My inner child during Winter Solstice

Isn't there a moment back from your childhood that you would like to relive? For me, it's the little glutinous rice balls also known as 'tong yuen' (cantonese), which is traditionally made on the Winter Solstice Festival, which falls on 22nd Dec this year 2010. Luckily, I can get to relive it every year.

Rolling it was laborious, neck-stiffening, feeding-the-mosquitoes under the table while hands are mucky and powdery to kill them, and cleanups were a chore too many... Getting my hands dirty rolling the cute little rice balls is one thing, seeing the little handmade balls of multitude colors laid out on the muslin cloth is all time satisfying.

Many variations of tong yuen are found all over, from those with peanuts, black sesame, red bean fillings, to those of various sizes from pea size to ping pong ball sizes, soft to chewy... Colors add to the appeal with blue, orange, blue, and even modern-inauspicious black, with various soups like soya bean, chicken and pork soup, longan soup, ginger soup, tea-based, and the longer I go on, the weirder the list gets... Regardless of all those, my family has made it simple with plain tong yuen without fillings and made with natural food colorings.

The process is pretty simple.. get some glutinous rice flour add colorings and appropriate amount of water to it until it forms a dough wet enough to be handled.
Small amounts of dough were pinched off and rolled on the palm of hand to form the balls of the size of preferance.
Picture on the left is the product of the colorings from red beet juice(left) and dragon fruit pulp (right). To me, I prefer the one made with the dragon fruit pulp as it's more vibrant, and later proved to me right as it retained it's color rather than the red beet.


The yellow from a VERY VERY careful gradual pinches of tumeric powder.... so as to achieve the desired color but not to introduce the heavy earthly smell of it.

The blue from a local flower called 'bunga telang' or Blue Pea Flower (Clitoria Flower), easily grown in the warm climate of Malaysia. Commonly used for some 'nyonya kuih' colorings too. Easily dried and stored, and when added with a little of water, gives off a vibrant blue food coloring.

The 'pandan' leaves, contributes to the green color and again, easily found in Malaysia as it's a local favorite for many other recipes for it's uniquely fragrant sweet aroma. For that reason, mum has decided to make this color the most as to leverage it's unique flavor into the sweet dessert.

And after about a couple hours of rolling..... voila... left to dry on a muslin cloth overnight to produce a chewy texture
Being cheeky as I am... I tried to be inventive and mixed up some colors. A little too tedious to do so, and time consuming, so didn't do many.


And the next morning, after an overnight of drying, the balls go into boiling hot water, and left until it floats up to the surface, which shows it's cooked. Quickly taken out and washed with cold water to stop the cooking process and also preserve the color.
The soup was prepared separately with pandan, water and sugar... Simple syrup and sweetness level can be adjusted depending on individual taste.
When ready to serve, just add both up to the bowl.
Just a close up on the cooked balls....

















And the final product.... yummm.....

Burger King has finally landed in Penang

As we approached Bandar Sri Pinang, the 'new' gurney drive of Penang, with the landmark 4 blue pillars on the coast of the reclaimed land, we bumped into THIS:

Without much more words, the picture is pretty self explanatory. After more than a decade of Penangites complaining the absence of Burger King from the island, wishes are finally fulfilled. Now, it's just a matter of a waiting game for the opening of the fast food outlet.

Scenery is wonderful at night with the harbour view and obstructed Penang Bridge view... a sight to behold. The immense length of the promenade will definitely add appeal to the environment, if not for the unsightly polluted sea.

For those who do not know how to get there:

Harvest In Cafe

Nestled in old residential enclave of Irrawaddy Road, lies a freshly renovated corner lot cafe.
With a simplistic gray outlook, this establishment offers western cuisine in both authentic and Malaysian fusion.I went there on two separate occasions for dinner, and the packed cafe is a testament of it's popularity among locals. Nonetheless, we were still greeted by gracious waiters/waitresses who ushered us to our seats, and promptly served with cool refreshing water to start with.

The menu displayed popular Malaysian fusion western and also some more authentic types. Ranging from RM 9.90 onwards, there were quite many to choose from, although they had excluded pork from the menu. There's even a notice posted outside the cafe, that stated "Pork Free".

Ambiance was a little noisy, from all the chatters of the other patrons, but still bearable for us to have our own pre-dinner chat.
The set dinner is any of the ala-carte menu, with an additional charge, which comes with the soup-of-the-day (in this case, mushroom soup, shown in the pic above), drinks (peach tea, ice lemon tea, tea, coffee), and dessert which is usually a choice of either cake or jelly.

Then, comes to the main courses. We ordered:
Catch of the day...(Grilled salmon [or dory!?] with rice.)
Grilled to golden (but was more burnt in the pic above), and with a sweet tasting rice (almost similar to chicken oiled rice), it comes with boiled broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. The fillet is not much flavored, but my friend likes it for the 'natural' taste of it. Need not fear, there's a Joinville Sauce to dip in depending on personal preference.

Hawaiian Chicken.












Hawaiian chicken comes with potato wedges and the usual boiled broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Glazed with a creamy looking cheese, the pineapple that goes with it is soft and sweet, matching with the juicy chicken.

Hungarian Spicy Chicken.











I can hardly remember what this pic was until reminded by my friend. As such... it goes to say that, I recalled it as just being another poultry dish. Tasted ok..., but one of my friends said that it's weird!?... Your turn to be gastronomically adventurous.

BBQ sauce chicken.












BBQ sauce chicken was nothing much to shout about. What made up for the simplicity of it was the meat which wasn't overcooked, which maintained most of it's tender juices. Comes with mashed potatoes too.


Chicken Tikka Masala










To put this in more understandable terms, it's a fancy way to call 'ayam percik from Ayamas' with buttered rice. Really taste alot like ayam percik, but with more gravy. A whole chicken drumstick, generous serving of vegetables, still a juicy ayam percik nonetheless.

Almond fish.












Once again, the fish dishes are usually plain, and the almonds were crispy to give a different texture to the soft meat of the fillet. Nothing much to 'wah' about for this dish, but not that bad also. I remain neutral on this.

Lamb with mint sauce.











For lambs, the meat speaks for itself. Juicy and tough, takes much more effort to cut it through, lamb shoulder creates a whole adventure by itself. Am a guy who likes to bite and chew, so, was satisfied with this dish. The mint sauce complements well with the meat, and the picture just says it all with all the juices oozing out to the bottom of the plate. Damn... am salivating again.

A cute square cut of tiramisu, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream as dessert.... what more can I say, than....[burp...]

Business hours is 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. And closes on Sundays and Tuesday dinners.
Harvest in Cafe Tel: +604-226 1718
Location is at the wikimapia link below:

Sungai Sedim Tree Top Walk

Far off in Kedah, close to one of the Titiwangsa mountain range, lies a pristine forest, newly conquered by humans with a structure of steel snaking through the tall canopies.
With some rain-washed brochure displays along the elevated walkway dampens the mood, the ecstasy of being high up and close to the trees have made up for the other shortcomings.



26 metres above ground.---->

It was quite a lengthy walk, probably about 30 minutes. Of course there were lots of photography sessions and made the journey longer. No other wildlife were to be seen, except for some colorful spiders and butterflies.




Sedim river... clear cool waters.
The supporting structures... ---->

Although the weather was overcast, and drizzled, the magnificent view was a wonderful experience.
Entrance fee is RM10.

Lunas Duck Rice

This place would have been blogged about countless of times by more famous blogs like PenangFoods. But then, just along my way to Sungai Sedim for a nature tour, still stopped by for a quick bite. Located in Lunas, Kedah, many pilgrimages have been made to this little town which offer the only tourist attraction of it's famous roasted duck.













The sauce and saltiness of the duck compliments well. The picture shows half a duck, serving for 3 mouths. Beautifully glazed and roasted, the meat is not too tough to chew on.
We ordered a plateful of blanched bean sprouts too... Nicely garnished with spring onions and fried garlic bits. Crunchy and the saltiness of the sauce just nice, although the ones in Ipoh (Bean Sprouts Chicken) are juicier. Personally, I think the bean sprouts in Ipoh has been drizzled too much with artificial flavorings and 5-spice-powder.

I had mine with just plain porridge garnished with fried garlic bits, and the yummy pic just says it all... [chomps]...

Bugger Hotel

Caught this amusing sign in central Penang...
I could not understand how they could have made this huge mistake, coz it's not a mis-translation from chinese. Unless they are trying to tell you that their beds are infested with bugs

Ghee Seng Tomyam

This post has been long overdue. As usual, my food trail has brought me to browse the internet and this link Ghee Seng Restaurant. Therefore, my friends went there for a try. And the verdict:
The highlight of the restaurant is supposed to be the tomyam, so we ordered a mixed seafood version. Personally, I don't fancy much of tomyam, so I'll have to quote my friend' comments: "Hmmm.... doesn't taste like traditional tomyam. Too curry-like and not sour enough. Me no like. What a dissapointment.". And for myself, "Oh!!! curry! Me like!!... heheh"


And there was Thai style stir fried chicken with basil and black pepper sauce. Average taste... maybe about 5/10.





The signature dish of Thai meat rolls (lor bak) 9/10.







Kerabu (Thai salad) mango... quite tasty. 8/10.









Plain stir fried 'tau miu' 5/10






And lastly, sweet and sour crabs. Seeing 2 crabs in the pic, and the style of cooking is abit off-taste from traditional way for our liking. Not really sweet and probably have too much fermented soy beans. 5/10
On the whole, it wasn't too bad an experience, saved by the meat rolls and the kerabu. Price is reasonable, and most importantly, it's the company that makes the food tasty!
Till the next culinary adventure, Bon Appetit.

A long on EURCHF

Entered a long position on EURCHF... hoping Swiss central bank will intervene in the market. Attached the hourly chart below:
The monthly chart shows that presently, it's reaching almost the same levels of previous lows within 10 years of historical data. **crosses fingers**

Starched Pork Strips!!!???

My another culinary adventure has brought me to savor a long forgotten dish called 'Bak Kee' (Hokkien). Located at inner city Georgetown, it's a kopitiam easily drove passed although brightly lit.
Named as Fountain Cafe (Wikimap), it's selling a specialty Hokkien dish, made out of strips of pork, very generously coated in starch. Ordered a bowl of it, it's served in clear soup with lots of cabbages and lettuce.

On a personal note, I don't really fancy this dish that much. It's mostly starchy, and with some hints of pork in the middle. The soup is sweet and tasty from juices of other meats boiled in that cauldron.















Another side dish, is a Penang favourite, fried oyster omelette from the same place. Although poorly photographed because of poor lighting (it was al fresco, in the late evening), it's clearly seen that the oyster is served on top of the fried egg. It struck me as funny, because an omelette is supposed to have it's oysters folded and fried in the beaten eggs and starch.
In this case, we had to eat them separately, which is a little odd to me. For the taste, I would put it as mediocre.

I felt dizzy...

I felt dizzy with the thought of being trapped in an invisible sphere. Feeling my way around, looking for a way out, but yet in futile attempt. Carefully prodding, fearing the burst of the bubble that might cascadingly burst other beautifully shaped bubbles. The constant noise buzzing around my ears was distracting me from feeling my way through this sea of foaming bubbles.

I felt dizzy with the coldness of crystal in my hands. Little droplets of condensations moisted my hands giving a sense of momentary relieve from the sweltering humid heat. The smoothness of the pear shaped glass was quickly felt, and fingers carressed it to clear the droplets of condensation, seeming to hug the crystal like bees protecting their hive.

I felt dizzy with the heat burning through my throat. The warmth flowing through, gave a much different sensation than the heat of the weather. It had the opposite effect of relieving uncomfortable body by numbing the senses. The mouth was awashed in tannin, the touch was dulled, the sight was blurred, the smell was sweet, and the mind slowly less noised.

I felt dizzy with pop of the bottle, corked on too tight or rather, or I had lost my strength. The sloshing of the liquid provided some music to the ears, drowning the consistant noises driving my head senseless. As the drops continued to fill the glass, the clear crystal was vibrating in resonance to the pour, amplifying the drips that drowned the noises.

I felt dizzy looking at the computer screen, trying to follow Facebook instructions while sipping on the crystal. Numbered from 1 to 9, I followed through 1. And then 2, and 5 and 3 and 7....Hold on! A mouthful went through my throat again, and repeated the steps. Some noises came again, and yet again, drowned by the sounds of gulps in my throat. The pounding of the esophagus on the walls of my chest provided was like the hammering of piles, deafening the noises buzzing my head.

I felt dizzy standing up and felt the world shifted sideways. A step forward seemed like a step backwards, a step up seemed like a step to the left. There were no more noises in my head. It was magical. I knew I had to lie down, and when my senses were not totally numbed, oral hygiene came to mind, and washed the emptied glass.

I felt dizzy as I laid on bed, murmuring forgotten phrases. The warmth of the blanket provided much needed comfort from the cold air blasting out from the air cond.

I felt dizzy when woke up with a slight headache. I felt dizzy thinking about what happened.

I no longer felt dizzy realizing that it was a reckless act. Feeling dizzy, can be remedied by other methods. Temporary cures would not have been needed had there been prevention measures.

Forex updates

Thought of summarizing forex markets of the week... but stumbled onto an article by ForexCrunch which gave quite a comprehensive study on the engines of forex for the week.
Looks like I have a way long way to go to be able to write summaries for some trades, so, meanwhile, do enjoy a quick read at the link above.
Anyhow, I shorted AUDNZD, based on Kathy Lien's outlook. **crossing fingers**

Bye Bye Kittens

Bye bye to the cute adorable kittens who have left their birthplace.... It's been 3 days now that they haven't returned, and I pray that they had found a much better home!...
Bye bye....

Potluck feast

On the occasion of farewell to a friend who is going to leave for good to Australia, we have decided to organise a potluck/cook-together.

My task was to cook spinach... and I just browsed through one of the many recipes that I can search from the internet, and came up with this:


Recipe:
1kg (roughly) of spinach, leaves plucked and stalks de-fibered.
1/2 salted egg coarsely chopped
1 century egg sliced to quarters
100g of anchovies (ikan bilis)
a fist of 'kei chi' (cantonese)... chinese wolfberry
3 cloves garlic
sugar and soy sauce
roughly 3 cups chicken stock (although I conveniently used pork stock, that my friend had to pre-cook his pork meat for the use of curry pork)

Sauteed the anchovies and garlic until golden, before pouring in my pork-stock. Left it to boil for about 5 minutes to get the flavor of the anchovies out and also to reduce the huge amounts of water.

Then, threw in the cleaned and peeled spinach. Left it to cook for about 3 minutes before adding salted egg and century to cook it a little more. Lastly, 'kei chi' was added to add color to the dish, and seasoned with sugar and soy sauce... QED.

Then, laid back, and wait for my other friends to finish up with other dishes... It was a gastronomical delight for 8 of us!



Thai coconut milk chicken stew






Plain blanched lettuce Salted fish and pork stir fried







Curry porkStir fried chicken breast with mushrooms