Peiking Duck dinner

5 MARCH TONIGHT 我家老太婆 WANTS A BIT OF CHINESE as she is more Chinese than Western .... she prefers rice to noodle, steak or chips; she wants something more filling. She is like that, very kampung, traditional, China woman. She doesn't like Middle Eastern, Indian, Italian, either. She doen't mind them but she will not crave for them. She cannot rough it out, her roughing out days are long over. That is ok. That is my 老太婆. 

So to make my 老太婆 happy tonight we go for BJ Duck. And in keeping with her wishes we will have rice, and not noodle.

She has had Simon's Peiking Duck (192b Middlesbourough Rd Box Hill) once before and she does not mind having it again. The Chinese name for the restaurant is 英雅阁 and does not relate or rhime with Simon's Peiking Duck.

It's "Peiking Duck" and not Peking Duck, as pronounced by Simon the boss. I am not sure if it was an error made by Simon but Peiking Duck it is.

For $55 we get a whole BJ Duck ( I doubt it), and 2 dishes i.e. duck meat stir fried with bean shoots, and duck/tofu/salted cabbage soup. The usual arrangement. We cannot help but compare the meal with the extraordinary one we had in BJ back in June last year in the hutong. The duck meat, however, is chunky and the duck skin crispy and glistering with duck fat. They look inviting to eat. The owner of the restaurant doe not 偷鸡 and supply the 真料。

The duck is eaten with spring onion, cucumber, hoi sin sauce; all wrapped in Chinese pancake. Again nothing surprising. What is surprising is how thick and huge the duck meat (skin on) is. Value for money I guess.

The bean shoot dish is tasty and goes well with rice or yellow noodle.

The soup is .... a soup. Nothing outstanding. We are a bit wasteful, we each have 1/2 a bowl and that is it for us.

All in all it's a huge meal for 2, it will be all right to have the same meal for 3 adults.

Figs

Today's Sunday, it's sunny and 29 C. SM has cooked Bak Kut Teh (BKT) for mom who has just had her eye surgery and we are bringing the BKT to visit her. The BKT formula is from 余仁生 and the taste result is quite good.

Whilst we are at mom's we take the opportunity to pick some figs from the trees and they are amazingly sweet. SM says she wants to use the fruits to make jam. She's good at that. It' handy to have a cook around the house.

Before going to the market to buy seafood we decide to have lunch at Chef Lagenda on Pin Oak Cres. We always go to the nearby Laksa King but have never been to this restaurant. Chef Lagenda is run by a Malaysian who hails from none other than Ipoh. Ha ha.

So sweet that the bees are having a whale of a feast .....

SM cooking the figs to make jam

I like their curry laksa. SM finds it too creamy or lemak. 

The CKT is a little oily but has 锅气 to the point it tastes slightly burnt. That's the hallmark of a great CKT. And it definitely has 猪油渣 in the dish.

And brekie was bread made by SM. There is this bread that she mixed purple potato in it. This SM likes to try new recipes all the time. She gets a thrill out of it.

Second last to leave

TODAY ANDREW HOPKINS AND I SPEND A BIT OF TIME GOING THROUGH A TENDER DOC and working out the workups and quotes. It being a Friday almost every one leaves for home or their watering holes earlier than usual. By the time I leave the office it is already 7.15pm and I am the second last person in the building. Hop is the last one, of course.

Recovery

MY MOM WAS OPERATED ON 2 DAYS ago to correct vitreous hemorrhage due to blood vessel bleeding. Her specialist is Dr Anthony Yeoh who hails from Ipoh (Ha ha). he operation was done at the Eye and Ear Hospital and he said it was a success. However there will always be risks associated with the surgery such as infection or retina tear .... 

Walking out of the hospital after visiting mom at around 8pm I saw this special perspective of the St Patrick's Church which is on Albert St, East Melbourne in the sun set.

Toyota Tech Center

TODAY I PAY A VISIT TO Toyota Tech Center in Notting Hill because they are constructing a new warehouse extension. TTC is where they design cars for the Aussie market. I am asked to trade in these 2 stackers because some 7 years' ago someone made a mistake and bought a non-Toyota brand product ..... Yuck

At this other warehouse all of us are held up for some 7 minutes because the forklift driver is unloading a container and we cannot contine our site inspection .....

Madam Kwong

Kong and Kim recommended us to eat at Madam Kwong's Kitchen in Box Hill. "You must try their Penang Har mee", a special reminder from Kong. Oh we love a bowl of hot, authentic prawn mee. SM wants it and I want it too. But in the end I settle for a special of the day, Tumis Ikan + fragrant rice.

The "restaurant" can really be classified as a small cafe. It is packed when we arrive for our lunch but we get our seats pretty quickly.

The Har Mee turns out authentic but what disappoints us is the egg noodle and vermicelli are so pitifully little in terms of quantity. However we can taste the intense prawn flavor, the fried onion, the nice, clear soup. It is even served with thin slices of pork meat, 1/2 a boiled egg, kang kong. That's attention to detail. It's authentic, period. But not value for money .....

The Tumis Ikan which is a ling, is intense and assam-ish in flavor but again more like 1/2 a share of a normal meal.

我家老太婆 cooks a fantastic 京都排骨 for our dinner. I can say it's tasty, caramalized, has a slight burnt taste (that is good because it is caramelized), chunky meat and it's not fatty. Love it. 老太婆 you are good.

 

I am speechless

My poor mom has had a string of unfortunate incidences. May 2010 she had to go for her heart by pass operation. December last year she had a laminectomy. In a few weeks' time she has to go for her eye surgery to repair some burst blood veins.

 Camberwell eye clinic

I hope all goes well with her op. Dear God, please take care of her and her health issues.

BT Training

Today we have a product training and the winner will stand a chance to visit the BT factory in Mjoby, Sweden. There are 2 more training and tests in May and August.

臭男人

我家老太婆说我饭来张口，茶来伸手， 还要忍受我的乌鸦咀。我是这样的人吗？ 我觉得这很无聊。Sapa Hills' Bun cha (Hanoi grilled pork) is a great lunch, served with cold vermicelli and herbs. Not too heavy a lunch, and great tasting.

That is our lunch after we left St Ali South Melbourne because 老太婆 says, " Can we get out of here?" before we even order our food; because they don't serve lamb shank today and the dining room is stuffy due to the 35 deg day. 真鸟蛋。

She now calls me pig mouth when she feels like it. 

Dinner is zucchini slices baked by my 老太婆； 太好吃了。I love it. And I'm having it for lunch tomorrow too.

Persian Passion

IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK, AGAIN. THERE IS NO LET UP IN MY WORK RATE, IT SEEMS. 

I DID NOT EVEN TAKE A DAY OFF FOR CNY, preferring to keep up with the momentum and pace. Make every day the best one I can and enjoy it while I can. Such motto cannot be wrong I reckon. 

Next week's weather forecast does not give me any joy. Hot week ahead, still. Normally by the latter half of February the weather should cool down a few degrees to low 20's as we head into Autumn in March. Instead this year, it is forecast to be low 30's for the next 7 days. Heat makes me less productive as I tire easily..... 

And hot weather makes us feel like eating out rather than cook our dinners. Tonight we go for "Persian" food at Persian Flavors on Springvale Road. It's a restaurant we have patronized a few times in the past and I have always enjoyed their Beef Vindaloo and Naan. Eat with your hands! Love it!

Tonight, with SM, I stay away from beef. Always the perfect dining partner that I am. We order butter chicken, Ghormesh Sabzi (lamb cooked with lime juice, spinach, parsley and black eye beans, garlic naan, saffron rice (basmati) and mango dough (yoghurt). 

I want to eat their Akbar Mashdi dessert (milk, sugar, saffron, pistachio and rose water custard) but I am so full.

Ghormesh Sabzi is worth a special mention. It is BITTER as it is cooked with whole lime. An acquired taste I am sure and it goes well with the butter chicken, though, which is a little sweet for my liking.

年初二晚餐

Dinner @ home with Ling Chew and Mun Teng ..... 咖喱鸡，客家云耳炸扣肉， stir fried broccolini, chicken soup, and pickled vegetables.

Mun Teng's new car - Mazda 6 wagon.

新年到

姐夫煮的焖猪脚午餐

我家老太婆煮的南瓜汤晚餐

我家老太婆在她的不咯个说， “刚来墨尔本时对华人新年也有几许的期待但经过这几年的时间洗礼后这份心情亦默默的随之淡化了, 还好的是对我的"马来"亲朋戚友倒是特别的想念 .... 佳节思故乡. 我思故我在.”。听她这篇说话，她好像是有点感触？

Lunch at 真味阁

Big Bro orders CNY lunch at 真味阁 Doncaster East 。。。。

八宝鸭 8 Treasure Duck
无锡骨 Mo Sek Guat
南乳猪脚 Nam Yu Pig Trotters
黄金鸡 Golden Chicken Nuggets
金针云耳香姑 Lilly flower cloud fungus Spinach
莺鸯芥兰 Yin Yang Kai Lan
椒盐左口鱼 Salt and Chilly Flounder
香姑伊面 Fresh mushroom Yi Min 
炸大虾 Dry Sauce King Prawns
芝麻花生汤圆

饭后拍拍屁股, 各就各位。但愿今年胜去年，哈哈哈！

各有所好,不过如此。。。。

Out of Africa

FRIDAY NIGHT, THE WEEK'S DONE. There were some achievements in life during the week, and some disappointments. Life's the "same old same old" if you are not having fun; it's up to me to make it a varied one ..... But the week has gone quickly because Monday was a holiday and Friday is here.

Little Africa North Melbourne is our choice of Restaurant for tonight. We've been looking forward to sup here, we are looking for different food, different culinary experience. The restaurant is located opposite the QVM on Victoria St in an unassuming two-story Victorian terrace. The interior decor is minimalist and ethnic. Cost is the main consideration, I think. The exterior of the restaurant is like a regular corner milk bar in appearance. Anyway we are here for its food and the Ethiopian experience.

I have done the research and order the combination of the day. 

The combination tonight is served on a large flat-bottom tin tray (面盘）like the ones I used to see in old Chinese movies where they were used to carry dishes in, from kitchen to the dining room. Ha.

The Zighini stewed lamb (cubes of lamb cooked slowly in a rich berbere sauce with mixed spices and clarified butter), Dorho Aletcha chicken marinated and sauteed, and Asa Zighini fish are served in little bowls.

The non-meat items ....

*Dubba - cubes of pumpkin cooked in a berbere sauce, 

*cabbage & carrots cooked in turmeric sauce, 

*garden salad topped with green pepper tomato and onion in a nice dressing, and

*Tumtummo - split lentil in a thick sauce with spiced seasoning

These are just plonked straight onto a bed of Injera Bread; and the food is eaten with our fingers. I really mean a bed of the "bread" which covers the whole surface of the tray. This is not our image of what a bread should be. They are made of flour, soft in texture, and tastes slight salty and lemony.

 

IT CAN'T GET MORE ETHNIC THAN THIS .....

Beautiful spiced foods served in non-traditional way to the westerners minds, and eaten without cutlery.

The texture of the Injera in my mind is like our Malaysian "大Gau缅" that is spread with margarine and crushed peanuts. Ha! SM would have preferred rice or cous cous and I would have preferred naan or turkish bread.

All in all we love the experience although the food is not what we will eat every day.

IN MY HEART I SALUTE THESE ETHIOPIAN AUSTRALIANS because they have come to Australia as refugees and they are using their culture and cuisine to make an honest living and lift themselves out of poverty; and to make a new life for themselves. Good on them. Power to you Little Africa! You have given us an unforgettable experience...............