Malaysia, My home, My country

Steam meat dumpling 小笼包
This dumplings were originating from Nanxiang in Shanghai. (南翔，上海），the steam meat dumpling is shaped like a translucent jewel pagoda. With its fillings concocted out of a mixture of ham, ginger, lean meat, the emphasis is very much on the tasty soup in accompaniment. I have tried the best dumpling in Shanghai before, but this one surprised me. (Restaurant Dragon-i )

When the dumpling is served fresh out of the bamboo container, pick up the little gem with chopsticks and put it on a soup spoon. Then bite a little hole on it and suck the steamy gravy out of its filling. Thereafter, with a few slices of chopped ginger and a few drop of vinegar on top of it. What a treat!

Deep fried spring roll with prawn


Sichuan Style La Mian
La mian, literally means 'pulled noodles' is made by the experienced chefs by pulling the noodles with their expert wrist moment. As La mian is made then and there during serving, it becomes a crowning dish with an inimitable appeal. When this traditional dish spread its wings to the northern and southern province of China, it is diversified into various taste and flavour. This one, tasted a little sour which spice up your taste bud, seduce you for more.

KLCC, Twin Towers, Malaysia.

Gorgeous Thailand

Spicy Aroma

The actual spicy Thai cuisine would have been too much even for Malaysians to handle. Tom Yam soup with fresh prawn really impress the chili lover. Another harmonious medley of ingredients was the stir-fried shrimp with bean sprout and baby corn that captured the eye and taste bud.

Photo taken by Harris Lim on May 2007. Warabori Resorts, Phuket, Thailand.



Photo taken by Eble Lai on May 2007, Warabori Resort, Phuket Thailand.

Chinese Cuisine

Tian Jin Pau (天津狗不理):
This is the most famous dim sum in the northern area of mainland China. Nicknamed 'Gou Bu Li' (狗不理) or "Ignored-by-doggy". Though it has a funny name, the bun is very soft, fluffy and hot after steaming. I think they used the premium grade "AAA" flour or sifting with the finest sieve during preparation of the flour. Stuffed with minced meat and spring onion, it is very small in size until my daughter can eat up to three pieces. Best tasted with Chinese green tea after the bun, especially with my favorite green tea 'Tie Guan Yin' (铁观音). It helps eliminating the oily taste left over by the ingredients of the bun in your mouth, giving you a fresh feel after all.


Hungry for Dim Sum right now? Try these tiny and very delicately prepared food steamed in small bamboo containers to keep its flavour and nutritious.

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Jing Xi.

苏州，锦溪水乡。

"Sauna" Prawn in Wooden Bucket (桑那虾):

The prawns with some water are pour into a wooden bucket filled with hot rocks and pebbles. Steam rushing out when the lid is opened. A local friend of mine in China took me to a countryside restaurant which has a private fish pond to ensure the harvest for kitchen is all fresh from the water. I like the "sauna" prawn when dipped with soya sauce. The taste is the best for it remains the original aroma of the food. Too complicated seasoning or sauce can confuse my taste bud and erode the natural taste of the food.

Beef Balls soup:
The name of this shop is 'Niu Mo Wang' (牛魔王), which means "Devil King of the Bull", originated from a cast in the Chinese legendary story of "Journey To The West". They provide all sort of dishes based on beef. From simple meat balls, fried rice, noodles with beef slices, to Chinese spaghetti (牛河)。Priced from RMB 5 per serving, it is very cheap yet delicious. Bouncy beef balls made from fresh minced beef and mixed with cuttlefish. The other famous cooking is the beef slices sauteed with choy sum (vegetable), 菜心炒牛肉片.



Lotus Leaf Rice (荷叶饭):
Rice steamed with several linings of huge lotus leaf in a wooden bucket (荷叶木桶饭) traditionally. But, I presumed in a fast-serving restaurant like this, the rice may be pre-cooked with some lotus leaves in modern cooker and get transferred to the bucket for steaming. Anyway, many choices are included in the menu, you can choose from seafood, chopped ribs, chicken, fish fillet, wild frog 'Tian Ji' (田鸡) and yellow eel steamed rice. For those who are boring with ordinary plate and bowl, you can try something new here, RMB 15 per bucket. Yes! you dig out your rice from the bucket right in the middle of your dining table. Reasonably priced. One bucket is enough to cater for two persons. Some restaurants serve with free side dished such as vegetables and soup.

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Jing Xi.

苏州，锦溪水乡

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Jing Xi.

苏州，锦溪水乡

Steamboat

Herbal Potion:
Finding a refuge while striding against the chill wind in the winter, you hope to come in to this small restaurant for some warmness it offers. The roots, barks, branches, leaves, buds, seeds from many herbs revitalize your fatigue body under the mercy of ice-cold windy evening. You can enjoy the boiling potion with the addition of some delights of your choices ranging from minced meatballs from beef, mutton, fish or chicken, mutton slices, seafood and a variety of vegetables. Taste with different sauces made finely from mustard, peanuts, sesame, chili, garlic etc.

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Jing Xi.

苏州, 锦溪水乡

Ordinary Plain Boiling:
Beef slices, fish fillet, dumplings stuffed with various ingredients, green-bean vermicelli (Dong Fen,冬粉) and vegetables. Cook the lazy way, dump everything into the soup and wait for it to boil. A Cantonese friend taught me to put in some sweet dumpling ball 'tang yuan'(汤圆) at the very last. Sweet and savoury, incredibly delicious.

Lamb Stew: A Chinese style lamb stew. Mutton rolls in herbal soup. We added on with some side dishes likes fish skin, minced meat balls etc.

Porridge Steamboat:
The pot in the middle of the table was boiling with plain porridge but not soup. Simmer the porridge mixture while enjoying the meat, vegetables and porridge together. Apart from the plain porridge, the dipping ingredient for this steam boat include sesame oil, soya sauce, fresh chili, fried chili oil, fermented tofu, spring onion, yellow mustard, peanut butter, salt and etc. Get the right taste of yours by mixing any combination of the provided ingredients at your pleasure. Not expensive to enjoy with friends or family members.

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Lotus Roots Garden.

苏州藕园

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006. China, Su Zhou, Lotus Roots Garden. Traditional music performers and story narrator in action.

苏州藕园书场

Ramen, Noodle, mee...

Ramen, La Mian or "Elongated Noodle" in Mandarin (拉面)

It is an art indeed to see a skillful chef prepare the noodle out of a big lump of dough. It has many styles of cooking and can be very different from Northern, Western or Southern parts of China.

Yunan Mi Xian (云南米线)

Originated from the Yunan Highland of Southern China, it implies the thread spawn out from rice. The noodle soup is characterized by a thin layer of oil to maintain its heat as the Creator of this famous food need to send it to her scholar husband studying distance away from home. The ingredients varied from mushrooms, meat slices, meat balls, vegetables, celery etc.

Dried La Mian (干捞拉面)
Another way of presenting the La Mian with seasoned sauce, chili, beef or mutton slices, spring onion, fried small onions etc.

Lan Zhou La Mian (兰州拉面)

This is a 'Halal' food for Muslim, many restaurants in the cities all over the mainland China are run by Muslim minorities from western China. I love to eat noodle. When I feel the need for a hot bowl of soup and noodle, Lan Zhou restaurant is where I will head to. Take one bite of the noodles and you will see how different they are from what you are used too (machine-made). This freshly hand made La Mian is prepared by the chef instantly, usually at one of the corner in the restaurant, the 'Gong Fu' (skills) of making the dough to divinely soft and pleasing light noodle lace guaranteed you to enjoy a tasty mouthful treat.

Who can resist the temptation of smell and steaming noodles?

Fried La Mian (干炒拉面)
It is a bit spicy to suit westerner taste bud, but most Asian love spicy food, especially Malaysian and Thai people. Apart from the noodle, I ordered beef fried rice and fried vegetable at this Muslim Lan Zhou restaurant.




Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006, China, Hang Zhou. A man selling Chinese pancake.

杭州， 清河坊。武大郎烧饼。

Photo taken by Eble Lai, June 2006, China, Hang Zhou. Sword Shop.

杭州， 清河坊。刀剑店。

Where East and West meet

Pineapple Baked Rice: Get a feel for the great blend of Portuguese-styled baked rice with a tropical fruit served steaming hot in the two halves of a hollow pineapple. The aroma is an attractive offer to your appetite that you certainly could not resist... . I enjoyed this during a visit to Macau.







Macau-Portugeese Egg Tarts: Admiring the golden colour and fragrance smell emitted by these hot Macau-Portuguese egg tarts. The crispiness of its texture is well explained under the clamp of both rows of your teeth, a sensational touch also enjoyed by your tongue for its delicate egg jelly infill. Followed by a sip of a cup of milk tea or coffee, you will definitely indulge yourself in a relaxing afternoon tea time. I had a golden time with friends in a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, a city in Southern China.











MAC Donald's Masterpiece: A combination set of 2-piece hot-spicy fried chicken, a triangular beer envelope, 4-piece chicken nuggets, french fries, apple pie, fruit juice and chilled coke for my kid and I. The little girl enjoyed very much with her baby Heffalump, it really sucks the water and spurt out through its trunk. Quality time for family at McD, an outlet just within walking distance to my residing condominium in Southern China.

Sushi in Orchestra: Best served with Kitaro's music a background, get attacked by the explosive Wasabi. Everything is so delicately prepared, nicely arranged, presented in a way to attract your focus. Found a Japanese restaurant in a busy Hong Kong street.

Northern China Country-styled Delicacies: Grilled lamp ribs which are well seasoned in mixture of spices, done to the perfect dryness to concentrate its flavour to an intensity that will quenched by a glass of beer when they encounter in your mouth.

Photo taken by Eble Lai, May 2006, China, Macau.

中国， 澳门。

Photo taken by Eble Lai, September 2006. China, Macau.

中国， 澳门。