'ABUNDANCE' MOMENT AT NAZA HOTEL PENANG

One of the privileges of joining a trade or a business organization is, you get invited to some cool functions and launches. As much as I love the sharing of knowledge and meeting new people, I must admit I enjoy the free food too!

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend to a cooking demo at Naza Hotel Penang. We had a function with Bank Islam in the morning where I played the bidan terjun emcee at Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang, and in the afternoon, I drove Kak Siti, with her daughter Alya and her mom Makcik Bulat to Naza Hotel, coz let's face it, I'm horrible with Penang roads. Duduk Penang betahun-tahun pun tak pass lagi jalan.

I don't usually blog about the food that I get to sample to all these hotel that I went to, coz most of them is standard affair. But this time gets a special mention, just because the menu is out of the ordinary, the taste of Mediterranean.

We were supposed to have the demo alfresco, the beach view was really breathtaking. Unfortunately, it wasn't our rezeki kot to enjoy the sea breeze coz not long after we arrived, it started to rain catberts and dogberts, and we were ushered inside.

Refreshing strawberry drinks were served by this cheerful abang (this was before the storm came)

What was missing were those little card signs that tells you the name of the food on display, so I'm just guessing these are eclairs.

I recognize the baklava at the back, but I've no idea what those are in the glasses, I didn't have the chance to get one for myself and orang lain dah bedal dulu. Some type of pulut with gula melaka and ice cream, I think.

Kempen buah-buahan tempatan

Appetizers, even raw carrots were delish! Alya in the background.

The chefs at work balling up meatballs- Corporate Exec Chef Shokri (right) and Sous Chef Ismail Mat. The recipe's really simple! I'm confident I can make my own meatballs, no more of the frozen fare!

Part of the menu, steamed veges and creamy potatoes (my fave!)

Grilled succulent kebabs (left) and dawwud basha (the savoury meatballs they made earlier). If you think the name of the dish sounds like a Turkish lord or something, then you are right! It is named after a Turkish pasha who was very fond of these dish.

Chicken korma and lamb meat, I suppose. I couldn't find the name of the dish in the press kit, but it was absolutely divine. The meat practically melts in the mouth, tastes like a very very good rendang.

Other foods that I didn't take any picture of are the wonderful harira soup, assorted salad and breads and an array of desserts. I was quite in a hurry to eat, but other guests who were faster to grab the good stuff beat me to it, haha.

The 3 piece band who ought to sing Mediterranean folksy songs to fit the theme actually, but most of the songs the played were in Spanish! Entertaining none-the-less.


The calm after the storm

Wouldn't it be nice of we ate outside instead?

Thank you so much to Naza Talyya Hotel Penang for the superb spread. Do check out their buka puasa promotion coz each day of the week, the spread follows a different theme. I think the menu is fabulous, not too overwhelming coz you can't stuff yourself too much for buka puasa unless you wanna walk out of the buffet room looking like a penguin.

After the lunch, we dropped by the magnificent Masjid Terapung in Tanjung Tokong for Zuhur prayers.

What can I say, the view's so gorgeous. Memang aman untuk beribadat.

Thank you, Ya Allah, for all the abundance in my life.

COFFEE CUPCAKES

It's been a while since I last displayed my culinary/baking endeavours, so here are some pics I'd like to share. Zara made these yesterday, while I helped by watching her, heheh.



She wasn't that crazy about these cuppies, but I think it's alright. Taste great with my coffee.



And here are the same ones that she decorated for her fiance's birthday. She thinks they're fugly but I sure would appreciate these since they're her maiden attempt at fondant and most importantly, it was 100% her effort. Ok I'm lying, maybe 75% coz the one in front was made by me :p

OODLES OF NOODLES

The best halal hokkien mee in town, according to seasoned foodie, Zara.



a bowl of hot, slurping, lip-smacking goodness that would make me itchy scratchy for days to come

( a warning note to eczema sufferers, the broth base is a potent concoction of prawn shell stock)

Now, I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy sambal that usually comes with a serving of hawker style noodles. Same goes to those cili padi potong in soy sauce or those customary pickled chillies on top of a plate of char keow teow. I was a firm believer that the noodles would be best eaten without the additional spiciness, to retain the original flavour lah konon. Padahal takut pedas!

But I tell ya, hokkien mee would taste like tepid tapwater without that sambal! It really was out of this world (or maybe it was just me who's just discovered that 'world').

Most of the time, when it comes to noodles, I'm pretty unadventurous and I'd choose safe dishes like char hor fun or any other clear soupy noodles over fiery red and dangerous-looking like curry mee or the simple mee kuah. Very prejudiced, you see, I even hated laksa penang and maggi curry when I was younger. It's a childhood quirk that I'm slowly trying to shake off. I'm more than willing to sample new kinds of food these days. Zara has already made a 'catfood' lover out of me.

I think I'm in good hands with Zara as makan buddy and Penang Island traveling companion. (I'm still hopeless with the roads in Penang). So, Zara, we're hitting upper penang road street market next for our culinary adventure right?

THURSDAY NIGHT

We usually spend our Thursday nights at home, coz I try set up a good example to Nunu to read the surah Yaasin after Maghrib while waiting for Isya' prayers. It crossed my mind to be able to spend some time at mosques again, but since having Nunu around, I never do that anymore. Heck, solat terawikh pun asyik ponteng.

But she's grown up now and I kept thinking, when is the best time for me to start bringing her to mosques? I see people bringing babies for prayers and I never thought it's possible for me to do the same, but I know I have to start somewhere.

So last Thursday night, the opportunity came and I just grabbed it. I'm attending a tahlil event in Masjid Negeri Pulau Pinang organised by DPMMPP, marking its 50th anniversary. Not wanting to be stuck in the jam, we set our journey as early as 3 pm, picking Zara up at her home. She made me wear baju kurung. Ugh. Zara looked gorgeous as usual, all decked out in her shiny new baju kurung, while I decided to wear this old rag that I had since I was 15! Stupid move, coz the rubber bands at the waist weren't that elastic anymore and I had to use pins as I didn't have that much time to decide on something else to wear.

The traffic and the ferry ride were smooth during non rush hours, so we had plenty of time to waste. We hadn't had japanese food for quite a while (those pre-packed sushis at Tesco don't count!) and settled on Sakae Sushi at Gurney Plaza since the food are reasonably priced. Imagine two pieces of nigiri sushi (salmon) on a green plate costs only RM1.90? And they were generously cut and fresh too (sorry forgot to take pics... too hungry!). We regretted ordering other food coz we could fill ourselves with just those addictive raw 'cat food'! But our orders were just as good. Even the green tea was very aromatic, which I think had a tinge of seaweed flavour to it. I don't know, I could be wrong.

Sakae chawamushi (RM3.90) which Nunu had. So-so, we've had better.

My yakitori (chicken satay in layman's term!) - only RM7.90 for 3 sticks. And the chicken pieces were huge okay, a lot bigger by the famous satay Kajang standard.

Zara's goma salmon donburi (RM11.90) , basically just rice with lotsa chopped raw salmon and sesame seed.

Zara is this sushi-sashimi-fishy girl, haha. On the other hand, I'm a meat and chicken kinda girl. I gotta have 'em grilled or stir-fried, therefore I always go for teppanyaki or teriyaki. I'm on this special protein diet, which is perfect for me coz I don't feel like it's too much hard work since I never liked having that much rice anyway. My diet now consist of primarily lean chicken (baked or grilled), dory cooked in many ways, tofu soup, yoghurt, eggs, canned tunas and a range of veges and fruits, the kind that keep well and don't need much peeling and cutting.

It was hard for me to stay away from potatoes and fried food, but the beauty about this diet is, if I practice portion control, I can have that fried chicken or yong tau foo! I can have protein snacks in between meals too, so that I'd never feel hungry. Gimme a few weeks and see if I can pull this off and lose a couple of pounds, alright?

Cheeky pose.

Oh, going back to the story, Nunu was being very trying that evening. Although she wasn't really misbehaving, she kept wanting to go to the loo all the time! And I thought she has learnt to hold her pee already. The first time we went before we had our meal, and we were lucky the rest room was nearby and the handicapped cubicle wasn't occupied (I always, always go for the handicapped cubicles). The second time she wanted to pee, I had to practically drag her along while frantically search for the restroom in the crowded basement floor. We had no choice but use the squat toilet and she accidently sprayed on my shoes, which made me go "FAAARRRKK!" under my breath.

The third time, she complained that she wanted to pee again as I was buckling her to her seat, but she just went like 20 minutes before that! Dia tahan kencing ke apa? Probably that lah coz the 2nd time we went, the toilet there was really smelly and she was holding her nose, hihi. We couldn't go back coz I already paid for the parking coupon and we had less than 15 minutes to get out of there, so I told her to please hold and we'll look for a toilet at the mosque.

The traffic was beginning to get heavy and we arrived at the mosque pretty late. I tried to look for the best parking space nearest to the toilet but there weren't any directions. I took the wrong decision to park at the worst parking space available and we ran to look for the rest oom. Alas, we didn't make it in time and we had an accident at the mosque's front steps! How humiliating, Zara and I were horrified! Couldn't blame Nunu coz she tahan for so long, I wanted to knock my head for not getting her some pull-ups at the drugstore or something. My bad.

Anyway, I changed her into her baju kurung and luckily there were lotsa mops lying around (and still very little signboards around). Some men were curious to see me mopping the front steps (the VIPs were going to arrive at those same steps soon!) and one guard/caretaker was nice enough to come up to me and offered his help! For all the small misfortunes I encountered, thank goodness for the kind soul, coz I haven't performed my Asar prayers yet and it was close to 7 pm already.

(Gosh, Nunu's pee story lasted 4 paragraphs! This is not a rant, ok guys, just a reminder to me and those reading here to be always prepared with pull-ups, no matter how you trust you toddlers to hold their pee!)

When half of my problems were settled, finally we entered the main prayer hall and I tell you, we were dumb-struck. The place was very cool and spacious and immediately we felt blessed to be able to perform ibadah there. Nunu was very 'jakun' and could hardly contain herself to be in the new environment, but I did my best to keep her from being too boisterous or out of line. All she did was walk around being friendly with others, pull their prayer clothes and basically fidget like a little caterpillar she is, but a warning pinch on the butt from time to time was needed for her to sit still for a short period. We stayed there from before 7 to 9 something, after the tahlil, yaasin and Isya' prayers, and praise to God, she didn't make a scene. She enjoyed herself a lot after I've changed her again in pants and T-shirt and had a fabulous dinner provided by the organizers- nasi tomato, ayam masak merah, samah daging and kerabu timun! Believe it or not, I managed to eat only the chicken and beef. The rice looked very tempting, but it wasn't difficult for me to resist it. Yeehaa.

The best part of the night was, I had to eat at the main table, and Nunu got to meet her Tok Abah who were seated with other dignitaries, and even salamed the TYT Pulau Pinang and the Vice Chancellor of USM, Prof. Dato' Zulkifli.

All in all, I think she's ready for mosques. She'll learn to behave in time, I hope but I'll have to be ready with pull-ups!

QUEENS OF SUSHI

(This is a long overdue post sitting in my draft since 2 weeks ago. I know some of you guys are already trolling around food blogs as early as 2 pm so here's a little something for you guys to work with your buka puasa appetite)

I have a close friend who can go totally crazy on Japanese food. Before this, jap food wasn't really my cup of tea and if I'm dining out, a japanese restaurant would be out of the question. Until I met Zara earlier this year, who has now become my best makan buddy and introduced me to new heights of culinary adventure. We MUST meet up at least once a week for a lunch date, be it over a simple rice dish or some mamak fare, but we go for Jap for a better treat.

We were disappointed that our favourite restaurant in Seberang Jaya has closed down and were planning to relocate, so one day we decided to try out a new place in the newly opened Aeon Seberang Prai City Mall. So Sushi Queen it was, and we're hooked! The dishes are cheaper compared to the 'husband's place' and it has quite a good range. They don't serve teppanyaki though, my favourite, but that's more reasons for me to sample other dishes instead of the same old boring thing that I like to stick to.

Now, I don't usually take food pics in restaurants coz I'm plainly embarrassed, (and the outcome's usually horrible) but these are worth mentioning.


Takoyaki - <> RM5.00 for a plate of 4 balls

I've heard of this dish before from Fid and but when recently Sarah featured some yummy looking pics at her blog plus a rave review, I thought it's worth a try, and grabbed a plate from the belt. I mean, I can eat raw fish, but octopus balls is just insane. So I took a bite, and holy guacamole, gobbled 2 more in a matter of minutes. I grudgingly offered Zara to eat the last one although every inch of my being didn't really want her to.


Miso naru (RM 6.99 for 4 large slices) . Two thumbs up!

This eggplant-slash-aubergine-slash-brinjal in miso sauce was very tasty! After having these I've been dreaming about it day in day out! I thought it looked a bit oily at first but it's actually glistening from the sweet sauce. But I'm a big fan of eggplant anyway so maybe I'm biased like that. I even attempted to try the recipe using soy sauce and honey, but of course it didn't taste as yummy. Just enough to satiate my craving.

Zara is a sushi-sashimi person and she usually goes for the set meal to get her money's worth. This set includes a slew of raw fish & other seafood cuts, two huge piles of noodles and soup, silky smooth chawamushi (our favourite, hands down) and some fruits. I think the cost is around RM49.90. I'm not so sure coz we went dutch, but definitely worth it.

And this was my main course, ramen soup with pan fried chicken and a generous helping of seaweed. Absolutely fantastic. The soup did wonders for my sore throat and helped decongested my stuffy nose. Yummo.



We had this meal a few day before Ramadhan and since then we haven't been able to set a date to have our regular japanese food fix. But I've been having cravings again, and I guess it has something to do with the Law of Attraction, that I suddenly got a visit from a sharply dressed pixie-boy this morning in the office offering some really irresistable vouchers from another sushi eatery.

So, Sake Room it is for iftar later, eh Zara?

Addendum: We decided not to have iftar at Sake Room after all coz we've discovered that the place was obviously non-halal and serves alcoholic drinks. Tak sesuai.

CHOCOLATE MUD CUPCAKE

Or at least I think that's what it's called! Either that or Mud Choc Cupcake or something.

I'm not sure, all I know is while making this cupcake, I'm imagining a hippopotamus sloshing in the Mississippi River (in case you wonder, no there are no hippos in the Mississippi River. Ugh, it's painful to spell and type Mississippi River twice. Oops, thrice)



Anyway, this recipe goes to the lovely Bavani, who also awarded me with the Nice Matters Award. Thanks, babe. I can't tell you enough how *blushblush* honoured I am.

As you can see, the cupcake doesn't look that good. So I tried to mask the hideousness of the surface by putting some cream cheese on it. But the cupcake is good just plain. As expected, I forgot to bring the recipe book to the office today Bavani, but I think I can recall most of it. Very simple ah!

The ingredients:

300 g choc chips ( I used chopped dark chocolate)
300 g butter (cut it in little pieces while it's still cold and hard and let if soften at room temp)
115 g castor sugar
*115 g self raising flour
*2 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder (I've no idea what dutch process is, and I don't care, just use normal cocoa powder lah!)
5 large eggs

Now, follow me and my trusty assistant with my step by step instructions:

The most important thing about baking is, always start by preheating your oven. For this recipe, set the temp at 160 degrees.



Melt the chocolate and butter using the double boiler technique. Mix them up until well combined and let it cool, at least until you can touch the bowl with your hands.



While waiting for the chocolate mixture to cool, get your assistant to crack the eggs.



She may need your help if she gets the shells inside the bowl of eggs. Have your assistant's bottle of milk within reach so she can take a swig every now and then. Making cake is hard labour, y'know.



Lightly beat up the eggs. Just look how good she is at this. My toddler baker virtuoso.



Put the eggs and sugar in a big mixing bowl and start whisking until the mixture turns pale yellow. At this point, bark a command at your assistant to look at the camera and at least pretend to look like she's enjoying herself.



Chocolate mixture still hot to the touch? Worry not! Kill time by forcing your assistant to do the dishes.



Do not feel the slightest pinch of pity even if she's soaked to her bloomers and her face is dripping with soap water. Keep on clicking the camera like the cruel slave-driver mommy you are.



Chocolate and butter mixture finally cooled? Yeay. Alternately fold in the flour and cocoa powder in the sugar and egg mixture. Don't understand what I'm jabbering about? It means, stir in flour, and mix, stir in flour, then mix. Kapish? Then put the choc mixture in the bowl and mix carefully.

Note that the assistant got time to kill for a wardrobe change. Well, I can't document this with her topless, can I?

Whoopsie, looks like she needs another wardrobe change! At this point, it'll be too irresistible for the assistant to not lick the spatula.

For hygienic and damage control purposes, it is wise to terminate her service now. But before you send off the assistant to mop the floor or clean the gutters, get her to do one last thing. Since she loves choc chips so much! Look at that concentration! If you wanna be more heartless than you already are, get her to put exactly 10 choc chips in each paper case. It's for her own good, y'know, practice her counting skills.

Okay, now that you've inflicted enough pain and suffering upon your child, be the good mommy you are and fill 2/3 of the cupcake cases in the muffin pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

I'm not surprised the cupcakes don't look too good, especially with the cobbled looking surface, but the taste is simply scrumptious. Very moist and sinful you'll have to ask for the Lord's forgiveness for each bite you take.

For all my wickedness, I had to give away a dozen of the cuppies to my aunties and their children. May the Lord grant me mercy for the evil I have spread around.

Addendum 29th March 2008: I have a confession to make, and some rectification. I'm afraid I've done something wrong the day I made these cuppies. The cocoa powder was not supposed to be sieved together with the flour! It was supposed to be sprinkled on top of the cuppies upon serving! Well, duh, no wonder they looked so horrible!

Padan muka, dera anak lagi :p

THE FORGOTTEN CUPCAKE AND THE TIFFIN CARRIER

It's close to 6 and my stomach's rumbling. Don't worry, I didn't have milk and oranges ;)

I have an MSN buddy who kept telling how good her donut snack was. Duh, I have some kick a** snack too in my bag, that I've completely forgotten all about. Nah, eat your heart out.

Rich and gooey Chocolate Mud Cupcake- doesn't even need frosting

And here I am flaunting another 'gadget' (eh gadget ke ni?)



The new age tiffin carrier, also known as 'sia' in this part of the world. I'm planning of having home cooked meals for lunch from today onwards, and this is what I had today.

No, I didn't bring Nunu's lunch to the office by mistake! This is also the new age porridge, better known as 'moi' in this part of the world, which comprises of rice congee, carrots, broccoli florets and the secret ingredient, powdered mushroom soup! Yeah, yeah so much for 'healthy' and 'nutritious' comfort food, huh?

Thanks, Cik Donut for the recipe :D

p/s: Since we're talking about cool lunch packs, check out this site for cute kiddy lunch boxes and some bento ideas. And hey, even the dabbawallahs have an official website!

ORANGES AND MILK

When you were a kid, did your mom ever tell you to not drink orange juice and milk together? That if you do, the compounds in both liquids will curdle and you'll have an upset tummy?

Mine did, she reminded us with this rule all the time that it has become a well known fact to the family coz we loved having milk and juice. I guess it was simply a well known fact too until I asked several people via msn and some of them had no idea!

I thought, okay I think I should at least share this little piece of frivolous information and y'know, treat it like a public service message or something. Haha, coz I don't want other people especially little kids to go through what Nunu went through last Sunday.




As most of you can guess, she absolutely loves oranges. I think my during brother's wedding, the wedding pics showed that she's eating an orange almost 90% of the time! So what happened on Sunday was she ate an excessive amount of oranges at my grandma's house (with her abah and Tok Abah).

Now, eating oranges alone won't give her a tummy ache, coz she's used to it. But I didn't know about that coz I was at home doing my chores. When she came back, it was time for her nap, so I made her milk and laid her down for a nap.

When she got up, there were weird sounds coming from her tummy. And my, she farted like nobody's business! Really weird sound, y'know it was almost freaky. When she was done pooing, I was gobsmacked to see the err... consistency of the stool. Excuse me for the graphic description, I understand that most of you would be dis-custard (pun fully intended) so you can just skip to the next paragraph if you want to. The stool wasn't only runny and diarrhoea-like, I could actually see the curdled milk solids and other stuff that she ate.

However, only hours later did she complained of a tummy ache, and soon after that, the barf-fest started. She couldn't keep anything in. She grew weak and clingy from all the merlion action, but I think I got it all under control, just kept towels and wash cloths within reach, and cleaned up after her without much fuss.

Later that night, she had to go to bed with an empty stomach, and Lord, I couldn't bear watching her beg for a bottle of milk! I told her softly that she cannot drink milk until the next day, and she sobbed oh so sadly and closed her eyes whimpering! I didn't think I slept a wink that night coz I kept hearing her small tummy giving this really god-awful weird and LOUD squeaks! It was torturous hell, just those sounds. That was the worst thing about this whole experience. No child's tummy should sound like that.

However, things were better the next day. She was afraid of eating anything for fear of having it come out again, but thankfully she didn't puke that much and was able to take some food and milk after I bribed her with kiddy rides at the apek's grocery store. Sometimes she acted sweet and took her meds like a champion, the whole process ended within 2 minutes. Other times, it took a little bit more patience (and TNA wrestling techniques).

So that's the message : ALWAYS know what your child has been eating. Some people can stomach orange juice and milk (don't we always see those Americans having those two on their breakfast tables?) but I guess both should not be taken on their own, or on an empty tummy. At least with some bread, or roti canai, or nasi lemak.

But to me, I'll always avoid taking both of these at the same time. And I think we should be careful when a child is concerned, just the way my mom was concerned about us when we were kids.

References:

It says here that "juice cannot be served when milk is served as the only other component". Also, here's a simple explanation of the scientific process that goes on when the two is mixed.

So there. This is a community service message brought to you by Raggedyanne and Nunu.

LAKSA PENANG, ANYONE?

That was what I wrote on my msn messenger's personal message while having lunch in front of the computer, and sure enough almost instantly, I got request from a certain lunch lady lady who lunches (sometimes) to blog about it.

So here's my RM 1.50 laksa penang, my dear kentang friend. Nothing to shout about really, they're just rice laksa topped with chopped mint, cucumber, salad, green chillies and onions in a sourish fishy soup with condiments of assam keping, daun kesum and bunga kantan (oooh i love chewing these!) but I swear, it's lip-smacking. Some stalls serve it with thick black prawn paste, which I don't really fancy.



Actually, I've never liked assam laksa before until I tasted a halal hokkien-style laksa in Penang island a couple of years ago with a few volleyball team mates. I was too used of the Terengganu/ Kelantanese laksam or the white-based laksa lemak my mom used to cook for the family, and I remember, as a kid, I always turned my nose up whenever the family was having laksa penang coz I found it 'stinky', heh heh. As a matter of fact, I do smell a little stinky now.

Well, I told'ya I'm a food snob. And thanks again, you, for the word 'prejudice' :)

Anyway, I'm curious about other types of laksa now. I know there are laksa johor, laksa sarawak, laksa nyonya, laksa buyong, etc. I'm not too keen on trying the laksa belut (eel laksa), however. Yikes!

Since I'm taking pics in my office, I wanna show off this bargain bag that I got for my beloved Tok (she has a thing for bags, and periuks :). Now, at an upscale crafts store, this would have costs around RM35-RM45, but I only got it for only RM20.

I'm tempted to keep it for myself, but naaah. I'm in a generous mood this month.