Jajanan di Changshu

Beberapa hari lalu sempat jalan-jalan keluar karena udaranya udah lumayan menghangat. Akhirnya spring sampe juga disini, biarpun terlambat dan kadang-kadang cuaca masih nggak jelas - masih sering mendung, hujan dan berkabut tebal. On the way ke RT Mart, tebak coba gue ketemu apa di pinggir jalan? Tukang gorengan!!! Aaaahhh, udah segini lama tinggal disini, baru nemu kemaren itu.

Sering sih gue nemuin gerobak ibu-ibu yang mangkal di depan supermarket atau di tempat2 rame. Biasanya gerobak datar tanpa atap yang memajang deretan kotak-kotak plastik berisi berjenis-jenis sate ayam, bebek, tahu atau sosis dengan marinate macem-macem. Disampingnya ada pemanggang sate - bukan wajan. Tapi ini wajan!!! Berarti ada yang digoreng dong.... Dengan semangat gue deketin gerobak si ibu. Bener aja, gorengaaannn...

Macam-macam gorengan..... ada bakwan & tahu juga loh!

Tahu satu porsi seharga RMB 1 = Rp. 1100,-
udah pake saus siram plus irisan cabainya

It's Crayfish season!

Feeling a bit adventurous today, we walked by the aisles in Auchan supermarket this afternoon and passed by a bucketload of chinese crayfish on the fish section - apparently in season now. I have never cooked them before but their appearance is quite intriguing, surely challenging to cook. I wondered if the green curry sauce which I had in Auckland served with green lipped mussels can do. I decided to buy a handful to try. Upon a closer look, I noticed that these things didn't swim in water, instead they sort of walked on one another's back, had really really dark shells with tiny scorpion-like claws. Eeeekks!!! That put me off for a moment.....

All the 15 crawlers arrived safely at home. Mike helped to clean their guts simply by pulling their middle tail off - alive. Oef! Please, enough of this 'cruelty' - just dump them in the boiling water, will ya? After 5 minutes of steaming they looked almost edible enough ......

Freshly steamed chinese crayfish

Jiangsu province, where we live now, is quite famous for crayfish - which are also known as 'mini lobster' because of they're only as big as a thumb, with 3/4 of its length is the head. When in season, all local restaurants served them as a special offer - we just had the Hairy Crab season in last winter. Locals usually cooked them in light chili curry sauce.

It turned out that the green curry of our choice was a perfect one. I added a dash of coconut milk for the taste and sprinkled thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves. It tasted and smelled beautiful.

View Recipe Here

Toasting away by the lake side

Got up late that morning, like always :D, feeling completely refreshed. Since we needed to get internet access in late afternoon, we decided to hang around in the city center. There're rows of cafes right across the lake, but it seemed that the crowd were attracted to something else. Large billboards bearing colorful photographs from around the world with a little description below were lined up along the park. Wait, there's something else..... a few local artists placed blocks of tiles in the park, some sort of "walk of history", dating back from 1800 up to 2007..... Quite an interesting touch.

It was still 3 more hours to midday. Got plenty of time in our hands and we decided to spread our blanket on a carpet of fresh lime green grass by the lake. What a great spot! Chilled white wine in a glass, a plate of sliced cheese & smoked salmon. Perfect! We're all set for the afternoon. I've never realized how much I miss the sun. How warm it felt brushing against my skin. Hmm, toasty!

Lazying under the afternoon sky, giggling, sprawling, breathing in the breeze coming in from the lake. Aaaahhhh..... Luv spending days like this with you, babe.