357. Steamboat

Zu and I prepared 'Steamboat' for dinner last night. I'd preferred we have it for lunch instead but aya was on morning duty and came back in the evening so I said okay.

We don't usually have 'Steamboat' for a meal but when we do you can see there will be plenty of food on the table. This time it was Zu's idea to have it. So once again I took out my 'Steamboat' equipment from my cupboard and lay it out on the dinner table he he...

I know Zu likes the grilling part rather than the boiling soup as you can see here...

I prepared lots of cut 'cili padi' dipped in dark soy sauce with some lime juice (limau kasturi) squeezed in a bowl. That's to eat the cooked ingredients with.

As for the soup, I added some MAGGI chicken cubes in and add salt and ajinomoto to taste.

Steamboat for Dinner


Cili Padi with dark soy sauce (ketchup)



Vegetables & Tauhu



Fishballs, Sotong Crab Meat Balls



Cut Chicken Meat


Fresh Sotong




Marinated Cut Chicken Breast


Marinated Chicken Boxings



Marinated Red Meat


Half way Grilling the marinated ingredients

Everyone sat together at table when the soup started boiling. It was fun really as everybody (hubby, myself, Zu, Aya, Alif & Noormy except Farouk who was living out) were eating and chatting at the same time.

Alif sat at table to enjoy the soup



We had fun and we were all full!

Have a lovely weekend everyone :)

Love,

Mak isah.

Cheerio.

356. Asam Pedas with Fresh Turmeric

I didn't want to waste these.

They are turmerics, which hubby brought back home after his drive up to work outstation in Kpg Iran, Subis and Niah last Monday. Usually I use turmeric powder to cook anything with. So today I decided to cook my 'Asam Pedas Ikan Bawal Hitam' with this, instead of it's powdered form.

I didn't have any pineapple in my fridge so I decided to use my stock of dried 'Asam Gelugor' (dried tamarind) for the sour taste.

FreshTurmeric



Okay, the preparation is the same as my usual 'Asam Pedas' except this time it was fresh turmeric instead of powdered form and dried 'Asam Gelugor' instead of pineapple. And I used soaked dried chillies instead of fresh red chillies.



Preparation

1. Ground 5 - 8 soaked dried chillies, 1 tablespoon belacan (shrimp paste), 6 red shallots, 4 garlic, 2" ginger.

2. Ground 2 1/2" turmeric.

3. Crush 2 stalks of lemon grass.

4. Saute all the above ingredients 1, 2, 3 in a pot.

5. Add some water (Let it boil under moderate fire like above to let all the saute ingredients to well cooked).

6. When boiled, I add in 4 moderate sized dried 'Asam gelugor' (Let it boil again to let the sourish taste to come out).

7. Add in salt and ajinomoto to taste.

8. Add in some cut 'Ikan Bawal Hitam'.

9. Add more water (according to how much soup you want). Bring to the boil.

10. Taste again for salt.


My share of 'Asam Pedas Ikan Bawal Hitam' using fresh turmeric. I like to eat the head part :p



Almost nil I used fresh turmeric. Today I found out fresh turmeric gives the fish soup a more aromatic smell :)

But Noormy still favor my 'Asam Pedas' cooked with pineapple.

After lunch hubby came home bringing not two but three plastic packets of these fresh young corns.

Let me think what to cook them into tomorrow :) any ideas?



Fresh cut young corns




Cheerio.

355. Spring Cleaning Special Corner

Doing spring cleaning memang tiring kan? Sigh...today I did my bedroom. Not that my bedroom is equip with expensive modern furniture, it's not. It is just a simple bedroom, cheap furniture but what I particularly paid attention is cleanliness at my special corner in my bedroom :p

Mind you, just cleaning my special corner and the bedroom took me almost half a day.

I used this vacuum cleaner to help me, the one that I got from hubby on last Mother's Day :)




My Special Corner



As Mak isah blogs mostly during nights or late at nights when everybody are asleep so naturally my notebook and a small table will be near my bed. I like to put some of my personal belongings in boxes so that's why you can see a lot of boxes near my table.

So you can imagine the time I spent opening and closing all those boxes and re arranging them in the small space that I have there.

That 'Panasonic' box is where I keep my vacuum cleaner each time after use and next to it is the paper bag that I got after buying my digital Sony Camera the other day...which I use now to put in my 'Dolphin' massager which is to massage my feet after settling in my room each evenings. Very convenient, all I do is just on the switch and sit on that red stool and massage my two feet while reading my emails etc.

Actually I feel good after doing the cleaning. 'Puas mata memandang dan puas hati lepak-lepak dalam bedroom' LOL...
Err..lepak-lepak means I have my own tv in my bedroom and most of the time watch tv there :)



Sometimes if I am tired and my back ache a little, I used this small folding table to place my notebook on my bed. That way I can lean on my many comforters and pillows while online.


My folding small table. This can be folded and stored in another place...



Folded like this. I got this table for only RM16. Originally it cost RM29. I guess it was the last one so the Mall put it only to RM16 :)



My 2 favorite places in my house is either this or my kitchen.

The first half of the day I spend the time in my kitchen until 1pm or 2pm, and then sell 'Cendol' until 6pm.

Then later retire to my room after dinner from 7pm or 730pm until the next morning.

I believe each and everyone of us have one favorite spot in our house. Where is yours? :)


Cheerio.

354. Sup Sayur Campur

Let's go back and talk about food. Have you ever cook this 'Sayur Campur' soup? Most have I guess. I cooked it this afternoon, and after a long time not cooking it my family loves it, especially hubby.

Funny...I've always called it 'Sayur Campur' because there are only dried vegetables put into it. Most shops sell these dried vegetables all in one packet but I prefer buying them in separate packets ( I mean 1 dry bean curd sticks in 1 packet etc.). Nowadays the dried vegetables are expensive.

I also wonder if this is a Chinese dish of origin? :) or what other names is this dish called?

Sup Sayur Campur

Vegetable Ingredients would be -

10 dried Bean Curd sticks

RM1 dried Black Fungus (Black Mushrooms)

1 small packet of Tanghoon (Glass Noodles)
8 - 10 pieces of dried Prawns

1. Soak the bean curd sticks, when soft cut into 1" long, washed then leave to dry in a sieve.
2. Soak the black fungus, when soft cut into halves with a scissor.
3. Soak the glass noodles.
4. Wash the dried prawns.

A. Ground 2 small shallots, 2 garlics, 2 big red chillies.
B. Add in 1 teaspoon belacan (shrimp paste) and the washed dried prawns. Ground lightly.
C. Saute A. & B. then add in a couple 2 - 3 cups of water.
D. Bring to the boil and add in the bean curd sticks, the black fungus and the glass noodles.

E. Add 1 piece of dried tamarind flower (asam gelugor) into the soup. Bring to boil.

F. Add salt and ajinomoto to taste.

Eat the soup hot with rice, salted fish or salted duck eggs (making sure these 2 are in small rations ok?).


Cheerio.

353. Kelapa Parut & Hari Raya

Esok kan 'Hari Raya Aidil Adha'?

So tengahari tadi selepas hantar Aya ke tempat kerja dia Mak Isah singgah ke 'Tamu Muhibbah Lama' nak beli kelapa parut.

Bila sampai...

Alamak! Rupa-rupa nya Mak Isah kena berbaris he he...

See? :)

I had waited for about 10 minutes and was 3rd in the row ( about 4 or 5 persons behind me), only then I remembered I have my camera in my handbag. So, reaching for it I took some pictures :)

Btw, I was surprised the cost of 1 kg of 'Kelapa Parut' now is RM4. I had not bought 'Kelapa Parut' for quite a while, always have been using the 'Santan' packets.

I wanted to make some 'Kelupis' for 'Hari Raya Adha' hence why I landed in the row of people buying 'Kelapa Parut' :)

This man busy grinding the cut coconuts into the machine while his mother ( I guess) putting the 'Kelapa Parut' into a plastic bag, which was mine. I bought 3 kilos.

Business seemed good for these two :)

This view I took from where I was standing. Now the building looked new because it recently has been painted and wall fans were installed.

It's called the 'Tamu Muhibbah Lama' because it was the first Tamu Muhibbah built. And almost all the vendors here are the Malays and Kedayans.

Today the scene in this Tamu Muhibbah was more noisy and cheery as well as more crowded. I guess the Hari Raya mood was in the air.

This lady was busy making a new batch of 'Ketupat' leaves for sale. Can you see those dried ones that she hang above her head, those was made during last 'Hari Raya Puasa'. I guess those were just for decorations now.


Tomorrow will be a holiday for everyone. Mak Isah hope everyone will take this chance to be with your beloved families and spend quality time with them.

For My dear dear Blogger friends who are celebrating 'Hari Raya Aidil Adha' like Mak Isah, enjoy your Hari Raya and a happy 'Hari Raya Adil Adha' to you and your dear families.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday Holiday!

Cheerio.

352. Mak Isah KK Summary

Mak Isah apologize for this late entry. Due to tiredness from walking and walking in KK, I really need some time to gain back my strength and come back to my normal routine when home ha ha...

How's you all been doing? Miz you all! and the usual blogwalking :)

I will just summarize about my 2 nights' trip to KK with my girls and my grandson Alif... or else you'd all will get bored reading and reading :p

Surprisingly Alif did well for his first trip on a plane. Though at first he clung to his mom's dress when he heard the loud noise the plane engine made when we wanted to board the plane, once seated nearest to the window inside he was all excited and noisy chattering in his language about the plane's wings and when it started to move. The return trip was even easier, he just boarded the plane as if getting inside our car at home :)

Alif, all smiles when we reached the hotel.

When tired he slept like a log

My girls enjoyed themselves

Walking and walking and walking

The hotel was comfortable...with this breathtaking view from the window

We went to 1 Borneo, just in time to catch this beautiful peacock? handmade with these colorful rice as Diwali was just a few days' away

Food was not difficult or expensive to find in KK but only if you know where to eat (that I found out).

We didn't really like the food the hotel Cafeteria has to offer so we prefer eating outside. One of the eating places that we went to eat was our favorite 'Bakso' .

Beef Bakso

Eating Beef Bakso at the Night Market (Aya & Noormy)

Only for RM3 per bowl! (Can you see the price? you may enlarge by clicking on this pic)

Bakso Perut, also for RM3 per bowl only

Have you ever eaten these while in KK? You should try it, they are delicious! Ate them with hot cili padi :p

Alif can't eat those so we brought him his own food and drink

One late afternoon I was craving to eat rice so we tried this new Cafeteria at 'Center Point Sabah'. We were already there in the building so we just went looking for a good eating place and met this 'Super Faezah Cafeteria'.

Super Faezah Cafeteria. It sure looked good with all the food and I was hungry and wanted to eat 'Nasi Campur'

But....

After filling our stomachs with these....

Noormy's Plate of Nasi Campur

My Plate

I got the shock of my life when I saw the bill afterwards!

RM10 for Noormy's plate?? OMG, all my life I have not encountered a plate of 'Nasi Campur' that cost that much!

My plate was RM7, so was Aya's plate and Zu's cost RM6.50.

I vowed never to go back to that cafeteria again

The Bill

Then we 'found' this 'Restoran Annajah' behind our hotel area. Here the food were good and worth it.

Restoran Annajah & Katering

Each for only RM4.50...

Nasi Pattaya ( I can hardly see the rice underneath it :)

Nasi Goreng with 'Telor Mata Lembu'

Kueyteow Goreng

Nasi Campur

At a different shop, Aya & Noormy like this Japanese food called 'Japan Boat Takoyaki' (Fishballs with Cheese)

Our favorites, young coconut drinks!

Our last hour before checking out of the hotel, we let Alif sleep so he wouldn't be too tired later on.

Alif sleeping

This trip has been a different experience for me because Alif came along with us and I have all my 3 girls with me.

With Alif, our walks and window shopping were slowed down a bit. He refused to let his mom (Zu) bathed him. Only Noormy can coaxed him into going in the hotel shower room to take his bath.

Yet overall he has been behaving so well.

This is hardly the short summary that I promised earlier on eh? :)

Mak isah need to crash in bed now, hoping I can visit your blogs (which I had miz so much!) after a few hours sleep k :)


Have a wonderful Tuesday!


Cheerio.