Kuala Lumpur Part 7

I think I need to dedicate a post to some of the fantastic snack foods and random small meals that I ate my way through during my holiday. I am a compulsive snacker, if there is junk in the larder, it will not last when I am around. So at home I try to avoid buying snack food as much as possible and force myself to bake something if I have a sugar craving. I am certain I got this thigh-unfriendly habit from my Mum, who is always in a state of conflict about naughty food. ("Ooh Steph do you want some corn ice cream?" *2 seconds later* "You shouldn't eat ice cream too often it will go straight to your bum!")

So A and I were inundated with snacks and mini meals from my Mum while we were there and I am missing a lot of them right now. Writing about this is going to make me hungry...

1. Pineapple Tarts
I am constantly searching for the best pineapple tart. The homemade ones always seem to taste a lot better than the mass produced ones, so I think I will have to attempt to make these at some point. These were the best I've had recently:

I usually prefer the open top tarts because of their jam-pastry ratio but having pastry on top didn't detract from this pineapple tart at all. The jam packed a punch without being cloying and the pastry was so buttery and just crumbly enough. I ate one every morning with breakfast, under the watchful eyes of my encouraging/disapproving Mum (depending on what mood she was in that day).

2. Fruits

Dragonfruit

A's not a big breakfast eater so he stuck to fruit for most of his brekkies. Dragonfruit, mangosteen, mangos, durian, star fruit, papaya and jackfruit were my most consumed fruits. I was sad to miss out on rambutans as they weren't in season.

3. Kaya
OH GOD I MISS KAYA. The stuff they sell in bottles here is not the real deal. Even in KL my Mum complains about the quality of some of the kaya that is sold around the place, she always gets her sisters to bring back kaya from Ipoh. My absolute favourite breakfast to have is kaya and butter on toast with soft boiled eggs mixed with pepper and soy sauce.

Breakfast set (Kopi, kaya toast & two half boiled eggs)

The kaya that came from Ipoh was definitely the best of what I tried. I had it three different ways - with toast I had the smoother jam that is sold on its own. They also sell big styrofoam packs of glutinous rice with a huge dollop of the thicker, rougher in texture variety. And my favourite - kaya in a pastry puff.

Kaya puffs!

*Homer drool* These were so good. We warmed them up in the toaster oven so the pastry was crispy and the kaya was all gooey. The box of puffs lasted about 2 seconds in our house!

4. Doughnuts
Krispy Kreme pales in comparison to the fantastic doughnut chains they have in KL. I don't usually eat doughnuts very often but I kept going back for more of these.

L: Mint icing with chocolate covered rice crispies, R: Green tea, from J. Co Donuts & Coffee

To be honest I couldn't pick a winner between the two competing chains J. Co & Big Apple Donuts. I didn't take a photo but the durian doughnut from Big Apple is amaaaazing. And so cute, they mould tiny spikes into the dough to make it look like the outside of a durian. All the doughnuts were light and airy and didn't leave you feeling queasy the way that KKs do.

5. Dry wonton mee

Okay this isn't technically a snack but the serving size is small enough that it doesn't count as a full meal to me! My brother and I love love love this dish, and it is just not the same in Sydney. The thick, dark sauce is a mystery to us, no matter how many times we try we cannot recreate it at home. It must be all the pork lard. This one was consumed in Section 17, but I really love the wonton mee my Aunt brings me from a stall in Klang. It's so busy that she has to go and line up for it.

6. Kuih
I love me some kuih. I am a sucker for asian desserts especially the glutinous rice ones. I love the blue rice with kaya, and these:

And they were happily washed down with some cold, sweet...
7. Soya bean

While everyone thought I was a bit insane taking photos of almost everything that went into my mouth, I am now mourning all the things that I skipped taking photos of, like
8. Love letters - the paper thin pandan flavoured biscuits are so good with a warm cup of tea
9. Corn ice cream - I don't understand why people think I am weird for loving this. Don't knock it until you've tried it!
...But I did get a shot of my favourite carby-buttery snack -
10. Rotiboy!

Everytime I was in 1 Utama I could not resist these. The unmistakable smell of the coffee flavoured buns wafts all the way down the lower ground level of the shopping centre. The paper packaging thoughtfully includes instructions for warming up your Rotiboy in your oven at home, which I follow dutifully.

Rotiboy innards

Ooh the crunchy coffee exterior and light as a cloud inside is only beaten by the smear of salty butter in the very middle. Oh I miss this the most! Time to go kill the craving with some of the free hot cross buns they are giving away at work :)