We dropped by here again as my friend, Robert, said that I should go and try the steamed ikan lajong and I was hoping to do just that.
The lady recommended their pork trotter dish, white one, she said, which, of course, meant that no soy sauce was used in the cooking so it was clearly not the braised or stewed version that we are all more familiar with. However, we just had an overdose not too long ago when we went to try the crispy pata or Philippine pork leg so we decided not to have it this time around. In the end, we had this (RM12.00)…
…cooked with a whole lot of ginger and black fungus. The lady said it was a pork belly dish but what we got in the end was all lean which was a blessing in disguise, I guess. It was very nice but I would say that I preferred their pork belly with preserved vegetables that we had on our previous visit.
We had my girl’s favourite – the cangkuk manis fried with egg (RM7.00)…
She seems to want that rather than any of the other vegetables everytime we eat out and for the soup, we chose the Foochow-style tofu soup with canned oysters (RM9.00)…
Both tasted great but the soup was a little too salty – maybe the cook spilled the fish sauce as I did seem to detect the strong taste in it.
Back to the steamed fish, no, I did not go for the empurau or what they call in Chinese, the wang pu liao (cannot forget)…
…the obvious reason being the sad fact that I cannot afford it but I did read somewhere that the lajong…
…is not all that cheap either – a little more expensive and to me, a lot nicer than the very popular, ikan tapah. I find it smoother…
…and it does not have the distinct smell that the tapah has, at times…and of course, one would be spared the chore (and danger) of having to pick out those numerous little forked bones that are in the empurau.
This slab was 350 gm. and set me back by RM32.00…
…but it was all right as we enjoyed it very much plus we would not be having it again for a long while. For one thing, my girl prefers everything and anything deep fried so she is not really into steamed fish – will eat when there’s any but will not go out of her way to have that.
The bill, inclusive of rice and drinks, came up to RM64.50, mainly because we had the fish, but it is perfect all right to indulge in something nice once in a while, right?
There were quite a lot of people there for dinner and among them, I spotted a Caucasian couple, tourists, I guess…and I wondered how they communicated with the people at the shop – perhaps being in the older age group, they could speak a little English, not just Mandarin like many of the young ones these days. What caught my attention was that the two of them had a BIG plate of the very nice pork satay that we had on our previous visit, a plate of mixed vegetables, rice…and Tsingtao beer! Those were HUGE sticks of satay, RM3.00 each and they had at least, half a dozen in their plate. Gee!!! I wonder if they thought they were the size of the regular sticks of satay when they ordered but we did not stay to see if they could finish the whole lot. LOL!!!
Well, there are a lot of things there that we have yet to try and Robert was telling me that I should check out the aforementioned pork trotter some day which he says is something like the ethnic babi pansoh (pork cooked with all the herbs and ingredients in bamboo). I most certainly would want to give it a go!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I actually prefers steamed fish especially if the fish is very fresh.
Happy New Year to you and your family, Arthur. May 2016 be a great one for you π
Same to you and yours.
I love most fish, but fried but when it comes to steaming, I am more selective. Will only eat a few – like I am not all that fond of the very popular tapah – and must be very very fresh.
I like lots of ginger in my dishes and the lean cut of pork sounds good to me. π
Thankfully, the lean meat was ok, some cuts may not be as nice.
I do love lean meat!
You’re like Jack Sprat but no, I’m not like the wife – I like the fat but yes, I do like the lean too. Hehehehehe!!!!!
Nice fish dish. Yes, small fine bones can be dangerous.
The Three Kings – empurau, semah and tangadak – our upriver fishes, all so very nice…but all have a lot of those small forked bones. Have to eat very very slowly, be very careful…but the flesh is absolutely heavenly! Worth the effort.
Nice meal. I love steamed fish and cangkuk manis.
Happy new year.
Same to you. I like both…but then again, there are many things that I like…so will have to pick and choose, rotate sometimes for a change. π
Just 2 dishes for me, steamed fish & cangkuk manis. Babi pansoh, love it heaps too.
Gotta go back there to try theirs, see if it is any good. My missus cooks very nice pansoh, with tuak!
sadly i too have never had empurau before, heh. if only we could catch our own fish, haha π p.s. replying to your comment in your last post, ooo, so far no plans to visit sibu this year, but thank you for your gracious and generous invitation. i know i would be blessed with your kind hospitality. it’s been many years since i’ve been in sarawak, but will keep sibu on my list. thanks again π
Fingers crossed, hoping you will make it here one day. Let me know, I’ll roll out the red carpet. π And we can go and eat that unforgettable empurau while you’re here… π π π
All the dishes look good to me. I was not a fan of steamed fish previously, preferring deep fried. But ever since my partner introduced me to steamed fish (where the fish is very fresh), I have since learnt to enjoy steamed fish.
Yes, it is nice if the fish is fresh, and one that I like but though I don’t mind steamed fish, I would not be craving for it should it happen that I have not eaten it for a long time.
RM64.50 is very very the cheap for good dishes like these. I don’t think I can get this price in Kuching, am I right?
Not that I know of. Usually when I go for such dishes in Kuching, it would be in a very big group with my relatives…and I would not get to pay. Wink! Wink! π π π
RM 100 / 100 grams of empurau? It’s less than the market price, I’m surprised they can sell it at such a price considering it’s a restaurant.
A friend asked about prizes for empurau last time I was back (actually just a week ago) and it was RM 3,000 for 1 kg for Kapit caught ones, much less for imported Indonesian cultivated ones. He was looking for one whole fish (large) for a family reunion dinner though, so I guess his needs was a bit particular, maybe that’s what drove the price up, or maybe it’s CNY, I honestly wouldn’t know since I have only bought empurau once. Can’t afford the steep prices.
Lajong fish is good though. I always thought it was a local mispronunciation of “tajong” but it turns out to be incorrect, the fish is called lajong by Ibans too.
My dad ordered it last time Yee Ling’s family came over coz they didn’t have tapah, it was not as expensive as empurau but it wasn’t cheap either, think the bill that night was RM 300+. I do like the texture of lajong fish though.
Yes, I tried lajong not too long ago and I loved it. That was why I wanted that again, not so fond of tapah and at lesat, it does not have those little forked bones like the empurau.
RM3000 in Kapit? Oh dear!!! I wouldn’t want to eat that! I wonder why it is so much cheaper here. You can check this place out the next time you come home, cheap and very nice.