Conquering an Old Man's Heart with Chicken Masak Merah

Tok Batin Silihan had expended a lot of his spiritual energy to help the little sweet-mouthed outsider.

Although at the beginning he was quite irritated with the ungrateful wretch, that boy had at least rectified his way for the better. Even expending his spiritual energy didn't feel too taxing after that due to Arash's 'positive vibe' affected him. Hana always said, Arash really knows how to sweet talk to old people. 😊

Nobody would've understood his predicament since no one else had been in his shoe. With the thinning of spiritual energy from mother earth over the years, it has been tough to make any small amount of progress. He had to spend every second immersing in cultivation to catch a tiny wisp of spiritual energy at the earliest of dawn without fail each day for the sake of advancing his realm. But still, his road ahead was very long. He couldn't see the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, this had made him extremely depressed. In this area, he might be the last of the Spirit Healers as his Master had passed on sixty years ago due to his life finally reaching the end. At the end of the day, like many other Spiritual Healers, his Master, too, failed to overcome the final bottleneck.

As a spiritual healer, each healing session will utilize a trace amount of spiritual energy. If he became too benevolent, his spirit reservoir would never be full! As such, he had been extra stingy and wouldn't help anyone unnecessarily unless the return was good enough. He had obtained a few tens-of-year spiritual herbs this way from his fellow clansmen. The rest, humph, he won't even bother! Over the years, spiritual herbs had gotten rarer; it has been really trying even to find young spirit-imbued common herbs to support his cultivation.

Nonetheless, Tok Batin Silihan believed in fate, karma, and oath-bound promises.

Once he had seen Arash, he knew there was some sort of strange fate binding them together. The timing was too perfect as if it was prearranged by the heavens. Hence, he followed the natural order of the world to save the outsider boy. The poultices he produced has been infused by one month's worth of spirit energy accumulation! Although it pained him deeply, he knew he couldn't let the kid die just like that. He was sure the Spirit of the Woods would be more than happy with his actions. Perhaps, he will gain some benefits out of all this in the long run. Who knows.

Tok Batin Silihan slightly panted as he walked in between the bushes under a slight drizzle of rain. It won't be long for the rain to disperse, yet he hadn't found anything suitable to fill in his belly. Perhaps it was due to the rain, wild critters and fowls were still reluctant to emerge. In fact, if any of them appeared, he could slap them to death in less than a second, and they could have a great barbecue afterward.

He sighed and fetched a handful of wild fruits from a nearby tree the size of his thumb, not forgetting to get some extras for the wretched burden back at the boulder formation.

[Sigh... I should go back to check on the boy.]

...

[How should I remedy the situation?] Arash queried worriedly. He had a haunch that the tsundere gramps would've turned ballistic later.

"Ahhh!" A lightbulb lit up in his mind! Suddenly Arash got an ingenious idea! Hana always said to him, to conquer a man, the best way was through his stomach!

The old gramps went out to get food; obviously, he must be hungry. What could he net in two-hours' time? It was not like there was a convenience store nearby. Most probably, the old gramps would've looked for edible wild fruits or something nearby to fill his belly. After all, they are going to the village afterward. Why bother hunting?

However, Arash was different. He was very prepared for this 'camping' trip. Very prepared.

Besides other camping necessities purchased online, he had read so many survival tutorials and prepared DIY camping items before embarking on the current adventure. DIY stove? Checked. DIY fire starter? Checked. DIY camp stove fuel? Checked. He even had items to build a DIY wasp trap on the spot. But strangely, in this small place, no insects disturbed his peace, stopping him from showing off his prowess.

Anyway, Arash was confident that in less than half an hour, he could whip up something decent for the old man. Hopefully, he'll be more forgiving with a better mood afterward.

He slowly got down from the stone slab and inched himself to his bag with difficulties. However, he was very amazed by his progress; he didn't have to move like a pitiful caterpillar anymore but could use his two good legs to move forward. Arash rummaged his bag and donned a Pagoda shirt (1) to cover up his exposed upperparts. He felt immensely at ease with his slight pot-belly being covered from the public's eyes, although it was a question who was going to watch that fair pot-belly with all the well-defined bronzed six-packs lying around in abundance. However, since our uncle hadn't met up with all those lean and extremely fit and suave aborigines, he didn't know he was at the bottom rung of the aborigine's community and won't be attractive at all to the opposite sex, except to the predators of the forest, of course. After all, there was so much meat and fat which could make one feel full for seven days, seven nights.

Next, he took out his treasured smartphone, safely wrapped in a bundle of bubble wraps, and slowly checked on its condition. He switched it on to be greeted by the wallpaper of his beloved wife with his two cheeky daughters and gave it a kiss longingly before switching it off with satisfaction. Thank goodness nothing happened to this sacred treasure.

He dived deeper into his camping bag and took out a cylinder-shaped homemade tuna spread can fill with cardboard and wax, an empty fruit cocktail tin can with holes at one end and an open flap on the other end, and surprisingly, a miniature deep pot. His intentions were clear, he wanted to start cooking!

[Which one should I choose? The rendang flavored beef, the anchovies sambal, the chicken curry with potatoes or the spicy chicken masak merah?(2)]

There was so many to choose from, he had a hard time to determine which one will suit the elder's taste.

[Spicy chicken masak merah then!]

The gravy of chicken masak merah is generally made from a mixture of big onions, chili paste and tomatoes blended together besides the standard four herbs as a base. Tomatoes couldn't be grown in these areas. It needed some altitude and a lower temperature. That was why one can only get Cameron's tomatoes besides the ones imported from China. Nine out of ten, the elder never tasted this flavor before. Besides that, since the taste was within the range of a local, with only a tiny bit of innovation, he believed that even if the old man might not take a liking to it, at least he won't be aversed to it.

Arash diligently set the simple DIY cooking stove to prepare some rice while humming an out-of-tune 'Finger Family' song under his breath...

...

Tok Batin Silihan walked back in gloominess but his steps suddenly halted as he sniffed the air in confusion. It was the smell of rice being cooked! Additionally, the smell was so fragrant than usual!

"Strange. The smell of rice can't travel this far from the village." Rice was an expensive commodity for his people. The Bateq people main diet consisted of meats, wild herbs, wild fruits and tubers from hunting and foraging. The ones staying permanently in the main village did perform a small-scaled agriculture with the help of the government, but they mostly focused on planting sweet potatoes as their carbs. Rice could only be obtained through occasional trade with outsiders.

His pace increased by following the fragrant smell of rice in the air. To his shock, he was moving towards the boulder formation where he left the injured brat!

Not long later, he saw the back of the brat squatting while humming.

"Sister finger, sister finger, where are you.."

"Here I am, here I am, what would you do.."

"Baby finger, baby finger.."

Arash's gentle hum had turned into a full volume out-of-tune song due to his good mood.

"... " The corner of Tok Batin Silihan's mouth twitched a few times while looking at the slightly jiggly plump purple butt with pink polkadots moving a little from side to side.

The naughty patient wasn't resting!

Before he could switch his rage mode on, the brat turned his head slightly and gave a fawning gentle smile.

"Just right about time. Handsome Mysterious Elder, I've cooked something simple for you. I was quite afraid you might still be hungry. Just the everyday rice with some chicken masak merah. Apologies for the impudence, I can't bear to let my kindhearted benefactor starve when I have so much food lying in my bag."

As usual, with the right flowery words, the brat had successfully thawed Tok Batin Silihan impending volcanic anger from bursting. The elder walked closer to see a pot filled to the brim with pristine white fluffy fragrant rice and took a deep breath with appreciation. Though, in his mind, he was thinking, where was the 'chicken' being mentioned before?

Arash automatically said, "Shoo, go to the side a little," while snipping open a red-colored plastic packaging and pouring it on top of the rice immediately before closing back the lid.

The old man's face turned a shade darker. "Ah, sorry, I mean, excuse me, Mysterious Elder, I need to fetch something from the bag for the finishing touch." He smiled apologetically.

Tok Batin Silihan harumphed a little unhappily and took two steps back while watching what did this brat was intending to do. Nobody had dared to 'shoo' him and go unscathed all these years. He was willingly reigning in his temper for the sake of the delicious-smelling food prepared by the brat.

Arash plunged in his bag and took a shallow rectangular metal container, a tiny transparent coin-sized container, a pink cylinder container, a metal spoon, a penknife, and a small silver sachet from within his bag. The old man was so baffled with his actions. The brat had so many little things inside his bag, just like a Doraemon's pocket! Firstly, Arash used the spoon to carefully scoop out fluffy white rice doused with the reddish-orange gravy with chunks of chicken into the shallow rectangular container. He then opened the pink cylinder container to retrieve an egg!

Tok Batin Silihan, "... " O__O

Arash explained while he automatically de-shelled the egg expertly. "Ah, my wife loved to make boil eggs for me when we travel. Just like the ahjummas in Korean dramas, you know. Over time, it had become a necessity for me, a habit. It tasted really good with a dash of light soy sauce." He looked at the egg nostalgically while feeling a little sad.

Once he was done de-shelling the egg, he used the penknife to carve a zigzag pattern around the egg. It then opened up into a beautiful white flower with a yellow center! Arash nodded with happiness. "It turned out so well this time." He placed the two carved flower-egg in the center of the rice covered with gravy meticulously.

Tok Batin Silihan, "... "

He proceeded to tear open the silver sachet and drip a few drops of soy sauce at the center of the egg yolk.

"Last touch." He opened the last coin-sized container. There were some prepacked toasted black sesame seeds inside! He took a pinch and expertly sprinkled on top of the rice-gravy-flower egg combo, Salt Bae style.

"Great contrast!" He gave himself a big 'Like' in his heart in satisfaction. Oftentimes, food shouldn't just taste delicious, it must look delicious to move the hearts of the people we care about!

Tok Batin Silihan, "... "

"Mysterious Elder, this is for you. I made this with all my heart." Arash blushed slightly like a bashful fair maiden. His fair skin reflected the pinkish blush well and made Tok Batin Silihan really wanted to smack his face! It really sounded like a love confession to him! D*mn it!

@#$#@#&*!

Tok Batin Silihan tried his hardest to stop himself from spanking the brat, and only managed to curse harshly in his heart. His hands trembled a little as he tried his hardest not to do anything to the well-intentioned brat while receiving the food meticulously made for him. He took the spoon from the kid and awkwardly fed himself with a spoonful of a rice-gravy combo.

Tok Batin Silihan, "... "

The cold hard stare turned gentle as his brows relaxed. He took another spoon, and another, and another.

After the fifth one, his harsh look had turned extraordinarily gentle and compassionate towards the sensible, nice boy. It was as if Tok Batin Silihan was staring at his own doted descendant turned long-lost disciple.

"Good food, good food. How can the rice be so fragrant?" He quietly muttered under his breath.

"It is because it is not normal rice. It is an A grade fragrant imported Siamese rice. Around RM10 per kilo. The normal rice is about RM3 per kilo." Arash smiled and automatically answered. "It's my wife's favorite." He added quietly while his eyes turned a little gloomy.

Tok Batin Silihan noticed Arash's change once he mentioned about his 'wife' for a few times. He sighed slightly after a few moments of silence between them. "Alright, go and lie down and rest. I will come and check your condition after this."

Arash nodded slightly and felt relieved as the old man didn't say anything after he saw the condition of the displaced dirty poultices on his body. He suddenly felt that his position had elevated from a distant outsider to a dotted descendant. He was planning to eat part of the leftover rice inside the cooking pot to fill up his hungry belly. As he rummaged his bag to get another spoon, the old man continued, "Leave the rest of the rice in the pot. I'll finish it after I eat this."

Arash, "... " He was speechless.

His hand reached for two energy bars inside his bag and his tumbler to sate his hunger a little.

"Mysterious Elder, the last gift for you. You can eat after you finish up the rice. But if you're already full, just keep it with you and eat when you want to eat it. In truth, you deserve all the good things in life due to your benevolent heart. But all I can give you are just these things. I don't have anything else."

He passed one energy bar to the old man with an apologetic smile. Arash was someone you really cared about the older generation and really knew how to conduct himself prim and proper. Coupled with his sweet tongue and his gentle demeanor, he had successfully conquered the hard-hearted Ma'am Shaza with ease in just a two-hour meeting to obtain Hana's hand in marriage.

The old man's gaze turned a notch softer. The boy was really sensible!

...

Authors' Notes:

1) Pagoda shirt = an inner shirt or singlet (usually white). Although there are so many brands nowadays, once upon a time ago, the most popular local brand was the 'Pagoda' brand. So now, even whichever brand one bought, they will still call it 'pagoda shirt'.

2) The rendang flavored beef, the anchovies sambal, the chicken curry with potatoes or the spicy chicken masak merah? = These are instant pack meals favored by Msians. They will bring these for traveling and the gravy+meats only needed to be reheat. Of course, we ate this with rice. The most popular brand is Brahim, since it tasted so good and near to the original conventional cooking.

https://brahimsfoodisforsharing.com/products/

Scroll down to 'Ready to Eat Meals'.

p/s: chicken masak merah can be directly translated to chicken cook red, or chicken cooked in red broth, or spicy tomato chicken. Red comes from the mixture of predominantly tomatoes and a bit of red cayenne pepper chili. As compared to many other spicy Malaysian style cookings, chicken masak merah is considered quite mild tasting (got only 1-2 chili symbol), so even slightly older children can eat this dish. It can also be modified to become not spicy at all.

These are a few links on how to make one. It's the simple version and could be easily attempted by anyone.

https://www.nyonyacooking.com/recipes/ayam-masak-merah~ByApwDivGqZX

http://www.butterkicap.com/kitchen-lab/insanely-delicious-ayam-masak-merah

This website is Mrs Mooncat go-to reference and has a comprehensive full version of chicken masak merah. Although its in Malaysian, you could translate the website and focus on the recipe only at the lowest part. Another one is in english.

http://www.aziekitchen.com/2015/09/ayam-masak-merah-sedap-di-hari-raya.html

https://rasamalaysia.com/ayam-masak-merah-recipe/