Merry Quiet Christmas

Christmas Wreath Bread

Click for recipe

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing all you happy people more happy times, to those who have lost their loved ones, wishing you acceptance and closure and happier times ahead. It'll be a mellow Christmas for us who have sad memories but we still need to keep our strength .... so...we EAT!!

Like I told a fellow friend and blogger .... Food is always a good solution. Eat too much and you can't move to do any damage to anything... not enough and you'd be searching and too busy foraging to bother about what's happening around you. 
So my message to close off the end of a relatively non-eventful (thank goodness) year .... EAT.

Watami : A Re Review

Watami @ 1 Utama

Back in 2012, I did a review at their outlet in Paradigm Mall and had a pretty okay experience. There were some good stuff, yes, of course. They still do. Some hype about it raised my expectations, I guess. This time I went without any, since I’m not here for a review. Was more impressed than the last visit (probably because they were trying too hard the last time) and I thought, they deserve an update … also because they do serve pork dishes now.

The quality of the salmon in the Salmon Sashimi Don was still as good. They certainly didn’t scrimp on the rice. I wish I could have finished it ….. soooo good! Real stuff …. no subs.

The Chawan Mushi was also very good, silky and flavourful…no bouncing on the floors with these. There’s only one other place I know (not talking about high-end Japanese restaurants, just the regular affordable ones) that makes it so beautifully.

Watami didn’t serve pork back then at my first review. Today, with so many Ramen shops sprouting up all over serving their versions of “authentic” Japanese Ramen, I’m not surprised they’ve included this in their menu. The quality of the pork slices were top notch but the texture of the ramen wasn’t quite up to par. I’ve no Phd in the ramen department…just that I like it silky smooth and al dente.

I’d asked about their Crab Croquettes and was disappointed they had taken that off the menu. Those were really something.

The homestyle gyozas were still around. Wonder why they kept this and not the croquettes? I thought the croquettes were so much yummier. Didn’t take a pic of those as they weren’t too photo friendly. You can take a look at them here.

The portions for the set meals were pleasantly and generously large. Service was excellent. In fact, the Ramen I had wasn’t on the set but they accommodated and changed it to what I wanted. Now, that’s service! 

Except for the waitress who insisted I use the shallow plate when I asked for a bowl to share my noodles with a friend…soup, noodles, duh….I got my bowl….it was a very good brunch. 

And no….unfortunately, we couldn’t fit in any desserts this time. 

The menu has changed some. I’ll definitely be back to try out more of their new stuff.

Yup…

Restaurant Review Disclaimer:

This review is of my own opinion. I am under no contract or obligation to write a review or to make it a positive one if I did.
I write my honest opinions and will tell you quickly if a product is not up to my standards. Anything I dislike may not be what you dislike (I can't help it if you have bad taste ... haha). My reviews are for entertainment purposes only. I am not a professional in the field and am not providing professional advice or anything of the sort.
Read at your own risk

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

The Great Pumpkin is gonna be so sore at me. I seem to have eaten all of my pumpkins and left none to carve and welcome halloween in. 

Shhh…don’t tell him what this is …. it’s a pumpkin in its halloween costume…yeah…that’s it.

They’re getting really good at make-up and their costumes these days, don’t ya think? Great disguise!

Anyway…have a Happy Halloween y’all !!

Enjoy the season with it’s wonderful gorgeous colours which we (in this part of the world) can only visualise unless somebody forgets to water their garden.

Sprouting Ideas: Chia

You’ve heard of Chia pets. Chia seeds. I wrote a little about it a while ago while experimenting (messing around really) with it in a spiced peach jam.

Full of nutrition, minerals … healthy benefits.

Ground chia seeds are great in bread and cakes. 

Now come the sprouts. Great in salads and sandwiches. Saw this on several sites and I decided to give it a go. I love sprouts … all sorts. They’re expensive to buy. Dunno why … it’s so easy and quick to grow. 

Has anyone tried sprouts on buttered bread? You know those dainty little things called cucumber sandwiches? Replace them cucumbers with sprouts, lashings of butter and lovely soft white bread …. or whatever healthy alternative soft bread you like. I’m going for something that pleases my tummy and fussy tongue buds …nothing healthy here …. oh … fine …. health food … ground chia seeds bread? Close your eyes while you chew on them … minus the crunch, they taste like cucumber…use your imagination.

Anyway …. I had fun growing these cute thingies. 

I’d used the plastic container for coffee machine pods. You can use old egg cartons, unglazed clay tiles, any shallow container. 

On clay surfaces, just sprinkle an even layer of seeds on a soaked tile. Give the seeds a spray of water and continue spraying it daily keeping them moist. They’ll turn into a gelatinous goop but it’s fine. They’ll sprout soon enough. 

Here’s what I did for mine …

STUFF

coffee pods container / egg carton

cotton buds

Chia seeds

water

METHOD

Wet the cotton buds and and fill each hole of the container. 

Sprinkle an even layer (do not over crowd the seeds) on the soaked cotton. 

Leave on a sunny window sill or any sunny area but not in direct sunlight. 

Sprinkle water on the cotton buds daily or whenever it looks/feels dry. 

It’s important to keep it moist.

Wait patiently for those cute thingies to sprout. 

Trim when sprouts are about 2-3 cm tall…about 2 weeks or so.

Throw out cotton and start all over.

Cockles

What do you do with cockles?

Just curious ......
I haven't seen many posts on cockles and am wondering if it's eaten anywhere else besides asia. 

Here in Malaysia, we like it 
~1. just scalded, the flesh dug out with a pick and dunked in a sweet chilly dip. 
~2. Fried with koay teow (flat rice noodles)
~3. Cooked in a curry

Anyone has recipes other than the measly 3 I have?

A Bread Story

A friend suggested I should just go to bakeries and write about bread, pastries and whatever bakes they sell and the stuff I’ve sampled. Heck … why not … gives me a good enough reason to eat. And I do like bread.

I’m not here to criticize the quality but more so on the variety and the service of the places I visit.

You do realize that good service makes the food taste a whole lot better? Well, it makes a world of a difference to me anyway. Sour faced waiters and cashiers make everything taste ugh. Why they’re in the service industry is beyond me …

Bread Story at the new wing of 1Utama … the usual array of breads, buns and pastries ….

Friend and I picked out a couple of goodies including what I thought was a banana chocolate muffin  …. it was labelled as such. Ordered a couple of drinks to go with and sat down to enjoy our pickings. Stabbed into the muffin and out oozed a gooey mass of blueberry-looking jelly. Hmm …. Banana, chocolate muffin with blueberry goo …. Okaaay. *scratch head* . Stared at it for a couple of stunned seconds and decided to ask the manager what that was suppose to be. She said “blueberry muffin”. Hah!! Labelled wrong. Now the gist of this story is about good PR. Lady manager apologised, walked off and came back with the correct muffin and said it’s on the house. Didn’t even take away the blueberry muffin. Well, it was pretty massacred anyway …

I know that was just a muffin, but in this selfish world today …. sometimes a small kind gesture makes a world of difference to someone’s crappy day.

Go ahead. Have a muffin. Have a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Down Time

I apologize for the long silence. 
It's been a little hectic with losses of loved ones since August. 

I'm looking forward to a whole new and happier (and I really mean Happier, with a capital "H") new year in 2013. 

I would like to thank everyone who had been so supportive in their different ways ... guest posts, friendship, emails, spiritual support, moral support, patience.


A Merry Christmas to all. 
This year's Christmas will be a very quiet affair for us .... to reflect and to heal.
Here's wishing a better one to you and yours.

Hugs.

Happy Halloween !

Have a happy halloween, everyone! 

Do you like my carved pumpkin? No, seriously, that really is a pumpkin, all decked out in its halloween pepper costume! 

It's hard to get into the halloween mood these days. Parents are terrified of their kids getting kidnapped. Grownups are getting fearful of muggings. I guess if you live in a gated community, there would be a lot more fun going on. That's how it is with the world today ... a new kind of halloween, where the spooks and ghouls are scared of the new world evils. People should now dress up as computer viruses, kidnappers, muggers and politicians.

We cope. 
We can only be safe, be aware and be smart.

Happy Horrorday!

In case you have too much pumpkin leftover than you know what to do with, here's a couple of not-so-usual suggestions that might interest you:

~ Pumpkin Roasted Duck Meat Steamed Kuih
~ Pseudo Chinese Mid-Autumn Pastry
~ Spiced Pumpkin & Tomato Soup Chicken
~ Fried Pumpkin Indian Style

Otherwise, just steam the flesh, mash it up and store it in the freezer. Very useful during non-pumpkin season.

Restaurant Review: Watami

IRASHAIMASE! .... echoed from all corners of Watami as we stepped into the establishment.

A pretty standard greeting at any Japanese type restaurant, but Watami is anything BUT the standard Japanese place with the standard menu of bentos, sashimis and miso soups.
This is an establishment fusioned with influences from Japan (of course, duh), Korea, Taiwan and Hongkong. (You will find out in a moment when I introduce the dishes we'd got to sample).

Based on the Japanese Izakaya ("I" : to stay, "sakaya" : sake shop) concept where one hangs out with friends and colleagues for drinks and to graze on little portions of good quality food, drink some more, graze some more and have a comfortable, cosy and relaxing time, enveloped in a happy, tipsy haze.

Watami is a larger scale of the Izakaya (with less emphasis on the alcohol) while keeping up with the changing times and thus came up with their trademark Ishokuya concept - "I" : scene, "shoku" : meal, "ya" : restaurant. 

Coming here, one has to leave behind the expectations of a typical Japanese restaurant and get absorbed into this younger, hipper and a more nouveau-japanese environment.

Let me take you on a little tour of some of Watami's recommendations ...



 Beverages

L to R: Green Citrus Green Tea, Kiwi Mojito (I was very tempted to order a mojito with the "extra" but I thought I'd better behave myself this time and get my review in first), Green Citrus Yuzu Marmalade Soda and Purple Sweet Potato Vanilla Shake.
My Kiwi Mojito was nice and refreshing. The Green Citrus Green Tea was, um .... green. The Yuzu drink had so many calamansi limes in it, it may as well be limau ais soda ... didn't taste anything of the marmalade. The Purple Sweet Potato Shake ... well, I guess it takes an acquired taste to appreciate that. Personally, I thought it tasted like melted ice cream potong. 

Wafu Touban Gyu Steak : RM 27.90

(Self Grilled Beef Short Ribs)

This is to die for ... well, maybe not that drastic, but it's pretty good beef (provided you don't turn it into carbon but you can always get some help from the staff to cook it for you if you're really that inept).

Bariuma Teba Karaage : RM 14.90

(Crispy Fried Chicken Wings with Special Sauce)

Nice and crispy, but special sauce? ... tasted like terriyaki. 

Kani Tappuri Cream Croquette : RM 15.90 (2 pcs)

(Crabmeat Cream Croquette)

Now this, I would have again. The filling was perfect, not overly creamy to make you "jelak" (cloyingly rich) and not "kedekut" (miserly) either. Very nice!

Teppan Bo Gyoza : RM 15.90
(Gyoza/potstickers on Hot Pan)

Pretty standard stuff. Since this place doesn't serve pork, the filling was made with chicken. But this didn't come out of a frozen package, they make their own gyozas.






Salmon Sashimi Don : RM 22.90
(Salmon Sashimi Rice)

I love sashimi. Give me good salmon and I'm sold! 






Kani Kamameshi : RM 24.90
(Crab Meat Pot Rice)

This came with a bit of a flair .... lit tea candle underneath and not allowed to lift the lid until the flame goes out, we were told, or all the "magic" goes away. Hmm ... that got my expectations way high. And when we finally got to lift the lid, okaaaay, lots of crab meat, kudos for that but .... I thought it was a little fishy. Forgive me if I'm a little fussy about my seafood. I'm from Penang, where there's nothing BUT fresh seafood. I'm thinking this has the potential to be one of their better selling items. 






Tokyo Gyudon : RM 22.90
(Beef Rice Bowl with Hot Spring Egg in Tokyo style)

I'm a red meat person and a runny yolk lover. So this combination ..... I could eat this everyday ... seriously!





Chawan Mushi : RM 6.90
(Steamed Savoury Egg Custard)

This is one item that I must have as a gauge as to how good a Japanese restaurant is. (Bear with me, don't roll your eyeballs). Believe me, I've been to so-called fancier places and had chawan mushis that can literally bounce on floors or swimming in a layer of water or with the egg all curdled and lumpy. And they have the gall to serve those! Cheez! 
I'm pleased to say, I'm happy with my chawan mushi here. Nice and silky with a good flavor you know isn't all chicken stock. Delicious!






Choco Banana in Toast Box : RM 16.90
(do you really need a translation?!)

I have to admit, that after all that food, I really can't give this the credit it's due. All that bread? Perhaps, if one were to drop in between shopping to reenergize and have a cuppa and a breather, rest your aching feet and gossip with friends, this would be a good item to share. Filled with some choice fruits (mango, red currants, strawberries, scoop of vanilla ice cream, dollop of whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate and a dusting of powdered sugar. I don't know about reenergizing, but it's enough to make me hyper!
Folks with a sweet tooth .... it's all yours for the picking!


Arigato gozaimasu, for the invite and to Miss Pei Jin (Group Marketing Executive) and Mr Seal (Outlet Manager @ Paradigm Mall)

For more of their menu and other outlets, check out their website 
@ http://www.watami.com.my/



Restaurant Review Disclaimer:

This review is of my own opinion. I am under no contract or obligation to write a review or to make it a positive one if I did.
I write my honest opinions and will tell you quickly if a product is not up to my standards. Anything I dislike may not be what you dislike (I can't help it if you have bad taste ... haha). My reviews are for entertainment purposes only. I am not a professional in the field and am not providing professional advice or anything of the sort.
Read at your own risk.

Repost: Happy Eid & Seeing Green (again)

I was just looking through some old posts and came across this which I'd totally forgotten I'd written about. This would be appropriate since it's around the same time last year when we decided to find our inner country bumpkins and cleanse our over-polluted lungs. 
It was so quiet and peaceful due to the Eid season. Some of us who did not return to hometowns or go off on vacations, benefited from this very short but sweet moment of nature appreciation and friendship. 
Happy Eid ul Fitr to all my Muslim friends out there. Travel safe, eat safe and come home safe.

16th September was Malaysia Day. And to celebrate, a bunch of us very city folks with a couple of city-but-a-little-more-experienced-in-jungle-trekking folks headed off to Janda Baik. This is located just below Genting Highlands, our own homegrown Las Vegas, started by Mr/Datuk/I don't-know-how-many-titles-he-has, Lim Goh Tong, bless his Chinaman soul. I watched a tv interview of him a long time ago and I really liked the guy, even though what he created brings out the devil in so many people and causes so many heartaches due to some peoples' gambling addictions and an incurable need to make money the quick and easy way. On the other hand, he's helped the country's economy and workforce. But that's another story.

Greens are good for you. It's been proven, gastronomically and visually. We all know about the benefits from eating vegetables, so we won't get into that. Looking at green things apparently relaxes the eyes and calms the mind and soul ... so I read ... somewhere.

Janda Baik, which means "Good Widow", is filled with lush greens, especially since it's been raining almost daily for the last month. The secondary tropical jungle surrounds small fruit farms scattered around the area. And if you look carefully, you might see some pretty fancy getaway homes among them. These farms produce a good supply of local fruits for sale at the surrounding village shops and also the scalp-the-tourist shops below the entrance to and at Genting Highlands.

The morning started out like all groggy mornings. Fortunately it wasn't raining and was quite a lovely day. 10 of us left in 3 cars and convoyed to a good Malaysian breakfast in the hopes of having lots of energy for the trek. Unfortunately and predictably, after stuffing our faces, we were all pretty warm and woozy. Cups of hot teh tarik (hot milk tea) and coffee didn't seem to work. The drive took another half hour before we got to the little township of Janda Baik. Meanwhile, folks who weren't driving were nodding off in the back seats.

We left our nice, air conditioned cars (hey, we're city folks, remember?) at the car park of a quaint little place called Hawa Resort.They have a good facility for training, leadership and fellowship building purposes. It was quiet at this time of the year due to Ramadan and Eid and most folks are off to their kampungs (hometowns), so we have the whole place to ourselves...

...except for 2 of the most ferocious geese I've ever met. Hmmm... Christmas is coming, and we haven't had roast goose for a long while. Ok, ok, just kidding ...

They make excellent watchdogs.. umm.. i mean, watchgeese.

The air was fresh and clean, the earlier couple of rainy days helped, lack of noise pollution (except for the occasional jabbering from some individuals of our group), breathe in, breathe out, inhale, exhale ....

We started our trek going through a "langsat" (botanic name: Lansium Domesticum) fruit orchard. And thus, our trek was delayed by a good half hour :)

After having been satisfied with taking pics and some mouthfuls of the sweetest, freshest langsats I've ever had, we finally set off on the trail that our so-called guide and friend claimed he knew like the back of his hand.

You know something's about to go wrong, right?

It wasn't quite so bad. After much slipping and sliding, cuts and bruises, bugs and leeches and crashing our way through some denser undergrowth due to non-traffic during Ramadan season, we landed up at a place we were not supposed to be...in other words, we got lost.

Wild boar foraging grounds. You can see the upturned earth where they dig for edible roots. Thank goodness we didn't meet with any of them oinkers. Those things are fierce! and

dangerous! and you think just because they're big and fat they can't run? Think again. I've seen the pygmy ones in Africa and they were scary little round things with upright tails, running and nipping at our heels with sharp toothpick tusks trying to puncture the truck tires ... dumb things. I'm certain I wouldn't want to meet up with their Malaysian, 10x-bigger-in-size cousins!

I think some people in the group probably didn't realize this. Maybe it's just as well.

Nah, it's not quite as exciting as it sounds. It happened to be the backyard of one of those holiday homes and we just had to trespass (sshhh) and cut through the massive garden to the river where we had our picnic.

It was a lovely place to picnic. Some of us were frolicking in the river while others were enjoying the greenery and tranquility of the whole situation. And some were trying to stop the bleeding from leech bites with a forest herb called "Senduduk Hutan" (botanic name: Melastoma Polyanthum), a Rhododendron-like shrub, by crushing the leaves and rubbing it on the wound. It worked for some but not for all. Apparently, you need the ones that grow deep within the jungle.

(A word of advice: rub bug repellant around ankles to prevent leeches from crawling up your legs and into your socks and who knows where else.)

Things went really quiet after that. No more of the excited chatter at the beginning, no more screechings from discovering leech bites, no more shrieks from falling on one's butt into the mud (that was me...ahem).... just calm and peace with a hint of tiredness in the air. How do I explain it? A satisfying tiredness? Ah, yes,...... Contentment. Absoverylutely zen.

Pearl of the Orient : Diet Buster

I had a great weekend in Penang, aka Pearl of the Orient. Short as it was, the visit was well spent with good friends and good food! And that, my friends, was the end of my very short-lived diet. Nobody goes to Penang and goes on a diet. 
Do you hear a complaint? Heck, no.
I'm blissfully contented, and I shall just have to start another diet soon.... did I say soon? I meant, now.


In the meantime, may I tickle your tastebuds with pics of some of the popular local dishes on the island? 
These are some of the stuff I crave for. I live in the big city now, where things are modern, fancy, expensive, the city where you can get cuisines from all over the world. Great chefs have graced our 5-star hotel kitchens. Well known celebrity chefs have bothered to visit our not-so-humble country and cooked for the country's rich and famous. And yet, nobody here can make a decent plate of fried koay teow (fried rice noodles), mee goreng (indian fried noodles), just to name a couple. Yes, of course, there are those who claim they come from Penang and that the dishes are authentic. You can't fool a real Penangite's tastebuds. Pffft.


I can't believe I've only 6 dishes to show you. I know we ate more than that in one sitting. (Told you my diet's busted). We must have eaten them so quickly there wasn't even time to take a pic. 


Anyway, ogle and drool time .... (I'm speaking for myself)

Top row, left to right:
charcoal baked crab with roe, salt baked prawns and baked crabs before they got massacred (peeking out from top right corner: stir fried littleneck clams)


These were from a ramshackled restaurant, very old but famous for the Chinese temple next to it. (You think it's good feng shui?). It's also by the beach. Sitting in the outdoors, praying hard that the grey clouds above don't decide to turn on their faucets. There was a lovely cool breeze blowing, was there a good sunset? Too busy eating, laughing and chatting to notice. 
There were also grilled fish, chicken and mutton satay, fried noodles ... pictures we forgot to take.  


Bottom row, left to right:
fried oysters omelet, fried koay teow and kerabu meehoon (nyonya rice vermicelli salad)


These were from another old but popular place where the locals like to hang out and load up on their favorite hawker fare. A place we Penangites fondly call "padang", which means "field". Aptly named, as there is a huge padang beyond these stalls, where kids and adults from around come to have their walkies and whatever form of exercise and play. And as usual, we were so engrossed in stuffing our faces, we forgot to take photographs of some of the things we had ..... pasembur (Chinese style salad, consisting of shredded jicama and cucumber, crispy fritters and tofu, all drenched in a sweet potato sauce), nyonya kuihs and fresh coconut to drink.


And this is where I hibernated after each meal.

sigh ...... definition of Contentment: Ping.