Thanks to my old school days in Singapore, chili has become a more important condiment than ever in my life. Not that I can't live without the burning devil, it really adds so much to the food that, well, I miss it when I have not had it for awhile. It's almost like that date you can never get! Anyway, chillies are fun to eat. There's so many different kinds of them out there in the world for the most daring and brave souls out there to try. It's not in my field to talk about them, but I would like to share a few frightening experiences that I had with chilies, and I don't mean just the usual lip or tongue stings.
So here I was making Hainanese chicken (for those Malaysian/Singaporean food lovers out there) at home one weekend and decided to go adventurous and make the chili sauce for dipping from scratch. Now I needed to blend some garlic, lime juice, ginger and other things together with the fresh red chillies, but we had no blender! Just chop it finely with the knife, I thought. Brilliant idea. Yes, brilliant, that is only until my finger tips started to grow a light burning sensation. And before I knew it, it started to feel like a burning flame all over my hand. What can one do but to wait it off slowly? So there I was, eating my Hainanese chicken with my right hand while having my left hand dipped into a bowl of milk and ice. At least I didn't have to go into the emergency room looking like a fool!
But the emergency room call came even closer in another chili incident. If you haven't already noticed, I have a love for pho (see previous post). And during a latest reunion with one group of friends of mine at Angkor Restaurant (Victoria Street at 33rd Avenue, Vancouver), I ordered a bowl. Un-chopped fresh chillies on the table. I was careful as a split the chili up with my hands and making sure to clean my hands off to prevent the finger burn (lesson learnt). So I was happily enjoying the delicious broth (more on the pho here at another time) on this hot summer night. Heck, people eat this stuff in Southeast Asia where it's even hotter! Anyway, the problem hit after I finished. So it has been a hot day and I had lots of liquid and now a bowl of broth, and after using the facilities, a burning sensation began where I least expected it from eating chili. Yes, it started to burn after urination!!! I had no choice but to return to the table to rejoin my friends in the conversation. I tried to concentrate on the talk but I was sweating and that burn just didn't go away! It was so bad that I had to kept signaling to call it a night. It must have only been another 15 or 20 minutes before we left the restaurant, and as we stood outside the entrance, it gradually went away. Well, I was glad it went away before I had to start driving home otherwise there might have been another accident because I couldn't concentrate on my driving! Phew, what a day.
So what's your ultimate chili burning experience?
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Suddenly...it's pho time again
After a stretch of very hot days, a cool rainy morning of outdoor work left me craving for a bowl of hot Vietnamese beef noodles (i.e. pho). Pho Tam across from Surrey Central Station was all I thought about for lunch. Yes, a large bowl number five, please. Rare beef slices with beef brisket and rice noodles in a hot broth warms anyone's tummy. The brisket was sliced especially thing and was very tender. The tripe that comes with bowl number four is definitely a must-try for the more experienced (and adventurous) ones.
Efficient service and excellent food for a good price.
Prices that get you 'pho'
$6.75 (Small bowl) $7.25 (Large bowl)
Pho Tam Restaurant
10302 135 Street, #10
Surrey, BC V3T4Y8
Blogger Advice: You would be lucky to find parking at the strip mall. Your best bet is to be a Safeway "customer" (adjacent lot) or use the pay parking on the same lot and get reimbursed by the restaurant $1 with your ticket. [Warning: Please hold your breath while walking the 30 second trip from the Safeway lot to Pho Tam to avoid inhaling Safeway's dumpsters before or after the delicious meal]
Efficient service and excellent food for a good price.
Prices that get you 'pho'
$6.75 (Small bowl) $7.25 (Large bowl)
Pho Tam Restaurant
10302 135 Street, #10
Surrey, BC V3T4Y8
Blogger Advice: You would be lucky to find parking at the strip mall. Your best bet is to be a Safeway "customer" (adjacent lot) or use the pay parking on the same lot and get reimbursed by the restaurant $1 with your ticket. [Warning: Please hold your breath while walking the 30 second trip from the Safeway lot to Pho Tam to avoid inhaling Safeway's dumpsters before or after the delicious meal]
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Ikea Meatball Madness
It has become one of those signature dishes, a must-have item at the Swedish furniture store. Yes, for those who have been living in the caves for the last little while, this furniture giant runs restaurants too! The Ikea meatballs satisfies those cravings for protein but you just can't seem to get enough of them. Much like the fifty-cent hotdog and the dollar breakfasts, Ikea cheap eats is almost always wonderful. But what makes them so successful besides its pricing?
Simple, to put a long story short, the tremendous effort it takes to get to the food. You fight through traffic and made it to Ikea (it might even be a day's journey!) and then you walk through the maze of furnishings (maybe 2 kilometers) with a long shopping list. The Ikea restaurant magically appears, and draws you in before you proceed to the warehouse and marketplace to pick up your goodies. You might as well munch on something before the real workout, right? Oh, and there it shines, glowing under the menu light--the 15 Ikea meatballs with mashed potatoes. Suddenly you feel like a feast, (and it's okay because the calories will all be worked off in the warehouse!). The counter staff is working tirelessly like a meatball dish assembly line. 15 meatballs in 2 or 3 scoops, never 14 and never 16. You get your plate, got through the cashier, and finally finds a seat and gets ready to eat. All that effort for some Ikea meatballs, no wonder why they must taste so good!
Now, a (quick) look at the plate and onto the first bite into the meatball. I choose to take full bites, but I've seen many people who (still) retains manners and cuts them in half first (salute). The meatballs are really, decently sized and juicy enough. They are soft enough yet are chewy to slowly munch on to really taste the meat. Not quality meat, but good enough. The scoop of mashed potatoes really start to fill you up a bit by the last spoon, mixing those last bits of sweet lingonberry sauce in. I must express a little dissatisfaction though. The meal would be so much more complete with more gravy on the plate. There is not enough gravy to fully cover every of the 15 meatballs and to spread onto the potatoes. But a search for photos of Ikea meatballs shows some plates (clearly from outside Canada) to have flood-loads of gravy. It leaves me guessing as to whether Ikea-Coquitlam (in B.C.) is trying to save costs by giving less (just like taking out cashiers for the self-serve check outs?!).
Ikea meatballs (15) with mashed potatoes - $2.99 [5pm to closing Monday to Thursday until the end of 2010] Regular price: $5.99
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| Ikea Meatballs with fries (Photo credits: Yun) |
Simple, to put a long story short, the tremendous effort it takes to get to the food. You fight through traffic and made it to Ikea (it might even be a day's journey!) and then you walk through the maze of furnishings (maybe 2 kilometers) with a long shopping list. The Ikea restaurant magically appears, and draws you in before you proceed to the warehouse and marketplace to pick up your goodies. You might as well munch on something before the real workout, right? Oh, and there it shines, glowing under the menu light--the 15 Ikea meatballs with mashed potatoes. Suddenly you feel like a feast, (and it's okay because the calories will all be worked off in the warehouse!). The counter staff is working tirelessly like a meatball dish assembly line. 15 meatballs in 2 or 3 scoops, never 14 and never 16. You get your plate, got through the cashier, and finally finds a seat and gets ready to eat. All that effort for some Ikea meatballs, no wonder why they must taste so good!
Now, a (quick) look at the plate and onto the first bite into the meatball. I choose to take full bites, but I've seen many people who (still) retains manners and cuts them in half first (salute). The meatballs are really, decently sized and juicy enough. They are soft enough yet are chewy to slowly munch on to really taste the meat. Not quality meat, but good enough. The scoop of mashed potatoes really start to fill you up a bit by the last spoon, mixing those last bits of sweet lingonberry sauce in. I must express a little dissatisfaction though. The meal would be so much more complete with more gravy on the plate. There is not enough gravy to fully cover every of the 15 meatballs and to spread onto the potatoes. But a search for photos of Ikea meatballs shows some plates (clearly from outside Canada) to have flood-loads of gravy. It leaves me guessing as to whether Ikea-Coquitlam (in B.C.) is trying to save costs by giving less (just like taking out cashiers for the self-serve check outs?!).
Ikea meatballs (15) with mashed potatoes - $2.99 [5pm to closing Monday to Thursday until the end of 2010] Regular price: $5.99
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Slurrrrrp...Oops, I meant hello!
Welcome to this yumilicious. If you are curious as to what this site is going to be about, let me just say that if you love food for a bargain (I don't mean day old bread), you might want to bookmark this blog. I will be sharing with the world all the delicious foods I have tried and will be trying. My love for food is great. In fact, my co-workers and friends have commented that all I ever talk and think about is food and cravings for it.
I will try to write about a variety of things: eating culture, eatery reviews, dining experience (and horrors), food ingredients, and so on. Oh, and one last word, if you enjoyed what you read, go out there and try it! And if you did not, don't, feel free to try it yourself and criticize me anytime.
I will try to write about a variety of things: eating culture, eatery reviews, dining experience (and horrors), food ingredients, and so on. Oh, and one last word, if you enjoyed what you read, go out there and try it! And if you did not, don't, feel free to try it yourself and criticize me anytime.
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