Wednesday, April 02, 2008

A Diet Sabotaged!

Honestly, I can't think of any other way to describe it! My diet was coming on nicely and I was feeling good about it, and I mean real good about it. Then out of nowehere, Din, my brother, sent over a dish of sambal daging made by his maid. Hmm...that sambal daging - though not on par as emak's - looked delicious enough with its chili red sambal and the bits of meat in it. And I just knew from looking at the dish, my diet may have to take a short break. Little did I know then, emak had something else planned when she saw the dish!

When I came back for lunch earlier today, my very first glance at the table had my food senses tingling perhaps quite like Spiderman's senses does with troublesome menace. And though this was no menace, it was indeed troublesome - emak had prepared an impromptu lontong dish! Man, if there is one dish this house could never resist, then it must be lontong, no matter how impromptu it is!

Before I carry on, let me qualify why i stressed on the word impromptu.

The lontong dish we had for lunch and ashamedly I have to admit, dinner, was an incomplete lontong dish we don't normally have at home. This incomplete dish consist of: lodeh, sambal daging, boiled eggs, and nasi empit. If the tradition of this dish with our family is anything to go by, we know it was prepared without planning and hence, impromptu.

Lontong, is a must have dish during Eid Fitri for my family for as long as I can remember. Normally on the eve of Eid Fitri, all the children would peek into the kitchen wondering when emak would be asking at least one of us to give her a hand in preparing the dish that preludes the preparation of lontong - the sambal daging! And once the smell of chili being fried starts permeating the entire house, everyone would come into the kitchen just to get a verbal confirmation of it, then walk away to each personal task with a smile of eager anticipation. But it is only in the morning of Eid - normally after the prayers - would the family sit down and tuck in to a hearty breakfast of a full lontong course!

Apart from the sambal daging, lodeh, boiled eggs and nasi empit, the table spread would also have empeyek, peparu goreng, kuah kacang, and ayam goreng! Though ketupat and rendang would also be served, they are somehow overlooked by everyone including yours truly here. Nothing smacks our lips more than the sight of a bowl of nasi empit soaked in lodeh which is reddish in colour caused by scoops of the sambal daging! The empeyek provides with its crispy crunchiness; the peparu with chewy bites; the ayam goreng for some chicken tenderness; and the kuah kacang for the extra sweet taste it provides. Together, they make one wholesome meal that would be repeated for lunch and dinner. And if there are still leftovers, the next morning would see emak and I tucking to our fill again.

Back to the impromptu lontong, I now feel terribly guilty for having enjoyed it again for dinner just now; it was just something which I just could not resist, with the sambal daging being the biggest culprit. Alhamdulillah, though I am far from the being like a recently fed anaconda, I am contented.

The diet, like I mentioned earlier, was sabotaged...but one which was very much welcomed.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

heheh u were like celebrating hari raya-lah cakapaje, bes sgt

baez tak penah makan lodeh kalo tak hari raya

takpe ok kalo da tersabotaged, u could use some exercise to burn the xs fats down :)

Salt N Turmeric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Salt N Turmeric said...

with lontong set on the table, id NOT be thinking abt diet either! lol. i eat my lontong w kuah lodeh, serunding, sweet n sour chicken and sambal kacang.

farina

cakapaje said...

Salam baez,

Perut dah kenyang buat exerise nanti cramp lak lol!

cakapaje said...

Salam Princess,

Aaah, serunding! I forgot about that! Yes, that too is a must have. But if ever there is an east coast reading this, they'd get a wee but confused. There, I believe serunding is known as sambal daging.

Btw, I now understand - for food entries, you use this recipe blog of yours eh? :)

puteri nad said...

sodap eh makanan
terliur lak ha
antar la skek

Anonymous said...

i aspire to be a great cook lah sumday for i love cooking n eating as well, heheh

btw link of the lagu has been posted on my site

Unknown said...

The problem with me is that on Hari Raya morning it is always ketupat with mutton curry, beef rendang and chicken curry something that I take almost throughout the year so the raya morning is like any normal day, nothing special except you get to eat in the morning after a month.

cakapaje said...

Salam PN,

Tak dapek den tolong ha! Bukan pasai apa, tapi lodeh copat basi. Nanti dah balik kek sini, meh rumah sama baez dan Minci ye :)

cakapaje said...

beaz,

wokay, thanks :)

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

OK! Some people would say you are the lucky one - having a feast almost everyday! :)

tokasid said...

Salam Shah:

Lontong is a compulsory item for our 'Eid Fitri and 'Eid Adha together with sambal tumis udang, peparu(or ghabu kata org Melake or kelempong kata org kedah)goreng and rendang peparu.

And about the diet thing, we(yes WE) have to forget about it this Saturday.

cakapaje said...

W'salam Doc,

Lol! I'm sure there must be a conspiracy theory here somewhere. I mean, this Saturday will be 2 days in a week I'll be like a bear fattening myself for winter hibernation. Except, we are in the northern hemisphere and its summer coming up ahead! Mati gue...tapi mati happy dan beriman insyAllah :)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

forgt about all the usual ketupat, lemang, lodeh and stuff. my raya morning starts with a plate or 3 of rice, to compliment the rendang and kuah kacang.

*lodeh takde tempe ke?

cakapaje said...

Salam kerp,

You nasi-man you! Next when they make the new season for Heroes, we must request for you inclusion! lol!

Bro, lodeh takdak tempe bukan lodeh le...terlondeh namanya :)