Bell’s Blog

Inside a festive decorated tram car. This car is special because it’s actually a sponsored advertisement for a furniture store, hence the fully furnished light fixtures, coffee tables, cushioned seats and sofas

Christmas was uneventful. It was just another day… a lazy day at that… eating, lounging, watching TV but I did spend much of the afternoon in the kitchen cooking. I knew it was unreasonable to have a stuffed turkey or glazed ham or some extravagant dinner I was used to back home, especially with only the two of us. Our 1st Christmas here was spent among partially unpacked belongings and partially assembled furniture eating Spaghetti. Our 2nd Christmas was not much different… all settled in but I didn’t bother to make a nice dinner either. I figured I could at least make something nice if not traditional for Christmas dinner…

So what did I cook? Nasi Lemak, Fried Kang Kung (also known as Chinese Morning Glory or Water Spinach) with Garlic, and Ikan Panggang or Fish Grilled in Banana Leaf. I won’t be posting any recipes here today just some pictures and links. I had previously cooked Nasi Lemak 2 months ago following Chef Khuen’s Hari Raya recipe. As for the Ikan Panggang, I found the recipe while satisfying my new, and most recent addiction – Food Blogs! – at Rasa Malaysia. I go there mostly to ogle at the delicious looking and beautifully photographed food, but there are several (actually loads) great recipes I would love to try when I have the time and opportunity. Coincidentally there is a recipe for nasi lemak there as well.

Dinner of simple nasi lemak (without the boiled egg because I forgot about it) on banana leaf (since we had an abundance of them)

Because I already have experience cooking nasi lemak, my biggest challenge was the ikan panggang… and especially with the banana leaf and galangal (or blue ginger). Galangal is normally readily available in thai grocery stores but for whatever reason, I was unable to get my hands on any at all and had to rely on stuff I dried a good while back. I would have very much preferred fresh stuff since I had to grind them… and because dried galangal is tough and fibrous they don’t process properly…. pity… it was probably the only “unsuccessful” result of my ikan panggang. As for the banana leaf, they’re readily available… but there’s a catch. They come pre-packed in sealed baggies and I wasn’t to know how much I was buying until I got home… and discovered this…

There were four ENTIRE leaves in the packet… taller than me… Kwang is 6 feet tall btw. (please excuse the mess behind him)

How troublesome right? They weren’t cleaned either, so I had to clean all the dust or dirt off the leaves trying hard ( and sometimes unsuccessfully) not to fold, bend or break them. I ended up breaking or tearing many pieces that were too small to use… what a klutz! But they tear along the ribs so easily! But I was able to salvage enough decent sized pieces (and then some) to wrap around the seasoned fish! I used Halibut/Heilbot fillets, it’s a species of Flounder with firm (thank goodness!) and very clean tasting (lucky! no fish stench!) white flesh. I was lucky, as I didn’t even know what fish I was buying until I came home and searched online for the name. They grilled wonderfully well!

wrapped and ready to cook!

They were beginning to smell absolutely divine! I couldn’t wait to eat them but I couldn’t get close for long due to all the smoke.

I used an indoor grill to cook the fish parcels in the kitchen with the door to the balcony wide open… but that made a lot of steam and smoke (which smelled great but caused a lot of coughing) and resulted in a freezing kitchen! My fish parcels kinda fell apart at the end of the cooking/grilling process so they ended up looking absolutely hideous! But they tasted great!

Photo filched from Rasa Malaysia website because mine were so obviously not presentable… in fact, they were downright shameful!

and for dessert… mini yule logs! Aren’t they cute?! They’re sitting on my also very cute apron btw ^_^

And that’s all for my Post-Christmas post. Like I said, Christmas was uneventful… But look forward to the New Year! Have you made your resolutions yet? I’m still working on mine. ^_^