Simple Dinner @ Loke Thiem (Hakka) Restaurant @ Patani Jaya, SP

Loke Thiem Hakka Restaurant is still remained as our favourite Chinese Restaurant in Sungai Petani. The main reason is because of the air-conditioned facility that they provided. The environment is more comfortable compared to other cheap "Chu Char" stall or coffee shop. Besides, there are plenty of parking lots available outside the shop. And most importantly, they serve yummy food with reasonable price.

This post is supposed to be uploaded few months ago, ahem! Means it has been siting in my draft folder for many moons. :) Same as per last visit, we tied along father in law to dine out at this restaurant.

All the dishes were ordered by me. First, I chose to have their Sweet and Sour Chicken Fillet. Another yummy chicken dish. It's as good as Pineapple Chicken that we tried on last visit. The chicken fillet were deep fried upon stir fried with onion, cucumber, and tomatoes. It's a simple and appetizing dish.

Next, I opted for Braised Tofu with Enoki Mushroom. Baby sweet corn, carrot strips and Holland beans are added as well. We still love their home-made egg tofu. The tofu is deep fried till perfection with fragrant outer layer, but smooth and silky inside. The gravy and enokitake make this dish very tasty.

Lastly, I ordered pea shoot stir fried with garlic 清炒豆苗. The dish turned out to be bland. I felt regret for not ordering sambal stir fried pea shoot. :(

The bill came up as RM28.90 inclusive of drinks. It's a reasonable price for 3 persons.

Address: No. 7, Jalan 20, Taman Patani Jaya, 08000 Sg. Petani, Kedah.
Tel: 04-4236749.

Subway Sandwiches & Salads @ Auto-City

On the Valentine's Day, most of the restaurants at Auto-City were fully booked. Hubby & I ran out idea where to go for a simple dinner. We drove around the Auto-City and figured out the only restaurant which was totally empty. It's the Subway! Since, we were not there to celebrate the V-Day, so we just stepped in to Subway.

Here's the internal view of the counter where you can order your food. We didn't even know how to start ordering, hehe LOL.

Basically, here's the guide line:

Step 1: Choose your Sub.

You can select either Classics, Basics, Hot Subs or Local Favouritres.

Step 2: Choose your Bread.

You can choose from Italian, Wheat, Parmesan Oregano, Harvest Wheat and Hearty Italian.

Step 3: Ask your self whether you want a 6-inch or foot-long sandwich.

Step 4: Cheese & Veggie Selection

Choice varies from Cheese-Onions, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Pickles, Peppers, Olives, Cucumbers, and Hot Peppers.

Step 5 : Which Sauce?

Mayonnaise, Mustard, Chili, Ketchup, Thousand Island, Olive Oil, Vinegar.

Step 6: To make it a meal

To decide whether to add chips or cookie with a medium drink.

Hubby opted to have Hot Subs Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich with Honey Oat bread.

and...This is for me. I had Basics Subs Turkey Breast & Turkey Ham in Parmesan Oregano bread.

Don't you think this is a healthy meal? So far, these are the most delicious sanwiches that we've taken. The 2 sets of sandwiches with drinks and chips cost for RM28. Both of us are very satisfied with our new try. :)

Seaweed Soup With Meat Balls

Due to our house renovation, it'll not be convenient for me to cook at home right now. We'll dine out this whole week. Anyway, I would like to share a simple soup that I've made last week, the seaweed soup with meat balls. This is a " quick soup" which does not require a long time to boil.

According to nutrition data, seaweed is low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Riboflavin, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Copper and Manganese. However, got to take note that it is very high in Sodium.

With its nutritional value and simple cooking method, why not you give it a try?

Seaweed Soup With Meat Balls

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Some dried seaweed, washed & drained
150gm minced pork
2 small stalk of spring onion, chopped
1 tsp of light soy sauce
A pinch of pepper
700ml chicken stock
1 tbsp of garlic oil

Instructions:

1. Marinate minced pork with light soy sauce and pepper and leave for 20 minutes.

2. Bring the chicken stock to boil in a pot.

3. Make the minced pork mixture into meat balls and add to the soup.

4. Add garlic oil.

5. Pour in the seaweed and simmer for few seconds.

6. Sprinkle the spring onion and off the fire. Serve hot.

Swenson's @ Auto-City

I have read lots of reviews on Swenson's but I have yet to step in to their restaurant. So, the other day when we happened to drop by Auto-City for our dinner, I led hubby to this place.

We took our time to go through their menu. We were not sure what to order, so we really had a long discussion. :) Pasta, burger, baked rice, chicken or fish? So, let's see what we had.

Since we ordered the creamy and oily stuff for our main course, we just opt for lemon & lime drinks to wash away the oil that we consumed. So, here they are - the iced lemon tea and lime sherbet.

Clam Chowder - baby clams, diced potatoes, carrots, onions and celery in creamy soup served in a sourdough breadbowl. This is something new to us. Both of us like it very much, just that the serving is too small, haha...

BBQ Mushroom Chicken Burger - Juicy minced chicken patty with BBQ mushrooms and grilled vegetables, served with US fries and coleslaw. We love this very much. All the ingredients are matched to the perfection. The burger is very fragrant and flavorful. The mushroom and grilled vegie enhanced the overall taste. I just love the aromatic of the mushroom. How good if we can find this kind of burger in McD. :) I'll definitely go back for this delightful burger again for sure.

BBQ Half Chicken - Half chicken tenderly braised and grilled in smoked BBQ sauce, served with US potatoes & seasonal vegetables. We found that the potatoes were a bit hard, and the chicken is too sweet to our liking. Everything was just too ordinary.

The bill cost us for RM79++. Expensive??

Address: Jalan Perusahaan, North-South Highway Juru Interchange, Auto-City.
Tel: 04-502 2850.

They have other outlets in Queensbay Mall, Gurney Plaza & Times Square at Penang.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Bubur Cha Cha - The Chap Goh Meh Dessert

Here comes the end of lunar new year 2009. Happy Chap Goh Meh to all of you. Coincidentally, today is the public holiday replacement for Thaipusam. Hurray!

Malaysian Chinese normally enjoy their home cooked dessert, called “bubur cha cha” on the last day of Chinese new year. This sweet and creamy dessert is cooked in coconut milk, with various kind of ingredients. Everybody can have their own favorites, with banana, mango, or cashew nuts added in.

The above photo is my mom’s home cooked “bubur cha cha”. On this day, my mom will cook a very big pot of bubur cha cha for praying. She uses the most basic ingredients consist of yam, sweet potatoes, sagu, and pink jelly made from tapioca flour. To make the bubur cha cha milky and fragrant, pandan leaves, thick coconut milk and sugar are added. Hmm...I just like this type of dessert.

Wai San & Carrot Soup With Kampung Chicken 淮山红萝卜鸡汤

When you go to wet market or hypermarket, did you notice the long tuberous root with diameter about 5cm? The tuber is called Wai San aka Chinese yam or Shan Yao. It's naturally sweet and it is attributive to lung, spleen and kidney. When its skin is peeled, it has natural sticky glue on its flesh that make it so starchy. You may find it a bit difficult to handle, just need to be careful.

When cooked, it tastes like bean. It is a good herb that contains high nutrients. So, I consider it as one of the healthy ingredient for boiling a nutritious soup. Instead of boiling a pot of normal soup, I add a carrot and some red dates to enhance the flavor, and also I use kampung chicken to boost its nutritional value. The outcome is superb. I got a pot of sweet and fragrant soup!

Wai San & Carrot Soup With Kampung Chicken
Serves 2

Ingredients:

200gm of wai san, peeled and chopped into bite size
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped into bite size
250gm kampung chicken, skin & fat removed, and chopped into pieces
8 red dates, washed and drained
water
light soy sauce to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Pour it into slow cooker.

2. Add in wai san, carrot, red dates and chicken. Simmer under high heat for at least 3 hours.

3. Add light soy sauce to taste and shift to auto mode for another 1 to 2 hours.