Chinchards in Paprik Sauce

Instead of black tilapia we used fried chinchards (chencaru) instead, as my husband does not take fresh water fish. We fried the chinchards without removing its thick layer of outer skin. My niece Shazana helped prepare the Paprik Sauce, as normally found in Thai restaurants.

Method:

2 onions, 5 cloves garlic, 2.5 cm ginger, 2.5 cm galangal, 2.5 cm fresh turmeric root were pounded.
All pounded ingredients were lightly fried in a saucepan. When fragrant, 3 tabsp of chilli paste was added and the frying continued. A stalk of lemon grass was crushed and added with 5 sprigs of kaffir lime leaves. 700 ml water and 3 tabsp of Thai fish sauce were added. The juice of two big limes (limau nipis) was squeezed into the pan. 2 tabsp sugar was added. If the sauce is not thick enough you can a little chilli sauce to thicken it. Add more lime if the sauce is not sour enough.

Two tomatoes cut into 8, 1 sliced fresh chilli, half green capsicum sliced, were added to the sauce.
You may also add sprigs of Chinese celery (daun Sup) to add flavour to the sauce.

The cooked sauce is then poured over the fish and eaten with hot white rice.

Tonight, my brother from Alor Star and his family visited us.

We had the above, plus fried black tilapia in plum sauce as done in an earlier dinner with red tilapia. I think red tilapia tastes better. We also has grilled chicken and a kerabu of long beans and cucumber for dinner.

Only the rice remains as a leftover. It will be made into fried rice for breakfast.

Earlier today we all congregated at my cousin's house in Sunway Damansara. Efi had just moved into the townhouse and we had a little housewarming and "doa selamat"(prayer for safe passage ). Her parents and several aunts, uncles, greataunts and great uncle, cousins, and a nephew ( all from my side of the family from Alor Star) were there. Later some of Efi's friends turn up.

The menu for the housewarming was scrumptuous tomato rice with fried chicken, beef and mixed vegetable curry, chicken in tomato curry and mixed fruit rojak.

Red Tilapia in Sweet and Sour Plum Sauce

Tonight's dinner comprises of fried red Tilapia in sweet and sour plum sauce and "pecal" salad ( mixed vegetables in peanut sauce). (The bottom picture shows the pecal before it is mixed with the sauce)

Winter melon (kundur) was added with pieces of carrots to the plum sauce as recommended by the famous Malaysian chef, Chef Wan. Upon eating it, I thought putting slices of pineapple or unripe mangoes would also be as interesting and they would compliment the plum sauce. The vegetables in the pecal were boiled tapioca leaves ( from our backyard), long beans and bean sprouts added with cut cucumber. It was not a full pecal recipe as the salad was meant to be eaten with rice. Afif's orange drink added to the oomph of the meal.

Tomorrow we plan to prepare Thai paprik sauce with black Tilapia. We are having a freshwater fish feast as my husband is out of town. Freshwater fish is not in his cup of tea.

We bought the tilapia at Tesco's. They had removed the scales and gutted the fish. As with fresh water fish, we had to wash it in tamarind juice to remove any fishy smells, before adding salt and powdered turmeric. The Tilapia is then deep fried. I think Tilapia and catfish is best fried though I have eaten grilled Tilapia before with tamarind juice mixed with sliced fresh chillies, onions, lemon grass and kerisek (roasted coconut) and it tasted great.

To make the plum sauce, two onions, 2.5 cm ginger, 3 cloves garlic and some peppercorns are pounded before being lightly fried Some water is then added. The cubed winter melon is then dropped into the saucepan, followed by cubed carrots and a few dried Chinese plums. Half a bottle of plum sauce is then added.

When the vegetables are cooked, the plum sauce is poured onto the Tilapia in a dish. Some Chinese celery and fresh chillies are used to garnish the dish.

It is not a Bed of Roses

The debate on fresh doctors in government service had not ended. The letter sent by the Perak State Director of Health, reproduced below, adds fodder to the debate.

Not easy being a doc

I would like to refer to the recent letters about housemen and sick doctors. The job of a medical officer is very demanding and carries a heavy responsibility, especially now, as patients are more aware of their rights, have high expectations, are medically more knowledgeable and more litigation conscious. Housemen, their parents and those who aspire to be doctors should realise this.
Housemanship requires psychological and physical endurance. If one is unable to cope with the demands during this period, then one may succumb to stress, and the possibility of making medical errors is higher.
Many want to be doctors without realising that they have to make a lot of sacrifices.
A medical student is responsible only for himself, but once he graduates and becomes a doctor, he is responsible for the life of his patients.
The medical profession is rather unique in that although a doctor may have obtained a medical degree, he still cannot practise because he still has a lot to learn especially the practical skills of medical management.
In fact, the medical degree is just a licence for them to start learning how to practise medicine. Medical doctors will not be given full registration unless they pass their housemanship training. Housemanship is the time when newly-graduated doctors are trained not only to manage and administer the medical management under supervision to patients but to withstand the endurance of working long hours, day and night, weekdays and weekend.
There was an incident when a new doctor entered the ward for the first time, and a paediatric patient collapsed in front of her. She was stunned and unable to respond whereas the nurses tried to revive the child. Unfortunately, the child died.
The doctor did not come to work for three days. On the fourth day, she came to see me and said that she had chosen the wrong profession, and subsequently left the hospital. As mentioned in your papers, there are doctors who get “sick”.
A doctor can be held liable in an action of negligence if he fails to exercise that degree of care and skill which is expected of him. Medical errors do happen when doctors misdiagnose, delay treatment or administer the wrong dosage.
As such, a houseman who examines more patients, spends longer hours in the wards and handles more procedures will become a better and more confident doctor.
Housemen should not complain about the long working hours and being scolded by their seniors and specialists. Teachers and lectures have been scolding students since ages because they want their students to succeed and be better than them.
As part of their training, housemen have to report for work long before the official hours and work through lunch and dinner if need be, and know every detail of their patients.
They should love their work and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing patients under their care recover. No patient should die because of a houseman’s incompetence. Inexperience is not a defence.

So housemen should go to work with the right attitude and acquire knowledge, skills, stamina and patience so that they can be confident of working alone anywhere in the country.

DATUK DR AHMAD RAZIN MAHIR,
Pengarah Kesihatan Negeri, Perak.

Well said, Dr Razin

Tonight we had this delicious simple to prepare meal.I made the mushroom soup ( with low fat milk and mushrooms and a sprinkle of oregano and pepper) and the grilled chicken in barbeque sauce. Nurul, my eldest daughter who is back for a holiday, prepared the salad while Zaty my youngest daughter and faithful helper made her favorite garlic bread. Except for the barbeque sauce which was bought from the hypermarket, the rest was made ourselves from basic ingredients

Afif who came home starving after his futsal outing, ate all the above with rice and soya sauce. That's fusion menu of which Malaysians are familiar with.

Learning to Cook

Picture above is the meal cooked by Zaty entirely by herself a few days ago. She managed to cook a complete meal comprising of white rice, Ayam Masak Merah based on my instructions, and mixed vegetables.

The other caption is Afif taking his turn to fry some fish.Suddenly he has acquired an interest in cooking? Cannot be... Maybe my comment earlier stirred him on.