Fisherman Iwashi Maruboshi Assam Laksa at Morsels

Zipped in for a quick lunch at Morsels with N. She was away for months and it was time to catch up with her. We had coffee earlier, and decided to adjourn for a bite to fill the stomachs before going about our day. 

We shared a cabbage with sunflower seed emulsion, dukkah and gruyere. N opted for a bowl of Canadian manilla clams with bread. She quite liked the lemongrass broth and laksa leaf oil they sat in. The clams went well with the bread. A light enough lunch.  

This week's noodle rotation was Fisherman Iwashi Maruboshi Assam Laksa. That worked for me. I like Morsels's iteration of this. Don't talk about authenticity; it wouldn't taste like any assam laksa you know. The portions weren't huge, so it made for quite an ideal lunch, since I'd have to return to field more work calls and couldn't fall asleep.  

N's on a pescetarian diet for now (before transitioning to a vegetarian diet and then vegan). Morsels has plenty of seafood items for her, and a few vegetarian options. When many of us are swopping out diets and such at this age, we must find restaurants that can cater to all our diet preferences.

Loads of Dal and Homecooked Goodness

We had a meet and made lunch that day. Decided to sear fish and stir-fry some easy okra. S had made dal a few days ago and had loads frozen. She brought tubs over. We had that too. A tad odd, but we were too lazy to do fish curry, so this would do. 

Unfortunately, we didn't choose the right fish to sear. These are Nile pre-cuts. It's tilapia, so it would do best in batter as fish and chips. Or in fish curry, as what we had intended. At least it's not powdery like some weird dory. We marinated it enough anyway. They were edible. This sea-water farmed tilapia (from Indonesian waters, I think) oddly offers a high protein count.

The okra provided sufficient fiber. We didn't overcook it, so there was still crunch to offset the softer fish. E's helper had fried up sambal ikan bilis and peanuts. I loved it! That went great with the entire meal. E wasn't having rice. S and I needed some rice. We added furikake to it. Heheheheh. Very very weird I know. But I love furikake! The rice complemented the plant protein provided by the dal. 

If we're trying to eat healthier and do homecooked meals a little more, then this was a lovely lunch. We cooked it ourselves too. Heh. It's nothing gourmet, but it filled our hearts and tummies. Mmmmm.

Lunch with the girls.

I took home a tub of S's dal. She said that her pressure cooker can do another batch quite easily. So she generously gave it to me. I would not reject such a royal gift. She warned that it would be low in sodium (as it should be), and I could sprinkle additional salt if I wished.

That night, the husband and I decided to stay in for dinner. For these last minute decisions, we're glad for the frozen food. The freezer had basmati rice, S's dal and chicken breast from 68°Chicken. Thawed out the 'royal Indian masala' fillet, and everything else. 

I didn't care for the chicken breast. I had leftover mushroom masala for myself, so I thawed that out and ate it. Heh. That dal anchored the meal. It was delicious. The husband loved it. He was perfectly cool with the sodium levels. That made a really good meal. Healthy enough and satisfying. 

ข้าวมันไก่และขนมหวานไทยดั้งเดิม

P came into town for a short three days on a work trip. His schedule was packed but he had an evening free. We had him over for dinner at home. Then we could really chill out, have a drink and chat at will. I just had to clean up the floors and clear the dining table which has been piled high with nonsense. Heh. Scrambled a little to do that. I don't have people over often for meals, if at all, so there hadn't been a need to clear that dining table. :P 

Of course I didn't cook. That would be madness when my schedule is packed out for the month. I ordered chicken rice from the ever-dependable Five Star. That's comfort food for all of us. They had many dishes we could order. Had sambal sotong, omelette and tofu, and broccoli. Added a salted egg pork ribs for a different protein.

P came bearing royal gifts of dessert. Wow! He picked very traditional desserts from a new-to-me brand, Childenutt (ชายณัฐ). He knows I have grandma tastebuds when it comes to Thai desserts — I like them traditional.  He brought the harder and crumbly sampanee (or khanom sampanee / ขนมสัมปันนี) in the shape of a purple flower. (It can be pink, yellow or white too.) The other is honestly my Number 1 favorite traditional dessert — thong ek (ทองเอก), the bright yellow gold leaf, which is a soft wheat flour dumpling with egg yolk.

The brand promised that their products to hold 35% less sugar than the norm. It was indeed true! I love these desserts, but I won't eat them if they're too sweet. It's very hard to hunt down my ideal at the shops. The friends' families make them the way I love. The sampanee and thong ek were freshly made and bought the night before P flew out. They don't keep that well in the fridge, and best eaten now. It must be all savored tonight. So we did. These were such a treat tonight!