Yummm!

Mixed Nuts

My dad's been quite a chipmunk, invading my nut stash to make a mixed nut snack. I bought a medium pack each of pecans, pistachios and almonds some time back. Thought I'd keep them handy in case I feel like making some biscotti.

My dad loves nuts, so I told him to help himself to some if he feels like snacking on them. Suffice to say, my nut stash is depleting quite rapidly. If I don't make biscotti soon it'd all disappear.

He made me a little container to bring to work the other day.
It was so yummy I finished the whole thing. A second container now sits half full, beckoning the same fate. Aaarrgghh...

What's inside - pistachios, almonds, pecans, white peanuts, all toasted briefly in the oven. And, some of the biggest, fattest raisins I've ever seen. They're really yummy, and yet, not too sweet. There's no added salt, but the nutty flavour and the raisins go really well together. I'd take a picture, but how it looks won't do justice to how it tastes. Maybe I'll do a dressed up photo of them nuts this weekend.


Empingan Berlinjau (Berlinjau chips)

I have no freaking idea what a berlinjau is. All I know is, I can't find it anywhere in KL. I had a meeting in JB on Friday, and on the drive back up to KL we stopped at the Ayer Keroh rest stop and I found these chips. The first time I had them was at a friend's open house.

My guess is it's a fruit of a tree, dried or steamed, and then rolled flat and then deep fried. It's crispy, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Not exactly starchy and yet, doesn't have that oily taste of other chips. Strange.

Of course, I ate them all before I could take any pictures. I bought 2 packs. Finished one in the car on the drive up. Finished another at home. I had a long, tiring week. I deserved it!

Okay, I'm a pig. Though I did share it with my dad.

Post edit: Another blogger wrote about the belinjau here with pictures even. Go see!

Then I googled 'berlinjau' and found 'belinjau' on Wikipedia.

The Gnetales consist of a single genus, Gnetum, which are mostly woody climbers in tropical forests. However, the most well-known member of this group, Gnetum gnemon, is a tree. The seeds produced are used to produce a crispy snack known as 'Keropok Belinjau' in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Malay name for this plant is 'belinjau'.

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D's CKT

We were chasing episodes of 4400 when he said he'll fry up some char koay teow. The only other thing he's ever cooked for me being instant noodles, I arched my eyebrow in disbelief.

Some pottering about later, I had a hot plate of CKT in front of me. They were out of bean sprouts but there were chopped cabbage, some prawns, chicken meat and egg. But whaddya know... it was actually RATHER GOOD. It didn't look like the CKT you'd get at the shops, but the garlicky fragrance and taste were all there. Quite impressed lor!


JK's birthday

We had Ka Soh's Fish Head Noodles at Vintry in Damansara Heights yesterday. The rainy weather was perfect for the tummy warming soup and smooth rice noodles. The wine that followed was yummy. Though it was mighty strange how JK ended up buying the wine. Eh! :) Hope it was a happy, happy birthday! Hugs!

Vintry's just wonderful. A good wine selection in a cosy little place. And you can order food from any of the restaurants along that row of shops. Must remind myself to do a proper full review in my foodie blog when I have more time.