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New chapter of life

It has been so long that i have the time to write. Well, i know this site has accumulated cobweb.. it's all my fault. Anyway, i would like to share with you all that i am getting married and i will be flying back to Penang in no time. I still have no ticket to fly back home yet. Yup, procrastination..

I am now working part time in a Canadian Brand coffee house, Bridgehead. Thus, i have the opportunity to drink unlimited of good fair trade coffee and tea, sounds terrific, isn't it.

Penang Hokkien Mee (福建面)

I have been craving for Hokkien mee since i set foot here. So i went shopping at the chinese store for all the ingredients that i wanted to cook hokkien mee/Ha Mien 虾面.



Ingredients
3 tbsp Ready made hokkien mee paste
15 cups of water
1/2 lbs of pork ribs
1/2 lbs of pork belly
1/2 lbs of prawn (with shell)
rock sugar to taste
salt to taste
5 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lbs yellow noodle (scalded)
1 lbs vermicelli/bee hoon (scalded)
some bean sprouts (scalded)

2 hard boiled eggs (shelled and halved)

1 small shallot (fried until crispy)

1/2 pieces of fish cake

1/4 lbs of cooked prawn

Method
It's hard for me to collect the shrimp heads to cook the broth, thus i am using the ready made hokkien mee paste sent from Penang.

1. Heat up the cooking oil in a pot and stir fry the hokkien mee paste and garlic until aromatic.
2. Add in the cooked prawn, stir fry until they are well cooked. Pick up the cooked shrimps and set aside for topping
3. Put in the water and bring it to boil, add in the pork ribs, pork belly and prawns. Simmer for about 1.5 hour. Add in the fish cake to well cook.
4. Scoop up the pork belly and fish cake. Sliced thinly and set aside for topping.
5. Add in the rock sugar and salt.
6. When serving, place your desired yellow noodle, vermicelli and bean sprouts in a bowl. Then laddle the stock over and pour the stock back to the pot (repeat this action couple of time, that's the way hawkers in Penang do, in order to heat up the yellow noodle, vermicelli and bean sprouts). Then laddle the hot broth over.
7. Top with pork belly, egg, pork ribs, fish cakes, cooked shrimps and sprinkle with fried shallots.

Double happiness

Today, i woke up with a little surprise outside the house. IT WAS SNOWING!!! I was soo excited and Sly make me coffee and toasted bread, there i was sipping my hot coffee watching the snow falls in the dining room. What a Monday morning to begin with. I was like a little girl taking pictures of the snow flakes and the street covered with ice. I can't wait till i see the white snow covering the land. Should be one hell of breath taking scene. There was this Canadian told me that there are 2 groups of Canadian, one that likes the winter and the other hates the winter. I don't know which category i belong, but soon i will find out.

My second happiness was the parcel from home. The courier always came in on Friday when i wasn't at home to receive them :(

Anyway, i drove to the post office at Pharmacy Jean Coutu to collect it on Monday. Before i went out, the car was covered by snow. So, i have to learn another trick during the winter that all Canadian has to do, clean the wind shield before i hit the road. Gee.. i really looked like a student with my pink coat. There was once i went to buy a bus ticket with my pink coat on and the lady sold me the student bus ticket.

My mum sent me some hokkien mee paste, bak kut teh herb, plastic table cloth, balaccan in a tight seal box, hee.. you know how overwhelming the smell can be.

This is my first winter video taken from the balcony of my house. You can hear the birds chirping happily welcoming the white season and maybe, maybe the TV at the back (As I was watching TLC on baby story).

Stewed Pork Ribs ( 排骨酸）

I cooked lot of dishes with chicken lately. So today i want to cook something which i really love when i was in Malaysia. This "cho yok"/pork dish is very appetizing and once you start it, you can never stop. I used to ask my mum to guide me in the kitchen and i love the way my mum cooked the dish. Simply Fabulous..

I bought the pork ribs from my favorite chinese-ingredients shopping centre, 168 supermarket at Sumerset. You can get free car park and the shopkeepers are very helpful.

My mum used the taujiao/fermented bean paste and mix with chilli boh (blended chili paste), over here, i have a shortcut way of cooking this by using lee kum kee chilli bean sauce.

Stewed Pork Ribs （排骨酸）

Ingredients (for 2 serving)

450g pork ribs

2 cups of water

3 tbsp of chili bean sauce/ toban djan/ taujiao (Lee Kum Kee brand)
1 tbsp of tamarind pulp (soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water)

2 tsp of sugar (to taste)

4 cloves of garlic (crushed)

Method

1. Heat up a stew pot and saute the chili bean sauce.

2. Add in the garlic and fried till aromatic

3. Put in the pork ribs, follow by the tamarind juice (extracted from the pulp), water and sugar.

4. Bring it to boil. Lower down the heat and cover with lid. Slowly stew the ribs for about 2 hours. The meat will become tender by then.

5. The bean sauce is salty enough thus i don't encourage to add any salt in this dish. If you want to have more kick in this dish, add more tamarind juice

6. Another spicy dish (spicy, sour and sweet) is ready to be serve with hot steaming rice.

Three Cups Chicken Recipe (三杯鸡)

Before i fly to Canada, i had a nice farewell dinner with my family at Xuan Xin Restaurant @ Gurney Plaza, Penang. We ordered a dish call, 3 cups chicken. Ya, indeed, it sounds weird with direct chinese translation. Anyway, the dish is delicious. So, i thought of making the dish tonight for dinner.

Three Cups Chicken Recipe (三杯鸡)
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. boneless chicken drumsticks (marinate with 1/2 tbsp baking soda for 10 mins)
6 slices peeled ginger
4 cloves garlic (skin peeled and pressed with the back of the knife for better aroma)
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp dark sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis)
Thai basil leaves (up to your taste)

Method
The baking soda really make a difference to tenderize the chicken. So after marinate the chicken with baking soda, rinse it off thoroughly and dry them with kitchen towel. Then cut the chicken into pieces and season with soy sauce, shaoxing wine and kecap manis for about half an hour.
Heat up a wok on high heat and put in the dark sesame oil, stir fry the garlic and ginger until aromatic. Add in the chicken and stir fry a little. Cover the lid and simmer the chicken for about 5 mins. Then add in the basil leaves and stir well with the chicken. Serve with hot steaming rice.

**This dish will cook better with claypot because it will keep the dish warm longer than the metal container. Cooking in clay pots requires a slow cooking method, meats become more tender and moist and retain nutrients and natural flavors because the juices released by the food cannot escape from the pot. The need to add extra fats or liquids can be leave out.

only saint can do?!!

Tumbled over this beautiful story in my emails. The ending of the story is surprisingly unbelievable. I really don't know who will react that way if something happen.

The story goes like this...

One couple was blessed with a son after 11 years of marriage . Naturally the son is the pearl to the loving couple's eyes.

The boy was 2 years old. One day the husband was about to go to work when he saw on the table a bottle of medicine left opened.
As he was in a hurry, he told the wife to replace the bottle with the cover. After which he closed the door and left.

The wife was very busy in the kitchen and forgot all about what her husband told her to do. The toddler took the medicine bottle as he was curious and attracted by the colour, he drank all the medicine from the bottle.
The dosage was strong. The baby was rushing to the hospital but died of overdose eventually. The wife was terrified and didn't know how to face her husband.
The worried husband rushed to the hospital and was very sad to learn the bad news.
After looking at the son's body, he looked at the wife and said 4 words.

Guess what did he said?

"I Love You, Darling"

The reaction is Proactive (able to control the situation and not to be controlled by the situation). The reason: The death of the son is a reality.

Blaming and fighting would not bring back the son. Moreover, he was not the only one who is losing a son, his wife too.

The moral of the story is choices of making decision.
Facing a mishap, you can indulge in blaming, cursing the world or even self-blaming. All these will not change what has happened. In fact, it would change your subsequent daily life: carry on your life with a scar.
On the other hand, when one let go of resentment and fear, let go of the past, carrying on life with courage, the situation is not as bad as one may imagine. Proactive Behaviour will change the conditions around us and not to be affected and influenced of that.

This simple story, however how many of us could act like this? Just a simple 4 words. Nevertheless, it required very good self-development, tolerance and lot of wisdom to say such touching words under such situation.

I had the similar situation the other day, not about life and death but it really affected me.