Tomorrow, 16th July will marked my first year of survival in my current company. Can’t believe that it has been a year now. Time flies, people get older..
I remember when I first started this job, I didn’t quite like it cos most of the time, I can hardly understand what people are talking about. They either talk too fast or have the heavy ‘ozzie’ accents. Then I started to hate my job even more cos I need to force myself up at 6am to catch the train/bus. But now, I’m blessed that I survived my first year!
Working here isn’t relaxing at all. In fact, it’s more demanding and stressful than Malaysia. No doubt it’s a 5 days week and 9-5 job but everyone has got a high expectation of everyone. Get it? Everyone in my department are what I called as ‘competitive’. We often challenged each other with our experience, knowledge and brain and of cos, not to forget our beauty.. 
Work has becomes more fun that way cos we consistently have to keep up with each other. In the end, it has make us the slave of the money.
Anyway, I love my job and I love money So let’s enjoy the ride! My 2nd year of suicidal has just started….
Dinner of the day!
Ingredients
# 500g or 1/2 a chicken
# 10g cloud ear fungus (wan yee), soaked and cut into bite-size pieces
# 25g dried lily buds (kam cham), soaked and knotted
# 16g tong sum
# 8 red dates, pitted
# 7g (two thick slices) old ginger
# 2 tbsp sesame oil
# 2 cups hot water
Seasoning (A):
# 1 tsp salt
# 1 tsp sugar
# 1 tsp light soy sauce
# 1 tbsp ginger juice
# 1 tbsp rice wine
# 1 tbsp cornflour
# 1 tsp sesame oil
Seasoning (B):
# 1/2 tsp salt
# 1 tsp sugar
# 1/4 tsp pepper
Method
GUT chicken and wash thoroughly. Scald in hot water for 1 to 2 minutes. Rinse, then drain. Marinate chicken with seasoning (A).
Heat sesame oil in a deep saucepan and fry ginger slices till fragrant. Add tong sum, cloud ear fungus and red dates. Stir-fry briskly.
Add marinated chicken and fry well. Add hot water and seasoning (B). Bring to a simmering boil–covered–for 10 minutes. Lower the heat and cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes.
Add the lily buds during the last five minutes of cooking. Dish out and serve hot.
**I have omitted the cloud ear fungus**
And own recipe – Stir fry Carrot & Celery
I have a photo album in Facebook where I will post all my recent dishes. I reckon that’s a faster way to show everyone of my latest dish cos I’m a bit slack in updating my blog lately.
I can’t believe that the last time I cooked was last Sunday! I used to cook everyday as you know. I started to get very busy at work now and often have to leave the office no earlier than 6pm. By 4.50pm the sky is dark already cos it’s winter now.
Today I’m going to share with you of the dish that I’ve cooked few weeks ago. I feel very proud. It’s the Loh Mai Kai – Steamed Savoury Glutinous Rice. I used to have this for breakfast back home and it’s really yummy!! Kuali.com is still my top of the top site to get the Malaysian Food recipes.
Ingredients
# 400g glutinous rice, rinsed and soaked for at least 4–5 hours or preferably overnight
# 200g chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
# 1 Chinese sausage, sliced
# 2 Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cubed
# 3/4 tbsp chopped garlic
# 1/2 tbsp chopped ginger
# 1 tbsp sesame oil
# 1/2 cup water
Seasoning
# 2 tbsp oyster sauce
# 1 tbsp light soya sauce
# 1 tsp thick soy sauce
# 1 tsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiau wine
# Salt and pepper to taste
# 3/4 tsp sugar or to taste
Method
Drain soaked glutinous rice in a colander. Heat sesame oil and fry ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add chicken, mushrooms and seasoning ingredients.
Toss well to combine. Add glutinous rice to mix. Pour in water and stir until water is absorbed into the rice.
Arrange a few sliced sausages into each deep bowl. Spoon glutinous rice into the bowl until almost full to the brim.
Press slightly. Steam the filled bowls over a medium heat for 30–35 minutes or until rice is done. Turn out the rice and serve immediately.
My food critics is always hub and he’s the only one who has the ‘hau fook’ to taste my cooking. As you can see from the photos, there are more slices of chicken than the glutinous rice which was what hub has commented too. Then I told him, “it was because this is a home-made Loh Mai Kai, unlike outside restaurant who gives you less of chicken and less of glutinous rice“..
I must admit this recipe is superb!!! My first attempt and I did it well! So now you know why I’m proud of myself?
Well not only did I cook this the last few weeks, I’ve also cooked some yummy food here…
Kung Pou Squid
Salt and black pepper prawns
Ling fish with tomato sauce
Stewed pork
Sorry, I don’t have the recipes to share as these are all own recipe, not from kuali..
Happy looking and start drooling 
Last Monday, PIL came to our house for a night stay and have celebrated my b’day a day earlier as they need to babysit their grandchildren on the next day. We just ordered KFC for the family and had really good time getting together. PIL bought me 2 cook books and some cash so I can buy whatever I want. On the same day, I’ve also received a card from my family and guess what? My niece has written something very touching in CAPITAL LETTERS saying A YEE I LOVE U! ANGELINA. She has also enclosed her ‘drawing with sand’ as my b’day gift. Lovely!!!
On Tuesday (that was on my B’day), I turned up for work and found balloons above my workstation.
Not only that, they have also decorated balloons along side of my cubicle..
Wait wait! Not just balloons! They also bought some finger foods to share during lunch time and not to forget a choc cake on tea time!!
As for hub, he brought me to Novotel in Brighton Le Sand for seafood buffet on the weekend before my B’day. He also bought me a very nice cake from Michel Patisserie and asked if I want anything for my B’day. I know that he will pay for everything that I want but I really don’t know what I want. So yeah, no gift. Never mind! Guess what again? He will bring me for snow skiing this August. In other word, he will buy me a trip.. At night, we went to Amazing Thai for dinner..
I have also forced him to sing a Birthday Song for me just like what my family will do on my B’day every year.
One year wiser older now.
6th June marked the first year since my arrival in Sydney, Australia. There have been lots of up and down, gain and lost in my life and some changes too.
Life is still beautiful after all.
I tried a new dish today and it was taken from kuali.com. I highly recommended this website to whoever who are looking for Malaysian food recipes. You will never go wrong using their recipes!
Ok, back to the topic.
Today’s dinner is FRIED WHITE RADISH CAKE or it’s commonly known as LOH PAK KOH or LOH PAK KOU.
Here’s the recipe from kuali.com and I’ve also put in my own recipes/steps after that.
Ingredients:
# 550g shredded white radish
# 125ml water
# 25g Chinese sausage (optional), chopped finely
# 25g dried shrimps, soaked, roasted and chopped finely
Mix together to make a watery batter:
# 300g rice flour
# 50g ‘tung mien’ flour (or known as wheat starch/flour)
# 650ml water
Seasoning:
# 1 tsp salt
# 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
# 1 tsp chicken stock granules
# 1/2 tsp pepper
# 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
# 4 shallots, sliced thinly and fried till crispy
Method:
1. Combine radish and water in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until radish is soft and the liquid has evaporated.
2. Add in dried shrimps, sausage and watery rice batter. Mix in seasoning and shallot crisps and stir the mixture well.
3. Cook mixture for two to three minutes over medium low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture turns to a thick paste.
4. Pour the paste into a greased 20cm to 21cm square cake tin. Smoothen the surface with a spatula. Place it in the steamer and steam over high heat for 35 to 45 minutes.
5. Remove the cake and allow it to cool thoroughly before cutting into slices.
6. Shallow fry the radish cake slices and serve with chilli sauce.
**************************************************************
If you wish to make it like those Loh Pak Koh available in the Pasar Malam, below are the recipes created by myself.
Ingredients:
# 4 eggs
# 100g dried radish (or you can it as chai poh, in hokkien)
# 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
# 6 handful of bean sprouts
# 2 handful of spring onions
# 3 tbsp olive oil
# 4 tsp light soy sauce
# 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
# 2 tbsp chili sauce
# Dash of peppers
Method:
7. Heat oil in a wok. Add in garlic and dried radish, followed by the radish cakes (which already sliced into cubes). Fry for 2-3 mins.
8. Create a space in the middle of the wok and beat in the eggs. Then, stir the eggs together with the radish cakes and continue frying for another 2-3 mins.
9. Add in light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, dash of peppers and chili sauce and fry for another 2-3 mins.
10. Add in bean sprouts and spring onions then fry for another 1 min and it’s ready to serve.
Tips: It tastes better if you fry them in high heat.. But you must be really good in ensuring that you will not over-cooked or burn whatever that’s in your wok.
Step 1 & 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
The texture must be “springy”.
Please let it completely cool down first before slicing into dices. When it’s hot, it’s still sticky so it’s a bit hard to cut them into a proper cube shape.
I didn’t have the patience to wait so you can see why the shape is kinda messy..
This is what you get after step 7 to 10.
More photos?
Woooo~ Steaming..
Gulp gulp…
Nom nom nom.
Ichi ban!
The mid of every year (according to my colleagues), our company will have what-we-called-it as a Mid Year Function. Last year it was held in one of the pubs near to our office. Due to the recession this year, our company has opted for an “International Food Fair” instead. Anyone from the company can contribute to cook a dish or two under the company’s expense. I had volunteered to make papadum, bhajis and coffee cake and the fair was last Thursday. I woke up around quarter past 5am to prepare the ingredients.
We had foods all around the world – Malaysia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, India and etc. As you can see, I’m a Malaysian who cooked Indian food I was quite proud with myself because my dish was the first to run out! But not my coffee cake though cos they only served the sweets after most of us gone home! Cheh… So I ended up have to call for a “coffee cake party” on the next day at lunch time in the kitchen to help finishing the cake.
Overall, it was satisfying!
Last Saturday, hub’s colleague invited us to his house for no apparent reason/occasion. Since it was our first visit, hub suggested that we should bring a plate. So I cooked my la sau Tom Yam Fried Noodle. Everyone gave praise and again, I feel proud of myself.. *happy* My skills are getting better now.
It has been a long long time since I posted something about my lil’ niece. I’ve missed so much on her growing ups and I don’t even know that she now knows how to write her own name at the age of 3 years & 10 months old! She will be turning 4 y.o. in 2 months time.
She has recently found her interest in coloring. She had even won a 2nd prize in the coloring contest organized by her school.
Today, she has joined another coloring competition.
She was really excited and serious about the contest. Even though she didn’t win any prize in this competition, but in my heart she’s always #1! It’s not about winning or losing, it’s the effort that she puts in! Ah yee is extremely proud of you! GAMBATEH!!!
