Handle-With-Care Butter Cookies

The experts have said it frequent enough ~ Read the recipe carefully before cooking!   Butter Cookies with Pearl Sprinkles I saw the photos..read some. Overconfidence did me in. I wasn't exactly petrified when I realised I threw in twice the butter required for this cookie recipe but my heart sure skipped a beat. It was the first time I decided I didn't need to print the recipe for...

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Food Discovery : Lok Lok Food Truck

Cooks are inventors. Recipes, their creation. The diversity we find in street food is evidence of our limitless ingenuity when it comes to cooking. The first thing that crosses my mind when I think of food trucks is Lok Lok. It's a common sight in Kuala Lumpur where I live. According to my foodie friend, the term Lok Yat Lok means to scald or blanch continuously (again and again) in Cantonese....

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Emping Padi Baru (Rice Flakes)

My recent trip to Melaka, a short getaway with the family, was fun and foodful. From chicken rice balls to durian cendol, we tried it all. The city is a favourite haunt for tourists. It is steeped in Dutch and Portuguese history, and has been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008. I stumbled across this snack while souvenir hunting at Medan Samudera, a small shopping complex that...

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Chicken with Apples and Sweet Potatoes (Slow-Cooker)

I consider the slow cooker my best friend. Slurp worthy soups and totally random finger-licking meat recipes have been made in it. It's like a fun game - toss into pot, wait-see and voila! Something magical happens. Food comes out tasting great even with very little seasoning. The wok, on other hand, is tougher to master because it involves playing around with flavour and fire. So give me the slow...

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Chicken Curry with Bell Peppers

Capsicum, that's what is written on the label but I also know it by another name - bell pepper! I've only ever seen red, yellow, orange and green ones in our local supermarkets and often wish they sold the purple, white and brown variety too. Just imagine throwing it all together to make a salad. I think it'd look fabulous. Anyway, I picked green and red out for a curry dish I was making for dinner....

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Braised Chicken with Apples and Ginger

I've always enjoyed cooking with fruits because I love working with natural flavours. This is a yummy gingery apple dish that I made the other day to go along with rice. I ditched the common soy sauce chicken for something different and it turned out very well. I'm definitely making this again! Braised Chicken with Apples and Ginger And it is an easy recipe. Just a slow simmer to bring all...

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Reality Bites : Exclusive Preview (An Original AFC Production)

Eve blessed me with invites to the exclusive preview of Reality Bites, a reality show accounting the ups and downs of Malaysian celebrity chefs Johnny Fua and Sherson Lian as they manage the fine dining kitchen of Elegantology Gallery & Restaurant. It's a tough environment to work in. Elegantology is owned by esteemed fashion designer Beatrice Looi, setting the standards high. Me with Chef...

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Prawn Green Curry

This isn't authentically Thai so I've done away with the word from the name of the recipe ~ Thai Green Curry. Prawn Green Curry I am hooked on red chilies. The non-spicy kind, that is! It's in my shopping cart every marketing week.  Fresh red ingredients liven up any dish, don't you think - gravy in vibrant colour, that touch of liveliness in garnishing. I liken it to adding a ribbon onto...

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Cheesy Omelette

And then there are days I'd wake up hungrier than usual for no apparent reason. I'd be staring half-heartedly at the cereal box and chocolate malt drink. Typical Malaysian breakfasts would flash across my mind - nasi lemak (coconut milk rice with spicy anchovies) , roti canai (a local flatbread served with curry), fried noodles and the sort! I started dreaming about Eve's cheesy omelette. Pretty...

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Barley With Sweetened Condensed Milk

Barley, the dessert! Barley with Sweetened Condensed Milk I've a couple of tricks up my sleeves when it comes to barley.  Unless I'm boiling barley water for someone under the weather, I prefer not sweetening it with the likes of candied winter melon or rock sugar while cooking. Plain is the way to go. This gives me a lot of leeway to flavour it however I please, be it sweet dessert or...

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Food Discovery : Gurney Drive, Penang

Food is a many-splendored thing. There's just so many ways it can be cooked and enjoyed. Traveling gives us a small glimpse of what's out there. You don't have to go far to realise that there's no end to it. I went on a local food adventure recently and if you were to ask whether I've cooked any of these, in all honesty, I would answer no. I have not even attempted to 'char' (fry) kway teow although...

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Stir-Fried Barley With Snow Peas

Barley, to me, is a very exciting ingredient to work with. Besides boiling it for the water, I use it in stir-fries and to make desserts. I'll share some of the ways I enjoy barley as we go along. For now, feast your eyes on this. Stir-Fried Barley with Snow Peas This stir-fry came about because I had boiled way too much barley the other day, an overzealous attempt to clear the grains before...

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Food Discovery : Ice Ball

Ice balls or Ais Kepal, as Penangites call it, is a treat from days of old. It was made popular in the 70s but has been around much earlier. What it is, is a bowl of ice shavings patted into a ball, slathered with syrup for taste. Very easy to make and so satisfying in humid weather. Ice ball seller pouring the syrup on.Check out the ice shaving machine. I had my first taste a couple of months...

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