Hey there my food hunting merry goers! This is going to be another food hunting #MiriamEats post with the star item Stinky Tofu! I know Stinky Tofu is an acquired taste and smell especially; which may be similar to how some people love durians and some find it so smelly they can just pass out from it. Well, there is another food item that can be categorized under that same category and it is stinky tofu! Stinky Tofu or also known as Chou Tau Fu is actually tofu which is a fermented tofu dish which can be fermented for several days or weeks but nowadays with faster methods it is normally fermented for a day or two giving it that characteristic taste. You will never miss stinky tofu because from a far it smells like garbage, rotten meat or whatever you can imagine to be smelly. However, those who manage to get over the smell of it would learn to appreciate the taste of this dish. I remember the first time I tried Stinky Tofu was at the night market in Taman Connaught, Cheras. That distinctive smell of the tofu lured me in and my curiosity got a hold of me. I just need to find out if I would enjoy Stinky Tofu or would it repel me far away so I dug in and well I find that I rather enjoy it. Well, call my taste weird or whatever but somehow I can stomach food like this, fried insects, live octopus and whatnots.

However, it is not easy to get Stinky Tofu and it is either I have to wait for the local night market and go through the crowd just to get my fill of it or maybe travel to Kepong where there is a place selling it. Imagine to my surprise that there is a restaurant in Puchong who is selling this stinky dish! Stinky Tofu fans who live near Puchong rejoice! Now I do not need to search high and low for this and I can even bring my friends or family along since the restaurant serves up some other good dishes too. Located at Jalan Tasik Prima, Puchong, this is a rather new housing area which I have yet to venture into but I have been around this area and it is really close to the AEON Big. Restoran Longhouse is actually a Chinese kopitiam that you normally see with a few food vendors but the special thing about this Chinese kopitiam is that you will be able to smell the stinky tofu from a mile away! There were several vendors that caught my attention so besides trying the Stinky Tofu, we got some food from the other stalls too.

You can get two variety of Stinky Tofu which is the original version with pickled cabbage or something that I have not tried before which is with cheese sauce. Trust me when I say I was skeptical with the cheese version but it kinda compliments the stinky tofu I guess, since there are people who compares the stinky tofu with blue cheese. Now, if you are a newbie at eating Stinky tofu you can try the one here because it is not as pungent as some of the other stinky tofu I have tried before. Come on, you only live life once! Try it before deciding if you like it or not. However, my friend was literally holding her breath with me eating next to her. I managed to have a short chat with the owner and it seem that this stinky tofu is the same with the famous one in Kepong so trust me stinky tofu fans! You will enjoy this stinky delicacy. The owner is actually a huge fan of stinky tofu and instead of keep having to go far away for it, he decided to open the stall in his restaurant. Bear in mind, the stinky tofu only sells from 6pm to 9pm every day so if you want to get them, make sure you come during this time.

There was a stall selling Nasi Lemak and it is not an ordinary Nasi Lemak stall but it is a Malacca version of Nasi Lemak. The aunty running the store is from Malacca and so there is the Nyonya twist to her dishes. For RM3 you can get the basic Nasi Lemak which comes with acar, something you do not normally get with your Nasi Lemak. Not only that, she also sells pork curry/rendang besides the normal chicken curry and fried chicken. The rice is not as fragrant as I would prefer but the curry and chicken taste rather decent but I would say her acar was really quite enjoyable.

Now here is something different we do not normally see when ordering chicken rice. Chicken rice is one of the stalls you would normally see when you go to a Chinese kopitiam but have you seen the rice served in a pyramid shape? Supposedly this is how they serve chicken rice in Sabah and the owner of the chicken rice stall is from Sabah, hence the pyramid shaped rice. Well, you have got chicken rice balls in Malacca and now you have chicken rice pyramids from Sabah! We really liked the chicken rice here as it was fragrant and well seasoned plus the chicken was tender and juicy too so I would really recommend you try the chicken rice.

If you are looking for noodles, there are two stalls that I would recommend which is the Sarawak stall and the Hokkien Mee stall. The Sarawak stall serves really authentic Sarawak Kolo Mee as well as Sarawak Laksa as the owner was from Kuching. The Kolo mee was springy, well seasoned, not oily which is a plus point and the charsiew served was well prepared. As you can see, there is no coloring used in the charsiew which is definitely something I look out for when dining out. Their Sarawak Laksa comes with large prawns as well and had that Sarawak spice in it giving Sarawak Laksa that distinctive taste to it. Meanwhile, the Hokkien Mee was really quite good as well and one thing that stood out for me is that it did not have the lye water taste and it had some wok hei although not much so I would say it was quite a decent plate of Hokkien Mee.

For those of you who love Bak Kut Teh but do not want the hassle of travelling all the way to Klang for their Bak Kut Teh, you can try the Bak Kut Teh stall at Restoran Longhouse. Originating from Klang himself, the owner serves both the soup and dry version of Bak Kut Teh. You can just see all that 3 layer meat served in each pot of Bak Kut Teh and the broth of the soup version was really concentrated although the dry version missed the target. Between this two, I would say the soup version was the better choice.

Another stall that stood out was the stall selling Steamed Fish Head and I am serious! They really do sell huge steamed fish head. We tried two of their steamed fish head which is the Bean Paste Steamed Fish Head and the Sour N' Hot Steamed Fish Head. I heard that the Sour N' Hot Steamed Fish Head was the popular one so I was expecting a lot out of it but somehow I preferred the Bean Paste one instead. Although I was really surprised with the size of the fish head that came to our table! Guess how much they charge of it? I personally feel that the pricing is really quite decent with RM 28 for small, RM 30 for medium and RM 32 for large but I am not sure. So what's the market price for fish nowadays? The one we got was actually the small or medium which in my opinion is really quite big. Taste wise, I would say the Sour N' Hot needed to be more sour and hot because I felt it was rather bland but you could ask them to make it more sour and hot to your personal taste but I had to be considerate with all the other people dining with me don't I? *laugh* For RM28, I think it is quite a decent dish to order and you can definitely share it with 4 people or more.

Puchong is definitely a place with a lot of good food and it is really time for me to go food hunting around this area. I am sure stinky tofu fans will be crowding to Restoran Longhouse for their fix of stinky tofu!

(Next to Whalf Residence Puchong)

Taman Tasik Prima Puchong

Open Daily

6am - 12pm

Hello my pretties! I am back with my review and thoughts about the KOSÉ Sekkisei Trial Kit after using it for one week. Thanks again to KOSÉ and Butterfly Malaysia for the opportunity to try the trial kit and seriously making me want to change my whole skincare regime to the Sekkisei line. For PART I of my review which includes my unboxing and first impression, head on to the link below.

PART I: KOSÉ SEKKISEI Trial Kit Unboxing + First Impressions

So this is what came in my KOSÉ Sekkisei Trial Kit

If you wondering who is Setsuko, she is this adorable mascot from KOSÉ! Setsuko --an icon with a fun-loving,bubbly personality, well-loved by Japanese SEKKISEI fans. Setsuko’s name means ‘little snow’ in Japanese; a perfect match with the brand’s commitment of bringing snow-white skin to women all around the world. For the trial kit, you will either get Setsuko city chic style like mine or in a kimono. Let us get on with the review shall we?

Results always matter in my opinion so I will show you the difference in my skin after using the trial kit for one week. The major difference I can see is that my dark spots reduce significantly especially the acne mark I had on my right cheek and that was after just using it for 2 days!

You can clearly see that the dark spots around my right cheek area has lighten and also the black heads on my nose has also decreased. I was really surprised and delighted to see how well the trial kit worked after one week. I am sure if I continue using the products, I would get clear and luminous skin! Now I will show you how I incorporated the trial kit into my skincare routine for the past week.

So the first step of the regime will be to use the SEKKISEI White Liquid Wash. It functions to cleanse skin without stripping away moisture leaving your skin clean and hydrated plus reducing skin dullness and soothes UV damage. The consistency is watery so you may think that you would need a large amount but one to two pumps is more than sufficient to cleanse your face thoroughly. I normally rub it between my hands until it foams up a little before cleansing my face.

After properly cleansing your face, the next step is to use the SEKKISEI Lotion. This is  SEKKISEI bestseller and contains ingredients carefully-selected out of 100 types of oriental plants. You can use it as a toner for daily basis or also as a hydrating mask. This lotion helps to balance out skin moisture levels, prevents dullness, prevents dullness, soothes redness and more. After using this lotion, I can see why it is the bestseller product. It really helps to hydrate my skin and I love using it as a hydrating mask before applying my makeup. 

I just have to add the lotion to the Bihadagoyomi mask, let it puff up and apply it on my face. See how much it puffs up? It gives me that moisturized base which helps my makeup apply smoother and last longer throughout the day. I like the cool hydrating feeling it leaves on my skin too and I realized that I do not get as oily around my T-zone after a long day out. One thing that I did not like was the scent of the lotion as it had a strong alcohol odor to it that stings my nose a little when I used it as a mask.

KOSÉ’s tip: For instant hydration, place a bihadagoyomi mask into the cap and pour SEKKISEI

Lotion until the mask tablet puffs up. Place on face for 10 minutes and notice instantly hydrated skin!

The third step is the SEKKISEI Emulsion which is quick-absorbing moisturiser works deep into skin, preventing freckles, dark spots and dryness. Ingredients like Inula Britanica Flower, Chinese Pearl Barley, Paeonia Albiflora Root, Melothria Heterophylla and Angelica reveal a more translucent complexion. I have oily combination skin type and get oily pretty quickly around my T-zone area so I am very picky about the type of moisturizer or emulsion I use on my skin. KOSÉ recommends to apply 1 to 2 pumps on a cotton pad and sweep over skin and I have tried both applying using my hands and also applying using a cotton pad. Personally I prefer using my hands to massage and apply the emulsion on my skin instead of using the cotton pad because I really did not like wasting my products on the cotton pad plus I realised that I get most out of the product when I apply it directly to my skin. However, for those who have oily skin type you might want to apply it using a cotton pad because it might be too heavy on your skin. I normally just take roughly half to one pump and pat it onto my skin leaving it feeling so moisturized. I liked how the product absorbs into my skin really quickly and does not leave a sticky residue on my skin.

With the trial kit, you will be receiving the SEKKISEI Clear Whitening Mask as well which is a gentle peel-off mask that removes dullness and dead skin cells, brightens and hydrates at the same time! Seriously this line is filled with so many different oriental herbs like Chinese Quince extract that inhibits sebum production, while a blend of oriental plant extracts deliver supreme whitening benefits. Nano-sized black powder allows the mask to spread easily. Be prepared to look like a ninja with this mask. Be careful not to apply it near your eye and lip area and please avoid the clumsy mistake I did which is applying it near my eyebrows! Wipe it off before it gets dried unless you are planning to wax your eyebrows in the process. The tube that I got is more than sufficient to apply twice and just apply a smooth thin layer then wait for it to dry. It will take roughly 10 to 15 minutes to dry depending on the thickness of the mask.

After 10 minutes or so, the mask will dry completely and you it's time to start peeling! Ah I love peel off mask because it helps remove all my dead skin plus white heads which is amazing. Sorry to gross you all out but just to show you how well it actually got rid of my white/black heads. You can use this mask after cleansing your face with the SEKKISEI White Liquid Wash and follow it with the lotion and emulsion.

Overall, I really like the SEKKISEI Trial Kit and I certainly think that if you are interested to invest in skincare products, KOSÉ definitely has one of the best skincare product line from Japan. If you are not sure whether you would like it, get their trial kit first for only RM99 and you can even use it as a travel kit! I love how cute and compact the trial kit is and I can even bring it along as a travel kit when I am travelling.

You can check out my whole skincare routine using the KOSÉ SEKKISEI Trial Kit plus a mini tutorial on how I achieve my daily makeup routine on my Youtube channel. I have decided to get more active now that I am back and am considering to start a VLOG too so let me know what you all think. Do subscribe to me and I would love to hear from all of you

Til next time

xoxo

Miriam