Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Pakoda

Pakoda is a great appetizer.  It is simple and taste fragrant.  I can simply snack on this (peanut-like) pakoda.

My friends and I used to buy them from the "kacang-boy" from our school canteen.  We get two palmful for a twenty cents purchase.

Right now you can find this snack where the Indian uncle used to sell its wide range of peanuts.  A small packet of maybe 200gm would costs $2.00.  For me, I feel this snack is real value for money.  It is crunchy and once you eat it, you simply cannot stop.



Pakoda can be kept for a few weeks in such container, and it still taste fresh and crunchy.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is famous for its Chinese restaurant menu.  You can find dim sum hong kong, food centers and restaurant that serves dim sum, pork roast oven, roast chicken recipe in every part of the island.  There are also many restaurants that serve seafood in Hong Kong.

We were there for about 5 days sometime in October and was intoxificated with great Chinese restaurant menu that serves Hong Kong Food and dim sum. Hong Kong is popular for its dim sum and one of the dim sum Chinese restaurant that we had visited and enjoyed most is the Maxim Dim Sum Restaurant at the International City Hall.  It has great ambience and the prices of the dim sum there are also reasonable. 



Maxim has a full range of different cuisines offerings, fine dining and bakeries situated all over Hong Kong.  Its bakeries sell cakes and bakeries, some of them comes with cafĂ© attached too.  In addition, they do have branches that serve Japanese cuisines, Vietnamese and Thai cuisines,  and their Chinese hong kong restaurants have offerings of Cantonese or Chiu Chow food.  They also have restaurants serving fast food and western food. For those who are celebrating any occasion at home, they can also cater their spreads from Maxim,

Another popular food that originated from Hong Kong is its luk luk or seafood like fish balls, meat balls, beef balls, cuttlefish served in a stick, dipped in boiling water or curry cravy.  The meat and seafood usually range from HKD10 to HKD80 per piece or per bowl.  They can be found in shops at road corners.  Seats are not provided.  Customers stand around the shop area to finish the food that they had just purchased from the shop or ta pau, ie pack back.  There are usually fruits stalls that sell fresh fruits and fruits juice at reasonable price of around HKD15 to HKD50 next to the shop.

There are also Chinese restaurant that is similar to Hong Kong Style tea house that serves good egg tarts, pineapple buns and milk tea like Tsui Wah franchise of restaurants.   They have branches in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, new Hong Kong, Macau and even some parts of China.  They serve a range of congees and great stir fried seafood noodle, noodle and rice with pork roast, roasted chicken recipe and char siew.



Hong Kong is also well known for its varieties of sweet desserts served by the big names like Honeymoon Dessert, Hui Lau Shan franchise of stalls around the island.  We love the range of mango desserts and puddings that the dessert franchises offer.  The dessert that ranges around HKD20 to HKD100 for some of the meal sets are to savour for.

Sai Kung has a string of seafood restaurants that serve great varieties of seafood. Some of the restaurants here have to be booked months in advance.  Some of them allow you to buy or bring your own seafood and they would just charge you for the cooking of the food.  There is a market nearby where you can buy fresh and affordable seafood.


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Baking Butter Cake Recipe

Baking butter cake can be easy and fun.  I had always thought that baking recipes are complicated and baking is tough.  Why then do the cakes cost so much.  My dad likes butter cake.  So do my mum and my mother-in-law.  The butter cake recipe that my aunt usually use to bake for him.  I have always wanted to bake and show off to my friends who have been bombarding their facebook pages with pictures of mouth watering cakes, muffin and tarts.

Baking Recipes

I never knew baking could be so fun and addictive.  I baked close to 30 cakes last year, not inclusive of muffins and cookies.  I attempted a few baking recipes like the chocolate cake, chocolate muffins, banana cake, chiffon cake, but nothing came close to the easy butter cake recipe.  Baking is made easy with today's information.  I can simply google for the recipes i love or the pictures i love best.

Butter Cake Recipe



The butter cake recipe is easy and fast to bake. The butter cake recipe taken from my aunt, who is a great baker. It is simple and easy, 1 lb of sugar and 1 lb of butter and 1 lb of self raising flour. Add two tablespoon of margarine with ten eggs. Beat the butter and margarine and sugar for about five to ten minutes using medium speed beating, add the eggs.  Continue beating for about 3 mins. Add in the flour and stir well. Pour in baking tray that you have greased.  And it is all good to go into oven for about 45 minutes.

Baking can get expensive when you are addictive to it.  One night, I baked 3 trays of cakes, all different types.  But, buying cakes are even pricier.