su-lin

Out of curiousity, how much IS a bottle in Whole Foods in the US? Here in London, I saw a bottle for £1.49...but haven't tried it yet.

According to IMDB, it's being released in the UK in October! (edited for grammar!)

I too learned that daikon was known as white carrot. Oh well. Fried carrot cake is known as chai tow kueh (spelling?) in Singapore and Malaysia. When I was a kid, the white style carrot cake (without sweet dark sauce) was the only kind available and it still remains my preference today. I do think though that the best chai tow kueh is found in Singapore (speaking as someone born in Malaysia!).

I believe the crispy, thin, sugary kind is called coca de vidre (glass coca). The savoury cocas tend to be thicker and breadier, if that's a word. The coca de sant joan is also thicker. ETA: A google image search for "coca de vidre" produces some results so you can check.

Asian food stores - Try Southall if you can't find any others ← oh wow, never thought of looking there! Thanks, fatmat!

Does anyone know where I can purchase almond flour in London? I want to try my hand at making macarons but do not own a blender or food processor to make it myself. I know that the supermarkets carry ground almonds but I think those are still too coarse.

I'm guessing it doesn't have to be just one dish. Roasted cauliflower. I don't think we've cooked cauliflower any other way in the past year. The tuna melt thread stuck in my head for a whole week before I succumbed and made them for a Friday night dinner. Tots. Korova cookies. Larb. Next on my list: marshmallows, onion confit, latkes, Chufi's boterkoek. And that's just what I can recall right now!

Garlic or onions frying...mixed with laundry air drying (currently using a lavender and chamomile detergent!)...mixed with Cif (was cleaning the bathroom).

there are lots of Asian grocers in Soho, of course, on Brewer St. But there's a clump of Malaysian shops on either Hogarth or Kenway Road opposite Earls Court tube as well. ← There are 3 Phillipino shops and 1 Thai shop across from Earls Court tube. No Malaysian ones. I'm quite fond of New Loon Moon in Chinatown, opposite Loon Fung. What particular SE Asian country's items were you looking for?

kew and Tepee, thank you so much for a delightful food blog week! I now miss KL thoroughly (born there but grew up mostly in Canada) and can't wait till I get to Stephen's Corner again (if I remember correctly, their fish curry was really really good). Any chance of seeing one of my favourites...a kacang putih man??? :)

I too have been to the Caspian about 8 years ago... I remember the food as being very good too. On certain nights, there's a belly dancer. My parents now frequent another place in West Van - I'll try to get the name of it for you.

A bit off topic but in Germany, there is a Coke with orange soda called Mezzo Mix. It's manufactured by Coca-Cola and tastes like half Coke and half orange Fanta. Tasted better than I expected!

A very enthusiastic YES! Yum....in a fish curry, in bhindi bhaji... I've never had a fried one yet though...

You can find it at Borders too. It's 4.25. And you can find it a week or so after it's available in North America.

Oh, the peeling was fine - the skin comes off easily. It's the sucking out of the insides that I can't get my head around...

I was in Munich for a week just before Christmas. Weisswurst is the usual sausage eaten before noon...it's a veal-based sausage. Quite more-ish. Reports say that locals peel it though I've seen some just chomp down. A sweet mustard accompanies this. This is supposed to be Munich's favoured sausage. As you'll be there all year round, the Christmas markets (end Nov-just before Christmas) are a treat! There are a number scattered around Munich and the largest is at the Marienplatz. Many Germans also go up to Nurnberg for their famous Christkindlmarkt. If you do head up (check out the Bayern ticket...a terrific offer for all-day travel from 9am on weekdays or all day weekends that allows for travel on any train in Bavaria for up to 5 people...and it's only €24), eat some Nurnberg rostbratwurst, little finger length sausages that seem tastier in their town of origin. There are a number of restaurants selling them but in the Christkindlmarkt, many stalls sell them too. There is a place that does sell them in Munich, next to the Dom, but they just don't seem as tasty! Nurnberg is also famous for its lebkucken...haha, my office is working its way through a huge bagful of it!

I'm loving your blog, Laksa! But a question: why are the heads being snipped off the anchovies? It's the first time I've ever seen that... I eat them whole, heads and all.

It's not made of carrots...it's daikon (white) radish. And it's grated, mixed with some rice flour and steamed into a cake. This cake is then cut up and fried with egg, chili, etc. Yum! My favourite!

Thanks so much! I'm definitely going to make it as soon as the weather cools down a little. I think the kampung version is the one I'm more familiar with! pandangirl, sorry that I missed your call for recipes. I cannot recall what recipe I used to make the onde-onde but I think it was similar to Amy Beh's recipe....glutinous rice flour, yup. It didn't turn out rubbery though...very soft. Sorry, that's probably no help to you!

Depends on the definition of restaurant. Coffeeshops in KL style restaurant? Fine. Else, not fine. Sorry, upon reading my previous post again, I realised that I hadn't completed what I meant to say...I found maggi goreng at most Indian coffeeshops in KL. (edited to add correction)

Popped in for a quick mention about the maggi goreng (I know it's kind of off topic). My first time back in KL after 16 years and I notice that maggi goreng is what my cousin loves to eat! It is quite tasty though! As for Milo, I saw it all over the place. Every coffee shop was offering hot or cold Milo. My hypothesis is that the Milo helps hide the flavour of the milk...fresh milk is expensive and I recall drinking powdered when I was young...not my favourite. I'm not partial to the UHT stuff either. Could this be the case?

Kueh!!! Oh yum....I started salivating all over my keyboard when I read Renee's post. I like kueh dadar....and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I like the cheaper ones that have not as much coconut/gula melaka inside. I'm also fond of angku and any of the kueh bengkas. My mother makes excellent serimuka and kueh lapis sagu. I've made onde-onde and kueh dadar. I haven't really tried making any steamed things as I don't really have a pot/wok big enough to steam in yet! What's the name of that kuih made of bananas and batter? Not goreng pisang but the bananas are mashed up and mixed in the batter and formed into balls and deep fried? I like those too!

We can find the fresh ones in Chinatown and I can also find it in my local Thai shop. Whole or sections on styrofoam trays, shrink wrapped. Come to think of it, I see more fresh durian around than fresh jackfruit.

Yup, that about sums it up...there's another name for Indian rojak and I'm going to look it up now...can't find it...is it pasembar? Can anyone confirm or correct this? I recall all my Chinese rojaks containing tofu, jicama, cucumber, pineapple...there's probably more...oh yeah, peanuts on top too. Indian rojaks are fritter based...lots of deep fried goodies...tofu, prawn fritters, just plain ol' flour fritters...all topped with that peanut based sauce that....well...reminds me of satay sauce in texture but NOT taste. Topped with some shredded veg...I recall cucumber and jicama... Hard boiled egg and boiled sotong (squid) optional. I think there can be some potato... Hey, there's another favourite! Satay! I love pork satay but during my recent trip to KL, my uncle and I couldn't find a Chinese satay vendor... Pohpia! Sorry, I just keep thinking of different dishes as I go along... I thought I'd share some food porn...there's a photo of Indian rojak there somewhere...

it's quite expensive in the UK! might start saving my pennies for a few pieces though!