Bah Kut Teh Recipe (Pork Bone Tea Soup)

One of the thing pop in my mind when anyone mentioned Malaysian food is our famous Bah Kut Teh (Pork Bone Tea Soup). Please be aware that the Malaysian Style and Singaporean Style of this dish is totally different. Malaysian's, is more to herbs and heavy taste of the pork bone soup. Singaporean's, to me its basically pepper pork tripe (stomach) soup. Big difference. So, pick your preferred.

Lets get it started !!

Getting ready part I: Mushrooms, Tofu puffs and 2 garlic bulbs. All kind of mushrooms are welcomed! Put as much as you like, same goes to tofu puff.

Getting ready part II: The meats are normally pork ribs. But this time I mixed with pork belly. Cut it in the size you want. Big, small, square, round, triangular. Its your dish, so, really is up to you.

First, use boiling water to sort of wash your pork ribs and bellies. Preferably not more than a minute. It helps to kill the germs and soften it.

Then, put everything including Uncle Sun's Bah Kut Teh's Packet (which has herbs such as Angelica Sinensis, Polygonati Odorati, Cinnamon, Pepper, Codonopsis Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Ligustici, Caryophylli Flos, Citri Exocarpium, Star Anise) pork ribs, mushrooms, tofu puffs, garlics in a pot of boiling water.

After approximately 2-2.5hours of slow cooking(boiling), put in the seasoning - 2 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, few dashes of white pepper powder - stirred and taste to make sure its blend in the soup before serving. To reduce the strong taste, I put 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce instead of a tablespoon.

A bowl of rice (or more) is essential.

If you're in Melbourne, like myself, I prefer Uncle Sun's over a varieties of Bah Kut Teh packets. It certainly taste better and not artificial. Go to your local groceries in China Town, you should be able to find it. I bought mine from Great Eastern Asian Grocery.


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Quanjude (Melbourne)

I was craving for Peking duck for a while. Used to visit a Peking duck restaurant at Toorak few years back where I had the best ever tasted in Melbourne. However, I couldn’t remember the name. Anyway, Roy and Henry saw ads of Quanjude on Melon the other day. We decided to give it a try.

 Quanjude was established in 1864, the third year of Tongchi, Qing Dynasty.  With 70 restaurants in China, holding a history over 140years.

  We ordered Quanjude Roast Duck $68 a set which includes a whole Quanjude Peking Duck, Pancakes, Scallions, Cucumbers, Sweet Sauce and Duck Soup.

 Duck Tongue. Nothing extraordinary. Its pretty dry though.

 Quanjude Roast Duck $68 set. Duck meat is juicy and soft but its skins are not crispy. Pancakes are sliced thinly.

 I normally put some sweet sauce on the pancake, some scallions and cucumber slices, duck meat and skins on top, then, another layer of sweet sauce before folding it. Hold it like your sushi roll, and bite it!

Steam spinach with crab meats and egg white. The sauce which is made of egg white and crab meats went well with the green. Not salty. The taste of each ingredient is clear. Surprisingly, the crab meats are real, I think they are not from the can but may be frozen one.

 Braised Sea Cucumber with mushroom and fish maw. I am not a big fan of sea cucumber but this is delicious.  Mushroom and fish maw are soft. The whole pot is very well blend.

Duck Soup. This is where disappointment step in. Tasteless. Watery. The ratio of duck essence and water is totally out. It taste like tap water with cucumber and a slight hint of duck.

Food: 8/10
Price: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Quanjude
299 Queen Street
Melbourne VIC
Tel: 9670 0091
Web: www.quanjude.com.au

Opening hours
Lunch: Sun-Fri 12.00-3.00pm
Dinner: 6.00-11.00pm

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Laksa King (Melbourne)

I couldn’t let go of Malaysian food. And somehow,  in Melbourne, you can always find/spot a Malaysian cuisine restaurant. Almost one on every street, every corner. Laksa King was one of my favourite place to go for lobak, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Curry Laksa.

 New menu. Laksa King was located outside Video Ezy at Flemington. It was a little shop with approximately 12-14tables. Recently, they moved to a bigger shop.

 The new location is bright and spacious. Lightnings are sufficient. Good for food-blogger who need it to snap pretty and at least look-delicious picture. New tables are clean and well, new. But its a little uncomfortable as its small, and backless.

Curry Laksa. As usual, with prawns, eggplant, chicken, tofu skin. However, its not as good as before. The soup is weak. Doesn’t taste like the tradition laksa. Not spicy at all. Delivered in 25minutes (after ordered)

 Hainanese Chicken Rice. Another backslide. Rice is dry, chilli is sour, chicken is oily and bad. I accept frozen chicken. But I don’t tolerate with tasting the frozen-ness. Its like the chicken has been in the freezer for quite sometimes. Even the sauce taste watery. Delivered in 45minutes (after ordered)

I wonder, the kitchen is way bigger, employee doubled, space tripled, but it takes really long to served. The service wasn’t as slow before. It normally took 10-15minutes to be served. But at this new location, serving time average took 25-30minutes. There were approximately 4-5 tables when I dined.  Another thing, too many waiter/ress standing around without any servicing but chit-chatting.  Its a big disappointment. I haven’t try other dish but I have no intention to come back for more. Sorry! (I have better place to replacement)

Food: 3/10
Price: 6/10
Service: 3/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Overall: 5/10

Laksa King
Eastwood Street and Racecourse Road
Flemington, VIC
Tel: 9372 6383
Opening hours
Lunch: 11.30-3.00pm
Dinner: 5.00-10.00pm

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Koko Black Blogger Meetup by Nuffnang

Giving chocolate to others is an intimate form of communication, a sharing of deep, dark secrets. - Milton Zelman, publisher of "Chocolate News"

Thanks to NuffnangAU and of course our two lovely host - Violet and Penny, on 24 of July, we have 2 tables of Melbourne blogger at Koko Black on Collins Street diagnosed with chocolate overdose. I think almost all with RSVP attended. Well, nobody would turn down a chocolate "deal".

Photo by Sylvia (me!!)

This is my first time attending a blogger meet-up. Its a great pleasure to finally meet Violet in person, especially after months of chit chatty over our blog and tweets. She is truly adorable, in the internet world and in person. And because of this event, I get to know a bunch of food blogger - Michelle, Emma, Simone, I Hua and Ceri! Ladies who love food are far more attractive, healthy and happy!

Prior that, I was thinking whether to bring my big camera for the occasion. However, Violet promised me it would be the last thing to worry as blogger meet-up usually means lots of pictures from blogger! Anyway, I brought my Sony digital and managed to capture a few candid, but sitting far at the corner, I couldn't get a good squeeze on our chocolates and other blogger, louis vuitton handbags so I asked permission from other blogger to use theirs And they are all too lovely to say YES!

#1 Sort of a group picture. It isn't complete because not all are in it.

Credit to Penny

#2 The table I sat. With a bunch of lovely lollies.

Photo by Sylvia (me!!)

#3 2nd table was full too! I know it looks empty in this picture, it is because I took it before they arrive =D

Photo by Sylvia (me!!)

#4 Sarah Stokely ordered chocolates for us.

Credit to Simone

#5 I ordered Ice Chocolate. Its too sweet to finish the whole thing by myself! And nails are done by me too =)

Photo by Simone

#6 Michelle is a psychology student in Melbourne Uni, and she is from KL! As soon as I know she's a food blogger, I asked if she ever tried Papa Chang's restaurant. Guess what? She loves Grand Imperial and had written a review on Bangsar's branch of G.I.

Credit to Michelle

#7 Chocolate Affagato. This is going to be my order for the next visit. A must! They absolutely makes my mouth waters with greed :P

Credit to I Hua

#8 Simone from A Look In My Book, I Hua from The Chronicles of Ms I-Hua and the cutest host,  Violet Le Beaux

Photo by Sylvia (me!!)

Once again, thanks NuffnangAU, thanks Violet, Penny and everyone who came! We should do this again =)

xoxo

Digging Camberwell's

I love Sunday.

I love it because...
1. It is a family day. Everyone know, on Sundays, I only hang out with my family. No exception.
2. Sunday Markets. I like all kind of markets. Be it arts, clothing, vintage and antique or even farmers. Its the digging-for-good-thing mood that I enjoyed.
3. I and Roy go everywhere to try new food. Its like our tradition. Where we roam along the street somewhere outside of Melbourne CBD for brunch.

Last week, we went Camberwell Sunday Market at Station Street. Its my second time there. Unlike St. Kilda's Art and Craft type(probably expensive too) of Sunday Market, here you can find everything from furniture to clothes. What's best? Bargain!

Spot me! Ha! They are lots of stall selling second-hands and "inspired" brands. And you can find not only local made and made in China, but also from the British or the State. Anyway, I got myself a hot pink LV - inspired long purse through a bunch of Chanels, Guccis and other LVs. Here, you can get the branded item you don't mind using it roughly because you can always come back for another one.

After that, I picked a cafe across the street for our new venture. Brunch at The Chocolate Box Center. Ordered Smoked Salmon Supreme. The scrambled eggs are delicious, especially mixing it with spinach and smoked salmon. The slice of toast is just another bakery toast, nothing much.

Roy ordered the usual Big Breakfast. The sausage is very good with a hint of spice. Hash-browns are better than Mc Donald's. Its too meaty. I love some greens on my plate.

Then, we walk in to The Chocolate Box. Its just next door! Everyone loves chocolate. Chocolate makes thing easier, and happier! I especially like dark chocolate. Or those with almonds.

Left with Dark Chocolate Cocoa Dusted Truffles!!! I love them. One truffle a day, keeps your bad mood away! Haha I came up with that. So true isn't it? But the truffles really are delicious. Like I can finish all within a minute. Would definitely get some for Mama Chang and Meimei Chang. I know my mother and sister, they would love it just as much as I do, probably more!

Till my next update. Have a nice day!

xoxo

not a sneaker sunday

i planned to join the fun and do a sneaker sunday post like violet and valerie. but the uploading thing stopped after a few at my food and others are stuck (my sneakers and new necklace i bought from the sunday market)! just not dragging on my sunday post anymore, i've decided to do it the upcoming week. 
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parents arrived safely at auckland airport with terrified experience on board. i can practically feel mama's shaky voice through the phone. she must be scared. according to her verbal description, they were in terrible turbulence while flying from sydney to auckland, and that their blanket flew up the air. sure she'd cried and thought they are going to crash just like those plane she saw on air crash investigation. i did tear when listening to her experience. i know i can be a real baby girl. but that's me. thank god they are safe!

scratch the worried. i am going to give them a big koala hug when i see them, which is upcoming wednesday! chanel handbags excited.

sunday means st. kilda's art market. we have a gloomy sunday in melbourne! but it never stop me. i like st. chanel handbags kilda despite the crowd and ordinary. my usual is random pick a cafe for brunch, then walk the market.

#1 and this time, we choose the one right beside shakespeare street

#2 its call - the vineyard

#3 this place is usually full with people. especially the locals. but we were here before 11am. guess its too early for everyone.

#4 my hot chocolate with marshmallow to warm me up in such chilly sunday morning

#5 boyfriend ordered the egg benedict. honestly, its delicious. he said its better than las chicas' because its simple and original. you feel the egg yolks flowing down the bacon while having a bite. nothing complex. simplicity. las chicas' sauce is mind-blowing, but it took over the taste of the food.

#6 my order, tofu scramble. absolutely delicious. tofu mixed perfectly with eggs, tomato slices, onions, baby spinach and a hint of fetta cheese.

with love and compassion,
s.c

wandering off with nothing

Good day folks =]

4th week is done. 1/3 semester has gone. That's fast. For a record, I haven't miss a class. And has been working extra hard to score. Mid-term in few weeks, the result will show.

Anyway, left us one week before Easter Break, three days for RMIT student. I don't understand. Holiday start this upcoming Thursday and end next Thursday. So everyone, you are free from this Thursday class, but come back next Thursday. louis vuitton handbags Which after two days are the weekend. Why can't they switch it to continue teaching this week and replace it to next wee? Isn't that easier and more convenient for everyone?


Friday night, R and me went Ascot Vale to watch PIP Production. It's a Hong Kong show. Actor and actress reflecting the office politics, complicated relationships and harassment. The actress - Rosa who poses Hong Kong girl's favourite is very disturbing. You know, like when something went wrong, they will "eee... ahhh... ngggg..." for millions of times, and not telling what happen, just pretending to be such a little girl, faking to grab attention. I cannot take those act at all. If any of my friend especially close friend is behaving like that, I'll just slap them and told them to shut up. But to think about it, if they are with this behavior? Never think to be my friend darling. I am very picky when it comes to people around me.

Saturday, earth hour day! Apparently, everyone many people switch off their lights for an hour from 8.30pm. Heard that even China switch it off. Like finally going green? I don't know. Do people turn off their headlights too? Because I do think if everyone turn off their headlights, it saves a lot of energy too! Think about it. How many vehicles are there running on street? But then, high risk. So, will the commercial give up an hour of business? Not all. I see many restaurant switch off lights and every table have few candles. Err, burning candles releases carbon-dioxide right? Not so good for environment after all.

Sunday, I am so lazy. Suppose to start on my b.a assignment. But I keep dragging. Got to finish up before weekend. Basically spend my day playing Hotel Dash boyfriend downloaded for me, facebook and TV. Watch my favourite weekend show, Domestic Blitz. Seeing how the team turn a messy and dull house into a dream home, its happy. I feel happy for the family. For all they've been through, they sure deserve a better home and garden. Evening, we had short stack topped with ice cream at the Pancake Parlour with Henry. I like pancakes here. Then, three of us bought ticket for The Spy Next Door, a movie by Jackie Chan. Its more or less like the Pacifier. Not too bad, but not good.

p.s click read more to read my food diary.

With love and compassion,
S.C

its just another evening doing nothing

Good day folks.

Again, busiest day of the week is over. Happily allowed myself to do nothing in the evening. Just blog hopping, twittering, facebooking. I'm so hooked up to the world wide web.

Had a good long chat with girlfriend despite the 11 hours time difference. And million thanks to Blackberry. With BBM we can talk literally non-stop and get in touch right away. Most importantly, louis vuitton handbags its cheaper than sending overseas sms. Sms for hours, approximately 1msg per minute. Imagine how much we saved, and will be saving.

Under this is an attachment of my food diary. Third day already. Still not used to it. Just like today, I got stuck with a bunch of office worker and students holding Starbucks or Gloria Jeans in the elevator. They are like the little devils jumping here and there luring me to take a sip. Ah, why am I doing this to myself?!!

p.s click on read more if you want to see how I torture my tummy.


With love and compassion,
S.C

can i erase what i've said?

Good day loves

- Credits to The Skinny Website-

Jessica Alba is still my favourite. I know its very cliche but come on, who doesn't like her? Megan F. and Ange Jo just can't beat this down-to-earth mother of Honor. She is smoking

In order to step a foot closer to her, decision made, and I am currently working on a seven-day eating plan. Downloaded from Women Health Australia. It looks like a detox plan.chanel handbags First rule is to avoid toast and cereal for breakfast. Are you serious? Cereal for breakfast are my thing. Ah , never mind.

This whole idea of going on a diet plan sounds very contradict to what I've said yesterday. And its true that I don't have strong determination. For example? I am suppose to wake up at 8.30am for an hour session at the gym but I woke up at 10am then eyes on my desktop till mid-day. Very bad. I just hope I don't quit half way through the eating plan. Its pretty tough. Would be blogging about it for the following days. Will be keeping this as my food diary for a week.

Brunch:
Went to my favourite breakfast spot, Couplecinos at Kensington. Wanted to order the pumpkin soup but they don't have it, so I had half of a BLT sandiwich - Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato (without mayonese) with Turkish bread. And drank plenty of water.

Snack some tomatoes while reading taxation law at Williamstown Beach. (I take pictures! Next post!) Then, had fruits with Ski Strawberry low-fat yogurts for afternoon bites.

Dinner:
R had pizza with O'Brian and they warmed Heinz's Creamy Chicken & Mushroom for me. Its very filling for the first hour. After a piss, I felt my tummy is making noise already. So I had one more can of mushroom soup as supper which I only finish quarter of it.

After feeling:
Honestly, I feel hungry. And keep having the thoughts to give up, even imagined shouting to the guys :"Lets go for some pancake at the Pancake Parlour!".  BLT sandwich without mayonese sauce is tasteless. Basically my mouth full of the grassy feeling. Although snacking on tomatoes and fruits are what I normally do, but it doesn't feel the same when one is very berry hungry. Heinz's soup is yums. Stored one more in my cupboard and one pumpkin soup from Weight Watcher for tomorrow.

With love and compassion,
S.C