The Flavoursome Journey

Gigantic Pork Ribs - The American The portion was so bloody huge that I can't finish the half rack of ribs! I felt so sinful to leave the half of the meal unfinished. It was worth for the price and would like to dine in again! I reckon 2-3 girls to share a plate. Flavour-wise and food quality, not bad. I was so worried about how I was going to eat the pork ribs =.= Thank god I did not need to use my hands because the meats were so soft and easy to pull apart.  The peppercorn flavour pork ribs taste better and moisture than BBQ. It was not hot but flavourful. Their smashed potato was good too, not oily. RM40 This BBQ flavour pork ribs were a bit dry. Also, the BBQ flavour was not flavourful enough for me. I can taste the plum's sourness but I think it needs some sugar/honey or something to hit the right taste. Maybe I have used to eat the rich smoky BBQ flavour. RM40 Oops, can't remember the name of the drinks. The back drink was made of Ros...

Okra：Simple and Healthy The preparation is very easy to go and save you a lot of time. My family loves this simple and healthy dish. Light and not oily. I used to dislike this vegetable because of its sticky mucous-liked texture. Once you used to it, you will love okra! Okra is sold very cheap in Malaysia. It contains good source of fiber, vitamin C and folate. You can get 12 okra in a pack for only RM1. It is also easy to plant in warm tropical area. Ingredients 1 pack okra ( 10-15 okras, depends on size) 1 tbsp fried garlic 1 tbsp soy sauce Directions 1. Steam the okra for 5-7 minutes on top of the rice in a rice cooker ( When the rice is almost cooked).     Alternative ways :  Cook it in a steamer for 5 mins. Steam in a pot for 5-7 mins. Cook in a boiling water pot for 3 mins. 2. Take it out from the rice cooker.  3. Spread the fried garlic and soy sauce on top of the dish. It is ready to serve! Note: ...

A shocking news of pork DNA were found in Cadbury chocolate in a largely Muslim population's Malaysia . It is really a sad news for Muslim especially those Cadbury chocolate's lovers.   Not just the Muslim, pork allergic and vegetarians consumers were affected too. Whose faults? Who to blame? Everyone has their own different views.  There are some possible reasons of pork DNA found in the chocolate. 1. Cross-contamination 2. The gelatin gel. 3. The lard So who to blame? Blame the people of health minister? They were the one who found out this issue. How would the people know that the chocolate contained pork DNA if the authority didn't inform the public.   Blame Cadbury Chocolate Company? Or the ingredient's suppliers? They need to find out what cause the pork DNA traced in the chocolate. The QA department in Cadbury manufacture must be very headache and busy.  This lesson has taught the food industry especially manufacturing side of please b...

The Homemade Chili Paste Fish  Found the right taste out of sudden and a breakthrough of something I won't do before! It was not that hard as I thought. A very simple recipe to share with those who doesn't like complicated recipe! It tasted a bit similar to nasi lemak's sambal . I suggest it is good to go with 'ikan bilis' (anchovies). In order to get the sour taste, I used lime instead of assam! The paste didn't taste very spicy. It was just a hint of hot sensation. It tasted sweet and a bit of sour. The lesson I learnt from this dish was, sugar and salt play a big role in flavouring and balancing the taste. Ingredients 1 piece of fish 5 tbsp oil 1 stalk lemongrass 1 small onion 1cm ginger 3 long dried chili 1 tsp lemon/lime juice 1 tsp salt 2 tsp sugar Directions 1. Heat the oil in a pan. Fry the fish until cooked and put it aside. Leave the remaining oil on the pan. 2. Put the other ingredients in the blender and blend...

Bitter Guard Not Bitter 苦瓜不苦 Many people seem to try to avoid eating bitter guard due to its bitterness. Same likes many people, I used to avoid it when I was very small. I learnt to eat when my mom cooked it with egg as egg is my favourite food. As long as you know how to handle the bitter guard, it won't taste that bitter. a) Clears the seeds and the white layer. b) Cooks the bitter guard till soft. c) Saltiness depresses bitterness. Bitter guard is good for people with diabetes because it helps lower blood sugar levels. It is also a cooling dish for a hot day. Ingredients 1 medium size bitter guard, thinly sliced 1 tbsp fermented bean 2 tbsp pork strips 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp oil 1/2 cup water Directions 1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir until aromatic.  2. Add fermented beans and stir for 15 seconds. 3. Put bitter guard and pork strips. Stir the bitter guard until it changes colour.  4. Pour water in. The dish is ...

I look Ugly but I am Yummy - Healthy Eating : A very refreshing food for a hot day with lots of herbs and low in fat. This was my first time making Vietnamese roll after 3 years. I used to help my sister to prepare this at home and I remember I rolled it quite nice. Now you can see I really need to pick up the skill. Since it was a long time ago, I took some times to recall back how to make it. My memory of Vietnamese roll was it wrapped with a lot and different kinds of herbs, beans sprout, carrot, cucumber, lettuce, rice noodles, prawn, pork belly and nan guoc sauce. Oh wait! Do we really need so many ingredients? I was short of ingredients. No worry, just do it with what you have! As long as you have rice paper, rice noodles and herbs, you can make it! I can't find Vietnamese rice noodles. So, I use Malaysia/Thailand made vermicelli. Anybody knows where can I get Vietnamese rice noodles in Penang? Vietnamese rice noodle is a little bit thicker and sticky wherea...

The Best Braised Egg  1. Hokkien-Lor Mee: Mixed Prawn Noodles and Lor Mee  2. Prawn Noodles/Hokkien Noodles 'The Old Green House' is famous for their prawn noodles for supper time. However I am going to introduce their Hokkien-Lor and braised egg. There are a selection of ingredients which you can top on the noodles such as roast pork, pork intestine, fish balls, pork ball, braised eggs and shrimps.   You can choose the type of noodles you like such as thick yellow noodles, vermicelli and the instant noodle . Still I prefer the original--- thick yellow noodles and vermicelli. Hokkien-Lor Mee When I didn't know whether I should go for Prawn Noodles or Lor Mee, I will go for Hokkien-Lor Mee. It means Prawn broth mix with Lor Mee gravy in a bowl. I like the way they presented the noodles- Prawn broth and thick gravy each sides which looked like 'Yin' and 'Yang'.  Lor Mee gravy is thick and starchy in texture, and sweet in taste. However their gra...

A Hidden Dish @ Bee Hooi Cafe The other day I was craving for supper and looking for something light to eat and I found this - porridge. I was a bit confused when they told me they sell porridge because it is actually a chicken rice stall. I did not see any sign written they sell porridge.   I love porridge, especially chicken porridge.  Their porridge was not as salty compared to what you usually eat outside which is good for supper. It did not leave a heavy breathe on your mouth. It was light, clear and not oily too.  Okay I am not a super healthy freak, but it is lovely to put some lettuce in the porridge.    It was just a bit disappointed that the porridge was not warm enough for me (Understandable as it was near to closing time).  Apparently local people knew about this hidden dish as I saw some people ordered this. RM4 for a bowl of porridge. Heard that their chicken rice are nice too, haven't tried since I haven't craved for chicken ...

Char Hor Fan @ Bee Hooi Cafe I ordered the Char Hor Fan since I haven't eaten for awhile.  I was so excited when I had the first spoon - the taste that I missed > The Authentic Taste! The sauce didn't overwhelm the flavour of stir fry noodles. You can still taste the wok taste and the noodle wasn't so oily too.  The stall are owned by an old couple. I wish they could teach me how to cook this. RM5 for a plate of Char Hor Fun. Not just the flat rice noodles,   they also stir fry it with a little bit of vermicelli .  Some people don't like the vermicelli can request for only flat rice noodles. They put some   choy sum, slices of fish ball, pork slices, roast pork slices and prawn   on this dish. The old days flat rice noodles which my dad love it ( his old time ) was cooked with pork oil and has pork liver. It is hardly seen nowadays because youngster prefer the egg gravy one with lots of gravy (Note: similar to War Tan Hor). Egg gravy one is mor...

Charcoal-fire-cooked :  Duck Egg Char Kuey Tiao @ Bee Hooi Cafe No wonder Ah Boy told me the  chef use charcoal fire to cook the noodles.  To describe the noodles - 'The Wok Taste'. This noodles are unique and different from others stall by its wok taste and snap of hot sensation (suitable for those can't eat much spicy), not as salty too. Not for those who like rich flavour. Ah Boy ordered Char Kuey Tiao make me so tempted to eat his food because the dish came with 2 super giant prawn and  duck egg ! The prawns were indeed very huge! RM 6 for a plate of Char Kuey Tiao. There are also others yummy food @ Bee Hooi Cafe, check it out at  http://theflavoursomejourney.blogspot.com/2014/05/bee-hooi-cafe-pulau-tikus-penang.html * Updated on 16.5.2014 : Due to the use of charcoal which is harder for people to control the fire, sometimes it might not taste good because the fire is not big enough to heat the wok.

What to eat at Bee Hooi Cafe/kopitiam?  1. Char Hor Fan ( Flat-wide Rice Noodles with Gravy ) 2. Chicken Porridge 3. Duck Egg Char Kuey Tiao (  Stir Fry Flat Rice Noodles with Duck Egg  ) My first time here was just a coincident stop-by a random kopitiam to take away supper. There sells quite a selection of food even though not as variety as the food court of course. However you can find some good food here! Well, the best and my favourite is still the 'Char Hor Fan'! Char Hor Fan I ordered the Char Hor Fan since I haven't eaten for awhile. I was so excited when I had the first spoon - the taste that I missed > The Authentic Taste! The sauce didn't overwhelm the flavour of stir fry noodles. You can still taste the wok taste and the noodle wasn't so oily too. The stall are owned by an old couple. I wish they could teach me how to cook this. RM5 for a plate of Char Hor Fun. Not just the flat rice noodles,  they also stir fry it with a little ...

Oh Sushi Japanese Restaurant in Strait Quay Once in awhile Ah Boy and I will spoil ourselves in expensive restaurant and we love sashimi.  I have known this restaurant in Strait Quay for awhile but never dine in before.  We went there around 8.30pm on Friday and surprisingly the restaurant was full of people - group of friends, couple and a lot of families . Luckily there was still a table for us inside. I did not want to sit outside to feed the bloody sucker mosquitoes. The food quality and overall impression were okay, I was happy to pay for it and most importantly we did enjoy our food.   Apparently some of the staffs and chefs are Japanese but the managers/cashiers are local Chinese. A very weird experience of in the middle of dining in Japanese resto, you will hear the two managers's voices very loud like in a kopitiam.   For the serving part, uhmm not very professional but they were polite and friendly . Ah Boy and I don't like to order everything at ...