His kampua

Once in a while, my man would cook his own breakfast. Other than omelette, he can cook kampua well.

He likes this Sibu kampua very much so he would buy a pack to store when he sees it. Cannot buy too many as expiration date is short. 

So one weekend after our morning walk, he decided to cook himself a plate of kampua for breakfast. 

He took out pork shabu-shabu that he bought from Emart to go with his kampua. Followed the instruction accordingly, he boiled the noodle first. Then drain and toss in the seasoning and sauces. In another boiling water, cook the pork strips for few seconds then add onto the kampua. 

Garnished with fried shallots that I made the day before and some spring onion from my garden, his kampua was ready!! 

Another morning, he wanted kampua for breakfast (again), so he made his own. This round, he added some sweet soy sauce to his noodle. 

So do you like your kampua plain or black (with soy sauce) ? 

He made it looked easy

When my man worked himself in the kitchen, most of time, he will ended up with a surprise. Or rather, surprised me with his cooking skill.

It was a Sunday, before Gawai. He had a craving for steamed egg. So he took over the kitchen to cook his version of steamed silky egg. 

First attempt

Steamed silky egg custard with preserved radish (chai poh) topping. It was good, with the fried radish and garlic mixtures on top. You could have more than 2 bowls of rice with only this dish!!! 

The egg custard was done so well. It was silky and smooth. I wished I took photo to show how silky and smooth but it was too tasty, I forgot about the photo! The topping added the flavour to the custard. But your mouth will have that garlicky and radish aftertaste which I don't like much. 

He made again few days later. This round, I remember to take photo of the custard when dug in but it was firmer than his first attempt. I prefer the softer version but this one was nice as well. 

2nd attempt

Egg custard

Ingredients:

125g preserved radish (chai poh) 

3 - 4 garlic cloves, pounded

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 eggs

60ml water

Water for steaming

Methods:

1.  Add preserved radish in a mortar. Pound till mince (or you could use blender to blend well). Dish out and place in a bowl. Use the same mortar, pound the garlic cloves. Put in another bowl. 

2. In a pan, heat up about 1 tbsp cooking oil. Add preserved radish to it, saute under low heat. Continue stir till it brown (but not burnt), then add in the minced garlic. Mix well and cook till the mixture is brown. Turn off heat. 

3. Prepare the steamer. In a mixture bowl, crack in 2 medium sized eggs. Mix with water, stir well. Add a little bit of salt and pepper. Sieve the egg mixture in a steaming bowl. Steam under high heat for about 10 minutes or till the egg is cooked but not firm. 

4. Pour the preserved radish and garlic with a bit of the oil onto the egg. Serve immediately. 

Creamy or Crunchy

When it comes to bread spread, my vote goes to peanut butter!! I don't mind jam, kaya or butter once in a while, but my loyalty lies in peanut butter.

Do you like creamy or crunchy peanut butter?? In my family, my kids and I like the creamy type. The China-made Lady's Choice is our favourite choice.

I can go with toast or plain bread, spread good amount of peanut butter on one piece. 

The odd one is hubby, who prefers the crunchy type. He bought this JIF peanut butter from US, I don't remember the exact price but less than RM20. 

He liked the taste, and had peanut butter toast almost every night for supper!! Thick spread with lots of nuts on the toast!! 

Looking at green

As they said, looking at greenery is good for the eyes. So here are some photos I took on one of my morning walks last month.

An enclosed nursery

Dainty yellow flowers

In the wild

Hydrangea grown by a neighbour. This uncle has green fingers

Ruellia purple flower and other dainty flower plants grown by the same uncle

Uncle's flowers are growing so well

Succulents on the wall

Holiday cooking

What we ate during the 2 days Gawai holiday.

We stayed at home on the first day. Everyone woke up late, so I prepared a simple breakfast. 

Deep fried frozen burger patties and assembled own sandwich with some lettuce, fried egg, cheese and hash brown. I also deep fried some french fries to go with the sandwiches. 

For lunch, it was Chinese cuisine. A homey food that everyone loved. I made meat balls, ngoh hiang, luncheon meats, potatoes and onion, ginger chicken and cangkuk manis. I cooked a lot so we had the same dishes for dinner as well. 

The next day, hubby and I went for our morning walk and then we made luncheon meat sandwich at home. Both of us went for a quick grocery shopping at Choice Daily. Grabbed few stuff to cook our lunch. 

Hubby wanted healthier meal so we made salad and stir fried Aglio Olio angel's hair. 

Yes, again, I overcooked so we had the same food for dinner. No one complained though. Lol. 

Saved myself time cooking, I just heated up the food for dinner.  Holiday should be time for relaxation. So, I was very relaxed over those 2 days holiday although we cooped at home most of the time. 

Gifts

Last Saturday night, hubby went to meet up with few friends. He came home with gifts from his friends.

One friend gave us this fruit. They called it crystal fruit. I was not so sure what was it but it tasted sweet. First time tasted it. 

It tasted something in between longan and rambutan.  Bigger fruit with big black seed inside like longan but firmer texture like rambutan.  Pretty heaty as I needed to drink lot of fluid after tasted one. I am prone to sore throat so I am pretty sensitive when it comes to heaty food and fruits. 

Skin was hard, so one need to press hard to squeeze the fruit out. 

Another friend gave us his aunt's freshly made changs. One was Nyonya chang which was sweet and fragrant. Natural colouring from butterfly peas. I prefer this chang more than her Hakka chang. 

The Hakka chang was saltier and bigger. I think we have overdose of changs this year. Some we bought and some were gifts. Felt blessed to receive the homemade dumplings from friends. 

Thank you both for the yummy gifts. 

Chang and more

It is back to school today. More like back to endless homeschooling and homeworks! And since today is also Duan Wu Jie (Dumpling Festival or Dragon Boat Festival), it is practical to post some dumpling photos here. 

In my previous post, I bought 2 types of chang from Abundance Food Centre. Hakka and Nyonya changs. 

Hakka chang RM4

Groundnuts and yam are what make a Hakka chang distinctive! 

Smaller Nyonya chang, RM2.50

Meaty, more flacourful Nyonya chang

Last Friday, hubby's friend passed some homemade kee chang (alkaline dumplings) to us. Ages since I tasted one. Not my favourite though, but I enjoyed them with kaya. 

Do you like this yellowish kee chang? What you eat it with? 

The next day, hubby and I went to Grandma Handmade Noodle Bak Kut Teh in Rock Road, not for its bak kut teh but to buy its handmade changs. Few varieties of changs to choose from and hubby initially wanted to buy its mussel and scallop pillow dumplings but only the traditional salty pork was available. Other changs had been pre-booked. While we were there, we saw the taukeynio and staff busy making different type of changs.  The taukeynio is a friend of hubby's cousin so we knew her.  

 

Taken from its Facebook page

We bought 15 salty pork dumplings (aka Hokkien chang) at RM6 each from her. 

Hokkien chang is much darker in colour compared to others. 

We immediately sent some over to my dad at his shop. After that we went home to enjoy our Hokkien chang. So good with the fatty meat, salted egg yolk, mushroom and black eyed beans. 

Each changs have their own version and taste. For me, personally I like Hokkien chang more. 

What changs have you tasted this year?? Which one do you like best?