Tepee

Looks perfect, sheetz!! Did you use lard or shortening?

A friend of mine had repeatedly told me that I must go to this jai (vegetarian) place, and so I went this morning. The set-up is very simple, more like a stall, which explains the rustic food containers. However, the place is clean...lol, should be...as I think I was the first customer. I nearly went crazy when I saw the variety and all of them look so good. For 2 sheets of jai siu ngo (vegetarian goose) and 2 packets of rice stuffed with 5 dishes in each, I paid only RM9.40 (US$2.70). Goose Taro/water chestnut rolls Mixed veg curry Chilli squid Fish cutlets, chicken and fat noodles Pork, taro chips, stir-fry cucumber, choy geok, mixed veg with glass noodles This is our favourite...char siu, and sweet and sour pork at the back

I must agree with that! You and Mrs C must be very good teachers. I've 3 girls and though 2 out of 3 show potential, I zip through cooking too fast to get them involved. Glad you're blogging too. Never get enough of your meal pix...

Went to ta-pau from this shop on the recommendation of a friend. RM20 (US$5.70) for the smallest portion available, more than enough for 2 adults; we had 2 other dishes. A bit too lemak (rich) for me, but had loads of stuff in it...lots of fish meat in the chopped portions of the head, fish lips , tomatoes, okra, eggplant, tofu puff, cabbage and long beans.

Sure pumpkin is botanically a fruit, but it has always been culinarily thought a vegetable. Anyway, if you're still thinking of a custard, Thai/SEAsian/whatever pumpkin custard, as suggested by Michael, is delicious, and we steam it, rather than bake...comes out smoother (to me, at least). As for your obsession with lotus root, it's quite do-able for a dessert. You can stuff it with glutinous rice, poach it in a light syrup and bathe it in wine (osmanthus) to serve. Can't wait to see your creation. Have been bowled over by the results of these challenges........

LOL, aznsailorboi, I like how your mind works as you put together a one-dish meal. Doong at my parent's. We were a bit late, so I only snapped pix of the dishes which were still more or less intact. The others not pictured here at Pak Cham Gai (steeped chicken) and Deep Fried Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce, and Kolrabi Soup with Red Dates. Black Pepper Marmite Prawns Stuffed Braised Duck

Oooh, Dai Gah Jeh....love your animal skewers. Hubby ta-pau-ed geong choong chow luk yuk for dinner tonight. Eat this with sambal and pickled green chillies.....yum!

YUM!!!

I had black sesame paste filled tong yeun tonight. I'll be having ones with a chunk of palm sugar in it tomorrow in a very gingery clear sweet soup.

Bought some mangoes to make this but I've been too busy to divert from my packed schedule. So, on Sunday, we had a dim sum lunch and guess what we ordered? Mango Pomelo Mango Cream with Sago And...... Water chestnut with honeyed sea coconut Stewed Pear with lum hung (almond kernels) Almond Soya Curd with Longan Egg White Fluff with banana and red bean filling. YUM!!! Is my family scaringly sweet toothed? Yes, we did have some dim sums too.

Yeah...like spice or chilli mix pounded with the mortar and pestle tastes better than using an electric grinder.

...and the one about men not supposed to eat over-night hard-boiled eggs?

These days we have the convenience of rice flour. When I was a child, I used to follow my mother to the 'old town' (especially during winter solstice celebration when we had to make tong yeun) where there was this miller who'd grind your rice into flour, using a huge stone mill. It was fascinating to watch. Love this thread...there are so many dishes (like Peony's cheong fun for instance) that I would like to try...one of these days. Happy "Gaw Toong", everyone! I'll be going to my MIL's (cooking's not particularly her thing). It's going to be a potluck. I was going to make a chicken dish, but found out that she has ordered curry chicken, so I'd probably do.......Jo-Mel's veg dish (thanks!). Too busy to make more effort. I've been baking and baking this past week, for give-aways, and we're having 40 carollers over this christmas eve and a few neighbours. My mother, who takes pity on me, has moved the gaw toong feast to Saturday lunch for me. Still spoils me after all these years.

Nooooo, Ah Leung Gaw....when I said yam, I mean TARO.

Here's a sheun poon zhi pic I dug up. I live in a Hakka area, so lots of places selling it; some places have some sauce (soy) for it (like in this pic), others are drier. You can stir fry it with anything, usually, wood fungus, mushrooms, garlic, minced pork, dried shrimps, bean sprouts. Forgot where I found this recipe, but I've paraphrased the instructions: 300g yam 75g tapioca flour Steam (half an hour or so) and mash the yam. While still hot, add the tapioca flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Knead until it doesn't feel sticky. Cover the mixture while pinching bits to roll into balls to keep it warm. It's easier to roll the balls if you dampen your hands. Indent ball. Cover. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Throw balls in. Balls are ready when they float. Remove and throw them into a pot of cold water. Drain. Add oil so they don't stick.

I love all the cookie ideas in this thread...tks for sharing. The boxes intrigue me; I'd certainly love to be on the receiving end of one of these. We don't seem to have such cookie gift boxes here. Our cookies (one type at a time) are almost always packed in not highly creative air tight containers. The only mix we have is Danish cookies. I love buttery danish cookies but, it doesn't beat getting an array of beauties. Forgive my ignorance but I have a few questions: How long does it take before the cookie (assuming it's originally a crunchy hard one) softens? Won't mixing soft and hard cookies encourage softening as I've always been led to believe? Is it necessary for cookies to be packed in air-tight containers? Thanks. I'm feeling in great need to sink my teeth in a cookie.

So, this year I decided to play with a couple of decorative breads from Jeffrey Hamelman's book. Fun!

Lobster is definitely much more expensive, by weight.

Two weeks ago, hubby ta-paued a HUGE bag of delicious fish head curry from Madam Kwan's. When I say, huge, I mean this baby's head measured 1 foot long (you should see its teeth)....almost couldn't find a pot to fill it. His group couldn't handle this by the time it arrived because they were already stuffed and this was too heavy for them....my gain. Even here, it cost US$25, but it was very worth it, enough to feed at least 6 people. There was a lot of meat on the head and other veg/tau pok in the curry. I slurped up all the curry because it was really nice and thick, the way I like it. Good to eat with rice, bread or noodles. For smaller portions and in simpler restaurants, you can find fish head curry for half the price. I'm drooling from the memory of it.

Great cooking, folks! My line was down for 2 days...but I've been terribly busy and will be so for the next 2 weeks. Won't have time to post; so this will be my last till Dec 22...I'll make an effort for that. Last night's food from the pasar malam (night market). Claypot rice, to be eaten with sliced red chillies in thin soy sauce. Popiah. Rolls filled with long-stewed daikon and loads of stuff...there's a thread on it. This one is delicious as they put a base of fried eggs which are threadlike thin. Also the Kill Ride Horse in the other thread? I found this in my mother's house. Just found out the first word Saat is not Kill. Love this. I can eat huge chunks at one go.

By all means, jump in, v.gautam, you're still on-topic. Alkali solution is not needed to induce crunchiness in shrimps. The secret is plain sugar solution. When we buy shrimps, on reaching home, we give it a quick wash, then put them in a bag, throw some sugar in and fill it with some water, then freeze. If you take the shrimps out a week later, or even 2 weeks later, you'll be amazed how fresh and crunchy the shrimps taste and feel. Try it.

Busy this morning...so ta-paued chicken rice. Wanted half chicken and half char siu but they run out of char siu very early...missed it.

Thanks, sheetz!! Cubed honey melon goes well with this dish too.

If it's cooked, it will be soft, won't it? That's why in most recipes, the skin is left on to give it some semblance of a structure. There's one dish my mom used to make; she skins the brinjals and cut it into lengthwise strips. Very soft...you don't want to make that for your family. The description of the sauce is making me drool. I love vietnamese food but haven't cooked any Viet dishes before. Which book do you usually use?

Peony, do you happen to have a daughter who is in confinement at the moment? First the livers, then this rice.......so familiar. Next, vinegared pig trotters, I hope? Slurrrrrp.