Monkey Business

So here's an entry to pay homage to one of my favourite fruits in the world-bananas! So here's my top 3 favourite forms of bananas.

1. Cekodok Pisang

(picture courtesy of Nadia.F)

These balls of goodness(hahaha, can't believe I just said that) are basically made from mashed ripe bananas with flour and sugar, rolled into a ball and deep fried in hot oil. My fave place to get these are from a stall run by an Indian aunty who sells them near Jalan Telawi 7, Bangsar Baru. I like her cekodoks best because she's generous with the bananas(you'll find chunks of it in each one) and the portion is huge. One cekodok would be around the size of half your fist. Or rather, half of my fist. RM0.50 each, which is quite pricey for ordinary kuih but it's so good, I'd pay up anyway. Especially when it's just fresh from the wok. ;)

2. Grilled Bananas topped with Sweet Coconut Cream

(Pictures courtesy of Shahida N.)

So here it goes. I discovered this gem while on the Student Exchange Program to Thailand. We first saw it at the Khlong Hae floating market. The first picture shows the dish itself. It's basically grilled bananas which are then flattened using some sort of wooden apparatus, with sweetened coconut cream poured on top of it. YUMS. I love how the sweet, hot bananas match perfectly with the silky coconut cream. The second picture shows the aunty who was making it on a little boat. Notice that there were little blackish purple things on the grill as well? Yeah that's purple yam, but I'm not a fan of yam so only tried the bananas. She serves them in a little bowl made from banana leaves (talk about utility) which in a genius way, kinda stops the dish from burning my eager hands! Only costs 20 Baht, which is RM2.00 in our currency. The second time (about a week later or so) I visited her boat, but she was out of bananas. Sad moment.

3. Kerepek Pisang

Finally, something for people with a savoury preference, no? From what I understand, it's bananas which has been sliced very thinly and deep fried, sprinkled with salt. For those who have not tried it before(bless their souls), it loses the banana sweetness and kind of has the texture of potato chips. I guess it has something to do with the types of bananas used for this snack, and from what I understand, locals tend to use pisang abu or pisang tanduk for this. You can find these being sold at petrol stations, supermarkets, or even at the local pasar malam. Perfect post-dinner snack or as my mum would say, "something to munch on after dinner".

Next, I might post about my Thailand trip. Haven't had the time to do it yet, though it's been months since I came back. We'll see :)

Pasar Malam- TTDI

The best advice (EVER), if you plan on going to a pasar malam (night market) is, don't go on an empty stomach. You'll want to buy EVERYTHING you set eyes on. Fo'real. Despite its name, Malaysian pasar malam's usually start quite early, i.e. the vendors would start setting up their stalls around 3-4 in the evening. On one hand, it's great to go early cause then there'll be less people. On the other, you won't be able to see the full range of foods sold simply because not every vendor turns up early.

I didn't really plan on going to TTDI's market. The initial plan was to go to One Utama to do some shopping but there was literally no parking! Spent a good half an hour in the parking bay waiting for someone to leave. Ekkk! Failed.

So then we passed by TTDI on our way back to Bangsar and behold! Pasar malam, people! In all it's glory. Heh. So here's a couple of food stalls I visited.



Putu piring! It's really steamed flour(tapioca flour) with brown palm sugar in the middle, eaten with desicated coconut. Really awesome stuff, especially the smell of it wafting through the hot afternoon air. Best eaten piping hot! RM2.00 for 4 pieces. Reminds me of this lady who used to sell some awesome putu piring in Bangsar.



This uncle is amazing! Just look at the huge basket filled with roasted chickens (first picture)! His stall sells bakso, soto, kuey teow and meehoon sup! There was a line of people queuing up so I thought, I had to give it a try. His meehoon soup was just so-so. Good portion but I suppose the chicken broth wasn't hearty enough for me? I think I prefer having my white vermicelli with beef broth instead. It was RM4.00, not exactly cheap.



POPIAH! Went nuts when I saw this stall. The spring rolls were HUMUNGOUS! Measured to about maybe 2x5 inches. They sold three types of spring rolls, i.e. 1. fried with a thick, sweet and hot chilli paste smothered on top, 2. fried and to be dipped in chilli sauce, and 3. popiah basah, which just means that it's not deep fried, but with the thick sweet chilli paste on top as well. RM3 for 3 large spring rolls. Worth every cent, in my opinion. Yumsss!



This stall is one of my favourites. Wanted to dive into the large woks. They sell Penang noodles- Char Kuey Teow, Fried Meehoon and Fried Mee. Personally, when I see food being fried in large woks, I have a pre-conception that they'll be lacking in seasoning or even dry...but not this one! Bought the CKT and it was pretty awesome. Can't beat the Sungai Dua kuey teow basah, but decent still! One packet costs RM3.50 and they'll add in pickled green chilli for an added punch. So so good. Will definitely frequent this stall.
'


There were a few other stalls that sold kuih buuut seeing that I had already bought the popiahs and putu piring, didn't think I could finish it all. Must not be greedy! These are just a few stalls that caught my eye. They also sell plenty fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and poultry.

Like TTDI's bazaar Ramadhan, the pasar malam is worth a visit. Beats Bangsar's any time! Food was fresh and there was such a wide variety, something Bangsar's used to have before the local authority confined it to just one road.

Details: http://www.mycen.my/ttdi-pasar-malam/

Venicia @Bangsar Puteri

So one fine day, we decided to have some Malaysian Chinese food for lunch. Venicia is a place I've been going to for a number of years and I'm pretty happy with the food every time. This time around, I paid Venicia a visit with a number of UM batchmates. So here's what we ordered...

Lemon Chicken

Mixed vegetables fried with sambal

Sizzling towfoo

Deep-fried Squid

Now, for the commentary...

1. Lemon chicken: Not too thrilled with this dish as I don't really like the batter the chicken was dipped in prior to frying. Pretty mediocre for me. The lemon sauce had a weird bitter after taste, which I'm guessing came from the lemon skin or something. Wouldn't order this again, truth be told.
2. Mixed vegetables: Couldn't get enough of this! This is my first time trying this dish out. Loved the combo of long beans, kacang botol(I'm not sure what this is called in English, sorry. It's one of those moments where Google Translate has failed me), okra and petai. I'm not a big fan of petai but it does give an amazing aroma. Yums!
3. Sizzling towfoo: Good dish, but I'm a bigger fan of their crabmeat towfoo. This dish went "licin" the fastest, me thinks! Bleh.
4. Deep-fried squid: I like it but I don't love it. The batter was a bit too thick for my liking, and the squid was cut in huge pieces, was difficult to bite 'em. I like my squid tiny and crunchy. Also, I didn't like the fact that it was served with plain chilli sauce and not Thai sweet chilli sauce.

Having said allll that, here's a list of fool-proof dishes to order at Venicia that will (almost) never go wrong. Tested and proven by yours truly,

• Assam/Nyonya fish
• Potato leaf with fermented bean paste
• Marmite chicken-to die for!
• Crabmeat towfoo- I once just ordered this and plain rice. SMASHING!
• Butter prawns
• Onion chicken-sounds nasty but it's actually pretty awesome
  
• Salted-egg crab-This one is another to die for. Be prepared for some messy eating, though!

All in all, I'd probably give it a 3.5 out of 5. Price-wise, it was pretty cheap. We ordered plain rice and it came up to about RM11.00 each. Drinks are nastily expensive compared to the dishes, averaging at about RM5.00. Ambiance...ah, who cares! As long as the food is good, ambience doesn't really matter. Not to me, anyway! A true foodie at heart.

P/S: As far as I know, they close on Tuesdays so it's best to give them a call beforehand. Here's their numero- 0320942010.

Food, glorious food!

Hello! Been very busy lately. Uni session just commenced and I'm pretty stretched out over my heavy core subjects. Enough about that, this post will be my top ten fave foods of the week. Yay!

1. Curry noodles! I love it when the gravy is diluted but tasty, with plenty of fried tofu.



2. Pineapple Fried Rice. This little dish is hard to mimic! Best I've had is @Basil Thai Nudle House, Bangsar Village.



3. Vietnamese Spring Rolls. One of my goals in life is to go to Vietnam and have some of these.



4. Sotong Goreng. You can never go wrong with this, I tell you! Love the ones Restoran Muhibbah @TTDI used to make. Apparently they have a new restaurant elsewhere now.



5. Gado-gado. An Indonesian favourite, best made at home where you can guarantee all the ingredients are fresh.



6. Pesto pasta. A good pesto paste goes a looooooong way. 'Nuff said.



7. Chinese Lemon Chicken. Love love love love.



8. Maggi Goreng with an egg, sunny side up! :) Devi's Corner @Bangsar used to make an awesome plate of it. Now, I frequent to Pelita Nasi Kandar @Bangsar.



9. Korean Fried Chicken. Better than Kentucky Fried Chicken. I'd bet on it.



10. Wanton Noodles. Simple and glorious.

Disclaimer: Pictures are not mine. I just like to look at them and make myself hungry and silly. Oh, and I didn't eat all these in a week. Though, I'd dream of that. =P

Eid 2011!

What is Raya/Eid without food? The heart of many celebrations or festivals is food, more so if you are Malaysian. For Chinese New Year, I always look forward to boxes and boxes of mandarin oranges, traditional cookies and what not. For Deepavali, I look forward to ladoos, murukku, chapattis and whatever other breads.

My Raya is always revolves around a few "staple dishes", which are beef/chicken serunding(floss), nasi impit, peanut/satay sauce, beef/chicken rendang and chicken satay.

1. Nasi Impit 2. Beef Serunding 3. Peanut sauce 4.Roti Jala 5. Chicken satay 6. Chicken Curry
7. Palm Sugar Agar-agar

As you can see, we did have a few new dishes introduced into our Raya feast this year, i.e. the Roti Jala and it's counterpart the Chicken Curry, as well as the jelly(agar-agar).

The Roti Jala translates directly to English as "net bread", due to it's appearance. Rolled up, one can't really see the holes but if you open and spread it out, it'll look somewhat like a fishing net. This bread usually goes with a good chicken curry(though some have it with dalca). In my opinion, a good roti jala should act almost like a sponge and absorb the gravy of the curry. Okay, now I'm hungry!

I suppose my mum went the extra mile this year and prepared the agar-agar. Back when my siblings and I were kids, she'd make the jellies in various colours. Now, she just can't be bothered! It's a simple recipe of boiling streaky agar-agar in a pot of water, adding palm sugar(gula Melaka), pandan leaves for the fragrance and last but not least, some coconut milk for richness and appearance. She then strained the mixture into jelly moulds and left to settle firstly at room temperature and in the fridge later on.

Satay is usually accompanied by peanut sauce and nasi impit, as well as fresh cut cucumber slices and red onions. Our family doesn't usually make chicken satay, only when we know a big crowd is coming on the first day of Eid. It also takes plenty of work to prepare the ingredients so it requires extra manpower. Hehe! When we lack it, we usually just prepare the nasi impit and peanut sauce. Recipes shall not be shared, and shall be kept in the family ;)

One of my highlights of Eid is beef rendang. Now, I'm not an avid fan of beef. I just don't like the texture and taste of it. However, I can never say no to a good, hearty beef rendang. My maternal aunt makes the best I've tasted so far. Little did I know that it takes a good four to five hours to make the perfect rendang. The spices should be chopped and blended until it reaches a creamy texture. Then, I believe it is fried in oil together with the beef, coconut milk is added along with seasonings and turmeric leaves. This mixture will have to be stewed over the stove for at least 3 hours or so until the gravy has dried up and your energy levels drop. It's hard work, and by the end of it you'll end up smelling like rendang as well.

Last but not least is the beef serunding. I'm very picky over my serunding. It needs to be spicy, contain lots of coriander seeds, fennel seeds as well as cumin seeds for that extra crunch! The floss must not be too fine, I don't like that. This dish is really versatile, I think. You can have it during Raya or even on an ordinary day with plain white rice and a fried egg. Yummy! The best serunding I've tried hails all the way from Kelantan, my kampung. It's called Serunding Kampung Laut and oh boy, that shit is good!

Pre-Raya Feast

So, I came back two days before Eid Fitri and the family had a pre-Raya feast. It was awesome because staying abroad for almost two months, I have to confess! I miss Malaysian food. It's true what they say; you can take the Malaysian out of Malaysia but you can never take Malaysia out of the Malaysian. We love our food and that's that! *Ahem* because our food is tasty and spicy. :)

Nasi Kukus

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Nasi Kukus from the Ramadhan bazaar. A discovery made by my brother-in-law. Hence, he introduced it to the family. Sorry for the unclear pic. Literally, it means "steamed rice". Served with fried rempah(spiced) chicken and it's eaten with sambal belacan and a gravy I believe to be a diluted curry. Very tasty!

Peanut sauce, Gado-gado salad, Soysauce Chicken, Chicken Rice sambal

The picture above shows my aunt's take on the Indonesian Gado-gado which is really, a kind of salad served with peanut sauce as it's dressing. The salad consisted of hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes. The top right of the picture shows the soysauce chicken to be eaten with rice(Chicken Rice), bottom right is the sambal to go with it. It's really easy to make the sambal. We just blended about 3 cloves of garlic and about 5-6 fresh chillies. We then seasoned it with salt, sugar and about 1-2 tablespoons of lime juice(up to you, really).

Cempedak Goreng, Kuih Bakar, Pulut Panggang

Top left of the picture shows cempedak goreng, a.k.a.fried jack fruit and the centre of the picture is kuih bakar, a type of Malay kuih made using pandan, eggs, coconut milk as some of it's ingredients. Also, you can see pulut panggang which is grilled glutinous rice, stuffed with desicated coconut, chillies and dried shrimp, wrapped in banana leaves for that distinctive aroma.

Lets just say that Eid came early for us! ;)

Homemade Nasi Lemak

Tadaaaa! That was my first attempt at making Nasi Lemak at home. The key to a good Nasi Lemak, as I've learnt, lies in the richness(lemak) of the rice and of course, the unifying factor, which is the sambal.

There's a simple trick to making good Nasi Lemak rice, and it is the ratio of 2 cups of rice to one cup of coconut milk. Add in water(usual measurement when mixed with the coconut milk). Other than that, chuck in some sliced ginger and some salt to taste. The salt will bring out the richness of the coconut milk and that's what you want. Some people say that the secret to good Nasi Lemak is to add pandan leaves but I found that it tastes just as good without. Perhaps you can argue that it's a matter of personal taste.

More often than not, Nasi Lemak would be served with one or half of a hard-boiled egg. However, some people(like me), love the taste of the runny yolk of an egg fried, sunny side up, to go with my rice. Again, I believe this is a matter of personal preference.

As for the sambal, I believe that it should have a good base of either dried shrimp or dried anchovies. If you're not a fan of that, I think a base of onions would be fine as well. I believe vegetarians use onions as a base. What I did here was, I blended garlic, roughly chopped fresh red chillies(my grandma would actually use dried red chilli, soaked in hot water and seeds removed), plenty of onions(for sweetness) and dried shrimp that I've soaked and drained. I then put some oil in a pot and fried the blended ingredients. Later, I added anchovy paste(traditionally, belacan would be used), salt and plenty of sugar as well as lemon juice for that twang! Ideally, tamarine should be used but I didn't have that. I have to confess that I did cheat by using a tiny bottle of Sambal Indonesia from the local Tesco to add a punch of chilli spiciness. I cooked it until the oil broke onto the surface and voila! Ready to serve.