Saturday, January 7, 2012

My Kitchen Smells like a Spa

My late dad planted lemongrass (in Kadazan 'sogumau') around our kampung home. He liked to cook his "signature" dishes with ... all things exotic eg wild boar (in Kadazan 'bakas') and flying fox/bats (in Kadazan 'gavi'). I don't usually eat exotic dishes but it never really bothered me when he asked me to get him a few stalks of lemongrass from the bush he planted. Pulling a stalk of lemongrass from its bush is no easy feat, its tough. And back then I was a skinny kid and it took me quite a while to get back to him with those few stalks. He never complained if I took longer than usual to do the job.

My dad's sogumau bush today... so bushy


On new year's eve, I asked my nephew to get some stalks of lemongrass from my father's lemongrass bush back in the kampung house. I wanted to use it for our new year's eve bbq but never got round to using them because I was late. That's another story.

Anyhow, last Thursday I saw the bunch of lemongrass and decided to use them to make dinner.

While preparing the marinade, the smell from the lemongrass filled our kitchen. For a while the kitchen really smelt like a good Balinese spa in there and I love it.

A relatively easy and quick recipe taken from the Internet resulted in tadaaaaa:
Lemongrass Honey Pork (recipe available here)

This dish is best served hot off the wok. By the time my husband came home for dinner though, the dish was cold already. My food critic of a husband commented:
  1. Its OK
  2. Taste is good
  3. Dry
In my defense, the food was cold by the time he had them. But then again, I can try again next time.

3 comments:

de engineur said...

the lemongrass is 'a must' ingredient every time my mom cook tasty soup. To my taste it doesnt suit every soup but that just how she cook hers.

Rose Flower said...

Aduiiii trus lapar sia nampak!!

AngelineJ said...

Yeah, agreed lemongrass is not for all dishes. but I think some people use it a lot for its medicinal benefits. Also, there are some who like the tangy smell. My mum does the same. She likes in soups and cooks it basungan.

Zie: masak! LOL!