Mum's way

Growing up, I love having my mum's salted chicken. It was flavourful, salty and went so well with white rice or even porridge. It has been ages since I had it, so one weekend, I decided to try cooking it at home. Following my mum's way of cooking salted chicken. 

This is a very simple Hakka salted chicken, as it only need very few ingredients.  Chicken, coarse salt, ginger and white pepper. And all you need is a wok and spatula.  

Ingredients:

2 chicken thinghs, cleaned

Coarse salt

Sea salt

Grated ginger, about 1 tsp

White pepper

Methods:

1. Rub sea salt, ginger and white pepper all over the thighs for an hour or so.

2. In a wok under low heat, add in the coarse salt once it is hot and fry the salt till it turns slightly brown. Place the chicken thighs on top of the salt.  Cover the chicken thighs with the coarse salt.

3. You can cover lid on the wok or leave it.  Turn the chicken twice along the cooking time. There will be some crackling sounds as the result of the salt drying up.

4. Cook for about 20 minutes or till chicken is cooked. Dish out the chicken from the salt. Discard the dirty coarse salt once it has cooled down.  Chop the chicken thighs into pieces once they have cool down. Serve warm.

Our simple Sunday dinner of Hakka salted chicken, braised pork trotter, and stir fried bok choy. Recipe of pork trotter which is also inspired by my mum, is here. Enjoy cooking and eating!

Meaty

There was one stall in this coffee shop that I had wanted to try for quite sometime but never get to till early this month. 

It was a Sunday and hubby, Jan and I went out leaving the boys at home. SOP was relaxed now with dine-in allowed and most businesses are open now. Jan wanted to get some parts for her RBT (reka bentuk & teknologi) subject project so we went to DIY. After that, we headed to this coffee shop to tapau before went home. 

Curry mixed rice. Looking at the menu, they also serve lo bak rice.  But I wanted to try its curry mixed rice, see if it was any good. 

The stall operator operated 3 stalls, namely economy rice, roasted meat and traditional curry rice. 

So, one Sunday morning, we dropped by the coffee shop, and bought takeaway for lunch. A very meaty lunch. 

Hubby had its lo bak rice while I stuck to my decision of tasting the curry mixed rice. RM7 each. 

I did not pour all curry gravy onto my rice as I shared it with my man. I much prefer fried egg instead of the stewed egg as traditional curry mixed rice (in my mind) supposed to have that. Anyway, this curry mixed rice was alright. The rice was soft and fluffy, meat was nice but char siew and braised pork were rather tough. 

Roasted chicken rice (RM6) for the kids. Their lunch was nicer with fragrant oil rice and tasty roasted chicken. 

What's there?

 It was the 1st Saturday of the month.

It was our monthly grocery shopping so hubby and I went to our usual place, Emart Hypermarket to do our shopping. As it was almost 830am, the place was rather crowded but still not too packed. We did not waste time, just did our shopping as quick as we could. We finished around 10am, and we thought of settling our lunch there.

There was a new Malay eatery that we had never patronised before, so we decided to see what's there on the menu. Malihah Chicken, a stone throw away from KFC. Clean and well managed outlet, the food was reasonably priced too.  Self-service and only cater for takeaway. 

We bought 3 packs of nasi lemak (RM3 each), 2 chicken burgers (RM2 each, with choice of beef and chicken), and 5 chicken wings (RM2 each).

Jan and Jay took the burgers, and they commented the burgers were spicy. 

Hubby took 2 packs of nasi lemak, I had one pack with a piece of chicken wing and I was full. Jamie ate his McD's porridge  for lunch that we bought in the morning.

For snack, we had this rainbow mix that we bought in Emart.  RM14.90 for this snack. I liked them as it was not roasted. 

Mix of nuts and raisins, where everyone could pick and enjoy. I like  the walnuts, raisin and pumpkin seeds the most.

When they open

When most businesses are allowed to open under current Phase 2 of National Recovery Plan last week, the first thing that came to our mind was to visit some of the shops.

No, not dine-in for us although it has been allowed last Friday in Sarawak. There was mixed reaction from us when it comes to dine-in as cases are still not going down drasticly. For time being, we prefer takeaway and food delivery than dine-in in eateries. 

One of the shops that we wanted to visit was hair salon. The boys (including the daddy) were in need of a good hair cut. It has been almost 2 months since their last cut so we had an overdue visit to our hair dresser last Saturday morning.

Another shop was electrical shop. My current fridge (10 years old) has some problem since April and we were not able to go to electrical shop as it was non-essential business that wasn't allowed to open till now.

Even after repair and services in March, the fridge wasn't working so well sometime. One day, it was very cold, ice was frozen but other day, the ice would melt. Since I have a deep freezer, I keep all my frozen stuff in there. So after much talk with hubby, we decided to get a new fridge this week.

New black steel fridge next to our old one

How about you? What was the first place you went to when we entered the new phase? 

A vintage shop's front display

Cucuk 💉

My first Covid-19 vaccination was on 28 June. Hubby got his first dose of Sinovac one week earlier at his panel clinic. We were familiar with the doctor so the doctor helped to arrange for mine as well.

Monday came and the clinic called me to ask whether I could make it for 2pm appointment. That VERY same day. Of course I was alright with it since I was free. So my first dose of Sinovac vaccine was administered that afternoon. 

The doctor noticed that I had mild skin allergy before gave me my dose so she advised that I took the allergy medication right after the jab. So once I was out from the doctor room, a nurse passed me a tablet with a cup of water. 

During the 15 minutes observation, I felt thirsty and my left arm was slightly sore. My left arm was sore and I felt lethargic for 2 to 3 days. Super thirsty, throat was dry and I kept on drinking a lot of water for couple of days. Other than that side effects, I was alright and continue with my daily chores. 

That night after the jab, I started to feel sleepy and tired, so I went to bed before 9pm. Yes, you read it correctly. I went to bed before everyone else! And I slept till the next morning and up around 7am. Oh my. Just in time to cook a quick breakfast before getting ready for the boy's online class. 

Three weeks later, yesterday afternoon I completed my 2nd dose of vaccine. 15 minutes observation period and at the same time, the nurse helped to activate the MySejahtera app and in few steps later, my digital certificate was displayed on my phone.

RM3 each, brought from a nearby fruits shop

I was much prepared this round. Bought 2 coconuts in the morning, and cut and drank the juice after I got back from my jab. Coconut juice can help in relieving fever and heatiness, some said. Maybe it did helped me, as I was doing alright yesterday.  No fever or tired. The only side effects I had were dry throat and sore arm (and I still have a mild sore arm when I woke up this morning).  

Stronger 2nd vaccine, so expect stronger side effect (if any), and my doctor advised to drink more fluid. Some people has not side effect at all. Like my man. He utterly didn't feel anything. For me, it was bearable side effect, nothing so serious.

And did anyone try the after-vaccine electromagnetic effect? I did!! Amazingly, it worked on both arms. Magneto's power! 

On good note, I feel great to be in the same book with many Malaysians and others around the world in getting a full vaccination and continue our fight against the pandemic. 

Now my priority is my children. I have registered Jan for her vaccination last month, while waiting for Jay to turn 12 next month to be able to register him. Hope the vaccine will soon be available to younger children so I could get Jamie to do as well. Fingers cross! 

Simple as ABC

When hubby bought some sweet corns back, the first thing I thought as ABC soup!! Yes, that what I cooked the next day. 

As the name indicated, it was very simple yet comforting soup. Nothing hard about it. Just toss everything in a slow cooker and let it cooks for you! 

The standard ingredients in ABC soup are potatoes, sweet corns and carrots but you can add onion, tomatoes and red dates to it as well. 

Ingredients:

Pork ribs, blanched

2 sweet corns, cut into half

2 Australian potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

1 carrot, chopped

1 big onion, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Water to boil

Methods:

1. In a slow cooker, heat up the water. Once boiled, add all the ingredients. Cook for about 2 to 2.5 hours. 

2. Season with salt and pepper. 

Simple, right? 

I accompanied my ABC soup with stir fried pea shoots. My kids love their vegetables. 

As the June weather was very warm, I also made us a pot of bird's nest. The kids prefer this more than mung bean soup so I cook this nourishing soup once in a while. 

2 soups on a Sunday

It was a raining Sunday, the last Sunday of June. We did not went for our morning walk, so I cooked breakfast at home. Fried rice with Chinese sausage and fried noodle, whichever suit everyone's tastebuds. 

As for lunch, I heated up the herbal pork soup that I made the day before. Add in mee suah, and it was our simple lunch. 

And hubby was craving for mutton soup so I cooked that with onion in the slow cooker, let it simmer till dinnertime. 

In my previous post, hubby and I went out to Ye Yan to buy the stinky tofu. While I was  there, I also bought pork belly for RM24 (RM10 for every 100gm) from Pinoy Lechon Baboy stall. 

The lechon baboy was nice, salty and garlicky with crispy skin. 

From Ye Yan, we dropped by a pharmacy in Brighton Square to get Jamie's lotion and an antibiotic cream for myself. 

My index finger got infected when I woke up that morning. Pus-filled swell on left side of the finger, so I got my man to help me. 

After 2 days, the finger was getting better. So happy to be able to use it properly. Don't you think it is a bit troublesome to do housechore with one 'injured' finger?? I felt 'handicap' for 2 days as everytime it touched something, it will be painful. 

Stinky

When a FB post posted on a stinky tofu stall right here in Kuching, I asked hubby to try last month.

Yeyan Food Court in Jalan Simpang Tiga. No, I haven't been there although we did went there once last year but the food court wasn't opened then. So basically it was my first time there and bought something from one of the stalls.

The stall just started when I was there before 5pm. Few orders in front of me, so I waited pretty long for mine. 

2 choices; Thai styled tofu and Charcoal tofu, flavour of spicy and non spicy. I opted to try Thai styled, spicy and non spicy. RM8 per portion. We had them in the car. Nice to have them while they are still warm. 

In the biodegradeble takeaway boxes, one held our stinky tofu with the Thai chilli sauce. No stench detected from me. My first thought was "No foul smell, not bad after all. I can take this stinky tofu." Hubby commented that real stinky tofu will be very smelly as it was fermented for longer time. These tofu weren't that long, so not that smelly. 

Oh boy! I should not judge too fast! As I tasted one of non-spicy tofu, it took me a good self-control not to puke the whole thing out from my mouth. Once it was in my mouth, the stench and pungent taste appeared. Oh dear, the first piece was the hardest to digest!! The tofu was crispy on outside, soft inside but the unpleasant taste was not something I enjoyed. 

Then I tried the tofu with chilli sauce. Much better than the sweet tofu as the spiciness covered the fermented taste, but I could still detect the pungent aroma. Somehow it got easier to accept as I took the next pieces. 

I took around 5 pieces of the stinky tofu, while remaining went into hubby's tummy. He liked it. He took alot of this Cantonese dish when he was studying in KL. 

Ta-da!! Now I have tasted stinky tofu! No, I don't think I would be tasting it again. At least I tried it. Taste once, it's done for me. Lol. The taste lingered pretty quite sometime in my mouth even after I brushed my teeth once we reached home!!! 😂

 

Cockles

My first attempt with cockles last month. Thanks to hubby who bought half kg from a friend. 

How do you like your cockles? Half cooked? Fully cooked? I knew a friend who likes half cooked, bloody cockles and dipped with dark soy sauce. I prefer it cooked. Not overly done as it would not be nice. Just 3 minutes blanched with hot water would do. 

So my first cooking with cockles ended up with this recipe. I used up whatever I could find at home, as I seldom venture out lately. Busy with kids' online classes and homeworks, so I cook most of the times on weekdays.

 Ingredients:

Cockles

1 lemongrass stalk, chopped

2 dried chillies, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp belacan

Dash of light soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

Spring onion, for garnish

Cooking oil

Methods:

1. Rinse cockles few times and then soak in salt water for at least an hour. After that, blanched with hot water for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. In a pan, heat up about 2 tbsp cooking oil. Add in garlic, lemongrass and chilli once the pan is heated up. Saute till fragrant before add in belacan. Saute for few seconds till fragrant then add in cockles. Stir fried for few seconds.

3. Season with light soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well and dish out. Garnish with sliced spring onion. Serve warm. 

Omelette sandwich

One Saturday last month, everyone woke up late. After all the tiring weekdays of working and homeschooling, it was fine for everyone to rest and enjoy a nice Saturday morning in bed.

Too late to go out tapau our favourite kolo mee as we would expect a long queue. So we took the easy way out. Drive through order at McD's! 

After read Mun's post on McD's new omelette cheese burger, both of us were keen to give it a try. The promotional poster was attractive and Mun did commented it was pleasant. I wondered why they named it sandwich instead of burger as it was obviously served in a bun. Or maybe it was omelette sandwiched in between 2 buns, they called it sandwich. 

Anyway there wasn't a queue at the drive through that Saturday morning, so it did not take us long to collect our order and headed home, which was a minute drive only. Yes, our place was very near to McD's outlet in MJC but it has been a while since we went there. Pricey to have breakfast there so we don't do it that frequently. 

2 sausage & omelette cheese sandwiches for me and hub, Jan and Jay took the sausage McMuffin with egg while Jamie had the chicken porridge. Of course the hash brown was for the kids. 

Did I like the sausage & omelette cheese sandwich? I have to admit that I quite enjoy it.  It was tasty and cheesy. Different story for hub as he prefers the McMuffin better. 

Our bill for our breakfast. We ordered mostly ala carte as the kids usually don't take their drinks. 

As of this post date, I had tasted the sandwich twice. I found it appetizing and the taste was light, just nice for a quick breakfast. 

Last month

By now, most people I know have their Covid-19 vaccination (may it be 1st or 2nd dose). My parents, sis and bro have their 1st doses, so it is pretty relieved to know that. Mine was done on Monday. We all had Sinovac vaccine, not that we requested for it since we can't. Will write about my vaccination experience in another post. 

My maternal grandma also had her vaccination. She had hers in UNIMAS together with my 4th aunt last month. 

A group photo of the elderlies in UNIMAS that day, my grandma being the oldest at 96 years old. My grandma (seated 2nd from left) and aunt (standing, 4th from left) were in news! 

End of last month, we received a wedding gift from a friend, who got hitched. They can't hold any wedding reception but still, they sent out their wedding gifts to families and close friends. 

I kept the box in the fridge as by the time we got it, it was late at night. So the next morning, I took out to check what was in the wedding box. 

2 delicious muffins with cream topping (one was distorted as you could see from photo). Jan took the red velvet muffin while I ate the butter muffin. Jay took some of the candies (in the little box). 

Congratulations to the newlyweds. Thanks for your wedding gift! 

One Tuesday evening, hubby bought home a pack of yummy smoked pork belly. I liked the smoked flavour, the fatty pork belly, so good. 

No dot - meat bao, with red dot - char siew bao

And other than the pork belly, hubby also bought few baos home as well. Char siew baos and meat baos (both with eggs in them). No, these baos were bought by a friend in 3rd Mile wet market, and he passed them to hubby at his office. Thank you, V for the baos.

My favourite was the char siew bao. I like bao with egg in there. We took them for supper that evening. 

Goreng, goreng

What I have been cooking lately. More frying it seemed.  I know, not healthy but once in while, I guess it is fine. Just don't go overboard with it but the kids seemed to enjoy the 'goreng, goreng' dishes.

Few weeks ago, hubby brought a pack of frizen pork dumpling from a shop. I can't remember where and how much. I took them out and fried them on one Saturday. Hubby and I enjoyed them with black vinegar, while the kids hardly touched them. 

I cook squids quite often as hubby bought quite lots of packs. I took out a bigger size squids and make this super delicious and addictive salt & pepper squids. 

For coating, my favourite is this brand. I bought a wrong pack one time; a curry flavour. However it was not that spicy and the curry flavour was mild, so my kids liked it. 

I used the curry flavour mostly in squids. Seasoned with bit of salt and pepper. Then coated with egg white before dipped in the flour, they were ready to be fried to crispiness. 

Sometimes I don't use egg white as my youngest could not take egg white. So it was just salt, pepper and Kentucky flour, how my fried chicken turned out to be. Not that crsipy though but the matter was the taste. 

For more flavourful fried chicken, I liked the nam yue fried chicken. Marinated them overnight, the taste was even better. 

And when I am super lazy but want some goreng goreng chicken, I will go for the frozen chicken nuggets. Like those from Marina. Super good and real chicken chunks. And Jamie can enjoys them without allergen concern. 

Of all, I hate frying shallots the most. Why? The time spending on slicing and frying. The oil used. Gosh. But it is so good in fried noodles, fried rice, soups and dishes, don't you agree?? 

Yum yum. Which one do you like?