Monday, January 18, 2010

MAN vs FISH : ROHU-LIO Part II

Now that I've finally landed those beautiful Rohu, its time to cook and more importantly, EAT THEM!!!

When it comes to eating fish and any type of seafood, i consider myself a purist. The best way to enjoy really, really fresh fish (fresh like you hear it flip flopping in the throes of death in your freezer compartment) is with minimal cooking and flavouring. Hence, my two fave methods are Steaming and BBQ over hot coals. In case anyone missed the earlier posting (:p), here's them fishes again.

I have decided to call the biggest one (and the best fighter among them) Rohulio, in honour of my bro who celebrated his birthday this weekend!

So anyway, I was advised by my Sifoos (see earlier post) that Rohu are quite bony, with little fish fat. Hence, BBQ is the perfect way to enjoy them....Yeeaahhhhooooooo.....


With the help of my life partner and (makan only) fish aficionado, they were gutted and cleaned in quick order (setengah jam jugak laaa). A note about cleaning big ass fish, if you plan to BBQ em, i gotta slit their backs so it'll cook nice and even and fish stays somewhat whole.



Fish #1 was BBQed over open hot coals, with salt and pepper, and a light brush of blended ginger. Itu je...the results.... DEEEEEELIISSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!




Fish # 2 was stuffed with ginger slices, onion and lime wedges, wrapped in foil and left to cook in its own juices over aforementioned hot coals for about 20 mins .......sizzle sizzle sizzle goes the package. And the results ........ SEHINGGA MENJILAT KAKI!!!!!! (Note to self : Next time don't cook with the lime inside. The cooked peel gives off a pahit-ness)

Fish #3 a.k.a Rohulio was too big to handle in just one sitting, so divide and conquer came into play. It was halved, and the tail end was roasted in a pan over the dapur.

When it came to the head portion, some consultation with Master Chef @ Mak was in order. She would have opted for Masak Tempoyak, but she didn't have any tempoyak handy (Note to self : Keep Tempoyak stockpile in case of nuclear / zombie apocalypse). SO we went for the East Coast classic, Singgang Asam Pedas. Best wooooooooooo...................see it bubbling....



When preparing / cleaning freshwater fish, you should use some asam jawa or lime and rock salt, just to get rid of the slime. I know some can't take the "earth" flavour of freshwater fish, but its just natural. These folks probably wouldn't eat fish unless it came between two buns and some tartar sauce :P

And to top it all off, Rohulio dived into our stomachs accompanied by some budu and kerabu pucuk ubi....which leaves just one thing to say..... BURPPPP!!!! Alhamdulillahhhhh


Man Pachoo....

MAN vs FISH : ROHU-LIO Part I

Hi y'all.

Quite excited about this week's posting cuz it involves two of my major interests, Fishing and Eating. What a great weekend it was, Alhamdulillah. Enough small talk.

SO the stage was set in the mid-morning hours, the venue a small commercial fishing pond in Bangi (near the PLUS toll). Seeing as to how my freshwater kolam skills needed some help (especially the icky umpan-blending part), I enlisted the help of a couple of "consultants", whom I hereinafter will call Sifoo Ecol and Sifoo Kudik.

Sifoo Ecol had earlier instructed me to purchase the ingredients of his "super-secret kolam formulation", which consists of Dedak Ayam, Tepung Gandum and SOMETHING SECRET. He then proceeded to deftly mix in some water and started kneading the concoction into a consistent....err....consistency. While Sifoo Kudik (Ecol's lil bro) set about teaching me how to tie a "perambut mata bom!!!". But I was distracted by the umpan brewing that I missed a few steps and Kudik ended up tying it himself for everyone LOL!!

This umpan brew is magical. 5 seconds after it hit the water, I got my first hit, man...I shit you not! It was a Pacu, wrigling and gediking its way, trying to unhook itself. And guess what: due to the element of surprise and unreadiness on my part...it got away!!! Awwwwww......

But the rest of the morning really made up for it. I'd be sitting there, smoking and chatting with my consultants when....

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......suddenly my line would zip out and almost pull in my Rapala Rod.

Good thing I have the reflexes of a mongoose....wachaaaaaa!!!

In the end, I was able to pull in 3 good sized Rohu, which is the first time I have ever landed this type of fish. It looks like your typical freshwater fish, but not as shiny or colourful. But it's good eatin'!!!!! Hehehe more on the eating part after this...hehehehe

But no matter how good it is to eat, the thrill of catching a fish is AWESOME!!!! I may be preaching to the choir here, but after that first real fight you have with a most powerful fish (well, not so powerful laaaa...kalau powerful, masuk kolam la aku!!), that's it, man. You think that you've caught the fish, but in actual fact, ur HOOKED on fishing and there's no real way out, hehehehe.

The last Rohu was the biggest, about 2.5kg plus i think. In total, i hauled in 4.8kg of Rohu (YAAAAAAYYY)....oh, should anyone be interested, here's wot they look like hehehe.


That last one put up quite a fight! Good thing I didnt lose it....

HEHEEHE....and next, the EATING


Man Toman

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Introducciones : The Wrecking Crew


This here's the wrecking crew@reason for this blog. As they spend more time growing up together, they have been perfecting their technique for sepah menyepah, chaos theory, construction and deconstruction, as well as escape techniques such as running to grandfolks when buat salah, crying (seemingly) inconsolably and sweetest innocent smiles.



But they're MY CREW, MY TRIBE, MY FUTURE and HOPE FOR AFTER-LIFE hehehe


ABAH LOVES YOU, KIDS!!! No Matter What......Hope you all Read this someday!!! They're illiterate, for now lahh. Just like THEIR fave Pendekar Bujang Lapok. I'm serious, even the little one is into P. Ramlee

BUTTT....more on that later, of course :P


Family Man

Introducciones : The Missus

This here's the love of my life, holding our youngest. Just thot i'd post her pic before anyone elses, lest i get in blogging trouble ( I was actually planning to post something on Vieira to City, but I couldn't figure out how to get permission and all, just kidding babe!)

So, she's my rock. Twasnt exactly love at first sight, more like at first chat (live not cyber)...but more on that later. Hehehe Love You Babe! From the first time we lepaked and talked, I just knew you would be a HUGE part of my life!! Percaya tak?

Ok, hope this pic posting and hyperlinking works....

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ze Weekend Update

Had a nice (slightly) long weekend. There was much to do Friday, kids and wife and bank card on the fritzz. But managed to fish a little on Saturday, 2 Baungs my bounty for hati ayam. Amin says the fish ate my 'lutut' ayam bait LOL.

Then there was the 4-caker event at Kaklong's. Too much lamb gave me a headache. Then kids didnt want to leave sebab Ayna nak tido with Aisha and Amin nak tido with the Wii...

Sunday was video arcade at Alamander, Amin and Ham had a blast. I'll post a video of amin playing Sega Rally...heheeh lagi mau tukar gear itu mamat..hehehe please remind me, you gotta watch it, bloody hilarious that boy.

Later Sunday went to Mak's for Epic Nasi Kerabu. Ihsan showed his gratitude by smashing four bowls from Mak's Cabinet. Then dia yang nangis, inconsolable....for 5 minutes, then back to his grinning self.

More later

Manthos

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Introducciones

Ok, so this is when i start blogging in earnest....whether or not i last the 7.5 days remains to be seen :P...

This is not really necessary as the only way you could have gotten this link was if I gave it to you, so you know me and whatever non-personal stuff about me. But just in case this blog turns into a mega global money-making machine (hand over fist stuff), a proper introduction would make it easier for the folks to know who to make the check out to....

Name : Manhood, to distinguish me from the other Mans around. There was a dude with a similar name who was caught for embezzlement about 20 years ago, whom I have nothing to do with. If I was of legal age back then, I would have been a good candidate for some creative personal banking / cuci services.

Age : 35+

Location : Malaysia, mostly

Personal Interests : A lot of stuff

Hmmm.....the family's next. Dare i add image????



Laters

What's Your Blog's Theme?

I gave Adli my blog link just now, and he asked what the blog's theme is?

Hmmm...never really thot about that....but I'd probably write about stuff that matters to me like Family, Food, Football, Fishing, Friends and another F-thing....minus the sordid details because this is a Family-oriented blog First and Foremost....maybe some [F]otographs, my Favourite Band [F]earl Jam, my own personal Feelings and Foul-ups...and Films, occasionally.

So dude, that's my EFFin' theme..hehehe

Effman

First Post Ever

Assalamualaikum,

Watsap? This is my first post, Yaaaaayyyy!!!! As I get more used to blogging, I shall add more sophisticated shit like pictures, links and all. But for now....it's me, signing off!!!!

Mano