HB

A long, personal journey worth having.

Secret of Louisiana Wine & Dine crawfish dinner

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louisiana wine dinner

I just gotta say this:

connie hb blog

Look ma! My blog is on display! smirk

live crawfish

I was at the Secret of Louisiana Wine & Dine event on Monday. It’s a four-course dinner paired with wine and there are various exhibits of Americana (or should I say Louisiana) on display during cocktails. There’s a tank of live crawfish for one. I’m not sure if I ate one of them later but at this point they’re all alive. 😉

bayou

I like how the canopy is set along the lake so all dining is al fresco. There are videos and cooking demonstrations (had some pretty good Cajun shrimp made with just 4 spices) and I love how they printed the menu on re-labelled wine glasses together with the table number.

New Orleans Chowder
A wonderful rich soup, loaded with clams, shrimp & calamari, slow simmered with diced potato, onion and celery in a creamy thick soup.

dessert wine

This was paired with a Kim Crawford Pinot Savignon Blanc that I thought was very appropriate – it’s very refreshing, bubbly and easy-to-drink, a perfect starter wine. The chowder each had a whole crawfish inside too!

new orleans chowder

I loved the creamy soup – I had two in fact. There’s loads of seafood treasures inside and you can crack the crawfish and eat it if you want, although it’s meagre pickings. Crawfish like this doesn’t have a lot of meat inside but the soup more than makes up for it! Lovely!

Louisiana Bayous
Best ingredients from the bayou. Creole crawfish, creamy seafood gumbo & crabmeat mashed potato on corn fritter.

This is a dish of three different small appetizers. I like the crab meat mashed potato on corn fritter but I felt that this dish came out too late – it was already slightly cold (room temperature). The timing was a bit off for this one, some things are no doubt meant to be served cold and vice versa, but not at ambient temperature.

louisiana bayous

I can understand that cooking for so many people presents a unique challenge, but this was the only dish that was served slightly late. All the other dishes were nice and warm (even the dessert!). However, I can see the awesome potential – I loved the crab meat on corn fritter! 🙂

Trinity Jambalaya
Famous blackened red fish and jerk chicken with a rice dish consisting of onion, pepper and celery which makes up the “holy trinity” of Cajun cooking.

trinity jambalaya

I absolutely adore this dish! It’s full of seafood – huge shrimps, mussels, scallops! The red fish was wonderfully spiced – I love the hearty dose of pepper coating the fish. It’s a very heavy dish, broken up with several asparagus stalks.

wine hb

This is paired with a Wente Bayer Ranch Zinfandel, a nice red that goes against the guidelines of white meat with white wine and red meat with red wine, yet pulls it off with panache (it’s just a general rule of thumb many wine dinners I’ve been to has espoused). Absolutely the best dish of the night – perfect representation of Cajun style cooking and everything was still smoking hot!

(except the wine, as far as I know mulled wine does not originate from Louisiana)

Mud Pie & Praline
A rich New Orleans treat – roasted pecan on buttery praline and rich warm chocolate cake.

mud pie praline

A wonderful end to the dinner. It’s paired with a McGuigan Black Label Moscato, a sweet dessert wine. I liked the mud pie but what really got me was the buttery praline!

It’s awesomeness distilled into a messy chunk on your plate. I loved it so much I ate the entire caramel-like praline that left me wanting for more!

eiling hb

A great finish to a wonderful dinner! Eiling and Ziling was there too – good to see you again!

blog post signing

Oh, and here’s one of me signing the printed out Secret of Louisiana review of the first dinner. Heh.

kings and queens

Thanks again to Connie for a wonderful dinner! I learned a great deal about how to properly pronounce the etymology of the word “jambalaya” from the US Embassy representative.

us embassy

It’s sham-pal-ha-ya. 🙂

Caviar and chocolate on wholemeal crisp rolls

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chocolate caviar rolls

I’ve been down with the flu for the past few days and just woke up totally ravished after not eating for almost 24 hours. I rummaged about in my severely diminished pantry and decided to go with something very salty which doesn’t require much preparation as I’m still a bit sluggish.

Enter the tube of Smogaskaviar I got a few days ago. It’s not real caviar (cod roe, salthe roe, pacific cod roe for 51% of the total contents) but it is extremely salty. Heh.

It comes in a tube that I’ll rather call fish roe spread and I squeezed it all over a bag of wholemeal crisp rolls. I wanted to break the salty monotony (and monopoly) after the fifth one so I decided to top it off with a piece of dark chocolate.

chocolate caviar crisp roll

It’s surprisingly good, but would taste better if I had melted the chocolate.

It ain’t chicken soup for the soul but it sure is another one for the continuing bread story. smirk

Durian Degustation – 5 great late season durians!

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1. D160 / Teka / Green Bamboo

durian teka

This is a rather distinctive durian that is easily identifiable from the “longkang” (drain) running down the middle of the fruit. It was purchased for RM 15 / kg and the fruits are normally medium sized. This particular durian weighs 2.1 kg – about the average for this cultivar, making it over RM 30.

green bamboo durian

There are only 10 seeds in the durian, which translates to about RM 3 per seed. The seeds are tooth shaped – these come from Pahang and there are regional differences when planted in different locations.

teka durian

The Teka in the market now are delicious sweet to bittersweet specimens, but rather expensive – the original listed price is RM 18 / kg. It does have a very high flesh to seed ratio though.

2. Udang Merah / Red Prawn / Ang Heh

ang heh pahang

Look at the unique shape of the durian! It’s a star-shaped durian with 5 sides like a durian I came across not too long ago. These are not the original Balik Papan, Penang Red Prawn durians but cultivars that has been transplanted in…Pahang.

pahang udang merah

It’s where we get most of our durians here. The flesh is orange to reddish, the distinctive color that gives the durian it’s name.

red prawn pahang

I got it at a great time – RM 11 / kg and it’s absolutely fabulous with tiny seeds. These Pahang Ang Heh really tastes good but the drops are irregular so it’s hard to come by.

red prawn pahang durians

I’ve only had it three times this season.

3. Mas Selangor

mas selangor durian

This is a popular durian – sweet and creamy. The 1.6 kg fruit we chose is sold at RM 14 / kg. There’s only five (5) seeds inside so that works out to about RM 4.50 per seed.

mas selangor

It’s not a durian with a very complex flavor profile.

durian mas selangor

I reckon the Mas Selangor breed is more for the times when you just want a classic, fleshy, sweet durian. 🙂

4. D163 / Holo / Hor Lor

holo durian

This is named after a gourd – the words “hor lor” actually means water gourd. It’s a Northern durian but the ones we get are from Pahang. It’s listed as RM 15 / kg but managed to get it at RM 14 / kg. It’s also a medium sized fruit, got a 2kg + durian for RM 33.

horlor durian

Holo is great for those people who likes a dry, bittersweet, creamy and sticky durian with medium seeds that coats the palate and tongue like nothing else. Highly recommended.

5. Kan Yao (D158)

durian kan yao

This is an absolute bargain at RM 6 / kg. I had a 2.1 kg fruit for just RM 12. The Kan Yao we get here is also from Pahang and it’s bitter to bittersweet, just the way I like it.

kanyao durian

The seeds are large but with the low price it’s a good buy, and the season has just about ended so if you see any, I’ll go for it. 😀

There’s Nothing Like Australia!

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Interesting fact:
This blog was started on the 19th of April, 2002 when I was living in Melbourne

kangaroo

I’ve lived in Australia for 4 years while doing my college and uni. I’ve also stayed in other places while growing up but nothing beats Australia in my heart. I’ve always loved the place and have been back three times since graduating! 🙂

It’s a great country that has a bit of everything due to its unique location – you’ve got the temperate climates to the north to the infamous 4-seasons-in-a-day weather in Melbourne, towards the south. This makes it the perfect place for adventure lovers – there is a wide variety of activities to suit all tastes.

surfing byron

…and the things to do!

carving

I like to travel around and experience new things and I did a lot of that while I was there. Hands down my favorite is snowboarding – Mount Buller in Victoria is where I learned skiing and snowboarding when I was there.

sea kayaking

There’s also sea kayaking in Byron Bay, New South Wales where you power over the surf and get to watch dolphins and sometimes even whales migrating. I thought that was a lot of fun!

katoomba

If you love running, don’t miss the Six Foot Track 45 kilometer super marathon from Katoomba to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. It’s Australia’s largest 100% off-road running event.

bridge climb

Australia also boasts of having two of the three legal bridge climbs in the world. Well, you can technically climb bridges anywhere but you’ll be liable to a fine or jail time. Heh. Or you can do it legally at Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Story Bridge.

camels

Highlighting the pure diversity of Australia, there are also camels in the “outback” – the desert interior. These are the only feral herds of their kind in the world. You can have a camel safari right at the outback! Bet you didn’t know that about Australia! 🙂

sand dunes australia

The Stockton Sand Dunes near Port Stephens are some of the largest sand dunes in the entire Southern Hemisphere. It can go up to 1 kilometer wide and 30 meters high at some places.

There’s also an abundance of nature activities and magnificent vistas in the Land Down Under:

It’s a very beautiful country – there’s the Great Ocean Walk between 12 Apostles and Apollo Bay. It’s Victoria’s (the state Melbourne is in) premier long-distance walking track where you get to see the tallest cliffs in mainland Australia, waterfalls cascading down limestone walls, ancient shipwrecks, Aboriginal middens and manna gums with resident koala populations.

I’ve heard that the 12 Apostles (rock stacks in the ocean) are steadily getting eroded so it would be a good idea to go visit soon!

12 apostles

Of course, there’s also Phillip Island with its unique population of little penguins. You can see the cute little things landing on Summerland Beach every evening during the “penguin parade”. Photography is permitted but no flash is allowed coz you’ll scare them off.

Lake Eyre in South Australia is another popular destination – it’s one of the world’s largest salt pans and since it only fills up a few times a century, it’s drying up fast so this is another one to go for before it completely dries up. There are scenic flights over the lake.

sydney

There’s really something for everyone in Australia and while I’m talking about adventure and the outdoors over here (it’s what I’m into) there are a myriad of other activities for those who have interests that lies elsewhere. I haven’t touched even a tiny portion of what’s available for adrenaline lovers Down Under.

crab

Shopping, dining (the best crab meal I’ve had was on a chartered river cruise in NSW), or just plain sightseeing, there’s a newly revamped portal at australia.com for you to browse through and decide what you want to do before you go.

uluru

The amazing thing is that every article in that extremely detailed website is also translated into perfect Bahasa Malaysia! There are also other language options and I found the new tourism video to be very aspirational – it’s the one that I titled this post after and you can see it right at the main page of australia.com

aboriginal dance

Cheers and I hope that you’ll come to love the country where I spent about 1/3 of my adult life living in as much as I do! 🙂

A wonderful array of Indian sweets

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sss

I’ve been a huge fan of these absurdly sweet concoctions since I first encountered a variant of the diabetic-inducing delicacies in Sri Lanka. The first time I had it, I had a look of pure shock in my face from the insulin response. It delighted the Sri Lankan shopkeepers.

The SHEER amount of sugar inside will astound you.

indian sweet vendor

I recently found one a place in town called Bakti Woodlands that offer similar sweets. It called mithai and touted as South Indian in origin, but most are from the continental Indian area (most of the sweets are similar throughout the region, with just different names).

sample box

They had a sample box of 10 different types of sweets for RM 10. I bought that and spent the night savoring the sweets and went back for more a few days ago.

They didn’t have the boxes anymore – I was told that the sample boxes are only sold during festive seasons. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t so I bought it a la carte at RM 1 each.

mithai

What I like about these sweets is that you can taste the different types of milk (goat, cow etc) inside. Here’s a sample of the sugar laden, ghee-infused concoctions that will delight (and challenge) everyone with a sugar tooth:

Jangiri

jangiri

This is the most common sweet you’ll find around here. It tastes like a very light and fluffy doughnut and is made with urad flour and sugar before being deep fried in ghee (clarified butter).

indian sweet stall

There’s a stall just beside Bakti Woodlands selling it for RM 0.70 instead of RM 1 but I find the former to taste slightly better.

Mysore pak

indian confection

This wonderful slice of sweet heaven is made with a truckload of ghee, sugar and gram flour/dhall flour. The interesting thing about dhall flour is that it’s gluten-free, which means my niece can probably eat it. This is my second favorite mithai (Indian confection / sweet).

The dude who was behind the counter didn’t recognize me at first until I brought up the topic of the sample box. He was intrigued and asked me if I was doing research. I wasn’t. Heh. I bought RM 30 worth the second time, and here’s the second video of him introducing the sweets – first one didn’t turn out right.

Laddu

laddu

There’s a type of laddu that costs RM 2.50 (as opposed to RM 1 for the others, like the one above). It’s a huge, fist-sized round ball made with brown sugar, cashew nuts and dried fruits.

There’s also a smaller type of laddu, generically named Ghee Ladhu here:

coconut laddu

The word laddu means “small ball” and can contain almost anything. There are some with ground coconut (the red one) but I prefer the plain ones with raisins inside.

Halwa

indian sweets

This has gotta be my favorite mithai ever!

Halwa is a very generic term that describes a lot of sweets across the Indian subcontinent and even to the Middle East. The name itself is Arabic for “sweet”. I first encountered it in Sri Lanka. I’ve also heard it referred to as barfi.

almond halwa

I like the white almond slices that contains an obscene amount of condensed milk. Halwa tends to be crumbly and insanely sweet. I imagine the recipe for it looks a little like this:

  • 2 tons of sugar
  • 40 kgs of ghee

for a tray of sweets. Heh.

apple halwa

I’m particularly fond of the apple shaped halwas. I highly recommend this if you’re willing to test the limits of your insulin tolerance. It’s sweet, crumbly and has a distinctive milky taste that you can smell as well as taste. The “stem” of the “apple” is made from a clove stick! 🙂

apple sweet with cinnamon stick

You might need a shot of insulin to stabalize but its worth it! Melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness! 😀

The Stall with No Name – great herbal chicken

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stall no name

There is a stall in town that doesn’t have a name but serves up great herbal chicken twice a day. The operation is quite quaint and rather appealing in a sense – tables are lined along the side of a narrow lane and you can practically see flora growing out of cracks in the centuries-old building.

quaint operation

The food choices are quite simple – there’s herbal chicken drumstick (which I highly recommend) and stewed pork (which doesn’t taste good to me). They both cost RM 6.

herbal chicken stall

All the provisions for washing up and cooking is located right by the stall itself. The clientèle consists of office workers around the area, according to the proprietor.

roadside food stall

The herbal chicken is cooked in aluminium foil and this retains a lot of the moisture of the drumstick.

reconstituted pork

The meat for the stewed pork on the other hand is picked from a container and then mixed with hearty broth from a large simmering pot by the side. I don’t think much of “reconstituted meals” like this – it works for some items, but not pork, since what comes out will be one tough piece of un-kosher meat.

herbal chicken

I am hugely impressed by the herbal chicken though. The tasty broth bursts out of the foil when it’s opened and the hot, hearty soup goes very well with rice – it’s very salty.

lane stall

The chicken is ultra-tender too – the meat literally falls apart from the bone when you pick one up. Delicious, and a rather good find in the alleyways of KL.

great herbal chicken

The Stall with No Name is located in Lorong Bandar 4. It’s open from 10 am – 3 pm and then again from 5 pm to 10 pm. Go for the mouth-watering tender herbal chicken. 😀

Secret of Louisiana, Plaza Kelana Jaya

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secret of louisiana food

Secret of Louisiana is a Cajun-style seafood and steak restaurant opened up by a chef who used to live there. Word is, he wanted some authentic Louisiana food in KL (or rather Petaling Jaya) and a star is born. Or so it goes.

secret of louisiana

I’ve never been to this place before – it’s really nice, situated beside a lake (didn’t even know there was a lake in Plaza Kelana Jaya and I lived there a couple of years back) with covered al-fresco dining by the pier. I was invited by Connie and Ayu to come sample a couple of their signature dishes.

Seafood Gumbo (RM 22.90)
Sauteed assorted with thick creamy sauce, rich in herbs and cheese, served with garlic toast. Gumbo has been called the greatest contribution of Louisiana kitchens to Americans cuisine!

seafood gumbo

This is the appetizer and I must say, a great start to the dinner! I love the rich, gummy seafood gumbo. It’s a hearty combination of seafood and you can taste the chunks of deep sea lovin’ right inside. You’re supposed to eat it on top of garlic bread but I found myself just spooning the seafood gumbo by itself. Highly recommended.

Louisiana Famous Shrimp Scampi (RM 30.90)
Buttery and lush with fresh garlic, fresh herbs, tomatoes, and lemons, topped with 5 pieces grilled large prawns, the most popular pasta dish among all our pasta dishes.

louisiana famous shrimp scampi

I was entranced with the pasta dish too. The prawns are HUGE and fresh and everything tastes garlicky, which is something I dearly love. I would come back for this and the seafood gumbo again.

Seafood Jambalaya (RM 33.90)
An authentic Cajun dish, it’s perhaps the most versatile main dish that Louisiana has to offer, our version is rice cooked with fresh assorted seafood, sausages, tomatoes, corn, celery, mushrooms and fresh herbs.

seafood jambalaya

This came off as sorta like a wet paella. I love seafood and I like the chunks of fish, shrimp and squid. It’s mixed nicely with rice too, which reminds you of the soupy rice that you get fed as kid when you’re sick. Heartwarming food for the soul.

Red Fish (Red Snapper) (RM 38.90)
Dredged Snapper fillet on Cajun spice mix and seared on hot cask iron with butter. Blackened style with Cajun vegetables.

red fish red snapper

I found a lot of people who enjoyed this dish but for some reason it didn’t quite agree with me. I found the style of cooking to be too dry, maybe it’s just a personal thing.

Nut & Seed Layered Chicken (RM 32.90)
Grilled chicken breast with Cajun spice, sliced with and layered with organic nut & seed, served on lightly mashed potato and carrot. Drizzled with Fig chutney sauce.

nut seed layered chicken

I also found this selection from the Poultry menu to be a tad too dry for my tastes but it’s named the favorite dish of Suanie’s friend (who’s unfortunately allergic to crayfish). I really love the sweet fig chutney that goes with it though – it’s absolutely mouthwatering.

…and the various nuts scattered around! Lovin’ it.

Louisiana’s Mud Pie (RM 16.90)
We begin with a large slice of our rich Hot Chocolate Cake and top it with our hot fudge and big scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is covered with whipped cream and topped with sprinkle of crusted walnut and cherry.

louisiana mud pie

This is really good mud pie. I’ve had some great mud pies and this ranks up there with them. Hot chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, it’s hard to argue with that. I ended up eating most of this. Heh.

louisiana group photo
L-R (from back): Suanie, Eiling, Shah, Huai Bin (me)

I’ll love to go back to Secret of Louisiana again. It’s relatively close to where I live and I didn’t know such a chill place existed. It’ll be nice to just lounge by the pier and eat some of the seafood dishes. I loved the first two and dessert.

secret of louisiana restaurant

There will be a wine pairing dinner on the 14th of January which features a Cajun culinary feast, a tour of the State of Louisiana (not literally – there’s going to be features and videos on that day), a folk dance performance, a special cooking demonstration plus a speech from the US Embassy to Malaysia.

louisiana sauces

The event kicks off at 6:30 pm and there will also be wine appreciation tips and mystery gift giveaways. If you’re interested, the tickets are RM 250 per pax, you can get them by calling Sharine Chua (019 983 0230) or Ayu (012 234 7066). You can also surf over to their website.

ayu connie chef

I’ll be going to check it out. Last I heard, 1/3 of the tickets are already sold and that was a week ago so give them a buzz if you wanna join us in this wine pairing dinner. The food will not be the same as the one that we ate, it’ll be a specially prepared menu for the occasion, just passing along the info. 🙂

5 exotic tropical fruit sandwiches

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tropical sandwiches

I call this the Silat Buah Edition of my continuing bread story! smirk

1. Mangosteen sandwiches

mangosteens

It’s the season for mangosteens now. Mangosteens season is the end of the year and the smaller ones do not have seeds, making it perfect for sandwiches!

mangosteen sandwiches

It’s a refreshing experiment but to be honest, not all that good.

2. Starfruit sandwiches

starfruit

I saw this jar of local government FAMA produced belimbing (starfruit) jam on sale once and bought a tub of it. I then sauntered over to the fruits section and got myself 3 starfruits.

I decided to slather the starfruit jam and then cut starfruit slices on top of it to make a starfruit sandwich with real fruit.

starfruit sandwich

I had to choke it down – the jam is crappy and almost inedible, full of sugar and a weird flavoring that has little to do with starfruit. Another one of my failed experiments. I still can’t bring myself to eat the jam – it’s still sitting in the fridge after another try on it’s own. Vile stuff.

3. Jackfruit sandwiches

jackfruit

You can get the fresh ones at SS2 night market. I found it much better than the ones at the local hypermarket. It’s one of the more expensive fruits around at over RM 9 / kg. I just slid the fruit between bread since it’s quite flavorful by itself.

jackfruit sandwiches

It should probably be noted that seeds should be taken out before inserting into bread. It’s pretty good – especially when paired with cream cheese spread!

4. Durian sandwiches

durian

It might be heresy to some to use the precious durian as a sandwich filling. It’s expensive (recently bought a Holo durian for RM 33 with less than 10 seeds, costing over RM 3 each) so I used the more common D24 strain (RM 6 / kg) for this experiment.

I thought since it works so well with glutinous rice (seriously, durian and mangoes are perfect with glutinous rice) I reckon it might be okay with bread.

durian sandwiches

Nope, I still consider it a waste – I had to use about 4 seeds to gather enough flesh for a sandwich – it’s good, but durians deserve better treatment.

5. Jambu sandwiches

jambu

I saw this juicy local fruit at RM 8 / kg from a local roadside stand and it turned out to be one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever made! 🙂

fruit sandwiches

The secret is chunky peanut butter.

Jambu with chunky peanut butter has a very complex texture – the pure water squirting out of the fruit, the stickiness of peanut butter and the chewiness of bread. The flavor profile is amazing too – kinda like eating an apple with peanut butter (used to do that as a kid).

This is the tropical version – salty and buttery and sweet with refreshing bursts.

I did a lot of tongue-in-cheek sandwiches for fun but this…

jambu sandwiches

…this is the eureka moment, I discovered something I’ll really continue eating. It’s truly a great fruit sandwich! 🙂

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

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happy birthday mom

I have a really funny story about this. We don’t actually know if the 1st of January is her birthday. You know how people back in the days don’t actually register their babies until maybe a couple of days later and gets a pink birth certificate (date of birth – estimated) instead of a white one (confirmed by a doctor)?

That’s the case with my mom and I Whatsapped my sister two days ago to get my mom’s number to call her.

She’s in Singapore but we’ll all be together in Sibu in a bit.

I’ll have to take more photos with my family when we reunite again!

First post for 2013 – may you have peace, joy and everything you want in this year and many more to come mom! 😀

My 2013 New Year’s resolution

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Well, the end of the year is upon us again and I just have one New Year’s resolution:

durians laundry

Don’t buy durians at the same time you get your laundry and leave them in the car!

I did that while grocery shopping just now and after a (not insignificant) pause, I decided to go for a quick one, grabbing items off the shelves.

Yup, my newly laundered clothes were saturated with the smell of the King of Fruits.

Seriously though, I really have just one New Year’s resolution:

I’m going to give my life to God and let Him lead me

I’ve decided that I’m not going to sweat the small stuff and see where He wants me to go in 2013. I’m sure there’s a bigger plan for me and I will totally submit myself to it. I also have a few issues that I need His help in resolving but the main thing is to listen to that guiding voice and be nice to people (even if they’re not nice to me, but that’s the point innit? smirk).

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone and drive safe tonight! 🙂

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