutes’ drive from our lodging, and only a block away from the Kim Hing Bakery on Jalan Hua Tai 1. I had imagined that the house would be farther out from town for some reason.

We alighted, and the mee sua maker, Mr. Lau, invited us inside his modest home. The home smelled sweetly of dough. In the cool back kitchen, he showed us a long, wooden box, filled with ropes of dough hanging suspended between two wooden dowels. Each pair of dowels had about 1 to 1.5 kg of dough wrapped around them. He explained that the dough had to be pre-stretched like this until the lower dowel reached the bottom of the box (I’d estimate slightly less than a meter deep).

Mee Sua Proofing Box

Hand Pulling Mee Sua

Mr. Lau’s noodles weren’t ready to be hung just yet, but his relatives across the street were already out pulling their mee sua in the sun. He brought us over to their yard to witness them pulling the noodles. Long, wooden frames were set out in the stony yard, each beam dotted with holes spaced out at regular intervals.  The dowels are inserted into the holes, and the noodles are stretched between the dowels like wispy streamers.

Mee Sua Stretching

Everywhere you looked, lines and lines of white mee sua noodles were draped, hanging in the bright sunlight.  I couldn’t have been more happy at this point, as I immediately went to work snapping picture after picture. It was a foodie photographer’s dream!

The man showed us how the hanging and stretching was done. First, he brought out five dowels’ worth of dough ropes and hitched them up into the upper beam. Once they were secured, he carefully gathered the bottom dowels in his fingers and slowly drew the noodles toward him.

Setting up the Mee Sua for Pulling

He took a few steps backward, raising the dowels over his head. Then with a great heave, he whipped his arms forward and down, creating a wave that traveled up the strings back to the end with a snap. The noodles magically lengthened!

Snapping and Pulling the Mee Sua

He took a couple of steps forward, then repeated the steps, pulling back further each time. When he got near the end, he secured the dowels into the beam. Then, his partner came to manually separate each “sheet” of noodles, to keep the mee sua from tangling and sticking to each other. He continued to snap and stretch more noodles.

I didn’t measure, but I would say the noodles were stretched out to between 3-4 meters long. They would leave the mee sua to dry on the racks, and then wind the semi-dry noodles into small bundles to dry some more (see second picture above). At the end of the day, the bundles would be gathered and packaged for sale.

Resting and Separating the Mee Sua

Mee Sua Making Isn’t Easy

This method of hand-pulling mee sua isn’t easy, of course. It starts with watching the weather reports to see if it’s going to rain the next day. If it rains, no mee sua.

In order to maximize the time in the sun, the dough has to be started very early in the morning. Like, 2 or 3 AM. The dough is kneaded by hand, rolled into ropes by hand, and wound around the dowels by hand.

Then of course comes the pulling. I didn’t actually get to try my own hand at pulling, but I can imagine that doing this work, in the hot sun for hours on end wouldn’t be pleasant for a wimp like me who’s accustomed to air-conditioned office work. You have to have a passion for it.

It Takes Skill

The sun was finally peeking over into Mr. Lau’s side yard, so he had begun hanging and pulling his own noodles there. As I watched, I could not help but notice his skill at mee sua pulling. He had an extra snap in his wrists, and an extra lean in his pull. It’s almost as if he was doing tai chi.

Mr. Lau Pulling Mee Sua Noodles

Here’s a video I took of them both. Can you see the difference in pulling styles?

Fading Out

Mee Sua making is only a part-time business for Mr. Lau, as he has a weekday job as a civil servant. He only makes noodles on weekends and public holidays, weather permitting. He always has orders for mee sua, and he always sells out.

Since he hadn’t made any noodles the previous day due to the rain, we couldn’t take any home with us that day. But we did manage to pick up a couple of kg of mee sua to take home with us the next day. At 15 ringgit per kg, that’s quite a high price for pasta.

But when you consider the amount of labor, skill, and love that went into the mee sua, and when you can taste the very clear difference in quality between factory-made and hand-made, then you’d say it was worth every penny.

I am extremely grateful to our hosts for arranging this visit, and to Mr. Lau for letting us inconvenience them while they worked. I lament that this tradition and craft of hand pulling mee sua could die out with Mr. Lau’s generation, if his children decide not to carry it on. It would be really sad to see this art fade out of existence.

I look forward to using this mee sua in the coming months, perhaps to make fried mee sua like we had at New Fortune Restaurant, but definitely to make some Foochow Red Wine Mee Sua with Chicken which we will blog about soon.

Aloha, Nate

View expanded pics from this post on our Facebook Fan Page. Read more about mee sua making by Sarikei Time Capsule and Sarawakiana

I am entering this post in the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created by Sharon and Suresh, and hosted this month by Shannon.

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. Kompia @ Fatt Bakery, Sibu
2. “8 Treasures” Sarikei Chicken Herbal Soup
3. I Went to Sarikei and All I Got Was…

Many cities and towns in Sarawak have a large statue of something that that place is famous for. In Serian, it’s the durian. In Sarikei, it’s the pineapple.

Can you guess what Kuching’s statue is? Leave a comment!

We spent a few days over this past Gawai Dayak holidays with our friends in their hometown of Sarikei. Getting there was quite a journey, but that doesn’t compare to the experiences we had in and around this town on the central coast of Sarawak. Here are some of the things I captured on my camera from around Sarikei.

Kim Hing Bakery, Hua Tai Road No. 1

The first place we stopped at when we arrived in Sarikei was the Kim Hing Bakery. I had no idea at the time what we were doing here, since the shop looked like any other bakery on the inside. Our friend wanted to pick up some fresh muar chee and as luck would have it, the bakery had just finished steaming up a batch. I was able to take a picture inside the working area of them cutting the muar chee into sections.

We had some of this muar chee at dinner that night. It was so excellent, we ended up bringing back several more packs home with us.

Sarikei Terminal

Sarikei is located at the mouth of the Rajang River near where it empties into the South China Sea. There is a lot of traffic plying the waters between Sarikei and all the towns upriver like Sibu. The Sarikei Terminal is a place where travelers can buy tickets to catch a boat upriver. There’s a food stall there and tables where you can have a drink and people-watch.

Pasar Sungai Rejang Market

Directly across from the Sarikei Terminal is the Pasar Sungai Rejang Market. It is a small, cramped wet market featuring fresh produce, meats, fish, and dried goods. But it’s nowhere near as exciting as the Sibu Central Market. Not a really happening place.

Swiftlet Shophouse “Hotels”

Due to its vast amounts of land and water in the region, Sarikei attracts a lot of swiftlets – the birds who build those edible bird’s nests that Chinese people love to eat. There apparently is a huge market for Sarikei bird’s nests, and many folks around here are involved in the bird nest harvesting industry. Almost everywhere you look, there is a swiftlet hotel set up to attract these lucrative birds.

Even in the center of Sarikei town, you will find shoplots whose top floors have been converted into swiftlet hotels. Just listen for the distinctive chirps of the swiftlet mating calls being broadcast from speakers set on the roofs. Look up, and you will see hundreds of these birds circling around their hotel. Around 6:45 in the evening, you’ll see a huge amount of flying traffic as these birds return to roost.

Freshly Slaughtered Chickens

At the far end of Jalan Nyelong just across from the river there is a small clutch of shoplots housing live chickens for slaughter. I hadn’t expected to run across something like this, but figured it would be too much of a teaching experience for my kids to pass up. We didn’t get to see them actually slitting the chicken’s throat, but they did see a dying chicken kicking in a bucket (lower left picture) and watched as the woman de-feathered another bird.

The scene is a bit gory, with frightened birds, blood, guts, and feathers everywhere. Fortunately, my kids weren’t at all grossed out by it. Your mileage may vary.

Pasar Sentral Sarikei

Just across the street from the chicken slaughter houses is Pasar Sentral Sarikei. It’s a big, open market where vendors can set up stalls to sell their wares. It’s mostly produce and fish, but there are others selling woven baskets and even traditional Iban costumes. I found a man there selling freshly slaughtered Sarikei chickens (the free range ones, not those caged birds from across the street).

I also made the acquaintance of a very friendly man who spoke English with me. He had been working overseas and came back to his hometown of Sarikei to retire. But as it turns out, people don’t stop working when they retire in Sarikei – they just do different things. This man happened to be involved with many businesses like palm plantations, logging, restaurateur, property development, and even owning parts of shopping malls. Quite the entrepreneur!

There weren’t that many vendors set up at Pasar Sentral when I went. Compared to the Satok Sunday Market in Kuching, this is nothing to shout about. I wonder if it was because most of the vendors were still back in their kampungs for the Gawai holidays.

Chinese Medicine Store

A lot of the stuff that we brought back from Sarikei came from this Chinese Medicine Store, Kiong Ann Tong, located down this little alley near the bus terminal. The shop sells Western medicines as well as Chinese medicines (both traditional herbs and modern pills and elixirs).

They also sell lots of goods imported from China such as dried mushrooms, seaweed, goji berries and Chinese red dates. But for some reason, the red dates we’ve found in Sarikei are the biggest and best tasting dates we’ve ever had. I do recommend picking up some if you go to Sarikei. Make our Pork and Daikon Soup with Red Dates recipe with them.

More from Around Town

I found all of these sites from walking around Sarikei town for just a couple of hours each morning.  Sarikei is small enough that you can walk most of it without trouble (just watch out for cars). The people are friendly, and if you get hungry, just look for a crowded coffee shop or restaurant – there’s bound to be one within a block’s walk – and order what everyone else is getting.

There’s one more place in town (surprisingly) that I want to talk about. It’s related to what’s in the mystery box that we brought back with us. All will be revealed in the next post!

Aloha, Nate

View expanded pics from this post on our Facebook Fan Page.

Hungry for more? Click below:

1. I Went to Sarikei and All I Got Was…
2. “8 Treasures” Sarikei Chicken Herbal Soup
3. Journey to Sarikei