نڬارا بروني دارالسلام

This is my first time to Brunei and I came with an open mind... I did some research of my own. Brunei felt like Batam, clean like Spore and spending power like Msia (iloike). Brunei is a huge country (7x bigger than spore but their population is less than 500k Singapore is 7x smaller and our population is 6M? How crazy is that😳) So in future if you need your space, Brunei is an awesome place. I didn't know that Malay has many kinds, in Brunei there's 7 kinds of Malay ...ouuuuhhh ... Most of them are English speaking erm ... Their Malay is abit different from us... Hee Hee here are some of the words I learnt during my trip.

Pusu - ikan bilis

Lauk - ikan

Awda - Awang Dan Dayang

Inda - Tidak

Bah - is something like lah and is also a Yes 

Here are some of the food and places we went I don't put up all thou I love to but it will bore the audience heeh! 

1st stop night market its 5 mins walk from Radisson Hotel: Jalan Tasek 2203, Bandar Seri Begawan BS8211, Brunei.

A generous serving of fried rice with fried chicken wing cost B$2 ... It's yummy and tasty. 

This was Papa John B$2.50 and I realize the shops around Brunei are all mother, father .... 

This shop is Mann & Marr's Tamu Selara Seafood (we did not manage to try the seafood due to time constraint... Sad lah)

at Kiulap while waiting for Rahim to fetch us ... We sat in front of Mister Softee Machine (you can no longer find Mister Softee in SG) and people watch and we realised people came out of the supermarket (it feels like sheng siong) without plastic bags, some brought recycle bags but most just hand carry ... interesting .... understand from Aliamat, its a no plastic bag day from Friday to Sunday which I think they really did a great job.  In SG they tried but its not working cos the people find that it's ok to pay for plastic bags ... sigh.

We went to the Kg Kianggeh Open Air market on Day 2 and it felt like old geylang serai.

Some of the fresh items at the market ...

Squirrels, I thought they were pets but noooo ... They are remedy for asthma ... I shall not go into details how to prepare it 😖.

This is called Kembayau. It's a fruit. It's black and you have to scrap it off and it shows the yellow skin then you soak it in warm water for awhile and after that you can dip it in salt and sugar and eat. Nope I have not try 😜

Here are all the different kinds of woods and herbs for any kind of sickness

Ehem ... 😏

I so wanted to eat these ... and they are only B$0.50  

Handcrafts and Woodworks... 

There's a lot of cute animals ... The bunny on top of the cage was soooo "friendly" it lets strangers touch it ... Bunnies are known for their timidness, I was quite surprised it didn't hopped away ...

We went to the Istana but the Sultan was not in ... hahhahah ok I'm kidding ... actually Sultan come out of his palace everyday at 4pm and come back at 5pm.  So if you want to catch a glimpse of the Sultan be at the gate by 4 or 5 ... lol ... He don't mind selfies too ...

These are bamboo forks called a chandas, by rolling the ambuyat around the prongs and then dipping it into a sauce, of which there are many varieties. (I am not so smart but I took this info from wiki)

This was what we were waiting for!!!!! Scared and excited to try... 

Ambuyat is a dish derived from the interior trunk of the sago palm. It is a starchy bland substance, similar to tapioca starch. Ambuyat is a national dish of Brunei,^[1][2] and become a local delicacy in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah and also the federal territory of Labuan where it is sometimes known as linut. -wiki

It's was surprisingly good! The problem was we need to swallow it and not chew just swallow. That was quite a challenge hahhaha

The spread ... I LOVE everything on the table including Esa's food 😜 nice Leh the daging but I don't think he took photo of his food lah

Esa show you how to eat the ambuyat .... hahaha 

So grand so so grand sooooooo grand this is the empire hotel ... http://m.theempirehotel.com ... its a 5-star hotel but not a 5-star pricing... the view was gorgeous and so peaceful... most importantly no crowd... We manage to take nice photos and videos

This yellow buns were from Babu's Kitchen: Jalan Pretty, Brunei Muara 
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam 
It's like Yakun or Wangs ... But this bun after its toasted, it still maintain its softness which I like very much ... and here I went crazy with the Milo Ping (SG: Iced Milo or Milo Peng) cos it's sooo good and it reminds me of the old days

Floating Mosque in Brunei (Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque) it looked so majestic 😍😍

Across the road from the mosque there's a pop-up cart and here I ordered my Milo Ping ... I think I drank a total of 7 Milo Ping ... but this shop one not so nice cos she did not use condense milk but sugar

Nasi Katok!!!!!!!!! 

Kampong Ayer: They've gone through changes ... on the right are all the old atap houses with wooden bridges on the left are huge 2 storey brick houses. Understand from Mr Aliamat that brought us sight-seeing Bruniean likes to live together in a huge homes with all the generations there ... Sadly my flat can only fit less than 10 people 😕

Boat ride to Kampong Ayer and Museum ... They have crafts, batik, songket, wood cravings ... Our guide for the day Mr Aliamat ...  

These badass were behind the Kg Kianggeh Open Air Market 

This is my best buy from the trip!!!! lol Tudung Saji! We walked to the open market after our breakfast (btw .... bruneian they don't walk they drive ... ouh yes ... cos petrol cost B$0.50 per litre!!!!!!!) We also saw a few bikes but not on the road... there are so many cars on the road but the roads are not congested and they don't need ERP ... 

Will I be back? ... Yes! I like the vibe here ... It's not over crowded, It's not noisy, the road is so clear and nobody honks ... Drivers patiently wait ... for SG we are constantly rushing constantly honking ... but chill ok theres more to life then honking ...

I also like the forestry area so it does not feel so hot on sunny days... I would love to jog or cycle around my hotel area... Key word love to but I'm too lazy 😅

Food: the comfort food here were so satisfying.  You paid so little for good food but you cannot say the same for SG

Sight-Seeing: I love handcrafted stuff as long as its not made in China ... and Museum where you learn about the history for the country..

Shopping: not so much cos I don't see the need to visit another shopping mall ... but we went to airport mall for Brunei Kendama event and there's Gongcha!!!!! woot woot... so drama ... I can survive lah without bubble tea ... but not too long ...

till the next trip ...

Batagor (BAkso TAhu GOReng)

Recipe taken from: allrecipe.asia

Ingredients 
Serves: 8 

• 4 firm white tofu squares
• 60 g prawns, peeled, deveined and minced
• 40 g minced chicken
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoon cornflour
• oil for frying
• For the batter
• 50 g plain flour
• 1 egg
• water

• For the sauce
• 30 g dry roasted peanuts
• 1 fresh red chillies, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vinegar
• 70 ml water

Directions
Prep:20min  ›  Cook:30min  ›  Ready in:50min 

1. Slice each tofu cake diagonally to make 8 triangles. With each triangle, make a slit on the cut side to make a pocket for stuffing. Hollow out some tofu from the pocket.
2. In a bowl, mix well the hollowed out tofu pieces with minced prawns, chicken, green onions, sesame oil, cornflour, egg and season with salt and pepper.
3. Carefully stuff the tofu triangles with the filling, making a slight mound on the outside of slit. Place the triangles in a steamer and steam for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile make the dipping batter by combining the egg with flour and pouring enough water while whisking until you've reached a medium-thin consistency.
5. Make the sauce: Chop the roasted peanuts until medium coarse and add all the ingredients together in a bowl. Stir until the sugar and salt has dissolved. Set aside.
6. When the triangles are cooked, remove from steamer. Heat oil in wok until hot. Take each triangle in batches, and dip in batter and slowly lower in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and batter is cooked. Drain on paper towel.
7. Serve hot with accompanying sauce.

Cereal Prawn

Ingredient (2-3 Serves)

- 6 tiger prawns or 14 grey prawns

- 20 curry leaves

- 2 chili padi, sliced

- 1 cup of Nestum Original Cereal. (other brands can be done but Nestum is the best!)

- 1 heap tbsp of corn flour

- 1 heap tbsp of milk powder

- 1 egg, beaten

- 2 tbsp of evaporated milk (Full Cream Carnation)

- 1 tbsp of butter

- 1 tbsp of sugar or as your desire

- seasoning with salt and pepper

- Clean prawn, cut unwanted parts, devein but still leave the shell and head on.

- Seasoning prawns with salt

- Mix milk powder and corn flour together then lightly coating the prawn.

- Fry the prawns in hot oil until crispy and set aside.

- In the wok over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of butter and fry curry leaves until crisp and fragrant, add chili to fry together for 10 sec.

- In the wok, set the curry leaves and slices chili aside.

- Add egg beaten and 2 tbsp of of evaporated milk then quickly stir until scramble.

- Lower the heat to low heat, add cereal and fry until golden. Keep stirring and be careful, it will over cook.

- Bring the crispy prawn back to the wok.

- Add sugar, seasoning with salt pepper and toss them together.

This state must do very quick, if not your cereal will over cook..

Thai Chicken Basil

Ingredients:

10 oz boneless and skinless chicken thighs or chicken breast (ground)

4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 shallots (finely chopped)

1 1/4 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon palm sugar

1/2 teaspoon kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 big bunch of Thai basil leaves (stems removed)

6 bird’s eye chilies (chopped and pounded with a mortar and pestle) or 1-2 fresh jalapeno cut into slivers

2 dashes ground white pepper

2 tablespoons oil

Method:

Add oil into a heated wok, follow by chopped garlic and shallots. Stir fry the garlic and shallots until aromatic, then add the chicken meat into the wok. Use the spatula to quickly stir-fry and break the ground chicken meat into small lumps. When the chicken meat changes color, toss in the chilies and the seasonings (fish sauce, palm sugar, and sweet soy sauce) and continue to stir-fry. Add in the basil leaves and do a few quick stirs until the basil leaves are wilted and you smell the exotic fragrance of the basil leaves. Sprinkle two dashes of pepper powder into the dish, do a final stir, dish out and serve immediately.

Cook’s Notes:

If you love Thai food, you should check out authentic and popular Thai recipes on Rasa Malaysia.

You can also serve this spicy basil chicken as lettuce wraps, it tastes great with fresh lettuce and Thai sweet chili sauce.

Salted Egg Crab

• 1 kg fresh mud crabs - 2-3 fresh large crabs (claws cracked, shells removed and cleaned. drain and dry with paper towels)
• 1 cup corn or tapioca flour
• 3 salted egg yolks (hard boiled or raw yolks only, chicken or duck)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 5 chilli padi, chopped
• 2 stalks curry leaves
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• little salt or to taste or none
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• pinch of chicken powder
• 1 1/2-2 tsp sugar to taste
• 4 tbsp evaporated milk
• oil for deep-frying

Method: 

1. Crack crab claws, pincers removed and trim the legs. Devide into 4 pieces. Clean and dry the crabs with paper towels. 
2. To begin, remove the salted egg whites from the hard boiled eggs. Mash the yolk and set aside.  If you are using raw salted egg yolks, steam the yolks for at least 3-4 minutes and mash it. Set aside.
3. Next, coat the crab pieces in corn or tapioca flour. Deep-fry in hot oil till crabs turn red. Transfer to a colander to drain off excess oil. Strain the hot oil and place the wok back on the heat.
4. Melt butter in a wok, minced garlic, sauté curry leaves and chilli padi until aromatic. Add salted egg yolks, keep stirring until “bubbles” formed.
5. Add pepper, sugar, chicken powder and evaporated milk. Taste, add salt if necessary, then throw in pre-fried crabs. Reduce the heat and stir-fry briskly to mix. Dish up and serve hot.

Note:  You can skip the crab if you find it too much hassle to find and prepare one, just replace the crab with  large prawns.

Recipe is taken from: http://www.singaporelocalfavourites.com/2013/01/how-to-make-fried-crabs-wsalted-eggs.html?m=1