Treats from Imbi

If Malaysia was a treasure chest of many delicious food, then the Imbi area in KL is certainly a secret compartment in this treasure chest. Managed to wake up in time for breakfast today to revisit Imbi Market, one of my favourite breakfast spots of all time. Food is good and service is fast, the 2 most crucial criterion for any place to be considered a great breakfast place.

Everytime I go with my family, the coffeeshop staff (actually, the owner) knows exactly what we need and brings us our usual morning meal without us having to say anything. Usual means kaya toast, half-boiled egg, iced coffee for dad, hot barley drink for mum. As for myself, I had Milo today. To top off the basic meal, we shared dried wonton noodles, popiah and chee cheong fun. The popiah here is fantastic! the skin is not too thick, and some of the contents are still crunchy.

At night, after a fantastic dinner at Kampachi with my friends from Mauritius and Malaysia, I went to satisfy my craving for Fried Hokkien Mee at Ming Hing, a corner shop at the end of Jalan Imbi. It was heavenly! It started to rain halfway as I was eating with my family. Funny thing was, instead of going indoors for shelter, we started eating faster and faster, trying to finish before the rain gets heavier. I thought it was hilarious. One thing for sure was we left for home contented, full, and happy.

Pictures(from top): popiah, dried wonton noodle, fried Hokkien mee

the truffle adventure

Had a 'shotgun' potluck last week, where we just suddenly decided we didn't want to have Mexican dinner in hall. Since I havn't had much practice with savoury stuff, I thought I'd just do desserts (again).

Didn't want to do my normal fare, so decided to pick a recipe from my Choc & Coffee book - Truffles! First attempt at being a chocolatier - Kokoblack here I come!

Kahlua Truffles (makes approx 25)
200g dark(bittersweet) choc, chopped
150ml double (heavy) cream
45ml Kahlua
115g icing (confectioner's) sugar
cocoa powder, for coating

1. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth then cool slightly
2. Using a whisk, whip the cream with the kahlua in a bowl until thick enough to hold its shape.
3. Stir in melted chocolate and icing sugare . Leave to firm up a little
4. Dust your hands with cocoa powder and shape the mixture into bite-size balls. Coat in cocoa powder and pack into pretty boxes. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days if necessary

I tried 2 batches of these - one batch with just kahlua, another with kahlua and Glenfiddich (single malt whisky)

Good luck!

GONG HEI FATT CHOY!!

Happy Chinese New Year 2008! (Year of the Rat)

I'm back in Canberra for a few days now. It IS really quiet with only a handful of students back in Bruce Hall, but hey, the serene campus and peaceful surroundings make a great setting for getting new inspiration!

CNY was not as loud and large a celebration like the ones i have at home. Probably will be working with dad in bakery till the very last minute of chinese new year, but it's special :)

This year is going to be my 2nd time missing CNY at home, and I've chosen to spend it with my brothers and sisters from OCF. I was the youngest there amongst a group of working adults. My friend Michael had kindly offered his house as a gathering place, and what more, he cooked all the food himself!!! We even had yu sheng, which he ordered from the one and only place that makes yu sheng in Canberra - our very own Mamak corner (run by Malaysian). This 'Aussie' version of yu sheng had beetroot and Japanese pickled ginger in it. Other than that, we had roast pork, hainanese chicken, chicken cooked with potato and mushroom ( ju lynn loves those potatoes.. it's her recipe anyway), hakka vegetarian dish (my fav!), and vege soup followed by red bean soup for dessert. Wonderful wonderful meal.

On a side note, just felt like highlighting some of the works of my dad, who is also my baking instructor. That was a cake made using icing-sugar topping.

enjoy you meal :)