My New Toy – Canon Selphy CP1300 (Pink)

16 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by in Gadgets, Shopping

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This new toy was something which I have been wanting to get for some time. I used to have a small canon photo printer in the Uni days (which was like decades ago..)

I remember the first time my dad got it for me, I was so fascinated with the idea of printing my own picture. When we were younger, we will always have to bring the roll of negative to a photo shop to get it professionally ‘wash’. It is always exciting to get it develop because then we can reminisced on time when those photo were taken.

When things become digital and taking picture with our mobile becomes so easy, over storing photos became a norm. It is always there but how often do we actually look thru it again?

When our little one started nursery, the school actually encourage us to let her bring some pictures of her family in her bag. So that if she gets upset, she can look at it while waiting for us to come pick her up later. And, even after she has outgrown the need of this small photo album, she still tends to flip thru the album and smile.

This made me thought of taking up scrap booking again and showing her ways to preserve her precious memories. Hence, the decision to buy this new little toy.

I choose the Canon selphy because it looks so pretty !!! haha… and i also read a lot of good reviews on it. I might also be biased because my first photo printer was a Canon also. Another reason is because the Selphy is able to print 4R size. With the phone camera capability nowadays, it is not a problem to get the picture resolution sufficient to have a good printing result.

This little baby is so easy to use. I am not tech savvy … and getting it set up was a brisk. I am just amaze with the wifi ability to print from either my laptop or handphone. It is really cool. I love it….

My little Pink Canon Selphy CP1300. luv it !

Now, to print some nice pictures and get the book scrapping on the way.

My Kitchen Toy – Food Vacuum Sealer

10 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by in Gadgets, Kitchen wares, Shopping

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My shopping habits has always tend to lean towards the bulk buying type. So, finding solution for long term storage is very important for me. One of my favorite way is to Vacuum Seal the food. I find that it not only extend the shelf-life of the food, but also retain the flavor well.

Heavy Duty Food Vacuum Machine

Some of the item that I vacuum seal are like the anchovies, dried mushroom, Chinese herbs, candy, Meat, seafood, and many more. I usually buy a big bulk of anchovies and then remove the head and guts in one go. After that, I’ll pack them into portion size. That way, I will finish one whole pack every time I cook, and not risking contamination on the rest. This also allow me to store them in my pantry (not the fridge).

Anchovies all nicely vacuum packed and ready for storage
Dried Mushroom.

It also makes labeling much easier. I just need to write it on the top corner together with the expiry date.

The Vacuum Sealer I got has a compartment for the roll of plastic bags and a cutter. So, it makes it really easy to slice the bag and make an even straight cut. When I bought it (a few months back…) it was about RM 290++ without shipping. I’ve been using for more than 15+ times now and I really LOVE love it. It’s so easy to use once you get the hang of it.

Vacuum sealing wet food can be a bit tricky. But, this machine allows a Manual overwrite, so, I can opt to do a incomplete vacuum and proceed straight to heat seal.

Vacuum seal my extra satay (not grill) and then place a few pack inside a ziplock bag for organisation purpose. LOL… sorry, I’m OCD

Loving my New Kitchen toy…. 🙂

Homemade Pork Satay during MCO

08 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by in Gastronomy, Home Cook Food

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Malaysia announced lockdown / MCO (Movement Control Order) on the 18th March 2020 in the battle to control the spread of Covid-19. During this time, many of us were confine the our own home. The hardest part of the lockdown for me and my family would definitely be the joy of enjoying different delicious food from famous restaurant.

After 2 months into the MCO, I was having a really bad carving for Melaka pork satay. And, decided to do something about it. After doing a lot of research and watching a dozen of youtube videos, I finally made the decision and recreated my cheated version of Pork Satay.

For the pork marinade, I used the satay paste from Snugfood.

Satay Marinade Paste by Snugfood

It’s about RM8/ packet for the 200gm. 1 packet of this is enough for 1 kg of meat. My recipes below is for 2kg of meat.

2 pkt Snugfood Satay Paste (200gm)

200ml Santan UHT (I used the Ayam brand type)

100ml Olive Oil

2kg Pork Belly (Half-half type)

I washed the bamboo stick and soak them in warm water before using. After mixing the marinade above, I proceed to skewered them. Being slightly OCD, I wore a food grade glove while doing it. I find that it helps to give me a better grip when trying to pierce thru the meat. The fat part is harder to pierce. So, be careful not to stab your fingers ! After that, I left the satay to continue marinade in the fridge for another 2-3 hours.

The 2kg meat yielded about 35-40 sticks (depending on how big chunk I cut). I used my Grill pan for the job. Oven set at about 175 degree on grill fan. Remember to flip them around every 5-10 mins to get an even grilling. Cooking time varies between 25-35 mins (depending on the size of the meat chunks)

All ready for the Oven
Freshly out from the Oven. Looks Awesome !

If you cannot finish so many sticks in one seating, you can also opt to freeze them. I vacuum pack the marinaded satay and freeze them for later day. That way, you can just defrost them to grill another day.

For the Peanut sauce, I used the McQuek’s Satay Celup sauce and add extra peanut powder. There’s instruction at the back of the pack. But, I didn’t follow as I wanted a thicker sauce. So, I use about 1/4 of the packet mix with about 3 bowl of water and 3/4 bowl of peanut powder. I boil it on small fire for about 30-40 mins (stirring often to ensure no sticking on bottom).

Peanut Sauce from McQuek’s

Tada ! What do you think? Not bad, right?

Chuletz Homemade Porky Satay !

Nom Nom nom…. craving satisfied.