Sing it…

We are still searching for a really good instant curry paste to replace our favourite, the A1 Mountain Globe brand, which is way too spicy these days even for those of us who are quite tolerant of anything that is very spicy.

One of the brands that I managed to get hold of is this one…

– the Singlong brand that is made in Singapore. In my mind, I was thinking that if it is made in that predominantly-nyonya republic, plus all the Malay and Indonesian influences left, right and centre, it should be very nice but of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

My missus took the meat curry one the other day and cooked some chicken and potatoes with it…

…and come lunchtime that day, we sat down and ate it with steaming-hot plain white rice.

My initial responses were it was spicy but not unbearably so and it tasted sweet! Somehow or other, we thought it was quite different from the curries that we had before but after a while, we eventually got used to it…

…and I thought it was quite nice, actually. My missus insisted that the A1 Mountain Globe brand is still the best but what is the use when it is so hot that nobody can eat it? I would not mind going for this one or the one that we tried not too long ago instead. That one was very good too!

Fried rice paradise…

I used to fry rice a lot and I did blog about it lots of times. Most of the time, it would be more or less the same with some differences here and there, usually quite minimal. Well, I’ve been cooking again these few days and every day, there would be a bit of rice left. As they say, sikit sikit jadi bukit (a bit each time, a mountain in the end) so that day, I just steamed the leftover rice for lunch.

It turned out that there was a little bit left, probably not enough for the three of us for dinner so I decided to fry what was left with some leftover fried salmon that we had in the fridge. I broke up the fish into tiny bits and mixed it well with the rice…

…and then, I added a spoonful of Kikkoman sauce and a spoonful of chicken stock.

Instead of the regular cooking oil, I used butter instead. I heated that in a pan and threw in the chopped garlic and after frying that for a while, I added the chopped long beans…

…more for the colour than anything else.

Then I put in the rice and mixed everything well. After frying for a while, I poured in the two eggs I had prepared, beaten well…

…and went on frying till it was all nicely done…

Yes, we had that for dinner that evening and with the added bulk, there was enough to go round. There wasn’t any spring onion in the house or I would have used that for garnishing.

Well, I was glad because my girl had quite a lot of it, my salmon garlic butter fried rice and she said it was quite nice. All this while, she wouldn’t touch my kampung fried rice, dunno why…and believe it or not, the very next day, she asked for it again! Unfortunately, there was no leftover rice in the fridge anymore so I fried some bihun…

…instead, following the exact same recipe. It was quite o.k. but we all agreed that it was much nicer with rice.

In one piece…

I had not been cooking for a very long time ever since I was not feeling well and lost a lot of weight. Thankfully, I am pretty o.k. now and the other morning, I decided to cook something for our lunch, a long bean omelette…

I am sure everyone knows how to cook this common dish but that day, I decided to do it a little differently. Instead of getting it all scrambled and mashed up…

…I wanted it to come out in one piece like how we usually cook our bitter gourd omelette…

They do it this way at the restaurants and the chu char (cook & fry) places too.

It is not difficult, really. You just have to cut the long beans (I had four strings that day) as thinly as possible…

…and then you break the eggs (I used 3)…

…in a bowl and beat them well. Add a bit of salt and msg to it.

Mix the eggs with the long beans…

…and after you have heated up some oil in a pan, pour that in…

…and let it cook till it is nice and golden brown, the bottom side.

Place a plate, preferably a flat one…

…on top of the half-cooked egg in the pan. Use one hand to hold the plate and the other hand to flip the pan over so that you will have the omelette in the plate…

…the nicely-done side on top.

Slip it back into the pan…

…the half-cooked side at the bottom and let it cook till it is nicely done, all golden brown like the top.

Once done, serve it in a plate but you may want to place it on some kitchen towel first (see the 1st photograph above) to soak up any excess oil.

To bring the taste to a whole new level, you may wish to add some thinly-sliced lap cheong/腊肠 (Chinese sausage)…

…and some sliced chili or perhaps, a bit of bubuk (dried shrimps) or cincaluk (fermented shrimps) but in the case of the latter, don’t add too much as it is very salty.

Not that nice…

I did mention in my review of our made-in-Sibu instant noodles, Daddy Mee, their new braised beef flavour, that I also bought a pack of the one from Thailand…

…but I had not tried it yet.

Well, for one thing, it is more expensive, RM7.90 for a pack of 5 which works out to around RM1.60 per packet.

Inside each packet, there are two sachets…

The purple one has some kind of oil in it while the orange one, the seasoning. The latter should be powdery but I found it somewhat hard. We do encounter that in some instant noodles and I would get the impression that it is not that fresh.

Anyway, I went ahead and cooked it, adding an egg into the hot soup…

…and once it was ready, I sat down to see how good it was.

I did not think it tasted anything like our local clear soup beef noodles nor the Taiwanese-style ones plus it was kind of oily too. At best, I would say, it was edible and between the two, I would prefer our Daddy Mee.

As for this made-in-Thailand Mama brand, the ladies in the house seem to like their shrimp creamy tom yam…

…a lot. I did buy a pack at the same time as the aforementioned beef flavour one and it was gone in no time at all!

Good too…

My missus cooked this very nice fish curry…

…last Friday. It was spicy but not over-spicy – we were able to handle it.

This time around, she tried out this brand…

– KampungKu. It tasted great and we loved the fragrance of bunga kantan (torch ginger flower), similar to one good one that we tried not too long ago.

My missus threw in some lightly-fried tofu and brinjal, tomatoes and ladies’ fingers. Don’t you think this one-dish meal looked gorgeous…

I love bean curd sticks and pineapples too in fish curry but I guess she did not go out and we did not have those in the house.

If you happen to see it in the shops, go ahead! Grab a packet and give it a try. Take my word for it – it is good, very good!

Add one more…

Daddy Mee is a made-in-Sibu product. Their chicken-flavoured instant noodles is the favourite of many and yes, a lot of people enjoy their curry noodles too. Other than those two, they also have their mi goreng and now, they have added one more, their braised beef flavour…

I saw the video clip promoting it on Facebook so I went quickly to the mini-supermarket in my neighbourhood to grab a pack…

There are five packets in a pack selling for RM6.80 so that works out to only RM1.36 a packet – in each of them, other than the noodles, there are two sachets…

…one containing the soup base powder and in the other, there is some kind of paste – I guess that is the seasoning or flavouring.

As soon as I reached home, I quickly took one of the five packets to cook and try. I added an egg into the boiling soup and when it was done, I poured everything into a bowl and garnished it with some chopped spring onions and served…

I couldn’t wait to taste it to see if it was any good.

Yes, it was very nice but no, I did not think it was anything like our local clear soup version…

…or the Taiwanese-style ones…

It had its own taste and I quite liked it. I don’t think it was my imagination but I thought it was very slightly peppery and I was quite sure I could detect a little bit of the taste of beef in it. I guess if I were to add a few thin slices of our imported New Zealand grass-fed beef, that would give it the special taste that beef noodles aficionados would be looking for.

Perhaps I shall do that when I get down to cooking another packet again but actually, sometime ago, I bought a pack of this…

…the made-in-Thailand MAMA instant noodles, stew [SIC] beef flavour but I have not tried it yet. Perhaps I should do that one of these days and compare the two to see which one is better.

Isn’t it so convenient…

When my cousins from Kuching came to town that day, one of them gave me these…

…that I saw recently on Facebook. Some people were selling that at the food and cultural fair there in conjunction with the Gawai Dayak Festival.

For the uninitated, pansuh is meat, usually chicken or pork/wild boar, that the ethnic population here cook painstakingly in bamboo…

…over some hot burning charcoal.

Needless to say, it is bursting with flavours…

…and is so very delicious and I was thinking that with this paste, it is so very convenient to cook our own at home.

Of course, we do not have any bamboo (unless we go and buy at the Native Jungle Produce Market in town) and it may be quite a hassle to set up a barbecue pit and light a charcoal fire to cook it. That was why my missus just emptied the contents of the packet and mixed it thoroughly with the meat…

…in a casserole and steamed it.

It turned out all right…

…but no, there was room for improvement.

For one thing, my missus did not add any water and the juices that came out of the meat was not all that substantial. When she heated it up for dinner that day, I told her to add a bit of water which she did and yes, the gravy/soup tasted really good, just like the real thing. You can add a bit of salt if you are thus inclined.

Other than that, there are other ingredients that one may be tempted to throw in to bring the taste to a whole new level. One would be the stems of the tepus and another would be the bunga kantan if one is into that as well. I wouldn’t mind a bit of tapioca leaves (daun ubi/daun bandong) for a touch of green.

Of course, as it is, it is good enough. I am sure those Sarawakians residing overseas would love to lay their hands on a few packs so they can cook their own abroad for that unique and exquisite taste of home. If my friend, Eric, is interested in contacting the people concerned so he would be able to order some and sell at his shop, the address is on the packet…

I sure would drop by to buy if it is available there everytime I feel like eating it.

While you’re waiting…

University graduates are a dime a dozen these days and many are unable to find employment despite going for one interview after another. However, instead of wasting one’s time idling away while waiting, one should do something to pass the time fruitfully and earn a bit of money.

We can see on social media, e.g. on Facebook, people selling all kinds of things, mostly edibles. That is one thing one can do – cook some nice things for sale and that is what one young lady is doing via a friend who happens to be my girl’s colleague. She will show photographs…

…of what she will cook the next day and ask people for orders. This way, she wouldn’t have to cook a lot and end up with a lot unsold if there are not that many people buying.

The other day, my girl bought these packs of chicken rice (RM8.00)…

…from her.

The rice was so very nice…

…nicer than any place in town, I must say and the complimentary chicken soup was so very good too plus the chili dip was exactly like the ones they give you at the chicken rice stalls and shops.

I wasn’t too comfortable with the poached/steamed chicken though for that same reason as to why I would not go and eat that outside later in the day. The chicken is moist and cold, left hanging there the whole day and may be contaminated. This will lead to food poisoning and one would end up having the runs. Luckily, nothing of the sort happened but I would prefer it to be fried or roasted instead.

My girl also bought a packet of her Thai-style mango chicken (RM12.00)…

…and yes, the chunks of chicken in this one was deep-fried…

The mango was raw though (unlike the one here) so it was something like kerabu or som tam – a sachet of some sweet & sour fish sauce was provided to pour over everything and toss. There was some tang hoon (glass noodles) as well so this could be considered as a complete meal by itself. I would say that it was very nice and I wouldn’t mind if my girl would buy it again the next time the young lady comes around asking for orders.

We did try her Vietnamese rice paper rolls once but no, we were not impressed. It is something best eaten on the spot, not packed and kept for so long. My girl ordered her chicken tortilla wrap (RM10.00)…

…that day when she had a meeting and could not come home for lunch and she said it was very good.

Word has it that the young lady will venture into this line of business and open a stall at a food court somewhere near Premier Hotel – sounds like it will be at that SEDC circular building in the vicinity. That sure is something worth looking forward to!

Search no more…

I did blog not too long ago about how our favourite instant curry paste has suddenly become over-spicy, too spicy for us to handle and how I have been searching for another brand that would be just as nice or even nicer with the right level of spiciness.

Well, search no more! My missus, on one of her shopping sprees, came home one day with this…

…but of course, I did not get my hopes up to high.

For the uninitiated, bunga kantan or the torch ginger flower…

…is commonly found in Thai cuisine and also in some Malay dishes in the northern part of the peninsula, probably the result of the influence from across the border owing to their close proximity. Here, you will find it being sold at the Native Jungle Produce Market and you will see the pink petals in the rojak…

…served at Payung Café here.

Somehow or other, the manufacturer found it fitting to use the name of this flower as the brand name of their product but no, it does not come from up north…

It so happened that I saw a huge ikan tenggiri/bay ka (mackerel) at my regular fish & seafood stall in my neighbourhood, 2.2 kg at RM30 a kilo. I asked the boy to clean it and cut it into slices so I could just cook it right away without having to go through the chore of doing all that.

That was on our no-meat Friday and my missus decided to cook it right away. She took it and cooked curry with it…

…using the aforementioned fish curry paste.

We had it for lunch and I must say it…

…sure looked good, don’t you think? Take my word for it – it was VERY nice and no, it was not over-spicy. It seems that you can pick the level of spiciness yourself…

…just that I am not so sure as to whether the sellers here will stock up on the complete range from 1 chili to 3. I could detect the lovely fragrance of the bunga kantan and that made it taste even nicer, a cut above the rest!

Now we can’t wait to try their instant curry paste for meat…

We’ll get down to that soonest!

TA KIONG EMPORIUM (2.2933,111.82713,783)…

…is located at No. 42-46, Jalan Tuanku Osman and opens daily from 8.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.

You’re not the one…

We loved the Ayam Brand instant Thai curry pastes that came in three colours, green, yellow and red even though they were not spicy at all, not even a bit. I suppose we can pound and add our own chili if we so desire but unfortunately, for reasons unknown, they disappeared from the shelves in the shops and supermarkets, never to be seen again.

In the meantime, I saw them aggressively promoting this…

…on Facebook, their instant curry paste. Of course, when we look at the photos in ads and posters and even menus, any dish would look like to die for – so very alluring, so very nice. Just look at the one on the packet – it does look good, doesn’t it?

That was why when my missus was grumbling about the aforementioned disappearing instant curry pastes, I told her about this one and asked her to buy a packet and give it a try…which she did.

I walked into the kitchen while she was simmering the curry…

…over the gas stove and surprisingly, I could hardly detect the smell. Usually, when we are cooking curry, the whole house would be filled with the most delightful fragrance but no, it was not the case with this one.

Other than that, the colour was so yellowish…

…not as nice as when we are using our favourite A1 Mountain Globe instant curry paste…

The difference is pretty obvious, isn’t it?

If you have been following my blog faithfully, you would have read about how that favourite instant curry paste of ours has become so very hot, too hot for us to handle so we are looking for a substitute, an alternative that is just as nice but not so spicy hot. That is why we are trying this one out but it turned out that this one is worse – it is a lot spicier, so very very hot! The spiciness, I thought, is kind of different, something like when you eat cili padi, so fiery hot without the lovely chili taste and fragrance.

We have tried a few other brands but did not like any of them and I guess it is pretty obvious that this one in particular is not the one either. It is not too bad, that much I would say, edible but no, you would not see me rushing back to the shops to grab some more. Hopefully, they will bring those instant Thai curry pastes back soon or by some stroke of good luck, we will find a brand that is just perfect for us. Wish us luck in our search!!!

STOP PRESS:
Word has it that the Thai green curry instant paste is now available at Ta Kiong (but not the red and yellow curries) here in Sibu at this point in time.