A most wonderful bowl of pokebowl

I practice intermittent fasting every day and I'm very comfortable with the arrangement of skipping breakfast--because I don't feel hungry anyway--then having a good lunch and taking dinner only when I feel like it.

And today is such a I-feel-like-it day. I did have a good catch-up lunch today with a colleague; good on both food and company. But when I got home after work, I felt like I needed dinner, and thought a bowl of pokebowl would be nice. 

I checked my Grabfood app on the nearest Fish Bowl outlet and found that they have a special deal on their Tofu bowl for only RM9.90.

I usually order the Salmon bowl but for RM9.90, tofu will do just fine. 

Even without the more flavourful raw salmon, the garlic sauce combination with walnuts, mango, Japanese cucumber and cherry tomatoes with the rest of condiments, made my Tofu bowl a very delicious dinner. 

Yummy...

Pearlie

Wonderful Things of the World #13: Fried Meehoon

I had a craving for fried meehoon and I made some today. It was simple but oh so delicious. 

pearlie

Yummy Chocolate Mug Cake

I have been craving for chocolate cake for the longest time. 

I have only been going out to the supermarket to get groceries once a week and not anywhere else and so I am not sure if the bakeries are open. And I rather not go check them out either. 

And so I decided to make a simple mug cake. No eggs, no oven. Just mix cocoa, flour, milk, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt and Nutella in a mug and pop it into the microwave.

And voila!

At a time when I am working from home and having done that for more than one month now, I no longer have the energy to make anything complicated.

So the microwave is a lifesaver. 

It is not as good as a baked moist chocolate cake of course, but still, it's the good old rich chocolate cake albeit in a mug.

If you want to try it out, the recipe is found here.

pearlie

Have you been stress eating? I am

How have you been controlling your food intake being isolated at home?

I find it more difficult because I keep wanting to eat. I don't think it's because I'm more comfortable at home or that food is more available. 

I think it's the stress.

Which is why I find this helpful.

I always keep a packet of Fisherman's Friend Cherry Flavour in my office drawer to pop one into my mouth after lunch to stop myself from eating anymore. But I don't do it all the time. 

I now have a packet on my table at home. 

And I think my stress has been sky high. I keep popping them into my mouth. 

It's working though because not only am I maintaining my weight, I am beginning to lose some. 

But I'm hungry now.

pearlie

I can't imagine having to cook everyday but now I do!

I am no cook and this 16 days of having to cook at home has been hard.

I don't cook everyday, we took delivery but only once and we do venture out to take away food. We still get to eat the food we like, from nearby restaurants.

But when I cook, it's either...

...beef spaghetti or...

...pork or beef porridge.

And a few other dishes I don't care to mention, though my kimchi fried rice and my variety of sandwiches aren't too bad either. 

But I need to cook something different.

pearlie

Cooking at Home when Working from Home

This is one of the best things I have bought: a pressure cooker. 

And I don't believe I have had it since 2016. It still feels so new to me. Probably because I don't use it as much as I should. 

But with the current work-from-home arrangements, this is coming in handy. I wanted to make a simple lunch today and decided I'd just make chicken porridge. 

To got the chicken out of the freezer at 8:00am, pop everything into the pressure cooker at 11:45am, which is just rice, water and chicken, and cook it for 13 minutes. 

I was only able to break from work after 12:30pm and the pressure cooker was already on warm setting for 26 minutes. 

And here's my simple chicken porridge. 

For those who seldom cook may feel that it's a very difficult thing to do. I'd refer you then to what I have posted before, to what Michael Pollan said in a Coursera lecture I have attended.

He said that cooking isn't so complicated if we don't make it so. All you need to have in your home are these few basic ingredients: olive oil, onions, garlic, lemons, sugar, and salt. And as an Asian, adding soy sauce and oyster sauce would complete the list. 

And I had thought that the more ingredients I put in, the more complete the dish. Now I think differently. It was then that I made the yummiest stewed lamb shank with only 2 ingredients, lamb and onions. 

We can cook. We don't have to make it complicated. 

pearlie

Is catfish safe to eat?

I have been having fried catfish for lunch quite frequently lately. However, I have been having the feeling that catfish may not be so safe to eat.

This was when I found this article quite interesting. 

My biggest worry is the fact that catfish are bottom-feeders. But the article pointed out that when it comes to bottom-feeders, so are lobsters. Well, that's true.

Some say that catfish has a lot of the unfavourable Omega-6 fat. But I'm reading mixed reports on whether it is good or bad. I still don't know. 

But what is indeed more worrying is the level of toxins in the forms of mercury and PCB especially in farmed fish, which I am sure where the ones I ate came from.

So, I probably won't eat it as much now. 

pearlie

Photo source: Rasa.my

Wonderful Things of the World #12: Dark Chocolate

I buy this and keep it in my drawer for when I need a sugar fix, and since I don't want to take too much sugar, this will be the next best thing.

pearlie

Wonderful Things of the World #12: Ramen

I haven't eaten ramen in a long time since I'm watching my diet but this Samyang Hot Chicken Ramen is my current favourite.

While ramen might have originated from China with its lamian or pulled noodles, instant noodles was apparently invented by Momofuku Ando of Nissin Foods in 1958.

I used to love Maggi Instant Noodle Asam Laksa. Still do. Just that I couldn't find that in the store today and so I bought a pack of Samyang instead.

Let me go to another store tomorrow to get me a pack of the asam laksa one. Yumm...

pearlie

Long Overdue Date Night

We don't go out often for date nights but the thing is my hubby won't even call it a date!

Nonetheless, we just had a nice night out together, starting it off with a feast of the Musang King durian in SS2.

It is supposed to be cheaper but it was not so. And I have eaten much better ones before. I wasn't that happy with it.

We then made our way to Authentic Penang Char Koay Teow.

As usual, we dug in the moment the food came and never took any pictures. 

We ordered char koay teow with prawns and extra cockles, raw.

The verdict is the prawns to me are irrelevant, I don't know how else to say it. But the cockles is what made it really good.

That's when I told my hubby that's why it's called see hum chau fun. LOL

And we don't know why exactly but the fact that we shared one plate together made it taste even better. 

It was a good night out. 

pearlie

Photos from Taufulou and TripAdvisor

开工酒 hoi1 gung1 zau2 - A Start Work Banquet

Here's a good start to the new year for our team with a new year 开工酒 hoi1 gung1 zau2 in Cantonese or literally a start work banquet.

May the work of our hands be prosperous and excellent!

pearlie

Should we eat fast-food burgers?

I gave up on eating in McDonald's several years ago and I have not eaten fast-food burgers in quite a long time.

This was after I watched was it a documentary or a MOOC about food where they did a time lapse video on a homemade burger next to a fast-food one. The latter remained unchanged whilst the homemade one bloomed in white coloured mould pretty quickly. 

Until a Burger King joint opened at my workplace. I accompanied my colleagues there and soon enough I was eating it too.

I don't know but Burger King burgers seem to taste much better than McDonald's. And they seem more "real"? I may be wrong but it does feel that way to me.

And what more, its current promotional deal with TNG is very attractive. Today I chowed down a Triple Whopper, yes triple!, fries and a Coke for just RM9.88.

But I wondered if I should avoid it like I avoided McDonald's and so I went hunting for some information and found this very interesting article on the All-American Burger Experiment.

This is where they put seven burgers from seven different fast-food chains in separate glass jars for a month, and watch how and if they go bad. 

And the results?

The thumbnail picture you see above consists of the McDonald's cheeseburger on the left and the Burger King version on the right. 

Of all seven burgers, the Burger King one was the only one that was all covered in mould at the end of 30 days. 

And the McDonald's one? It was the only one that did not change its appearance. 

I was right after all.

pearlie

Throwback #1: Air Fried Pavakka Bitter Gourd

I just had dinner in my neighborhood mamak store which by the way took 3 long months in renovations, and now they are back in business. 

One of the old-timer waiter was so happy to see me again, and I have to say I feel the same. They have been closed for way too long.

I had my favourite fried vegetable: fried bitter gourd or pavakka and it reminded me of an old blogpost I have written way back in 2016.

Air Fried Pavakka (Bitter Gourd)

I have posted the recipe here and reading it again I think it's time I buy some bitter gourd, slice it up and pop it into my air fryer again. 

A dry crispy plate of pavakka...yummy. 

pearlie

Losing weight!

I began to seriously work on losing some weight back in September 2016 and I reached my desired weight goal in July 2017, losing 10 kilos in 10 months.

I did it by using the FitnessPal app, religiously inputting my food intake everyday.

I limitted myself to 1000 to 1200 calories a day but I don't really deprive myself of the food that I want to have. If I really want to eat something that is higher in calories, I will eat in smaller portions and will have lesser to eat in calories for the day. It's like a daily budget I have. 

It worked for me because I don't feel deprived. 

But after reaching my goal, I had some struggles trying to maintain it and I did gain back 2 kilos. 

But I wasn't going to give up. 

I knew I had to change my strategy since my body must have gotten used to my eating behaviour. And since I didn't do anything extreme--I eat like I always do, just in smaller portions--I was able to maintain my eating lifestyle, except that I found it very hard to maintain let alone lose more weight. 

Then I decided to skip breakfast. 

I know. I know. You may be the one who'd be the first to tell me that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But my response to you will be, "says who?" 

The thing is I don't feel hungry at all in the morning. And it's the most inconvenient meal. And I feel fine just having a good lunch and dinner. 

So I did that for several months and all is good. 

Then I notice my husband skipping dinner sometimes. And I must say, I sometimes get quite lazy to eat at night. I usually get home too tired and late to cook. 

So I began to skip dinner once in awhile. And I feel fine.

It was only until recently that I realised that I have inadvertently started practicing intermittent fasting without knowing it. Haha.

So I read up on it and did a bit of research. I know there are proponents and opponents. But what I do is to listen to my body. If I really feel very hungry and if I feel that I must eat, I would. I don't force myself. 

And since July 2017, not only have I maintained, I have lost 2.3 more kilos logging in at my lowest today.

I don't have to lose anymore. It will be ideal just to maintain it between plus one and minus one of my desired weight. 

But the danger I have seen with many who successfully lose a lot of weight is that it is never enough. Once you've reached your goal, you'd set a new goal and once you reach that, you'd be greedy and want to lose even more. 

We must stop somewhere. 

We must admit that we look good with a little bit of fat in us. Just a little bit... you'll look much better, younger and healthier. 

pearlie

Jujubes?

Do you know what this is?

It's jujubes, what becomes red dates when they are dried up. I have not seen it before, have you? It was selling in the supermarket today and so I bought some to try it out. 

Surprisingly, there is not much of a taste to it but it's still good and crunchy. 

But how does it turn dark red?

pearlie

Peanut Cookies!!!

It's the Chinese New Year again! And I was at my good friend's house today making peanut cookies.

It all started a few years ago when she brought the cookies she made with her mom to the office as a treat for us. The moment I popped one into my mouth, I was in total nostalgia. It really brought me back to the good old days when my late grandmother made these exact cookies. They tasted the same. Really.

And since then, I have been looking forward to the Chinese New Year to eat these very cookies. 

I went to her house last year and since then I've made good friends with her family. I've been there several times both to learn and to make peanut cookies and butter cookies. Her mom called me her extra hands to help her with the cookie making, but they also have been so gracious to allow me to make cookies for myself there in their home.

This is a community activity I will never do at home alone. So I'm really grateful for being able to experience the warmth and camaraderie of making cookies with her family.

Thanks Wee Yin. And thanks for helping me remember my grandmother fondly. I really miss her after these 18 years since she was gone. 

pearlie

I'm home

My plane touched down at KLIA 20 minutes earlier than expected and by the time I got my things cleared and luggage claimed, which took me the longest ever of all the flights I have ever taken, I headed to the taxi stand to get me home. 

The moment I got home, my hubby drove me out for a good local breakfast. Ah! Something I missed having: roti kosong, teh si kosong and rendang kambing. Hmm...I'm home...

When I got home and unpacked everything, I went to bed. I did not sleep much in the plane and I so it's nice that I had a good nap and then a good sleep.

I'm home.

pearlie

Wonderful Things of the World #11: Chicken 65

I was having lunch with a colleague and I ordered Chicken 65.

But we were wondering why it is called that. 

Apparently the dish originated from Buhari Hotel, Chennai, India but nobody knows exactly why it's named Chicken 65. 

Some say it's because it was created in year 1965. Some say it's because it contains 65 chili peppers. Some say it's made from 65-day old chickens. Others say the dish has 65 pieces of chicken. And yet others say it was the 65th item in the menu of the restaurant. 

Whatever the story, it's absolutely yummy. 

It's like spicy popcorn chicken without the batter, without the frying. 

pearlie

Why do you eat what you eat?

Sadly, this cartoon from theAwkwardYeti.com pretty much sums up my eating behaviour lately. 

We were taught and told that we eat to live, that we need to eat to get the energy to pursue our daily living. 

That's logical, but that does not seem to tell the whole story, does it?

So I went googling for some insights and found this book.

Hedonic Eating, How the Pleasure of Food Affects Our Brains and Behavior

by Nicole M. Avena, ed.

It was published in 2015 where the author editor compiled and reviewed literature from various writers on the topic of hedonic eating. 

Hedonic eating? 

She says that hedonic eating is a relatively new term derived from the concept of  hedonism, which by definition is the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. Hedonic eating is a form of eating in which one eats for pleasure rather than for energy needs. The desire to eat solely to reproduce the pleasurable feelings associated with particular foods activates the reward circuits of the brain. 

With that I can confirm that I am a Hedonic Eater. 

pearlie

A Thousand Words #227

pearlie