Artisanal Tofu factory in Raub

I didn't know there is such a thing in raub recently until I saw it somewhere on TV - and a friend from KL asked for a visit which prompted me to find the place - deep in the heart of Bukit Koman New Village in Raub.

It is a simple factory, not more than the size of a small village house. The pressed beans are gellified into curd and pressed in cotton sacks, much like the fabrication of cheese. What was interesting was the fact that the tofu is hand-cut into small cubes and fried to become "Tofu Pok", a fried delicacy and also used for stuffing and other Chinese dishes. For me, they are best eaten fresh with chilli dip. The factory also produce soya milk (excellent) and regular tofu, all available fresh from the little factory 7/7....

Soaked soya beans are cold-pressed into a vat first.

It is then churned.

then left to coagulate

The mixture is put into cotton sacks and pressed like making cheese.

The resulting block of tofu is then cut into cubes

waiting for the fryer...

the fryer is manned by one person...

Fresh from the fryer to a bamboo basket to cool...

put on display trays for sale (and they go fast)...

an old stone grinder left at the entrance...

Visit to the Genting Tea Estate

Last Sunday, I was invited to a trip with MNS members to Dato' H.S. Barlow's estate in Genting Sempah. We were first given a brief tour of the estate's history told by M. Barlow himself (he wrote a book on Frank Swettenham's biography and the estate once was linked to him). Then, we went for a long walk around the 99-acre estate to see some of his prized collection of rare forest trees of Malaysia. After a picnic lunch at the very quaint gazebo at the end of the grass lawn, we were given a talk by M. Barlow on his extensive butterfly and moth collection: there were over 400 species of butterflies and 5000 over species of moth in the collection.

We entered from the back of the house through a steep staircase and through the workers' quarters...

 The front lawn was meticulously cared for and was fringed with huge clumps of flowering Bauhinias...

 The gazebo at the end of the lawn...

 The lawn end with a path down the slopes towards the forest garden...

 View of the house from the other end of the lawn...

 Nice rattan chairs for relaxation...

 The interiors reflect the colonial planter's architecture with rattan furniture and very open spaces and high ceilings for the tropical humidity.

A very long dining that can sit more than a dozen guests...

 One of the two sets of entomological cabinets used for housing the extensive collection of butterflies and moth caught in the estate's compound.

 Fruits of the very rare Shorea bentongensis - already extinct in the wild but thriving in the collection of the estate...

Another dinner chez moi....

We organised a dinner to fete the first timers to Raub during the school holidays...

 setting with yellow and white roses for the table...

 Seafood chowder of clams and prawn...

Recipe for the chowder (serves 6):

6 large fresh prawns

1 kilo of fresh clams, cleaned

1 bottle of clam juice

1 liter of tomato sauce (homemade from fresh tomatoes)

Olive oil

Garlic cloves: 2-3 finely chopped

1 cup of dry white wine

1 bay leaf

Chopped fresh basil

salt to season

In a large casserole, bring the sauce to boil, add the bay leaf, garlic and olive oil. Add in the clam juice and white wine and season the broth. When boiling for about 2-3 minutes, add the large prawns first. Once the prawns start to cook, add the clams and cover the pot for about 2-3 minutes. Open to see if the clams are opened to indicate that they are done. Discard any unopened ones. Add in the freshly chopped basil and serve at once with toasted bread.

 Salmon on mango with vinaigrette

 Capellini with oven roasted lemon herbe de Provence chicken

A classic dessert: Crêpe suzette