Lava Queen

This is one good soup for nourish & rejuvenate oneself. American Ginseng Root Fibers or Yang Sheng Xu . American Ginseng Root Fibers (Known as Yang Sheng Xu in Chinese) are low-quality fibers taken from the rootstock of the Panax Quinquefolium (American Ginseng) plant and are one of the cheapest types of ginseng you can find in the market. Some call them 'Beards' as its Chinese name 洋参 (Yang Sheng) 须 (Xu) literally translates to American Ginseng 'beards'. They are fine fibers, which are the very ends of the ginseng roots, having a bittersweet flavor and aroma typical of ginseng, and are used as a nutritional supplement in order to support neuro-physical and organ health. A well known property of this ginseng is that it is cooling and can help to reduce heatiness in the body. Some people like boiling them in water for 10-15 mins and add a pinch of salt before drinking but I prefer double boiling them for a couple of hours to really bring out the lovely herby

Guinness ribs is one of the few pork ribs dishes we usually see in most Chinese restaurants. If you love stout, you definitely have to try this out. Hubby loved these ribs. The marinade laced with Guinness tenderizes and adds wonderful flavor to the ribs. Yes, you can still taste the distinctive malty flavor of Guinness but the bitterness of the stout is mellowed down by the brown sugar in the marinade and sauce :)  It's one awesome pork ribs dish with bold flavors! These ribs are finger-licking good! Ingredients: Approx 400g spare ribs, cut into small individual pieces  1 can of Guinness stout Light soya sauce: 1/2 tbsp for marinade and 1 tbsp for sauce Brown sugar: 1/2 tsp for marinade and 1 tbsp for sauce 1 tbsp tomato sauce A dash of white pepper powder A pinch of salt Oil, for pan frying Roasted sesame seeds, for garnishing (Optional) Marinade the spare ribs with 1/3 cup of Guinness stout, 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, white pepp

Time flies. I'm another year older and another year wiser! This year we celebrated at Prime Steakhouse, which won the prestigious Expatriate Lifestyle 2016 Best Hotel Restaurant last year. I guess any carnivorous steak lover would have heard or dined at Prime. Nestled in the 5-star Le Meridien Hotel, they have a wide selection of cow and cuts, so be ready to be spoilt for choice. I had quite a hard time picking my main course. The waitress recommended me the Wagyu Eye Round, which was currently on promotion. I decided the trust her and went for that. Hubby doesn't really eat beef, so he chose the lamb. Some complimentary bread.  Served with 3 different types of butter: Arugula butter, normal butter and black pepper butter. Liked the black pepper one :) Gave some bread to our LO but didn't realize I took the black pepper flavored one. After a bite, she cried and refused to eat it. I took a bite and was shocked. It was hot - even a lil too much for my taste buds to h

I haven't baked anything in a while. Due to teething, LO was a lil cranky... She refused to drink water, refused to finish her milk most of the time and even refused to finish her favorite soups. I gave her more fruits instead so she won't become dehydrated or become too heaty in this hot weather. After two days of on and off fever, both her upper second molar popped out at the same time >.< Since she's back to her usual self, I figured I would start out with some chocolate brownie muffins. Made them for teatime today, and served with strawberries, currently one of her favorite fruits, besides mangoes :D  Best served warm, with ice cream or coffee! You can also try baking them for a shorter time (8-10 mins) and they become like molten lava cake :D Ingredients: (Makes 4 brownie muffins) 75g unsalted butter, softened, and some extra for greasing  1/4 cup  + 2 tbsp caster sugar 5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1 egg 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp ba

This Shanghai-style Braised Pork Belly (Known as Hong Shao Rou in Chinese) is one of the most popular dishes in China. The texture of the pork is soft and it has a perfectly balanced savory and sweet flavor. You could spice it up a little bit by adding some dried chillies but my LO can't take spicy at all, so I've omitted it. It is usually cooked and served in a clay pot, but since I didn't have one at home, I just used my usual non stick wok :P  It was so tender, almost melting in the mouth! Serve with a bowl of hot rice.... Yumzzz! Ingredients: Approx 300g pork belly 1 tbsp crushed rock sugar 3 slices of ginger 1 star anise 1 bay leaf 2 tbsp Shao Xing wine/Chinese cooking wine 1 tbsp light soya sauce 1 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce 2 cups water Oil, for stir frying Cut the pork belly into 1-inch pieces.  Cut into 1-inch pieces. Blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes to remove any impurities. Rinse and set aside. Heat oil in a pan over

Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, is one of the 8 Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine. It has a distinctive way of cooking, with great usage of chilies (LOADS OF THEM!!) and is well known for its hot spicy flavor, fresh aroma and deep color. This year's Chinese New Year gathering with hubby's ex-collegemates was held at De Hunan Restaurant, Bandar Puteri Puchong (At least something to look forward to, compared to last year's steamboat. Lol!). I was contemplating whether go or not at first coz I was still recovering from cough and won't be able to enjoy all the spicy food, but boy, I was glad I did. Since there were 8 of us, with 4 kids, we booked one of their private rooms upstairs. <Do take note that there's a minimum spend charge on food, yes, drinks are excluded, for their private rooms. The minimum spend charge for the middle-sized room was RM300>. That night we ordered a total of 6 dishes (2 of which were non-spicy), a non-spicy soup and some

Been super busy and haven't updated the blog for quite some time. We were away for Chinese New Year and I'm still recovering from flu and cough after coming back :( I mentioned that we were going to Genting Highlands for a short family trip right before CNY. It was simply to relax, enjoy the cool air and let my parents have a bit of fun in the casino. What's CNY without a bit of gambling huh?! Haha. Anyway, all these while the food in Genting has always been known for being expensive and taste average (It's a known fact, I think?), if not, awful :P But with the recent opening of the Sky Avenue, I have begun to see it in a new light. A few familiar restaurants can be found there, namely Madam Kwan and Dragon-I, and their prices aren't much different from the other branches or restaurants in the city. There are two in particular that I liked and would highly recommend them to anyone who goes there; the first would be Cafés Richard. Oh by the way, some retails and rest