Chinese New Year of the Rooster

What better way to begin a post on Chinese New Year than a photo of delicious home-cooked meal?

Mom's pork chops with a citrus twist. She added oranges to the tomato base gravy for that zing. So yummy! Her cooking and presentation has improved over the last couple of years after joining a cooking-based group on Facebook. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Even Pickles got fancy - finally we bought her a doggie bed. She avoided the bed initially, preferring to nap on the kitchen rugs instead. Until Mom kept all the rugs did she finally consent to sleeping on her new bed.

Snugglespuff.... What a cute sight...... awwww...

The usual steamboat fare for reunion dinner. There's been a definite scaling-down due to lesser number of diners. Nonetheless, moms and aunties put in so much love and care into the pot, all of us had quite a few helpings!

Prawns, fishballs, assorted vegetables, fish maw, mushrooms, fish meat, PIG'S STOMACH!! my favouriteeeeee!!! Topped with fried garlic oil, nom nom nom.

But first, tossing the yee sang to usher in the new year. Also lovingly homemade by mom and aunties - julienned green apples, carrots, with roasted crab sticks, just to name a few. Newspapers are there to contain the mess that usually comes with yee sang!

Dad is a mahjong junkie. He relentlessly invited us to play mahjong with him and here he is, giving me a much needed tutorial. 

A game of a zillion rules, and even when you have the opportunity to finish the game, you can't do so if your points aren't sufficient. Then each tile cluster, combined with the order tiles are accumulated, points are counted differently.

Leftovers are a norm after steamboat dinners, so here it is, recreated into noodles soup hehe. (Pig's stomach again!!) We don't waste good food!

Another feast prepared by mom and aunties again (the young 'uns are not as adept...) consisting of all my favourite things - jiu hu char (stir fried turnips with cuttlefish), lor bak (marinated minced pork in a beancurd shell), assam prawns (tamarind), chai boay (a potpourri of all sorts of leftovers with mustard greens... deliciously tarty and spicy), sambal petai (stink beans with sambal and dried prawns).... and a plate of pasembor we bought from a mamak store.

This is plain torture typing this! NO ONE should be subjected to this pain :(

Also baked an early birthday cake for Meagan. It was supposed to be a shared birthday cake amongst the February and March babies, hehe (about 5 of them). But I guess the youngest gets priority.

This is an almost easy, fuss-freeest (if that is a word) cake I've made. No mixer required, no oven required! A moist chocolate cake, covered and layered in chocolate ganache. And all those M&Ms.... were the first candies Meagan has had in her life! At three years old! Hehe, she couldn't stop popping them into her mouth until mommy has to step in.

Here she is, looking all docile before her birthday cake. We have extreme difficulty trying to get Meagan to put the child party hat on, hehe. 

And finally the customary group photo with a notable addition to the family :)

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

A Little Piece of Home

This post is going to induce buckets of drool. Seriously. You wouldn't stand a chance.

Since moving to Havelock, images of hokkien mee, nasi lemak, nasi kandar, and various homecooked meals have been haunting me in both waking moments and deep slumber. These cravings could have picked a better place and timing, but luck is on my side. 

Home in May!

How I miss home terribly, it aches! Nothing beats that familiar comfort of stepping into a home you grew up in. The almost-deaf Pickles could sniff me even though she hasn't seen me nor could she hear me but it was almost as though someone flicked a switch on her when I arrived. She started frantically wagging her tail and scampering around the house, trying to reunite with yours truly :') 

A wholly productive week back home, sorted all sorts of miscellaneous errands - was out of the house every morning by 8-9am! Of course, no neglect is given to where meals are concerned. Spoiled with choice, mum gave me the enviable task to decide what and where to eat for breakfast. Even made a collaborative effort with Tua Ee to make perut ikan!

Perut ikan literally means fish stomach. Although not used in copious amount, it is supposed to be the star of the dish. For me, I like the sharp, spicy and sour broth and its accompanying ingredients more than the fish stomach!

Tua Ee is certainly the head chef. We arrived slightly after 10am but she has already prepared the paste (possibly the most work involved) with some of the ingredients were already bubbling away. 

The real challenge with perut ikan is in preparation. A mountain of gazilion different types of vegetables need to be chopped up, julienned, cleaned and washed.

The daun kaduk (a dark, heart-shaped herb-y leaf) can take a while to finsh chopping, they wilt to almost nothing so A LOT of them are needed for this dish. They are the heart and soul of the perut ikan! Well, after the perut ikan, that is. 

And voila, the final product!

Looking at this photo is making my heart beat faster and me squirm uncomfortably. Hours of hard labour, more hours of magic in the making, bringing everything in the pot infused to become the best perut ikan I've ever had....

'Wet' popiah of bean sprouts, mangkuang, chopped peanuts, chilli sauce and a plethora of other ingredients that burst with flavour in your mouth. It's one of those things that you don't realise you've missed until you've bitten into it. 

Properly spoiled, again. Tua Ee makes me the Huan Cio Hu (mackerel stuffed with chilli).

With a heaping of extra chilli paste, heavenly with plain steamed rice. Best eaten with hands, so you can lick them later! (And even after washing hands, the fragrance still lingers)

Another favourite of mine, stir fried lotus root, broccoli, bamboo shoots, carrots. Simple but lip-smackingly awesome.

Kopi peng, and a date with the Bionic bestie.

Cencalok pork at the unassuming little stir-fry stall in New Lane, Penang. All sorts of goodness.

Droolicious belachan chicken. Soooooo good, crispy on the outside, tender and soft on the inside. Sigh....

I don't need to tell you how good those few items were.

And a long-anticipated trip to Baling for Ji Ee's heavenly cuisine.

Kepo at the kitchen-

Sar bi hu (Three-flavored fish). Not sure why it is called this way but a generous amount of garlic and chillis accompanies a crispy-fried fish.

Pai kut ong - Ji Ee's signature dish and the awesome gravy is a heavily guarded secret!

Another signature dish - the sweet and sour fish with generous shavings of shredded cucumber, onion, red chillis and coriander.

Of course, how could we not order the prawn tomyum? Simply bursting with flavour, we kept the rest of the delicious tomyum broth and had another round of tomyum, with noodles. Yummers!

And to round it off, Pickles makes a guest appearance :)

Ta!

Gong Xi Fatt Chai: A Hearty Trip Back Home

Back home for the CNY! Hopped on a notoriously-charged flight to home 2 days before CNY and stuffed myself silly as one would expect.

Disclaimer: I shall not be held liable for pangs of homesickness and extreme hunger! Tons of photos!

Behold, the glorious lunch that awaits -

Assam or tamarind prawns. Crispy and nomness. So sedap with plain steamed rice. Tua Ee outdid herself again.

It was Ah Ma's pai pai day and special meals were prepared. Tu tor th'ng, lor bak, lor chicken, jiu hu char, tamarind prawns and stir fried veggies.

One of my top favourite items are the little Jiu Hu Char wraps. Butterhead lettuce, one generous spoonful of Jiu Hu Char and sambal with a squeeze of calamansi lime. Wrap and consume. It is orgasmic. So homesick now!

My chubiiii Pickles!! She's in her 100s now, sloth-moving and mostly found snuggled underneath the couch. Sayanggg pikuuu

Slaving away at Tua Ee's place in anticipation for the reunion dinner. Ok, fine, most of the work has already been done by mom and the aunts; I was there just to finish up. Still, I've always enjoyed my time in the kitchen - even just for chopping and slicing, really therapeutic.

The usual suspects!

Reunion dinner fare- steamboat!

The night was pleasantly cool (almost an oxymoron to the Chinese New Year!), we had a heavy downpour on the night itself - Sar Ee with her 2 dogs arrived later and there was a bit of a circus getting the dogs out dry! But rain and steamboat are the perfect combination. I am sighing just reminiscing about it :)

All the necessecities in place and ready to be ravaged upon. Prawns, fish fillets, mushroom and pork balls, fish maw, mushrooms, tofu, crab meatballs, noodles, leafy greens, noodles and best of all - a heart pork-based broth and plenty of garlic oil to flavour it.

Pikuuuuu

Ta-dah!!

Sisters with yee-sang

Ended the night losing spectacularly at Blackjack! Poor Pickles was getting chased by Baby, the male chihuahua who seems to be on a humping spree. 

***

 First day of CNY Mum was already shouting at the top of her lungs from downstairs for us to wake up (it was only 8am, in my defense!!) because the lion dance troupe is on their way.

Got a bit of a flyaway firecracker projectiled towards my leg during the lion dance :/

Dong-dong-chiang! You really don't need an alarm clock on the first few days of Chinese New Year. Rest assured that you will be awakened by the thundering beat of the drums and clashing of cymbals.

Vietnamese filter coffee, brewed with love ;)

Can pakai onot?

After a breakfast of Indonesian layer cake, chocolate cakes and CNY cookies, we are off to Kulim, an hour away from SP.

Our Kulim Ah Kow is THE BEST cook ever! I just can't get enough of the Lor Bak and her Jiu Hu Char. I am almost salivating at the thought of it.

Freshly plucked bok choy from Ah Kow's garden, deep fried "bak kean" (OMGsogood), stir-fried mixed veg super kaw tu tor th'ng... ahh... nothing beats the traditional CNY meal! Chopped chillis with soy sauce is a must to complete the meal! Preferably washed down with ice-cold Shandy ;)

CNY day 2 dinner with the cousins!

And finally a new addition to our reunion dinners. It is starting to be a bore with the same old faces, a little baby girl does indeed sets the tone!

Aiyoh excited sampai blur

This is pretty much Dad the whole night. Inseparable from little Meagan!.

MCC and gang

PCC BKK and Ji Ee

Family and "ke ko"

Cousins with a subtle gender disparity.

And finally, everyone in!

Releasing our wish lanterns into the early Spring nights.

MY wishes were at least 100-word long, and THAT lantern seemed to have a hard time floating towards the sky, hehe.

One of the items I must consume everytime I go home - Taman Intan mee goreng. Generous portions of cuttlefish and sticky and yummy.

Short trip to Penang to meet the bff. Happy birthday, Evan!

And finally, my favourite nasi kandar combo. Ayam masak kicap, acar, okra in fish curry gravy, heapings of fish curry gravy and sotong nomnomnom.

There's no place like home, sigh!