Pitahaya or dragon fruit

Dragon fruit!!!

Today was the first time I had a dragon fruit.  I had never tried it when I was growing up in Penang, Malaysia, because my parents never bought the fruits for us to try.  My father was a very adventurous man when it came to foods and fruits.  

Anyway, when I saw the dragon fruit being priced at £1.50 each in a local international food store in Hornchurch, I knew that I had to get one.  I did get one.

The taste is sweet and slightly sour (not intense, though).  The flesh is similar to kiwi.

My verdict:  I won't be in love with the fruit but I am planning to grow the fruit from the seeds which I collected from the fruit. 

dragon fruit

TV series: The Qin Empire【大秦帝国之裂变】侯勇、王志飞、高圆圆、李立群、许还山

The story tells us about the life of Shang Yang and his policies introduced to the Qin state which eventually made it powerful military state. However, Shang Yang was executed by the new king because he insisted that the king to be punished for his crimes when the latter was still a prince.

This is the first season of the trilogy. The trailer and the video for the first episode are given below:

Trailer

Episode 1

TV series: The Orphan of Zhao (赵氏孤儿)

The Orphan of Zhao tv series is based on the play written during the Yuan dynasty.  It touches the issue about revenge, loyalty, compassion and innocence.

Cheng Ying, a country physician, rescues a newborn infant son of the Zhao family when the family gets accused of high treason.  He decides to swap his own newborn son for the Zhao orphan so that innocent babies will not be executed by the enemy of the family.

Cheng Ying's son is executed and his wife goes insane as a result.  He personally raises the orphan as his own son.  However, as he has saved the infant of the evil minister, the latter decides to provide lodging to Cheng Ying's family.  Both infants eventually grow up together and become brothers.

The mother of the orphan, the Princess of the Jin state, is spared from the execution but longs for her innocent son.  

Cheng Ying decides to tell Zhao Wu about the tragedy of the Zhao family.  The young man eventually kills the enemy of his family.  The orphan of Zhao restores his family's glory and good reputation.  

Cheng Ying's wife dies in his arms.

TV series : 天龙八部 (The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils) 2013

One of the best TV series produced based on Jin Yong's novel.

Liu Tao as Ah Zhu won praises for her acting.  I would say the best character in the series, to be honest.

Pao Pao or Fish muruku, a Malaysian Chinese snack

Today, I went to Loon Fung in Stratford, East London, after my job interview.  I decided to get a packet of Pao Pao (£0.90) (although the packet says 'Popo') to treat myself.

Pao Pao is a Malaysian Chinese snack which is a favourite among school children.  I grew up eating the snack.  My Chinese name happens to share the same Chinese character, Pao.

My earliest memory of Pao Pao is my sister would ask me to go to a local shop to get a packet for her.  The shop sold a lot of goods and played a role of a gambling dent.  Local men would meet up to play mahjong (a type of Chinese game).  The owner of the shop sold coffee and soft drinks to her customers to earn money.

I disliked going to the shop as the men would stare at me as if they had never seen a little girl who looked so fair/ pale.

Anyway, Pao Pao happens to my siblings' favourite snack.  And mine too.

Pad kwetio of Busaba Eathai

Yummy!

I had the pad kwetio (£9.65) for lunch today as a treat for myself.  This is my favourite dish from the restaurant. It is hot & spicy and depending on the chefs, it can be delicious or plain.

I tend to take this dish away and have it at home.  I would heat up the noodles for five minutes in the microwave before consuming it.  It seems to be nicer every time I do it.

Try this dish if you have the opportunity.  Of course, my advice is you have to be able to handle Thai chili.  Otherwise, you won't enjoy this dish.

(In Penang, Malaysia, there is a similar dish called Penang Char Koay Teow.  It's basically wok stir fried flat rice noodles (hor fun or koay teow) with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, eggs, cockles, prawns, pork fat (bak yu puhk), chives and beansprouts.  Awesome!!!)

Pad kwetio at home..

TV series : The Advisors Alliance (军师联盟) Trailer #1

I am so going to watch this tv series once it is released.  The trailer looks good.

The story tells the life of Sima Yi as a strategist for the Wei State.

Marks & Spencer's Pad Thai

I sometimes have this pad thai from M&S for lunch or dinner as it is delicious.  

Lor Mai Gai Part 2- for non-meat eaters

This time I only used bamboo shoots and dried Chinese mushrooms since I had no Chinese sausages (lap cheong).

The recipe was still the same as the previous one but this time, I added Shao Xing wine to the recipe.

The result was good.  See the photos below.

Result 1- with garlic & chili sauce

Result 2

Shao Xing wine for cooking

White Rabbit Creamy Candy

One of my favourite sweets.  My friend's son loves it very much.

My friend grew up eating the sweets in South Africa.  I had seen it in Malaysia but never tried it until I came here.

It's chewy and sweet. It tastes of milk as it is a milk candy.  It can be found in the Chinese grocery shops in Leicester Square.  Loon Fung in Stratford, East London, also sells it.

Amazon sells it too.

Chinese Shao Xing wine (or also known as Hua Tiao Chiew)

I recently bought a bottle of this cooking wine for my lor mai gai recipe.  I thought I had bought the wrong wine as the name, Hua Tiao Chiew, does not really sound like Shao Xing.

Luckily, many online blogs confirmed that both are the same.

It cost £4.25 (640ml or £1 per 150ml)  at the Loon Fung grocery store in Stratford, East London.  Sainsbury also sells the wine as well as Tesco and Waitrose.

It is also available on Amazon.

I am looking forward to using the wine in my lor mai gai recipe.

Vanilla Cookies

I made this simple cookie yesterday to make me happy.

The ingredients are as follows:

Cookie dough:
300g plain flour
110g sugar
150g cooking oil
2 spoonfuls of vanilla extract
a pinch of baking powder
a pinch of baking soda
a pinch of salt

Egg wash :
an egg yolk


Steps

1.  Mix all ingredients together until they form into a dough.

2.  Make balls and place them on a non-stick baking tray.

3.  Apply the egg wash on the cookies.  Make a light dent on the cookies.

4.  Bake them in the oven for 22 minutes.  Take them out of the oven and let the cookies cool down for one hour.  Enjoy!!!

This one was baked for 25 minutes.  

TV series : Three Kingdoms 新三国 (2010)

One of the best tv series produced on TV.

Watch this if you are interested to know about the legend behind the Three Kingdoms.

TV Series : The Firmament of the Pleiades" (蒼穹之昴)

A story about the relationship between Emperor Guang Xu and Empress Dowager Cixi.

It shows how the Emperor was intimidated by the Empress even when he was choosing his future bride/ Empress.  I enjoyed the story but felt it was so sad to see the sufferings of an emperor.

The story didn't include the Boxer Uprising, though.

Trailer

Episode 1

Twisties brings back my childhood memories

My friend's husband bought me two packets of Twisties BBQ flavour from his previous trip to Singapore.  I was overjoyed when I received them.

As I am now eating the snack, I remember my friends and I used to buy the snack at the canteen in our primary school in Butterworth.

There was a promotion which required the buyer to collect ten empty bags of the snack in order to exchange for a NKOTB button badge.  There were five different button badges representing the five singers : Donnie Walhberg, Jordan Knight, Joey, Danny and Jonathan (I think).

My sisters and I collected five of the button badges.

I've tried many other flavour such as Cheese, Tom Yam and Chicken.  My favourite is still the BBQ.

A friend of mine is visiting London in March this year, along with my order of 2 packets of Twisties : BBQ & Chicken flavour!!!

Film 'A Single Man'

I kind of enjoyed this film.  It is about a man missing his partner who died in a car crash.  The emotional turmoil the main character suffered displays the same emotional feelings suffered by many regardless of their sexual orientation.

Colin Firth was nominated for an Oscar's Best Actor category for his portrayal of George.

Indomie Mi Goreng (Hot & Spicy)

I love Indomie Mi Goreng!  I grew up eating them behind my mom's back as my mom believed that instant noodles could cause cancer.

There are lots of videos showing bloggers trying the noodles on Youtube :

Amazon sells them too.  This shows that it's becoming popular in the western world..

Fruit juice of the day

I really needed a filling of fruit juice due to my bad x3 diet (instant noodles by Nong Shim).

I managed to get 620ml of juice out of 4 carrots, an apple, one mandarin orange and an ordinary orange.  Not to forget a third of a cucumber.  I needed green colour in my juice.

The input is shown in the photo below :

Tor Tau Piah (Chinese Peanut Cookies)

I grew up eating this classic cookie in Malaysia.  My mom's recipe is similar to those online but the best quality is the one that melts in the mouth.

The ingredients are as follows:

Cookie dough :
300g all plain flour

300g raw ground peanuts 

150g ground peanut oil (use the vegetable oil if you don't have the ground peanut oil)

110g fine sugar (or just plain sugar is ok)

a pinch of salt

a pinch of baking soda

Egg wash : 

an egg yolk

Steps

1.   Roast the raw peanuts in the oven for 15 minutes.  Let them cool for 40 minutes.  Remove the skins.  Then, grind the peanuts until they are coarse, not smooth.

2.  Mix all ingredients together (minus the egg) in a bowl and gently stir the mixture until it turns into a cookie dough.  The baking soda makes the cookies crunchy.

3.  Make small balls and place them on a non-stick baking tray (or grease your ordinary tray with the oil).

4.  Gently brush the egg wash on the balls.  Then, use a drinking straw to make a light dent on the balls (skip this part if you wish).

5.  Place the tray in the oven and bake for 13 minutes exactly.

6.  Remove the tray from the oven and let the cookies cool down for at least 30 minutes.  Enjoy your hard work!!!

Ground peanuts

Ground peanuts, flour, sugar, salt and 

baking soda mixture

Cooking oil added

Cookie dough

Final cookie dough before baking

 Peanut balls with egg wash

Result 1

Result 2

Result 3!!!

Result 4

Result 5

TV Series: 大秦帝國第三部之崛起 The Qin Empire III

I'd been waiting for the Qin empire 3 for almost 2 years.  It's now been released!!!

The emperor (played by Zhang Bo in the series) is the great grandfather of Ying Zheng (Qin Shi Huang Di) and his mother, Queen Dowager Xuan (or Mi Yue as in the 2015 tv series, Legend of Mi Yue).  This role is now played by Ning Jing, a Chinese actress who played Empress Dowager Xiao Zhuang of the Qing Dynasty in the 2003 Xiao Zhuang Epic.

Watch this series if you enjoy historical drama.

Ning Jing as Queen Dowager Xuan of the Qin dynasty

TV series : Nirvana in Fire 2015

Mei Chang Su?!!!

An excellent strategist and a nephew of the Liang emperor.  His family was wrongly accused of high treason which lead to a massacre of 70 thousand loyal soldiers by the Liang emperor.  His mom committed suicide; his father killed in the massacre; his cousin & aunt, Qi Wang and his mother being forced to commit suicide.

He survived but at a cost ie.  the medical treatment he received altered his appearance which is a blessing in disguise in terms of seeking justice against his enemies.

I enjoyed the part where he was so furious with his cousin, the Prince of Jing, he raised his voice at the royal.

The best part of the series is when Mei's aunt, the Princess Royal, sought for the retrial of the treason offence committed by the Lin family (Mei's real family name) based on her dead husband's written confession.

The theme song is awesome too- the one sung by Hu Ge.

Cast:  Hu Ge, Liu Tao, Wang Kai, Jin Dong, Liu Yi Jun, Leo Wu

I give this series 10 out of 10.

Below are the ending theme song by Hu Ge and the first episode of the series :

'When the Wind rises'

Ep 01

* The poster comes from the website:

https://tranzgeek.wordpress.com/2016/08/14/top-50-trending-dramas-in-china-as-of-81316/

TV Series: Meteor, Butterfly, Sword (2010 CCTV-1 TV series)

I watched this series recently and was surprised by the stars' quality of acting.  I truly enjoyed the series.  Liu De Kai didn't fail to deliver his best performance in the series.  His character kept me watching the series.  Gu Long is a good writer but too bad he died early (47 years old).  If you are interested to watch the series, the trailer and the episode 01 are given below or just search for the video on Youtube by pasting the title of this post on the channel's search engine :

Trailer

Episode 01

Poster*

*Poster image copied from the website:

https://edengallery.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/meteor-butterfly-sword-2010/

Lor Mai Gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice)

I love this dish!!!  I grew up eating this dish in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.

The recipe is pretty straightforward.  If a steamer is available, use it.  Otherwise, use a microwave oven like me.  As I live in the UK, getting an authentic Chinese steamer can be a mission.

As I had been craving for lor mai gai, I decided to make it myself.  The recipe is as follows:

A microwave oven

2 cups of glutinous rice (soaked for at least 24 hours.  I did it for 15 hours)

5 dried chinese mushrooms (soaked in a bowl of water (500 ml).  Keep the water for later)

Three sausages (I used Aldi's frankfurters as I didn't have the Chinese sausages)

Two boiled eggs

Two spoonfuls of:  dark soy sauce; light soy sauce; cooking oil

One spoonful of:   ground pepper; salt; sugar; ground ginger

A pinch of :           Chinese five spice powder

Firstly, remove the water from the glutinous rice.  Do the same for the mushroom.  Then, slice the mushrooms thinly.  Do the same for the sausages.  Remove the egg shells from the boiled eggs.

Secondly, fry the ingredients with the cooking oil in a wok.  Add the condiments and spices too.  Fry for three minutes and add the glutinous rice into the wok.  

Make sure that the rice is covered with the sauces.  Then, add the water from the soaked mushrooms. Fry for 2 minutes.  Then, remove the rice from the wok into a pyrex bowl.  

Slice the boiled eggs and add them to the rice.  Try burying the eggs among the rice.

Thirdly, pour some hot water into the bowl enough to cover the rice.  Put the bowl into the microwave oven and set the heat to the high level for 15 minutes.  

After 15 minutes of cooking, pause the oven and stir the rice.  Then, add some hot water which is enough to cover the rice.  Then, reset the cooking time to another 30 minutes.

Finally, once the oven stops, check the rice to see if it is fully cooked.  (My dish was ready at this stage).  If it is, then, serve and enjoy the dish with the Siracha garlic chilli sauce (it can be found at Tesco or Sainsbury's)

Before steaming

The ingredients can be found in the local Chinese shops.

If you wish to make it more authentic, add the Chinese sausages (lap cheong).  Fry the sausages separately without cooking oil.  The aroma smells like heaven!!!

Of course, we can add chicken to the recipe but first, instead of frying the condiments, marinate them with the chicken and mushrooms.  Then, fry them as in Step 2.

If you have prepared too much of the rice, remove some before steaming and store the leftover in the freezer.

Defrost the rice thoroughly (at least 24 hours) before steaming.  Cover the rice with boiling hot water (about a cm over the rice).  Put it in the microwave oven and cook for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!!!

Hup Toh Sou (Chinese Walnut Cookies)

These cookies are my all time favourites.  I would go to the Chinese bakeries in London's Chinatown at Leicester Square to get them.  They are sweet and look like walnut on the surface.  There is no walnut in the recipe so be aware of the result.  The recipe is similar to the Chinese peanut cookies (minus ground peanuts).

The recipe is below:

Cookie dough :
300g plain flour
120g sugar
120g fat (use pork fat or cooking oil- no butter or margerine)
a pinch of baking powder
a pinch of baking soda
an egg for the dough

Before the baking :
an egg for the egg wash


Steps

1.  Preheat the oven at 170'C.

Mix the ingredient for the dough (minus the egg) roughly in a bowl.  Once it's done, add the egg to the dough and roughly mix them.

2.  Once it's done, make small round balls and place them in a tray.  Once the balls are done, gently press  the centre of the doughs to make a dent.

3.  Once all balls are pressed, brush the egg wash on the cookies. Put them in the oven for 25 minutes.

4.  Switch off the oven and rest the cookies for another 5 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven and rest the cookies until they are cool (according to your liking). Finally, ENJOY!!!

TV Series: Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (三生三世十里桃花)

I am currently watching the series, Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (三生三世十里桃花) on Youtube.  The story is about a fairy couple, Bai Qian (Yang Mi) and Ye Hua (Mark Chao) and their love trials to reunite and marry.

The story is based on Tangqi Gongqi's 'Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms'.  There is an English translated version by Hamster428 :

http://docslide.us/documents/three-lives-three-worlds-ten-miles-of-peach-blossoms1.html

Watch it if you are after romance with a happy ending!!!

The trailer can be seen below.  Episode 1 can be seen in the second video.

The theme song can be found in the third video below (I love the track!!!)

Trailer

Eternal Love ep 01

"Liang Liang 凉凉" (Ending theme song) performed by Zhang Bi Chen & Aska Yang

This song can also be purchased on itune store :

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/liang-liang-dian-shi-ju-san/id1193365052?i=1193365627