…the lazier I become.
These days, I feel so lazy to cook something nice for breakfast. I will just have my mug of coffee, Nescafe, no sugar – I am not bothered to go and brew something nicer and maybe have a few biscuits and then, I would go out to water the plants and do the gardening till mid-morning when it gets a bit too hot for me to continue. In the past, I would cook some fried rice or noodles or fry some bihun but the mere thought of it makes me tired already. LOL!!!
The other day, however, there was a lot of leftover rice in the fridge and some sambal belacan and some sambal ikan bilis so I decided to get them out of the way. I fried a handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) in a bit of oil, browned one shallot, peeled and sliced, three cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped and then threw in three chilies, seeds removed and thinly sliced, followed by the two sambals and then the rice and mixed everything together well. Next, I added two eggs, sprinkled a little bit of salt and thinly sliced Thai basil and spring onions from my garden and it was done…
There was enough for the two of us for breakfast and dinner – we had lunch outside that day.
On other days, either my missus or I would go out and come home with some things we could have for breakfast. I would feel lazy to go out even these days so you would not see me venture all the way to the wet market (the Sibu Central Market) in the early morning.
Thankfully, there is this shop round the corner from my house…
*Photo from Google Streetview*
…in the next lane.
If I remember correctly, it started off as a fruit shop and it grew and grew. These days, in the early morning, it is a mini-market where one can get fresh meat and fish, fresh vegetables and even things like tofu and taugeh (bean sprouts) and they have a lot of things in their freezer too – as a matter of fact, I got the beef that day from there.
The boss would go to Sarikei every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and come back with a whole lot of things such as some very fresh sweet corn, pineapples and the juiciest and sweetest pomelo, the variety that they call mor-mor phow (hairy pomelo). I loved the Nestum-coated peanut butter mochi that he used to get from there but for reasons unknown, not anymore. There are also those lung ngor (egg cake) and bak koi (egg cake with minced meat and shallots) and the Foochow Mooncake Festival biscuits…and so on and so forth. A lot of the stuff that they sell are homemade – people make them at home and leave them there for sale.
I bought these yew char koi or yew tiao…
…there at 60 sen each but unfortunately, they were far from anything like what we used to enjoy before in my growing up years. They tasted all right with kaya (coconut jam)…
…but as you can see in the photograph, the texture was all wrong – they looked, to me, like some clogged artery.
The dough is supposed to be very small, finger size and they would use a piece of something like a cutter to make the dent in the middle, lengthwise. Once that is thrown into the hot oil, it will rise to the occasion and will be at least 12 inches long! Inside, there should be a lot of air spaces, crusty or crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. When we ate the thing, we would tear it along that aforementioned dent and it would come apart easily, not these ones that I bought the other day. Of course, I would not want to buy anymore the next time I see any at the shop.
On another day, my missus bought these chicken curry puffs…
…and the next morning, I heated them up for breakfast.
I was delighted to see the chicken inside…
…when I cut it but my happiness was short-lived. That was all the meat there was inside – the rest of the filling was all potatoes. Yes, it was quite nice, that much I would say, but at RM2.50 each, I think I would much sooner go for a plate of kampua mee with a lot more meat than those miserable bits in the puff.
These were good though – the ma ngee or horse’s hoof…
…that I bought from the shop, also selling for 60 sen each. I’ve tried others before – there were very small ones, others were hard or not quite the same or the texture was something like doughnut which should not be the case. They are two different things.
I certainly would keep going back to the shop as it is so very convenient and parking is easy and free and if I buy a lot of things, they will help carry all the stuff and put everything in the car…unlike when I go to the market in town and park my car far away and walk all the way there and back again with all my purchases, sweating from every pore.
SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end…and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket. Kim Tak Co. and Ah Kau Cafe are located in the other block on the left.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
You are not alone, Arthur. This applies to me too- getting lazier as I aged. I love yiew tiao to go with a hot cup of kopi. Seldom see horse’s hoof selling at the kuih stall or maybe I am not that observant. Does it taste like ham chim peng?
Quite close, minus the cinnamon powder. Similar to what people call butterfly fritters too, similar to doughnut but not exactly. In Kuching, I heard they had good ones at WeCare Bakery, probably renamed WeLove like the ones here – I think the last I noticed it was somewhere in the vicinity of King’s Centre. The ones here are huge, double the size AND the price and very, very popular – sold out the instant they are brought out of the kitchen, but they are more like butterfly fritters, not quite like our authentic Foochow ma ngee.
I could be lazy to cook some days too. Tired of thinking of what to cook. Sigh.
Your fried rice looked so pretty and round and yummy. I would like that.
The you tiaw didn’t looked good. Looked too dense. I like having it in porridge or just take with tea or Milo. Some day I like it in my lek tau suan as well.
Yes, so dense, nothing like the nice ones I grew up eating. They do not seem to know how to do it anymore these days – lots of Malay stalls selling too, maybe they just use the flour for this sold in boxes at the supermarkets. So very different!
My fried rice turned out pretty well. That is why I am not into ordering fried rice outside – I think mine is nicer. Hehehehehe!!!!
I always cannot resist, if I see foods like the chicken curry puff， I will sure end up buying…
Best not to eat those deep fried ones too often. I prefer baked puffs and pastries.
I don’t know if it’s a sign of laziness or a sign of “you’d rather be spending your time doing something else.”
Just don’t feel like going out. I guess I am the homely type. Hehehehehe!!!
Wow, the ma ngee!! I haven’t had that for years. In fact, I’d forgotten all about them. Thanks for bringing back old memories.
It’s becoming extinct here too. The old folks die or retire, the younger ones are not keen on carrying on the trade or they are never taught how to go about it. Some try making them at home for sale but most are not very successful. Maybe the younger generation are not into these traditional things anymore – a lot of burger stalls all over, that much I would say – the sign of the times.
Horse Hoof was once my favorite food when i was a kid
We loved it too. Too bad the ones we have now aren’t quite the same anymore.
Hey, I am like that too! Really lazy these days LOL!
But you’re a whole lot younger. Nothing to do with age. Muahahahahaha!!!