It's that time of the year to snack.....

Yes, that's right.....it's that time of the year to snack....what is Chinese New Year (CNY) without snacking, right?  So, once a year, I throw my restricted diet out the window (well, I'm not as disciplined or strong-willed as my blogger friend, PH)...wuahahahaha!

So, I'm not going to confess I didn't eat any CNY snacks (like PH's resilience).....coz I did! ;D  Of course, I'm no saint either as I do eat snacks sparingly throughout the year...but not quite like CNY snacking, if you know what I mean (but with as much restraint as I possibly could).  And I start with my most favourite snack of them all...crackers, both prawn & fish! ;)

This year I did not buy my usual 3-4 pkts of prawn crackers from my go-to stall in the wet market coz I wasn't planning to fry to giveaway, so I bought only 1 pkt of Prawn Crackers online @ RM38 from a Shopee seller...and, surprisingly, it turned out pretty good as well (now I can have my favourite prawn crackers throughout the year...yay!).  One pkt was just enough for our own consumption with some extras to giveaway to my makan buddies, hairdresser, Caring pharmacist (coz she always gives me advice or answer any meds questions I have) and the Parcelhub lady boss (return a favour coz she paid for my breakfast one morning when she bumped into me when tapau-ing her breakfast).  As for the Fish Crackers, I also tried a new Shopee seller and it turned out to be thinner and crispier...and better tasting too.  I've since bought both the prawn & fish crackers (again) to be fried later (tak berlarat nak fry for CNY).

Since I didn't fry enough crackers, I supplemented my stash with Tapioca Chips (of 2 kinds) @ RM12 a pkt (bought from Shopee).  One was this normal tapioca chips with salt (kerepek ubi masin).

The other was the spicy tapioca chips (kerepek ubi pedas kering).  Both from this seller were good...fragrant, fresh and crunchy.  The one with salt wasn't too salty and the spicy one wasn't too spicy...just nice! ;)

Next snack on the list was pineapple tarts as this is a favourite of my husband's, so I know I could eat sparingly and know he'll finish the rest...and let me say, I did try a few (new) brands this year (from Shopee) starting with this Aysha Bakehouse's Pineapple Bar (Mixed Flavours) @ RM26 (for 27 pcs).  These pineapple bars come in mixed flavours of pineapple, blueberry and strawberry (or you can opt for just one flavour).

I thought they were pretty tasty...though pineapple wasn't my favourite or the best tasting flavour...the blueberry was better. ^o^  Somehow these didn't find favour with my husband as much coz I think he's not into flavours like blueberry or strawberry other than pineapple.  I ate probably about 70% of this (luckily there were only 27 pcs in total) while he ate mostly the pineapple filling.

I also got smitten by these cute Heart-Shaped Pineapple Tarts by Chocolate Garage @ RM18 (for 21 pcs)...oops, these were bought before pre-CNY snacking.  They make a lovely gift for someone (especially for Valentine's Day), don't you think?

But taste wise, they were just ok...I think it needed a bit more pineapple filling as I really couldn't taste much of it but seeing that it's a closed pineapple tart, it's difficult to pack more filling into them.

My third choice was a winner for all...marketed as a Nyonya Melaka pure butter Pineapple Tart @ RM14 (for 14 pcs).  The small box offered a tester pack for my taste test...and they turned out to be fluffy, crumbly and buttery delicious. ^.^

Since they turned out to be good (and, more importantly, my husband liked it), I did not hesitate to order the bigger box of 42 pcs @ RM40.

I like that they're packed individually in their special plastic moulds (if you can call it that) as this will ensure they arrive at your doorstep in the best possible way (since they're known to be super crumbly).  This Nyonya Melaka and Aysha's will certainly see repeat orders in future...but between the two, the latter is still my pick.

So good that I was tempted to order their other product...the one with cheese added! :O  This Pineapple Cheese Bar (Mixed Flavours) also cost RM26 (except I noticed this one has only 8 x 3 flavours instead of 9 x 3...no wonder lah it's the same price with cheese).  You know what, coming from someone who don't like cheese, this one I really liked.

The extra crispy cheese on top gave it that crunch factor and brought a hint of savoury note to the pineapple bar.  Probably one of the more expensive pineapple tarts on Shopee but it's worth it as long as it tastes good. Incidentally, I bought all my tarts online from Shopee.

What is CNY without mandarin oranges, right?  I can count with my fingers the no. of times I've eaten fruits since I embarked on my restrictive diet but I wasn't going to miss out on this once-a-year fruit...these normal large ones for him.

And the mini mandarins for me...which is better for portion control since they're smaller (I like to think of it that way and "convince" myself that it is...hehe!).  I limit myself to two a day.

This container of ngaku chips was given by my neighbour (who fried it herself).  I wanted to say no to it (coz no-one in the family eats ngaku chips so I'll have to finish it on my own) just like she refused my prawn & fish crackers which I gift her every year (I was taken aback when she told me in advance not to give her any this year...apparently it doesn't taste all that great to her and her husband)! :O  But I know it's not tactful to say no to a gift..."when people give you things that you don't want, you must remember it's the thought that counts".  In the end, I bought her some mandarins as a return gift! *roll eyes*

Another snack that CNY is not the same without is bakwa or BBQ dried meat.  But, these days, the skyrocketing prices of my favourite brand has made it imperative that more reasonably-priced alternatives be sourced.  That made me try out 2 new brands, one was at 1/3 of the price (meaning I could have 3 pkts as opposed to just 1 pkt of Oloiya...I ended up buying a package deal of 4 pkts).

While the other (which someone recommended to me) was priced at 2/3 of the price of Oloiya saying that it tastes just as good as my beloved brand (well, it didn't taste anything near Oloiya which I expected).  But based on the price-to-taste, I thought they were decent enough to eat (always good as a bakwa sandwich).  I ended preferring the cheapest one while my husband preferred the other but my son liked neither! :D

On a side note, this happened during the Mooncake Festival (and not a part of this CNY snacking)...not wanting to indule in sweet mooncakes, I got myself a savoury version.  It has a similar pastry like any traditional mooncake except the filling is made with minced bakwa! :O

How did it taste, you're wondering?  Just think of it as eating the mooncake pastry with bakwa...to be honest, a regular mooncake with lotus paste and salted egg yolks (my go to flavour if I was eating) still tastes better. This one was a bit odd, not that it tasted bad just that it's not quite like a traditional sweet mooncake we're used to.

Well, that's about all the snacks I indulged in this CNY...not a lot really, right?  I'd say I probably ate about 20 - 30% of the snacks (except for the ngaku chips) while my family kaotim the rest.  So fast, it's Chap Goh Mei today already.  Till next year..........for now, let's enjoy our snacks in the meantime! ^_~

Khueen Kee Chayang @ Pandan Indah

Khueen Kee Chayang @ Pandan Indah, opened some time in August this year, is an offshoot of Khueen Kee Baker from Ipoh, not a name I'm familiar with nor have I eaten there.

Stepping inside, the interior decor is retro and nostalgic with enamelware, olden clock and telephone adorning the walls.  You'll also find old pieces like TV, typewriter, flasks, thermos and records from the olden times.  There's also a corner where you can pick up all sorts of snacks for your munching pleasure.

The Chayang Char Siew Curry Mee @ RM14.90 in the menu was what attracted me first.  The person who took my order did prelude me to the fact that their curry mee is sour (she called it suin kali meen) which was fine since that's how Ipoh-style curry mee is after all due to the heavier use of curry powder which carries a tangier taste (much like Indian curries).  That was what I took it to mean.

Although I'm not a fan of Ipoh-style curry mee for that very reason, I thought I'd try this Ipoh mali curry mee to see how it stacks up to those served in Ipoh...but what came was a total surprise (I witnessed other surprised looks too)!  It was so coz they didn't do a good job of preluding us to their unique sour curry noodles and what to really expect.

First of all, it was adorned wth lots of mint leaves which is as expected since that's a trademark of Ipoh-style curry mee.  But it wasn't an Ipoh-style curry mee.  It didn't have flavours of curry at all but flavours of assam laksa instead. @_@  No wonder the default noodle was only cho mai fan (thick vermicelli) that's almost like lai fun (used in  assam laksa) but not as soft, transparent and starchy when I asked for meehoon + mee (I should have realised that something was amiss since no one really uses cho mai fan for curry mee)! >.<

The bowl of curry mee contains typical ingredients you'd find in curry mee like char siew (other options include siu yuk), rehydrated pig skin, fish balls, fried beancurd and long beans.  The so-called curry broth was both spicy and sour (but not as sour as assam laksa).  Not easy to find fans of this as I noticed some crunched up faces/expressions of people eating this for the first time.  In the end, it was a weird combination of eating ingredients of a curry mee but in a broth that's like assam laksa (minus the ikan kembong flakes).  Not something I would order again.  I'd rather have a proper bowl of curry mee and a proper bowl of assam laksa...separately, not together! ;)

On my first visit, I noticed quite a few people ordering their signature fried chicken nasi lemak but, from photos online, the sambal didn't look like a proper nasi lemak sambal, so I decided to forego that and get the Luncheon Meat in Dry Noodle @ RM12.90 instead tossed in dark sauce with flavoured oil (shallot or pork lard) and had light flavours (some will probably find it a bit too bland for their liking).  Not sure what noodles were used but they looked/tasted like some thick egg noodles.

The luncheon meat was fried till crispy, nicely fragrant though not the most fragrant I've had but also not the low quality luncheon meat served by many (the shape of it is an indicator).  I thought it was a fairly decent dish with ingredients of luncheon meat, egg and dry noodles that children (especially) would enjoy.

Khueen Kee isn't just a kopitiam serving eggs, toasts, noodles and rice dishes but also a bakery.  At the entrance of this quaint little cafe you'd find a pastry section selling all kinds of pastries and biscuits (pre-packed biscuits are also available inside the cafe).  Not sure if the goods are baked here or they come from Ipoh.

Someone told me that their pastries isn't worth my time but I decided to give it a try anyway.  I got a few for my first sampling, a Traditional Egg Tart @ RM2.70, a Chicken Floss Egg Tart @ RM3 and a Kaya Kok/Puff @ RM1.50.

For the traditional egg tart, I found the egg mixture to be silky smooth, not too sweet, with a fair dose of egg-y flavour.  The tarts had a soft, flaky texture but weren't too buttery (if you prefer a very buttery crust, this one might not be the one for you).

The chicken floss tart was a little bit more unique, this one was savoury because of the chicken floss filling and I thought the pastry was even more flaky than the traditional egg tart.  The kaya kok was my least liked item even though it had a decent amount of kaya filling that wasn't too sweet.

On another visit, I got a Chicken Pie @ RM3, a Lao Po Biscuit @ RM2.50 and a Salty Red Bean Biscuit @ RM1.20.  I also got a repeated item, the egg tart which was my most enjoyed item the previous time.

The chicken pie had a filling that tasted exactly like those of a char siew bun but it's chicken instead of pork.  It was ok.  The lao po (wife) biscuit's winter filling (however) was far from good and this one had thinly shredded candied orange peel in them that gave it a light tangy flavour which I thought threw the balance of the filling a bit off.

The salty red bean biscuit is something like those famous bite-size Tambun biscuits (tau sar pneah), a must-buy 'souvenir' when you're visiting Penang but no where near the quality of those.  Not sure why they call it salty (red?) bean since it's (as I know) usually made from grounded mung beans (or green beans).  The someone who told me to skip the pastries here was probably right...at least almost right.  Out of the six I've tried, these three (+ the kaya kok) will not see me having it again.

The Kopi-O (Cold) @ RM3.60 and their Chayang White Coffee (Cold) @ RM5.40 were coffees that I quite enjoyed but certainly not among my most favourite ones.

My Personal Opinion

The local fare of noodles and rice is satisfactory enough for a breakfast or lunch option for people from around the area but not outstanding enough that you need to make a special trip here just to try the food unless you're game enough to try their unique sour curry noodles which they should just call assam laksa (to prevent misinterpretation or unexpected tastes) since it tastes just like one (but without the fish).

The pastries/biscuits are a bit of a hit and miss too with the egg tarts being the one I enjoyed most from here.  Certainly not the best out there but possibly the best we have in our taman (neighbourhood) at the moment.

Khueen Kee Chayang

46 Jalan Pandan Indah 4/6B

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 012-555 4331

Home Alone This Chinese New Year!

This Chinese New Year (CNY) I'm home alone!  My family went back to Ipoh on the first day of the Lunar New Year but I decided to stay put.  Since the pandemic, I've grown used to not travelling...and the idea of getting stuck in traffic for a longer than anticipated balik kampung journey isn't something I look forward to these days.  Anyway, I'm more than happy to spend some me time at home by myself! ^_~

Though I may be home alone, at least I've got some snacks (and the idiot box) to keep me company.  Time to binge-watch some downloaded series/movies (The Menu, Amsterdam, BTS Concert, Dr Death are some that comes to mind)! ;)  I'm not one to snack big time and these days (after the pandemic) I don't go looking for anything new in the nearby wet markets either.  I just stick to my usual stash of snacks that I've been happily munching on all these years.

The first is (of course) my family's must-have Prawn Crackers...the same one I buy every year to fry.  Last year's price was RM33 (for 600g of uncooked crackers), this year it went up to RM35 (these days increase in prices don't surprise us anymore).  This year I ended up giving them to even more recipients, so there wasn't quite enough for us (sorry, there'll be no second refill for my sisters-in-law..hehe).  I think I need to up my stock again next year.  One recipient liked it so much that she immediately asked me to buy 5 packets for her but (as expected) my supplier had already sold out her stock as early as 4 weeks before CNY (she said she had to put in her order with her supplier as early as October and she doesn't have an option to restock).

Similarly like last year, I ordered the Crab (Surimi) Crackers from the same source.  This time it was even easier as I already have her contact stored in my Whatsapp.  The price went up to RM20 from RM18 last year (again a price increase is a given these days).  This year I placed an order for 6 cans (3 were my sister-in-law's order, one to give-away and two for our own consumption).  I remember last year that it took us quite a while to finish the two cans but this year it disappeared in a jiffy (probably because I bought less types of snacks). Love the light savoury taste and super crispiness of it (need to get more next year!).

This year, my dry goods supplier sold these Chicken Biscuits (RM25) which he made sure to introduce them to me.  In my years of balik kampung, we'd usually stop by Bidor for breakfast enroute to Ipoh and also to stop by Pun Chun to buy their famous chicken biscuits but I remember those biscuits to be thick.

These ones are super thin and crispy with added fragrance from the black and white sesame seeds.  The taste of the fermented red bean curd and five spice powder is also not as overpowering.

From the sticker on the can, I think (everything was written in Chinese) the goods are sold in Ipoh at 3 places (Ipoh Garden, Jalan Theatre and Pasir Putih).  I thought it was pretty good and went back to buy a further two cans to give away.

This year I told my sisters-in-law not to gift me any cookies and stuff coz we don't eat them as much now and will struggle to finish them.  So one sister-in-law gifted me Bak Kwa....ah, as the paper bag says...this is truly a bag of love....kekeke!  This year, a 600g pack retails for about RM75...ouch!

This once-a-year indulgence my family welcomes with open arms...and this year, they came in rather colourful packaging.  Between the two flavours, I definitely preferred the original (in purple, orange & green packaging) to the spicy (in blue packaging).  My husband concurs as the spicy one is just too spicy that you just can't taste the original flavour of the bak kwa anymore.  I've bought the spicy one before some years back but don't remember it to be that fiery.  I had one piece and that's it...the heat level is just too much for me! >_< 

And that's about all the snacks we have to munch on this year....Mandarin Oranges (about RM25 for medium-sized ones) don't count, right?  I was very controlled with the buying so that we can practise eating in moderation.  Last year, I ordered the oranges from Shopee supermarket to be delivered to my doorstep (but this year they weren't selling), so I had to go to the shops to lug them home.  Mandarin oranges is a must every year as I need them as giveaways to (some) neighbours, my newspaper delivery man, the sampah men (refuse collectors), our gated community security guards, my hairdresser, even Shopee delivery personnel.

These days I favour these small Honey Mandarins as they're extra juicy and easy to eat (look kinda cute too)....and they're also much lighter to cart home! ;P  They're, of course, much pricier than their bigger cousins....and retails at around RM15 a packet. You'd probably get about 20 - 25 in one packet and they last very long in the fridge.

Just like I told my sisters-in-law not to get me any cookies, I feel I should reciprocate and do the same.  So I got them some dry goods (like mushrooms, dried prawns, ikan bilis and dried cuttlefish) instead which I thought is a rather practical gift, one which they can use for their day-to-day cooking (also to help out my dry goods supplier lah whose business is not that great this year it seems).  Other pricier options that's great as a giveaway include lap cheong (dried sausage), lap ngap (waxed duck), hoe see (dried oyster) and dried scallops (conpoy).

Another sister-in-law, in return, gave me a few cans of Abalone, Japanese Dried Scallops and Sea Cucumber...premium gifts, no doubt.  Such practical gifts are way better than cookies which can be put to good use in our cooking for all to enjoy.

This year we were also privileged to receive a CNY Hamper (courtesy of someone's employer).  Incidentally, this is a vegetarian hamper.  I spotted two types of bird's nest, a bottle of Merlot (red wine), pineapple juice, cookies of sesame straws and kuih bangkit (tapioca cookies) and even handmade ramen.  One of the boxes only has Chinese writing on it, so I don't know what's that.

Actually, if there's a cookie I like to eat it would be these melt-in-the-mouth tapioca cookies if they've a good dose of santan (coconut milk) flavour in them (though I try to refrain from eating them).  Now what am I going to do with handmade ramen?  It's not like I know how to make tonkotsu ramen broth.  As for the bottle of red wine, perhaps I might finally attempt a beef stew or a red wine reduction sauce (for steaks) but I'll need to research recipes online coz I've no idea how to make these or even where to start! :O

On a side note, we got these well-known Tanjung Sepat Tapioca (Cassava) Chips (kerepek ubi) before CNY but continued munching them well into CNY.  We got 3 flavours...original, spicy and barbeque.  Tapioca chips has a thicker and harder texture compared to potato chips, so if you like your chips with a good bite, then you'll fancy this.  These kerepek ubi from Tanjung Sepat specifically are fresh, crispy.....and good....and the spicy one is the best! ^.^

As you can see, I was very controlled this year with the snacks.....my best performance so far, don't you think?  Lol!  So, for those of you who can (and want to) enjoy CNY snacks, do so without guilt...after all, CNY comes round only once a year.  We live only once.....so let's hop into the Year of the Rabbit and enjoy our guilty pleasures while we still can!