Melaka Darul Mamee
I went to Singapore the other day and thought it will be good to stop in Melaka for a night. Our last trip to Melaka was several years ago, i.e. to attend my niece’s wedding at Hotel Puri. If I remember correctly, Melaka and Penang haven’t obtain the Unesco Heritage Site then.
So, with much anticipation, we stopped at Melaka for a night. We arrived from Singapore around 4 pm and just in time to be the first customer at Ban Lee Xiang satay celup.
After our tea, we went hunting for a decent place to stay where they can accommodate all six of us. We notice a new water park and turned in. To our disappointment, it is nothing but a cheap, made-for-locals, giant washing machine water park. (washing machine means you just jump in with all your dirty clothes, geddit?)
We wanted to stay in Melaka town and found a family room at one of the bigger hotels in town. It is one of those ‘made for Government servants seminar’ hotels and the place is rather crowded.
At night, we went to Jonker Walk and that’s where I get the idea to call it Melaka Darul Mamee. The whole town is plastered with huge, ugly, crude, arches with the PM, CM and Mamee cup noodle. The irony is the design is such that the head of the PM and CM are smaller than the Mamee cup, hence, you can actually imagine putting the heads into the cup mee.
Maybe I am rather biased as I am from Penang, another Unesco World Heritage site but really, Melaka is nothing like Penang. It has this little quaint Jonker Walk but that’s about it. In Jonker Walk, the foods are like a repetitive cycle of maltose (bah leh kor), hurricane potato, pineapple tarts, bubble tea, cendol, maltose (bah leh kor), hurricane potato, pineapple tarts, bubble tea, cendol, maltose (bah leh kor), hurricane potato, pineapple tarts, bubble tea, cendol,maltose (bah leh kor), hurricane potato, pineapple tarts, bubble tea, cendol,maltose (bah leh kor), hurricane potato, pineapple tarts, bubble tea, cendol… (ok, you get a gist of what I am trying to say).
As for the buildings, they are too corny and overdone, IMHO. Of course, there are some really beautiful structures but overall, I find Jonker Walk rather forlon and sad if we take away the pasar malam.
One of the reasons we stopped in Melaka (instead of KL) was to go to the Melaka Zoo. I remembered it was much better managed many, many years ago. This time, my little boy complained the moment he got inside. So smelly, so dirty and they do not even run the tram regularly.
So, if you have to pick either Penang or Melaka, come to Penang. At least we know that you won’t be seeing the face of the CM every 100 m as you travel along their roads. You know they have spent a lot of money into this state because there are many large (but useless) structures of overblown size kompang, fruits and such. Those things stick out like a sorethumb in a state which is supposed to be heritage.
I said Melaka is like a fun pasar malam. Someone else said, it is like a mini disneyland. Either way, it is too corny, gaudy and you get tired of the place after 24 hours.
Happy Dong Zhi to all
Today is the eve of Dong Zhi. Families will gather around to roll the colourful rice balls to mark winter solstice. I am lucky I had been rolling tang yuens as young as 5-6 years old and though it has been almost four decades, I still recall the fastidious nyonya grandma who lived next to my house in the kampung. You can find tang yuen recipe here.
I remembered how fussy she is with the colour and shapes of the rice balls. The size matters too. The white ones must be bigger than the coloured ones. There shouldn’t be any mourning colour like blue. The colours, including the white must be in odd numbers. So, you can either have three colours or five colours or seven colours.
I have always kept the tradition of rolling rice balls but this year, I am doing something different. We are going to celebrate Christmas early because my two sons have work on the eve of Christmas and also on Christmas day. So, we are doing it tomorrow.
Tonight, my house is so busy with them and their friends. I had cooked 6 lamb shanks which are to be made in shepherd pie. My son’s friend, Sui Thong, has helped to make a huge pot of satay sauce for our satay celup party. The turkey was seasoned yesterday by my eldest son, using only brandy, salt and pepper. My second son has stuffed the leg of lamb with rosemary and thyme. He also baked three kilograms of focaccia which he is going to make bruschetta tomorrow.
I guess my childhood tradition has been transferred to them. Though we didn’t roll the rice balls today, I have asked my eldest sister to make extra portion for me tomorrow.
So, parents, if you have young children, remember to instill tradition into them. It may seem like a huge mess or the kids may not appreciate that when they are small. But these things stay with them, and someday, these will be weaved into their lives. It is what makes each of our lives colourful, unique and special.
My two older sons baked 150 tiny gingerbread man yesterday midnight. I have gone to sleep. I haven’t helped much because they are already capable on their own.
I thank God for my childhood and the childhood I have given to my sons. It has prosper, blossom and it makes life wonderful. Thank you, God!
To all Chinese, Happy Dong Zhi. Treasure the time with your children, your parents, your loved ones…May your life be full, rounded and colourful like the tang yuen.
Roti Canai Jalan Argyll
Argyll Road (pronounced ar-gul) roti canai used to be a broken hut under a huge tree. They must have shifted to this restaurant for a while but I didn’t notice that until recently. When it was in the hut, I used to patronise the shop because I love the curries. However, my hubby kept complaining the roti canai is the worst and I have sort of stop going.
Hubby likes his roti canai, freshly fried, fluffy and in a whole piece. The curry gravy must be in another bowl so he can dips the roti. Meanwhile for me, I love my roti canai, the banjir style whereby the mamak would have torn the roti into bite sizes and flood the plate with curries. That’s why they call it roti banjir. I like roti banjir because it is effortless to stuff the roti. Fuss free lah, katakan…
So, Roti Canai Jalan Argyll is some place which you either like or hate. Hubby hates the roti because it is actually very dense and the roti is very tiny. You cannot have just one piece because it is really, really small. While hubby find the roti rubbery, I find it chewy and has a nice flavour.
Don’t let these square pieces fool you. These are roti telor, hence, bigger and fluffier. If you take the regular ones, it is round.
I went to Roti Canai Jalan Argyll this morning and ordered mine in separate bowls because I think I cannot tempt anyone with roti banjir, eh? It will look like a huge mess if I pile those curries on top. So, for the sake of my dear food blog followers, I ordered a piece of mutton, a piece of beef and two roti canais. They lasted me from 10 am till 5 pm.
So, what got a tiny hut roti canai stall to prosper to a restaurant? The curries. I tell you, the kari kambing is really nice to slurp. It is not kurma style, yet, not very spicy. It is just nice and the gravy is thick, yet not too oily. The kambing is usually very tender as the pieces have been cooked for a long time, hence, dropping off from the bones. I got a treat this morning because I was carrying this huge ass DSLR camera. The owner gave me a piece with the bone marrow.
You cannot just have the kari kambing. It must be accompanied by the darn spicy, very, very red and hot gulai daging. The two of them must go together or it is just not complete.
So, that’s how I ended up over indulging in kari kambing and gulai daging lembu plus roti canai that made me full for the whole day.
The teh tarik is lousy, too bad. But all the above gave me a good sweat after the meal. It is really nice when eaten on cold, rainy morning like today. With no husband to grumble about how lousy the roti is…
Location? Well…don’t ask me, I am lousy with directions. What I can tell you is Argyll Road is one-way street and you can only turn in from Penang Road, which is also one way street. After you passed the Continental Hotels etc, you will see Odeon Cinema on your right…One of the one-way street is Argyll road. Damn…don’t ask me for directions, I tell you! LOL
I got a new camera and I love, love, love it so much!
Food blogging has taken a back seat when my point and shoot camera KO a year ago. I cannot possibly bring the DSLR camera out with me on every outing because it is just too bulky and it also looks weird to sit a char koay teow stall with a big, black camera hanging from my neck.
Few days ago, on a spur of a moment, hubby and I bought the Olympus EP-1. It is over RM2.5K, expensive but worth it. It is a camera not for the newbies because it comes with manual setting, no built in flash but it has nice metal body. My hubby likes the retro look of the old camera. I love the pancake lens.
With this new camera, I can grab everything and take pictures. These are some fresh vege which I just bought from the market.
Steaming hot foccacia bread, just out from the oven, drizzled with olive oil. My second son just learnt it and he kneaded the dough with his barehands. Sweat and all.
Char koay teow in macro mode with blurry background.
Apom manis close-up.
With this new camera, food blogging is back! Now I can eat and shoot. Woohoo! But I hope I have time to blog…
Cooking with Benefiber® – Smoothie, fish with lemon sauce and broccoli soup
I am asked if I like to try cooking using Benefiber® and blog about it. Of course! So, I went over to the next door pharmacy to get a bottle. It is a supplement which provides us fibers. But remember, you do not need to know how to cook or if you don’t have the time to cook, you can just add on to your food and voila! Fibre is on your plate!
I didn’t have time to experiment until I returned from Hongkong. And oh boy, do I need fiber after all that eating during my trip. Benefiber® is made of wheat dextrin so I am assured that I won’t get those bloated feelings that soy products give me.
I grab some fresh ingredients from the supermarket and get down to preparing some recipes which I think is really easy to do. You can try it out at home, using Benefiber® if you need some extra fibers. However, remember to read the product label and use only the recommended quantity. Although I provide three recipes here, I only use the amount of Benefiber® I need in one dish and not in every single dishes or that will be an overload of usage.
RECIPE FOR BLUEBERRIES AND BANANA SMOOTHIE
1 banana, 1 handful of fresh blueberries
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons of Benefiber®
Method : Blend all the above in the blender .
RECIPE FOR PANFRIED FISH, MUSHROOM & TOMATO WITH LEMON SAUCE
1 portion fish abt 200 gm, rub with salt (I used Pollock)
4 large fresh button mushrooms – slice
1 tomatoes – remove seeds and slice
2 cloves garlic, slice thinly
Tiny bunch of fresh dill
Quarter of a lemon, extract juice
50 ml milk or cream
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons Benefiber®
Method :
1. Pan fry fish in pan with a bit of oil until cooked. Remove to serving plate
2. Stir fry the garlic, add mushroom, tomatoes and fry till soft. Remove to plate
3. In the same pan, add the milk or cream, lemon juice, pinch of salt, dill and the Benefiber®
4. Pour the sauce over the fish and tomato & mushroom.
RECIPE FOR BROCOLLI CREAM SOUP
1 head of broccoli, about 150 gm
2 fresh button mushrooms (I use mushroom to mask the smell of the broccoli and tell my kids it is green mushroom soup!)
200 ml of stock (I get stock by boiling the bones of a roast chicken, you can use any good stocks)
100 ml of milk or cream
1 cube of butter
1 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of Benefiber®
Salt & Pepper
Method :
1. Cut broccoli and mushrooms into tiny pieces, blanch in hot, boiling water.
2. Blend the broccoli in the stock until smooth
3. Heat a pan and melt the butter, add the flour and stir till it turns transparent. This roux will help to thicken the soup.
4. Pour in the milk/cream and blended broccoli/mushroom and simmer till heat through.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. The Benefiber® can be added too.
So, there you have it! Three healthy, delicious and very easy to prepare recipes using only few ingredients which you can easily grab from the supermarket shelves.
By adding Benefiber® , it helps to give us all the fibers we need. Even if you are not cooking these dishes, you can easily add the Benefiber® if you are eating out as Benefiber® can be added to any types of foods, whether hot or cold. It is not suitable for carbonated drinks though.
I had sniffed and tasted the Benefiber® . It has no funny smell or taste. So, it is almost unnoticeable in foods which makes it an easy to consume product.
You can find more interesting recipes on Benefiber website at http://benefiber.com.my/. And if you like a free sample, just hop over and provide your address. A sample will be mailed to you.
