Take me away

Take me away on thy wings

To the place I long to be

One sweet day my soul sings

Back in your midst, it's so good to be

Crackling

*non halal post - sorry dear Muslim friends*

Our family loves pork.  Pork cooked with soy sauce, pork curry, pork soup, pork stew, bbq pork... gosh, the list goes on and on!  One particular type of cooking we love is crispy roasted pork.  In the shops, this would cost rather expensive and we can't really eat to our heart's content.  So, one day, during a chinese new year eve dinner, I decided to try to make this at home.  And even if it was my first try, it was a success!!  Ever since then, no turning back.  If we want to eat this, we shall make it on our own at home.

The success is not because I am a pro okay... it's because, it's really easy to make this!  As long as you have an oven which has those "top" and "bottom" heat, you are good to go!  Let's see how easy it is.

First, prepare marinate.  In the earlier days, I would just use the 5-spice powder.  Then I discover, I really like the red taucu (fermented tofu) taste, so I added that in too.  For this recipe, I am marinating 2 kgs pork.  I used 3 teaspoons of 5-spice powder + 4 cubes taucu (and some of the water that is in the taucu jar).  Mix it into a paste.

When you go to your butcher, just let him know that you want to make siew yuk (crispy pork in Cantonese) or sio bak (hokkien).  He will then hopefully know how to give you a good slab of not so fat yet not all meat part of the belly.  Request him to slice them like below.

One of the essential thing you need is something sharp to poke holes on the skin of the pork.  I saw this in one of the blogs and have been hunting for it.  One day as I was browsing through a kitchen hardware shop, I finally found it.  Oh joy! But, before I got it, I used a new clean nail (pour with hot water everytime before use) to poke the holes.  It is this that will give your pork a beautiful crackling skin.

Next step, boil some water (make sure it's enough to cover the pork) and after it boils, drop the pork in and let the water return to a simmer.  Always start with the skin down so that it becomes flat and easier to grill in the oven.  Then, flip it over and return water to simmer.  The purpose of this is not to cook the pork, but rather to get rid of the impurities.  When we make soup, we also will get rid of the impurities that floats to the surface of the soup yes?  Same case here.

Then, take the slab of pork out and put it somewhere where excess water can drip off.  Here I put it on a wire mash.  Take a sharp knife and lightly score the skin diagonally with it's end.

Next, use whatever sharp tool you have to poke as many holes as you can on the skin.  The more holes the better.

Then, flip the pork over and marinate the meat.  Make sure non of this marinate touches the skin.

The marinate is just enough for 2 kgs pork.

Next, flip the slab over and dry it with paper towel.  Make sure you try to dry it as best as you can.  Next, rub the skin generously with salt.  The salt help to get rid of the moisture thus making the skin dry and will result in crispy crackling.

After that, your work is done!  Just leave it in the fridge overnight to further "dry up" (or at least 5 hours).  This will also help achieve the "krup, krup, krup" factor.

Right, final step.  The next day, time to cook it!  There is 2 cycle for this.  First cycle - bake (top and bottom fire) at 180C for one hour.  Then, second cycle - Grill (top fire only) at 200C for 1 hour or until all the skin has cracked.

After 2 hours, you will have a beautiful slab of crispy crackling slab of pork!  There you have it.  easy peasy right?  Now, time to head off to the butcher and start making your own :)

Post Murud fellowship

After spending 6 days eating, drinking, sleeping, fellowshipping (there is no such English word!) with one another, it's easy to miss the group of people that you were with.  Because we had such great time together, we decided to have a post-Murud potbless dinner fellowship together about 12 days after we all got back.

Us, being proper.  Missing Sharon as she is from Sibu.

   No wonder Psalm 133 says:

How good and pleasant it is

 when God’s people live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down on the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore

It was indeed good to be gathered together again.  Before the dinner, we all said we should eat the food that we ate in Murud - Salted Fish, Sambal, soft rice, fried chicken / pork cubes, Maggi Mee, Canai Murud, Yu Cha Kueh etc!  That would have been a scene!  Haha... but no, everyone brought such delicious homemade food.

Midin salad, stewed pork rib, bamboo shoot curry, crispy roasted pork, jellyfish salad, tomyam fish, dabai fried rice

Crunchy steamed vege, Ngor Hiang, Pa Loh duck, fried bihun

I brought Ribena CheeseCake too... There's another cake plus lots of fruits and even rojak for our dessert.  
Also some crunchy kuih cincin and "fishball" a.k.a. amplang direct from Sabah nonetheless!

My contribution - Crispy Roasted Pork.  Will do a separate entry on how to make this some other time.

Apart from the great yumylicious food, most importantly we had a good time catching up with one another, sharing, trying HARD to sing the song we loved on the mountain (such a hilarious attempt!).  The feel is not there, but this is now the testing time - can we survive to live up to what God has given us in our daily lives.  I hope that we will continue to keep in touch, meet up every now and then and continue to spur each other up in our walk till we return to Ba Kelalan / Murud again.

Us goofing around.  I miss these sisters.

An attempt to forget

This is a feeble attempt to take my mind out of matters of the heart.  And my heart is stuck in Ba Kelalan / Murud and is refusing to come back to Kuching with me.  Been only 3 weeks since we came back, but the longing seems like 3 years gone!

Annnnyyyywayyyysssss...

This year, Noel had to stay back in school for extra classes in the afternoon for his UPSR.  That means, he will need to eat lunch in school.  Then, last year, a tuition centre came up just across the road from his school, so I thought, he can just walk over to tuition and I can concentrate on work (or the lack of it) till evening.  That's when his daily schedule became :  6 am - 12.30 noon (school), 12.30 - 1 lunch break, 1 - 2.30pm school extra class, 2.30 - 4.30pm tuition class, 4.30 - 5pm break, 5 - 6pm tuition homework class (they help with homework).

Because of this, I have had the opportunity to plan his lunches and make them early in bulk so all I need to do it thaw them the night before and his lunch is ready by morning... this is to document some of the things I made...

The classic easiest one of course if bolognese sauce.  Just one can of prego can make 4 "healthy" portions.
Ingredients: Minced meat, button mushroom, carrot, big onion, prego bolognese sauce.

One of the complicated lunches.  Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Chicken thigh fillet flatten to make it easier to roll, top up with ham (i used turkey) and swiss cheese. Roll it tightly together, secure with toothpick, dip into egg wash and roll into breadcrumbs and bake.

I try as much as I can to ensure that he gets some veg or fruit in his lunches.  Because of the amount of protein in some meals, I don't think he need that much carb.  I normally serve the Cordon Bleu with coleslaw and baked mashed potatoes.

Noel loves Loh Mai Kai.  But it's soooooo expensive these days.  Plus most are not nice at all!  So better DIY

Glutinous rice, chicken pieces and mushroom.  I omitted the chinese sausages (lap cheong) because I thought there was already too much meat.  Big mistake.  It would have complimented the taste and these wasn't enough meat!

I would roast chicken in the basic marinate - whatever I can find in the fridge.  Roasted chicken is one of the most versatile meat!  I can serve it with rice or potato or in this case, I slice it up and make it into a wrap.  Noel likes this veg, so I normally pile that in as well.  But, no tomatoes for him! 

This is how I keep them.  Either in container or a plastic bag, all are labelled so I will know which one to consume first.

Loh Mai Kai frozen one each.  This can be his breakfast too.  Lunch he will have more than 1.

I also make burger patties - normally pork.  Then I make burger buns and freeze those too.  I don't have the photo of the bun.  After thawing I will only need to assemble the burger.

So there you go!  Some of the things I prepare before hand for Noel's lunches.  Of course it would take some time to make these especially on the weekends, but it made my life so much easier during the weekdays.  And it makes me feel good, knowing what he is eating.  Sometimes, when we are all lazy to cook and need food fast, we too will eat these.

Overnight Oats

Here's my latest craze / obsession - Overnight Oats... These are basically, well, oats that are left in the fridge overnight.

Oats ready to soak all the calcium goodness overnight

 There are many "basic" recipe for these.  But mine will be in the ratio of 1 : 1 : 1 (Oats : Milk : Yogurt)

I normally make as below, for a portion of 2 (one for me and one for Noel),  If you don't have any "cup", just use the yogurt cup to measure because the yogurt is 1/2 cup as it is.

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
Note: for yogurt, I think the healthy freaks will use greek yogurt or regular ones, but for taste, and because I am not a fan of plain yogurt, I use the fruity ones; so called far free but still loads of calorie :)  The ones that I use is like the photo above - Nestle.

You will need Rolled Oats to make these - not the instant type as that will turn your oats mushy when left in the fridge overnight. 

Overnight oats with raisins topped with peaches

After being left overnight, the oats would have soaked up all the yummy goodness from the milk and the yogurt while still having a bite to them.  Then, in the morning, you can just top it with anything you like.  Noel likes peaches in his.

Topped with apple and walnuts with a dash of cinnamon

I like apple, walnuts with a dash of cinnamon with mine.

Yummy messy gooey goodness

 If you want to put in any dried fruit, like raisin, you can put it together the night before.  This is so that the oats have time to absorb the sweetness of the raisins and so that you will have plump raisins by morning.

80% burnt cashews

You can top it up with good fat like nuts, sunflower seeds etc as well.  I tried to roast my nuts, but have never succeeded to do so without making them burnt!  But since these are normally so pricey, I will just have to swallow them :) 

85% burnt walnuts

 There's so many varieties of toppings really.  And when you are lazy, you just can eat it as it is because it is really good as it is :)

200% burnt mix nuts!

When I die... (latest - July 2015)

I was reading through my older post of "when I die" series and found that mostly are... too elaborated.  I guess with age we all tend to mellow and become "simple" in our ways huh?  However, I am still leaving it there for the sheer joy of reading and reminiscent of my young and "naive" years :)

And on that day, when my strength is failing,
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10000 years and then forevermore

I've not thought further about what it'd be when I die and how I'd like it be... so the post for that will have to wait for another day.  But for now, this is what I'd want to be done, just incase I die before I manage to write another post.

1)  NO flowers / wreath - YUCKS.  Horrid smelling things!
2)  No elaborate dinners for those coming for the wake.  Just plain water and perhaps buns (bought, don't trouble yourself with making etc)
3)  I want to be cremated - please.  There's not enough land already for the living, what more to say for the dead.

,If Noel is below 21, he should be taken care of by my parents; if I die before them.  My EPF goes 100% to Noel, if he is 21 above.  Else, the money is to be in the care of my parents.  (I will think about who his guardian is to be if my parents pass on before I do).

My brains is not working at the moment.  I can only think of the above for now.

Happy Weekend peeps!

Murud 2015 - After - Day 8

Wednesday, 22nd July

Yes, I managed to get up at 5am for the morning prayers at the church.  As usual, there were mainly the older folks.  Since young, whenever I go back to Dad's kampung, I will make it a point to wake up early to go to the prayers with my Aunties and Uncles.  My other cousins would rather sleep in the cold hours of the morning but I treasured this time of prayer so much that I would never miss a single day.  That day I spent some time after the prayers to talk to some of the older folks who then told me how we were related.

Apu' Layun - one of the older folks who originated from Long Beluyu - Dad's kampung.  According to her, we are related.

After coming back to the house, I sat down to have coffee with Apu' while Barb and Lyd bathed and got ready.  I managed to tell her about my single mother status; she didn't know before this, and as she talked and prayed with me, I feel relieved that I don't have to hide anything from her.  Giving advice and telling me of her own love stories made me glad that I told her.  I thank God for the quiet time I had with Apu' this morning.

We are going to fly out today.  We had packed last night, with our check in baggage limited to 10kgs and our carry-on bags to about 15kgs!  The blessing of rice and even pineapple!  Aunty Alui said to go to the airport at about 9am, but being kiasu we left the house at 8 so that none of our baggage will be offloaded due to weight.

Aunty Alui in her Rela uniform

When we got there at 8.15am, after lots of huffing and puffing lugging our bags, there was no one there at the check in counter!  We had to wait and at 9, Aunty Alui's brother - the agent, came.  After weighing etc we quickly went back to the kampung because we had not said our goodbyes to Apu'.  We promised her we would come back to the house.

She was not at home when we got there.  Earlier she had went to Aunty Sipai's house to send some pineapple to Aunty Sipai's son (her grandson) who will be leaving today too.  So while anxiously waiting, the 3 of us had our breakfast.  Soon enough Apu' came home.  After saying a teary goodbye to her, with promise to bring Noel for her hold in her arms soon, we parted ways.  The airport was too far of a walk for her.

Apu' Neng (middle) and her good friend Apu' Supang (a.k.a. Apu' Supit).  They are still so fashionable even at this age!

At the airport, we were all ready to go.  Ama' Paran and Ina' Martina was also there to say goodbye.  Soon the aircraft arrived and we were flying off to Miri.  Thank you Murud, thank you Ba' Kelalan.  If God calls, yes, I will be back.

In 2013, we had nick-named Ama' Paran as "Uncle Handsome".  We are so thankful to have them as our host this year.

I spent the rest of the day in Miri, whilst Lyd and Barb took the earlier flight home.  When I got home that night, I was greeted with love notes from my son.

It is good to be home.

Murud 2015 - After - Day 7

Tuesday, 21st July

No, I did not manage to wake up at 5 in the morning for morning prayers in the church.  I woke up to hear Apu' going but was too tired to get up myself.  I console myself with the thought that I had another day - tomorrow to go before flying out.

We took our time to wake up, to bath and to have our breakfast.  At about 10am, Mee Ting and Judith came to ask if we would like to go to Long Bawan (Indonesia) as Ama' Paran will be driving a family there to have a look and he said we can go if we don't mind standing at the back.  Lyd and I said yes as they say the journey would just take under an hour; we ought to be back by the time Aunty Alui came back from work.  Barb opted not to go, since it was really hot and we might be bbq-ed under the hot sun again.  After telling Apu', off we went.  Who would have thought that the family we were hitching a ride with was the family of that nice boy I met during the prayer for the nations session up on the mountain!  Super cool.

It was a long drive with many check point stops along the way.  Judith, Mee Ting, Lydia, Ina' Martina and myself sat at the back of the double-cab 4WD.  After 2 hours baking under the sun, we arrived Long Bawan.  We passed through many other kampungs along the way and mostly were Ina' Martina's family heirloom.  We asked her how she met Ama' Paran if one was from Indonesia and the other from Ba' Kelalan.  She said that both their fathers were Penghulu and they were matchmade.  She was 13 at that time.  Oh marriages of long-ago; very strong even if they were matchmakes.

We then stopped at the airport and someone generously offered us homemade ice-cream.  Oh, such relieve from the hot sun.  Then we went for lunch at one of the shops.  Real, original Indonesian bakso.  Yums.

Yummy Original Indonesian Bakso.  The chili that came with it - WOW!
Aunty Alui said it's yummy because they put worn underwear into the broth as they cook and boil the soup!  Haha!

After stamping our passes, we started the journey back.  Reached Buduk Nur at 3.30pm.  When we got to the house, Apu' Neng said that Barb and Aunty Alui had gone to Aunty Amu house just "now" and that we should hurry.  I don't even remember the road to her house though we had been there in 2013!  Apu' said to follow the car road so that's what we did.  Lydia said for sure there was a short cut, but since we didn't know where and how, we just followed Apu's instruction.  We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked.... stopped a few locals to ask and continue to walk and walk and walk.  After 45 minutes walking, we finally saw the said junction and Uncle Liau was there waiting for us.  Barb and the 2 aunties had gone up to the kebun to pick fruit and had just came back.

Buah Biu - local persimmon.  It's so yummy I think I ate 5 at one sitting.  Photo credit to Barb from her FB :)

Aunty Amu has a fish pond and stubborn Uncle Liau tried to catch some fish.  In the end Aunty Alui went into the pond and caught lots of talapia for our dinner.  We were introduced to Buah Biu - some sort of local persimmon.  Yummy!  After Aunty Alui cleaned the fish, we started walking back in case Apu' got worried if it was already dark.  Yes, there was indeed a shortcut across to the airport.  The walk took us 30 minutes this time.

When we got home we quickly bath and Aunty Alui prepared dinner for us.  Dinner was a noisy affair as we were laughing and chatting away while walloping a whole lot of fish.  Apu' was quiet most of the time just listening to us but later she lamented how quiet tomorrow's meals would be after we left.  My heart broke again.

At Aunty Sipai's place.  Aunty Sipai is so beautiful and she dresses with class and elegance too.  Even on the mountain, she will wear such nice embroidered dresses with sequins nonetheless!  But looking at Apu' Neng one will see where that style comes from. 
Us:  Aunty Sipai, yours truly, Barbara, Judith, Apu' Neng, Apu' Supit and Lyd

After dinner, we told Aunty Alui that we wanted to go visit Aunty Sipai.  So off we went.  Lyd walked with Apu'.  It was so funny because it was so quiet in the kampung and Apu' being deaf with age had talked so loudly that I think the whole kampung could hear her!  We got to Aunty Sipai's house just as they were starting to have dinner.  Again??? Arrrggghhhh... even scared of food now.  Haha. But we joined in anyways, having biter and chicken wings and drinks.  Oh the pleasures of life.  Then we said our goodbyes and left to go home to pack.  We will be flying back tomorrow.  My turn to walk with Apu' back to the house and she said, don't leave me, it will be so quiet tomorrow.  Oh Apu' :(  

Murud 2015 - During - Day 6

Monday, 20th July

We had decided the day before to start hiking down at about 8am.  If we left earlier, there would be too many people as many are planning to leave around 5 or 6am.  We were not that kiasu to go back.  We got up, had morning devotions at 6am, had breakfast and we were ready to go.  So many people were queuing up to use the toilet and we just let them go first.  We took our time.  Our group went of in stages - Cathy and Sharon went first.  Followed by Rome and Lis - saying wanting to make a video on Batu Linanit.  Then Ps. Sabiyah, Jane, Mee Ting and Judith went next.  The four of us - Barb, Lyd, Maria and myself went last - coz we wanted to use the toilet in peace :D  The 3 fitter ones vs me the slow snail.  As the hike up Batu Linanit got tougher, I told them to move on so Barb and Lyd did go at their super fast hare pace - aiming to reach Lepo Bunga in 3 hours.  Maria apparently didn't feel good about leaving me alone; which is the basic jungle survival rule - always walk with a buddy.  As I mentioned before, I don't mind walking alone but I welcomed her companion and stories about her life along the way.

Maria, Barb and Lyd at the beginning of the climb down.  The pond was still full - more than enough water for the full 4 days conference of 2084 participants.  Uncle Paran's house is the dark brown house at the right hand.

The climb up to Batu Linanit was as hard as I thought it would be and the climb down was even worst!  I was wondering to myself why my hips were hurting badly then I remembered, I was at least 10kgs heavier than 2013 - it could have been more after 4 days of non-stop eating on the mountain!  I trudge along telling God to please don't call me back to climb the mountain.

We arrived the end of Jambatan Sukacita being welcomed by Judith, Mee Ting, Jane, Ps. Sabiyah, Rome and Lis.  Apparently Rome and Lis waited for about an hour for the 3rd group to arrive.  Soon after Maria and I arrived too.  While resting, I rewarded myself with a snickers (again).  Then I told Maria, she can walk on with the faster 2 - Rome and Lis.  So that's what she did after telling the others that she now entrust me into their care.  Haha.  

Rome, Jane and Lis waiting for us at Jambatan Sukacita to start our final lag of the journey down

We all broke into groups again.  The fast ones, the medium ones - Jane, Judith and Mee Ting and the slow one - me!  Haha.  This time it was Ps. Sabiyah who refused to let me walk alone.  The walk down was really bad to my knees.  It went kaput after the hike down in 2013 and now it was really giving me all the trouble it can.  Along the way, I met an aunty (dad's 2nd cousin) who said her friend also had knee pain and was better after taking 2 panadols.  Good thing I had my medicine pouch with me, I quickly pop 2 panadols praying that it will indeed work.  Ohhhhhh.... the looooooonnnngggggggg waaaaayyyyyy dooowwwwwnnnnnnnnnn..... I almost gave up and would just spend the night there in the jungle if I didn't feel so bad for Ps. Sabiyah.  I mustered all the strength I had left where out of no where this tiny crunched up old lady appeared from behind and say it's okay, anak... slowly.... my knees are also painful and I can't carry my own things anymore... Come let's walk slowly.  Yeah right grandma.  She was 80 years old!  O earth, please open up and swallow me.  Haha.

At long last, we could hear the engine of the cars, the shouts of victory, the laughter etc - the end was near.  I made it to the bottom, Ps. Sabiyah still faithfully behind me.  It took me 5 hours for the hike back down - the same as 2013.  The rest were already bored waiting for me so I didn't even got the chance to look around and quickly I was ushered in to the waiting 4WD - it didn't feel that bad once I got there - I was just really looking forward to going back to Buduk Nur for a good rest.

We arrived Buduk Nur at about 2pm and after discussing where to go what to do, we went back to Apu' Ineng's house.  But before that - aha! - we stopped for a cold drink - hoping so much for a cold coke, but alas, only sprite was available.  Better than none.  Then we made our way to the house.  I did tell Uncle Pudun in April that we will spend some time at Apu's house and he said sure, just come.  Given his track record of never taking me seriously, I doubt that he told anyone in the kampung.  Up on the mountain, Aunty Takung told me that Uncle Liau and Auntie Alui is now staying with Apu' for the past month or so.  So theirs was the name I called out as we reached the house.  Thank God they were all at home.  True enough, Uncle Pudun did come on Wednesday night (we were up on the mountain already) and just mention to Apu' at a passing that we might come.  Oh well.  It's my grandma's house, open 24/7, no reservations needed ;)  Oh, what a joy it was to see Apu' Neng!  She was surprised to see us, but I think, pleasantly surprised.

We came up, took turns to shower and napped for a good 2 hours.  It was such a luxury to sleep on a matress again!  I woke up after the nap and walked into the kitchen, finding Uncle Liau with a freshly slaughtered chicken.  2 days before, he was coming down from the mountain and when he got to Lepo Bunga, he found that there were some people there who have not eaten for a long time because they did not have the facilities.  He, being "stubbornly nice" went to gather some firewood and in his kanchiongness managed to chop his knee area and got 4 stitches for it.  His leg was now swollen and he was not able to walk properly.  He is a very resourceful person as he was good in finding jungle products, fish, jungle animals etc.  But he was in no condition to do so now.  In the hospitable steps of the late grandpa, he quickly went to slaughter chicken for dinner.  Oh how good the chicken soup tasted that night.  We sat around the table and I think Apu' entertained us more than we did her.  I retired to the smaller kitchen to chat with Uncle Liau and am glad to be able to catch up with him whilst Lyd and Barb talked with Apu' Neng.

Around 9pm, the 3 of us decided to go to Ama' Paran's house to retrieve our "box of treasure" which we had send down the day before via Balang; his son.  Of we went in search of his house - and after asking a few times, were directed to his door.  It was nice catching up but we did not stay long as it seems that they were very tired and ready to sleep too.  Along the way, because it was a dark night, we had to walk really carefully as there was a lot of "landmines" a.k.a. buffalo dung all over.  Thank God we had our head lamps.

Headlamp - such a useful thing to have!  We used it for cooking, for washing dishes etc.  Hands free.  I got this at the army supply shop at 7th Mile for RM19.80 only!  Such a steal.

When we got back to the house, Aunty Alui said that Aunty Takung asked us to go to the house for bbq.  Errr... say what?  But well, minding our manners, we went anyways.  Thankfully, the house was just nearby.  Apparently, there was miscommunication between her and Aunty Alui.  She had asked us, the whole family to come for dinner but Aunty Alui thought that they were coming to our house instead.  Their house was such a cute house with a build in fireplace with a real chimney!  Uncle John had good taste :)  After eating a little (we were already too full), we said our goodnights.  It was already 11 by the time we got home and the 3 of us promptly konked out.  I hope I can wake up to go to tomorrow's morning prayer.  Aunty Alui was going to work at 6am tomorrow so she told us to take care of our own breakfast etc and that we will be going to Aunty Amu's house at Puneng Kelalan after she got back from work and after lunch.  Yeay!  So looking forward to meet Aunty Amu (a.k.a. Aunty Lina)