The Six Combination Dessert 六味糖水

One thing that I don't like about Chinese New Year season is the weather. I can't stand of the heat from the hot burning sun. Furthermore, we take quite a lot of heaty food and nip on those oily snacks. Recently, the hot weather and work pressure drive me crazy. I told myself I have to really take care of my health. At least, I have to cook some nice food to cool me down. So, this is what I thought of - the six combination dessert.

The ingredients of six combination. From the clockwise - Solomon's Seal 玉竹, lotus seeds 莲子, Fox nuts 芡实, Lily bulbs 百合, Wai San 淮山, and the centre is dried longan 龙眼肉. You can get a pack of this ingredients at any Chinese medicine shop or in any supermarkets. It cost you about RM3. Usually people use this for salty herbal soup, but not all of us know the six combination ingredients are suitable for dessert. I learn this from my mom. :)

Ok, let us get to know about the benefits from all the six ingredients.

Solomon's Seal 玉竹 is used to nourish yin, to moisten dryness of lung, to remove stomach dry heat, to ease cough, dry throat, thirst and constipation.

Lotus seed 莲子 is used to tonify kidneys and to nourish heart. It is believed in Chinese medicine to "clear heat" and be particularly nutritious and restorative to one's health.

Fox nut 芡实 is believed to strengthen kidney, and to strengthen the spleen to relieve diarrhea; regulate blood pressure; relieve numbness and aching near waist and knees. It is suitable for arthritis; impotence; and premature aging.

Lily bulb 百合 assists to moist lung, and to clear heat. So, it is effective to ease cough and sore throat.

Wai San 淮山 is good for stomach. Besides, it is a good ingredients for weight loss diet.

Dried longan 龙眼肉 helps to improve blood circulation, improve heart efficiency and reduce stress and tension.

So, overall, this six combination dessert is a kind of soothing soup. The methods are very simple.

The Six Combination Dessert
Serves 2

Ingredients:

A pack od six combination soup ingredients

900ml of water

Some rock sugar

2 Omega 3 hard boiled eggs

Instructions:

1. Wash and drain the ingredients.

2. Bring water to a boil and pour into slow cooker.

3. Add in the ingredients and cook under high heat for 3 hours.

4. Add some rock sugar to taste, and let it simmer under auto mode for another 1 hour.

5. Serve hot with hard boiled egg.

Hubby and I really enjoyed our bowl of dessert while watching movie at home. The hard boiled egg really enhance the flavor. Also, I spend my time biting those ingredients. What can I say? It's yummy and healthy. :)

Seafood Tom Yam

One of the dishes that my mom cooks every Chinese New Year is seafood tom yam. Chinese must have big fish and big prawn for the Chinese New Year celebration. 大鱼大虾少不了！The pronunciation of fish (魚) is a homophone for "surpluses"(餘).

Mom rang me up this morning. She told me that she cooked tom yam for today's lunch. Ha, see I got free lunch again. That's the benefits I gain for staying near to my parent's house. :D

Ok, back to the topic on the seafood tom yam. Ingredients for the seafood tom yam includes big prawns, pomfrets, squids, enokitake, fishballs and tomatoes. Spices consists of tom yam paste, kaffir leaves, lime juice, lemon grass, bird's eye chilis and mint leaves. I like it to be as sour as possible, and the hotter it is, the better. :)

Tom yam is originated from Thailand. Does it sound weird to have tom yam as our Chinese New Year dish?

Happy Chinese New Year!

We would like to wish all of you a happy stomach-filling chinese new year :P



Just try not to over-eat, ok? ^ ^

Light & Easy Noodles Soup

Light & easy noodle soup......I cooked it and I named it. :P Nothing is wrong, right?

When I'm lazy and not feel like messing up my kitchen, I'll cook this. What is so special about this noodle? Take a look at the photo. Can you see the meat balls? Well, this is not the common meat balls. It's my home made pork & shrimp balls. Aha...that's the thing enhance the soup base and the overall taste. There's secret how to make "QQ" mouth feel of meat & shrimp balls. I got thumbs up from hubby on this dish. :D

To add the "Omph", serve this with bird's eye chili. It's superb!

Light & Easy Noodles Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 pcs of organic noodle
some choy sam flowers
some fish balls
1 cube of Maggie Chicken Stock
1 tbsp of garlic oil
120gms minced pork
100gms minced shrimp
dash of pepper
light soy sauce to taste
water

Methods:

1. First, prepare the pork & prawn balls. Mix the minced pork and minced shrimp in a bowl. Add a dash of pepper and a tea spoon of light soy sauce and mix well.

Tips: In order to make tendor meat & shrimp balls, I apply "carry & hit" method. I think many of you know about this tips too. Pour the pork & prawn misture on the chopper board. Then hold the misture up with a knife and it on the chopper board. Do this for at least 20 times.

2. Make the pork & prawn misture into oval shape of prawn balls and arrange on a plate.

3. Bring water to a boil in a pot. Cook the noodle and serve in bowls.

4. Bring 800ml of water to a boil. Add in chicken stock and leave it to simmer for 2 minutes.

5. Add in the pork and prawn balls to the soup. This follow by the fish balls and veggie.

6. Add in garlic oil, and pour in the noodle to mix well.

Home Made Crepe

My mom used to make crepe for our breakfast. Crepe is very easy to make, and you just need a little bit of oil or oil free if you owned a reliable non-stick pan. The difference is that if you fry in lightly oiled heated pan, you'll get crepe which is lighter in color. While if the non stick pan is oil free, the type of pan cake you get will be like the one I shown in the photo above.

I didn't jot down the actual measurement of ingredients I used for the home made pan cake. I had eggs, wheat flour and brown sugar mixed well with a pinch of salt and adequate amount of water in a big bowl. Then scoop and pour onto a non-stick pan. It'll take just 1 or 2 minutes to pan fry both side. Continue this step until you finish up the batter.

It can be served on its own or with some fresh fruits added as filling. It is a simple and yummy breakfast.

Song Yen Seafood 松园海鲜

Recently I got to know an economic chu char stall from Food Paradise. Song Yen Seafood is located at the food court opposite to Kayu Nasi Kandar and Hai Lam Restaurant, Bukit Jambul. You just need to turn into the small road directly opposite to Kayu Nasi Kandar, and you will see this Song Yen Seafood stall on your left. It occupies 2 outlets of the food court.

We didn't ask for recommendation, just randomly select 3 dishes that we like.

First, we ordered for their Seafood Otak-otak which is served in coconut shell. It was a huge serving for 2 of us. Lots of Kadok leaves with squids, prawns and fish meat. It has very little gravy compare to the one you find in Siriwan. It tastes ok with the fragrant of Kadok leaves and fresh seafood.

Next, we chose to have their home made tofu cooked in Thai style. The tofu is soft and fragrant. Garnished with onions, Thai chili sauce and mint leave. This is another simple yet appetizing dish.

Also, not to forget about some greens. We opt for sweet potato leaves stir fried with sambal and prawns. This is the common vegetable that I used to have when we dine out. Reason? It contains no pesticide. So, safe to consume. :-)

Besides the chuchar, you can also try their char hor fun. Lots of people order that too. However, this place does not suitable for those who'd like to go in big groups. Their table setting is the typical type of food court table. A rectangle table with four chairs fixed. Of course, they spare 1 or 2 round tables if their customers have more than 4 people. I think is still not enough.

Overall, the dinner just cost us RM27.60. Their operating hours is from 6pm to 11pm and closed on Mondays.

Purple Glutinous Rice Dessert

I like to cook dessert on Sunday afternoons, so that hubby & I can enjoy it for our tea. Few weeks ago I made an attempt to cook purple glutinous rice dessert. I asked my hubby to buy RM1 of coconut milk in the morning so that I can cook the dessert with enhanced aroma.

We really like this creamy dessert. It is not only fragrant, but also very lemak with salted coconut milk added. I like to add lots of coconut milk, and I can finish it up one big bowl. :) I know this is not so healthy, but I just can't resist. :(

Purple glutinous rice is also called as black glutinous rice. It contains Protein, fiber and carbohydrates. Besides, it is rich in vitamin B complex and minerals. It also aids blood cell production. The rice must be cooked till the outer layer is broken so that it releases vitamins and minerals. If not cook thoroughly it may cause digestive problem.

Purple glutinous rice dessert is quite simple to prepare, but it takes hours to cook. This is how I make the dessert.

Purple Glutinous Rice Dessert

Serves 2

Ingredients:

6/8 cup of black glutinous rice
2 litres water
Rock sugar to taste
16 dried longans, washed and drained
6 pandan leaves, tie into 2 knots
Serve with salted coconut milk

Method:

1. Wash and drain glutinous rice.

2. Bring water to boil in a pot, and add in the pandan leaves.

3. Pour in the rice and bring it to boil. Turn to small heat and cook till the rice turn soft.

4. Add the longan and rock sugar and boil the porridge until it turns sticky.

5. Serve hot with salted coconut milk.

Tips: Add a pinch of salt to the coconut milk. This will enhance the flavor and make the dessert more delicious. It has the magic power!

Dinner @ Kocha Kopitiam Raja Uda

Two weeks ago when we visited my sister's new house at Permatang Pauh, we got a chance to scout around Raja Uda area for food. It was evening and we'd like to have a simple dinner. Hubby drove along the Raja Uda road hunting for food but none of them attracted us....then a shop caught our eyes. It was Kocha Kopitiam. The design and setting was similar to Old Town...so we gave it a try!

For drinks we ordered Lime Juice (RM1.80) and Ice Honey Lemon (RM2.80).

To get a feeling how this Kocha toast compared to Old Town, we ordered Banana french toast(RM3.80). We were pleasantly surprised that the toast was not bad. In fact it was good. However, the waiter informed they wrongly added honey on top of it. But whatever, we like that way better! :P

I ordered Grilled Mexican Chicken(RM8.90). The Grilled chicken was nice with their home made Mexican sauce. The chicken thigh is too small for me. Hahaha...

Hubby ordered seafood fried spaghetti (RM6.90). The serving is too small for hubby and according to him, the taste could have been stronger.

Still with half empty stomach, hubby ordered their Nasi Lemak Sambal Udang (RM5.90).

Unfortunately the rice was not fragrant, and though the sambal udang is spicy enough, it was too bitter to go with the rice. :( I guess they have too much of grounded lemon grass in the sambal udang. Also, the anchovies are chewy, not chrispy. Old Town's nasi lemak special is much more better.

Overall, the dinner cost us RM30.10. Not too expensive but the food was not too satisfying. Another place to hang out for free WiFi.

Dinner @ Wai Sek Kai, Chai Leng Park

Hubby and I went to Chai Leng Park for dinner two days ago. We were on our way back from SP and coincidentally we need to drop by Chai Leng Park, so we just went to Wai Sek Kai to settle our dinner.

Hubby suggested bak kut teh over there as he had tried it before years ago and it was good. It was a rainy day so we'd like to warm ourselves up for a hot pot of soup.

There you go, we ordered bak kut teh for 2. The clay pot is huge so there's ample of soup for both of us. We don't even need to ask for refill! The soup is hot and tasty. The Chinese herb smell was not too strong, and the there's lots ingredients. It is best serve with bird's eye chili, chopped garlic, dark and light soy sauce.

Bak kut teh for 2 cost only RM13++, much cheaper than the one we had in Patani Jaya, Sungai Petani, and definitely much better.

Hubby ordered the Leng Chi Kang from the stall opposite to clay pot bak kut teh. It turned out good also. It consists lots of ingredients. The sweet potato is soft, and there are other ingredients like lychee, fresh and dried longan, white fungus, kidney beans, pek koay, QQ tapioca balls and jelly. Small serving cost for RM2.50 and big serving for RM3.80. It is highly recommended. "Refreshing desu ne". :D

Overall we are quite satisfied with our dinner there.

The Mixed Soup

It's been a while I have not posting any home cooked recipe. Let's start with a simple soup recipe for year 2009. The mixed soup - a soup that consists of sweet corn, carrot, potato, onion, tomato and pork ribs. It is similar to ABC soup, but with sweet corn added, it enhances the taste of the soup. It tastes marvelous!

During my busy day at work, I'll prepare all the ingredients and pass instructions to hubby. He'll let the soup boils in the slow cooker. So, when I get back from work, I just need to cook another dish like steam fish fillet, then our dinner settle. :)

The Mixed Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium sized carrots, peeled and cubed
1 medium sized potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium sized tomato, washed and sliced
1 onion, quartered
1 sweet corn, cut into 3 pcs
200g of pork ribs
800ml of water
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring water to boil in a pot. Then pour it to the slow cooker.

2. Put in pork ribs, carrot, potato, tomato, onion and sweet corn. Cook it under automatic mode.

3. Let it simmer for 4 to 5 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

American Breakfast @ Restaurant Super Star, Sungai Petani

Last weekend when we were back in SP, FIL brought us to Restaurant Super Star for breakfast. This restaurant was once a very popular place for breakfast and dinner but after many years, the business deteriorated and no longer serve dinner nowadays. Even for breakfast you'll no longer see the crowd like last time. There's only a few hawker stalls serving breakfast, namely Lo Mee, American breakfast and Indian roti canai.

Hubby and I ordered American breakfast set, each cost only RM3.50. Dirt cheap. Depending on your choice, the set breakfast consist of ham, toast bread with butter, eggs, sausage and hashbrown. The food is simple, tasty and nice.

Teluk Kumbar Seafood 公巴好友海鲜

I consolidated some of my previous review from old blog into this latest trip to Hao You Seafood.

On our last visit which was a year ago, we were invited by hubby's friend Micheal for dinner. We just ordered ordinary dishes like stir fried vegetable, sour and spicy chicken wings, their signature tofu with dried mushrooms and siew bak choi, satay, tom yam fish and crabs stir-fried in salty duck egg yolk. A year later, we hopped in for another try. This time we tried their prawns, mantis prawns and meat crabs.

There's a satay stall opposite the Hao You Seafood. Most of the people who dine in Hao You will order it. The satay, which is pre-marinated in satay sauce, cost 70 cents per stick. The price remains the same since a year ago. It’s a bit sweet. Compared to the ordinary satay, the difference is you don't get the chance to dip the satay in the peanut sauce. There's a layer of chicken skin sandwiched between the 2 pieces of chicken meat. Ha, I just throw away that layer.

Although it was still early at 6pm, but then, roe crab was no longer available. We had no choice but to order 2 meat crabs. In order to taste the original flavor, we went for "peng" crabs. "Peng" crabs are more suitable to eat on its own. Unlike the crabs stir-fried in salty duck egg yolk, it’s more delicious to be eaten with rice. We were quite disappointed with the crabs. It cost us RM24 for merely 2 little crabs.

Kam Heong prawns. The size of prawns are not really huge, but with the bird's eye chili added, it becomes an appetizing dish to go with rice. :) I'm a prawn lover, and I love this.

Between squid and mantis prawn, we chose the latter. We had this Nestum mantis prawns. It's very crispy and fragrant. With the curry leaves and bird's eye chili (again?) added, it tastes superb. Just a bit oily like normal deep fried stuff.

If you are coming from Bayan Lepas International Airport, Teluk Kumbar Seafood is located at the back of an abandoned Yellow Bus Terminal on your left, just before the junctions to Balik Pulau and Gertak Sanggul.

Here, you can choose a seating place on the beach, with great sea view, the fisherman boats, and of course the nice sun set.

Address: 84, MK9, Teluk Kumbar, 11920 Penang.

Tel: 04-6491403

Here, I would like to wish all of you Happy New Year 2009!