patin fish at lam siew leng's
retirement dinner

my 'ccab friend' mr lam siew leng, who retired in december last year, 'threw' a dinner for fifty of his friends, ex-colleagues and family members. the dinner was held at tung lok seafood restaurant at east coast park, just behind the macdonald's.

it looked like a repeat of jim kee's dinner held at furuma in december last year because the guest list was much the same. this time, harry tan was there with his wife jessie. say hian, who joined ccab last year, was also there. did not see elangovan around this time.

dinner started with peking duck. each one of us had two pieces of the crispy skin wrapped in egg popiah skin. it has to be eaten hot with hoisin sauce and garnish with spring onion. other dishes included superior shark's fin, mushroom and sea cucumber, sauted prawns, scallops with cauliflower and noodles. but, the dish that was outstanding was the fish - the patin.

patin, or silver catfish, is a freshwater fish. the most popular variety that is a favourite in chinese restaurants is the patin buah. it is a pretty oily fish and has a fine texture. the patin has no scales on its body. in restaurants, patin can be steamed with soy sauce or prepared lemak or assam curry style. because it loves to graze on muddy bottoms, the patin has that muddy flavour.

you can buy the fish locally. today, i saw them selling the patin fish at sheng siong for $3.50/kg.


mr lam is doing some part-time work. he is helping harry tan supervise some of his nie trainees for which he is paid $125 an hour. he is also coaching some students in the game of softball.