My new diet... "Lui Cha"

Okay maybe not a totally new diet.. since I had the wagyu saikoro don at Yuzu for Sunday lunch. But hey at least I'm eating more fruits and veg!!

Jen, to answer your comment about my high cholesterol problem, yup I've actually had it for some time now (I think we discovered it 6 years ago!). Am starting the fruit-veg-nuts-oats diet but my dad has warned that we shdn't overdo it on the oats intake - he did that and ended up with very bad gout!!

Pa has been talking about this restaurant in Puchong that serves up a good lui cha so since I'm at home on study leave, he decided to take me there for lunch today. We stopped by his office for a while so I brought a textbook to study while waiting for him.

The restaurant is called Tien Yew and it's somewhere in Bandar Putri Puchong. It faces the Church of Guadalupe, Puchong so I hope that helps. Sorry I cant give better directions but I get absolutely lost in Puchong (and Cheras, as a matter of fact!).

From the picture above, you'll see that lui cha kinda resembles the Korean bibimbab... you know, cooked rice at the bottom, topped with an array of vegetables and peanuts. Comes with the tea soup on the side which tastes very minty but I wasn't quite used to it. According to Uncle Loh who accompanied us for lunch, you have to eat lui cha for at least a few times before you get the hang of it.. and then you're hooked. Sounds like how we get ppl accustomed to durian!

I actually rather liked the rice combo with all its veggies.. Especially since we asked for brown rice instead of white rice. Really healthy, fibre-rich and oil-free.

Uncle Loh brought a hong pan or red grouper fish head for the chef to steam for us. But he said the best fish to go with lui cha is a pan fried pomfret as that really brings out the flavour of the rice.

All accompanied by a nice pot of pu er tea.

Even my baking has gone all healthy. I had to go into the office yesterday morning to do my monthly stuff. By the time I got home, it was almost noon and Evelyn was just starting to cook pasta for lunch. With a bit of time to spare, I baked up a batch of oat bran and nuts cookies. I cheated cos I used an organic premix I bought from the Village Grocer but it's really easy. 1 packet of premix, 2 eggs, water, vanilla essence and sunflower oil (you can use melted butter but remember, I'm trying to be healthy!). Throw everything in a bowl and mix. Roll spoonfuls onto greased trays and bake in a 190'C oven for 10 mins.

I got lazy to roll out the cookies after the first 2 trays so I dropped spoonfuls of the remaining batter into small cupcake cases instead. The cupcakes came out softer but Rommel says he prefers the cookie versions vs the cupcake versions. Pa said he liked it cos it was not sweet but he would have preferred it with more nuts.

Speaking of cupcakes, we drove past the Bake with Yen Puchong outlet just now on the way back so I got all excited. I dashed in and came out with enough cupcake cases to perhaps last me the next 2 years.. Well, that's if I do a lot of baking.. If not, maybe 3 years. I found the pretty white cases that I have been looking for and got them in 2 sizes. Also got the brown muffin cases in a small size and square muffin cases in large. Shen, we're having a baking feast when you get back!

Oh and Shen, I was gonna put comments in your blog but since I'm typing here I might as well say what I have to say here.

1) I'm taking the Kitty from Kiki's delivery service home!! It kinda resembles our black kitty at home actually. What was the name of the cat in the movie? We could name black kitty after it..

2) If I look better in that dress, then okay I'll take it!

3) I dont see an issue with you buying a mannequin. But where can you buy it in KL?

4) I can see a lot of junk and mess in the background of your pictures. It better be cleaned and all clothes folded when we get there! You have less than 3 weeks. Maybe sort out some clothes and junk to give away to Oxfam or something.

5) Go sort out which cookbooks and other things do you wanna bring back etc... Since we're all coming along, we can bring more stuff back.