Monday, September 28, 2009

Japanese-sque S&B Golden Curry and Jelly with Lychee

Way back in 1995 ... My dear bro, Ron, took me to a little Japanese eatery in the backstreets of London's Chinatown. There I grew to love Golden Curry aka Japanese sweet-style curry, sometimes served with chicken and veg, but more often served over a delicious piece of battered-pork chop :-)

Years later ... I decided to cook this dish for my dear bbG :-) Here is the result!


S&B's website describes this easy to use curry mix which comes in a tray, not dis-similar to an ice tray in the fridge!
Traditional Japanese curry sauce mix.
Long-time seller in Japan and the best selling curry sauce mix in the USA. Its best harmony of spices and herbs had set the standard of Japanese style curry.


Crunchy, fresh, delicious stir fried cabbage


What a treat :-) bbG prepared some Lychee Jelly!

Jalur Gemilang ... Selamat Merdeka from the Malaysian Embassy of UAE!

Thanks to LL, we registered with the local embassy here in AUH (Abu Dhabi), and went along for the Open Day, celebrating both Merdeka 52 as well as Hari Raya!




Oh ... oh ... I didn't have a batik shirt, I went along anyway!
LL even gave us a ride there, located along Muroor Road it was rather easy to find!


Welcome to the Embassy of Malaysia at Abu Dhabi!


Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and
Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Yang Ke-52!

There were probably about 200 Malaysians there, hmmm .. never knew there were so many of us in town!


It was time to raise the flag, oops Jalur Gemilang ... Have to admit I felt a bit of a patriotic rush as we all sang along to Negaraku! This was perhaps the first time since I left La Salle Klang in 1989 that I sang our national anthem. Has it been 20 years?

Raising our flag...

A glorious Abu Dhabi evening...

The newly appointed Ambassador made his speech, then it was time to dig in!


Chants of Merdeka ... Merdeka ... Merdeka!

Mental note ... Why are we all only patriotic when we are so far away from home ... Perhaps its cos we miss our families, the food, the rain and even the grass.
Starters :-)

Ah ... Kenduri with Kari Ayam, mee hoon, prawns and sambal sotong even!

Loved the rendang with Nasi Dagang, Nasi Kunyit and Ketupat too!

Our guest, KS, who just arrived from Malaysia earlier that morning, reminded us that this was called Sirap Selasih (Its got sago-like seeds of a fruit at the bottom of the drink), refreshing on a very hot evening!

Just as I thought I had enough, a man tapped me on the shoulder at the buffet tent, "Nak Nasi Lemak Bungkus, ke?" YES, please!

A closer look :-)

There was even Roti Jala :-)


Finally ... beating the crowd, or more like waiting for the food crowd to disperse, we took stick after stick of Chicken Satay. Best!

Luncheon Meat, Pad Ka Prao ... Comfort food in Abu Dhabi!

Before we headed out to the Malaysian Embassy open house, for dinner, we starved ourselves all day ... well, we did have breakfast :-) Look what we brought from home!


Pure bliss ... breakfast time! Ma Ling PORK Luncheon Meat, hard to beat ....


One of my fave dishes ever ... bbG attempted to do this popular thai street-dish at home, Pad Ka Prao Kai. Chicken with Basil and chilli, slurrrrrps!

Went so well with some simple stir-fried chinese leaf :-)

And some very simply pan-fried fish with soya-sauce!

Made As USA ... You what!?

Hmmm ... Made as USA!?



Perhaps ... Made IN China ... Duh!

Cantina Laredo - A Mexican in Khalidiyah Mall, Abu Dhabi

Add: Cantina Laredo, Khalidiyah Mall, Al Khalidiyah, Abu Dhabi
Tel: +971 2 635 4877

Lovely fresh chips ... served with zingy HOT salsa (temperature hot, and slightly spicy too) ... in fact there were 2 varieties of salsa dip. A good start!


We had two main courses, one was priced in the mid-50s and the other in the mid-70s (Dirhams, AED) ... Not cheap, but decent considering the good service and nice ambience (Privacy, despite it being in the middle of a rather busy mall!). I thought the beef could have been better though, I had the fajita-esque beef, which wrapped shrimps (Odd, but it works!) as well as a large bell pepper. I did like the sauteed veges though, delicious potatoes.


TimeOut ...
All dining experiences at this Mexican restaurant begin with complimentary crunchy chips served with fresh and zingy salsa. This is enough of an appetiser in itself, but if you stopped there then you would miss Cantina Laredo’s signature dish: the guacamole created fresh at your table, and like almost every other dish, it’s big enough to share.