Lou Wong Kua (Old Cucumber) For Boiling Soup

 Currently, the weather here is hot. 

Sunrise at 7:10am.

Today, we are having "lou wong kua" or old cucumber soup. Many people including myself thought that "lou wong kua" is normal cucumber left to grow old on the vine. Actually normal cucumber and "lou wong kua" are from 2 lookalike but are different types of vine. "Lou wong kua" will start off as light green cucumber and then will turn yellow until it matures. I know because I have grown both the normal cucumber and "lou wong kua" in my garden.

As "lou wong kua" grows more mature, the skin will tend to crack slightly and you will know it is time to harvest. Ingredients for soup: chicken, "lou wong kua", carrot, corn on cob, red dates and goji berries.

My corn plants growing in front of our house. They were left to grow on their own. I was not able to take care of the plants in my garden now. Hubby has no time to feed them fertilizer because the cooking and house keeping have taken up most of his time.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday & My Corner of the World.

O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes;

you have always cared for me in my distress;

now hear me as I call again.

Have mercy on me. Hear my prayer.

(Psalm 4:1, The Living Bible-TLB)

Curry Noodle & Clear Soup Noodle At Kedai Kopi Ah Chow, Ipoh

This was a Sunday (yesterday), so instead of morning walk, we were preparing to attend Sunday church service.

Sunrise at 7:35am

We were on the way out to Ipoh old town for breakfast at Kedai Kopi Ah Chow.

Rice vermicelli with bbq pork, chicken and prawns in clear soup for me. The prawns were hidden under the noodle.

Hubby ordered curry noodle (dry version) but he didn't specify "dry version", so he was served the usual curry noodle. Poor me drooling over the curry noodle. I am still being a good girl, refraining from spicy food.

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We attended 2 church services at different churches and after the 2nd church service, we attended a sponsored buffet lunch at one of the Salvation Home For The Aged near our area. It was a triple celebration (Christmas, New Year 2023 & Chinese New Year).

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Home cooked dinner.

I finally get to cut down and cleared the bottle gourd vines from my garden. Ingredients for boiling soup: Half bottle gourd, 1 corn on cob, carrot and soft bones.

Hubby's bowl of soup without carrot.

My bowl of soup without the corn. I love corn but have to avoid because it may cause indigestion and wind/gas.

I harvested some home grown siew pak choy or bok choy from the garden. I just plain blanched it.

This is fermented beancurd (fu yue). This is hubby's favourite whenever I cook porridge at home. Recently, I found a way to enjoy this with my rice. I just take a cube and mix it with my steamed brown rice so that I don't get the flat taste in my mouth.

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I found the following mural in the Heritage Town Cafe Gopeng which we visited in June, 2022.

Some chairs covered with black plastic were blocking part of the mural.

Hope to revisit Gopeng soon in the near future.

Linking to Monday Mural.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.

They are plans for good and not for evil,

to give you a future and a hope.

(Jeremiah 29:11, The Living Bible-TLB)

Arrowroot + Lotus Root Soup & Steamed Brinjals

When we stepped out of our gate for morning walk, a lovely sunrise greeted us.

Sunrise at 7:07am.

Since I am already feeling very much better, I spent some time tidying up the garden.

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I haven't been cooking since my gastric problem started. Feeling energized, I decided to cook dinner yesterday evening.

Arrowroot (fan kok) + lotus root + carrot + red dates + goji berries + pork bones.

I had some home grown green brinjals and 1 purple brinjal in my fridge. Normally I will steamed the brinjals and later peel off the skin.                                    Compared to the purple brinjals, the skin of green brinjals is thin which makes it difficult for peeling. When cooked, I left the skin on the brinjals, slit them in half and drizzled them with oyster and soy sauce and garlic oil down the centre. The brinjals were soft and nice but the single purple brinjal took a longer time to soften. If you don't like to eat the skin, you can easily scrap off the soft flesh from the skin.

Linking to Skywatch Friday.

Since we, God's children, are human beings - made of flesh and

blood - he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form;

for only as a human being could he die and

in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death.

(Hebrews 2:14, The Living Bible-TLB)

Waxed Duck, Bottle Gourd Soup & Nai Pak Choy

 This was a nice cool and clear morning. We got ready for morning walk.

Sunrise at 7:02am.

On the reverse side - Kledang Hill.

We settled for shredded chicken noodle for breakfast at our regular coffeeshop.

The boss added a chicken liver to hubby's bowl of kai si hor fun (shredded chicken with flat rice noodle).

He also added something to my bowl: 2 pieces of fried fish cake.

2 bowls for RM11.00, no extra charge for the add-ons.

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Home cooked dinner on a rainy evening.

I boiled soup with bottle gourd, carrot, goji berries, red dates and roast pork bones.

Steamed 1 waxed duck leg. This is hubby's favourite.

Stir fried home grown nai pak choy and ladies fingers with pork slices.

Our dinner on a rainy evening, eaten with steamed brown rice.

The bowl with more soup was hubby's. I like to drink and also eat the soup ingredients. That is the reason why I prefer not to eat rice.

But, O my soul, don't be discouraged.

Don't be upset. Expect God to act!

For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason

to praise him for all that he will do.

He is my help! He is my God!

(Psalm 42:11, The Living Bible-TLB)

Melt-In-The-Mouth BBQ Pork & Lettuce For Dinner

This was another wet morning. Not unusual because we are now in the monsoon season with lots of rainfall.

8:20am

We waited for the rain to stop because taking a walk to the nearby coffee shop for breakfast.

I like this photo.

The sunlight shining down through the clouds and a bit of the sunshine above the mountain, mostly covered by the dark cloud.

The air was cool and fresh after the rain, nice weather for walking.

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Our home cooked dinner.

Home made bbq pork (char siew).

I used 2 strips of pork belly. The above is 1 strip of pork belly cut into 3 pieces. The other 3 pieces I kept for the next day's dinner.

Melt in the mouth bbq pork (char siew) using a non-stick pan.

Using these raw home grown leafy lettuce to wrap the bbq pork. Yums!

Leftover soup from the previous day's dinner.

Simple yet delicious and satisfying dinner on a rainy day.

You sent abundant rain, O God,

to refresh the weary land.

There your people finally settled,

and with a bountiful harvest, O God,

your provided for your needy people.

(Psalm 68:9-10, New Living Translation-NLT)

Fruitful Bottle Gourd Plants In my Garden

There are 3 bottle gourd plants growing in a big pot in my garden.

After harvesting the 1st batch of bottle gourds, more bottle gourds appeared on the vines.

Some of the gourds have different shapes.

But mostly, they are shaped like the above.

I love to see the gourds hanging down from the vines.

There was one hanging down right in the middle of the walking path and hubby and I sometimes get knocked on the head by the gourd. Recently, I harvested one of the biggest gourd and found that it grown a bit old. The skin got very, very hard to cut.

So, I quickly went out to the garden to harvest the above 6 gourds before they got too old. Fortunately, the flesh is still edible and haven't got fibrous. I have used 2 of the gourds for cooking our dinners and given away the other 4 gourds to friends.

1st dinner: A one dish dinner with steamed brown rice.

A self invented dish. I don't have a name for this dish. I made minced chicken breast meat + fish paste patties. I fried the patties. I lightly brown some chopped garlic in the pot, add the cut gourd and water and let it cook. When the gourd is soft, I add the patties and let it simmer a short while, add salt to taste. I forgot that the gourd will release water so it looks like a soupy dish. We finished the whole dish.

2nd dinner: We had boiled gourd soup, steamed Chinese sausage and steamed brown rice.

Ingredients for soup: Bottle gourd, pork rib, carrot, red dates, goji berrries and dried cuttlefish.

Steamed Chinese sausage with casing removed.

Chili and soy sauce dipping.

Visitors to my mini bottle gourd farm.

My friends were wowed by the size of the gourds.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday & My Corner of the World.

Don't be impressed with your own wisdom.

Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

(Proverbs 3:7, New Living Translation-NLT)

One Home Grown Bottle Gourd For 2 Dishes

I wanted to boil soup for dinner so I went to the garden to get one of the bigger bottle gourds hanging from its vine. I have given away a few bottle gourds to friends who were interested to try. The feedbacks were good and they all love it.

This bottle gourd measures about 17 inches long, big and quite heavy.

I divided the gourd into 2 portions. I used the bigger portion for making soup enough for sharing with our neighbour.

2 bowls of soup. The one on the left was for hubby because he doesn't like carrot. Ingredients for soup: half a bottle gourd, 1 corn on cob, carrot and pork rib.

A dish I didn't cook for a long time. This dish consists of cloud ears (black fungus), dried lily buds (golden needle), chicken breast meat strips, oyster sauce, soy sauce and dark sauce. The portion was big, so I kept half for the next day's dinner.

Dinner with steamed brown rice. Home grown chili in soy sauce as condiment.

Cranberry Hibiscus in my garden.

The plants have grown too tall and I have trimmed them shorter.

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The next day's home cooked dinner.

The smaller portion of bottle gourd was cut into shreds. I cooked the bottle gourd shreds with chopped garlic and soaked dried shrimps and salt to taste.

2nd portion of the wood fungus, lily buds and chicken breast meat strip.

Simple home cooked dinner for 2 people.

This is a sculpture and not a real ape (orangutan).

My friend saw this at the Taiping zoo. It looks quite friendly.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

Many curry favor with a ruler,

and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

(Proverbs 19:6, New International Version-NIV)