June 19, 2006

Gastronomical Adventure

Hehehe.... a bombastic title from a makcik in a kampung, don't you think?


Well, due to the boredom of the mundane office work, I decided that a 2 days leave was appropriate. So I took leave last week on Thursday and Friday. I only worked 3 days for the last week. Besides that, Kak Long was due to return to campus before the 19th June. I thought maybe spending time with her and maybe engage her help in cleaning my house would also be appropriate. There is a small room in my house which I turned into a pantry/store/ironing room (very multi-purpose room) which is in a mess. I thought of tidying it up a bit. Well it was the plan, however, the plan didn't really materialise. the room is still in a mess.

Spending the last week at home, meant that she could ask for special menus. Kak Long did just that much to the "complaints" of her younger siblings. Not that they complained that I treated her special or anything, but the complaint was more of "bila hang balik, kami jadi gemuk lah" hehehe. They love the food as well. When hubby teased Syia that she was getting very "bulat" or fatter, Syia would say, "This is mama's fault. Why she has to cook so good food." Heheh..


Me being the non-gastronomic expert or a cuisine chef, far from being a diva chef, cooked in my own simplisitic, campak-campak, orang kampung style. Improvision is my middle name. Nonetheless, we had such an adventure trying out some western recipies.

First was the Fish and Chip, after a few tips from the reader I think it turn out quite well, enough to satisfy a very "cerewet" hubby. It was more of a seafood platter rather than just the fish and chip. Because the fish and chip, was served with squid and mushroom fried in batter and some mixed veggie salad. Hubby liked it so much that he bought more veggies (cabages - the normal and the purple one, baby tomatoes, lettuces etc) for more salad but he forgotten the mayonaise/coleslaw sauce.

The following day, I seasoned some chicken, I was lazy to de-bone the chicken so instead of making a chicken chop, I made it into a fried chicken instead. But I made a black pepper sauce to go with it. Of course the black pepper suace comes from a bottle, I just need to add extra sliced button mushroom, a bit more sugar and chilli paste. OK, it may sound odd but, first of all, I need to suit the Malaysian taste buds of my family, and the black pepper suace-in-a-bottle usually are very sour. I definitely need to find a good original black pepper sauce. Any pointers?

On saturday, I was not at home for half of the morning. I had a seminar to attend. Hubby had bought some prawns and fish home on Friday evening. He requested for kari udang for the following day. Had to wake up real early to cook the kari udang before leaving for the seminar. On his own, for lunch hubby bought kari umbut pisang. The middle part of the banana stem was cooked into curry with beef. It was rather nice actually. Hubby likes to find unsual stuff may it be for food or plants. The curry is popular amongst the kampung folks as one of the dishes served at a wedding. Usually the umbut used comes from some wild species of banana. They are chopped into small pieces cooked into curry with beef.

Back from the seminar (it wasn't an MLM seminar OK), Kak Long asked if rice needed to be cooked. Instructed her to cook less than the normal quantity. The plan was to cook spaggetti bolognaise on that day. We (Kak Long, Angah and I) went shopping for things Kak Long would need to bring to campus and bought a packet of a spaggetti and 3 sachets of Maggi Bolognaise sauce (or i would use Prego in a can sauce too). Of couse things coming out of the can or packets, are usually not as good as original but with a little bit of improvision, walla, you have got an Italian recipi served on your table. But then, I wouldn't dare to serve it to anyone with either one of these names Alfredo, Roberto, Claudio, or anyone with names which rhymes with fettucine, macaroni, or penne etc. I would expect this comment from them for sure,

"C****o" oooopppppsss, No,no they are too much a gentlemen to swear in front of a lady (although I have heard it too many times already)

"Mama mia N, please, please....." With hands together in a gestures as if pleading with you.

"Please don't call this spaggetti bolognaise. Please don't even call this Italian"

"It is a sin, it is not Italian food, you can call this food but not Italian food"

Hehe, for sure they will puke at the sight of my gastonomic trials with their menu. Don't mess up with them with regard to their food, they are very proud of their cuisine, which to them is the best in the world.

But for me, even if the menus are good, a home cooked meal, whatever the origin of the food would still be the best. Definitely it would NOT be in it's original form and style, but for a Malaysian, I would say to be tasty to the Malaysian taste buds, we just need to improvise a lot. Sorry lah, what to do, we Malaysian, where can we eat something not spicy. Sure cannot lah!!!

Those who are really good cook, please lah don't laugh at me :-( I come from kampung only, so not pandai lah, to cook western food. :-)

29 comments:

AuntieYan said...

He!...he!...sapa kata tak pandai??? Pandai lah tu...dah jadi pun, janji boleh makan.

Lately, KY dah kurang masak berbagai....kami sedsng 'berdiet'....:-)...oh no! bukan pasai nak kuruskan badan, but more on the kesihatan side....hari-hari, rubus, setem, bakar for makcik & pak cik...he..he!!

AuntyN said...

Kak Yan : Untuk dua org pakcik makcik OK lah lagi tu, tu anak2 yang sedang meningkat remaja tu, depa lah nak enjoy food sakan tu hehe

Anonymous said...

amboih..pandai la tuh. lupa nak bgtau aunty, i tried yr rendang ayam recipe in yr recipe-blog n it worked out really well. lots of compliments. thanks to u. =) though, i did 'cemarkan' yr recipe dgn all the campak-campak moves too.. ehehee *ampun*

Anonymous said...

sebenaqnya, air tangan ibu nih, masak sardin dlm tin tuh pun sedap...

dasat la AuntyN nih...siap buat western food lagi kat umah..jimaaatt duit...

Anonymous said...

AN,

U have not tried my curried lasagna muahahhahaha the Italian kat ofis nie sure will keel over just by the sound of it ....

AMZA

AuntyN said...

fatihah : Alhamduliallah jadi. Kalau campak pun dapat pujian kira terrer lah tu hehehe

oren : Betul tu, bukan saja jimat, puaih makan tu. Kalau makan kat kedai, baru je sedap dah habih hehe

AMZA : Bak mai sini, kita coba OK.:-)

KakNi said...

ish ish ish seronok sungguh baca orang ni main 'campak-campak' aje teruih menjadi masakan nya, kalau sayalah auntyn, kalau 'campak-campak' tu kira ter-campak teruih la masakan tu....

kesian kat anak2 saya ni, mak depa tak pandai masak

Bergen said...

In these exciting gastronomic times we are living, Aunty N, what you did is considered a culinary breakthrough. You may wanna call it cooking outside the box (this is a good title for a food show!) And you did just that. These are indeed the best of times where anything goes and you don't want to associate the food too closely to its original source. So a bit of Italian with a bit of Indian for spice, and Malay for a bit of exotic touch with serai or lengkuas would work just fine.

You are doing fine, ma'am. I am thinking of your version of fish and chips. Lemme go get some dory fish from Carrefour first. Okay, I'm on the way.

AuntyN said...

ahni : nak mencampak pun ada teknik tau hehe. Kalau nak tau camna kena pengeras lah.

bergen : sounds like an idea (the food show) hehe. Will need to consult you for some original ideas though.

Coconut Ice said...

actually kan, senang je buat spaghetti sauce from scratch. Just goreng minced beef with onions pastu letak tomato paste (or tomato puree) letak sliced mushrooms pastu letak gula secukup rasa (to counter the sourness of the tomato) then letak Oregano (ada jual dlm botol kecil - mccormick kalo tak silap brand dier) then thats it. Kalo nak watery skit letak air.

Leh guna utk lasagne, pizza topping, etc etc.

Kak Teh said...

eh, N, kita yang buat dia, bukan dia buat kita! I have heard that often enough that I am beginning to believe it. So, apa yang you set out to do tu, mestilah jadi and dont let anyone tell you u've done anything wrong. Just rebrand it!

Ordinary Superhero said...

*hadir - nak tumpang dengaq lagu je*

Anonymous said...

yang campak-campaktu yang sedap..

Jo Kontan said...

Aunty Impro N : Baca yang nii ajer sudah membuatkan saya kelaparan. 3 - 4 hari nii kena kurangkan proteinlaa. Kaki sudah rasa ketat, bagi warning. Gout nak datang niii. :-(((.

Tumpang lalu, Kak teh : My late Mum Always said that "kita yang buat dia, bukan dia buat kita!" . Suddenly, saya rasa hiba pulak.

AuntyN said...

coco : thanks

Kak Teh : well said, thanks. *hmmm* re-brand no? Sounds like an idea, a great one it is. :-)

OS : Sila, sila :-)

easylady : yang campak tu memang sedap, Salah campak, masuk bakul lerr hehehe

Tj : Sorry to make u feel sad and lapar. About the gout hubby pernah cakap someone told him that raspberry's leaves are good for gout. Dah biasa cuba? I have a plant at home.

Ari said...

Hallo N, nak de bone ayam untuk chicken chop ..kalau nak cantik..pilih paha sahaja..kiri atau kanan tak kesah..belah dari pangkal paha hala ke lutut..berhenti di pangkal lutut..jangan belah bahagian tu.Keluarkan tulang dan kembangkan bahagian pangkal paha kearah lutut.Nanti dia jadi bentuk macam tiga segi.Sauce dia buat pakai bawang besar dadu halus dan tomato masak dadu saiz 1 cm.Campurkan dalam sauce yang N biasa buat..masak sampai berkilat..shining..tapi..kalau tak dak bread crumb..dia jadi kuih kodok ayam..!

AuntyN said...

En Ari : terimaksih untuk cara2 nak de bone ayam tu. :-)

aNIe said...

Kak N...samalah dengan lady ni...memang suka spagetti tapi kalau masak mesti letak sos salsa yang pedas tu...tambah pulak lada hitam lagik...heheh...kalau tak pedas nanti jelak...

Kene improvise lah kak N ...kalau tak makan sekali...jelak...

MA said...

saya suka makan mee bandung :-)

AuntyN said...

Lady : Kalau lidah belacan tu mesti nak kena belacan jugak tu, makanan berkeju pun mesti berperisa belacan jugak kan...

MA : Mai kita intro mee bandung into the international market.. Mana tau kut nanti Jamie Oliver will put us in his show hehehe *berangan lah pulak tu *

Anonymous said...

Pernah rasa kari umbut pisang tu masa kat Sg. Petani , masak masa kenduri kahwin. Boleh tahan sedap jugak . Tapi lagi prefer umbut kelapa masak lemak atau kari . Nyam nyam sedapnya .

Anonymous said...

*mental note to myself*

the next time i travel to penang, kena singgah rumah AuntyN. nak makan. nak makan. nak makan. nak tapau lepas makan.

Boleh tak AuntyN? :D

Nazrah Leopolis said...

kak N: baru smalam intan buat pepper steak. dia punya sauce i buat gini aje:

butter
kicap
black pepper
air
tepung jagung

agak2 ler consistency dia, kalau ada air daging campurkan sikit.

hentam ajelah nak masak macamana pun kak n, janji boleh telan, sesuai dgn tekak kita ek?

AuntyN said...

mrs amd : umbut kelapa masak lemak? belum jumpa lagi ni. Kat mana ekk?

CD : awat nak mai Penang tak habaq? Nak makan kat ruma AN, InsyaAllah boleh, tapi service charge dia lebih sikit dari kat restoran tu hehehe.

nazrah : Thank you, thank you. Ni yang best ni, banyak orang bagi tip nak masak ni. Boleh buat collection dah untuk improve.

Betul tu tekak kita yang kita kena ikut tu :-)

Anonymous said...

Sedapnya masak western tuh

AuntyN said...

faizah : yumm yummm :-)

Blabarella said...

At least you want to try and come up with your own "spiced'up" versions, Aunty N. That's more than I can ever say for myself. I'm one of those who tends to follow religiously what's in the book, and even to just agak-agak salt/pepper/seasoning makes me susah hati, for fear that it won't taste right. It's therefore quite obvious that I don't cook much, just main-main only. :)

AuntyN said...

blabs : Tryouts tu macam practice jugak, alah 2 mulut je nak makan, nak try macam2 pun tak ada 'selera" :-)

Anonymous said...

best regards, nice info » »