The Flavoursome Journey

Homemade Prawn Sambal Paste & Stink Bean 臭豆不臭 People call it stink bean or 'petai' in Malay because of its strong smell. It lingers in the mouth and body, espe cially the after taste breathe, even when u gas, pee or poo poo. It is something like durian, you like it or hate it! But I love it!  Unlike durian's pungent smell and immediate distinct taste, there is a delayed response when it comes to petai.  As you chew, it slowly emits a pungency similar to garlic.   Now is the season for petai, same as durian. Is it all stink food come in the same season? Petai is gathered from the wild or cultivated tree in the jungles. So, call it organic vegetables from the jungle! I heard from my mom that there was a Malay man who always sold 100 of pods off stink bean to my late-grandfathers passed away because of falling down from the 3 storey high stink bean wild tree.   Mom made too much shrimp paste for 1 cup of petai. You can only see a few petai embedded in the

Roti - The Indian Flatbread This roti is different from the Malaysia's Roti Canai. Malaysia's roti canai is butterly and oily but this one is dry and similar like a wrap which is so much healthier. You can also save a lot of money to make your own wrap. I learn to eat this when I stayed in Thornbury, VIC with my housemate from north India. They are a lovely couples and the wife always cook at home. They always offered me to eat with them and that's how I know about this. She will make fresh roti almost everyday for dinner. Every time when I saw her making, I think it was complicated because you need to roll the dough, make into shape and cook one by one. But I really miss her roti and thus I decided to learn to make my own. Another reason that made me want to make this because of the wraps sold in Malaysia are not cheap, around RM5 to RM7 for 'mission' brand. Also, I miss tortilla and quesadilla, kebab - those Mexican and Middle East dishes. This was

Dry Sambal Kuey Tiao with vegetables I knew this dish from one of my ovo-lacto vegetarian colleague. Once I tried it, I love it! It was cheap, only RM3.30 and came with a bowl of soup ! Hardly seen cheap food in Penang any more. Much more healthier and not much oily too! It is rared to see the hawker put plenty of vegetables on a dish and put them nicely in Malaysia. There was lettuce, carrot, bean sprouts, spring onion, fried garlic, fish paste and chicken on top of the kuey tiao. So, my vegetarian colleague will order this without meat. The sambal came separated on the side which you can put as little as or as much as according to your liking. For me, the sambal was all poured in the plate and mixed together with the kuey tiao. I told the aunty to swap the seaweed soup instead of fish balls soup for me. So, you can choose to have either one.  I am not sure whether it opens at night because I went there during my lunch hour at 1pm. The stall is closed on Tuesday and

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: Most of the Chinese back

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 ready

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

Angled Luffa with Egg  A simple healthy meal with fibre and protein.  The sauce/soup is very clear, light and a little bit of sweetness from the luffa.  Luffa is soft to bite and a ll the essence is concentrated in the soup. It i s very suitable to serve in summertime. I love this so much. I can have rice to go with only this. I will have my rice covered with luffa with plenty of sauce. Okay, maybe I can call it soup because I drink the sauce like soup. I heard from my friend, his mom cooks this as soup which means they put more water. Feel safe to drink the sauce as it is not salty like other stir fry vegetable with thicken sauce. That's why I said the sauce texture is more like soup. I should put another half cup of water, a bit dry. Not enough soup for me! Story of luffa: My mom told me when she was a kid and my grandparents were very poor, they used dry luffa as a scrubbing sponge in the kitchen to wash the dishes . Interesting right? Luffa is a very fibrous