I’ve never been a baker. I’m a soup maker but I’m not much of a baker.
The idea of a hot oven, a bunch of oily bowls (the aftermath of creaming butter and sugar etc) and washing up - well, that’s not really my idea of a good afternoon.
But I had made a promise. You see, when you make promises, you keep them. And so I was guilty because I had bought the needed ingredients but had yet to make good on my promise. Continue reading »
I hope you enjoy yee sang.
If you do, then buy some yee sang for charity!
Tze, a friend of mine, is organising a Prosperity Yee Sang for Charity in conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year. She’ll also be presenting during the event to be held next Friday, 25 January at the E&O Hotel together with FoodFriends (a group of foodies under the International Women’s Association).
All proceeds during this prosperity yee sang for charity will go towards two charities, Eden Handicapped Centre and Seri Cahaya Orphanage. Both are located in Penang.
Here’s how you can support:
1. Buy a box of yee sang. Or better, buy many boxes of yee sang. After all, Chinese New Year is a time for sharing with family and friends. Each box is priced at RM18. Contact 261 4099 to buy your yee sang.
2. Join Tze and FoodFriends at E&O Hotel next Friday, 10.30am, for their pre-CNY celebration which includes a buffet lunch with wine and yee sang (of course!). Tze and her team will and explain Chinese traditions too. They have also lined up some food preparation demos by two chefs. To take part in this exclusive lunch, get your ticket at RM50 per person. Contact 261 4099 for details.
I had planned to join but I won’t be in Penang next week (though I hope to still blog when I am over in Kuching). That’s rather unfortunate because I’ve always enjoyed events organised by Tze and FoodFriends. I would probably buy some yee sang for family - the yee sang are generously sponsored by a friend of hers.
There are only 400 boxes of yee sang so hurry if you want to support this good cause.
After all, most if not all of us will be buying yee sang for our CNY celebrations so make it meaningful by grabbing some yee sang from this event!
This post was written some time back. But I wanted to introduce this place and let you know, in case you didn’t, that you can eat for a good reason! Continue reading »
This is a quick post to help a friend spread some news. Continue reading »
Ryoko and Jamie were in town this week and we fixed a dinner date.
Now the cool thing about them is that they’re upfront about a lot of things. They were in Penang for a few days to settle some stuff but they were also here for the pork stuff. Continue reading »
Last week was totally mindboggling. A number of tasks to complete, a number of errands, and then some. Sometimes it feels as if the whole week had just flown by.
But the good thing was, Nic and I were looking forward to last Friday, hectic or not. It was one of those appointments which were more about food and friends, rather than the usual client appointments.
I’ve been meaning to write about this favourite beef kueh teow for a long time now but each time, I get too greedy about eating the kueh teow that I forget to snap photos!
I got to know this corner coffeeshop thanks to a good pal who said the beef kueh teow here was superbly good. And like all recommendations, I had to try it. And damn, I got hooked! Continue reading »
I learnt how to make yogurt from my yoga teacher many years ago. I still keep in touch with Dada Lalitesh whenever he is back in Malaysia because he’s always a fount of knowledge about philosophy and books and of course, yoga asanas! He’s the first person I’d refer to if I have some niggling doubt about yoga which I have been practising for the past 6 years. Continue reading »
As you probably noticed, I’ve been blogging less these past 2 weeks. Not because I’ve been out of ideas - I think I sometimes have too many!
It’s been my mistress, the Business. Yes, I’ve been up to eyeballs with work, client meetings and yes, presentations. And then friends have been coming to Penang and we’ve been good tour guides, taking them around, showing them the sights and of course, partaking in glorious food. That’s what Penang is famous for, right?
So much so that I actually MISS eating at home! Miss my own homecooked food. Yes, I was thinking of this just this evening as I sat down to a meal I cooked.
A friend told me that she thought I might be vegetarian. Not so. I used to steer clear of beef and mutton when I was in my teens. But now I don’t mind ordering beef or mutton when I eat out. Especially if I am eating at Kayu Nasi Kandar which has, in my opinion, the best beef curry in the universe!
And the beef kueh teow in town, as recommended to me by Vern. At RM6 per bowl (small) or RM8 per bowl (large), the crowds are rather huge at this corner kopitiam. The kopitiam ONLY sells this beef kueh teow soup. But you should see the patrons bursting out of the shop. Parking is crazy here but the things people will do for one bowl of this extra yummy beef noodles. We’re a nutty nation.
As I was telling a friend over dinner (see? the food connection again), we may argue and debate all things wrong with Malaysia but we’re totally in harmony when it comes to food. We get very patriotic when we’re talking about food.
When Nic was backpacking in Nepal many years ago and shivering to death in the cold mountain air, he dreamt about tucking into a bowl of bak kut teh! I can imagine how lipsmacking bak kut teh can be if one has been on a perpetual diet of Nepali food. I was stuffing my face with dragon ball biscuits in Hong Kong many years ago in order to stem some homesickness. My grandmother had brought the biscuits for my uncle who was then working in HK but I ate them all.
Last week M called me and said she managed to tar-pau 20 packets of this unique laksa lemak from Wisma Central in town. She invited me over to eat the laksa as she said the laksa is only sold once a week, on Thursday. Unfortunately I was not able to sample this unique offering but J, another friend tried it and gave her thumbs-up! Again, I am piqued and will need to nose this laksa lemak out for myself soon. I leave no food trail unexplored!
Speaking of food, I received a lovely coffeetable book from Tze a couple of days ago. I met her many years ago in a yoga class and re-connected with her just this year.
The immaculate Tze is the author of Penang Passion, a book on food and food tales of Penang. She calls herself the reluctant foodie but she really enjoys talking about food. (Tze kindly autographed the book and gifted me with a Penang Passion apron, remarking that I should try out the recipes in her book. Which I will, I hope.)
Penang Passion was just recently launched and she says that she’s been rather fortunate that her book has been flying off the shelves, thanks to supportive and encouraging friends and family (you can find it in MPH and Popular and soon, in Borders too). She is also a contributor to Vanilla, a Singaporean mag where she writes about her food adventures!
Of course, no one speaks to me without getting a dose of “you must blog, you really must!” And as she is a writer, I tell her it’s even easier to do so. She’s not the first person whom I evangelise about blogging to; I’ve done that to Robert, a friend/client who got so excited he now writes 2 blogs!
Tze wants me to speak on blogging soon (and so has a friend in KL who has been asking me if I have the time to conduct a blogging course for her customers) and I probably need to think seriously about it. 
The idea was mooted by a friend/durian fan during one of our ladies’ networking meets about 2 weeks ago. This friend, SY, had asked casually if any of us were durian lovers and if we could have a durian party, well at least before the durian season ends!
And so after plenty of SMSes around, and emails, we realised that everyone is either on a diet (too worried about getting plump), can’t stand durians (non-durian eaters) or too unwell to partake in a feast of durians (some were coughing, others were heaty and etc).
And that was why it was only us 4 who actually turned up last Friday afternoon for our much anticipated durian feast. Initially we had wanted to be real lazy and have it somewhere in town, with comfy chairs and plenty of water to wash our hands. But someone said that it was much better if we went up to Balik Pulau for durians - it was more authentic!
Of course in the end we didn’t drive all the way to Balik Pulau - we probably would’ve got lost. But J did suggest a place she knew, which was just in Paya Terubong which sold good quality durians. She had been a regular buyer of Mr Low’s durians eversince the season started.
We met at the Shell petrol station in Air Itam, just before the roundabout to Penang Hill and piled into M’s car that afternoon. The drive took about 10 minutes, as we passed the Air Itam market, all the way to Paya Terubong.
The durian shack was easy to locate - it was just beside the bend in the winding road. You can’t miss it. And strangely, I was glad there were no heads as the shack was named “The Head Brand Durian”!
It was just a rough-and-tumble shack, with piles and baskets of durians. The shack had some benches and tables where one could sit down and start ‘attacking’ the king of fruits. It also had an outhouse and running water so one could actually wash one’s hands after a meal of durians.
The customer service was great probably because we four looked like we couldn’t ever pry open a durian by ourselves. The owner/seller - Mr Low - was this happy, bald chap in his 50s, who offered us durian after durian. He even offered us some fragrant cempedak, for free. He even cut open mangosteens for us! Talk about being pampered.
The only thing which we lacked was drinking water. In some places, drinking water is offered as soon as you sit down.
But the ’siao hong’ and ‘ang hea’ durians Mr Low sells are absolutely yummy. I like durians which are bitter and each durian he offered us seemed to be better than the last! It was like heaven being feted with durians of such amazing quality.
And it wasn’t even expensive. In the end, he charged us RM10 per person. We also bought durians to take home (yes, the ‘tar pau’ culture is alive and well). He was kind enough to give us each one free durian. My pack of 5 durians cost RM25. When I opened them at home later, each durian was as good as the ones I had at the durian shack.
Mr Low says that there is one more month before the durian season ends so if you want to have your fill, it’s a pleasant drive up to his Head Brand shack in Paya Terubung.
I’m thinking I must drive up there soon before the durian season ends - there’s really nothing like a good durian or two!
Head Brand Durian (Mr Low Boon Yau)
019 447 5932 or 04 658 1344
Directions:
From Air Itam, just drive along to Paya Terubung, past Majestic Heights flats, and about 5 minutes after passing Majestic Heights, you will see the durian shack.
Opening hours: Morning to 5pm daily
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