Native Fruit - Buah Salak

Salak, also known as snake fruit due to the brown scaled skin. It is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the palm.

They are about the size and shape of a ripe fig. Just like manggis, the fruit consists of lobes, with large seed inside each lobes. It has a hint of sweet and sourish taste and the texture is firm and crunchy, just like apple and pear. If you are not lucky enough, you might get salak that tasted "kelat" (bitter aftertaste), according to Bin Gregory. There's another species of salak with elongated pear shape from Malaysia Best site.

At first sight, one might be pulled back by the snake scale like skin, but apparently a lot of people love buah salak after they had their first bite. I have no idea where can we get it around KL city as these pictures were taken at Kuala Terengganu by KampungBoy.

Ipoh Food Search - The battle of curry mee

Apparently you have to make a stop in Ipoh for a bowl of spicy curry mee if you are craving for some. Xin Quan Fang 新泉芳 and Sun Seng Fatt dominate the 'curry mee market' in Ipoh with their wide press coverage and familiarity among non locals. Sun Seng Fatt's commercially packeted curry can now be found in Hong Kong and Shanghai. They had a branch in PJ in which Boolicious reviewed before.

There are some new comers or small places with little fame that sells nice curry mee too, to name a few Hollywood Canning Garden and Nam Chao Old Town.

Please bear in mind not to walk to the frontl expecting them to take your orders, unless you want to be scolded so much! This applies to most FAMOUS specialty shop in Ipoh. They never bother whether you are annoyed by the long waiting hours, they just have too many customers that keep coming back!

You can find framed newspaper coverage about them around..

The dipping sauce with garlics, onions, chillis and LARDS. I personally think that the artery clogging lard laden sauce make them stand out as the famous place for curry mee. Imagine dipping the shred chickens, roasted pork and prawns with this, you get full mouth of OIL and great satisfaction within.

Most patrons would have the combination of chicken, roasted pork, prawn and ipoh taugeh with the curry mee. It ranged from RM 3 to RM 5 depends on the portion. My greedy family ordered extra LIUS that came seperately.



The curry mee has a strong smell of some Indian spices and no doubt they added great amount of santan that make it so rich and aromatic.

Xin Quan Fang ('Ma-Da-Liu Curry Mee')
Used opposite the new town police station which have now move across the road

Sun Seng Fatt
No. 23, Jalan Market,Ipoh, Perak
No. 28, Jalan SS2/10, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Chilled Oreo Cheesecake

It was my younger sister's 18th birthday last week and it happens that I'm in the mood for some whisking and stirring. So I came out with an chilled oreo cheecake that noone can resists. I'm so glad that it was a hit among her friends.

Sis, wishing you a birthday as lovely as you are, as special as the things you do, and as happy as the times we've shared together.

Ingredients

For the base:
200g Oreo biscuits (cream removed, leaving only the biscuit), finely crushed
100g chocolate sponge cake, mashed
60g butter, melted

For the topping:
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
65g butter, at room temperature
100g castor sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp gelatine

1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped until just stiff

50g Oreo biscuits (cream removed), crushed coarsely

Method

1. Lightly grease a 20cm spring form pan.
2. Melt butter in a small container on power medium high for five to 10 seconds in a microwave oven.
3. Mix melted butter, biscuit crumbs and chocolate sponge cake until evenly mixed.
4. Transfer mixture into the spring form pan; spread evenly.
5. Use a flat-bottomed glass and press mixture evenly over the base.
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.Blend cream cheese, sugar and lemon rind until smooth; add butter and continue to blend until smooth.
7. Mix lemon juice and gelatine in the microwave oven.
8. Heat on power high for 30 seconds, uncovered.
9. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved, then pour the gelatine mixture into the cheese mixture.
10. Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Stir in biscuit crumbs and pour mixture into a prepared cake tin.
11. Refrigerate for at least three to four hours or until set.
12. To remove, run a knife around the inside of the tin and turn cheesecake out onto a serving dish.
13. I julienne the lemon skin and spread it on the top of the cake as I love the bitterly taste of lemon peel.
    
    Recipe by Amy Beh from The Star Kuali

Jam Filled Cheese Tart

My cravings for something sweet have been constant and hard to ignore, especially after my meal. I just need something SWEET to flush down the smell of onions garlic and ginger that stays in my mouth. Weirdo! Like any other addiction, sugar intake can be a tough one to kick.

So this time I adapted this blueberry cheese tart recipe from Jo's Deli and Bakery for my sinful cravings.

Instead of blueberry filling, I made use of the st dalfour's fruit jam sitting in the fridge. I found some recipes that make our life much easier too! Pastry that use cracker crust is the perfect foil for the cheese filling. All you have to do is process the crackers finely, add in cream butter and sugar, and finally bake it under 180 degree for 15 min.

I try using both fire at the first 10 minutes and then turn to bottom fire only later as suggested by the recipe from Jo's Deli and Bakery. The cheese filling turn out just nice.

Tada! Looks awful but tastes good! Love the soft and airycream filling and the juicy fruit compote. I made all four flavours of tart - black cheery, wild blueberry, thick cut orange and raspberry. Guess the way you arrange food on a plate is just as important as the way it tastes. Presentation is crucial to attract people, especially young kids like my sisters that goes "Ewwwww izzit edible?" *Sniff*

Bukit Tambun Seafood

What flashes across your mind when it comes to cheap and fresh seafood? For my family, the word Bukit Tambun came out without second thought. It took us about 10 minutes from the Bukit Tambun PLUS exit to get there.

Bukit Tambun is flanked by a river mouth on the right, so the restaurants have supply of fresh catch all the year round. The home-grown restaurants mushroomed over the years and Gee Seng is the pioneer. It has always been the first option for tourists due to its fame.

We found a hidden gem beyond the residential area this time. Park your car opposite Gee Seng and walk your way into the housing area as the road is too small for any car to goes in. See? Even the map from sun2surf missed out this place!

It is mandatory for the kids in my family to have coconut with seafood or satay or any type of 'heaty' food.

Stir Fry Mee Sua. Its actually vermicelli made from wheat flour and it symbolises longevity. This is so good that we had a second serving. They never skim on the ingredients as the taste of prawns, salted fish, deep fried lards and taugeh linger in our mouth.

It seems like every visior to Bkt Tambun will have this - thik teng (some kind of snails with spikes). Toothpick poking is fun!

The dipping sauce for Thik Teng. The sauce are so good that my mum bought their sambal belacan back for her home cooking.

You can't go wrong with Deep Fried Calamary as its everyone's favourite!

Steamed String Ray with Tom Yam Sauce - First thought is their portion is just too big for any family size but surprisingly my younger sisters managed to finish it all!

Kam Heong Crabs

Look at the chock-full of crab meat and the layers of roes! Mum and Dad are allowed for only one small piece due to the high content of cholesterol. Hehehehe so in the end I'm the most satisfied soul!

Some decent dessert after the srumptious seafood.. Jellies from the storefront of Gee Seng

Our Blog On Local Press

Jesscet from MalayMail contacted us couple of weeks ago as our joint blog is related to her article "Time for Two". Check it out here. Hmmm it's about some interesting stuff or activities that couple could indulge in and it sparkles up your relationship indirectly! Other than joint blogging, she featured couples work out and doing rock climbing together. Here is our part in the article (Print Screen from www.mmail.com.my):

Chin Wei Zhi and Lim Dao Feng, both 21, are second-year students from Multimedia University Cyberjaya

Wei Zhi and Dao Feng have gone out together for almost two years, and share a common passion – food. They are proud owners of a food-based blog called KampungboyCitygal (http://kampungboycitygal.blogspot.com).

“Both of us are food lovers and we want to share our personal experiences of dining out and food recipes through our blog,” says Wei Zhi who is from Ipoh.

The blog includes published food reviews on restaurants around the Klang Valley and Ipoh; quick and easy recipes for students, and snippets of the couple’s lives.

Wei Zhi writes food reviews because she enjoys expressing her thoughts on the food she has tasted. Dao Feng is the photographer and photo editor as he says he has the artsy gene in him.

Has their relationship improved through their blog?

“Definitely! We used to be conservative in our food choices. But as food bloggers, we became more adventurous in trying out new food. In the process, we got to spend more time together, in among other ways, replying to our readers’ comments and choosing pictures to upload on our blog. Overall, it has improved the communication between us,” she says.

They agree that blogging is now a trend among young couples.

“It doesn’t have to be a food-based blog. They can blog about their personal lives and shared interests, such as sports, movie and music – to add spark to their love life!” quips Wei Zhi.

Wei Zhi and Dao Feng find it exciting knowing that people enjoy reading their blog.

“We get compliments from friends and family and we have made new friends through our blog. In fact, some of our friends use our blog as a dining guide and sometimes my mum actually refers to my recipes found online,” says Wei Zhi.

Thanks to Jess from Malay Mail that fitted us into the article. We are overwhelmed by sms from relatives and friends that saw us on the paper. Eventhough it's not something about the hottest male and female bloggers or the best food blog, we are just as flattered. It just meant something for us, that all our hard work and time dedicated to this blog for the pass 6 months is getting noticed. I'll reserve the thank you speech for our blog's 1 year annivessary then. Big warm hugzzz to everyone!

Ipoh Food Search - "Menglembu Wai Shek Kai"

Menglembu is a small town 10 to 15 minutes drive from Ipoh Town. It is an easy to get there as what you have to do is just follow the sign board from Ipoh Town and you will know that you are in Menglembu when u reach upon a roundabout with two big PEANUTS. Yes! In the older days Menglembu is significant and well known for its kacang. However sadly to say those peanuts in packet that can be found elsewhere were not from Menglembu anymore.

Menglembu wai shek gai used to be a happening place where you have to squeeze through the crowds to get your food. With fancy eateries growing like mushroom after the rain around Ipoh town, wai shek kai has failed to attract as much people as it did last time.

This is not a very bad thing after all because the food stalls here are those that remain strong despite the loss of old customers. The next time you are around Ipoh town, do hop over for some really nice food. Please do not scold me for the lack of varieties ya!

The very very famous honey roasted chicken. I saw people ordering it in bulks! Is it for party purpose or it's just finger licking good that they can gulped them down?

Their chickens are just WONDERFUL!

Other than the famous honey chicken, they have fried chicken, fried chicken livers, fried chicken neck, fried chicken legs and bags of fried chicken skin!! (I need some guts for that)

Remember to dip your chicken parts with the honey sauce hidden beneath. We had two whole legs as these are the most tender part.

These fried chicken are real good too! It's hard to keep the skin crispy while the meat remain tender but WONDERFUL did it!



The popiah is a bit dissappointing because it would be utterly tasteless without the chilli sauce and sweet sauce.

The very famous miniature wantan mee with RM 1.60 for one. Even small eater can finished it in few seconds. The mee is nothing extraordinary.

The wantans that came with it are good. Maybe next time I shall order miniature wantan mee with extra extra extra wantans!

My favourite tong sui - Ching Bou Leong (RM 1.50). Very refreshing indeed!

Ipoh Food Search - Sun Lee How Fook Restaurant

Sun Lee How Fook is one of the best banquet dining place(Usually for chinese wedding dinner and company functions) in Ipoh. Those that share the fame among Ipoh people are Overseas (opposite Excelsior hotel), Tong Hoi (Main: Menglembu Branch: Iph Garden South) and Mun Zhong (Pasir Puteh or Ipoh New Town).

Coincidently, there was a function goin on that night and my parents get to enjoy the oldies singing contest and some dance movement performed.

Items from these menu are great steals that you can't miss out! It's even cheaper than some road side 'dai chao' stalls.

Appetizer that costs RM2 each :p

See Tai Ngan Long RM40 One of their signature dish - Mixture of Crab meat, roe, egg, mushroom

Wrapped in iceberg lettuce give it a refreshing touch

This is not some typical stirred fry vegetables. It's only available in Cameron Highlands with a unique name (Dragon something ..??) which I failed to recall :p RM 12

Kwai Fei Tofu (RM8)

Sambal Style Grouper Fish Fillet (RM30)

Sesame Chicken (RM8) My sisters love it so any kids would like this dish too

Satisfying Meal with Reasonable Price..Would definitely come back (with parents) again..Haha

96, Jalan Kampar, 30250 Ipoh, Perak

Tel: 05-2533268, 2413268, 2543551