FOODlog #320: Malaysian Mix Rice Dishes
Sometimes for our staff meal, when we are tired or lazy to cook, we'll go for takeaway instead. We normally go to our usual spot for takeaways which has lots of varieties of dishes to pick and choose from and the price is really reasonable.
This time we took a vegetable which is 'kangkung' or also known as water spinach, a spicy tofu dish, and 2 different chicken dishes. One was a rendang chicken dish and another was lemon and chicken.
We also got a dish called 'lobak' from another stall which is pork wrapped in bean curd skin and deep fried.
Altogether it only cost us RM43 (<10 USD) for a meal with these kind of portions for 5 people. A very generous amount of food and extremely reasonably priced.
All the dishes were very good except the tofu which tasted good but it was really spicy and above my level of tolerance. Other than that every other dish tasted fantastic.
Simple dishes and meal and best of all minimal washing up since we didn't cook 😄
FOODlog #319: Pork Shoulder Soup Ramen
One of the meals I love making is noodle dishes especially a noodle soup with some sort of broth.
The other day for the staff meal at the cafe, I made some pork soup ramen. I used a premix herbal bone broth mix that is really nice from 'Hai di lao'. This particular flavor is so far the best on their line of instant soup mix on the shelves.
I added in pork shoulder to fortify the soup with stronger and bolder flavors of its bone broth flavor. Cook this broth around an hour to an hour and a half so that the pork shoulder is tender but if you're using chicken, it'll take like 10 minutes. Super convenient and easy broth to make.
For the noodles I used some ramen that I bought at the store it was Springy and had a wonderful mouth feel to it. I topped the bowl with some blanched bok choy, spring onions, and some seafood tofu that I cook for about 5 minutes with the broth.
I also topped the bowl with some chili oil to give it a little spicy kick and aromatic spicy notes. The dish was so flavorful and aromatic. The pork was tender and paired perfectly with the delicious hearty broth and springy noodles. Amaaaazing! ~~
FOODlog #318: Thai Green Curry & Coconut Salad with Mince Chicken
Went to this new Thai place that opened at a local Mall nearby where I live. It used to be another shop that I really liked their food but they closed down and was replaced by this new Thai place.
So it's my first time trying it out and ordered 2 different dishes for myself and my wife.
We ordered their Thai green curry with chicken and a coconut salad with minced chicken.
The green curry was quite delicious and not too overwhelmingly spicy. It had some. Brinjal, long beans, and fairly generous portion of chicken slices. I do however prefer the previous restaurant's green curry though.
The coconut salad with minced chicken was decent but a little too spicy for my liking and the vegetables were more on a raw side. It had some acidity so I'm assuming the vegetables were suppose to be more wilted. Maybe it's suppose to be that way but personally I'm didn't enjoy it very much.
As a first visit the food is good enough for me to want to try their other food for a next visit. Worthwhile a try and perhaps there's some really good stuff on the menu I haven't tried.
FOODlog #317: High School Friend's Wedding
Had a friend from high school get married the other day. Attended his weeding with some other friends and got to see lots of high school friends that I haven't seen in a long time. Managed to catch up and chat with a few of them which was really great.
It was a beautiful wedding with lots of laughter and celebration. The door gift was a really nice piece of artistic touch. It was a medieval looking key with a nice note on it and a box of chocolates.
The food was also amazing especially the starter which had prawns, fish, and a sausage like scotch egg but the yolk was a salted egg yolk which was super savory and packed full of umami flavors.
Another dish that was really good were the iberico barbecue pork ribs. Not a common dish at weddings but this guy made it happen and everybody seemed to be happy getting their hands dirty even all dressed up for a wedding. It did come with a pair of plastic glove each for everyone so that was really thoughtful and practical.
There was also fried rice which was cooked perfectly. I always admire people who cook fried rice especially in massive batches as I know how difficult it is to pull off a seemingly simple dish.
Had a really great time being a part of the wedding and to many more years of good happenings for the couple 🙌
FOODlog #316: Bangers & Mash with Broccoli Salad
Recently one of my colleagues who loves history especially the war and conquest side of things, cooked some bangers and mash. The correlation is that this is a dish that was created during the war period of the English empire. People were poor and resources was scarce but people still wanted their meat and potatoes hence, sausages with fillers and mash potatoes.
This is the second time he's making it in two weeks but made some changes this round.
He used beef sausages and chicken hot dogs this time. The beef sausages were more pricey and it had natural casings which were great. The chicken sausages tasted pretty good too and the mash was instant mash. This guy loves his processed food and the experience of eating as if it was war time.
The gravy was also a premix as you can imagine. He also made a broccoli and mayo that we topped it on the plate with the bangers and mash.
For mine, I added some harbanero hot sauce and it paired amazing with the entire dish. I also cut up the sausages and played them a little more artsy which made the plating really nice.
A simple and delicious meal that many used to eat during hard times. Food often brings us history and we get to experience in some sort of way a certain aspect of life of it.
FOODlog #315: Chef's Breakfast
At our cafe, we have a budget of RM60 (<USD 15) for our staff meals. This is to feed around 4-6 people per day and we normally are within the budget with about RM10-15 to spare. In USD it looks like it's very limited for the number of pax eating but here in Malaysia, you definitely can get pretty decent food at that amount especially if you cook the meal yourself.
So for breakfast, we have a variety of things we normally have. Either food stock that's available in the store or we buy it with the budget we have for the day.
One of our go-tos is our national dish 'Nasi Lemak' a pack of this ranges from RM3-4 and it normally comes with half a hard-boiled egg. We often add another egg from own cafe that doesn't pass our quality of serving to customers.
Recently one of our breakfast we had some canned sardines in tomato sauce with rejected milk loaf slices. We serve sandwiches that uses milk loaf and everyday when slicing the bread up, we have the crusted ends that we won't serve so we repurpose them and have it for our meals instead. Most often than not, for our breakfast.
Today I had some over easy fried eggs. The delivery of eggs from the farm just came in and the eggs are super fresh. Extremely creamy and the whites firm. Really amazing eggs when they are so fresh.
Simple breakfasts but so important to get us ready and on our game for a busy day ahead.
FOODlog #314: Spicy Ramyeon with Beef Pastrami
Sometimes at work, for our staff meal, we cook instant noodles for our lunch and add some ingredients to make it look like a fancy ramen. We love noodles and every week we tend to have at least a day where we have some sort of noodle dish.
Either we make our own bowl of broth to pair with noodles or we use instant ramen and give it our own toppings of choice which is often whatever ingredients we have at the store.
This time we had some instant ramen with a spicy broth by the Nissin brand. The texture of the noodles were Springy and had a nice mouthfeel to it. The broth was bright orangey red but although it looked really spicy, it was fairly mild and enjoyable.
We topped the bowl of noodles with beef pastrami, blanched bok Choy, fried fishballs, a hard-boiled egg, and some freshly sliced spring onions to give the whole dish some freshness and lovely contrast of color.
A simple and delicious bowl of hot noodle soup which is especially yummy on a cold and rainy day.
FOODlog #313: Fire Roasted Chicken & Cherry Tomatoes
One of the best meals I ate that my Filipino cooked recently was a chicken dish that he cooked. He used chicken legs and thighs to make this dish which had a really tender and juicy outcome compare if you would use chicken breast.
He started with cooking white button mushrooms with a chili oil that he made with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, garlic, and ginger. He added 2 cinnamon sticks and salt to taste and the dish was done.
He also cooked a fire roasted cherry tomato dish with the same oil and it was the best tomatoes I've eaten in my life, not even joking.
It tasted sweet, and so packed full of flavor because of the chili oil and cooked it in a cast iron pan on super high heat flaring up the pan and fire roasting the tomatoes. Man it was soooo delicious!
Both the chicken and the tomatoes were absolutely phenomenal. A dish that I'll definitely be keeping in my list of recipes to cook. We are these 2 dishes with rice and it was just amazing! YUMS! ~
FOODlog #312: Cheeseburger R&D
Being in a R&D phase of creating a new menu from scratch at the cafe, I've been tasked with creating a beef cheeseburger. I used to run a few burger restaurant and a catering business so I guess that's why my head chef assigned me this burger task.
I made 3 different types of Burgers to test and taste:
1. Classic Cheeseburger
All the burgers are using an 80:20 ratio lean ground beef to fat ratio. I sear them over a flat top and topped with a slice of aged cheddar cheese.
The burger buns are Brioche burger buns with sesame seeds on top. It's laced with a spicy garlic aioli sauce and the patty is topped with some poached white onions.
2. Pastrami Cheeseburger
Similar to the classic one, I melted the cheese on half of the patty so that it gets a nice crispy half for difference of texture. For the sauce I used Dijon mustard and a spread of mushroom duxelle on both burger buns.
I then cook some beef pastrami and it's topped on the patty.
3. Sweet Relish & Cream Cheese Burger
This one turned out really unique but a little too unique for the menu at this point of time.
I used sweet chili Relish which is sweet and spicy and had the burger buns spread with cream cheese. For some reason the burger tasted like it had coconut from the combination of flavors which was weird and at the same time what a discovery.
Overall my favorite is still the classic cheeseburger. The head chef is also choosing that one with caramelised onions instead of the poached onions. Gonna be a good menu. Now it's all up to whether customers like them.
FOODlog #311: Spaghetti Putanesca
Our cafe is in the midst of revamping the menu or more accurately, crafting a new menu from scratch. Me and the other kitchen crew members have been doing R&D and crafting out this entirely new menu for the past few weeks.
Here's one of the new items on our menu that we'll be serving called - Spaghetti Putanesca.
Spaghetti puttanesca is a traditional Italian pasta dish that is known for its rich and robust flavors. The name "puttanesca" is believed to have originated from the Italian word "puttana," which means "prostitute." The dish is said to have been created by Italian prostitutes who used readily available ingredients to make a quick and flavorful meal.
For the sauce, it's an oil base sort of sauce but does have tomatoes in it. Other ingredients in the sauce is garlic, anchovies, black olives, capers, Sun-dried tomatoes, and olive oil.
We start by sautéing garlic and anchovies in olive oil until the anchovies dissolve. Then, tomatoes, olives, capers, and Sun-dried tomatoes are added to the pan and simmered to create a flavorful sauce. The pasta is cooked separately until al dente and then tossed with the sauce to finish.
For plating, it's topped with freshly grated parmegiano regiano chopped parsley or chives.
A tangy, slightly sweet, and umami packed pasta dish that I really enjoy making and eating.
More pictures coming soon in another blog post when we start selling this at the cafe.
FOODlog #310: Mee Raja (King Noodles)
This place called 'Murni' that's a well known eatery in PJ SS2 recently opened a branch outlet at Palette Danau Kota. I haven't been to Murni in over a decade so I went to their new outlet the other day with some friends.
I ordered their signature 'Mee Raja' which translates to King's Noodles. It's stir fried noodles with some vegetables like cabbage and although it looks light and plain in color, the flavors are really nice.
I got mine with a side of chicken Maryland which comes with some crinkle cut fries, chili sauce and brown sauce for dipping.
Its a nice air-conditioned place that they have here and spacious too. Overall a nice and simple dining experience and the food is as good as I remembered. Unfortunately they don't have their special 'rotis' but lots of variety of western food.
FOODlog #309: Typical Malaysian Supper
It's been awhile since I have had supper. I used to go for supper a lot during my teenage and early 20s but haven't since I've become a dad. So this was a nice time spent with one my friends who is still single. Went for supper on Saturday after music practice at church to a place nearby that serves local late night food.
I ordered 'Maggi goreng' which is a instant noodles dish that's stir fried with various vegetables like onions, garlic, carrots and eggs. You can also opt to add chicken or other curries but I didn't want to have too heavy a meal before bed so I got their regular one with just the noodles.
A friend of mine recommended this place which I haven't tried before this. Their noodles are cooked well and it was well seasoned and flavorful.
Was also a good time catching up and having supper together over some good local a Malaysian night meals.
FOODlog #308: Date Night with Wife
It's been awhile since me and my wife went out on a date just the two of us. Having two kids, all dates have included them in one way or another, so it was a rare and nice time spent together with my wife.
We went out for dinner at a nearby mall and tried out some food that we don't normally get to eat coz we're always thinking of the kids and what food they like to eat.
Anyway, we went to 2 different places. Our first stop was a middle eastern cuisine stall. We had lamb with hummus and a slice of cheese kunafa. The hummus was smooth, nutty, and delicious just like how hummus should be. The lamb however was under taste but was tender and was sliced nicely. It was a very presentable and yummy dish.
We then went to our 2nd stop for food which was a newly opened place that served hand pulled noodles. We ordered a cumin chili lamb noodle dish that's very popular in mainland China. We also ordered some beef dumpling which were really delicious paired with their homemade chili oil. The chili oil was definitely the highlight of the meal as it elevated the dumpling and the noodles to such an umami and flavor packed meal.
We're were stuffed and headed home after a lovely time chatting and hanging out with each other. What a nice ending to a busy day for the both of us.
FOODlog #307: Bangers & Mash
The other day we had lots of leftover of white button mushrooms and needed to use them before they spoil. My colleague cooked bangers and mash for our staff meal and it was delicious!
He bought some footlong chicken sausages and made a mash from those instant mash potatoes that the likes of fast food places use. It also came with a premix brown sauce but we added the button mushrooms into it that give it a more earthy flavor.
For the bangers, he simply grilled it on the flat top and it's done. He made some roasted broccoli with some salt, pepper, and oil.
For the plating, I did it myself by having the mash at the bottom then the bangers go on top with the broccoli scared around rusticly. I then spooned over the brown sauce with the slices of button mushrooms here and there making it look a little more artsy.
A super simple meal that requires very little prep time and comfort food for many especially on a cold and rainy day. My kind of hot food to have. Yums! ~~
FOODlog #306: 4-Generations Old 'Popiah' Wrap Recipe
It was my Dad's birthday the other day and my Mum cooked us one of her specialties called - Popiah.
It's a wrap that has jacima as it's filling and are either raw or it's cooked. My Mum's version however is stewed and supposed to be cooked for at least an hour or more. Most places don't cook it that long which does makes a difference. My Mum's version is so good, I never order 'Popiah' from stalls outside.
This dish is after all a recipe that goes as far back as my great-grand-mother of which I'm not sure whether it goes even further back down the generational line but that's as far as I know, so you know it's gotta be really really good!
Here's how to make the dish:
Jacima is julianned and then cooked in a pot with slices of pork belly, french beans, fried firm tofu, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. The tofu goes in for the final 5-10 minutes of the hour so that it doesn't break up and turn into mush.
Separately, an egg and prawn omelet is fried and pork belly is boiled with some salt and cut into slices.
It's also served with black sauce that I don't know what the name of it is in English but it's a savory and sweet sauce. Do not replace it with hoisin, it changes the taste of what this dish is suppose to be. Haha
There's also toppings of chili 'sambal', fried shallots, coriander, and blanched bean sprouts, that you can opt to add into your Popiah wrap.
We don't have often and probably once a year or once in 2 years as it takes a lot of time and effort to prep and cook this meal so it was a real treat and what a delicious meal to celebrate my Dad's 71st birthday.
FOODlog #305: Chili Oil Chicken Wings
The other day for our staff meal, my Filipino colleague cooked something so delicious I can't even think of what went into the dish. He made a chili oil or at least that's what we're calling it because it was so much better than any chili oil I've ever had in my life. It had so much flavor and umami that could've made anything it was cooked with super delicious.
He made 2 dishes using that oil. Chicken wings and eggplant. For the wings he simple sauteed them in the oil and it was so delicious. It was sweet, slightly spicy, and PACKED full of umami flavor.
It didn't really have any fragrance but when you bit into that chicken wing, it was so so good. Writing this now, I can remember how great it was but I can't remember how it tasted. I'm only left craving to have it again and we'll do it soon enough as we have ample amount of that chili oil and it's recipe now.
I'm looking forward to when I'll have dishes cooked with this chili oil again and can't rave enough about how delicious it was. Super awesome!
FOODlog #304: Quarter Pounder Burger Last Dance
McDonald's here in Malaysia is discontinuing the Quarter Pounder after decades of it being on the menu. They haven't announced when is the final day so I guess it's until they run out of it and they aren't gonna restock the ingredients that has to do with the item.
I normally don't go for the Quarter Pounder as I prefer the double cheeseburger. Reason is because the Quarter Pounder has raw onions in it and I don't like the taste of raw onions on the a burger. I think it's too overpowering and takes away from the flavors of every other component in a burger.
Anyways, had it for the last time and even if they decide to bring it back in the future, I likely won't have it. Haha. I guess it's a popular opinion too since they are discontinuing the burger.
I also ordered their McNuggets which is pretty much consistent apart of the price going up every single year and the nuggets shrinking ever so slightly as time passes by.
I do love their fried chicken which I had as an add-on together with my Quarter Pounder meal. Chicken has wonderful seasoning and crust and the inside juicy and tender.
Overall, decent fast food and thank God for money to buy them and enjoy the meal.
FOODlog #303: Fettuccine with Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Sauce
It was my turn to cook the staff meal so I made a creamy pasta dish for everyone. It's often called 'carbonara' here in Malaysia but it's definitely not carbonara although everyone in Malaysia is more familiar to this as carbonara than actual carbonara sauce.
So anyway, here's how I made it. The sauce is made with a roux of butter, flour, and milk. I normally go with 1 liter of milk and 1:10 of that in butter and 1:10 of that in flour. Season in it salt, chicken stock, black pepper, and worchestershire sauce with some rosemary and dried oregano and that's the base of the sauce.
I start by sauteeing onions until they get fragrant and translucent, then I add in white button mushrooms that I've simply cut into slices. I then add in mince chicken, you can use beef or pork for this and it'll turn out brilliant as well.
I used Fettuccine as my pasta of choice for this dish as the sauce pairs well with it. A simple and delicious dish that anyone can make. The "Malaysian Carbonara" sauce that'll definitely make Italian and pasta purist raise an eyebrow and then some.
FOODlog #302: Garlic Mayo Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
The other day I wanted to cook something that I recently discovered that was quite simple yet full of flavor and absolutely delicious.
I made roast chicken thighs all in one pan including the vegetables. This makes not only prep easy but clean-up super easy as well with minimal cleaning to do.
For the marinade of the chicken, it's super easy. It only has 4 ingredients which is white pepper, garlic, mayonnaise. and salt. Mix them all together with the chicken thighs and let it marinade for 15 minutes or even up to a day if you have the time.
For the vegetables, I used whatever I had in the pantry and fridge which were cherry tomatoes, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Roughly chop up the vegetables whichever way you like and lay the on a sheet tray. Season with salt and pepper and lay the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Put it into a 180 degree Celsius oven for 30 minutes and baste the chickens with it's own drippings from time to time and you're done. for the final 5 minutes, crank the heat up to the highest setting your oven can go, around 250 degrees will do, for a brown and wonderful color to the roasted chicken.
You can use a whole chicken to do this as well.
Super delicious meal with minimal effort. The chicken was juicy and cooked through on the inside and crispy on the outside with a wonderful aroma and fragrance filling the kitchen.
The vegetables were done perfectly. The potatoes however took about another 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees to soften further. Very delicious meal which we had with rice as usual.
FOODlog #301: Crispy Beef Bulgogi
It was my colleagues turn to cook and he cooked 'Beef Bulgogi'. I recently cooked it was well but my version has a gravy and is more saucy which is great over rice. His version is dryer and has a more fried flavor but equally delicious as well.
He first marinated the beef with soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, apples, pear, pineapples, garlic, onions, and sesame oil. He used a premix that contained all of this and left it to marinate overnight.
The beef is then cooked in a pot with water covering it and left to simmer for at least an hour. For another final 5 minutes, add in the bell peppers and then let the water evaporate further. If the dish still has a lot of water, just move it to another pot.
Add in oil into the pot and begin to fry the beef until it gets crispy on the outside.
This is such a delicious dish. The outside of the beef is caramelized and crispy and at the same time tender and so fragrant and yummy. We ate this with rice and it was such a delicious meal at work.
He also cooked a cabbage stir fry with salt an pepper. Simple and yummy as well.
FOODlog #300: Beef & Chicken 'Satay'
Went out with my parents and brother's family for dinner after work the other day at a mamak restaurant nearby where we live. It's specialty is serving curry fish head but there's a stall there that serves 'satay' that is really delicious which we were going there for.
We ordered some chicken satay and beef satay. The skewers were evenly prepared with meat and fat and grilled over an open charcoal grill. The meat was smokey and aromatic and served with the usual fresh cucumber, onions, and a bowl of peanut sauce for dipping.
The sauce was well prepared and generous with the peanuts and paired really well with the charcoal grilled meat. I personally enjoyed the beef more than the chicken but both were equally well cooked.
My son loves fried chicken so I ordered him a Malay dish called 'Ayam Goreng Kunyit' which is fried chicken cubes with turmeric and some long beans, carrots, and onions. It's his first time trying this dish and he really liked it. The chicken was fried well and still tender on the inside. It was a well prepared 'Ayam Goreng kunyit' which a lot places that serve this often don't make it too well. This one was really good.
A good time together over a good meal.
FOODlog #299: Malaysian Spiced Fried Chicken & 'Daging Dendeng'
A few Sundays ago, me and my friends went to one of my favorite places for lunch again. It's a place called 'Lunch Bear' and serves Northern Malaysian Malay food. They prepare and serve a bunch of curries, Malay spicy stews, stir fried vegetables, spiced fried chicken, along with white rice.
This time I picked the spicy fried chicken and 'daging hitam' which translates to 'black beef' and it's cooked with loads of spices, chilies, and dark soy sauce. It has caramel notes to it but spicy and full of aromatic spices. It goes perfectly with white rice and was a really delicious dish.
The fried chicken is one of my go-to dishes here at 'Lunch Bear'. The chicken skin is crispy and the meat so juicy and tender. It's also very aromatic and fragrant from all the herbs and spices it's coated and marinated with. Such a superb piece of fried chicken that I admire the cooking techniques involved and enjoy the flavors of it.
I douced my white rice with my favorite curry which is fish curry. A super delicious lunch that really hits the comfort food spot.
FOODlog #298: Chicken Paella
We had the carcass of the roast chicken my colleague made yesterday so I decided to think of a dish to utilize it instead of letting it go to waste.
I made a chicken Paella in a pan together with celery and red bell peppers that I simply sliced and cherry tomatoes that I halved.
I also had some chicken tenders which I pan fried then baisted them with butter and rosemary. Look at how beautifully they turned out.
After removing the chicken tenders, I added in the rice to the same pan that had the flavors of the chicken, butter and rosemary and proceeded to toast the rice. I then added water to the rice and the chicken carcass to start cooking the rice down. I also added in the celery and tomatoes then seasoned the dish with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
I added more water every 4-5 minutes for around 4 times of a total of 20 minutes cook time. For the final 5 minutes, I added in the bell peppers and some butter to finish off the dish.
Finally, serve up and garnish with freshly chopped parsley and the dish is done.
The dish was so aromatic and flavorful. Every grain of rice had so much flavor and every spoonful tasted to good. One thing I would do differently is to cook this in a non stick pan so that you get a superb crusty bottom which would've given the dish an extra crispy dimension of texture to the dish.
FOODlog #297: Spaghetti with Black Pepper Roasted Chicken
It was colleagues turn to cook and he made a simple spaghetti dish paired with roasted organic chicken. He bought 1 and a half organic chicken that was on discount and roasted it with black pepper sauce.
The chicken is marinated in black pepper sauce and roasted in a 180 degree Celsius oven for about 20 minutes. The chicken breast is cooked for half the time but the chicken thighs at least 20 to 25 minutes.
For the spaghetti sauce, he cooked some marinara sauce with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.
We served this up in a bowl and freshly grated some parmegiano regiano cheese on top of the pasta and enjoyed everything with the wonderful and aromatic roasted chicken.
The chicken was bursting with black pepper flavor and the chicken breast was tender and juicy. It paired wonderfully with the pasta and mild marinara mushroom sauce. The cheese was the perfect salty seasoning for the pasta and tied the whole dish together.
We had leftovers which I brought home and stir fried everything in a pan. It tasted even better fried up like that together as the flavors of everything got to mingle and blend in the hot pan. Super delicious and definitely a dish to cook again.
FOODlog #296: Cashew Nuts & Chili Chicken (宫保鸡丁)
I've been wanting to cook this Cantonese-style dish that pairs chicken with cashew nuts. I finally had some cashew nuts in the kitchen and decided to make this dish.
The dish is preferred to use boneless chicken thighs but the supermarket didn't have any so I used chicken tenders that I cut into cubes instead.
I seasoned the chicken with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and dark soy sauce. I stir in oil some fried dried chilies and onions that a roughly chopped.
Next, the chicken goes in and stir fried with the chilies for another 5 minutes and then the cashew nuts go in last for about another minute and the dish is done!
The chicken dish was nice but I think I can still improve on this dish. For my first time, I guess it was decent but definitely there's room for improvement.
I also cooked another dish which I really like which is ladies fingers with spices. I simply stir fried ladies fingers that I chopped up with mustard seeds and curry leaves. I seasoned everything with salt and the dish is done.
We had these 2 dishes with rice and it was a wonderful meal. There was leftovers which I packed back for my family and my brother's family. An inexpensive dish that can feed 10 people easily.
FOODlog #295: Thai Pandan Fried Chicken & Quail Eggs Stir Fry
My Filipino colleague cooked 2 dishes for put staff meal the other day. He made a delicious fried chicken dish and a vegetable dish with quail eggs.
For the chicken he simple marinated some chicken drummets with fish sauce, soy sauce, chopped up fresh coriander, and pandan leaves. It was a shortcut style and take on the Thai pandan fried chicken. It turned out really flavorful and had the familiar tastes of the Thai pandan fried chicken. Definitely a technique and recipe I'll be adding to my cooking.
He then shallow fried them in oil until they were golden brown and cooked through.
For the vegetables he simply stir fried cabbage that were shredded with red bell peppers, broccoli, and corn. He also added in some evaporated milk and cooked it with the vegetables that made it creamy and slightly sweet. It then was topped with quail eggs that he simply hard boiled and added them to the dish.
The dishes were lovely and we had them with rice. A fairly simple lunch but full of flavor.
FOODlog #294: Beef Tongue & Tendon Spicy Ramen
I had an off day and went to a nearby frozen food store to get some grocery for our staff lunches at the cafe. I bought some buffalo tongue and beef tendon to cook.
Buffalo tongue is similar to beef tongue but a little more gamey. Since I knew it was gonna be gamey, I cooked it with very strong herbs and spices to remove as much of that gamey smell and taste.
I cooked the tongue and tendons with garlic, soy sauce, black peppercorns, star anise, cloves, and ginger. I boiled and stewed it for over 2 hours to make them really tender.
After it cooled down, I sliced them and then prepared a spicy sichuan peppercorn stock and noodles to pair with the beef. The stock was so spicy and really paired perfectly with the meat and tendon that was super tender and soft. The noodles were egg noodles that were really fine and had a springy texture. It soaked up the spicy broth perfectly.
I garnished the bowl of noodles with freshly sliced spring onions that gave it a nice pop in color and added a nice freshness to the dish. A superb dish that took lots of time to cook and prepare with a delicious end result.
FOODlog #293: Wagyu Beef Patties with Fried Eggs
My brother bought me and family some wagyu beef patties that were going on sale. It was a buy 1 free 1 deal and was a good money for value especially since we rarely ever eat wagyu beef.
I pan fried the wagyu beef patty in a pan. It didn't need any oil as the wagyu patties had lots of fat and the fat rendered down producing lots of oil to fry the patties. It got a nice sear and gave an amazing aroma.
I cooked both sides for about 4 minutes on each side on medium heat. The patties were already seasoned so I didn't add any salt or seasoning to it.
After cooking the patties, there were lots of rendered wagyu fat and I used the fat to cooked some fried eggs to have with the patties.
It was a delicious meal and the eggs with the runny yolks paired with the wagyu patties wonderfully making it even more unctuous and luxurious.
We had the eggs and beef patties with some bread to soak up all the juices of the wagyu patty and the wonderful eggs. Such a delicious meal and treat from my brother.
FOODlog 292: North Malaysia-style Fish Curry & Spiced Fried Chicken
Went to one of my favorite places for curry 3 Sundays ago and man was it a satisfying meal. I haven't eaten there in awhile now being so occupied with work and family so it was such a treat to be able to go there after church.
This place called 'Lunch Bear' serves northern Malaysian cuisine that includes spiced fried chicken, varieties of curries and Malay dishes.
I ordered a plate of rice topped with their 'Ayam Rempah' (spiced fried chicken) and fish curry which I picked the fish head together with some ladies fingers and the curry. Both the chicken and fish were such generous portions and the flavors and taste was even more phenomenal.
I picked the chicken breast and wing and the chicken was perfectly cooked through. Crispy, fragrant, and aromatic on the outside, and juicy and tender on the inside.
The fish curry was so delicious paired with the rice. Always craving the food from this place and probably will never get bored of the food. Can't wait to go back there to have some delicious curry and rice.
FOODlog #291: Beef Shawarma
One of the Saturdays this month after work and music practice at church, I was hungry and went to a new kebab shop that opened nearby where I live. I've heard from my wife that she's tried it and she really likes their shawarmas so I thought I'd give it a try.
Its a place called 'Kebab Joy'. One thing I noticed before stepping into the shop is the bright signboard that's very inviting especially in the night.
I ordered their beef shawarma which had onions and I think mayo in it along with the sliced beef. The portion was fairly generous and the taste was alright. It wasn't like packed full of flavor but did taste decent.
They have some bundle package deals where you can get 2 or more portions for a cheaper price which the cashier lady explained it to me. She was friendly and gave very informative details on their special deals.
I'll try out their chicken the next time I visit this place and some of their rice dishes as well.
@drumsticks
