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Rabu, 31 Oktober 2012

Kedah Perlis Malaysian Food Fest Starts Today!



This month’s Malaysian Food Fest will feature two states, Kedah and Perlis together.
Last month was another great success! Hop over to Lena's blog to see the round up for Terengganu state.

Frankly, this is a huge task for me as there isn’t much information on the internet for me to gather. Although I have been to both states, but it was only Langkawi and a 18 hour stopover at Kangar to wait for the train. That is not enough for me to understand the food well enough.
Anyway, I’ll try my best. If anyone can help with adding in more information, it’s greatly welcomed.

Let’s talk about Perlis first.

The flag of Perlis


Perlis is the smallest state of Malaysia and is most northern state on the peninsula. The economy of the state is mostly based on agriculture produce like sugar, rice and fruits, especially the Harum Manis variety of Mango, of which is very very fragrant.

Due to it being once under Siamese rule, the cuisine displays a heavy Thai influence.

The locals love eating glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk. The usual practice from Thailand is to have it with mango, but the locals will eat it with bananas or even ciku. Not very touristy, but it’s common for the farmers in the state. They also eat sticky rice in place of regular rice with salted fish or other dishes.

Cempedak with sticky rice from Pengembara Tanpa Kompas

Perlis people are also very fond of laksa, not the laksa found in other states. If you are making a trip there, make sure you don’t miss their very very special laksa. It’s made with a very very special ingredient. An ingredient that is long and slithery….. It’s eel. Eel Laksa! Now, if you gladly eat unagi at Japanese restaurants, what’s so scary about eating eel laksa? It’s nothing, right?

Source: Whole Eels (bicaradariaku) and eel laksa (haryaniss)

Besides making laksa gravy with eel, they have the regular fish laksa too. Laksa Perlis is the same as the laksa Kedah, but the toppings are slightly different. Raw shredded local herbs like daun selom are added in as well.
I’ve heard from my friend who has been staying in Perlis for many years that they have a local practice of eating fried rice vermicelli with laksa gravy, yeah bihun goreng laksa : ). Such is their love for laksa.

You can read more about Perlis food from
Pengemara Tanpa Kompas
Perlis State Portal



The flag of Kedah


Kedah is known as the rice bowl of Malaysia. Rice fields are as wide as the eye can see.

Due to this fact, Kedahans eat fish caught from the rice fields. In those days, Snakeheads(haruan) and catfish(semilang/sembilang) are a common part of their diet, but nowadays these fishes are not as easily found as before.

They not only eat freshwater fish, but marine fishes as well. Ikan Temenung (known as kembung in other parts of Malaysia, or in English, Indian mackerel) is the one of the popular fishes here. Made ever so popular when cooked in curry, called Gulai Ikan Temenung or made into Assam Pedas.

Left: Indian Mackeral Curry~ Gulai ikan temenung (Source: JassNani)
Right: Grilled Coconut Stuffed Snakehead ~ Haruan Bantut (Source: My small kitchen)

Generally the food of Kedah has influences from Thailand and Sumatra. That is the reason the dishes mostly comes with hot and sour tones and they love gulai. Kedahans also like to eat laksa and their version has similar gravy as Perlis, but authentic Kedah laksa is topped with cashew shoots, and many other astringent shoots too, besides the common cucumber and onions.

Like most northern states, they have immense love for glutinous rice. The ketupat in Kedah is different than other states. It is made with the leaf of the palas palm and is shaped like a triangle and filled with glutinous rice. Either boiled or steamed, it is served with rendang or curry.

Ketupat Daun Palas by Sonia

Langkawi, a beautiful mythical island in Kedah, have their own specialties and they are from the sea. One of the specialty is also slithery, soft and squidgy. It’s called Beronok, a type of sea slug. It can be made into kerabu, a salad. Another specialty from Langkawi is Laktut. Nothing fearsome, it’s just seaweed. Usually eaten raw, dipped in sambal.

Picture source : Bronok (Jay Jusin), kerabu bronok(mymekar), and laktut (zylasyalieyla)

If you need any recipe links, try these

Sweet Recipes
Apam Perlis - It's similar with thai pancakes, except that it seems to be more generous with the filling. I've made this with a combination from a few recipes.
Pulut Pelam/Pisang/Ciku – Mango sticky rice, also can be made with banana and ciku, or even cempedak.
Kuih Qasidah, I heard from my Facebook friend Norehan, that this is a really old fashioned kuih that is popular among the Arab descendants in Kedah, hence the use of ghee and the name. But it seems that modern versions do not use ghee but just fry the shallots in oil.
Kuih Lepat Liat - Also introduced to me by Norehan. Easy to make and delicious. I've made this, you will see the English recipe soon.
Kuih Gedung Chak , not easily found nowadays as it's made with Nipah leaves and grilled on open fire. I will be doing a modified version using banana leaves.
Bunga Pudak - A lesser known traditional cookie, made with glutinous rice flour and coconut. The recipe sounds good, except for the amount of salt, it's probably a typo. Try this out with some adaptations.
Telur Labah labah , translated as spider eggs, coconut sago cookies made really small and infused with flowers
Cucur manis, bananas fried with banana batter. Double dose of naners!!!
Lengat Pisang, steamed banana kuih with just 4 ingredients plus 1 pinch of salt.




Savoury Recipe Links
Daging Masak Asam(no spice), tamarind beef stew, here's another version with spices. Translated version done by Annie
Laksa Kedah, Kedah style laksa, served with a sprinkling of local herbs. English version, visit Hody's.
Laksam Kedah -rice rolls in a fish curry gravy
Nasi Ulam Kedah - "Salad" Rice, northern style that uses salted fish, English version from Lena, usually served with Sayur Keladi (see below)
Asam Pedas Sayur Keladi, a spicy and sour stew made with the stalks of the taro fronds. I have eaten taro stalks before and it tastes like soft aubergines :)
Ketupat Daun Palas - sticky rice wrapped in palm leaves, English version from Sonia
Nasi daging utara- Northern beef rice, rice cooked in a spiced beef broth, served with tomato relish. I'll be posting this. It's not the same as Penang style nasi daging of which is more "curry-fied", hehehe.
Gulai ayam utara – Northern curry chicken, with mint, smells refreshing!
Ayam masak Asam- Chicken cooked with Tamarind, it's spicy too!
Asam pedas utara –Hot and Sour fish, northern style. It's quick and easy to do.
Gulai Ketam dengan Nanas- Crab Curry with Pineapples, crab and pineapple fans do take a look!
Mango Kerabu, northern style Mango Salad.
Lempiang Ikan – Fish pancake, aromatic with with kaffir lime leaves


Remember, the aim of this event is that you try cooking food from the state. Just any. You need not cook something that no one else has done.

********************************************************

TO JOIN
1. Who can join? Anyone can join. Come let's replicate some Kedah or Perlis Food at home!
2. Prepare a dish ( sweet or savoury ) that is from Kedah or Perlis, be it old time favourite, modern goodies or dishes that has been localized. Take a picture of the food or many pictures. If possible, tell us the story about the dish, share with everybody so that others will learn. Please read FAQ on what make the dish a localized dish.
3. Provide a recipe that is credited ( from books, internet, friends or family or maybe it's your own, be specific). Submissions without stating recipe sources will not be accepted for all forms of submission.
4.Submit your entry latest by 31 November 2012 except for Facebook submissions.


TO SUBMIT

1.Bloggers
a. Prepare a dish ( sweet or savoury ) that is from Kedah/Perlis
b. Blog about it from 1st November - 30st November 2012
c. Include this caption below your blogpost
" I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest (link to MFF page), Kedah and Perlis Month hosted by WendyinKK of Table for 2..... or More (Link to this post) "

Send the following information to this email address ( wendyinkk@yahoo.com ) with the email subject as
" MFF Kedah Perlis"

Name/Nickname :
Blog name :
Name of dish :
Url of post :
Picture : ( URL or attachment that is lesser than 500k)

2. Facebook user
a. Like this Facebook Page
b. Prepare a dish ( sweet or savoury ) from the state of Kedah and Perlis
c. Take a picture and upload it into Facebook ( this month's FB page link )
d. Provide recipe with picture

Bloggers can submit old recipes to Facebook. Anyone that has once cooked a Kedah/Perlis dish and have a picture and recipe can submit to Facebook. Not necessarily a recently done dish.
For a pictorial guide on how to submit via facebook, pls click here

3. Non Facebook users and Non Bloggers
Email a picture of the dish together with the recipe to (wendyinkk@yahoo.com) latest by 30th November, 2012 by 11.59pm ( Malaysian time )


A Round Up will be done for all blog entries and emailed in entries on December 01, 2012. Facebook entries are not included in the round up.

Kamis, 25 Oktober 2012

Braised Tofu with Mushrooms - Pressed Tofu #3




The day after I cooked this dish, I got some feedback from my BIL via my MIL.
“Yesterday’s dinner was the best”.
I was very surprised.

That night I cooked a simple stir fried cos lettuce with garlic, this braised tofu with mushrooms and clams in broth (a modified version). He didn’t touch the clams as he is trying to avoid foods that may trigger pimples. So, all he ate was this tofu and the lettuce.
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Selasa, 23 Oktober 2012

Pan Fried Spicy Tofu Cubes with Basil and Mint - Pressed Tofu # 2


My mint was thriving in my garden. Lots of it. I can't consume it that fast because my hubby isn't a fan of it. I use it mostly for garnishes and give most of them away to relatives.

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Minggu, 21 Oktober 2012

Wok Messed Tofu 涡塌豆腐- Pressed Tofu #1




涡塌豆腐Wo Tart Dau Foo
The “tart” here is the same as in “一塌糊涂 Yat Tart Woo Tou” which means “in a complete mess”, “In utter disorder”.

So how come this tofu is given this name?
It doesn’t look messed up, does it?

Actually, the tofu is slightly messed up.

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Kamis, 18 Oktober 2012

Soy Jelly with Roselle Poached Pears



I made this for Eat Tau Huay Day event on Facebook some time back.

Making this was supposed to be easy with store bought soy milk.. but long story cut short, I had a horrible time making this with sick kids in the house making me unable to get out of the house during day time to buy the soy milk and the beans.. sigh.... oversoaked cos I just can't squeeze the time to do it and sigh..... the GDL overcurdled and...... sigh........Rushing through desserts is never a good idea. It is a hobby done leisurely for fun, not a necessity.
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Selasa, 16 Oktober 2012

Natural Rainbow Jelly Eggs - Jelly #2





I made these for Reuben's 1st Birthday Bash few months back.

Since nowadays not many fancy red eggs, of which is a must for Chinese birthdays, I switched to Rainbow eggs and made them with jelly so that everybody will enjoy eating them. I also chose to use natural colours so that everybody can eat colourful jelly with an ease of mind. I layered the colours with a milk layer in between so that the colours will look more prominent.
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Minggu, 14 Oktober 2012

Old Fashion Coconut Agar-Agar - Jelly #1




I've talked about my mom repeating dishes very often.

This is one dessert that my mom replenishes after each batch was gone! It's scary!
My mom made this almost every weekend when I was young, about 9-11.  Either she would set it in huge bowls and cut into wedges or she'ld set them in tart tins.
And she loves it being separated while I prefer it being homogenous.

My mom has a sweeth tooth but her sugar level is perfectly ok, even until now. Let's talk about her adding in sugar to her 3in1 coffee. I am nowhere near her standard. Maybe it's because of the way she grew up, she eats rice porridge with sugar and douse her rice with kopi-O like soup.
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Kamis, 11 Oktober 2012

Shortcut Beef Pho - Soupy Noodle #3



I was actually searching for another beef noodle when I bumped into this recipe.
I ate this before in Vietnamese restaurants, some being really tasty and some forgettable.

Still having a big container of beef stock powder that was given to me by my brother, I made this noodle, shortcut way by using stock powder instead of beef bones. If you need a recipe with beef bones, please refer to source. And if you want to know where my brother got the beef stock powder, it's at Jaya Grocer, at the Korean food section.
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Selasa, 09 Oktober 2012

Pork Noodle ~ Chu Yoke Fun - Soupy Noodles #2



Frankly, I have never eaten this before I went to KL to study. It seems to be everywhere in KL, but I haven’t seen this around in other places that much. Is it so? Maybe I didn't notice. But this definitely didn’t exist in Kampar back then. My first experience was eating in USJ Goodyear Court 5.

This bowl of noodles calls for pork overload. To non pork eaters: I’m sorry, but this is so so delicious.

There was once in my life where I abstained from pork for almost 2 years. Not even touching Cha Siew Pau, serious. Somehow during 1996-1998, pork seemed to smell horrible. There’s a smell that lingers in my nose after eating it. That was why I was so so scared to eat it. Even some noodles that were cooked in pork bones broth smell horrible to me. I have partially recovered from this phobia, but not totally. I’m still sensitive to the smell. Nowadays, if I happen to eat pork that has this smell, I’ll ban that shop right away. But homecooked pork don’t have this problem. Wonder why?

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Minggu, 07 Oktober 2012

Prawn Noodles - Soupy Noodles #1



It was almost Chinese New Year (somewhere Dec 2011) and I have a lot of prawn shells in the freezer that needs clearing up. I’ve never made prawn noodles before and I’ve been planning for my maiden attempt since months ago. I finally made it when I got some nice fresh prawns again.

I thought it’s difficult. But hey no, it took me just a little while to make this for dinner. The most difficult part could be cleaning the shallots and that’s just it. The rest was quite a breeze.
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Sabtu, 06 Oktober 2012

Lambuk Porridge ~ Bubur Lambuk Terengganu - MFF Terengganu #4





Terenganu style rice porridge :)

I'm sure most Malaysian may have heard of this, especially during Ramadan fasting month, some mosques will be giving out free Bubur Lambuk. Unlike the west coast version, the ingredients used in Terengganu is very different. It uses fish, sweet potato and lots of local wild vegetables. I was curious about the taste, so I decided to try it out.

One is free to use any type of vegetables but some do insist on the use of wild pepper, lemon basil (kemangi) and red fern (pucuk midin/paku merah). I have trouble searching for the red fern and I was told it wasn't found in Perak. Then lemon basil was no where to be sold except at the garden center where I have to buy the whole big pot! I just went ahead with whatever I could buy at the market or source from my hubby's employee.
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Kamis, 04 Oktober 2012

Lompat Tikam ~Jump and Stab??? - MFF Terengganu #3



This Terengannu dessert is not for the faint hearted. It's called "Jump and Stab". Yes, that's what it means in the Malay language. LOL.

I'm just pulling your leg. It's a dessert for anyone. No violence incurred during the preparation and nothing happened when I ate it, except mourn with pleasure. LOL.

Kelantan state has their own version that comes with a red glutinous rice and the coconut milk component is more liquidy like a curd sauce. So, please do not be confused.

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Rabu, 03 Oktober 2012

Tuna Curry ~ Gulai Ikan Tongkol Terengganu - MFF Terengganu #2



Tuna is locally known as ikan tongkol, ikan aya or ikan kayu, depending on which state you are in.
It’s a budget friendly fish and my fish being at almost 1kg before cleaning is sold at RM8/kg.

Gulai ikan tongkol is usually eaten with nasi dagang, or the other way round, whichever way, LOL.
It is different from Kelantan’s version. From what I remember, Kelantan’s version is more yellowish, tasting slightly more “curry like” maybe due to its turmeric content. Whereas Terengganu’s version is more “assam”, as in sour.
Click to continue ..........

Senin, 01 Oktober 2012

Tasty, Nutritiousand EzyMix.... Biar Betul, Cuba Rasa!


THIS IS A SPONSORED POST


Remember the Dutch Lady chocolate drink I posted last week? My kids have tried it!


According to the label… these are the nutrients in this drinks.

Calcium for building strong bones and teeth
Omega 3 and 6 to support Learning and Alertness
Vitamin B-Complex consists of 8 types of B vitamins – B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12 and B1 which functions in releasing evergy from food to ensure you are energetic throughout the day.
Vitamin B1 – Needed for the release of energy from carbohydrate
Vitamin B2 – Needed for the release of energy from protein, fats and carbohydrate
Vitamin B12 – Needed for red blood cell production.
With all these nutrients, it is definitely Tasty, Nutritious and EzyMix



My kids love this! See their faces, yummy yummy! It’s a fresh new change to the previous brands we consume. I made a mug for my hubby too. Dutch Lady Chocolate Drink is suitable for consumption by the entire family. It’s not a kiddie thing.

Where did I buy this? It’s available at selected supermarkets/hypermarkets, selected local grocery and convenient stores, selected Chinese medical halls, 7-eleven & all 99 Speedmart outlets. I got mine (350g) at a nearby minimarket. It retails at RM8.00 (350g) and RM17.90 (900g), but you can get it cheaper if you’re lucky. I got mine at RM7.90, hahaha!

Don’t believe it, Try it :-)
Biar Betul. Cuba Rasa


Don’t forget to watch out for the Biar Betul truck! Come on, come on! Log on to www.biarbetul.my and check out where the truck is and win win win some exciting prizes and vouchers.

And come come Like this Page on Facebook , and play this game and win win win vouchers.