Day 3: We've Graduated

Woke up earlier again today. We had leftover ingredients yesterday and Kor Poh had gone out to buy 1 kg more glutinous rice. We very efficiently made the 20+ bak chang. Looks like we've graduated.

We then headed out to pick up the Hor Poh Kok Kuih (some Hakka chai kuih). I hopped into the car with Ashley Kor-kor and Chek Kong. It sure was a long drive to reach the place:

It was only 12pm, but the stall was cleared and the lady was waiting for us to pick up our orders. We had planned to pick up more to be eaten at home.. alas.. everything was already sold out.

Then we took a drive in another direction in Chemor to have a look at the tobacco factory which was owned (shareholders) by the family. Chik Kong also shared some family history during the ride home.

Just down the road is the place where they used to live in:

Headed home to shower and then we went out again. This time for dessert at our favourite place Etre. But before that, we made a quick stop to pick up our order of Shat Keh Ma:

Managed to get a seat in the cafe. This time at the back:

Two pretty Miss Ban

Scone which came with butter and jam

Sweet desserts

And of course, Mei-mei had her strawberry matcha.. again:

Day 2: Time to Relax

It was a good thing that Kor Poh took over the cooking of the bak chang. We got to take some time off to check out the craft beer scene in Ipoh. As the shop only opened at 4pm, we sat around and chatted until around 3.40pm. Then we hopped into 2 cars and headed to Kiki Lalat. And yet we were too early, so we sat at the front cafe (it's the same long building). 

Outside of the cafe

Since Mei-mei wouldn't be having an alcoholic drink, you ordered your favourite strawberry matcha:

Then we all moved to the back to order our drinks:

Wefie by Uncle Dennis

Headed home after trying out some of their unique drinks. Got ready for dinner. We headed to a restaurant in Simpang Pulai. We've been here a long time ago. Food wasn't too bad, but it sure was a long wait for dinner:

Headed home for relaxation and more drink and to call it a night. 

Day 2: Bringing the ingredients together

Today's lessons began early in the morning again. We ate a light breakfast then got to work. First up is to stir fry the glutinous rice. Everything else which was cooked yesterday were taken out of the fridge.  

Here's the ingredients which will go into the Bak Chang:

When we went to the market yesterday, the grocery stall sellers kept telling us to add salted duck egg yolks. We bought 10 and later on added another 10. They were halved so 40 chang will have salted egg yolks.

And then the lesson begins. Chim Poh had sorta showed me how to fold the leaves. We had problems identifying which sides of the leaves to stack (there is a coarser and smoother side, but it was even harder to tell then apart as we were wearing gloves). 6th Chim Poh told us to look at the stalks. Aha! That sure solves the problem. 

We were surpsingly fast and by 12pm, all the bak chang's were wrapped up. We made around 90 of them.

Chim Poh inspecting our work before it goes into the pot

Tying some tighter

Then into the 2 pots of boiling water they went. It's a good thing the Ipoh house has a big wet kitchen.

First round inspection (after an hour)

Look at the 2 giant pots:

It's a good thing we had a third stove too (charcoal stove). This is where water is boiled so that we could top up the pots which were cooking the chang in.

At long last, the chang are ready:

Ta-da.. this is the first chang tasted. It was not salty enough, but the taste was there. So we will learn to tweak the recipe to suit our tastes. Chik Kong tasted and said it was just right. I guess everyone has their own preferred level of saltiness for food.

Luckily, Kor Poh is around to help watch the other batches of dumplings and water level, while we showered and rested.

Day 1 of Lessons: Food Preparation

Woke up early in the morning to see what needed to be done. First thing we needed to do was to get more ingredients from the nearby market. Uncle Dennis drove us there.

Picked more chestnuts. And the seller kept telling us to add salted egg yolk to our chang. So we bought 10 salted duck eggs. The plan was to cut into halves to be added to the chang. 

Then we drove to Ipoh Old Town to buy Chee Cheong Fun. As Chim Poh only managed to place the order just as we were arriving, we sat in the car for a while, not to stress the uncle who sells to us. 

Took this photo of Concubine Lane.

Then Chim Poh and I hopped off the car to wait for the CCF while they went off to withdraw some cash. While waiting, we saw this cute neko walking along the path between the 2 kopi tiams. 

It even waved to me when it was me looking at it.

Tested out my new photography skills which Mei-mei showed me last night

Headed back to have coffee and eat something light before it was time to start work. 

These leave have been soaking since last night.

Had to be weighed down to make sure it's well soaked

Then "cooked" in boiling water

Wiped down to ensure no cobwebs or anything else is stuck to the leaves

Next was the chestnuts. They were boiled before we each sat down to remove the husk like thingy in the chestnuts:

After that, we all took a shower and prepared to head to Tong Hoi for lunch.

Our lunch menu

 

Chicken wonton soup with pork stomach

Then came these to be wrapped in the lettuce leaves:

Steamed fish

Pork trotters

Veggies in claypot

And the pièce de résistance the "Rich Man's Fried Rice":

No meal in Tong Hoi is complete without the pudding. Today's pudding is the "cendol" pudding.

Then we headed back to continue with the food preparation: Firstly to wash then boil the 2 beans (black eyes beans and green beans)

Then all the ingredients were fried up (mostly in the same way)

Sautee shallots then garlic

Condiments to be used

Frying up the black eyed beans

This is "Ah Tai's" secret ingredient which is pork lard:

Cut them up finely

Fry 'em up to get the "bak eu"

Then there is the meat preparation:

Chim Poh slowly gave it a "facial" i.e. to remove the fine hairs

Each strip is cut up

Time to fry up the meat:

Ashley Kor-kor receiving instructions from 2 sifu's

Frying up the mushrooms

We nearly forgot about the dried shrimps. If you're wondering what the 2 Chim Poh's are doing, they're counting the shrimps to be added (3 per chang).

And while we were slaving in the kitchen, the 3 of you headed out to check out some beer bars:

We're finally done with the food prep. Rested a little then headed out for dinner at "WahKee DimSum Restaurant". No, we didn't have dimsum. It seems their "wat tan hor" is famous. Unfortunately, it did not meet the Ban's taste:

Steamed Fish

Kangkung in claypot

Wat Tan Hor

There was a meat dish but no photos. Kor-kor went to buy some chicken wings while we went in search of Tonic Water for our evening drinks.

Reached home to find that Kor Poh had already soaked the glutinous rice in water and added some dark soya sauce.

Ended the night chatting, drinking and eating (again) before calling it a night.