Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year!
Two years since moving back to the US, we are back in Malaysia to visit during Chinese New Year. It is good to be back!
We have soooo been looking forward to this trip! We have missed all our family and friends here. In addition, we have missed all the great food that Malaysia has to offer.
The first thing we ate at our reunion dinner? Yee Sang.
I found the beef!
Do you remember that old Wendy’s Hamburger commercial with the old lady yelling “Where’s the beef?!?” when she sees a pathetically tiny burger patty inside a huge bun? That’s what I feel like yelling whenever I see a burger here in Kuching. The hamburger patties aren’t miniscule, but they are not that big either, AND they aren’t 100% beef as well – there’s a lot of soy mixed in.
Suffice to say, I’ve really been craving a good beef burger. Doesn’t have to be grass-fed, local beef from the North Shore of Oahu like the one I had at Town Restaurant in Kaimuki. Even a Double-Double Animal Style from In-n-Out would be better than the “Two semi-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…” Big Mac I can get at the Kuching Airport McDonald’s.
Continue reading Rider’s Café @ Bukit Timah Saddle Club, Singapore
This isn’t your grandfather’s Chinese Chicken Salad recipe…
…probably because your grandfather never heard of Chinese chicken salad in his hey day. The Chinese chicken salad that we’re familiar with – shredded chicken, raw lettuce, crispy fried noodles, and a sweet, sesame-based dressing – wasn’t popular until the 1970’s.
The Chinese in Asia typically don’t eat raw-leaf lettuce salads. They prefer their greens cooked. Chinese chicken salad as we know it was probably invented in California as a “fusion” of Oriental flavors with Western ingredients.
Concluding our series of homestyle Japanese dishes with a delicious, savory salad.
I love trying out new recipes and new dishes. I’m not one who likes to eat the same thing over and over (though for breakfast, I almost always have toast with peanut butter—go figure, I’m a study in contradictions!). I’m the same with leftovers, unless it’s something I really, really like, I don’t care too much for leftovers. Thankfully Nate will eat up all the leftovers for me. My human “garbage disposal” so to speak ^_^.
So I like to experiment with new recipes and I’m willing to serve them to friends even if it’s the first time I’m making it. This doesn’t always work out as some dishes don’t turn out great the first time (case in point is a braised duck recipe I made recently for a party—I’m NOT blogging about that until I perfect that recipe). But I’m grateful I tried this recipe because the salad turned out perfectly the first time and is simple enough to make with few ingredients. Nate and I agreed that we could have just eaten this dish on its own as a meal.
Continue reading Japanese Sesame Salad with Chicken, Carrots and Cucumber