Burgers

I love burgers... if you didn't already know. Especially a good wholesome fresh and juicy burger. Yummy...

Sadly, there are only 2 places in the whole of Dungun where you can get such a burger... at Hola West or at Tanjong Jara Resort.  If there is another place, I have not heard of it yet. Hola West has not opened for quite a while. Apparently it is operated by one of the lecturers at UITM who uses students to operate the cafe. I think due to the new intake it will not be opened for a while... and Tanjong Jara Resort will not be opened till mid January.

So, if I want a decent burger I will have to make my own... and that's just what I did.

You start off with the beef... obviously. I bought some beef from Mesra Mall. Imported Australian beef costs RM25.99 a kilo. Local beef at the market costs RM26.00 a kilo.  I prefer Australian beef for burgers as the local beef has a stronger gamey flavour. Local beef is okay for curries, stews and braises.

There are many recipes for burgers. I like my burger simple. I just season with garlic salt, pepper, paprika and tabasco.  How much seasoning do you put? For me, I season the meat before I mince it. I season each piece of beef as though I was going to pan fry it. This way it is less likely to put too much seasoning. Pop it into the food processor and pulse it for a short while. It's also important not to mince the beef too fine or it will end up being dry. After mincing, I let it rest for about 15 minutes. 

The second important part to a good burger is obviously the condiments. Here I used caramelised onions and tomatoes. What I would have liked to add would be lettuce, gerkhins and some mustard. Next time lah... the onions and tomatoes will do as these are essential to me.

I cooked my burger for 2 minutes on each side on medium heat and it was medium. My wife's burger on the left without cheese and mine on the right with cheese. I finished mine in 2 minutes. Yummy...

I will have to find bigger buns as these were the standard Ramly burger buns which are a bit too small for my 200gm beef patty.

Definitely cheaper than a Big Mac or a Whopper and yummier too... more burgers on the way. :)

Pan Mee (Hakka Flat Noodle Soup)

Is started with a picture on Facebook from Rasa Malaysia.  It got me reminiscing my childhood 'pulling' the noodles and dropping it into the broth. Then came the thought...  I then posted that I might just attempt to make it. Then the craving came... followed by a day-long of rain and I decided this would be ideal on a cold day.

As soon as I got home, I checked to see if I had the ingredients. The basic stuff were there but I still had to go out to get some other stuff.  I started with the stock... MacGyver style, if you know what I mean... Pot of water to boil... some Maggi Ikan Bilis Stock Cubes... 3 cloves garlic... lots of pepper and some salt. Not too much slat hough as the flavour will come from the minced chicken and crispy ikan bilis too.

Then I quickly made the dough based on the recipe and allowed it to rest. By this time the stock had come to a boil. Switched the fire off and went off to buy the rest of the stuff that I needed. I needed a pasta machine, chicken (to replace the pork in the recipe), some vege (I had spinach in mind but they were not available), ikan bilis and of course, very important... CILI PADI.

When I got home I started with the minced chicken. Diced two chicken breasts, followed by a quick chop to mince it. Added some corn flour to it, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. Mixed it up and allowed it to rest a bit.  Chopped some garlic and tossed it into a pan with oil... add the chicken... I didn't have dark soy so I used sweet soy (kicap manis)... some oyster sauce, some fish sauce, lots of pepper... toss a bit... add water and allow it to reduce to my desired consistency. Voila! Done... I didn't add the shiitake mushrooms as my wife doesn't like it.

Then I fried the ikan bilis till crispy and set it aside and proceeded to prepare the noodles using my new pasta machine...

This is the dough. It should be sufficient for three to four portions... but it would only be sufficient for two if was my kind of portion. Hahaha...

This is the pasta maker... RM68.50...

This shot is an after thought... took it after I finished gobbling my noodles down. That's why you can see that it's contracted slightly.

The end product.. there was something missing... something crucial to making a good pan mee... the sambal belacan... next time... next time...

Durian Crêpe...

I'm back... it was a hectic month. Went an entire month without an off day and I just got back from a week's off. 

My wife felt like having Durian Crêpe and here in Dungun, that would mean making your own as there's no Durian Crêpe around here. So, I 'Google-ed' a few recipes and off we went to get the necessary items. We drove for an hour looking for durian... here there's only local durian. No D24s or Musang Kings. The local durians are pretty small so we drove around looking for some decent sized ones.

In my opinion, Durian Crêpes are over-rated... the amount of effort vs the end result which is the taste, does not justify it. I'd rather eat the durian straight or even have just durian with pulut.

Anyway, back to the recipe. I studied a few recipes. There are many kinds available and it depends on what you want to achieve. There are the egg-heavy versions, 4 kinds of flour versions, 2 kinds of flour versions, etc. You need to know what each ingredient does to your crêpe to make your decision.

I opted for the 2 kinds of flour variation for ease. Plain flour with potato flour. The potato flour is what gives the crêpe its elasticity. I made two batches. A batch of yellow and a batch of green. I tweaked the green after experimenting on the yellow. Here's the recipe:-

80 gms plain flour

1 tbsp potato flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

250 ml milk

3 tsp melted butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

colouring of choice

Whisk everything together... I just put everything in the blender and blended away and then strained it. On a non-stick pan, line the pan with some butter using a paper towel. I did this once only as the butter in the batter will help the process. Heat the pan up. Make sure it is not too hot or the batter will brown too fast before it is cooked. Temperature control is important and I had to switch the pan on and off the heat constantly. Pour some batter onto the pan and spread it out using the back of the ladle. Once cooked, let it cool slightly and then peel it off the pan and let it cool. I used styrofoam plates for this. if you find the crêpe too thick, add more milk.

Once cooled, put some whipped cream onto the center followed by durian and then top-up with cream again. Then fold. Voila!

In the end, I just used plain durian without the cream as I preferred it that way. :)

You can buy the whipped cream or whisk your own. Non-dairy whipped cream is recommended.

 This is the first batch I made... the crêpe was thinner.

I over-whipped the cream... :(

 50:50 cream and durian mix.

The second batch with thicker crêpe... with 100% durian filling. Yummy...

Have fun... I probably won't make it again as I feel it is not worth the extra effort. I'd rather eat the durian as it is. :)

Slow-cooker Pot Roast

As promised... it's Pot Roast today.

Went to the market early this morning to buy the beef. There are only two stalls in the whole market selling beef and I was looking for Chuck Roast which of course they did not understand being in Dungun. I then tapped on my shoulder to show him the part I wanted but he didn't understand. He then showed me a piece of tenderloin roast and recommended that I use that instead as it was suitable for steaks. I told him I was not making steaks. To make a long story short, I didn't get the part I wanted and took the tenderloin roast. I was not very happy but there wasn't a choice.

Anyway, the original recipe for this pot roast is HERE. Mine is modified to what I have...

Click on pictures for larger view.

Here are the main ingredients. You'll need seasoning... salt and pepper, paprika, thyme, bay leave and I used my leftover chicken jus from the other day.

I seasoned the beef generously with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. I then sliced the onions, garlic and mushrooms. I used fresh Shiitake as I couldn't find fresh button mushrooms here.

Next I seared the beef all over and also sautéed the onions followed by the mushroom and garlic together.

Then pop the beef into the slow-cooker followed by the onion, mushroom and garlic with a bay leaf. Next was the mushroom soup, my leftover chicken jus and just a little bit of water as there will be more moisture from the onions, mushroom and beef. I then decided to put some carrots in on the top as I planned to remove them after a couple of hours. Set the pot to LOW and cooked it for 6 hours. I stopped at 6 hours as the smaller pieces were starting to break apart.

From top left, clockwise; mushrooms dished out into a bowl, bread to go with the meal, carrots, the beef and finally the gravy.

I am very happy with this recipe in terms of flavours but definitely not happy with the beef as it was dry.  If only I got my chuck roast... : (

Slow-cooker Brined Chicken

My wife and I decided to have chicken for buka puasa today. She went out and bought the chicken yesterday and I brined the chicken last night for 12 hours. I used this brine recipe... just didn't put the olive oil. I stuffed some garlic in the cavity with a couple of bay leaves and added some black pepper. Brought the ehicken out in the afternoon and let it dry for a while. I then rubbed some paprika on the chicken. I wrapped some potatoes in aluminum foil and placed it on the base of the pot. I then three in some quartered onions on the base as well for moisture and flavour. Propped the chicken on the potatoes to avoid it sticking to the pot and to avoid the base from getting to moist. Set it to HIGH and let it cook away. Easy-peasy...

After THREE hours on HIGH... the chicken is ready.

This was dinner. Whole chicken, some brown sauce, sautéed asparagus with butter and garlic, potatoes, dates for breaking of fast and apple juice. Yummy...

The meat was tender and falling off the bone... look at the drumstick.

A closer look at the asparagus and the moist and tender chicken meat.

The chicken was tasty. You wouldn't know there was soy sauce in the brine nor would anyone know the chicken was brined. The saltiness went to the jus of the chicken at the base of the pot. Sadly I didn't take a picture of it. It was perfect to make gravy... which I intend to do as I have saved the jus. This recipe would be perfect for oven roasting where you'll be able to achieve a very crispy skin.

Next week... Slow-cooker Pot Roast!

Slow-Cooking 2

It's slow-cooker dinner again tonight. The ingredients are basically the same as yesterday coz that's all I have in the house, just different proportions and no celery. Dump everything in the pot including one clove and half a star-anise. I added tablespoon of oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce (kicap manis) and 2 tablespoons of water. The rest of the moisture will come from the tomatoes and onions.

This is the end product. Goes very, very well with steamed white rice and if you have sambal belacan... perghhhh... Yummy, yummy, yummy...

Slow-Cooking

My wife is away in her hometown visting her ailing grandfather. I couldn't go as there was uncertainty with the duration of the visit and since we are running 90% here, I couldn't take the risk.  As the resort was busy I reckoned I'd cook my own dinner. Breakfast, lunch and tea was oats.

I rummaged through the refrigerator to see what I had. I had a big chunk of beef. I wouldn't have time to watch over the cooking of the beef so I decided to use the slow-cooker that I had borrowed from my mom last year and never did use yet. 

Slow-cooking is very convenient. It is simple yet not so simple. It is simple coz you put everything in the pot and let it braise away. It is not so simple coz you must have some 'imagination'. When slow cooking, there is no evaporation. Therefore, seasoning has to be pretty spot on. And when you add vegetables to it, the vegetables will release moisture hence adding liquid to the dish. So, you need to be able to imagine the end result. Add too much liquid and it will end up being more a of light soup. The key is to add sufficient seasoning but never over season. You can always add more seasoning later. The only downside is that your meat will be bland if there is too little seasoning.

Anyway, I decided to do a stew based on the ingredients that I had at home. I halved the beef chuck and kept the other half for the next day. I then seasoned the meat and quickly seared it all over to retain the moisture.

Everything in the pot. I then added a tablespoon of oyster sauce, some sugar to balance out the sourness from the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, a clove and half a star anise. Didn't have any cinnamon or maybe I couldn't find it.

I then topped it up with a can of whole tomatoes. Set the cooker to High and left it to cook for 6 hours. There is an Auto function but I have not figured out how to use that yet.

The end product after 6 hours.

Yummy-yummy... Tomorrow I'll do 'masak kicap' instead.

Kuantan Getaway

Last week, my wife and I took a break in Kuantan. It was a long overdue trip and we had many things to do. Among them a break from work, grocery shopping, shopping for new work clothes, facial, etc. We started of with a night's stay at Bukit Gambang Resort City. You can read about it here.

Steamed Chinese Yam Cake that was served at the Arabian Bay Resort during breakfast. Not bad but I recommend the Caribbean Bay Resort's coffee house food over the Arabian Bay.

On our way to Kuantan we stopped by to see what the aborigines had made. They were pretty expensive... the ladel my wife's holding costs RM25. We didn't really need anything so we gave it a miss given the price.

My wife was craving for Japanese food so Sushi King is a must. We arrived at about 12 noon. The manager (I think) stopped us at the entrance and apologised, stating that they had a training and would need about 15 minutes more before the concluded and requested that we came back later. We waited nearby and when they were ready we proceeded in. As a gesture they waived off two of our most expensive dishes. Wow! Impressive!

And of course we had to have our fix of Starbucks as we don't have it in Terengganu.

Then we went to Berjaya Mega Mall as I wanted to have this Nasi Lemak. It hasn't changed one bit in terms of taste and portion consistency. Impressive, 5 years later and it's still good but it now costs RM2.80.

Before we left Kuantan we stopped by for Hoi Yin's Curry Mee at Teluk Cempedak. Again, this is one of those that managed to keep their consistency all these years.

We will be coming back to Kuantan again soon as this is the nearest place for us for our 'Sanity Trip'. However, next month it will be back to Kuala Lumpur as I have a court case to attend.

Taste Restaurant Lounge

I'm way overdue with my postings. I have a lot to post too but have not got around to it just yet. But... I decided to post this first to keep my small audience updated and to maintain your interest.

My wife and I decided on some International cuisine today. So I started looking for a good restaurant for dinner which is pretty difficult here coz they're all pretty good. After some searching I came across Taste which is ranked the #2 restaurant around here on TripAdvisor. 

Here's what we had for dinner... Clockwise from top left... 

The Australian Burger 385B

Wagyu Rump Steak 470B

Quesadilla with Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa 190B

Hot Wings Chili and Tamarind Glaze 190B

They were all good and tasty. The restaurant was full. My wife and I were two of three Asian diners in the entire restaurant which was packed with about 80 persons.

I'm hungry again... Hahaha... Oh, by the way... this is in Phuket, Surin Beach.

Lipitor & Cholesterol

Following my blood test, I went to see the doctor today and he has prescribed me a 20mg dose of Lipitor for 4 months after which I'll do another test to check my cholesterol level. Lipitor is a brand of atorvastatin by Pfizer. You can read more about statins by clicking on the active links in this paragraph. I would recommend that you read about it as I read that 1 out of 5 people in the USA have high cholesterol... and quite frankly I think Malaysians are not far behind. The next thing you should do if you are reading this is to get yourself a blood test.

If you didn't know, the foods that are high in cholesterol are offal (liver, etc), egg yolk, butter, prawns, ice cream, red meat, cheese, fast-food (deep-fried), processed meats (sausages, etc), shellfish and desserts. Of the 11 that I just listed, I indulge in 9 of them... hmmm... no wonder!

Starting tonight it will be a tablet a day for me for the next 4 months and also oats in the morning to further assist in lowering my cholesterol level. I just hope I don't develop any side effects from taking Lipitor.

Hunger Pangs...

My wife and I had an early dinner tonight. When I got back from work, she had already cooked some rice and was about to have rice with fried eggs. I was feeling hungry too so I decided to skip gym and we headed straight to dinner. I decided not to have any starch tonight and she had a simple noodle soup as her throat was slightly sore. 

We were back in our room before 9:00pm. When we got back, we watched Man vs Food Nation on TV... pretty soon we were feeling hungry again after watching all the delicious food on TV. I remembered the rice my wife had cooked earlier and we decided to have some fried rice.

I raided the pantry and refrigerator to determine what I could use for our fried rice. There was no meat in the freezer. We only had ikan bilis (dried anchovies), eggs, onions and garlic. If I had some cili padi it would be perfect but these ingredients will have to do.

These are the three essentials for fried rice.

This is how I cook my fried rice...

1. Chop the garlic and dice the onions. Set aside.

2. Wash the ikan bilis and drain water. Set aside.

3. Heat some oil and deep-fry the ikan bilis till garing (crispy). Drain oil and set aside. I set mine onto a paper kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

4. Heat some oil in the frying pan and when hot stir-fry the eggs briskly till it looks shredded/super scrambled. Drain the oil and set aside.

5. Add some oil to the frying pan and sweat the diced onions. The amount of oil you add here is entirely up to you based on your preference. Some people like an oily fried rice. My wife doesn't, so I use very little oil. Sweat the onions over a low heat till it gets fragrant then add the chopped garlic and continue till fragrant. The key here is not to allow the onions and garlic to brown unless you like your fried rice bitter.

6. Add the rice and the eggs. Toss the ingredients in the frying pan if you have the skill, otherwise just stir with a spatula. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I add some sweet soy sauce for some balance and colour. Voila! Simple fried rice done.

Serve with the crispy anchovies...

A simple fried rice in a jiffy... and it disappeared just as fast and in time for us to start our 10-hour fast for our blood test tomorrow morning.