A Day Out with Kids in Semenyih + Recipe for Organic Tomato-Basil Salsa

A couple of months ago, during the school holidays, we wanted to take our kids to the Rabbit Fun Land in Semenyih, but when we got there the place was closed for the day. Kids were really disappointed as they were looking forward to see and feed the rabbits.

On our way in, we noticed a signboard for Ladybird Organic Farm so we went there to have a look. And thank God we did, as they had a small section in the farm whereby they have animals such as rabbits, geese and chicken. Hurrah! :D This put a huge smile on our kids face once again.

Hello rabbits, pleased to meet you :)

Geese

Rooster

Other than visiting the animals, we also got to experience how organic vegetables are cultivated here. Definitely an eye-opener for the kids. First the seeds are sowed into these mini containers, then moved to the plots once they are bigger.

They also have various fruit trees such as papaya..

Passion fruit

Roselle

Checking out the plots where the vegetables are planted in the specially designed greenhouse

Dragon fruit plant

A lovely day out

Feeding time :)

All in all, a great experience for the kids to learn about how vegetables and fruits are grown. There is no entrance fee and they even encourage people to pluck their own vegetables. We bought some organic cherry tomatoes, kailan and nai pak before leaving.  They also have various herbs for sale such as misai kucing, Sabah snake grass, and angelica keiskei.They also deliver their products to Klang Valley, for more info please see their website here.

Note to parents: It can get quite hot here, so do bring a hat and plenty of water for your kids.

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For lunch, we stopped by at a food court called Restoran 77, not far from the farm (at the main road, opposite the Kuil Sri Subramaniar). We randomly ordered some food to share - wantan mee (RM4.30), fishball noodle (RM4.50), Penang char koay teow (RM4), and a plate of char siew (RM5). Pretty decent food and the stall operators are really friendly.

Char siew

Wantan noodles

Fishball noodles

Char koay teow

Ornate Indian temple - Kuil Sri Subramaniar Semenyih

For dinner, we had stir fried organic nai pak that we bought from the farm, and Hubby also made a fresh tomato-basil salsa, which we had with pita bread and minced pork (recipe here). Really tasty! Here's the recipe:


Fresh tomato and basil salsa
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
20 cherry tomatoes, diced
10 basil leaves, roughly torn
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place ingredients in bowl and mix well with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Store in fridge until required.

Pita bread with tomato-basil salsa and minced pork

Location: Ladybird Organic Farm, Lot 1731, Batu 25,Jalan Broga,43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan. (near University of Nottingham Malaysia campus)
GPS Coordinates: 2.939158, 101.898488


Location: Restoran 77, Batu 21, Jalan Semenyih, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor.
GPS Coordinates: 2.951490, 101.845418


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Recipe: Chinese Stir Fried Egg Noodles (生面 sang meen)

Do you sometimes dream about a certain dish or food, and when you wake up, all you wanna do is cook (or go out hunting for it) and eat it? I have food dreams frequently and recently I  had a dream about 生面 (sang meen), also known as fresh egg noodles. When I woke up, I had a really strong craving for it so I went to the market to get the ingredients to cook this dish.

Chinese-style stir fried egg noodles 生面 (sang meen)

This is one of my favorite Chinese stir fried noodle dishes, and is a must-order for us if the restaurant offers it. For this, you need to use wantan noodles, which is a type of egg noodles. The egg noodles are first blanched in hot water, then cooked with an array of vegetables such as carrot, cabbage, spring onion and beansprouts as well as prawn and sliced fish cakes. This dish is typically seasoned with light and dark soy sauce, and then topped with some toasted white sesame seeds at the end. Best eaten with pickled green chillies :)

This was really similar to the ones we get from the Chinese restaurants around here and I was very happy that I was able to replicate it from memory. For something I managed to whip up in under 30 minutes with easily accessible ingredients, it definitely satisfied my cravings and more! :)

Chinese stir fried egg noodles 生面 (sang meen)
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 fresh wantan noodles, loosen
2-3 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 carrot, peeled and julienned
1 cabbage leaf, julienned
3 Chinese or shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and thinly sliced
2 fishcake, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, cut into 1 inch length
A handful beansprouts, rinsed and drained
8 king prawns, peeled and deveined with tails intact
1/2 tsp ginger wine
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules (optional)

To serve
Pickled green chillies (recipe here)
1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds




1. Marinate prawns with the ginger wine.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once boiling, add the noodles and cook for 10-15 seconds then rinse in cold water. Drain well.

3. In a wok, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, until lightly golden. Add the mushrooms and stir fry for about 1 minute, then add the carrot and cabbage and cook for a further minute. Add the fishcake and prawns and cook for about 30 seconds, then place the noodles, stirring frequently. Season with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and chicken stock granules and cook for about 1-2 minutes, until the noodle is cooked through (taste a strand).

4. Finally, add the spring onions and beansprouts and give it a quick stir, about 30 seconds, until cooked.

5. Serve immediately with some pickled green chillies. Garnish with some toasted white sesame seeds.

Note: If you cannot get fresh egg noodles, you can substitute for dried thin egg noodles. You can also add chicken, pork, roasted duck or smoked duck strips.

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*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 18 October 2014.