Last Saturday was the Chinese Dumpling or Dragon Boat Festival and Sunday, being the 3rd Sunday in June, was Father’s Day so we decided to celebrate both at the same time that evening.
Well, what happened was a couple of days after the dinner we had to celebrate my father’s birthday, my bedridden mum said she wanted to have a party again. “But we just had one,” we told her. “Maybe we can have another one in September for your birthday.” She persisted for a while and then she did not say anymore but she sure did not look happy. That was why seeing that there were these two occasions that we could celebrate at one go, I decided to cook some stuff for a simple “party”, just a small family affair.
I made some more meatballs but I decided not to have them the same way as the previous time so this time around, I cooked soup with them…
…with quail eggs, thinly-sliced canned mushroom and Chinese cabbage. The soup tasted great but no, I did not like the meatballs this way – it certainly was a whole lot nicer the way we had them the previous time, deep fried and served with sweet and sour sauce.
I cannot remember if I’ve blogged about this but in my growing up years, my mum would slaughter the chickens herself and she would fry the innards with canned peas in tomato sauce…
So to replicate that dish, I went to the market to buy some chicken liver. I asked the lady at one of the stalls the price and she said it was RM8.00 for a kilo. I told her that I wanted one piece – and instantly, the smile on her face disappeared. With that very disgruntled look, she picked out a couple, weighed them and said that would be RM1.00. I could not understand why she was so unhappy about it – I only needed a piece so I would not want to buy much more than that. If she had been very sweet and friendly, the next time I needed chicken or anything, I certainly would come back to her stall…but with that kind of attitude, no prize for guessing which stall would be the last I would go to. Tsk! Tsk!
I also bought these udang galah (freshwater prawns)…
…and fried them with ginger and soy sauce plus a little bit of sugar, the way my mum used to do it. There was a little bit egg left after making the aforementioned meatballs so I poured that in as well. These prawns were a bit bigger than the medium-sized ones that we would usually buy – RM50 a kilo…and the ones that day were not really good as the meat was not all that firm and succulent. However, there was a whole lot of that reddish pinkish stuff in the heads, what we call “kor“, and that is the best (very delicious) and also the worse (high cholesterol) part of the prawn. Never mind, at the current prices, we would not be buying them so often so we will only get to eat it once in a long while.
I also bought some salmon…
…for my girl to enjoy – skin crispy and the fish nicely grilled on medium high in the pan and of course, she loved it…very very much!
I had to go out for something at around 11.00 a.m. that morning so I stopped by here to get the lovely barbecued pork ribs (RM28.00 a rack)…
…and I asked them to leave out the french fries (and the pickled cucumber) as the last time I bought this home, the fries were not nice at all by dinnertime (after reheating) but I asked them for more of their lovely potato salad…
– they usually serve the ribs on a bed of this and they did – they gave me quite a lot of it! This was only half of it – I saved the other half for my girl to bring back to her school and enjoy it there. Well, I certainly was glad that I went and bought the ribs as my dad loved it so very much and kept singing its praises!!!
Β My sister also went and bought these Sibu-style sio bee and dumplings…
…and on top of all the above, my girl and the mum went to the bakery around here and bought this cute-looking Father’s Day cake…
…that we had for dessert and enjoyed very much. They said it was strawberry so I expected some reddish sponge cake inside but no, the cake was something like what one would find in blackforest cakes and they had strawberries in the cream in between the layers. It was very nice and yes, despite having had so much for dinner, I had a second helping!
Needless to say, it was a delightful gathering – the best times would be those times spent with one’s loved ones, I am sure everyone would agree with me on this.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
hahahaa.. I like the cake!! Yes, very cute.. I am sure your father loves it too! The salmon is very nicely pan-fried… not too cooked nor raw.. Everyone must be enjoying the dinner..the food was simply fabulous!
Yes, it was good, very good. You get to eat a lot of salmon there? Must be so cheap, unlike here. My girl loves it so I would buy sometimes and pan-grill it for her – she baked a steak once but the skin did not turn crispy and nice. We all thought the cake was cute too, glad that it tasted great as well – some look nice but may not be so when it comes down to the taste.
the chinese dumpling festival is over already? yikes, i haven’t had any bak chang this year! π ooo, the udang galah looks great, and i love the super cute father’s day cake you got! π
Yes, it has gone past without you realising it. I guess you’re not into Chinese…but ooooo….when it comes to those dumplings, I love the nyonya ones. Can’t get them here, but they sell those in Malacca…or Singapore or Kuching, not too sure where/whether they sell those in KL. Come to think of it, I don’t recall you reviewing any Chinese eateries in your blog, can’t remember if you have had any nyonya ones either. Gotta review…see if there’s any – just ok with Chinese usually but I sure love nyonya!
I love grilled fish, especially salmon! π
Bet it’s a whole lot more affordable there than here… π¦
So exp wa… I bought mine rm22 a kg
So cheap there!!! Here, can only afford to eat on special occasions liao, tak mampu eat so often. π¦
Loves everything that you all had, all makes me drooling…
Not bad, we all enjoyed ourselves.
You mention about the lady selling chicken, makes me think of few days ago, i was ordering kopi, the lady went to make an ice kopi, then i told her what i want is hot kopi and not ice kopi, she gave me a not happy face look, tsk tsk…
I know here, with ice, it is more expensive so people order hot…and then they ask for ice, free of charge. Hehehehe!!!!
Usually i drink hot kopi, only once in a very blue moon then drink cold kopi…
Mine must be iced…all the time.
Indeed a nice dinner to celebrate both occasions at one go…..killing 2 birds with one stone. I love the sio bee & dumplings and oh boy!!!..the cake, so cute.
Yes, so cute and very nice too! It was a nice dinner…and at least, my mum was very happy. I said no more parties till her birthday in September and she said ok. π
Your mum must have been so pleased to have another party. September is way too long to wait hee..hee.. I love small family gatherings too. It is very meaningful, full of love and joy. And of course the inevitable good food!
She sure was. Will see if we can have one for her again over the Raya hols, no need to wait till September.
Food looks great. Your mother, not to mention your father, must have enjoyed the party tremendously. Well done!
Yes, they sure did. Guess when one is old, one would love company, never mind even if the food ain’t that great – sure a lot different from just eating on one’s own.
house parties are the best type of parties! hehe :D. did you dance?
No, I’m no party animal…not like you! π π π And it wasn’t a dancing party plus my mum’s bedridden, some 7-8 years now. π¦
I love the cake, it’s so cute ya, a bit look like the one my sister and I always bought for my mom!! =]
Oh? I guess you will have to go for the female version, not the male, since it’s for your mum?