We enjoyed the prawns that my missus cooked that day that I simply had to run back to my favourite fish & seafood stall for more. Of course it was super delicious because of her recipe and her superb cooking skills but for one thing, those prawns had been in the freezer for way over a month before we took them out to cook and eat.
We were amazed by how they were still so very fresh and sweet, so firm and succulent unlike some that we might have had the displeasure of eating outside especially when most of the time they were so minute!!! That was why I decided to go back to the stall and buy some more.
Yes, this time around, the lady had three different sizes and prices and of course, I picked the biggest ones…
…going for RM38.00 a kilo. I think that was a little cheaper than the previous time but they did look a little bit smaller. There were 30 altogether, RM1.27 each.
Much to my delight, I saw that she had these…
…that morning. Gosh! I cannot remember the last time I had those, probably way before the outbreak of the pandemic. My missus would buy them sometimes when she went marketing.
We call these mini pek chio/ikan bawal putih/white or silver pomfret kilat which means lightning in Malay or shining, a word to describe a nicely polished car or pair of shoes, for instance. Normally, they are somewhat small but the ones I bought that morning were bigger than the palm of my hand! They were not all that cheap though – RM25.00 a kilo, same as or chio/ikan bawal hitam/black pomfret but I went ahead and bought 2 kilos, nonetheless, considering especially that we had not eaten these for such a long time and the nice lady was kind enough to ask her young assistant to clean all 18 of them for me – it would probably take me a long time if I were to do it myself.
We cooked half of the lot and kept the rest in the freezer for another day. We love them fried…
…till nicely done and a little crispy at the edges so I would just eat it all up except the head perhaps and parts with some bigger bones!
My goodness!!! They were so fresh, so sweet!!! I had never had any that was so so so good. You would usually find this fish at the chap fan (mixed rice) places, very small and absolutely bland, tasteless, not nice at all. They probably use those cheap frozen ones that they buy in bulk from the supermarkets or the frozen foods suppliers, this and all the other kinds of fish like kembong and the rest.
I certainly was pleased with my purchases, definitely worth it, value for money and look at what the kind and generous lady gave me…
She said that a friend of hers gave them to her, quite a lot, and asked her to make some chiew chu koi (tapioca cake) to give to her so she picked two good ones and said that I could have them.
I did manage to get to eat some when I went to Miri in 2019 and I did buy some here as well, also way back in 2019. That did not look like a lot but there was enough to fill one big bowl…
…and yes, it was very good. Actually, I dread buying this as sometimes, the texture of the tuber is not good, not edible and we would end up throwing it all away.
I sms-ed my sister to ask her if she wanted any and of course she did…and in no time at all, she was at our gate! We enjoy eating it with gula apong but since it is starchy and I am on a low-carbs, low-sugar diet, I have to refrain from going overboard – just a bit will do. After all, we do not get to eat this all that often.
I must say it was truly a really good day that day!
The fish stall is located to the right of CCL FRESH MINI MARKET against the wall at that end of the block to the right of the Grand Wonderful Hotel (2.309601, 111.845163) along Jalan Pipit, off Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, if you go in via the entrance where San Len Tyres is located, just before the Petronas petrol station a short distance from Delta Mall.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Yes, I love those mini pek chio too. Deep fried, absolutely out of this world. Hard to find tapioca these days. I heard the yellow ones are better. I prefer it steam and eat with sugar/kaya to making chiew chu koi.
Yes, we enjoyed the fish so so so much! Never had any so good before. We used to buy sometimes, something different for a change but we were never crazy about it – just fried till crunchy and crispy and ate them all up, including the bones. Didn’t get us as excited as these that I bought that day.
Yes, the yellow tapioca is richer, nicer. We eat with gula apong but I am not that keen on buying. Sometimes, the texture is not right so it is not edible, So disappointing.
I miss udang galah so much.
Especially to suck out the juicy head so full of flavour.
My family loves to have it cooked in Cantonese “shi zap” (black bean sauce with chillies) style.
I don’t remember the kuih ubi kayu name.
It’s pale yellow (sometimes pink?) coated with shredded coconut.
Pink? Don’t think I’ve seen that. I think the Malays call it bingka ubi – we call it ubi Bandong or Bandong koi, Bandong being the Sarawak Malay name for ubi kayu/tapioca and in Chinese, it’s chiew chu koi.
I have not had udang galah, the giant freshwater prawns for over a year now – have to go to the central market to buy those but that is a high risk zone, always in the list where positive cases had been to so I am staying far far away. #staysafe #staywell
The small white pomfret, I like it fried too. Long time did not have that. Since last year I think.
Yes, this pandemic has affected our lives in so many ways…right down to the things we eat! Sad.
I haven’t decided with to do with the prawns in my freezer. I used to deep fry the small white pomfret till crispy and almost everything can be eaten except the center bone. I love to eat tapioca boiled with a little salt and tapioca cake.
Yes, that’s what we always did with the kilat but the ones I bought that day was a cut above – the meat was so fresh, so sweet. Loved it so much! Yes, we do add salt when boiling tapioca, will eat it dipped in sugar if there is no gula apong in the house or eat it just like that.
I am a big fan of root veggies. Mostly I love them baked.
Not sure if we can bake tapioca, like potatoes and sweet potatoes and even pumpkin – we do that all the time. We do have our tapioca cake though, the Malaysian bingka labu. That’s nice!