We went to this Malay seafood (zhi char) stall nearby. Usually it's always those quick fry-ups stuff like the mee/nasi goreng, hor fun, chicken rice etc. However, that one time, we saw this group of people at the nearby table ordering the fried calamari and they looked so enticing that we reminded ourselves to order that, one day.
And one fine day, since the bosses aren't around, we decide to have a slightly-longer-than-usual lunch. And order that fried calamari with maybe the hotplate tofu. Simple, regular dishes at a zhi-char, aren't they?
We looked high and low for 'fried calamari' on the menu signboard before finally telling the proprietress, "Sotong goreng tepung, yang garing tuh..." (batter fried squid, the crispy one...).
I figure out why we can't find the word 'calamari'. It's because they used only regular squid - namely, small and thin ones.
The ones here...The batter could have been a little bit more spiced, you know? And served also with mayo instead of a small platter of diluted chili sauce. If I make this at home, I'll make for myself; fresh wasabi mayo for dipping. Mmmm....!
The one I had at East Coast recently would have been more like it.
One look and I know that it's gonna be a disappointment. Why was it that the silken tofu ain't coated with corn flour and fried, prior to being added to the gravy?
And the meager amount of egg at the base of the hotplate - so thin was it that it got too crispy and slightly burnt midway through tucking in.
And that reddish sauce... Shouldn't the gravy be oyster sauce-based and brown? The taste actually reminded me of the Szechuan Hot & Sour Soup - salty & sourish (heavy on the vinegar there). That's just so wrong, wasn't it?
Ok, lesson learnt. Next time, we shall just stick to those quick fry-ups or the chicken rice. Period. -_-
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