Call it what you want…

Back to that narrow alley where I bought the rechargeable fan/light that day, if you are walking from Market Road to the Sibu Central Market (Channel Road), the first turning to the left in that back lane would take you to these popular kompia shops in town, this one and this one. But if you turn right instead, you will come to a little shop on your right a short distance away selling ma ngee (horse’s ears)…

People have given all sorts of names to this Foochow delicacy – in English, I call them scrotums! In Hokkien, that would be lampha kueh and many call them that…or worse, gu lampha (bull’s scrotum)! When I shared a photograph of these on Facebook, my Malay and Iban friends commented and it seems that they call them pelir kambing (goat’s testicles).

Well, call it what you want, the sad fact is that it is very difficult to get any these days that are like what they were originally, the truly authentic ones. You may find some here and there and it is not so bad that they’ve shrunk to a very miserable puny size but the texture is all wrong even though the taste may still be there. Some do not even taste the same and come across like doughnuts with that same dense texture. Ma ngee would have lots of air spaces/holes inside…

…and would be a little hard and crusty on the outside.

The two on the left in the above photograph were from the aforementioned shop in that narrow alley and yes, they would be quite like the ones we enjoyed so much those years when we were much younger…but they’re much smaller now – maybe just one-third or half of the old size and they’re 50 sen each! There used to be another very popular shop making these – back to back with that kompia shop at the other end of the alley but according to the lady here, that one has closed shop for good – they are not making them, anymore. It is really sad that many are forced to wind up their business as the young ones these days are not interested in carrying on the trade.

The smaller one on the right in the photograph is one of those that my missus buys quite frequently from a stall in front of a shop round the corner in my neighbourhood. They are 40 sen each and this is one of those that would have the taste but the texture is not quite the same.

Well, some of you may know something similar that you call butterfly fritters but believe you me, they’re similar, no doubt but no, they’re not exactly the same. We do have those here too…

…at this bakery. Goodness gracious me! These are so popular that they will only put them out for sale at 1.30 p.m. and by 2.00 p.m., they would all be sold out. They used to cost RM1.00 each but I hear the price has gone up to RM1.10 or RM1.20, I’m not too sure as I have not gone to buy for quite a while now. I certainly have no intention of joining in that mad scramble! Honestly, since they are selling so well, I wonder why they can’t make a bit more and make them available throughout the day. Yes, they are very very nice – BIG and nice but if it is the authentic ma ngee you’re looking for, this is not it! However, this is better for those who do not have very strong teeth or none at all though as they are not as hard on the outside.

It is the same with yew char koi or yeu thiao, as some of you would call it (crullers)…

It is so hard to find any like those in the past these days and yes, there are many Malay stalls sprouting out here, there and everywhere like mushrooms after the rain and yes, as a few people have told me, some are very nice and some would even give you curry gravy to dip them in and eat…but no, they’re nothing like the real thing.

I also got these from that shop in the narrow alley, also 50 sen each, and yes, the texture is just right…

…but they’re a lot shorter now, maybe only two-thirds of the length we used to get in the past.

Incidentally, I bought RM2.00 of each, totalling RM4.00 but I paid RM5.00 instead – five of those new RM1 notes that are so slippery and not so easy to handle and count and if you’re not careful, you may end up paying more. Thankfully, the nice lady is very honest and she told me that I had paid too much and returned me RM1.00. It sure is comforting to know that at this present day and age, there are some very decent and honest people around…still.

Moving on from these local delights, I did mention in a previous post that my niece was home for the recent long weekend and she did bring us a lot of stuff as usual. One would be these made-in-Singapore sausages…

…and just like the ones I bought recently, they sure make it look like it’s some imported stuff as well, don’t you think?

My daughter grilled some for breakfast…

…when she was home last weekend and she cooked one extra for me to try.

The texture was almost like those luncheon meat-like local-made ones…

…that we can find in abundance in the supermarkets in town but they really tasted a whole lot nicer and were absolutely yummy! All things considered, I think those very expensive Malaysian-made ones that I bought were very much nicer but thank you all the same to my niece. Your thoughtfulness in always bringing back something for us everytime you come home is truly very much appreciated.

In the meantime, my sister-in-law in Kuching came home to spend sometime with the mum here and she remembered what she had seen on Facebook – the very nice butter cake that my ex-student, Xavier, gave to me not too long ago and she went and got me that…

…as well. Thank you so much, Hoon – that was so very sweet of you indeed but you shouldn’t have troubled yourself, really. Of course, I kept it till the weekend when Melissa came back and we really enjoyed it a lot! I also cut a portion of it for her to take back to her school to enjoy in the course of the week.

Hey! It’s Friday again!!! Gee! I can hardly feel time creeping past so quickly. Have a lovely weekend ahead, folks! Cheers!