Since winter is coming and melbourne is famous for it’s sudden weather changes, i need to keep warm. Sure, i have my cute hot water bottle almost every where i go. It’s too cute to keep at it home.

I needed drink ideas that will keep me warm and it has to be something else other than coffee, tea or hot chocolate. First, because i can’t sleep if i drink caffeinated drinks (well, to be honest i become super energetic and started to clean the entire house if i do drink coffee). Secondly, i always put condensed milk to go with the coffee or hot chocolate (KAMU GENDUT!!!!)

So, you get the idea. Thus, the barley drink. I love love love barley drink, i only discovered them when i went to singapore recently, i know..it’s way too late…plus, we have plenty in indo eniwai..

I don’t know how to make ‘em so i googled it and found this recipe from Curious Foodie. Since hubby is not interested with the barley drink, i am only doing a single serve, a little bit modified from Curious Foodie’s recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked barley

3 tablespoon rock sugar (rock sugar is very mild, at least in my opinion… do adjust accordingly)

5 cups of water

Method

wash barley in a couple of change of water, I soaked them for 5 minutes because i like my drinks to be a bit cloudy and starchy. Bring the water and barley to boil in medium heat then i spoon out the bubbles. Lower the heat, add the rock sugar and bring to boil. Remove from heat, let it cool and serve.

Note: to check whether the barley is done or not, it should be slightly translucent and chubby looking barleys!

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here are some of my favourites:

if i’m not mistaken, the kopi is also called Kopi Medan, I’m assuming they use beans from Medan. There are lots of people from Medan in Muara Karang neighbourhood.

My dad’s favourite meal, he can eat Kwetiau for every single day of the week and not get bored.

After a decent breakfast, we usually have a look at the market and see some interesting things.

These funny looking meat is one of life’s simple pleasure, pork intestines. Though not everyone’s favourite, but it is very popular in some chinese background cultures. Cooked with sweet soya sauce and spices, these are best eaten with a warm porridge for breakfast.

One of my childhood favourite savoury snack, Cha Kue. Crispy hollow bread usually eaten with mild chili sauce over the top. Comes in a pair and it is very fun to watch them fry the bread.

This somay is definitely a must for takeaways!

Even though it can be quite hot and packed in the weekends, we always love to go to our local market, even if we are not buying groceries. Now, you know why.

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The chicken was moist and tender, accompanied with this compulsory fried tofu and mayonnaise.

Of cos with some veggie.

We went all the way to Katong just to visit Boon Tong Kee, a simple eatery and arguably one of the best chicken rice in singapore. Katong is also known as the peranakan area.

Another place that serve great chicken rice is Lucky Plaza food court right in the middle of the shopping district, Orchard Road. Personally I prefer the chicken rice in Lucky Plaza just because they serve better ginger and chilli paste.

How to get there? You can get MRT to Paya Lebar and i would suggest to get a taxi from there (or you can take the bus to Katong Mall and walk a bit).

199 East Coast Road

+65 6478 1462

Happy hunting!

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So, here’s some of my post… will update according to the mood of my internet connection (i’m sure people in indo truly understand what i’m going thru)

Chilli Crab at Jumbo Restaurant, Katong East Coast. 

To get there: stop at closest MRT station at Bedok then catch a cab

They have a lot of restaurants that serve chilli crab at East Coast, Nosignboard is one of the famous one, known for its chilli crab and expensive price (they open one at Pacific Place too… ground floor). Also, Long Beach and they open one in Senayan City basement, also quite expensive. 

But hey, we are talking about crabs here, seafood is expensive anyway… i pick the least expensive one. How’s that?

Some people love crab roe, some say it’s too high in cholesterol. Too bad, i only eat crab roe. 

Can i say that unfortunately i have to dissapoint you, Sedap Malam has better black pepper crab compared to this chilli crab or kepiting saus padang as we say it here in indo. I think this chilli crab is overrated and it is expensive too. It was SGD 40 for 1 kg of crab = IDR 280,000. 

at least i ate it…so i won’t be curious… rite?

more posts are coming (still figuring out on how photoshop works… geez… technology.. they are supposed to help you)

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roast duck

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Roast Duck – Imperial Chef Mangga Besar

This is the famous dish from Imperial Chef, i do suggest to get the breast instead of the thigh because there is so much bones and it’s just difficult to get the meat.

Also, get 1/4 of duck so that u can order more dishes. I prefer small portion of everything and more dishes rather than 2 big dishes.

Some say, it’s the peking duck that’s nice but others say it’s the roast duck not the peking duck. So far i’ve only tried the roast duck and it is yummy…

The mandarin sauce is an alternative of the typical hoi sin sauce.

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Hotel Jayakarta
Jl. Hayam Wuruk no.126
Telp: +62(21) 626-2533
Fax: +62(21)626-4738

udang goreng gandum

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Fried Prawns with Wheat – Imperial Chef Mangga Besar

The prawns are really fresh there, the meat is sweet and the texture is crunchy from the wheat. Presentation is always a “wow” factor. The golden colour with the bright red prawns and green leaves just makes you want to take the first scoop and sprinkle the wheat on your hainam rice. yuuuuuuuuuum………

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snow peas

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Snow Peas with Garlic – Imperial Chef Mangga Besar

I have this weird thing with vegetables. I don’t eat broccoli and i promised myself never again i eat broccoli cos back in high school, the broccoli is contaminated with worms, eughhh…

so, i am very picky when i eat my vegetables, but snow peas is definitely one of my favorite dish for vegetables. Cooked plain with garlic is one of the best way to enjoy the sweet flavour of the vegetables.

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bakmi

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Jam Mien – Singkawang, West Kalimantan

HOhohohoho, this is so far away, even if you have money, it;s pretty hard to get. Catch an hour flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, then if i’m not mistaken a four hour drive to singkawang…

darlink, I can tell you it’s a nice and popular dish amongst people in singkawang.

The noodle is cooked with lard, there’s pig skin crackers too, crab meat and some vegies.

in Jakarta, you can find this similar noodle at Jembatan Lima, don’t ask me how to get there. Only my driver know… and by the way, since i post this blog, my dear friend, Martin aka Boim who is a fellow food enthusiast, he is willing to support me by buying a GPS so that we can go food hunting. hehehehehehhehehehe

I don’t consider myself to know a lot about food, there is someone else who is so keen in following food blogs, he sent me 3/4 page of links of food blogs around the world. He claims to be a chef-wannabe while he actually cooks really good food. I had the privilege to cook with him and share the kitchen on daily basis. Ronny, would you like to introduce yourself ? his blog –> ronny.haryan.to

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the legendary bihun bebek

Originally uploaded by ooooooohhh dear…

Bihun Bebek – Pluit Sakti

This bihun bebek is from Medan and since there is a lot of people from Medan in my neighbourhood, they have bihun bebek too at pluit sakti. However, I find that the bihun bebek in pluit is much nicer than the original one from Medan itself.

This photo was the first photo that led me to take more photos of food. i never realise that the colour can be so good. ever since i took this picture, I carry my camera more often. 

this blog got me really excited now, i’m uploading more photos to flickr…! heheheh

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