Monday, May 31, 2010

Easy Mini BBQ Chicken Pizza with Frozen Roti Prata Base


First of all, sorry for the terrible photos in this post.
I really have no excuses...I was simply too lazy and worried too much about for these mini pizzas getting too cold before devouring them.

I've tried making my own pizza before, including the dough, and (of course!) I've
failed miserably. The trauma of failing to make my own pizza dough...it still haunts me.

So, when I saw
Noobcook's cheater's pizza posts, where she made one gorgeous pizza after another using pita bread as the base...I was hugely inspired!

I didn't use pita bread though...I love...richer, flakier, greasier base...inspired by duck and mango pastry pizza I've tried once...it's from (ahem) Spaghetti House (oppps).

This time, I've decided to make pizza using frozen roti prata base (I wouldn't even dream of making my own roti prata at this moment ^_^'). I thought of using curry or Indian flavors for the topping, but that would be too...expected, and it is probably yummier to dip the roti prata into curries than making them into pizzas. So, I went with BBQ chicken.

Recipe
(for two mini pizzas)
- 2 frozen roti prata (I can buy these in packets of 5 here in Hong Kong, check your supermarkets, or alternatively, you can use pastry as a base)
- 1 boneless chicken leg fillet
- a couple of fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
- a bit of onion, sliced really thinly
- BBQ sauce, worchestershire sauce, black pepper, olive oil
- 1/2 cup of cheddar and mozzarella cheese, grated

I browned the chicken leg fillet in a frying pan first to make sure that I get nicely browned skin, then I chopped them into thin slices. Slather chicken with BBQ sauce, worchestershire sauce and black pepper generously.


Preheat oven to 180C, grease a baking tray with olive oil (or cooking spray), lay the frozen roti prata on the tray, slather some BBQ sauce, add sliced mushrooms and onion, add cheeses...

Uh huh!

...and add chicken slices and more BBQ sauce (be generous) on top.


Bake until the roti prata base is all fluffed up and everything's gloriously golden (about 15 - 20 minutes). PS. If you want the base to be even fluffier, you can bake the base first and add cooked toppings just to brown and melt.

Fluffy, flaky base...savoury cheese, sweet and tangy BBQ chicken...what's not to like? Plus, there's no risk of heart break due to failing a pizza dough ^_* heheheh
I'll definitely make more of these mini pizzas, with different flavors.

I apologize in advance for my future bad mini pizza photos. My impatience and greed could see them coming ^_^

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Weekend Breakfast - Pancakes with Canadian Maple Syrup


You know I'm too lazy to post stuff on weekends...but this time it's an exception.
I've been wanting some pancake breakfast forever, ideally from McDonald's (yes, my standard is pretty darn low), but since McD is one train station away from here...which means that I'd have to get out of my PJs and put on some decent clothing to go...then no.

Why don't I make my own pancakes at home?

Ya, ya...have been too lazy to do that too. Until I received this beautiful bottle of Canadian maple syrup from sweet sweet Jason (please visit his yummy blog
Life as a Bon Vivant , full of gorgeous pics of deliciousness from all around HK and beyond!)

It's been a while since I've made my own pancakes. This time, I didn't do anything crazy, no oreo/chocolate/peanut butter/charsiew pancakes. Just a stack of simple good ol' pancakes.

Recipe (adapted from allrecipes)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
a dash of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
a dash of vanilla
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients, pour wet ingredients in and mix well. Heat up a non stick frying pan to medium heat (if you're using non stick, you don't even have to grease it as we've added vegetable oil in the batter), pour a ladle of batter, fry until you can see bubbles, flip, let cook for a bit and set aside. Keep doing it until you've done all the batter.


Serve with butter, good maple syrup and I like mine with unsweetened coffee.


I also wish that I was not too lazy to fry up some bacon and hash browns...I love starting everything with something savoury.

I can think of so many wonderful savoury treats we can do with the maple syrup...coming soon!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Prawn Roe Noodles from Oja Sopa De Fita Cheung Kei, Macau


I can't believe I've been to Macau so many times, and I haven't been to this street!!!
It's damn famous and damn gorgeous, and I haven't been there!
Hmmm~ but at least now I can say I have ^_^

We were there to find a famous noodle shop...
It was hot, humid, sticky, balmy, rainy...

PS. did you notice SC and his yellow backpack?
He went ahead of me to find the noodle shop, because we were starving and it was lunch time...

Thus, good luck to us...

The price to pay for dining at a famous place at lunch time :D


So, SC would queue, and I was sent to roam around to photograph the place...or whatever, basically, just get away from him and don't nag ^_^

I went and take more photos of the picturesque place...

Love the place.

...and kept eyeing this mobile ice cream "stall"

HK$20 for one tiny scoop! We overheard some people saying "I'd rather have Haagen Dazs". But guess what? No Haagen Dazs around, it's hot and you're hungry. Ice Cream uncle really knows how to make money! ^_*

I went to check on SC and his queue...

...whoa! The queue got even longer!!!

So I went back to stalking ice cream uncle some more...

I think he noticed and wasn't too happy about me stalking him.

Finally! We got our seat! Warning! Super tiny seats during peak hours, be prepared to squeeze your ass into a mini booth and smell the opposite diners' breath.

We started with the dry prawn roe noodles. It's delicious! Springy noodles with subtly flavored sauce and prawn roes. Yum!


Another must order, the pig trotter. I despise pig trotters and the gelatinous fatty bits, but sc insisted that I must try these. I could accept this, and had seconds, which probably means that it's extra delish?


We also had the golden fried fish balls, served with clam sauce. Super mega delicious!


Tasty "skin", perfectly chewy "meat" and delicious sauce. I could have tonnes of this with icy cold drinks. Yummeh!

This place is listed in most Macau travel books and sites...and we believe that it's extra crowded...thanks to...this lady on the wall!

Ah So from TVB's So Far So Good show.
Some of my friends said once an eatery gets a mention from Ah So, we should forget about visiting it, since it'd be so damn crowded or the food gets so expensive.
Hmmm, actually it wasn't so bad. If possible, try to avoid visiting this place at lunch time...after lunch time madness is over, I think you'll be able to have a table to yourself.

Unfortunately for us, after this lunch madness, we still had to continue our queueing adventure under the heat and the rain...in front of another "famous" dessert place. Sigh~

Oja Sopa De Fita Cheung Kei (祥記麵家)
G/F, 68 R. da Felicidade, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
新馬路福隆新街68號地下
Macau
Tel: +853 2857 4310

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Restaurante Fernando, Macau


I wasn't so keen about this place when I learnt that it's mentioned in most Macau travel sites/books(cue crowded, long queue, waiting, waiting and waiting), and I was even less excited when sc tried to call and book a table, and the guy replied "we don't accept bookings on weekends/holidays. we open at 4pm, you can come over and wait"

Uh oh...but anyway, let's get it over with, let's try this famous place and hope it's worth it.

When we arrived (it cost around HK$50something by taxi from City of Dreams, Taipa), I saw the place and fell in love with it. It's old, it's charming, it felt like I was in another world!

We arrived around 6pm and there was no one waiting yet. Oh yeah! Our early-birds-senior-citizens dining habit always gives us the edge!


I walked through a corridor to the back part of the restaurant, passing by a corridor full of currencies from everywhere...


...and a cozy looking outdoor bar (mosquito repellent needed) for patrons waiting to be seated, or for those who wants to enjoy their drinks outdoor...


We had a nice seat by the window, overlooking the bar and the garden...love the warm lighting, the checkered table cloth, the brick walls and the wooden framed windows...charming!


Soon after ordering a truckload of food, our bread arrived...they're fluffy and decent, but I gotta save space for our orders.


We ordered a vegetable and chorizo soup. I didn't know that there was gonna be lots of potatoes in there. It's a tad too filling for our meal and a bit too bland for my taste.


We've also ordered the charcoal grilled cod fish. Good news is, it's boneless, the skin tasted nice with lots of chilli sauce. Be careful when pouring the chilli sauce, it's pretty thin. Not knowing this, I poured half of a bottle of chilli sauce onto my plate. Luckily, I love the chilli sauce, it's tangy and hot. The fish, however, is flavorless and too firm for me.

Was it that bad?
Nonono...

Now, the good stuff.

The roasted suckling pig. WOW! The best non-Chinese style suckling pig I've ever had so far. Absolutely delicious!


Crispy crackling skin with juicy tender meat. Every part is so tasty, it didn't need any sauce. It was served with rustic homemade-looking fries, which I consumed with chilli sauce after making a fool of myself by asking for ketchup. Restorante Fernando doesn't do ketchup :D

Another hit...

The drunken beef. When I saw it, I doubted that the beef would be so delicious. It looked pretty overcooked to me...


But it wasn't. It's pink at the center...absolutely juicy and infused with garlicky, boozy sauce. Yummy to the max!


...and it was served with a mountain of fries. I made them absorb all the tasty sauce and clean the whole plate up. Carb heaven...here I come...

After we're done with dinner...we needed a little walk, so we went to explore the back of the restaurant...

We saw the place where they hang dry the table cloths...

...and...

Is this also a dog shelter? Look at them cuties!

On our way out...we saw this adorable scene...


...and this lady's business card...a very hot looking mama of five kids, with a killer bod.

Do I really wanna know her secrets? Hmm, it probably involves eating none of those sauce soaked fries and definitely not the suckling pig... T_T

Check out
Restaurante Fernando's website for locations etc.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Crab Congee from Seng Cheong at Rua da Cunha, Macau


Does the colorful street look familiar?
Ahem, that's probably because you've been there.
Rua da Cunha, the Souvenir Street in Taipa.
One of the most cliched destination in Macau, but yet, I couldn't help but to pay a visit every single time, almost religiously.


I've mentioned that we've arrived before lunch time, and I had
dessert first.
Obviously, the dessert wasn't enough to bolster the 15 minutes between then and lunch time...so, we also sampled...

Pieces after pieces of this gloriously gorgeous pork jerky...

Although I like the one from Bee Cheng Hiang better, but...when hungry, everything's yummy!

...and these...

Sadly, it doesn't taste as delicious as it looks...a tad too chewy, a few minutes in the oven/microwave would help, I guess?

...and we sampled endless amount of cookies and sweets...


...before we headed to our lunch destination, Seng Cheong, for some crabby lunch.

Judging from the crowd lining up even before opening time, the food's either bloody delicious, or cleverly "marketed" (i.e. posted in every Macau travel book there is)


I saw some crab noodle dish, which I wanted, but we had to go for the famous crab congee.


Very very subtly flavored, which might indicate less amount (or absence) of MSG? Or was it simply...not that good? Or was it because the other dish we had was too tasty it outshone the congee? Hmmm~

Next time I'll go for the crab noodles instead of congee :D

One good thing...

I love the softness of crab meat in congee, so I spent a good half hour sucking every single piece of meat outta crab shell, since SC wouldn't even try doing so (he is against eating anything that requires any more effort other than shoving food into mouth and swallow)

See? I asked him to try sucking crab meat...

...and he made this face. Obviously failed to suck any meat out.
That only means there's more crab for me, so...yeah!

The star of the day...

...I avoided ordering the fish/squid balls since we're gonna have some the next day, so I chose this fried frog legs dish instead.

I believe just one shot is not enough, so here we go...

Yummmssss! I am not an alcohol drinker, but I bet these would taste fantastic with some icy cold beer!

There's only one way to consume these deliciousness...of course, with my bare hands :D

Another 30 minutes wrestling with every tasty bits and the tiny bones.
Oh yum!

One non-food related thing I couldn't help but notice...

This ceramic tile design!
Funky! Funky!
Very Sampek-Engtay? Heheheh

Seng Cheong (誠昌飯店)
at Rua da Cunha (Souvenir Street)
Taipa, Macau
澳門氹仔官也街28-30號
Tel: +853 2882 5323