Live, Love, Laugh: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The making of Yam Cake (Wu Tao Kou)

It is always fun to make some good food during weekends. I had always wanted to make yam cake on one of the weekend but is always 'lazy'. This time, I really mean it. Thanks to Dear to drive me to the morning market for the ingredients. The yam was really fresh !!

Toppings:

1. Garlic

2. Shallots

3. Dried Shrimps (Blend)

4. Chai Pu (Sweet Lobak)

5. Light Soya Sauce

6. Sugar

7. Cooking oil

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Method :

Put cooking oil in wok and heat for a while. Then add in garlic and shallots. Fry until fragrant. Then add in dried shrimps and mix well. Let it fry on the wok for a while. Put in the chai pu and continue to stir and mix well. When almost done, add in some light soya sauce and sugar to taste. Take it up and put on a bowl to cool.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Yam Cake:

1. Garlic

2. Yam (cut into cubes)

3. Five Spice Powder

4. Rice Flour (mix with water)

5. Salt

6. Water

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Methods:

Put cooking oil in wok and heat for a while. Then add in garlic and fry till fragrant. Add in some salt. Pour in the yam and stir it well. Add in five spice powder..and stir well again. After that, put in some water and shimmer for a while. Cover it with the wok cover. Cook until the yam is soft and the water dried up. Add in the rice flour and mix well again until it become very sticky. You can also add some of the topping to make it taste better. After it became sticky (like a big portion of sticky dough) , put it on a metal container. Use a spoon with some oil to press and flatten the paste. Steam again over high temperature at 1 hour or 1 1/2 hours. You can use a chopstick to check whether it is done. If the chopstick still appear with many paste sticking on it, it means you have to continue to steam it..

The blended dried shrimps

Chai Pu
Fresh Yam from the morning market
Five Spice Powder
Blended Rice Flour
Garlic and Shallots
While cutting the yam into cubes... Nicely cut yam.. (^_^)
Frying the dried shrimps and chai pu..
The toppings are done !!
The sticky dough on the metal container
Press to flatten the paste. Spoon must have some cooking oil so you can flatten it smoothly.
Ready to steam for 1 -1.5 hours

Lastly, when it is done, put the toppings on top of the yam and put some spring onion for garnishing. If you want to put some chillies is also nice..

All Thanks to MOM for this great family recipe.

Many had said that it tastes very good!

** The ingredients portions are based on agak-agak only.. **

Monday, March 30, 2009

Dinner at the Chilis'

Our first time at the Chilis', One Utama was great. Just to enjoy a dinner only the two of US : enjoying the good food and the nice environment. The waiters were very attentive which is something I like .. afterall, we paid for their service, right ?

While waiting for the food to be served ...

Starter: Southwestern Eggrolls

Smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeño Jack cheese, red peppers and spinach wrapped inside a crispy flour tortilla. We serve it with our avocado-ranch.

MONTEREY CHICKEN

CRISPY HONEY-CHIPOTLE CHICKEN CRISPERS

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

I had always wanted to go somewhere for an outing to practice using my DSLR. I guess probably Butterfly Park is a nice place to go as it is just in the city. Furthermore, when thinking of butterflies, they can be adorable with their colourful wings making the shots colourful too? I am an amateur photographer that I do not have the 'uummppphhh' skills.. Anyway, I had tried my best for the best shots ..

The entrance fee for an adult is RM 8.00 And if you are bring along a camera, they will charge you an additional RM 1.00 If you are a tourist/foreigner, they will charge a different entrance fees. I think it is RM 18.00

I think this view looks good..

Butterfly enjoying pineapple for their lunch .. Hehe ^_^

Another butterfly enjoying it's banana lunch ..

Some of the nice plants in the park..

It is all covered up so the butterflies won't fly away..

I wonder if these switches are still functioning ..

I did it for my first own photography outing ...

When you are about to exit, you can see how the beautiful butterflies are nicely preserved in the frames.. It is an air-conditioned room to cool you down from the hot weather outside ..

I'm glad I had been there for some nice shots of the beautiful butterflies.. (^_^)

A crafted pillar at the entrance of the butterfly park..

The are plenty of car parks. For drivers, you don't need to worry about that..

---------------------------------------------------------------

Operating Hours: Mon - Sun: 0900 - 1800

Admission Charge: RM 18.00 (Adult - Non Malaysian) / RM 8.00 (Children - Non Malaysian) / RM 8.00 (Adult - Malaysian) / RM 4.00 (Children - Malaysian)

There is also a charge of RM 1 for each camera brought in, RM 4 for videocam. This park is strictly a "NO TRIPOD ALLOWED".

Tenants' Nite 2009

The Petronas Twin Towers had organized a yearly event for it's tenants called Tenants' Nite 2009 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. The theme is Black & White. This year is a little special than the previous years as they also included a session 'So u think u've got talent? into their agenda. Obviously, if you think have the talent and would like to show it off the the crowds, you are welcome to join this competition. But before that, you have to go through the auditions and there were 7 contestents who managed to go the final round. Our beloved Rustam from The Company is one of the finalist too.