Well, thanks to @klyeoh and @Phoenikia , I finally tried a restaurant recommended here on HO ! @Phoenikia had posted this link for me:
of restaurants in Penang/George Town offering exceptional Hainanese Chicken Rice. I chose the one that Peter (@klyeoh) seemed to like best Sri Bahari Hainan Chicken Rice. I ordered a chicken breast with a small bowl of rice. The owner is a lovely and kind lady who beckoned me to the counter to order (I thought someone would come to take my order!) The chicken came with a very basic, but flavorful bowl of chicken soup, a few slices of cucumbers and a dish of a somewhat spicy sauce (thankfully it wasn’t too spicy for me!) The chicken was so moist and tender and there was no sight of the dreaded cilantro/coriander anywhere like there was in Thailand!
Though I had trouble finding the place and had almost given up, I’m glad I persevered and asked some people on the street who pointed the place out to me (there’s no sign with the name!)
The order should have cost RM 8.20/USD $1.77, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, she only charged me RM 7/USD $1.50 ! (And yes, I did question it, but she said RM 7 was the right amount.)
Thanks again @Phoenikia and @klyeoh for helping me find such excellent Hainanese Chicken Rice!
The Hainanese Chicken Rice was actually my lunch (SORRY!) but as I usually don’t eat lunch, for a take away dinner, I went back to the Innland Bakery again. Because it was so good, I wanted to have another char siu pastry but they were sold out of them and the egg tart I got yesterday.
So I bought 2 “Penang Husband Cakes” (槟城老公餅) and a coffee tart. I can read enough Chinese characters to understand the meaning of the name, but that didn’t help me know what the savoryish filling was and checking online was of no help. However, both the “Penang Husband Cake” (RM 5 /USD $1.08 each) and the coffee tart (RM 3.50/USD $0.75) were very good and a nice way to end my meals here in lovely Penang.
Tsai only has you marinate overnight, but I think you could take it 2-3 days. The pieces were about 3-4 oz. each because the pin bones were a pain to remove and I ended up cutting them out of the filets. So, with the smaller size, I don’t think it was as impactful marinating for a shorter time. Tasted great!
Butternut squash and black bean chili for a cold Monday night. Served with cheddar and hot pepper biscuits that I had stashed in the freezer (from Farmer Dave’s). Creme fraiche and pepitas to garnish.
Usually, the “Lou Gong Peng” or “Husband Cake” contains crushed peanuts & sesame seeds, slightly spiced using star anise, and gets its “savoury” taste from fermented red beancurd/ tofu:
I use Rick Moonen’s miso marinated Chilean seabass recipe that popularized the fish back in the late 90’s. I hadn’t made it in years but just a while ago began thinking about it when Mr Bean was bringing home really big striped bass fillets. It calls for marinating the fish for 48 hours. This piece was marinated for about 28 hours - he brought it home at about 2 on Saturday (probably pulled out of the water at 8 am) and we had it at 6 on Sunday.
I’m going to have to try the Ming Tsai and @Saregama’s recommended Nobu versions in the interest of science and good food.
Deconstructed spinach and mushroom (white) lasagne tonight.
I was going to make proper lasagne because I finally found the pasta sheets (buried in the back of my cupboard for some reason), but mom really likes this spinach pasta bake I had been making on repeat for her last year and requested it. So, I changed the pasta shape to mafalda (that had also been mysteriously stored in my cupboard with the lasagne sheets ).
Another variation on chicken Indecision-Diablo for sis and me to go with (caramelized onions and garlic in addition to the other things — turned out really well).
Thank you! I feel like I made this a lot (or at least the fish part of it) when I first got the book, but then it slipped off my radar for a bit. It was a happy rediscovery!
I made a North African style chicken stew with carrots, potatoes and chickpeas. I put prunes in my portion only as my partner hates dried fruit. It’s topped with coriander and pomegranate and served over the last of my couscous. Really flavourful and well spiced without blowing our heads off.
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