solo un po' Italiano

It was this post that made CQ craved for grilled salmon huhu... E's grilled salmon steak looked so stunningly tempting-licious!!

before grilling

So CQ attempted to experiment with a new marinate for the salmon using Italian herbs, olive oil, squirts of lemon juice and pinch of salt.

the result? eccellente :)

Instead of grilling, CQ pan-fried with a little of olive oil on a flat pan until just cooked. Too dry or too well-done will make the salmon taste so tak sedap ehh ..yikes!

Since it was on trial, next time CQ will prepare a hearty grilled Italian salmon with mixed potato salad okay! huhu

Cincaru Bakar

Yesterday morning CQ went to the new-in-town supermarket - Giant to buy fish. Heard it is cheap. It was about 11Am and the place was not so crowded ...hmm so easy to spend two full trolleys of groceries hihihi ...

Saw this cincaru fish which cost B$2.99 per kilogram. CQ bought three only costing B$2.22 @ 0.749gms !!! Waaah really cheap lorrr :) ...other places will cost between B$4.00 to B$5.00 and CQ seldom goes to wet market in Gadong - prefer the wet tamu (markets) at Jerudong or the one in Bandar (don't know if it is still exists).

Cincaru fish a.k.a. hardtail-scad or horse-mackerel fish is best for barbecue besides the 'terubuk' fish. Cincaru fish is also called free-swimmer fish - not free to get tho' unless you go fishing yourself huhu...

Today, CQ will share her signature-love-at-first-bite Ikan Cincaru Bakar recipe.

Ingredients:
3 Cincaru fish - cleaned
10 red chillies
6-8 shallots
4 cloves of garlic
2" belachan bakar
1 tbsp fresh grounded black pepper
salt & sugar

How to cook:
Pound the chillies, shallots, garlic,belachan and black pepper together. Add salt and sugar to taste accordingly.

Cut open the back of the fish like this ...

Stuff the pounded ingredients into the fish generously like this ...

Ready to grill or barbecue till fish is cooked to perfection
...about 30 minutes.

TAA DAAAAHHHH ....this is how the fish looked like after being grilled - serve hot with steam hot rice and ulam-ulaman ...oohhh lala :) Kimchi said not enough lahh mama :p

catfish-o-baller

Pictures paint a thousand words. They tell different stories from various perspective of different thinkable mind boxes (make sense?).

I am not sure what this catfish is trying to do, but let me lay down a few of my jesty plus a pinch of zesty assumptions as to what these pictures may tell ...

This catfish-o-baller may be trying its bid to qualify for a place in the upcoming Olyimpics - in the solo pool show :) or to be a new member in a circus - juggling a ball.

I guess the catfish's friends from the fish community do not want to play ball with him, so now the fish is playing waterpolo? poor thing....trying so hard eh :D

or maybe the water-pole-ball interest him?

catfish~ "sanggal mulut ku ehh ...toloongg baah"

Well, on a serious note - this catfish could possibly be a victim of some irresponsible boaters who may have thrown the ball into the sea ...and as innocent as it can be, the catfish may have thought it was food, gobbled up the ball and got stucked in its mouth.

Or some ignorant individuals who were too care-less by tossing and dumping useless or punctured balls into the sea from jetty(s) that are located near beaches; as if it was a roadside dumpster. This can and does happen on any beaches found on earth ...

Fortunately, this catfish was lucky enough to be assisted in getting the ball out from its mouth by a stranger or a passer-by or maybe even a possible greenpeace fan.

So people, fishes do want to be part of the world community ..if they are not caught for human consumption :)

Tutong

Sparsely populated, Tutong is the 3rd largest district in Brunei. With its diverse culture, Tutong has managed to retain her unique lifestyle of rural Brunei.

It has abundance of natural beauty such as the white sands of Pasir Puteh, the famous beach Pantai Seri Kenangan and a beautiful lake - Tasek Merimbun. In fact Tutong has an interesting history.

Brunei map

Tutong is located in between the Brunei-Muara district and Belait District.

This the newly built tamu in the Pekan Tutong. This morning, I managed to visit the place. It was bustling with local Tutong vendors selling all sorts of stuffs and merchandises; ranging from potted plants, clothings and food. There are also a mini-mart and a wet market too.

Scanning 360 degrees around the tamu, we saw this 'makcik' selling kuih Melaya and decided to buy 2 large pieces of the kuih.

This is how the kuih Melaya a.k.a. 'apam balik' is cooked. Heat up the round flat pan...

Then pour in a mug of battered flour ...add raisins and let it bubbled up like this ..

errr ...seems that my picture is wrongly posted ..lols

Then add grounded peanuts, sugar, condensed milk and planta margerine ...hmmm not suitable for diabetes though hehehe ...


There is a food centre, so we decided to have our breakfast there. We all mian soto. We ordered telu bowls of the soto.

The soto here, particularly in Brunei itself, the taste is so different to the sotos from neighbouring countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Brunei soto taste more like soup (p/s: this is MY personal view) and is best when served with cilipadi paste.

After breakfast, we took a peep into the wet market. It has been ages that I last went to a wet market heheee ...

Wow! fresh fish...

Tempted by its freshness, we bought the upper half of a whole tuna fish. That costs us B$9.00! Woohhh so pricey lahh ...We asked the intestines to be taken out and put some ice in the palstic bags...as we were heading to KB ...don't want any fishy smell in the car :)


Maybe next time I would like to venture into the rural areas of Tutong.

Glossary:
mian * = makan (Malay) = eat (English)
telu * = tiga (Malay) = three (English)
tamu = pasar (Malay) = market (English)
cilipadi = small chillies
makcik = aunty

* Tutong words