Sin Kwang Foochow Big Pau

Dad bought this Big Pau from Sin Kwang Foochow Big Pau at Jalan Padungan here in Kuching. Over the years, it has made quite a name for itself, where Big Paus are concerned.

The pau costs RM3.00 each. It measures 14 cm in diametres, and at its highest point, it has to be at least 5 cm tall. It's so big that I can't finish it on my own. I halved it and this is what it looks like.

The filling is a compact ball of minced meat, topped with a slice of hardboiled egg. There's some sort of veges in the filling that gives it a crunchy texture. I haven't the slightest idea what veges are in there, but in my mind, I'm thinking some kind of preserved vegetable.

Dad always buys the Big Paus on Thursdays. He says that's the day the vendors prepare their a fresh batch of filling to last them the whole week.

The pau skin or pastry is slightly sweet, and goes very well with the savoury filling. A winning combination that certainly satisfies your craving for a good pau.

Dreaded Phonecalls

When I’m on holiday, I try not to think about work, or anything related to work for that matter. I really dread it whenever I receive a phone call from school. There is surely nothing good when the school contacts you.

This holiday I’d received 2 calls. One was an enquiry about some work that I left behind for the temps to complete during the holiday. The other call took place today, and it left me a strange feeling in the stomach.

My Senior Assistant called this afternoon and informed me that I’d been appointed Senior Assistant for Form 6 at my school. The appointment came from the State Education Department, and with immediate effect.

I can’t help but feel a little bit weird about the position. Senior Assistant for Form 6? What does it mean? What do I have to do? What does the job entail? Anyway, I looked up the Internet and read that I was to be more or less a manager for Form 6 affairs.

Actually, I was already a manager of sorts of Form 6 last year. I was the “Guru Pengurusan” or teacher-co-ordinator for Form 6, and I handled everything related to Form 6. This year, the role was given to someone else, and I was put in charge of Form 5. It so totally left me bereft, as I am so totally bent on helping Form 5 this year.

So what now? What am I to do? I am really expected to change my bearings pronto.

Aloha Delicatessen Bakery : Chicken Pie

These are chicken pies, bought from Aloha Delicatessen Bakery. It is located at Jalan Song, the same block as Upwell Supermarket, here in Kuching.

These are purportedly the best pies available commercially at this part of the world. I distinctly remember a cousin, bringing these pies all the way to KL for some friends last year.

It's my first encounter with these pies. Having heard of their reputation before this, I had really high expectations of them.

The pies were quite fragile, the shortcrust pastry soft and crumbly. I halved one of the pies and found them generously filled with diced chicken, sliced button mushrooms, carrots, and bits of onions. The filling was moistened with what tasted like mushroom soup and cream.

I think the chicken pie lives up to its expectations, if you love pastries like I do and are looking for something delightful to snack on for your afternoon tea.

Aloha Delicatessen Bakery was featured in an advertorial in Happenings in Sarawak, Volume 8 last year.

If you need to satisfy your craving for a pie, do head over to Aloha Delicatessen Bakery.

Japchae 잡채

Dangmyeon 당면 is Korean glass noodle, made from either yam or sweet potato starch. It is featured in a dish called Japchae 잡채, which is stir-fried dangmyeon in assorted vegetables and meats. Japchae is typically flavoured with sesame oil and soy sauce.

My cousin cooked Japchae last night. She bought the dangmyeon all the way from Kuala Lumpur. I certainly haven't seen dangmyeon on sale in supermarkets in Kuching. Uncooked, it is gray in colour, and very much thicker than the Chinese glass noodles.

She blanched the noodles in boiling water for a few minutes before draining them. She tossed the noodles in a little bit of sesame oil to prevent them from sticking together.

In a wok, she sauteed some garlic in sesame oil, and then added sliced shiitake, minced pork, julienned carrots and 菠菜 spinach. Once cooked, she turned off the flame and added in the noodles. She stirred to mix them well. Only some light soy sauce is used as flavouring.

She then garnished the noodles with julienned egg omelette and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. When cooked, the noodles turn transparent and have a chewy texture. The dangmyeon soaks up the flavours from the sesame oil and the combination of meat, mushroom and vegetables making it a very tasty dish.

Japchae can be served by itself as a main dish, or it can be eaten as a banchan반찬 .

Vegetables Lemak

In the mood for something spicy, I requested for Vegetables Lemak today. As usual, Mom obliged and cooked it for me.

First, Mom prepared the spices. She used some chillies, shallots, turmeric, galangal and lemongrass. Mom also used dried prawns and some belacan. She pounded all the spices and sauteed them till fragrant.

The rempah

Any vegetable can go into the Lemak. Today, Mom selected sweet cabbage, long beans, tomatoes, and brinjal. Mom also added 2 of my favourite ingredients, that is vermicelli and dried beancurd skin.

Veges & vermicelli

Dried beancurd skin

Mom gave the vegetables and the dried beancurd skin a quick stir-fry.

The ingredients stir-fried in the wok

Then she added water and fresh coconut milk, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Just before she dished up, she added the vermicelli.

Vegetables Lemak simmering

The vegetables lemak is best eaten with a steaming plate of white rice.

. . . Yum . . .

Homemade Radish Cake

Radish cake features quite predominantly in our household, mainly because it is a favourite with the old and the young.

An array of ingredients can go into the cake, be it ham or shiitake mushrooms. My late maternal grandmother brought a nutty texture to her radish cake by adding braised peanuts.

Mom makes this savoury cake quite often, especially since I like it so much.

Mom used 800g of white shredded radish.

Mom heated the wok and fried the aromatics which consisted of garlic and shallots.




After she dished out the fried garlic and shallots, she stir-fried minced dried prawns and preserved radish till fragrant.




After that, minced meat is added to the wok. Sometimes, Mom used diced meat too.



After stirring the meat for a while, the shredded radish is added, together with some salt and pepper.




Mom added 4 large cups of water to simmer the radish. Sometimes, Mom used soup stock instead of water.




Mom then added a packet of rice flour into the wok. The fried shallots and garlic went into the wok at this time too. Mom stirred the mixture to a smooth consistency.




Then she transferred the mixture into a tray.




Mom coated a spoon with cooking oil and pressed the mixture down.




Then she steamed it for 45 minutes over high fire. It looks like this after steaming.

The steamed radish cake is in fact delicious enough to eat it on its own. However, we like to pan-fry it. I always like it browned, with the edges crisp and burnt.




Sometimes we dice it and pan-fry it with eggs, with extra preserved radish and topped with spring onions.

Growing up eating yummy homemade radish cake, I have pretty high standards for it, and so far store-bought ones seldom satisfy ;p.

Homemade Fishballs

Mom likes to make things from scratch. One of the things she likes to make is fishballs. Traditional Teochew fishballs are made from Ikan Parang. However, Mom has always used Ikan Tenggiri or Mackerel.

She cleaned the fish and then cut it lengthwise.




She used a spoon to scrap out the meat. Mom then addd salt and pepper to the fish meat.




Mom also mixed about 1 tbsp of tapioca flour to the fish meat.




Mom then transferred the fish and flour mixture into a mortar. She pounded the meat till it became firm.




I'm not sure whether you can see the difference. The mixture on the left had been pounded.




After being pounded, the fishballs are shaped. Mom coated the the little balls with starch and salt water. They were then ready to be cooked.




Mom deep fried a skewer for me to snack on.

The rest of the fishballs went into a soup. Mom flavoured the soup with some 冬菜 dong cai.

Mom served the soup with some blanched kueh tiaw, mustard leaves and beansprouts. The soup was sweet, and the fishballs were bouncy and "Q". It was a light and healthy meal.