Home-cooked Nyonya... Say "Thank You" to Elaine's Mom

We're inviting ourselves to Elaine's house for a dinner on Chinese New Year. It's just because we've heard so much about the special cuisine that will be prepared only once a year. Aren't you tempted to try it out? Moreover, I've tasted the Mom's recipe homemade desserts before and they're tasty!

8 dishes for 4 of us, we're pampered by the Mom. The Rendang Chicken that is produced once a year, this is a special cuisine that is prepared with the Palm Leaves棕叶. The most important step is to ensure that the palm leaves are thinly sliced that its aroma is completely revealed in the Rendang Chicken. It's a special dish but the curry is slightly too "aromatic" for me. Alternatively, I prefer the Kapitan Curry Chicken that has a thicker sauce and it's stronger in taste. The curry sauce is not too creamy and it's really very appetizing and delicious, a perfect dish with the rice.

Next dishes to follow are the Chai Boey and the Perut Ikan. Chai Boey is a mixed stew that comes with various vegetable, mushroom and meat and being boiled in a spicy and sour based soup. The most important elements are the plum and the dried chili that are both to enhance the taste of the soup. Perut Ikan is made from the special leaf that is called 山老叶 or I've finally known it as the Hance Pepper Stemand Leaf. The thinly sliced leaves, long beans and pineapple are cooked with the fish stomach or Perut Ikan in the sour soup that contains chili paste. In other word, it tastes a little alike the Assam Curry.

More dishes to come... the Nyonya Sambal Prawn, Jiu Hu Char or Stir-Fried Turnip with Cuttle Fish, Pork in Dark Soy Sauce and the Soup with Pork Stomach. The Sambal Prawn is a creamy curry that is cooked with the coconut milk and it contains cashew nuts. I like the tender prawns so much even though this dish is slightly too creamy for my stomach. The turnip has a nice aroma of the stir-fried cuttle fish, it's delicious except that I prefer if the mushroom is sliced thinly as well. The pork fillet has absorbed the dark soy sauce completely and it's tender, this is specially made for Elaine that doesn't like spicy food. It's thankful that we've the chance to try it as well. One last dish that has gained our "Like" is the soup that a strong taste of the black pepper. Even though I dislike the pork stomach, but the soup is sweet and it's so rich in deliciousness that I can finish up one big bowl by myself.

Homemade dessert to fill up our teeth, the Thai style comes in with the Tab Tim Krob. It's a special dessert that consists of water chestnut and jack fruit in the coconut milk. A special step is to coat the water chestnut with the tapioca flour that is mixed with a few drops of red colouring before boiling it in the water. The coconut milk is not too sweet while the water chestnut and jack fruit are both so fresh and crunchy.

Being treated to such a full meal that I've never tasted for this whole Chinese New Year! We've pre-booked the dinner for next Chinese New Year and to be pampered by Elaine's Mom again... Hahaha!