Yarr! Pirate Treasure!

I made some instant Jell-O fudge pudding and sliced up some bananas to form "coins". It is the perfect dessert for kids, potassium and calcium with less sugar than most other desserts. I propped some sticking up, but for even more fun, you could make it in a big communal bowl, burying the banana slices inside, and let your kids dig them out like real pirate treasure.

Long Yoke (Bak Kua)

THANKS TAZZ for re-creating and posting this delicious treat for all to enjoy.

Here is the pork mixture as described to be sticky/gluey. It kind of was. Since I could not find any pork mince that was fatty (I could not obtain any at Walmart and they only had the healthy lean pork in Publix) I added 1 tbsp of vegetable oil.

The anticipation builds as I wait for the outcome ... it smelled Heavenly!

After a few more minutes ... TADA! Perfect! The edges were slightly crispy and the center parts gooey and chewy ... woah delightful. I baked it over my cookie cooling rack too, since it had the square marks that is usually found on KL made bak kua. Plus it helped me press out the meat until it achieved the thinness that I wanted.

Char Kuey Teow

Adopted from Malaysianfood.net I found fresh rice noodles at Jin Long (on Bobby Jones Expressway) opposite Walmart. Yay. Still they came out hard and stuck together, so I had to presoak them in warm water but they became too soft afterwards. ARGH! I don't like prawns in my CKT, I don't like lap cheong (Chinese dried sausage) either ... yealar I was brought up on the delicate taste of just the sauce and vegetables alone. I couldn't find si ham (cockles) either so too bad.

With the dark soy sauce my mom sent me (Thank YOU!) the taste I achieved was almost akin to the kind of ckt you will find in KL. Then while I was happily chowing down (the hubby loves it too) the Baby Stewie woke up. So I was carrying him and took a piece of noodle and popped it into his mouth. He was chewing and chewing ... then I took another piece and before it even reached his mouth, he was leaning forward with his entire body and mouth open bigger than I have ever seen before!

This boy is MALAYSIAN guaranteed!

He passed the test, and chowed down on almost half my portion too. Of course I didn't give him the veges as he can't chew those yet, but the egg and noodles, wow ... he loved it so much. Darn the flash in this photo but look he's showing his pleasure at both being up past his bedtime AND having something new and delicious in his mouth.


He is saying "Thanks mum! And poh poh for the kicap pekat!"

Tea Egg (Cha Yue Tan)

I had packets of herbal (tea) egg pouches sent to me from Malaysia by my mom, and I finally gave them a try.

Of COURSE being me, I would actually kick them up a notch using my nose and tummy rumblings.

I added more dong kuai, pak kor, kei chi and some others. I forget now, but I also added dark soy sauce and some sugar. After boiling overnight, it achieved this result:

After two days it looked even darker and more beautiful like this:

It was so delicious! I think I ate over 6 eggs within two days (of course I tossed the yolk and ate just the whites) In order to start a new batch the next time and have it as good as the first, I conserved the liquid in a container in the fridge.

Thanks MUM! For both the packets of herbs and the slow cooker!

Teriyaki Pork Steak

Marinade:
2 tsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp mirin (cooking sake)
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried chili flakes

About 3-4 pork tenderloin fillets, bone-in is optional. The thinner, the less cooking time required and the thicker, the lower stove temperature is needed so you don't overcook it.

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Marinate pork for at least an hour prior to cooking.

Heat up a flat frying pan with about 1 tbsp of butter. Place pork steaks into butter and pan sear on medium to high (depending on thickness) until cooked. Please don't eat it medium rare, you want them to be fully cooked!

Next, remove pork from pan, and pour the rest of the liquid marinade into the pan, cook on high heat until everything bubbles. When it seems to thicken into a gravy, remove from fire.

Serve pork on hot white rice with a side of veggies, and place gravy on the side as a dip, or dribble over pork steaks and rice. It's delicious!

Budget Salad

First you might want to start off with a base, say of baby spinach or the green mix I found at Walmart for only $2.00, and this bag will fill several bowls of salad! A bag of celery, $1 (last you awhile too as you simply use two stalks per bowl of salad) grab a can or bag of frozen beets, $0.97 to $2, a bag of brocolli, caulliflower and baby carrots mix vegetables for also around $2.73, you can leave out any of these of course, I went to Publix and browsed their sandwhich/cheese aisle and found a rather small but sufficient container of marinated olives for only $1.63, two plump tomatoes run you about $1.74 and a bottle of dressing or not will leave you $2 poorer. Now this may seem like a lot at first, but all of these can be eaten over a stretch, especially if you store them in containers. It's healthy, fast and perfectly wonderful for a warm summer day!

Japanese Curry

This is what Japanese Curry roux looks like. Stock up on it because you can make this:

I used pieces of cut up beef chuck, cubed potatoes and carrot. So good with warm white rice. Just follow the instructions basically.