Salad with Fried Potatoes

MY THOUGHTS
What worry me the most is my hubby's health. He was, when he was young, a sports person. It is true as they say that when a sports man stops being active, they start to gain weight and contract different types of illness.
My main task is to make sure he is healthy. That means his food and exercise. I, for one, do not like exercising but because of him, I go to the gym at least twice a week with him.

THE INGREDIENTS
Salad - wash and cut them to bite size
Onion - not a lot. Just slice it thinly.
Two really fat potatoes - cut them into cubes. Bite size. Fry them. Take them out once they are nicely brown. Scoop them into a bowl lined with kitchen paper. Let the paper absorb the oil.
One stalk of spring onion - slice them finely.
Two fat tomatoes - slice them like an orange. The slices should not be so thick either.

Salad with Fried Potatoes

Black pepper - Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, Add in a few dashes of black pepper and salt.

Fried Rice: Simple

MY THOUGHTS

It was a restaurant when I heard a talk about family. The owner of the restaurant was playing a video on an Islamic talk. The preacher was talking about how giving your children what they want...of course within your mean. 

I sincerely agree with the preacher. In fact, when I was young, each time I requested for some kind of food and my mother could not give me immediately, she would ask me to lick my right palm first - hoping that I would not think about it too much. My mother believes that if we keep on thinking about the food, we might fall and injure ourselves. 

THE INGREDIENTS

Heat up the wok. 

Margarine - put a tablespoon into the wok.

Two eggs - beat the eggs and add in a little bit of white pepper and salt. Make scramble egg. How? When you pour in the beaten eggs, keep on stirring it. It will then start to become dry and curdle. Scoop them out. 

Margarine - put in another tablespoon into the wok. 

Anchovies - wash a hand full of anchovies. Put them into the wok and keep on stirring until they are nicely brown. Then push the fried anchovies to the side of the wok. 

three cloves of Garlic (fat ones) - slice them and put them into the wok.

One red chilli - slice and put it into the wok. 

Simple Fried Rice

Rice - cook two cups of rice. Once it is cooked, let it cool before putting it into the hot wok. (In fact, this should be done before you start your frying activity.) Make sure the garlic and chilli are really limp before you put in the cooked rice. Mix the ingredients well. Add in the scrambled eggs and a few dashes of soya sauce. If you wish to add salt, do not put in too much as the soya sauce is already salty. 

Pasar Pandan, Johor, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS
My twins did not get the kind of results that I wanted. I was so disappointed and took out my anger on them. This is of course wrong. When I realised it, I seeked their apology and explained to them.
I believe that everything happens with a reason. There must be a good reason why God does not allow my sons to get the results that we wanted.
The good thing is that they are still with me - to love, to hug and to talk to. Perhaps, the bond between us is not strong enough for us to be apart. If they had had the desired results, we weren't surely be together most of the time.

LOCATION
You should go to Pasar Pandan. It is a corner shop and from the shop you could actually see the wet market. It is called Restoran Mem.
From the main road, you need to drive further in.

THE FOOD
Nasi Goreng Kampung is its speciality - the taste is out of the world.

Nasi Goreng Kampung

As the restaurant is very near to the wet market, the prawns served are really fresh. The fried rice should be eaten hot too and together with the sambal belacan. Sambal belacan is a home-made thick sauce. It is made out of belacan (prawn cake?) and chilli. The two main ingredients are pounded together with salt, sugar and other secret stuff. Each person has their own unique style making the sambal belacan.

Larkin, Johor Bahru, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS
No matter how busy we are with our work, we should find time for our family - especially the children as they need us the most. One thing that I regret the most is that I hardly make an effort to be with my children when they were young. I was too busy making sure we had enough money to spend. Now, I am missing their baby antic.

LOCATION
There is a row of stalls facing the main road beside the fire station. Parking is not easily available - rather limited. You must know how to manoeuvre your car well as some people fail at parking properly.

THE FOOD
There are a few lovely food here. My hubby loves the Ice Kacang. There are two stalls that sell Ice Kacang. The best one is the one closest to the fire station. If you ask for Ice Kacang Special, they will put two scoops of vanilla ice-cream on top.

Then, next to this stall, you can get lovely Beef Steak but be warned, at times, the meat is rather hard. To eat the steak, you must it when it is hot. Once cold, it is not worth dying for.

A few stalls away, you can get Kacang Pol. This is an arabic dish and seems to be the favourite of many in Johor. This too must be eaten hot. Taking it back to be eaten for breakfast does not taste so good. Unfortunately, for this particular dish, I have forgotten to take a photo of it.

Beef Steak

Ice Kacang Special

Damansara, Selangor, Malaysia - FOOD SPOTS

MY THOUGHTS

Having my children and husband with me is the best moment of my life. Thus, during public holidays or even when everyone at home, I believe that the whole family should go galavanting together. If we are to stay at home, the tendency is that every body will be in their own rooms doing their own thing. Being outdoor ensures all of us talking and doing things together. 

LOCATION

The Curve in Damansara. This is my, as well as my children's, favourite place. Each time we are in Kuala Lumpur or even Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, we would make a point to visit IKEA. Apart from shopping or rather window shopping, we love to dine here. 

THE FOOD

IKEA Restaurant

It is famous for its Daim Cake. I do apologize as we have forgotten to take a picture of it. 

We should also not forget IKEA's curry puff - the Malaysian version. They put in a quarter egg in it, I think.

Sweet Chat

Durian Pancake

This is located at The Curve. (If you happen to be in Seri Kembangan, there is also an outlet.) My favourite, a friend of mine introduced this, is Durian Pancake. There is a small spoonfull of durian in the centre which is coated with cream and wrapped by a soft layer of pancake.

They also serve Herbal Soup that tastes somewhat like La Chee Kong (not sure of the spelling). 

Herbal Soup

 

The Herbal Soup is rather sweet. So you should also order mineral water to wash it down. 

Asam Pedas Melaka

My Thought

My hubby really adores the asam pedas from Melaka and, being a possessive wife, I envy those who can cook this particular dish. (Must do something so that my hubby would boast to everyone about my Asam Pedas Melaka)
I found out that the dish is not even called Asam Pedas - unlike the Johorean. Though the texture is about the same, there is a distinctive different that could make one hook to it.
Betty Yew has the recipe in her Rasa Malaysia. (page 26) Mine, as usual, I modified a bit.

My first Asam Pedas Melaka

The Recipe
3 big slices of fish (Ask for fish with tender and fine texture. You may want to buy Pomfret or even Garoupa. However, there are many other kinds. Don't forget to wash the fish using tamarind pulp.)
Cooking oil (I like to use Cap Buruh. Pour in until it nearly cover the base of the pot.)
Chilli Boh (Onions - a lot, Garlic - 1/8 of the onions, fresh tumeric - about the same amount as the garlic, and dried chillies - should be able to cover the onions. Soak the with hot water and then blend them finely. Put in about four scoop of a big wooden ladle into the hot cooking oil. )
Dried shrimp paste (The Malays call this Belacan. Sprinkle about slightly more than a teaspoon. Once you see the mixture starts to release oil, only then you add in the next ingredient.)
Aniseed / Jintan Manis, Coriander,  Black Pepper  (for each item, you only need one teaspoon. Grind them. Then pour them into the pot.)
Tamarind Pulp (Squeeze the juice out of about two handful. You need about three mugs of water. Be careful with the amount of water. We do not want watery gravy.)
Kerisik (Don't know what this is in English. You make this out of roasted grated coconut. In Malaysia, you can always find the ready-made one. Put in about two teaspoon.)
Salt and Sugar (The amount I would say according to your taste bud or even health.)
Halba (I am not sure what this is called in English. Malays usually use this when they cook Nasi Lemak. Put in about two or three pinches of it.)

I prefer using wooden ladle. 

Leave the dish to boil for a few minutes or until the fish is cooked.













The Outcome

My hubby loved it. I was very happy seeing him dishing out the gravy time and again. My second son loved it too. Anyway, be a bit cautious if you do not like very spicy dish.