Tepee

I apologise to Wendy and to all if I sounded too aggressive up there. Too passionate about travelling....

I was talking about our younger (carefree) days.... but there are many ways one can save up for a holiday....besides, do you know how big your currency is compared to many asian currencies?

*cough* When we started on our travel bug, my husband and I were far from making a 'decent income'...we literally used up all our savings for the year just to travel. Although, we are still far from wealthy now, we still make it a point to fit in one overseas travel a year, as we find it exceedingly worth the money, to experience local food and environment, more so now that we have children. You may live in a huge country or in a state bigger than a country. But, if you don't travel, your life would be so much smaller. The world is not only your country. How many of you has tasted real Malaysian food? Or, perhaps, I should ask, how many of you are even curious enough to want to know what Malaysian food is all about? I rest my case.

It's something a savory Teochew dish should almost always have. I went around looking for it but couldn't find any yesterday. ...and NO! I didn't add that part in...it was in the original post.

If I hadn't travelled, I wouldn't have eaten the best lemon meringue pie I've ever eaten in Brisbane, and the best breads and fudge in Melbourne, the best savory pies in Perth, best cherry tart and continental pastries in Lucerne, divine croissants in Paris, tried shoofly pie in an Amish community, eaten cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, and, etc.... Malaysia don't have immigrants other than from our neighboring countries, so, you can't find many Greek or Middle-eastern or African restaurants. We have a lot of non-authentic Mexican (more Tex-Mex) and anything goes Italian restaurants. However, increasingly, we do have many students going overseas, and these are the people who having tasted such food, bring it back with them, to open restaurants. Fortunately, the bar is being raised and we're seeing people who crave for authenticity. Yes, travelling opens our eyes to cuisines other than our own.

Did you guys notice something vital is missing to this dish? Will give you some time to guess......

Salted sour plums...sheun mui..any kind will do. Just 3 is enough to add an interesting dimension to the soup, which, by the way, I added the mushroom stock from the microwave softening. Yes, salted veg is ham choi in cantonese, or kiam chye in Teochew. The resulting bit of soup (that's why you need a dish and not a plate) is really flavorful, slightly sweet, sour and salty. Simply a hug in a soup (borrowing a phrase somebody said in Carrot Top's Soup Thread).

Yoohoo....Suzy....the answer to your questions were up there. Hz's right...10 minutes should do it but I added 3 minutes for insurance. It was not overdone.

Amaranth...in cantonese, it's yeen choy and it features in our menu at least once a week, both the green and the purplish/green ones. Another way I cook it is, make a good ikan bilis(dried anchovies) soup stock. Add the yeen choy in at the last moment together with some soft tofu. Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself in Toronto, Ben-sook.....eating! I'm like Sue-On. Can't take the tong-ho smell...I'm the only one who doesn't take it in my family....doesn't matter how good it's supposed to be.

I would have thought it would be even nos.! You're too funny, sook-sook!

Appreciate that!

Hai yahhhh...why didn't you say it's lap yoke? OK, lap yoke is bigtime tough stuff, you tear it off with your teeth like a caveman if you've got the jaws like one. Seriously, it's usually eaten during chinese new year added on top of rice when the rice is 2/3 cooked to steam on top so that the oil trickles down to flavor the rice. Or, it's just steamed on its own.

I can't really visualize what pork belly you're describing. Perhaps, someone from your side of the pond can fill you in. Our siu yoke man.

Tks, Christofer. It's actually Roast Crackling Pork. Bbq Pork is Cha Siu. Here's a recipe.

Today's supposed to be Western but I thought I'd better cook the pomfrets recommended by the fishmonger to steam since they were very fresh. Here's the mis en place. From the top left to down: finely-sliced ginger, soaked, rinsed and sliced salted veg, microwaved mushroom (tks, muichoi!), top again: spring onion, tomatoes (ugh, they look so pale skinless...I stole the skin to do a garnish rose) and sour plum. At the back: organic soy sauce, himalayan salt, sarawak white pepper, and 2 lovely pomfrets slit and rubbed with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Rub sesame oil inside the dish. Fill tummy (the fishs') with ginger and one plum each. Loosely place other ingredients (except the spring onions) all around the fish. And drizzle in some soy sauce. Have the wok steaming hot before placing the dish on the rack. Another shot for Jo-mel since she appreciates my gas stove so much. Cover. Steam for 13 minutes. Garnish with the sliced spring onion, tomato rose and curly spring onion. The fishmonger was right...the fish was sweet and firm, a waste if I hadn't had it steamed. Did I miss anything? Pls excuse me, I've a habit of coming back to edit things I missed earlier....

I'm a bit fussy about popiah...to me, size doesn't matter . It has to be tasty and not soggy if well-wrapped, the sauce shouldn't overwhelm, it should only enhance. IMO, the most important ingredient of a popiah is the shredded yam beans (with some shredded carrots), which make up the bulk of a popiah. It should be shredded more to the fine side and cooked until tender in flavorful stock fragranced with sauteed garlic and bean paste. I'm describing a nonya popiah, of course. Below are ingredients you can usually find in popiah filling, plus or minus: deep-fried dried shrimps french beans lettuce leaves shredded cucumber blanched beansprouts steamed prawns sliced omelette beancurd in strips and fried crispy deep-fried shallots coriander minced pork finely sliced chinese sausages (lup cheong) sweet sauce (tim jeong) chilli sauce Michael, are you sure the sogginess came from the meat (which should be well-drained in the first place) and not the shredded yam beans?

Pork rashers.

You bet! I've told this tale before but I'll tell it again. My 9 yo niece's classmate was wearing thick glasses, and her mom started to let her snack on gei chee everyday. In just 3 months, she didn't have to wear them anymore. Er...just don't go overboard....it also has a 'loosening' effect. My dear Hz...admit it...it's time to get them bifocals.

Yes, Kris, they come dried. You can eat it dried as a snack, throw them into sweet soups, bake them in a muffin, anything...a great substitute for raisins, actually better, because it's reputed to be very good for eyesight. Yes, it is, after all, dark soy sauce is aged soy sauce with added molasses. For this dish, I didn't even add any salt as the meat came salted. No, no need to thin - I shook it out of the bottle into the wok...so when I say 3 tablespoons, it's more or less .

Right you are! Pork belly, pork rashes, same thing. 3 layers coz you see the meat, fats and skin clearly.

Tks, Hz. With our long job description, homemakers need shortcut dishes. I soaked the berries for 5 minutes only, then covered with wrap and microwaved for 10 seconds. Soak too long and it'll turn mushy. Taking pics took up the deco time.

I love my stove . There's 3 rings of flame...I had to turn it down when I was taking pics in case the food got burnt.

So, I'm not going to let Hz have all the fun, am I? Just kidding...I wanted to see if I can handle taking pics and cooking at the same time. Sometimes, during the weekends, we buy some siu yoke (3-layer pork) to store in the freezer for lazy days. It's quite versatile; this is only one of the dishes which you can use it in. Ingredients: siu yoke, chopped garlic, dark/black thick soya sauce, pepper, dried chillies (optional). I ran out of the dark soya sauce, so I used molasses instead..not much difference in the taste. And, I'm definitely not as organized as Hz, forgot to get the sarawak pepper to pose. Fry pork together with garlic in 2 tblsp oil. I don't fry the garlic on its own for this dish, because it'll end up too burnt when combined with the meat later on. Besides, some oil from the siu yoke will join in the fun along the way. Fry till the skin turns crackly. Add 3 tblsp dark soya sauce, pepper to taste and chillies if you want. Dish done in a minute or 2....slight exaggeration but it's really quick. Shown here with blanched broccoli, plumped up microwaved (I did it!) gei chee (boxthorn berries), drizzled with teelseed oil and oyster sauce.

Hoh yee...except I'm not as organised as Hz (who's fighting for the post of my publicity mgr with Sue-On) here. <insert smiley with embarassed look>

Nice list, thanks, beaker.