Gong Xi Fa Chai!!

It's the new year again - the Year of the Horse!


This year's Chinese New Year celebration is very different for me. Without my family and friends by my side, it was up to me to make it happen. And I'm glad I did :')


For the first time, I didn't have Dad with me doing all the marketing and cooking in the kitchen. It was very emotional for me in the past few days. But I choose to look at the brighter side of life. I had the bf with me the whole time, my new-found friends and whole lot of things to look forward to! Life is picking up!! :D


For the reunion dinner, I thought it was going to be a breeze with only 3 dishes - Steamed Chicken with dipping sauce, Braised Mushroom & Tofu accompanied by my favorite Broccoli and Crispy Cereal Prawns. Sounds easy but oh gosh, I was in the kitchen for more than 2 hours!! Lol. I have no idea what went wrong but there were more work than I thought. Lucky I have the bf to helped me out in the kitchen and he did a great job with the Cereal Prawns, it was very yum!!


Anyways, I'm so glad it went well, the boys enjoyed themselves and we had a really good reunion dinner :')

Reunion Dinner 2014

Hope everyone had a great reunion dinner with your family and friends, wherever you may be!

Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Chai!
May the Horse brings us all Happiness & Prosperity!
It's going to be an exciting year ahead, let's gallop away!!! Woo :D

Simple Dinner Recipe: Homemade Satay Chicken

This is my first attempt at making my own Satay Chicken at home. Marinated lean chicken, on a grill and we ran out of bamboo skewers. Truly home style. Haha.

Homemade Satay Chicken

The verdict? So gooooood.

Well, don't compare to the bought ones especially those laden with artery-clogging fats and charred taste of potentially-cancerous carbon bits ;) This is truly homemade and healthier version. And by homemade standard, I have to say it's pretty darn good!

I'm quite impressed with the marinate which I bought from Tesco, Malaysia. I like the fact that I can still taste the lemongrass and it wasn't salty enough! You see, I'm always very skeptical to try packet mix because it's always too salty for my taste but this was different. It still has room for me to adjust the saltiness to my taste - so I added a bit of sugar, salt, pepper and oyster sauce. I'm happy :)

Next, it's the Satay Sauce. Honestly I've tasted better but you really can't complain for something as easy as throwing the whole packet into a hot water bath, cut open and serve!

Here's my happy Satay Sauce enjoying his hot spring, totally ignorant and unsuspicious of the fate that awaits him...

To make your own homemade Satay Chicken (for 4 person):

Ingredients
1kg of chicken thigh (skin removed;cleaned and chopped into small pieces)
1 packet of Satay Marinade
Packet of Satay Sauce (1 packet = a small bowl shown on the packaging = only enough for 1 person. So do the math yourself!)
Chopped Onions
Chopped Cucumbers

Optional: Salt, Pepper, Oyster Sauce, Sugar


Step 1: Marinate the chicken with the Satay Marinade and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. (Add water and seasonings to taste. Give it a good stir to ensure all the chicken pieces are well marinated.)

Step 2: Using a grill pan, cook the chicken until slightly charred. Just slightly!

Step 3: Put the whole packet of Satay Sauce (unopened) into a hot water bath for 15mins, cut open and Serve!

Step 4: Serve satay with some chopped onions and cucumbers. We had it with rice too and all we have to say is....YUM! :D

Dinner's ready! I love this one! :D

Oh by the way, my first job interview is happening next week!! Weeee~ I'm so excited. It only means I can cook and bake more yummy goodies without feeling the guilt of being jobless! Wish me luck!!

Be back soon! Muax!

Lazy Dinner Recipe: Mentaiko & Seaweed Pasta

Japanese + Italian.

Who would've thought it would be a happy marriage? Well, certainly not me!

The first time I heard of Pasta Zanmai, I thought it was ridiculous! I'm a huge fan of Sushi Zanmai but it never crossed my mind to give their fusion sister a try.

Not until one day when I had to meet some friends there for lunch.


"....Imagine Carbonara with its usual creaminess topped with raw salmon sashimi slices, ikura and shimeji mushrooms..."


I fell in love!! OMG. Who is this genius?? I mean seriously...Carbonara plus Sashimi? I love it!

Anyways, when a friend told me to try Mentaiko (Cod Roe) with Pasta, I jumped onto it immediately!

This is the Easiest...Laziest... Yummiest dinner up to date! :D

Mentaiko & Seaweed Pasta

For those of you who don't know how Mentaiko looks like, this is how it looks and you can get it at the Japanese grocer in their freezer section:

Ingredients
Mentaiko (remove the membrane and scoop out the roes)
Japanese Seaweed Powder
Pasta of any kind (I love Penne!)
Salt & Pepper

Optional: Hard-boiled eggs for extra protein


Step 1: Cook pasta as per packaging instructions. Drain, add salt & pepper and put aside. (Do not drain your pasta in cold water)


Step 2: While pasta is still hot, add Mentaiko, Japanese Seaweed Powder and hard-boiled eggs.


Step 3: Serve!


Superrrr easy and sooo yummm. Perfect dinner on a super lazy day. Dinner was ready in less than 30 minutes!


Hope you like this one! Enjoy! :D

New Year, New Beginning!

Yes, I've been away.

Reminds me of those times I would write in my diary,

"Dear Diary, I'm sorry I will be away for holidays. Can't write for 2 weeks."

But it's usually more than 2 weeks. And then I'll write,

"I'm sorry Diary, did I say 2 weeks? I meant 2 months. Typo error." LOL.

Anyways, here I am :D Going into the 3rd week of 2014 before writing my first post of the year.

New Year Resolutions? Well, blame the weather!! But ok, I'll get into that soon.

Right now, I need to get my life gear shifted at least to the 2nd gear! I've got my Marriage Visaaaaaa! It was the best Christmas present ever! No, the 2nd best after the Nexus 5 from the boyfriend! Weee...

It was a sweet ending to 2013 :)

2014 started with me stressing over job hunting. Still in the hunt but I should not neglect the other parts of my life, including this little "Diary" here.

Be back soon! Tomorrow! :D

xoxo