Happy New Year 2022

Hey everyone!

It has been a long time since my last post last summer. I was in Malaysia two months ago to visit my family since I haven't seen them for more than a year. Everything went well from the beginning I booked the ticket, PCR test to travel, arriving in Malaysia and after a month of holiday, I came back to France safely.

Just like every year, we celebrated Christmas and new year at home, invited friends for a steamboat dinner and just few days before Christmas, we had a farewell sushi lunch with our dear friend leaving for Spain. 

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year ahead!

Volunteering Project And July Events

Bonjour tout le monde,

For the entire month of July, our small village received 10 European volunteers with some french volunteers to create a team to built heritage and the development within the specific areas. During the missions the volunteers will have to develop projects to exchange and integrate with local people. Our mayor office as well has organized other event like a little concert, a long walk and some dinners. It was such a good events especially for our little village. 

Personally, we were happy to see all of them too and since there is no problem with communication between us, we had invited them in for a dinner as I personally preparing a home cooked meal, a special dinner for them. From dinner to board game to drinking and laugh, it was indeed a dinner to remember. 

All good things must come to an end, it's just the way it is.. It was sad to see them leaving for another volunteer mission in another city because they were like family and good friends to us. We wish you all the best of luck and no doubt we'll meet again soon.

The Long Wait For Snow Is Over

 Bonjour,

Since we moved here few years ago, I was eagerly waiting for the snowfall though I knew Brittany is the warmest regions in France during the winter. Snow is not common here and it never remains as such very long.

I was so excited for the snow which didn't happen often. There was a pretty great snow for many areas yesterday and little bit today as the weather remains cold in Brittany.

Here is a collection of some of the pictures I've taken yesterday.

Enjoy the snow, while it lasts...

Joyeux Noel 2020 et Bonne Année 2021

Hello, 

A lot of time has passed, 2020 was an incredibly challenging year for all of us and a lot of thing we learned from it. I hope 2021 is going to be a better year for everyone and I also think we're beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

A simple celebration for us for the Christmas eve and new year eve just like every year. Simple but every once in a while different food each year can make us a bit nostalgic at times, it was good to have different meal every year.

Happy New Year 2021 everyone!!

Nasi Dagang

Hello,

I've made classic nasi lemak last few weeks and last weekend I made another Malaysian dish popular in east coast region especially in Kelantan and Terengganu. Nasi dagang is another delicious dish consisting of rice steamed or cooked in coconut milk and served with fish or prawn curry, hard boiled eggs and vegetable pickles.

This recipe might not exactly the same as the original nasi dagang because I don't have a special curry spice from the east coast Malaysia but it close enough to the recipe that I follow from cikwankitchen.com website.

NASI DAGANG

Ingredients;

For the rice;

1 1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup glutinous rice
200ml coconut milk mix with 1 cup of water
1 shallot, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
2cm ginger, sliced
1 teaspoon fenugreek

Method;

- Soak both rice in water for 4 hours or overnight.
- Drain well and transfer to rice cooker. Add shallot, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, a pinch of salt and 2 cups of coconut milk. Press the cook button and let the rice cooked.

For the prawn curry;

Ingredients;

300g prawns
2-3 hard boiled egg
200ml coconut milk
2 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1cm ginger
1cm ganagal
1 teaspoon chili paste or chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek
2-3 red or green chilli, optional

Method;

- Place shallot, garlic, ginger, ganagal, chili paste and turmeric powder in a blender or food processor and blend into fine paste.
- Heat little oil in a saucepan and fry fenugreek for a few seconds.
- Add shallot garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Add in curry powder and a bit of water and cook for another few minutes until the oil separated. Add a bit more water if necessary.
- Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle boil over low heat until thickened and slightly reduced.
- Add prawns and hard boiled egg, cook until the prawns are cooked through.
- Add red or green chili and season with salt, pepper and a bit of brown sugar.
- Serve rice with prawn curry and pickles.

Enjoy nasi dagang!