Money Come, Happy Life... Good Life!

Just finish inviting Money God to my house and I am sure the mighty will be with me for the new year.

For all my friends out there, wish you guys same as me and earn very much money as I am. May the luck be with you.

Good Life, everyone!

Duck Leg Mee... in Bidor

This is fresh! I just had my very best duck leg noodle about 5 hours ago in Bidor and now sitting here writing about it. Please appreciate my "hard work".

Few weeks ago when we traveled to Cameron Highland, we stopped at Bidor and had our duck leg noodle in a shop call Pun Chun. It is a very famous tourist shop selling all kind of tibits, biscuits, etc. I was amazed how special the duck, soup and the noodle was. However, my phone's camera that day wasn't working properly and the pictures taken was not clear.



I am not sure today is my lucky day or not, as I had to work (when most of the people are packing to go home for CNY) and travel to Trolak. And I had a chance to stop by Bidor again and have it the second time. The shop is located at the Bidor old town, main road, not far from the exit toll. It is very easy to find. Serving was fast and good. With such a tasty food, I think I am okay about the price (not going to mention here). Lets get to the point and do some review.



Appearence:
One big piece of duck leg was served in a metal bowl with herbs (ginger, longan, geizhi, etc) and soup in dark color. It shows that the food had been steam or braised in long time.

The noodle looks great, not too yellow or too dark in color. Not sure if it was special made or getting from somewhere else.



Odor:
The duck soup came with strong herbs aroma. Smell nice.

Taste:
The main course was the soup. Fantastic! So sweet and tasty. Full of energy!

The meat had been braised for long, so it was very soft (even the bone was easily broken away). Its texture was definitely not good, if you are looking for tendery bite. However, as it was very soft, and had been cooking for long, the taste of herbs had reversed back to the meat. I was getting the kind of strong herbs flavor, little duck taste but very sweet for the meat. For the noodle. I like its texture. Very springy and elastic. Definitely the cook had done some good job in preparing it.

IKEA Curry Puff

People goes to IKEA for furniture and other living accessories right? That should be the core activities for any person visit the mall. So, what happen to me purposely go there for the curry puff? Something not right?

I do not know about you, but I am crazy about its curry puff since the very first time I bite it.

Previously I wrote about curry puff selling in PJ SS2 and it taste good. This curry puff in IKEA even better. The filling was very full. Full of creamy potatoes curry with a piece of full boiled egg. The skin was thin and soft. Its like flake melting in my mouth.

You go coffee bean enjoy autar diluted coffee? I rather go to the opposite IKEA have a self brew coffee with two piece of curry puff, laaa...

Wow! Another Clay Pot Chicken Rice...

Previously I wrote about this Clay Pot Chicken Rice in Paramount Garden and unfortunately seems like that was the last chance for me to enjoy the fantastic food. According to Boo (from masak-masak), the stall had been close down (I have yet to go have a look, sorry...).


Few days back when I was finishing my work and looking for dinner at Damansara Jaya area, near Atria shopping center, I notice a restaurant call Koon Kee. I thought it was the one I had my Wan Tan Mee long time ago. I could not get any Wan Tan Mee there (there is another shop call Koon Kee, beside Atria selling good Wan Tan Mee). Instead I found a stall cooking clay pot chicken rice with lots of charcoal stove (more than the one in Paramount Garden).

How many charcoal stove there?

With such a massive set up, this should be something good ya?

I sat down and order one pot with salted fish.

This uncle is the main cook.

The chicken meat was pre-marinated and cook raw in the clay pot. The rice also cook from raw in the pot as well. So this is the original recipe clay pot, which always touch my heart.

Raw marinated chicken meat waiting to be cooked.

The rice was nicely cooked. Solid and firm. The aroma was great. Chicken meat was as nice as the other one. However, this one was less salty, and the flavor not as strong as the other. Somebody might prefer stronger taste with lots of source and salty. But I found that with less flavor, I could appreciate the taste of the rice and the tenderness of the chicken.

Taste is on the beholder of the eater. I like this clay pot chicken rice the most (at the moment). God knows next week I might discover another stall selling better one? It is truly fascinating as I keep overriding my previous blog about the best clay pot chicken rice. I keep getting a better one, everytime I thought that was the best.

Looks good, taste even better!

Embarrass? Not at all! THIS IS the core of excitement during my path of Cari Makan, my friends...

Fantastic Roasted Duck... Fantastic Food!

I have friends do not like duck at all. They said it is the smell they could not stand. On the other hand, I have lots of friends crazy about duck, just like me. We love the flavor, the meat, the texture and the smell.

Since young, I had been trained to eat roast duck. This is because, it is one of my mother's favorite food. We could finish the whole bird in couple of minutes (ofcourse that was the time I badly need proteins for growing).

Because I was just plainly loving duck at that time, I was not very choosy. You gave me a plate of duck mee, I would be happy. You offered me duck rice, I would smile. I was only able to difference dry meat or juicy meat. Fat meat or lean meat. Crispy roasted skin or over burned skin. I was eating all of them.

Few years ago, when I worked in PJ, my previous boss brought me to a shop around Paramount called Sunrise Duck. Wow! I thought that was the most beautiful bird I had ever seen. We queue and waited for so long, but I never regretted. After that, I took my family there to show off and they said it was above average only. Disappointed, but I wonder what on earth will have the best duck.

Loong Foong Seafood, but why on earth there is fantastic roasted duck there?!

Sometimes good things just happen to be very near. There is one shop in Paramount call Loong Foong (at the corner) offering fantastic roasted duck. I brought my family, friends from Kuantan, from Philippine, from Singapore, from Thailand and non of them forget the shop.

During my first visit, I thought it was a seafood restaurant because of the sign and the set up. People also having the normal cooked dish like fish, prawn, vegetables, tofu, or even Hokkian Mee, etc. Infect, all the food there are well prepared and tasty also.

These pretty birds will only last for less than a couple of minutes!

At the entrance of the restaurents, there is one stall always hanging few roasted duck in the cabinet. If you thought that is the only stock they offer, you are totally wrong. The 4 to 5 birds will only last for less than 15 minutes. The guy will keep topping up the stock regularly from the kitchen.

This fellow just chopping and chopping and chopping...

I have never be able to calculate how many birds they chopped, even during my meal there. The fellow just kept chopping and chopping.

Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy in the inside. Yummy!

The meat was very juicy, thick and lean. Not fat at all. It was very tender and the texture was very soft. You can easily bite it through and when chewing in the mouth, the flavor and aroma will attack your taste bud by melting its juice. I wonder where they bread the duck. Don't tell me they perform daily message, exercise, therapy to the birds just like Kobe Beef.

With such a good meat, the person who roast it surely has some great skill also. The duck's skin was perfectly burned. Golden color and crispy. (my mouth is watery when I am writing this part) The shop only open in the evening and its duck will be always very "laku". So, better go there early and book it before late.

The restaurent offers other well prepared food also, such as this "kung po sotong".

The Best Pork Noodle Ever!

I have lots of friends love pork noodle (zu yuk fan). I had tried in many places and came to a conclusion that there are three best pork noodle around town. One in Brickfield, one stall in PJ, near Taman Bahagia LRT station and one in Subang Jaya, 45o opposite Carrefour Subang Jaya, food court under a budget hotel.

I think I most prefer the one in Subang Jaya. If possible, I will go there weekly. However, one must prepare to wait, not 15 minutes, not 30 minutes but 45 minutes to an hour. The reason is, it is cooked bowl by bowl.

Some people has no patient to wait and created excuse that she thought the noodle was just okay. But I have no problem waiting. Thus, most of the time I will arrange my time accordingly, and patienly waiting.

I thought why on earth he need to cook it bowl by bowl? Why not just do it like ordinary curry mee. Pre-cooked soup, soak and rinse the noodle in hot water, place it in bowl and add the soup. But if he does that, the meat, the liver and all those stuff will not be just nicely cooked. Overcooked meat will be too tough and not tasty. There are lots of ingredients and parts inside, and needs skills to cook in different time and sequence.

I am glad I discover that and it makes me appreciate more the noodle I am having. The soup was fantastic (I had never not finish the soup once)!

Sometimes a tea on top of hill is heaven...

Boh Plantation in Cameron Highland, a nice place to have an afternoon tea, especially with a bunch of friends.

The tea and cakes have nothing worth mention about. But I really love the atmosphere and the weather. Because its away from the city, I could truly relax and forget all the nonsense back.

I had make a habit to go there few times a year, weather alone or just with 1 or 2 friends. This is a great place to escape from the pollution, whether its physical or mental.

You do not need to imagine, just drive there, take a book, order a pot of tea and cakes and spend an afternoon. Trust me, it worth the sky.

By the way, you could enjoy some "Initial D" moment when you drive down hill later. Don't you?

Good Life. Live Life.

Ipoh Horfan and etc etc...

Beauty is on the eye of the beholder. Good food is on the mouth of the eater, I said. Incidents happens all the time when somebody tell you that there is good food at where where where. And you took all the trouble go there and whalala... you wonder who has the problem with his mouth. But the truth is, my preference and yours will be different. Because of my background, my living environment, my personality and my culture, the taste I prefer will always be different to you and him or her. So, never condemn somebody, who just has slightly different taste with you.

However, as most of us living in the same country and environment for years, our preference should be close. Further more, our biological system is far more similar compare to other species, (wonder why monkey likes bananas very much?) chances for us to share the same thought on good food still very high. So, be positive when I tell you there are good food waiting for you to explore.

Last week end, I follow with bunch of new friends to Cameron Highland. While on our way back, a nice fellow brought us to this Kong Heng Coffee Shop. I have no idea how famous it is (somebody please verified, thanks), but the moment we sat down, all the stalls people just surrounded us and boom us with offer and offers. My mind suddenly jam due to this heavy traffic of information flow, I ordered what ever I heard that day.

Ipoh has lots of chicken horfan seller. I had tried with "LouWong", which full of tourists and taste not bad. Once my friend brought to a hawker center call 15 floor and the chicken and horfan there was smooth and sweet and the chicken feet was marvelous!

This horfan I had was as smooth and silky as the original Ipoh horfan. The soup was sweet and full of chicken flavor. And the chicken meat was tender and soft. I guess I had some nice horfan soup that day.

Side dish was some pohpiah. But nothing to shot about. Kind of sweet (seems like it was over stuffed with sugar), but the vegetables inside was well cooked.

Ipoh white coffee was nice. Like cuppachino, foamy, milky and smooth. But I still prefer my Kemaman Kopi.

I had some fruit rojak. The picture shows only slices of fruits. I forget to take the picture of our gravy (thick dark chilli prawn paste with crush peanuts), which serve separately in a small bowl. We eat it by dipping our fruits with the sauce. I was used to rojak serve by pre-mixing with the source. Thus, most of the time, the thick and high density of the sauce draws the moisture inside the fruits and end up that the gravy become more and more watery towards the end of serving. This kind of eating style is a bit new to me and I appreciate that I could enjoy my last piece of fresh fruit still with thick and dry sauce.

Live Life...

This is the first post of Live Life. About picture I taken, which I personally love it very much. Its about nature, about living, about the fantastic world we are living. Good life, live life!

Green, vegetables. We see it in market, in the farm, on dining tables. Have you ever thought they are so pretty and full of live?

Sunflower, Lively. Always facing the sun, always positive in energy. Beautiful life!

Red, tomatoes. Sweet and lovely. So delicate.

Have you ever look into our country, deep? Misty tea farm in Cameron, like heaven!

Pandan Layer Cake... Syok!

This will be a short post, because it is only one type of food we are going to talk about here.

Many of us love cake very much. Thus, we could find cake shops or bakery everywhere. Most of my friends like Tiramishu, especially girls. I think it is because the stuff full of air and give people impression that it is not that fat. However, I personally crazy about cheese cake.

The shop, which is located in SS2, PJ produce very fine layer cakes in pandan flavor. Because of the business is good, the shop bake quite a lot of loft and sold off. And because the cakes sold off everyday, you will always get a fresh one. The circle goes on and on.

This pandan cakes ofcause will be full of pandan flavor. It is very springy but soft. Layers of cake and cream full of pandan flavor cross mixed, plus some fine coconute dust topping makes me melt into the cake. Sweet?

You bet it was.

Sweet in your mouth, sweet in your heart!

Granpa BaKuTeh... Really grandpa style.

According to Wikipedia, Bak Kut Teh (Chinese: 肉骨茶) is a soup generally cooked in a clay pot with various parts of the pig, varieties of mushroom, lettuce, and dried tofu sheets or pieces (taufu pok). The soup itself is a broth, which consists of several herbs and spices (including star anise, cinamon, cloves and garlic) which have been boiled together with soup bones for many hours. Light and dark soy sauce are also added to the soup during cooking, with varying amounts depending on the variant.

It is commonly eaten with rice, and particularly in Malaysia, often served with strips of fried dough called you char kueh (or Youtiao in Mandarin). Dark soy sauce is used as a condiment, sometimes accompanied with chopped chilli padi. Tea is also usually served in the belief that it dilutes or dissolves the copious amounts of fat which are consumed in the eating of this dish.

There are variants of bak kut teh which usually depend on the closest major Chinese enclave. Klang is regarded by many as being the place with the tastiest bak kut teh. Indeed, the dish is reported to have been invented in Port Klang for port coolies there in the early 20th century, to supplement their meagre diet and as a tonic to boost their health.


I have no idea how many Bak Kut Teh stall operate in Malaysia, or Klang Valley alone. We can almost sight at least one in each neighbourhood. Ofcourse, you may see many in Klang town alone, or in Shah Alam Batu Tiga (Bukit Raja) area, which people say they serve the best.

I had once in Sunway, and it was great also. I found few shops in Kampung Subang, which is not bad either. Even in area Subang Jaya (opposite Inti College), I found few Bak Kut Teh shops in a row. Etc, etc...

This shop carry a nice designed board and call Grandpa restaurant (Bak Kut Teh). Situated at PJ, Paramouth area (yes, there again. Why I always hang at the place?). It is beside the Giant Supermarket, very easy to notice.

Based on the set up and renovation, I have no confident with its food at first. I thought I had some mind set of good Bak Kut Teh should serve in old wooden house, cooked by an old sifu. This modern looking shop looks like some young turk trying to mess with our traditional legacy.

However, as no food to eat that day, I took a try. Sometimes, unexpected result could be more surprised and satisfied.

The soup was not very thick, but strong in herbs flavor. I do not think they add too much MSG as I did not feel thirsty after the meal. The soup was sweet and tasty. Furthermore, the meat was just nicely cook. Tender and with texture.

We served with the yam rice. Once again, flavor was strong and the rice was springy. We had also stew salted vegetable. Although it was very oily, but that was what make it tasty.

Clay Pot Chicken Rice... Special One

Previously I had written about a clay pot chicken rice stall, which cook the rice right from the pot. I was impressed because most of the seller just fill in cooked rice into pots, heat it up and add chicken gravy.

The stall I am mentioning here is even better, it use charcoal stove for cooking. The AhPek only prepare certain amount of pots (I thought about 200) and sell until finish. All rice cooked raw right from the pot. Chicken was pre-marinate and cooked with the rice from raw as well. Not like others, which pre-cook in kicap and added into the pot after the rice cooked.

The stall is situated in PJ, Paramount area, inside a hawker center call Restaurant New Kim Swan. It was an accidentally discovery when I was looking for dinner one day at the area. I saw almost all patrons there were eating this clay pot chicken rice. Something tell me that it should be really good.

Unfortunately the uncle told me that he had finish sold out the last pot that day. I saw charcoal burning and lots of empty clay pot sitting at the floor. Thus, I had made up my mind I must try it out one day, and very soon.

Few days later, I was sitting at the same place enjoying the meal, just like every other people there.

I thought by using charcoal, and cook with fresh and raw ingredients in the pot, it makes people appreciate the effort and principle of rice cooking. Appreciation of the presentation, you will have pre-determination and perception of well worth of the food served.

I found that the taste was a bit strong, which means a little extra salty. However, as the rice and the chicken was nicely cooked in the pot (for about 20 minutes), the rice was full of flavor. Moreover, the chicken was still very tender, not too raw and not too over done. I am really appreciate that Uncle had put in lots of attention to his job. He has lots of experience in playing with charcoal fire also. I do not think so cooking with charcoal is a easy task, compare to gas flame.

The serving was very rapid (out of my expectation) as he kept cooking the rice pot by pot, way before you order. This is another evident showing his confident of his business and the experience in his operation.

Have a try, my friend. Good food there!

Japanese... sayonara.

I had been in the dilemma for write or not write about this article. When I started to write about food, my intention was to share about food I enjoy. However, after times dining at various food spots, I become more and more critic.

I could not always promoting food. Some of my friends even doubt my credibility. They thought I am hard selling some restaurant, which was not up to their standard.

Taste is different from a person to person. I might like chocolate, but not you. Moreover, I think it is really out of logic for me to keep enjoying new good food, day in, day out, and for ever.

The restaurant I am going to mention here is a Japanese fast food wannabe, located inside MidVelly, at center court. The presentation is quite nice. Youngster kind of like the place.

It might due to my nature of work. When I go to a restaurant, I tend to look into their cutlery and plates, to check the cleanliness. For this shop, I was quite upset to find food residue on my supposedly clean spoon. It might due to the problem of their dish washer, or maybe strength of detergent. I dun think we should accept this kind of standard, especially in a nicely set environment.

The red curry noodle I had was very salty. Noodle was well prepared, but it could not satisfied my soul.

I had also a set dinner. Unfortunately, my mussels were pre prepared for far too long. They had been lying there for hours, without any attention. Thus, I had cold and tough like plastic mussels.

Other stuffs shown in the picture was at normal standard. No surprices at all

By the way, the ice green tea I had smell chlorine. Wonder what water filter they use.

Kemaman Kopitiam Revisited

Good place should go back right?

After having my first cup of good coffee months ago, I had made it a habit to drop by this shop when ever I am in Kuantan.

Referring to my previous post, I was abit disappointed with their nasi lemak, nasi dagang and some off the shelf traditional cakes offered. It is not the quality (it taste just nice), but the unrespectable high price they charged.



However, clever the owner that he know he has a winning product, a RM 1.50 cup of traditional kopi-O. I had no choice but to go back again and again. With one condition, to remind me not to take those "trap" food.

This time, I managed to try some new stuff, besides having my first and essential coffee.



We had the Kuih Goreng. Quite a big piece, not expensive. It serves with chili sauce and great companion for an afternoon tea.



My friend tried their Vietnamese coffee. I thought it was just OK. I never like it thick and off taste bitter with abit salty.



We had also the shops famous Roti Bakar, which is fresh toasted bun spread with butter and kaya. Because it was freshly toasted, taste quite nice.



One of my friends ordered the Peanut Delight with Honey. It was special and good. The bread was dipped with egg and deep fried. Then spread with peanut butter prior serving. We topped with honey and extra butter and all those melt in the mouth. Fatty ya. But I remember I had a better one somewhere in Serdang. So this is not the best I have. Be aware.



Finally, we tried a strange drink (at least for me). We had this Coke Cafe. It’s a mixture of coke and coffee, with cream as topping. I never like the taste. Wonder who invented this kind of drink. I think Pepsi launch their Pepsi Tarik some times ago and I had just one glass. Never enjoy it like I enjoy vanilla coke.