Recipes: Devil Curry

I was first introduced to this Eurasian dish 3 years ago by Hubs (then boyfriend) during Christmas lunch with his family. I love the spiciness of this dish and always look forward to family gathering at his uncle's to eat to my heart's content. I have since got the family recipe from Hubby's uncle and decided to cook it myself today.

Devil Curry

Half a chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper
2 whole onions, quartered
2 stalks lemon grass, lightly bruised
1 tomato, quartered
1 green chilli, halved length-wise
500ml water
5 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Chilli paste (blend into smooth paste):
20 dried chilies, deseed and boil to soften (I prefer boiling over soaking in order to kill of any fungal spores)
8 fresh chillies, deseed
10 cloves garlic
12 shallots
3 thumb size ginger
1 1/2 thumb size fresh tumeric
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 candlenut (buah keras)
5 tbsp water

Method:
- Heat oil in wok. Add in chicken and fry until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add blended chilli paste into heated oil. Fry until fragrant and the oil bubbles through, i.e. paste turns from bright red colour to a dark red colour. If using non-stick wok, make sure there's enough oil to prevent paste from sticking and getting burnt.
- Add in serai and onions. Fry until fragrant before adding chicken. Stir to coat chicken pieces with chilli paste.
- Add in water and bring to boil. Next add in tomato, green chilli and salt to taste. Lower the heat and simmer covered for another 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked and tender. Leave curry covered and set aside at least 30 minutes before serving.

My bestest Valentine gift ever!

0374924700

Now that I'm working part-time in retail, i don't have my hp with me all the time. While taking my meal break, i noticed this number which rather frequently appeared on my miss call list, on average at least once in every 1-2 months. Whenever i called back, it is always ringing off the hook.

I decided to google this number and found out that I'm not the only one who received calls from this mysterious number.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/0374924700

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-037-492-4700

According to netizen Erik, the number originates from Maxis for telemarketing purposes. I really hope one day i'm able to answer this call just to verify that it's really from Maxis.

New Uses of Dynamo

Chinese New Year is around the corner and it is the time of the year for spring cleaning. I always dread cleaning the kitchen because of the one year build-up of grease on every flat surfaces imaginable. Since time is running short, i thought i better do it this afternoon.

Just as I was about to start, I realised that my dishwashing liquid is running low and I don't have a spare. Die-la, how to start cleaning? I decided to improvise using concentrated Dynamo liquid detergent.

And the results? AMAZING! I didn't have to scrub hard as Dynamo just seems to melt the grease away. My kitchen cabinets and counter surfaces feel so smooth and clean and oil-free! *beams*

And I discovered another use as well. Mix equal amounts of Dynamo with bleach in a spray bottle and top up volume with tap water. Give it a good shake. This mixture works wonders on all bathroom surfaces. No hard scrub needed!

The race is on

As more and more branded medicines are coming off patent, the race is on for generic and ethical players in the pharmaceutical industry to outdo each other: Generics can't wait to get their hands on making copies of off-patent medicines, while the big pharma is in desperate need to innovate and evolve their way of doing business.

I came across a rather interesting product while in Perth. It's Canesoral Duo marketed by Bayer for vaginal thrush. This product contains a single-dose oral capsule of fluconazole 150mg PLUS 10g of clotrimazole cream for symptomatic relief. Separately, both fluconazole and clotrimazole have lost their patent and generic copies are readily available at fraction of the original cost. And this is where credit goes to Bayer on being innovative to stay ahead of the game. Canesoral Duo is premiumly priced at AUD33 per box.



One can always argue that one can buy the generic copies of both separately and save some cost right? This is where the beauty of the product comes in: it is quite impossible to buy the oral capsule on its own as one would need a doctor's prescription. This is not the case for Canesoral Duo as it is categorised as a Pharmacist Only Medicine which means that pharmacists can dispense this product without a doctor's prescription. Smart ler...


Only time will tell if we ever see this product on our shelves here in Malaysia.

Travel stories: Dolphin watching off Penguin Island in Perth

Managed to capture wild dolphins live in action. Took us about 1 hour plus cruising the seas before we were able to see them.

Travel stories: I am a Cina-kui after all..

and proud of every minute of it.. HAHAHA

I thought I belong to the new Chinese generation i.e. in my definition, those who can take on cold sandwiches for lunch anytime and survived western meals for lunch and dinner like forever.

When I was in Munich 4 months ago for work, after 2 days of pork knuckle, bratwurst and sauerkraut, my craving for Chinese food was at all time high. And when girlfriend and me finally settled in a totally unassuming Asian cafe that look more like a take-away place, when my plate of Chinese fried rice was served steaming hot, when I took that first bite, I have died and gone to heaven. It was oh-so menghilangkan gian.

My recent Christmas holiday in Perth is the final nail in the coffin. Sure, I was having Asian dishes at every meal, but this time the craving is for noodles. And so on our final day of roaming Perth city centre, I told Hubby I have a desperate urge for noodles for lunch and I remembered seeing some Asian food stalls at Carillion City food court.

The place was packed with lunch crowd and it took us awhile to find a place. When we finally did, I already knew what I wanted. Steaming hot bowl of Nyonya Curry Laksa complete with crab sticks, fish cakes, fish balls and prawns. I was completely satiated, savouring each mouthful of meehoon and slurping each spoonful of the yummy laksa broth. Mind you I was coming down with a sore throat (and still nursing one at point of blogging), but that did not deter me one bit.