Ayam Buah Keluak

Slurppppp......ahhhh! Burrrrp!
After licking all my five fingers, I must agree this is perhaps one of the best meal I have ever had after sooo sooo long! 

Last Sunday, I decided to cook one of my favourite typical Nyonya dishes - Ayam Buah Keluak! Since nya passed away, I hardly had the chance to relish this finger-licking dish. As my wife is not a Straits born, so I thought it's time for me to get my hands down and learn to cook this Peranakan dish myself.

Well, what is a 'buah keluak'? Basically, buah keluak is a black nut from Indonesia about the size of a misshapen golf ball.



As a matter of fact, it is a very poisonous nut and amazingly we Asians use it as our cooking ingredient.  But not to worry as the ones found in the market have been detoxificated. It is boiled for hours and buried in the soil for over 40 days. Amazing yah, so poisonous and yet so edible! Well, like durians, this typical nut is an acquired taste. You either hate it or love it.

Now, how do we eat it? Firstly, a slit has to be made at the 'mouth' of the nut after which we scrape out its contents. It's basically a tar-like paste and the taste is unique and unbelievable. You just need to taste to believe it. Apparently, the supply is rather scarce as not many places sell them. For those who are staying in Malacca, I bought them from the Bukit Cina market and are sold at RM14 for a mere 20 pcs.

So, how do we cook this delectable dish?

First, the ingredients:

A: 15-20 pcs of buah keluak

B: 1/2 chicken

C:
6 red chillies
15 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
2 cm of galangal (lengkuas)
2 cm of tumeric (kunyit)
6 pcs of candlenuts (buah keras)
3 cm of ginger (halia)
1 tbsp of shrimp paste (belancan)

D: 3 stalks of lemon grass (serai), coarsed.

E: 4 tablespoons of tamarind paste, soaked in 1 litre of water and strained.

F: sugar & salt to taste





Second, the steps. Well, I would divide the whole process into 3 parts :

1) Soaking & cracking
As the nuts are poisonous in nature, it is necessary to soak them for at least 1 night. It is also to remove the layer of soil on the nuts. However, according to old people, they believe that the longer the nuts are soaked, the softer the contents we get .



After soaking, we need to make a small opening on the nuts. And this makes your heart pumps a little especially for the first timer like me. It can be dangerous as we need to use the end of the chopper to carefully crack open the mouth of the nut.

2) 'Pasting'
This process is basically to make the paste. In a blender, blend all the 'C' ingredients until fine.

3) Cooking/Simmering
With 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, stir fry the paste together with the lemon grass until fragrant.




Add in the chicken and keluak nuts.


Lastly, add in the tamarind juice.

Simmer for about 1/2 hour or until chicken is tender.

And the final outcome is

taaaadaaaa................









Well, that's about all. The dish is ready to be savoured. However, if you are cooking for your guest or to get a better taste, an excellent tip I got is be sure you cook the dish the night before. This allows the flavour especially from the keluak paste to soak into the chicken and the taste........voila!

My Little Chocolate

In the month of October 2002 I was given a box of chocolate and in that particular box was a beautiful little chocolate nestled snugly in its compartment waiting for me to 'embrace'. Little did I realize that this little 'chocolate' had made my days, showering me with lots of surprises, joys and hopes.


Seven years later, I asked for another box and on the 10th of October 2009 the box came knocking at my doorstep. The only difference now is that the little chocolate inside was a female one and Caitlyn I have named her. What makes it even sweeter is that both the chocolates came to me on the same date - 10/10......Aahhhh! What else can I ask for?

Now, let me take you through the journey how my precious little princess arrives.....

Wife waiting to be admitted

Waiting to be pushed into operating theatre

In the changing room waiting to be called in to witness the operation

The 'Aftermath' of an Accident

My...my....it's been exactly a month since I last updated this blog! Sorry, yah!

Haiz...have been too engrossed with Facebook lately....met lots of very very old friends lah! So much time had been spent chatting with them, 'kaypo-ing' scanning through their profiles, viewing their photos (eager to see how their children look like, who they married with....who knows she could be my ex-gxxxxx), giving endless comments, etc etc......if you are actively fiddling with FB, then you will know exactly what I mean here!

Well, let's get down to business......

Last Saturday, my wife's car got 'kissed' by a motorcycle. Apparently, this happened while she was about to bring her car to a halt at a traffic light junction (just opposite Lorenzo in Semabok).


The motorcycle bearing the registration number MAS 227 suddenly hit my wife's car. (just in case if you happen to know this number or if you are a police officer reading this blog now, pls alert me at 016-635 2233). As a result, the rider was thrown to the opposite side of the road and most importantly, my car, MY CARRR's rear headlight smashed and the bumper dented.








Miraculously, he stood up, walked to my wife's car and conveniently questioned :

"Apa pasal lu langgar saya?".

YES! He is a Malay, guy, 40-something, working in Klinik Kesihatan in Bukit Baru, named Idris (if you happen to know him, pls call me....RM1.xxxx if the identity is correct).



Fortunately, my wife remained composed, stood up for herself and claimed compensation. As expected, he brushed her off nonchalantly by saying "Saya takde duit". What the %$#@! Well, to cut things short, she managed to jot down his vehicle number, name and handphone number.

The very next day, I called that Idris guy and after several attempts, he picked up my call and subsequently I was asked to meet him and let his mechanic friend estimate the damage. So, the meeting was at a bengkel (car workshop) in a Malay kampung at 2pm. Of course, I asked my cousin, Ronny to accompany me there.

The repair cost was estimated at approximately RM600. "Habis, apa macam sekarang, wahai Cik Idris?" I asked. Again, he conveniently said that he had no cash.

"Walau eh, cik abang, lu langgar gua, takkan gua kena tanggung semua!" I exclaimed.

All he managed to do was just shrugged and kept quiet. His mechanic friend (who was also a Malay) then broke the silence and rapped out "gua cakap sama lu En. Tan, kira lu punya nasib tak baik lah langgar orang Melayu". %$#$%@. Instantly, I understood his message. Completely pissed off, I suggested that we lodge a police report in which I would be able to claim his insurance but unfortunately he had to be summoned RM300. Only then, he spoke out requesting me to reduce the amount and asking whether he could pay me by installment. As I did not wish to have any dealings whatsoever with this guy anymore, I willingly gave in and suggested that if were to pay me RM300 by that day, then I would consider the matter settled. I thought it's a fairly good deal! His friend also nodded in agreement.

"Ok lah En. Tan, you bagi saya sedikit masa. I pergi cari wang. Pukul 4 nanti, you call I" he promised.

At, 4.30pm, I called him and this is what he answered "Kawan saya sudah janji nak pinjam saya tapi sekarang dia ada di hospital. You call I pukul 6pm nanti!"

At 6.30pm, I called him and he answered "Alah, kawan I tak nak pinjam I lagi, anak dia dah masuk hospital. En. Tan, boleh I bayar you 25 haribulan ini tak. I dapat gaji nanti, I bayar lah! Takkan you tak boleh percaya I!" Immediately, I declined and gave him an ultimatum. He was to pay me the following day (Monday) or I shall proceed with the police report.

At 4.00pm on Monday, I called him again......"Toot-toot, toot-toot, toot-toot.....nombor yang anda dail tidak......." @#@#$$%##$%%$#

My Old Classmates (SFI, Class of '90)

Last week was rather a fruitful week for me, I shall say. I spent most of my free time hooked up on the internet. I was so absorbed that I practically chucked aside all my suppose-to-do tasks. Nevertheless, all the time spent was truly worthwhile and never will I sigh even a wee bit of regret.

How could you not bother if you happened to stumble upon many of your old schoolmates and friends whom you have not met for donkey years? YES, I've managed to reconnect with quite a few of my old comrades for some of whom I've not met for almost 2 decades, thanks to Facebook (to the creator of Fb, you're brilliant and tell you what, you've already secured yourself a place in heaven).

Well, these are the very friends who have added colours and spiced up my otherwise bland school days in St. Francis Institution (SFI) back in the 80s. If it had not because of them, my days (I reckon not only mine but all of ours) in SFI definitely wouldn't be that merry instead ditchwater dull.

So, exactly who have I found? Well, I should say many but meanwhile these are the few ones who had been with me the longest......

1) Fabian Tan Seng Hoe :
Have not met him since Form 5. A well-built chap wearing a hooligan/pai kia look, this is one of our top-3 most notorious mafia in class (in school? maybe). Surprisingly, we were classmates ever since Std 1 right up to Form 5. He had brought lots of miseries to many teachers. You should see how he professionally 'handled' the new trainee teachers.....kesian!! And the next victim of his would be the class monitor....and that would always be Tham Kim Wah. Ironically, though I was always the goody-goody type, Fabian had never 'touched' me even one single bit. Thanks, dude! He he! Anyhow, today he is one of the most transformed and most successful one among us - having been to so many countries, driving a big car, closing multi-million dollar deals etc. Bravo, my friend!


2) Alban Wee Tiang Lim:
This was the guy who sat beside me when we were in Std 6 and Form 5. He was the one who got me engrossed to Transformers and 'fighting fish' when we were in Std 6. A bespectacled with a tad big bulging eyes, he used to announce to the whole world of his growing pubic hair when we were in Std 6, an antic of his which I will always remember! When we were in Form 4 and 5, he moved on to influence me with Van Damme, a muscular well-known actor and also pestered me to join the Karate Club of which I innocently joined but chickened out after 3 months. Today, Alban still resides in Malacca, married and is into some kecik-kecik business (as he claimed).


3) Lau Chee Ling:
This was my 'busmate'. We boarded the same bus to school when we were in primary school. We were in the same class since Std 2 (if I'm not wrong) until Lower 6. Both of us were the only few ones (alongside Tay Siang Hock, Micheal Chong, Tay Boon Hock & Nixon Brian) who went to Form 6 in SFI. However, Lau left halfway for TAR College. When he was young, he was dreadfully quiet but changed a lot as we moved into our secondary years. In class, he was never the problem maker (not as bad as Fabian) but not as good as me though! Ha! Ha! I still remember he used to be skillful at making torchlights and other electrical gadgets. Today, he is a tax person settled down in KL, happily married with two beautiful kids!

4) Tutomo Ikoma (dunno why now changed to Tsutomu!!! More glamourous?)
He came to SFI when we were in Form 1 and was chucked in the same class with me, 1AW. Still remember what happened to him on the first day. He walked into the class to register and before he could speak up, he got bombarded by our class teacher, Pn. Kalimuthu, well for not knocking the door before coming in. The best part was his mom (then was pregnant) had to barge into the classroom to shut the teacher off. "What an unlucky day!", I thought. When he blurted out his name, all of us was like.....ooo Japanese. But the irony was that, this 'Jipun' could not even utter a single word of Japanese at all! Yah, he was brought up here, in Malaysia. Quiet at first, but after a few weeks, got a little bit rowdy (again, not as bad as Fabian and not as good as me!). Until today, he is perhaps the 'kinkiest' so-called Japanese I've ever known. I can't find any space in his mind that is holy or godly!

Form 5AG (1990)

Form 1AW (1986)

Std 5B (1984)

Std 4B (1983)

The Woman

Dear friends,

We have heard so much about women be it in the manner of jokes, comments or even criticism. Every now and then we receive mails making fun of how emotional, moody, self-centered or even ridiculous a woman can be that drives many men crazy (or some even into total misery).

There is no denying that many married men (of course not all of them....or rather 'us') out there very often lament our (sorry not 'our' but 'their' - yes, that's more like it) regrets of marrying 'that' woman. Many moan that they have made the biggest mistake in their life and some even claimed that they had been cheated and fixed into the marriage.

Well, probably after viewing this beautiful slides, you may change your perspective altogether (as they've done on me) on how women (including your mummy too) should be treated, cherished and respected.

So, sit back, enjoy and ponder!

But before that, please play the video clip below to get into the mood!