This was written upon a request from a friend of my sister, Imelda...
He had to recite a poem in Iban and I too had to do a Malay translation...unfortunately, todate I have not been able to translate it to English.
The poem basically means ''Prayer for Mom...'' (so direct lah...)

SAMPI KA INDAI

Lebuh maia tua begulai

Nadai kala tua sejalai
Ati asai ti dipasung
Pikir asai ti dikurung

Enti aku ulih mansut pengeringat diri
Awak ka nuan tau nemu reti
Asai ati aku ti ka lari…
Bisi maia aku ka kediri…
Awak ka aku tau tegar enggau berani

Lalu nemu ngidup ka diri

Diatu aku udah kediri
Diatu nuan udah enda ngemata aku agi
Sekumbang tua ti jauh pendiau..
Aku seruran lelengau…
Lelengau ka nuan...

Aku semina nganjung sampi
Sampi ngagai Petara nyaga nuan belama
Aku diatu nemu….
Pengasih nuan ti meruan
Nya meh pengidup aku ngelama tu…

Terima kasih INDAI - Aku sayau ka nuan!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MUNAJAT BUAT IBU

Di waktu aku bersamamu

Seolah aku terpenjara
Seolah aku terpaksa…
Menyandarkan jiwa
Memaku minda
Hanya padamu cuma

Andai bisa ku luah rasa marah
Agar kau bisa mengerti
Betapa hati jua jiwa ini……perlu mandiri
Diri ini … ada ketika perlu sendiri
Agar aku kenal erti berani

Hari ini aku sudah sendiri
Hari ini kau lepaskan aku di laut ngeri
Hari ini sepi itu menggamit rindu
Saat aku berjauhan darimu
Aku benar rindu penjara kasihmu…..

Andai bisa terungkai bait-bait kata
Tanpa terbatas waktu juga usia kita
Aku kirimkan sekalung munajat buatmu
Aku mengerti penjara kasihmu itulah……yang mencorakkan hidupku…

Terima kasih IBU - Aku sayang padamu!

- 18 May 2010 -

BEEF AND POTATOES

Another lazy Sunday after a birthday blast on Friday ;-)


Started with breakfast in Ikea and later on all the way to Pedal Works in Subang Parade just to buy a pair of slippers because only Pedal Works has my kind of shoe size - 3 ;-)


Lunch was home cooked - rice, fried egg,  some raw vegetables eaten with ''budu'' (some kind of fermented fish famous in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia)...hmmm, yummy!!


Thereafter, it was Masterchef reruns for me - from Junior Masterchef Australia to Masterchef US...switching between AFC on Channel 703 and Channel 711 (I somehow ''missed'' McGeek a.k.a Probie of NCIS too).


And so I remembered Laura Calder's beef dish which I saw on AFC channel the night before... Opened my fridge and walla, a beef fillet except no basil....
hmmm, everything else but basil :p


BASIL BEEF AND FINGERLINGS WITH OIL AND COARSE SALT

By Laura Calder

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beef filet/steak at room temperature
• 1 cup olive oil
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Several fistfuls of basil leaves, chopped (I used Chinese parsley which I still have in the fridge)
• Sea salt and pepper
• 2 pounds fingerling potatoes, scrubbed (I suppose any baby potato is fine)
• Coarse salt, for the water
• A generous dribble of olive oil (for the potatoes)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper (for the potatoes)

Directions

For the beef:

1)   Heat the oven to 375°F/180°C. Roast the meat 15 minutes.

*Alternatively, if you do not have an oven, heat a little olive oil in a pan and sear the beef on all sides. Remove, and cool. Thinly slice with a sharp knife.

2)   Mix the oil, lemon zest and juice, and basil. Toss with the meat in a glass casserole. Season, and spread the mixture out, cover, and refrigerate all day or overnight, turning once or twice. Serve at room temperature.

For the potatoes:

1)   Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt it, as you would for pasta.

2)   Add the potatoes, and cook until tender when you test them with a fork. Drain. Toss in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.


I had mine with black olives and brocolli ..... *not so good with the presentation..yet*

Bon Appétit ;-)

DRUNKEN CHICKEN & BRUISED SALAD

When I first saw this on Masterchef Australia Season 2, I thought it is a great dish to cook and have at home over the weekends (yes, without even tasting it, I know)..

Anyway, I have always like Alvin's chinese dishes and I thought I share this one here.

I improvised a little due to lack of ingredients I have at home (although Carrefour is just within walking distance to home but when you're lazy and cozy at home, you just have to be creative, right ;-) )...


Unfortunately, I did not take any photo of both the chicken and salad :-(
I would strongly recommend this dish as it is simple, not that difficult yet tasty!

My improvised version will be in Red.. *This one serves 4*

Chicken stock

·   1 litre shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) 

I used ‘’langkau’’ a well-known distilled rice wine from Sarawak (Borneo Island)

·   500ml mirin (I used Soju – Korean rice liquor, with slightly sweet flavour to it)

·   1-2 litre(s) water, or enough to cover chicken

·   50g gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)

·   1 whole chicken

·   4-6cm ginger, thickly sliced

Place the shaoxing, mirin, water and palm sugar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

Add the chicken and ginger, then cover and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the poaching liquid.

Salad

·    3 garlic cloves, peeled

·    1 tablespoon roasted peanuts

(I did not use peanuts because I generally do not like it in any cooking)

·    1 tablespoon dried shrimp, soaked, drained

·    2 bird’s eye chillies (4 for me - deseed them)

·    2 lime cheeks

·    6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

·    6 snake beans, cut into 4cm lengths

·   2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled, cut into matchsticks (I used regular cucumber but I got rid of the seeds)

·    1 teaspoon sesame oil

Place the garlic, peanuts and dried shrimp in a mortar and pestle and pound to a coarse paste.

Add the chillies and bruise gently - the amount of heat you want from this salad depends on how  hard you bruise the chillies.

Add the lime cheeks and bruise to release some juice.

Add the cherry tomatoes, beans and cucumber and mix through gently with a spoon.

Salad Dressing

·   2 tablespoons very finely chopped gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)

·   Juice of 2 limes

·   2-3 tablespoons fish sauce

Place the palm sugar and lime juice in a bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add fish sauce to taste and whisk to combine. Add sesame oil and combine.

To serve

·   Add enough dressing to coat the salad and then taste, it should be a good balance of sweet, salty and sour.

·  Remove the chicken from the broth and place on a chopping board. Cut off the legs (thigh and drumstick), then chop off the end of the drumstick and trim the end so it is free of skin. Cut the legs into 2 pieces through the joint. Slice the breasts off the carcass and cut each one cut into 5 thick slices. Place the pieces of chicken in a shallow bowl, pour over a little broth and serve with the bruised salad.

Happy trying :-)

Am back.... :)

I haven't been typing anything here for quite a while...I missed it but I was bogged down with my work.
But I haven't stopped cooking though.

Of late, I have been an addict of Masterchef Australia and tried one of the favourites i.e. Drunken Chicken With Bruised Salad byAlvin Quah (one of the contestants). I will share the recipe with you guys with some improvised version to suit my palate.

And tonight I tried a dish by Laura Calder - Basil Beef and Fingerlings with Olive Oil and Coarse Salt.

Till then, stay in touch ;-)