Business as usual…

Oh no!!! It looks like my favourite Penang har mee (prawn noodles) place is no longer there…

I don’t know if it has been relocated elsewhere or the people have decided to call it a day. I did hear sometime ago also that the lady at my favourite kampua mee place here had decided to close shop too as she was unable to cope with all that work on her own owing to health reasons.

Well, this used to be my favourite…

– the aforementioned lady used to work for them before venturing out on her own and thankfully, it is business as usual here. It sure looked like it is as popular as ever. I was there around 7.00 something in the morning on Sunday and it was already packed with people!

There is a little bit of difference now – in the past, somebody would come and take your orders but these days, they will give you the menu and some slips of paper…

…and you will have to write what you want yourself and pass it back to them.

That wasn’t really a problem as my orders came pretty fast despite the crowd. The kopi-o-peng kao (iced black coffee, strong) was all right…

– as good as I could remember it to be and the mee pok (flat noodles), white and dry (RM2.80)…

…was to my liking as well. I particularly loved the stewed pork slices, a whole lot nicer than the somewhat bland boiled char siew wannnabe that one would get at most other places around here.

Having said that, I thought the mee pok was a little too firm – I think the next time around, I would just stick to the kampua mee. I remember I never used to enjoy the pian sip here all that much as the skin used to be rather thick but this time around (RM2.80)…

I thought it was pretty good. I sure would not mind ordering that again.

I’ve brought a lot of people here before – bloggers and ex-bloggers and friends from the peninsula and looking at how they have been able to maintain that kind of standard more or less, I sure would not mind bringing people here again…

Hidden treasure…

It seems that after all this time, many people do not know of the existence of this place along Laichee Lane here (2.290813, 111.829294)…

*Archive photo*

…as it is hidden behind a block of shops facing the main road (Jalan Kampung Nyabor) where the Bank Simpanan Nasional, Sibu branch (2.290561, 111.829071), is located. I was asking Melissa’s coursemate and his wife when they dropped by my house for Chinese New Year why they never went there when the food was really very nice…

*Archive photo*

…and they had a Halal certificate from their religious authorities…

*Archive photo*

…and they said they did not know there was anything worth checking out back there.

Well, when my godson/ex-student, Andrew, and his family were home for Chinese New Year, they did go past the place and they asked me about it and I told them that they should really make it a point to go and try the Indian or Indonesian delights served there and they did! The whole clan, over 20 of them from Andrew’s family!!!

Andrew’s wife, Michelle, had the ayam penyet…

*Archive photo*

…which she said was good. For one thing, at least, it was cooked by a true-blue Indonesian lady chef, not some half-baked wannabe running some stall in a coffee shop or by the roadside selling this same dish. However, if she had asked me what she should have – since they only had one chance to eat there before going back to New Zealand – I would suggest their nasi kalio ayam…

*Archive photo*

…with the very nice Indonesian curry served in a banana boat or their ayam opor (RM14.50)…

…that I was glad to hear Andrew had – I so love this dish. It’s a milder version of the chicken korma curry, not so strong on those spices but very rich and creamy and full of flavours. As a matter of fact, if I were given a choice between korma whatever and this, I would not have any second thoughts in settling for this one and I absolutely love the egg and potatoes by the side…

…too and the lovely pounded chili dip was so very nice as well!

Well, last Saturday, my girl wanted bryani rice for lunch so we headed there right away. It seemed that they now have this mutton vindaloo…

…that is new on their Indian menu and one can have a choice of chicken instead if he or she is not into lamb/mutton.

In a regular set, one would have that served with basmati rice (RM17.50) but of course, my girl wanted her bryani so we asked for that instead…

…and from what I understand, they would charge a couple of ringgit more for that. It certainly is a little cheaper, with a whole lot of meat and potatoes in a serving (and it’s the same too if you are having their mutton curry) than anything that is lamb here but of course, they’re different in their own ways and they are all very nice so I shall not comment further on this.

My missus had their ikan sumbat or stuffed fish (RM17.50)…

…with a special request for it to be extra spicy and it really is a wonder how they can remove all the bones from inside that ikan kembong and stuff it with the very nice filling. Yes, she loved it a lot and all that came with it – the grilled brinjal, skin removed, served with its special curry gravy…

…and the very nice kerabu…

I thought I would just order this tandoori chicken (RM13.00)…

…and I could eat what would be left from my girl’s order – she usually would not be able to finish the rice but she said she might be able to do that and I would not have enough to eat in the end so I ordered the aforementioned ayam opor for myself. As a matter of fact, I was craving for that ever since I heard that Andrew had it the week before and I sure was glad I did that – it was as nice as I could remember it to be.

In the end, I ate the papadum and asked for the tandoori chicken to be wrapped so we could take it home and have it for dinner. We sure enjoyed everything to the max – it certainly was a most delightful lunch…and when I went to pay the bill, the boss said that the mutton vindaloo with bryani rice was on the house  – he wanted to let me try it since it was new on the menu…and I only had to fork out RM50.00 when the total was actually RM68.50. That sure made my day!

Those of you who have never been here should drop by sometime and give it a try – I bet you will love what they dish out here and I can tell you many of the things here are a whole lot nicer that at some places around town that seem to enjoy a lot more business, for reasons unknown.

One down, two to go…

Well, actually, it’s two down…and there’s only one more to go and if you’re all wondering what I am talking about, I bet this will ring a bell…

*Archive photo*

– the box of goodies that I received sometime ago from my blogger-friend, Phong Hong.

I tried their bacon jam spread on some baguette slices that I toasted lightly in the oven and it literally swept me off my feet. It was so so so good!!!

In the meantime, I did tune in to the interview conducted by my ol’ friend, Mag, from the TraxxFm days on AFORADIO, the online radio station when she spoke to the people behind this whole thing, John and Georgina…

…and it seems that the name they picked – Five & Two Foods…

…has some biblical implication. It is actually a reference to the 5 loaves and 2 fishes at the Sermon on the Mount and those of you who are familiar with it would know that they were distributed to feed a multitude of five thousand.

From the interview, I gathered that these products are not available on the shelves at the shops and supermarkets and anyone interested would have to order online at their website or Facebook page and they will send it to you, provided you live within the country, only in Malaysia, that is.

Well, I decided to try another one…

…the other day and as we had a lot of leftover rice in the fridge, I reckoned I could use the sambal to fry it with.

No, I did not add a lot of ingredients – just a bit of finely-chopped garlic that I fried in a bit of oil till golden brown and then, I added around half a bottle of the sambal and then the rice. After sometime, I tried a bit and found that it was not salty. No!!!! I most certainly would not want to add the rest of what was in the bottle, the precious commodity – who knows when the next one will come my way again! In the end, I just added a few dashes of Thai fish sauce, two eggs and some chopped spring onions and dished it all out…

…and garnished it with some sliced chili and what was left of the chopped spring onions…

…and served.

It was all right, just that the taste of the sambal was lost in all that rice so much so that one could hardly detect it. I did have what was left with plain rice – just add a bit to the rice and eat and yes, it was a lot nicer this way and I enjoyed it with these crackers…

…too! Just dip one in, scoop out a bit of the sambal…

…and eat! Yummmm!!!!

Well, I would say that I liked the taste of the bacon jam a lot, very much more than this sambal which was, at best, all right, not really anything to get me real excited like the last time…and that leaves just one more to go – the Angry Bacon!

At the junction…

When my girl’s coursemate and his wife visited us during Chinese New Year, they were telling us that the nasi lemak here…

…was very nice.

I had the Sarawak laksa here before but no, I did not like it at all. The only attraction was the prawns that came with it…

*Archive photo*

…and when we were working on the book on food in Sibu, I actually insisted that we went here just to take a photograph of it as it looked pretty impressive.

Well, the following day, Sunday, was the 2nd Day of Chinese New Year so all the shops in town were closed, the Chinese ones in particular, but some Malay ones were open including a number of stalls at this SEDC Hawker Centre at Simpang Tiga here in Sibu. That was why we chose to go there for breakfast after the morning service at the church up the road.

My girl wanted the Penang laksa but it was not available so she went for the Sarawak laksa (RM4.00)…

…instead – without the prawns. That probably would be the special, I wouldn’t know. I tried a little and I thought it was all right – no, I did not say it was good, just all right which was more than what I would say about what I had from this stall on those previous occasions. My guess is perhaps they are using a different brand of the sambal laksa, one that is a bit nicer than the one before.

My missus and I both had their nasi lemak special (RM5.00 each)…

…but no, we did not think it was anything to shout about.

The rice was not really lemak, for want of a lot more santan and the sambal did not quite taste like the usual sambal that we would get with nasi lemak…

…and the only saving grace was that the egg was fried the traditional way – in a wok, the way I like it.

As a matter of fact, I do not recall any nasi lemak at any Malay stall or shop in town that I would pinpoint and say, “Yes! This is the one!!!” So far, my favourite in town would be the one here but I do not think it will go down well with certain quarters even though it is a pork-free place and they do have a couple of Malay/Muslim employees working there as well, taking the orders, doing the serving and what not…and the Sarawak laksa here is a whole lot nicer than many elsewhere as well.

We were in the vicinity again the following day, Monday – the day before the last day of the Chinese New Year holidays when I would have to send my girl back to her school in the jungle and she wanted to go for the peri-peri grilled chicken rice at the stall…

…there.

I ordered the banana smoothie (RM4.50)…

…which was like blended bananas – so thick and so much of the fruit in it!

My girl and the mum had the peri-peri grilled chicken rice (RM9.00)…

Somehow or other, both of them prefer it to the Moroccan (RM9.00)…

…which I personally like a lot more. Whichever one’s choice of rice may be, one would get the own-made peri-peri sauce and the salsa and a chicken thigh grilled to perfection…

What matters most, of course, would be the fact that we do enjoy what the African guy dishes out at his stall here and rest assured we would be coming back for more again…and again.

A few more days…

My god-son/ex-student, Andrew, and his family had only a few more days left in town before they had to go back and I was really keen on taking them here for the traditional ethnic Dayak delights , something they will not get easily elsewhere and definitely not in Christchurch, New Zealand, so I arranged to meet them there for lunch. It is located right behind the medical centre where my mum is currently putting up so it was quite convenient for me to walk over to meet them there.

Unfortunately, the son was not feeling very well so he and the mum were not able to show up and in the end, there were just Andrew and his girl and my missus and I.

I specially requested for my picks to be served separately in plates and bowls instead of having everything in a tray or a plate the way we would have it usually. Andrew loved the dabai fried rice…

…and this was the first time he had umai…

– the raw fish dish which is actually Melanau in origin.

He did not seem too comfortable with the tapioca leaves…

…that we always enjoy very much but he loved the kasam ensabi (preserved vegetable) with pork…

The deep fried pork served with their special tempoyak (fermented durian) dip…

…was rather hard, a little too crusty and while the dip was very nice, we could hardly detect the tempoyak in it, probably to cater to their mainstream customers. Fermented durian is an acquired taste and not everybody will love it. However, for hardcore tempoyak lovers like my missus and I, we prefer the way they cooked it that other time, very much stronger with the tempoyak and to us, a lot nicer but this was all right for a change.

The pansoh babi (pork cooked in bamboo)…

…was excellent that day and yes, Andrew loved it and another thing worth mentioning as well was the fact that the complimentary soup was really very nice – Andrew’s girl had a lot of it with her rice.

We had the dabai fried rice packed to take back for Michelle to enjoy at home and we also asked for the pansoh babi, the tempoyak pork and the kasam ensabi with pork for her as well. The total for that and all that we had came up to only RM45.00. Too bad they had to leave in a couple of days or we could have made our way back there again to see what else they could try.

Come join us…

I did mention in an earlier post that my godson/ex-student, Andrew, and his family were back in Sibu for the Chinese New Year celebration but I was sick and so were the kids and his wife and then, my mum was admitted into the medical centre so I did not really have time for much of anything else. That was why I did not get to see them at all till last Tuesday night – it was the wife, Michelle’s birthday, and they wanted to come here…

…for dinner. They were here before…

…and they loved the food and the place and that was why they picked it specially for their little celebration and they also asked an ex-student of mine, Andrew’s classmate, now based in Doha to join us…

They wanted the Payung rojak…

…that they enjoyed before but according to Peter, the boss, business had been pretty good over the last few nights and they had run out of the buah kedundong leaves…and also the lamb masala that my girl had just a few days ago. Michelle did not want anything spicy so we had the green curry…

…which looked somewhat diluted that night unlike those times when I had it before but it tasted great and we did not mind the extra gravy with which we could drown the rice and enjoy.

I suggested ordering their garlic bread…

…with their chicken sauce dip…

…as I thought the kids would enjoy it. My girl loved it a lot but of course, owing to the gluten content, this would be one thing on their menu that we cannot order anymore…and yes, the children enjoyed it very much.

I also insisted that they tried the pomelo salad…

…and yes, they liked it a lot too.

They also wanted the mushroom roll…

…and the kacang ma chicken…

…that they had had before and yes, this time around, they did not forget the lovely fried ginger garnishing that they inadvertently left out the last time we had this and I would say it was very very nice that night.

Poor Peter! There I went grumbling away that there were four of us and they only had three prawns in each serving of their belimbing prawns so of course, he went and cooked this bowl of the delightful dish…

…with lots of the crustaceans in it. All three of them had not had it before and there they went, praising it to the skies. They loved it so much!!!

We wanted to order dessert but Peter said that for every customer celebrating his or her birthday at the cafe, if they know about it, they would come out with something special for the birthday celebrant and Michelle got this…

…assortment of peppermint ice cream, (local) mango ice cream, Maldives ice cream (chocolate with crushed egg roll) and durian ice cream to share with the rest of us. Their little girl loved the mango so much that she literally finished that all by herself. Kids! Don’t they all love ice cream?

I don’t know the breakdown as I was not the one picking up the tab that night but I did ask Andrew the following day and he said it was over RM80.00 for the four of us and the two kids. I guess that was all right for a lovely evening of great food, great company and wonderful service with a special treat thrown in for good measure. Who could ask for more?

You’re welcome anytime…

In view of the circumstances at that point in time, I did not really have an open house for Chinese New Year this year.

A few did drop by and yes, they managed to catch me at home at the time. In fact, we were either at home or at the medical centre and anyway, we could go home anytime should anybody want to come and visit. Sibu is a very small place, not at all difficult to get around.

There was this group of ex-students…

*Sze Nee’s photo*

…who invited me to their school’s centenary dinner not too long ago and I sure was glad to see another ex-student of mine whom I had not seen for a long long time. Now, a renowned gynaecologist in Bintulu, blessed with three girls and a boy, he dropped by with his wife and kids and his parents – it was so sweet of him to remember this old teacher of his and yes, it certainly was great to see him again after all these years.

My good friends, Lim & Mrs and the children made it a point to come over to extend their Happy Chinese New Year greetings that very night as soon as they got back from Kuching after driving all the way the whole day – they went home for the holidays and Melissa’s coursemate, teaching at a school in Sibu, now happily married, did drop by with his wife too…

*Farid’s photo on Facebook*

The nice boy would make it a point to drop by and extend his festive greetings without fail but of course, this year, he is not qualified to receive an ang pao anymore. LOL!!!

Then there were Bongkerz and Mary and their families…

*Mary’s photo on Facebook*

– they would definitely drop by each year but last year, they did not as it coincided with Ash Wednesday and I did not have an open house on that particular day and they had to go back to their respective towns right after that. It sure was nice to see them again – this was way back in 2011 when they did not have any children yet – and I do hope I will get to see them again and again in the years to come.

Well, with my girl and the mum presently on a gluten-free diet, my missus did not do any baking at all and just went to buy some stuff from the shops instead and when I saw on Facebook that my ex-student’s wife, Juliet, was making some of those local steamed and layered delights, I quickly placed an order for  a few of those.

There was this kek lumut (moss cake)…

…and kek belacan (dried prawn paste cake)…

– both very nice despite the not-so-flattering names, one obviously because of the green colour and no, the latter did not have any belacan in it.

This one had a nicer name – Evergreen…

…and yes, it was very good too. What I liked most was the fact that all the cakes had reduced sugar so they were not as sweet as those sold commercially and she did not scrimp on the ingredients so that was why all the cakes were very rich and very very nice. The sad thing is that Jimmy, the hubby, said that he would not let her make anymore next year – I guess he saw all that she had to go through, all the hours of preparation and steaming and baking. It was no easy task, that’s for sure.

We also had the fruit pudding…

…that my aunt in Kuching made and they gave it to me when they were here in December last year and I had been saving it since. It did not turn out so well this time around – the fruit sank! Nonetheless, it tasted as good as ever, lots of rum in it, that’s for sure!

Thank you, all, for dropping by – that was so sweet of all of you to take the time and the trouble to do so. A Blessed & Happy Chinese New Year again to all of you, may God bless everyone abundantly in the year ahead. Cheers!!!

Usually…

I did mention in my previous post that my missus had been cooking a few dishes before the whirlwind of events following my mum’s admission into the medical centre after which everything had to be put on hold.

Usually, every year, she would cook some of her specialties to store in separate servings in the fridge so she could take out bit by bit to heat up and serve to guests dropping by especially those from out of town who would have a problem trying to find something to eat outside around this time as most of the shops would be closed.

And usually, without fail, every year, she would ask her family over for lunch or dinner but my mother-in-law had left us earlier last year and my Bintulu brother-in-law would not be coming back. Nonetheless, she insisted on inviting her brother and his family here in Sibu to come over for lunch but of course, this year, we had to make do with what we already had as we did not have the luxury of time to cook more and that, of course, meant that we had most of what we had for our reunion dinner the night before on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

There was the leftover fish…

…which we were not supposed to finish and had to continue eating the following day. We did not touch the other side so it actually looked as good as new…and we took out the steamed chicken…

*Niece’s photo on Facebook*

…that I got from my friend, Mary. Everyone loved it a lot and all sang praises of the very nice Thai-style sambal dip that came with it. My girl enjoyed the stock that came out of the meat and she kept drinking it like a soup – that would be where all the wholesome goodness was, the true unadulterated essence of chicken!

Other than those, there were the salad…

…the kacang ma chicken…

…the satay beef…

…the ngor hiang…

*Niece’s photo on Facebook*

…and the pineapple prawns…

*Niece’s photo on Facebook*

– all that we had for dinner the previous evening and for dessert we had the amik melon that I got from my young friend, Justin, and yes, everybody loved it – so sweet and so juicy and it did not have that green taste and smell of the honey dew and the other melons that I am not all that fond of.

It wasn’t as elaborate as what we used to have in previous years but there was more than enough to go round and everyone enjoyed the lunch very much and of course, it was great to have them around, my in-laws.