Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce (Telur Balado)

Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce is always my favorite when dining out at Malay stall. This spicy and pungent dish goes well with nasi lemak, nasi kandar or even steamed white rice. As the cheapest source of Protein, these egg dish is delectable!

Although I love this dish, but I'm a bit lazy to make it at home, due to the troublesome deep frying process. However with my mom around, she helps me with the hardest stuff. I just need to pound the shallots, garlic, belacan, and get it cooked! :)

You may replace tamarind juice with tomato puree.

Eggs In Tangy Spicy Sauce

Ingredients:

6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
400 ml tamarind juice
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
2 stalk of lemon grass, smashed
2 tbsp of chili paste
Cooking oil

Pounded:

6 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
5 pieces candle nut
2cmx2cm belacan

Seasoning:

light soy sauce to taste
sugar to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in wok and fry the hard-boiled eggs till light brown. Remove eggs and set aside.

2. In the same wok, saute the sliced onion till fragrant. Stir in the blended sauce and lemon grass to simmering under medium low heat. Stir well until fragrant. Add tamarind juice gradually. Add salt and sugar to taste.

3. Return fried eggs to the sauce and cook till the sauce is thickening.

Ben's Diner Restaurant

Ben's Diner Restaurant
Address: 43-G, Persiaran Mahsuri 1/1, Sunway Tunas, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: 04-6452790
Business Hour: 11:30am - 2:15pm, 6:00pm - 9:15pm
Closed on Saturday
Non-Halal

Named after his own name, the little restaurant has a chic and urban flavor. It only serves Ben's healthy home style Western food. Ben emphasizes in healthy cooking. As the boss for the business, he's also the only chef in the kitchen. He hands on all the stuffs in the kitchen from ingredients preparation, sauce making to cooking.

Over the couple of visits to this place, we never feel bored with the food. We've tried the fish, the pork, and the chicken. So far, the food quality is very consistent. We were satisfied with the food we get with the amount of money we paid. Dining for 2 can cost you just less than RM40. What's more to ask for?

Watercress soup

If you opt for the set, it comes with soup of the day and calamansi drink. The watercress soup is as good as spinach soup. It's not too creamy and filling, just nice to start a meal.

Pork Meatloaf and Sausage

This is my all time favorite. I love Ben's home-made meat loaf with mild spices. I've been ordering this for more than 3 times already. The set comes with a smoked jumbo sausage, mashed potatoes and vegetables with butter fragrant.

Braised Pork

Oven braised pork with fried potato cubes and fresh vegetables. When you take the first bite, you'll think that it tastes like Chinese roasted pork, but then you'll taken aback on how soft and tender the pork is. Topped with Ben's homemade sauce, yummy!

Give it a try when you happen to drop by Sunway Tunas area in Penang. Ben's Diner is just 3 door steps away from Four Seasons Tea Restaurant.

Updates on 13th Dec 2010: Our favorite is still the Meatloaf and Sausage. The quality and serving size maintain since day-1 I tried it back in 2009. We've been patronizing this place on monthly basis, mainly to savor their meatloaf and sausage.

Penang Hokkien Mee (Spicy Prawn Noodle)

Penang Hokkien Mee is one of the unique and popular Penang street food which can be found in practically every hawker centers and street corners. The spicy soup base is rich in wonderful prawn aroma.....simply irresistible.

One day after work, I planned to cook Penang Hokkien mee for our dinner. However, I didn't have enough time to prepare the prawn stock from scratch. But with the help of ready made chili paste, it simplifies the cooking process. Here's of my bowl of Penang Hokkien Mee, topped with hard-boiled egg, prawns, pork ribs and water convolvulus. Does it look good? :)

Refer here for the step by step method on how to prepare Penang Hokkien Mee.

I'm sharing this Malaysian Spicy Prawn Noodles with Presto Pasta Nights #41 founded by Ruth, and the host of the week is Kahakaikitchen.

Chicken Schnitzel

Chicken Schnitzel is a great recipe that I discovered from Flavours magazine (September - October 2009). If I did not make an attempt to cook this dish, I would not know how crispy and tender the chicken breast can be. :)

As per the recipe, the chicken breast will need to be flatten upon cooking. So, I invest on a meat tenderizer, a kitchen tool that looks similar to a hammer. :) I knocked the chicken breast on both sides to flatten it. The whole process was like beating an enemy (the chicken of course), hoo hoo... pity the chicken. This step is the most important, otherwise the cooked chicken breast will be hard and too chewy.

I served the Chicken Schnitzel with hard boiled eggs and blanched sweet snow peas, turning it into a satisfying Western meal. Looks wonderful, isn't it?

Chicken Schnitzel (Recipe by Jean-Michel Fraisse) Serves 2 Ingredients:

1 and a half chicken breast, skinned, cut into 3 pieces and flattened
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
80g flour
80g bread crumbs
cooking oil
50g butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

2. Beat egg with 1 tbsp of oil, salt and pepper. Coat the beaten chicken breast first with flour, then egg mixture and bread crumbs.

3. In a saute pan, heat up oil and butter, and saute chicken over medium heat till golden brown on both sides. Transfer to the oven to finish cooking. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat.

Stewed Pork Ribs With Broccoli

I've been very lazy in cooking these days. Last week, we've been eating out quite frequent. Oh dear, I have very limited recipes to share in this blog. :(

Fortunately, I still have a list saved in my draft. My first choice goes to braised pork ribs , a simple dish through unfussy-combination of cooking in slow cooker. After the long hour of stewing, the ribs turned soft and rich in flavor. Pair it with blanched broccoli and you'll have a yummy homecook dish :)

Stewed Pork Ribs With Broccoli
Serves 4

Ingredients:

400gm of pork ribs
1 small sized broccoli, cut into florets
3 tbsp of cooking oil

Sauce:

2 bulbs of garlic
1/2 yellow onion
2 tbsp soy bean sauce (tau cheong)
1 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of chili paste
150ml water

Method:

1. Blend together ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.

2. Heat some oil in a non-stick wok. Stir-fry the pork ribs till half cook.

3. Stir in the sauce and leave it simmering with lid covered. This takes about 10 minutes.

4. Transfer it to cook in slow cooker under high heat for 2 to 3 hours.

4. Blanch the broccoli florets till cook. Serve with the pork ribs.

Tutti Fruitti Restaurant

Tutti Fruitti Restaurant
Address: L1-01, Tesco Extra Sungai Dua, 11700 Penang.
Tel: 04-6568861

Yesterday morning when I looked at Cariso's post on Tutti Fruitti set lunch, I felt a suddenly crave for it...arrggghhh, cannot 'tahan'....must eat!....I immediately IM my hubby to fetch me there for lunch. So, off we go to Tesco Extra!

Knowing what to order beforehand, I've decided to try their set C (Drunken Chicken Rice) and set F (Sizzling Lemon Chicken). The set lunch comes with cream of mushroom soup and drink.

Cream of Mushroom soup

Yes, as Cariso pointed out, the soup is definitely 'instant' type...or worse :P Anyway, the soup is really watered down and not worth to mention it. Hmmmm....why did I even post the photo of the soup?! lol...

Honeydew + Pineapple Mix fruit drink

We choose the fruit drink of the day (honeydew + pineapple mix), afterall, they call their shop 'Tutti Fruitti' right? Again, we were slightly dissapointed. One would have thought the honeydew will provide the natural sweetness to the drink right? Well, unfortunately the honeydew that they use must be the ones that taste rather bland. Not sweet at all. As for pineapple, we almost couldn't taste it...:P Anyway, stop complaining and lets go for the main course shall we? :)

Set F Sizzling Lemon Chicken (RM12.90)

I opted for Sizzling Lemon Chicken. The chicken is nicely done, crispy with sourish lemon sauce which makes it really nice...not bad at all. The only thing is the rice is too little :P

Set C Drunken Chicken Rice (RM11.90)

Hubby chose Drunken Chicken Rice. As the name implies, the tender chicken is infused with nice wine aroma, coupled with the fried rice which makes it somewhat unique. And of course, hubby ordered additional rice :P

Apart from the soup and drink, Tuitti Fruitti chicken rice is ok and reasonably priced. Though it won't win any gourmet competition, you can always hop in for a relaxing meal once in a while. :)

Firm Bean Curd With Minced Pork and Prawns

Bean curd on its own has very little flavor. However, with little bit of seasoning and ingredients, it can be easily turned into a delicious Chinese cuisine. This humble little thingy always act as a bland background for its mates. Any dish will taste good when bean curd is paired with seafood, meat, or vegetables.

Bean curd with minced pork and prawns is one my favorite dish. I learned this from my mom but i did some minor modification. I dare to say that it tastes as good as my mom's version. :) This is an appetizing dish that serves well with rice or porridge. Give it a try and let me know what you think about it.

Firm Bean Curd With Minced Pork and Prawns
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 pieces of hard bean curd, cut into bite size
3 tbsp of minced pork
6 prawns, cut into pieces
1 stalk of spring onion, cut into 2" length
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp of fermented soy bean, smashed
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
150ml of water
3 tbsp of cooking oil

Seasoning:

Light soy sauce to taste

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a stir-fry pan, pan-fried the hard bean curd till golden brown. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, with the excess oil, saute garlic till fragrant. Add the prawns and minced meat to stir fry. Stir in fermented bean sauce, chili, hard bean curd and water. Leave the mixture simmering for a while. Add light sauce to taste.

3. Add the spring onion, stir briskly, dish up and serve hot with rice.

Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe @ Cameron Highlands

Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe
24, Jalan Angsana Satu, Brinchang Point,39100, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia.
605-4912061
Website: http://www.strawberrymoment.com/

During the recent get away to Cameron Highlands, we spent a lovely afternoon at Strawberry Moment for a tea break. Enjoying the afternoon tea under the cool weather was kind of relaxing. It was non-peak season and the place was not crowded. Just perfect for a quiet afternoon tea!

Strawberry Strudel RM6.90/slice

How could we resist to order this photogenic strawberry strudel? The pastry was nice, just that the strawberries were similar to the ones that we had, sour and bland :P

Mango Cheese Cake

This mango cheesecake is oozing with delicious mango in a saucy, sweet topping. The strawberry and mouse complements the creamy cheesecake. The base beneath is a thin layer of sponge cake. Ah...forget about the calories intake. I just love it!

We ordered a cup of strawberry tea and strawberry flavored white coffee. Something different, huh.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Now is the harvest season for strawberries in Cameron Highlands. During our one-day trip there, we bought 5 boxes (12 pieces each box) for merely RM10. Don't be fooled by its bloody red appearances, it tastes rather bland and sour unlike those imported from Australia. However, it is still worth to try as you can't get strawberry at that kind of price anywhere else.

To consume the balance 2 boxes of ripe strawberries, I turned them into sweet strawberry jam. This is a healthy homemade jam with no preservatives. It definitely tastes better than the strawberry itself. The juicy jam is excellent to go with bread. For my breakfast experiment, I add the strawberry jam into a cup of oats....yumyum...it makes the healthy drink so fragrant.

Ingredients:

280 gm of ripe strawberries
100ml water
80gm sugar

Method:

1. Clean the strawberries and get it smashed.

2. In a non-stick saucepan, add all the ingredients and simmer under medium heat for the first 10 minutes. Stir from time to time.

3. Turn the fire to low flame, and continue stirring till the jam thickens.

4. Leave it cool, store in air-tight container, and keep in fridge.