When you cook, watch out for the smoke detector
The story about me cooking in Hong Kong was not that simple. In every apartment, there is a smoke detector fixed at an extremely intimate distance from the stove. All my mates have always been paranoid about setting off the fire alarm and one of them actually did. I pride myself for being always careful by turning the aircon onto full blast. But then autumn came. So on one rather cold evening where the temperature dropped to 12C, I forgot all about my usual procedure. While I was absorbed in the melody of the sizzling tomatos and mushrooms, I heard a hasty knock on my door. There it was the attendant from the management office who sprint immediately into my room and dashed to the aircon and switched it on full blast. Just in time before the swirling noise of the fire alarm bell threw everyone out onto the street on a cold autumn night.
So the next day, I found a letter slipped under my door.
Dear Miss Veg,
We write to brief you about the fire alert that occured around 22:05pm, on 20th November 2008. Due to our requirment for safety, our fire alarm is quite sensitve to heat and smoke. In order to minimize the incidents of false fire alarms, it is highly recommended that the air-conditioning be turned at high fan speed while cooking or toasting.
We give our sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused.
With kind regards
xxxxx
Assistant Manager
C.F.O - Cooking for One
One great gift from the months living in Hong Kong is that I master the art of cooking for one. Hong Kong food always come in large portions and far too much salt and oil than I am used to. Since I am paranoid of middle-aged spread and was recovering from my operation then, I was forced to take time to cook. I soon discovered cooking has another unexpected benefit. It helped me unwind from the work stress. A quick thirty minutes of washing, cutting and cooking was like a mental "ctrl+alt+delete" to snap me out of my working mind. The best workout for the day!
Here are two dishes that I reproduce today at my KL kitchen.
Tofu and Corn soup Ingredients1. Half can of corn soup
2. Half box of soft tofu and diced into small cubes
3. A quarter onions sliced in rings (According to Sister P, too much onions will fart all the way to the moon. Hence if are cooking for your hot date, don't try this recipe)
4. Half a tea spoon of fish sauce
5. A few drops of soy sauce
6. A pinch of pepper
7. A few drops of sesame oil
Instructions1. Saute onion rings till slightly golden brown
2. Heat the corn soup until it boils
3. Add the fried onions rings into the boiling soup
4. Drizzle the fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil into the soup
5. Stir until you can smell the fragrance of the sesame oil
6. Add the diced tofu
7. Sprinkle a pinch of pepper
8. As the soup boils, turn off the flame .Leave it on the stove to settle.
Total preparation time including cutting and cooking8 minutes
"Tua Bak" (Big Eye)'s Kai LanIngredients1. Three or four small kai lan
2. A tablespoon of Dried diced mushroom soaked lightly in water
3. Half fresh red chili - cut into small bits
4. A fistful of dried Chinese gooseberries
5. Chopped garlic and onions
Instructions
1. Use the oil left from frying the onion, heat up the wok
2. Add the chopped garlic and onions and saute till the garlic turns slightly golden brown
3. Throw into the wok the chinese gooseberries and chopped red chili
4. Sautee for a minute or two
5. Add the dried mushroom and continue to stir fry
6. Now it is time for the kai lan.
7. As the kai lan begins to cook, add a few squarts of soy sauce. You may add some rice wine for extra flavour
Total preparation time including cutting + cooking
15 minutes
P/s. Just in case you are wondering why I name this dish Tua Bak's Kai Lan. Chinese gooseberries are good for the eyes and "Tua Bak" means big eyes in Hokkien. It was also my Grandma's nickname growing up. Chinese gooseberries have a light sweetness in them. The combination with the fresh chili and onions, mushrooms and crunchy kai-lan gave a very interesting flavour
Spidy on Wheels
Don't you think this car looks like a spider !
Mobile Curry House
With the money my Wu Yi gave me, I spent almost all of it on "bawang putih" (garlic), "bawang merah" (red onions), biscuits, condensed milk , milo, rice, toilet rolls, Maggi curry, cooking oil.... No no I am not going to start yet another Old Town Coffee Shop. These are daily necessities for the Antara Gapi Home which I bought from a wholeseller in Cheras. The "bawang" stinked. I felt like driving a mobile Indian curry house. Not to mention it took me an hour to drive from Cheras to Antara Gapi. My pal life-trekker thought at least this kept the vampires away. Good thinking.
According to Encik Ragu the carer, neighbours complained about children making too much noises. Hence he has stopped taking in young children into his welfare home. There are ten old folks now under his care. He wasn't in when I delivered the goods. I spoke to him on the phone and asked about his family and his three children. His youngest is yet to celebrate his first birthday. Is there a "Nombor Empat" (No 4) on the way ? Of course, says he, as soon as "Nombor Tiga"(No 3) could take care of himself. Gee.... I wonder how he copes.
Even Budha has given up
We have heard that the temple served delicious vegetarian lunch. Hence along the trail, all we were thinking about was the gastronomy treat. No wonder even Budha turned his back on us and there went our last hope for any wisdom
Someone behind the Window
As we heaved and puffed climbing the Wisdom Path, we passed a tea house where a stuff doll was looking out at us from the kitchen window.
This is an old tea factory. I believed it has served its days and now used probably as a storage room
Wisdom Path
Many come to Lantau for hiking. Lantau offered many treks, each of different length and steepness. We chose the Wisdom Path with the remote hope of filling our tiny heads with a trace of wisdom. However neither of us understand the Buddisht scripture carving on the wood.
Lantau Latitude
A 20 minute cable car ride connects Lantau with Kowloon. Lantau is famous for its sitting Budha statue, apparently the largest sitting posture in the world. The view from the cable car is breathtakingly serene and one forgot easily that at a stone throw away it was the world's busiest financial district.
