Homecooked fish porridge is the best!

Posted via web from STUMPBO's posterous

Damn good or not?

I went for a food tasting session at Botak Jones yesterday. I brought my mom along too. Botak Jones has become a household name for offering quality American meals with value-for-money prices in everyday setting, which means coffee shops and eating houses. We were there to sample Botak Jones' new set lunch meals for each day of the week. 

Here are the entrees:

Monday - Honey Baked Chicken

  

Tuesday - Beef Stew

Wednesday - Tomato Chicken Stew

Thursday - Mexican Chicken

  Friday - Cajun Fish Stew

 

Above set lunches come with Soup, Salad & Dessert

As typical of Botak Jones, their meals come in astronomical portions. With the salad, soup and dessert thrown in, I think the portion of a set meal is filling enough and equivalent to 2 meals for me!

  

Of all the entrees, my personal favourite was the Cajun Fish Stew, which was simply soft and fragrant, infused with the right amount of spices and aromatic vegetables like bell pepper, onion and celery. It went very well with garlic bread and the mushroom soup. 

My mom's favourite was the Beef Stew (I do not take beef). According to mom, the Beef Stew was so tender and juicy, cooked to the right heat, with mouth-watering piping hot gravy. I would have preferred the beef stew and fish stew to come with a little rice because of the gravy. However the stews were teamed with bread instead, while the 'dry' meals like the Honey Baked Chicken and Mexican Chicken come with rice.

  

Here's the man himself, Botak Jones!  He is the big boss, Bernie Utchenik “The Botak”. Thanks for the invitation and for having us at yesterday's session!  

By the way, Botak Jones also does catering. You can check out their website for more details. As their motto goes, they serve "damn good food at a damn good price".

Cookie monster

These were taken some time back. Nephew was busy chomping cookies immediately after dinner and was watching TV. He was too engrossed to notice me. 

Deepak's take

I love Deepak Chopra's writings. Here's his take on Enlightenment and Rebirth: 

Consciousness persists after the death of the physical body, but the experience of death does not awaken to our essential reality, that is it does not produce enlightenment. The main idea to bear in mind in all this is that the entire phenomenon of spiritual growth, life experiences, and rebirth is all driven by the force of evolution bringing about our enlightenment, the full awakening of consciousness to its own true nature. When one is enlightened there is no more need for rebirth. 

Don’t get too wrapped up in esoteric theories about astral planes and causal bodies. All these are just realms of experience that correspond to our state of consciousness. After death experiences, like embodied experiences, all take place within our consciousness. We mistakenly believe that all these experiences are externally based and are being imposed on us when in fact it is our own consciousness that is driving the process. The wheel of birth and death in Sanskrit is called samsara. It is the endless cycle of action and reaction. When we come to know our true self as non-local, pure consciousness, then we realize that we are that consciousness that pervades all existence, all creation. With enlightenment we get off the wheel of samsara by realizing that we are that wholeness of life that transcends it. 

On the table

The family enjoy home-cooked dishes, which are more healthy and nutritious than outside food. We are always trying to cook the same ingredients in different styles or different ingredients in tried and tested ways. To recap...

 

1. Black bean sauce chicken

2. Minced pork tofu

3. Chinese cabbage with ham

4. Steamed fish with fungus and wolfberries

5. Minced pork with salted olive bits

6. Sambal prawns petai

7. French beans with prawns

Go au naturale, honey!

CNY is coming and everyone is / will be busy spring cleaning, and we Singaporeans are so fussy in getting the best, even to the extent of finding all different types of cleaning detergents and sprays and equipments, just to rid dirt, bacteria, rust, dust whatever.... so much so that the only hole it burns is our pocket. Why don't we save this small fortune for food and ang pows instead?

Written by Goh Mei Yi, I got these spring cleaning tips from the Straits Times using natural products.

Multi-purpose cleaner

Mix 1 cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water in a spray bottle. Spray it onto kitchen countertops and bathroom sinks and wipe.

Chopping board cleaner and disinfectant

Rub a slice of lemon or pour some vinegar over the chopping board. For tougher stains, squeeze some of the lemon juice onto the spot and let sit for 10 minutes, then wipe. Alternatively, soak the board in vinegar for 5 to 10 minutes.

Furniture polish

Mix 2 parts olive oil to one part lemon juice. Apply a small amount to a clean cloth and spread evenly over furniture surface. Polish with a dry cloth.

Toilet bowl cleaner

Sprinkle baking soda into the toilet bowl, then add a small amount of vinegar. To clean the rim, spray undiluted vinegar directly on it.

Carpet deodoriser

Combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/4 cup talcum powder and 3/4 cup baking soda. Sprinkle the mixture on the carpet and let it stand for 15 minutes before vacuuming.

Window cleaner

Mix 2 teaspoons of vinegar with one litre warm water. Dip crumpled newspapers into the solution and wipe the glass. Wipe dry with another sheet of newspaper.

Odour remover

Leave a small bowl of baking soda in the refrigerator or cupboard. You can also remove stale smalls from food containers by soaking the container overnight in a mixture of baking soda and water.

Tile cleaner

Rub in baking soda with a damp sponge and rinse. For tougher jobs, wipe surfaces with vinegar first followed by baking soda.

To summarise, I guess we just need to buy loads of baking soda and white vinegar!  Happy cleaning, everyone! :D

A very long bridge

Who is he?

Hmmm..... last night I had a spiritual dream again. I dreamt of Venerable Choden Rinpoche of Sera Je Monastery. The very  very very weird thing is, I have never met him before in real life nor followed his teachings, or even read about him. I only heard of his name once from FPMT's activities where my guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director.

In the dream, I was to attend a very grand Dharma event, supposedly teachings given by Choden Rinpoche. It was in a very modern looking white building. There were many many rooms and auditoriums, with walls painted in white, all very clean. Each and every room was arranged with chairs for the event. There were so many people and students around, the place was buzzing with activity, as everyone got ready to welcome Choden Rinpoche. My whole family and some relatives were with me, although everyone was separated in different rooms. All the rooms have very high ceilings, and there was even a room with a mini ferris wheel! And some students could sit inside each of the ferris wheel's cubicle! Each room had a huge projection screen, supposedly to tune in to Rinpoche's talk later on. 

Throughout the dream, I only remember my grandma was with me all the time. She looked weaker than usual, but was very enthusiastic and excited about the forthcoming event. I remember grandma was weak on one leg, with a slight limp, and kept a close distance to me, so that I could hold her arm and support her when she walked. We managed to catch a glimpse of a room, brightly lit, and 2 high-throne chairs in wood with maroon-coloured seats, and there were floor cushions scattered around on the floor. 

I found another aunt in another room, greeted her and I went on my way to explore the huge place. Many people were seated or trying to be seated, and on everyone's lips, all I could hear was "Rinpoche.... (this and that)..".  I bumped into another cousin, V, who just came in too. My grandma kept asking me stuff in Teochew, she did not understand why we were going through the event. She kept asking 'are we done?', very typical of grandma's gan-cheong (anxious) behaviour in real life. Throughout the dream, I did not see any photos of Choden Rinpoche or any altar or Buddha statues. I also did not see any members of the Sangha around. In the dream,  the visualization of Choden Rinpoche's face  kept appearing in the corner of my head. I helped my grandma got on a very long escalator and we were up to another higher level.  Then we suddenly heard people whispering that Rinpoche was here. There were so many people that it was hard to identify Rinpoche. Then just as fast, in a mere few seconds, I saw Choden Rinpoche walking past slowly, smiling gently, holding a rosary in his palm. Everyone hushed and bowed down their heads in respect, as he entered the room with the 2 high throne seats. End of dream.

This dream really had me floored. I do not know Choden Rinpoche at all. Never read anything about him at all. Why did I dream of him?  And you know what, I suddenly realised, Choden Rinpoche looked a little like my Grandma's eldest brother, who had already passed on many years back. What a resemblance. 

Here is an intro of Choden Rinpoche I found online:

Choden Rinpoche of Sera Je Monastery, is one of the highest of the Gelug lamas. During the communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, Choden Rinpoche stayed in Tibet and went into solitary retreat for 19 years. He never left his tiny, dark room in Lhasa from 1965 to 1985, and was virtually unknown in his monastery for this reason. He neither escaped his country after 1959 nor was imprisoned; instead, he lived in a house in Lhasa, never leaving his small, dark, empty room for 19 years, even to go to the toilet, and never cutting his hair and beard. In 1985 he was allowed to leave Tibet for India, and has since taught for many years to thousands of students at Sera Je monastery in South India. At the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche has now visited the west several times to give teachings and lead retreats.

His words of wisdom, on his 19 years retreat:

"The future life is more important than this life – this life is just like a dream. So if you went and did as the Chinese said, you would get a good house and car, you could enjoy so many things, but this would have caused you to fall to the lower realms, where you would experience sufferings for so many eons. Future lives are much more important than this life. In order to work for the future lives, I stayed inside to practice.

When we die we don’t just vanish. We have to take rebirth, and we don’t have any choice in that birth, only what our karma determines – whether we’re reborn in the lower realms or upper realms. If you’ve done positive things in this life you can take rebirth in the human realm, and you can enjoy the result of these actions. If you do negative actions, the karma does not vanish; even the smallest karma accumulated you have to experience in the future.

The future is very long, many eons. This life is so short, it’s just fiction, just a dream. Your mind continues infinitely, and when you die in the next life, again it doesn’t vanish, and again you continue to the next life, and the next – many lives you have to go through. So all of these are determined by the present actions. You have no choice. So the present action is very important. This life is so short, perhaps only one hundred years – very small compared to the future lives. This is why the future lives are more important than this life".

More details of Choden Rinpoche can be found here.

Idealist teacher

I took the quiz "What's Your Personality Type?" in Facebook and surprise surprise, I got the result ► Idealist Teacher!  (you can skip the below what the quiz analyzed about me and go straight to the bottom to read what I have to say).

You are introspective, cooperative, directive, and expressive. You look for the very best and expect the best out of those around you. You are highly capable of helping learners express their inner potential. You communicate to your pupils that each one of them has the ...potential to succeed and motivate others to meet the Teacher's positive expectations. You like to have things organized, settled and planned out. You will usually have your work hours and social engagements planned well in advance and can be trusted to honor your commitments. 

However, you are also capable of using your creativity to invent engaging learning activities for your pupils with little planning. You are more an educational leader than you are a social leader, your primary interest being the growth and development of others. You have a highly developed intuition. You are highly skilled at understanding what is going on within yourself and others. You often find yourself mirroring the beliefs, characteristics, and emotions of those you have contact with to generate rapport. This enables you to feel a close connection with others and develop a personal involvement in the joys and problems of others. You consider people to be your highest priority, and your communication often asserts a personal concern and willingness to help others. 

You are warm, outgoing, and value harmonious relations and interpersonal communication. You are usually easy to get along with, tolerant of others, and popular. You may also be the most expressive of all the role variants. You have exceptional language skills and don't hesitate to share your feelings, beliefs and ideas. You are very enthusiastic and can be a charismatic public speaker. Your exceptional language skills enhance your influence within groups, and you are often asked to assume leadership roles. Famous Teachers include Mikhael Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Ralph Nader, and Oprah Winfrey.

Well, being a Teacher is the last thing on my mind, because I really do not think I have the patience to teach a class of students day in day out, without getting flustered and probably with an eternal lost voice. However, most of what they described above about me are accurate, EXCEPT that I do not like public speaking at all. I prefer one to one or a small group. I can spend hours talking to one individual to share opinions or just to listen to and counsel that person. I always think it is more effective to give the personal touch, rather than try to talk to a big audience. I should have been a counsellor. Someone told me I am suited for and will be more successful if I sell something intangible like a service rather than cold, hard, tangible products. So... yup, maybe I should have been a counsellor.

Talking about teacher, I suddenly thought of Mrs Tee from my JC days. I was not close to her or anything. In fact, she was a terror teacher whom all the students dreaded ALOT. You see, Mrs Tee was my Economics teacher, and Economics was not exactly my favourite subject. In those days, we had to go to different classes for different lessons.  Whenever it was Economics lesson, everyone literally ran to the designated room as if we were in a marathon. It was horrifying to see some students falling down  and hurting themselves while running. We were THAT frightened of Economics lesson.  Mrs Tee was a really fierce teacher who never once smiled, and she would drill you and scream at you for an answer. If you got it wrong, you would get Hell. And Mrs Tee usually liked to start calling on students starting from the front row OR the last row, and down the line it went. So the reason  why we ran was, everybody wanted middle row seats! (less chances of reaching their turns!)!!! It is hilarious thinking of it now, but really, Mrs Tee was THE FEAR FACTOR then. I often wonder how her husband was like. Anyway, I am just glad I passed Economics.

Vegetarian lunch - Butter Naan!

Posted via web from STUMPBO's posterous

Was at Ananda Bhavan, an Indian Vegetarian restaurant (more like fast food with self-collect counters). I love butter naan and the 3 types of gravy. If I am craving for Indian food again, I am going to check out these places too, as recommended by Adrianna (@skinnylatte). 

Saravana Bhavan (vegetarian, at Syed Alwi Road)

Murugan Idli   (vegetarian, at Syed Alwi Road)

Anjappar (spicy Chettinad food, at Race Course Road)

Usman  (at Desker Road)

Sakunthala (at Dunlop St)

A clutz he has become

Nowadays, my father seems to have a knack of destroying everything in the house. Attribute it to ignorance (don't know how to use) or... old age? But he is only in his 60s!

Since I was a kid, my father has always been the self-appointed handyman around the house. Last time, whenever something was not working or got spoilt, be it the radio, old grandfather's clock, house phone, video recorder, TV!, washing machine etc.... he would try to fiddle with it until somehow he managed to repair it. He even tried to clean and vaccum the aircon and the piping!

Perhaps technology has evolved so much that my father sometimes do not understand what it is all about. Take for example, the PC and internet. My father knows simple surfing, does a little of internet banking or checking statements, and he keys everything in Excel (he still save everything into a diskette, which I bet you the disk is not working anymore). He does not know how to use a thumb drive. Other than that, he plays Solitaire (a simple card game). Every time something goes wrong, he would ask me (to him, even a small window popping up means there is an error somewhere or virus). I have to admit I am not the least patient during these times, because when I tried to troubleshoot by asking him what he had done earlier, his almost-same-reply every time would be "I didn't do anything". It sounded like a kid who had done something wrong. I thought, so if you did not do anything, how come there was an error?! I just hope that I don't get to see the blue screen on his laptop one day.

Then the other day, he was trying to take down the curtains for a wash. The curtains came down, somehow too the window grills also came down! When I asked him what happened. He said "Shoddy workmanship. Don't know how those fellas fixed up such lousy window grills". I was like !@&#%*#!! I had to say, "If you didn't touch it, how could it have miraculously came out by itself?". He refused to let me fix it and so I let him think and wonder how he should fix it back. I was thinking, first he tore down the window grills, he blamed it on shoddy workmanship. If he ever tear down my whole house, would he blame it on the act of Nature?

My father likes to play with his handphone. Whenever I buy him a new model, I had to make sure it is not too complicated in functions, otherwise I am sure he is going to get really confused. He had to painstakingly key in all the contacts and addresses, even though I told him no need, there is a function to auto-copy all from the SIM card. He fiddles with his handphone for hours and especially early in the mornings, when he wakes up, in bed he likes to test each and every ringing tone in full blast. It has become my morning alarm clock, even though I am sleeping in the next room!

Another time when the lock in the bathroom door was not working properly, I said I would call the locksmith to repair or change a new lock. My father insisted he knew how to fix it. Again he blamed it on "shoddy workmanship". He fiddled with the goddamn door for like forever in the bathroom. He ended getting himself locked up inside the bathroom for almost 2 hours and we could not get him out! I had to call a locksmith in the middle of the night to drill a hole on the door to "unlock" him. And we still did not managed to fix the lock that night.

Previously my father still liked to use the kettle to boil water over the stove. We made sure we had a whistling kettle to remind him when the water had boiled to turn off the switch. A few times he did not even hear it "whistle" and hot water overflowed onto the stove and all over the wooden cabinet below. He did not tell us, but I found the stove floating with water and the interior cabinet wet. So I hid the whistling kettle, out of his sight and made him use the electric kettle. I do not wish to have a house on fire.

A few days ago, my mom bought a simple Novita water filter. You just had to pour tap water into the container and the 2 filters inside would filter and remove all water contaminants, sediments and bacteria from the tap water and convert it into clean drinkable alkaline water, which is supposedly more beneficial. No need electricity. No need to boil water. Or so we thought. I woke up one morning and felt the water inside the upper container (before it was filtered) hot. I quickly poured the hot water away, and asked my father why he poured hot water into the container! I was afraid the hot water might melt the plastic and destroy the water filter. He said "Mom said save the trouble, no need boil water, but now more leceh (Malay for troublesome), have to boil water and pour into this thing!" I told him NO NEED! We were supposed to use just tap water and after filtering it, we can drink the water! Even after explaining to him how to use it a few times, I do not know if he understood. I knew something like this would happen.

So, in times like these, can you blame me if I have a short fuse?

We try to make things easier to operate and less complicated around the house so that my father knows how to use them and thus hopefully doesn't spoil them. Or we make sure he does not need to operate complicated electrical stuff. But then we realise, we also cannot let him be too idle, otherwise he may just destroy more things! I just wish he can spend more of his free time on fruitful things like going out to socialise more, or get a (even no-pay) job, or practicing the Dharma. But you see, I am not a preachy sort of person. I will only pray for that someone and not force it upon him/her. So, I have been praying for my father to have clarity of mind and for myself, patience.   PATIENCE!!!   -__-"

How often do you see this on the road?

Posted via web from STUMPBO's posterous

Salted Rice (Giam Png)

Mom used to cook salted rice when she was running short of time to prepare dinner. Salted rice is the direct translation of "giam png" in Teochew, which actually means a combination of different ingredients all mixed into rice. It's something like fried rice, but it's steamed. It's something like claypot rice, but without the former and its nice burnt taste.

I attempted my first Salted Rice the other day and gosh, it was so easy.  These are the ingredients which I used - cabbage, chinese sausages, roast pork, dried shrimps, and ikan bilis.  Mom usually used all these ingredients except ikan bilis. The ikan bilis was suggested by Chelley, a fellow food blogger.  Mom had bought a packet of siew yoke (cantonese for roast pork), so I cut them into thinner slices. I used 3 chinese sausages and cut them up into slices. I soaked a little dried shrimps and ikan bilis. The proportions are up to you actually. I didn't want mine to turn out too salty. I lightly stir-fried all the above items separately for just about a minute or less each.

 

Then I cooked the rice in the cooker, adding very little oil and sesame oil and little light soya sauce. When it was almost cooked and the water had evaporated, I quickly added all my cooked ingredients in. Then I poured dark soya sauce and light soya sauce and sprinkled some pepper. Then I tossed everything up, ensuring the ingredients and rice and sauces were evenly mixed. Then I closed the lid and left it to cook for a while more, and it is ready to be served anytime! 

Here is my plate of Salted Rice. It may not looked that nice due to the colour of the ingredients but it was tasty enough, with the different tastes of all the ingredients bursting in your mouth, from the smoky roast pork to the sweet chinese sausages to the slightly crunchy sweet cabbage with dried shrimps and the salty crunchy ikan bilis. If you do not like roast pork, you can use pork slices or chicken but you need to marinate them beforehand. Actually you can use any ingredients you like, but to me, the cabbage and chinese sausages are a must for salted rice. I also wanted to add chinese mushrooms too but forgot about it! :P

I even made soup to go with my salted rice, so that it would not be too dry.  My simple soup is made of merely chicken stock, little dried scallops and chopped spring onions. Yummy!

A feline phobia

I know there are many cat lovers out there, and even those strays in Rome are so very good looking felines. But I have a confession. I have never feel much for cats as compared to dogs. In fact I still do have a little phobia of cats. So I do not usually try to go near one. Especially while eating in hawker centres, I would usually keep a look out for stray cats hovering under my table waiting for food. I would jump if I feel a slight touch of fur rubbing against my legs. And I would not be able to focus on my food afterwards.

Well, I do have a reason for my phobia. When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I usually hang out with another kid who was my playmate. Mui was my next door neighbour as well as my relative. By right in terms of status, she is considered my aunt but she was only 2 or 3 years older than me.

We used to live in an old shophouse in Cecil Street where the Prudential Building stands today. We stayed upstairs a shop selling spices. Usually we would play upstairs along the common corridor and dim staircase.

One day while we were hanging around at the staircase, we were playing and watching some coolies or men moving sacks of spices from the truck into the shop. We noticed a cat at the steps, a big fat fierce looking black cat with stripes. Mui wanted to shoo it away or something as we wanted to go upstairs and the cat was in the way. Probably she was making monkey faces at the cat or poking the cat with a stick or something, that it suddenly lunged at Mui. It clung to Mui's legs like a koala bear and scratched a few bloody lines across her legs. And still the cat clung to Mui's legs. I witnessed this while Mui was screaming in pain. It was such a fierce vengeful cat. As blood was oozing out of her legs, I stood frozen, horrified for quite a few moments. Then an adult came and chased the cat away. Mui was still crying and screaming. It was such a distressing horrific sight that I can still remember it vividly today.

That is why till now, I do not dare to go near a cat, much lest touch one, and I especially shudder at the sight of those black cats with green piercing eyes. Now you know why I hate cats. The phobia is still there.

Espreno

Whenever I pass by this street in Geylang and see this brand name, I wonder if it is really the same company / brand. It has been there for many years.

You see, I think Espreno used to be a brand of clothes (in particular t-shirts) on par with Giordano in those days.

I always assume it was just some wannabe company / shop which wanted to be associated with this brand. Used same font as the original some more. I am sure the real McCoy would not have had an office anywhere near this dilapidated shophouse in Geylang in their hey days. Morever Espreno t-shirts are practically non-existent in the market nowadays. But the signboard is still there today.

If you happen to know what's going on, tell me, will ya?

Pepper Dinner!

I'm sure you have heard of Pepper Lunch, an affordable DIY fast food steakhouse with more than 200 outlets in Japan. With its unique design patented in Japan, the iron plate is part of the successful formula of Pepper Lunch. Meat grilled using the iron plate remains tender and juicy. You can enjoy food with a sizzle.

In the past, I never bothered to try this because I thought it was mostly beef steak which I do not take. It all started a few days ago, when I chanced upon Pepper Lunch at a foodcourt stall, and without knowing what else to eat, I ordered the Double Unagi set. It came with pepper rice topped with corn, generous pieces of unagi and a sunny side-up egg, all sizzling on the hotplate. It went very well with both the garlic sauce and honey sauce. I like to drizzle both sauces onto the rice and chicken and watch the food sizzled. A satisfying and affordable meal.

On another day lunch time, again I could not decide what to eat. I kept thinking of Pepper Lunch. So this time, I ordered the Pepper Chicken set. It also came with a bowl of miso soup. Almost the same experience as the previous meal. I really liked the sauces with the peppery taste of everything.

I had the sudden idea to try and emulate the Pepper Lunch I had, and this time it was for dinner. Well, I did not have any hot plates at home but that was not going to deter me from trying. I cooked the white rice, adding a little Dang gui soya sauce, chopped garlic and some herb seasoning into the rice cooker. I stir fried the corn with a little butter. I marinated the chicken chunks with seasoning powder, sesame oil, little soya sauce, lots of pepper, and corn flour. I bought two pieces of frozen unagi (I was cooking for 7 people). I decided I needed to add veggies although Pepper Lunch did not have veggies as a side. I used celery and carrots and stir fried them with garlic and shitake sauce. Then I did the eggs.

This was the result, my Pepper Dinner sans the hotplate!! I topped my rice with corn and chopped spring onions and sesame seeds. I am proud to say that I did not use any salt in cooking this. Overall it was ok. If I had the honey and garlic sauces, it would have tasted better. The improvement I would make for the next round, I would steam the corn instead so that it is more crunchy. Another boo-boo mistake, I forgot to coat some oil on the base when I was baking the unagi. So it ended with a slightly black burnt bottom, stuck to the aluminium foil. >__< Next time I would make a simple soup too, so that it would not be too dry.

Here's the takeaway version, for my sis and family. I suddenly remembered I had these extra plastic takeaway boxes with compartments, so I put them into good use. Well, I believe practice makes perfect. I will try different variations again since I have many guinea pigs who can test dishes for me. Who wants to place an order for takeaway Pepper Dinner next time, let me know! Haha!

年年高升 lah

The other night, just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly thought of and was craving for Fried Nian Gao. Maybe it's because Chinese New Year is coming...

Nian Gao is a CNY cake made from glutinous rice which is traditionally popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning "sticky", is identical in sound to 年, meaning "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high". As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year (年年高升 nian nian gao sheng).

I think nowadays people seldom eat Nian Gao as-is, because it is sweet and gooey and sticks to the teeth. Most buy it for prayer offerings or as a symbolic item, since Nian Gao is considered good luck and symbolises increasing prosperity every year.

I remember when I was young, mom would cut the Nian Gao into rectangular pieces and dipped them into beaten eggs and pan fried them coated with the eggs. It tasted sweet and rich, with the gooey sticky glutinous cake on the inside oozing out of the slightly crispy coat of the egg batter on the outside. Mmmmm..... and that's the taste I was so craving for the other night. Am going to make sure I get some fried nian gao during CNY.

Sunrise view from my house

Posted via web from STUMPBO's posterous

Biggest cab in Singapore

Posted via web from STUMPBO's posterous

Spring is coming and so is spring cleaning.... :S

How's your weekend? These coming few weekends will be busy for most of us as the Chinese New Year is drawing near and lots of spring cleaning and CNY stuff / food to buy. And I've not really started doing anything yet...  

 

To me, weekends are meant for checking out new places and binging on food. Did you know that there is a new mall in town? It's City Square Mall, located at the junction of Serangoon and Kitchener Roads, sitting on the site of the historic New World Park. It has loads of eateries and shops and 2 huge foodcourts, that you will never be lost for choice. I discovered a new-found love for Pepper Lunch (at the foodcourt on the top floor). Had the pepper rice topped with corn, double unagi and a sunny side egg in a sizzling hot plate. 

 

When an aunt brought grandma over for a visit, we decided to head over her place too, to check out her plants. My aunt lives in a cottage-like corner terrace house and she has a lovely garden with practically all sorts of tropical plants and flowers you can find. It's been some time I been to her house. I used to stay there over the weekends when I was younger. Here are little corners of the house and stuff I like, real cosy. I remember I bought her one of those antique chinese irons.

 

Aunt is an avid gardener and since she is one of the aunts I am closer to, I think the love for plants has sort of rubbed off in me too. I love the veranda at the garden where we sit having afternoon tea and snacks, enjoying the greenery. Her kois in the garden pond are so big now, about 8 or 9 of them. I ended "hijacking" home some of her plants to add to my growing collection at home.  

 

We found the Original Old Hokkien nearby her place. They just shifted here 6 weeks ago and is now located at a coffeeshop.  The other famed Old Hokkien restaurant (their competitor) is in Amoy Street. The owners of both restaurants used to be partners and had a legal tussle over the use of the name a few years ago. We had to order the famed dark Hokkien noodles to try of course. The yellow noodles are thinner with pork slices, prawns, tua tow, with loads of pork lard. It was tasty, but somehow, I am not used to the lack of starchiness in the noodles. I am a lover of Hokkien Noodles so I know a good plate of Hokkien Noodles needs its little starch. We had a huge ass fish head done in HK style with black sauce and stir fried garlic french beans. The french beans were too soft, lost its crunchiness and had a weird taste. My mom said the french beans  I cooked tasted better (yippee!!!) :D. Our moods were dampened because of the long waiting time when there was no customer before us. That said, the Hokkien Noodles is a good try if you are nearby.    

 

This morning I am so excited and happy when I found some of the plants at home had started sprouting flowers when they were barren all along. So timely as CNY is just round the corner, and to me personally, it has a special significance - good luck.

 

Time to throw out the old and invite the new. This is a newer T-shirt of the smurfs. I need to clear my old wardrobe which I no longer wear and send them to Salvation Army. I need to start spring cleaning soon! Woohoo!!

She has the kindest pair of eyes

Over at the buddhist centre, Gaden-Shartse Drophenling, where I go for my weekly prayers, there is a large Labrador somebody gave to the centre not long ago. I fell instantly in love with her when I first saw her. Her name is Lhamo. Lhamo is one and a half years old and is very tame. She seldom bark and is smart enough to distinguish who are the people who come to the center for prayers and who are those strangers who may be loitering suspiciously nearby. She never bark at or attack anyone who enters the compound to pray. Dogs are so smart as they can sense who are those with ill intentions. Smarter than us humans.

I have always prefer big dogs, especially Labradors. And in particular, I like them in golden or beige fur. And what's so special about Lhamo is, she has a pink brownish nose. That's why she looks so different (and that's why I call her Ang Moh dog). Most Labradors have black nose. And yes, I do have a thing for blondes. ;D

 

Don't you think she has the kindest pair of eyes? I usually play with her or sayang her before the prayer sessions, as well as chant and whisper some mantras into her ears to bless her. Sometimes, she licks me back in return. Sometimes, she 'bochap'. Must learn from her.... and practise non-attachment.  :P 

"Green" dishes

I like to add lots of vegetables even to dishes with meat (then I can  have lesser portion of meat). For this dinner, it looked like I have 3 green dishes. I cooked Steamed Fish again, as I was still trying to perfect the sauce, and it got better and better, I just need to ensure I am consistent each time. I tried cooking a new dish, Stir-fried Spinach topped with Dried Scallops and Wolfberries. I stir fry spinach first with a pinch of salt and sieved it up. Next I steamed a small bowl of dried scallops and wolfberries with a little water. When soft, I poured the bowl into the wok and mixed in a combination of condiments I came up with. Then I poured the scallops and wolfberries and sauce onto the spinach. It turned out very nice, a good mix of light spinach with the salty scallops, not as salty as I expected.

Next was the Pepper Onion Chicken with Broccoli and Capsicum.   I marinated the chicken with sesame oil, corn flour, soya sauce, and pepper. I used lots of chopped onions and garlic together with the chicken, broccoli and capsicum. It had a wonderful 'burnt' peppery taste.

Next was one of my favourite dishes my mom  sometimes cook and I had my first go at it - Minced Pork Luffa Gourd Omelette. Sounds complicated eh? However it was a simple dish to cook. I am not sure if this gourd (inset picture) is called Luffa (丝瓜) or what, it had a rough and hard skin while the inside was spongy soft like cotton. The hard skin had to be peeled and the soft seeds in the center had to be removed.  It looked like a soft version of cucumber. I marinated minced pork with the same condiments of the above chicken. Then I stir fry chopped garlic and minced meat first, before adding the luffa gourd and beaten eggs into the wok. After that, you just add a little salt and fry till the gourd was soft. I threw in some dried shallots just before the dish was ready. What came out was a wonderful fragrant sweet flavoured dish of the combined taste of omelette, pork and slightly crunchy-soft gourd. I really like this dish alot.

Moonlit lunch

Posted via web from stumpbo's posterous

Lunch was Hokkien noodles cooked in a claypot, with seafood and a raw egg (which was considered 月光 - moonlit). Hence sometimes it is called Moonlit Noodles.