The Orange-chocolate-coffee-marshmallow Marble Cake

This is what happens with the fickle minded, the people who cannot decide on what they want to bake and who want to bake everything at once.

The Orange-chocolate-coffee-marshmallow Marble Cake.

Ingredients:

Cake
125g unsalted butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
juice from half an orange
grated rind from 2 oranges
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted twice
20g melted butter
95g marshmallows
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 teaspoons coffee powder


Icing
200g baking chocolate
1 tablespoon orange juice
1tablespoon butter

"My hand is starting to hurt!"
-My brother on flour-sifting duty-

We thought cutting up the marshmallows into smaller pieces would help with the mixing. Caught red-handed, I'm pretty sure there was less than 95g of marshmallows in the end product!

Anyway, here's the how to:

Cake (adapted from "A Taste of Summer's orange spice cake)

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 24cm spring-form tin with butter and line base with paper
2. Cream butter, sugar and rind until light and fluffy, about 5 min. Add eggs a little at a time beating well after each addition. Fold through milk and orange juice, alternately with sifted flour.
3. For that marble effect, we separated some of the cake mixture into a bowl and added to it the
coffee and cocoa powder (first dissolved in a bit of hot water) and marshmallows.

Spoon both mixtures into the baking tin. Swirl to your imagination.

4. Bake for 50 minutes or until skewer in the centre comes out clean. Note that when performing skewer-test, stickiness of melted marshmallows must be accounted for - we didn't get an entirely clean skewer.

Icing (a.k.a the best part)
1. Pop cooking chocolate into the microwave for 3 minutes, on medium low. (Make sure it's in a covered, microwavable container)
2. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon orange juice. Mix well.


The marshmallows stay at the top of the mixture, melting to give the cake a chewy, caramel-like crust. Once the cake is cool enough to touch, spread on a generous amount of icing and indulge!

Just for laughs, we purchased some coloured sugar balls to sprinkle on the cake. The icing goes remarkably well with the marshmallow crust, especially when it's all warm so we like to pop our slice of cake into the microwave for 10 seconds before tucking into it.

What's better than a nice, warm slice of cake for dessert? A nice warm slice of cake with ice cream for dessert.

Bliss.

More scenes from a childhood restaurant

In the days of chic coffee outlets boasting over-sized armchairs and piped-in jazz, quaint authentic Hainanese coffee shops are hard to come by. While I definitely enjoy a mid-afternoon conversation over a Java Chip Frappuccino, it's nice to settle down at a traditional coffee shop to enjoy a good cup of coffee and some roti kahwin.

If there's one thing that Kemaman is famous for, it's Hai Peng coffee. A lone, proud, structure in the heart of town, it's been a favourite for generations. It's got all the characteristics of a good Hainanese coffee shop - the heavy marble tables, the delicious roti kahwin (bread with butter and kaya), the typical crockery and of course, great coffee.

A visit to the Hai Peng Kopitiam branch in Kuantan with my cousins recently brought back happy memories of kopitiam breakfasts before kindergarten, as they reminisced about half boiled eggs and steamed bread.

Where else can you get do-it-yourself half-boiled eggs? The eggs come in a metal container containing hot water with a plate for a cover. 5 minutes, and you've got half boiled eggs that are delicious with pepper and soy sauce. Dipped into the runny egg mixture - that's the best way to have the roti kahwin.

What I find very amusing about these kopitiams are the fact that they give you a saucer to eat your runny egg from so more often than not, you find yourself simply picking up the saucer and slurping up the egg.

The Hai Peng kopitiam in Kuantan also serves delicious curry puffs, nasi lemak and curry laksa. The branching out to Kuantan has not compromised the coffee in any way and they make a mean iced mocha.


Hai Peng Kopitiam also sells pre-packaged coffee so you can have your very own kopitiam experience at home. It's definitely come a long way - making sure that it keeps up with the changing times but still retaining that cosy kopitiam atmosphere.

Hai Peng Kopitiam, Kemaman
3753 Jalan Sulaiman,
Chukai,
Kemaman,
Terengganu.

Hai Peng Kopitiam, Kuantan
Jln Haji Abdul Aziz
25000 Kuantan
Pahang Darul Makmur.

Scenes from a childhood restaurant

It's one of those worth-driving-an-hour-into-a-different-state type things. Growing up, this was the only type of curry noodles I knew and loved, the curry noodles from a quaint little wooden shop in Kemaman.


It's been there ever since I can remember, operated by an elderly lady who knows everyone in town. It opens as early as 5am (till 4pm) and I think and is, for most locals, the staple breakfast haunt. Nothing like a hot bowl of noodles, the fresh morning air and the sound of roosters crowing to start the day.

The curry noodles are really unlike anything else and is usually referred to as a type of laksa by non-locals, probably due to the way the gravy is prepared. A peek into the huge pot of boiling gravy and one would notice that the gravy is actually clear broth made from fresh fish. The noodles are served in piping hot gravy with kangkung, beansprouts and a spoonful of delicious sambal.

Along with the sambal, a veteran would add some special chill sauce to the gravy. I think that's why I liked it so much when I was younger - there was always the fun of adding your own condiments and because everything is done to your own discretion, it's really quite personalised and would have just the right kick.

A bowl of curry noodles is never complete without fish keropok (crackers). Most people develop their own way of eating the keropok with the noodles over time but probably the most common method is to fashion the keropok into a spoon before sandwiching the noodles between the crispy crackers. I personally prefer just giving the crackers a quick dip into the gravy. The crackers soak up a bit of the gravy but are still nice and crunchy that way.

Add on fish taken straight out of the pot of gravy and eaten with sambal and a squeeze of fresh lime, a glass of cold barley or coffee - you've got the perfect curry noodles experience.

A trip back to my hometown of Kemaman is never complete without a visit to the blue wooden curry mee shop. For me, it's not just the curry noodles that keep me coming back but the comfort of the years of childhood memories and the fellowship that always go along with our bowls of noodles.

In the mood for Italian

A girls night out, something I hadn't really done with my cousins before. We had tickets to a church production one Sunday night and after finding the perfect parking spot (we decided to head out early to make sure we beat the crowd and got a parking space within sight of the church - yes, hello, kiasu!), we walked to Jaya 33 for dinner. After the usual ping pong of "You choose," "No, you choose", we settled on the first thing we saw as we rounded the corner to Jaya 33:


d'italian kitchen
PG-01B Ground Floor,
Jaya 33,
No 3 Jalan Semangat,
Section 13, 46100 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7956 3684

Determined to have dessert, we thought we'd order on the light side - a few this and thats to share among ourselves.

To start off, mushroom soup. Personally, I'm not a big fan of mushroom soup, probably the result of one too many instances (pardon the pun) of instant soup. It's always a let down when you find lumps of undissolved soup mix at the bottom of the bowl. I have to give the place props for some pretty authentic-tasting mushroom soup - creamy, with the subtle taste of fresh mushroom, there was nothing instant about it.

The Sicilian Chicken Salad that along with the mushroom soup, kicked off the meal. This was something I randomly picked out of the menu. "Well marinated chicken, pine nuts, mango and grapes" - that really caught my eye. The (what seemed like) random mix of things really went well together, and pine nuts are always a plus. We really loved this one. Goes to show that a little creativity can go a long way.

Spicy crab linguine. Despite what the name might suggest, it wasn't too spicy and was really quite a pleasant balance of flavour. The slight punch made the tomato based dish a little more interesting.

Giant River Prawn Arrabiata. As you can see, we were in the mood for shellfish that night. This one had more sauce to it, had a stronger tomato flavour and tasted not unlike a marinara sauce. Traditionally, arrabiata is made with red pepper flakes but one couldn't really make out the red pepper in this one.

As you probably would have guessed, we ended up being much too full for dessert. The size of the portions surprised us somewhat, as did the overall quality of food - and in a good way. If anything, I'd go back for the Sicilian Chicken Salad anytime and perhaps another shot at trying to make it to dessert.

Stop. Refuel.

We're the type of people who plan our journeys to make sure we have time to stop for a meal, if nothing else then to break the monotony of the journey. I remember looking forward to the meal breaks when I was young - time to stretch those legs, get food and if I was lucky, refill the snack stash. We make the Kuantan-Kuala Lumpur trip pretty frequently so it's no surprise that we've found a favourite along that route.


Garden View Restaurant
Bukit Tinggi

Just a little way up from the first row of shops that you'll see upon turning into Bukit Tinggi, this Chinese restaurant has a gorgeous view at the back and is surprisingly cool despite its open concept. It's especially nice in the evenings with the setting sun.

We usually go for the typical Chinese fare but once in awhile, we mix it up a little.

Ginger chicken beehoon. Having grown up loving all things that involve steamed chicken and ginger (Hainanese chicken rice, anyone?), I immediately took to this dish. For someone whose all-time favourites include her dad's chicken rice and chicken-ginger soup, this was like having all of that rolled into one. It may be a tad too strong for some, though - I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't wild about ginger.

Black pepper prawn/shellfish glass noodles. Black pepper and ginger - it would appear that I like strong, distinct flavours. The glass noodles had soaked up the gravy quite nicely, like they should have and were soft but not overly mushy of sticky.

While we do get a little adventurous at times, we almost always get the stomach soup. It's a no-fail here with all its peppery goodness. I appreciate that in all the times that we've had the soup there, not once did it have the strong, unpleasant smell that the soup can take on if not properly prepared.


It's a good place to stop for a pleasant journey-filler meal. With ample parking space, fruit stalls surrounding the restaurant, decent prices, a nice view and some pretty friendly staff, we always leave feeling refreshed and ready to hit the road again.

Share and share alike

I've been a steamboat person ever since I could remember. Perhaps way back then, it wasn't so much the food that mattered but the whole concept of cooking right at the dinner table. Probably the closest I ever got to cooking at age 5, there was always the excitement of being allowed to dip my ladle-ful of noodles into the hot soup for a quick boil-up. Nowadays, I associate steamboat dinners with warmth (and not just from the portable stoves), lots of laughter and long conversations over the steaming boat. In a way, they are a test of how at ease you are with the people you are eating with - the cooking and sharing requires some level of familiarity.

Shahzan Inn Kuantan
Lot PT 240, Jalan Bukit Ubi/Jalan Masjid,
Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.



Over the weekend, we chose to celebrate Father's Day and my mum's birthday with a steamboat dinner. From the pictures, you could probably gather that even before the stoves started going, it had all the makings of a fantastic dinner. In my book, 3 things set a steamboat meal apart - the freshness of the ingredients, the soup and the chilli sauce to go with it. That night, it was definitely check, check and check.


The classic chicken soup (I especially like it when its got loads of soft, sweet chinese cabbage in it) and the zesty tom yam variety (which I usually cannot get enough of).
The end of a steamboat meal is usually marked by some frenzied soup-slurping because, really, that's when the soup is at its best, with the sweetness and flavour of the ingredients infused into it. This time around, the fresh river prawns and mussels, special additions to the meal, really gave the soup depth and character. The just-cooked prawns also went excellently with a sauce one of us concocted - a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and sliced chillies.


Fried crab in salted egg yolk - one of my favourite styles. The yolk coated every part of the crab so you get that distinct taste of salted yolk in each bite. Part of the fun is making sure you've gotten every bit of yolk off the shell.

The Peking duck which kept everyone going back for more. The skin crisp, the meat tender and the sauce the right balance of sweet and salty - it brought back delightful memories of the Peking duck I had in Beijing. This has been as close as it has gotten to that, and probably healthier too.

"Aya, you all give things can take out price take first wan or not?"
Red eggs - the traditional Chinese celebratory item.

"Should we cut with the eggs still around the cake?"


Brandishing the butterfly sword.

We didn't just have the makings of a fantastic steamboat dinner, we had a fantastic steamboat dinner. Good steamboat, finger-licking good crab, that wondrous crispy duck, great company, 2 cakes and more than a dozen red eggs to top it all off - we were spoilt rotten that night, every single one of us.

Steamboat - the ultimate made-for-sharing-food.

First things first.

I'm not sure if it's the denseness of the air or the neon signs above the mamak restaurants or the smell of roti canai at 4 in the morning - but something definitely tells you you're home. After an extended journey home, we arrived a tired, rumpled bunch, hungry for supper. I hit the mamak place closest to where was was to spend the night, eager for the much-awaited roti canai. Bliss.

Anyway, the days after were a flurry of food excursions - it was a bit like getting reaquainted with old friends. You take for granted the familiarity of a good old plate of char kuey teow, or a bowl of curry noodles.



Char kuey teow and yong tau foo from the coffee shop we know only as "blue roof" in Petaling Jaya. I'm not sure why we came to calling it that since the roof isn't blue. Anyway, the stall with the fried all-kinds-of-everything is probably the most popular one there. My grandmother likes the fried glass noodles and they do a pretty good char kuey teow. The only thing amiss about it was that it lacked garlic chives, something I never knew to appreciate when I was younger. I have to admit now though, that char kuey teow seems incomplete without the customary "ku chai".

The yong tau foo was the best I've had in ages - but then again, that doesn't come as a surprise since it's been ages since I've even come close to yong tau foo. I've always preferred the soup version to the dry version, mainly because the dry version can go terribly wrong if they don't get the gravy right. Must haves in my bowl of yong tau foo - stuffed okra, stuffed fried brinjal and those deliciously crispy beancurd sheets.

Something tells me I should probably find out the name of the coffee shop but that's the way it's always been here - we know only the locations and refer to the shop any way we please.