Yu Wat @ Seri Kembangan and Coffee Ribs @ Klang

Taking a break from Bali ( I think some of you are getting sick of it..hehe), let's move back closer to home on some food I had months back but have not posted..

Ab wanted us to try this famous homemade yut wat (sorta flat fish cake/ fish ball) at Serdang for a long, long time and finally we did manage to do a rombongan sambil memakan to this place one fine day. After placing our orders, we got our drinks quite promptly. I decided to have tong sui instead, they were serving mak juk (sweet wheat dessert). I find it a little too sweet for my liking though..

There were quite a number of noodles to choose from, but Jane and I decided to try the yut wat noodles.The noodles were served in clear broth, generously laden with yu wat and vegetables. The yut wat was springy in texture and had quite a lot of fish meat added into it. The soup was sweet but I did feel that the vegetables distorted the soup a little. After eating the noodles for a while, the soup had the 'greens' (from the veg) taste.

Dragon girl opted for yut wat cooked with milk..Well, it's actually the same ingredients and broth for fish head noodles, but here, they serve it with yu wat and fish slices. Dragon girl said it was average..

Ab, eric and vince had the tom yum seafood noodles instead..It must have tasted pretty good as the guys stopped talking and concentrated on finishing their bowl of noodles..And the prawns seemed endless, Ab was eating one prawn after another and I thought it was a bottomless seafood noodles..hehe

After the noodles, we started talking about other food and eric said that Klang has a rather famous kopi kuat (strong coffee).

Why do we need to go to Klang for kopi kuat? We can get it anywhere!

Not kopi kuat! Kopi guat!! (coffee ribs), eric replied..

Oh I see....:D

Since we were on eating mood already, we decided to continue our rombongan to Klang..

And we ended at Restoran Happy Village..As we already had lunch, we ordered their coffee ribs and a rather famous claypot taufoo. They are also famous for their steamed fresh water fish head, but we didnt order that.

We ordered vegetables as we sorta feel guilty on having too much meat..Vegetables was surprisingly quite good, has got sufficient "wok hei"..

The claypot tau foo (RM16) was served next..It actually looks more like sharksfin soup rather than tau foo. I'd say it's tau foo kang actually. The soup consists of taufoo (cubed and mince), chopped mushrooms, prawns, and carrots..The texture was velvety, creamy..very comforting to drink :). The taste was also nicely balanced, not too salty nor sweet. For a bit of kick, add in vinegar..yummy..

And at last, the coffee ribs (RM6 per rib).. and goodness me, it was rather humongous! It was more of a chop than a rib...deep fried, the ribs were coated with thick, sticky sauce. Yes, the taste of coffee was definitely there, leaving a slightly bitter aftertaste. And the sugar and dark soy sauce added some other layers of flavours. We did find the meat rather tough though. Eric said that it was not as good as the previous times he tried :(

So how does one eat the coffee ribs? Hold the end of the ribs and tear the meat out like a carnivour! hahaha

The yu wat noodles is located in Serdang, operates from a corner house. This is the entrance..Anyways, I got Ab to give me the directions, and I quote from him..

From Serdang Main road, turn to the left before BHP petrol station. Then you will pass by Seri Kembangan police station. First right turning all the way till the end followed by a left. Drive all the way to the end and you will have to take a right. Go straight and will see the shop on the right, corner house.

Restoran Happy Village is located at 39, Jalan Satu, Kawasan 16, Jalan Batu Tiga Lama, Berkeley, 41300 Klang, Selangor. Tel: 03-33430933

Success! With Duck!

Some dear friends of mine, Fred and Linda, were coming into town to spend the night and since both of them really love and appreciate good food, I wanted to have a dinner worthy of the celebration (good friends are not easy to find and when they move away...) I made venison for them the last time they came to town so I looked in my freezer and found some ducks that we stockpiled when they were on sale for $1.29/lb at Harris Teeter and that seemd a good candidate for a celebratory dinner.

Now before I go further, let me say that I have had mixed reults with duck. Duck, if prepared right, can be rich and moist. But if cooked wrong... greasy and stringy. When I took the ducks out of the freezer, I thought my son, the chef, would be here and he would have some good ideas for how best to cook it to help me get closer to the rich and moist end of the spectrum. However, his plans changed and he had to return to Rockville and so I was on my own, and I did what any self-respecting foodie would do... go to the files of the Epicurious recipe files and looked for a highly rated duck recipe!

I found a recipe that looked promising and I had to make some adjustments (it called for dried lavender, which I neither had nor could find) I called my son who was en route back to MD and asked what I could use as a substitution and he informed me that lavender is an aromatic and so rosemary (though less of it) would be an acceptible substitute. This recipe called for you to score the skin and fat (not the flesh) with a knife in order to allow the fat to be rendered and crisp the skin, a new technique that I had never used. I followed the recipe, and the duck was fabulous, the meat was rich and moist and the skin...ah, the skin... This recipe is enough to make one get over fear of duck (AFLAC-phobia) A bonus? You put the liver into the cavity and cook it with the duck, then when the cooking is complete, you remove the liver (the dreaded foie gras) and mash and serve spread on baguette. When I mashed the livers I added a bit of the strained duck fat, and a bit of the cooking juice to make into a moist spread, and it was a hit as well! One warning: there is not a lot of meat on a duck, so if 1 chicken feeds your family, it will take two ducks.

I served the duck with Feta Potatoes (basically, cubed cooked potatoes with butter and chunks of feta), and my pear and dried blueberry with goat cheese salad. For dessert... I cheated- tiramisu from the shelves of Costco, but good nonetheless (and after picking at the duck skin, no one had much appetite left for dessert.

After dinner, Molly (after all, she is the ruler of the universe) made our guests play charades, a game entered into somewhat half-heartedly, but ended in hilarity (thanks Molly!) All in all, a wonderful visit with wonderful friends, and delicious food.

Epicurious-style Roasted Duck with Honey

1 whole duck, rinsed and dried with giblets removed (reserve liver)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme from my garden/cart and I used about twice as much)
1 1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp black peppercorns
4 tbsp dried lavender (I substituted 3 tbsp fresh rosemary)

1 cup low fat chicken broth
3 tablespoons dry red wine

4 tablespoons honey ( I used clover, but wildflower or orange would be lovely)

Rinse and dry duck thoroughly. Put all the herbs, salt and pepper in a morter and grind until somewhat uniform and well-blended. Rub the ducks inside and out with this mixture and place on a rack in a pan (I use my broiler pan). Cut through the skin and fat layer in a criss-cross pattern (careful not to cut through the meat) on the breast side of the bird. Place reserved liver in cavity. Roast for 2 hours in 330 degree oven. Remove from oven, drain liquid from pan and separate the fat from the meat juices adding juices back to pan with broth and wine. Put ducks in the pan, and baste the skin with the honey. Put back in oven and roast until ducks are a rich brown and the internal temperature is 180 degrees.

Remove liver from cavity, and mash with a bit of the duck fat and some of the meat juices to make a spread. I also removed the little squares of crisp duck skin (they were incredible) and put them on the serving platter with the sliced duck breast and duck legs. I am sure you could make a sauce with the pan juices, but I didn't even find it necessary.

Give this a try, it is a decadent and delicious meal!

P.S. I apologize for no pix. I was so distracted about getting dinner on the table for guests (and delighted that it turned out) that I didn't take any pictures!

Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake View, Bali

It was rather chilly when we were at Lake Batur. After walking and snapping loads of pictures, it was only natural that we wanted to eat, the cold makes us hungry real quickly..hehe

Luckily for us, our lunch was only 2-3 minutes drive from the lake. :)

Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake is a simple restaurant that has a very nice view of the lake (from afar). We decided to seat at the extension of the restaurant, build with planks and supported by sturdy wood at the bottom. Ordering was prompt, we decided to have their specialty, ayam bakar taliwang as recommended at the entrance..

Drinks were served first, and I ordered kopi jahe which was something I've not tried before. It's actually kopi Bali with halia (coffee with ginger). I've tried teh halia, so, kopi halia should be ok? The ginger taste was pretty distinct, most unfortunately, the coffee tasted slightly burnt. Not so fantastic, just an average beverage..

Our salad came next, well, it's called pelecing kang kung there, which is actually spicy chinese water spinach.This is a very appetising dish actually, the sauce is very spicy and sourish; the vegetables were sweet and refreshing; and the peanuts add some crunchy and savoury taste to this dish. I like this.

We had the bebek bakar (roasted duck) which was really lip smacking. I noticed that the ducks in Bali are small, we ordered a portion of this, which was not sufficient! The skin was very crispy, I would have thought that they deep fried the duck, but after taking a bite, there was a subtle smoky flavour lingering amidst the spices and herbs marination. Love it. Didnt like the accompanying sauce though, tasted like diluted peanut butter with chilli oil. Just skip the sauce and enjoy the duck in it's full glory. ;)

We wanted to have pecel lele (fried catfish), most unfortunately, they ran out of it and we settled for gurami goreng. I was a tad worried that this fish would have the muddy taste, luckily for us, the fish was fine and very fresh. Juice squeeze some lime juice on it, and it's a pretty delicious deep fried fish. Not as good as the duck though...hehe

Alas, the star of the restaurant, ayam bakar taliwang... I'm not sure how they roast their meat in Bali, but again, the chicken looks like it was deep fried (though now we know it's not). The chooks there are small too, the drumstick was tiny! Still, this is one tasty chicken, very well marinated with herbs and spices; and the meat was very springy and sweet. Very tasty. A satisfying meal with a total cost of approx RM30. It's all good.. ;) Rumah Makan Bedugul Lake View is located at Jalan Jurusan Denpasar, Singaraja, Candi Kuning. From Candi Kuning/ Lake Batur exit, take a left turn. Drive on for about 2-3 minutes. You'll see some stalls along the lake. Just after the stalls is the restaurant on your left.

Taking Inspiration from Kalyn- Weekend Herb Blogging

When I heard that Anna of Anna's Cool Finds was hosting while Kalyn is at the Blogher Convention, I had a recipe from Wednesday night's tapas. I saw a recipe by Kayln for an herb rub for fish and since the theme for this weeks tapas was lowfat, healthy food, I decided to take a page from her book, and make something similar. I used cilantro I bought, fresh basil from my "moving garden", lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh parmagiano reggiano. I ground it together by pulsing it in my Magic Bullet, spread it on mahi-mahi fillets and baked for 15 minutes, then broiled for a couple of minutes to make a bit of a crust.For those of you who have not yet succumbed to the Magic Bullet infomercial, you can use a blender or food processor instead.

This turned out to be delicious, almost like a pesto, but a little lighter than traditional pesto with a citrus-y taste that went very well with the delicate flavor of the fish. This lends itself to a milder flavored fish, but I think it could also be a great base for a salad dressing, or served over hot vegetables like zucchini or cauliflower , or even used on chicken as well. This is more guidelines than a recipe, so grab some herbs, some oil and play with food to come up with your own spin!

Herb-Crusted Mahi-Mahi

1 bunch cilantro, without stems
1 handful fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon squeezed

2-ounce chunk of parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic minced

6 small mahi-mahi fillets (3-4 ounces a piece)

Put all ingredients together in Magic Bullet or food processor.Pulse until well-mixed, adding more olive oil if necessary to get to the consistency of pesto. Spread on top of fish fillets. Bake in ove for 15 minutes or until fillets flake with a fork. Broil 2-3 minutes to toast cheese and then serve.

Waiter! There's Something in My....Sauce

I haven't participated since the WTSIM... Easter Basket, so I saw over at SpittoonExtra (unlikely a name as that is for a food blog)that the subject was sauces and this Wednesday's Tapas night with the additional challenge of selecting dishes that are low fat (my husband just got his bloodwork back, and cholesterol and blood sugars are an issue!) And thanks to Andrew I had enough time to play with some candidates (he moved the deadline). So Evil David and I developed a menu that was heavy on vegetables and light on fat and processed carbs.

So here is what we came up with - David's dishes: Huge Garden Salad with heirloom tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette, Edamame Italian style and Miso Soup. My dishes: Mahi-Mahi with Green Sauce and Whole wheat pasta with a Rustic red clam sauce. Since the green sauce was inspired by a dish I saw on Kalyn's site, I am saving that one for Weekend Herb Blogging. I am featuring the Rustic red clam sauce because besides being a sauce meeting the criteria, it also featured some fresh herbs from my garden and some local tomatoes I got from my favorite farmer we affectionately call "Tractor Joe". This sauce is a version of one I used to make all the time and it takes the regular clam sauce and lightens it up for summer, using fresh tomatoes. This sauce also lends itself to experimentation to make it a little different each time (you know how I love to play with food!) While I used canned (gasp!) clams because that is what I had in the house, it would be even better with fresh shucked clams, or I would imagine you could make the rest of the sauce and then add fresh clams in the shell (mahogany or littlenecks would be best) cooking until they open. Something I would definitely do next time would be to add an anchovy or two when sauteeing the garlic for a richer taste.

Rustic Red Clam Pasta Sauce

3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced (or you could use a can of stewed tomatoes in a pinch)

2-4 garlic cloves , minced (to me, more is better)

1 medium onion, chopped coarsely

1 cup artichoke hearts, chopped coarsely

1/4-1/2 cup sundried tomatoes chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1 can baby clams, drained, liquid reserved

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil chiffonade

Heat olive oil and saute garlic, being careful not to brown. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent (here is where I would add an anchovy). Add all the rest of the ingredients (including the clam liquid) except clams. Cook on medium heat until sauce is reduced by about half, or until sauce no longer looks watery, but still a bit soupy. Toss with your choice of cooked pasta, and serve with shaved parmesan cheese and a chiffonade of fresh basil (I used purple basil from my garden). (If you are not watching carbs, this sauce really lends itself to mopping up (isn't there a more sophisticated term for this) with a delicious rustic bread!)

Local fruits, Bali

On the way up to Kintamani (to view the volcano and lake), we passed by loads of fruit trees.

We kept quiet at the beginning, observing the various fruit trees on both sides of the road. It was nearing 1pm when we asked Ketut is we were any where near Kintamani.

Lebih kurang 1 jam lagi, Ketut replied

Our stomachs were already protesting, we need to eat something..
Apa tu? Bollywood Queen pointed to her right. We see some small trees with fruits resembling mandarin oranges..

Tu buah jeruk, Ketut replied patiently, as we have been asking him question on Bali for the past 2 hours..
We saw a stall by the road selling fruits and we promptly stopped to do some marketing..hehe

Jeruk did taste like mandarin oranges, albeit a slightly sour version of it. We also had buah salak, which can be found in Malaysia. Bali's buah salak is sweeter and more fragrant though..

The buah belanda was hard to miss with it's vivid colouring.. All of us wanted to try it so the local quickly cut a fruit for us..I cant describe the flavour, it's something I've not tasted before. Sweet, sour, tangy..and crunchy, as we are to eat it with the seeds, this local fruit was erm, different. Not one of my favourite though..

I prefer buah markisa, which tasted something like passion fruit.. Eaten again, with the seeds; the first taste that hits you is sweetness, followed by sourness....The funny thing is, if you choose eat the fruit without the seeds, it's actually really sour. But if you chew it with the crunchy seeds, it somehow neutralises the sourness and it tasted just fine. And no worries about the seed; it dont have the raw, green taste. It tasted something like sunflower seeds, but crunchier..

My friend said that we can find buah markisa in Msia, have you bought it before?

Food Blogga's 5 things meme

The overachiever in me has to close old business before I can start new business. Susan over at Food Blogga tagged me for a meme with a lot of questions right before my internet service crapped out, so before I regale you with new food tales, I am yet again opening up and sharing more things than you probably want to know about me. I won't be tagging anyone, but feel free to pick this up if you want to share.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was working at Jefferson Lab for a visionary lab director helping scientists push the frontiers of nuclear physics (impressive, huh?) and had five children at home including Molly, who was only 2 years old then (they really do grow up so fast!).


Five snacks you enjoy:


Popcorn with butter and parmesan

Peanut butter and nutella

Cream cheese and pepper jelly

Veggie sticks

Cherries (I love cherries!)


Five songs you know all the lyrics to:

I love music and can remember the words to lots of songs as diverse as the Star Spangled Banner, Thriller by Michael Jackson, Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, almost anything by Chicago and Killing in the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine!


Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Quit my job (call in rich!) and pursue writing for a living full-time

Buy a house at the beach as my own Dowd family compound

Start a scholarship for non traditional college students (I was one once)

Travel to New York, San Francisco, Paris and eat some great food

Take my entire family and go to Disney World!!


Five bad habits:

Singing in the car when I'm driving

Sitting on my legs (bad for the circulation)

Grinding my teeth

Channel surfing on TV and the car radio

Decompressing in front of the TV (though with my kids)


Five things you like doing:

Playing badminton with my family

Camping

Working in the garden

Going somewhere new

Reading in my hammock



Five things you would never wear again:

Mini skirt

Bikini (after baby #3, just not happening)

Tube top (can't believe I ever wore those...)

Polyester anything (if I can help it!)

Bra without underwire (menopausal woman's best friend!)


Five favorite toys:

Bubbles (I still love them to my kids' chagrin)

Kite

The Game of Life

Bejeweled (the computer game)

Barbies (when my brothers got GI Joes, my Barbie cut her hair and became an army nurse!)



Okay, Susan, I hope you're happy! If you feel inclined, you too can tell the world that you know all the words to Disco Duck. Back tomorrow with my entry in this month's Waiter There's Something in My...

Ilva and the Interview Meme

I may be the last person in the blogosphere to participate in this meme that is making the rounds, but I was intrigued by Ilva's of Lucullian Delights offer to write a set of tailored questions if you would like to be interviewed. I have read many questions and responses and it was interesting to see fellow bloggers, what they honed in on in developing their questions and the responses. I received Ilva's questions today, and so I am closing the loop. Here are her questions and my answers.

1. How has your view of children's food or the way you feed your children changed since you had your first one?

First of all, I am a big proponent of breast-feeding, though I hear it is losing favor among young mothers. I breast-fed all of my children for at least 3 months, and I think the fact that none of them suffer from allergies can in large measure be attributed to that. Once real food came into the picture, I made a lot of my own baby food (have you tasted jarred baby food- wallpaper paste tastes better!) Most of my children are adventurous eaters, mainly because when they were young, I insisted on making only one meal for everyone, no special requests and you had to take a "brownie bite" (an old Girl Scout expression) of anything on your plate. Now that I only have one child under 18 at home, I am more flexible with this rule. If I make something Molly doesn't like she can have any leftovers we have on hand or something she can make herself (salad, grilled cheese, sandwich, egg or chicken salad).

I also love to make food an occasion- for example, we have "Chinese New Year's Eve" when we have homemade Chinese food (one of my early posts) and eat sitting on the floor around our cocktail table with chopsticks. During the Olympics, we have food from a different country every night (this is a lot of fun with questions about participating countries, history of the Olympic games etc. and prizes from the Dollar Tree for those with the most right answers). I want my children to appreciate other cultures and one of the best ways is through food.

2. Which is the dominating colour in your house now when it's been painted?

Well, since I have been blogging lately about our rental home and I believe that is where Ilva came up with this question, I have to say that we have painted the interior primarily shades of Ivory and White, since a home you rent should use neutral colors so any potential client can see their furnishings at home there. However, I am a real color person and when we lived in that house my master bedroom was painted a midnight blue with white glossy trim, and our dining room trim was painted a marine blue, which I loved.

Since this house was our family's home for 17 years, we had lots of memories there which flooded back as I was prepping and painting rooms. I remembered before Katie was born climbing on a ladder at 8 months pregnant during my "nesting" phase handpainting a stencil of yellow tulips above the picture molding. Perhaps the weirdest color combination was when Colleen and Katie were young teens and were sharing the same room and couldn't agree on colors- the compromise was dark lavender, almost purple walls (Colleen's choice)and green trim (Katie's choice). It sounded a lot better in principle than it looked in practice! To this day, we call that room the "Barney" room after the famous dinosaur!

In my own home, we have only painted three rooms (many of the new rooms in the addition were painted builder's beige and white, and we have not gotten around to them yet) and my pride and joy is my dining room which is painted Martha Stewart's Barn Red with her Glass of Milk trim. I had to put my foot down since my husband was totally opposed (when it was being painted he called it "the artery"). It is a gorgeous room and provides a great backdrop for our antiques. With all my new well-honed painting skills and I am anticipating putting more colors on my walls (after a respite from marathon painting, of course!) You can see it in the picture on the right, decorated for the Katie/Molly birthday celebration!

3. Do you have a secret vice that you are prepared to share with us?

If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now would it? I think it is not a secret that I am a wicked stress eater and when nobody's looking (and sometimes when they are!) I can eat a movie-sized box of Nerds or a canister of Pringles(mea culpa).

4. Do you collect something? If yes what and why?

My husband and I love antiques, and we have furnished our home with pieces from his parents, and from auctions and antique shops. While some people think of antiques as used furniture, I think of them as furnishings that come with a history. While our pieces wouldn't make us rich on antiques roadshow, they make our house into a warm and comfortable home (and frankly, for a great deal less money than new furniture would cost!) At left, see Bridget dressed for a formal, posing in front of our favorite bargains, a Chinese wedding cabinet (Bridget's one of our favorite's too!)

5. The best thing you have ever eaten, why and where!

Wow, this is a tough one! I have not been to culinary Meccas like New York or San Francisco or Paris, or Santorini, but I have eaten some great food. The best meal I ever had was at James Haller's Blue Strawberry Restaurant in New Hampshire almost 25 years ago. It was a fixed menu dinner, and my husband and I were young marrieds with a new baby and we scrounged all the money (including change) we had to afford this dinner with the rest of his family. To be honest, except for meals I have made myself, it is the only multi (more than 3)-course meal I have ever had in a restaurant (horrors!). I was so impressed with James Haller's no-recipe approach to food, that I bought the cookbook, and I incorporated his philosophy into my own way of cooking. The best single dish- A venison backstrap with a drunken cherry sauce made by Evil David on what we affectionately called "The Mother of all Tapas Nights". Simple food pleasure (unparalleled) - a s'more made around the campfire on a cool fall evening!

If any one is out there that hasn't yet participated in this meme and would like to be interviewed by me, send me an email and I will send you several questions specifically tailored to you and you too can bare your soul to the blogosphere!

Babi Guling Vs Babi Guling, Bali

I was reminded over a dozen times to eat Babi Guling (roasted suckling pig) before I went over to Bali..

All I had in my head was babi guling, babi guling, babi guling..

Most unfortunately, I chose to visit Bali during their Galungan and Kuningan festival; little did I know that many eateries were closed during this festival. The famous Bu Oka at Ubud was closed for renovations, hence I was at loss on where to find a decent babi guling. Ketut assured me that there's plenty of good babi guling around, just that Bu Oka is famous as it's the only one that was mentioned in the internet..

And searching we did; Ketut was at his wits end when he still could not find any babi guling warung on day 3 at Bali. We did stumbled upon one at Nusa Dua area and we quickly ordered..

Erm, so this is babi guling? Lots like mixed dishes to me..And then i noticed the miserable portion of babi guling (10 o'clock) served with other condiments.The babi guling skin was soggy and chewy and the meat, tough. Some of the side dishes (like the sausage) tasted weird, but the bacon dish, fried fatty meat (the one in pinkish red colour) and some fried stuff (the one in the middle) were pretty tasty. They serve a side of pork soup with spices, which tasted ok. This babi guling meal costs us Rp25 000 (about RM10) which we thought was too expensive. I did not bother to take down the shop's name as I dont recommend this place...

WF and me was still not willing to give up on babi guling though it was the final day in Bali..After our relaxing spa treatment, we decided to look for babi guling yet again. We asked the locals at our hotel, they recommended a new babi guling shop that was opened just one week ago. We managed to find our way there, the shop is indeed new and we were the only customers. We got a little smarter this time around, we specifically requested for babi guling only; ie, no side dishes. And I'm real glad we found this shop..Their babi guling is really, really good, now I understand the reason for all the raving on babi guling. Unlike the baby suckling pig we get in Malaysia, I'd say that the babi guling in Bali is well, at it's "teenage" stage. The crispy skin is slightly thicker than the baby suckling pig, but is thinner than siew yoke (roasted pork). Very crunchy and flavourful, i was taking my sweet time savouring it. The meat on the other hand, was very tender and juicy; sort of melt-in-your mouth texture. Utterly satisfying. And knowing that it only costs us Rp12000 (about RM 5) makes this meal sweeter ;)

I was nicely drinking the soup while eating the condiments, when I noticed that the texture of the "meat" in the soup was rather unusual..It looked like meat, but I know it's not... I asked and was informed that it's actally sup nangka (jackfruit soup). Rich in herbs and spices, I actually enjoyed this soup, though WF stopped drinking almost immediately.

I would love to let you know the name of the shop, but there was no sign board yet..Just look out for a shop that has a picture of a cartoon pig hanging at the entrance with the word Babi Guling. This shop is directly opposite the Legian 24 hours Medical Center. It's a relatively new row of shops.

Jagung Bakar @ Bali

This has got to be my favourite snack in Bali..

Their jagung bakar (grilled corn)

Golden sweet corn grilled to perfection...

Slightly smoky in flavour; the corn can also be grilled with margarine, sugar, honey and/or chilli..

My combination?

Honey and chilli..

wonderfully delicious, blissfully happy...

I can have this everyday...

I'm Back!!

I thank all of you who kept coming back faithfully during my (unintentional) absence from the blogosphere. My DSL service, which had crapped out, has now been replaced with new Verizon Fios service. For those of you who follow this blog, our renovation of our rental house is coming to a close, so I am anticipating that life will return to semi-normal (meaning I will within a week finally have the smell of oil-based paint out of my nostrils). As soon as everything is done, I will post some pictures so that those of you who have shared the trials and tribulations (complaining... bitching...) of renovation with me.

So what have I learned from this forced vacation from blogging? That I miss connecting with all of you! I missed reading the preparations for Shauna's wedding, and offering a last congratulations and best wishes bfore she starts her married life with the Chef. I got tagged with a meme from Susan right before my service went down and I missed the fun of closing that loop (Blogga... by the end of this week, I swear!) I missed reading my regular blogs, corresponding via comments with Tanya, keeping up with the erudite conversation at Ruhlman and Hunger Artist, the everyday moments at Cooking with Anne, Ilva's gorgeous photos that transport me to places I may never be fortunate enough to visit (you still owe me questions, Ilva!). At the risk of seeming over-dramatic I have missed the stimulation, the inspiration, the encouragement, the joy, the laughs, the recipes, descriptions and photos that make me drool and head for my pantry to see what I need to make Dave's latest ice cream or Heidi's delicious veggie dishes. I missed reading Shelley's latest food discoveries that I can get to here in my own town. While my life over the past two weeks has been as busy (if not more) than ever, it just was not as full without all of you.

So here I am, back in the blogosphere, and I will be back here... and visiting your sites... as long as my Fios holds out!

Nasi Pecel Bu Tinuk, Bali

Guess everything's fine and dandy now.. I could load my photos at lightning speed today...woohoo!

Anyways, high time to write about Bali food, so here goes..

We were bugging our driver for food at warung (stalls) which he could not seem to comprehend. He wanted to bring us to clean, expensive restaurants; where tourists usually goes to..

Kami nak makan kat warung! (we wanna eat at stalls!) we chimed in unison while our driver, Ketut, feared that we'll get diarrhoea
Jangan usah! Perut kami pun Made in Indonesia! (dont fret, our stomachs are made in indo!) we joked, but we suspected Ketut didnt find that funny ._."

Ketut didnt really bring us to any warung, but he said that the nasi pecel at Bu Tinuk is delicious and popular amongst the locals. Though it was rather late for dinner at 9:00pm, Bu Tinuk was still pack, with patrons queueing up to select their food.. Obviously, we ordered the nasi pecel with a selection of dishes. All the dishes are pre-cooked except for ayam kalasan, which they'll deep fry it immediately after you placed your order..The pecel is the vegetable served with spicy peanut sauce. The sauce was somewhat like our satay sauce, just more diluted..Reminds me of peanut butter with water. Bu Tinuk has spicy peanut sauce and sweet peanut. i told them to mix both sauces for my pecel.

I ordered daging goreng (deep fried beef) and veg.. The beef was a tad too sweet (from sugar and msg?) but still tolerable. The keropok they served was actually pretty tasty, some sort like pampadam with beans added to it. I enjoyed the pecel, slightly raw; the vegetables was sweet and rather crunchy; the sauce complements the vegetables nicely.

Bollywood Queen had ner nasi with daging bakar(barbequed meat). The meat, though looking unappetising and sorta like dried tree bark; was surprisingly tasty. Though it looked very dry, it was not that dry when we ate it. Very much like beef jerky, except that the daging bakar was more tender in texture.

WF's had her rice with quail eggs and veg.. Looking very much like the chinese lou dan (braised egg), Bu Tinuk's quail eggs tasted like, well, erm, quail eggs. I could not detect any 'extra' flavours to the egg..

Lastly, SM had her rice with begedil (mince meat and potato patty) and veg.. I must say, Bu Tinuk serves the smallest begedil I've ever seen.. about the size of 2 or 2.5 quail eggs? (Could you see it in the pictures? Just next to the carrots..). Average tasting begedil though, Bu Tinuk's is without meat.. Finally, our ayam kalasan is served.. Looks so succulent, I had to quickly take the picture before I attacked it. It does taste as good as it looks.. juicy, tender meat, sweet. I'm not sure what they used to marinate the chicken, but it's one tasty chook!

The ayam kalasan was meant to be eaten with their homemade sambal, which was so, so fiery, SM's face was red the second (yes, you read right, the second) she took a taste of it.. Not for the faint hearted definitely, this sambal was so spicy that our lips was numb by the time we finished dinner.

Talk about once bitten twice shy. Guess I never learnt my lesson? Remember the vile tea I had in Singapore?Well, since Bu Tinuk was serving Teh Botol Sosro, heck, I'll try again before I ban this tea for life. After taking a sip, I am banning it for life. WF, SM and me find it repulsive. Bollywood Queen liked it though, said it tasted like herbal tea ( trust me, it dont)...

Nasi Pecel Bu Tinuk is located at Jln Legian Kelod, No 354 Kuta. Tel: (0361) 750 667