Food Special: Malaysian Laksa Recipe

I just featured Malaysia for our Travel Special for this week and I got curious as to what could be Malaysia's best known food or delicacy. So I fired up my AIM and started asking around. I finally found a friend of mine has been staying in Malaysia for the past 6 months and says that he thinks Seafood Laksa is the most popular dish here since he sees it in almost every corner he goes to and he seems to like it quite a bit. I also asked if he knows how to cook it and luckily enough he gave me a recipe he got from the nanny of the house he was staying in.

here is what he sent me:
Ingredients

*3 medium-hot fresh red chilies, seeded
*4-5 garlic cloves
*5ml/1 tsp mild paprika
*10ml/2 tsp shrimp paste
*25ml/1 1/22 tbsp chopped fresh root ginger
*250g/9oz small red shallots
*25g/1 oz fresh coriander (cilantro)
*45ml/3 tbsp groundnut (peanut) oil
*5ml/1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
*2 fennel bulbs, cut into thin wedges
*600ml/2 1/2 cups fish stock
*450ml/scant 2 cups coconut milk
*juice of 1 -2 limes
*30-45ml/2-3 tbsp fish sauce
*450g/1lb firm white fish fillet, cut into chunks
*20 large raw prawns (shrimp), shelled and deveined small bunch of basil
*300g/11oz thin vermicelli rice noodles, cooked
*2 spring onions (scallions), sliced

Serves 4-5

Method:

1.Process the chilies, garlic, paprika, shrimp paste, ginger and two shallots to a paste in a food processor. Set aside the coriander leaves. Add the stems to the paste with 15ml/1 tbsp oil and process again until fairly smooth.
2.Cook the remaining shallots. the fennel seeds and fennel wedges in the remaining oil in a large pan. When lightly browned, add 45ml/3 tbsp of the paste and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
3.Pour in the fish stock and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add the coconut milk. the juice of 1 lime and 30ml/2 tbsp of the fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and adjust the flavoring.
4.Add the fish into chunks. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the prawns and cook until they turn pink Chop most of the basil and add to the pan with chopped coriander leaves.
5.Divide the noodles among 4-5 wide bowls. then ladle in the stew. Sprinkle with spring onions and whole basil leaves. Serve.

I have to say that cooking this dish takes a lot of patience and practice. I found it a bit difficult to do on my own until I found an alternative recipe from a youtube video which I think you might like as well.

Travel Special: Travel Malaysia

This is a catch up article since I missed out on the Thursday slot for Thursday Travel on Empty Streets 1027. Today am featuring a beautiful next door neighbor country to the Philippines - Malaysia. Malaysia is truly a place of beauty and one filled with enough mystery and adventure that is sure to fill up your itinerary.

To get you started though I found a cool site that talks about the top ten places to visit when you go to Malaysia: Top Ten Places in Malaysia

Now to further entice you - here is a video playlist of what to expect in the place that is known best as Truly Asia:

Well Wed: Blood Bank Can Save your Life

It is the start of the year and I was thinking of taking steps in making a difference in other people's lives. One of those is a commitment to donate blood. I guess this is my way of saving a life, cause somewhere out there someone is in need of blood and it might be my blood that they shall be using to help this person survive. I think everyone has a chance to do this. If saving a life isn't what will motivate you, then how about checking the benefits of giving blood: Health Benefits of Donating Blood.

Here is a playlist of more reasons as to why you should donate blood more often:

I guess in the end the moral of today's health topic is that when you give blood you save 2 lives. The life of the person who needs it and yours.

Hubspot

I have gotten a lot of emails from readers that are interested in starting their own blog so they can earn extra income on the side. I normally say that all it takes are the following:

• Self evaluation of interests (necessary if targeting your own niche)
• Perseverance and Passion
• Patience
• Creativity
• Constant Study
• Mentorship (finding mentors in this industry is an absolute must)
• Love of writing and sharing (this is the basis of why blogs were made in the first place)
• Constant Monitoring of Traffic and Readers

Fortunately the first couple of bullets are easy to obtain with a little help from family and friends. But what happens after you have done everything and things are still a little bit in the runt? Then expert help is the best way to go. One such expert that I would like to commend is Hubspot. Hubspot has in more ways than one allowed me to see where my blogs stand in the market and even allows me to view what my competitors have that I need to work on. They have proven to be very helpful in providing marketing tips and tricks that has allowed me to increase my traffic and maintain a constant readership.

Here is more about them based on their website:

HubSpot^® is an inbound marketing system to help your small or medium sized business get found on the Internet by the right prospects and convert more of them into leads and customers for maximum marketing ROI.
HubSpot inbound marketing software helps your company get found by the qualified prospects that are looking for the products or services that you sell in search engines, blogs and the blogosphere, and social media. Once these qualified visitors are on your website, HubSpot helps you convert more of them into leads and paying customers through landing pages, lead intelligence and marketing analytics.

HubSpot is web-based, does not require any IT staff, and is designed to be used by a marketing person, not a techie. Our company, our blog and our products have been featured in the Wall Street Journal Online, MarketingSherpa, PC Magazine, AdAge, and MarketingProfs.

Now Hubspot does not only focus on websites. They have acknowledged and even demonstrated how blogs such as this one and millions of others are reshaping the Marketing Industry. They have even come up with blogging tips that is free for all and is an eye opener for both tenured and newbies alike. Check it out: Hubspot Blogging Kit

With all that said, I guess it is time for you to try it out and start blogging. Over all simply follow what you feel you like to share and talk about. Eventually, the shape of your blog and the people that read it shall follow.

1027 Call Center Life: PowerPoint 2007 Tutorial

Powerpoint is one of the most powerful presentation tools that is used by many people in the corporate world to relay their messages across. Many of us may know how to manipulate the basics of this particular Microsoft Software but if you really want to get people to listen and and get drawn into what you want them to know and understand then you need to delve a bit further.

Here today in 1027 Call Center Life I have made a playlist of videos that will show you how to use PowerPoint 2007 from the basics to the fundamentals of using it in presentations. I would suggest to grab a notebook, some snacks, and open up powerpoint itself as watch and get to learn from each of these videos.

For more videos on Powerpoint 2007 Tutorial simply visit my video playlist at: PowerPoint 2007

Tech Tuesday: Microsoft Office 2010

With the release and full integration of the new Windows 7 Operating systems, Microsoft has also been busy with the preparation of the launch of the new Office 2010. Today we are going to have you sit back and watch what Microsoft is promising to give to you this time around with their new developments with their Office Series.

Confirmed features of Office 2010 include:

• Refined Ribbon interface and Backstage View across all applications
• Background Removal Tool
• Letter Styling
• New SmartArt templates
• New text and image editing effects
• Screen Capturing and Clipping tools
• Live collaboration functions
• Jumplists in Windows 7

So without further delay here is Microsoft to tell you and show you more of what to expect with MSOffice 2010:

Music Monday: Guitar Tutorials for Beginners

(Click Image to Enlarge)

For today's Music Monday I am featuring something a little different. In the past I have always featured artists and their songs and videos, but for a change I want to show you a series of videos that teaches us how to join in on their song and learn how music is made. I also chose the guitar as this is one of the most popular instruments to play while also being one of the easiest to learn. So to get started here is the Playlist on How to Play the Guitar for Beginners from ExpertVillage:

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!