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! 
wow so much dish. Thumbs up. Steamed chicken looks good. my dish among all. hehe.
Yes, it was good.
What a lucky fella! Invited to sample so many nice dishes! I love the chicken and the rice. No need for me to try other dishes, it’s good enough for me …muahahaha…
Normally when we go for chicken rice, that is all we have…or maybe a plate of veg by the side – in Ipoh, you have the taugeh, that’s all. But I’m not complaining though – sure enjoyed everything else that we had, yum yummmm!!!!
Fuiyohhh… there’s a lot of dishes there! I would like to try out the buah emplam and the prawn with petai! YUMZ!
Yes, talk about cooking up a storm! Great choices but the rest were also very good! 😉
Mmmmm….steamed chicken and rice! And your first photo made me smile. 🙂
You like Hainanese chicken rice, I see. I am sure you can get that at the Chinese restaurants there.
The petai dish looks awesome! 🙂
Yes, it was good, everybody loved it and I was the one who licked the bowl clean, very nice!
What a sumptious treat. A great cook in Angela
Buah emplam. My mum loves it, she just use anchovies and mix with the fruit and eat with rice. I tasted it and too sour for me till my eyes tear. Wahaha. That is my low tolerance of sour food.
Yes, lovely dinner, enjoyed all the food!
If you use the emplam to make sambal like this, you can add sugar to neutralise the sour taste – amount depending on you, see how un-sour you would like it to be. Would not be so bad as eating it like that – I love it, so good with rice!
So much food, with all the sambal, it almost looks like a Malay style open house.
Fusion. Loved the ethnic touch, we sure enjoyed the ulam!
The chicken was steamed to perfection to go with the rice. Ikan terubok???…give it a miss as it has too much bones. Prefer tilapia. Would love to try the buah emplam sambal as I never tasted it & it does look appetising too
Terubok tastes a whole lot nicer than tilapia but thankfully, some have big bones, none of those minute ones in the upper half towards the head – would usually get thrown away, what a waste. Thankfully, the one we had that night did not have those little bones, loved it!
Never tried sambal emplam? You don’t know what you’re missing. My friend, Mary, never had it done this way too – she loved it so much and now she is asking for more. Will have to wait till the next time I go to the market.
Terubok…. too much bones for me, my dad loves that fish though
See my reply to Irene above.
The trouble is these days, even if you have the money, you can’t buy any – none available here, so hard to find. Even the one we had that night was quite small – I love the BIG ones, the ones with eggs even more so. Very nice, very lemak and very tasty! I’d choose this anytime over salmon, not fond of the smell…and there is this story going round right now about the worms. Eyewwwww!!!!
Thumbs up for all the foods, she can cook very well…
Absolutely! Everyone enjoyed the dinner to the max!
Home cooked food is superb awesome. The dessert looks simple but is packed with goodness. Not many people actually making this kuih nowadays. It certainly good to see one making it.
Yes, nowhere in Sibu but I do know they can get those in Kuching. Loved it so much that I tapao-ed what was left home, so shameless hor? 😀
This is fiest. Hehe. All the dishes looks so delicious. Lucky you.
Feast, you mean? Yes, I was so lucky to get to enjoy all of them!
home cooked? all of it? oh my… such skills and talents
Yes, very impressed indeed.
This lady, Angela is quite the cook. She made so many delicious dishes. I salute her!
Yes, I would be so tired after cooking all that – flat on the floor! 😀
This looks like such a genuinely satisfying home-cooked meal, made with a lot of skill and heart! 😉 I wish I lived next door to Angela and Robert … I’d try to invite myself over as often as possible!
I’m sure they would if you lived next door. They have an Australian couple staying close by and they did invite them as well…and I’ve met them a few times before on our dinner outings together.