Lotus Root Soup

Went shopping at Oriental Mart last weekend - saw leng ngau (莲藕)!! It's been a long time since Ping had this. It is lotus root. It has holes in them when you cut them across the horizontal axis. Like Jicama, it is tasteless but don't think it can be eaten raw. It is usually cooked with soup or stir-fry although stir-fry is not Hokkien style. Only seen the stir-fry leng ngau at Subang chap fan stalls.
Using a slow cooker, Ping first stew the chicken until it is half-cooked. Then added the leng ngau, ang cho (red dates) and ki ci and let it stew overnight. Ping likes the leng ngau soft while some likes it hard. When ahmah cooks it, she used to add dried scallop (kong yu zi) but Ping haven't seen them in the Oriental Mart (but Ping was not looking for it either). Some also like to add dried squid in the leng ngau t'ng. Or use bak kut. Bak kut is a little hard to find here. It is very popular at the Oriental Mart. It is usually gone by Sunday.

AEC Music Station

Found this on YouTube! It's Wu Zun and Ya Lun on AEC!!

Penang Char Keow Teow!!! They actually sing Rasa Sayang too!! (short part only ler).

Cheh Ji (Second day of CNY)

On Cheh Ji, Ping eats Yi Mai Fu Chok (Barley and Beancurd Stew?..haha..no idea how to translate).
On a typical Cheh Ji, we would be bringing ah mah (Batu Feringghi one) to visit relatives from dad's side. This is sort of the 'non-typical' tradition since the first day is suppose to be visiting relatives from dad's side but it had worked out this way for us err....as long as Ping can remember, it has always been this way. There aren't as many relatives as mum's side and it is slightly more boring than mum's side as none of our cousins from dad's side are around ahdik and Ping's age. So we would just have to entertain ourselves and enjoy the angpaus. Kekeke...

Here in Michigan, the idea of CNY is so foreign that a chinese passing by another chinese is not met with a "Gong Xi Fa Chai" but with a "hei, what's up?" or "hei, how's it going?" instead. But Ping has colleagues who are aware of it so that was nice. Ping even dressed for the occasion! Other than that, it is just a regular day. Oh wait...it is actually more than just a regular day. Guess what...Ping nailed the Big Gorilla!!! A new beginning has just started! Repeated the experiment 5 times and all 5 times Ping got a recovery of 95% and above!!! Don't understand? Never mind. Just know that it is a good thing. Now Ping can finally ask - is there a difference? instead of "why am I doing this?" Before, Ping can't even get the Big Gorilla to cooperate! Yippee!!

Came home and decided to whip up something from stuff that Ping has. Yi Mai Fu Chok! Ping's favorite dessert. Still remember one evening while we were still staying at Sunway, Ping wanted one but we couldn't find it anywhere!! The best one Ping had is the one by the road side next to Lot 10 (or somewhere there...lost sense of direction when Ping is around that area).

Ping found the recipe from 5xMom. Ping first boiled the barley while soaking the fu chok in water. After boiling the barley for about an hour, Ping added the fu chok and rock sugar and let it simmer all night. Unfortunately, the fu chok didn't seem to disintegrate. Was Ping suppose to smash it up before adding it? It is still 'jun jun'. Almost like when eating "tang hoon char tau pui" kind of 'jun'. It is also much thicker than the regular one. If Ping dilutes it with water, then it become sweetless. So how do they actually make it dilute? Must add tau chui ar? Hmmm...
As for the "pek kuih", Ping could only find canned ones here. It is not sweet at all. Just doesn't taste right. "Pek kuih" (白果) is called "Ginkgo". But some company who produce this canned pek kuih decided to do a literal translation on it and call it "White nuts". Took Ping quite a while to figure it out. Overall, Ping would call this an unsuccessful attempt.
After the 2nd day of CNY, the rest are just regular days. Kids are still having school holidays. We usually lepak at ahmah's house or sit in front of the tv and "sae kin". Hmm...what else did we do ar? Haha...collect ang paus at any opportunity. Oh yeah, although Ping is not back home, Ping got ang pau from tua ee and ah yong!! Via paypal!!! Hi-tech leh...hehe. Tua ee and ah yong, Chin kam sia. Ping also got more on cheh it but can only see, cannot touch. Hehee..

Off to bed (no Mei, it's not 10pm!! It's PAST 10pm). Goooooooood night!

Cheh It (First day of CNY)

Spent most of the day cleaning the apartment. Actually, we are not suppose to do any cleaning or washing the hair on the first day of CNY. But since Ping is not at home, and it is a Sunday , which is Ping's only day off, Ping has to do the cleaning today. But Ping also did some cooking...

Geng geng kua bak!! It is a dessert that is typically served on the first day of CNY. The significance of it is to have a 'sweet' year ahead. It is also the tea that is served during the tea ceremony for weddings. This is mummy's recipe...sort off.
First, boil some ang cho (red dates, which belongs to the rhamnacea family) and ki ci (Lycium). Kici is said to promote cheerfulness and vitality. When we were young, we were told that it is good for the eyes (probably due to the high beta-carotene content). Ping loves it. So why does Ping have to wear glasses???? It is also known to be a sexual tonic herb (hmmm....). Ping only added enough water to cover the ang cho and ki ci. After it started boiling, Ping waited for about 5 minutes and at the main ingredient - geng geng! (Longan, don't think it has an English name. According to "Dietary Therapy in Traditional Chinese Medicine" by Cai JingFeng, it is beneficial to the spleen and heart but cannot be taken too much - siow juak).
The geng geng is imported from a chinese drug store on Campbell Street, Penang. It was the uncle from that store who told us that the geng geng should not be boiled. It should be added after the boiling.

Here's the final product. Since it is very thick, it is very sweet. Ping adds water only when it is served.
A bit too much ang cho. :P But ho chiak enough edi lah.

Keong Hee Huat Chai!!

Okay okay...it's the new year. Gotta start it right. So here goes...

Xin Nian Kuai Le!!!
新年快乐!!!
Happy Chinese New Year!!!
Selamat Tahun Baru Cina!!!
San Lin Fai Lok!!!
errr....Xin Nee Hua Hee???

Keong Hee Huat Chai!!!
Gong Xi Fa Chai!!!
Gong Hei Fatt Choy!!!
恭喜发财!!!
Happiness and prosperity!!!

Woke up late this morn (hei...was up till 3 am wei!!!). That's the nice thing about not having to go 'pai chia'. Pai chia = errr...what's the literal translation ar???. Well, it basically is the younger generation visiting the older generation. It is done on the first day of CNY. Usually, the older generation (ahmahs and ahkongs) will be staying at home. We (ahdik and Ping) and parents will visit them and their sisters and brothers. So we will usually wake up early, dressed up in our new clothes and drink 'geng geng kua bak t'ng' (dried longan juice). Then we'll wish everyone in the house and of course, get ang pau from mummy, daddy and ahmah.

Once we're all set and uncomfortable (new clothes on a super hot day in M'sia is always uncomfortable), we set of to Air Itam ahmah's place. Ping had never celebrated a CNY without ah kong because he was around when Ping left. Haven't been thinking about him much but he will always give us a hug on CNY. That was rare as ah kong has quite a unique character. He pretty much stays to himself but he loves going out shopping and dining out with us. Till today, he's the only person that calls Ping "Pin-Pin".

At ahmah's place, we will wish gee ku, gee kim, se han ee, Unker Francis, tua ku, tua kim, Keong Hee Huat Chai. We'll hang around for a while for the first few people that comes over to visit ahmah - usually it's Unker Polo and his family, Ku kong and his family, sometimes errr...the one who stays in KL and goes to Brickfields temple...(aiyak...beh ki kiow ha mi liow). Then we'll move on to visit ahmah and ah kong's siblings. Mostly are ah kongs. There are fewer side on ahmah's side. While visiting, we'll be snacking on all the CNY goodies. When one of the ku kongs (third? second?) was still around, we will gather at his place for lunch and have roti jala!!! (Do you all still go over now that he's not around anymore?? But no more roti jala right??)

This year, seems like everyone is seriously ushering the pig year since all are being a piggy at home - lepaking at ahmah's place. And totally agree with ahdik that it used to be a major occasion when we were staying at Sunway. But suits Ping fine because Ping get to celebrate it with them on the webcam. Although it would be so much better if Ping gets to eat that two peanut cookie!! The chocolate...no need lah. Here also got ma.

The few must-haves for CNY are kuaci (melon seeds) - usually it's pumpkin seed. But the picture Ping have here is sunflower seed, which is not so common but people usually serve a variety of kuaci.
Toh tau (ground nuts)...
The most important thing = kam (mandarin oranges). The kam here are very tiny and not sweet. Rarely gets them. Ping miss the 'phong kam' the most. Ahmah used to get quite a lot of it for the prayers.

sar chap meh (CNY's eve)

*warning - this is a negative Ping post*

Ping's timing is a slightly lagging. Okay. Maybe it's 12 hours lagging. Or according to M'sia time, it's lagging one day.

Sar chap meh was yesterday. Woke up pretty late. Missed the reunion dinner (Reunion dinner is usually steamboat style, where we have all kinds of 'balls', seafood, noodles, etc.). Not just missed eating it but missed getting to wish everyone happy new year too. Can only see pictures of other people's reunion dinner. Everyone was about to leave when Ping finally got through ahdik. Briefly saw mum and se han ee. Ahdik had to fetch Air Itam ahmah home and bring his laptop with him. Kinda disappointed. So decided to go to lab and give Big Gorilla some tender loving care instead of stay home sulking. Being home alone on CNY's eve is just not fun. At least if Ping is in the lab, the excuse is she have to work.

Leaving home the first time is hard. But CNY was not really that bad when Ping was in K'zoo. The M'sian chinese group there is big. Panda was around. Even if there wasn't any hint of CNY, spending time with those crazy bunch was something to be content with. They always say that you'll get used to it. Six years. That's how many CNY Ping missed. From the first one where Ping is the only one missing it to now, the only third generation left is ahdik. The reunion dinner was done by 11pm. It's not even the new year yet!!! No hu-ha. No fire crackers. But at least ahdik is home.

It was definitely better in lab than at home. At least Ping got one BGE done. Read the lab manual for next week. Have a rough draft of the slides Ping have to present this week. And it is not one of those Saturdays where Ping don't talk to anyone at all 'coz Steph came in. After she left, Ping started venting the CO2 and that kept Ping busy for a while. Dinner time came and Ping decided to join the M'sian undergrads 'reunion dinner'. It was at Oodles of Noodles. Buffet style. It was just so-so. First of all, the food sucks. There's king crab leg. So? There's nothing 'chinesey' at all! It is all the regular American chinese food!

So Ping end up leaving early. And irritatingly, got all emotional about the day. Seriously, what is so big deal about CNY? Grrrrr!!!!! Consciously, you know that being homesick is a weakness. Why should you let yourself feel lonely? But subconsciously, your mind just won't listen. Even the tears that comes down. You want it to stop but it just annoys you even more and you get upset at yourself and ended up crying over that instead. And all negative thoughts enter your mind. Sometimes they seem to be so tempting. But what good can Ping do to go home halfway through with no pubs, no solid data, still insufficient with experience? Nope. Not good at all. So this better be worth it. Okay, maybe other people sacrifice a lot more. Maybe this is not a sacrifice at all. But to Ping, family is the most important thing. So it is a sacrifice to Ping. It better be good ending.

That dumb dinner got Ping thinking about the times after finals week when we would go to King Wok at K'zoo. That's the best buffet place Ping have been. They actually serve their food hot!! But the best thing there is their sushi and teriyaki stir-fry!! Those bunch of guys Ping used to go with...that's one of the most fun people Ping have met. We made fun of stuff back home, not talking about it negatively and plotting never to go back. Oh well...maybe it's the age thing. Ping have been here way too long.

Coming home all upset, decided to watch Episode 9 of KO One. There's always enough jokes in there to make Ping laugh. But, better still, Ping caught ahdik online. So ended up on the webcam till almost 3 am. Surprisingly, even got to talk to Panda. Short but it's the thought that matter right? So it was actually a pretty nice end to the day or beginning to today. Nice to see everyone all dressed up for the new year (although ahmah was in her khun sah!!!). Love the webcam! It totally make a difference to Ping.

ji kau meh (Friday)

This year there is 'sar chap meh'. No difference. It is still the day before chinese new year's eve.

Six years ago.....
The bowls and plates, the rice bowl sets, the chopsticks, the miniature wine glasses, the tea cups, the candle stands, the main table - they are all washed, dried and ready to be used for tomorrow. NY's eve is the day we pray to the departed - to provide them with their favorite dishes. Agree with dad that such traditional practice that do not make sense in the modern world and should not be continued. But does it really matter?
Ping miss it because it is one of the rare occasions when ahdik is actually contributing to it by not being a rascal. In fact, ahdik actually cares enough to take note of all the rituals and do's and don'ts, to know prayers protocol, to help out with serving. It is also one of the occasions that bring everyone into the kitchen. Ping learned how to serve the rice with the top a perfect mound, the proper way to arrange the utensils, how to cook jeu hu char. Lastly, and also the best part, the food!!! Those are the kinds of food that we only get to eat once a year - jeu hu char and kiam chai ark.

2007
Ping thought it was CNY's eve edi. But after talking to Panda, Ping realized that it is not until Saturday. Miscalculated the time. Had a nice talk with Panda EARLY in the morning. Initially Ping wasn't sure if she should make the call. Didn't know what to say. But it's CNY...it should start out smooth right? So Ping called to wish him happy CNY. But kept digging her brain for stuff to say. Ping also talked to Andrew. That was a lot less awkward 'coz sifu is really easy to talk to. He's excited about CNY and is pretty happy with everything right now. That's always good to hear.
Went to lab with Stephanie. Got there and realized Ping read the wrong paper for the seminar at noon. There were too many dehalogenation papers. Thankfully, there's still time to read the primary literature. After seminar Ping did a fluorescent measurement for one of Ping's E. coli strain and it turned out to be as expected! So the entire day went by pretty fast and CNY sort of slipped out of Ping's mind. It is hard to be excited and get all festive about it when the CNY atmosphere is not there at all. It's all white out and crazy cold - vs. the usual super hot CNY. There's no CNY songs playing. There's no CNY cards being sent or received. It is just another plain Michigan day.
But it ended pretty nice with a dinner at Thai Kitchen (but we won't be going back there) and Ghost Rider. The department had a prospective graduate student visiting and Steph and Ping volunteered to bring him out to dinner. But before we knew he was coming, we already had planned to watch Ghost Rider. So we decided to include him into our plan. It turned out to be a pretty nice evening. Ping was tired by the time we got out of the movie so Ping went straight to bed.

There goes Ping's ji kau meh (29th night). It is just another Friday. But on the side, it was an exciting moment for Ping because her abstract for the ASM 107th GM have been accepted!!!!!! While it is not a big deal for most, it is for Ping because this time, Ping will be doing the poster! Some of the data are Steph's data but Ping will be writing and designing the poster!!!!

ti or ni kuih?

Was at Oriental Mart sometime last week and saw that they are already selling 'nian gao' (年糕). They sell them in huge pieces (almost as big as the size of a moon cake box that can fit four), unlike the small round ones they sell at home.

So, in Hokkien, is it called ti kuih as in 'sweet' or ni kuih as in 'year'? If hwa yi is 'nian' then shouldn't it be 'ni kuih'? Then how come we always call it 'ti kuih'? Or is that just another way to say it because it is also sweet? Hmmm.....which is the correct one leh?

Ping rarely gets them because they are not really very tasty. But when it is cooked with something else, they usually enhance the taste. Ahmah used to fry it together with ang ku kuih (the one with bean filling and red outer layer) after prayers to ah kong ('hau'). When Ping was back recently, Ping had 'orh chien ti kuih' (yam fried sweet cake). The orh chien by itself is pretty tasty but with the ti kuih, it makes it even better.
But then hor, Ping don't want to fry anything at home lah. So if Ping wants to get the ti kuih, what can she do with it?

Super Bowl

Why is everyone in the States so excited about Super Bowl? It is like the World Cup final in M'sia (although we don't even participate in it!) It is the final game for the National Football League. Ping is totally not a fan of American football. First, it's boring. Second, Ping don't understand the game. But Ping hasn't actually sat down and watch it with someone who wouldn't mind explaining the game to Ping. Plus, Mikey, Jarrod and Chris were never a fan of football so Ping never did watch it. So why did Ping go to a Super Bowl party this weekend? Steph started following the Bears (that's the team from her hometown) and they managed to get themselves into the finals!! Sports can be pretty contagious. When one person gets excited about it, and it's the topic of the season, you kinda get into it too. Furthermore, Ping likes watching sports sometimes.

So Sunday evening was spent at Steph's place watching Super Bowl. Ping managed to get part of the game 'coz Daniel was there to explain it to us. Steph also know quite a bit about football. It is not as fun as soccer (the REAL football) but it wasn't that bad. Although it is not something that Ping would follow through the entire season though. Not 'kan cheong' enough.
Besides the game, there's the food!! Yes..food!!! It is a full course too. We had appetizers...
which are popiah that Ping brought over, vege tray that Steph prepared and little weeners that Jen and Steph made. The main course - salad, garlic bread and lasagna was prepared by Steph and Jen. Basically Ping just went to makan only.
We also had desserts from Kristi and Daniel...chocolate chip cookies, the Bears themed cupcakes and rum molasses cookies (the best!)...it taste a little like Ipoh kai chai peng (not sure if that's what it's called :P).
Lastly, we had free flow of drinks!!! Ping actually had two glass!!! And was still perfectly fine!! TWO!!!! An Ameretto stone sour (it's becoming one of Ping's favorite drinks now!) and Margarita.
It turned out that the Bears lost pretty bad. But Ping had a lot of fun. In fact, Ping hasn't had such a good laugh for a long time. Laughed till tummy hurts but it was good. Thanks Steph!! (I forgot to take pictures of us in the shirts from your mum :( )

Popiah

It's the month of February. Chinese New Year is just around the corner. The atmosphere is definitely not here. But there's a small party today and Ping felt like making popiah. Nope, not because 'siow eng bo ming kia cho' but just thought about it. Furthermore, Ping had all the ingredients.

Woke up early this morn, got all the necessary stuff done and started by thawing the popiah skin. The popiah skin that Ping got is actually not the real popiah skin that we use back in Penang. It is 'Spring roll wrapper' - the Vietnamese style. Similar but thicker. It had to be kept moist so Ping placed in on a pan and cover it with a damp paper towel - Viva Kleenex - love this product! Seriously, it is almost like a cloth. When Ping has to clean the stove, one towel is all you need. Definitely environmental friendly. You can even rinse it off, wring it dry and reuse it.

For the popiah filling, Ping bought carrots (they have ready sliced carrots here!!), taugeh (bean sprouts), hong kuak (mengkuang/jicama), tau kua (beancurd) and hae (shrimps). After slicing them into strips (except for the carrot and shrimps), Ping stir fry them with tau eu (soy sauce) and chicken stock. The chicken stock didn't seem to make much difference because the hong kuak is very sweet. Of course, these are not exactly the ingredients we would be using at home. One of the missing one is or kui tau (French beans). They do have it here but they are sliced and frozen. Ping didn't like it that much the last time Ping got it. So Ping skipped that and used carrots instead. If not mistaken, some of the popiah also have peanuts in them right? Can't remember edi lah..or was that chun piah? Hmmm...can only remember that they are wet and messy and of course, ho chiak!!
To wrap them up, Ping also had a layer of romaine lettuce. The original popiah uses 'oh wa chai' but Ping didn't know what it's called in English. They are slightly crispier than romaine. Or maybe it is romaine? Aiyah...all lettuce taste pretty much the same. Furthermore, 'oh wa chai' looks like romaine too. Couldn't really google for it either since Ping's Hokkien spelling is pretty much 'pua sai tang' (bucket of half shit). [Side tracking - By the way, Ping found the lyrics for that one hokkien song by 粱静茹 but Ping totally don't know how to translate it!!] Ping spread some 'oh eu' (oyster sauce) on the lettuce and place a few spoon full of the filling on it and wrap it up. Ping is not very good at wrapping them as Ping had a few that had holes in them. But they are still edible!! Bleh!
Ping also could not find any 'ti chiow' (don't know what it's called in English either so couldn't find if they have it here) that is why Ping used 'oh eu'. Ping end up making about 20 of them. Most of them are intact but there are quite a few with holes. Brought some over to Steph's place this evening and kept some for Fan. Will be having popiah for dinner for the next few days. Not as 'ti' (sweet) and 'saucey' as the ones available at the hawker stalls (especially the one at New Lane) but at least Ping gets to eat popiah! By the way, mummy, the popiah phui mian tiok chian...but still not like the one we have at home.

Pulut Tai Tai

On one fine snowy day,
Ping decided to make something more M'sian for the MSU Malaysian Student Organization Welcoming Party (to greet the new comers...Ping feels so old...it's been 6 years since Ping was one of the new comers), Thaipusam celebration and early Chinese New Year celebration. The atmosphere is totally not like Thaipusam or CNY. Ping wasn't in the mood to make anything 'Chinese' either. Instead, Ping decided to make pulut tai tai. Had a craving for pulut.

Went to Oriental Mart to get glutinous rice (pulut/chu bi) but Ping couldn't find it!!!! Then after looking around and asking the auntie there, Ping found out that it is actually called 'Sweet Rice'. The next thing that Ping need to get is coloring and gula melaka. The closest thing to gula melaka they had is gula jawa or palm sugar. Since gula melaka is also made of palm, Ping decided to get the palm sugar. The gula jawa is packed and wrapped in paper so Ping couldn't see what it's like. Palm sugar look sort of like gula melaka but much lighter and softer. You can break it easily, unlike gula melaka.
The first thing Ping had to do was to soak the glutinous rice in water. Since it was pretty late by the time Ping got home, decided to soak it overnight instead of the 3-4 hours as suggested by Amy Beh. Turned out to be fine. This morning, Ping steamed the rice with coconut milk and pandan extract. That was the only coloring that Ping could find. Others are more for jelly coloring. Ping was thinking of blue when she wanted to make the pulut. But the only time we could get the blue coloring is from 'bunga telang' (Clitoria ternatea). Have yet to see this flower here in Michigan. They don't have it frozen at Oriental Mart either. Unfortunately, the pandan extract is too 'cheng' (diluted) so the color is very pale. The pandan fragrant is pretty strong though. But it also don't have a strong pandan taste. Maybe it would have been better if Ping only used the extract but Ping wanted the coconut milk to make it more 'lemak' so can't add too much extract otherwise Ping's pulut become 'pulut moi'.

Once the rice is cooked and cooling, Ping started melting the palm sugar. The coconut shaving was then added once the syrup is boiling. Initially, the sugar syrup looks very pale, unlike the dark gula melaka. So Ping added more palm sugar, which unfortunately, not only darkens the syrup but Ping's coconut shaving all caramelized into a lump of hard coconut candy. Then Ping realized that she should not boil until the liquid dries out. That would leave only the sugar, which will harden when it cools down. So Ping has to make do with a light brown coconut shavings.
Here's the final product....yum yum!