Under the Bridge Bak Kut Teh

Saturday morning, babe and I actually woke up at 9.30am eventhough we only went to bed around 2.30am. Guess we just excited about our plan for the morning. The previous weekend, when we were going to Jusco at Bukit Tinggi, we happen to see the signboard for the famous bak kut teh under the bridge, as it is so well known for. We were caught in a jam while crossing the bridge and that is the first time we noticed it. Hence, you might say it is a blessing in disguise.

We arrived around 11.30am. Yah, I know entire 2 hours but not because the place is that far but rather because babe likes to take his sweet time during weekend morning to drink his coffee first, check the internet before we go out from the house. (oh, not forgetting his toilet business!) WAHAHA!

Anyway, not sure how to order, we looked around and decided to try 2 bowl first, i.e. medium lean meat with small intestine (big) and pork knuckle (small) with 2 plate of red onion rice. We are abit surprised because this is the first time we have bak kut teh that is served in bowl instead of claypot. Babe really love the taste because he say the soup tasted almost like the one we had in Kuching. We end up ordering another big bowl of pork knuckle with large intestine because the portion is rather small. Babe ordered extra serving of rice and also yau cha kueh.

The medium fatty pork with small intestine. Lots of meaty part and the small intestine have those yummy insides.

Pork knuckles - Super soft and the tendon have just right consistency

Pork knuckles with big intestine - err..or what is left of it! :P

Big big big thigh bone...err..actually not on our table..we didn't order this because I don't know how to order it. This is the bone from our neighbour table. I curi-curi take photos and then zoom in..kekekekekeke

This are the bones left by babe!

The bridge we are sitting under... Babe say the Red Chilli Pepper was here at the Bak Kut Teh, that is why the name of the shop is called 'Under the Bridge' (ROLL MY EYES!)

See the cook... big big banner everywhere that tells everyone the shop is in business for 70 years already and is apparently the first bak kut teh shop in Klang.

In case you are interested, the opening hours and telephone contact

The famous people that been here

Jason.....

Total paid RM29.80, not inclusive of tea because I brought my own. All in all, the bak kut teh was okay la. I tasted better ones I think. Only thing slack is it is not hot enough after a while because its in a bowl. Also, really alot of msg!! Was really really really thirsty the WHOLE day eventhough I drank gallons of water. So, will I go back again? Probably not. Got equally nice bak kut teh ( or better) near where I am staying now.

Short talk: Business Idea....

Just a short one.. Babe said something really getting to my head since then. Got me thinking seriously about things but at the same time still climb that career ladder. Oh, before I continue babbling, let me tell you what babe said. As usual, we were thinking of where to have our dinner after window shopping at the new mall near Subang Parade. We were talking about German Pork Knuckle for awhile and we were thinking of going for it last night. But after driving around and not knowing where we can find one near Subang, babe said: Dont know what to eat. We can do nicer at home on our own.

I went: HUH? Oh, so you mean the food I make is nicer than most people?

HAHAHA! That is really nice compliment coming from your husband dont you think?

Anyway, got me thinking, perhaps I should start selling the Special Crispy Pork Log and German Pork Knuckle online. Then I only make to order. The person can then collect or deliver for a small price. Just thinking how to go about doing this.

If I am still in my old company, I can just bring some to office and share but current office, 90% are Muslim (and I am the only Chinese in my department), so, that idea is definitely out! Maybe facebook????? Any1 have any ideas?

No Bake Cheesecake

Nothing to talk about. Or rather too lazy to talk about anything. Want to watch Leverage new season on AXN. So, I let this cheesecake photo talk for itself :)

Kolo mee, Sarawak Laksa & Tomato mee in KL

Sarawakian are always and I do mean ALWAYS in search of Sarawak food when they are not at their hometown. Food like Sarawak laksa, kolo mee, tomato mee/kueh teow and kueh chap, if anyone is able to make it taste like home, then definitely the place will be swamped with Sarawakian and others that tasted Sarawak unforgettable food.

Anyway, a friend of mine from Sarawak actually open a stall here selling Sarawak Laksa & Kolo kueh teow. Until recently, he was not allowed to sell kolo mee because the owner son is selling wantan mee. Guess the owner didnt want any competition for his precious son. Anyway, the shop recently got renovated and the owner increase the rental (yar, no surprise rite) and tells them they can sell anything they want. My friend of course immediately start to sell kolo mee! After all, kolo mee are usually more popular than kueh teow or beehoon.

So, babe being babe, we went the first weekend that our friend sent us the sms informing he is also selling kolo mee now. And guess what, babe actually ate 2 bowls!! HAHA! And as I always say, good things are meant to be shared. Then the weekend after that, we went again and babe had only 1 bowl this time while stealing my share of tomato mee! Oh yar, for those who dunno what is tomato mee (or kueh teow), err..its hard to explain how it taste like only it is REALLY REALLY REALLY good. Go try if you dont believe me.

Frankly speaking, I dont even know why am I excited about kolo mee. When I was in Kch, I will NEVER eat kolo mee. Never like it at all. But since I came to KL, I even purposely go eat kolo mee when I go back for holidays! SHEESH! The power our hometown have on us :)

Alright, alright, time to share where the good stuff are. The shop is at ss24 or famously known as Taman Megah.

TOMATO MEE

THE KOLO MEE!

Picture speaks a thousand words yah?

Lobster anyone??

Not had much to talk about this few months. I thought what a better way to do it than blogging about food?!?

Was going through some photos and realised that I actually cooked lobster for the very first time a few weeks ago! When I was back in Kch for CNY, bro's friends have some ways of getting lobster for really cheap distributor price. No idea how and not about to ask too many questions. Suffice to say that I asked bro to help get a couple for me to bring it back to KL. Err.. Dont ask me how I manage to 'smuggle' those things into the plane and over the SCC. I only know that I brought so much food back that my bag was actually slightly overweight. Luckily I can take some out and put into my carry on.

Anyway, here is the lobster baked in the toaster oven. First attempt, not too good. In fact, very dry and tasteless! But I have another in the freezer. I think I will cook it another way next.

Overboard

Row row row your boat
Mary heard a scream
Throw the teacher overboard
Then you hear a scream

hahaha..perverted rewrite of the script! :P

Woke up really early this morning at around 7am this morning and just go back to sleep already after making babe his breakfast. After lazing around in bed till around 7.45am, decided to forget trying to fall back to sleep. At first, I was thinking of mincing the pork that I have in the freezer after it thaw.

But then, was thinking, why not just go to the Klang wet market and buy 'kampung' chicken and cook that packet of Uncle Sun abalone chicken herb soup we bought a couple of weeks ago (damn expensive by the way, 1 pkt for RM9.50 and cook one time only). And since I am at the wet market, might as well just get the mince pork there and save me the trouble of mincing my own (Yaaaaaa, lazy la!!).

I also had a sudden craving. Havent had one in more than 1 month. Last time, while still working at the old place, I would have thosai at least twice a week for breakfast! And sometimes during weekend, even go with babe to the mamak shop nearby for thosai garing. Now, there is simply no nice mamak shop near our place here.

Anyway, had thosai telur and teh tarik and off to the wet market. The wet market was nice! Not as many people compared to during the weekends which makes it a rather pleasant experience, horrible smell aside! Also bought a tray of large eggs for RM9, 5 pieces of tauhu for RM1.20, 1 bundle of chives for RM2 and RM10 worth of minced pork. I find things generally are cheaper in Klang compared to Sri Damansara area.

When I got home, I think I went abit overboard because feel guilty for leaving babe to have lunch alone while I go meet my friends for lunch, I cooked 4 dishes:

Omelette stuffed with minced pork & chives

Tauhu

Steamed minced pork

Abalone chicken soup

But guess what, babe DID NOT come back for lunch eventhough I sms him and told him that I cooked lots of food at home. Sheesh...although not wasted because we can have it for dinner, I was dissappointed lor because I rushed to make sure I cooked them before I go out! Just goes to show that you can plan but...

Sarawak Layer Cake

Have not bake anything in more than 2 months! Did the usual cooking for babe & myself but nothing special enough that I want to post here. But looking through Sumuk blog on baking Sarawak cake lapis makes me tempted to bake again. As I was saying, I been tempted to try my hand on those really intricate and artsy layer cake that seems to originated from Sarawak. Dont the photos just tempt you to eat them?!?



I guess I just need to kick my ass and makes myself do it. But the thing is, most of the recipe requires at least 20 eggs to make a 8"x8" square trays. And not the whole of the 20 eggs are used. Some recipe require 20 egg yolk and just 4 egg white. What in the world am I going to do with the remaining 16 egg white? Make the no flour chocolate cake? Hhhmm, that is another thought. Let me sleep on that for a few days. HAHA!

Just this for now...yar..short now..hehe.

Special Crispy Roast Pork

Remember I said that babe and I went to the market last week and bought one big slap of three-layer-pork because I wanted to try and make the special crispy roast pork? Well, I didnt do it last week because I wanted to look for the string to tie the pork but dont know where to get it. Finally, today, I decided that since I cant find the string, why not use babe's bonsai's wire to tie the pork up. All I need is something that is strong enough to hold the peice of meat together and not melt in the high heat of the oven.

After searching online for tips to make the pork skin crispy, I finally tried to make my first crispy pork using the convention microwave oven. I must say, it did turn out pretty good although there are still some parts of the skin that didnt crackle as well as I want it to be. What really surprised me was that the pork didnt shrink as much compared to when it is layed out flat.

If you want to attempt this, must make sure you get a really good piece of three layer pork with not too much fat or meat. Equal balance will ensure that the taste is superb and light as well. The pork was marinated with just salt, pepper and butter. And I only marinate the meaty part and left the skin untouch. When ready to cook the pork, I run hot water over the skin. You will see the skin actually shrunk slightly. Then pour some vinegar or lemon juice over the skin and rub some salt over the skin.

Bake the pork skin side up at 200 degree celcius for about 2hours. Every half hour, take the pork out and brush some vinegar or lemon juice on the skin and continue baking. As different oven behalf differently, make sure you keep a check on it. If any part of the pork is ready but others not, cover the ready part with aluminium foil (shin to avoid it from getting burn.

So the results to share:





DONT DROOL TOO MUCH OK!! :P

Crab Murderer?!?

Live crab are normally feared by those that have never conquered them before. I think it got something to do with the big sharp claws that once clam down on any part of you, will never let go until it is dead or its claw chopped from its body.

I remembered a lady asking me at the wet market while I waited for the seller to pack my crabs, "Hard to kill?" To which I answered, "No, very easy! Just flip them over and use poke a sharp knife into their belly". The response I got, the most intensely disgusted scared face!

Well, I think that is alot more humane compared to Chef Wan when he showing Bobby Chin how to cook fragrant crab on Astro. He just put on some thick gloves, hold on to the live crab and snap the big claws from the crab. Next, he took a kitchen scissor and cut the legs off. And finally, peel off the shell. All this while the crab is very much ALIVE! I wonder if Astro edited out the shrieking of the crab!

Since we got crabs from the market again today and babe is looking for opportunities to test his new camera, decided to show you guys how I kill and prepare the crabs.

The crabs all tied up by the seller esp the claws! So, no possibility of snapping at you unless you untie it. Flip the crab over on its belly. I use a thong. You can use anything that can help to aid you to turn the crab over and hold on to it. Even a strong spatula is good enough. And if you are really brave, your hands!

Pludge the knife deep into the belly of the crab. That is the softest part of the exterior shell. Usually, if this is done right, it will be dead in less than a minute. (Well, almost dead!)

The murdered crab! You can see very clearly here that their claws are still tied up. I am not taking any chances until I am sure they are fully and truly dead!

Once confirmed its dead, grab the bottom part of the shell and the legs, peel the top and bottom away. With some muscle, it should peel away like the above. It can get 'stucked' abit but dont worry, just pull in opposite direction until the shell gives.

There are some sponge like material on the inside and you need to remove this. Some believe that this part of the crab will cause you food poisoning or worse. I use a rough kitchen scrubber to clean out the last bit that might stick pretty hard to the crab.

You will need to wash and clean the shell with the scrubber as well. Get rid of those 'white' thing in the shell. I usually leave the rest intake as I like the texture but some prefer to just get rid of all the inerts.

Since I have 4 medium size crab, I decided to cook two variety, i.e. (1) Stirfry crab with eggs and (2) Stirfry crab with dry scrimp paste and belacan.

The ingredients

The 2 crab dishes

Stirfry crab with dried scrimp paste and belacan

Stirfry crab with eggs

The Night I Got My Friends Pregnant

Sooooo..long weekend and guess what we decided to do? BBQ Gathering of course! It is actually an annual thing that babe and his friends usually do on the eve of Merdeka Day (Independence Day). When he and his buddies were younger, this were one of the excuses to get together to drink and get really really drunk. But nowadays, with most of them married and with kids, it is more a get-together to catch up, chit chat and see what each other is doing.

And this year, this 31 Aug falls on a Monday, I decided to have one at our place for my friends. It is sort of a semi-potluck thing where everyone bring a little something. (I think the friends are curious to see how in the world do people do bbq in a apartment balcony! HAHA). Anyway, gathering started at around 6.30-7pm but preparation for me actually started much earlier.

We (yahh, babe and I) woke up at 7.30am (again, yah!!! He woke up at 7.30am on Saturday!! HAHAHA!). We went to the market early in hope to buy nice cuts of pork and whole pieces of spare rib for the bbq that night. Also, we wanted to get some crab to cook for lunch. By the time we arrive and parked, it was actually already 8.30am. Unexpectedly, there are actually a big crowd of people! The market was so jam packed that there are actually human traffic jam at some part of the market. Really didnt expect so many people to go early to the market.

Anyway, we did our pork shopping, bought the crab, crab with roe some more! Usually, we discovered that it is really hard to find female crab for sale. What more, those with roe, even much harder to get. So, imagine our surprise that not only there are female crab for sale but it is full of golden orange roe! Simply cant resist it. We got a 1kg (4 crabs) for RM28. We also bought some lectuce to have with the bbq pork tonight.

The previous time I went to the wet market alone, I saw a coffee shop selling dimsum in the heart of the wet market! Imagine, stacks and stacks of steamed dimsum just beside the stall selling roast pork! So, this time since I went with babe, decided to seek out the shop to have our breakfast. That is when we discovered that there are 2 dimsum shops and the one that we went is one of the older better ones (PHEW!).

How they serve? Well, you dont have to go to order. They will actually bring you trays and trays of the steamed dimsum and those more fusion ones on a tray and you choose what you want. Babe and I went a little overboard and actually had 6 dishes at the end of the day. Let me see, deep fried radish cakes (3pieces), yam puff (2pieces), salted egg with pork dim sum(3pieces), hakaw (4pieces), normal pork dimsum (3pieces) and steamed marinated pork rib. Total damage was RM17.90 which is cheap if you ask me because that mean on average, each set is less than RM3? Cheap for KL price la ok!

Restoran Hong Kong Dimsum at Menjalara wet market

The empty dimsum trays! :P

By the time we are done and reached home, it was 10am. Keeping the stuff and do this that and cook the crab, 11am. Babe decided to clean the aquarium since we are having at our place at night. He want to show off his koi! haha! By the time we are done (noticed I say 'we'? Yah, had to help him with the aquarium cleaning...), I took 2 hours nap. Apparently I really 'kong-ed' out because I didnt even know babe came to the room for a nap too!

4pm, woke up and start cleaning the house and set up the balcony for the bbq pit. Went out to buy some ice, charcoal and soft drink for the night too. Friends start arriving at 6.30pm and guess what time the last friend left? 5.30am! Nope, not a typo error. Phew! It was tiring but super great fun! Great success judging from my friends bulging groaning pregnant-looking tummy. And of course, the numbers of empty bottles also great testament of what happened :P

So, the pictures: