Making My Own Sourdough Sandwiches

For those who have followed my blog long enough, they'd know how much I love bread.  It's one carb (my one weakness) I find extremely difficult to give up...and so, I shall not!

Well, according to my blogger friend (phonghongbakes), there are better/healthier breads (like wholemeal bread and, specifically, sourdough)...and not-so-good/less healthy breads (like white bread).  Well, I'm no doctor or nutrionist but if it's good enough for phonghongbakes, it's good enough for me...lol! ^_*

There's this neighbourhood cafe, CoffeeLicious, I visit regularly to get my bread fix...specifically sourdough. And well, they sell sourdough too...and that was what I bought after breakfast one morning (one whole loaf at RM15 which I thought was a very decent price).  I asked them to slice up the loaf for me...and as you can see, there are 8 slices...but the slicing (by hand) was poorly done (very uneven, some parts thick and thin within the same slice).  The other drawback with buying a whole loaf is there'll be wastage of the not-so-good parts...both ends of the sourdough as it's mainly crust and can be very chewy and too hard to eat/bite into.

So, when life gives you sourdough, you make western-style breakfasts, of course...starting with a Scrambled Eggs & Bacon Sourdough Open Sandwich.  Everything starts with bacon...hehe....3 rashers of fragrant, crispy goodness! ^o^  Sorry, my scrambled eggs seemed a little overdone (that always happen when it's homemade) but it's alright since I prefer it slightly overdone at home coz I don't know how fresh my eggs (from the supermarket) are.

So good when having it with a cup of iced coffee...unfortunately it's not a coffee from a cafe but my favourite brand of made-at-home instant white coffee.

I also made a Bacon & Omelette Sourdough Sandwich for lunch one day with layers of bacon, omelette and sliced cucumber on buttered and lightly toasted sourdough slices.  Two thick, huge slices of sourdough make for a very filling lunch.

Sometimes I would just simply have my toasted Sourdough with Butter & Jam accompanied by two soft-boiled eggs...a super quick breakfast to whip up but a super satisfying one to eat.  Simple but good! ;)

Besides sourdough, my other go-to for a healthier bread option is the wholemeal bread from GBB Bakery (RM4.80 for 6 slices).  I actually prefer to buy these smaller loaves from bakeries as it takes a shorter time for me to finish them (since I'm the only one eating), so I can always have fresh bread.

This is my homemade Big Breakfast with sausages, bacon, fried egg, mushrooms and baked beans served with wholemeal toast and butter.  This wholemeal toast is studded with some chopped walnuts...nice! ^o^

Judging from the portion size, this was definitely not for breakfast.  Only the name is Big Breakfast...but I like to make them for lunch and dinner too.  I can eat this breakfast dish anytime of the day coz I love it so much!

Sometimes when I'm a little bit more hardworking, I'd make French Toast and eat them with bacon, sausages, mushrooms and baked beans.  Again, I ate this for dinner...so good! ^.^

For breakfast, it'd be a simpler (and smaller portion) with just French Toast & Bacon.  Can anyone tire of eating bacon?  Well, certainly not me! :D

I was even naughtier here...I had some leftover luncheon meat (another thing besides bacon that one does not get tired of eating...lol) and made a Wholemeal Sandwich with Bacon, Luncheon Meat & Omelette.

I bought these gourmet ham from Aeon and they tasted pretty good when I made French Toast with Ham & Omelette.  If you're lazy to go through the trouble of cooking bacon in your pan or air fryer, ham is a more convenient protein for your sandwiches as they're loads easier to fry than bacon.

Since I can't give up bread (just like phonghongbakes), the only viable solution is to, at least, choose a better bread in sourdough or wholemeal.  Don't force yourself to stay away from something that makes you happy (I'm not going to anymore)...and bread (and coffee) makes me happy. ^o^

There were days when I thought I felt depressed when I had to refrain from bread (and coffee)...and I find myself much more contented now when I don't restrict myself.  Of course, anything we eat...we must eat in moderation.  We all should eat things that make us happy coz we live only once..and we might as well enjoy our one life when we can...live well, life is short! ^_~

Coffeeboy Club @ The Campus Ampang

Coffeeboy @ The Campus, Ampang was a cafe my friend brought me to when she wanted to drop off her daughter (and her friend) there.

It's a community hub featuring retail stores, F & B restaurants & cafes, sports facilities, education, art, music, a grocery store and a kids' zone.  Well, basically it's a place to shop, dine and engage in various recreational activities, so it's pretty popular with the youngsters.

So, my friend's daugher (and her friend) joined us for lunch before heading off on their own.  It was already past lunch time (and my friend wasn't very hungry), so I ordered a few light dishes for the three of us to share starting with the B-fast Sandwich @ RM18.

It's a milk bun served with scrambled eggs and torched cheddar cheese @ RM11.  Can't fault a simple dish of fluffy scrambled eggs with a soft milk bun.

Next was the Sauteed Mushroom & Eggplant @ RM16 on a piece of sourdough with torched cheddar cheese.

Again, can't go wrong with juicy, sauteed button mushrooms that's always a delight to eat though I don't remember it having much sauteed eggplant.

Our final dish was the Seabass Mayo Sandwich @ RM25 featuring housemade seabass with mayo and tomatoes in a sourdough-filled sandwich served with a refreshing salad of cruncy lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes with sesame dressing.

This was my favourite sandwich of the day as a filling of seabass isn't something commonly found on cafes' menus.  I liked the taste of the small chunks of seabass in between the well toasted and crisp sourdough...yumsss! ;)

My friend's daughter's friend chose the Fried Chicken Garlic Rice @ RM20, a dish of butter garlic fried rice with buttermilk fried chicken, fried egg, bok choy and (what looks like) a sambal (or kuah kacang) to me.

I didn't taste the dish (obviously) but seeing that she polished off everything was probably an indication she enjoyed the dish.  It looked appetising and the portion seemed very filling.

Of course, coffee is a must and I was pleasantly surprised just how decent...and (more importantly) cheap the Iced Latte was (RM8 + RM1 with ice).  You can hardly get an iced milk coffee for under RM10 these days in a cafe.

And it was these very affordably-priced coffees that brought us (me and my friend) back here again two weeks later.  I've got to say for an Iced Latte that costs only RM9, there are (and should be) no complaints whatsoever. ^_~

Seeing that my friend enjoyed this dish of Sauteed Mushroom & Eggplant @ RM16 the last time round, I ordered this again for our shared first dish.  This time the cheddar was better torched and it was served with some chilli sauce (very Malaysian-like...lol....but it wasn't needed really).

Next on my radar was the Grilled Salmon @ RM32 in a lemon butter sauce served with sauteed french beans, cherry tomatoes and roasted potatoes.  When the dish arrived at the table, I was surprised it was not served skin side up (in fact, I think it was skinless if I remember correctly) but that didn't matter one bit coz it looked super inviting with the seasoning contributing to a fantastically seared crust.

The lemon butter sauce was also very tasty with its citrusy tang and not too harsh sourness making it absolutely amazing to eat.  Loved the simple accompaniments of lightly roasted smashed potatoes, french beans and cherry tomatoes done right too.  I was quite taken aback but its deliciousness as it was one of the better grilled salmon I've had in a while.

The only setback was that the salmon dish portion was rather small (and we were still hungry), so I went to the counter and ordered another two dishes to share.  One of them was this Fried Fish Fingers @ RM18.

The fish fingers were made in-house with battered seabass fried to crispy perfection.  I usually don't expect much from fried fish fingers but these freshly made ones took me by surprise just how wonderful they were. Served with a chunky tartar sauce that looked housemade as well.

I also got us a plate of Not So Chunky Chips @ RM12.  Nothing to complain about these French Fries as they were well seasoned (salted with a sprinkling of chilli powder and fresh parsley).  In the end, we couldn't quite finish these two extra plates of food, so the balance went into my trusted container that I so happened to have in my bag.

My Personal Opinion

The place is quite small (especially the indoor space with air-conditioning) but their menu is pretty extensive for such a small cafe with the majority of their menu focussed on sandwiches and burgers.

What surprised me was the quality and affordability of their food (with most priced between RM10 - RM30) with coffees as cheap as RM8 (and black coffee at just RM6) + RM1 if you want it with ice (crafted lattes cost between RM10 - RM15).  My favourite dishes from here were the Grilled Salmon and Fried Fish Fingers.

Imagine getting a quick sandwich and coffee for breakfast or a simple lunch for around RM20, so there's really no cause for complaint based on the very reasonable prices that's matched with quality too.  Well, I'm certainly up for that! ^_~

Coffeeboy

L1-6 The Campus

Batu 5 Jalan Kerja Ayer Lama

Ampang Jaya

68000 Selangor

Sin Hing Long Sabah Pork Noodle @ Pandan Indah

A dedicated shop selling Sabah pork noodles (or sang nyuk mee), Sin Hing Long Sabah Pork Noodles @ Pandan Indah, has opened in my taman since the beginning of the year.

This (I believe) is their third branch with their other branches located in Taman Connaught, Bandar Sungai Long and Imbi.

Some people I know told me that they didn't find the food nice, hence it took me a while before I finally ventured in to try.  This place specialises in just one dish and it's their Sabah Pork Noodles @ RM11.90 which was what I started with.

I chose dry noodles for my first sampling and you have a few options of noodles you can choose from.  I had to ask the server since the menu was written mostly in Chinese.  The options are Hakka noodles (as above), yee mee, lo shi fun, meehoon, mee and kway teow.  No complaints on the sauce used to toss the noodles with its fragrant pork lard oil and pork lard crisps (wish there were more).

The bowl is filled with the standard ingredients you'd find in any pork noodles like liver, intestines, meatballs, lean pork slices and choy sum.  It's the slices of sang nyuk (or lean pork) that sets sang nyuk mee apart from the rest of the pork noodles.  They're easily recognisable by their whitish sheen (from being rubbed with cornflour) and is an absolute delight to eat.

You can see just how paper thin the pork slices are...which is the hallmark of the Sabah-style pork noodles and they were super tender as well.

On another visit, I had the Sabah Pork Noodles Soup @ RM11.90 instead with my first choice of cho mai fun (thick meehoon) though their version isn't very thick (some will even mistaken it for thin meehoon).  The soup, with its distinct milky white colour (rather similar to a tonkotsu ramen broth), is made from hours of boiling pork bones which gives it that signature opaque white, creamy pork bone broth...and this is also what sets Sabah pork noodles apart from other pork noodles.

The soup base I found a little on the salty side (but should be fine for the masses) and what elevated its taste for me was the addition of white pepper...lots of it....which was freely available on every table.  But this was no ordinary pepper, it was Sarawak white pepper with a more fragrant aroma and peppery taste that's unlike the usual white pepper we normally get.

I found that the broth tasted so much better with a few good dashes of this Sarawak white pepper.  Later, at the payment counter, I noticed that they sell these Sarawak white peppercorns at RM32 for a 450g pack.

For dry noodles, I've tried the Hakka noodles, yee mee and lo shi fun...and for the soup version, I've only had it with the thick meehoon and kway teow (the former being my favourite).  The coffees here are not bad too...I've tried both the Iced White Coffee and Hot Cham.

The dry noodles are tossed in lard oil and lard crisps but there's very little of it.  So, if you want more, order additional pork lard @ RM1.50.

And for me....it's a must, of course! ;)  Now that's more like it...the chee yau char was fragrant, crispy and very fresh.  It certainly made the noodles even more pleasurable to eat.  The place also caters to those adhering to a carb-less diet by just offering a bowl of proteins with either just the lean pork, kidneys, tendon, intestines, liver or meatballs.

Since they sell only one type of noodle here, there are a couple of snacks that you can order as sides to your noodle meal starting with the Fried Fu Zhuk with Fish Paste @ RM8.90.

Fried to crispy perfection, I liked that the oil (in which it was fried in) tasted fresh and you can see it has quite a bit of fish paste filling unlike many others where you just taste the fu chuk only.

The Fried Meat Roll @ RM8.90 served with a Thai-style sweet chilli sauce is something similar to Penang Lobak except this one is cut up into pieces before being fried.

There were complaints about it not being fried as a whole roll which contributed to its dryness but I thought otherwise as all the sides were extra crispy without losing too much in terms of juiciness.

Another side order was the Sai Toh Fish Cake @ RM8.90 that tasted ordinary and rather similar to those found in many shops that offer this as a snack...as these are not made inhouse and probably come from a common supplier.

Just so you're informed, we were here for dinner one evening and all the other side orders were sold out except for this, so you know this was probably the least favoured snack...lol!

My Personal Opinion

This Sabah pork noodles offers a different option to the usual pork noodles...and I've to say I enjoyed it so much that I'm eating it almost on a weekly basis.  Of course, the availability of Sarawak white pepper made the soup taste even better, in my opinion.

The unflattering reviews of this shop (by some people I know) actually turned out to be untrue.  That's why it's always best to try out for yourself instead of relying on other people's views on it.  So, if pork noodles is a favourite of yours, then I would recommend that you give this a try.

Sin Hing Long Sabah Pork Noodles

No 5 Jalan Pandan Indah 4/10

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Pepper Lunch @ Aeon Maluri

Pepper Lunch @ Aeon Maluri is a casual, fast-service restaurant franchise based on a Japanese teppanyaki-style cooking method (with branches in Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Main Place USJ and KL East Mall including Genting & Cameron Highlands) offering a unique DIY teppanyaki dining experience.

Although Pepper Lunch has been in the Malaysian market since 2019 (I think I first noticed them in Pavilion KL), the branch in Aeon Maluri was opened just last year in November which makes it very convenient for me when I'm out grocery shopping in Aeon.

Pepper Lunch offers options of premium steaks, sizzling curry rice, teppan pasta, deluxe combos (of 2 or 3 meats), Japanese classics (with teriyaki sauce) and cheesy omelette rice but their signature is pepper rice which was what we started with, their Beef Pepper Rice @ RM19.90 nett.  This Beef Pepper Rice happens to be one of the weekday promotion sets (under Belly Busters) and comes with an egg and refillable Green Tea.

Pepper Lunch offers the novel concept of you cooking your meat on their patented sizzling hot pan for that unique experience of 'Sizzling it your Way' where you get to cook your meat to your desired doneness, so the protein is served raw to your table.

On the table you'll find bottles of garlic soy sauce, sweet brown sauce (not a fan) and more black pepper for you to season your meat and rice further should you feel the need to.  The taste of the black pepper is adequately sufficient but I love more + a drizzle of garlic soy too.

I had the Beef & Salmon Pepper Rice @ RM24.90 and, similarly, the salmon and beef was served raw for you to cook.  The beef is sliced so thinly that it's automatically tender.  Between the beef and salmon, I preferred the beef.

Although the instructions tell you to mix everything together until the meat is cooked, I prefer to let the meat sizzle and cook on the hot pan separately, that way I can get a bit more browning on the meat.

I also ordered a side dish of Mashed Potatoes @ RM4.20 to share.  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the mashed potatoes because of the brown gravy.  Let's just day I'd rather eat KFC's brown gravy...lol! :O  Other side dishes include miso soup, edamame, french fries and crispy fried chicken.

Since we enjoyed the food, we made a return trip soon after.  My son had the same Beef Pepper Rice again but since it was a weekend, there was no promotion set offered, so it cost RM20.50 this time.

I decided to try one of their teppan pasta and ordered the Beef Aglio Olio @ RM22.80 (other options include Seafood Aglio Olio, Salmon & Prawn Carbonara and Chicken & Cheese Chicken Sausage Aglio Olio).

Going for the beef aglio olio was a no-brainer as beef is a less common option for pasta than seafood and chicken at most places.  The thinly sliced beef is the same one you get with beef pepper rice...the only difference is this one comes with a preset sauce for you to drizzle over your beef and pasta.

I asked for the cheese to be omitted.  I noticed a bit of extra seasoning besides the chilli powder...possibly some seasoning (like chicken powder) together with a sprinkling of dried parsley.  I guess if you still needed further seasoning, you could use the garlic soy and black pepper that's freely available on the table.

My Personal Opinion

Overall, I think Pepper Lunch hits all the right spots when it comes to a satisfying peppery meal with either beef or salmon (chicken and prawn options are also available) and you can have it with either rice or spaghetti.  Between the two though, I prefer it with rice...while beef is my first choice for protein.

This place offers an affordable (prices are appropriately reasonable) and quick meal (the food does arrive at your table pretty fast since it's served raw for you to do your own cooking).  And it's all done with their patented sizzling hot teppan which makes cooking it a breeze for everyone.

Pepper Lunch

S10 Second Floor Aeon Maluri

Jalan Jejaka

Taman Maluri

55100 Kuala Lumpur