Weekend Menu #82 : scallop & seaweed soup

We suddenly have load of dried scallops and seaweed  when hubby bought some back from his Sabah trip last month.

I simply love this simple yet nourishing and warm soup that I cooked for the family last weekend. Hubby loves scallops and seaweed.

This wasn't the ordinary seaweed that you normally use in soup. I was also surprised to see such seaweed. Look like corals on the ocean bed. Anyway, I soaked and washed it before cooking to soften it.

Ingredients:
Seaweed, soaked, rinsed and cut into smaller strips
Dried scallops, washed
Wolfberries
1 egg
Salt and sesame oil


Methods:
1. Add in dried scallops and seaweed into a pot of water. Once boiled, lower the fire and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Add in salt and sesame oil to taste.
3. Add in wolfberries and let it simmer for a minute before add in 1 egg.
4. Use fork to stir to form egg flower. Off the fire. Serve warm.

Breakfast in mei mei

Last Saturday, I had a breakfast date with my mei mei (little sister). It has been a while since we met up and had breakfast together. 

Actually kids and I went to visit my sil and her baby that morning and then I invited my sis for a breakfast in Chong Lin Park, Simpang Tiga. We hardly venture to this area so I were not familiar with what's good and what's not.

Not feeling too adventurous, we decided to have our breakfast in Mei Mei Food Court. It is the same row with MD Motor. I have been there twice for laksa but that was many years ago.

Unfortunately the laksa ran out fast that morning so we had to settle for other stalls instead.

I liked the frothy teh c peng served here. Very nice and thick.

RM7 mixed soup with noodle

My sis settled for the noodle with mixed soup which was good to her liking. The kids had kolo mee which was nice too. Not too oily and over seasoned.

RM3.50 kolo mee

As for me, I had a very hearty breakfast. Did not expect my nasi lemak to be that big in portion. And it came with a huge drumstick. Anyway I skipped lunch that day.

RM7 nasi lemak with fried chicken

We should do this breakfast date more often, sis. *wink*

Baby and kacangma

Sharing a happy news. My brother's wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl last week. And I am officially a "Ta Gu"(大 姑).

The kids and I had a little peep of the new baby last Saturday when we visited my sis-in-law at my parents' house.

Confinement lady was busy preparing food, and doing necessary chores for the new mother and baby. Looking at this scenario, reminded me of my own confinement. Oh boy, I have been through 3 confinements and each was different and bittersweet experience. 

One thing I enjoyed (call me a weirdo) during confinement was kacangma. Being a Hakka, we eat a lot of kacangma (motherwort herb) during our confinement. You could cook pork or chickens in kacangma but I heard now people cook ducks using kacangma too.

Dried Motherwort herb (ungrounded)

Usually I would prefer well-grinded motherwort so it expels more fragrance and bitterness, and easy to eat but sometimes I would not mind using those dried ungrounded leaves.

Following recipe is for normal consumption.  Just omit the salt and sugar and add in more rice wine and ginger for ladies in the confinement.

Chicken kacangma

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of dried motherwort leaves

1.5kg of chicken thighs, chopped into smaller bites

4 tbsp sesame oil

1 big sized ginger, grated in food processor

2 cups rice wine

1 1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp sugar

Method:

1. Peel the skin and slice the ginger.  Extract the ginger juices from the ginger using food processor.  Of course if you have mortar and pestle then it is even better because more juice and the ginger will be really minced
2. Heat up sesame oil in wok.  When it is hot, throw in the processed ginger (not the juice).  Saute for few minutes till ginger is fragrant and browned. Add in motherwort and stir for a while.
3. Add in chicken meat.  Cook for 5 minutes till chicken turned white.  Add in ginger juice and white wine.  Give a few quick stir. Cover the wok with lid and let it cook for 5 minutes
4. Open the lid and give the meat a stir.  Add salt and sugar (optional).  Cover with lid and let it cook till chicken is softer.  Turn off the heat and dish out the kacangma.

Remark: Can add water if you would like more broth to your kacangma but it will dilute the taste slightly.

Weekend eating out

I have been eating out a bit too much lately. I did not cooked much over the long weekend.

Last week was a tiring one. Started on Monday night when Jamie was suddenly vomitting and complaining of tummy ache. Must be infected from hubby who had diarrhoea on Sunday. So both of us (Jamie and I) basically did not slept well on Monday and Tuesday nights. And Jamie lost his appetite and he lost few kgs too. Could feel it when I carrying him.

Anyway, happy that he was back to his old self when the weekend was here.  The ordeal was behind us.

And hubby was away as he was flying to Penang on Friday and back on Sunday morning to attend a cousin's funeral.

I brought the kids out for meals myself. It could be handful to bring kids out by myself but we did have a good time together. After many days of eating at home, we yearned for outside food on weekend than my boring cooking. Lol.

So here were some random food that we ate over the long weekend.

It has been long since I bought something from Skycafe, Green Heights. Tasted something new from the cafe besides nasi lemak; namely Blueberry danish and Choc Chip coffee muffins.

Mee Jawa from House Cafe RM6 was quite good. They were pretty generous with the cucur and beef slices too.

Dim sum with my kids could be hard as they could be picky. But what to do when I were craving for a dim sum breakfast??

I have to admit that I am addicted to Taka Bakery's First Love at the moment. This super cheese cream bun was addictive. And huge too.

On Saturday evening, we had a take-away meal from Sugarbun. 2 pieces broasted chickens with raisin rice was my kids' favourite.

Kuching Food Kartel has an interesting charcoal burger. I tasted its grilled chicken and I thought it was alright. Not that awesome but delectable.

Went to Nanyang Food Court (opposite Emart Batu Kawa) for a quick dinner. Hubby ordered this meat-stuffed kompia from the Foochow stall. Lighting was bad as we seated under the lamp post.

A box of Tambun biscuits from Penang when hubby travelled back from the Pearl of the Orient. Our tea break over the weekend. I were surprised my boys loved it.

Yearn for authentic

This old coffee shop has been in existence for as long as it is. I only knew it was called Highland Cafe because I followed my dad here for its chicken rice once many many years ago. However when I visited it few weeks ago, I realised what is its original Chinese name. Yeong Joo.

This coffee shop is next to a Sport Toto shop, which is in vicinity of 3rd Mile old market. I were not sure why it was named Highland Cafe as it was at the slope of the road.

Anyway we never thought of checking this place out till one Sunday morning. Our initial intention was to go to Sun Li Ting Cafe. However we found a parking spot nearby so instead of going to Sun Li Ting Cafe which was farther, we decided to try this Highland Cafe for a change.

My kids could not do without kolo mee so we ordered a bowl each for them to enjoy. RM3.00 per bowl. Most coffee shops no longer serve those bamboo chopsticks but they do so here. I would prefer if they give us a cup of hot water to rinse the chopsticks with.

Kolo mee

Yours truly was eyeing the laksa stall so got herself a bowl for RM5. 

Sarawak laksa

Hub on the other hand, had a special bowl of kueh chap (RM7 without the kueh).

Kueh chap special

If you asked us, we did enjoyed the food. Everything was pretty authentic (if you get what I am trying to convey). If you yearn for authentic Kuching's signature dishes, you can try this old coffee shop. Food was nice and what important is that you could find what the old time sake's taste like. 

Mee Jawa in old Satok

On Malaysia's Day, we headed to Permai for the beach. But before that, we stopped by Satok which was on the way for a breakfast.

It has been ages since we came to this old part of Kuching for breakfast. Satok. The name reminded you of the old weekly market, night hawker food and the busy trading durung the day. It is no longer that buzzing but still, you could expect to find good food in least expected place. The old timer and Kuchingites would tell you what is good here.

One of the busy old coffee shops around Satok would be Yong Hua Cafe. Located in Lorong Satok 5, it offers good choices of Malay food during the day time. 

As expected, it was crowded. Mostly Malay patrons but you could see few tables of other races waiting patiently to be served. This middle coffee shop was so cramped that you have to squeeze for a table. I believe food has its magnet and attraction no matter what.

I have been there once before for Sarawak laksa and I remember it was good. This time, I opted for Mee Jawa. 

Hubby ordered special plate for me (RM7.50) that have few sticks of chicken and beef satay.

Taste-wise it was good, thick, and rich of flavour. It was a very filling breakfast for me.

Last week

The start of the last semester of school; the thought of waking up early is never easy on the first few days. But I got it through and the kids got back to their normal daily routine with schools and other activities and afternoon enrichment classes.

And I got back to my reading too. Have not been catching up on any novels for many months now. Partly because lazy. You know reading takes time and perseverance. *wink*

Last Friday was the busiest of the week. Started with Jan went for her 1st school excursion and she needes to be in school by 630am. She was visiting two museums (Chinese and Islamic museums) and old folks' home.

My breakfast on Friday was light. Tasted Taka Bakery's newest bun which they named it First Love. Soft bun with creamy, buttery and slightly tard custard. Interesting bun but I enjoyed it.

Then in the evening after picked up Jay from tuition, one of Jay's classmates had a short visit to our house. Playing and fooling around before we cut short as we had a birthday party to attend to.

So the kids and I went and stayed at the party till almost 930pm that night. Luckily it was nearby but rain started again that evening.

The kids were tired so they went to bed after their bath. For me, I stayed till after midnight catching up on tv while waiting for hubby. He caught the last flight back from KK so I waited for him to come home.

Over the weekend, we did not go anywhere much. Stayed and recuperated at home.