Steamed "Tiger" Fish

This is the first time I have come across this type of fish. What's the name - Tiger Fish. The seller also told us its flesh is soft and taste very good. A check in the internet, I found many species other than this!

Out in the restaurants, the price for this size would probably cost RM60 - 70 based on the price we paid in the wet market. It has a very heavy weight for a medium size fish like that though.

Certainly to taste the freshness of the fish (flesh), the better way to cook it is steamed. We prefer it steamed with soy sauce.

Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan)

The above is stir-fried with crispy salted fish. Taste good.

Curry Prawn

Simply irresistible. I just love curry - better still with home-cooked curry.

Stir Fried "Choy Sum"

One of my favorite greens.

Squid with Black Sauce

Yummy!

Deep Fried Black Pomfret - Sweet, Sour & Spicy

I have always wonder why black pomfret is cooked deep fried and not like its cousin the white pomfret - steamed. It is no doubt that the flesh of black pomfret is harder, so it is more suitable to deep fried it.

For the dish here, we cook it sweet, sour and spicy. A little bit of each. This style is fairly popular in the local restaurants. However, the taste still depends much on the cook of the day.

Of course, if you ask me, I prefer a home-cooked Black Pomfret i.e. the above.

Chinese Porridge

The option to go without rice for the Chinese is porridge. Porridge is boiled to perfection and watery by nature. That's what set it apart from the normal rice we eat almost daily.

Stir Fried Water Convolvulus (Kangkung) with Shrimp Paste

Nothing beat the distinctive smell and taste of Chinese shrimp paste in this dish. Usually I like the kangkung to be spicy, stir fried with grind red chilly.

This vege is known as kangkung in this part of the world.

Steamed Pomfret

Yummy!

The Chinese like their fishes be be cooked in such a way - steamed. This is also one way to really taste the fish freshness. I for one am very particular about the fish freshness. No compromise.

Minced Pork Ball

We had this dish in a popular Hakka restaurant in KL recently. It is a mix of minced port and salted fish, deep fried to perfection.

So, we thought it would nice to make it a simple home cooked dish of our own.

Garlic Prawn

A simple dish, can easily be prepared at home. Oh la la, the kids are lovin' it!

Fried Black Pepper Crab

Crab is everyone favorite seafood I guess.

There are two distinctive types - meat crab and roe crab to choose from. The former is favored for its meat whereas the latter is sort after for its roe. Though not as famous as caviar, to some seafood lovers, crab roe can be as much tasty. I'm just OK with it, preferring the meat crab. There are certain ways to distinguish the two. But I'm not an expert, so I'll just leave out this part.

Again, crab can be cooked in many styles. The Chinese would like it hot and spicy as usual. This hot and spicy crab dish is very popular in any seafood restaurants in Malaysia or this part of the world.

What about the one you see above? Well, I would say it is fairly good. Not far off comparing to those you eat in restaurants!

Minced Pork with Salted Fish

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

This dish is perfect to go with Chinese porridge.

A perfect combination when eating Chinese porridge is having dishes associated with saltiness because the porridge itself is usually "tasteless". Sometimes you can find carrots and sweet potatoes being added for some flavor.

Stir-fried Spinach with Dried Shrimp

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

A simple vege dish - stir-fried spinach with dried shrimp. Taste good too!

Squid Salad

These pictures are taken by camera phone.

Salad is one of my favorite must-haves especially when eating out in restaurants. I will always check out the Caesar Salad.

However, the salad dish we are talking about here is a Thai-style salad known as kerabu. Kerabu has a much more distinctive taste i.e. spicy & sourish. The main ingredients varies e.g. it can be chicken, seafood or just fruits.

As usual, Thais like their cooking with lots of chilly and at the same time sourish. It is also not unusual to find lots of Basil leaves or usage of it in Thai cooking. I personally like the aroma of basil leaf. So, for our home-made Kerabu Squid, lots of fresh basil leaves is used to create that pungent taste ala Thai.

Prawn Noodle

These pictures are taken by camera phone.


This Prawn Noodle is synonymous to the local Penangites. In Penang, the place where I come from, it is known as Hokkien Mee in local dialect. Some people call it Har Meen - in Cantonese.
The most important thing is retaining the original prawn taste in the soup. There is a significant reason it is known as Prawn Mee.

For Janet's version, I took three bowls. I will put my money for RM10.00 a bowl - worth every penny for the original.

Spicy Wintermelon Soup

Spicy soup....it always remind me of the ever so popular Tom Yum. This Spicy Wintermelon Soup is also one of the Nyonya's originals if I'm not mistaken. It is certainly not for the light-hearted because this soup is supposed to be very spicy.

Prepare yourself a glass of cold H2O when slurping this soup.

"Kentucky Fried" Pork

Like the all too familiar fried chicken that we are so used to eat, I think pork can taste as good with the same style of cooking. Just do not overcook it or rather control the heat during deep frying so that it can taste a lot more juicier and tender.

Oh ya, it is also quite crispy in the outside. Hmmm....yummy!

Panfried Eggplant with Chicken Cube

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables but again it depends on how it is cooked. It can't be denied that the style of preparing a dish will influent your liking for it. After all, when it comes to food, it is all in the mix and match in one's cooking.

As for the above, I kinda like it that way. Well, you can have it mild or a little spicy with added cuts of chilly while cooking it.

Curry Kapitan

This is my favorite curry dish of all time.

This recipe is touted to be originated from Nyonya cooking. I remember my mom once told me so. Boy oh boy, my mom had made it her own and I would look forward to this dish from my mom's menu time and time again in those days.

Today, I would say Janet has made it her own too. These combo pictures shown here are her very recent cooking of this dish while visiting KL - at my brother's home. What's in there of this dish? Well, it is actually a curry chicken dish, blended with essential ingredients to create a distinctive spiciness and sourish taste. The gravy is thick but I just can't stop having many scoops to go with the tasty chicken and rice.

Well, my brother Chef Ronny has given it a thumbs-up and that confirms that Janet has got this recipe right from the start.