Chili Pan Mee 辣椒板面

Pretty pleased with myself with my effort 😌 

There’s 6 components which make up this bowl of goodness: 

Noodle

Veggie

Meat

Chili paste

Egg

Fried ikan bilis/anchovies

One optional component is the accompanying anchovy and pork ribs soup/broth. I say optional when I really mean, please make it if you are going all the way to make chili pan mee.

We once had this in Pappa Rich and it was the most absurd plate of food they dare call chili pan mee. Don’t even get me started on price. 

When the plate of noodles was served, all I can see was a piece of HARD BOILED EGG WTF. 

I must have whinged really loudly because a few minutes later one of the staff came over to apologize saying they didn’t have soft boiled eggs anymore. 

That’s horseshit of an excuse. 

You should have let us know you didn’t have it BEFORE deciding that a hard boiled egg is enough to substitute it. Chili pan mee is a dry dish, the soft boiled egg is what makes the sauce. Throwing in a hard boiled egg is never going to cut it. 

Yes it’s a once off occurrence. I have also tried it when they actually served it with soft boiled eggs, not impressed either. It was quite lackluster in terms of seasoning and flavour. 

So far in Melbourne, Jojo’s chili pan mee tastes the most legit. But! I’m not sure what’s the deal with the staff, every time I go there the staffs seem to be in a really terrible mood. They hardly smile at customers,  and sometimes will either ignore your request when you ask for the accompanying soup or have this reluctant reaction when you ask for it. If it’s an added cost I’ll be happy to pay, no need to make a customer feel like they’re being an inconvenience. They’re not rude but definitely not the warmest people in the service industry. 

Now THIS is how a chili pan mee egg is supposed to look like.

If in a hurry, poach. If you’re pedantic like me, sous vide it at 62.8 Celsius for 45 minutes. It’s different and it’s totally worth it. 

While researching about cooking eggs, I discovered something mind blowing. So I’ve been trying my best not to eat runny yolks or soft eggs since almost everyone says it’s not safe while pregnant. Reason being risk of salmonella. Fine. 

Today I came across an article saying when you cook eggs at a low temperature over a long period of time aka sous vide, you are essentially pasteurizing it. 

🤯🤯🤯

Do you mean all these while I could have had soft boiled eggs when I had cravings? And I’m only finding out now that I’m at the end of my pregnancy??? 

Anyway. 

The other really important component of chili pan mee is of course the dry chili paste which had to be toasted for about 45 minutes until they’re sandy dry and caramelized. I have this meager bag of cili kering from Malaysia which I’m so glad I brought back a while ago. I can’t seem to find them here at all. They have quite a different flavour profile, almost smoky and they’re not too spicy. Unlike the Thai, Indian or Chinese varieties which are usually too spicy or pungent. I deseeded it the best I could, never liked the mouthfeel of seeds. 

Everything else was pretty simple to prepare. I did screw up my noodles - too much water in my dough and it became a soft mess. It’s a beautiful dough though, the gluten could be stretched paper thin but it’s not ideal for noodle making. I might use it to make roti. 

I had to remake the dough and thankfully got it right the second time. Didn’t even measure the water, just went by feel. I find that I’ve been doing that a lot lately; cooking with intuition than strictly by the books. 

After mixing it all up...

A bowl of creamy, spicy and vibrant goodness. 

This trumps the soup ban mee IMO. 

Week 22

Last week, I swear she jabbed/kicked me twice so hard that I jolted.

Quite funny. I'm still in awe of science and the human body. As amazing as this feels I also can't help making reference to my favourite film Alien. Lol. 

Also about a week ago we dropped by Northface to have a look at winter parka in preparation for our Hokkaido trip. It's winter with subzero temperatures when we visit. I can no longer zip up a size S T____T the length and arms and shoulders fit perfectly but I just couldn't zip up. Where on earth can I find a maternity parka jacket?? 

I can still forcefully squeeze into my size S skinny maternity jeggings but I don't think I can do this for any longer. 

Week 21

2 days ago we had our 2nd trimester ultrasound. On my birthday. I quote Sim Mei,

"So the period where your kid is more important than yourself has started *cry laughing emoji"

Yup, so true. 

I could have scheduled it on a different day which would be after my birthday but... I thought if the scan does go well at least that would have been a good birthday present in itself. I know, even up until this point I still have reservations about feeling positive. I just can't stop myself from worrying.

Anyhoo. The scan went well :) Baby was moving so much the doctor had a hard time trying to scan her. She could be a profesional contortionist looking at how she twists and bends her body and limbs.

The first thing we saw when the doctor started the scan and she said,

"Oh. That's the bum. Definitely a girl, you can see what I call, the little 'hamburger'."

She meant the labia hahahahhah.

And this was when she straightened her legs over her head.

According to their measurements she's 21 weeks 6 days but if the hospital is using my first dating scan then it's only 21 weeks. I don't know who to listen to.

Will see what the obstetrician says when I see him/her tomorrow.

To commemorate the last birthday where I get to feel special by myself lol

A little present for me. Little in size not so little in price hahaha. 

Finally announced this on my Instagram and received so many love and well wishes T_T I don't know what I have done to deserve this. I've published all the drafts I've saved throughout this journey. I finally feel like I have a little more courage to share and be excited. 

Week 19

Nothing much has changed except I've been feeling baby squirming in me! 

It's a strange sensation. I think I've felt it since the start of week 18 but never gave it much attention until I sat back and really focus. Every article says it feels like bubbles popping, butterflies in your stomach, flutters. Yes, it kind of is like that but when I place my hands on my belly, I sometimes physically can feel the push from underneath! It's so much more than just a flutter. It has now become my ritual everynight to place my hands on my belly just to feel it all. It helps me sleep. 

My sleep hasn't been the best lately. Lots of tossing and turning, lots of vivid dreams. I never wake up feeling refreshed =.= 

In about 2 weeks time we're scheduled for the next stage of ultrasound which is the anatomy scan. And then an appointment at the hospital with a doctor. Hopefully the only appointment with a doctor because that'll mean my pregnancy isn't complicated and can be handled by the midwives.

Yesterday we had our first appointment at the hospital. I thought I was seeing an obstetrician but it was a midwife who met us. She explained the appointment is to gather all the information required before we see the obstetrician in about another month or so. She explained the different types of maternity care the hospital provides and will discuss which is most suited. 

We were not left with much to choose from; I didn't want a shared care with my GP because well... my previous posts should explain well enough. The obstetrician care is reserved for high risk pregnancies - fair enough. Sara recommended me to go on this specific midwives care where I get to have 2 midwives on call. This option however I will most likely NOT get to have because people usually book when they're as early as 7 weeks along. 

Seriously. At 7 weeks I was still doubting if I was actually pregnant or if the baby will survive the 1st trimester. 

We're left with 2 options which seems rather similar so we picked one of it. Either way I trust we're in good hands. 

Baby's due date has now changed AGAIN. She said the first dating ultrasound is usually more accurate. We're now back to 27 April 2019. We also got to hear baby's heartbeat through the doppler. 155bpm.

13 weeks

Baby has a new due date!

21 April 2020 :D much closer if not accurate to my LMP

I'm so glad I insisted on another ultrasound. Ok I didn't force my GP but he probably gave in seeing my disappointed face when I found out I won't have one until 20 weeks. 

This time instead of going to back to a general imaging clinic I went to a specialist ultrasound practice. The ultrasounds are run by obstetricians and gynaecologists. I don't know what it would have cost me if I haven't come here but I'm quite sure it's more than the usual imaging clinics but it is so worth it.

She didn't only print us a picture, they sent us link of a bunch of images plus videos of the ultrasound to be downloaded! We saw baby moving her arms and little feet, we saw her 'talking', all these would have been fleeting moments but they were all captured! The wonders of technology.

The entire process was not rushed, she took her time to get good angles to take videos and pictures, explaining to us every step of the way about what we're looking at. Towards the end she even went ahead to further check on some cyst she saw and gave her advice which NO ONE has explained to me except for the doctor at Mercy Hospital who dealt with my miscarriage, who told me it's nothing to be worried about as it's fairly common.

I think I can now let my guards down and be excited for the first time. 

Week 12

So the Harmony test results came back good. Low probability on the 3 most common chromosome abnormalities. I then asked doc about ultrasound at 12 weeks and he said no? Next ultrasound will not be until 20 weeks. 

😟 

Really? The health of baby is that easily determined by just one blood test??

I asked about the first trimester screening and he said the Harmony test pretty much supersedes it because it’s more accurate (his words, not mine). 

From what I’ve read the test is not diagnostic. It calculates the probability it doesn’t diagnose whether or not the fetus has problems. 

What baffles me is why didn’t I get the choice to do the screen first before going for a $430 test which the government does not cover. It’s not as if I fall under the high risk category (age 35 and above). I also read somewhere which mentions an ultrasound is still recommended to look for other physical abnormalities which the test will not be able to detect. 

Anyway, I asked him if its possible if I wanted to do an ultrasound before 20 weeks. He asked for what reason. 

I blurted because I don’t feel pregnant? 

He went on and explained again usually there’s only a dating scan (which I did at 6 weeks) and next scan will be at 20 weeks to check for fetal physical development. The Harmony test is a comprehensive test with accurate results to confirm the pregnancy. 

I said fine then I’ll wait until 20 weeks. He then proceeded to write me a referral for an ultrasound anyway for my “peace of mind”. 

😀😀

I may come across super paranoid but after going through a miscarriage it’s almost impossible to NOT overthink and be worried 24/7. Every single day I check my underwear to make sure I have no spotting. Every single day I feel my boobs to make sure they are still “different”. Every single day I weigh myself and I look at my belly in the mirror. Did I gain weight or is this the pregnancy? 

I’d also really like another ultrasound so that if we do decide to announce at least there’s a good photo?? What a superficial reason but the last ultrasound we did we could barely see anything. Which is not surprising since it was only 6 weeks! And the picture was taken with a mobile phone -.- 

Usually a dating scan is done towards the end of first trimester but because I’ve had a miscarriage before the doctor ordered one early on (6 weeks) to confirm the viability of the pregnancy. 

P.S. The Harmony test lets you know the baby’s gender. Yes, we know what we’re having. I can’t believe I’ve been wrong. Whatever baby is, I just hope for a healthy pregnancy and baby. 

P.P.S. Wk asks if I’m excited. Can’t say I am to be honest. At least not until this next ultrasound confirms baby is ok. This Friday is the day.