Tepee

I've got pandan leaves in a pot and in the ground, curry leaves, limau purut (kaffir lime), aloe vera, daun kunyit (turmeric leaves), daun kadok, sarsaparilla root, bunga telang (butterfly pea) and lime. Trees.....3 jambu air and 1 mango. My MIL will be moving house in a couple of months...she says she'll give me her sweet basil and misai kucing (cat's whiskers). I just got a bunch of leaves from her yesterday and made a drink from it with some brown sugar added; it tastes very close to the watercress drink and is known for its many medicinal properties.

Another way you can add flavour to a quick stir-fry veg...is to add 2 cubes of nam yue (fermented tofu cubes). But, if I do that, I use sliced small shallots instead of garlic so as not to overpower the nam yue taste. No need to add salt...the nam yue is salty enough.

LOL, great idea, Glenn! Always love to oogle at Breads! Here's mine. But, don't view it in Mozilla. Problem with the scrolling. And, my sourdough blog. Great breads, everybody. Yum!

Very kind of you, Dan! And, it's truly remarkable that your recipes are 'living' and not cast in stone just because they are published. Just made your Apple and Custard Loaf yesterday...for a Sunday brekkie! Delish. If you have a minute to spare, busy busy man, you should post this on your site.

Thank you all for the moral support and the great, great ideas. I'm getting so stressed up thinking how I'm going to juggle in all that. I think I'll go with Rona's suggestion of telling her that I'll guarantee my original offering and will contribute extra if I can. Your ideas have helped me spread out some of my original bakes to earlier...thanks..less last minute stress! Yes, I think my pal is coming on a bit strong but she's also desperate...she and her circle of friends can't bake to save their lives. Hubby suggested buying simple cakes from small bakeries, doll them up a bit with frosting, nuts, etc...then re-package them (yes..everything needs to be packaged nicely...doesn't want cheapo looking stuff...and ribboned with their colours). She doesn't even want cakes baked in aluminium loaf foils (real time saver). She wants quality at a low price. Sigh. I've one conventional electric oven which is on the small side, and one oven toaster which I think I'll use for the bars/slices. Thanks again. I feel a load off my chest.

A friend has asked me to help out to bake for a charity bazaar on Sept 10. They need tons of stuff to sell. Since during that week, I've a kid sitting for a major public exam and an elaborate full moon cake to do, and busting my small oven and my butt, I told her I'd come up with: 20 boxes pistachio biscotti - pack of 10 24 boxes choc coated flapjacks - pack of 5 30 boxes lemon bars - pack of 7 20 boxes choc cupcakes with choc frosting - pack of 3 She told me that's great but she needs DOUBLE that! I'd appreciate ideas for stuff that keeps well or I can make a week ahead and possibly freeze, except I don't have much freezing space either. I could pass some over to her house for freezing. She even says she can send her maid over to help me on Fri and Sat before the sale. Oh...and the bakes can't be anything which melt at our room temperature (80 plus deg F and humidity to boot). Thanks! I've never done this much baking in such a short space of time...just hope I don't end up a nervous-wreck.

They are really quite common. Kuih Koci - comes without peanuts sometimes. You can see a close shot of pulut inti here.

Well, Michael, you're right. If parsley is used at all, it's in some western adapted dish. Cilantro as well as celery leaves (daun sup/saderi) are used a lot. Nope...no dill. It's only very recently that supermarkets are carrying fresh 'western' herbs, like dill, tarragon, sage, and, etc.

I think the Malay equivalents are as follows: Coriander/cilantro = daun ketumbar Parsley = daun pasli

If your chili padi look harmlessly petite, you probably have the right hot stuff. You're lucky to be in Amsterdam; I'm sure you can find most of the spices you need because of the Indonesian community there. Yum, your Ayam Masak Lemak sounds so good already.

Yup, BITC does quite a good job...so does Lily. For recipes and Msian chatter, Jo's site is full of T & T recipes. Also check out her message board. Lots of us go to Kuali.com too. For authentic Malay recipes which you can't find in the above sites, they're probably in Malay. Hey, Pan is always here to help, eh? Or just leave a note here. I don't post recipes because as a typical Msian homecook, I literally throw a meal/dish together. Besides, I don't cook all that spicy dishes as my kids are still young and their tongues are tender. Glad to see your interest in Malaysian food, Mark. Indeed, although Malaysia has a wide range of super-delicious food, our 'presence' is not quite felt. Foodie forums like eG, I admit, is a tad intimidating for humble Malaysians.

Goong Hei popo on her 98th! When we talk about pandan cake, Msians mean pandan chiffon cake. Here's a T & T recipe. If you can't find the hoen kwe (green bean) flour, you can make a filling of vanilla-flavoured whipped cream stiffened with some confectionery sugar or even some gelatine. Isn't it just excellent timing for all these ingredients to drop on your lap just when your hols is beginning? Good for you!

Oooh, dai gah jeh, I'm so happy for you! However, I'm the wrong person to ask. I've never had the need to freeze/fridge any of those leaves as I've fresh supplies from my garden. Kaya? Make kaya baos. And, don't throw away the bak kut teh soup like our dear brother Ah Leung.

Hey PCL Jake's charbroiled steaks has opened in the Feast Village in Starhill. Hubby also said IHO, good steak can be found at San Francisco Steak House which has outlets in D'sara Intan, Mid Valley and Sunway Summit.

LOL, Puchong's prices are indeed cheaper than many places. The resto is along Jalan Puchong - coming from Old Klang Rd, it'll be on the right. If you come from the LDP, then turn left, going down around 1.5 km, it'll be on the left. It's along the same block of banks...Maybank, AMBank. Closes on Monday, IIRC. Easy to find parking at night. Yes, mei chai is mandarin for mui choi.

This evening's meal, specially for PCL...your family is looking for Hakka Food, no? I couldn't believe that it just came up to RM36 (just under 10 bucks) for my family of 5!!

Sailorboi, it's......hokkien. Ah Leung Gaw, in cantonese, it's choy tau go. I guess the choy tau refers to the choy bo in it. Thanks, Trillium, for posting that link. I forgot about the lup cheong and eggs and other stuff in my post. And, taugeh (bean sprouts). If you guys are trying it out, remember to fry some parts till it caramelises. Yum!

LindaL, for Valrhona chocolates and other 'hard to get stuff', check out Gourmandines. And, for cookbooks, you can always check the local availability of the books you want from Kinokuniya and MPH. Sometimes there are online sales of 15% or more. HTH.

Ah Leung Gaw, do you lightly oil it after that? Or perhaps it's drier at your end so you don't have to worry about humidity. I don't/never wash my wok with hot water, just regular temperature tap water. I don't want to wash all the oil away....I need the light layer of oil to keep rust at bay.

Michael, choy bo (cantonese) is preserved turnip (daikon).

Cakes with harder textures? Make chai tau kueh. Cut them up into 1" cubes and fry with lots of minced garlic, minced choy bo, thick black soya sauce and chinese chives. Yum! Sometimes when we make it, we subconsciously purposely veer towards the hard side, just so that we can end up with some chai tau kueh.

Do you have a lot of counter space or cupboard space? Will you promise to have and to hold this gadget till death (of the machine) do you part? I haven't got one, like I don't have a bread maker. Hubby, the stronger one of the 2 when it comes to being swept away by waves of new gadgets in the market, will not allow for it. He says sooner or later, it'll be a white elephant and gather dust. Indeed, I've friends who have this machine, but I don't hear them using it often. Making it is easy enough without a machine. My Recipe. I just heard that it's good if you can remove as much of the skin as possible, as the skin contains toxins and nitrogen which "triggers the release of neuric acid that causes pain in joints". So, what are you waiting for?

Glenn, picture of cake and chocolate mirror glaze (follow link) using chiantiglace's recipe. clicky

Recipe for using gluten puffs. Note: sugar 1/2 tsp only, or to taste. Despite having a notorious sweet tooth, this half-cantonese/half-hakka doesn't use more than a pinch of sugar (if at all) in my cooking, except for lemon chicken, sweet and sour pork, and, etc...

Sure, there is. In any meat. Clicky. I prefer to make fish floss myself though...when good fish is assured.