Sous Vide Recipes: Sambal Salmon with Lime & Thai Basil

After a long hard slog of a year to move into the food industry full time, it's time for a blog post. It's been emotional and exciting but so far so good and there's no looking back. Experimenting with cool foodie gadgets comes with the territory and this week I've been testing out the Sous Vide Supreme, darling of the slow cooking and poaching world.

My mind got thinking to Chinese and South East Asian cooking techniques that sous vide could easily replicate and enhance. Poached, steamed and slow braised dishes would all be wonderful and plunging a bag into a machine that claimed to cook food to perfection whilst I twiddle my thumbs was extremely welcome.

I decided on an easy classic with a twist for my maiden sous vide adventure: juicy salmon smothered in a spicy Malaysian sambal lined with lime slices and plenty of Thai Basil.

Fish Head Rice Noodle Soup 鱼头米饭

Lately I've been hit by desperate cravings for homely noodle soups. I'd like to think my desperation would make me unfussy, that hunger trumps putting myself through inconvenience. Wouldn't it just be fine to make up some soup through stock cubes, toss in noodles and fillings? Nope, that's not how us noodle lovers roll. I of course had to make everything from scratch and traipse around London for the "right" ingredients. But then I wouldn't have discovered some very interesting details about one of my childhood favourites, Fish Head Rice Noodle Soup.

Two noodles I could eat all the time: Mee Pok & Chilly Pan Mee

Malaysian food-sickness. No, I mean Malaysian food-homesickness. Homesick for Malaysian food. Oh darnnit, I just want these two types of noodles!

Malaysian Munching: Village Park for THAT Nasi Lemak

Remember when Madam Kwan's first arrived on the scene in KL? And how Nasi Bojari was the dish to have? Mainly because of that gorgeous chicken leg accompanied by the tasty mixed rice, sambal and acar combo. Come to think of it was a sorta version of Nasi Lemak. Well that heyday is well and truly over but have no fear because if there was ever a reinvention of the chicken leg, then Village Park in Damansara Uptown has done a Madonna.

Malaysian Midnight Eating: Restoran Damansara Hokkien Mee

I interrupt my Beijing broadcast to bask in the glory of finding black gold in nearby Damansara Uptown. Old to the other residents but new to me, and a find is still a find!

Rediscovering Penang Part 3: Cheong Fat Tze, Little India & Kopi Peng

As intense as the cerulean sky behind it the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion left such an impression on me from the moment I saw it. It was the house and office of a man pivotal to Penang's position as an Asian trading hub in the turn of the 19th century. Exquisitely restored, Le Maison Bleu was my favourite spot on this trip to Georgetown.

Selangorlicious Foodster Blogging Competition 2011 Results

It's been a great week in Hungry Female HQ. Back in May this year, I submitted two entries to the Selangorlicious Foodster Blogging Competition 2011, a state-wide competition sponsored by Tourism Selangor. It challenged bloggers to write and submit photos of eateries and restaurants in the state of Selangor, making the entry as interesting and fun as possible. I'm absolutely thrilled to say Hungry Female won Second Prize!

Rediscovering Penang Part 2: Ten Thousand Buddhas, Lots of Chinese Cookies and One Killer Assam Laksa

When visiting Georgetown in Penang, a must-do is going up Penang Hill on the furnicular railway. You'll see the city in all its glory (provided it's not a misty day like when we went) connected to the mainland by that famous bridge, currently the fourth longest in South East Asia. If titles are what one is after, Penang sweeps the floor clean with the Kek Lok Si Temple - the largest Buddhist temple in the region.

If you take the route that the guidebooks advise (Bus 204 from Komtar Bus Station to Air Itam, for the Kek Lok Si and Penang Hill), you cannot miss the gargantuan Kuan Yin statue that dominates the skyline over Air Itam town. And that is just a prelude to the thousands of celestial beings and Buddhas all over this place of worship.

Rediscovering Penang Part 1: Char Kuey Teow, Oyster Pancakes & Lor Bak on Lorong Selamat

My Dad is quintessentially Penang in his life long love for street food. Whisper "Char Kuey Toew" or "Hokkien Mee" and he is at the ready 24-7. Much to my Mum's despair in trying to manage his starch intake. Well, it's in his genetic make-up through-and-through to love these sinful things, and it's exactly where I get my hankering for them from too.

After over 10 years of not visiting Penang, I embarked on a little exploration into my Dad's birthplace with boy on tow. I was excited over the scandalous amounts of fabulous food on every corner, saddened it was run down in places and frankly quite filthy, but surprised and happy that there were more efforts to conserve its colourful history.

Doing food research for this trip was harder than usual. First of all there are endless options for any one single dish, how does one sift through to find the best? Secondly, even reputable forms of travel guides say "Char Kuey Teow on Lorong Selamat" or "Assam Laksa on Jalan Air Itam" without much more detail to what the stall looks like or even what names to look out for. So common sense, lots of guess work and growling tums are always the best guides in the end.

Day One: we decide to stroll around our hotel on Jalan Hutton to orientate ourselves. Receiving UNESCO Heritage status in 2008, Georgetown's core zone buzzed - an old town steeped in a rich history of being a key Asian entrepot. I adored the old Straits shophouses and facades, some preserved magnificently and others far more weathered.

Sometimes second best will have to do: Kolo Mee in KL

Guess what I found in Bangsar's Lucky Garden coffee shop?

Discovering Kolo Mee (and other delights) in Kuching - Part 2

After my first bite of Kolo Mee I was like a young vampire initiated. I had gotten a taste I couldn't shake and hungered for more. Next time around was apt after a night out on the Kuching town post friend M's wedding, at the Swee Sen Cafe over in the 10th mile.

Discovering Kolo Mee in Kuching - Part 1

Over the weekend I visited Kuching which was my first time in East Malaysia. Why had I waited so long to discover its wonderful culture and natural landscapes? And one of its foremost contributions to the mighty Malaysian food fabric: kolo mee.

Aubergine Sambal

How do I love aubergines? Let me count the ways. Grilled over the barbeque, curried, roasted till soft and caramelised like in Middle Eastern spreads, on pizza, baked in a Greek Moussaka and stir-fried in countless Asian dishes to just name, erm, a few. And the way which gets me everytime like a culinary Achilles Heel, is when aubergine is sauteed in sambal Malaysian style.

Lychees.

It's nearly the end of lychee season and only now I have fresh ones after like forever. I don't mean fresh ones all dainty and packaged in plastic Waitrose cartons but those out of a wobbly wooden box sold by an toothless uncle at the pasar malam (night market). You can even smell their sweet perfume before tearing open the nobbly shell that's like exotic red reptile skin. White translucent flesh wraps a shiny ebony seed and I can't help its juice dripping down my wrist, just like when I was a kid.

I eat about twenty and tell my mum I've had enough. For now.

Nathalie's Gourmet Studio

I finally get to dine at the restaurant from the lady who single-handedly popularised macarons in KL. Her Solaris Dutamas outfit seems to tick all the boxes: looks, charm, fancy kitchen utensils dangling from the ceiling, and a concise and appetising menu that screams elegant and contemporary French cuisine. Despite all this, I still didn't think my palate had been sufficiently seduced....

Horlicks and White Coffee. Ice Cream form.

Third installment in my mission to taste all flavours from The Last Polka who make table-dancingly good ice cream.

Lunch Spreads: Nasi Padang at D'Cengkih

We in Malaysia love our food spreads. From the swankiest hotel buffets to the seediest road side stalls, there is always some tempting assortment of plates to put off any hopes of diet reform. Even during the office lunch hour, when time is tight, there's still a chance to have a good ol' selection of sorts. Power-eating-hours don't get better than this.

Nathalie's Macarons & Mariage Freres: La France a arrivé à KL

C'est vrai! Fine French desserts have arrived in KL. Being the last person to have had Nathalie's macarons, expectations had been set high after hearing and reading so much about these pretty little things.

Petai (Stinky Bean) & Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage) Fried Rice

One of my favourite ways to cook is simply looking in the fridge, seeing what's knocking about and concocting a little treat out of unusual suspects. As simple a dish as it may seem, there is an art to making fried rice, it's one of those Asian staples that everyone has got some opinion to. This time I had two ingredients which let's say, are often known to incite foodie debate.

More Polka! Malt & Peanut Butter and French Toast Ice Cream

Well hello there. Guess what I went looking for when the urge for good ice cream got too strong.