Taste Enclave, Boost Juice & Krispy Kreme @ Avenue K, KL

Prior to this, we've never stepped foot inside Avenue K. I was lured here one weekend by Hubby with the promise of good food as well as H&M ;)

Taste Enclave is a place where you can find handpicked heritage street food stalls from all over Asia. You will be able to find Heun Kee claypot chicken rice from Pudu Market, Tong's Roast, Jalan Kayu Prata, and Mandarin Chicken Rice from Singapore. We love places like these that allow us to enjoy delicious hawker fare in a clean, comfortable setting (other similar places that we love are Lot 10 Hutong and EAT Food Village).

We decided to order the Hokkien Mee from Sentul Ah Yap Hokkien Mee stall. The Hokkien Mee is said to be prepared using a traditional recipe dating back to more than 100 years and the noodles are fried over charcoal fire. The noodles have great wok hei to it, and is coated in the delicious rich caramel sauce with prawns, sliced fish cake and pork liver. Overall we liked this a lot, though we would ask that they leave the pork liver out the next time as I'm not a big fan of that.

Cooked over a charcoal fire, like the good ol' days

This outlet is one of the busiest in Taste Enclave. After placing your order, you will be given one of those vibrating buzzers to tell you when your food is ready.

Baby C's pick is Stall No 21 Beef Noodle, which is from the famous Soong Kee Beef Noodle stall in KL which has been operating since 1945. We opted for the beef balls noodle soup (RM9) with kuay teow, topped with fragrant minced meat sauce, springy and delicious meatballs, and flavorful clear soup. Baby C gave this a big thumbs up :)

After lunch, we decided to visit the bookstore and en route, Hubby spotted this at Boost Juice. The "What's Ya Name Game" name of the day was Yen.... that means I get a free drink just by showing a photo ID...  lucky us!

We picked the Skinny Dip from the low fat "Super Smoothie" range (normally RM12.95), with all my favorite fruits - blueberries, raspberries, banana, apple juice, TD4 strawberry yogurt and ice, and a protein booster. Yum in a cup!

And just before we went home, we picked up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for everyone at home :)

Can you tell that we love the chocolate coated custard-filled ones? ;)

Now, we can't wait to return to Avenue K again and again!

Location: Taste Enclave, Level 2, Avenue K Shopping Mall156, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.

GPS Coordinates: 3.159187, 101.713184



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Recipe: Oven-Baked Fish and Chips + Easy Tartare Sauce

Fish and chips is one of many British dishes I love eating.  Fish is coated in a batter (made of flour, water, and baking soda/beer) and then deep fried to perfection. Not exactly the healthiest dish but I do love indulging in it once in a while. 

It never crossed my mind to cook fish and chips at home (cos of the deep frying factor), however I bought some dory fish fillets the other day and my mum asked me to make fish & chips. How did I cook it? In the oven, of course! 

I made my fish & chips using dory fillets, but you can use other firm white-flesh fish such as cod, haddock or plaice. The fish is first coated in flour, followed by a yogurt mix with some cayenne pepper and lime zest added in and then rolled in Panko breadcrumbs. A drizzle of oil and the fish is then baked in the oven until golden brown and crispy. Yes, it was very crispy much to my delight!

The fish was served with oven-baked fries (store-bought this time) as well as homemade tartare sauce. By the way, this is one recipe you can get your kids involved in - Baby C helped with most of the coating of the fish, and they both took turns to help mix and make the tartare sauce.

We certainly love our healthier version of oven-baked fish and chips! :)

I was very happy when Baby C told me she enjoyed it very much :)

Oven-baked fish and chips with homemade tartare sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 x 700g dory-fish fillet (or any other firm white fish)
1/3 cup plain flour
2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
3/4 cup natural yogurt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Zest of 1 lime
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4-5 tbsp canola oil

For the tartare sauce (Recipe adapted from here)
1 cup low-fat mayonnaise
3 tsp capers, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
A handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt

To serve
Store bought fries, or homemade


1. Wash the fish fillet and pat dry with a kitchen towel.  Cut each fillet into half down the centre, then half again - to make 4 pieces from each fillet. Repeat with other fillet. Season with salt.

2. Place plain flour in one plate, and the panko in another plate. Season both with some salt.

3. Place the yogurt in a bowl, along with the lime zest, cayenne pepper and some salt. Mix together to combine.

4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with foil and brush lightly with oil. Using your hands, place the fish, one piece at a time into the flour and turn it over to coat thoroughly. Then place it in the yogurt mixture and turn again to coat. The finally, roll the fish in the Panko breadcrumbs to cover each piece thoroughly with bread crumbs and place on the baking tray. Repeat with remaining fish.

5. Drizzle the oil over the fish. Place in preheated oven and cook for 20-25 mins until the skin is golden brown and crispy.

Kids taking turns to mix the ingredients in the tartare sauce :)

6. Meanwhile, make the tartare sauce. Place mayonnaise, capers, and shallot in a bowl and mix well. Slowly add the lime juice and mix well. (Note: Start with 1/2 lime juice and adjust to your taste) Finally, add the parsley and season with salt.  Store in fridge until ready to use.

7. Serve fish with oven-baked chips and tartare sauce.


Note: Your kids can help with Step 3, 4 and 6. You can replace the lime with lemon, if you prefer.

Crisp on the outside, flaky on the inside... YUM!

Homemade tartare sauce - a must-have for us when having fish & chips

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Hazlehead Park Pets Corner, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Our kids love the outdoors, and during our holidays in Aberdeen last year, the weather was just perfect for being outdoors. We took them to the Hazlehead Pets Corner, located within Hazlehead Park. The Pets Corner feature different animals such as rabbits, chinchillas, llamas, goats, lambs, miniature donkeys, ducks, peacocks as well as fish and lizards. 

The entrance fee is £3 for adults, and £1 for children between 3-16 years of age, and there is also a family pass (2 adults 3 children or 1 adult 4 children) for only £5. The Pets Corner is opened in winter from 10am to 3.15pm and in summer from 10am to 5.30pm.

The Pets Corner is less interactive than Doonies Farm, as we do not get to feed the animals here. Anyhow the Pets Corner is still worth a visit for a nice day out. After visiting the Pets Corner, we headed to the children's play area in the park for an afternoon of great fun. 

Enjoy the photos we took at the Hazlehead Pets Corner :)

Love birds, all lovey dovey

Beautiful blooms by the entrance of the Pets Corner

Turkey

Lamb

Peacock.. too shy to show off

Donkey

Llama

There are no real penguins here... this will do :)

Taking flight

Goodbye Pets Corner

Off to the children's play area for more fun :D

Opening times: 10am to 3.15pm (winter) and 10am to 5.30pm (summer).

Entrance fee: £3 for adults, and £1 for children between 3-16 years of age, and family pass (2 adults 3 children or 1 adult 4 children) for only £5.

Location: Hazlehead Pets Corner, Hazlehead Park, Hazlehead Avenue, Aberdeen, AB15 8RJ, Scotland.

GPS Coordinates: 57.139783, -2.178339

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Recipe: Roast Chicken with Indonesian Sweet Tamarind marinade + Healthy Quinoa Salad + WORLDFOODS Giveaway

Thankfully, my kids are pretty adventurous when it comes to food, and whenever I cook them something "new", they will be very excited to try it out. It was chicken drumsticks day again, and this time I am marinating the chicken in a delicious concoction which includes the WORLDFOODS Indonesian sweet tamarind marinade sauce. 

Roasted chicken with Indonesian sweet tamarind sauce

As I read the word "tamarind", my mouth was already watering as I can imagine how appetizing this would taste. Tamarind has a wonderful sweet and sour taste. For the marinade, I also added in some light soy sauce, garlic, grated ginger, coarse black pepper and black treacle (or molasses). The latter gives a nice smoky quality to the roasted chicken.  Simply marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, and it's ready for the oven.

The roasted chicken was absolutely fantastic - so flavorful, sticky and juicy. Definitely finger licking good! I served the chicken with a simple quinoa salad, which is both healthy and easy to put together.

I had some leftover sauce, so a couple of days later, I used it in my stir fry chicken dish. Really simple and scrumptious too! This sauce is definitely versatile, and full of flavour - 1 bottle of sauce for 2 meals for a family of 4 is definitely good value for money.

Stir fried chicken with WORLDFOODS Indonesian tamarind sauce

GIVEAWAY!
Once again, thanks to WORLDFOODS, I have 2 bottles of this Indonesian sweet tamarind marinade sauce to giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment below stating "I want to enter this giveaway" with your name and e-mail address. This giveaway is open to Malaysia only. 2 winners will be drawn (1 bottle each) at random on 9 April 2014 and notified via email. Those who have entered previously can enter again :)

And the winners of the giveaway are: Esther (No.7) and Loh Sook Peng (No.11). Thanks to all who entered! Please reply to the email that I have sent to you.

Note: WORLDFOODS products are food allergens free, trans-fat free and gluten free with no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring, as well as being suitable for vegetarians, vegans, coeliacs and Muslims. In KL, WORLDFOODS products are available at Village Grocer (Bangsar Village 1, Sunway Giza, Mt Kiara), Jaya Grocers (Intermark, Empire Shopping, Plaza Jelutong) and Hock Choon @ Ampang.



Roast chicken with Indonesian sweet tamarind sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes
Serves 4-5


Ingredients
6 chicken maryland, separated into drumsticks and thighs, washed and patted dry

For the marinade
1/2 cup WORLDFOODS Indonesian sweet tamarind marinade sauce
1/4 cup light soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
2 tbsp black treacle (or molasses)


1. Mix marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Make a few shallow scores on the chicken skin. Place chicken pieces into the marinade, and turn them around so that they are well coated. Leave to marinate for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 190°C (roast mode). Arrange marinated chicken onto a tray lined with foil, then brush with some of the marinade. Set aside some of the marinade for later. Place tray in oven and cook for 15 minutes, then remove and brush remaining marinade and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked and the skin is sticky and crispy.

3. Serve with quinoa salad.

Healthy quinoa salad
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients
100g organic quinoa
1 Japanese cucumber
1/3 carrot
6 cherry tomatoes
A handful fresh parsley
1 tbsp fresh mint
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
Salt

1. Place quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under tap water for 2-3 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and 200g water to a saucepan and bring to the boil then lower to medium heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa becomes translucent and the white germ forms a visible spiral on the exterior of the quinoa grain.

2.. Drain well using a fine-mesh strainer, then return the quinoa to pot and cover, letting it fluff up for 10-15 minutes. Mix together the quinoa with all the other ingredients and dress with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Stir fried chicken with Indonesian sweet tamarind sauce
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 3-4


Ingredients
1 large piece chicken breast (approx. 500g), cut into small chunks
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, cut into 1/8ths
2 spring onion, cut into 1 inch lengths
1/3 cup WORLDFOODS Indonesian sweet tamarind sauce
1/8 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules


1. In a wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onion, and cook for about 2 minutes, until the garlic is lightly golden. Add the chicken, and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes, or until cooked through.

2. Add the WORLDFOODS Indonesian sweet tamarind sauce, and stir to coat well. Season with black pepper and chicken stock granules. Add the spring onion and cook for a further 30 seconds. Serve immediately with rice.



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*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 6 April 2014.

Recipe: Kimchi Jjigae (김치찌개 Korean Kimchi Stew)

Say goodbye to hot sunny days and hello to cool, rainy days.

Now that the weather is cooler, we enjoy having hot soup or stew for dinner. We have loads of matured kimchi left in the fridge, so we made some kimchi jjigae aka Korean kimchi spicy stew for dinner.

When making kimchi jjigae, you can use a variety of different meats and seafood such as pork, chicken, canned tuna or prawns - our choice this time is prawn and chicken. Make sure to use matured kimchi as it gives the stew a stronger, more intense flavour. You can control the level of spiciness by how much gochujang (hot pepper paste) or gochugaru (chilli powder) you put in. We love to have lots of tofu in our jjigae.

Not only is it easy to make, it is so very comforting and delicious. Kimchi jjigae is wonderfully appetizing with a sourish tinge from the matured kimchi. It is a fantastic one-pot meal which you can enjoy in less than 30 minutes.

All we need is a bowl of rice and a big (or maybe two) bowl(s) of kimchi jjigae and we're happy campers :)

Kimchi jjigae 김치찌개 (Kimchi spicy stew)
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from here
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 - 20 minutes
Serves 2-3 as main meal


Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g lean pork or chicken breast, sliced thinly

8 king prawns, peeled and deveined, with tails intact
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
150g matured kimchi
1 clove garlic, crushed
100ml kimchi juice
500ml water
1 tbsp cooking wine (I used Shaoxing wine)
1 tbsp miso or doenjang
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp gochujang (hot pepper paste)
1 piece beancurd, cubed
2 stalks spring onion, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
1/2 tsp gochugaru (or chilli powder)


1. Marinate the pork/chicken with the Shaoxing wine.

2. Heat the oil in a small, deep pot and fry the pork/chicken, kimchi and garlic for 3-5 minutes. When the meat has browned, add the kimchi juice, onion, water, gochujang, miso/doenjang, and soy sauce, stirring everything together to combine.

3. Bring to boil and taste for spiciness. If you prefer your soup spicy, then add some gochugaru.

4. Allow the soup to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then add the tofu and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the prawns, and cook for a further 30 seconds, or until cooked.

5. Serve immediately with rice. Garnish with the spring onions and red chillies.

Note: If you do not have gochugaru, you can replace with chilli powder. See here on how to make your own kimchi.

*I am submitting this to Asian Food Fest #6 April 2014 :Korea hosted by Sharon of Feats of Feasts.


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