Suum Cuique

It was so worth the greasy kitchen. Soooo good. Soooo comforting. Soooo much rice went with it!!

Labels: char yoke, pork

Have you ever noticed that in order for the food to taste good, the dirtier the kitchen has to be? Think of the best hokkien mee, BKT, satay, maggi goreng, nasi lemak, curry laksa you've ever had - can you honestly say you were served in the most sanitised and hygienic surroundings?

It's the same with my kitchen. No, it's never that dirty! But in order to come up with something that tastes half decent, the kitchen can never be in pristine condition. Anyone who has made sambal ikan bilis, curry chicken and char kuay teow at home can attest to that. Somehow the taste and authenticity of the food is inversely proportional to the cleanliness of the kitchen.

Which leads to my most recent experiment. I never deep fry. I don't even like to shallow fry. I dislike the lingering smell of oil in my kitchen. And my hair. And my clothes. And that goes without saying, I dislike feeling the oil in my face.

I bake instead. I bake french fries. I bake bacon and sausages. If I could, I'd bake popiah and doughnuts as well. I even (steam)bake fish and meat as well.

Anyway, I digress. I finally found something which we like to eat immensely and I can't make it unless it is deep fried. Oh horrors! But being the true overseas anak Malaysia that I am, when we miss home food, we make it ourselves! It may not be exactly authentic Penang style, but I made it the way I like it. And the way I remembered my late Aunt Peggy used to make it.

Clockwise, from left: 1. Diced meat, marinated overnight with garlic, 5-spice powder, oyster sauce, pepper, soy sauce, sugar and fish sauce. 2. Bean curd skin, preciously hand carried from Sect 17 Sentosa market, wiped clean with damp cloth and cut neatly into rectangles. 3. My little beauties all wrapped up. I call them pigs in satin blankets. 4. The piggies after being steamed for about 12 minutes.

I used tapioca starch to bind the meat, but found that after cooking, the meat tended to be a little slimy from the cooked starch. The sliminess made it taste a bit uncooked. And not very tightly bounded either. Next time, I will use cornflour and an egg instead.

My first few pieces, I fried immediately. Being the inexperienced deep-fryer that I am, I fried it longer than I should because I wanted it to be cooked through. And it turned out darker than expected. So I steamed the rest of the uncooked rolls. That way, I can fry them quickly just enough to have the skin crisp. And this time, I got the colour right!

Aah.. nothing beats homemade lorbak. You know what kind of meat goes in the rolls, and you know the oil used for frying has not been recycled umpteenth times.

I miss my Aunt Peggy. Sometimes I would return to Ipoh and expect her to be there. I would have loved to cook for her. She'd be proud.

Labels: lorbak, pork

The malls in Dubai are quite interesting, architecturally. We visited 2 of the more elaborate ones over the recent Eid Al Adha holidays. They aren't very big (1Utama and MidValley win hands down), and the tenants aren't that any more different than the other many malls in Dubai or AD. But visually, they are stunning, and worth at least one visit. So we obediently did our touristy duty, lest we get questioning looks when we shake our heads upon queries on shopping in Dubai..

Souk Madinat Jumeirah - traditional Arabic design, a bit surreal actually to see shops like Rodeo Drive and Oxbow with modern advertising banners amidst such ancient architecture. It really is a gorgeous piece of work, I liked it very much. Even the toilet looked ancient, but luckily it comes with modern sanitation and plumbing. It looks even more beautiful at night (Kenny has very good shots of the buildings lit up).

The shops and stalls there are very touristy with plenty of (expensive) souvenir shops to get your usual mini shishas and brass lamps, camel paraphernalias, Persian carpets, Kashmir shawls, etc. Meandering walkways everywhere, we were done within 2 hours.




Next stop, is the Renaissance-style Mercato Mall. Walking in was like entering an Italian town square. Another visually stunning building, again it was a bit strange seeing the familiar green logo of St*rbaks, the stark M of Mango (MNG) and omnipresent golden arches of McD against the traditional architecture of olden-day Italy. For some reason, I kept thinking of Romeo and Juliet as we walked through the corridors and half expected to see men with bouffant sleeves in tights strolling about with ladies in long dresses and conical hats..



All that walking has worked out our appetite, so we indulged in the next favourite past-time of Malaysians... FOOD! Particularly of the non-halal kind...



BBQ Pork Ribs, Baked Sausage Roll and Bangers & Mash with Peas. From Harvester's Pub in one of our favourite hotels, the Crowne Plaza Dubai (yup, many hotels here served porcine delights). Washed down with a pint of German beer.. *burp* Oops! Excuse me! :)

It was a pleasant outing. Rather like KL on a major festive holiday, as most of the expats took the opportunity of the long holiday (this was a few of days before Christmas) to return home for the festive season. So we managed to avoid the crowds and usual horrendous traffic jam Dubai is infamous for.

In the meantime, I am eagerly awaiting the opening of this place. After reading countless postings on Big Apple and J.Co and not getting to try any, it's only fair I get to sample the king of them all. Dang! I hope there won't be any queues!!

Labels: donuts, mall, pork

My favourite store when I need cheeyoke.. actually this is the only store I know of that sells cheeyoke.


Fresh loins, ribs, belly and gammon. Frozen pork belly, spare ribs, pork thigh and chops.


Bacon - smoked and unsmoked, frankfurters and hotdogs, Spam, Maling.. lots and lots of them!


Sausage rolls, bacon pies, marinated ribs, chops and loins and more frankfurters and bacon..


Fresh sausages; various types of hams; more fresh meat; salami, pate and pepperoni..


A nice section of organic pork belly..


One portion to make tau yew bak*...


Another portion to make sticky sweet char siu#..


Was quite happy it turned out nice and sticky as I did not make use of the grill. I just baked them in a very hot oven.


Not too bad for my first time.. looks quite similar to those from kai farn stalls, no?



My version of:

* Tau Yew Bak

Pork belly
Garlic, unpeeled (I just cut 2 whole bulbs across in half)
Dark soya sauce
Light soya sauce
Oyster sauce
White peppercorns, crushed coarsely
Sugar and salt to taste

Marinade pork with all ingredients for at least overnight. Lightly stirfry in pan until the meat is lightly seared, then add water bit by bit until it covers the meat. Gently simmer until meat is tender. Stir and add water if necessary.


# Char siu (adapted from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer Spare Ribs)

Pork belly
Light soya sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Sesame oil
Shallots, chopped finely
Ginger, grated
Star anise
Cinnamon stick
Honey

Marinade pork for at least overnight. One way to ensure the pork is well-coated with the marinade is to place them in a plastic bag and to turn the bag occasionally.

I usually pour all the marinade in with the pork in the baking dish. Bake in very hot oven for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and caramelised and the meat tender and sticky sweet.

Labels: pork