Feasting in Penang & Hat Yai

This is a long overdue post. Have been lazy & busy with other stuff. :P

My parents, Jerome & I drove up to Penang then to Hat Yai for a few days in December last year. And look at what we ate!

This is perhaps the most famous Penang Laksa stall in  Penang!

Finally the bowl of authentic Penang Laksa that I've been dreaming about for years!

Tasty thick white noodles in a sour & spicy soup base with lots of kamong fish meat. 

The laksa noodles tasted really great, totally different from the ones we usually eat in Singapore.

The softest muah chee we have ever eaten...

This is the muah chee hawker who has a facebook account. 

Seafood at Bukit Tambun...

The real reason why we're here- the giant grouper's head! 

Green Mango Calabu... that's what I call a real appetizer.

Stir-fry lahlah with ginger & spring onion.

The best chilli kangkong we've eaten...

Fried Crabs with Curry Paste

The highlight of the meal- steam grouper's head. This is actually a quarter of the entire fish head.

This is really the star of the dish- the thick fish skin. Well, I still prefer the flesh.

Here's the address if anyone wants to visit the restaurant.

What about some fruits after dinner?

A fruit stall at some dark corner...

 First, pick a stick of fruits...

Then dip it into either the spicy or non-spicy rojak sauce.

The price list...

When you're done, just pay according to the number of sticks you have accumulated.

The next morning, we had dim sum at Chao Quan. Think they have easily over 100 variety of dim sum & dishes. 

A wonderful version of fried carrot cake.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Hat Yai, Thailand.

Uncle Yao brought us out for many meals... 

More chinese than thai...

Fish head steamboat... somewhat like what we have locally.

Fried oyster with eggs on hotplate. This is the dish that still get us talking...

I don't usually eat the oysters as I find them rather fishy but these oysters here were really fresh. 

They're big, fat and juicy! Pardon the oil, this is really a great dish.

Jerome was saying that we can visit next time just to eat this dish!

After all that feasting, we decided to go for something light for breakfast. 

Pork porridge that was surprisingly good :)

Then we decided we should have some Thai food since we're in Thailand...

Fish Otah in a bowl that's really goooood!

Most important- the Tom Yum Goong! 

We went shopping at the local market and tried some of the food from the street vendors.

Sticky Mango Rice.

Thinking of when we can eat visit again...

Phad Thai Again

Just prepared Phad Thai for lunch today. Think it looked and tasted better than the first time I tried them. This time round, I added a little more tamarind water to make the sauce a little more tangy.

But honestly, I've forgotten how the original Phad Thai should taste like. The last time I tried an authentic one was last Dec when we visited Bangkok. I loved it so much that I had it for almost every meal :P

Well, we'll be going to Phuket this Saturday so it's a great time to catch up on my Phad Thai again :P

Pineapple Fried Rice & Thai Green Curry

Just prepared pineapple fried rice & Thai Green Chicken Curry for dinner. Had wanted to take a few more better pictures of them but Jerome can't wait to start eating... It is not the first time I had cooked this combination for dinner but it was a long time ago. He said he missed my cooking...

Had wanted to sprinkle some pork floss over but Jerome likes the original flavour.

Opps! The sausages are a little charred...

Thai Green Chicken Curry. 

Should have added some green peas but realized that they have expired :P

The curry mix that I used... 

Just add evaporated milk, chicken and mushrooms...

Phad Thai

After the trip to Bangkok last Dec, I ate my first plate of Phai Thai and fell in love with it :)

A plate of delightful Pad Thai at a street stall in Bangkok

Another plate of Phad Thai from the food court at the Bangkok Paragon

Another plate of Phad Thai at the airport :P

Upon returning home, I went in search for a recipe to cook this Thai most popular hawker dish. My search on the net led me to Chez Pim's Pad Thai for beginners.   Her very detailed step-by-step instructions were almost over-whelming... I kept it at the back of my mind... thinking of trying it out one of these days...  Then, back to work, no time to experiment in the kitchen and I forgot about it... until...

It's the school hols and a start to a long break, I'm once again looking at food blogs, looking for experiments to conduct in the kitchen... Stumbled into The Little Teochew's blog and read her entry on Chez Pim's Pad Thai and salivated over the photographs of her sinfully good Pad Thai... I knew I had to try the recipe somehow to satisfy my craving!

After reading through Chez Pim's write-up, I've decided to keep my $200+ wok and bought a new $18 stainless steel chinese wok. I tried to season the wok as instructed. I poured in a full cup of oil into the wok and started to 'smoke' out the entire wok. There was so much smoke that Jerome had to come into the kitchen to check if I had set the kitchen on fire :P From a shiny stainless steel wok, I eventually ended up with a dirty/burnt-looking wok. I wonder if this was meant to be... Jerome said I've damaged the wok :P

According to Chez Pim, the Pad Thai will taste good in a seasoned chinese wok. If the wok is well-seasoned, the rice noodles will not stick to the wok. So I guessed my wok was seasoned alright. And the thing about using a seasoned chinese wok is this... you can't wash it with soap! Just a gentle scrub and a rinse of water before putting in back to the fire to dry it up before storing it away. I know I'll be looking for signs of mould the next time I use the wok again...

Anyway, after all the trouble, here's my Pad Thai... looking kinda pale...but fortunately, it tasted good!
 Sorry, but my efforts are really far from Chez Pim's and The Little Teochew's. Look at their pictures of Pad Thai to know what I mean... Will definitely try the recipe again and make some improvements.

My 1st Pad Thai... out from my kitchen...

Eating in Bangkok, Thailand

Just returned from a 5 days trip to Bangkok with Jerome. It was my first visit there and there was so much to see, eat & shop!

Food stalls like these line the streets almost everywhere. Just buy and eat as you walk. I found that it was difficult to keep my head straight as we walked. There's the tendency to constantly look left & right to look at what the different stalls have to offer.

I tried this sweet & crispy pancakes. 10 pieces in a pack for 20Bht. Quite nice :)

There are also street stalls with tables and chairs.

Take the front seats and see how your food is prepared.

Grilled fish covered with salt with the mouth stuff with lemon grass & pandan leaf at a street stall.

Alfresco dining on the pavements...

Meat on Skewers for grilling at a street stall

'Half-hatched' Eggs?

Food on Wheels- rice & dishes at the back of a pick-up truck

A canteen hidden in one of the small lanes

Bee Hoon Soup, Thai Style

 the noodles are quite different (nice) and the soup was tasty.

Banana Leaf Restaurant in Silom serving nice authentic Thai food. (We also have the famous Banana Leaf Indian Restaurant at Little India in Singapore serving Curry Fish Head.) This restaurant was recommended by a local.

Thai Style Spring Rolls with lots of garlic, but yummy.

Was a little disappointed that the Pineapple Fried Rice was not served in a pineapple.

Tom Yum Goong, a spicy & sour seafood soup. Yummy! I can't get enough of this.

Thai Papaya Salad, most appetizing.

Crispy Deep-fried fish with Sweet Chilli Sauce...

The meal costs us about 800Bht. A great meal that doesn't cost a bomb!

A small stall at Chatuchak Weekend Market where we had our lunch.

Reminds me of the local 'zi char' stall...

Stir fry flat rice noodles in thick gravy, just like 'hor fan'.
 Jerome says the noodles tasted much better here. I think he's just hungry :P

I ordered Pad Thai, Thai's favourite stir-fry thin rice noodles. Yummy!

Thai Teh Tarik and the Prata man.
 'Tarik' is a Malay word meaning 'pull'.
We just looveee the Thai Ice-Tea there!

A stall selling coconuts?

Refreshing Coconut Ice-cream served in a coconut shell! Great for the warm weather!
The combination with the crunchy roasted peanuts on the top and fresh coconut flesh at the bottom is just perfect... I'm missing it now.

Grilled Squids at a street stall

Sausage balls

Toasted Bread with Sugar and Butter Spread & Thai Ice-Tea
reminds me of Ya Kun in Singapore :)

BBQ seafood on boat at a small floating market, Da Ling Chan

'Bee Pang' to be cooled before packing into bags (1 packet 20Bht)
These are great tasting snacks, crunchy, sweet & sour
 I can finish a pack easily on my own :P
Regretted not buying more

Frying Pad Thai on a boat
It must be very hot to be sitting so near to the heat...

Sitting on stools, dining at the low tables

Food Hall at Siam Paragon
We had to purchase a stored value card before buying food, remaining value is redeemable.
They even provide tissue & toothpicks. We should have these in Singapore too!

Thai Style Noodle Soup

Thai Style Wantan Mee
Noodle are very fine but Singapore's version taste better :P

Pad Thai Again :)

Yummy Fried Oysters with Eggs on Hotplate

A coffee-shop that's not so commonly found

Bee Hoon Soup

And finally before our flight back to Singapore, we just got to have Pad Thai again :P

But this time we tried having 'tang hoon' instead of the thin flat rice noodles...
Well, the original thin flat noodles still taste better!

And of course, we had the Thai Ice-Tea too! :)

Wonder when I'm returning for another trip to eat & shop...