For our fourth year in a row, we went to the Sambal Lady’s house and backyard in Flatbush, Brooklyn, for her annual Malaysian feast. This year, she called it the “rendang hang,” after her famous beef rendang.

For the delicious meal, we had freshly fried shrimp chips as a snack, rojak buah salad, ghee rice, beef brisket rendang, a vegetable curry mix and ended with a gula melaka and coconut sticky rice. We also had an interesting selection of local craft beers, as well as unique samplings of other booze, such as a fun durian brandy.

Given there were 70+ people at the event, it was hard to chat too much with Sambal Lady. But when we did chat a bit, she told us that she would not have had this event unless I had messaged her a couple months ago asking about it. Then, I told Chris that I’d be making beef rendang using Auria’s spice blend, and he asked if she was having her annual feast again. I messaged her, asking if this would still be happening given that her event partner had moved to Ohio, and “Chris has a hankering for your rendang.” She responded and said they weren’t sure, but now she’d start talking to him. So they settled on 19 October and set the date! She said she wasn’t sure she wanted to host a big event given she had a rough trip to Malaysia in August for her mother’s 90th birthday, but after I messaged her, she got into the spirit and decided to just jump right in. We were lucky and got some good pictures of us together with Kaia (who even smiled!). When I first came to her house and met her in September 2021, I was pregnant with Pookster. And we’ve come every year since. So this is now our fourth year coming with Kaia in tow… just that in year 1, Pookster was still in the uterus! Kaia always gets a little shout out during Auria’s welcome speech since she was named after Auria’s pandan kaya jam. And so we have a lot of repeat guests who recognize us and say that we’re like distant family that they see once a year; one of them remarked to me, “You two are like mini celebrities! We know of you and know you!” a dinner attendee exclaimed to me.

We also had our couple friends that we met three years ago come to the event again tonight, so it was like our three-year anniversary of meeting — and at the same location! The older I get, the more I marvel at how quickly time flies. Three years ago really didn’t feel like that long ago, even though I was pregnant then, and Kaia is now almost 3!

Auria’s shindig always attracts lots of interesting people who not only love to eat and drink, but also love to cook (given her line up of spices and sauces) and by default, travel. So I had a lot of interesting conversation tonight, which has left my throat even more sore than it was when I woke up this morning. But it is all most definitely worth it!