At Aunty J’s Table

Black gold.

Each time I return from Aunty J’s house, it’s as though I’ve gone grocery shopping and scored these fun bags of delicious food items. We don’t seem to just eat dinner there. We also get food nicely packed in boxes to take home too. It’s very hard to say no when she has obviously cooked sufficient portions for us to do that.

Went over to Aunty J's that evening for dinner. There wasn't a special occasion; at least not that I know of. It was meant to be a simple dinner of the regular sort, and we blinked when we saw what she had prepped. She filled up the entire table with homemade goodness. N smugly told us that it 'is' the normal sort of dinner for them, with or without guests. Pfffft. Lucky girl!

Gorgeous gorgeous food. Assam pork curry, begedil, lemongrass-marinated chicken wings, very delicate ngoh hiang, lots of homemade sambal belachan, assorted dips, and my favorite of all- pure rich buah keluak. Aunty J even made a drink of roselle and aloe vera, from the plants in her garden. She moderated the sugar. I loved it chilled.

Aunty J fed us all dinner, and insisted on packing boxes of food for us to take away, and to heat up for the next two days over lunch or add on to easy dinners. She knows that none of us will bother to (or have the skills to) slave away in front of the stove to churn out anything near her standards. Hurhurhur. It's very difficult to decline her kindness because we know she cooked these extra portions on purpose. She's always happy when we pack her food home. She always wants us to eat more, and we really like her food! We’re such fortunate souls.