Swiss Roll Baking Mat with Patterns

28.10.13 (Mon)

I first saw this swiss roll baking mat in one of the youtube clip on baking swissroll and I found it so useful..wondering where can I get one too..Then one day I received emails from Dealmates and saw this promotion deal on swiss roll baking mat!! Well, it said that the mat cost RM98, but with 42% off, now RM57. I persuaded my sis to buy me one, as my early birthday gift for 2014!! Haha...and she agreed!

It was a 4 patterns in one mat (30cm x 30cm), 2 on the front and 2 more on the back. I chose the pink color mat with rabbit, heart, circle & moo moo patch patterns. Today I started off with the moo moo patch and it turned out so beautifully. Can't wait to try the other 3 patterns. Will share the detailed steps in baking the swissroll next time.

Some commented it looked like the giraffe's neck!

 

 

Japanese Cheese Cake 日式芝士蛋糕

19.10.13 (Sat)

It's been awhile since I baked a cheesecake. Though I am not a cheesecake lover, but I find cheesecake recipe quite easy. Today, I am going to bake Japanese Cheese Cake..To my surprise, both Abby & Ian loved the cake so much and they finished 2 pieces right away! The texture of the cake was soft and fluffy and the taste, cheesy, creamy and the aroma of lemon was quite strong..Best to serve with coffee!

 

 

Ingredients

250g cream cheese

80g caster sugar (divide equally for yolks & whites)

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

20g flour

25g corn starch

25g milk

25g butter

30g each lemon zest and juice

 

Methods

1. Rest cream cheese at room temperature until soft. Beat sugar to thicken and smooth. Stir egg yolks into the mixture one at a time.

 

2. Heat milk and butter over hot water. Add into the cheese mixture. Sift in flour & corn starch over the mixture and fold in well.

 

3. At a clean bowl, whisk egg whites and sugar till stiff peak. Fold into the cheese mixture. Add in lemon zest and juice.

 

4. Bake at 170C on water bath for 45mins.

 

Tao Cuisine 道, Autocity

16.10.13 (Wed)

Today is my MIL's birthday and we chose to celebrate at Tao Cuisine, Autocity (so happen my inlaws came up to Kulim to visit us). Tao has special promotion for the month of October, in fact, there are promotions every month and also during special occasions for eg Mother's day, Father's day, Valentine's etc. So in Oct, Kids (below 140cm) eat for free (with an accompanying adult) & senior citizen gets 20% off. I have heard so much from Hubby on Tao (he went there for teambuilding event several times) and hence, was pretty excited about going to Tao finally!

 

It took about 40mins from our house to Autocity. The interior design was nicely done and because it was Halloween month, you could see many related deco and also some nice plants.

 

Tao Cuisine offers All-You-Can-Eat buffet, that cover Japanese, Chinese, Thailand and other foreign or ethic food.

We have introduced ALL U CAN EAT BUFFET in Penang since year 2006.The buffet concept Offer somewhat unlimited service with customer’s food ordering from the menu provided at the table. With the unlimited choices customer can order any items from the menu and they can repeat order without any limits until to dinner satisfaction. The menu has more than 130 dishes to choose. Basically all the dishes will serve in small portion for every single order. Its makes customers enjoy varieties of food from the menu. The management always will make sure the customer getting orders constantly without any delaying on food delivery by our well trained staffs.

There was a Sushi corner where you can find many varieties of sushi. Tao serves free flow drinks (ice lemon tea, peach tea, blackcurrent and green tea) and ice creams! We started ordering our food and personally, I think they were all delicious and yummy! Hubby said that the standard of food has increased as compared to the last time he was here.

 

Top: Motoyaki scallop (very nice, we ordered 30pcs), Lamb teriyaki
Bottom: Salmon teriyaki, Unagi don

Top: Hand rolls, Steamed cod fish
Bottom: Jade scallop, Chicken ban-ban



Top: Taiwanese prawn mantis, 3 cups squid
Bottom: Kaki hiroyaki (oyster, I preferred the raw one), Soft shell crab karrage

Top: Ika teriyaki, Abalone
Bottom: Shabu shabu, Yaki udon

Mango & Green Tea (highly recommended) ice cream..

After having a sumptuous dinner, we asked for the cake and all the children, sang Birthday song to Grandma!

 

 

 

All in all, it was a good meal and the staffs were very helpful and patience in serving the customers. Looking forward for my second visit, hopefully soon!

 

  

Verdict out of Five (1-not good, 5-very good):

1. Quality of food: 4

2. Ambiances: 4

3. Audiences: 4 (I believed it will be full house on weekends)

4. Price: 4 (RM53++/pax)

5. Services: 5 (there will be staffs constantly coming to your table and ready to serve you)

6. Hygiene: 4
 

 

Tao Cuisine

A1821-f1 & 1822-f1,
Jalan Perusahaan Autocity,
North South Highway,
Juru Interchange, 

13600 Prai,

Penang.

Tel: 604-501 7826 / 012 718 7826
Business Hours:
Lunch (Everyday)
12:00pm till 4.00pm

Dinner (Monday to Thursday)
05.30pm till 10.30pm

Dinner (Friday to Sunday, Eve Of & Public Holiday)
05.30pm till 08.00pm 1st section
08.30pm till 11.00pm 2nd section

Early bird special 05.30pm till 06.30pm from Monday to Friday except eve of and public holiday. 

 

Sin Aik Kee Seafood Restaurant 易记驰名炒粥

14.10.13 (Mon)

One of the famous food in Kedah is Fried Porridge aka "Char Moi", at this almost 65 years old restaurant, located at Serdang, a small town in Kedah - Sin Aik Kee Seafood Restaurant易记驰名炒粥..We used to drop by the restaurant for meal when we were on our way back from Klang to Kulim (we took the inner road, exit at Bandar Baharu, heading towards Serdang).

Fried porridge is similar like any fried noodles..The main ingredients are prawns, meats, cuttlefish and dark soya sauce..Then, the chef will fry the porridge, together with all the ingredients with high heat, using a large wok..in Cantonese, we said, 够火候! The taste was really good, especially when served hot.

Another dish that I like was the fried meehoon..eventhough it's just an ordinary dish (fried with egg, taogeh, vegetable and prawn), but it was tasty. We ordered 2 plates! 

 

Fried cuttlefish in kong pow style was another recommended dish..the secret was the sauce that they used..tasted a bit spicy yet sweet..

 

Next, we ordered a plate of vegetable 菜旦, my favourite vege..I can finish the whole plate myself! Of course there were also other specialties of the restaurant, for eg the sweet and sour spicy cockles, kerabu, steamed fish, frog田鸡..the prices are very reasonable..

Fried Porridge, RM10 (Big)

Fried Meehoon, RM10 (Big)

 

Vegetable, RM6 (Big)
 

Fried Cuttlefish, RM15

Verdict out of Five (1-not good, 5-very good):

1. Quality of food: 4

2. Ambiances: 3

3. Audiences: 4

4. Price: 5 (very reasonable price)

5. Services: 4 (family business, friendly staffs)

6. Hygiene: 3

 

Sin Aik Kee Seafood

27, Jalan Tengah,

09800 Serdang,

Kedah.

Tel: 604-407 7288 / 012 523 0275
Business hours: 5pm-10.30pm

 

  

糯米鸡 Loh Mai Kai

11.10.13 (Friday)
This was my first time cooking Loh Mai Kai..I saw this simple recipe on Facebook for quite some time but haven't really try on it. Since I ran out of ideas on what to cook for dinner, so I decided to dig out this recipe and give it a try..

I cooked the mushroom over hot water till they became soft..then pre-soaked the glutinous rice (about 250g and made 7 bowls of Loh Mai Kai) overnight in the fridge..and just cook by following the steps..For my first attempt, the rice was a bit tasteless coz I didn't put enough of salt when I stirred fried the rice..Other than that, it tasted good.

I roughly translated the Chinese version of recipe into English..Hope you can understand :P

好吃的糯米鸡，就这么简单。。。

材料 Ingredients：
糯米 Glutinous rice
鸡腿肉 Chicken drumstick
香菇 Mushroom
腊肠  Waxed sausage aka Lap Cheong
蒜头 Garlic, chopped
 

做法 Methods：

1）将糯米洗净，浸过夜。
Wash the glutinous rice and soak overnight. (put it in the fridge)

2）鸡腿肉和浸软的香菇用蚝油，麻油，黑酱油，绍兴酒，胡椒粉，蜜糖，姜汁腌过夜。
Seasoned the drumstick meat & macerated mushroom with oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soya sauce, shao xing wine, pepper, honey and ginger sauce. (overnight)
**as the recipe didn't mention about the portion of the seasonings, so I just use my own estimation.

3）用油炒香蒜头，放入沥干的糯米下去炒，加入盐，五香粉和黑酱油炒，我加了水下去焖炒至糯米软。
Stir fried garlic. Add in the glutinous rice and continue to stir fry. Add salt, spices powder and dark soya sauce. Add water and fried stew till the rice got softened.

4）在碗里涂些油，放入切块的腊肠，放入香菇，鸡腿肉，再将炒好的糯米铺在上面。
Rub a little oil on the bowl. Put in the lap cheong, drumstick meat, mushroom and covered with the rice.

5）放入少许水，稍微淹过米，用大火蒸三十分钟就可以了。
Add a bit of water (slightly covering the rice) and steam for 30mins. Ready to serve.

 

Orange Cake 香橙蛋糕

9.10.13 (Wed)

I was browsing through my cake recipe book and saw this recipe - Andalouse Cake, or I called it Orange Cake..So, I went to the morning market and bought 2 oranges and started baking this cake..HUbby liked the cake..the smell of the cake was so tangy, orangy and refreshing!

 

Ingredients

Cake

3 egg yolks

3 egg whites

50g cake flour

40g corn flour

80g caster sugar (60g for yolks and 20g for whites)

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp orange essence

2 tsp cocoa powder

 

Orange Parfait

80g caster sugar

3 egg yolks

1 orange zest & juice

60g condensed orange juice

50g grand marnier or cointreau (optional)

180g whipped cream

15g gelatine powder

75g water

Some orange color

 

Methods

1. Cake

a. Place the egg yolks, along with 60g of the sugar, in your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for five minutes, or until thick, pale yellow, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.)  Sift half the flour mixture over the beaten egg mixture and fold in gently with a rubber spatula, just until the flour is incorporated. Sift the remaining flour mixture into the batter and fold in. Divide the batter into half. Add orange essence on one of the batter and chocolate powder on the other batter.
 

b. In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the suagr and cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whites into both batter (divide equally) and mix well. Pour into two cake moulds and bake for 25mins or until skewer comes out clean. Place on wire rack to cool for 5mins before removing from the cake mould.

2. Orange parfait
Whisk egg yolks and caster sugar over hot water. Add in colour and orange juice and mix together. Drain the mixture before adding in the orange zest. Add gelatine liquid (boil the gelatine powder over shimmering water) and whipped cream and combine well.

3. Assembly
Use a circle cake mould to cut the cakes into half. Assemble cake into alternate colours. Place one layer of dual coloured cake onto the cake mould. Spread with orange mousse. Repeat the same step. Set it into the fridge (overnight). Decorate as desired.

 

 

2D1N Family Trip to Singapore, 28-29/9/13

28.9.13 (Saturday)

We planned this trip month ago, before the birth of Asher and was excited about it, coz finally, I got to be an AUNT! Asher was born on 26.8.13 and my sister, Ai Lee planned the fullmoon party on 29.9.13, in conjunction with her 6th wedding anniversary.

 

One day before, we traveled back from Kulim to Klang..reached home about 7pm..After dinner, we managed to meet up with my friend for yumcha and finally got to rest around 11pm..

 

Next morning, we started the journey around 8am..there were 9 of us (my family, my sis, aunt, cousins), driving 2 cars down to Singapore..the journey was quite smooth except it was raining in some parts of Johor..When we reached the Johor custom office, we had a bad experience with the custom officer..well, liked hubby always said, "what to do, this is BODOHLAND..you just gotta accept it!"

 

Here was the story: When it was our turn to pass the checkpoint, we passed our passports, together with the Singapore Immigration cards to the Malay lady officer.. (gotta emphasized again, MALAY lady officer)..so she took off the cards, and started to key in the data into the system..about 2-3minutes later, we saw her leaving all passports on her desk but continued to work on something..so we thought the process was not finish yet..and we waited..5mins later, hubby felt there was something not right (lots of cars awaiting behind us) and he asked the lady officer is everything ok?

Hubby: Miss, is it done?

Lady officer: dah siap lama la..(finished long ago)

Hubby: why didn't you say so?

Lady officer: sudah cakapla, you pekak ker? (I already said so, are you deaf?)

Hubby: eh, what kinda attitude is this?

Hubby quickly took all the passports and shouted to the lady officer, "MALUNYA!" and drive away! Oh come on la..if she already informed us that it was done and we didn't hear it, have some courtesy to repeat it again, rather than just sitting down at her place, doing her own thing (we saw her chit chatting with another colleague) and just kept quiet! Customer service is Malaysia is just too lousy!

 

Next the Singapore custom checkpoint, the lady officer was nicer..she walked out from her place with our passports, calling out our names one by one for identification purposes..for those who has driving experience to Singapore, you know you will need to insert your Autopass card into the machine..on that day, the machine was out of service and we just drove off..(later we got penalized when we drove back from Spore to Msia, S$10, coz the system didn't have data on our car entering the country..if the machine was out of service, we were supposed to go to the office and scan the card, instead of driving away!)

 

Finally, we reached my sister's place..met Asher for the first time! Mum cooked Bak Kut Teh for lunch..after lunch, we drove to the hotel (Singapore Marriott Hotel)..

Driving in Spore could be a challenge,  even with a GPS, esp if you are not familiar with the road and rules..But thank God, we managed to find the hotel..Now, another problem occurred! When we drove into the car park, hubby wanted to press the button for a parking ticket (liked how we usually do in Msia car park)..but there wasn't any button to do so..instead, you gotta tap your autopass card or cash card in order to get into the parking area..OMG..our autopass card was with my youngest sister, who was not with us that time..Hubby pressed the HELP button and saw an Indian lady, walking slowly towards us..we told her we didn't have the autopass or cash card and asked how could we enter the parking area..She took her own sweet time explaining to us that it was not possible to enter without either one of the card! OH NO! I quickly ran to the hotel lobby, thinking if I could get help from anyone in the frontdesk..Luckily, one of the receptionist was so helpful that he followed me to the car park..and I saw our car was parked at the side (the Indian lady took the company cashcard and allowed us to come into the parking area)..Hubby was having a conversation with the Indian lady..after much talking and explanation, the issue was solved! Phew...

After checked in, we quickly went to our room..we were so lucky that our room was being upgraded to Executive room, which was on the most top floor of the building! Hubby used his rewards points to claim one free night stay with Marriott..and because he was a Gold Elite member, so we gotta enjoyed lots of benefits, for eg, free breakfast, free access to the Executive lounge, free wifi, free parking etc...it was a wonderful stay!
 

Everyone is happy about the room and facilities

In the evening, my uni-mate, Candy, came to pick us for dinner..We haven't met each other for more than 7 yrs..I asked if she has time for meetup and she said yes! So, we went to one of the restaurants in Dempsey Hill - House..it was a nice place for dining and food was pretty good, but a bit pricy..Thanks to Candy for her treat and all of us had a good time..

 

Food was pretty good but pricy

29.9.13 (Sunday)

We went to the Marriott Cafe for breakfast (Actually we could choose to have breakfast at the Executive Lounge but because children under 12 yrs old were not allowed to go in)..I liked the way they arranged the food..and lots of varieties - all sorts of breads, milks, juices, salads, hams, cheese, bacons, noodles, yoghurts, cereals and many more..and ICE CREAM! This was one of the BEST breakfast I had so far, after Ritz Carlton!

 

 After breakfast, we checked out and ready to go to the fullmoon party at The Garden Slug..It was a simple celebration, to share the joy of my sister and bro in-law..Once again, welcome baby Asher to our family and may God continue to look after him, bless him with  good health!

 

 

Loved this picture!
 

We left Spore around 1.30pm and reached Klang around 7pm..My aunt's car had some problem with the engine but thank God, they arrived safely too..After dinner, all of us went back to our respective house and called it the day..

 

Next day, we drove back to Kulim..I wanna thank my hubby for his willingness to accompany us to Spore, and to spend most of his time driving !(Kulim-Klang-Singapore-Klang-Kulim)