Borneo Unique Fruits

I just like trying out things I've never seen before. I'm also getting slightly addicted to them. What weird and wonderful fruits have you eaten recently? Here's my fair share.

Dabai

These fruits are mainly grown in parts of Borneo Island especially in northern part of Sarawak called Dabai. This fruit have dark purple skin and when skin removed, we can see oily yellowish appearance. The yellowish fresh taste creamy. The way to eat it is first rinse it then soaks in lukewarm water until it softens. Season with salt. They even fried rice with this fruit. 

Sentul

The santol fruit is round and as big as a big apple. Inside the fruit there is a white juicy pulp around 3 to 5 brown seeds. The pulp is mostly sub-acid or sour. When the fruit is not ripe, the fruit is very sour.

Uchung

Widely known as wild starfruit. Red colour when it ripe. Taste sweet and sour

Lemba

The taste of the fruit is not sweet rather sour. However, after eating the fruits, food consumed after will taste sweet. The leaf of this plant was traditional used for wrapping rice cake. According to local folk lore identified it as a natural sweetener that gives a very sweet taste or sensation when its seeds or parts of the plant are chewed.

Tarap

Tarap fruit looks like the offspring of the jackfruit & breadfruit. When ripe the smell can be pretty strong, The flesh is silky & smooth, and taste like a cross between mangoes & jackfruit!

Kemunting

This plant grows in coastal, natural forest, riparian zone, wetlands, moist and wet forest and marsh fringe. Normally this fruit come in bluish or purple color, has sweet and sour taste.

Bilak

This fruit grows wild in many dry forests in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka as well as the spread in Southeast Asia, including in Malaysia. Bilak has hard shell and ripe fruit is yellow or orange with a fragrant aroma.

Photo Credit: Anim Agro

There's no end to God's creativity isn't!

Trip to Conegliano, Treviso: Buonissimo!

One of its foremost contributions to the mighty Italian food fabric: Pasta! I went to Treviso for my student exchange program where I took Italian language as one of my minor subjects. Treviso is a captivating city in the north-east of Italy. This four-week study program is held in the charming city of Conegliano. While improving my Italian language skills, I also took the opportunity being immersed in Italian society. Words can't describe how blown away I was by the Italian language, culture and of course the food. My eyes have been opened, my palate expanded. Here are the highlights of all the foods that I tasted...

Referred to by Italy's official tourism website as "the prince of Trevisan food," treviso is an Italian vegetable also called "the winter flower" because of its lovely form and its appearance late in the season. A red radicchio named for its home province, treviso is an important part of the region's local cuisine.

 Radicchio Di Treviso Risotto

 Prima Patiti

Crab Ravioli

Semifreddo al lampone

Cocktail Gamberoni

Mushroom Ravioli Filling : A mix of savory mushrooms and fresh ricotta fill toss with olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, and snipped chives.

Creamy Artichoke Lasagna: Plump artichokes pair perfectly with garlic and fresh basil seasonings.

Orecchiette with Ricotta

Overall, it's a fantastic tour. More than I expected, great city of Treviso, has all great phases and makes like enjoyable. A great opportunity to make new friends and live a new experience, after this experience I know it is possible to work in another country and the language barrier isn't as difficult as I thought. Great program!!

Show-off beef dish and courgette omelette

I have fallen head over heels in love with beef wellington and courgette omelette. First time I saw in in one of the cooking show. Enthusiastically headed to Safeway to buy a pastry, and beef, and cheese, and rocket, and egg and etc, etc

After a hectic time in the kitchen  I'm finally awarded myself with my classic but seem luxurious show-off beef dish. This is  juicy, tender cut of beef cooked inside a buttery and flaky package of puff pastry. Oh for you information, there’s an optional literal layer of flavor in there between the steak and the pastry, a mousse of foie gras. I choose mushroom as I have no aversions to the deliciousness that is foie gras. Well, I'm glad I just happened to have some of the highest quality, marbleized, melt-in-mouth dish in my kitchen. You can try it too!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin

 2 tablespoons butter, softened

 2 tablespoons butter

 1 onion, chopped

 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

 2 ounces liver pate

 2 tablespoons butter, softened

 salt and pepper to taste

 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

 1 egg yolk, beaten

 1 cup beef broth

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Place beef in a small baking dish, and spread with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned. Remove from pan, and allow to cool completely. Reserve pan juices.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and mushrooms in butter for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool.

Mix together pate and 2 tablespoons softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread pate over beef. Top with onion and mushroom mixture.

Roll out the puff pastry dough, and place beef in the center. Fold up, and seal all the edges, making sure the seams are not too thick. Place beef in a baking dish, cut a few slits in the top of the dough, and brush with egg yolk.

Bake at 230 degrees C for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 220 degrees C for 10 to 15 more minutes, or until pastry is a rich, golden brown. Set aside, and keep warm.

Place all reserved juices in a small saucepan over high heat. Add sliced shallots, peppercorns, thyme, garlic, bay leaf and season with salt. Stir in beef stock and boil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly reduced. Strain, and serve with beef.

Also my other favourite absolute trophy of a food, Courgette omelette topped with chives, buffalo mozzarella and crunchy rocket. It’s was more like a frittata, all vegetables still had that fresh snap and the mozzarella was melted enough it became a cheesy spread. For those who are not familiar with courgette, it’s a variety of cucurtbit, which means it's from the same family as cucumber, or squash or melon. It is the most popular vegetable of the squash family, being extremely versatile, tender and easy to cook. Just don't boil them! As they will become mushy and lose their flavour. They have a deep green skin with firm pale flesh and are also known as zucchini.

It’s pure pleasure on a plate

The Undertaker…Conquered!

Great food giving you a goodness that lingers even after a few hand washes. That goes to this eatery, Undertake located in 329, Burwood Street, Hawthorn. The name is taken from the turn of the century building. Under the killer name, the food here is absolutely worth to die for. As part of the extra bonus for being a Student Adviser in Uni is u have the opportunity to dine out in fine dining restaurant without any penny! J So here I am with my best position to dine (awkward).

Undertaker is a restaurant and bar (cocktail and wine too). The architecture is beautiful and the decor is nice. I ordered a Barramundi with capers.The sweet flavour of Australian barramundi cannot be beaten. It has a crispy skin and juicy flesh served with mashed potatoes.

For the dessert; I chose a crème brulee with rhubarb. The taste is so rich and mouthwatering alluring, you won’t be able to resist a second cup.I had gotten a taste I couldn't shake and hungered for more.

Well, it’s a beautiful place we found that the service was the big lagging factor. Hands down... Absolutely amazing!

Chettinad Experience - Anjappar

Hello again to another Indian cuisine! To be more specific, it’s a Chettinad Cuisine. Calleed Anjappars, this restaurant offers a various choice of typical Chettinad food. It's a gourmet twist on all your favorite flavors and dishes, but with a modern flare.

I ordered a tosei, chicken masala, palak paneer, butter chicken, white rice with a lot of side dishes ,

The Chettinad chicken masala rocked my world! It’s a chicken sautéed with shallots and spices but full of flavour.

For the butter chicken, it’s a bit sweet for my taste butt however still not bad. Palak paneer was subpar. 

Then I did my science project...half of butter chicken...half of palak paneer (blend it together) = amazing!

The taste reminded me of Remy in Ratatouille when he asked his brother to taste cheese and strawberry but sadly that little rascal just gobble up.

I have to admit that my experiences with Indian food are a bit limited, but I can safely say that this is one of the best Indian foods I've ever had. 

A Spoon of joy – Petaling Street Hawker Centre

Back in uni, me and my besty just wanna have the best fun we can before the next semester kicking in. So we decided to be a little out of control. We headed to one of the newest restaurant in Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn called Petaling Street Hawker Centre. This restaurant serves authentic Malaysian hawker dishes as what the sign carried. It's not silver service yea, so be prepared for their unfriendly staff member.

We ordered a beef kuew tiaw, seafood laksa, curry laksa and chicken rice.

The food is quite delicious, I’m not saying A++ but ok ok lorrrr…But it’s ok, we are in a very good mood. We only see a thrilling summer ahead with more food and joys! 

Perfect Weekend - Coconut & Lime Pudding

A late work night and freaking hot weather throughout the week and the worst part is feeling penurious towards any food.  We all know those days aren't we? Well, finally it’s a weekend and I've decided to be a couch potato. While watching TV, my tummy produce vibrations and the rumbling noise Yea…yea...yea...I know it’s associated with hunger and frustration. I need to reward myself for successfully passed another worst week uh!

The reward doesn't have to be big. It can be as small as a nice dinner, a slice of cake, a manicure, a cup of ice cream, or simply a trip to the movie theater  Well, since it’s searingly hot outside and I don’t want my skin toasted to level 5 so I've decided to make something nice in my own kitchen. I've not been reduced to the lowest of the foodie castes just yet so I made a glorious coconut and lime pudding. If you want to try it, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Puddings:

175g butter

175g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

175g self-raising flour

75g shredded coconut

Poached pears:

400ml cold water

175g palm sugar, grated

2 kaffir lime leaves, sliced finely

2 pears, peeled, cored, cut into wedges

1 tablespoon lime juice

Roasted fresh coconut, to decorate

Method:

Grease you mould, line bases with baking paper.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Whisk in extract then eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and coconut. Divide mixture evenly among prepared moulds. Place in a baking dish. Add enough boiling water to come half way up sides of mould. Cover with foil, leaving room for puddings to rise.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until puddings have risen and a skewer comes out clean once inserted. Cool for 3 minutes. Loosen edges with a small palette knife. Turn out of moulds and set aside to cool.  

Meanwhile, to make poached pears, stir water, sugar and lime leaves in a medium saucepan over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Add pears. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until pears are tender. Remove pears with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add lime juice to poaching liquid. Simmer until reduced by half to form syrup.

Serve puddings with pears and syrup. Decorate with roasted coconut.

I'm a happy couch potato!