: : Places to Eat : :

Just came across a directory for interesting food in Sarawak. Someone obviously has not been updating it. Yes, you can find German food in Kuching. Surprise? Arrangements can be made at Carvery a few days in advance. Also, Oktoberfest is a very big event every October with an omm-pa-pa band in Kuching and Miri.

There are at least 3 Japanese restaurant, 1 Italian restaurant, 3 Korean restaurants and countless seafood outlets! Good Western food is also available and many many hawker stalls!

Hmm… now I have an idea to set up a directory. Will start planning to do it once I’ve moved to another web server.

: : Yesterday’s lunchie : :

Decided to put yesterday’s lunchie because today’s lunch was worst! Urgh! Cafeteria food. The only decent thing was instant Korean noodles: kimchi flavour.

Anyway, yesterday’s lunch was kuah chap. Mentioned early, it’s a pork stew but not thick at all. Usually cooked with herbs, pork meat as well as intestines, pork stomach, pork skin and really big pieces of rice noodles. The noodles are similar to the kway teow except that they are cut in square pieces. It’s also accompanied with half an egg.

This dish is a great breakfast dish and quite filling. Definitely not one for those who are not used to the unusual ingredients though. It is both sweet and salty at the same time as dark soy sauce is used to make the soup.

To finish the meal, I had a cup of Ribena 7-up!! Some Ribena syrup was mixed with the 7-up. Great way to end a meal eaten outside on a hot hot hot day!!

: : Peanut Soup : :

A bit more about this peanut soup. I’m a Chinese so we cook it with pork. However, I think it should be okay with chicken.

It’s a common soup made at home and very easy to do. However, might take some time to do it because the peanuts need to be soft. Not too soft that it disintegrate but still soft enough to bite through without the crunchy sound.

Most homemade Chinese soup are clear i.e. no cornflour added inside. So, it’s a very light soup and not too heavy. This peanut soup is very good for one’s health although I have to check with Granny what it’s good for. Sometimes, instead of peanut, she puts in red kidney beans. The taste is slightly different but still good.

A typical Chinese meal at home will have soup. I know my Dad needs it! Throughout the coming days, I will start putting up other types of soup. Nowadays, these soups can be eaten at the foodcourt which sells different types of clear soup like pork stomach with pepper, chicken soup with carrots, bittergourd stuff with meat soup and others.

Still, the best soups I’ve tasted so far is always at home!

: : Grandma’s Cooking : :

Bit late today so think I’ll skip the lunch menu for today and save it for tomorrow. It was a lousy kueh chap anyway (pork soup cooked in soy sauce, garlic with flat noodles).

Today, Granny cooked my sis’ favourite soup : peanut soup with pork ribs. So, here it is!

Actually, the peanut is very soft. Granny’s simple instructions :

Boil the raw peanuts in water over a slow fire. DO NOT PUT SALT IN!!! Need to ensure the peanut is 3/4 cook by tasting the peanuts. If not enough water, add more in. The soup will turn slightly reddish brown but that’s okay. It’s also to cook the peanut with the skin on. If you want more peanuts, put more in.

Once pork ribs are cooked i.e. soft, add in the salt, pepper and Ajinomoto. Ajinomoto = MSG but only a little bit i.e. a pinch should be sufficient. For those who are not used to taking MSG, then you can skip this step.

The shiny stuff in the soup is actually the fat coming from the pork meat as well as some from the peanut. Throw in a cabbage leaf to soak up the fat and then throw away the cabbage leaf. At least, I remember it was a cabbage leaf. Or was it lettuce?

Granny doesn’t give much measurements for the cooking ingredients. Everything is added in as per each person’s taste so will leave it at that.

Anyway, sis, here’s looking at you!

: : Granny’s Cooking : :

Special request from my sis : pics of Granny’s cooking!

Starting tomorrow.

: : Crime Scene: :

Cast : Grandma, Wena

Time of Crime Occurance : 10 p.m.

Grandma : Wei! Come and eat Kuku’s (Uncle’s) Kolo Mee.

Wena : Eh? Thought he wanted to eat later?

Grandma : Nanti basi later (Will turn bad). Come, I eat with you.

Wena : (Hmmm… using me as an excuse to eat the mee. Oh well. No harm. I get the mee. )