Spymama @ Mamakshop

Decades back when I was in my teens , my aunt used to send some cakes she made to our house. She had learnt baking and was baking almost every weekend trying out new recipes all the time. We became her guinea pigs, of course. She made all types of cakes and they were yummy. However, there was one particular cake that I didin’t know how to appreciate was the Kueh Lapis.

Kueh Lapis is the malay term for Layer Cake. This cake has to be carefully baked, layer by layer without getting the earlier layers burnt. What I didn’t like about the cake was the spices that were used in the ingredient.

That was then, of course. As I grow older, I have learnt to acquired a liking to it and it is one of my favourite cakes of all time. I was delighted when a wonderful friend of mine gave me some for this Chinese New Year just yesterday. Oh it was not just a small piece, it was a whole slab. Now this cake is not cheap and I cannot imagine how much she must have spent on this large cake.

What a pleasant Chinese New Year it will be. Great with a cuppa coffee!

I am a fan of those Fried Chicken with Shrimp Paste. I love to patronize one restaurant at Amoy Street that have been selling the famous Har Cheong Kai for years. The restaurant, is fondly called Kar Soe. I tried to make my own shrimp paste at home with a recipe I surf. That is because I don’t know what goes into the commercial ones and I have an allergy that if the product is used with too much msg or rotten shrimps, I’ll get hives that can last as long as half year!

So far, this recipe is fine and you can alter it according to your preferances.

500g Raw shrimp or prawns

1 Egg white

60g Lard, finely chopped (optional if go for halal)

1 tablespoon Oil

1 tablespoon Fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Sugar

1/8 teaspoon Ground black pepper

Method :
Shell and de-vein the shrimps, wash well and drain thoroughly. Put shrimps twice through mincer using fine blade, or chop very finely. Then whiz in electric blender or pound until it is a soft paste.

If using blender add oil and fish sauce to facilitate blending and stop moteor every now and then to scrape down sides of globlet. Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Used in Shrimp Paste Chicken..yummy

The weather here in Singapore is definitely erratic. It pours and sometimes the sun is so hot it felt like burning your skin. Many years back, October and November used to be raining season. But now, the climate has changed drastically.

You cannot predict if you should bring the brolly in case it rains because the sun is shining so brightly. Then when you least expect it, it pours! That was what happend in town. I was queuing up buying my favourite gelato ice cream, then I walked into the sun and after less than 2 mins, I was running for shelter…

Sigh..

Went out for dinner just now.. The weather was kind of crappy and gloomy the whole day long. It rained intermittently. No sun today.. I could do with a nice hot cup of Kopi Susu (Coffee with Creamer). I bought some Chee Cheong Fun although I had eaten.. Chee Cheong Fun is Rice Noodle-Rolls that is steamed, and served in some sweet sauce, sesame oil (some with some shrimp paste) and sesame seeds.

This dish is also usually eaten as a breakfast meal. Some Hong Kong versions has fillings like Char Siew (BBQ Pork), or Prawns. It is sold with Dim Sum in restaurants or separates in Kopitiams (Coffeeshops).

If you have tried a Northern Malaysian version, you will notice that it is somewhat different. Northern ones use Prawn paste in it. The one in Singapore does not use this thick sauce, but sweet sauce. I love them both, though I sometimes will buy those prawn paste and mix with a little sugar and melt it in hot water when I make it at home. Tastes yummy!

After watching Singapore drama Little Nyonya, I am craving for those Nyonya kuehs. I miss those glutinous rice kueh that are in bluishly tinted and is served with a nice dollop of kaya jam.. Gosh as I write this, my mouth is watering already! Does anyone has this kueh recipe? I really really want to make that.

Nyonya kuehs comes in so many varieties. So I googled and found this website that sells nyonya kuehs in KL. They even allow you to order online and has a list of pictures and names of those lovely kuehs. The site is Nyonya Colours. Anyone in Malaysia familiar with this online store?

I love the way they list out these yummy offerings. You should check out their site.

I went to Marche over the weekend. And it was terribly crowded. Sigh… Waiting for food took a while. Marche concept is similar to foodcourt, except that it is a Swiss foodcourt. It is like a marketplace actually.

You bring your cards, order your food, let them scan it in for payment later upon exit. Then you can go browze and buy other food or stand there while they cook your food on the spot. When you order food like grills and steaks and there is a queue, it’s just terrible. If I go back to my table and come back, I won’t know if my food is ready. And if I wait there, I may wait for a while. Terrible, huh. After this experience, I think the next time I want to have a nice grilled steak or seafood, I’d go to Jack’s Place. At least I know once my food is ready, it’s delivered hot to my table. Because by the time I go hunt for a vegetable in Marche, I am lost at where to wait. sigh…

Too much flab, too much fat. That’s what Spypapa said.. He was scrutinizing himself when he looked in the mirror in the mornings. He wanted to lose weight. I cannot agree more. Since I met him decades ago, he had put on a lot of weight. He has lost his waist and it is now taken over by that blubber. And his trouser size is also moving parallel alongside his ‘waist’ size. Yesterday, he asked me what I was going to get for lunch.. He passed me the stored value card that we use for our foodcourt meal purchase. Our foodcourt uses store value card for purchase.. No need cash. About 5 minutes later, I brought this plate of fruits and said.. ‘nah.. you eat this!’ It was hilarious. He raised his eyebrow and said, ‘you ought to be joking!’ I need something more.. err  ’solid’

Laughing, I told him. Of course, I’m joking, this is mine. Passing him the card, I enjoyed my fruits and agar agar. Later that night, I stuffed my hungry tummy with 3 Old Chang Kee Curry Puffs. He had the last laugh, of course.

Spymama wanted to buy a birthday cake for a dear friend. She wanted a Chocolate Cake, the yummiest one. A friend once told me that Awfully Chocolate has yummy Chocolate Cakes. Spymama wanted to check out their cakes first. And guess what Spymama found out? There are no cakes to check out. Sigh..

Look at how the shop is dressed. There are no cakes on display. It was just a shop, counter, a freezer with some ice cream inside and some bar stools and table.

So how? Donch like that very much. Must look good ma. If not how to buy. Maybe it works for some but not for Spymama. I want to buy and try their cakes first so only I will buy the whole cakes. Cannot buy a slice how to know.

So, Awfully Chocolate is Awfully Empty. Spymama disappoointed.

When I was in the market, I like to stop by the dry provision that sells biscuits in large tins. When you see something you like, you get him to weigh it according to the weight or amount you want to purchase. While browzing at the endless variations, I saw this that made me so excited and happy! It was the type of biscuits that I used to eat when I was in Primary school. The old days, it was shaped into a triangle and inside, sometimes you get to find a little coin all wrapped up in newspaper (olden days hygiene - no one bat an eyelid). Those biscuits were sold for about 5 cents each and if you find a 10 cents inside, you’ld be jumping for joy! Although these are the earliest traits of ‘gambling’ it is really something that I enjoyed tremendously. It was bonus to me of course.

So when I saw this in the market, I asked the man to give me about $2.00 worth of biscuits. But to my disappointment, they had no coins wrapped up in newspaper anymore… Should I be disappointed or should I wake up now? Did someone just burst my bubble?

Spymama loves to eat Salmon. Especially when it is bought fresh and grilled over a pan. Sedap! That was what Spymama did yesterday when there was fresh salmon cuts for sale at the wet market. It was a hot day indeed and I didn’t feel like cooking a lot. So I bought a fresh fillet of Salmon, took it home to give it a good rinse and marinate it with just salt, ground pepper, a little bit of Italian herbs and squeezed some ginger juice on it. Left it in the chiller for about half and hour.

When I was hungry enough, I just heat up the pan, added some margarine (butter is nice but burns easily) and place the salmon in, skin side down first. I covered the pan a little to prevent oil splats. When the salmon is cooked almost all the way to the top layer (the top layer is not totally cooked yet tho), I turn it to grill on the other side. That means the skin part of the salmon is just nice and crispy!

Serve it with lemon if you like but I don’t because I already had ginger juice in it. I just added some mixed vegetable, squeeze some Heinz Salad dressing and it was good to go (into my tummy, of course!)

So, there you are, help yourself to my virtual meal. Grilled Salmon with Ginger Juice. ‘burp’