Big salted fish

This is the biggest piece of salted fish I ever have in my pantry.

Hubby bought this salted fish (believed that it is a semah, one of the luxurious and pricey freshwater fish from Rejang River) from Lachau village while on the way back last weekend.

He requested me to cook it so on one evening, I cut a chunk and fry it. 

I removed the scale so it would be easier to cut. And here I went, frying the fish in hot oil.

Yummy looking right??

It is going to take us a long long time to finish the whole fish. 

Served by chef at home

Not the best but we couldn't ask for a better dinner than this!!

It was a Friday night (and a Good Friday holiday), and I didn't feel like sweating in the kitchen so we had a dine out in this cafe called Chef at Home.

How sad that I have never been to this Chef At Home when they were in their old location in Hui Sing. They moved to this new location in Green road few years ago.

Not hard to find. It is behind the Astro office (opposite Wisma Saberkas). Could not see from the main road, so you need to drive in to the back lane to spot it. The cafe is facing the residential area.

Its operating hours are from 3pm to 10pm daily, off on Tuesday. What's served by Chef at Home?? They offer nice and competitively-priced Western food. No pork served but they do have beer for those who drink.

Let's have a look at what was served by Chef at Home that evening.

Both hubby and I ordered these 2 drinks from the detox section. Basically blend of fruits that is good for detox. The white light green is called "Body Combat" while the red drink is named "Miracle Drink". Very catchy names.

This mushroom soup bun was what I came here for. Creamy and thick mushroom soup served in a big crusty bun. It was good. You have to drink some of the hot soup then slowly peel and eat the bun. The bun was nice and soft to go with the soup. A great starter.

Next, hubby's sirloin steak. He requested medium rare and it was perfectly executed.  A thick slab of steak accompanied by baked potato, green salad and blacsauce.

We ordered this pasta primavera for sharing. Quite a portion.

Taste-wise, the tomato base was good. Pasta was well cooked.

Next came the Fish N Chip. Never go wrong ordering Fish N Chip for the kids.

For yours truly, I have chilled salmon. How I missed salmon.

Mine that night was nice; crispy skin with flaky flesh.

Their molten chocolate cake aka Melting Moment was their specialty dessert. Really a tempting dessert that everyone enjoyed. Chocolate cake at one end and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the other end.

While writing this post, I am actually craving for it! Could remember the chocolate lava oozing out from the cake. It's that sinful!

Tab for the dinner.

Roll it like croquette

Croquette ~ simple definition : a roll or ball of meat, fish or vegetables that is covered in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in oil.

Last week, I made this simple chicken & potatoes croquette for dinner.

I got my little helper to help me with the rolling part so it did not take long preparing the croquettes at all.

Chicken & potatoes croquettes (for 3 - 4 persons)

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized potatoes

1 cup minced chicken

1/2 onion, chopped

1 egg yolk

1/2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tbsp. Japanese bread crumbs, plus more for dredging

Oil for frying

Methods:

1. Prepare the mashed potatoes - boiled sliced potatoes in salt-added water.  Mash and put aside.

2. In a large bowl, combined mashed potatoes with chicken, onion, butter, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp. Japanese bread crumbs; mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or several hours.  This will make forming the croquettes easier.

3. Roll the mixture into oblong shapes, roll into the egg, and then Japanese bread crumbs. Make sure all the rolls are properly covered in egg and bread crumbs.

My croquettes are ready to be dipped into egg and breadcrumbs

Croquettes ready to be fried or kept

Can be rolled like this. Or you may prefer ball or disk shape instead?

4. In a large pan, heat up the oil until shimmering.  Fry the croquettes over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden throughout, 4 - 6 minutes total.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.  Serve hot.

Crispy outside yet soft and tasty filling. Dip into your favourite sauce or serve with some coleslaw or green salads.

Remark:

To freeze and keep, roll the uncooked croquettes in egg and bread crumbs and freeze in batches.  Take them from the freezer and fry directly, without thawing. 

When frying, do not overcrowd the pan so you will have crispy croquettes.

Noodles in Yeow Kee

It was middle of the week. 

Woke up early to get the kids ready for school. When it was about 640am, I hurried the kids to school. Their school is actually very near. Just within a minute drive but I prefer to drive out early and drop them off to avoid the jam. Going to school is not a problem; it is the going back route because some day I could get stuck and unable to turn to my residential area due to the long queue if I am few minutes late.

That early morning everyone caught the glimpse of the beautiful moon in the sky. Lovely, don't you think?

The sky outside my house late in the morning

It was another warm day in Kuching.  Very warm and stuffy. 

Did not know what to have for breakfast.  In the end, I decided to go to 101 Premier for food hunt.  Yes,  I said "food hunt" because by then, I were still undecided on what to eat.

I were with my mum; as usual our weekly mum & daughter (and grandson) get-together and breakfast date.

So, we found a parking space (sometimes it could be a pain in the ass to get one at that area) and although we needed to walk a bit, we went to Yeow Kee Kopitiam for our breakfast.  It has been a while since I ate there.  Usually it was packed to the brim and hard to get a seat there.  So we were surprised to see that it was not packed that morning when we were there.

We seated right in front of the Dian Bing Hu stall as mum wanted to order from it.  She loves Dian Bing Hu so much.  And this stall serves good Dian Bing Hu in clear soup.  It has other soup varieties but mum ordered Dian Bing Hu (normal bowl for RM5) that morning.

dian bing hu

It was nice and warming bowl of goodness.  Thin, almost translucent rice flour noodle in a very clear soup, not much MSG and they using fresh handmade fish balls.

duck noodle

For me, I went for the duck noodle stall which is 2 stalls away from the Dian Bing Hu stall. Tasted the duck noodle long long time ago and I remember it was very nice.  

Besides duck meat, they also serve you 2 big meat dumplings, 2 fish balls and blanched greens to go with the noodle.

It was not as nice as I could remember it. Used to be RM5.00 back in 2009, now cost RM8.00 per plate. The duck meat was slightly salty while noodle was over-seasoned with pepper and MSG.  Not really enjoyed it but I finished my plate nevertheless; never a person that wasting her food!

Well, it was not much of a good breakfast for me in Yeow Kee, but at least someone has a good time, enjoying her dian bing hu there.  *wink*

It's hot

The weather is turning from cold to hot. Very very hot on certain days especially in the afternoon where you could feel the sun piercing through your skin.

We did not ventured out much over the weekend. Hubby mostly prefer to stay at home, resting and relaxing, playing his computer games. The only time we gone out would be for breakfast, grocery shopping and church on Sunday. 

Last Sunday after our church service, we stopped by this place for lunch.

They do not have air-con all over the place so it could be pretty stuffy on a hot afternoon. Luckily they switch on the floor fan to keep us cool or I couldn't imagine how to dine in such condition.

When the children's nasi lemak ayam goreng came, the rice was steaming hot!! Need to wait for a while before they could dig into the rice. I asked for the sambal to be taken off since both kids do not take sambal.

My girl was attempting to eat with her hand. We encouraged her to try it out.  After few mouthful, she gave up and went back to her fork and spoon.

As usual, I had its briyani rice. Hubby had briyani too but he ordered fried chicken to go with it while I opted for lamb curry.

Delicious and spicy hot lamb curry. 

Other than the vegetables that they scooped onto the banana leaf, we were also given this prickled onion. I took a bite, kind of sweet. Not my cup of tea so I passed the whole saucer to hubby.

Did I finish my banana leaf? You bet! I could never let my food go to waste. That may be the reason why my waistline is expanding. *wink*

Our total damage! Could only come here once in a blue moon. 

Sandwiched

The rest of the school holiday went by so fast that I did not remember what we really did. I know that most of the times we were in front of the tv. Or making mess with all those toys in the family hall.

But it was a good school holiday for the kids. Maybe a little bored but at least they got the rest and worry-free from school. The weather was scorching hot most of the times and with a faulty car air-con, I were super lazy and reluctant to drive out other than sending kids to their tuition and extra classes and buying some food and grocery.

Few days ago, I made us a simple delicious sandwich. The kids were happy to have this because they wouldn't mind riceless meals if possible!

Decadent and drool-worthy, this sandwich is delicious and super good for any time of the day!

Could you guess what's sandwiched in between??

Grilled beef roast & potato sandwich

Make for 1

Ingredients:
1 beef roast, seasoned with pinch of salt and pepper on both sides
extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 slices of sandwich bread (or hearty Italian bread is better!)
Handful of lettuces
1 potato, sliced
Mayo
1 Cheddar cheese
Butter for spreading

Methods:
1. In a pan, add a tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil.  Pan-fried the beef roast on both side for few minutes.  Dish out and let it cool slightly.
2. Season the potato with pinch of salt and pepper. In the same pan, fry the potato slices till cook.
3. Spread some butter on one side of the bread.  Toast the butter-side bread in a pan. Dish out.
4. Lay the beef roast on one of the bread; oiled-side facing up.  Then top with some slices of potato, lettuce, cheese and mayo. Top with the remaining bread.
5. In a pre-heated microwave, grill the sandwich for 30 seconds till the cheese melt.

Let the sandwich set in for a minute or so, then dig on in.

So luscious, so satisfying!

Saturday look like

This was how our Saturday look like.

In morning, we went for our usual breakfast place for kolo mee. After we were done, we dropped Jay to his tuition and we went to the Trinity Book Room in Ellis road to buy bible for him. He used mine so we decided to suprise him by buying him a new one. A bible of his own.

Some stuff sold in Trinity Book Room which owned by Trinity Methodist Church.

Books

Souvenirs like bookmarks, bracelets, pencils

Pillows, towels etc

Easter egg decor

And Easter is coming soon. While we shopped, we heard some bands performing in the vicinity of the church.

It was a warm day. After picked Jay from tuition we went home and took afternoon nap. Everyone except Jan who cannot stop reading the new books that we bought from Trinity Book Room. A bookworm she is, she actually finished up all the books that day!

In the evening, we had our dinner in this restaurant. Everyone was famished and gladly the food came out without a long wait. Probably we were the 1st few tables that evening.

Our sizzling hot soft beancurd could be heard from a distance before it actually reached our table. So sizzlingly hot that we had to wait for it to cool down before digging in.

Soft taufu sitting on top of a fried egg and coated with minced meat in sweet sauce. Lovely starter to our dinner.

Next came this sweet and sour deep-fried squid. I personally prefer fish fillet to squid in this method of cooking but the squid was quite good here. Chewy and coated in batter, the sweet and sour sauce makes it appetizing.

The family's favourite, fu rong tan (fried omelette with chilli, onion, carrot, Chinese sausage and prawns) will never go wrong.

But this mei cai kou rou (steamed pork belly with preserved mustard green) was not what we enjoyed. I think we had it before but forgot how it was. 

The pork belly was too thick and fat to me. But the preserved mustard gravy was nice. Not too salty and overwhelming. We simply have to wrap this dish for takeaway as by then everyone was full to eat this.

The rest of the evening?? We spent watching tv and relaxing.