Christian the lion

Have you seen this video? I don't know why I kept thinking about the lion as I drove to work this morning. The first time I saw it, I cried. But now, whenever I watch this video, I'll smile instead. It makes me feel happy. It's really amazing to see the bond between Christian the lion and the two men who raised him. It makes me feel that there's still hope for world peace :) Even a lion could appreciate the kindness he received from the two men so why can't we human care and appreciate others more? Read here for the full story.

I Like That

Terasa muda remaja pulak bila dengar lagu ni :)

Roti Paun

If you have been to Terengganu, you might noticed the sign "Roti Paung (Terengganuspeak for Paun) Panas" almost everywhere. My favourite roti paung is sold at Shell Batu Buruk under the label Ngor Bites or something of that effect.

My guess, roti paung or paun came from the word pound. Maybe 1 batch of roti paung weighs 1 pound. Anyway, if you have tried roti paung before, you would notice that they are very soft and the structure is so simple. Even after a few days, the bread would still be soft and one would not satisfy you as they are made into small little buns.

Anyway, as you might have known, my latest hobby is trying out new recipes. Last night, I decided to try MamaFami's Roti Paun. In her blog she gave credit to Bro Rozzan and rnana. I have tried a few recipes from MamaFami before and they all turned out well. So I decided to give this a try. It might not be the best roti paun I ever tasted but it sure is one of the best :)

Here is the recipe posted in MamaFami's Blog:

ROTI PAUN
Source : rnana @ Forum Komuniti Teratak

Ingredients :

1/2 cup luke warm water
1 egg (large)
300 g flour
80 g sugar (my scale is not that accurate so I convert it to 2/5 cups*)
20 g milk powder (1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon bread softener
1/4 teaspoon (heap) bread improver
1 tablespoon margarine

Method : (using Bread Maker)

1. Pour the lukewarm water into the bread maker pan. Add in egg.
2. Add in flour, sugar, milk powder, instant dried yeast, bread softener and bread improver.
3. On the bread maker to Dough setting. (This setting will takes about 1 1/2 hour to finish it's cycle.)
4. Once the dough is just combined, add in the margarine. Let the BM continue it's process. (I added the margarine with the liquid)

the dough is ready

5. After about 1 1/2 hour, remove the dough from the pan and divide to 63g each. Make into round balls and leave to rest for 10 minutes. (my balls were about 60+grams each and I managed to get only 8 balls. To make the ball,  just pull the top skin to the bottom of the ball so it made a clear smooth top)

The size is not the same as those that has been shaped will raise while you shape the others

6. Grease a 9 x 9 inch pan with margarine and coat with a bit of flour. Remove the access flour. (I use round pan as I only got 8 balls of dough. I skipped the greasing part because I used non-stick baking tray)

7. Shape the balls again and place them in the prepared tin. (As my favourite roti paung has margarine taste at the bottom, I decided to insert some margarine in a few of the balls)

put the margarine at the bottom of the dough

then you pull the dough from top to hide the margarine 

Wrap the tin and let the dough prove again. In my case, I left it for more than 2 hours. (I left it for 2 hours 15 minutes and covered the pan with wet towel)

cover the pan with wet towel

8. When the dough is double the size, bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 to 25 minutes. (I baked for 20 minutes)

the dough ready to be baked

as my oven's heat is not equally spread, I had to turn the pan after 10 minutes

9. Once out of the oven, brush with margarine for a shiny effect.

fresh from the oven

after the shiny effect

the bottom - the yellow part are the ones with margarine inside it

the inside texture

You can enjoy it on its own or dunk it in Nescafe/Milo. Yummy!

* Conversion Table that I use:

Gram To Volume Chart

Product	Grams Per Cup	Grams Per Ounce	Grams Per Teaspoon	Grams Per Tablespoon
Baking powder, double acting			4.6 grams
Baking soda			4.6 grams
Butter	227			14.2 grams
Buttermilk	245	30.60 grams per fl
Flour, all purpose	125
Flour, whole wheat	120	15 grams per oz	2.5 grams	7.5 grams
Gelatine, unflavored	227	28.38 grams	4.7 grams
Oil, olive	216			13.5 grams
Oil, vegetable  (liquid)	218			14 grams
Peanut butter	258
Rice, long grain, white	185
Salt, table	292
Shortening, vegetable or lard (solid)	205			12.8 grams
Sugar, brown	220		4.6 grams
Sugar, granulated	200		4.2 grams
Sugar, powdered (unsifted)	120		2.5 grams	8 grams
Vanilla Extract	208		4.2 grams	13 grams
Water	237	29.57 grams
Yeast, bakers, dry active	224	28.00 grams

Chinese Arrowhead

Have you seen this in the hypermarket before (or whichever place you buy your groceries)?

chinese arrowheads

Chinese arrowhead or sengkuang cina or chi gu (ciku) or nga gu (ngaku) can be found in our marketplace about a month before Chinese New Year as that is the time they are harvested. I heard they are imported all the way from China.

Last Chinese New Year, my maid kept on asking me to buy her ciku (the way she pronounced it) as she loves it. I told her what I know ciku is a fruit and she can just pluck it from the ciku tree I have in front of my house.

yummy ciku! 

This year she asked for it again but this time, she explained that chi gu looks like onion and is only available during the month before Chinese New Year. That was when I started noticing Chinese Arrowheads being sold in most of the hypermarkets and I saw many Chinese bought boxes of them. But I still did not buy them yet. Until a few weeks ago, she followed me to the local market and showed me the Chinese Arrowheads and said "haaaa! inilah ciku! tapi saya tak suka ini. Ini besar. Saya suka yang kecil-kecil". A few days after that, I saw them in Carrefour again and decided to buy some for her.

When I gave the bag to her, she was smiling to her ears and could not stop from thanking me the whole night. The next day, when I came back from work, she proudly showed me a jar of the arrowhead chips she made. Both my son and hubby love the chips. I love it too! So, last Monday when I saw the arrowhead selling at a cheap price I bought some more. And yesterday I came home to jars of the arrowhead chips.

one of the jars

How did she do it? First, she skinned the arrowheads. Then, she sliced them (use the slicer function at your grater).

in case some of u don't know what is a slicer and a grater, the slicer is the one with the long hole 

Lastly, put the sliced arrowheads in the hot oil slice by slice (so they won't stick together). She said, you can also soak them in water with some sugar and salt then dry it before you fry them. I told her not to do that as the chips already has slight salty taste and is already good on their own.

Give it a try before they are out or you have to wait another year before you can see them again. I am sure you will love it :)

Wordless Wednesday #1

Kitchen Gadget :)

Of late I have been spending a lot of time googling for all kinds of recipes (from curry to cookies to pancakes) and kitchen gadgets. Why? I don't know why.. It could be due to the constant reminder in FB of friends turning into the big 3 in the past few days and the fact that me too will join them in a couple of weeks. When my mom was 30, I was 6 years old and she cooked marvelous meals and cakes and pastries. As for me at 29 years and 11 months, could only managed to cook good sambal sotong and bake out-of-the-box chocolate cake. Sigh~

Anyway, I foresee my range of cooking skills to improve soon enough. I can't wait for the arrival of these two to my arms soon :)

Kenwood BM250 White Bread Maker

and

Ariete La Grigliata

Looking forward for more homemade and healthier food in 2011 :)

Netball

I used to play netball before. I used to play netball everyday. I have played for schools, universities, clubs, companies, states etc.. Along the way, I made many friends. I made many best friends too. And in a couple of minutes, I am about to go for dinner at one of my netball friend's house. One whom I haven't met for quite some time. Chiow!

~the mom song~

I love this song!!! Hahahha! Found this on Hernie's blog. I would like to dedicate the song to all mommies out there.. Maybe one day all the stuff in the lyrics will be part of my daily speech as well :p

i love my hubby!

posting from my new e71! Early bday present from hubby! I love u! Mmmmmuaahhhh!!!!

~ the quest has ended ~

For the past few weeks, I have been looking for this in every store. From Giant to Cold Storage to M&S. But I could not find it. It all began a couple of weeks back when I found a packet with 5 sachets of this at my mom's place. Tried one and loving it! I asked my mom where did she buy it but she could not remember. So I brought the rest of the sachets with me back to KL hoping I could find it in KL. The writing on the packet says that it is made in Indonesia. Only last night did I thought of asking my sister who is studying in Malang, Surabaya. And to my delight, she knows the brand! She's going to bring it back to me when she come home end of next month. Yippeeeeeeeee!!!!