BBQ Buns (Cha Siu Pau )叉燒包

I suppose those who love dim sum would agree Cha Siu Pau is one of the signature buns served among dim sum dishes. It is also a must order item whenever a family with kids visits a dim sum restaurant.

On 8th August, in commemoration of my late mother-in-law 3 years passing anniversary, we had prepared a hefty lunch featuring her favourite dishes.  I made these buns and Auntie Lan helped to make fried noodles, and Kiam Chai Boey (Stew Salted vegetables). All these recipes are available in my blog, just click on them.

Initially, I was thinking of making own Cha Siu but when I went marketing that morning, the main ingredient, pork loin, had been sold out.  Since in Malaysia ready-cooked Cha Siu was easily available, I decided to go for an easy way out instead. J However, if you wish to attempt making your own Cha Siu (BBQ pork), the simple version recipe is available here.

If you happen to have roast pork for dinner, you can use the left over for its filling too.

ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES 杏仁牛油饼

There is a saying that baking can be a great bonding activity and I agree fully to it. Last Sunday, I had a fun cookies baking session with my son Ming Ray. He enjoyed his little master chef task assigned by me to cut the dough into assorted shapes that he liked with cookies cutter. Not only he gave a big thumb up to the taste of the cookies he made, the following day he proudly shared the cookies with his buddies at school too. J

This easy cookies recipe was adapted from Baking Made Easy by Agnes Chang (蓝赛珍，轻轻松松学烘焙); it was named Almond Cookies in the book. However I found the cookies were overpowered by the buttery flavor. To me it tasted more like butter cookies than almond cookies. Hence, I am renaming this recipe to Almond Butter Cookies. Having said that, the cookies are tasty to eat, not too sweet and it was really crunchy on the outside but soft from the inside.



ALMOND BUTTER COOKIES  杏仁牛油饼

SUPREME PORK CHOP 猪扒王

Oriental Pork Chop

This is a Chinese style pork chop which I adapted from Hawkers’ Fair Simplified. This is one of my family’s favourite dinner dishes. The name is called pork chop but I found it tastes even better with pork loin,the meat is tenderer and juicier. If using pork loin I usually omit soda bicarbonate as tenderizer.

To keep the pork chop crisped, pork chop can be deep fried first and only have the source poured on it when serving.  

SUPREME PORK CHOP 猪扒王



Steamed Buns (Baozi/Pau) 包子

Supreme big Baozi/Pau, anyone? 大包？ 

Bread is the main staple food to Western Cuisine as in Baozi/Pau (steamed buns) is to Chinese cuisine.  Baozi is especially popular in the Chinese breakfast serving.  Baozi making shares similar process to bread making which requires  yeast dough, kneading and proofing with the only difference in its cooking method - steam instead of bake. Hence, baozi can also be regarded as stuffed steamed bread.

There are various types of baozi ranging from plain buns to stuffed baozi with various fillings. What filling can be used in baozi?  The classic fillings are meat (cha siu /BBQ pork/beef/chicken) or sweet fillings like red beans, lotus paste, kaya (coconut egg jam), peanut butter or even vegetables. I would say the list is too exhaustive to name and only imagination is the limit.

Having mastered the basic skill in Western bread making, I reckoned it was time to take up new challenges in learning up Chinese bread making J  I had two fun experience with my cooking members back in Auckland in making Shanghai pan fried baozi(上海生煎包). However, at that time I did not have the chance in making the yeast dough from scratch. The yeast dough was prepared and proof in advance and we were invited to go over to help in wrapping and pan fried.

Last Sunday, I decided to try out the steamed buns yeast dough recipe from Agnes Chang’s “Delightful Snacks and Dim Sum” cook book. With this yeast dough I had successfully made 4 big supreme big pao with shredded chicken breast, egg and yambean fillings and 6 small Kaya bao using my homemade kaya filling.    

Steamed Buns (Baozi/Pau) 包子

I was delighted that the texture of the steamed buns was very soft and springy. However, hubby commented that the taste of the meat fillings could have been improved with longer marinating time overnight in the fridge to further tenderize the chicken breast and the seasoning more thoroughly absorbed.   

Peninsula Malaysia East Coast Road Trip and the Underwater World of Redang Island

Food, sea, sun, sand and underwater vacation

Our 2 years of oversea life in Auckland, made us miss the warm sea and beach in Malaysia even more. There were many nice beaches in New Zealand too but the water was too cold for us.  Even during summer months, there was only 1 month (between February and March) when the water was warm enough for us to swim in but it was still pretty chilly as compared to the warm sea temperature in the tropical region.

After settling down, the very first plan we made was to go for warm island beach vacation during the upcoming school holidays which Ming Ray had been longing. We teamed up with my ex-colleague Jenny and her family to the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia on a road trip covering Cherating and Redang Island trip from 6^th to 11^th  June .

A bunch of 4 adults and 3 kids had a blast.  Not only the children got to enjoy the awesome snorkeling experience of seeing colourful underwater world, we also got the chance to taste the delectable Terengganu local delights, especially the seafood.    

After 3 hours of driving from Kuala Lumpur, we put up at Cherating and checked in Holiday Villa for our first night. We had our first sumptuous seafood dinner at a renowned restaurant in a nearby town, Kemaman.

Early next morning we departed for Kuala Terengganu jetty to catch our boat to Redang Island. It took us just over 3 hours to reach there. We spent 4 days 3 nights at Laguna Redang Resort. The package offered by this resort was pricier than most other resorts but we found it quite a good value for money especially when we were travelling with children, comfortable lodging and well equipped facilities were our main priorities. In addition, the varieties of the buffet meals had made us come back with extra kilos J

After the return boat trip from Redang Island we took off around noon and we made an impromptu lunch stop over at Pantai Penarik when JS spotted a restaurant full of patrons.

We were surprised by another mouth watering meals at the restaurant specialty the batter-fried seafood and Terengganu local delicacies of keropok lekor (fish sausage) and Sata (grilled fish in banana leaves).  Only when I got back home to search the Internet did I realize that this shop was one of the must tries seafood restaurant at Pantai Penarik. 

The most tiring part of our journey was our return trip from East Coast to Penang Island via Gerik Highway. We traveled in 2 cars; it was a long hilly and dreadful 7 hours long distance drive. Gratitude should be extended to both drivers –our beloved husbands.  Halfway thru the journey, the weather turned bad and visibility was down to less than 50 meters in foggy and rainy conditions in some parts. Along the way, we spotted more than 4 car accidents with the victims’ cars skidded into the side drain, really terrifying.

With the rainy weather we didn’t manage to get a good look at Tasik Temenggor which is another beauty along this highway. Due to the road condition with no lighting at night, our drivers decided to make best use of the daylight by driving non-stop till night fell so we skipped dinner and went straight to Penang. Finally at 9.30pm, we reached Penang and got to enjoy Penang hawker dinner delights albeit a tad late.

Food adventures

Kemaman specialty – Stuffed Crabs @ Tong Juan Restaurant

Eat all you can buffet meals @ Laguna Redang Resort

Lunch @ Pantai Penarik, Terengganu

During our stay in Penang, we put up a night at Jenny's house and the following day, she brought us to her brother in law's Hakka Mee Restaurant for lunch. Thanked to her that we got the chance to enjoy famous Kampar Hakka Mee, homemade fish balls and Yong Tau Fu.  

Kampar Hakka Mee, fish balls, deep fried fu chok (bean curb sheets) and steamed herbal chicken

 Beach

White sandy Pasir Panjang beach

Laguna Redang Resort beach front

Underwater world highlights

Yin the mermaid?

Close encounter with X'mas worms

Surrounded by a school of hungry fish

Ray: Let me hold the bread, I want to feed the fish!

Instant Oat Soya Milk Bread 豆浆麦片土司

Healthy Vegetarian bread

Ever since I successfully made my 1^st loaf of Tangzhong (Water Roux Starter) bread, I was addicted to its super soft and fluffy texture. Whenever I think of baking bread I would try out as many variations of Tangzhong bread recipes as possible. With ingredients such as instant oat and sugar-free soya milk, this one was a healthy and nutritious bread and especially great for vegetarians.

The original recipe also suggested adding raisins which I excluded as both Ming Ray and I do not like raisins in bread.


Instant Oat Soya Milk Bread 豆浆麦片土司



Homemade Lo See Fun 自制老鼠粉/米台目

Home-made authentic Hakka Cuisine- Part two

Writing the Hakka Lo See Fun (Rice Pin noodles) with Minced Pork post reminded me this great noodle making experience I had in 2009 when I first moved to Auckland.

When we first shifted to Auckland, we were blessed to have a group of Auckland based Malaysian friends' support to ease our settling down. Many of them were JS University mates who migrated years before us. With their help, our transition was painless and swift. I was especially thankful to build up good friendships with their wives. The wives gang had helped ease my anxiety. I was able to connect to a new social network in New Zealand in no time.

Among of them, Yenny was one of the warmest and most generous friends we made in Auckland. With her hospitality, we put up at her house as our initial accommodation until we moved to our rented house 2 weeks later. She was also the one who always came up with great ideas in celebrating big occasions and generously offered her house to host families gathering. I regarded her as wives' club Chairlady. :-P

This recipe was shared by her when she initiated a cooking gathering at our Auckland house in welcoming me to join the wives club. I had enjoyed so much in this noodle making process, not only we had great bonding time,

Yenny the Chef (in Pink) and her 3 kitchen helpers - Yin, WC and PY

I got to taste the homemade Lo See Fun which was not available in Auckland. Some other types of rice noodle like Hor Fun (Koey Teoh) 粿条, Lai Fun （濑粉 ）are easily available in Asian grocery shops in Auckland but not Lo See Fun (老鼠粉/米台目).

After some sweating out, it was time to sit down and enjoyed the noodles with my Penang Assam Laksa soup.