Category Archives: By Cuisine

Microwaved Cabbage and Carrot, a Bachelor’s Tale

Microwaved Cabbage and Carrot

The House of Annie has been pretty quiet lately, as Annie took the kids with her to Kuala Lumpur to visit with friends and family. I’ve been staying here at home in Kuching, living the bachelor life for the past five days. Fortunately, there’s a public holiday coming up on Friday so I’ll be joining Annie and the kids in KL for a few short days over the coming weekend. (Yay!)

So, what have I been eating? On Saturday, I ate pretty well, thanks to our friend Mike who took me to have FooChow beef noodle soup in the morning, Hainam chicken rice for lunch, and thosai and garlic naan for dinner. But the rest of the time, I’ve been eating leftovers for dinner.

Annie left me with a big dish of kau yuk – fried and steamed pork belly and taro . It took me three nights to eat it all, but I finally finished it. So here I am on Wednesday night with no more leftovers to eat. Besides finishing the prepared leftovers, Annie told me that I should cook the head cabbage that was left in the fridge. Continue reading Microwaved Cabbage and Carrot, a Bachelor’s Tale

Braised Pork Belly with Tomatoes in Soy Sauce

Braised Pork Belly with Tomatoes in Soy Sauce

Pork is so tasty here in Malaysia compared to the US. I don’t know what it is but there is just more flavor to the pork meat here. It is unabashedly porky and isn’t dry like what I have found in the US, where I always have to brine the pork for it to taste like anything at all. Maybe it is also because the pork we get here at the market is really fresh and mostly locally raised. Whatever the reason, it’s just delicious.

The interesting thing about buying pork in Malaysia is that if you go to the wet market, you will find all the pork vendors in a separate part of the market away from the rest of the other meat vendors. Pork is non-halal for Muslims so whenever you want to buy pork, you need to buy it from a special section. The same happens if you go to a grocery store—they have a special section for all the non-halal items including some imported desserts and foods that may contain lard, gelatin and other pork parts.

The other day, I was at the grocery store in the non-halal section and found some pork belly on sale at a 25% discount. Though it was a thin slice, it had beautiful layers of meat and fat and was just calling my name. I decided that I had to buy it and figure out something to cook later on. Continue reading Braised Pork Belly with Tomatoes in Soy Sauce

Seven Secrets for Perfect Thai Fried Chicken Wings

Thai Fried Chicken Wings

Thai Fried Chicken Wings

Who doesn’t like fried chicken? I know it’s something I can’t resist. As a matter of fact, when I was pregnant with my kids, the only thing I ever had cravings for was fried chicken. No, I didn’t crave pickles, and I didn’t crave ice cream. I ONLY wanted fried chicken. And after eating it, I would be so happy and contented.

Thing is, I don’t really like to deep-fry at home. As a matter of fact, I try to stay away from deep-frying as much as I can. I just don’t like how it makes my whole house oily and how much it makes myself oily.

But ok, when I saw this recipe for Thai-marinated fried chicken at Chez Pim’s site, I just could not resist it. The chicken looked so scrumptious, and the flavorings were distinctly Thai but without the spicy bite. And I could just imagine the crunchy snap as you take that first bite into crispy skin. Yum!

Continue reading Seven Secrets for Perfect Thai Fried Chicken Wings