: : Little Lebanon Express : :

Granny : Oi! You want go out or not? Stop raining liaw.

Translation : Move your butt, Wena, because I want to go out too.

So, I got out of my bed, changed and left with Granny. Still trying to recover after Henry’s little housewarming party the night before. Woke up so early in the morning even though came back late last nite. Blogged the previous posting om stir-fried cabbage. Went to sleep for another 4 more hours. Woke up to heavy heavy heavy rain which finally cleared up at around 6 p.m.

Well, we went off to Little Lebanon Express as I wanted to try some kerbabs. It’s been ages since I had one and I was really looking forward to having a nice one. Haven’t had a decent kerbab since I left England in 93. Something is never quite right : either the bread or the meat itself.

Sure enough, they had the stall out. The chicken kebab is on the left while the lamb was on the right. The unleaven bread was heated up on the grill so that the kebab was still pretty warm when we left.

They added some onion mixed with parsley, tomato and some sauce with the kebab. Should have ask them to add more because there weren’t enough inside the kebab.

Some other garnishings on the side. Didn’t ask what it was as the waiters started giving me strange looks when they saw the camera. Oh well. Anyway, took Granny around the newly renovated carpark.

The pictures were taken yesterday morning around noon time.

Anyway, after a few more errands with Granny, we headed off home. The kebab looked pretty good actually and the bread was nice. I regretted not asking for more of the garnishings inside. As for the chicken, tasted pretty good but I think it could do with more spices so that more flavour comes out. As for the lamb, it was tough! Sad to say but it was true. Hmm… going to tell them the next time I see them. Also, should add more spices.

Unfortunately, my yardstick is always this little takeaway shop in Birmingham, U.K. There was a family of Turkish immigrants who opened the shop and they make great kebab. Overhearing their conversation one day, I found out that they marinated the meat by rolling the minced lamb meat over and over again for a long time until the flavour got into it. They were also very generous with their garnishings. Where is the shop? Can’t remember the name of the road but it’s in front of Hunter’s Court which is the University of Birmingham’s owned accomodation for students. The shop is opposite the main entrance to Hunter’s Court, slightly diagonal to the left. One serving of their lamb kebab can last me for two meals. Then again, it was 3.99 pounds for one or was it 4.99 pounds? Can’t remember.

Also bought some falafel. Err… all I can say is that you’ll need to eat it with something else. Again, not enough sauce! Oh well. The flavour was too strong for me so had it with some gravy from Granny’s curry fish and the kebab. Uncle Cyril doesn’t like it. Made all sorts of faces throughout dinner time. 🙂

Well, that’s it from Little Lebanon for now. Have yet to try out their restaurant but will for sure check with my Auntie Mimi first on what is good there!

: : Granny’s Cooking : :

Well, not that much of a morning since I’m still feeling really groggy after last night’s do at a friend’s housewarming party. Didn’t feel too good about taking pics of the food with so many people around that knows me.

So, decided to post up some more pics of Granny’s cooking. Shots were taken last Friday after she cook the chicken in oyseter sauce. The shots below show Granny preparing stir-fried cabbage.

As usual, a teaspoon of oil is heated up and the garlic is friend until it softens and fragrant. Granny threw in a small piece of fish as well. Don’t know why. Couldn’t really taste it but guess she’s trying something new.

Next comes the cabbage. Cabbage are sliced first into…erm…rectangular shaped pieces. Can’t think of a better way to describe the cutting style or the shape of the cabbage. Start stir-frying the cabbage and if the wok gets too hot, turn down the heat a bit but not too much. A medium-sized flame should be sufficient.

Then, she added in some water but not the half pot shown in the pic! About one small bowl should be sufficient. Then she added in the salt and pepper to taste. I supposed the water helps to distribute the heat more evenly so that the cabbage is thoroughly cooked.

The final product. Granny puts them into two separate plates : one for lunch and the other for dinner time. She usually cooks enough food for the whole day so that she doesn’t need to cook at night. However, we usually have leftovers for the next few days! Kind of hard to cook for 3 people so sometimes, she makes a lot more to last us a few days. Sunday is curry day and she usually makes a big pot of curry to last for a few days. Yum!

: : India Street : :

It’s been a really long time since I last set foot at this place. The fact that I have to brave the horrendous Saturday morning traffic is already a turn-off, not to mention the crowd and the hot hot sun! Still, went out to check if there was anything interesting as there was some sort of food fair there. Wanted to see whether it’s worth bringing Granny there or not.

As soon as I got there, first thing I got was a nice cool drink. Believe me, it was pretty hot walking up and down the boulevard. Of course, everyone was giving me a goofy grin when they saw me taking pictures. The drinks were worth it though. I got mine in a little alley that was packed with hawkers selling food.

There were also quite a number of stalls selling langsat but as the weather was pretty hot, didn’t really want to buy it. Other than this and fruit stalls, not much interesting activities going on. Just a lot of people walking up and down the boulevard. There were a lot of people selling other stuff but nothing interesting.

Passing by one of the shops, I saw some coffee beans from Indonesia. Must remember to pack some with me when I go and see Jas in December. She is craving for them! When Dad went over last month, he brought over half a kilo of this stuff for her! The second pic is the grinder used to ground the beans into powder.

At the end of the boulevard is the new renovated courthouse where Little Lebanon is located. So, thought of buying some food back for Granny to try. Unfortunately, there weren’t ready at 11 a.m. So, walked around for another 45 minutes, passing Carpenter Street and back. Also went to the Padang Merdeka (Independance Field) to take some nice shots especially since the stage with the 40 yrs anniversary signage still up. The shop still wasn’t open at 11:45 a.m. Hmm… guess they’re still trying to sort themselves out. There’s no sign stating the opening times for Little Lebanon Express.

The menu at Little Lebanon Express. Definitely look interesting and the smells coming out of the Kuching was divine.

Well, they did have some lamb curry cooked in chillis.

As well as something called Falatel that is put in Arabic bread with some vegetables I think? Didn’t seem so appetizing to me so didn’t buy any. Then again, I was sweaty and hot and bothered. Spoke to the lady at the counter and she mentioned the best time to come is around 1 p.m. or evening time. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow. The bad thing about this place is the parking space. There’s only 5-6 parking lots at the courthouse and everywhere else was already jam packed with cars. Maybe will pop by tomorrow afternoon to see whether it’s open or not.

On the way back to the car, again through the boulevard, past by the food stalls again. The little boy here stood staring at me for a few minutes wondering why am I taking his picture. Hee hee!

The guava fruits looked pretty good at this Chinese hawker stall. Didn’t feel like eating any as I did not want to get constipation. If one is suffering from stomach problems i.e. soft stool, better take guava. However, be careful not to take too much at one time! You will probably not be able to ‘past motion’ for quite a few days!

Some of the other kuih at the Chinese stall. Selling mooncake as well. The lady was funny when I bought some of those little cupcakes from her. Said that cannot see really well these days without glasses i.e. hinting to me that didn’t know I gave her RM5 for a RM1.50 kuih. Hmm… auntie auntie, tsk tsk.

After that, went off to Tun Jugah to enjoy the air-conditioning and the sale that is going there. Spent too much money there on clothes and other items. Hmm…

: : Granny’s Cooking – Chicken with Ginger & Oyster Sauce: :

Took half day off today to settle my income tax. Managed to settle it pretty early so came back home and caught Granny cooking. Tooks some shots and videos of her cooking Chicken with Ginger and Oyster Sauce.

First, she stir-fried the sliced ginger and purple onions in oil until it was fragrant. Here’s a video of her doing it.

Next, she added in the cut pieces of chicken.

Then the potatoes. Need to add the potatoes in early as it takes some time for them to boil until it gets cook. Again, another video.

Fry them a bit. Then, she added some soy sauce inside. Video showing Granny addingsoy sauce.

Add some oyster sauce water in. Video showing Granny adding water. Stir-fry until everything is evenly mixed and the chicken looks cook on the outside.

Transfer everything to a pot and add more water. Another video. Then bring to a boil. Usually, she doesn’t cook this dish with so much water but the workers doing the renovation wanted a lot of gravy so she turned it into a stew instead. Bring the stew to a boil then reduce the fire. Continue to let the stew cook until the potatoes are soft. She half-closed the pot with a lid so that the stew will cook faster. By the time the potatoes are soft, the chicken would be very soft and tender and the sauces would have gone into the chicken.

Phew! Long blog. Enjoy it people!

Update : Sorry for the 404 notice ppl. It’s fixed now.

: : Granny’s Cooking : :

Yay yay! I’m back! And with more pics of Granny’s cooking!

I luv snow peas. They’re always so sweet and crunchy. Easy to do with stir-fry but remember to add the garlic in! Granny has cooked it with crabsticks (which were falling apart by the time she finished cooking). Only thing to do with the beans is to remove the ends and the fibre that is along the joined seams (no idea how to call it).

And my favourite again! Oh it taste so good. The white fungus can be found in it’s dried form. Needs to be soaked in hot water first and then rinsed before cooking it with chicken. That’s all one needs to do to make this great soup.

On another note, technoLAHgist a.k.a. information seeker, provide me a link to the Cook’s Thesaurus. It even has belachan there! Disguised as shrimp paste. Check it out!

Update : Thanks to feli so telling me it’s not French beans but rather snow peas. 🙂

: : Waiting List : :

%)@(*%)@(*%)(*#@%!!!

There’s a very long waiting list for Streamnyx users in Kuching. Waiting time is now more than 2 months! Bloody heck!

Oh well. Guess I have no choice but to sign up and join the queue.

*Sigh*