The Best Chinese Malaysian Taro Cake

Chinese Malaysian Taro Cake

Every so often, my wife and kids will cook something really awesome during the weekend. Especially, when they have the free time. Sometimes for a few consecutive weekends they may just cook the same cuisine or cake, to fine tune the recipe or they may have discovered an even better recipe or just to make adjustments to the process. For whichever reason it may be, the result is always better. Some of us may call this experience, and others may simply call it learning.

Taro Cake

As I have earlier explained that we love to attend and participate in potlucks and cook outs with friends and co-workers, especially during the summer months and often the weeks leading to Christmas and Chinese New Year. We get a lot of feedbacks and share other home cook experiences on the cuisines and cakes we contribute at these events. So, when we have the time, we conduct our own experiments with the new ideas we have just learned.

The Best Taro Cake thus far

One of the cuisine that have been transformed and improved on since we first arrived here is the Taro Cake. We have been making recipe improvements on the taro cake ever since the first time we cooked it in Vancouver. Every time we come across an opportunity to try someone else's home cooked taro cake, we would ask and then tweak on our own recipe. Yesterday, my kids and my wife decided to make the Taro Cake again and it was the best Taro Cake thus far.

Famous Penang Signature Soy Bean Curd Wrap

The Famous Penang Lobak

The Penang Lobak or the Soy Bean Curd Warp is one of the more famous Penang cuisines. Initially a home cooked specialty that was introduced by the Hokkein clan of Penang. Then, it was made available through hawker stalls in Chinese Malaysian owned coffee shops in Penang and Butterworth in Malaysia. Today, practically, the Lobak is found and available in many of the Chinese Malaysian owned coffee shops through out the country even in as far places as East Malaysia.

Penang Lobak

In Vancouver, some of the Malaysian restaurants have the Penang Lobak listed on their menu. But I still like the home cooked ones. Although the ingredients and components to prepare and to cook the Penang Lobak are easily sourced in Vancouver, not many people really know how to prepare it. Of all the Malaysian gatherings that I have attended, I have yet to meet another Malaysian that contributes the Penang Lobak. One of the reasons could be because it is more of a Hokkien cuisine.

A Penang Signature Cuisine

The main components of the Penang Lobak are the soy bean curd sheet (used for wrapping) which is readily available in most Asian grocery store like T&T Supermarket, Chong Lee Market, Sun Tung Fatt Market, and Heng Long Supermarket, a nice ripe taro root, and about three to five pounds of pork (a lean piece would be awesome). The ingredients would be five spices, corn starch and salt. That is how deliciously simple to make this pork taro wrap.

Fried Chicken Wings Home and Costco's

Home Cooked Fried Chicken Wings

We first fried our own fried chicken wings at home using simple preserved soy bean curd recipe and right before dinner, our eldest kid brought home a bucket of fried chicken wings from Costco. Apparently, there was a promotion on the chicken wings at Costco Wholesale with a five dollar discount for the three pound bucket. They were introducing the chicken wings to the customers at their Brighton store in Burnaby. So, instead of cooking rice, we decided to just settled for an all fried chicken meal for dinner.

Costco's New Fried Chicken Wings

We have actually tried the fried chicken wings from Costco during our last two previous visits to their Gilmore store in Burnaby. And we enjoyed the fried chicken wings so much so that I featured their fried chicken wings on my facebook makan club page. I guess, Costco is going to introduce the fried chicken wings to every one of their stores. The original price for a three pound bucket of the fried chicken wings is going for twenty dollars which is really a good affordable price.

Vietnamese Noodle Soup and Lemongrass Steak with Rice

Beef Brisket Broth

We went to the Green Bamboo Vietnamese Noodle Restaurant on Willingdon and Kingsway in Burnaby for dinner last night. We dine here quite often, especially when we were busy with work at home. The restaurants sits in Crystal Mall but the shop front faces Willingdon and entrance is from the Willingdon side too. It's a small diner that could only cater for about twenty people at any one time but we never did experience waiting in line for a table.

Curry Chicken

The business here is very consistent. There is always a couple of people in the dinner most of the time and full during lunch and dinner times. They have quite a lot of items listed on their menu. Most of the patrons would at least order one of the signature noodle cuisine with one side order. I like the beef noodle soup and that is also their most popular noodle soup cuisine. They have several different soup broth to select from. The favorite among them is the Vietnamese pho noodle soup base.

Beef Steak with Rice

My kids on the other hand like their rice cuisines. They would usually go for the beef or chicken with rice. Yesterday, among the rice cuisines were one beef steak with rice, one beef brisket with rice, and the other was the curry chicken with rice. My wife and I picked from the noodle section and we had the seafood tom yam noodle. The menu prices are very Crystal Mall standard. I don't think any of their items were listed more than nine dollars. That is why, Green Bamboo Vietnamese Noodle Restaurant is a favorite among international students, especially the students attending the colleges from around the area.

Seafood Tom Yam Noodle

The two signature side orders that most of these students like are the fried chicken wings and the vegetable and pork spring rolls. The fried chicken wings were actually barbecued and are very flavourful. The chicken wings are often served when they were still very hot. So, be careful, the first bite of the chicken wings might burn your tongue. The vegetable and pork spring rolls are also crunchy and delicious. One key factor that attracts the international students to dine at Green Bamboo Vietnamese Restaurant is their generous portions.

Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean

Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean

When I came home from work yesterday, all the ingredients and sauces that I need for cooking the famous Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean was already. Apparently, my wife had prepared all the ingredients I would need. So, I quickly changed and then put on the apron. The ingredients that I have on the kitchen table was one pound of medium size shrimps, one pound of yu choy mixed with some cabbage, slices of fish cake, one spoon of chopped garlic, one pound of sliced pork meat, and one pack of the thick shanghai noodle.

Famous Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Fried Noodle

With all of these ingredients, I can easily prepare up to five serving portions. I started with five spoons of cooking oil in a hot wok and once the cooking oil was hot enough, I drop in the chopped garlic. Immediately followed with the pork, then the shrimps. Allow them to simmer for several minutes, then add the vegetables. Then, the frying, tossing and mixing begins, making sure that the vegetables cook before putting in the shanghai noodle.

Hokkien Fried Noodle

Before I continue with the stirring and tossing, on the shanghai noodle, add five spoons of dark soy sauce, one spoon of chicken essence and a few pinch of the pepper. Once I have all the sauces and flavouring on the noodles, I continue with the tossing and stirring until the noodles and the rest of the ingredients are evenly mixed and colored. The whole frying process takes another seven to ten minutes on intense fire or high heat to make sure that the noodle gets really cooked.

Penang Delight Fried Chicken Wings

Delicious Fried Chicken Wings

We bought a lot of chicken wings from Foody Supermarket in Richmond a few days ago. I think, we have bought at least twenty pounds of the chicken wings in six bags. The only reason I bought so much was because of the irresistible price. The chicken wings were selling for less than two dollars a pound which was a really good deal. Anyway, I always stock up on chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, and chicken breast in the freezer. And the most likely places were we usually purchase them is in Chinatown, especially on Keefer Street, where there are a couple of wholesalers that distribute to Chinese restaurants. Their prices are usually the best. But we also watch out for deals at Save-On-Foods on chicken breast and No Frills on chicken wings.

Penang Delight Fried Chicken wings

Nowadays, I don't need to wait for Save-On-Foods or No Frills sales to stock up. Looks like I can get them even cheaper at Foody Supermarket.

So, once we got home from grocery shopping and picked up the kids from school, we started preparing some of the chicken wings for dinner. After cleaning, I marinated about two pounds of the chicken wings with dark soy sauce (two spoons), and preserved soy bean curd (three cubes). And allowed the chicken wings to set in the soy sauce mix for about two hours.

Freshly Fried Chicken Wings

Once in a while I rub the mixture onto the chicken wings to make sure the chicken wings are marinated properly and evenly coated. Before the chicken wings go into the hot wok, add about two spoons of corn starch onto the chicken wings. Fry the chicken wings on a medium to high heat until they turned golden brown. The meat inside the chicken wings may not be cooked if it was cooked too fast on high heat. Use a chopstick or tongs to turn the chicken wings, making sure the skin turns golden brown on even sides. This Fried Chicken Wings is best enjoyed when they were still warm.

Lunch at Richmond Public Market

Fried Capelin Fish

Yesterday was my grocery shopping day with my wife. And just like always, we have planned to shop in Chinatown and Richmond only. But because of the heavy traffic and being too ambitious with time, we have wasted too much of it in Chinatown. Therefore, in Richmond we have to make up that lost time. So, to save time, we headed directly to Richmond Public Market on Westminster Highway. As we were entering the main entrance to Richmond Public Market from the parking lot, we could see a lot of people inside the food court. After we walked past the the first stall and walking towards the main atrium, I saw lots of people queueing up in front of one of the food stall. So, curious as I was, I was going to come back for lunch after shopping.

Fried Spring Rolls

Apparently, the Public Market has good offers for vegetables and meats, so we walked around the wet market for a while and decided that we had shop enough for the day. As we were not really too keen to do any more grocery shopping, we just walk back up to the food court. As we were climbing up the stairs, the smell and commotions there caught our attention. We did not realized that the time had past our normal lunch time and we had not eaten lunch yet. I guessed the heavier than usual breakfast in the morning has kept us going without feeling hungry at all.

Fried Capelin and Fish Fillet with Steam Rice

Once we realized that it was lunch time, we turned back and started looking for something light and simple to eat for lunch. We were not going to eat too much because it was already just a few hours to dinner time. We decided to share lunch, eat quickly and save the time for shopping as we have to rush back in time to pick up the kids from school today. I bought a box of spring rolls and my wife bought a box of rice with two dishes. She had chosen the fried capelin and fried fish fillet. We could not finish the food we had bought although we shared them. In order not to waste, we took the leftover home.

Penang Char Mee with Chives

Penang Char Mee

Since, everyone was at home and we did not have any appointments nor planned activities, I thought it was a good idea to cook the famous Penang Char Keow Teow. Then again, the kids wanted to have something different, not the usual, so I decided change the type of noodle. And they were okay with it. Other than the famous Penang Char Keow Teow, there are some people who would prefer the famous Penang fried noodle using a different noodle but with the same recipe and ingredients.

Penang Style Fried Shanghai Noodle

So, yesterday I fried the Penang Char Mee instead of my usual Penang Char Keow Teow for lunch. Everything was the same from the ingredients to the sauce except for the noodles. I have bought a bag of shanghai noodles a few days ago from T&T Supermarket. That would be the right noodle to use. I could actually use spaghetti instead of shanghai noodles if I don't have it. Coincidentally, I also bought a small bunch of chives yesterday which would be the other important ingredient in the fried noodle cuisine.

The Famous Penang Fried Noodle

Another type of noodles that would be awesome in taste and flavour when fried with this similar recipe is the rice stick or vermicelli. Therefore, this famous Penang fried noodle style can be enjoyed with three different types of noodle and each individual might have a different preference. I know majority of people would prefer the Char Keow Teow but the Char Mee or Char Bee Hoon are also great tasty cuisines as well. I like all three and eat whatever is available.

Catching Up On The Best Fish Cuisines

Steam Halibut Belly with Spicy and Garlic Sauce

My family have always enjoyed dining in Deer Garden Chinese restaurant. And our favorite among their different location have always been the Alexander Road in Richmond branch. We have dined in the others but prefer this particular branch because of their more suitable choices of cuisines which we like. To be specific, this Alexander Road Deer Garden serves some of the best fish broth noodles and rice cuisines which are not available in some of their other diners.

Fish Noodle Broth with Century Eggs and Mushrooms

I have always liked the special halibut and rice items. There are about six different choices to choose from and I have had every one before. All of them are really flavourful and tasty but personally, I prefer the fried ones more. Yesterday, My family and I had our dinner there. And like always, there was a long queue. We waited for about thirty minutes from the time my wife pen her name down for place in the diner before we were able to be seated. But once we were inside the orders were served pretty quickly.

Teriyaki and Egg on Rice

This time, we decided to try some of the other cuisines that we had not tried before. We were rather more adventurous with the selections this time. Each of us would order a different cuisine and all of us would sample a little bit of each of the ordered cuisines. I could not resist doing the halibut cuisine again so I went ahead with the Steam Halibut Belly with Spicy and Garlic Sauce. And that halibut cuisine, like any of the other halibut cuisines were served with a bowl of rice and a bowl of fish broth.

Chicken Fillet with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce

The kids ordered several distinctively different cuisines. The first was a Fish Noodle Broth with Century Eggs and Mushrooms which they gave me all their century eggs because they don't fancy the taste of the preserved duck egg.  The second was the Teriyaki and Egg on Rice, a common cuisine in Japanese style restaurant. More like the donburi. The third was the Chicken Fillet with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce. And finally, my wife ordered the bowl of Pasta with Shrimps and Special Sausages. Overall, the cuisines were excellent and on another note. I like dining at Deer Garden is because their menu prices are reasonable.

The Best of LA Fried Chicken

LA Fried Chicken

After we found LA Fried Chicken, we have not stepped into any other fried chicken outlet. At least for a long while now. My kids just could not get enough of LA Fried Chicken. There were occasions when we had LA's fried chicken more than twice a week. Especially, in the weeks when I was down in Richmond for work several times in a week. That week in particular, we had fried chicken for dinner and with the leftover the kids would take to school with wrap or rice.

Crunchy Good Fried Chicken

And, we would repeat this like three times within the week. For me, this was an easy option to prepare their lunch for school. But is LA Fried Chicken really that good? Well, the menu price for the twenty pieces is more than reasonable and they have two to three different recipe to choose from. We normally pick the spicy recipe which is our favorite. Also, LA Fried Chicken's drumsticks and thighs are normally larger than their competitors. The twenty pieces deal include not only the drumsticks but the thighs as well. So, price is reasonable and taste even better than its competitors.

Real Good Tasty Fried Chicken

Although, sounds favorable and all, we have never dined in LA Fried Chicken's diner. In fact, I don't remember doing so at all. When we bring home the fried chicken, they tasted and smelled just as good as if we were dining in. Other than being juicy, meaty, tasty and flavourful, the fried chicken can easily be combined with rice, wraps, bread, coleslaw, or buns for a full meal. We even leave some of the leftovers in the fridge to be eaten as cold cuts the next day.

Fried Shanghai Noodle with Rice Noodle

Simple and Economical Fried Noodle

I prepared lunch for the kids to take to school, and also for my wife and I, for work today. The first thing I did before getting started was to check the fridge. When I opened the fridge door, I saw a small bag of bean sprouts, which was leftover from last night's dinner. My wife must have placed the bag of bean sprouts there to remind ourselves to use it first before it spoils. And I also saw a half bag of Shanghai noodle in the fridge. So, I now have an idea of what to cook or prepare. I was going to use both the bean sprouts and the Shanghai noodle. But the half bag of Shanghai noodle was not going to be enough to cook five portions.

Thrifty Fried Noodle with Pickled Chillies

I needed to improvise, I wanted to find another noodle that I can combine with Shanghai noodle. And depending on the combination of noodles, I need to come up with a perfect recipe to quickly prepare the ingredients. From the food cabinet, I have another opened pack of rice noodle. Shanghai noodle and the rice noodle will be a perfect combination. With the noodles sorted out, I quickly came up with the perfect recipe. The theme for the day was going to be simple and economical. I am going to fry the type of noodle cuisine that is found in small breakfast stalls and coffee shops in Malaysia. And there all kinds of name for this style of fried noodle. It is definitely the most economical and thrift breakfast.

Poor man's Breakfast

I was going to fry the simple fried noodle using just dark soy bean sauce (three spoons), and chicken stock for flavour. In the hot wok, add two spoons of cooking oil and followed with two spoons of chopped garlic. Then, add shrimps and sliced fish cakes. Stir until the shrimps cooked, add the bean sprouts, the Shanghai noodle, and the rice noodles. On top of everything, add three spoons of dark soy sauce, one spoon of powdered chicken stock, and a pinch of salt for taste. Using a pair of chopsticks and spatula, stir, mix and toss until the noodles cooked and even colored. This poor man's breakfast is best eaten with crunchy pickled chillies.

Penang Prawn Noodle with Keow Teow

Penang Prawn Noodle

I had keow teow noodle in Penang Prawn Noodle broth which my wife prepared early in the morning for breakfast. She had boiled the shrimp skin that we had collected over the past month the evening before. So, in the morning she removed the shrimp skin and continued boiling the broth with a few pieces of pork ribs to add flavour and taste. In addition, some dried chilli powder, and shrimp paste (belacan) were added in the broth too.

Keow Teow Prawn Noodle

The broth was allowed to boil for about another ten minutes on low heat while we prepare the noodles, vegetables and shrimps. We were not really prepared for the prawn noodle this time. So, we made some adjustment to the components which actually turned out to be okay. Instead of the water spinach we used yu choy as the choice of vegetable and instead of using shanghai noodle and/or vermicelli, we had keow teow. But we had to use up the shrimp skin which was getting to be a lot and they were taking up space in the freezer.

Penang Hokkien Keow Teow

Like always, the prawn noodle broth was fantastic because of the amount of shrimp skin that was used to prepare it. And, it was worth collecting the shrimp skin that was used as the base for the broth. With the flavourful and tasty shrimp broth ready, no matter which noodle or vegetable was used, the bowl of popular Penang style spicy noodle was just perfect to start the day with. After the heavy breakfast, I skipped lunch at work. The one bowl of prawn noodle was my two meal plan for the day.

Barbecue Pork Satay

Satay Pork

We barbecued pork satay for dinner last night. My wife have been planning this satay cuisine for a number of days and yesterday she decided to cook satay using pork meat. She had marinated the pork meat the day before and left the meat in the fridge overnight. Yesterday morning, she skewered the meat on satay sticks and put them back into the fridge after she was done. Later in the afternoon, when the kids came home from school, she asked them to barbecue the satay on the portable grill that we use for picnics while she prepares the other dishes in the kitchen.

Peanut Sauce for Satay

One of the items that she was preparing that would be complement the pork satay was the peanut sauce which she cooked from scratch. She had also prepared the sticky rice that Malaysians like to eat with the satay peanut sauce called the nasi hempit. Again, we enjoyed yesterday's dinner with one dish, just like the day before. Traditionally, satay would be served with several variety of barbecue meat such as beef, chicken and lamb, sticky rice, cut cucumbers and onions, and the peanut sauce. I like eating the peanut sauce with toast bread too. Really tasty and flavourful.

Rendang Chicken

Rendang Chicken

We had rendang chicken for dinner yesterday. My wife decided to cook the Malay style dried curry chicken with the curry paste that she had bought from Chong Lee Market a few days ago. And it turned out to be really good. But of cause she supplemented the curry paste with curry leaves, toasted coconut flakes and a little bit of coconut milk. This one dish was enough for the whole family, the kids finished their dinner even before we completed cooking the other cuisines for dinner.

Fried Tofu with Anchovies

They had to attend their weekly Air Cadet meeting. Therefore, we allowed them to eat their dinner early while we were still cooking. And before we could finish, they were already done eating. So, knowing that we were going to end up with just the two of us eating dinner later, we decided to complete whatever we were cooking. With that in mind, we also ate dinner with just that one chicken rendang cuisine. The dish that we were preparing while the kids was having their dinner was the Hakka cuisine of fried tofu, anchovies, peanuts and preserved radish. We were unable to finish eating the second dish so left whatever that is left for tomorrow.

The Penang Hokkien Style Stir Fried Noodle

Penang Hokkien Stir Fried Noodle

Decided to prepare and cook the Penang Hokkien Stir Fried Noodle for lunch today. I woke up early and started preparing the ingredients and noodles to take the fried noodles to school and work for lunch. The Penang Hokkien style stir fried noodle cuisine is slightly different to the Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean. It uses less of the dark soy sauce and will turn out with a bit of creamy gravy. The taste and flavour is slightly different too. The most distinguishable different between the two is the type of noodle used in Penang Hokkien stir fried noodle.

Penang Style Hokkien Stir Fried Noodle

The Penang Hokkien style fried noodle not only look less dark because of the least among of dark soy sauce used but the Shanghai noodle that is used is the thiner type not the thinker Shanghai noodle. With one pack of the Shanghai noodle (the brand is Hons) that I bought from T&T Supermarket, I could cook about six to seven portions. So, there were enough for breakfast and packed for lunch too. One pack of the Shanghai noodles for two meals, that is really economical.

Penang Hokkien Char Mee

I remember paying more than ten dollars for a plate of this Penang Stir Fried Hokkien Noodle when we dined at Seatown Seafood Restaurant in Maple Ridge. And we have to drive all the way there just for this special noodle cuisine. All that was needed in the cooking of this delicious noodle cuisine was a pack of the thin Shanghai noodle, a spoonful of chopped garlic, a few shrimps, some sliced fish cake, a bunch of yu choy, two spoons of dark soy sauce, half spoon of pepper, half spoon of chicken essence, a spoon of corn starch, a cup of water and five spoons of cooking oil.

Penang Hokkien Char

Start with heating up the wok and add the cooking oil. Once the cooking oil is hot, add the chopped garlic, followed with the shrimps and the fish cakes. Stir for a minute or two then add the yu choy. Wait till the yu choy is cooked then add in the Shanghai noodle. On top of the Shanghai noodle, pour the dark soy sauce, pepper, water and the corn starch. Then, keep stirring and mixing everything until evenly colored. Keep stir and mixing for a few minutes and transfer to serving plates.

Home Cooked Pork Chop

Home Cooked Pork Chop

I decided to cook Pork Chop for dinner last night. Earlier in the day, I had bought a few slices of pork loin from Save-on-Foods. In cooking pork chop, the preparation starts with getting the biscuit crumbs ready. First, crushed about fifteen pieces of soda crackers and place the crumbs in a bowl. I took the soda crackers from the food cabinet and will use that as coating for the pork loin. I added a pinch of salt and pepper to the soda cracker crumb mix. Then, I took the pork loin one slice at a time and dipped it in the bowl with the dry soda cracker crumbs. With the crumbs still sticking on the meat, I put the slice pork loin in the hot pan with about ten spoons of cooking oil. Turning only once on each side when it turned golden brown.

Pork Chop with Fried Onions and Potatoes

I repeated this process a couple of times because I wanted to prepare dinner for five. While the pork loin was still frying in one pan, I started preparing the side dish. I have peeled some potatoes and cut them into half inch cubes to fry in another frying pan. And while waiting for the pork loin and potato fries to cook, I also sliced some onions (in rings). Once the pork chops were done, I dropped in the sliced onions into the frying pan immediately after transferring them to the serving plates. So, I used the same oil from the pork chop to stir fry the onions. The idea is to use the same oil with the flavour from the meat. Later, I added some corn kernels into the onions and stir fried them together.

My Mum's Pork Chop

So, most of the time, I was cooking with two frying pans. And in order to manage the two frying pans, I turned the stove's heat to medium. The preparation and cooking took me less than an hour which was as planned. I learned this pork chop recipe from my mum and when I was back in Malaysia, we used to have pork chops quite often. My mother would usually mix the onions with green beans or peas instead of corn kernels. I did not have any of those in the fridge so corn kernels will have to do.

Sarawak Kolo Mee

Sarawak Kolo Mee

I went to Richmond (on Cambie Road) early this morning to buy five bowls of the famous Sarawak Kolo Mee from Swee-Ann Enterprise. As Swee-Ann is a noodle and cornish manufacturer, not a restaurant and they do not have a place to dine in. But on Saturdays they sell cooked items and are opened for pick up services. So, I placed order for the five bowls of Kolo Mee and picked them up within the next hour. In fact their Kolo Mee is the best Kolo Mee in Vancouver. They actually supply many of the Malaysian restaurants with their products, including the Kolo Mee noodle.

Sarawak's Signature Noodle Cuisine

My kids and wife really enjoyed the Kolo Mee from Swee-Ann Enterprise. We have had this noodle cuisine before from other Malaysian restaurants but found Swee-Ann's to be authentic and flavourful. Kolo Mee is one of Sarawak's signature noodle cuisine and they have really cooked it well to maintain the flavour and taste. Even the noodle's texture is similar to the ones found in Sarawak. I will go back for more but will wait until they reopen for business after their three weeks vacation in Brunei.