Showing posts with label foodstuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foodstuff. Show all posts

Saturday 22 August 2020

New venture in the new Hijri year

Two days ago, Muslims in Malaysia celebrated the arrival of the new Hijri year 1442. The first day in the month of Muharram is considered significant in Malaysia and is given a special name called Ma'al Hijrah. There is however, a common misconception that this date commemorate the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w) migration (hijrah) from Makkah to Madinah.

The Hijri Muslim calendar was established during the time of Caliph Umar Al-Khattab (r.a). During his reign, one of the caliph's governors remarked that letters from the caliph had no indication of the year it was written, making it difficult for the governor to determine which instructions were more recent. This prompted Umar to discuss with his colleagues and they later decide to use the year of the Prophet's migration as the start of the Islamic calendar.

According to historians, Prophet Muhammad is believed to have left his hometown of Makkah in the month of Rabiul Awwal, the third month of the Arabian year. It took one week for the Prophet to reach Yathrib, the original name of the Madinah.

In our family, the first day of every new Islamic year has even more special significance.

It is the day our first son, Arshad Khalid was born - 1 Muharram 1410 (3rd August 1989). That makes him 32 years-old by the Muslim calendar but still 30 years-old in CE terms.

It is also the day our first granddaughter, Maisarah Bt Arshad Khalid was born - 1 Muharram 1440 (10th September 2018). That means Maisarah is already 2 years-old in Muslim calendar terms.

Okay then, what's this new venture that is being hinted in the title of this post?

A friend of mine has invited me to join his existing F&B business to run a food stall within a food court in Johor Bahru. The outlet has been in operation for over a year and has reasonable sales. I've decided to accept his offer because the venture is an opportunity for my third son to run a food business as a partner while at the same time, employ his culinary skills to cook tasty food and later introduce new menu items. The overall objective being to increase sales and bring the business to another level.

I have been assisting the operations by helping to put together a new menu list which includes photographs of every menu item on offer. Food photography has been a long time hobby of mine. The following are some shots that have already been taken. I still have a few more items to shoot before the full menu card can be published.

We have already decided on the new name that the venture will be known by. I'll reveal that in another post once the full setup has been launched.

An existing menu that is a customer favourite

New menu item we hope would be a top-seller

Existing item but presented in a fresh setup

Another existing item that is quite popular


Sunday 28 August 2016

A very thorny issue

In Malay culture, there is this peculiar term known as `saudara durian'. It is a sarcastic phrase which literally translates to `durian relative'. To properly explain its meaning, allow me to provide you with an example.

Let's say that you are a city-dweller. You have a relative back at your hometown or village who owns a durian orchard. At the time of the fruiting season, you would visit this relative and partake in the copious consumption of this delicious fruit (absolutely free, of course) with the further chance of the kind relative packing some more of the fruits to take home. At other times of the year, it never crossed your mind to visit this relative or even ask about his/her well-being. You are then a `saudara durian'.

Nasty, isn't it?

Well, I hope I'm not placed into such a category. I am not much of a durian kaki anyway. I very seldom buy durians from the market and can hardly tell the difference in taste between a D24 grade and the Musang King variety. Nevertheless, if some kampung relatives do send me some of these fruits, I gladly accept them. It is very impolite to decline such gifts.

Two weeks ago, I texted a cousin of mine, asking him about the yield of his durian trees. The previous year, he had dropped by my house and gave us a sackful of the so-called king of fruits. This time around, I noted that the local markets are already teeming with the thorny fruits but yet no news from my cousin of his harvest. He texted back, saying that this year's yield is not as bountiful as last year, but there is still more that enough for personal consumption. He invited us to visit his dusun so that we can collect some for ourselves.

Yesterday, the missus and I made the trip to Pontian and met my cousin at his fruit orchard. The orchard has about 15 durian trees plus some mangosteen, duku, rambai and rambutan. By the time we arrived, there was already a large pile of durians that my cousin had gathered. He sliced opened a few for us to eat. I probably ate only 4 or 5 seeds. Really, there is only so much that you can eat. Otherwise you should be prepared to experience the rise in body heat if you consume too much. The fleshy pulp of the durian fruit has this unnerving exothermic property.

In addition to the freshly consumed ones at the orchard, my cousin gave us a sackful to take home. The sack contained 9 fruits of various sizes. This morning the missus used 3 to make serawa durian and bubur kacang hijau. The remainder would cause that distinctive pungent smell to linger in our house for another few more days.

King of fruits, the kampung variety

Wednesday 6 May 2015

The best udang galah in Malaysia

The town of Kuala Rompin in the state of Pahang is located on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, about 120 kilometres south of Kuantan. The by-election to choose a representative for the parliamentary constituency of Rompin was concluded yesterday, the 5th of May 2105. The ruling party retained the seat which fell vacant when the previous MP, Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis, met an untimely demise in a helicopter crash early last month.

During the time when I worked at Dungun in Trengganu many years ago, I would occasionally pass by this town on my drive back to Johor Bahru. My more frequent route would be Dungun - Kuantan - Segamat - Yong Peng and then entering the North-South Expressway at Yong Peng to travel down to JB. It meant that I would cross the width of the Peninsula on Federal Route 12, a delightful (but sometimes dangerous) road which cuts across large stretches of palm oil plantations plus whatever is left of our untouched rainforest. Sometimes I would take the alternative coastal route of Dungun - Kuantan - Pekan - Mersing - Kota Tinggi - Johor Bahru. Shorter in distance but longer in travel time due to the poor road condition (those days) and the many small towns along the way.

Kuala Rompin is one of these towns. Sometimes I would stop there for a rest break or petrol refill but I never had the chance to explore the place in greater detail. I had been told by a number of friends that Rompin is well-known for its `udang galah', a species of large freshwater prawns of which I know not of a specific name in English. It was also recommended to me that I should not miss trying to taste them at any of a number of foodstalls there. Fresh, tasty and cheap... those were the normal words I hear.

Unfortunately, my travel from Dungun to JB were almost always in the evenings and it would be late night by the time I reached Rompin and the stalls would already be closed. Hence I never had the chance to try eating those prawns.

But not anymore. In the middle of last month, we attended an event in Kuantan. The drive back to JB required a pit stop in Mersing and this meant that we would travel on the coastal road. An opportune time to drop by Kuala Rompin and check out what some people have been raving about.

Kuala Rompin today, is a very much developed town from the days of my earlier journeys. We spotted a restaurant at one of the new block of shophouses along the main road and made a random choice to stop there. It has a catchy name - Udang Galah King Restaurant. They serve the prawns in a variety of ways, cooked to order. Choices include `masak lemak cili api', `masak sweet sour' and `goreng black pepper'. My selection? Udang galah goreng telur masin...

What else can I say? Exquisite. Best udang galah I've tasted in Malaysia.

Tastes as good as it looks
The king is here..

Footnote : This post is my contribution to the collective blogger revival effort set for today 6 May 2015 and spearheaded by Kak Teh. May my other blogger-friends succeed in posting something too. But if you don't, then not to worry... just take your time, as long as you need.

Sunday 17 February 2013

A matter of opinion

It's really not that hard to write a review of something... a book, a movie, music, restaurants or anything else. Just put down a few lines of your thoughts on the book you've just read or the restaurant you had dined in and walla... you are a reviewer.

It's writing an objective, balanced and informative review that is hard, unless of course, you don't particularly care what your readers think of your opinion... but then that defeats the purpose of writing in the first place.

Regular readers would know that I have done quite a number of reviews in this blog, mostly on food and food outlets, some reviews on books and one or two on movies. Food reviews are my favourite because I can combine my interests in photography and eating out in one go. I have a very simple grading system when it comes to decide if a particular restaurant or food stall is worth writing about. I just base it on the answer to a question I'd ask myself : Would I come back again to eat at this place? A `yes' would mean that it was a good place (and worth writing about). A `maybe' would mean an average score but possibly still worth writing about. A `no' is something I need not explain.

However, in the more than 20 food outlets I have written about over the past 4 years, none of them fall in the `no' category. This is simply because I have made a rule of not to write on something that does not meet my taste or preference. One man's meat is another man's veggie... and when it comes to food, the variety of opinions is as many as there are colours in a rainbow. I do not eat petai, so I shall not pass judgement if someone says that sambal petai is the best thing there is. I may say that mutton briyani is the best rice dish ever but I should also accept if someone else gives his vote to sushi. Sometimes I cannot understand how certain restaurants come highly recommended but I find the taste of their food to be only so-so. But that's just the way it is with food.

I am writing on this subject of food review because in the past week or so, there was an active discussion about a particular food outlet in my current favourite Facebook page called Johor Sedap. This foodstall sells seafood dinners and had been getting rave reviews from members since a few months back. Some time in December last year I went to the place to check it out. I left with mixed feelings... the food was just okay but it was not as cheap as what some members wrote. To put it simply, I do not concur with the very high ratings that previous reviews had given but I kept my views to myself.

In the weeks that followed, I spotted the first negative review. This was followed by a few more, mostly to do with very slow service. The discussion became quite heated when those who previously recommended the place said that the negative reviewer was simply unlucky to come at a busy time. This prompted other members who had similar experience of poor service to give their views.

Apparently, the stall is a victim of its own success. With the initial good recommendations, people start to come and this resulted in good business and more recommendations. But the increase in customers was not matched by an increase in staff, hence the drop in service quality. And once you have dissatisfied customers, it becomes quite difficult to win them back. Publicity in social network pages can be a double-edged sword.

Anyway, the owner of that particular foodstall is also a member of the group and has taken note of the criticisms. He has promised to improve things and I wish him success. It is good to see the discussions have resulted in a positive response.

I'll end this post with a recommendation of my own. For a few years now, the only place in JB to get a taste of decent kacang pool is at Haji Kacang Pool in Larkin. I have recently found another restaurant that sells tasty kacang pool that can rival HKP's version. The place is called Rose Kopitiam and is located at the Larkin Idaman area near the football stadium.

Kacang pool at Rose Kopitiam in JB. RM4.50 per serving.

Sunday 3 February 2013

A taste of Nasi Lemuni in Pulau Pinang

We are in the bright sunny island of Penang this weekend to attend to some family matters, details of which would be revealed soon in this blog, God willing.

I have always loved coming to Penang... the prime reason being that there is no shortage of good makan places. My last trip here was in early 2010. This time we made the compulsory stop at Din Ikan Bakar in Kepala Batas. In addition to that, I got to locate and finally taste nasi lemuni, a rice dish similar to nasi lemak but cooked with leaves from the lemuni tree to give it a green tint and a hint of herbal taste.

I was first told of this dish by a friend who had stayed in Penang for some years. Knowing my interest in exploring new tastes, she told of a particular stall located within a foodcourt in Bukit Jambul. Finally had the chance to try it out...

Our selection at Din's - Ikan siakap, ikan keli and daging bakar
You can be spoilt for choice
Look at the size of those prawns
Nasi lemuni breakfast... only found in Penang

Friday 4 January 2013

The previous year food adventure in pictures

Let's start the first post of the new year with a collection of photos taken during my makan-makan adventure throughout 2012. Some of the pics have appeared previously while some were taken from my FB album, so please excuse the repetition.

It is slightly different from the pictorial series I did in 2010 and 2011, which was what I had initially intended for this year as well... but when I browsed through my picture library, I decided that a series of delectable food pics would probably make an interesting entry. So the following are my selection...

Lamb Kabsah. Banafee Village, Jln Abdullah Tahir JB - Jan 2012
Lamb mandey. Wadi El Arab Restaurant, Majidee JB - Jan 2012
Crab in salted eggs. Permata Senibong, JB - Feb 2012
Tropika Steamboat & Grill. Setia Tropika, JB - Feb 2012
Grilled lemon chicken. Aunty Aini's, Nilai - Feb 2012
Mayami burger. Planetz Burger roadside stall, Taman Munsyi JB - May 2012
Nasi dagang. Stall at Mersing Kanan, Mersing - June 2012
Mee bandung udang special. Stall next to Sg Rambah, Pontian - Aug 2012
Mee bandung, satay and coffee. Wah San Kopitiam, Muar - Sep 2012
Rice and chicken kebab. Del's Kitchen, Tmn Pelangi JB - Nov 2012
D' Chagar Steamboat & Grill. Tmn Molek, JB - Nov 2012
Nasi padang JJ. Tmn Johor Jaya, JB - Nov 2012
Briyani hyderabad. Kempas, JB - Dec 2012
Grilled prawns. Din's BBQ Station, Nusa Bestari, JB - Dec 2012
Mee udang black pepper. Roadside stall at Kg Tiram Duku, Gelang Patah, JB - Dec 2012
Char Kuey Teow. Jalan Rawa Tmn Perling, JB - Dec 2012
Update 09.01.13 : I've gone to Tropika Steamboat & Grill (the 4th pic above) twice since my last visit but they were not open. I think they may have `closed shop'.

Friday 23 November 2012

Fresh green chillies

It was a public holiday in Johor yesterday, so we made our way up to Tangkak to visit my brother-in-law who had just returned from performing the hajj in Makkah. The lovely thing about visiting pilgrims who have just returned home is hearing their stories of the many interesting and sometimes mysterious happenings in the holy land. It brings back memories of the time my wife and I were there and of course, it make us long for the opportunity to be able to go there again.

But this post is not about stories from Makkah.

My brother-in-law, together with his eldest son, run a small-scale commercial vegetable farm in Tangkak. Every time we visit them, we are rewarded with a bounty of harvest from their kebun. Depending on what's in season, they would pack some vegetables for us to take home. On our previous visit in September (before my BIL flew off for the pilgrimage), we took home some pumpkins (labu). This time around we were given some green chillies, pisang tanduk, keladi and lemongrass (serai).

Actually, not some green chillies... but a lot. Probably about 8 to 10 kilos worth. The chilli plants were fruiting so abundantly, to the extent that our nephew ran out of manpower to pluck them all. We picked as much as we could yesterday afternoon... and today my wife began sharing some of them with our neighbours and relatives here in Johor Bahru. We now have fresh green chillies to last us a whole month at least.

Green chillies ripe for picking
Chilli padi just sprouting, so no picking yet
Plot cleared for pumpkin planting. Cloud-shrouded Gunung Ledang in the background
Keladi plants in between the bananas
I love green chillies. I prefer them to the red ones. Freshly-cut green chillies are an important ingredient in most of my favourite dishes such as mee rebus and kacang pool. I add them in almost anything that I cook stir-fry style.

With a fresh supply from the farm, I couldn't resist using them tonight in a recipe I learnt from my mother - ikan bilis goreng asam (fried anchovies with tamarind paste). It is an exceedingly simple but tasty recipe that helped me survive the lean times when I was a student overseas.

Ikan bilis goreng asam

Ingredients :

  • a handful of ikan bilis (use the good quality type)
  • one large onion (sliced)
  • a clove of garlic (chopped finely)
  • two or three fresh green chillies (rough-sliced)
  • half-a-cup of tamarind juice (air perahan asam jawa)
  • an optional pinch of shrimp paste (belacan)
  • a teaspoon of sugar (also optional)

Method :

Heat some oil in a wok and fry the ikan bilis till crisp. Remove from wok and set aside. Reduce the oil in the wok and fry the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the sliced green chillies and fry for a short while. Add the tamarind juice and the pinch of belacan. Stir until the liquid thickens. Add back the fried ikan bilis and mix well so that the tamarind paste coats the ikan bilis evenly. Sprinkle in the sugar and turn off the heat immediately so that the ikan bilis remain crisp and not soggy.

I prefer my onion and chilli to be a bit crunchy, so I sometimes put them towards the end of the cooking process. If you prefer to have a bit of gravy, then dilute the tamarind paste and don't reduce the liquid by too much. Serve with steaming hot rice and bull's-eye fried egg with some kicap, and that's enough of a meal for me.

Below is a pic of tonight's handiwork. Sedap tau...

Ikan bilis asam - the dry version

Saturday 5 May 2012

Biting into the meaty stuff

In the days of secondary school, a few friends and I pooled some funds and went into part-time business of selling burgers and ABC (or ais kacang). We did it during one of the term breaks when our school had encouraged the students to set up stalls to sell stuff among ourselves. Part of early exposure to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship.

We sold a variety of burgers. Apart from the standard piece of beef or chicken patty sandwiched in a bun, we had other setups such as cheeseburger, egg burger, baby burger, mama burger and papa burger. I cannot now recall what makes up each of these burger variety but I'm sure papa burger was the whopper of the lot. It had two burger patties with two eggs plus a cheese slice topping. It was a hit among the students and overall, we made a tidy profit, even after splitting it 5-ways.

At that time I thought, if I ever not make it in my studies, I can always fall back to selling burgers... and I didn't think anybody could be as creative as us in inventing burger menus. Yesterday, I found one burger stall that has gone on with ideas way beyond what I had imagined more than 30 years ago.

I first read about Planetz Burger in a local food blog JB Food Club, a few weeks ago. From the review and the pics that were shown, I knew I had to give the place a try. As I was driving home from work yesterday evening, I passed the area where the stall is located and made a split-second decision to search for it.

Planetz Burger is a simple push-cart roadside stall located in front of a row of shophouses, somewhere in Taman Munsyi in Tampoi. It is just like any other burger stalls you find at roadside corners operating next to mamak restaurants or in front of 7-Elevens... except this one has variety. I wouldn't dare to try describe them all but you can have mayami burgers, mushroom burgers, combo burgers (double, triple or even quadruple!), fries and nuggets too. And the burgers themselves can either be chicken or beef or mutton or rabbit. Take your pick. Have a look at the photos in their Facebook page and you'll know what I mean. Generally, the burgers are meant to be bought as take-aways to be eaten at home but if you can't suppress your hunger and wait till you get home, you can sit at the simple folding table to chow on your meat. Planetz Burger also sell simple squash drinks to help you water down your meal.

Ok then, we are spoiled for choice... but what about taste, I hear you ask? Well, my first order from this stall was a mayami mutton special combo cheeseburger. It had the whole works : double mutton patties, egg, cheese, salad greens, onions and black pepper sauce. Real messy to eat but the taste was exquisite.

The simple burger stall. Pic from Planetz Burger FB.
Mayami combo poster. Pic from Planetz Burger FB.
Cholesterol-laden goodness
I am definitely stopping by this place again soon to try the other versions. You can really make a decent honest living selling burgers from a roadside stall, if you are creative enough.

Sunday 29 January 2012

Arab food in a malay village

My first taste of an arabic dish was when I was a small boy. For breakfast one day, my mother cooked some mashed green-coloured beans with spices and toasted a few french loaf slices to go with it. The dish was eaten with an egg fried in ghee plus some roughly-chopped onions and green chillies as garnish.

At first try, the thing had a spicy-bitter taste that was hard to describe... but I loved it. Mom said that the dish is called `kacang pol'. Funny name, I thought... but later on in life I noted that there are variants to the name : pol, pool, ful and even phool. All these from translating the original arabic name of foul medames.

In my trip to Cairo in 2004, I had my first taste of authentic foul medames. The buffet breakfast spread at the hotel had two versions of the dish, Egyptian-style and Lebanese-style... of course I tried both. Slightly different tasting compared to mom's version but delicious all the same.

My exposure to middle-eastern cuisine further broadened during my short stint working in the United Arab Emirates. The tough pressure of work was somewhat compensated by food-tasting adventures. That was where I developed an affection for lamb mandey and lovely fresh salad dishes. Nowadays, whenever I hear of an Arabic restaurant opening up in KL, I would make an effort to try it out. To date, Saba Restaurant at Jelatek is still the best in my book.

Of late, Johor Bahru is seeing a few genuine Arabic restaurants opening for business... genuine in this sense, meaning with real Arab cooks. Not those run by locals who cook from recipes they learned when they were students in Egypt or Jordan or wherever. The latest one is called Wadi El-Arab Restaurant located right here in my district of Kg Melayu Majidee. It just opened a few weeks ago and I must say the owner is taking a huge gamble in opening a speciality restaurant out of the city centre.

It was our youngest son's 17th birthday on Friday and so I decided to have the celebration dinner at this new eating place. Wadi El-Arab is located just across the Medan Selera Kg Melayu (where you can get the best ABC in all of JB). The place used to be someone's house and was renovated into a restaurant. Decor-wise, there is nothing to shout about. The front part of the dining area is carpeted and has low tables for that sitting-on-the-floor experience. The inner dining area has simple round tables of the kopitiam type, not quite to my liking.

The menu choices is about average I guess, but sufficient enough for those not familiar with arabian food to try out some variety. They have bokhari rice, makloubeh, kofta, shawarma, shish tawok plus some salads and soups. Most importantly (to me, at least) they have mandey.

The birthday boy and his elder brother had grilled lamb kofta while the missus ordered the same but beef. These are spiced minced meat rolled onto metal skewers, grilled over charcoal fire, served with roasted eggplant and homous, and eaten with arab flat bread. I ordered what else but lamb mandey... at RM19.80 per plate, the most expensive rice dish on the main course menu. Wasn't the best that I had (which would still be at a restaurant somewhere in Muscat, Oman) but still on the okay side. The kofta dishes are the tasty ones. Overall not too bad... but they really need to pull in more crowd to make the long haul.

The cover menu card
Mandey lamb rice
Lamb kofta
And I honestly hope they do because it is now so easy for me to satisfy my craving for a mid-eastern dish with this place at my doorstep. I'm already thinking of the next dish to try.... perhaps their makloubeh, the upside-down rice and lamb/chicken combo.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Can register to vote

Our second son, who studies at a university in Indonesia, is back at home for a short term-break. We picked him at LCCT last Sunday. Yesterday, January 18th, was his 21st birthday.

We missed celebrating his previous birthday together because he was away at school. The year before that, I took him and some of his friends for dinner at Shah Alam. That event made it into this blog and was posted here -> Two birthdays.

Last night, we had a celebration dinner at Banafee Village Restaurant, a lovely makan place I've previously written about. My wife bought a cake from Secret Recipe and brought it along for the dinner. The cake box was placed at the edge of the table and we had not thought of doing anything special. A sharp-eyed waiter saw the box and offered to keep the cake in their cooler until it's time for dessert.

As expected, the birthday boy ordered a lamb dish but our youngest son surprised me by ordering grilled salmon. The missus had grilled chicken chop while yours truly could not resist trying another Arabic menu, lamb kabsah. I broke my own self-imposed rule of not eating lamb/mutton more than once a week. Just the night before, I went out for dinner with an ex-colleague from KL. We went to a newly-opened restaurant selling western-style dishes where I had lamb chops while my friend had chicken chop. Quite delicious... I should write a blog-post about this place soon.

Lamb kabsah

Two large candles and a smaller one in between

As we finished eating our main meal, the waiter came back with the birthday cake and also gave us four small plates. He then produced a pen and a piece of paper, and asked my wife to write down the birthday boy's name. She asked, why? To pass to the singer, he said. I hadn't noticed that the two-member live singing team were on stage and making preparations to perform.

And so yesterday, a young man named Harith Shahiran got to blow out the candles on his birthday cake at the end of the most recognized song in the world, sung by a professional singer. May good things always come your way, my son...

Thursday 13 October 2011

Food for thought...

When I was a young boy, I loved eating durians. It used to puzzle me back then, why westerners find the smell of the fruit so disgusting. I used to believe that the king of fruits has the best aroma in the world... so how can anyone describe the smell as being stinky?

As I grow older, I slowly come to realise that different people have different tastes and perceptions. One man's meat is another man's poison. And we don't even have to look at a foreign culture to understand this. Even within our own country, the type of food commonly found in one particular region may not necessarily find favour at another.

My exposure to the varying regional flavours began when I entered boarding school. The school is located on the east coast but students come from all over the country. Indeed, the first boy whom I met when checking into the hostel was this guy from Kedah. He spoke in a thick northern accent which I initially thought sounded weird. Later when I met boys from Kelantan, I thought they sounded even weirder. It was from one of these Kelantan friends that I learned about budu. After returning back to school from one of the term breaks, he brought along some of the stuff to show me and sample the taste. My first thought.... Good lord! How can anyone like this?

Till today, I still have not acquired the taste for budu although now I do like to eat nasi kerabu, which in itself gave me a somewhat apprehensive first impression. I mean... purple-coloured rice? Bizzare.

When I got the chance to study in England, the experience of foreign food culture became more interesting. The English love their fish and chips. They liberally spray their chips with salt and vinegar. When I buy this item from the takeaway chip shop, I always say, `Just salt, no vinegar please.' Vinegar, to me, is the stuff my mum use to soak kaffir limes to make her delicious acar limau.

While on a backpacking trip to Europe during one of the summer holidays, I came upon a shop in Switzerland selling all kinds of cheese. The view from outside the shop window was quite lovely... there were cheese of different shapes and sizes in varying colours of white, yellow and even shades of red. I decided to enter and have a better look. The moment I opened the door and took my first step inside, the pong hit me like a blast. I made a quick u-turn for the fresh air outside. I thought the cheese smelt terrible!

It then dawned on me... this must be exactly the same feeling when Mat Sallehs get a whiff of our durians for their first time. Strangely nowadays, I don't consider the durian as my favourite fruit anymore. I still eat it... but I won't go crazy if I don't get it.

So why am I writing about food today after not posting for such a long time? Well, a few days ago I was watching this overseas cooking show on satellite TV and saw a familiar looking vegetable being used as one of the ingredients, but the Mat Salleh called it in a name I've never heard of before. The vegetable (or more correctly, tuber root) is called jicama, pronounced in the Spanish style as hi-ka-ma. Locally, we all know it as sengkuang, a favoured ingredient in our rojak. Also a compulsory item when my mum cooks her kuah lodeh for lontong.

I had always thought the English name for sengkuang was turnip. Apparently I am wrong. You learn something new every day. Seems like some westerners like to have sengkuang in their salads too...

Note : Pic on the left borrowed from TryMasak Online.

Sunday 3 July 2011

Time flies when you're having fun

Well.... I'm not actually having fun. For the past two weeks I have been entrenched in my new job with hardly any time to think about blogging. The project that I have been put in charge now has already been running for three months and therefore I need to get up to speed in double quick time. It has been half-a-month of meeting deadlines, preparing reports and resolving site issues. Pretty tense at times.

Nonetheless, it is better than being bored doing nothing. This new project I am involved in is located way down south, in a place touted to be the southernmost point of the Asian continent. I'll tell you folks more about this place later when the work has stabilised and I've found my rhythm.

Being located in a small town near the sea means that I'm experiencing a change in my diet. I am now eating fish more frequently than I have ever been. Tonight's dinner was ikan pari bakar or actually baby stingray we call as tuka. The fish was fresh of course... and the chilli sambal paste was exceedingly tasty and not too hot.

Small stingray grilled with chilli paste
Ok then.... catch up with you guys again soon.

Saturday 25 June 2011

How come the tasty stuff are the bad ones too?

In the previous post, I wrote about the passing of my friend's eldest son due to a complication I have never heard of before. Although I'm not a doctor, I thought I have heard or read about most of the life-threatening diseases there are. Just goes to show that when it comes to subject of the human body's health, there are still so many things that we have yet to know.

No doubt, the prophet Muhammad s.a.w. had mentioned that for every ailment, there is a cure. It is just that the present human skills and capability have not discovered most of them yet.

Which now brings me to the subject of my own health. About two years ago, I posted the results of my medical tests in this blog. It showed an improvement in the total cholesterol level in my blood that has fallen below reference level and a slightly high uric acid level. This caused me to seriously re-think the stuff that I eat everyday so that I could maintain the cholesterol level and perhaps reduce the uric acid level.

Apparently, I have not been serious enough...

The results of my latest medical check-up came in a few weeks ago... and they do not look too good. Well actually, I am generally okay... except for the two items above which have been a bane in my medical history. My total cholesterol level jumped from a low of 4.5 mmol/L to a high of 5.7 mmol/L, i.e above the reference level of 5.2. The uric acid level did not improve either, rising from 0.45 mmol/L to 0.49 mmol/L, above the reference level of 0.42.


This is not good at all. The high levels of these two substances are primarily due to diet. Red meat, shellfish, anchovies, tuna, soy beans (plus all its derivatives such as kicap and tempe) and a whole lot of other tasty stuff. Perhaps I should just become a vegetarian...

Friday 27 May 2011

Sesekali ku rasa teringin...

I first started my career as an engineer with a state-government agency in Johor back in 1984. I shared a house with a few other bachelor friends from the same workplace. Our office was situated in the tower block of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, smack in the middle of Johor Bahru town.

Those days, the town's central wet market was situated next to Komtar. At the end of each working day when the market closes for business, the lanes surrounding it are taken over by push-cart hawkers and night vendors selling a variety of cooked food items and other knick-knacks. Among those selling the foodstuff is this one stall that sells nasi beringin. My housemates and I used to frequent this stall after work because the food is very tasty.

The central market was later torn down and shifted to another site in Larkin. In its place they built a shopping mall and office block now known as City Square. With the demolition of the market, the temporary night traders had to make way too. I didn't know where the nasi beringin seller moved to... and so ceased eating this dish for some time. There wasn't any other makan place in JB that sells the same stuff.

Many years later, a friend from Muar told me that there is a shop in the Tanjung Agas area selling nasi beringin. Whenever I have the chance to visit him, he would take me dinner at that place. The rice wasn't as tasty as the one I remember from the stall at JB wet market, but it wasn't too bad either.

During my first working stint in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago, an acquaintance from TNB Hq mentioned that there is a foodstall in Bangsar which sells delicious nasi beringin. I asked him for the exact location and then went to search for the place. The stall is located within a foodcourt inside an office block behind the NST Balai Berita... not really that difficult to find but getting a parking space is near torture. That is why I have been to the stall only once.

Earlier today, I was in the Bangsar area and remembered about the nasi beringin stall again. Since it was not yet quite mid-day, I decided to drop by the place ahead of the lunchtime crowd. But all would depend if I could find a space to park. As luck would have it, I manage to find an empty lot on my second driving lap around Jalan Riong and Jalan Liku. And so my lunch today was nasi beringin with beef rendang and boiled egg curry.

Today's lunch of nasi beringin and ice-lemon tea

Nasi beringin is rice flavoured with coconut milk and other spices, not unlike nasi lemak but with a more pungent aroma. It is normally eaten with chicken or beef, cooked in any style... fried, curry or rendang. The name has nothing to do with the pokok beringin (banyan tree), more famously known because of relation to ghost stories.

As far as I know, there is only this one place in KL that sells nasi beringin. Personally, there is nothing really that spectacular about the taste but if you wish to try a slightly different flavour from the normal rice, then it is worth it. This stall is very popular. The guy in front of me placed an order for thirty packs to `tapau'. As I enjoyed my meal, the clock approached lunch hour and the crowd started to form. Very good business.

Monday 11 October 2010

The no. 1 breakfast

Without doubt, the most favourite meal to start the day for most Malaysians is a plate of roti canai. Pair that with a glass of teh tarik (or in my case, nescafe tarik) and we have the quintessential Malaysian breakfast.

Roti canai is a simple flat bread that originated from India. I first knew of this bread by its original name of paratha.There are a few theories on how the Malay name of canai came to be... Wikipedia offers three possibilities.

What started off as a simple plain dough-only bread has now evolved into a few versions. We now can order roti telur (an egg beaten into the folds of the bread), roti telur bawang (the previous version plus chopped onions), roti planta (with a knob of margarine), roti sardin (with some sardines) and even roti pisang (with sliced bananas). Another popular variety, at least here in JB, is roti tampal. I had breakfast with a friend from Penang recently and when he heard me ordering roti tampal, he was a bit puzzled. Roti tampal is made by frying an egg (bull's eye style) and placing an already fried plain roti on top of it so the egg sticks to the bread... hence the `tampal' name. The skill in doing this is to make sure the egg sticks and the yolk remains round and not fully cooked. This way, you will have the nice gooey yolk smearing over the bread pieces as you tuck in.... yummy.

Even the way roti canai is served has different variants. While the standard sauce or gravy accompanying the bread is plain curry, most mamak shops offer dhal-curry or fish-curry. Most Malay stalls also offer a dollop of sambal tumis on the side. Some patrons prefer the gravy spread over the bread and soaking it... the term being used here is `kuah banjir'. Others prefer the bread to be shredded to pieces first before serving (roti koyak). And then there are others who like their roti canai served with sugar or even condensed milk.

When I worked in the UAE a few years ago, it was easy for me to have paratha for breakfast because there are many Indian restaurants. A standard order of paratha comes in two pieces... it seems that the Indian workers over there have large appetites. But that's just about it... no roti tampal or roti telur or roti bawang or whatever else have you. So when it comes to variety, there is no place like home.

Ok then... enough of writing. Time to get my morning dose of roti tampal and nescafe tarik...

Friday 28 August 2009

Resipi Kacang Pool

In the previous post, blogger Hliza asked about the taste of kacang pool. It is quite hard to describe. So I thought that if I posted the recipe, readers who are unfamiliar with the dish can sort of guess the taste by reading the ingredients used in its preparation.

While my whole family likes this dish, there are some people who do not. It is not widely available at restaurants or foodstalls. I know of only 3 places in Johor Bahru that sell it. When I previously lived in Kuala Lumpur for 3 years, I never came across it. After posting about this dish last year (click -> here), I received an email from a reader who says that he runs a cafe in Shah Alam that serves kacang pool. I haven't had a chance yet to drop by his place so I can't say if his kacang pool tastes okay. But if any readers in Klang Valley wish to give it a try, you can click this Facebook link for more information -> Fiescanto Cafe.

Kacang pool is originally a middle-eastern dish called foul medames (or variants of it, depending on region). The recipe I'm putting up here is of course, a local variation as modified by my mother. So here goes, the first ever recipe in Just Observations...

Ingredients (serves 4) :

1. Broad beans (a.k.a fava beans) - 250g. The dried beans are actually quite difficult to find in the local market. You can substitute with the canned variety.

2. Curry powder - 1 cup

3. Coriander - 5 tablespoons

4. Cumin - 5 tablespoons

5. Onions - 4 nos. (3 for cooking and 1 for garnish)

6. Garlic - 9 cloves

7. Ghee - around 3 to 4 tablespoons, for frying

8. Green chillies - around 3 to 4, for garnishing

9. Salt and white pepper - to taste

10. Eggs - 4 nos.

Method :

1. Soak the broad beans overnight until they soften. You can skip this step if you use the canned stuff. Boil in a pot of water until soft and cooked. Put in blender and puree for a short while until medium to soft consistency. Set aside.

2. Dry roast the coriander and cumin in a frying pan until brown and fragrant. Allow to cool and then grind to a powder. Mix together with the curry powder.

3. Puree onions and garlic in blender. Add to spice powder and mix evenly.

4. Heat up pot and melt the ghee. Saute the spice/onion/garlic paste until fragrant. Add the broad beans and cook over medium heat for 15min to 20min. Add some water if mixture is too thick. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Serving :

1. Dice one onion and roughly chop the green chilles to be used as garnishing.

2. Fry the eggs in ghee, preferably sunny side up.

3. Place bean mix in a bowl. Put fried egg on top. Garnish with onions and chilles. Sprinkle with a bit of the melted ghee. Squeeze a bit of lime juice, if desired.

4. Serve with bread of your choice.

In the middle-east, foul medames is eaten with traditional flat bread. Personally, I prefer to eat it with french bread or baguette. Cut the baguette in 1-inch thick slices. Lightly toast them in an oven so that the outside is crisp but the inside still soft. Tear off a bite-sized piece and dip it in the kacang pool. Ummm... sedaaaap.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Alang-alang menyeluk pekasam

Seems like I'm in the mood of using part of Malay proverbs as title for my posts. The full peribahasa Melayu reads, `Alang-alang menyeluk pekasam, biar sampai ke pangkal lengan'. It is an advice on not doing things at half-measure.

I've used this proverb so many times and yet I have never fully known what the word `pekasam' means. Until last week, that is. But we will get to that part shortly. I first like to continue with the story of my nephew's wedding from the previous post.

Some of you commented on the poignant moment when the groom cried while hugging his mother after the nikah procedure was over. This touching scene caused all the aunts (and some uncles) to shed tears too. The significance of the moment can be understood by knowing some history. Twenty-seven years ago, Fathhullah Azmie, was born two months premature. When he came out of his mother's womb, he was slightly larger than an adult's palm. The first month of his life was spent in an incubator. It was a touch and go situation. His parents were not sure he would make it. By the grace of Allah, he pulled through and survived. He has grown up to be a fine young man who is now a medical doctor posted in the rural outback somewhere in Pahang and on the way to starting a family of his own.

The nikah ceremony actually started in jovial mood. My wife's siblings are mostly jolly folks. We like to poke fun at each other. As we say in Malay, memang kuat bergurau. The bride, Nur Wahidah, being the newest addition to the family, is not spared either. But she's a good sport and she took all our jests in her stride. The following incident illustrates an example.

The day after the akad nikah is the reception at the bride's home and it includes the bersanding ceremony. Our entourage arrived at the reception right on time and assembled at the road junction a few metres from the house. The bride was supposed to come out and meet her groom outside, after which both of them would walk together side-by-side towards the wedding dais.

All of us from the groom's family waited in line for Wahidah to come out. When she arrived, she stood in front of us expecting to be paired with her groom but Fathhullah was nowhere to be seen. We were all mischievously grinning when one of the groom's sister jokingly said, `Alamak! Kita lupa bawa suami awak la... Nampaknya tak boleh nak bersanding hari ni.'

Wahidah nonchalantly replied, `Takpe... bersanding dengan Ucu pun boleh.' Ucu in this case, refers to the groom's uncle who is also my wife's youngest brother (he's the guy holding the mike for the groom in one of the pics in the earlier post). As it happens, Ucu is still single.

We all had a good laugh.... way to go, young lady. You'll fit right in with our family.

The groom's entourage upon arrival at the bride's house for the bersanding ceremony

The bride wondering where her husband is. The groom is quietly sitting in the Camry behind her.

Jangan lah masam muka... kitaorang gurau je!

Upon arrival at the house, we heard two loud bangs. This young man fired the shots into the air, apparently as a form of greeting to the newly-weds. I had him pose proudly with his gun for this pic. Talk about a shotgun wedding!

Indahnya pengantin bersanding atas pelamin

The groom's family. My three nieces in this pic are all still available

Right... now back to the story of pekasam. Before the bersanding ceremony that morning, we went to the Pekan Rabu in Alor Star to look for some breakfast. At a foodstall on the ground floor, the wife and I had some mee hoon sup utara while our son had something called nasi goreng brazil (see pic above). How's that for being creative in naming a dish!

After breakfast, we browsed the other floors of the Pekan Rabu and came across some stalls selling ikan pekasam. It is the first time I've seen the pickled fish as they are not available in Johor. I later found out the the pekasam process involves fermenting the fish (generally the fresh water variety) in dry-roasted ground rice plus some salt. The two main ingredients of pekasam, namely fresh-water fish and rice, are widely available in the northern states as compared to the south. That is why I never came across pekasam before, except in a Malay proverb.

The array of ikan pekasam sold at Pekan Rabu includes ikan puyu, ikan sepat and ikan lampam

There's something new to be learnt everyday. Now if only someone can explain to me the `menyeluk sampai ke pangkal lengan' part...