Gunter's Gasthaust lunch

Had a chance to enjoy my lunch at this German's restaurant with friends few days ago.
The restaurant decorated with lots of plants and flowers, very nice looking but I didn't take photo of it.

I've ordered 2 dishes of food, the spaghetti and their roti canai.







Total cost for these dishes are Rm15 + 15% tax

The calculation of the food is different with most of the restaurant that we had in kota kinabalu.

For instance, you've ordered Rm8.88 dish, after finished it you can order another dish, says the chicken cordon bleu for Rm25.99 , and the total amount you need to pay is just Rm25.99 + 15% tax. Even you ate 3 or more dishes, they just count you the highest value of the dish you ordered. So like their slogan "eat as much as you can".

But their cooking is kinda slow, don't feel curious if you are first timer. :D

P/S : The dinner menu might different with the lunch menu.
I'm also 1st timer, so I not that sure about it

Yuzu - The Garden (revisit)

During my working hours, suddenly my fatty gave me a call and invited my family for dinner. In a coincidence, our mind pop out with "yuzu" for our target. Erm.. We going to have a great and full dinner.

Deep-fried Shrimps

Unagi Sushi

Tuna Belly Sushi

Salmon Sushi

Thick Tuna Sushi

Whole cube of tuuna coated with black sesame seed an dunderline with deep-fried stuff, such a good bites

Prawns Tempura

Such a beautiful platting. I like the deep-fried prawns head with dash of wasabi + homemade special sauce

Stone Bittergourd

Bittergourd was too raw and bitter for me

Scallop on shell

the freshness of scallop topped with mayo and juice

Fried Soba with Tiger Prawns

Method same like fried spaghetti with the fried leek

Chicken Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is serving in a hot pot with dipping meat and simmer with vegetables. The soup is more to sweet taste. Usually, a raw eggs to beaten and dipped with the meat. But, i dont think it work in Malaysia, so we decided to pour the egg inside the pot. Due to my family member not advisable to consume beef, we rather replaced as chicken. Actually is goes well with beef for sukiyaki.

Grilled Cod Fish

Meat was so succelent

Cute Junncy Boy

Roti Kahwin @ Fook Yuen ( 富源 )

I went to this coffee shop several time before, but I never took my camera out and snap this kind of bread. So I came across to this chance today and took a picture of it.

It "works" pretty simple, spread the "kaya" around the bread , slice the cold butter block into pieces and put between the breads. As simple as that.

Having this bread here cost you Rm1.20 per set.
It tastes super duper yummy when you're finding something to fill your empty stomach. :D




Here is the shop overview @ Damai main branch. There's still another branch located at Asia City, and there serves Halal food IINM.

2010 STTSS Teacher's Day performance preview

Due to request from the teacher in charge of this event told me this was a closed door practice, in order to respect them I've removed the picture. I will make it to "Behind the scene"

Regards,
Jason Yong

Curried Red Lentils and Collards

Our Monday night dinner was some curried red lentils, a whole grain roll, and salad.  This sort of thing is a pretty typical dinner in our house because it's quick and quite filling. My significant other can be a picky eater sometimes, but I'll give him this: he loves leafy greens and legumes. So when I keep it simple, it's pretty easy to get a healthy meal into him. We love collards both raw and cooked, so I often use them as an ingredient in a mixed green salad. This time, we had them both ways:  in the salad as well as some lightly sauteed to top the lentils.

This is really basic food, and  of course is very flexible and easy to adjust to varying tastes...here is an approximate recipe of  what I threw it together...

Makes roughly 6 servings:

3 cups dry red lentils
3 carrots, diced fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
1 large onion, diced fine
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped (~ 1 cup chopped)
1 generous tablespoon tomato paste
8 - 10 cups veggie broth, or water, or some combo thereof (amount depends on whether you like it soupy or stew-like)
2 bay leaves
pinch of red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dry ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 generous tablespoon of  your preferred curry powder(or more to taste)
a bit of oil or water for sauteeing
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh collards, cut chiffonade style
toasted cumin seeds

Sweat off the red chili flakes, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, parsley, and bay leaves in a little oil or water until it becomes a little tender, add in the cumin, coriander, and curry and continue to saute for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add the red lentils and water/veggie broth, bring to a simmer and then reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water/broth as necessary to create the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with some lightly sauteed collards and toasted cumin seeds.

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some diced fresh tomatoes would be nice additions too.


Have a happy week everyone.

Green eyes

Brussel Beer - Menara Hap Seng (Revisited)

Brussel Beer Cafe, this is my 2nd visited. What made us gathering here? Cos of their freshly brew beers, beside of the beer, two of the birthday girl and boy - Dephin and Lucas.

Birthday celebration was another reason to joint us together for concern each others recently life and of course of the crazy night that we gonna had for this night. Let's start our beer night, cheersss......

Blackthorn Apple Cider

It contain with apple cider, kind of sour and sweet beer. Suitable for girls' drink

Long Island Tea

Out of taste

Leffe Blonde

Brussel's Spaghetti

Tasty spaghetti with 5 big fresh pranws

Mussels Provencales

Pot of fresh mussels cooked with bacon, sundried tomatoes mix herbs and red wine. The white sauce full of white wine. Thumb! i love it!

Pork Knuckles

Served with sauted potatoes and brown sauce on the side. Crispy pork skin slightly salty for me

Belgian Footlong Doggies

Special footlong served with shredded lettuce, pickles, melted cheese, top with mustard and bacon 

We finished the food in a very short time. Due to starvy night

My admirer >_<

Time to cheersss

Brownies with Ice-cream

Assorted Sorbet

Pottering and Garden Photos

Photography has never been my forte, so these photos aren't beauty shots by any means, but I do like to take photos of my garden. It's interesting to see how perennial plants and trees grow from year to year, and it helps me remember what I've planted in previous seasons. Documenting the garden with pictures can be useful too. For instance, sometimes I can't remember what I have planted in a certain pot after it has died back...but I can usually figure it out by looking at some shots I took earlier in the season.

On the weekends, or before/after work, you'll most likely find me in the garden, especially this time of year. When I'm in the garden...or in any garden...I feel like something loosens up inside of me and that I can breathe more deeply; I feel happy and good. This post is just a few pics I took while pottering around and feeling good... 

I hung this mobile on a low tree branch; the little people dance when it's windy, and my cat likes to watch them.

 
Over the weekend, I cleared away a bunch of leaves and rubbish from this work bench. It's a nice place to sit and survey the garden. The area is covered by some sheet plastic, so I like to sit there when it rains and listen to the drops hit the plastic...it's sort of like being in a greenhouse when it rains, but less intense.

Pansies and violas are some of  my favorite flowers--they are like little faces looking back at you.

Chives:

Favas:

Potatoes:

The potting bench is also a nice place to enjoy a meal,

and to soak in the quiet of the garden at dusk.

Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap - 家鄉牛什

When you mention about ngau chap in kota kinabalu here, majority of people will tell you that this shop offered the better/best ngau chap.

I went there several time, but recently only brought my dslr there.

Also most of the people who went here will say the chili is super duper fucking hot. Taste it, if you iz very rike to eat cili padi.



I order kon lou mee + ngau chap



and the soup with the beefs



For Rm7.50 per plate is quite costly a bit I would say, but why not pay for the price when you
seeking for delicious food ? :D

Stewed Baby Artichokes & Tomatoes

Organic baby artichokes from California have been arriving in local shops around here, and when I see these little guys, I can't resist buying some. I'd  love to leave them sitting in a bowl and just look at them, because they are so pretty. But, it's usually not long before they end up in a pot.

I'm always looking for new ways to prepare artichokes, so anyone reading, please share your favorite artichoke recipes if you're so inclined. : ) My favorite way to prepare artichokes is to stew them with some tomatoes and shallots. It's simple, yet tasty and goes wonderfully  with rice or crusty bread.

I have to admit that preparing these little guys seems sort of wasteful at first, because you really do need to remove all the tough parts and outer layers. The tender middle is a worthy reward though, and it helps to remember that they are thistles, so it's natural that you'd have to do a bit of grooming to make them palatable.

I usually start by topping and tailing them, cutting off the top third of the flower and the very tip of the stem. If  you like, you can try to salvage any little inner bits from the top that seem tender enough to eat.

top third cut off

Then, I remove the outer leaves. I  rely on my  tactile sense and just keep pulling leaves off until I can only feel tender flesh...any little bit of toughness and I pull the leaf. Pulling the leaves off in a downward motion will also remove the outer skin on the stem, which is good, because it's tough and not particularly nice to eat.

outer leaves and skin on stem removed

Finally, I cut the artichoke in half length-wise and remove the center of the choke with a paring knife.  You can see below that the bottom piece has the choke removed, while the top piece still has the choke in tact. At this point, you'd want to drop the artichokes in some water with lemon juice, as they will turn brown very quickly otherwise. 

When I make this particular dish, I usually get the tomato sauce cooking first, and then as I prepare each artichoke, just drop it right into the stewing sauce. The acid from the tomatoes works the same as lemon juice, and once the artichokes are immersed and begin to cook, you no longer have to worry about them going brown.

choke removed (left)

For the stewing sauce, I saute some roughly sliced shallot and garlic in a bit of olive oil and add a few red pepper flakes.When the shallot begins to become tender, I toss in some roughly chopped fresh tomatoes and about 1 cup of water, then toss in the artichokes as I prepare them.  For this batch, I used 2 large shallots, 6 garlic cloves (left whole) 10 baby artichokes, and  6 large vine tomatoes. Once I  have all ingredients in the pot, I bring it to a simmer, cover, and let it cook gently for about 30-40 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

In the end, you have a simple artichoke dish. I usually garnish it with fresh parsley, but any herb of choice would be good. A squeeze of fresh lemon is also a nice addition.

Bon Appétit