On a typical day at home

Fried Salmon and Tofu Soup

Every so often when my wife and I were busy with work, we would like to prepare simple and our typically home cook meals that require lesser time to cook. These home cooked cuisines although simple but does require some preparation. Usually when we know our schedule would be tide the next day, we would have some of the preparation done the night before. Just like having the meat marinated over night or the ingredients cleaned and cut. Preparation like this do help us save time in the kitchen when we need to hurry the kids for their extra curricular activities or when I have late evening appointments.

Curry Chicken

Or we also have some of the cooking done in the morning when we were preparing breakfast. Like when we were cooking curry chicken. A pot of curry chicken can usually be eaten for lunch and dinner. Sometimes, we even have the curry for breakfast as dip for home toast roti Chennai. We actually prefer the frozen Chinese Flaky Pan Cake as Roti Chennai, the ones we purchase from T&T Supermarket. Or even simpler, just cook a pot of rice to eat with the curry chicken in the morning. Most of the time, we have tofus and tofu puffs in the fridge which we could use to cook a cuisine off.

Fried Tofu Puffs

Typically, we like fried stuffed tofu puffs. Usually stuffed with ground pork marinated with corn starch, oyster flavoured sauce and sesame seed oil. This is one of our most common home cooked cuisine. Another cuisine that we enjoyed a lot is the soft tofu in soup. Typically with fried fish fillet and salted mustard. We pretty much stocked up our fridge and freezers every two weeks with our favorite foods. Other than raw foods we also stocked up on cooked foods which comprises of pizzas, chicken nuggets, sausages, hamburger patties, fish fillets and canned foods.

My Family's Favorite Cantonese Cuisines

Seafood Clay Pot Tofu

Other than Chinese Malaysian cuisines, which we would rather home cook or which we would enjoy during potlucks, my family loves Cantonese cuisines. And the favorite restaurant we like to dine at is none other than HONS Wun Tun House. In fact, last week we frequent there as many as three occasions. We went to the Chinatown HONS twice and once at their New Westminster outlet. We like HONS not so much as to its authenticity or presentations but because of the convenience and its favorable menu item prices.

Honey Garlic Spare Ribs

We have dined in more established and lavished Chinese restaurants in Vancouver, and still found HONS to be more favorable to us. In fact the taste of its cuisines are by no means worst than the other Chinese restaurants. They have a lot of choices on their menu, serving tim sum for breakfast, then lunch and followed by their dinner menu. They are also open seven days a week. So, you will never be caught going to a restaurant on their rest day.

Stir Fried Beef Strips

Although, their menu is quite elaborate, we still prefer the few favorite cuisines that we are fond of. Both my wife and I often leave the selections to our kids when we dine at HONS. They have familiar themselves with the same cuisines because we have dined here so frequent. Our favorite at the Chinatown outlet is always the Spicy Rock Salt Shrimps and the Seafood Clay Pot Tofu. At times we will also order the Fried Chicken Wings and Fried Silver Fish. When we dine at the New westminster outlet, the choices of the Cantonese cuisines changes.

Spicy Rock Salt Shrimps

At the New Westminster outlet, we like the Stir Fried Beef Strips with the Sweet Sauce, Honey Garlic Spare Ribs, and again the Seafood Clay Pot Tofu. I think we have about ten different favorite cuisines that we select from in each outlet. And each time we dine at HONS, we select about four or five cuisines from that ten favorite choices, depending on how many people we have in our party. We have been dining at HONS for so many years and still hasn't grown bored of the food they serve. HONS is just an old fashion Chinese Restaurant still serving some of the most authentic Cantonese cuisines in the lower mainland.

Fried Silver Fish

But sometime, HONS do have a new cuisine or two. Just like, they recently promoting their Bubble Tea Beverage. I think they have finally realized that diners are getting younger and they too need to change and adapt to this trend. During our last visit to HONS, one of the waitresses introduced us to a new fried fish cuisine that we had never tried before. So, we asked her to add that new Fried Silver Fish cuisine to our orders. And it turned out to be pretty good too. We liked it.

Fried Rice Noodle with Pork

Fried Rice Noodle with Pork

I bought some fresh rice noodles from HONS Wun Tun House and fried them the next day when they were still fresh. I fried the using the dried beef noodle recipe but with pork instead of beef. As I was getting the ingredients ready for frying, I noticed that I was actually short of a few ingredients and had to go to the nearest asian grocery store to buy spring onions, onions and bean sprouts. The quick shopping trip took me no longer than thirty minutes. And when I got home, it was just good time to start preparing for lunch.

Cantonese Style Fried Rice Noodle

So, the ingredients for the fried rice noodle were finally complete. And in the preparation, I have one onion sliced in fine strips, spring onions cut in two inch long strips, half a pound of bean sprouts, pork meat (loin) cut in small bite size cubes, some fresh skin peeled shrimps, and two pounds of fresh rice noodles (flat noodles). I poured three spoons of cooking oil into the wok on high heat and throw in one spoon of chopped garlic. Once the garlic is in the wok, I throw in the pork and allow it to simmer for a minute and then add the shrimps.

The Simple Ingredients for the Fried Rice Noodles

Continue to allow the pork and shrimps to cook. Then add the fresh rice noodles into the wok. On top of the noodles, add four spoons of dark soy sauce, two spoons of pepper, one spoon of chicken stock (cubes or powdered) and a pinch of slat for taste. Start stirring and turning the noodles with all the ingredients in to wok to mix and blend everything together until the noodles become evenly colored. after a few minutes of mixing and stirring, add the bean sprouts, onions and spring onions.

Fried Rice Noodle

Continue stirring and mixing for about two more minutes until the onions and the bean sprouts are cooked. But not to be over cooked, especially the bean sprouts. I like the bean sprouts crunchy. This is a very simple noodle recipe and if you prefer beef over pork, just use beef instead. I like both types of meat but this recipe is good for wither beef or pork. This is a popular Cantonese noodle cuisine, and all Chinese restaurants would surely have this fried rice noodle cuisine on their menu.

New Fried Chicken Wings at Costco

Costco's Fried Chicken wings

My wife and I shop in Costco Wholesale quite frequent, and conveniently we like to stop by the food court for quick lunch. We were at the Gilmore store the other day and it was about lunch time. So, we went straight to the food court after shopping and saw their newly introduced item listed high on their menu board. Then, I decided to try some. As it turned out, the fried chicken wings were actually really tasty and crispy. They were as good if not better than church's chicken or KFC.

A bucket of Fried Chicken Wings

Yesterday, we decided to bring the kids along with us to Costco at Gilmore, just to try the new fried chicken wings. And they actually liked them too. The fried chicken wings actually comes with two different types of sauces for dipping. We got the bucket of three pounds which was only priced at a reasonable nineteen ninety nine. And we wasn't the only family that bought the bucket of fried chicken wings, there were many families that did the same. Looks like everyone shares the same idea about the fried chicken wings.

The Bao Place

All Kinds of Sarawakian Pau

I was introduced to The Bao Place by one of my younger friends who have been frequenting this Malaysian owned pau maker on Kingsway in Burnaby. The Bao Place is actually located across from Metropolis Mall in Metrotown and two shops away from The Cactus Club. So, after hearing the reviews from some of these friends, my family and I decided to drop in and try their products ourselves. We actually like and missed the Malaysian style pau a lot and could not find them anywhere in Vancouver.

Pau with Pork

We met the owner of the business when we went there and he introduce himself to us as the proprietor of the business and his wife, the chef in the kitchen. According to him, his wife has the experience making pau. She and her family in fact, has been pau makers in Sarawak for many years. And when they immigrated here in December last year, The Bao Place was their first business venture. I ordered several types of pau that he had listed on his menu.

Curry Dynamite Pau

They were authentically Chinese Malaysian pau but very Sarawakian kind of pau. I have actually leaved and worked in Sarawak for a few years during my younger days and found that the Sarawakian pau has a different texture compared to the West Malaysian pau. The Sarawakian pau are not as fluffy (the bread) as the West Malaysian kind. They even look smaller, flatter and not as round as the West Malaysian pau. But the meat filling is almost the same in taste and flavour. So, if you like to try Sarawakian pau, head to Metrotown.

Real Roti Chennai Flown in From Malaysia

Roti Canai from Malaysia

My eldest kid was visiting his grandma back in Malaysia during the summer. He returned to Vancouver a couple of days ago and I had my mum packed about twenty pieces of Roti Canai for him to bring back to Vancouver. I have personally done this before, bringing home with me about two dozen pieces of Roti Canai from Malaysia on different trips. Other than the Roti Canai, I have him bring home the sardine and anchovy sambal that goes with the Roti Canai.

My Favorite Breakfast - Roti Canai

I love Roti Canai for breakfast when I was still living in Malaysia. I would have the Roti Canai at least twice a week and there was a particular Roti Canai stall that I would frequent with my family. According to my mum that Roti Canai stall is still around and the same person toasting the Roti Canai still operates from there. He usually serves the Roti Canai with a few different types of dips which he cooks in the morning. Of all the curry dips, I like the sardine sambal best.

Real Authentic Roti Canai

Before this particular occasion, the last time someone from my family actually came back with Roti Canai from Malaysia was my wife, when she visited both our mums. So, that was more than two years ago. To keep the Roti Canai fresh for the journey, I usually have the Roti Canai maker wrap all the Roti Canai in several layers of plastic and old newspapers. Then, have the sardine and anchovy sambal put in a container that can be sealed. Before packing them into the luggage, I have my mum wrap another few layers of plastic bags. Once the Roti Canai and the sambal reaches home, I have them placed in the fridge. Whenever I want to eat the Roti Canai, I have them steamed and the sambal warmed up in the microwave oven.

Some Japanese Delight for a Change

Salmon Sashimi

My family was invited by another family friend living in Richmond to dine with them in a Japanese restaurant, also located in Richmond, a few days ago. We made arrangements to meet with them at the Japanese restaurant and whoever got there first were to pen a name down in the queue. The restaurant doesn't accept reservations and when we got there, only did we understand the reason. Gami Sushi on No.3 Road in Richmond was really busy. There were lots of people in the diner and the flow of people were kind of orderly. There people going in and people leaving. The queue and wait wasn't too long.

BBQ Salmon

We waited for about fifteen minutes before we got a table. That too, we had to allow some of the later patrons to overtake us on our turn because we were a larger party of seven. And had to wait for a table large enough to accommodate the seven of us. As it was our first experience dining at Gami Sushi, our friends explain their favorite menu items to us. And based on their recommendations we ordered several different items. From seeing the large dinner crowd in the diner, I presumed that this must be one of the favorite Japanese restaurant in Richmond.

Chicken Yaki Udon

Our orders were served within ten minutes. That was really impressive. Between the two families, we ordered an array of Japanese cuisines and they all look so delicious. Every plate was a special treat, from the Salmon Sashimi to the Beef Donburi. We were very satisfied with the meal and kept talking and comparing the taste of the different cuisines from the moment we left the place until we got home about forty minutes later. Another surprising point about the dining experience was the prices of the menu item. They were really affordable and not pricey at all.

Pop Corn Attack Roll

I was made to understand that the reason for the affordable price of the items was due to the fact that this Japanese restaurant was just within a few minutes walk from a secondary school and many of the school kids would walk to this Japanese restaurant during their lunch break for their meals. So, the residence in the area get to share the benefit from the high volume of traffic in this restaurant. I would not mind at all waiting a little bit longer, so long as the food is tasty and affordable.

Summer potlucks and cook outs coming to the end

Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables and Seafood

The days are getting shorter and the weather are getting colder in Vancouver. We have attended as many potlucks and cook outs this summer, if not more than the other previous summers. Our friends are getting more and the number of potluck groups we engaged are also growing. My family have even extended our activities beyond the provincial borders. As end of summer weather approaches and fall begins, we get nearer to closing the chapter on the year, we reflect on this year's activities. Especially on some of the happy and great get togethers we have had. Each outing was hosted by a different friend and we usually don't contribute the same cuisine consecutively either. The one major element we enjoyed in these potlucks most is having variety.

A Cake to Celebrate Friendship

Every single one of these events has involved cooking up some special cuisine. My fellow home cooks have dished out some of the most amazing cuisines and we have continued to enjoy Malaysian flavours even from Vancouver. Because of all these good food, we hardly dine in the Malaysian restaurants in Vancouver. Why should we when we are able to cook authentic Malaysian cuisines ourselves. Even the friends that first arrived in Canada with little cooking experience are becoming good cooks, learning from the others that have been dishing out the best cuisines of Malaysia. My wife too has improved on her cooking skills.

Always Popular Curry Chicken

My wife and I, have learned a lot from these outings. Our friends are never shy to share their recipes and kitchen secrets. We are becoming better cooks ourselves. We are able to cook Cantonese type cuisines that we were only able to find in Cantonese restaurants. But today, we are able to cook more than a few authentic Cantonese cuisines. Living in Vancouver has afforded us the luxury of diversity in food culture. There are all kinds of restaurants serving different types of cuisines here. Sometimes these restaurants are located within a short distance from each other like clustered in one part of Richmond on No 3 Road and on Fraser Street in Vancouver.

Barbecue Chicken Wings

But among the Malaysian friends that we have, we have done pretty well too. Sharing our food during potlucks, cookouts and other get togethers. This has been the most amazing way for us to sample variety of cuisines. Even the ingredients, sauces and herbs that we used in Malaysian cooking are easily available in Asian groceries. And there are so many Asian grocery store everywhere in Vancouver. The most common cuisines we have seen in potlucks were curry chicken, barbecue chicken wings, stir fried vegetables and nasi lemak. As for the noodles, the char beehoon and fried shanghai noodles are the most common after fried rice.

Special Malaysian Delight Cook Out Session

Fried Curry Puffs

We were at a friend's place the other day for a cook out session. We were showing this friend how to make the popular Malaysian Curry Puff from scratch. And coincidentally, they have also cooked up some delicious Curry Chicken and Vegetable Curry for lunch with Roti Chennai. So, the theme for that day seems to be, "Curry". Although, the session was supposedly to be a cook out event but due to the non permitting weather, it turned into cooking in the kitchen. Furthermore, and luckily only four friends were able to participate in this cook out session.

Curry Chicken

We started with preparing the stuffings for the curry puff first. In the hot wok, drop about five spoons of cooking oil then followed with two pounds of finely chopped potatoes. Fry the potatoes until cooked and introduce some finely chopped chicken meat. Stir and mix the potatoes with the chicken meat so that they are evenly spread. Add in about three spoonful of curry powder and stir until the mix are evenly coloured. Sprinkle some salt for taste then add the two pounds of finely chopped onions. The onions don't have to be really cooked as it will be cooked when the puffs are fried.

Roti Chennai

Stir the mix and transfers to a bowl to rest. As for the dough, mix and knead five cups of self-rising flour with two cups of water, one cup of butter or margarine and a pinch of salt. Once the dough is ready, use a rolling pin, roll the dough to thin sheets that can be used for wrapping the potato and chicken curry stuffing. We use the curry puff plastic mould to make consistent size curry puffs. This curry puff moulds are available in Asian Grocery or shops that sells kitchen wares. Sometimes they are also call Perogy moulds (for making Greek Perogies).

Chicken Curry and Vegetable Curry on Roti Chennai

Once the curry puffs are all wrapped, then clean, dry and add more cooking oil in the wok. The curry puffs should be immersed completely in the cooking oil to allow them to be cooked evenly. Once they turn golden brown, transfer them into a serving plate. After the curry puffs were all fried, we ate lunch. The curries were already prepared and cooked before we even arrived at the friend's home. She was pan frying the roti Chennai as we were preparing the curry puffs. So, we could have the Roti Chennai fresh from the pan. And it was an awesome lunch and a cook out session.

Seatown East Asia Cuisines in Maple Ridge

Spare Ribs in Honey Garlic Sauce

My jalan jalan makan friends used to like the KL Hokkien Noodle fried by the cook that owns the Seatown East Asia Cuisines in Maple Ridge. But of late his cooking has somewhat been effected by reasons only he would understand. We have been following his progress from his JB restaurant to Qoo restaurant and now to Maple Ridge. Instead of getting better with his years of experience, he seem to have lost some of his drive to improve.

Curry Chicken

A few days ago I was passing through the area and thought that would be a good opportunity to dine there and find out for myself if he has improved on his recipes. I was there with the family so, we tried several familiar cuisines that we usually orders from any Cantonese style restaurant. I chose the Spare Ribs in Honey Garlic Sauce, Curry Chicken, Clay Pot Seafood Tofu and his signature noodle cuisine which was our favorite, the KL Hokkien Mee cuisine.

KL Hokkien Noodle

Sadly none of these cuisines impressed us. The cuisines were much more tastier and flavourful than many other small town Chinese restaurant but we expected more from him. He was able to dish out some of the best Cantonese cuisines when he was attached to the other restaurants. Just wondering, what has happen to his cooking. Even his signature noodle cuisine was not as good as previously. May be the sauce, may be the ingredients or may be just the way he prepares and cooks. But having mentioned all these, I still enjoys his KL Hokkien Noodle. It is still the best amongst all other Malaysian restaurants in the lower mainland.

Gastronomical Feast from a Top Chef

Mediterranean Salad

I was driving home from Calgary to Vancouver and stopped over in Kelowna for the night. But before getting to Kelowna which I had earlier informed a friend that I was going to spend the night over his place with my family. While I was driving to Kelowna, he had been preparing a feast of a meal for us. I did not expect the amount of food he had cooked up until I saw it with my own eyes. He is a professional chef in one of the restaurants in Kelowna and have been cooking since a very young age.

Thai Salad

He had learned cooking from his mother and continued to further his skills in Japan in some of the top Japanese culinary schools. Today, his cooking capabilities extends beyond Japanese art of culinary. He is as skilled in Western cuisines, namely Mediterranean, Italian, and Spanish. He is also able to dish our some amazing East Asian cuisines. He had shared his passion in the art of culinary with me and how creative he is in the kitchen with food.

Ox Tail Marinated with Brown Sauce

When we got to his place, he had already prepared and cooked up six amazing cuisines. When I asked him how long did the cooking took him? He replied with a very confident, in less than one hour. He has the skill to orchestrate a wedding banquet. Plan every detail from scratch to finish. That is his level of expertise and he loves to plan wedding banquets and dinners. I definitely did not expect him to prepare such a lavish dinner for us when we arrived. Anyway the presentation was awesome. I could not resist taking photos first before eating because the cuisines were presented with such artistic details.

Rice Butter/Cheese Risotto

They were so colourful and blended well with the ceramic wares and wooden bowls. The aroma of the cuisines were so deliciously tempting. I could smell the butter and cheese from the Rice Risotto. The plater of rice were crafted from fried onions mixed with cooked rice with butter, cheese, chopped peppers, clam, clam juice, sprinkled with parsley and garnished with crab meat. That rice risotto was enough to feed the four of us but he had prepared more than just the rice risotto. My wife on the other hand prefer to start with the salads. There were two types of salads.

Grilled Pork Loin Marinated with Olive Oil & Butter

He had made the mediterranean salad from mixed organic vegetables, cooked shrimps, pieces of smoked salmon and crab meat. The mediterranean salad was further blended in lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil. The second salad, the Thai Salad was using the same vegetable mixed with cilantro but blended with lime juice, sugar, and special fish sauce. I too liked both the salads as they were really unique and had different flavours. Like I have mentioned, he has the skills to create really good cuisines.

Herbal Spare Ribs

The next cuisine was the Ox Tail Marinated with Brown Sauce but before serving and slicing the pork, the whole chuck of the pork had been in the oven cooked for approximately three to four hours on low heat. For the start it was only marinated with salt and pepper. Only when it was done and right before serving, the brown sauce was added on to the meat. When presenting the meat, several more spoonful of brown sauce was sprinkled onto the ox tail meat. Blenched kailan was used to decorate the plater to bring out the contrasting colours between the brown meat and the green vegetables.

The Best Western Feast

The other two cuisines were the Grilled Pork Loin Marinated with Olive Oil and Butter. This pork loin was oven baked for less than an hour and garnished with blenched broccoli. Finally the Herbal Spare Ribs was rubbed with the Italiano herbal spices before grilling and the white onions were marinated with the Italiano herbs and some butter. Both the spare ribs and onions were placed in the oven for about an hour to cook under medium heat. There were so much good delicious food for us and we had the rear opportunity to enjoy a real Western feast that evening.

D' Dutchmen Dairy for Ice Cream

Cookie Dough

I was told that there is this Ice Cream Saloon in Sicamous that serves the best Ice Cream on this side of the border with USA. And, my wife and I have been especially looking forward to farm ice cream parlours like these ones when on the road. So, when we past through Sicamous on our way home, we actually stopped and pick up a few of this nice cold ice cream cones. There were many variety of flavours available for us to choose. In fact too many to choose from. The ice creams were sold in scoops and in tubs. There were one litre, two litre and even ten litre tubs available of the different flavours.

Coffee Mocha

Other than the ice creams there were butter, milk and other dairy products available. It was a pretty neat place with people lining up for ice creams and also smelt like a farm too. Visitors stopping over for ice cream will not missed the strong smell of cow dung or manure. But after a few minutes, everyone becomes nose blind or used to the smell and will not noticed the strong smell. I see children licking their ice creams with the smell surrounding them. I, on the other hand prefer to take my ice cream into the car and drive away from there to enjoy it.

Raspberry Cheesecake

I chose the Banana Fudge flavour while my wife got the Butter Pecan and my two kids chose the Coffee Mocha and Cookie Dough flavours. For some reason, I did not feel the ice creams were as good as the ones I have bought from another ice cream shop across the border from Abbotsford in Lynden, Washington. May be I did not taste any banana flavour in the ice cream I chose, which was supposed to be banana fudge. We also picked up a 1 litre tub (Raspberry Cheesecake) which actually tasted so much better at home. May be is because of the smell when eating ice cream there. Any how, the ice creams were really fresh and nice to have on a hot sunny day.

Authentic Penang Cuisines in Calgary

Freshly Fried Penang Lobak

My wife and I woke up early in Calgary on a cool rainy Sunday with several cooking projects in mind. We were in Calgary for the weekend and had earlier mentioned to the host (with whom we were putting up the night at) that we were going to cook up something unique and special for them. We had also prepared the ingredients, components and sauces the night before. We have planned to start early enough so by the time we were done with the cooking, eating and cleaning up, it was time to leave for home.

Wrapping the Pulut Panggang

Our first Penang cuisine was the famous Penang Lobak which we have cooked many times before for potluck occasions in Vancouver. We have prepared about two pounds of pork (cut in strips), one pound of ground pork, a small taro root tuber (cut to 1cm cubes) and a carrot (cut to 1cm cubes) to be mixed together with five spices (five spoons), corn starch (two spoons), salt (for taste) and chicken stock (half spoon). And all this mixed to be used as stuffings for the Lobak. We have also bought some soy bean curd sheets for the wrapping of the meat stuffings.

Famous Penang Char Keow Teow

Once the Lobak were ready for frying, we move on with preparing the next cuisine. While my son and I was frying the Penang Lobak outside in the balcony on a camping stove, my wife was teaching the friends in the kitchen on how to prepare and wrap the Pulut Panggang. The glutinous rice stuffed with spicy coconut flakes and dried shrimp paste, wrapped in banana leaf. The spicy coconut flakes and dried shrimp were prepared separately. While the glutinous rice would have to be cooked by steaming in a wok using coconut milk (180ml).

Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean

Once the coconut flakes and the glutinous rice were cooked, the wrapping starts. First, lay a piece of banana leaf, about eight inch by eight inch square, with the shinny part facing up. Put the glutinous rice (one and a half inch wide, five inch long) along one of the edges of the banana leaf. On top of the glutinous rice apply a coat of the spicy coconut flakes with dried shrimps. Then, roll the banana leaf with the glutinous in the leaf and seal both ends with a bamboo tooth pick.

Rempah Flavoured Baked Chicken Wings

Once the banana leaf pulut panggang were properly wrapped. Toast or grill them in a flat frying pan. No cooking oil is needed in the toasting process. The pulut panggang is ready once the banana leaf turns brown. Both side has to be toasted or grilled until the leaf turns brown. The other two cuisines that we cooked were the Penang Char Keow Teow and Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean. And the daughter of the host brought her special Rempah Flavoured Baked Chicken Wings which was an excellent addition to the four Malaysian cuisines we had prepared.