Roasted Duck for Dinner

Imported Roasted Duck

The main course for dinner last night was the roasted duck which we bought from T&T Supermarket. I did not purchase the roasted duck from the cooked food section but rather from the display freezer which was packed in a plastic pack and flown in from China in frozen form. I was skeptical at first about the authenticity and quality of the roasted duck. But the price was the motivating factor. The one pack of roasted duck was half the price of the freshly roasted duck displayed at the cooked food section.

Golden Brown Roasted Duck

For that reason, I had to at least try it out. The frozen roasted duck are retailed in two different sizes, half a duck or one whole duck. Obviously for trying, I picked the half duck. So, I followed the instructions on the label and left the frozen duck in the oven for about thirty minutes on medium heat. Then, another ten minutes on broil. It looked really delicious when ready. The flavour and taste was actually authentic and for that price, it was good.

Blenched Kailan

While I was waiting for the duck to be dine, I put a pot of water on the stove to boil. And then, when the water was boiling, drop a few drops of cooking oil and a pinch of salt for taste into the water. I took a bunch of Kailan and blench them in the hot boiling water for about one minute. The Kailan that I bought from T&T Supermarket was of the larger variety, so it need about one minute in the boiling water to cook. Once the vegetable was ready, set them in a serving plate. Then, garnish with some fried garlic oil and a few drops of light soy sauce.

Home Made Penang Lobak

The Famous Penang Lobak

My wife and kids prepared the pork and ingredients for the Penang lobak in the morning. Then, left the pork and five spice stuffings in the fridge for about two hours before wrapping in the soft soybean curd sheet. The stuffings were a mixture of thinly slice pork, taro cubes, carrot cubes, water chestnuts, five spice, salt and pepper. We prepare the Penang lobak with chunks of meat rather than ground pork to make each bite meatier and crunchier.

The Signature Cuisine of Penang

After wrapping the stuffing in the two layers of soft soybean curd sheet, the lobak rolls are fried over an inch of cooking oil. When taken out from the plastic bag, the soybean curd sheet comes in a very huge round paper thin sheet of soybean curd that has to be cut into eight inch squares. It takes only a few minutes to cook. Once the lobak rolls turned golden brown, they are ready. The soybean curd wrappers will also turn crispy and remains crisp for about an hour or so.

Taro and Penang Lobak

The Penang lobak can be immediately served from the wok to the plate. Some people like them crispy and some prefer them when they have cool off. But we often make quite a few of these lobak rolls and freeze them for later consumption. The kids and I have them with rice for lunch at school. We will usually prepare a whole bunch of the lobak rolls and give to friends or take it to some of our potlucks. The Penang lobak is simple to make and the ingredients are easily sourced from our local Asian grocery stores.

Singapore Fried Beehoon

Singapore Fried Beehoon

For dinner last night, I fried beehoon Singapore style. I have been busy the whole day yesterday, running errants and meeting with friends. So, I only came home with my wife at about eight in the night. Then, quickly grab whatever I can see and started preparing dinner. I still have beehoon and cabbage. And all I would need for the additional ingredient would be carrot, Chinese sausages and a bunch of bean sprouts.

Home Cooked Singapore Beehoon

I remembered that I still have some bean sprouts left from the previous day which would be enough for the Singapore Fried Beehoon. With everything in order, the preparation took less than ten minutes. And it took me another fifteen minutes to fry the beehoon. So, in less than thirty minutes I have dinner ready. Simple Singapore Fried Beehoon which was a good choice and does not need any other cuisines to go with it. It is in fact one of the simplest of noodle cuisines to cook.

Richmond Centre Food Court for Lunch

Indian Vegetarian Curry with Rice

My wife and I dined at the Richmond Centre Food Court early today after meeting with friends. We were there for several hours chatting and drinking tea with friends. And later decided to proceed to the food court for lunch. Just like the other food courts in the other malls in the Lower Mainland, Richmond Centre too has a very wide selection of food choices. When ordering food in the food court, I would usually go for the most simplest.

Thai Green Chicken Curry on Rice

Today was no different. With the range of choices, I already had my eyes on the Chinese, Indian or Thai. In fact I ordered one serving from each of these three and shared with my wife and the friends that were eating lunch with us. From the Indian food stall I ordered the vegetarian curry with rice and naan bread. While from the Chinese food stall, I ordered the sweet and sour chicken, and spicy chicken on a serving of steam rice. And finally, from Thai food stall, I had the green chicken curry on rice.

Lucky Joy Seafood Chinese Restaurant

Butter Cream Lobster Cuisine

We went out to dine with another family friend at Lucky Joy Seafood Chinese Restaurant on Thorpe Road and No. 5 Road in Richmond. It has been a while since we dined here the last time. I think we have not dined here for the past few months due to busy work schedule. On top of that, we have not been travelling to Richmond for work or leisure of late. Really missed all the restaurants serving good delicious food in Richmond.

Large Shrimps Stir Fried with Onions

Just a few days ago, we decided to meet up for dinner and I chose Lucky Joy because of their still very good lobster offer with their set meals. This diner will be my first choice when comes to lobster. They have really good cooks with great recipes and their lobsters are fresh due to their high turn over on their seafood. The other day we ordered the four cuisines set meal and added a lobster to the set, making it a five course set dinner.

Halibut and Tofus in Clay Pot

Among the cuisines we ordered were egg plant in clay pot, halibut with tofus in clay pot, large shrimps stir fried with onions and spring onions, eggplant in clay pot, and honey garlic pork ribs. The lobster cuisine was cooked with butter cream sauce with an additional two portions of noodles. We were also received complimentary soup and pumpkin desserts for everyone. Generally, the flavours, taste and authenticity of the cuisines at Lucky Joy has remained the same. They have been consistently good.

Honey Garlic Pork Ribs

I have brought many of my friends and colleagues to dine here. And each and everyone of them that I have introduced have loved this diner. They are still one of my top choice diner for authentic Chinese seafood cuisines. Their service has always been fast, prompt, and satisfactory. Although not always the best but definitely one of the top choices when comes to affordability. The crowd in the diner is always good. So, I have to reserve prior to coming here otherwise the wait may be as long as two hours.

Home Cooked Sarawak Style Kolo Mee

Sarawak Kolo Mee

Breakfast this morning was simply Sarawak style Kolo Mee. We have bought a bowl of the Sarawak Kolo Mee gravy from Swee Ann Enterprise in Richmond. And each bowl of this Kolo Mee gravy is enough to prepare up to about eight portions of the the famous Sarawak Kolo Mee. In fact if used sparingly, I could even make ten servings of the Kolo Mee. The gravy comes in a frozen form and can be kept under cold freezing temperature, good for a few weeks.

One Serving of Kolo Mee

But we usually will use up the gravy within the week. In the gravy there are already grounded pork meat and mixture of sauces for the right taste. All that is needed to be garnished onto the Kolo Mee would be yuchoy or any other suitable vegetables, shitake mushrooms, fish balls and barbecue pork. Sometimes, we would just add the gravy with the noodles and mix them up without garnishing any extra ingredients. Other than the Kolo Mee gravy, Swee Ann Enterprise also sells sambal and home made sauces for stir fry chicken.

Potluck to Begin The New Year

Beef Stew

On the same day we arrived home, and later in the evening we were invited to a potluck at friend's place. As we had just gotten home, we were asked to make ourselves available and not to worry about cooking. But we cooked noodle cuisine anyway. This potluck was attended by just a few friends and not all the members of our usual group of friends. We started gathering around five in the evening and was done by eleven in the night.

Chicken Rendang

Other than, my noodle cuisine, the host prepared beef stew, stir fried asparagus, and glutinous rice with shitake mushrooms. Other cuisines that were brought to the function were fruit rojak, chicken rendang, spring rolls, and desserts. We are so fortunate to have friends that know and have the recipes to cook real Malaysian authentic cuisines. I always feel blessed whenever I get the chance to attend one of these potlucks. There is always so much authentic Malaysian cuisines.

My Plate of Authentic Malaysian Cuisines

Think of it, I have missed all these potlucks when I was away on vacation with the family. And during this time of the year, our Malaysian friends gather more often than usual with all the celebrations within these few months. But, there are more potlucks to come leading into the Chinese New Year and beyond. Anyway, when I was away, I too have tasted and eaten some of the best food in California. They may be fast food but really good fast food.