Spicy Fried Chicken Wings

Spicy Fried Chicken Wings

My kids loved this particular fried chicken cuisine that were dipped into a sauce mixed with Chinese rice vinegar, fresh chopped chillies and a pinch of sugar. My wife and I learned this fried chicken recipe after eating the same cuisine in a Cambodian restaurant in Chinatown. One of our friends had dined in this restaurant and liked the fried chicken wings most. She then, recommended all of her friends, us included to try out this super delicious friend chicken wings.

Tasty and Delicious Fried Chicken Wings

We immediately tried to cook the same cuisine the very next day after dining there with the kids. But only got it right after several attempts. So, this recipe has become one of our regular fried chicken wings recipe. We have tried the same recipe with chicken thighs and drumsticks but still the chicken wings were the most suitable. Also, the marinating process for the chicken wings takes more than eight hours.

Lotus Root Soup

Usually, when we have fried food, my wife would also prepare a bowl of soup to reduce the effect of heatiness because the Chinese folks believes that eating too much greasy fried food could cause heatiness and lost of appetite. And the most common and popular soup we have at home these days would be none other than the Lotus Root soup cook with pork ribs or pork bones. In fact there are quite a lot of other stuff in the soup such as ground nuts, shredded dried cuttle fish and a little bit of salt for taste.

Busy Malaysia Hut

Kolo Noodle

My family and I dined in Malaysia Hut on 108th Avenue in Surrey a couple of days ago and the Sarawakian cuisine specialty restaurant was full house. We have dined here many times before but that was the first time the diner was packed. I guess the reason must have been because of their long closure during the summer months. I did not have a chance to meet up with the restaurant proprietor but I understand from friends that the owners were busy with their first born grandchild.

Sarawak Laksa Noodle

And when I was there, they had only opened for business like two weeks before. The Malaysia Hut is a typical family run business. Therefore, such temporary closures were expected. Anyway, that also tells that they are truly family owned and run, even the cooking in the kitchen are done by the owners themselves. This is one particular reason why the patrons love coming back to dine here. More like home cooked cuisines. But the restaurant is not limited to the number of authentic Malaysian cuisines they can dish out.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Their menu is fairly elaborate. Offering cuisines from North Malaysia, like Penang cuisines to more authentic Sarawakian cuisines like the famous Sarawak Laksa and Kolo Noodle. And there are also some of the more popular Malaysian cuisines such as Nasi Lemak with Chicken, Beef rendang, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Satay, and the Roti Chennai. In fact, when we were there, we order exactly the cuisines I have just described. And in addition the Malaysian Curry Noodle. In my opinion, Malaysia Hut offers more authentic Malaysian cuisines than most Malaysian restaurants in the lower mainland at the present time.

Marmite Chicken Nuggets

Fried Marmite Chicken Nuggets

This is one of my kids favorite home cooked cuisines. In fact they love all kinds of fried stuff just like any other growing kids. I learned to cook this marmite chicken nugget cuisines after one dining occasion in a restaurant somewhere near Seremban, Negeri Sembilan a long time ago. I used to work near this Chinese restaurant and my co-workers would visit this restaurant nearly everyday for lunch. So, I asked what was their specialty and was told of several Cantonese cuisines which included this particular marmite chicken cuisine.

Roasted Pork Hock

I liked the marmite chicken, so I introduced the cuisine to my family. And, one day I asked one of the waitresses working in the restaurant how to prepare this cuisine and she actually explained the recipe to me. So, I came home and tried it. It took me several times before I got it just right. So, over the years we also tried with different recipes and make changes as we found new techniques to be better. Now, even my wife knows how to cook this particular cuisine and make it taste so flavourful.

Stir Fried Zucchini with grass Noodles

Another cuisine that I have actaully cooked at home after eating it in a restaurant is the Crispy Pata, which is a Filipino cuisine that we had eaten in a local Filipino restaurant. Now, we even roast our own pork hock at home whenever we feels like roasting a pork hock. We always try to make the cuisines we serve at home interesting and often copy a cuisine that we have eaten before in a restaurant. Sometime, the cuisines may not taste exactly the same but mostly the experience turns out to be positive or the cuisine turns out to be better and tastier than that served in the restaurant. Just like the stir fried zucchini with grass noodles which was never cooked like that before.

Chinese Malaysian Home Cook Cuisines

Deep Fried Tofu with Pickled Shallots

Although I would prefer something spicy and hot for my meals like curry and sambals, especially when I am cooking in the kitchen. But if my wife was doing the cooking, she would prefer more plain and less curry type dishes. Yesterday, she was doing the cooking and she cooked up some really authentic Chinese Malaysian cuisines. She often does the cooking nowadays as I am especially busy with work. Sometimes I would be on my computer from morning until late in the night.

Stuffed Tofu Puffs

She too is a pretty good home cook. Some of the recipes were learned watching cooking videos on the internet. But mostly learned from observing and asking my mother and mother-in-law. Her favorite food item to cook with is tofu. And she can create many different Chinese cuisines from tofu. Yesterday, she fried four pieces of soft tofu until they turned brown and garnished with pickled shallots with red chillies. Simple and healthy without sauce or dip. Next, she stuff tofu puffs with ground pork and then fried them in medium heat in a frying pan.

Salted Fish & Ground Pork on Egg Plant

After that she also prepared another cuisine that uses ground pork. But she blend the ground pork with some chopped shrimps and salted fish. Mixed the ground pork, salted fish and chopped shrimps with a little bit of pepper, oyster flavour sauce and a pinch of salt for flavour. Put a spoonful of the ground pork paste on a sliced egg plant then bake in the oven for twenty minutes on three hundred fifty degrees Celsius. You can also steam the whole egg plant with the meat toppings in a Chinese wok. So, instead of baking the alternative is to steam.

Hamburgers and Hotdogs

My Chicken Burger

My wife and I attended a party organized by my employers at the Vancouver PNE Playland. The event was an annual event for staff of the organization to mingle and meet with co-workers. This was the third or fourth time that we have organized this event here at the PNE Playland and I have attended every one of them. The food that was served there has always been the same since the first gathering some years ago. Some of us come with our families and some just with a partner or a spouse.

Hotdogs and Hamburger

Other than the buffet, the participants were able to enjoy the rides, activities and fun arcades available in the playland. So, some of the friends have been in the playland with their families since early.

As for the buffet line, which open at about three thirty in the afternoon, provided two choices of burger patties to chose from. I went for the chicken patty and assembled my own sandwich. Other than chicken, there were beef patties and of cause the chicken sausages. One burger was enough for me. So, I did not try the hotdogs. The potato salad was fresh and so were the salads.

Went out for Japanese Cuisines

BBQ Salmon Gama

We took a break from cooking yesterday and decided to go out for dinner. So, the kids suggested that we do Japanese instead of Chinese like most of the time. Once they mentioned Japanese cuisines, I immediately thought of Gami Japanese Restaurant on Number Three Road in Richmond. We have actually dined there not too long ago and really liked it. But there were still so many other cuisines listed on the menu that we haven't tried.

Beef Udon

The journey took us about thirty minutes from our home and when we got there, the restaurant was full. We had to wait our turn and that took another thirty minutes. Finally when we were shown to our seats, it was already eight o'clock in the evening. We quickly glanced through the menu and decided to order the cuisines that was familiar to us rather than trying out something new like we had earlier planned to do.

Pop Corn Attack Roll

So, between the family, we ordered five different cuisines which we were much familiar with. I wanted to try the BBQ Salmon Gama this time, which was my wife's order the last time we were here. She instead ordered the Pop Corn Attack Roll this time. The kids had the Beef Udon, Unagi Roll, California Roll and Teriyaki Beef Hot Plate. Overall, it was a fantastic meal. The kids liked it and we enjoyed the different variety of the cuisines available. Gami Japanese Restaurant have the variety to serve the different taste buds.

Unagi Roll

Teriyaki Beef Hot Plate

Barbecue Chicken Wings

Barbecue Chicken Wings

Lately, both my wife and I have been busy with the kids' activities. Especially with their extracurricular activities after their normal school hours. Therefore, we have been preparing meals earlier than usual to accommodate their evening meetings and training sessions. So, what we would normally do on such days is to prepare everything a head of time. Like marinate the chicken wings the night before so that we would be able to reduce the cooking time significantly and get them ready for their evening activities.

Lotus Root Soup

The chicken wings were marinated with Korean barbecue sauce and left in the fridge overnight. Then, when its time to cook, just arrange the chicken wings in a baking pan and make sure there is a gap between the chicken wings or else they will stick on one another and the skin will peel off. To avoid loosing the skin on the bottom, apply a thin coat of cooking oil on the baking pan before arranging the chicken wings on it. I would leave the baking pan with the chicken wings in the oven for about twenty five minutes on three hundred fifty degrees Celsius.

Stir fried Yam Leaves with Garlic

Another time saving dish is the lotus root soup. I would throw in a few pieces of pork ribs or the back bones with sliced lotus roots, a handful of ground nuts and some thinly sliced dried squid into the slow cooker with about two litres of water in the morning before I leave for work. Sometimes, I would replace the pork ribs with chicken bones. I would leave the slow cooker at medium heat and allow it to slowly cook for about five hours. Then, before serving, add a pinch of salt for taste.

With the two dishes kind of done, I only have to prepare and cook one dish. And the fastest would be stir fried vegetable.