Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Healthy Eating at Taman Segar, Cheras

I have not been posting lately because:
1. Been busy every weekend for the past 3 weekends cooking for various birthday/Mother's day and pot lucks. Sad to say I still can't bake the Perfect carrot cake yet. My parents and friends liked it a lot but hmmmm.... I've tasted even better ones so I'm still gonna try to bake it again.

2. American Idol mania. I have been watching reruns of the finale, the grand finale and then when David Cook was announced the winner, I started reading up all about him, going thru his journey in american idol from auditions right up to the finale. Phew! I want to post his pics up but Hubs may not appreciate it :( heh heh. (psstt my desktop is a pix of Cook)

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. Steam food at K.T.L Restaurant at Taman Segar Cheras (nearby Leisure Mall)


Succulent steam fish with ginger, spring onions, red chillies and a very unique tasting soy sauce.
This is what I call healthy eating!


They also have a version of herbal chicken with wine, arrggh what do you call those red stuff erm keji or goji/wolfberries right? Hmm tastewise ok but the chicken was slightly on the tough side. I prefer the version at Jalan Pudu.

We also ordered steamed egg which came out very smooth and steamed veg. All in all, affordable and satisfying. Bill came to about RM10-12 per person.

Call Wilson Lim at 017 872 7567 / 012 308 7311 to book your choice of fish earlier coz more often than not it finishes by as early as 8pm on weekends.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Toast at Kuala Ampang Market

Here's a typical kopitiam that's worth a visit. We've been having our brekkie here for the past few weekends. I like the uncle here.


Lady: I want a kopi cham

Uncle: No such thing as kopi cham.

Lady: *perplexed*

Uncle: You either want a kopi, a teh or a cham


Me: (okaaaayy i better go thru what i want quick or face the wilting sarcasm of this uncle)


A refreshing tall glass of ice lemon tea with reeaal slices of lemon. Puuurrrfect after a *strenous* morning hike. Heh RM2.30. Guess who's that behind the glass.



And here it is - toasted buns with generous slashings of kaya and cold, frozen slices of butter that melts in your mouth. The friendly uncle uses the 5-star brand of butter. At first, we thought he meant it was a 5-star grade and that it was SCS butter. However, it really was the 5 Star brand. I wonder if its this butter here. I havent seen this brand anywhere in our grocery stores but it tastes really really good.

Hmm the buns look slightly dry here but they arent. I feel so healthy after eating it. Its a good dose of carbs, oil and sugar. You aint gettin any healthier than this.


The steamed version is also available. Soft and cushy like pillows.. The buttah melts fast here so u gotta gobble it down when it arrives. (RM1.60/set)


The soft boiled eggs are also good here but no pix though. (RM0.70/egg). Was too busy eating it and my hands were too messy to take any shots. Its a constant struggle every time I have good food in front of me. :P


Where's your favourite egg & toast place?

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Meatball Soup Hokkien style


This is a dish I learnt from my MIL. Its a tradition for my Hubs side of family to cook this meal every Chinese New Year. Since its so delicious, we have it more often :). Its a fairly simple and satisfying dish and needs just 10 ingredients - minced pork, sengkuang (yam bean), Shitake mushrooms, onions, garlic, cornstarch. Seasonings - salt, pepper, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce.
First:
Soak the mushrooms till soft.
Chop up the sengkuang and onions finely. Mix them with the minced pork. Add some salt, pepper and a lil bit of dark soy sauce. Add some cornstarch to help the meat hold well. Roll them up into balls, pat on some light soy sauce and roll em somemore to get your hands all smelling porky.
Heat up some oil and deep fry them until a nice brown colour. Set aside.
For the soup, boil water, add in mushrooms, garlic and some of the oil used to deep fry the meatballs. Boil it up. Add in the meatballs, bring to a boil and serve.
I've made this 3 times and several tips to share:
- Make the meatballs slightly bigger than how you want them to be. They shrink after deep frying.
- Don't use lean meat and chop em up as your 'minced pork'. You need fat in the meat to make the meatballs nice and juicy.
- Add some ikan bilis to the soup to give it more taste.
- Don't be afraid to be generous with the oil you put into the soup. It gives the much needed flavour.
Enjoy!