Claypot Rice

They sell about 500 - 600 pots on a good night, I was told. That's an astounding number, if you ask me. There are 2 varieties - chicken claypot rice or pork claypot rice. Each cost RM6.00.

I placed an order and did not have to wait for too long. The rice has been pre-cooked in the pot, and all it took was just to add the ingredients on top. 

 Pork Claypot Rice

Another shot

Garnishing the rice were pork cubes, slices of chinese sausage, bits of salted fish, spring onions and deep-fried shallots. Stir well to coat the rice with the sauces and then dig in. Be careful though, as the rice was really hot. I liked the taste of the sauces which had a nicely balanced flavour. The pork cubes and the sausages were tender, and I liked that I could taste the salted fish. Not bad a meal, overall. To try, head to Jing Wood Cafe at Pelita Commercial Centre.

Mutton Briyani

Banana Leaf Restaurant & Cafe had its management changed. That was what I was told. Since then, I'd not visited the restaurant, so I thought I would give it a try.

I wanted to have a briyani set meal, but was persuaded to try the mutton briyani.

Mutton Briyani

Well, I thought at first that the mutton was cooked together with the rice, but was disappointed that it was not. It was just the normal briyani sandwiched with mutton chunks, and served with pickles and a papadum on the side. Hmn .... taste wise however, I did like all the items, from the rice to the mutton to the pickles and the papadum. Still, I'd go for my set meal next time cause I'd like to have the other vegetables as well, such as the bitter gourd chips and all. ;))

Dinner @ Nine 2 Five

2020. 88. 3:15. 925. Nope, I'm not giving you a set of winning numbers for this week's draw. Let's just say that I'm rather amused how eateries or cafes in Miri is named. Say 2020, and the whole of Miri knows which coffee shop is referred to. Lols.

Last night, my friends and I headed for dinner to 925. Nine 2 Five, more precisely. Lols. It is also located at Pelita Commercial Centre. Now, let's see ... we knew what we wanted to have without looking at the menu. Our usual. Lols, not very adventurous, right?

Sea cucumber soup

I liked it hot and with lots of vinegar. The consistency was good, and I liked the generous amount of ingredients in there, like sliced shiitake mushrooms and finely shredded carrots. As for the sea cucumber, hmn ... I did not remember coming across any ...  

 Bitter gourd and egg omelette

Very salty omelette today for some reason ... 

Honey chicken

Well ... the chicken was nicely deep-fried. I liked it. However, I found the sauce a bit too sweet.  

 Braised Pearl Tofu With Seafood

Probably the only dish which I enjoyed. It was pleasant to the eyes. The combination of seafood, mushrooms and vegetables on top of a large chunk of deep-fried tofu was just lovely. The gravy was not too salty, and gave the ingredients a slippery texture. Yummy. I liked!

The bill came to RM54.00 for the 3 of us, inclusive of drinks. Quite reasonable, no? Business was pretty good here, even on a week night. But the good thing was, the waiting time was not that long.

Hormel Spam

Hormel has fed billions of people with Spam. That's according to the official website. It's so versatile, as it can be eaten in so many ways. I saw a recipe which I was quite interested in the other day - that of spam croquette. It looked pretty easy, like something I could handle. So wait till I try that out ...

But well, I had never bought Hormel Spam before. I guess I did not have the urge. Till now, of course. And so, I bought my first can the other day. I got a mini can, that's the 7 ounce can.

 Hormel Spam

It cost me RM6.99. I opened the can, and found that it has a lighter pink hue compared to Tulip's. It's a prettier colour. Texture wise, the meat was firmer. I could slice it quite thinly, even with my not-so-sharp knife. It yielded 7 pieces. That made it RM1.00 per slice. ;p

Nice dusky pink colour, eh?

Then, I had them pan-fried till browned and served it my favourite way - in a sandwich together with egg omelette, cucumbers and onions.

Pan-fried ... a bit burnt on the corners ;p

Stacking'em up ....

My childhood sandwich 

Well, I liked the taste and texture more than I did Tulip's. Tulip luncheon meat did not have as much bite, and I would prefer it to be a wee more salty.  However, I did find Hormel Spam overly salty. I think I'd not be able to serve it in instant noodles, the way Hong Kong tea houses do, lest I suffer from sodium overload! Perhaps next time I'd buy the "Less Sodium" variety - if I ever come across a can, that is. I'd be on a look out the visit to the supermarket!

Butter Cookies

My little niece loved these butter cookies. Such a tiny little creature could devour 4 pieces at one go. Then she'd tell aunt that the cookies were yum ... lols .... so adorable.

Last week, when I was grocery shopping, I saw that the Coppenrath range of cookies were on sale. At RM2.99 a pack, I thought it was really a steal. Of course, with the expiry date nearing, the supermarket had to get rid of the stock at bargain prices.

The cookies were buttery, and had this melt-in-the-mouth quality. I loved them too. The regular version, which came in a red packaging, was very sweet, though. The diet variety was in a white packaging, and the cookies were less sweet but still as yummy.

The following week, when I went back to the supermarket, they cookies were selling for only RM1.99. Goodness! That was even cheaper than locally made ones. So why not buy some, even though the expiry date was near?

Roasted Chicken

Just call me a carnivore. I need my share of meat from time to time. The thing is, I hate to cook chicken. Well, because I hate to clean chicken. It is a messy task that I will just rather avoid. Hence, I resorted to buying cooked chicken.

I went to QQ at Pelita Commercial Centre and bought myself half a roasted chicken. It cost RM14.00 for half a bird. Freshly roasted, the chicken was tasty. It was not too oily, the meat was firm yet tender. The young boy at the counter offered to chop up my chicken, but I requested him to cut it into 2 large pieces. Hmn ... somehow that day, I felt like gnawing the meat off the bones ... lols ... sounds barbaric to you, doesn't it?

Anyway, I would only eat the bottom half of the chicken which comprised of the drumstick and the thigh meat.

The meat was rather juicy and tasty, but after that, I had to drink lots of water to quench my thirst ... perhaps it was too salty (but yummy!) and laden with lots of you-know-what ...

I quite dislike the chicken breast meat, and so I tore the meat up into small pieces and kept them aside to make my favourite chicken sandwich filling. It is pretty easy ... just mix salt, pepper and a liberal amount of mayonnaise with the torn chicken meat. Then spoon the chicken atop the bread and thinly sliced cucumbers, cover with another slice of bread and dig in! Best served with a cup of hot coffee!

Chicken sandwich

Well, I thought it would be a chore to finish half a bird of chicken .... but well it was not at all. So the next time the call for meat comes ... I know where to go and what to do.

Snacks @ Servay Hypermarket

I was a bit peeved today as I had gone to Servay Hypermarket to buy fruits. And guess that? The weighing machine stalled, and NO ONE could purchase anything which needed to be weighed. How inefficient. Wasn't there a spare?

I asked the staff whether I could weigh my apples at the poultry section, and they said no. I could not fathom why. Why not? Was it policy? Didn't it require just for the staff to punch a few numbers into the machine and the bar code will be printed? Urgh! I was not the only one who was annoyed. Everyone else was too.

So in the end, I purchased some snacks at the hot food counter near the cash registers. I bought ...

Actually, I had always liked the deep-fried fishballs. Today I decided to try the tempura chicken as well and I did like them, especially when eaten with chilli sauce. Hmn, each skewer cost me RM1.50, and the best thing was that I did not have to deep-fry them myself.

However, these snacks weren't very healthy, and should not be consumed too often and in large quantities.