My Trial And Error Cooking Lessons

BREAK RECORD...  in terms of homecooking, I had never cook so frequently in my whole life!  LOL... 

From my younger days till the day I retired, I seldom cook at home.  During my years of working, I was blessed with a maid to take care of my kids and household chores.  Yes, I am very thankful for that privilege.... and I remember that helpless feel when they went back for a month holiday.  LOL... Since the day I do not have a maid and that was more than 10 years ago, I am slowly learning how to cook more at home especially during the lockdown period two years ago.

For nearly six months in San Jose, I have cooked a number of dishes, mostly simple ones which I kept repeating and recycling... LOL... Never too late to learn how to cook, right?  

my kids favourite.... peanut and pork ribs porridge...

Now I forget what the black thing is... 

how come it is in the porridge?? 

Oh no, it is century egg, yes!

For a moment, I was wondering why I put mushroom in the porridge!

Spinach soup with fish balls, eggs and homemade BBQ pork... 

Fried Udon noodles with sweet potato syrup as desserts....

Fish with salty vegetable soup and mixed vege... 

Vietnamese soup with noodles.... 

Chicken koay teow soup.... with lots of prawn shells as soup base.... 

Now I know why the soup is so tasty...

Must put in a bit of rock sugar and the taste was exactly 

like the ones sold in Ipoh!

LOL... 

An Invitation To Mouth-Watering Dinner In Sacramento

MY LAST EVENING IN SACRAMENTO... dinner time was spent at my sister's BFF house.  She invited both of us for a special dinner, all homecooked!  That was what I love... trying out other nationality's dishes, their ways of cooking is equally scrumptious and mouth-watering!

For the three of us, she practically prepared a feast... LOL... we surely could not finish them all.... 

Started off with an appetizer....

I went rice-less.... 

Wouldn't want to fill up the space in my stomach with the carbo... 

LOL.... 

Vietnamese wrap with 4 shrimps and homegrown vegetables from her garden...

I love this dish....

Squash with shrimps, long beans with coconut milk.... 

Slightly spicy which is good for me.... 

I ate a lot of the squash...

Taste something like a combination of yam and pumpkin... 

How I wish I could fry my fish this way.... 

My fish always ended up "semi-naked" if not "naked".... 

LOL... 

And a big bowl of desserts....

Red beans, bananas, sago and coconut milk.... 

It was not so sweet so I ate quite a lot!

This is a feast to me!

The dinner was about to begin....

Ooopsss... let's have one for the album....

Thank you, D for the scrumptious dinner!!

Till we meet again some day.... 

 

Two Dishes One Soup Dinner

AUNTIE'S SIMPLE COOKING... for dinner on one evening....

Defrosted a piece of cod, my last piece in the freezer besides another few more pieces of other types of fish.  I think I consume the most fish this year, never bought so many types of fish before.  Maybe it is made easier for me this year cos of the online shopping at Gracious, cleaned, vacuumed and free delivery above RM50.  

My last piece of cod....

A plate of greens called Yau Mak... 

Not so sure what it is called in English

And chicken herbal soup.... 

My complete meal for one evening.... 

As usual, I do not take much rice...

Or perhaps I did not take rice at all for this meal.... 

LOL... 

Spades N Burger Plus Unagi On Sunday

MISSING IN ACTION AGAIN... for the last couple of days.  

It has been a busy week for me and I practically did not have any time or mood to pen my thoughts.  Anyway, all is settled now and I hope today Monday will be a fresh start and more brighter days ahead for me, us and everyone!

Yesterday it was a lazy Sunday during the day.... I ordered Spades Burger from Grab.  The Hotdealsgf is still on, this time the discount is RM12.50 for orders over RM25.  I have used up all my 6 orders, this morning I tried ordering food again but no, it said that I have exceeded my limit.  LOL... No more good deals for me unless I have another phone device.  LOL... 

For lunch I ordered a Pork Burger from Spades n Burger....

I couldn't finish them all... 

Oh, came with drinks as well...

Received two pints of BR too...

Thanks AA for the desserts!!

My meal for dinner...

Marinated Unagi I bought recently...

Just oven grilled it for 20 minutes... 

Cooked a simple green dish...

Zucchini with homegrown okra...

I could only finished the Unagi and the vegetables...

The rest went to my furry member.... 

Online Delivery For Texas Chicken

GRAB TEXAS... and that was what I ordered yesterday....

There was a promo code for some restaurants and Texas Chicken is one of them.  This auntie here quickly scrolled and chose from the menu and the total came to only RM20.39 for 5 pieces of chicken.  A very good deal inclusive of delivery and as usual, I shared with my neighbour and he happily wanted two pieces for himself.  

The remaining pieces went to me and I also happily took them for my lunch and dinner.  I have a small plate of leftover cooked yam from the previous day and this dish substituted my portion of rice.  After all, yam is starch as well..... My meals of the day is done, bread in the morning, fast food chicken and homecooked yam for the lunch and dinner.  So easy, right?  

Steamed back the leftover yam I cooked the day before....

It has been a long while since I last ate Texas Chicken.... 

I ordered mixed flavours...

Spicy and Original...

But they were not spicy at all...

So I guess they must be original flavours....

Sourish Soup For Both Lunch And Dinner

SOUPY DAY... for two meals.  

My neighbour's wife who is stranded in KL called me every now and then and our normal topic will somehow land on Food, homecooked Food.  She gave me an idea on what to cook, taught me how to do it and yesterday I got it done!  LOL... 

Boiled a pot of soup putting in pork ribs, two tomatoes, two big onions, one carrot and the main ingredient is the preserved salty vegetables aka Chinese pickled mustard (Char Choy in Cantonese).  This is my son's favourite pickled vegetables and I usually cook it with minced meat to go with white porridge.

Image courtesy

Preserved Char Choy can be cooked in multiple ways...

The other condiments... 

An appetizing soup cos it is sourish.... 

Had this for my lunch....

For dinner, I added in Mihun.... 

And fried two pieces of fish to go with the noodles....

One piece of Garoupa and smaller piece of cod.... 

My share of the fish after giving some to my neighbor....

A very satisfying dinner on a rainy evening!

My Happy Meals During FMCO Monday

WHAT'S SERVING TODAY...

"Tumpang" my neighbour to buy back two avocados, one ripe and one still green, they cost RM5.50 each.  This time I did not make guacamole, since it was so fresh unlike the other day, I just sliced them and eat with a soft boiled egg.  Mashed the egg up and added in Kewpie roasted sesame sauce and two drops of soy sauce and eaten with two slices of bread.  Yes, two slices of bread with a soft boiled egg is truly very filling..... 

See the Smuckers sugar free jam?

I did not like the taste... 

Too sugar free for me, not the sweetness I am used to taking...

Gave half the bottle to my neighbour to help me finish that...

LOL... 

One whole egg and avocado...

Two pieces of bread with the this spread

Can last me 3-4 hours without food.... 

I ordered lunch set and boiled watercress soup to go with my meal... 

My lady caterer delivered this set.... 

With fish, vege and an egg...

RM9 only!

A very good deal, right?

Love the Sambal Fish....

It has been a long while since I have eaten this!

Noodles All The Way On Sunday

NOODLING ALL THE WAY...  if there is such a word.... 

Morning woke up early to order breakfast from Foodpanda... my neighbour has just taken his vaccination a day before so it is best that he stays in for the next couple of days or weeks.  I know he rather go out to get his own breakfast than staying in the house, online delivery is his last choice.  So I did the ordering and in 20 minutes or so, the food arrived at our doorstep.  No delivery fees cos it is quite nearby, around 1km from our house.  But of course, the noodles are pricier than in-store.... otherwise how to survive?

My Wanton noodles with crispy wanton-s.... 

Cost RM7 on Foodpanda whereas in-store is RM5... 

Its okay, I rather pay more than going there... 

A giant portion of fried mihun.... RM7

No, I didn't fry this... I ordered from Lady C...

I will call her Lady C because she cooks and sends food to our doorstep..

I became friend with her... she is nice....

And I think she knows jolly well that I don't cook for dinner too... 

Hence the Giant portion!

Fried mihun goes best with sweet desserts....

I boiled green beans and put in some sweet potatoes.... 

Come evening, I "modified" the fried mihun...

Added in more greens and some mixed vegetables... 

Modified Mihun for dinner.... 

Noodle Sunday all the Way... 

Food During Full Lockdown Period In My House

MORE LOCKDOWN FOOD IN THE HOUSE...

Not that I cook them except for one here, one is pre-ordered a day before and one bought this morning for my breakfast.... 

My neighbour bought this for me before he went for his vaccination this morning..

Yes, it is his turn for the jab...

And he went with a heavy stomach...

No, my turn did not come yet...

I guess I am still young...

They are still jabbing those in their late 60s.... 

Siamese laksa pre-ordered a day before....

My neighbour went to collect from the seller staying quite nearby...

She makes very nice Siamese laksa besides the normal Assam one...

Took a tiffin carrier along for the soup and noodles....

Cost RM7 and definitely worth it!

Besides laksa, she also sells these meat lobak....

6 pieces in one container for RM15....

Yes, they are very nice too.... 

For dinner, I cook a packet of Kampua noodles...

And some add-ons....

And my meals on a Friday and for this early morning.... 

During this lockdown period... 

I guess most of my posts are on Food and more Food!

Steamed Pomfrets For Two Dinners

STILL FISHING ABOUT FISH... and I have mentioned that I wouldn't be eating fish for the next few days... seems like I did not eat my words and so the fish story is still on.... 

I watched Live again on the Gracious Wholesale, my sister-in-law wanted more fish and I readily agreed to buy some for her.... Yes, I am "kaypor" ... simply because I love shopping, online or not!  LOL... Besides her, my friend also asked me to order some seafood for her, no problem, I told her.... so that is why, I do not feel at least boring in my own home.  I have lots of shopping to do!  LOL.... 

Since my freezer is suddenly quite congested, I really do not mind eating fish and fish again for the last two evenings.  Very easily done, I just diced some garlic, ginger, small chilies... added in sesame oil, light soy sauce and chinese wine.  Too bad no spring onions, but basil leaves also can do la.... Steamed for 15 minutes and my dinner is ready!

This is Silver Pomfret if I am not mistaken....

or Ikan Tambak in Malay.... 

Usually served during weddings.... 

Bought this for RM30 on one Live Sales....

Looking at this now, I must get a slightly bigger plate....

Yesterday my steamed fish has more frills...

I dumped in cherry tomatoes and few of my homegrown okras... 

These are white pomfrets, cheaper than the silver ones....

Taste slightly more or less the same... 

But I prefer the silver pomfret anytime... 
Alright, seriously... tonight no more fish for dinner!