Sour eggplant

Terung asam as the locals call this. Rich in vitamin, it can be stir fried with other vegetables or sardin, or cook in soup. 

I rarely buy and cook it at home but if I see people serving in economy rice stall, I do not mind buying to go with my rice. 

It happened that my man bought home 3 of this terung assam last week. They were still green then so I kept them under room temperature before decided on how to cook them. 

Over the weekend they turned yellowish and ready to be cooked. So here was how I cooked them. Simple and no hassle. 

I used up 2 of the eggplants. The remaining one, maybe I stir fry it with anchovies another day. So, I washed the terung asam and then cut them into wedges. Removed the seeds. 

After that, boiled a pot of water and added the eggplants in it. Let it cook till soften.

Meanwhile, prepared the mortar and pestle. Sliced 2 red onions and add into the mortar. Added about 3 tbsp of anchovies. Grinded the ingredients well before added about 1 tbsp of belacan. Pounded and mixed well. Added into the pot of eggplants and let it simmer. Tasted with salt and ready to serve!! 

More to it

We noticed that the Malay Mee Jawa stall has changed hand not long ago. The previous stall operators were an old couple but this new person was a much younger lady.

The menu was more extensive than the previous operator. They still have Mee Jawa as their main dish but you could see new dishes such as Nasi Ayam Penyet, Nasi apecel Lele, Nasi Goreng Pattaya, Mee Kolok and more. 

Anyway, my hubby gave it a try few days ago. He usually came here for handmade noodle but that morning, he wanted to try the Mee Jawa.

Mee Jawa daging for RM6. I tried a sip of the gravy. Very spicy. Coukd detect the sweet potato gravy but it was more spicy. Reminded me of curry mee more.

Hubby gave it a thumb up. He enjoyed this flavourful dish. Something to perk up his morning, he said!!

And guess what? The following day he was craving for it so much that he asked to drive and tapau for him for dinner!! He must be really love and enjoy it so much! 

So I came over around 5pm and it was opened. Special request of extra beef. RM7 for hubby's takeaway.  He finished till the last drop!! 

As always whenever we had breakfast at this place and still stayed put till 730am, we bought some curry puff home from the Malay kuih stall, which was next to the Mee Jawa stall. Business was always so good; their nasi lemak was pretty good and sold out fast!!

Hubby bought 1 pack of nasi lemak special and curry puff for his lunch and tea break in office. 

Nasi lemak with 1 whole hard-boiled egg for RM3 and curry puff sold at RM1 for 3 pieces. Jay's favourite curry puff. He could finish a pack of RM3 curry puff and pass on his lunch sometime. Lol. 

Again

Last Saturday, hubby and I dropped by MJC Curry House for brunch after did some grocery shopping.

It has been a while since we dine in here so it was kind of nice to be able to eat out. Not so crowded as it was rather early. I said it was brunch as it was after 10am. Hubby was hungry even after he ate a sandwich for breakfast that morning.

So we ended up here for some Indian food. I decided to go for rice. Not planning to have lunch so might as well I ate rice for my brunch. I went for briyani rice. 

I took 3 dishes to go with the rice. Spiced bittergourd, deep fried spiced chicken wing and curry fish. Yes, that was my cheat meal. Sinful and hearty. 

Hubby had mee maggi goreng. 

And this morning, we went back there for breakfast slightly before 7am. Too early to go for something hearty so I decided to have roti telur instead. Again, hubby had mee maggi goreng. 

We do like coming here when we crave for some Indian food. Nearer is one thing. The food is decent.  

Weekend again!

Yes, it was weekend again. And as usual, hubby and I woke up early on Saturday.  And found ourselves a raining morning.

That did not disrupt our Saturday routine. We went to Desa Wira to get our pork and vegetable supply. 

After done with our shopping, and since we were in the vicinity, we headed to Megabite Batu Kawa for breakfast. 

Hubby had his usual, kolo mee with kiaw soup (dumpling). I did not feel like having kolo mee that morning, so I went for fried kway teow from the fried stall instead. 

RM5 for this plate of fried kway teow. Sweeter version, which I rarely order but I don't mind once in a while. 

After filling up our tummies and bought takeaway kolo mee for the kids, we headed home. 

Maybe it was the rain or other reason, tummy tended to get hungry fast. Luckily we bought some kuih in Desa Wira. RM10 for these kuih.

A week ago

Kids are officially not going to school anymore. So I have been busy with their school works especially for Jamie who needs supervision. 

More cooking at home nowadays, so nothing interesting to share in my blog. 

Other than normal stuff, I am busy with Jamie's eczema. On and off war with his skin condition. 

My dad went for an operation a week ago in Borneo specialist hospital.

He has some issue with his intestine. In other word, his intestine dropped from the normal position due to carrying heavy stuff for long duration. So he underwent an adjustment and reconstructive operation to adjust his intestine back to normal position. 

He admitted and did the operation last Wednesday. I visited him in the evening, and passed him some porridge that I cooked. He discharged the next day and rest at home.

On Saturday, we visited him and mum. He was happy to see us, and the kids got to spend a couple of hours with their cousins. 

Glad everything was fine and dad is recovering. He will be going back to hospital for check up tomorrow. My bro will accompany him. Wish him a speedy recovery and get well soon.

Not the same

On my recent visits in past month, I ordered tomato noodle when I dined in this coffee shop. Same flavour but different noodle.

One time, the stall operator wrongly heard my order. I wanted the crispy noodle version but ended up with this noodle. My least favourite noodle! 

Anyhow it was slightly hard as not totally cooked. And the noodle definitely tasted weird in the tomato gravy. Not the same as with crispy noodle. 

Another time which was very recent, I decided to go for kway teow.  Yes, prefect plate of tomato kway teow. Enjoyable breakfast for me as I finished everything to the last bite. 

Next round I am back here, I will order its  tomato crispy noodle and hope they would not get it wrong. The last time I had it here was back in August! Kind of missing it. 

She cooked

My mum-in-law was staying with us for less than 2 weeks. First few days, hubby was busy driving her around to settle some family stuff. After that, she spent most of her time with me and kids at home. We did brought her out for breakfast few times. 

However with Kuching being a red zone for past few weeks, we stayed mostly at home. And I cooked more, less going out. Once in a while she will give me a tip or two on how to cook certain dishes.

But last Monday, she cooked this assam fish head dish for lunch. Hubby caught a very big fish and after fillet it, we took the head and tail to make assam fish head.

I haven't had assam fish head for quite sometime, so I was pretty looked forward to it. My mum-in-law version of assam fish head, the much clear and soupy which I enjoyed more than the thicker soup. 

Ingredients:

Fish head, bones and tail, scalded with warm water for few minutes. 

1 cube chicken stock

2 lemongrass, bruised

Minced garlic

Sliced ginger

Tamarind paste, added with about two cups of water

1 tbsp curry powder

Water enough to cover the fish

Cooking oil

Sugar to taste

Methods:

1. In a pot, heat up about 3 tbsp cooking oil. Add in garlic, lemongrass and ginger and saute till fragrant.

2. Add in tamarind juice. Cook till it boils then add in the scalded fish parts.

3. If not enough water to cover the fish parts, add in more water. Add in the chicken stock and curry powder and let it simmer in the pot. 

4. Less than an hour, the fish part will be soften and cooked. Add in some sugar to balance the sourness.  Mix well and turn off the heat. 

Couldn't have enough

Hubby in particular just couldn't have enough of this handmade noodle from this coffee shop in MJC.

For instance last week we had the noodle thrice. Twice we brought along my mum-in-law and once just the two of us.

We quite enjoyed the handmade noodle from one of the stalls here.

Other than the handmade noodle, we also liked the Sarawak laksa. I bought it for my mil to taste once. She wasn't fond of Sarawak laksa so she tasted the broth only while I took it for lunch that day. 

On our last visit last Saturday, after we had our handmade noodle for breakfast, the Malay stall was opened. So we bought some kuih and nasi lemak home. 

Pulut panggang, no filling. Hubby had them with kaya!! 

The best curry puff we had so far. Big and puffy. Generous of curry potato filling as well, which we enjoyed so much. 

One pack of nasi lemak for me that afternoon. RM2 per pack. 

It was good. They gave few salted fishes, which I like. Hubby sometime requested for 1 whole hard-boiled egg instead of half portion, which cost extra 50cents. He just could't get enough of the nasi lemak that he brought it few times to office. 

Remember it

I remember when on our last family trip to Kapit few years ago, my parents-in-law took us to a coffee shop for dinner.

We ordered few dishes that evening and one of them was this stir fried water spinach with pig's blood cubes.

For me, it was an unusual dish as I never thought of combining kangkong and pig's blood in a dish. Seldom people in Kuching serve such too.

Anyway, it was last Sunday. Together with my man and mil, we went to Desa Wira shop to get our pork supply and some vegetables. Saw a pack of pig's blood cubes sold at RM2 (6 big cubes), so we bought a pack.

My mil assisted and taught me on how to handle the pig's blood. Just blanched with warm water for a while and then toss the water away before cut the cubes into desired size.

The rest was my turn. Ingredients beside the water spinach were chopped garlic, sliced shallots and ginger. 

Heat up some oil in the wok. Then toss in the garlic, shallots and ginger and saute till fragrant. Add in the water spinach and pig's blood. Cook till the vegetable has soften. Add in some oyster sauce, and pinch of salt. Mix well and dish out. Serve warm. 

Pig's blood was more than the vegetable although we only use 3 cubes. More like pig's blood stir fried with kangkong! 

I don't mind pig's blood as it was rather tasteless. Stir fried with enough heat, then it would be firmer and nice to eat. 

Ranting on last month

October has been a busy and eventful month.

Kids have started to go back to schools in September and just 2 months, they are back to online classes due to closure of schools this week. Two weeks of closure for the red zone Kuching and Padawan districts.

My beloved father-in-law was laid to rest and now is in a better place early last month. Hubby drove all the way from Kuching to Kapit and vice versa using the new road. After many years of long wait, Kapit is now connected by road. No longer a secluded and isolated place, where only can be reached by boat in the past. 

I had been busy with Jamie's eczema issue. He had severe eczema attack which prompted me to send him to see dermatologist last month. 3 visits to the dermatologist sounded a lot but luckily his skin problem is under control now. A visit once a month is in order now. Otherwise we will be served with big medical bills!!

My mother-in-law is staying with us for the first time. She has been with us for a week now and will be back sometime next week. Hubby and the 2 older kids will be sending her home by driving back to Kapit.

That is all for time being. Not much going out lately due to concern of soaring Covid-19 cases in Kuching. So, not much food adventure from me. Shall not post much but once I have anything interesting, I shall share with you.

For now, take care and stay safe, everyone. We can go through this together!