New taste old brand featuring Shang Hai Tan Restaurant 上海滩老招牌新口味

For Shang Hai Tan die hard fans, they have recently moved from the back alley to a new shoplot. New place and new dishes introduced. But still the same chef, Mr Lee. He started out in this food business since early teenage years.

Shang Hai Tan 上海滩
Address 11, Jalan Besar, 25050 Kuantan, Pahang
Opens Monday to Friday 5.30pm to 1am
Saturday to Sunday 4pm to 1am

This is a family business. Spanning two generations, it's still standing strong since 1965. It's fully handled by Mr and Mrs Lee at the moment.

Look at this awesome mural showcasing the head chef in action, as well as their signature Hokkien noodles.

Stuffed tofu and vegetables on sizzling hotplate 铁板酿料

This dish is one of its kind. They have improvised using aluminum foil to ensure the ingredients do not stick to the plate. Love how crunchy the fried beancurd skin is. Other ingredients include stuffed tofu, stuffed dried tofu, stuffed brinjal, stuffed chilli and fried wanton.

Have the stuffed bitter gourd using their special chilli sauce. Perfect combination.

Fish head vermicelli 鱼头米粉

Generous juicy red fish head pieces deep fried and coated with crunchy flour. Cook this with vermicelli. Soup is fish bone based with pickled vegetables, tomatoes, sour plum and spring onions.

For those who doesn't like evaporated milk, they don't add any in the soup but the soup is very sweet and we finished every single drop.

Fried hokkien noodles 福建面

Their signature dish. Thick caramel sauce coating every single strand of noodles. The must is huge deep fried cripsy pork lard pieces to achieve the perfect taste.

The noodles are soft. Baby Bing loved it to bits. One can never have too much of it. Beware of messy and dirty clothes for young children though :p

Sweet and sour pork loin pieces 酸甜猪肉

Big pieces of pork tenderised and marinated before being deep fried then braised in thick sweet and sour sauce. Sprinkle fragrant sesame seeds on top to complete the taste.

Look at how generous the pieces are. Bigger than a soup spoon.

Salty egg deep fried squid 咸蛋花枝

Squid deep fried in salty egg coated flour, curry leaves and dried chilli. The squid here is fried till slightly hard for the extra chewy texture. It has a sweet taste that complements the saltiness. 

The chilli does not render the dish spicy at all. In fact, it just adds on to the flavors.

Not to forget stir fry lettuce 清炒生菜。

 The lettuce is stir fried with the right heat and timing to a flavored vegetables that's just cooked but still crunchy.

Have all these yummy dishes with freshly pressed apple juice and carrot milk. Refreshing indeed!

Verdict: 7.5/10 Really unique sizzling hotplate with stuffed ingredients. Classic dishes cooked well using the right heat 锅气. That's the essence of great Chinese stir fry dishes 煮炒。

Tea appreciation at Hungree Boys kitchen kuantan

Dr Angel is always on the search for good food, especially in kuantan. Today, I would like to introduce everyone to Hungree Boy's Kitchen.

Hungree Boy's Kitchen (熹阁）
A25, Lorong Tun Ismail 6, Sri Dagangan Bussiness Centre
Opens daily 10am to 10pm except Mondays
https://www.facebook.com/Hungree-Boys-Kitchen-%E7%86%B9%E9%96%A3-368995090190842/

Spacious interior with a very traditional Chinese feeling.

First time seeing stingray being reared in a domestic aquarium.

The various tea types being served. Look at the health claims for all these flower tea.

We ordered Jasmine+ Green tea+ Roselle + lavender. It's meant to relax the mind and relieve "heatiness". They claim it's great for cold, cough and stomach upset. A pot can easily be shared between 3 to 4 pax.

Really like their honey. Refreshing, just the correct touch of sweetness and not bitter.

Chinese herbal drink 王老吉. Only order this if you take like bitter drinks. After adding 3 sugar cubes, the bitterness is still fairly overwhelming.

Gui Ling Gao 龟苓膏. Original flavor so it's naturally bitter. Have this with honey for a good match. Will prefer it to be smoother though.

Pumpkin noodles. Fairly generous portion. Love how the crunchy fried beancurd skin is in contrast with the soft noodles. Sweet chicken soup with nutritious mushrooms. Great for those who like clear soup. 

Curry noodles. I have heard a quite a few positive comments. Indeed it did not disappoint. Thick soup with fragrant coconut milk. Freshly made fish balls with tofu pok, fried wanton and fried beancurd skin. Not to forget the fresh peeled prawn. These make a heavenly combination.

For friends who love fried or western stuff, try their chicken burger. Crunchy outside and juicy patty. Lots of cripsy French fries to satisfy the craving for fried stuff.

Our verdict- 7/10! comfortable dining environment. Price is fairly average for cafe of similar standard. I'm not a tea expert though so those who love tea is welcomed to comment their opinion about the tea. Food wise, I could appreciate the effort put in. Real ingredients used with no MSG. Would be back to try out other tea.

Soothing the sensitive and ezcematous skin featuring Glow Gelenggang

Last year was a bad year for me because I started to develop contact dermatitis on my wrist. On the good days, they don't bother me. On the odd days, I really have to lather my wrist with strong steroid ointment to ease the itch so that I will not scratch and damage my skin. Since then, the condition had waxed and waned. Oh well, I am not allergic to anything but certain substances just irritate my skin. Read here an article from Mayo Clinic to understand more about contact dermatitis.

In order to keep my skin calm and itch free, I have started to be more vigilant about the skincare product I use. I was the type of girl who did not really care about the brand or read through the fine lines about ingredients used in skincare products because I never had problems with any of them. In my search, I came across this homemade skincare product proudly made in Malaysia by Glow Gelenggang.

A set of Glow Gelenggang consists of a herbal soap and a bottle of organic herbal oil. Look at the cute packaging I received in the mail.

These are the powerful natural herbs/oil used in their products.

Cassia Alata/Senna Alata

This is an important Indian herbs used for centuries. Among its affects are relieving pain, inflammation, anti-bacterial, anti- fungal and wound healing properties. In fact, western medicine uses senna as laxatives.

Black seed oil

This seed has been used for its medicinal use for the past 2 centuries.  Black seed has been shown to have anti-histamine properties which alleviate itch.


Argan Oil

This is rich in vitamin E. It also relieves dry skin therefore useful in eczema, psoriasis and preventing wrinkles.

Olive Oil

There's increasing evidence that this helps to relieve eczema and psoriasis.

Goat's milk

Great moisturiser and may alleviate psoriasis.

Menthol

Provides a cooling effect, thus lessen itch.

One may wonder but it is already explicitly stated that there is no steroid contained in the products. Long term  use of highly potent steroid cream may potentially cause local side effects such as thin skin, easy bruising as well as telengiectasia (visible small blood vessels on the skin). More severe side effects are usually not seen as it is only applied on the skin. Therefore, this Glow Gelenggang set could be a useful adjunct in order to minimise steroid usage.

However, in most severe skin conditions such as extensive weepy eczema and psoriasis, the use of steroid cream is necessary in order to keep the skin condition under control.

Why is maintaining healthy skin so important? Besides the obvious cosmesis concerns, skin is also the barrier against invading bacteria and viruses. Skin integrity is also important in maintaining body heat regulation, as well as avoiding loss of water and minerals from the body.

Watch this short video about how I use these products. First time trying this funky feeling on my video.

This is my dry itchy skin before using the product. I have seen a few dermatologist and had lots of testing done, proven it's ezcema.

After 3 days, visibly less inflamed and skin not itchy anymore :)

Those interested please contact
Facebook page www.facebook.com/glowgelenggang
Website www.glowgelenggang.com
WhatsApp 0145445951

Get further discounts by ordering with this code YUNYING10

What's more? Glow Gelenggang is generous enough to provide 5 sets for giveaway!

This is how to join
1. Like my Facebook page www.facebook.com/yingzangel
2. Like Glow Gelenggang
www.facebook.com/glowgelenggang
3. Subscribe to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0z0Q7sy39RFFt9HBvBATDw

4. Like and comment on this post "I love Glow Gelenggang" and tag 3 friends

Winners will be announced by 15 March. Good luck!

Brighter and healthier eyes featuring Berry Bright

I am a frequent offender of sleep deprivation as baby Bing is still not sleeping through the night despite going to turn 2 this coming May. Compound this with my oncall schedule. Being a blogger also means that I have to work in front of the screen for long periods. These are all unfavorable conditions for my eye health.

WebMD had published a guide about how to maintain eye health. Read it here.
The recommendation about eating well and consuming certain nutrients is particularly attractive for a food lover like me.

It didn't take me long to discover this wonderful supplement Berry Bright. Full of the goodness of various berries, it's a great remedy to maintain eye health. As I previously explained here, please check all your supplements are HACCP and GMP compliant and Berry Bright definitely is! It's also halal and vegetarian friendly.

One of Berry Bright's founder is none other than Miss Amanda Teh. She is a fully certified naturopath from Nature Care College Sydney.  To be honest, I haven't received much training in terms of natural and complementary therapy but they play their own roles. Therefore, as a doctor, if my patients would like to try complementary treatment, I always advise them to look for certified practitioners such as Miss Teh. It's important to make sure these supplements will not interact with other prescription medications or cause side effects.

In this day and age, it's virtually impossible not to use electronic devices. The blue light emitted is known to cause eye strain but not eye damage inline what many believe. Besides these few tips from the American Academy of Opthalmology,  Berry Bright also claims to protect our eyes against strain, dryness and fatigue.

These are the vital phytonutrients found in Berry Bright! NZ black currant, eyebright extract, marigold extract, vitamin C. For Berry Bright with stevia, it also contains bilberry and stevia. This stevia is none other than the famous artificial sweetener suitable for consumption by patient with diabetes.

So on what basis is the claim coming from? Among the superfood Berry Bright contain are lutein and zeaxanthin.  These are potent antioxidant naturally found in our eyes, especially the lens, retina and macula. Eye parts that are essential for clear and sharp vision, especially in dim light and when there's glare. Lutein and zeaxanthin protect the eyes against harmful Ultraviolet rays that contributes to ageing related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts formation.

And what attracts me even more is the eye brightening effects! As you can probably tell by now, I was born with huge eye bags and dark circles. I have been looking for lots of topical remedies over the past 2 decades only with modest effect. Read this article from the Star to find out how might we get panda eyes and puffy eyes. So, sounds like inherited dark circles may be very hard to treat after all.

Berry Bright comes in small sachets. Dissolve it in about 200ml of cooled water and consume it immediately to avoid oxidation.

The original Berry Bright becomes light purple after reconstituted.

Berry Bright with stevia becomes a much darker shade instead. One sip and I could immediately tell that there's no artificial coloring or flavoring added. The one with Stevia tasted slightly sour but both of them smelled amazingly berrylicious and are very palatable.

This is my untouched face before starting Berry Bright. Sorry if I gave anyone a fright with this scary face :p

Me after 3 days of drinking Berry Bright. I have lost the puffiness and at least half of the dark circles. That's after 2 on calls in the past week.

After 7 consecutive days, look at the changes. Simply amazing. Not only are the dark circle and puffiness visibly improved, my vision is also much clearer and not so sensitive with glare anymore. I used to need my sunnies even on a cloudy day. Now lets hope the changes last. (I didn't edit any of these photos )

Now my dear readers, if you would like to give Berry Bright a try, quote this unique  15% discount code angeldc01 before 15 March 2018. Click here to buy now.

Taiwanese/Hong Kong style lunchbox featuring The Secret Kitchen Kuantan

I'm always on the looking for more yummy lunch. Chanced upon another lunch delivery service on Facebook. And they have just opened an outlet!

The Secret Kitchen
Lorong Seri Kuantan 21, (stall at the back of 888 food court)
Kuantan
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/The-Secret-Kitchen-%E7%A7%98%E5%AF%86%E5%8E%A8%E6%88%BF-%E4%BE%BF%E5%BD%93%E6%9C%8D%E5%8A%A1-431803403819969/
Tel 0163486969
Opens daily except Sundays 11am to 6pm 

Call/WhatsApp at least an hour in advance for delivery to doorstep FOC
Delivery time Lunch 11am to 1pm, 5pm to 7pm

It's managed by a young couple who is opened to new ideas and source for ingredients and new recipes mainly from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The cute lunchbox also gives a very Taiwanese feeling and it's customised according to the menu ordered. Effort is put in to make sure of complete nutrition in each set with absolutely no MSG.

Their signature dish is Onion Pork Rice 黯然销魂饭.

It's inspired by Stephen Chow's movie
Refresh your memory with this YouTube clip from the movie the God of Cookery 食神
https://youtu.be/wS4vEzx_Y3Q

Their char siew is made fresh everyday with juicy meat and skin that's just caramelized. It's a mixed lean and slightly fatty meat. The rice is made fragrant by onion cubes, drizzle their special soy sauce for more kick in flavor. Especially love the sunny side up eggs. The meal is completed with blanched bak choy and pork ball soup.
 

Braised pork rice 卤肉饭

If you like fatty pork slices, then you must try this. Just like the traditional braised pork rice from Taiwan, it contains soft pork skin cut into small cubes and braised until it melts in the mouth. Great source of collagen and ladies will like it. I don't really like fatty meat but this rice just tastes heavenly and the thick oily layer of the sauce is already skimmed off. The pickled vegetables provided extra crunch to the rice dish.

They also have an interesting range of side dishes.

Fried noodle bun 炒面面包

This is my first time hearing and trying this dish originated from Taiwan. The noodles were fried with dark caramel sauce in short sections with fine carrot strips. Have this with soft buns and mayonnaise. It's a surprising combination yet goes so well together.

Curry fish balls 咖喱鱼蛋

A popular snack in Hong Kong, but not easy to make it well. The curry gravy is made from scratch with a tempting curry oil layer on top. Home made fish balls were deep fried beforehand and simmer in the curry gravy for 10 minutes so the flavor will go in. Love how the big and soft the fish balls are. A portion serves 6 huge fish balls.

Salad egg wrap 台式沙拉鸡蛋饼

Fresh carrot strips, lettuce strips, cucumber strips, crab sticks and ham are wrapped in seaweed sheet and thin egg sheets. This is a very refreshing combination. And must be eaten fresh for the best taste.

Watch this short video about my food tasting. Pardon my acne breakout.

My verdict 8.5/10! Yummy, unique food choices and affordable price tag. Am bringing more friends back! The Secret Kitchen is introducing a new chicken dish soon. Can't wait to try it.