Tell-A-Tale (Part 28): Home

There is a place where we never grow old. Where the flowers in the garden smile a perpetual spring. We drink from the river where we swim. The endless days of games and a little mischief we remember ever so fondly.

There is a place where we meet. We eat to our hearts content and we never run out of teasers and desserts. There are times when life moves at the speed of light, yet we still find our way here. Simply because we want to. And we love to.

There is a place where we breathe. There is nothing more suffocating than the way we live our lives these days. I wish we are all young, ambitious, sexy and silly again, for we will breathe better and have more time for each other. We will tell tales of what we want to be when we grow up. Again and again.

There is a place where we hang our family portraits. I can still remember the photographs of you lying in bed with your favourite magazine. The sounds from the speaker blasting across the kitchen as you sway to their beats. The pictures of us fighting over everything stupid faded with time but you know fragments of New Years and Christmases and birthdays and breakfasts and dinners always stay beautiful and young.

There is a place our friends come to. Warm greetings and cold wines are all we need. We will talk from dusk until dawn. It does not matter what the topic is. There is a game we like to play. It is called true and dare. And there is no secret strategy to winning. Just some honesty and lots of affection.

There is a place I come back to. God knows how exhausted these feet are. I often speed a pasta dish while the television entertains itself. It is always the second run of the new comedies. That shows how I have missed primetime. There is leftover tong sui we made the night before. Unlike wine, sweetness sours with age. But I gulped it up as enthusiastic as I was while making it yesterday.

There is a place where I raise my white flag and call it a day. I surrender to the night, despite the endless calls that beg this body to smoke, drink and dance. Curling up beside the window with a cup of tea and a good book is what I truly desire. And I fall asleep, thinking about this place that I miss ever so much.

There is a place where I dream of the sweetest of dreams. Where my family and friends are together with me again. Where we will eat, drink, play games and hang new, wonderful portraits before the sun sets its shine upon these smiling cheeks of mine.

Yes, there is a place. And I’m home.

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This post is inspired by Lifeforbeginners and dedicated to the wizardry Kenny Mah as he enters his third decade on 23 January this year.

Pictures were taken at Delicious @ Dua Annexe. The food was good in general while my smoked salmon pasta with caviar was just alright. The cream taste was milder as compared to Marmalade Kafe’s. A great alternative to the overcrowded Delicious at Bangsar Village.

Other birthday wishes:
Lyrical Lemongrass
A Lil' Fat Monkey
Fatboybakes

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May everyone find their way back home safely this lunar new year.

Mid-Autumn Festival Lunch (at home)

Since I will be working in Singapore during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we had an early celebration last Sunday afternoon before I board on my (almost) weekly bus back to Singapore.

There was no moon (since it was afternoon) but we had a great spread of home-made delicacies for lunch. It sure beats dining out!

We started off with a herbal soup. Among the ingredients in the soup included chicken, pork, longan, Chinese ham and ginseng. The soup was clear and left a slight bitter aftertaste. A very good start!

As per any Chinese festival meal, steamed chicken is a MUST. We had a kampung chicken (chicken that runs around freely and fed with natural food) and it was well cooked. The juice from the chicken tasted sweet and slightly salty (just nice) and the meat was tender and full of chicken flavour, unlike those frozen chicken where the meat tastes like stale fish (I’m having goosebumps thinking about it). A soya sauce and shallots dipping complimented the chicken very well.

Another traditional dish presented on the table was the siu yoke or roasted pork belly. This winning combination of crispy skin (after reheating in the oven) plus salted meat plus the smell and taste of lard really works everytime. The price of siu yoke usually hikes up during Chinese festivals; therefore, we really treasure this dish.

We also had braised spare ribs and chicken feet with shitake mushroom. I love the chicken feet for its soft texture and wonderful aroma (thanks to the deep frying process). The spare ribs and mushrooms were cooked just right. A taste of the sauce revealed a well combined flavour between the mushrooms, ribs and garlic.

For the greens, we had stir-fried chive buds with siu yoke, carrots and garlic (no onions, though). The buds were cooked well but since the taste was bland as compared to the other major dishes, it attracted no one (what a waste!).

I should not leave out Mum’s special sambal ikan bilis (ground chili paste with anchovies). The sambal, infused with tumeric, garlic, onion and tamarind created an explosion of flavours. The slightly tangy taste was a real appetizer! I think this was the dish that killed other dishes. Definitely a potent underdog.

At the end of the lunch, there was no more room for desserts (mooncakes). But I couldn’t help but be awed by the packaging design of some mooncake makers these days. Take Hei Yue Thong, for example. The box came in the form of a lantern. I wonder if the cost of the mooncake is actually lower than the lantern.

Here’s wishing everyone a belated blessed Mid-Autumn Festival (I'm writing this on the 17th day of the Lunar Calendar). Hope you guys had eaten some great mooncakes!

Steamboat (at home)

A day after Jacky Cheung's concert, a steamboat dinner was organized, in conjunction with Aunt Yvonne's upcoming birthday. The other reason was to "officiate" the can of abalone which I bought during Chinese New Year (can't wait to try).

I was really looking forward to this dinner as we seldom frequent steamboat restaurants and the fact that family-style steamboats usually boast minimum usage of MSG and fresher ingredients. Let's not forget unlimited helpings too!

For the soup base, the main ingredients were chicken and pig bones, which are the fundamentals for a rich-flavoured soup.

As for the ingredients for the steamboat (besides abalone), we added in crabs, meatballs (MSG-filled but still an all-time favourite!), oyster mushroom, dried beancurd skin, fish, Chinese cabbage, vermicelli, quail eggs, beancurd, wantons, prawns and the list goes on and on.

The soup tasted really sweet and clear, thanks to the addition of seafood such as crabs and prawns. A topping of cilantro and spring onions added extra flavour and texture to the soup. All ingredients were cooked just right (under Mum's watchful eyes).

I must compliment Mum on the wonderful wantons. The poached prawns wrapped in wanton skin exhibited a firm and juicy filling within a smooth layer of wanton skin. No MSG, no artificial flavouring. Nice! I usually help Mum to wrap the filling but since I was busy experimenting my camera, Mum had to do it herself.

Apart from the steamboat, I was also really looking forward to the roasted duck. Cousin Andy bought this in PJ (I must get the address from him) and according to him, this is a bestseller and is usually sold out within a few hours of sale. The fragrant skin was not charred and the meat was absolutely tender (a teenage duckling, perhaps?). The duck taste was retained (no much herb infusion) and usage of salt was optimum. A little inappropriate for a steamboat dinner but still, an outstanding winner!

After the wonderful dinner, we had a birthday cake (Tiramisu) for dessert. Guess where did I buy that cake? Read the next post to find out.