Mua Chee

Glutinous rice flour coated with peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar. Tastes even better if topped with some shallot crisps. Not many people sell them nowadays.

Roti Mum

My kids can never resist the wonderful smells that trail from a Roti Boy stall. They love this to bits so I decided to try my hand at making them. Tough part is getting the coffee flavored icing on top of the bun. I added chunky slices of butter inside each bun and that really enhances the taste. Not quite Roti Boy in terms of looks but not too far off as far as taste is concerned. So yes, I am quite happy with Roti Mum!

Babble Breads and Buns

Who would have thought that I would end up making breads and buns myself? Not in my wildest dreams but I did...only because I know how much the kids would relish them...plus I sense that they were getting bored of stuff from the neighborhood bakery.

Making bread without a bread machine isn't quite as difficult as I thought. I made three varieties. A plain variety with just a couple of cheese strips on top for hubby and me, a raisin and cheese variety for Fats and Alien and a hot dog variety for Korean boy since that is his favourite. Wow piping hot breads and buns straight out from the oven really taste so much nicer and add them with a chunky slice of butter.....out of this world!!!

Cooking and baking new stuff for the family is soooo satisfying because they really know how to pile on the compliments and just seeing them devour the food so heartily is enough motivation for me to try anything.

Auntie Alice's Pretzels

Can't quite give Auntie Anne's a run for her money, but I'm quite happy with my first try. Well, may not look exactly authentic but taste quite authentic if I may say so. In fact, the kids thought the texture and softness of the pretzels were better than Auntie Anne's. (ahem! so perasan!). I made the cinnamon sugar variety. Wanted to have them in sour onion coating too but didn't managed to. Instead just made some cheese dips to go with the original pretzels just in case the kids wanted a savoury variety. Personally, I preferred the pretzels with cinammon.

Home-made Thin Crust Pizza

I had so much fun making pizza for the first time. I always thought that making pizza would be quite difficult and tedious but it turned out fairly easy. First time lucky, maybe but the dough and the pizza base turned out very nice and crusty...the way the kids like it. I experimented a little with the pizza sauce and toppings, opting to make my own tomato paste and using toppings that are favorites with the kids such as salami, ham, garlic, oregano, onions, green peppers, pineapple cubes and a generous amount of mozzarella and cheddar cheeze. I made two 10inch pizzas and it was so satisfying to see it disappear with lots of appreciative "hmmmm sooooo delicious" from the kids!

Minced Seafood in Beancurd

Thai Style Fish in Sour Plum Sauce

Review: Logenhaus Restaurant, Taipan

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Logenhaus located in Taipan has been around for many years now. I remembered this to be our favorite neighborhood restaurant when we feel like a western meal. We have not been there for many years now ever since we moved out of USJ and so for old time's sake decided to patronise the place last week. I tried their signature dish which was their half-grilled chicken while Kaemon tried their mixed grill comprising lamb steak, beef, chicken, bacon and sausages. I didn't think that their signature dish was as good as I once thought (maybe my expectations have gone up over the years) but Kaemon's grill was quite good actually and value for money at RM25. The escargots which they recommended was a total letdown though. Just so-so for me ...go only if you are hard up for western and its the only restaurant in the vicinity.

Steamed Beancurd

Chicken and Egg

Vegetable Curry

Seri Muka

Not many people know how to make this nyonya kueh called seri muka and I just had to give it a try since one of my sons love this very much. I reduced the sugar quite a bit and used pandanus juice for the coloring. It's healthier plus very fragrant too.

Bubur Cha-Cha

A favorite desert for my entire family. I was introduced to this from an very early age when my mum and god-aunt made this as an offering to our ancestors. Now, we make this just for fun as a desert. This time round, I used Japanese sweet potato which explains the dark purple you see here. Very rich food, high in cholesterol so we try to eat this in moderation.

Some party goers at Blogdumps were given a glimpse of this and thought they might want to try it. So here's the recipe...Trina this is for you.

Ingredients

300g yam, diced 300g sweet potatoes (choose the yellow and orange variety), diced 75g black-eyed beans, soaked for 2–3 hours 75g pearl sago A few drops pink colouring 450g grated coconut 1.2 litres water 1/2 tsp salt Syrup: 125g sugar 3–4 pandan leaves, shredded and knotted 1 cup water Method Steam sweet potatoes and yam separately for 10–15 minutes or until soft. Set aside. Boil soaked black-eyed beans until soft. Drain and set aside. Put sago in a sieve then place sieve in a large bowl. Rinse sago under running tap water then cook the sago in a pot of hot water until transparent. Remove and rinse under cold water and drain. Add colouring to sago and coat with 2 tablespoons tapioca flour. Squeeze and strain grated coconut to obtain thick coconut milk. Add salt to the thick coconut milk and keep refrigerated. Add 1.2l water to the coconut residue and squeeze to obtain thin coconut milk. Boil sugar, water and pandan leaves until sugar dissolves. Add thin coconut milk and continue to boil for 5–6 minutes. Add yam, sweet potatoes, black-eyed beans and sago. Stir evenly. Add thick coconut milk and at the first sign of boiling, immediately remove the pot from the heat. Remove the pandan leaves and serve either hot or cold.

Note: For my version, I added bananas (u can soak this in sugar syrup and add them in only when you want to serve). Also I dispensed with the black-eyed peas and sago as I find that the effort is too tedious and does not enhance the taste that much more for the effort put in. However, screw pine leaves or pandan leaves is required and if you are finding it hard to get this where you are, you can replace with pandan essence.

Hope you have time to try this out and let me know if you do.

Garlic rice with Sambal Seafood

Seafood Taufu

Seafood Seaweed Rolls in Sesame

I buy roasted seaweed sheets in bulk as my kids love sushi and we tend to make them very often. Recently, I found a new way to use the seaweed sheets.

Layered Seafood Taufu

Get the large sized taufu to do this and you will get the layers nicely like this. Just minced prawns and meat and marinate. Add spring onions or chives if you like. Give the taufu two deep slices making sure not to cut through it. Stuff the filling in, mix in egg and fry. Simple dish that is ideal for the kids as a snack.

Otak-Otak On a Tray

Lazy to get the banana leaves to wrap this up the conventional way, so took the short cut and steamed it on a tray. If you have at least 4 persons for dinner, doing it this way is alright as you can cut them up into 4 or 5 serving portions. Goes really well with rice. I used ikan kurau for this.

HOME-MADE CHAR SIU (BBQ PORK)

I tried making my own char siu (bbq pork) since the kids can't have enough of this when they go out for a meal at our regular chicken rice shop. Works out pretty well, I must say. Certainly lots of savings there and healthier too as I do not use any coloring for the meats.

Garlic Rice with Seafood Fritters

Seafood in Seaweed Rolls

We all love Sushi - each and everyone in the family. And I thought this variation of food using roasted seaweed might appeal to the kids. Didn't make too much just in case it ended up as a "spill" rather than a "thrill". But as it turned out, the kids were thrilled with this dish.

Malaysian Mee Rebus

First time I'm trying this and don't expect it to taste so authentic. The secret is in the sweet potato gravy. Looking at it, my son didn't think it would fill his huge appetite but it did. So, a good lunch time meal, this one.

Vegetarian So Hoon in Taro Beancurd

A very simple and appetizing vegetarian dish which I learned from Mum. Give me this and a plate of piping hot rice and I am set. Dish comprises some so hoon, taro beancurd, carrots, dried mushrooms and mock abalone. And add sugar and salt to taste. My son loves to eat this dish just on its own.

Minced Seafood Egg Roll

Chicken in Pointed Pepper Leaves (Daun Kaduk)

I plant my own "daun kaduk" in a little vegetable patch in the backyard. Besides using them for otak-otak and soups, I was trying to think of different ways to use one of my favorite vegetable. This is one of them. Very simple dish. The filling is marinated minced chicken, assembled on to a pepper leave and folded on both ends. Or secured with a bamboo skewer on both ends if you prefer. Brush the rolls with some oil and grill moderately for 5-6 minutes or pan-fry for 2 minutes. The leaves will char slightly but nice this way, I think. You can serve this wih Thai chilli sauce or make a dipping sauce of your own. (birds eye chillies, garlic, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and some water.

Prawn Fritters (Tempura style)

A favorite with kids, anytime. Let them dip it in mayonnaise and they'll love you to bits for it. With my kids, a plate of these fair-sized prawns can go within minutes. Never enough...takes maybe three similar plates of this before the will stop.



















I normally spice the prawns up with a little bit of home-made sauce for the adults.

My version of Cantonese Fried Noodles

Avocado Pastry

Smooth and creamy avocado paste on the inside and crispy on the outside. This is one of the best deserts I have ever tasted. Find this in Hong Lim, SS15, Subang Jaya. Available as a dim sum desert on Saturday and Sundays. Not sure if it is available on week-days. One plate comes with about 6 if I am not mistaken..Rest assured one plate will not be enough.