: : Mum-Mum : : Eat-Eat : :

: : Dinner : :

Know what? I completely forgot to take down the name of the Malay shop we ate dinner at!! Was such a tiring day today with too many meetings and rushing about organising an event.

Had a quick dinner before attending a rehearsal. BJ, UJ and myself had dinner at a nearby coffeeshop in Satok which is a predominant Malay area. It’s along the same row as Bank Utama but not in the same block. It’s about 3 blocks down. You can recognize the shop by the green lighting that is used.

Fried Rice Kampung Style

Kampung Style usually means ikan billis (salted anchovies) are added in. Also, since it’s Malay Style, chopped chillies are added in. Couldn’t quite taste the chilli in this one but presentation was good. Except that my flash was too bright. Without the flash, pic was very green and I’m still not that good at editing the pics.

Ice Lemon Tea

This tasted SOOOOO good after a long day at work. Thought it look pretty cute as well. A bit sweet though. Most Malay food tend to be a tad too sweet to me but that’s because I don’t quite have a sweet tooth.

There used to be a great Malay coffeeshop across the road from this one. Called Mat’s Cafe. But, they’ve moved to across river!! Sayang (pity). Sigh. Great tom yam soup, deep fried ikan manchung, porridge. Used to go there regularly and binged with others. Heck, he gets a lot of Chinese customers. The food is just awesome! Oh well.

Wanna see how who BJ, UJ and I are? Look for these feet. :p

: : Forgetful Memory : :

I’m getting really forgetful these day. Forgot to add in the picture of the ais kacang into the lunch menu. You might want to reload the page to see the pic.

: : Pasar Kampung, Tabuan Laru : :

Had lunch again at Pasar Kampung, Tabuan Laru, with the usual gang. Have told RC about this ‘fair’ and beautiful hands. Ha!

Nasi Lemak

Managed to take a shot of the nasi lemak that RC wallop a few days ago. SU was kind enough to let me take a snapshot before tucking in. From Chinese stall using halal chicken. I’ll leave it to the Muslim’s to decide whether it’s properly halal. Am not sure about it.

Hong Kong Mee

This was a towering dish! At least 5 cm high! Definitely a generous topping for RM3 (US$0.78), much more than at Thompson Corner. Probably due to the fact that the lunch crowd are mostly people who are labourers with tremendous appetite. BJ’s favourite dish : think this is the 2nd one in two days! From non-halal store : he uses pork so be forewarned.

Fried Kway Teow with Taugeh

My love affair with Fried Kway Teow cooked with Taugeh (bean sprouts). SU’s one yesterday was just too tasty for me to resist. So, am ordering it today. I think it’s just a family tradition to love fried kway teow. There’s something about the noodles that just makes it, oh, so irresistible. From the same stall that cooked the towering Hong Kong Mee.

Ang Tau Peng

Oppps! I actually forgot to add this in when I posted the Lunch Menu. Ang Tau Peng (Iced Red Bean) is one of the many varieties of ais kacang (iced beans) drink available. Another type is ais jaguang (iced corn drink). There are actually a lot of different ingredients one can try like the fluorescent green jelly (looks like worms), red sago (very tiny itsy bitsy jelly-type…err… round things), fruits, cincau (black sweetened jelly. can actually find them in powdered form nowadays). Compulsory ingredients are the brown sugar, evaporated milk or coconut milk and grenaldine syrup for the pink colour.

Here’s a close-up of the red beans found in the drink. Ais kacang is a favourite during hot weather. Surprisingly, in West Malaysia, the ais kacang drinks aren’t as colourful as the ones found in Sarawak. Don’t know the reasoning why. Anyway, I like a bit of colour. When it’s really brown, doesn’t look so attractive to eat. Haven’t seen a blue coloured ais kacang yet. :p

: : Kuih, Kueh : :

Since steph requested for some kuih muih pics, here are some of them. Funny how food looks good on a camera but doesn’t quite taste as good? I took these shots from the company cafeteria early this morning. Was trying to arrange them in an orderly manner but the rest of the other people were looking at me in a funny way. Also, the cafeteria staff started getting nervous when I whipped out my camera.

Granny’s contribution : helping me to identify the names of the different types of kuih. Note, she also got hungry. Ha!

Clockwise from top left : Ham Chee Peng, Yu Char Kuih, Kuih Lapis, Kuih Salat. The ham chee peng is not in it’s usual circular form. It’s a light fluffy bun that taste slightly saltish. Yu Char Kuih is my favourite but this version tastes so bland. Probably because they add too much flour that it becomes too tough. Yu Char Kuih goes great with porridge and bak kut teh though. Think it’ll also go great with chik kut teh (chicken version of bak kut teh). Kuih Lapis is a layered snack which 3 different colours. Even though it’s steamed, it’s still a bit oily from the glutinous flour used. Kuih Salat has a pandan layer on top and glutinous rice layer on the bottom. One of my favourite kuih.

Clockwise from top right : Hua Kuih, Ang Ku, Kuih Talam, Unknown Malay Kuih, Kuih Yam. The Hua Kuih looks a bit too thick but not sure. Ang Ku is a red kuih that has grounded peanuts inside. An addictive kuih, believe me. Granny and I were scratching our heads on the name of the kuih and the green and brown kuih. There are actually a lot of Malay kuih I have yet to sample. Not sure what is in Kuih Talam. Any ideas anyone? Kuih Yam is one of my all-time favourite. Missing some chopped chillies and spring onions on top though.

Top down : Pulut Udang, Chai Tau Kuih. Pulut Udang is actually glutinous rice with chopped dried prawn as filling. It’s wrapped up in pandan leaves and then steamed. Are those staples? Yep. They don’t use little toothpicks anymore. Staples became more convenient so remember to check that you’ve removed them. As for the chai tau kuih, it’s also addictive. It’s sometimes chopped up and fried with egg. Yummy.

Last kuih taken. This is the Kong Pia. It’s actually a very light, fluffly bun that surprisingly doesn’t taste oily but you can feel the oil in your fingers. I think Granny mentioned that it was a popular Foo Chow kuih but I could be mistaken.

There are actually more kuih outside but these are some of the popular ones. I have to seriously get out to the market one day with my camera and do the tourist thing. Just for the heck of it.

: : RC’s Hands : :

Joke of the night

wah, you’ve got very fair hands! i like!

jia | Email | 07.16.03 – 10:16 pm | #

Not my hands but RC’s….

He is a GUY!!

ROTFLMAO!!

Sorry Jia but it seriously was so funny.

: : Sarawak Laksa : :

Went out this evening to get steph’s sambal laksa (laksa paste) to make the famous Sarawak Laksa. This particular brand is the best tasting one in the whole Sarawak. Good laksa hawker stalls always use his paste. Sad to say that it’s only available in Kuching. When I used to live in Miri with my parents, we used to ‘order’ from whoever was coming up from Kuching.

Right, trying to recall what my father told me about the manufacturer. It’s a family-owned business somewhere in Green Road. They’ve been making laksa for a really long time. They used to run the St. Joseph school canteen where it first became famous. It’s a bit more expensive now compared to before but still very much so affordable.

It’s available in 300 g and 600 g packaging. I got the packets from a Chinese grocery shop called Goh Say Lak along Green Road. A bit far to travel from my home in Tabuan Jaya but it’s kinda difficult to hunt around Kuching looking for this particular brand as there are limited stock available. The shopkeeper amuses me : looks like a typical Chinaman with shorts and T-shirts and yet has a very polished English accent.

Here is a closeup of the packet. Yep, pitch dark brown. Can’t eat the ingredients though. The paste is boiled in water to extract out the delicious flavour. Then, drain the water and add coconut milk in it. Cholesterol, cholesterol, cholesterol. Behind the white label, there are instructions on how to cook the paste but Daddy dearest has a better recipe. Okay, I’m biased. So what? ;p He’s good at it and his laksa parties in Miri are famous.

The laksa stall at Tabuan Jaya makes a mean soup. My favourite. Other locations are the stall in front of Maybank Office in town, the coffeeshop in Sekama Road (can’t remember which one, sorry), coffeeshop next Grand Continental Hotel (mornings only!! it’s that popular). Then again, Hilton Hotel’s laksa soup is good as well but pricey at RM14 (US$3.67) but available the whole night (I think). For Sarawakians in KL, there’s a place in Bangsar that sells Sarawak Laksa. Can’t remember the name though. I just remembered it was along the same row as Coffee Bean but further up. Has throw pillows on the floor. Heard that it’s a bit pricey.

Okay, have ranted and raved enough about Sarawak Laksa. Gotta go. Enjoy it people.