If at first you don’t succeed…

The other day, I decided to try cooking my own otak-otak…

…along the same lines as those here.

These were the ingredients I used:

– some shallots and garlic (peeled and sliced), a bit of tumeric (kunyit), galangal (lengkuas) and lemon grass (serai) and some bird-eye chili (cili padi). I also bought a packet of kerisik (toasted grated coconut, ground to paste) as well.

I pounded all the ingredients, except the kerisik…

…and I took a bit of my missus’ pounded chili (with vinegar and garlic added) for a bit of extra colour. It would not make much of  a difference to the taste as this batch of chilies that she bought were totally useless – not spicy hot at all and rather tasteless.

I got a piece of fish fillet, most probably Dory, and cut it into small bits and minced it a bit using the chopping knife…

Having done that, I mixed it altogether with the ingredients plus a spoonful of kerisik and a pinch of salt and msg, according to taste and some chopped spring onions as well (actually, I thought of adding some curry leaves but it was raining and I  did not want to go out and get wet)…

I did not have any banana leaves so I used aluminium foil to wrap it…

…and I managed to come out with four parcels in total…

Then, I put it into the oven to bake for half an hour. By then, one would be able to smell the fragrance that would have filled the whole kitchen. I turned off the heat but left the parcels in the oven to continue cooking.

About half an hour to mealtime, I took out the parcels and cut them open at the top like this…

Then, I turned the oven back on and put everything back in to heat it up for about 15 minutes and also to brown it till golden yellow like this…

The otak-otak, my own original recipe, is ready…

How was it? Was it any good? I would say that it was nice but a bit too strong on the galangal/lengkuas taste. I think the next time, I will leave that out and see if it is any better.

As they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again…

My old car…

I went to the post office to renew the road tax for another year and the nice girl at the counter said, “Uncle, next year, you have to go and pay at the Land Transport Department office as we have been printing all over the card and there is no more space left. You will need to get a new one.” For the uninitiated, we can do this at the post office and for a fee of RM2.00, we can get it all done there and then without a hitch…and what the girl said would probably give you an idea how old my old car actually is.

It has been running pretty all right and would probably be better had it been given more tender loving care but lately, my missus seemed to have a lot of difficulty getting it started in the morning or at anytime of day. It couldn’t possibly be the battery as she just had it replaced with a new one not too long ago. Her mechanic told that that there was nothing wrong with it and that it was quite typical of old Proton cars…and she insisted on taking his word for it. Eventually, I decided to take it to my mechanic and true enough, the timing was all out and had to be readjusted. The automatic windows in front, both the driver and the passenger side, had not been functioning for years and years now. Imagine entering the car on a very hot day and not being able to wind down the windows!!! I asked the guy at the shop and he said that I could replace the automatic controls with manual ones and I agreed to the proposal.

Now, everything’s ok again though I would not know how long it would last…and after I had left the garage, I stopped by this coffee shop in the vicinity…

I was here before and did not think that the mee sotong that I had was all that great and I never came back again. The cafe next door in the corner of the next block had closed down and there is now a pub in its place. This time around I decided to try the rojak mamak (RM3.50)…

…from this stall…

…in the shop.

It was quite nice with an egg…and some bits of cucur (fried fritters), fried tau kua (bean curd cake) and cucumber and sengkuang/mangkuang cut into thin strips and the kuah (gravy) was pretty good, I would say.

After I had left the place, I stopped by my regular Malay kuih (cakes) stall at Bandong and I was attracted by these…

At first, I thought they were what they call batang buruk (rotten log) but they were not. They call them jejari Vico (Vico fingers) and the lady said that they were nice and would melt in the mouth…

I tried them when I got home and they turned out to be like some kind of biscuit with a generous sprinkling of milk powder and maybe, sugar as well. I’m afraid they did not really tickle my fancy, unfortunately and to me, they were not something that would blow me away, not in the least…and at RM3.00 for 10, I thought they were a bit too expensive.

I would very much prefer these…

– fried popiah (spring roll) coated with sweet chili sauce and topped with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts. Inside, they had a little bit of taugeh (beansprouts) and thinly sliced cabbage and carrots…

When cold, the skin may no longer be all that crispy and may be a bit hard but I like the taste…and at 3 for RM1.00, I would think that these would, at least, be very much more affordable.

So what have you been doing lately? Anything interesting going on in your lives?

Good luck, good health, God bless you…

You must be very very old (like me) if you know this song…but it’s just crossed my mind that when one is old, there is not much use getting presents – things that one will never get to use…or even ang paos as there will come a time when one does not need to spend anything at all – those immediate members living together with him or her would see through all of one’s needs. Perhaps we can still give it as a token or to upkeep the Chinese tradition and belief that it brings good luck but I guess that is all one needs when one grows all – good luck and good health wishes and prayers for God’s abundant blessings.

My mother-in-law celebrated her 79th birthday on Sunday…

…and we went out for dinner together – just five of us only, unfortunately –  my missus and I and my brother-in-law and his wife, together with my mother-in-law. All the other children and grandchildren do not live in Sibu.

We had the mee sua, our traditional longevity noodles, fried and served with the lightly-fried golden eggs…

…and the Four Seasons…

I love that egg thingy in the dish – very nice and best with black vinegar added. At one time, it was the craze, this dry version of the shark’s fins dish and everyone was going for it instead of the soup version. Later, there were also people who used tung hoon (glass noodles) instead of genuine shark’s fins and of course, that would be much cheaper than the real thing but eventually the novelty wore off and it ceased to be as popular as when it first came into the scene.

I don’t know what this was in that same dish…

Maybe it was quail legs…but perhaps it was frog’s. I tried one and it tasted good – like chicken breast meat but that was it. I wouldn’t want another for the images of miserable legless frogs on wooden crutches kept playing in my mind. LOL!!!

Everything else in that dish was nice including the yam puffs…

…and other than those, we also had these prawn balls…

I think they had honey and lemon in the sauce and it tasted good.

We also had the regular – the midin (wild fern) fried with belacan…

…and the fish maw soup…

…and that was all we had for the dinner – we did not want to order too much as the ladies hardly ate much and that left only me and my brother-in-law to do most of the eating…and besides, we had the birthday cake as well for our little celebration to wish my mother-in-law good luck and good health and may God bless her always.

That’s all that matters…

My missus and I stopped by here for lunch after the church service on Sunday. I did not feel like having noodles so I did not order the usual kampua and stuff or the Sarawak laksa that day. I’ve always enjoyed liked their nasi ayam Pattaya (Pattaya chicken rice) even way back in those days when I was still teaching at the school across the road but the last time I had it, I thought they were scrimping on the chicken and that put me off somewhat.

Well, I saw that they had something new on the menu – the sambal nasi ayam Pattaya (RM6.80)…

…so I ordered that to give it a try. It was very nice…with the sambal plus the peanuts and cucumber slices but I would think that those extras would not merit the extra RM1.30, considering that ordinarily it would cost RM5.50 a plate. I noticed someone at the next table having that and I was quite sure that there was only the egg-wrapped rice and the chicken. I could not get to see any of the usual pickled cucumber by the side, if there were any.

The rice wrapped inside the egg/omelette was good as usual – fragrant with bits of chicken sausage and raisins…

…but I would think that it had been priced a bit too high. After all, it is more or less a coffee shop kind of place and not one of those classier and more impressive cafes or restaurants. The nasi lemak here costs only 10 sen more and other than being a much nicer air-conditioned place,  there are a lot more things by the side.

My missus had their nasi lemak special (RM5.00)…

– no complaints about that and I also ordered their sotong kangkong (cuttlefish with water spinach)…

– a small plate for RM4.50 but I guess cuttlefish is rather expensive these days. I would not say that it is the best in town but it is nice enough, this much I would say. Inside, other than the vegetable, they had the cuttlefish but mostly the deep-fried tau-kua (bean curd cake)…

I don’t mind having this anytime but frankly, I’m not really a fan and you would not see me going all out for it and if I’m not mistaken, I think there are better ones, maybe not in Sibu but in Kuching or in the other towns or cities in the peninsula.

But all in all, it was a good lunch that both of us quite enjoyed and I guess that’s all that matters…

Saturday…

Another ex-student of mine, Daniel, a doctor-to-be as well, contacted me one morning to invite me out for breakfast. He’s presently home for the summer holidays from Scotland in the UK, Aberdeen, if I remember correctly. However, I was busy that morning…with all the cleaning and clearing and the “restoration works” that I’ve been doing at my house so we were only able to make it on Saturday morning.

We went to this place and of course, I had their paos – the lau sar pao and their char siew pao…

I reckon theirs are pretty good and can rival any other place in town and at RM10.00 for 3 laus (storeys/baskets) with 3 buns in each, I would think they’re really very cheap.

We also had their har kau (prawn dumpling) and they’re not bad, I think – I do not recall them having that before…and we also had two of their meat dumplings but I avoided their siew mai. I wouldn’t know if they have improved on it but I remember that theirs used to be very coarse – one would feel the texture of the minced meat in them. Other than those, I decided to try their yam puffs…

…and I thought they were pretty good – not the best that I have had but they were good enough, definitely.

Daniel was in my English Language tuition class and also among the group of students that I had for English Literature and I’m proud to say that he scored distinctions in both. It certainly was nice to meet him again and we had a great time catching up with things that had been going on in our lives over the past few years that we had not got to meet each other.

ah^kam_koko’ was in town for the weekend as well and he asked me out for dinner. I took him here to try the crispy Filipino  pata…

…more commonly known around these parts as the Philippine pork leg.

It was quite good – a bit dry or should I say, not as juicy as I would have loved it to be…but it was tender enough for a toothless old man like me and I loved the flavours that one could taste in it – something like cinnamon or five-spice powder and stuff like that…and I loved the dip that came with it…

ah^kam_koko’ said that he liked the one he had at that place where I went for dim sum in the morning with Daniel – juicier, more tender and also cheaper. Hmmmm…it certainly looks like I will have to drop by there to give it a try one of these days then.

And indeed, “cheap” would be the last word that I would use to describe the dinner. Together with this plate of fried bitter gourd with century egg…

…plus rice and drinks (and we only had iced plain water & Chinese tea), the bill came up to over RM40.00. I guess the chunk of it went to that huge pork leg but still, I would not think it was cheap. Of course, I do understand that the prices of things have rocketted sky high lately so if that is the current price range, I certainly would not want to order it again…unless there are more than just the two of us – 4 or 5 perhaps.

Anyway, thanks for the dinner, ah^kam_koko’. The next time you come downtown, we’ll go some place to eat again…and it will be my treat next round, ok?

Let’s meet…

I already had my lunch at home that day when one of my ex-students contacted me to ask me if I was free to meet him and a few others from my English language tuition class a few years ago. I thought I could drop by for a drink and say hello to everybody so we promptly agreed on the venue which was actually just round the corner from my house.

It seemed that all of them had brunch earlier and were not hungry but they did order these chicken nuggets to munch…

One look at them and instantly, the thought ran through my mind that they would pale in comparison to those at the fast food joints even. I don’t think they were all that cheap so the least they could do was to serve them on a plate and garnish with some slices of tomato and cucumber and perhaps, have a bit of coleslaw by the side or something.

There were also these terayaki chicken wings…

…and that convinced me even further that for a high-end dining joint like this, they really need to work on their plating and presentation so that what they serve would look a little bit more impressive than this.

I was too full from my lunch to have anything so I did not get to sample any of the orders…and thus, I’m afraid I do not have any comments on the taste of the food. For one thing, I am glad that they have finally got rid of the tacky plastic flowers that they used to have on all the tables – they still have plastic flowers here and there but at least, they were much nicer than those miserable ones before.

I ordered this soft ice cream for myself (RM3.00)…

…so this was something like my post-lunch dessert that afternoon. Actually I’ve tried it once before and I did not think it was all that great. I prefer the ones at one small shop at Wisma Sanyan in the town centre – I think theirs would be a lot creamier and nicer probably due to a higher milk content than those here.

Anyway, the main intention was to meet one another and that we did – three of them home from the UK for their summer holidays and one from the Australian university, Miri campus…

It certainly was great to see everybody again and I certainly hope to look forward to more occasions like this in the years to come…

No money…

I have this plant in my garden and somebody says that it is the money tree. I don’t know if it is or not – perhaps, it is the feng shui money tree but whatever it is, a windfall does not seem to be forthcoming, not at all.

It sprouts out of the soil as a bud…

as the folded leaves push their way out…

and gradually unfold…

and grow bigger…

…and bigger…

But as time goes by, they get old and turn yellow…

and then brown and drop off the stalk which will wither and shrink away leaving behind an old wrinkled stump.

In a way, it serves to remind me about life, for by the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return, (Genesis 3:19) and indeed, if it is money that one wants, one would have to work (hard) for it and I must say that I am blessed considering that I am now retired and enjoying a well-earned rest after all my years of working, getting by pretty well on my monthly pension.

I am thankful that I have a comfortable life and it does not really matter one bit that I am not rich and basking in the lap of luxury. After all…

for “…to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me,” (Matthew 25:40) and this, I do believe.

Have a Holy Sunday, everybody…and may God bless us all.

The last one…

I have tried everything that they have to offer at this stall – their Penang prawn noodles, their pan mien or handmade noodles and their curry mee except this one, their tom yam noodles…

…and that was why when I took my friend, Philip, who is currently back in Sibu from the US, out for breakfast the other morning, I ordered that for myself while I insisted that he had their Penang prawn noodles, my favourite so far.

It cost RM6.00 a bowl, the same as the prawn noodles…

…but I noticed that it had fewer ingredients – for instance, there weren’t any deep fried wantons or pian sip and there wasn’t any hard boiled egg either.

It tasted great, I would not deny that…

– the soup was good, sour plus a little spicy, but considering that there wasn’t much in it, I would expect it to cost a little less.

Based on taste alone, my personal favourite would still be their Penang prawn noodles, no doubt about that!

Had to go…

I had to go there again the other day, Wednesday, because they were introducing their new line of mille crepe – their rum and raisin (RM7.80)…

…and I was glad that I did. It was very nice – nicer than their vanilla range because it had a slightly stronger and more fragrant taste and was not as mild/bland and it was not as sweet as their double chocolate. However, for reasons known only to them, this variety will only be available only on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

It was around noon when my missus and I dropped by so we decided to just have our lunch there. She had their sweetly chicken rice (RM7.90)…

…which was in fact, a bowl of chicken stewed in soy sauce and perhaps some five-spice powder served with a plate of rice. It was nice but I would not want to order that as my missus would cook chicken that way ever so often at home that I’ve grown quite tired of it and would rather go for something else that I would not be eating all the time in the house.

I decided to order their nasi lemak special (RM6.90) again…

I was kind of disappointed and felt it was not really that great the first time I had that but this time around, it was much better – the sambal was spicy enough for my liking and they were very generous with the condiments. I did not think the fried chicken was all that great but it was all right. I certainly would not say that it was the best around but it was good and should anyone happen to drop by the place, they certainly can consider ordering this.

Both our orders came with these huge bowls of complimentary soup…

which we thought was really very nice – with bits of tofu, sweet corn and egg garnished with chopped spring onions. It was light, clear soup, not overladen with msg and we enjoyed it a lot, unlike the complimentary soups that we may get elsewhere.

I also ordered these stewed eggs with minced pork (RM4.20)…

just to make sure that we would have enough to eat. I loved this a great deal too…and we went home after the delightful meal, completely satisfied and happy or at least, I was.

Don’t bother…

On Sunday, my missus and I dropped by this coffee shop right beside the Secret Recipe outlet in town. It had been years since we went there but Annie-Q mentioned the other day that they had kueh chap there so I wanted to go and give it a try. Unfortunately, the stall was closed even though it was only around 12.30 noon. The chicken rice stall seemed to enjoy very good business and the chap fan (mixed rice) appeared rather popular too but we did not fancy either of those. I could not tell whether the other stalls were open or not and if they were, they did not seem to be doing very well. Eventually, we decided to give the dim sum there a try.

The ta pao (big steamed bun) was very nice…

…selling at RM2.50 each but it had minced meat inside…

I would prefer those with chunks of meat and a bit of thick yummy gravy. Well, at least, it had some egg in it – I love eggs in my paos!

This seaweed-wrapped dim sum was very nice…

…but I could not figure out what it was or what they had inside.

Unfortunately, the siew mai was very very hard…

It tasted pretty o.k. actually but my goodness, it was so tough! The worse thing was that it did not seem very fresh – like it had been frozen and heated up and steamed over and over again.

And if you think that was hard, wait till you try these…

I don’t know what they were but they were even harder or tougher than the siew mai.

No doubt they’re cheaper than the regular dim sum places that I frequent – just RM3.00 a lau (storey) or basket…but considering the quality, if you were to ask me whether you should drop by to give it a try, I would just tell you frankly, “Don’t bother!” If I were to go back there ever, it would probably be just to tapao the steamed paos – that’s all. They’re not too bad…