: : Bamboo Chicken : :

There's been a lot of interest over the past months about bamboo chicken and how it's cooked. Well, you're in luck! My cousin Garnet happened to be making it while I was over at her house. So, get ready for a delicious step-by-step look at how bamboo chicken is cooked in an urban environment.



First of all, let's meet the chef. This is Garnet, my cousin, in her house in Kuching. She's in the midst of preparing the sumptious meal.



In the bowl, she's chopped up 2 free-range chicken @ kampung ayam. The free-range chicken are chicken left to run around in a compound, giving the chicken time to burn off the fat and leaving the tender, juicy meat. If you notice the chicken feet in the picture, the skin is black. Chicken feet is a delicacy here and everyone one living in that house loves eating it. Note that the claws are to be cut off - dirtiest part of the feet, urgh.

The chicken is chopped into small bits and mixed with chopped coconut palm shoots, lemon grass @ serai and some water. A little bit of salt is added in but not much. The entire mess is than mixed by hand so that the flavour is evenly mixed.



Here are the bamboos all ready to be stuffed with the chicken mixed. It is young bamboo that has been rinsed a few times. Garnet uses young bamboo so that the bamboo flavour gets into the chicken well.



Now, here's how to stuff the chicken mix in. Make sure that there's some water added in as well but not too much. Fill the bamboo until it's near the top. Don't fill it up completely as it needs to be capped.



The top part of the bamboo needs to be capped with wild tapioca leaves. This is to ensure that the water doesn't evaporate completely, leaving the chicken dry. Also, it helps to ensure that there's a slight steaming effect in the bamboo as well as some taste in the bamboo chicken.



The bottom of the bamboo is wrapped in aluminium foil so that it doesn't become black and a hole if burnt at the bamboo. If there's a hole in the bamboo, all the lovely soup + chicken will run out! The bamboo is position like so over the stove so that the flame + heat is at the bottom of the bamboo.

Usually, the bamboo is cook over a slow fire in the same position. A slow fire that is prepared outside, that is. A small stand is made to prop the bamboo shafts in the exact position that you see above. The fire is also position at the bottom of the bamboo shaft so that the heat will rise upwards, completely cooking the chicken.

The fire is put up and the bamboo removed when there is a bubbling sound coming out of the bamboo. That is the trigger to say that the bamboo chicken is cook and ready to be eaten.



Unfortunately, I had to send my Dad off to the airport so didn't managed to take a picture of the finished meal. Anyways, here is an old picture from last year showing how it'll look like once it's done. Only thing missing is the coconut shoots. Yummy yummy yummy.

Hopefully, in the next few days, I'll be able to post up some more jungle food pictures. Definitely something different, no?

: : Chinese New Year Day 1 ~ 9 February 2005 : :

A belated posting but I do hope that you do enjoy it. 9 houses visited on the 9th of February, year 2005.

House #1



Ah Ban : Come in, come in. Happy New Year!

2nd Auntie : Hi Wena! Come come. Try some cookies.

Wena : Thanks Auntie. Always look forward to eating your animal cookies.

2nd Auntie : (Beams). I have this every year.

Wena : (Grin) I know.

House #2



1st Uncle : Hi Wena! Come in.

Wena : Hi Uncle, Auntie.

Aunt Mimi : Here, try some delicious cookies.

Wena : Very pretty plate Auntie.

Aunt Mimi : Thanks.

House #3



Wena : Hello Auntie! (Aunt Mimi's sister) 1st time I've been to your house.

Auntie : Wah! Really ah! Come come come! Have something to eat.

Wena : Ok, just one. Have to rush to my next house else my collegues will grumble at me for being late. Aiya! Already late! Gotta go! Bye bye!

House #4



Wena : Sorry sorry. Busy doing the family rounds.

Patrick : For that, have to eat more.

Wena : Errr...

Patrick : Aiya! Just joking lah! Here, have some nasi lemak (Fatty Rice - direct translation). Curry chicken cooked by my wife.

Wena : Oohh! Very nice and tasty!

From this point onwards, it was a huge group of people heading out. Patrick's house was the starting point of visiting all colleagues in the same department.

House #5



Wena : Wah Tony! Cute carrot biscuits! Where did you order?

Tony : My sister got it from our relative. Don't know whom she got it from.

Wena : Well, it's still tasty.

Everyone else : Yeah yeah (munch munch munch).

House #6

Errr...no picture. Too busy watching Manhunt with everyone else. Surprisingly, the main CNY entourage at the house was only 4 ladies and many men. The men were more fascinated. These were married men or men in serious relationships. Hee hee!

House #7



KKH : Eh! K, got some Chivas lah! Want some?

K : Sure! Better still, mix with Yeo's Green Tea. Taste very very nice one.

Believe me, it does but needs to be Justea's Original Green Tea. Do not use the Yeo's Green Tea as they changed the recipe some time last year so it doesn't taste quite as nice.

House #8

Again, forgot to take picture. Wena is such a forgetful person.

House #9



K : Try some. BBQ Spare ribs with salt and pepper. Simple flavouring.

Wena : Ooh! Definitely.

Everyone else : Hmmm... nice.



That was the last stop. Also had a nice cup of tea to go with it. The dried apple slice went very well with the tea.

After effects of eating, drinking and visiting 9 houses : MIGRAINE AT NIGHT!

And to think that during my childhood days, I was able to follow Dad and Sis around to 20 houses.

: : Bamboo Shoots : :



Apologies for the delay. Here is the pic of the delicious Bamboo Shoots cooked in Coconut Milk that was on the Menu of Hope posting.

Here is the recipe again:

1/2 kilo of bamboo shoots (no kidding, bamboo shoots are just plain heavy)
1 packet of dry coconut milk powder (no need to dump everything.
should be added based on people's tastes as too much may seem too
rich)
some belachan @ dried prawn paste (cut a small piece 1 cm x 2 cm)
hot water
1-2 chillis
3-5 peppercorn
salt to taste

Boil the bamboo shoots in water until the color becomes yellow and
bamboo is soft. Throw away the yellow water. If you intend to store
the bamboo shoots in the fridge for cooking the
next day, put it in a
bowl of water and store in fridge.
Pound the belachan, cillis and peppercorn together.
In a bowl, mix coconut milk powder in hot water.
Mix everything into a pot and boil.
Add salt to taste. note : do not add coconut milk all at one go but
enough that you like what u taste.

I do hope that you enjoy it. It goes extremely well with rice but mind you, very rich as well.

: : Charity : :

p.s. I did not forget the bamboo shoots cook in coconut milk. The pics are in good condition. Just gotta find time later this evening to edit and post it up. :)

: : Chinese New Year & Mardi Gras : :

A belated Gong Xi Fa Chai to everyone! 1st Day visiting pics to be up soon - 9 houses + 1 hot afternoon = Migraine for whole nite. Urgh.

Then, also pictures of a belated Mardi Gras dinner with the CooknEngr, YellowAnt and Fish Fish. The CooknEngr cook, of course, with Yellowant and sister preparing the finger snacks and the ... errm... punch @ hurricane! Fish Fish was a bundle of laughter and fun with her cousin taking pictures everywhere. Heh! HB, u're suppose to join us!

: : 1001 Seafoods.com ~ Gourmet Fish Recipes : :

I got an email about a week ago from Gerardo Noriega to exchage links. It's been a busy week so only got to do it now. At the same time as editing the blog, I got a reminder from him too! LOL!

His site is called 1001 Seafoods.com ~ Gourmet Fish Recipes. Sounds very interesting and there's already 50 recipes listed. If you wish to contribute a recipe, you can do so at this page. You can also put your recipe on your own website and still publish the link at this site.

It'll be interesting to see how fast 1001 recipes can be found worldwide and without repeats! Can't wait.

: : Music in my Kitchen : :

A meme from Stef.

What is the total number of music files on your computer?
Hmm...I think about less than 100 files. Seldom listen to music while online because it tends to slow down the online gaming session. Hee hee... haven't kick that addiction yet.

The CD you last bought?
I think it was David Scheel's Dont Shoot Me, I'm only the Piano Player. LOL! That was because I attended his piano recital at the request of my cousin last year. Well, it was a humourous session to say the least and we all couldn't stop laughing. It was as an unorthodox piano recital and definitely a great introduction to piano classical music.

(I can hear open jaws falling down.)

Sad to say that the CD recording quality could be better. Some were very good, others not really.

What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
I think it was in the cafeteria. One of the many many Chinese New Year music. Think it was about Chai sen tau @ God of Prosperity/MONEY.

(Think us Chinese are too obsess with money. Gold just makes us all tingle.)

Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
Hmm....well, let's skip the often listen to and get down to the one that means a lot. In no apparent order :

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Not Prince's version. The oldie one. I remember being 11-12 years old when my Dad was showing me his vinyl record collection. And this was one of the songs that I remembered.

The Glory of Love
What can I say? Chicago is one of my all-time favourite bands.

We Build this City on Rock and Roll
I discovered Rock and Roll with Starship.

Girls all the Bad Guys want
It was the style of music and not the song! LOL! Protests will get me nowhere. Reminds me of being fun and crazy.

(Don't faint, Dad. I wasn't that crazy.)

One Week
Barenaked Ladies always gives me a good laugh. And the 1st time I heard this song, I couldn't stop laughing. Haven't stop since. Song reminds me of KL student days. When I was big (and still am) on alternative music.

Which is now known as many names.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Jas - My sis because her taste in music is usually better than mine.
DrLiew - Check out his blog recently after I haven't been visiting it much. Suddenly remembered how humourous his blog is so may be interesting to find out what his taste in music is like. A doctor's humour on a great day. Read up on him and his escapades with his nurses.
Stephanie - It will definitely be interesting, that's for sure. And she will most likely put up a great picture with it too!

Now, the state of my refurbished PC. Well, it's working now but I found that they uninstall the picture editing software. Sigh. Now I have to install it back so that the pictures can be edited. So, sorry guys, gotta wait a little bit longer then.

: : Taste Everything Festival : :



2005 is getting to be a very very interesting year. Already within the last few months, we have seen a lot of food related awards and even in the bloggies too.

Well, there is also the 2005 Independant Food Festivals and Awards. To quote the website,

TasteEverything a new organization and website dedicated to helping people share great food experiences announces the first annual Independent Food Festival and Awards.

Hmmm....that sounds very very delicious. Results will be posted on February 22, 2005 so bookmark this site folks!

: : Menu for Hope : :

*white tablecloth as we prepare you the menu. please scroll down further for menu and posting.*




Hi everyone! I'm sure by now those who frequent other sites have discovered that the Food Blogging Community has put up a Menu for Hope for our readers in the hope that they will kindly give a little hope to the tsunami victims. Already, there are still strong waves flowing through Acheh and there was another earthquake but this time on the island of Java.

The theme of the Menu is food from the affected countries hit by the waves. We have a whole range of food from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia and others too. It is paired with a selection of wine as well for your selection.

I'm so sorry to say that due to my PC woes, I couldn't put up any pictures for of the dish that Granny cooked up. Not to mention that I'm very very late at posting it up (10 hrs from the specified time!!). Posting it from work you see. The dish is bamboo shoots cooked in coconut milk. It's a wonderful dish that can be very rich and yet very delicate too. Here is the recipe :

1/2 kilo of bamboo shoots (no kidding, bamboo shoots are just plain heavy)
1 packet of dry coconut milk powder (no need to dump everything.
should be added based on people's tastes as too much may seem too
rich)
some belachan @ dried prawn paste (cut a small piece 1 cm x 2 cm)
hot water
1-2 chillis
3-5 peppercorn
salt to taste

Boil the bamboo shoots in water until the color becomes yellow and
bamboo is soft. Throw away the yellow water. If you intend to store
the bamboo shoots in the fridge for cooking the
next day, put it in a
bowl of water and store in fridge.

Pound the belachan, cillis and peppercorn together.

In a bowl, mix coconut milk powder in hot water.

Mix everything into a pot and boil.

Add salt to taste. note : do not add coconut milk all at one go but
enough that you like what u taste.

I hope that you will enjoy it. I will put up the pictures after my PC returns tomorrow night. In the mean time, please do check out the other websites for other delicious meals.

Oh! Nearly forgot! Silly me! For the wine pairings, Lenn and Alder have recommended the following wines (it's in the menu in case you haven't notice):

Wild Mushroom Salad

2002 Solaris Carneros Pinot Noir, Carneros, California

2002 Domaine Jean Pierre Diconne Auxey Duresses Rouge, Burgundy, France

Samosas, Mini Summer Rolls, and Khari Poori with Cilantro and Mint Chutney (soup too, if you want to!)

Rihaku Shuzo Nigori "Dreamy Clouds" Tokubetsu Junmai Sake, Shimane
Prefecture, Japan

Everything Else

2000 Trimbach Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France

2003 Waters Crest Riesling, Long Island, New York

Except for the Sake which was priced at USD28, all the other wines are under USD20.

I hope that you do enjoy this menu and if you have it in your heart to give a little something, please do click on the button below. We are channeling all donations to UNICEF.



Have fun cooking it up. I had fun coming up with menu and so did everyone else. Thanks to Pim for getting everyone together and pulling it off. She did a marvelous job (chasing me and a few others) to remind us of the dateline and getting the pictures ready as well as the map. Thanks to the others too for all the marvelous emails zipping through and fro on how to post up the pictures and edit the HTML.

Cheerio all and see you on Friday! That's when I'm getting my PC back. Yippee!

: : The day my PC died (again) : :

This has now become a monthly event for me. It happened last night and so, said PC is now in the workshop. The only components left that is still original are the Graphics Card, Harddisk and Pentium Chip. Eeep! Well, after this round of repairing, my PC is nearly 90% rebuilt. Doh!

Better hope that the harddisk have not died. There are a lot of food pictures in the PC still yet to be posted. Something like 50-100 of them. Gulp!

In the mean time, here's a place to check out for food pictures : Food Stock Photography Search. Will put this link in the right sidebar laters.

Cheerio all!