Chap Chae

After we got home from our trip, I was tired and jet lagged. I didn't have the energy to do a lot of grocery shopping either. Thankfully Jim hit Trader Joe's before he picked me up from the airport and got essentials like coffee and pizza fixin's. Plus we had a few things in the freezer that held us over until the end of the week until my day off on Friday.

I went to El Grande off Backlick Road in Springfield to stock up on some fresh veggies and to snag a few ingredients I needed for a beef rendang recipe I wanted to try. Just inside the front of the store to the left is a small food court connected by a little area filled with fresh Korean foods like kimchee and various panchan dishes. After looking through all the choices nothing appealed until I spied a package of Chapchae (also spelled japchae). I could smell the seasoning through the package and almost drooled. It was full of cellophane noodles, wood ear mushrooms, watercress, carrots, bean sprouts, red pepper and onion as well as lots of sesame seeds. This would would be a nice dinner once I added some cooked meat.

And it was so easy to serve! I sliced some chicken and cooked it in a skillet until done then tossed in the chapchae noodles and veggies, added a sprinkle of soy sauce and sesame seeds and dinner was served. The flavors were very good, especially for a packaged precooked meal. I'll be sure to look for this item again when we need a quick and easy meal for the week.

Mama's got a brand new blog

Because our trip to Malaysia will involve so many posts, I have created a brand new blog just for the trip. Hop on over and check it out.....and the best part is no jet lag.
You Gonna Eat All That? - Malaysia

I'll be added new posts for every day of the trip including food pictures (of course), wildlife, and some cool videos (thanks to my sister-in-laws camera).

Malaysia Trip - midway through

I'm sitting here in Kuching looking out over the Kuching River. Our trip so far has been incredible! We spent four days in Melaka where we took a short river cruise, went to a museum in a bulding that replicates a Sultans palace, visited a home called Villa Sentosa (an unofficialbut way cool museum) and ate lots of absoultely wonderful food. I've discovered a new favorite dish or two. One is Roti, an Indian pancake/crepe that you dip into a curry sauce. I am so hooked on this stuff. Another favorite is Nasi Lamak, coconut rice served with a fried egg, curried baby anchovies, peanuts and hot sauce. It's what's for breakfast here in Malaysia and never would I have thought I'd like eating such spicy food in the morning but it's wonderful.

Singapore in a word is HOT! In two words, HOT & HUMID! Never have I sweated so much in my life. But the city is great. In the two short days we had, we crammed in a lot. First we ate Chicken Rice at the famous Tian Tian in the Maxwell Food Centre. We also had Tom Yum soup and the owner of that stall was so impressed that we liked the soup that he gave us a bowl of a mutton stew to try. It was rich, flavorful and very good. He even offered to show me how it was made. There was a language barrier that was easily overcome with show-and-tell and hand gestures. So now I have a new recipe to try when we get home.

We also hoofed it around the Asian Civilization Museum and the Botanical Gardens. In particular the Ginger gardens and the incredible Orchid gardens. Never have I seen so many orchids and so many differnt varieties. It was simply orchid overload by the time we were done. And these things grow everywhere, not just in the gardens. Around trees, in sidewalk gardens, up in the trees, everywhere you look.

We also took in the Night Safari in the Singapore Zoo. Pretty cool, all the nocturnal animals on display while you ride a tram through the trees. Some animals like the tapirs were freely walking about. Plus you could get off the tram and walk on some paths through the areas to for a closer look at the animals.

Now we are in Kuching. After one night in a hotel that looked better online than it did in person, we moved to nicer digs. So far Jim's been to Bako National Forest, I've been shopping and we've both been having a great time.

We've taken about 1,000 pictures so far and we're only half way through our trip. I'll most likely create a new blog just for this trip so keep a lookout once I get home.