FOODlog #192: Wantan Mee @ Yu Lek A friend of mine has been wanting to take me, my brother and some friends out for a meal for some time now. He wanted to treat us to a meal to thank us for the times he was in financial difficulty and us being there with him to help him out and support him in those difficult times. He has gotten a job now and is having a better financial situation now so he wanted to say thank you by treating us to a meal. He brought us for breakfast at this…
FOODlog #193: Zinger Burger @ KFC A couple of Sundays ago me and my friends and family went for lunch at KFC. I haven't eaten there in a long time and recently they apparently upgraded their chickens in a sense the size of the chicken is bigger. Here in Malaysia the size of the chickens are extremely puny and it has been boycotted by lots of people. So although their chickens are quite tasty, the portions served doesn't justify the price point of their food. So we decided to…
FOODlog #194: Lotus Root & French Beans with Miso Butter We had some lotus root and French beans delivered to the cafe last month and used them for our staff meal. My Filipino colleague cooked the lunch but I helped prep some of the ingredients like slicing the lotus root. I used a Japanese mandolin to slice it nice and thin. It was so thin you could even see the table through the lotus root chips. The lotus root is then stir fried with the French Beans and seasoned with a…
FOODlog #195: Mum's Tuna Mushroom Spaghetti When I was running my own F&B business, I use to have on the menu this dish that my Mum made. It's a tuna and mushroom pasta that's creamy and super delicious. It uses a variety of canned food items and some fresh ingredients like onions, dried oregano, and Worcestershire sauce for the seasonings and flavor of this dish. It's a dish that makes canned food the highlight and trust me, a super unique and delicious dish. I haven't…
FOODlog #196: Hong Kong Chicken Rice Porridge 3 weeks ago I cooked lunch for the cafe staff meal and I made Hong Kong-style chicken congee or also known as chicken rice porridge. It is a fairly easy dish to cook in terms of the amount of ingredients needed but actually it takes a lot of time and effort as well as some skill to make it the right way. You'll first have to wash the rice. I prefer only washing it once as oppose to 2-3 times when cooking rice as you'll want the…
FOODlog #197: Milky Pepper Soup with Pork Trotter It's my Filipino colleague's time to cook again and he cooked a pork trotter and stomach pepper soup which was so delicious! Just thinking of it now makes me want to have it again! First the pork trotter and stomach is washed and blanched in hot boiling water for about 5 minutes to remove any scum and impurities. Next it's seasoned and marinated with salt. The soup is a simply adding to a pot of water, ginger, garlic, onions,…
FOODlog #198: Sang Har Mee I've been craving for 'Sang Har Mee' which is a noodle dish top with an egg drop gravy that's flavored with fresh water prawns. It's normally a more luxurious and pricey dish which not many places serve it. After church about 3 Sundays ago, we went to a local hawker center that we frequent quite a bit. There was a hawker stall serving something similar but instead of those giant fresh water prawns, it was replaced with fresh prawns. Honestly, it…
FOODlog #199: Chicken Fillet with Potatoes One of the days last month in November, I cooked the cafes staff meal again. I found out that the new grocer above the cafe were selling frozen chicken breast which is the cheapest chicken you can find in the market here in Malaysia. And just coz its frozen, doesn't mean it isn't fresh. They are frozen right after being butchered and they are still fresh and in peak condition. I made a dish that my Mum makes at home every now and…
FOODlog #200: Malaysian Mix Rice Food After cooking so many meals which can be exhausting as you need to plan the meals, do the grocery shopping, prep the food, and cook the food. We decided to have a takeaway lunch for our staff meal. It's great that we work at an area that has lots of choices for food and is especially convenient when we're busy or lazy to cook. One of my colleagues went to buy some food at the food court above the place we work at. He bought some Malay…
FOODlog #201: Mamak Mee Goreng I'm really grateful and thankful for my Mum and wife who cooks dinner almost every other day. I'm so appreciative of their time and effort put into cooking as I get to come home from work and there's already a hot meal prepared ready for me to eat. Even when they don't cook, they still look into making sure there's food to eat which they either pick up some food from a nearby shop and order a takeaway or get a takeaway via food delivery. The…
FOODlog #202: Chicken Casserole with Tomatoes & Potatoes Often whenever I don't know what to cook, I think of the food that my Mum cooks for us and cook those dishes for my staff meals. And that's just what I did the other day. I cooked 2 dishes that is in my Mum's recipe bag. I made a chicken fillet stir fry with cinnamon sticks, fresh tomatoes, and potatoes, seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and garlic. Its an easy dish to make with inexpensive ingredients. First I…
FOODlog #203: Lobster Meatballs Laksa I have 2 off days a week from work which one day is on a Sunday as the cafe is closed on Sundays and another day of my choosing depending as well on the other kitchen crew when they're taking off. Normally I pick Saturdays and on my off day on a Saturday I have music practice at church and sometimes I hang out with some friends after that. In one of the Saturdays after practice, me and a friend went to hangout at a local shopping mall's…
FOODlog #204: Mee Pok & Chocolate Sundae A few Sundays ago, me and my friends went for lunch after church. We went to a local hawker center but the place was totally packed and we needed to wait a bit for an empty table. I ordered a noodle dish called 'Mee Pok' which is a flat noodle dish mixed with soy sauce and dark soy sauce. It comes together with some minced pork and barbecued pork slices as well as a soup on the side. It took really really long for the food to arrive…
FOODlog #205: Hainanese Chicken Rice After a tough day at work the other day, I met up with my parents and brothers for dinner as we were needing to have a family meeting on financial matters. We had dinner at a new place at a mall nearby the train station where they picked me up from after my work. This place was serving local delights like chicken rice, Nasi Lemak, char Kuey teow and other local food. I wasn't really in the mood for food but ordered anyway as I knew I…
FOODlog #206: Artisan Sourdough Pizzas Earlier this month me and some friends went to celebrate @hooiyewlim 's birthday. We went to a friend's cafe that has recently opened and they were having their soft launch. Its a place that serves artisan Sourdough pizzas and other baked goods. He's a professional Baker so all his bake goods have great quality and taste really good. We ordered 3 different types of pizzas to share - a margherita, a mushroom pizza, and a beef brisket…
FOODlog #207: Orecchiette Broccoli A couple of weeks ago I cooked the staff meal and made an Italian inspired dish. I made orecchiette broccoli. In Italian it means 'ear' as it looks like small ear-shaped pasta and is able to be a wonderful vehicle for any type of pasta sauce. I made and oil base one with the main ingredient being broccoli. Orecchiette pasta with broccoli and a sauce made from the broccoli stems blended with garlic oil, dried local chilies, and a tablespoon…
FOODlog #208: Spinach Lasagna It's my favorite time of the year in terms of festivities being Christmas and all. I love that it's the school holidays where I get to play with my son later in the night. I love that everyone is giving one another gifts and presents. I love that it's the time of the year where we look back through the year and give thanks for the year as well as we look forward to the new year ahead. Its just an amazing time of the year where almost the whole…
FOODlog #209: Spicy Ramyeon with Smoked Pork Bacon Last week my colleague cooked lunch for the staff and he made some Spicy Ramyeon topped with pan seared smoked pork belly, some enoki mushrooms, a poached egg, and some freshly sliced spring onions. The Ramyeon noodles were from an instant noodle pack that all you need to do is cook it for about 3-4 minutes in some hot water. Add the seasonings from the packed and you're done. Simple but readily available and easy to make,…
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