Today's lunch special at Doug's Diner

The routine here each morning is to seat the boys at the counter in the kitchen and to serve them whatever breakfast is on the menu for the day. Allie presides over their often rambunctious behavior from her position of authority on the end of the counter. 

On one such day some time ago, as I helped Allie serve the McD's, (explained soon) and stood across the counter from the boys, with a small dish towel thrown over my shoulder, ever ready to mop up spills, I had a flashback to my Denbo Motel days and my life there for two years as a waiter and fry cook. 

I decided that morning to acquaint the boys with those days by calling our breakfast kitchen, 'Doug's Diner,' and I started regaling them that day as they ate, with stories from my hash-slinging days. They seemed to enjoy it and to this day, I often remind them of some of my old stories by asking, "What'll it be this morning boys, the usual?" They know how to respond now, being, as they are, favoured 'regulars' at my diner.

We have lots of different breakfast specials at Doug's Diner that they enjoy. Many years ago, I 'invented' the egg McDougal, for Allie, when she was young, and that sandwich continues to be a staple at Doug's Diner. Other menu items include the scrambled egg sandwich, an English muffin, with cream cheese for Amiri and with butter for Arram, crumpets, cold cereals of course, oat meal, or porridge as it's called here, and yogurts. Doug's Diner, because we cater to the Kiwi taste as well as the American, also offers baked beans on toast and spaghetti on toast. Bbot is very popular with the boys. Fairly often, Doug's Diner welcomes guest chef, Grammy, who cooks up batches of her famous pancakes, waffles or, when the bananas have gone a bit brown on us, her really famous banana muffins. 

Doug's Diner also serves great coffee to the adults and they generally each choose their own sort of breakfasts around the perimeter of the main event of feeding the regulars. 

The breakfast menu at Doug's prides itself on not only the it's wholesomeness, but also its dependability. There are rarely surprises. Oh, guest chef Grammy may occasionally slip raisins into her muffins, but that's about as wild as it gets.  

Today however, Doug's Diner is expanding its hours of operation, and including a lunch menu. This is sort of a test. If it is successful, Doug's may very well decide to offer other lunch specials from time to time. 

These lunch "specials" make no promises at all. The specials offered here will be interesting and possibly unusual. They may be extraordinary or awful. Probably peculiar to most people. 

I'm sorry that your participation at Doug's Diner will be limited to virtual participation only. Only Jeanne and Allie have the opportunity of enjoying to the fullest the offerings of Doug's, and even they are not required to sample anything they don't really want. (Doug's has occasionally found items that are just too weird to try)  So maybe you, the reader, find that you are perfectly happy to be sampling only virtual food. 

Today's special will be......Fish Maw Soup

"Huh?  Fish what? Mah?  What the heck is a maw?  Is that like, "Ah mah, I hate fish!"  Maybe its a soup made by a fisherman's mother?  I hope it's not something gross, but knowing D like we do, it probably is. Oh well, like he said, WE don't have to really eat it."

Here it is. I'll admit that I shuddered a little when I picked up this package up the first time. They reminded me of bleached doggie doo. After doing some reading about it though, my attitude changed and I went back to the Silver Bell and purchased a package. 


Fish 'Maw' refers to the swim bladder. That is the organ in fish (although not sharks) that allows them to control their buoyancy. Since this is a Chinese product, these maws most likely come from a conger pike, Muraenesocidae cinereus, which is a type of eel. And, before you turn up your nose at that, consider this. In Chinese cuisine, there are what the Chinese call the 'big four delicacies.'  These are abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin and yup, fish maw. I understood when I read about them why these maws are quite expensive. (in the U.S., about $60 to $80 per pound)

These are deep fried. To use them one soaks them in water for a hour or so, cuts them into bite sized pieces, boils them in ginger flavored water for 5 minuts and then cools them. Only then do they go into the soup or stew. 

My soup will be made taking a short cut. Traditional fish maw soup is made with chicken broth but I'll be using Mrs. Grass soup instead. I'm also adding rattan shoots to my soup. I discovered these the same day I found the maws. You've heard no doubt of rattan furniture. Well, these are the very young (interior portion) shoots of the woody plant that makes rattan.  

I would guess that half of the shoots in this bottle are too woody to eat. Those that are tender have a somewhat bitter aftertaste. I didn't really like them much and I was glad I hadn't put many in the soup. Jeanne didn't think the level of bitterness was a problem for her, but didn't care for them much either. 

I'm very pleased with my soup, although a lot of the credit goes to Mrs. Grass for providing such a pleasant base.  I added some ginger and garlic to the ingredients shown and also shook a few dried pepper flakes into my bowl as I served myself. The egg of course was beaten and drizzled into the boiling soup to make threads. The pan of soup looks a little odd because I also used the package of tiny noodles that comes in the soup mix and they were all floating as I took the picture. 

A very nice looking soup, if I do say so myself.

A bit of rattan shoot on the left and  fish maw on the right in my spoon. The fish maw has a spongy feeling.

Jeanne had the idea of topping the soup with fried noodles. Added crunch and eye appeal too.

So what do you think, diners? I have laid out below three sets of virtual bowls for your dining pleasure. They are sized to reflect your acceptance of my soup. Help yourself to as much (or as little) of my lunch special as you would like. How hungry or adventurous are you? Which bowl will you choose? Will you try a bit of maw; of rattan?

Jeanne, Allie and I each had two bowls. It really was quite good.

To those of you who just couldn't bring yourself to try it; that's okay. You can skip right to dessert. Today we're having toddy palm's seeds. MMmmmm.          -djf