Now that we are at home most of the time, for want of something to do to pass the time, we have been watching a lot of television. No, I do not watch my missus’ favourite Korean channels; most of the time, I would watch those food and travel channels and of course, the news channels.
Last Saturday afternoon, when I got up from my nap, I saw my girl cooking something in the kitchen. She said she was making some calzones…
…probably inspired by the ones we saw time and time again on those western cooking and travel shows.
For the uninitiated, a calzone is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza…
…often described as a turnover, made with leavened dough, stuffed with whatever filling you choose…
My girl had minced beef in hers with Bombay onions and potatoes, lots of cheese, some pasta sauce (with extra mushroom, it said on the bottle) and whatever else. She and the mum shared one for dinner that evening and they were too full after that to eat anything else. I tried a little bit and I loved it – it was really very nice but it was so big and I did not have anybody to share it with so I just ate whatever we had for our meals that day.
I did send one to my sister for her to enjoy and there were another two left so the next morning, I took one…
…out of the fridge and heated it up in the oven for breakfast.
It seemed that the reheating made the bread pastry a bit crusty and it came across like thin crust pastry in pizzas – that was very nice and I liked it! Of course, it was way too big so I only had half of it…
…and left the other half in the oven for later.
A calzone is similar to a stromboli, an Italian-American pizza turnover, and the two are sometimes confused. Unlike strombolis, which are generally rolled or folded into a cylindrical or rectangular shape, calzones are always folded into a crescent shape.
I did mention the Chinese pancake or ban chang kuih (慢煎糕) stall…
…in the next lane a number of times already but I never blogged about it.
It used to be parked right in the middle of the parking area in between the two blocks of shops along Jalan Ruby and perhaps, for the simple reason that it was so popular, its location is indicated quite prominently in Google maps, despite being just a makeshift stall, set up under a temporary canopy. I don’t know what transpired but it has moved to the five-foot way beside my regular food and fruit grocer there (and the vegetable seller by the side has moved to the front of the coffee shop in the other block at the very end).
Probably the reason why I’ve never featured it in my blog was the fact that I did not patronise it all that often. It used to open at 4 something and our tea time every day is around 3 o’ clock plus I am usually very lazy to go out in the afternoon. A long time ago, he used to close his stall come evening time and move to the pasar malam (night market) but eventually, he said he did not do that anymore – his mother would run the business at the other end. I don’t know if they still run the stall there or not but I’ve noticed that they open earlier here now, around 3.00 p.m. and I noticed that many customers would call him and place their advance orders to be collected later.
The other day, I hopped over to one of the shops there to buy a few things that we had run out of in the house but I was way too early, around 2.30 p.m. and the guy had not set up everything yet, much less started cooking/making the ban chang kuih (慢煎糕). He kept apologising even though it wasn’t his fault but I told him it was all right as I could just buy some of the other things that he had for sale.
I bought these chai peah/vegetable fritters (5 for RM2.00)…
As a matter of fact, my missus once told me that she met my cousin (staying at Rejang Park) who made a detour here after work (from the bus terminal area) just to buy the chai peah – she insisted they were her favourite in town even though they do have some pretty nice (and popular) ones at a stall at Rejang Park itself and there were only 3 left that day so she grabbed all of them (they were 3 for a ringgit then).
I also bought these tee peang (also 5 for RM2.00)…
I did not want to buy the ones with meat filling so I did not ask how much those were but we were of the opinion that the ones here paled in comparison to those that we have bought elsewhere so we would just give these a miss next time.
I saw these deep fried chiew chu kuih/tapioca cake (5 for RM2.00)…
…and I thought they looked very good so I bought some to try. Yes, they were indeed VERY nice, not very sweet but they were sweet nonetheless and since I am on a low-sugar diet, I should not be buying these too often – once in a while and just a piece or two should be fine. I thought the serimuka and the kao teng kuih (Chinese layer cake) looked very nice as well but I was able to resist the temptation and did not grab those too, thank goodness!
The Chinese pancake or ban chang kuih (慢煎糕) stall is located on the five-foot way in front of the TCM clinic between Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket and Swee Hung (2.316161, 111.840441) along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end.
Last Friday, early in the morning, I went over to my favourite fish and seafood stall close by. We did not feel like eating the kilat and the prawns nor the slab of salmon that we had in the freezer and I was hoping there would be some nice sotong that I could buy for my girl.
She loves those squids a lot but unfortunately, that morning, they only had those small ones. They are such a chore to clean, I told the boy, and after cooking, they will shrink so badly that there would not be very much left. He agreed with what I said and did not insist on my buying those that they had. They are not in season yet, he replied.
In the end, I decided to buy one HUGE or chio/ikan bawal hitam (black pomfret) to cook and eat that day. I did see it the other day but I did not buy any. The lady said this variety, RM25.00 a kilo, could be steamed but no, I think we would prefer it deep fried. There were those small ones but I bought so many the last time and we would fry one for lunch and another one for dinner again and again and after we had eaten all of them, I felt we had had enough of those for a while.
This was just half of the or chio…
…so you can imagine how big it was, definitely more than a kilo, definitely more than enough for two meals, lunch and dinner.
In the meantime, I spotted some fairly big ikan terubok (toli shad), around 600 gms. each, going for RM25.00 a kilo too. If it had been any bigger than that, it would not fit into my Tatung pot nor my mini counter-top oven. I did not see any on my previous visit so my guess was these were new arrivals. I asked for a few and I cooked one…
…with the intention of sending it to my aunt in the kampung to enjoy but as soon as I got home from my marketing, it started pouring cats and dogs and did not stop till afternoon. Left with no other choice, I changed my mind as I did not fancy going out in the nasty weather and we ended up eating the fish ourselves. I suppose I can take another one from the freezer some other day to cook for her.
I sure hope the rain did not ruin their business for the day that day – they only open when there is fresh supplies till 1.00 p.m. and that was the time when the rain stopped that day. I really pity these people on days like this.
We had the or chio…
…on Sunday instead – my missus served it sweet and sour as our girl loves fish that way and despite its size, the meat was so good, smooth and very fresh and sweet. We absolutely enjoyed it to the max and I certainly would want to buy a few more to keep in our freezer should I happen to drop by the stall again.
Back to that morning when I was there, the nice and generous lady was filleting some fish to make fish paste (for making fish balls) and she gave me all the bones to make fish stock. That would be very nice for soup, she said, very sweet. I took them home and my missus saw that actually, there was still a lot of meat stuck to the bones so she patiently used a spoon to scrape it all off and made fish balls with it and together with the stock, she cooked this awesome dish of creamy tom yum…
Boy! That was so so so good!!!
No, that wasn’t all! The lady also gave me this green papaya…
…and said that I could cook soup with it. I think I did that before and yes, it was nice but I had something else in mind.
I overheard my girl asking the mum to make some som tam (Thai papaya salad) sometime ago and I did see the latter buying some of the fruit but eventually, they ripened and they peeled them and ate, no som tam. Perhaps the fruits were not green enough, already starting to ripen so they were not so suitable for the Thai salad dish.
Yes, we did have som tam…
…in the end that day and that too was absolutely out of this world which prompted my girl to make a special request for the mum to make some yum woon sen or seafood glass noodles salad…
…this coming Friday. Yes, we have those big prawns in the fridge and lots of tang hoon (glass noodles) in the pantry. Hopefully, I can get some nice fresh sotong over the next few days.
In the meantime, I really must give a BIG shout out to say thank you, thank you to Madam Lau, for the freebies. With this kind of PR and customer service, of course, you will see me going back there for more, that’s for sure.
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.
…that day at the stall located at the back of the coffee shop. Well, there were only two left so I did not have much choice.
The skin did not look that good – it did not have those nice creases on top and actually, it was not quite there. I found it kind of hard, not soft and cushiony so I was rather disappointed with it. On the other hand, the filling…
…was very nice. I would say that of all the steamed paos that we have around here, I like the filling in this one the most…
…just that I was wishing the whole time that there had been an egg in it, even if it had been just one eighth of it.
Honestly, I cannot understand why these people making steamed paos are so stingy with the egg especially when it is actually not expensive at all. I cannot remember how much I paid for these, probably RM2.00 each but unless they do something about the skin, never mind the egg, I do not think I will buy them again. However, much to my surprise, my missus had the other one and she liked it a lot! Ah well! Like what I always say, to each his/her own!
After making my purchases at the stall that morning, I stopped by my neighbourhood shop in the next lane and much to my delight, I saw they had midin (wild jungle fern)…
I asked for TWO bags full, RM6.00 each. I did not bother to find out the net weight even though RM6.00 did seem a bit on the high side. The boy did say that they had smaller bags, RM4.70 each but no, I was quite happy with the big ones. I remember vaguely that it was RM4.00 a kilo or something like that a long long time ago – that was what I paid for the paku I bought that day and boy, we sure enjoyed that to the max.
Usually, we would buy these wild jungle ferns at the jungle produce section at the Sibu Central Market but I was always so pissed off by how dishonest those ethnic sellers were. They would tie the ferns in bundles, wrapped in some leaves and sell for RM2.00 each but upon reaching home, when we opened up the bundle, we would find all the withered ones hidden in the middle and those would have to be thrown away. In the end, we would not have very much left. That was why when dealing with those people, it would be best to buy two bundles at a time.
I did mention time and time again that I have not gone to the central market since the outbreak of the pandemic, not when we see news of cases among the sellers or the customers again and again and again. Thankfully, we can get these ferns around here once in a while.
That day, my missus fried one bag with sambal hay bee/udang kering (dried prawns)…
…and one can see quite obviously from the photograph how fresh and “fat” (fertile) they were and yes, they were really very crunchy, so very nice, indeed…unlike the miserable shrivelled, semi-withered ones from those people selling the jungle produce at the market, may God forgive them!
ZHEN SAN MEI CAFE (2.312704, 111.847134) is located in the block of shops to the right of Delta Mall along Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, beside Dynapower, the shop selling all the electrical appliances and what notwhile 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.
…but all this while, I did not bother to go and check it out.
Finally, at long last, one fine Saturday morning, I decided to stop by. It was only around 9 something in the morning but I was told that they were all sold out. That was the morning when I went to this stall at another coffee shop to the left a stone’s throw away. They told me to come back on Monday and advised me to go a bit early, around 7 or 8 as they would be sold out quickly.
I did not go back on Monday but on Tuesday morning, at around 8, I went to check it out. Unfortunately, I was told that the one making was taking the day off and they asked me why I did not show up the day before. Gee! They remembered!
In the end, I decided to buy their popiah (RM1.20 each)…
…for breakfast since I was already there. I can vaguely recall buying it before to try and though it was all right, it just wasn’t anything to shout about, nowhere near the ones we make ourselves. Probably that was why I never went back for more.
True enough, it was all right…
…much nicer with my missus’ own blended chili.
There were only two steamed paos left; according to the guy, they were made by the same people making the popiah but I did not take a photograph of those before putting them away in the fridge. I’ll blog about them if they are any good, otherwise they will join the ranks of the rest of the forgettables I’ve had the displeasure of sampling before.
I also bought these huat koi/发糕 (RM1.20 each)…
…and while the texture was nicely done, I would agree with my girl that it was a bit too strong on the fermentation smell and taste. I’ve had nicer ones elsewhere.
I guess the tee peang will just to wait till another day. If anybody is heading this way soon, park your car in the parking area at the back of the shop where the “stall” is – that way, it will be much easier to go and buy without any close encounters with the customers dining in at the coffee shop. #staysafe #staywell
ZHEN SAN MEI CAFE (2.312704, 111.847134) is located in the block of shops to the right of Delta Mall along Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Dr Wong Soon Kai, beside Dynapower, the shop selling all the electrical appliances and what not.
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.
…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.
I did mention in my previous blogposts that I have not been all that active in my gardening these days. I just do a bit of trimming and weeding and I get somebody to come around once a month to cut the grass. I also mentioned before that the ladies, on the other hand, have started to spend some time in the garden planting vegetables. So far, I could see some ladies’ fingers, brinjal, tomato and kangkong.
The two brinjal plants seem to be thriving pretty well…
…but it has been some two to three months now and we have yet to see anything coming out of them. That was why when I saw Nancy’s beautiful eggplant and green brinjals, I was so envious – some people are so blessed with green fingers!
That prompted me to comment, “My daughter’s brinjal is growing very well, plants look good but they do not bear any fruit, dunno why. So sad to see!!!”
She was kind enough to give me a prompt reply, “Brinjal takes a longer time to fruit. Just need to be patient. The flowers come and go before they finally turn into brinjals,” to which she added, “Fertilizing the plants will help too.” I guess we do not have a choice but to be patient and wait, hoping and praying for the best.
Needless to say, I was delighted the other day when I saw this…
…and what I want to know is whether that is a flower or a fruit and is that an indication that we shall have something to harvest soon?
We do not have any problem with the ladies’ fingers. The plants have grown so very tall now and they are flowering and bearing fruit…
…regularly but the ladies did not plant that many so each harvest…
…we probably have enough for one plate for a meal only.
Talking about fertilizing, my rambutan tree sure is in need of some tender loving care. It has been doing very well…
Unfortunately, I’ve been neglecting it for a long time now and it does not seem to be flourishing anymore. The leaves look kind of sparse and there are some withered branches here and there. It certainly is a pathetic sight and I wasn’t expecting anything from it this year.
Much to my surprise, it has started flowering!…
A bit slow considering that they are selling mountains of the fruit everywhere all over the town right now even though it is somewhat out of season – we usually have rambutans and all kinds of fruits including durians and dabai at the end of the year.
I do not expect a lot of fruits and I won’t be surprised if they are small and not all that juicy…but I promise to fertilize it and give it some new organic soil and water it regularly once the fruit season is over (they say I can’t do that when the tree is flowering and bearing fruits).
These came from the bakery directly opposite the school where I was teaching before I retired…
…and yes, I do recall walking across the road to buy the lovely cupcakes that I did enjoy a lot. I think I did buy their steamed paos too but I can’t really put my finger on it. I don’t think my missus got these from there though – she probably got them from one of the shops in the next lane from my house. A lot of bakeries and small home-based businesses would leave their products there for sale so it is very convenient for us to just hop over and grab whatever we want.
I do enjoy eating them with just butter, Golden Churn no less, steaming hot. The butter would melt in the heat and trickle down your fingers as you enjoy each bite. Of course, you can add peanut butter or kaya (coconut jam) or fruit jam, if you so desire or you may choose to fill it with whatever your heart desires, the same way as you would make a sandwich with sliced bread or a burger with a bun.
Well, that day, I took one and added two lettuce leaves…
Oopsss!!! I forgot to butter it first – that would be nice, I think. I bet that would bring the taste to a whole new level.
We did not have any stewed pork in the house but we did have some left over sliced pork belly cooked with salted fish and dried chili so I took a few pieces and placed them in the bun…
Other than those aforementioned places, you may be able to eat this at some restaurant where they will serve you these buns with a plate of stewed pork or dong po rou (东坡肉) like the lovely one here but unfortunately, both of these places have since closed down as well so if anyone is looking for this, he or she will have to look elsewhere.
I did mention in my blogpost the other day that despite the fact that we were staying at home, not doing anything much, time seemed to fly by so quickly and I also said that we were down to the last two or chio/ikan bawal hitam (black pomfret) that we had in our freezer and I would have to make my way to my favourite fish & seafood stall in our neighbourhood and stock up on some more.
Well, I did not hop over in the end. It happens all the time! I will tell myself I will go in the morning and the next day, I will change my mind and decide to just stay home and do without what I intend to buy.
No, we did not go without fish a fortnight ago on our no-meat Friday. I managed to grab hold of two slabs of salmon…
…from Chile…
…for RM62.00 at my regular shop in the next lane and we baked one of them for lunch and dinner. There was still some left over so the next day, my missus used the flakes to make some salad.
We did finish off the can of sardines, Marina, that I said was sitting in the pantry and the other day, when my missus had to go out, she stopped by one of the shops in the next lane and came home with two cans of this…
We actually prefer mackerel in tomato sauce to sardines and my missus likes Ayam more than Marina.
No, we did not open one on Friday last week nor did we finish off the remaining slab of salmon that was still in the freezer. Instead, I asked my girl if she would like to have some prawns…
…and yes, the recipe worked absolutely well with prawns…
It was so delicious, more delicious than the two times we had this recipe with fish, I would say. The prawns were very fresh, as good as new, so firm, so succulent!!!
Now, we do not have any more prawns in the freezer, just the small “cho liao” (use as ingredient) ones and no fish other than that solitary slab of salmon. I really must make my way to the fish & seafood stall soon.
I spotted it at the back of the coffee shop near my house when I hopped over there to buy the roast chicken, roast duck and char siew but it was already mid-afternoon and they were closing down for the day. You can park your car at the parking area at the back and come in via the back entrance – very convenient and no need for any close encounters with other fellow human beings who may be at the coffee shop at the time.
I noticed the cooking oil in the wok – it looked so clean and fresh unlike those that I’ve seen elsewhere so of course, I made up my mind to buy some of what they had for sale to give them a try.
The chai peah (vegetable fritters)…
…looked really good with the very generous sprinkling of the chives and they were bigger than the regular ones, that’s for sure.
However, whatever these were, they…
…caught my attention the instant I saw them.
The nice lady did say they were not tee peang (our Sibu Foochow version of the oyster cake) though there did seem to be a little similarity…
…in their appearance on one side. She did explain to me what it was but in Mandarin and I wasn’t really paying attention so I did not catch what she said.
Taking a closer look at it on the other side…
…I saw what looked like bubuk (very tiny shrimps, dried) and this was what it looked like inside…
My girl liked it and personally, I would say it was nice, something I would not mind having once in a while, selling for RM1.00 a piece but no, I could not detect the taste of the bubuk and no, I would not say that it swept me off my feet.
The chai peah…
…were nice, 3 for RM2.00 – the regular ones at the Ban Chang Kuih (Chinese pancake) stall in the next lane from my house are 5 for RM2.00 (used to be 6) and I do enjoy those very much as well. As far as these were concerned, other than the size and the extra chives, I did not think there was anything else that would make it stand out above the rest.
The lady told me that the guy was going to start frying the yew char koi/youtiao (油条/Chinese crullers) – no wonder the cooking oil in the wok looked sparkling new…and if I would wait for around 10 minutes or so, they should be ready pretty soon. I told her I would come back another time for that and left.
There are a number of people making and selling yew chai koi here, many of them Malays and they call it cakoi but unfortunately, none is like the ones I grew up eating way back in the good old days. So far, one good one that I came across was this one here – not some place that I would want to go all the way and with the pandemic dragging on and on, I am not even sure if it is still there or not.
MEI LE CAFE (2.313147, 111.846968) is located along Jalan Gambir, a stone’s throw away from the Delta Mall, straight ahead from the first turning to your left as soon as you turn into that road from Jalan Pedada, now Jalan Datuk Wong Soon Kai.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 