Sunday 17 January 2021

MCO 2.0 Day #4 & #5 : Brinjals Galore

Day #4 and #5 are Saturday and Sunday. I guess for most of you out there, your Saturdays and Sundays are not so fun anymore. No going lepak-lepak at the mall and no more going out to makan-makan with family and friends.

Day #4 (Saturday)
Nothing much happening. I went to work because I had a lot of jobs to complete. It is best to just go in and clear the whole lot and have a peaceful Monday. I hate stress, that is why I prefer to sacrifice my weekend.


Before I went to work, I had to feed my two kitty cats and clear their litter boxes. Ah Belle will wait right outside the front door. She is always hungry.


Ah Girl decided that it is nice to sit on a pile of old newspapers. So chill like that.


I prepped my lunch so that I don't have to go out to tapau


Not very exciting. Grilled chicken, blanched broccoli and French beans with eggs.

Day #5 (Sunday)
As usual, this is my grocery day. My partner and I made our way to the pork shop at Taman Megah. The shop was very peaceful. Only us and one or two other customers. 

In the past, during MCO 1.0, we had to queue to get in. I think people are not so kan cheong anymore about not getting their oink oink supply hah..hah...


Then we headed to Aeon 1 Utama. We were early and we parked at the main entrance (we were afraid that the basement entrance might be closed). 


Lots of parking space. 


We were not the only early birds. A queue had already formed when we got inside.


But it was not too bad. Not really that many people.


This is the Chinese New Year deco. Nothing extravagant.


People mostly flocked to the fresh produce area.


No so much the CNY goodies section. I think the sale of hampers is going to be really slow this year.


I looked longingly at the Oreos but I resisted the urge to buy a few packets. This is the thing that got me into trouble during MCO 1.0. Well, one of the things besides donuts and such. I put on 5kg due to all the munchies. No more!


Back home I processed the pork bones that we bought.


I blanched them before putting them into the slow cooker to make bone broth. It is worth the effort to blanch the bones first to get rid of all the gunk.


On day #3 (Friday) I ordered vegetables via GrabMart from the TTDI market. Among them were 3 brinjals/eggplants. I was inspired to buy brinjals because of the awesome Soy Glazed Eggplant that I ate on day #3. And also because I wanted to cook a sambal brinjal using Kris' method of roasting the brinjals.


I happened to have a tub of frozen spice paste in the freezer. So convenient. I used two brinjals to cook this, roasting the brinjals first in the oven, then sauteing the spice paste together with some dried prawns and then adding the roasted brinjals into the aromatic sambal.


It was so good! And then as if I had nothing better to so, I attempted a soy glazed brinjal.


This is my pathetic attempt. But tastewise it was not bad. The sauce is just soy sauce, mirin and grated ginger.


For all its worth, I decided to take a photo of it anyway. The brinjals were sliced, salted and then dabbed with kitchen towels to remove excess moisture. Then coated in potato starch and pan fried till browned and softened.


Then pour in the sauce and simmer until thick and sticky. Perhaps I should attempt this again by roasting the brinjals.


So that's my MCO 2.0 weekend. Then my auntie sent me this photo. Her neighbor brought her a plate of food. So nice.

Hope you had a nice weekend.

23 comments:

  1. Erh, my weekends have been the same since 18 March with no dining out and no meeting up with extended families. Everyone has been through it in mco 1.0 so I don't understand what is the fuss for mco 2.0?

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    1. No fuss really. Some of us who have ventured out to eat prior to this will feel a little deprived. Of course for you, staying home all this while, you won't feel any change.

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  2. Ah Belle and Ah Girl are smart girls. Always know to be ready for Mami to give them food. Thank you for caring for your girls. Ah Girl so good, just sit on the newspaper. I know a boy who will shred all newspapers to pieces just for fun. 😅

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    1. LOL! Your BoiBoi must be quite big by now.

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  3. All your home cooked meals look good. The brinjals must be so tasty and flavourful. Good that Aeon still have lots of food. This morning I went to de market, very few people and shelves are almost bare.

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    1. Food supply at Aeon and Jaya Grocer is like normal, thank goodness. I remember back during MCO 1.0, there were empty shelves.

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  4. Bought my CNY clothings and new bedsheets during this weekends. Also tried the rosti which I always wanted to try. Post in my blog. Am going to buy Pineapple rolls and tarts in the days to come.

    Brinjals! One of my favourites. Yours look so tasty and yummy! There is a Chinese belief that eating Brinjal is not good for our eyesight, wonder if there is any sceientic evidence to it.

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    1. I got no mood to buy clothes. Besides, my size increased. LOL! Yum, pineapple are always such a treat.

      Don't know about that belief but I know that it is in the category of night shade vegetables which have certain characteristics.

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  5. Oh! The Covid cases are rising up fast. Better be kwai kwai and hang up your black & white slippers to stay at home. Everything can be ordered online including your brinjals. I passed Mid Valley and IOI Mall which gave me a fright to see the cars turning in like crazy sales calling them. I have bought my CNY clothes before the MCO lockdown. Looks like I will wear them to sleep on CNY.

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    1. I ordered the brinjals from TTDI market. So convenient! No new clothes for me. Size went up. LOL!

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  6. Oh dear!!! So many people! Best avoided to avoid being at the wrong place at the wrong time - see my blogpost today. Better still #stay safe #staywell #stayhome.

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    1. I like brinjal steamed, eaten ulam-style with sambal belacan.

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  7. Long time did not go out as a family to the malls. Now only me and hubby go out, kids prefer and used to stay at home.

    I like brinjal. Stir frued with sambal is good enough.

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    1. Best for the kids to stay home and stay safe. It's good that they are used to it and don't mind staying in.

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  8. Hah, you proved me right from the first photo itself as I foresaw that your brinjal sambal will have lots more sambal than mine (I must be brave and use more the next time I cook this)! ;) Ooo, between the soy glazed one and the sambal brinjal, the latter definitely looks more delicious probably becos the soy glazed one looked too oily from pan-frying. You don't make/eat a lot of soups but I see you make bone broth quite frequently. What do you use it for/eat it with? P/S: I'm amazed that Belle doesn't attempt to run into the house when you open the door in the morning but will wait "kwai kwai" at the door for his food. If Cookie happens to be outside when I open the door, he will dash right in (or you can hear/see him running very fast from where ever he is).

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    1. LOL! I overdosed on the sambal since the portion I prepared and the portion of brinjals don't match. The soy glazed one tasted very good. I will reattempt by using the oven next time. As you saw from my next post, I have started making and enjoying more soups hee..hee... Oh, Belle does run into the house but she makes a U-turn and then goes back outside (after scratching my sofa. Haiz...). Somehow she understands that her place is outside. Ah, Cookie is just like Girl. She does that too, rushes in when the door is opened, sometimes dashing from the opposite neighbor's house hah..hah...

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  9. Your kitties are being good girls waiting for their breakfast. Drooling over your sambal brinjals. I love brinjals. Long time didn't cook soy sauce brinjals. Good idea, I think roast is better than pan fry the brinjals.

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    1. I will be cooking brinjals again because I really enjoyed the sambal one and also the soy glazed one. In fact I can just eat brinjals with rice and be very satisfied.

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  10. both of your cats are so well-behaved and did not make a fuss at home...no cat fight and peaceful! the brinjal dishes look tempting but I prefer the deep fried one.

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    1. Once in a while, Belle will be naughty and try to fight with Girl. But Girl does not fight back, she just walks away.

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    2. Wah, Girl is such a good girl to just walk away and don't layan Belle.

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  11. I never thought of cook pork bone stock in a slow cooker. May I know how long you simmer them? In high heat all the way?

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    1. I simmer mine for quite long about 10-12 hours, I do on high first till it boils and then turn down to low and leave it overnight. For bigger bones like marrow bone, for best results (until all the collagen dissolve) I do it for 24 hours, same method.

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