scotch whisky

The Ultimate Hershey’s Cocoa Oreo Milkshake with Cardhu single malt Scotch whisky

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cocoa oreo milkshake

This is an *adults-only milkshake* that I just made as a trial tomorrow and it’s perfect for a Friday night – excessive amounts of cocoa powder and single malt Scotch whisky are two of the main ingredients. I used Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa which is a 100% cocoa powder.

oreos

The choice of Scotch is up to which area (Highlands, Islay, etc) you’re partial to but I used a Speyside 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky for mine since I like the taste of Cardhu (and it comes in a decanter like bottle with a huge stopper).

You will need:

  • 1 glass cold milk
  • 4 heaped tablespoons of Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa
  • 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
  • 4 Oreo cookies
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of cream
  • Single malt Scotch whisky to taste

cold milk

There is no reason to weigh the cold milk – my better half just brought over a scale and I wanted to try it out. Haha!

hersheys cocoa

I added 4 heaped tablespoons of Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa into the blender – this is a very heavy and strong tasting cocoa powder (100% cocoa) so you don’t need to put in a lot unlike chocolate/malt drinks like Milo and Ovaltine and the pricing reflects that.

add oreos

I put in 3 Oreo cookies (plain) into the mix and discovered it wasn’t enough so added another via the drop-in hatch on top

cream milkshake

Next, put in the heavy cream…

scotch milkshake

…and add the single malt Scotch whisky to taste. I poured in quite a lot of Cardhu 12 year old Scotch. I think I put nearly 3-4 shots inside. I still maintain it was a slip of the hand. smirk

You just need to blend this all up and pour to serve! It’ll fit into a single glass with a little to spare.

cocoa scotch milkshake

The cocoa and Oreo milkshake tastes good! The cocoa was a bit too intense so I’ll cut it down tomorrow. There’s also too much Scotch, my dear took a sip and nearly threw up, but it tastes alright to me. However, we noticed that it wasn’t as cold as we imagined and that’s coz…

We forgot the ice cream! -_-

Unagi with Kansas City BBQ sauce and single malt Scotch whisky

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cooking unagi

This is my attempt to cook the classic unagi Japanese eel dish – with a decidedly Western influence. I managed to get my hands on some really fresh belut (freshwater eel) from the wet market. The lady also sells frogs and venison meat, the latter of which I made into a venison steak tartare.

belut eel

The large eels go for RM 10 while the smaller ones go for RM 5 each. I decided to get two of the smaller freshwater eels. It has been nicely dressed by the exotic meat (that’s what I like to call her) vendor to reveal the flesh with the head and bone hanging out.

You will need:

  • 2 freshwater eels
  • Kansas City BBQ sauce (sweeter than Texas style, and thicker)
  • Single malt Scotch whisky
  • Sugar and salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil

freshwater eel

I sliced the freshwater eel into something resembling unagi as usually seen in the various Japanese restaurants around town. smirk They all seem to have a similar size and serving style, most of the commercial ones anyway.

scotch bbq sauce

I also added in a healthy slug of Jura 16 year old single malt Scotch whisky into the mix of KC BBQ sauce, sugar and salt. I am particularly fond of this one as it goes well with coffee i.e. Irish Coffee. I’ve been known to enjoy a cuppa on days starting with an S with a shot of good Scotch and nothing beats the 16 year old Diurach’s Own from the Isle of Jura.

basting unagi

I’ve tried lightly peated Islay malts like Bowmore Enigma, common tipples like Glenfiddich’s 14 year old Rick Oak, and even *Irish* single malt whiskey – the Bushmill 10 Year Old but nothing beats the barely legal Jura. It just goes well with coffee. I digress. I went off on this tangent coz I was hoping it’ll go well with eel too!

caramelized unagi

I grilled/sauteed the eel with EVOO over a very low heat fire and kept on basting it with the BBQ sauce and Scotch mixture. I must have flipped, added more sauce, and flipped the small pieces of freshwater eel again at least 30 times. I kid you not. I think that was the secret to the taste. It got a thumbs up from my better half at least! 🙂

scotch unagi

The basting process caramelized the BBQ sauce and Scotch mixture around the eel and with the constant flips, the reduction stuck to the unagi and it tasted really, really delicious! I wouldn’t call it a traditional Japanese unagi but I made my own sauce and it tastes like how a rather inept American home cook would render it, I imagine.

Not the correct technique, but very tasty!

Kim and Gareth’s wedding @ The Saujana Hotel

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kim gareth wedding

The first thing I noticed was the K&G for Kimberly and Gareth ice sculptures which dominates the entrance to the ballroom where the wedding was held. There’s also an archway above with roses – nice touch, that.

candy station

This is my favorite bit – there’s lots of nostalgic candy with witty place cards at the lounge where wedding guests can help themselves to.

sweet station

I haven’t had some of these since I was in primary school! It certainly brings back fond memories.

wedding registrar

…so much so I had a brain fart while writing the guest book. Lives, not lifes. -_-

kim gareth wedding rules

Kim and Gareth’s wedding was held at The Saujana Hotel last Saturday on the 27th October. I was there at 6:30 pm for the cocktail reception.

vintage coke

Vintage Coke bottles from Thailand.

yee haw

Here’s Yee Hau with Yee Haw! That’s the tag for the haw flakes of our childhood.

childhood candy

Rabbit Candy! Anyone remember these? I still love them.

kim gareth replacements

I think this was a really great idea too – having photo cutouts to take photos with while the bride and groom were busy, very tongue-in-cheek. Heh.

volleyball

The wedding favors on the table were hugely popular too – we had an impromptu game of volleyball while waiting for it to start, made by Nicholas with the goo you can blow up into a balloon (also an artifact of 80’s babies – we had them in school).

kimberly gareth wedding

Kim and Gareth both had speeches going and I thought it was really nice, what they said, weddings always makes me feel good.

chinese wedding food

There’s also an 8 course dinner, with the soup dish called “Save the Sharks Seafood Soup” – obviously no fins in there but it tastes surprisingly good with the mini abalone and other seafood inside and it’s a great departure from traditional wedding soups by being clear, yet flavorful.

A lot of us at the table went for second helpings, myself included…and I’m not even a fan of soup.

yamazaki single malt whisky

I love the single malt whisky that was offered too – had a dram each of Yamazaki 12 y/o and a The Glenrothers Select Reserve. I preferred the latter, despite the novelty of drinking a Japanese single malt whisky – it had more character and complexity.

yam seng

Here’s the obligatory table-to-table yam seng session!

kim gareth hb

…and a photo with the (real) bride and groom at the end. Hope you have a wonderful life ahead together, Kim and Gareth! 🙂

11 photos from the Fraser’s Hill trip

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frasers trip

The obligatory shot at the iconic Fraser’s Hill clock tower. I got a very unwilling dude who was just chilling there to take it for me. Heh.

silverpark

We stayed at Fraser’s Silverpark Resort – had a booking for a studio but got upgraded to a two bedroom suite.

frasers hill balcony

It has a balcony and…

frasers hill morning

…a great view of nature! 🙂

frasers hill silverpark

The resort is poorly maintained with temperamental hot water but it was relatively clean.

bug

Plenty of interesting insects you’ll be hard pressed to find in the city too.

frasers fog

Fraser’s Hill is colder than I remembered it to be – it was rather chilly and foggy when we were there. I loved the weather!

jura 16

A bottle of Jura 16 y/o single malt and you’re set for the night. There’s nothing much to do here except chill at night. That’s part of the appeal. 🙂

hah

Hah! smirk

fiona me

Here’s a shot of me and Fiona!

frasers hill smokehouse

Wanted to have English tea at Ye Olde Smokehouse before we drove down but unfortunately they don’t serve scones until 3 pm. Nevertheless, it was a great trip up! 🙂

Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 year old

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glenfiddich solera reserve

Glenfiddich is one of the most common single malt Scotch whisky there is out there. I believe I read somewhere that every 1 in 3 bottles of single malt sold is a Glenfiddich. However, just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it automatically isn’t good.

I *struggled* to choke that sentence out. I’m a huge Macallan fan, quite loyal to it since it was my very first single malt Scotch and I had it at a very special time.

glenfiddich 15 solera reserve gift box

Glenfiddich Solera Reserve can be had for around RM 245 – 285. There’s this promotional gift box that comes with a 700 ml bottle, a 30 ml miniature and a tumbler. The 15 year old is generally accepted to be a benchmark of sorts and has one of the best price-performance ratios. I first had it in 2006 and wrote about the Glenfiddich Solera Reserve which I got to celebrate a pay raise.

whisky durian

Oh, I nearly forgot this photo.

trollface

Lauder’s finest scotch whisky

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lauders scotch

Lauder’s blended scotch whisky comes in red packaging. This is a
duty free 1 liter bottle of this fine ethanol product from Scotland. I
had kept this in my room and forgot all about it until when I was
packing to come back to Kuching. Imagine that! Ethanol products go forgotten
in the sixthseal.com household! I could hardly believe my own eyes when
I saw this premium scotch from God knows when sitting lonely in my
table, which coincidentally was covered with cloth.

lauders scotch scotland

I suspect my mother had put that supposed “dust filter” on, for
nefarious purposes. What a sight to behold when I flipped up the cloth
and found this gem, which I immediately packed and earmarked for
consumption in Kuching. 😉

lauders scotch bottle

The bottle looks beautiful! It’s molded with concave areas on the
four sides of the bottle with the label at the bottom. Very unique.
Nice to see, nice to hold, once broken, considered sold!

lauders scotch label

Lauder’s scotch is a product of Scotland and contains 43% alcohol.
It’s a 1L bottle coz it was purchased by my dad from one of his trips –
only duty free liquor are sold in 1L bottles. I don’t know why my dad
buys liquor coz he doesn’t display them and he doesn’t drink. I take it
that he’s purchasing it for my drinking pleasure. Heh! Thanks dad! 😉

lauders scotch unique

It tastes really great…premium scotch is always wonderful,
compared to the el cheapo alcohol I’m forced to drink right now due to
dire financial straits. This one has a nice aroma, with complex flavors
and a nice bite. Nice is the word to describe it. The bottle is so
beautifully designed that it’s almost too good to drink…

lauders scotch drink

I said almost. 😉

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