Skip to main content

Lunch after performing the Qingming rites

My siblings and I gathered yesterday to celebrate Qingming .....'Pure Brightness festival' or 'Tomb-sweeping' day which falls on either the 4th or 5th April of the solar calendar.  Qingming festival is a family function and obligation.
This is an annual affair for the Chinese community to visit and clean the graves of their ancestors and relatives.  Cleaning the tomb and paying respect to the dead with offerings of food and burning of paper paraphernalia are two important aspects of remembering the dead ancestors.  The actual day was on 5th April this year but the ritual is usually observed 10 days before and after this date.  We normally observe this after the actual date to avoid the traffic as well as the 'human' jam in the cemetery.  Click here to know more of this Qingming festival.
After the visit to the cemetery and freshening up, we all adjourned to Sun Marpoh restaurant in Ipoh Garden for lunch and here's a quick tour of what we had.




This was the much favoured 'kwai fei tofu' ...... soft and silky tofu, hot favourite amongst the seniors at the table!


Succulent spareribs which was the favourite of my nieces and nephews who had travelled from Kuala Lumpur at 6.00am to meet up with us to perform the rites.  They deserve a good meal.



Assam fish head curry minus the coconut milk which was approved by the seniors.


Wong ngah pak ...... soft and tasty with shredded mushroom, carrot and pork.  Should have taken another picture, 'exposing' what's beneath but then, everyone of us were hungry and just can't wait to start attacking the dishes.


Good old spinach stirfried with garlic .... lots of fiber


Bittergourd egg omelette  ..... need some gourd to cool down our bodies as we were under the hot sun for a few hours!


Last but not least, steamed 'woo so kei' ...... steamed free-range chicken.  This dish came out last as the chicken needed some time to be steamed and the soupy gravy was delicious.

For 13 of us and we had the same food for 2 tables, the bill came to RM213/- plus rice and tea, which was  reasonable, especially to the KLites!

Sun Marpoh Restaurant
69 Jalan Lau Pak Khuan
Ipoh Garden
IPOH

Comments

  1. I like the food here and I just found a nice place for food. It is inside Wooley..have you tried their ' tai chow '...good and cheap :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very reasonable price for so many dishes. I have eaten the chicken rice at Jalan Lau Pak Khuan, next to petrol station....cheap and nice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's a lot of delicious food...very suitable for dinner. I love every dish ...mmmm

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elin
    Only go to Wooley for hawker food, didn't try the 'tai chow' yet. Will do so since you recommended.

    Pete
    Ipoh food is generally much cheaper than KL, but Ipoh Gdn area is supposed to be a bit on the higher side compared to other gardens.

    Mary
    Yes, this restaurant is very popular, always full during weekends and public holidays.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The food sounds great. Loved the interesting read about the Quingming rites!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So, mission completed! Finally, can get some rest huh! No wonder you've been missing for a couple of days. Of coz, miss you LOL! Nice food and everything looks quite light & green too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have not been back for QingMing for such a long time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for dropping by. Please click on 'Anonymous' if you do not have a blog but do leave your name after the comment because I would like to know who you are.

Popular posts from this blog

Herbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Gao

H erbal Jelly ~ Gui Ling Ga o literally translated means 'Tortoise Jelly' is one of my family's favourite desserts.  It's much more economical to prepare this at home for you'll need to fork out between Rm 9 to Rm 11 for a bowl of this cooling dessert in any of those herbal tea outlets.  This soothing jelly, served chilled, is supposed to be able to help reduce our body heat, helps to get rid of toxins and is believed to be good for the skin thus culminating a healthier complexion.

Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy ~ 梅菜焖五花肉

Mui Choy is preserved mustard greens and there are two types, one is salty while the other is sweet.  There are many ways of cooking mui choy with pork belly.  Instead of braising, you can steam it with minced pork but here I am using only the sweet mui choy and I braised the pork belly with it.  This is a flavourful dish and you can serve it with plain rice or plain porridge. Braised Pork Belly with Mui Choy   ~    梅菜焖五花肉 Ingredients  400 gm pork belly cut into bite size 100 gm  preserved sweet mui choy 3 cloves of garlic 2 slices ginger Seasoning for the pork belly 1 Tbsp dark soya sauce 1/4 Tbsp sugar 1/4 Tbsp sesame oil 1/4 Tbsp oyster sauce 1/2 tsp pepper 1/8 tsp light soya sauce Method Season the pork belly for about an hour or more.  Set aside. Soak the mui choy for 45 mins., rinse and squeeze dry.  Cut into slices Heat some oil in the wok, fry the mui choy.  Add in the ginger slices.  Stir-fry. Add in the pork  belly, fry for a while and

Tamarind Pork Belly (Babi Assam) ~ 亚参五花肉

A very appetising dish with tangy and robust flavour of tamarind juice, red and green chillies added more oomph to the dish.  This dish will surely whet your appetite and you'll go for second helping of rice to soak up the tangy gravy.  This is a Peranakan dish but as always, there are many varieties to this delicacy.  I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit what I have in my pantry and the end result is a very yummy dish that I will not hesitate to whip up again and again. Tamarind Pork Belly (Babi Assam)  ~   亚参 五花肉 Ingredients 450 gm pork belly, cut into bite size 5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 3 shallots, finely chopped 30 gm tamarind pulp (Assam paste)  + 250 ml water 3 green chillies 2 red chillies 2 tsp tau cheong (preserved bean paste) 2 tsp dark soya sauce 1 Tbsp brown sugar or to taste 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp fish sauce 1 onion, sliced Method Mix the tamarind pulp with a cup of  warm water, squeezed out the ju