I had a call from my friend and ex-classmate, Robert, on Wednesday last week inviting me to his house…
…that night for dinner. He said that his missus, Angela, would be cooking and this would be an opportunity for me to sample it. Now, who could turn down an invitation like that? So of course, I accepted and made sure I got there on time – he lives on the other side of town, not all that near by our local standards.
Besides me and my other half, they had invited a few other guests including our dear friend, Mary, from the Thai restaurant in town, and a few other regular dining companions of ours.
There was this very lovely steamed chicken…
…and the rice…
…and we also got to enjoy the ulam with the very special sambal…
…that everyone loved to the max. Hey!!! I tried the ulam raja once and I did not really like it so I just had the blanched paku (wild jungle fern). After much friendly persuasion, I gave it one more try and I loved it! Hmmm…you would get to see it now at our dinner table from now on – word has it that those leaves have a lot of health benefits.
It so happened that I went to the market that morning and bought a whole lot of buah emplam, a local fruit from the mango family that is very sour, for my missus to make the sambal and we brought some…
…there to share. It was a hit too!
There was this vegetable dish…
…but I kept going back for more of the buah petai (stink beans) with udang kering (dried prawns)…
– I sure enjoyed that!
I have not had the salt-baked fish dish for a long time – the last time was in Bintulu in 2014 and at one place here also in 2014 and it was not very nice and before that, after that first time in KL, I had a really good one here but I never went back for more as the restaurant is quite a distance away, on the other side of town as well…and to my delight, Angela cooked one that night…
…and while all the rest would use our Batang Ai tilapia, she used the much-coveted ikan terubok (longtail shad)…
As a matter of fact, I was looking for it at the market that morning but could not see any and needless to say, I enjoyed that very much and had quite a bit more than my fair share. Hehehehe!!!
I also loved the wonderful black vinegar pork trotter that Angela cooked but unfortunately, the photos came out blur and for dessert, she made one of my favourite nyonya kuehs, steamed tapioca cake…
…that one can hardly find around here and of course, that sure made a fitting end to the superb dinner.
Thank you so much, Robert and Angela, I sure had a great time – great food, great company, who could ask for more?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 