Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

Saint John, the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, with its population of approximately 70,000. It is also known as the oldest incoporated city in Canada.

The night scenes in Saint John, on a quiet evening.

Craving for some Chinese food? How about savouring some authentic Chinese food? Mei’s Restaurant is one of the places to visit! Located in the heart of downtown Fredericton, the restaurant has received lots of good reviews after it has been changed under the new management. *Thumbs up*

Out of all the dishes we ordered, dessert was the only one exempted from the hot & spicy category. A warm, hot, and spicy lunch on a cold, windy winter day :)

 Fish in soup with numbing spice. The more you eat, the tastier it is! And of course, the more intense burning sensation is on tongue!

 Thick and yummy beef soup with eggs.

 Fatty pork with mixed veggie. Does this remind you of bacon?

 Ma Po Tofu. Tofu and pork cooked with hot spices.

Crispy Milk for dessert. The crispy texture resembles the Chinese doughnut, filled with soft and sweet glutinous rice. It tasted great on its own, even without dipping in condensed milk served on the side.

A soft, squishy texture of this special dish has granted itself a unique name, otak-otak (meaning brain in Malay). Otak-otak is a fish cake prepared by blending fish fillet, onion, coconut milk and a mixture of spices (turmeric, lemon grass, galangal etc.) into a fine paste, wrapped in banana leaf, and then either steamed, grilled, or baked. It is a popular dish in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

The otak-otak recipe caught my eyes one day and I decided to give it a try. Sure enough, it reminded me a lot of the Malaysian otak-otak. Yummy!

Ingredients:
(A)
~ 500g fish fillet, chopped
1 medium onion
1 tsp belacan chili
1 tsp lemon grass powder
1 tsp galangal powder
4 dried red chilies
180 ml thick coconut milk

(B)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 egg
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Grind ingredients (A) with a kitchen blender until a fine paste is formed.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the fish paste and turmeric powder. Add the rest of the ingredients (B) into the fish paste. Beat the mixture until smooth.
3. Rub some oil on the banana leaf. Pour the fish mixture onto a 20 cm x 20 cm banana leaf. Wrap around tightly.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 15-20 minutes, or until firm to touch.

Serimuka, one of my favourite Malaysian desserts! I had a craving for it last week and decided to make some. Yumm…the soft texture and sweet pandan flavour of the egg custard layer compliments the salty, coconut flavoured sticky rice layer at the bottom very well. It’s a labour intensive process to make the dessert, that’s why it’s considered a special treat ;)

The recipe can be found here. Enjoy!