Thursday, 23 January 2014 – Lunch

What did I eat? Shrimp curry and rice

Where from? Woodside Aunty

How much did it cost? $6 per curry but sufficient for 3 meals.

How was it?
We haven’t ordered from Woodside Aunty in a while due to the weather and just bad timing on our part; she takes orders only for Wednesdays and Saturdays and we end up forgetting to order for those days. Plus the weather has been crappy and she said she wasn’t able to cook on some weeks.

This is another traditional Burmese curry. Just some shrimp made into a curry with some shallots. Growing up, I didn’t particularly like this curry as much. But these days, I think it hits the spot very well. Normally we order the large shrimp curry but apparently there’s a shortage of the large shrimps which Aunty normally cooks, so we ended with the smaller ones. The perfect way to eat this is to take some warm, fresh rice and pile on the shrimps, together with a bit of the oil/gravy; mix the rice up with the oil (as you can see in the yellow tint in my rice) and chow down!

Rate it!
8/10 Perfect combination for a lunchbox for work.

Monday, 13 January 2014 – Dinner

What did I eat? Goat curry, sweet and sour chicken, rice

Where from? Elmhurst Aunty

How much did it cost? ~$12

How was it?
I’m a big fan of goat curry but this one could have been better. First of, there wasn’t enough meat; the pieces were too bony. Second, the meat wasn’t as tender as I anticipated. Usually the meat would just separate from the bones but this time, it wasn’t the case. The gravy was OK. Hopefully next time we order, it’ll be cooked more to my taste.

The sweet and sour chicken dish from Elmhurst Aunty has become our weekly staple. It’s basically fried chicken meatballs topped with sweet and sour sauteed mixed vegetables. The fried chicken meatballs are addictive! Since the dish comes separated, we have to make sure that we aren’t snacking on the meatballs before meal time. What I would like to do in the future is pair the meatballs, without the sauteed vegetables, together with lentil soup. That would make a killer combo!

I didn’t really eat the shrimp paste with chilli thing so I can’t comment. But I hear it’s more chilli, less shrimpy!

The squid was also leftovers but they became burnt as we reheated so no comment on those either.

Rate it!
5/10 for the goat curry and 8/10 for the sweet and sour chicken

Friday, 10 January 2014 – Dinner

  

What did I eat? Beef curry, anemone salad and rice

Where from? Elmhurst Aunty

How much did it cost? ~$12

How was it?
The salad has quite a bit of a kick if you happen to chew on a piece of chilli. The texture of the anemone is chewy, like tendon; it may be a hit or a miss. The salad also has chicken so it’s not fully vegetarian. The beef curry is just regular beef curry, but this one resembles the Malaysia beef rendang version very much; perhaps due to the smaller pieces of beef.

Rate it!
6/10

Friday, 10 January 2014 – Lunch

What did I eat? Dumplings, fried spare ribs, pork stew, Singapore mei fun and hot and sour soup

Where from? Shih Lee

How much did it cost? $9.00

How was it?
Relax, I didn’t eat all of the food. Htike Htike and I split this regular lunch combo. Previously, I would have finished all of it myself but in light of recent efforts to reduce a bit of weight, I’m splitting my lunches with the wife.

The regular combo of noodles with 2 sides come out to $8 but I added an extra side of dumplings for $1 (I think) more. HH picked out the mei fun; I’m not a fan of curry flavored noodles. I just don’t think masala and noodles mix well. The pork stew at Shih Lee has been going downhill over the past year but it was surprisingly good this time. My current favorite is the fried spare ribs. They’re fantastic! Similar to what you get from some hawkers in Bangkok. These would go well with a sauce of tamarind, chilli and fish sauce, and a bit of sticky rice. I did not have the hot and sour soup but from past experience, it tastes like any other hot and sour soup.

Rate it!
5/10

Thursday, 9 January 2014 – Dinner

 

What did I eat? Coconut noodles

Where from? Elmhurst Aunty

How much did it cost? $6

How was it?
A few warnings about plastic containers before I go on about the food. As I was emptying the coconut curry into a pot, I was squeezing it a bit too hard since I was too lazy scoop out the chicken that was clumped up at the bottom. Turns out, the normally soft plastic gets very brittle when taken out of the fridge and when I was squeezing the chicken down, the container shattered. Fortunately, I did not cut myself but made a mess in the kitchen (which was quickly cleaned up before the wife returned home).

Normally a container of the coconut curry is sufficient for 2 servings but this time, Aunty didn’t give us enough curry so I added a bit of water before reheating it; also add the fact that I spilled a bit when the container shattered. It’s not the best coconut noodles but it was tasty. It needed a bit more coconut flavor and be more creamy, but I like that there was a lot of chicken. I had some noodles left over since I prefer my noodles soupy.

Rate it!
6/10