VADEH DAY!

My vadeh is ready

The huge prawns nestle on top of the dough

'V' FOR VADEH

What better way to spend the last few hours of Sunday with a plate of vadeh. I just used the pre-mix flour but was generous with the king- sized prawns. I added diced onions, green chilly and some curry leaves to increase the flavour and fragrance.

It takes some expertise and time to make the batter into the doughnut shape so that you can slab the prawn on top of it. You try to shape it on your open palm. I lay a piece of plastic on my palm to shape it so that it would not be too sticky.  Also, it will make peeling the dough easy when you want to put it in the hot oil.

The right consistency of mixture has to be achieved for a soft texture of your fried vadeh. You do not want your dentures to be dangling on the dough while taking a bite through that ring of cooked hard dough.

Vadeh is an Indian snack but is popular with everyone because it is filling and fragrance.

CRAVING SATISFIED

 

Finally served Kacang Pool for a beautiful Sunday





The garnishing to tempt you more

 

Ful Medames Anyone?

Otherwise known as Kacang Pool, a Middle Eastern dish commonly served during festive occasions and is a staple meal in Sudan. Have been craving for it and finally had it laid for a beautiful Sunday morning. Kacang pool is originally a middle-eastern dish called foul medames (or variants of it, depending on region).  It used to be commonly sold in Singapore but now it had made way to more exotic middle eastern dish.  And since those I tried was not very great, I decided to cook myself following my mum's recipe.  

My mum's recipe is easy to prepare.  Fennel seeds, coriander and cumin were pounded together with garlic.  The paste was fried with ghee.  I used ghee for it's aroma and fragrance. A teaspoon of curry powder was added together with some minced meat into the paste. The mashed ful medames was then added and cooked to boil. 

To garnish the dish you sprinkle some diced onions, tomatoes and sliced green chilly.  A squeeze of lime will add some zest to the dish.  To top it all, fry an egg or a mata lembu in ghee too. Serve with toasted baguette. Eat with your hands for best result for you need to tear the bread and scoop the beans together with the garnishing.  Atlast, my craving had been satisfied.  

Notice my cup? River Nile and Egypt are printed on it. If I couldn't be on a River Nile cruise  to enjoy Kacang Pool, sipping Nescafe from the cup will do.

Ahlan wasahlan.

Sunday Surprise

Tea time menu is completed for the day

A quck bite to satisfy my hunger

What a Sunday treat!

The perfect epok-epok which is not soaked in oil

Assorted buns baked by Chef Nas

Have been waiting for the Murtabak Cream Crackers

My pastry done by my wonderful god-sister Nas

Thank you so much Nas

SUNDAY SURPRISE

My god-sister surprised me this Sunday morning by preparing for me her special Murtabak Cream Crackers, Assorted Mini Buns and highly acclaimed epok-epok. I was so simply touched by her gesture to send the special 'treasures for tasting' to my doorstep. I said no and went down to Nas's place instead to get them.

Thank you so much Nas. May Allah Bless

POWERED BY PAU

Rice paper umbrella for a souvenir item

Steamed pau as white as silky clouds

The multi-tiered rattan steamer

Choosing the pau of various fillings

The pau would be our tea at the next stop
With a Muar store keeper

An ice shaver machine

A bowl of chendol on a hot day

One spoonful for you, three spoonfuls for me

The chendol stall on cart

CHENDOL AND PAU

You wouldn't miss the many pau road stalls if your are driving around Muar district. Pau is made from soft dough with various fillings. For the sweet tooth, there is red bean and kaya paste stuffed in the ball of dough. Meat lovers would love the chicken and the beef filling. There is also filling stuffed with quail eggs. You can bite through anchovy sambal and otak-otak filling in the fried pau version. As long as there is ingenuity and creativity in the pau sellers, there would never be any short of ideas on how to innovate the different fillings to cater to the changing taste of pau lovers.

Paus are steamed in tiered rattan baskets in the traditional way of pau-making. Electrical steamers are now used for commercially produced ones. A good pau has a silken soft white skin texture with enough filling for every bite of the dough. Pau comes in handy for breakfast or tea. It is not too heavy but just perfect when you need to snack in between meals.

Chendol is also easily found in Muar. Red beans and green chendol go into a bowl of shaved ice. Coconut milk and palm sugar are poured over the ingredients. You may request for some glutinous rice to be mixed with the beans if you like. I prefer mine with lots of red bean. I always feel guilty after eating a bowl of chendol because it's rich in cholesterol.

ME AND MEE

The famous Mee Bandung Muar of Pak Abu

Shrimps and meat pieces swim in the thick gravy

Having my first taste of Pak Abu Mee Bandung
'John Wayne' also had a go of his mee bandung at Muar

Satay is eaten with peanut sauce, rice cubes and cucumber

Pak Abu sells his gravy paste to his customers

Watermelon juice with a zest of lemon. Melonlicious!

Thanks for the generous portion Pak Abu

Yusuf with the youngest customer of Pak Abu

The satay man fanning the charcoal for a good fire

Charcoal-grilled chicken and beef meat

The road opposite Wah San Coffee shop

Pak Abu Hanipah the man behind the success of Mee Bandung Muar

Selling the box of paste for RM 10

ME AND MEE BANDUNG MUAR

After watching an episode of 'Warung Kita', I told my husband that we must stop by at Muar for the famous Mee Bandung and satay which were given the thumbs up by the foodie commentator.

We were in Negri Sembilan recently and dropped by at Muar on the way back to Singapore. It took us about twenty minutes driving around Muar town to find the rightly named Wah San Coffeeshop which was highlighted in the programme. A row of big bikes from KL fronted the shop. The riders are regulars and would have their Sunday breakfast there. Cars with plates from Johor, Negri Sembilan and Selangor lined the road. That was a clear mandate that the iconic Pak Abu's Mee Bandung of Muar started in the 1930s and his hand-me-down secret recipe sill have its magnetism to pull in the crowd who are willing to drive hundreds of kilometres away.

Stepping into the coffee shop gave us an aura of simplicity and a relaxing atmosphere; inviting and easy-going feeling which are only offered by people who want to see you revisit their stall. Pak Abu gave us his wide smile and bantered away at the list of guests who had been his patrons. Newspaper cuttings on 'Who's Who' in Malaysia political and entertainment scene were fighting for space on the walls of the shop and on his glass display cabinet.

We planted ourselves at a table a long the five-foot path and ordered the speciality of the shop. I ventured into the cooking area. Pak Abu fried his paste of chillies, onions, peanut, beef and shrimp fresh before adding the stock, vegetables and the yellow mee into the big wok. His scooping of the condiments and giving a quick dash of sauce here and there into the wok with his ladle and deft hands reminded me of an image of a conductor holding a baton and making music with his orchestra. I marvelled at the quickness of how he portioned his ingredients that should go into the cooking of the gravy. Only a maestro of the ladle like him would be able to perform that!

Pak Abu's recipe of forty years had satisfied the gastronomical desires of many local and faraway customers. The mee bandung served had a generous portion of thick gravy, shrimp and meat. To me, the gravy was more like a mixture of satay peanut sauce and the mee rebus gravy. A bit too sweet for my liking. As for the satay, I prefer mine to be coated with more spice such as coriander, fennel and lemon grass rather than the caramelised meat we had.

Getting to Muar:

Take the Tangkak exit (Exit 235) from the North South Expressway and drive past Sg. Mati and Parit Bunga (Highway 23 and 5). Muar town is situated approximately 27km from the Tangkak exit.