The art of storing seafood… yeah it’s an art

CNY is just around the corner and some of you housewives and househusband will be storing a lot of seafood for the festive season. Wet market will most likely be closed during this period because the Selayang Wholesale market (where most of the Klang Valley fresh produces are sourced from) will be closed for one week during CNY.

Well, since I am in the mood today, I will share some tips in keeping some of your seafood fresh for a few days!

Cockles (Kerang) / Lalah / Live Oyster – our friends here are actually still alive when you buy them from the market, so please treat them with respect and do not just put them into the fridge as the temperature will kill them and thus emitting an unpleasant smell. If you have bought too much stock and unable to finish them :
- Get a small pail and fill it up with water
- Mix in few spoons full of salt and put them in.

They will be able to stay fresh and juicy for few days without you freezing them to death! Btw, I would not recommend putting them into the freezer because this will spoil the cooking quality.

Cut fish (Barred Mackerel-tenggiri batang/Threadfin-kurau/Grouper-Jenahak) – these are some of the more well known fishes that consumers like to buy in slices. Sometimes, they can’t finish at one meal so the uncooked balance will go into the freezer. It is again not the best method to store the fish meat, as during the process of being frozen the membrane of the protein cells will break and that will make the fish meat dry and hard the next time you take them out from the fridge to cook again.

- Best way is to take a clean plastic bag and put the fish meat inside
- Seal it up and put it in a container with water and ice (mix half container of ice with half container of water, make sure you mix the ice water first before putting the plastic bag in or else the normal water temperature will cook part of the meat)
- Put the container at the top shelf of your fridge (not freezer!). This will help to keep the meat fresh for 1 or 2 days without spoiling the quality.

Prawns, if you don’t intend to cook your prawns, make sure you dun soak them or put them under running pipe water. Our Bolehland pipe water temperature on a hot day is indeed “boleh” in cooking part of your prawn before you even put them into the frying pan.

If you plan to keep some fresh prawns, do the following:
- Leave the shell and head on. Don’t clean them yet.
- Take a container and fill it up with cold water (ice water is even better).
- Mix in few spoons of sugar (yeah, that’s the secret)
- Put the prawns in and make sure the water level is high enuf to cover the prawns.
- Put it in your freezer! This can last for months.

Why the sugar you might want to ask, the sugar will keep the prawn meat firm and juicy and apparently they’ll taste slightly sweeter too.. haha… for obvious reason.

Rules of thumb in handling fresh seafood :
- Make sure your hand is clean
- Do not leave any seafood expose to the room temperature for too long. Bacteria will grow very fast and thus causing it to spoil faster. Always prepare and store your seafood immediately after you bought them.
- Do not put / soak / cuci / clean / wash – wat-te-verrr… the seafood using pipe water, if you do not intend to cook them.

Well.. that’s all for today. Tune in later for more seafood insights!

I found the perfect credit card!!

You know what is the most frustrating thing I find about credit cards? It’s their reward programs! I feel like I have been taken for a ride all this while and I have ended up with nothing.

I have just checked out the latest reward program sent by one of the bank, do you know that I need 19,000 points just to exchange for a RM100 voucher??

19,000 points = I need to swipe RM19,000 worth of purchases to get that.

I use my credit cards to pay for everything, bills and purchases… I do make a conscious effort of not overspending. People tend to do that when they have a FEW cards in hand. So I am proud to say that I have no credit card debt and lots of points… but points that are practically useless to me.

Recently I have been introduced to a co-brand card issued by one of our local bank. I can tell you, it offers the best reward program that I’ve known so far.

I compare both of my cards, with the new co-brand card, I could exchange for the same RM100 voucher with only 5 reward points. (This bank awards 1 point per RM100)

I need to only swipe RM500 worth of purchases to get that!

Par to par, if I make RM19,000 of purchases with the new co-brand card in a year, I could easily exchange it for electrical items that is worth hundreds of ringgit!

There’s no catch to this, it is an honest and simple truth…

Direct Selling – No way!! But wait…

Well, I used to be like a lot of people, Direct selling companies = Direct rejection. Don’t come and talk to me about direct selling, must be asking me to buy lots of things and bla bla bla… answer is a simple NO!!

However, as I am growing older and wiser now (ahem..) and being a buyer for a hypermarket chain, it has taught me a lot more than what meets the eye, think deeper and explore a little bit more you’ll be surprised.

The simple truth is, tradisional buying and selling network is like this:

Manufacturer > Wholesaler > Retailer > You (Consumer)

Each hops, will incur a cost on you, as simple as it may sound, no business will exist without a profit being made. Being with a retailer for a year, to breakeven we’ll need to make at least 10-12% of profit. On top of that, manufacturer will be heavily advertising on their products, retailer will do the same as well in their weekly or bi-weekly press ads and leaflet. All the advertising costs, is against sum up in the chain and pass to normal consumer like you. Consumers are easily paying 40-50% more on the cost of actual product!

The coming of network marketing has revolutionized the whole buying & selling landscape, simply by removing the number of hops in the process of delivering a product from manufacturer to consumer.

Manufacturer > Network Marketing > Consumer

On top of that, network marketers will reward the consumer handsomely for staying loyal and market their products to others. This is because network marketing relies heavily on words of mouth marketing. The manufacturer and network marketers also eliminate the external marketing cost (press ads, leaflet, tv ads) and the savings are pass on the consumers as incentives. Annually billions are spend on advertising effort and imagine you could make a cut on this.

On top of that, being in a direct selling environment, a consumer is actually more informed about the products that they are buying. Monthly booklet is sent out with comprehensive information on the products being launched. In the comfort of your own home, you can sit down quietly to plan your buying. You could purchase your items online, or just drop by to the nearest stockist of branch outlet and pick up the items. No hassle and no long queue at the checkout counter!

Start now, start today and make the conscious choice to become a smarter consumer! You can drop me a comment if you would like to know more about the network that I am with >:)

Thaipusam – 1st Feb 2007

Excerpt from wikipedia - * Thaipusam (Tamil: தைப்பூசம்) is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). Pusam refers to a star that is at its highest point during the festival. The festival commemorates both the birthday of Lord Murugan (also Subramaniam), the youngest son of Shiva and Parvati, and the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (lance) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.*

To those interested to read more, please go here.

For the record, I have not been paying any attention to this festival that is celebrated by our Tamil friends and the only thing I know is that they smashed thousands of coconuts on the day during the procession to the temple of Batu Caves.

I do celebrate the public holiday that comes along with the festival. It’s a rare break that I will get in the middle of the week. However, those that know me well will know that I am not too happy as I am paid daily. More holidays = Less salary >:/

Talking bout holidays, CNY is around the corner… 2 more public holidays in February.. now where’s that calculator of mine…

OH Crab(p)!

Most flower crabs aka blue swimming crab(Portunus pelagicus) sold in Malaysia hypermarkets & supermarkets are frozen defrost seafood. Yup, they come in 10kg/carton box! They will claim that it is fresh but in actual fact they’re taken out from the freezer, defrost and viola -> on the ice-bed ready to be sold. Fresh flower crabs are still available at a slightly more premium price and usually found in wet market.

Male flower crabs have blue marking on their shell and the females are dull green. Most flower crab sold here are imported from India, Indonesia and Pakistan. Newly moulted flower crabs are being used to make the popular soft shell crab.

So, how do you tell a frozen crab from fresh crab so you’ll not get rip-off during ur next wet market visit? Easy -> just knock on the shell and the answer shall be revealed to you! J Hehe.. well actually there’s a simple check that you can do, look at the tentacles that’s sticking out from the front of the shell. For fresh crab, they should be intact and flexible to the touch. Where else for frozen crab, the tentacles are most likely damaged during the freezing process thus either broken or missing.

There, a simple seafood buying tip courtesy from your daily wat-te-ver moments!

Dory Fillet or Basa Fillet?

I have had the experience of being the seafood buyer for largest hypermarket operator in Malaysia (they’re expanding fast and deserved to be the market Giant by all means) for a year and that gave me invaluable experience in knowing the trade and tasted so many types of seafood!

I guess by now, many of you out there have tasted the dory fish. Do you actually know what is dory fish made out of? Mind you, it’s not the Ms.Dory from Finding Nemo.

Dory fillet, also known as Basa fillet (for US market) comes from the Pangasius fish. For Malaysian, it is ikan patin (river catfish). Surprised? Well, almost all the dory fillets sold in Malaysia hypermarkets and supermarkets are imported from Vietnam. Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of dory fillet now. The ones that we usually see in markets are in packages of 500gm up to 1500gm, containing 2 to 4 pieces of fish fillets. Those fillets are IQF (Individually Quick Frozen). During the IQF process, glazing (25-40%) will be applied to the fish fillets (to protect the fish meat and ensure its freshness). Basically, when u’re buying the IQF Dory fillet, 25-40% of weight are actually water!

There are generally 3 grades of dory fillet (quality and taste), the better grade of dory fillet is creamy and slightly pinkish in appearance. The worst grade of dory fillet is dark pink and yellowish (when cooked, the fillet is smelling and tasting very MUDDY)

When buying any fish fillet, if possible please go for those packages with large pieces of fillet instead of multiple small fillets in one package, this is mainly due to the fact that large piece of fillet contains lower glazing and you’re not paying more for water! Usually dory fillet comes in 3 sizes (120-170gm per pc, 170-220gm per pc or 220gm & above). The price per kg increases with the weight.

3 major hypermarkets operators in Malaysia carry this product. C4, Giant and Tesco. I have had the nightmares -> having only steamed dory fillets (without any sauce or seasoning) as lunch to try all existing brands in the market. The verdict as follows :

C4 – carries only a single packaging of 500gm per packet. Quality of product is ok. However the smaller packaging also means consumers are buying smaller fish fillets, which translate into higher percentage of glazing.

Giant – carries 2 types (800gm & 1.5 kg) pack of dory fillets. Quality of product is the best in the market. Good fillets size with reasonable glazing (you can test it out if you want. Just weight the fish meat before and after thawing).

Tesco – carries free weight. Products are usually repacked in food-grade wrappers or plan clear plastic packaging. Highest percentage of glazing (almost 40%) and product quality is the worst. Strong muddy taste when cooked.

The Country Farm (there’s an outlet at LG Bangsar Village) serves one of the best dory fillet dish around. Go try it out. The Vietnam Kitchen also serves a good dish using the dory fillet. One of my favourite outlets is in USJ Taipan (next to slimming sanctuary), easier to find parking and nice dining environment.

Shoes Hunt... Nike anyone?

My first pair of Nike shoes, was a gift from my bro. He bought it for me when he made a year-end trip home from UK. It’s been four years already… I am wearing this shoes almost every day and it has already spotted holes here n there which I had tried to patch / sew / glue too many times.

So I figure it’s high time for me to get a new pair of Nike shoes. Everytime I walked past a Nike shoe shop, I will definitely drop by to check out the latest design. So far, it’s been a fruitless search and I am really thinking that I will not be able to find any new shoes to my liking. Maybe it’s the age thing, I just think those new shoes with their fancy designs don’t suit me any longer. (or maybe I am sentimental, cannot part with the old shoes :P)

On the other hand, Baby Dee has got herself a new pair of Nike Free, one of her new fav now! It’s a beautiful pair of shoes… I love the way it looks on her… but I just couldn’t seem to find a pair that suits me…

Sigh.. the search continues.. tomorrow I shall go shopping with baby again!

MATF - What's that?

31st Dec 2007 – 6th Feb 2007 is the MAS Fair! Malaysian Airline is giving up to 70% discount on their airfares. Well, not going to miss this, been planning a trip to Australia with baby dee and this is a great chance to book our flight tickets! Well, hopefully we’ll be able to secure the tickets on the date we wanted.
Melbourne or Sydney -> Here we come!!! (haven’t decided on which city to go.. hehe, shall discuss with baby dee tonight over our Friday nite coffee break)

Hello World!! Wat-te-verrr

This is my first post into the myriad world of bloggers.....

I've created this blog to record all the wat-te-ver things that is happening in my life.

Work, life, sleep, eat, friends, colleagues, families - Wat-te-ver!!

It's therapeutic - say it now.. WAT-TE-VERR!