Steam Boat for Lunch

"Want to go for Steamboat?"

That was a very inviting question indeed.
"Sure, lets have lunch".

Despite the jam on a public holiday we made it to 1 Utama, Johnny's Steamboat. Its a simple basic steamboat set but it can be enhanced by additional orders of seafood or veggies. The dipping sauce is piquant and deliciousl

I love steamboat! Lots of vegetables and rich stock. Homemade is best as we can save a lot by buying our own seafood like large prawns, crab and fish. We can also add our own favourite food into the soup stock.

A healthy alternative to stuffing in fried chicken wings and char koey teow. I love that too but am trying to resist all the fatty stuff.

Heavy Lunch, Light Dinner

Then to Pappa Rich for a light dinner snack. The butter and kaya toast was quite filling and I yielded to the temptation of ice kacang, lots of finely shaved iced with delicious bits of sweet corn, red beans, cendol, cincau, peanut and raisin. Did I detect nutmeg?

No Sugar in my Dessert please!

Is it possible to have dessert without sugar? Yes you can, if you choose shaved ice and fruits and other condiments. At least we can choose not to eat the sweetened red beans, enjoy the raisins and sweetcorn. My parents used to eat cendol without the gula melaka - at least they could still enjoy cendol together with us.

This time I remembered to ask the waiter to serve the palm sugar (gula Melaka) separately. That way I could have only a teaspoon of sugar or so instead of the whole little milk jug full of sugar! Malaysians can really consume a lot of sugar!

Curry Chee Cheong Fun is Delicious!

I had curry chee cheong fun (thinly rolled steamed rice sheets cut like pin wheels, served in dried fried shrimp curry sauce) yesterday for breakfast. Lunch was friend Malay style bihun (rice vermicelli), with prawn, veggies and chillies.

Poor Brown Rice, waiting to be Served

I had been out nearly daily and did not have time to do any marketing or cook. In fact the boiled brown rice had been languishing in the fridge for 2 days. It should be in the freezer. Tomorrow my son can probably have it for lunch with the chicken chop and potato croquettes .

Chicken Soup

Need to buy some organic chicken at Village Grocer. I prefer to make rich clear soup with vegetables - its more satisfying and nutritious. So easy to prepare and always welcome in our home. Brown rice porridge may be nice too.

Chocolate Cake

Thinking of making some chocolate cake for sale at the shop. Should be fun, cold chocolate dessert for visitors and maybe for sale if I manage to make enough. Perhaps I will send them to Min Fes for their dessert menu. Maybe cream puffs once a while if I am in the mood. Its really hard to bake when one is not in the mood. Mistakes will occur sometimes.

Chang Season Again

Today we visited 1 World Hotel, annexed to 1 Utama shopping mall. May visit the Chinese Restaurant there as I saw the traditional Chinese chang advertised. So hard to get genuine halal Chinese chang.

Its a glutinous rice dumpling with lots of delectable stuffing like chicken, oysters, lentils, sweet melon strips, peppercorns, coriander corns, mushrooms and soya sauce. They are wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled for several hours until soft and fragrant.

Parents still caring for us when they were well in their 80s - when we should be caring for them. Parents never stop caring for their children.

I remember my mom when I think of all the comfort foods. She was such a great cook and would make chang for all of us even when she was over 80 years old. Its very tedious and needs a lot of energy and time.

Thanks mom. for all your sacrifices. Thanks dad for paying for all the food and home expenses all these years. And thanks for agreeing to consume only halal food in the home for over 20 years! Little did you both knew that one day both of you would embrace Islam.

Shukr Alhamdulillah!

Alhamdulillah! All Praise to Allah SWT for His Mercy and Kindness. I am so thankful that our family is indeed so blessed. And we are further enriched by the many friends around us who had given us lot of support and love all these years.