Miscellaneous Picture #83 : October favourites

She may not have continue her arts class for almost a year now but her passion in drawing is there. My eldest draws and sketches whenever she is free.

The children's school won the WAK Cardboard City competition this year. My girl was one of the participants and involved in cutting, assembling and labelling for many weeks. Well done. First time joining the competition and they got first prize.

The daddy has been busy travelling last month. One in KK and another in KL. His first meal in KL, banana leaf! He always travel more at the end of the year.

While he was away, my kids took the opportunity to sleep in with me.  I didn't mind at all; love where everyone gets together in one room once a while.

It has been crazy hot and wet all round the month of October. But some plants strive well like my lime tree.

Every year we would join in the love and joy sharing to the needy. Love Box organised by our church. We are sponsoring 10 children in fulfilling their wishlist.

It is nearer

It is one of nicest food courts in Batu Kawa; clean and well maintained with many choices of food. 

However I found the food there rather mediocre. Could find nicer food in other places at cheaper price but I don't mind to go back to 38 Food Street some day since it is nearer and sometime we wouldn't know what we could discover. They have so many stalls that we have yet to try them all out.

For instance, yesterday after church we went over there for lunch before heading home. My man is travelling again so I got to make decision on lunch.

Over there, I had problem deciding what to eat. Too many to choose from. Lol.

Lastly, I went for a new stall that I had never try before.  The fried food stall next to Lei Cha stall. I had its fried meesua. Something like the Hakka fried mee hoon with cangkuk manis. A normal serving for RM6.

I didn't really enjoy it that much. I expected more wok hei fragrance but this one I had was oily.

My girl went for the roasted chicken rice  (RM5.80) which she enjoyed in her last visit from the Authentic Chicken Rice stall.

As for the boys, they forever stay faithful to noodle. RM8 for 2 bowls of kolo mee. One with char side while another is with lots of minced pork.

Back too soon

I knew we would come back for more food here but never thought it would be that soon.

We were shopping in DIY store last Sunday and after we were done, it was already after 1pm. By then, everyone was hungry.

So we walked over to Premier Food Republic for a late lunch and not a disappointment as most stalls were open. Some is 24 hours stalls so definitely there is some food for everyone at any time of the day.

The other day I was seated in front of the Malay stall that has extensive menu, such as at an penyet, bakso, curry rice and so on.

So I decided to give the Malay stall a try. I ordered nasi ayam Penyet for RM9. Looked good to me when it came.

Lovely thigh, not too dry and had that spice flavour to it. And I also have a small piece of tempe and deep fried taufu.

If you asked me, it was decent enough. Not so exceptionally delicious but nevertheless, a delightful lunch for me.

Thought of soups

Must be the cold weather we're experiencing lately that we thought of soups for breakfast on one Monday morning. My man was on leave so both of us went to this Premier Food Republic in Batu Kawa for breakfast.

Our first visit to this food court. Pretty clean and neat. Some stalls open for 24 hours as stated on their lighted signboards so one wouldn't go hungry at any time of the day!

Both of us ordered from three different stalls. For myself, I had this fish head mee hoon soup for RM8. Appetizing and comforting to have on a cold morning.

My man was unsure of what he wanted and he ordered this meatballs soup (RM4) from kolo mee stall which was in front of our table.

And he had second thought as he walked around the food court and ordered this from kampua stall.

Kampua with soup set for RM7. As least it looked and tasted better than that pathetic-looking meatballs soup.

I helped him with the meatballs in the meatball soup while he enjoyed his kampua set. The liver soup was nice, could detect the ginger in it. Livers and meats were just done. Unlike those tough and overly cooked livers in the kolo mee's soup.

After finished all those soups, both of us definitely felt the heat!  And if it wasn't enough, I got my dose of iced teh c peng (iced milk tea) as well. That was a lot of liquid in one breakfast!

Mediocre

I don't venture to Jalan Canna that much or the commercial centre right after Giant Hypermarket. Don't know much what is there. The only place I have been to was grocery shopping in Giant.

But that changed few weeks ago, when I went back to my parents' house with my kids. The daddy was travelling that weekend so I decided to visit my parents.

We went to Jalan Canna, and right after KFC drive-thru Tabuan, we turned left to the commercial centre. Surprisingly so many eateries there. Some were new like the famous Sabah's Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap that opened that very same day, 13/10. However we weren't going to that eatery but the one opposite. Food court called Triple 3.

Many food courts in the vicinity but we chose Triple 3 as it looked cleaner. None of us had been there before so not sure what was good. But never try, never know, right??

My noodle boys wanted noodle even for lunch so I ordered this kampua (RM4) for them. Verdict? Jay said it wasn't nice. He said the noodle was hard. The boys only finished half of it.

Mum and I ordered lunch from the claypot stall. Mum went for curry chicken while I had its stewed pork belly. Both plus 2 plates of rice cost RM15.

My dad had nasi curry banjir but I didn't take photo of his food. Jan wasn't hungry so she didn't have her lunch.

So we settled our lunch here but if you asked me if anything nice, I don't think so. My claypot stewed pork belly wasn't that bad but it didn't excite me. 

Like any other food courts, they are selling almost similar food. Very mediocre. Nothing interesting that would make me come back here.

In the claypot

One of our comfort food at home. Tau yew bak (braised pork in soy sauce) in the claypot. My recipe is agak-agak. You can base and adjust according to your taste and preference.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 slab Pork belly
1  bulb garlic, separated and imperiled
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp peppercorns, smashed
Dried bean curds, soaked and cut into pieces
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 hard boiled eggs
2 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Blanch the pork belly for few minutes. Then cut into bite size pieces.
2. Heat up cooking oil in a claypot. Salute garlic cloves, minced garlic and peppercorns.
3. Once fragrant, add in pork belly. Fry for few minutes.
4. Add sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce (optional), sugar and water. Simmer to boil. Lower hear and let it cook for 20 minutes.
5. Add salt, eggs and bean curds. Cover with lid and let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes till meat is tender. Once a while turn the eggs to evenly coat with sauce.

The king

My sil, her daughter and mil stayed in Kuching for 2 nights. My mil had a scheduled check up and sil took an overdue visit with her daughter.

On their 2nd evening, we invited them for a dinner together in BBQ King Seafood, One Food Street in Jalan Stapok.

We were earlier to arrive so we placed order first. It was almost 7pm and we could see few tables occupied.

Bbq King Seafood is well known for its delicious and creative food presentation. Many good reviews on this place.

It was a nice cooling evening so we opted to sit outside; away from the crowds.

It was fortunate to get a big table that able to squeeze all 13 of us plus children. Our table was overlooking the Sg Maong 1 river. 

As the evening came onto us, our first dish also arrived on the table. Fish maw soup. I loved this simple but tasty and comforting soup.

Next was this plate of tasty, deep fried chicken wings. The kids enjoyed them as well as the adults.

We also had this stir fried sweet potatoes leaves which I grow fond of not so long ago.

This long bamboo boat of curry squid was recommended by the lady. It turned out to be good. Not overly cooked squid and with flavorful curry, it was an appetizing dish.

Hubby knew that I loved lala so we ordered kam heong la la (spicy la la). Delicious but as you know, la la wasn't a meaty shellfish.

This was an unique dish, another recommendation by the lady. Charcoal deep fried bean curds with special sauce. Slightly sweet sauce but the bean curds (taufu) was nice. Tasted like the normal soft taufu.

This got to be the star of the night. Assam curry steamed fish. The adults enjoyed it very much. Very fresh and flavorful.

We also ordered some pork satay as side dish. Their specialty pork satay is highly recommended. Huge chunk of meats with some fat on each stick. Oh boy! They were so heavenly sinful and some more dipped with their special cincaluk dipping, it was so irresistible that you would keep eating one stick and then another.

Our dinner that was fit for a king came up to RM253 plus 8 bowls of rice. Considering everything was tasty and good, we wouldn't mind to come back here again. For a special occasion, of course. ^^