BBQ House

Just a quick post before I turn in. I must, I have to turn my sleeping hours around. Blogging has robbed me of my beauty sleep and the results are beginning to show...

I LOVE this time of the year. Christmas songs (nice but a little too nostalgic) are played everywhere except on the radio. Shame. That's how religion-tolerant we are. We won't get any Christmas songs aired until this weekend and even then it's rare and few. There's busyness everywhere. People are shopping, especially for the upcoming feasts because 3 days before Christmas is the MOST important Chinese festival, Dong Zhi, or Chinese Winter Festival. After Christmas there's the New Year celebrations. That's not the end because after that comes every Chinese' favorite, the Chinese New Year Festival. Work slows down, everyone is in a festive and hoilday mood. Did you know that Malaysia has one of the highest number of public holidays? 14 in all, just like Thailand, and one day more than the kiasu neighbor. 10 in Oz, 12 in The Philippines, 13 in the States (btw, it was good the fella got a shoe to his head. Almost.) But still no way comparable with Communist China which has 24 public holidays. But then I hear that's all you get, there's no annual leave. Vietnam is a work horse. They only have 5 public holidays. Brunei has only 7 but then the rest of the year they don't really work too, do they? Well, at least our founding fathers got one thing right.

But most of all, this time of the year, families are reunited as people come back from overseas. I know a couple of families whose members are spread over the world--USA, NZ, Oz--and they are all making their way back for the holiday season. Just today I met up with 2 friends who are back from Brisbane and Perth. Then this evening two families from Perth. Nearly all the students studying in Oz are back for the hols. The town is buzzing with the sudden explosion of young people with their fancy clothes, extended eyelashes and new hairdos (apparently beauty salons make the best $ now as people come back for 'overhauls') and accents (mostly Oz). Sabah is probably the state with the highest number of emigrants. People who left but whose hearts are still here.

I am in the midst of preparing for Christmas too, and my house is in shambles. I still haven't got out the Christmas decorations because my TV room is going through a renovation. But I am having a big party in my house tomorrow night, a pre-Christmas dinner and I'll be roasting my second turkey this year. The first was roasted in February because we were away in Melbourne last Christmas and a friend had given me a turkey, safely deposited in the supermarket. Be sure to check for my turkey post sometime this week because I really hope some of you will roast a turkey for the first time using my favorite recipe.

This afternoon I met up with old colleagues in BBQ House, Times Square. I have decided that Times Square is the best new building in KK. Except as someone pointed out, there's a lack of trees. They planted some silly palm trees that don't give any shade and within the compound there's not a single tree. Shame. I also wish they'd cover the middle of the square.

BBQ House (someone please tell them to come up with a more interesting name) is a new Korean restaurant. Very homey. As a friend pointed out, Koreans are very ethnocentric about their food. They don't seem adventurous about other cuisine. That's why except for two tables, every other table was taken up by Koreans.

I think I'll come back to BBQ House, especially for the little side dishes of kim chi, tofu, anchovies and the usual stuff. They were well-seasoned and very fresh and tasty. However, the menu is very limited. I was surprised especially to see that there weren't any soups because Korean cuisine is big on soups. Portion as usual in any Korean restaurants is pitiful. Samgubsal, Wey's favorite and a dish I had to cook for him once a week three years ago, resulting in him almost becoming obese, was RM23 before tax and there were less than ten tiny slices of very fatty pork. Wey wasn't impressed with their samgubsal; he said the Korean restaurant (our fav) in Api Api is better.


The 'free' side dishes (refillable) that come with your main order.


Meal set of hot pork slices plus a soup, side dishes and plain rice was RM18 ++.


Samgubsal, which is grilled belly pork slices, at RM23 was expensive because this is all you get. No sang choy or lettuce.



We had two orders of samgubsal and one order of chili pork slices plus 3 bowls of plain rice (very expensive at RM4 per bowl) for RM83.60. Don't expect a fancy Korean restaurant with delicious kalbi and grilled wagyu. Come here for a simple lunch.

Lattice-Top Apple Pie

I am a food snob. And a food snob like me gets to be taken down a peg or two once in a while.

Apple pies were never my kind of desserts. So were bread puddings. Nah, no humble pies or puddings for me. I'm more a mille feuillie, tiramisu and clafoutis kind of gal (when you feel like not quite a grown woman yet definitely not a girl). In fact, the more unpronouncible the dessert, the better. Yet I've found that kids and grown men can never resist apple pies. In fact, they get excited over apple pies. "Apple pies for dessert ah? WOW!" "Any ice cream to go with it??" And I think, is it the ice cream or the pie you guys are gaga about.

But last month I ate a very good apple pie. It was my friend Linda's apple pie that changed my mind about apple pies. Her first apple pie was not exactly a wonder, because she had made the crust too thick. But Linda's second apple pie--oh, it was superb. It was so good that it was all I can remember of her dinner that evening, and it left me wanting to make a pie as good as that.

I do have a very amazing apple struesel that I'll share with you one day, but now let's focus on the all-American dessert, the humble yet wholesome apple pie.

It wasn't the apple filling that caught my tongue and stomach. It was the crust. It was very short, very buttery and very delicious. However, when I was making the strips for the lattice top with Linda, the pie pastry was so short that it broke here and there. I wanted a pastry that was strong enough to weave but did not compromise on the flakiness. The filling was good, but it was the usual apple filling except Linda added custard powder for extra flavor and to thicken the juices. I wanted a filling that's gooey with soft apple chunks, like --oh dear, dare I say it--McD's, but with more apples and less goo. That can only be achieved with cooking, but I didn't want the hassle of cooking my apples. So I consulted 3 different cookbooks and stole a bit of tips from each, and came up with this apple pie, which I am very happy with. The pie pastry is short but strong enough to be weaved. The apple filling has potato starch to blend the filling together (cornstarch and plain flour are deemed too gluey and dry respectively) and keep the bottom crust from getting soggy because I don't bother with baking blind (i.e. pre-baking the bottom crust). Because I didn't pre-bake the bottom crust, I used the lower element of the oven for the first 20 minutes to cook the bottom crust before the juice from the apples can cause the crust to go soft. The only thing I'll probably change is maybe cook my apples so I get more gooey sauce and softer apples. But that would be one fine day, not now. For now, this is as good as it gets.


Lattice-Top Apple Pie

Pie Crust
230 g (8oz) cold butter*, cut into 2 cm cubes
3 cups plain flour
1 t salt
1 1/2 T fine sugar
1 egg
1 t cider vinegar
4-6 T ice water

*you can use half butter & half Crisco too

1. Put the flour, firm butter, salt and sugar into your processor or cake mixer and whizz a couple of times until crumbly.

2. Whisk the egg, cold water and cider vinegar and add to the crumbly mixture. Use a long spatula to fold the mixture several times to mix.

3. Take the dough out and knead once or twice to get it into a ball. You may need to add another spoon or two of cold water, but not too much. Just enough for it all to come together.

4. Roll pastry into a large log, break off a small portion sof the dough and smear it on your work surface with the heel of your palm. Repeat one more time. The French call this fraisage and this step will ensure a short flaky crust. However, the most important thing (esp. in hot weather) is that everything must be cold--cold hands, cold butter, cold dough. The cold butter will melt upon baking and create tiny holes when it melts, resulting in short pastry. The next important thing is to work quickly, again to prevent the butter from melting.



5. Gather everything together again, cut 1/3 off to make a small disk, put it into a plastic bag and chill 1 hour. Roll the larger portion into a small disk and put into another bag and chill that too.

6. Put the smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 30 cm/12" long and 23 cm/9" wide. (You can also use a 10-11"/26-28 cm dish, increase apples to 10, pastry remain the same amount but roll the bottom crust and strips wider/longer.) Transfer onto a piece of greaseproof paper-lined tray and chill. Take out when firm, use a pizza cutter to cut into 2.5 cm/1 " strips, 0.2 cm /1/8th inch thick .Weave into a lattice on the paper-lined tray. Return to fridge.

7. Roll the larger piece of dough into a thin round piece of 33 cm/13" in diameter. Transfer onto a 9" glass pie dish using a large rolling pin (or lightly flour it & fold it into quarters and unfold on the dish) and press firmly into the pie plate. Leave the excess crust overhanging. Put in fridge to chill (remember, keep the dough cold to make sure butter doesn't melt before it's baked).

Filling
1 kg (about 8) Granny Smiths, or a mixture of apples
1/3 cup golden raisins, washed
zest of 1 lemon
2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup*
1/2 t cinnamon powder
1/4 t nutmeg
4 T potato starch
1/4 t salt

* or increase sugar to 3/4 cup. I used maple syrup because my bottle is expiring.

1. Peel and cut apples into quarters and slice. Put into a large bowl.

2. Toss apples with everything else on the list.

Baking The Pie
1. Oven preheated at 220 C, rack on bottom.

2. Scoop apple filling into crust-lined pie dish (retain the juice. If there's less than 3 T juice, add 3 -4T water to the retained juice), put the prepared lattice top over the top, trim and press the edges to seal, crimping with your thumb and fingers.

3. Brush the lattice with water and sprinkle some sugar on.

4. Turn heating to bottom element only. Bake 20 minutes. Carefully (HOT!) move the pie to the middle of the oven, turn heat down to 190 C, use upper and lower heating elements, pour the retained apple juice (stir well) into the holes between the lattice and bake another 35 to 40 minutes. If pie top is browning too quickly, reduce the heat a little.

5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Expect extra loving reaction from family.

One Of Those Days

everything went wrong today. i'm afraid to even fry an egg in case that too fails. and i certainly shouldn't blog tonight.

(the new camera--i am told to take this portion of my post down as they are resolving the matter, so thanks everyone for your encouragement :))

i baked a sheet cake to make Christmas petit fours and someone put a whole bowl of gravy ON the cake (even if the fridge was jammed pack, you could've put the bowl UNDER the cake!), making a round dent in the cake. of course i was piffed, to say the least.

then i went to the tiles showroom and the tiles that's half up our bathroom walls are out of stock, "it may be months before another batch comes in , would you like to choose something else?" what, and make a patchwork wall? my head reeling, i sent a pity message to a friend whose reply came "tomorrow will be better", which sounds ominous if you ask me at this point.

lucky dinner wasn't so bad. the bacon yi brought back from oz had expired and i had to finish them up fast. this is what we ate tonight but since the bacon tasted better than the wholegrain-mustard-butter-stuffed chicken, i'll just let you look at the photos. i am turning in, and i hope nothing happens between now and getting under the covers.





p.s well, right after i posted this, i went out the room and smelt smoke but thought it was from outside. i sat down, read the papers, harassed wey, read a magazine. then i went into the kitchen. my little new wmf pot was burnt black. i'd forgotten i was boiling a banana (long story why i did that). okay, that's it. goodnight. i won't even brush my teeth, just in case they fall off.

King Hu Restaurant

My daughter shudders whenever we go to King Hu or Supertanker. But between the two, we both prefer King Hu, although lately we both need a lot of persuasion. King Hu is my in-laws' favorite spur-of-the-moment restaurant for casual meals and lazy days so we get to eat there quite often (Say 'Hi' if you see me there).

The best thing about King Hu is that prices are very reasonable. It is also the only place in town for 'northern' chinese food ('northern' in inverted commas because to real northerners, the food here is probably more southern Chinese, except for the potstickers) like fried potstickers (guotie) and boiled potstickers (suijiao) with Chinese cabbage and meat, unlike the more common "West Malaysian potstickers" with soy-sauce marinaded meat and onion filling, which my in-laws dismiss as unauthentic. Recently I've noticed The Incredible Transfomation Of King Hu's Potstickers, from oval and big to round and small, with hardly any meat inside. And on top of that they increased the price.

Whenever we eat at King Hu, we eat the same things. It's almost a sin to deviate from our standard order. In the past, they bring in seasonal Hong Kong veg like yellow chives and green soy beans but I guess with business so good (you very likely have to stand outside if you don't have a reservation) the boss just doesn't bother. The lady behind the counter and her husband started the restaurant more than 30 years ago. Her husband used to cook, then when he passed on, the son, who reputedly has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering fron the States (but couldn't find a relevant job here) now fries your mee and chow san see. I suspect though, after last Monday's dinner there, that the fella has some local boys doing the dirty work for him now because the food just doesn't taste the same anymore.


Guotie, pot stickers. Made just like we do at home, except for the filling which is miserable.


Suijiao, boiled potstickers, which have shrunk to half of their previous size.


Hot & sour soup, which really is just sour. You have to add the pepper yourself. I've complained to the lady about the chipped soup bowls but looks like it fell on deaf ears.


Fried 'oily' noodles, which I prefer to their ja jiang mien, bean sauce noodles.


Tied pork leg or je ti with pickles. My MIL makes a much much better version so remind me to do a post on this before CNY.


Steamed Chinese cabbage. King Hu tends to overcook their veg so only Chinese cabbage can withstand their style of cooking.


Goo lao roe or sweet & sour pork, Wey's favorite provided there's no sauce.


King Hu's version of Peking Duck is unique. The skin's soft instead of crispy and they serve it with lots of meat on. I think the chef just said, what the heck, it's so much work to make every duck crispy so just serve it any which way. And we the locals are happy with it this way because honestly, I find Peking Duck quite a pretentious dish, thin pancakes with a slice of crispy skin inside. When you order this, you get a duck soup, which is quite tasty.

I just realised I've been there so often I don't even bother to check their prices. I can always check it for you next week.

King Hu is in Tanjung Aru, next to the only supermarket there. Good place to eat if you need to catch a flight because it's equidistance to both airports nearby.

Apple Cake

Apple cake

This doesn't look impressive, but believe me, it is absolutely yummy and a great substitute for the rich but heart-stopping apple pie. Every single one of my friends who has made it loved it. It is heavy on the apples, light on eggs and there's no butter but there's veg oil. Best of all, it's one of those recipes where you just whip everything together so there's no need to drag your Kenwood or KitchenAid out and there's no pile of bowls and utensils to wash. I think it originated from one of those Australian cook books, because I've seen it again and again in Australian magazines.

The cake is good by itself but even better with creme fraiche. Since we don't get that here all the time, I like to use a combination of fresh dairy cream lightly sweetened with some condensed milk. For me, ice cream detracts any cake so it's not allowed with this.


Apple Cake
1/2 kg Granny Smiths (green apples), peeled, cored & chopped chunky*
200 g self-raising flour, sifted
1/3 t cinnamon powder
200 g (or 150 g for slightly sweet n 170g for slight to medium sweet) fine sugar
1 cup oil
3 large eggs
1 t finely grated lemon rind

*update 2/4/12: I now cut the apples pea size because that makes the texture finer and the cake holds together better.

1. Sift the flour with the cinnamon powder. Put sugar, eggs and oil into a bowl and hand whisk until creamy. Add the sifted flour, stir in the apples.

2. Pour batter into a 8"/21 cm or 9"/23 cm round tin (lined) and bake at 170 C for 45 to 50 minutes until a wooden stick plunged into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Serve with creme fraiche or fresh cream sweetened with condensed milk, whipped or not.