Ayam masak masam manis

This is malay style sweet and sour chicken. The chicken is first marinated in tumeric and salt and then pan fried instead of being battered the chinese sweet and sour style. Next the sweet, sour and (because its a malay dish) spicy sauce is made and mixed with the fried chicken. Serve with steamed rice.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

It's Duncan's birthday so it's time to get baking. Birthdays must always be celebrated with cake, that's my philosophy. This time it's Lemon Drizzle, soft light sponge with it's crunchy sugary topping is just great if you are looking for something sweet but not heavy, perfect dessert to finish with if you have a heavy main meal.

Jam Tarts

Jam tarts come in many different shapes and sizes. These are ones which I like to refer to as Malay style jam tarts. Though it takes time to pipe out the pastry and then roll it, it's worth the effort as they are really morish and simply melt in your mouth. Needless to say, the jam has to be homemade pineapple jam, lightly flavoured with spices to give it that special taste. Delicious!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Crispy battered chicken with crunchy vegetables served with a sweet and sour sauce, this makes a one dish meal when served with steamed rice. Though very common in the UK takeways (ehmm, they are not quite like the ones we have at home as below), this dish is not a common dish during mealtimes at home when I was a kid, it is usually ordered in the 'chu char' restaurant when we have a special occasion and get to eat out.

Food crazy in Penang

I was home for chinese new year 2010 and what is the favourite pastime in Penang if not eating? As usual, on all my trips home, I had to visit each of my favourite food haunts. Sadly, some have disappeared but I did discover some new ones. Above is a small snapshot of the delicious food I had, some of the dishes didnt get a chance to be photographed as I was too excited about eating and forgot all about taking a photograph... may Penang remain the food paradise of Malaysia!

Indian Mee Goreng

Indian fried noodles ...where to start, in Penang there are numerous stalls selling mee goreng, some are mobile and some are not but you need to know which are the good ones! This fried noodles dish requires quite a lot of preparation as you need to prepare the base chilly sauce as well as all the accompanying garnishes separately. However, all the preparation is done, it only takes about 5 minutes to fry up the dish and just a little more time than that to devour the whole plate of noodles! But it is worth the effort!

French Loaf

We just moved into a new house and as a present to myself, I bought a heavy duty mixer. So after hours of kneading dough by hand, now it is time for some serious bread making. The first attempt is this fabulous french loaf (the recipe really is called fabulous french loaf). The result was la oaf which is fluffy on the inside with a nice crunchy crust. This will go really well with a hearty soup. Still good the next day but fabulous just out of the oven!




The rustic looking loaf, whole and sliced

O Bak (Soya Sauce Pork)

This is my comfort food, this is a dish cooked by my late grandmother. It is a shame that I never got any recipes from her before she passed away as she was a wonderful cook. It took me a while to perfect the taste of this dish but I think I have it right this time. This is a very simple dish of fried potato slices, pork and onions cooked in dark soya sauce. Serve it with steamed rice and I revert to being a small little girl in pigtails having lunch before afternoon school.