FOODlog #62: Maggi Goreng Mamak This is a super popular dish here in Malaysia and can be found at any 'mamak' restaurant. We call these restaurants 'mamak' as it's Indian Muslims that operate these local restaurants and they serve all sorts of Malaysian local favorites like 'Nasi Lemak', various types of 'roti' and also fried instant noodles which we call 'maggi goreng'. The name comes from the brand of instant noodles called 'maggi' and the word 'goreng' which means fried.…
FOODlog #63: Malaysian Chinese Takeaway Meal Last week my Mum bought back some delicious food. She got me some 'Nasi Lemak' as well as other dishes for the whole family for our lunch and dinner. Here are some of dishes we had: - Ayam Rempah This is chicken that has been deep fried with grated ginger and lots of other spices hence the name it's called 'rempah' which means spices. It was aromatic and so flavorful from all the spices and ginger that it was marinated and then…
FOODlog #64: Chinese Dinner at Golden Valley Restaurant Last Monday we had a family dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant in a shopping mall. The place is a halal Chinese restaurant and I've heard there have been some good reviews of the place so I was quite eager to try out the food. My dad wanted to have peking duck dish which we haven't had in a long time so this place was serving it which was one of the reasons we went there. The place wasn't too crowded and is was a…
FOODlog #65: Chap Fan with Vegetables 'Chap Fan' is a staple here in Malaysia. It's basically a plate of rice and you can pick from a variety of dishes that the stall serves from vegetable dishes to meat dishes. These shops are typically open 7 days a week and some serve from lunch till dinner. Most places are ready with the food from 1030am and serve throughout the day till 8-9pm. Here's some dishes I had for lunch last week and my Mum picked out mostly vegetables dishes…
FOODlog #66: Maggi Goreng with Fried Chicken Last week was my son's 7th birthday. My Mum took us out for lunch to celebrate with him. We went to a local 'mamak' shop not too far from where we live where he likes the fried chicken there. It's also nearby an ice-cream shop that recently opened up and she wanted to treat him to some ice-cream there. For my lunch I ordered myself a plate of 'maggi goreng ayam' . It's a Malaysian local favorite dish which is instant noodles…
FOODlog #67: Local Ice-Cream with Gula Apong Last week I went to this new ice-cream place called 'Q Ice Cream Gula Apong'. It's a place that opened up quite nearby where I live and I've heard the ice-cream is good. So we went there after lunch and had some of their ice-creams and they were really good! They use a type of sugar called 'gula apong' which is a type of palm sugar that's known in East Malaysia particularly Sarawak. They use it in iced milk tea and apparently in…
FOODlog #68: Char Kuey Teow with Duck Egg Went to brunch with my cousin from Singapore last week who was in town for the week. I haven't seen him for 2 and a half years due to all the travel restrictions and covid lockdowns so was a good time to hangout and catchup after so long. He's 8 years younger than me and now my son goes to the same primary school that he used to attend. We had lunch at a local coffee shop nearby where I live that has some good food there. There is a…
FOODlog #69: Malaysian Chicken Rice Every now and then I'll crave for chicken rice. Maybe it's because it's something I've been eating all my life and although it's a fairly simple dish with basically just chicken and rice, it sure is delicious and hits the spot that'll satisfy. Here is a chicken rice that my Mum had takeaway for us for lunch last weekend. We just recently went to this area to eat 'Char Kuey Teow' and now this time having chicken rice from another stall at…
FOODlog #70: Lettuce Wrap with Hokkien-style Stir Fried Jicama Last week me and my Mum cooked one of Penang's signature dishes that's made with jicama known here locally as 'sengkuang'. This is a veggie wrap that's super appetizing and absolutely delicious! Besides the prep work which will be the part of the cooking process that takes the longest time, the rest of the work is fairly easy to prepare and make this dish. The ingredients that you'll need are jicama, carrots,…
FOODlog #71: Tom Yum Fried Rice and more Last Sunday we had a fried rice fiesta for lunch. Me and my friends went to this place after church was was just like a minute away. It's a place that used to be a cook smoke meat like briskets and ribs but a few months back it changed to a new place that serves more local Malaysian cuisine like rice and noodles. They still have their Texas style barbecue but now they also have some Asian fusion dishes with it. Lots of us had their…
FOODlog #72: Indoor Playground and Chicken Burgers at Burger King Malaysia Last week I went to an indoor playground at a nearby mall with my family and my brother's family. It had a good offer and for every 1 child an adult can go in for free and play too. Some of the areas are only for kids but for some parts, adults can accompany and play with the kids too. There was a basketball area which was very nicely built. It wasn't the standard basketball court size though, more of…
FOODlog #73: Penang Otak-Otak Last week my Mum went on a trip with her family to Penang which is in the north of Malaysia. She went there for a short holiday with her mother and her siblings as well as my nephew from Singapore who is on holidays here in Malaysia. She bought back some delicious goodies and also this dish called 'otak-otak' which is a Malaysian cuisine dish for our dinner. We steamed it up and had it for our dinner with rice. 'Otak-otak' translates to 'brains'…
FOODlog #74: Maccheroni Bolognese Cooked for my family some Maccheroni Bolognese last week for lunch before going for basketball in the evening. My sons don't really like to eat pasta so I don't usually cook pasta for them. It's been quite awhile since I last cooked pasta so I guess it's a good change to have some pasta for our meal. I started the base of my bolognese sauce by frying off in a pan some minced pork on high heat. I didn't add any oil to the pan as my mince pork…
FOODlog #75: Fried Rice with Fried Chicken and Refreshing Drinks Last Friday after playing basketball, I went for dinner at the 'mamak' restaurant that is below the condominium. I ordered some 'mamak' style fried rice with fried chicken for my dinner. It's a pretty standard 'mamak' style fried rice you'd get at any 'mamak' restaurant here in Malaysia. It's cooked with garlic, some onions/shallots, birds eye chili, some green vegetables, and seasoned with soy sauce, dark soy…
FOODlog #76: Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork in Soy Sauce) Last week my Mum cooked one of my favorite Nyonya cuisine dishes called 'Tau Yu Bak' which in English its basically Braised Pork in Soy Sauce. Nyonya cuisine is a fusion cuisine and is known for lotsa a blend of spices and herbs that make the cuisine unique. This dish is fairly easy to make and all you'll need is pork belly, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce (optional), garlic, five spice powder, and eggs. This dish…
FOODlog #77: Minions & McDonald's Collaboration Meals Last Sunday it was a public holiday in my country and a lof of shops and eateries were closed. Me and my friends then headed to the place that we knew was gonna be open which was McDonalds's. Not my first choice of places to eat but my son do love them chicken nuggets and fries. I ordered for him a Mix-and-Match set which you can pick from a few things and match it to what you want to order. I got him 4 pcs of chicken…
FOODlog #78: North West Malaysia Assam Laksa Two Sundays ago me and some friends went to play basketball at a nearby park and after that we went to have dinner together. We went to a local shopping mall that's been recently renovated. We had dinner at the food court where they have a good amount of selections to choose from. For myself, I had 'Assam Laksa' which is a thick rice noodle dish that has a spicy and sour broth. Outside of Malaysia, I think this dish is very hard…
FOODlog #79: Smoked Salmon Carbonara @ Kings Hall Cafe Two Monday's ago there was a public holiday in my country. So happen my wife's brother was in town for a sneaker deal and he had some free time before his flight back to Sibu in East Malaysia where he works. We met up with him for lunch at a place called Kings Hall. It's a modern but simple looking place that serves fusion food inspired by Japanese, Malaysian, and Western cuisine. For my lunch, I ordered their 'Smoked…
FOODlog #80: Petai & Spinach Fried Rice My Mum cooks really good fried rice. She can basically use any savory ingredient or even leftover dishes and make a really good fried rice dish. The other day she cooked fried rice for lunch and dinner with just a few ingredients but it was super delicious. She made 'Petai' & Spinach Fried Rice. 'Petai' or in English known as stinky beans are a type of local bean in Malaysia that's often cooked with 'sambal' and also fried rice. It's…
FOODlog #81: Mini Pork Patty Stew Last week my Dad came back for lunch and my Mum cooked some of his favorite dishes. She cooked a fairly simple lunch of 1 meat dish and 1 vegetables dish with some steam white rice. The meat dish was some mince pork patties cooked with potatoes which we call it at home as Chinese burgers. It's minced pork patties that's been pan fried and then set aside to then cook with a gravy with potatoes that's made with onions roughly cut into…
FOODlog #82: Carbonara Maccheroni with Cured Liver Sausage I had some leftovers of these beautiful Maccheroni pasta from cooking bolognese the other day so I used it to make a simple dinner for myself. It's a 1 portion meal for me so it took me about 5 minutes to make it coz my pasta was already cooked and all I need to make was a sauce. I took some leftovers from a lunch dish my Mum made that had slices of pork cooked with garlic and tomatoes and then heated it up in a pan…
FOODlog #83: Tomato with Pork Tenderloin Stir Fry For our meals we cook at home, we usually have a meat dish and a vegetable dish. We try to keep this in our diet every other day so that we get the nutrients that our bodies need. Sometimes we also have a soup dish or we combine the meat and vegetables and make a soup. These are the sort of dishes we would have for our meals every other day. An example of a simple meat dish to make that isn't too tedious or complicated to…
FOODlog #84: Lamb Stew with Potatoes Cooked lunch for my family 2 weeks ago. My Mum bought some lamb shoulder chops so I used that to make a lamb stew that we ate with rice. I first started by marinating the lamb chops in a marinade I made with soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and pepper, and smoked paprika. I packed it in a zip lock bag and left it in the fridge overnight to marinade. In the morning I prepped the vegetables, roughly chopping up onions, carrots,…
FOODlog #85: Instant Tonkotsu Ramen A couple months ago my wife bought this instant ramen from a place that sells fresh meat and also some pantry items as well as instant noodles. This one here is a pork bone broth ramen (tonkotsu ramen) that is so good I think it can even rival some restaurant's tonkotsu ramen. The pack is also larger than usual instant noodles so you'll definitely be full after eating a pack of this. It has 2 smaller packs that comes with it, one being a…
FOODlog #86: Beef Cheeseburger Recently after playing basketball on Fridays, me and my friend have been going to the same 'mamak' restaurant for dinner. We noticed that they have a separate burger menu and there have been quite a number of people ordering it. We made it a point to order it on our next visit to the place and this time we got their burgers. I ordered their beef cheeseburger. It's a fairly basic cheeseburger with some iceberg lettuce at the bottom and the beef…
FOODlog #87: Fried Whole Fish One of my favorite things to eat is fried fish which is also one of my Mum's favorite food to eat. The other day she cooked this whole fish by shallowing frying it in vegetable oil and simply seasoned with salt. I might have eaten this fish before but it's not a fish that we usually eat. It is slightly cheaper than a barramundi which is more common here in Malaysia but this was a very lovely tasting fish. Very similar in it's texture with a…
FOODlog #88: Penang Assam Prawns My Mum got some tiger prawns the other day. I think in other parts of the world it's also called jumbo shrimp. Normally when she buys these kind of plump prawns, we are in for a real treat coz first of all we don't usually eat prawns this big, and secondly she'll be cooking something that we really really love to eat but rarely eat. This time she cooked her famous Penang Assam Prawns! As you can see in the picture below, unlike most 'Assam…
FOODlog #89: Pork Trotter Stew Last week my mother cooked one of her signature dishes for lunch - pork trotter stew. It's a dish that originates from North West of Malaysia. We only eat this a few times a year which is a real treat when we do have it. I guess that's also good not eating it frequently as it wouldn't be good for the health doing so. Sometimes too much of a good thing is bad thing especially when it comes to overeating anything XD Anyway, here's how it's made.…
FOODlog #90: Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang Last week after sending my son to school in the morning, I stopped by a roadside stall to get some breakfast. Nowadays there are plenty of roadside stalls popping up that are selling food throughout the day. This little stall had local breakfast delights like 'Nasi Lemak' with lots of dishes to choose from like fried chicken, 'sambal' squid, rendang, and some other vegetables. They also had a few varieties of fried noodles to choose…
@drumsticks