One of the best ways to enrich the taste of leafy greens is to add fresh prawns. Siew pak choy is one the favourite leafy greens consumed in Malaysia and Singapore and it is such an easy vegetable to cook. Whilst this vegetable is usually cooked with oyster sauce, cooking it with prawns actually give it a more natural sweet tasting sauce. I use the smaller sized siew pak choy (Hong Kong variety).

I used medium sized prawns and left the tails intact. Removing the tails during eating remained one of my favourite challenges. In a way, it also enhances the beauty of the dish. I used seawater prawns rather than freshwater prawns as the texture and taste is much better.

This is the recipe for Prawn Siew Pak Choy Read the rest of this entry »

At certain markets in Malaysia, you can get yellow-coloured tofu (firm type) which I believe has been given a boost with kunyit powder thus making it aromatic and flavourful. This type of tofu can be fried and eaten on its own but one great way of cooking it is to pair it with leek and minced pork. The combination of sweet tasting leek, slightly salted minced pork and aromatic tofu makes this dish a favourite for many.

Cooking is also pretty simple and does not require a lot of work. Prepare the 3 main ingredients and you are ready to cook. Give this dish a try if you can get yourself to the ingredients.

This is the recipe for Leek with Fragrant Tofu Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for another round of food review and this time, the focus is on the famous Pork Ball and Pork Sausage Noodles from San Jian Zhuang. This however, is not the San Jian Chuang which you find in shopping centres. Rather, this is the San Jian Zhuang which is found at many hawker stalls which display the name in Chinese, meaning “3 adjoining shops”. For this review, I went to the proprietor’s stall at Lot 3474, Main Street, Jinjang Utara, KL.

Operating from a stall within a coffee shop in Jinjang next to Public Bank, Mr. Yap Yok Foo has been in the business of selling pork ball noodles for about 30 years after learning the trade from his late father. Word has it that his father learnt the skills from one Chan Fatt Kam, who in turn learned the skills from a mainland Chinese who came to Malaya before World War 2. The name San Jian Zhuang was said to have been the referral point to this famous pork ball noodles sold during the days of Chan Fatt Kam at Jalan Silang and hence, the pork balls became synonymous with the pork balls. Read the rest of this entry »

I was introduced to Kidney Ginger Soup by my wife. All along, my encounter with pig’s kidney is in the stir fries which I absolutely love. So, having kidney soup was new to me and took some getting used to. The taste is slightly hot due to the liberal use of julienned ginger and I believe this soup is suitable to aid “releasing of air”, if you know what I mean

Preparation of pig’s kidney for cooking can be an unpleasant experience for the uninitiated. The smell can be a bit offensive and might turn you off completely for after all, the end product of kidney goes south. Worry not however as after cooking, all memories of the offense evaporates

Anyway, when you buy the kidneys, ask the butcher to slice the kidney to remove the middle part which looks like some white netting. Wash it thoroughly. You might want to consider soaking the kidney in water with some slices of ginger. After soaking and changing the water 2 or 3 times, which should take you about 2 hours, make shallow cuts across the kidney without fully cutting the kidney. Make criss-cross patterns and then, cut them into bite sizes before cooking.

This is my wife’s recipe for Kidney Ginger Soup Read the rest of this entry »