Being Home

It’s good to be home.

Eight months have passed since I last walked the streets of Singapore, since I held my mother’s hand, since I laughed to my father’s corny jokes, since I gave my sister big bear hugs just because I felt like it. And for the first time, I watched my brother and sister-in-law become proud parents of the most adorable little girl, A. Eight months ago, I knew A as a barely-there bump. Some umpteen years ago, I knew my brother as the solid older sibling, the one to look up to, and the one who occasionally ‘bullies’ me; today, he still is the one to look up to, but more, for he’s now the man of the house who fusses over his baby girl with so much love. And can you believe it? My sister and I are aunts now, and my parents…grandparents!! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy and proud we all are – it is indeed magical to be back to share this joy.

So yes, stolen precious hours with our families are the reasons why I’ve been keeping so quiet around here. Some of you told me that you miss my updates – I’m so terribly sorry…I missed you guys too! It’s unfortunate that our trip back home is so short, what with the numerous commitments we have in London. In between a week’s worth of working, falling ill and recovering, falling ill and recovering again, and barely getting over the jetlag, I’ve managed to squeeze in only that much time with our loved ones. Thanks to those who planned meet-ups way before I returned to Singapore, I’ve also been able to spend little pockets of time with friends – bloggers included. I’ve caught up with some lovely ladies over steamboat and even made ondeh-ondeh with new friends. M and I also caught up on the latest with one of our favourite couples to hang out with who very kindly treated us to a lovely brunch at Keyaki. Other peeps have asked to meet up too, but I’m afraid it’s going to be tough. I completely regret working during the first half of my trip in Singapore and wish I have more time to catch up, but I hope to make up for it next year!

As time whittles down to nothing, I’m struggling to make every second count for the rest of my stay. Something bad happened in our family this year, something that really broke my heart and scared me to bits, something that intensified our longing to be back. In fact, it was the sole reason why I wrestled some time out for a visit amidst our hectic schedules. Today, I’m just thankful to return to the family I know and love so well, yes I’m being a little mawkish over here but who wouldn’t be after all that has happened?

It feels way too good to be home, to come back and see that everything is as good as it can be. I’m sad that our trip is coming to an end so quickly. Indeed, we have a few more days on our end, but I know that time flies, especially when one yearns for it. I guess we should head on with the last leg of this race – just a little longer and we’ll make it to the finishing line. Before we know it, we will be home, won’t we?

Happy Birthday, My Little Red Dot

London. A city where M and I chase our dreams, and perhaps even living other people’s dreams. It is fun and exciting. There’s always something to do. The summers are so irresistible and pretty that they make up for all the crap weather that rain relentlessly on us during other seasons. One smells freedom in the air – there are barely any boundaries to what we can do and where we can go.

Sounds perfect, no? Here’s the newflash – nothing is and ever will be. Despite everything we’ve got going on over here, all the milestones that we’ve crossed, and everything that we’ve achieved, we miss home dearly. We miss Singapore.

Some have fondly christened Singapore ‘The Little Red Dot’, for its incredibly small size, so small that it only appears as a red dot at the tip of the Malaysia Peninsula on the world map. But small it might be next to giants in the neighbourhood, Singapore is a whole lot of everything for us.

Singapore is love. Our family and friends are there. Our parents in particular have supported us in all the tough choices we’ve made, even though it is not easy for them. This year, I lived out one of my worst fears when bad news hailed from home. I’m just thankful to the big man upstairs that everything has blown over, and that home will always be home, with my family smiling back at me whenever they pick me up from the airport. Those smiles, hugs and the tender strokes on my head when I am feeling down, they are so very precious.

Singapore is everything else and beyond. Stability, efficiency, safety, we’ve got it going as perfectly as any other country can even dream of.

Think about all the social unrest in other cities. Right now, I’m thinking of the London riots and I shudder at how a developed city could descend into such chaos. Then my thoughts wander back to Singapore and realise how fortunate we are. As M put it very succinctly in one of our conversations yesterday – in London, we have to look out for places that are safe; in Singapore, we have to look hard for places that aren’t.

Things work as efficiently as they can possibly be in Singapore. Public transport letting you down? Trains not coming on time? The city crippled because of strikes? Trains packed to the point where you have to wait ages to board another one? Try living here. Getting banks/organisations to do what you went there to do – try waiting and people even die here while waiting in hospitals. I was in a horseback riding accident once and guess what, the nurse-led unit said I had to be flown to another city in UK to get an X-ray done. Go figure. (Well come to think of it, at least I could be flown, in other undeveloped countries, people walk for a day to get a checkup and even to give birth.)

My point is, every country has its trophies and skeletons. London offers many opportunities, both for carving out a livelihood and for leisure. It gives us freedom, the room to be creative and to think out of the box. But it is freckled. I’m sure there’s much to complain about Singapore too, seeing the debates that recent elections have sparked off. We don’t have that much freedom, we are controlled, some even say we’re puppeted, but I love The Little Red Dot nonetheless. After all, it is home. We have much to be proud of for a young, miniscule country with no natural resources whatsoever next to global giants. Our forefathers built our country with their very hands and little else. I hope we can go on and do the same for our children. Here’s to 46 years of independence and magnificent strides into the future, and more to come!

Happy Birthday, my Little Red Dot. We’ll be home soon.

[Photos: Palm Sugar and Coconut Salted Butter Caramel Macarons specially made for this occasion, from yours truly to you]

If you love macarons, join me on my macaron journey.

Check out what I have been baking in my own kitchen.

Also check out my other food adventures.

*Updated: This post has been featured on Tastespotting. Check out my profile on Tastespotting to see my other featured posts!

 

Singapore Takeout (and Lady Gaga (S)takeout)

This morning, I woke up with a hangover from an overdose of gastronomic delights that I’ve had this week. What am I talking about? There is no such thing as an overdose of good food! Okay, scratch that and let me sober up so we can start over.

I was invited to the media luncheon for the Singapore Takeout which was held at London’s Southbank yesterday. Every fibre of my being was wriggling with excitement as the days led up to this event; I don’t want to go too much into the details but you would know why I feel this way if you’ve come across this post. As I got out of Waterloo station, the sky looked ominous. One wrong turn and a huge detour later, I found myself hugging my bag (which held my precious camera and extra lens) for dear life, battling my arthritic umbrella and willing it to workdammit, so I could get to the Takeout without actually having to swim in the Thames. It seemed like a bad way to start, and I was half-wishing that I should not have turned up.

But the day got infinitely better, the minute I stepped into the gazebo where Singapore Takeout was at. I shook off the rain, was offered a drink, whipped out my camera and got into the groove of meeting fellow bloggers and journalists. Things started to get into action, quite literally so, when we were treated to the unveiling of the shipping-container-turned-pop-up-kitchen, all this as we licked some wickedly creamy Chilli Chocolate Corals (inspired by the dead corals she saw when she was working with the Arzaks in San Sebastián and also by Singaporean’s love of chilli) that Chef Janice Wong (owner and chef of 2am:dessertbar in Singapore) had prepared off our spoons! You could obviously tell that I was quivering with excitement from the blurred photo of the corals…There was no better way to kick off this event in the rain, with some velvety smooth dark chocolate cream and some pleasant heat that comes through at the back of your throat. I was duly impressed by Janice’s opening act.

Introductions by Chef Janice and Chef Peter Gordon (owner and chef of The Providores & Tapa Room) were in order, both of whom have created the 9-course menu that made for a very sumptuous lunch. Stories flew from kitchen to floor, the most memorable of which was how Chef Janice went through 72 hours of voluntary blindness to explore her palette and to take her imagination beyond. She even showed us how she printed her favourite poem using transfer sheets on to the laksa broth paper which made an appearance on our main course (excellent by the way, more on that later)! This young woman is indeed serious about the food that she creates and I couldn’t be more curious on what she was going to serve up.

After the food demonstration by Janice, we were ushered to our seats at the table for a meal that will soon make me so proud of Singapore. Granted, the menu wasn’t completely Singaporean; the dishes were created with the flavours of Singapore as a springboard; you could see that both chefs had given a modern interpretation to what Singaporean grub is. Having lived in London for a few years now, I haven’t been able to see how Singaporean cuisine evolved in recent years and I was just delighted to be able to witness this in the presence of esteemed, most unassuming and motivated chefs.

Take Janice for example, she told us how she laid awake till 3am the night before (as she had too much coffee) and jumped out of bed dreaming of serving a four-cheese laksa as an amuse bouche for this luncheon. How crazy is that? By the way, it worked brilliantly. I was a little skeptical when she told us about it, but one mouthful was all it took to convince me that her caffeinated instinct was spot-on! I wish we had more of the those.

To start, Peter served up an interesting twist to our street food favourite (oyster omelette), in the form of a green chilli omelette with a poached oyster, crab, mango, crispy shallots and coriander. This was refreshing on the palette, although a slightly wayward for me as it hinted more of Thai than Singaporean influences.

Janice then took us back to Chinese New Year, a festival that is most well-associated with copious amounts of food, with her clean and floral take on Yu Sheng. She had just returned from a stint at the Noma lab, and we were given a real treat when she served up cured tangy sashimi with delightfully fragrant herbs and flowers she foraged with the team at Noma. The plating was pretty as a picture and showcased her flair for creating visual dynamic and equally delish cuisine.

For our main course, Peter treated us to some five-spice infused pork belly (that was brined for 24 hours, steamed, baked, pressed and chilled before being deep-fried) and peanuts with rice, cucumber and chilli roasted pineapple. The pineapple was slightly reminiscent of the achar (pickled vegetables). This dish also reminded me of the strong, deep and fragrant Nonya flavours that I have come to miss.

After this, a refreshing sorbet that was made from rice infused with lemongrass was served as a palette cleanser. White and incredibly pristine, it looked every bit as light as it looked. I really loved this and again, wished we could have more of it. This is another of Janice’s creations by the way (what can’t she create, honestly?!).

Janice wow-ed us further with her lemongrass infused laksa dumplings with handmade noodles for our second main. Some have warned us that this wasn’t a traditional take on the usual laksa we are accustomed to, but I didn’t care, because this was miles better. Janice packed a tonne of pleasant heat and lemongrass into the laksa broth, which turned out to be quite the perfect soup to me. The poem-printed laksa paper was a fun and thoughtful touch as it brought more flavour to the dish in an unexpected form. I also loved that she added chive flowers to the laksa, which were not only pretty, but lent a good kick to the broth. This was easily my favourite dish of the day. Janice did joke about how relieved she was as she brought on the dessert course, but hey Janice, if you’re reading this, you have nothing to worry about because you did a fantastic job on the savoury courses!

Now I was really looking forward to dessert after the main courses, we’ve seen plenty of flair in the dishes before and since I am an aspiring home pastry ‘chef’, I was very, very keen on what followed. Peter spoke of his love for chendol and created the Pandan Ginger Tapioca with Sherry Agar Jelly, Lychees, Strawberries and Almond Coconut Cream for this. I really liked the tapioca pearls which were richly flavoured with pandan and boasted distinct ginger notes, although I thought it could have done without the lychees and strawberries to keep the flavours simple. I will be bookmarking the pandan and ginger combination, however, for future recipes in my kitchen.

Since Janice is a pastry chef, I could hardly wait for her creations. Her take on Popcorn Nostalgia (first picture in this entry) was spot-on and incredibly fun with the duo of sweet and salty popcorn ice cream served with yuzu parfait and salted caramel. I cleaned off my plate very quickly once I tucked in, although I could hardly bare to destroy the work of art she has created on the plate before I picked up my dessert spoon. She also put a spin to the sticky toffee pudding by making it with gula melaka and serving it up with a dab of vanilla-rish kaya – very rich, very deep and my only complaint was the portion was too small!

As I mentioned to one of the PR consultants, I came away from the luncheon feeling very proud of Singapore. Our flavours have transcended boundaries and made its way into the global scene, and I feel confident enough to say that we are good at what we whip up, whether its street food or modern Singaporean cuisine. People are excited at exploring the tastes and textures of Singapore street food, and many renowned chefs that I’ve spoken to over the last year, such as Jason Atherton and Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, are inspired by our flavours. I can’t wait to return to Singapore to properly witness the old and new coming together in our culinary history.

But for now, I shall say to you that the Singapore Takeout in London is only here for one more day (today!), you might be able to make it for lunch now, or dinner (admission is free and you get two complimentary dishes, whilst stocks last), so head down if I’ve got you curious! I urge you to do so!

Swing by at:

London’s South Bank, The Riverside Walkway (by Gabriel’s Wharf), South Bank, London SE1 9PP

Admission times are:

11th June 2011: 12.15pm – 3pm, or 5.30pm to 7.45pm

Singapore Takeout will be travelling to Paris next, and 7 other countries after that, so check out the Singapore Eats Facebook page for more details!

I leave you with a picture of three manly butts that I spotted after the event. Lady Gaga was recording a show at the ITV studio, which was behind the Singapore Takeout venue, and I was merely (s)taking out the Lady Gaga (s)takeout! Now I wonder if Lady Gaga stopped by for the laksa….she might get her claws out for that!

*Updated: This post has been featured on Foodgawker. Check out my profile on Foodgawker to see my other featured posts!

Also check out my other food adventures!

Singapore Comes To London

I’ve been dreaming. Not of beach holidays. Not of being a millionaire. Not even of hot guys, except M of course (and you’re not allowed to disagree). I’ve been dreaming instead, of something that resides 6000 miles from here.

I’ve been missing home alot, my family, Singapore and its lip-smacking array of gourmet delights. And I dream of going back for a holiday. Work gets in the way, flights are expensive, nah uh, looks like I’ve got to wake up from that dream….

…so imagine my delight when a little bird tells me that Singapore is coming to London.

Really?! Singapore’s coming to London?! Is it like Singapore Day?! (for those of you who don’t know, Singapore Day was held in London in 2009 and the famous hawkers were flown down to cook for us homesick people)

No it isn’t, but it’s better.

Indeed. I’ve been invited, along with a number of other food bloggers based in London and the media, to the Singapore Takeout. You might have read about it over at Chubby Hubby’s. So yes, Singapore IS coming to London in the form of a specially-customised shipping container. An initiative that is part of Singapore’s International Culinary Exchange programme (SPICE), this unique pop-up kitchen and restaurant is embarking on an epic world tour over the next year, dishing out the unique flavours of Singapore to the rest of the world. The container will dock at the shores of Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney, all this after London; that comes up to 67,509miles or 108,690km – almost 3 times round the world! Oh my word, It’s going to be more well-travelled than The Pleasure Monger!

Along with the pop-up comes Janice Wong, the young and uber talented chef-and-owner of 2am: dessertbar (you can also read her blog here). Having been based in London for the past few years, I haven’t had the chance to witness the evolution of Singapore cuisine, and I’m personally very excited at the prospect of meeting Janice, who graduated from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and has worked in some of the world’s best restaurants, including Wylie Dufresne’s WD50 in New York, Alinea in Chicago and Thomas Keller’s Per Se. Her ability to reinvent Singapore street food and desserts into gastronomical works of art have led to collaborations with other culinary stars such as Juan Mari and Elena Arzak of Spain’s (you can read about my meet-up with the Arzaks here) three Michelin-star hot-spot Arzak (my review here) and the celebrated patissier Pierre Hermé. As you can see from my old posts, I am a big fan of the Arzaks and Pierre Hermé; I am literally quivering with excitement when I think about the flavours that Janice is going to serve up. Just look at the menu:

Lemongrass infused Laksa Dumplings with Noodles

Sweet Salty Popcorn Yuzu. Caramel

Chilli Chocolate Corals Homemade Peanut Butter. Honeycomb

I’m really looking forward to being inspired by the flavours of home, to think out of the box when it comes to cooking, preparing and showcasing Singapore’s food, which I am so very proud of,  to friends from all over the world.

Now, I hope you’ll come by to join us in this one-of-a-kind experience. 25 selected members of the public will have a chance to get up-close and personal with Janice Wong in her 45-minute cooking demonstration on 10th June at 4pm, where she will reveal how she prepares dishes such as Chilli Chocolate Corals. Those who are not able to grab these limited (and highly coveted tickets, if I might add), can still sample her dishes, when the Singapore Takeout opens its doors to all members of the public (see times below). Complimentary tasting portions of these dishes will be given out to all visitors at these times:

THE ‘WHEN’:

10th June 2011: 5.3opm – 7.45pm

11th June 2011: 12.15pm – 3pm, or 5.30pm to 7.45pm

THE ‘WHERE’:

London’s South Bank, The Riverside Walkway (by Gabriel’s Wharf), South Bank, London SE1 9PP

THE ‘WHAT’:

Admission is FREE, with 2 complimentary sample dishes from the menu.

THE ‘HOW’:

To have a taste of inventive flavours of Singapore at London’s Southbank, all you have to do is to register HERE.

Being nosey, I might stick around after the private session, so if you see me at the public event at 5.30pm on 10th June, please come up and say hi!

For more updates on the Singapore Takeout event, follow the Facebook page here or @YourSingaporeUK on Twitter for the London leg. Don’t worry if you aren’t in London for this, remember that Singapore Takeout is going to drop by Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney, so look out for registration details!

Singapore, ahoy!

Photo credits: Singapore Eats Facebook Page

Outfits: Playing Dre$$ Up

We’ve been going out an awful lot for nice dinners and I’m running out of ideas on what to wear! I have an embarrassing stash of mouldy clothes that look like they belong to the 90′s. As I have been spending more on holidays, bags (my weakness…) and good food, I can’t bear to part with more moolah on clothes. Besides, I’m always uninspired when I go shopping for clothes. Something that looks nice on the mannequin always looks disastrous on me. Something that looks plain on the rack might be perfect, but I never seem to have the eye to pick it out. I often find myself wandering through stores, running my fingers through the racks, and leaving with nothing. On good days, I leave with an accessory or two. As such, I really hate shopping for clothes. If you’ve been following my outfit posts, I’ve resorted to online shopping on blogshops instead, with the help of my sister. Clothes from some of these blogshops are cheap and of reasonable quality; they look quite trendy (or at least not old-fashioned), and even if the season has passed, the affordable prices mean that you won’t feel the pinch when they go out of style. I also tend to go for safer pieces that suit my very safe and boring look, so I stretch my dollar for a couple of seasons.

I’ve resorted to sifting through my old stash of clothes for M’s birthday dinner at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. I like jackets very much (well, aside from the fact that they are necessary in windy London, they hide those arms and frame the body – gee I’m talking like those arms and body are not mine…go figure, pun intended), so I paired a Love, Bonito shoulder-padded black jacket (less than S$30) with a sheer dress (also less than S$30) from the same line. The dress is very comfortable and easy to wear, even when I’m stuffing myself with food. It has a black sheer layer that peeks through to a dusty pink inner layer (colour of dress in photo on the left is more true to reality, I do apologise for the poor quality pics, I took them in different places with different lighting), which makes it look a little girlish on its own. As I prefer a more grown-up look when it comes to dresses, throwing on a jacket that suits my frame helps to add a more womanly touch to my appearance.

It wasn’t very cold that night, so I bared my legs and put on some really comfortable black patent heels from Pazzion (about S$50?). I didn’t want to go overboard with accessories, so a vintage-looking pair of black and gold earrings from Warehouse (only £2!) sufficed. Since the dress had a pink undertone, I thought it was nice to pull the look together with a nude-and-gold clutch from River Island that I bought for £36. When I was outdoors, I threw on a black coat from H&M which was a steal at only £29.90 during a sale.

I thought the outfit looked quite decent for what it’s literally worth. It was too comfortable, which can only be a good thing. We have more fancy dinners coming up, so I’m hoping to be able to pull more fashion (cheap) rabbits out of my hat with whatever’s swimming in my dingy wardrobe!

Now, perhaps you could teach me a trick or two. If you’ve pulled off a pocket-friendly look for dinners or nice nights out, or for when you just felt like playing dress up, I’m inviting you to share it with me and my readers on your blog. Simply write the entry up, name it ‘Outfits: Playing Dre$$ Up’, and link your entry back to mine. Leave a comment here, telling me that you did so and I’ll update my entry with the links to your entries, so everyone can sneak a peek at your $tyle!

Starting with these ladies…..can’t wait to read their entries!

Miss Ene and The Boy (Pretty in bold colours! Come take a peek at her dress here, which is perfect for summer!)

Yannisms (Eclectic and fun – come check out her chic style here!)

Scribbles and Snapshots (All decked in spring/summer colours – I’m loving the fresh take on dressing up for wedding dinners. Come check out her style here!)

Faerie Land (Read all about her fresh Stepford wife look here, just in time for Spring!)

Wild Rocketing (I like that she’s put together a few outfits with key pieces in one of my favourite colours! Check out her style here!)

Heaven In A Wild Flower

Lady J’s Musings (Colours ahoy! Very very colour-pop chic!)

A Dollop of Me (She jazzes up her little black dress with statement accessories – come sneak a peek!! Here’s another version of her get-up too.)

A reader who has come by to join in the fun!

Miss Pretz

Check out my other fashion posts!

The 1st Earth Day in Singapore!

Happy Friday, peeps! It’s only one week away to Good Friday, and if you haven’t got any plans but would like to do something meaningful, read on!

My friend has been working with with a non-profit organisation, Ground-Up Initiative, to launch the very 1st Earth Day celebration in Singapore. It’s taking place on 22nd April (falls on Good Friday this year) as part of a global celebration, so if you do drop by to take part, you will be part of something really BIG! Earth Day was founded in 1970 and it was intended to create awareness for our natural environment. In the recent year or two, M and I have been a lot more conscious in our recycling efforts thanks to the heightened awareness here in UK; I didn’t know much about Earth Day then, and even though I am no qualified spokesperson for taking care of our natural environment, we can make a difference in the smallest of ways and I think this event is a great way to get involved!

I’ve been told that there will lots of artist-led creative workshops, installation & performances, yummy plant-based food on that day, so do visit Earth Day in Singapore for the programme! Registration for workshops will be opening soon, so keep your eyes peeled! Link up with the event via Facebook and Twitter, and tell all your friends about it! Happy weekend, everyone, and hopefully I’ll get a spot of time over the next two days to let you in on my next food adventure. Till then, x.

Fundraising for Japan – A Success, And Yes, We Have A Winner!

Thanks to your generous donations, The Pleasure Monger’s fundraising event for Japan was a success! We may have fell short of the £2000 target, but we did raise a whopping £1510, which amounts to 76% of our target! To be honest, I wasn’t sure if anyone would donate when I organised this, but a number of you did; the funds that we’ve raised together are so much more than I could ever give on my own. I’m grateful for your support and I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The fundraising page that I’ve set up on JustGiving will run till 2016, so please continue to drop a pound or two to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan. I’m sure everyone knows that the people in Japan are still suffering from the aftermath. For people like us who can’t be there to deliver aid, we can help in other ways. Yesterday evening, I was just thinking how wonderful it would be if everyone who stops by this blog could give a pound or spare some change; we could very well raise £20000 in a month! And then we have other bloggers who are trying their best to raise funds (read the updates at the bottom of this post for more details on how you can get involved), bloggers who are way more popular, prolific and well-known than I am, and if every reader of theirs give a pound for every post they read, they could raise so much more. That £1 makes such little difference to us, but for the victims, every penny counts and the success of the fundraiser thus far proves that we can pool our resources together and make a HUGE difference. So please continue to give, within your means, to any of the avenues that are most accessible to you.

Now, let’s realise the promise I made. When I organised the fundraiser, I said that I would pledge a USD100 Amazon gift card to one lucky donor so long as he/she donates before 31 March 2011 (GMT2359h). So today, I used the random integer generator on random.org to pick a winner and the gift card goes to…….

SHIRLEY!

I’ll be in touch in the next few minutes with an Amazon email containing the gift card. Congratulations and thank you for your donation!

xx

 

Fundraising for Japan

Dear readers,

In light of the recent events that hit Japan, I have started a fundraising page on JustGiving to raise some money for the disaster relief efforts. My nominated charity is ShelterBox, which is rallying resources to help the people in Japan. Temporary shelters are getting increasingly overcrowded right now, and if you’ve read the news, many have died in the bitter cold. The Japanese authorities are requesting ShelterBox to deliver emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies to the north of Japan. Thousands of boxes of such supplies are either in Japan or ready to be mobilised now, and we can help to deliver to the needs of the homeless in Japan. Please, let’s not leave them out in the freezing temperatures, and let’s work to give them a home and some warmth, literally and figuratively.

Anyone can donate, you only need a debit or credit card to do so. I can’t make a difference on my own, so instead of donating the money directly to charity, I am pledging a USD100 Amazon gift card to this fundraising event. I will randomly select the gift card recipient (using http://www.random.org/) from the list of people who donate on my fundraising page before 31 March 2011 (2359h GMT). By giving a little incentive, I hope that this will boost numbers a little and make the event worthwhile.  The gift card can be used on Amazon.com and I will email it to you before 10 April 2011. I will also announce the winner on this blog.

Please note that whilst I am not allowed to publicise this gift card raffle on my JustGiving page (as I am bound by terms and conditions), anyone who donates on my page, with a valid email address, will be eligible for this raffle. In order for me to contact you, please make sure you make your email address available to me on the JustGiving fundraising page.

Thank you for your help. Please also spread the word around, the success of this fundraising event relies on our collective effort.

Updated: I would also like to bring your attention to other avenues of donation. Some of my food blogger friends have set up an initiative called Bento4Japan, they have very generously put up some bento-related items up for auction on eBay. Please visit this site and start bidding! Or you can visit meemalee’s kitchen to have a look, she has written a nice summary of how you can help the people in Japan. Chika of the very beautiful blog, She Who Eats, is also giving away sakura ingredients to raise funds for Japan.

P/S: The fundraising page will be active till 2016, but only donors who contributed to this page before 31 March 2011 (2359h GMT) will be considered for the raffle. I am doing this because I am trying to encourage as many people to donate soon as the relief efforts are ongoing and urgently needed – WE HAVE A WINNER!

 

Stop Feeling Homesick: Make Your Own Chwee Kueh

If there’s one dish that has been refusing to behave in my kitchen, it is chwee kueh, a steamed rice cake topped with fried preserved radish. If you haven’t heard already, it is one of the many well-loved hawker dishes in Singapore and if you haven’t tried this, you haven’t had the quintessential Singaporean breakfast.

I didn’t use to like chwee kueh very much. When I was a kid, I only had eyes for fried hawker dishes. Char kway teow, chai tow kway, you know, the obvious stuff. My love for chwee kueh only developed when I started going out with M. He loves a good platter of chwee kueh, and I guess his appetite rubbed off on me. Then, my cravings for chwee kueh worsened with our time in London. We can find char kway teow here. We can also find satay, chai tow kway and a lot of other Singaporean dishes (though not as authentic, but good enough to hold us hostage), but my goodness, chwee kueh is nowhere to be found. If we don’t go back to Singapore for a year, we would suffer from chwee kueh withdrawal symptoms for 365 days, can you imagine that?! Hence, it comes as no surprise that a trip back to Singapore is often accompanied by the mandatory eating itinerary which features chwee kueh quite prominently on top of the (as Singaporeans would say) ‘die die must eat’ list. How can anyone say no to baby smooth and tender kueh smothered in the most addictive, sweet-savoury, spicy  and ever so slightly crunchy preserved radish?

I couldn’t possibly let M suffer from the lack of chwee kueh in our diet. I had enough of Vitamin Chwee Kueh deficiency too. So, I ploughed the internet for recipes and all I can say is, until today, chwee kueh was the death of me. I stirred and I steamed, only to find a worthless lump of white gooey poo on my first attempt. The rats in London will scurry away at the smell of that off-putting lump. Needless to say, the eager husband woke up to a breakfast of tantrums. Yes, I threw a hissy fit in the kitchen and cursed the recipe that I referred to to the deepest of hell. I am evil that way.

I decided to do it on my own terms, and reduced the water content to see if the chwee kueh might set better after steaming. Yes it worked, but the consistency wasn’t quite right. There was a certain flour-ish taste to it, which I didn’t like, and the chwee kueh wasn’t springy and smooth enough. Then, I had a Eureka! moment when I was in an Asian supermarket recently. I noticed that the rice flour I had purchased from Sainsbury’s was coarser and slightly more yellowish than the white rice flour found in Asian marts. I decided to try my recipe out with the Asian white rice flour instead, and this morning, it worked! The chwee kueh was delightfully springy, and much smoother than my previous attempt. The fried preserved radish (chai poh) wasn’t hard to make either, it’s a matter of seasoning it to taste, really. Over the three attempts, I have come up with my version, which M has declared to be the best chai poh he has ever had, and yes, this is my favourite too.

I was a happy girl, and devoured four precious pieces for lunch today. I’m no longer homesick and to my dear friends who have been asking me for my recipe on Facebook, I hope you will feel less homesick too.

Here’s the recipe:

Chwee Kueh

Kueh
Makes 10 in standard chwee kueh moulds

100g white rice flour (bought from Asian stores)
13g wheat starch
125ml water at room temperature
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
625ml water
Extra vegetable oil for greasing
Extra water for topping up

1. Mix flour, starch, vegetable oil, salt and 125ml of room temperature water to form a smooth batter and set aside.
2. Bring 625ml of water to boil in a saucepan, and gradually add the batter from Step 1 to the boiling water. Stir constantly until a thick glue-like paste is formed.
3. Grease the chwee kueh moulds with vegetable oil and fill each mould up till about 2/3 full. Smooth the batter out with the back of a wet spoon. Add a teaspoon of water to the top of the smooth batter.
4. Steam on high heat for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the chwee kueh moulds from steamer and let cool almost completely before unmoulding with a knife. If you unmould the chwee kueh before it is almost cooled, it will be too wet and unpleasant to eat. You may keep these in the fridge for a few days, leave them in the moulds and unmould when you want to have them. Pop them in the microwave for 1.5 minutes (works for me) to heat them up.

Chai Poh
Makes enough for 10 pieces of chwee kueh (make more if you like a heavy dose of chai poh)

75g chai poh (preserved sweet (not salty) radish, chopped. Soak these in water before frying if you don’t want it to be too salty.)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon Maggi’s Garlic Chilli Sauce
1/2 tablespoon kecap manis
2 teaspoons sugar

1. Fry garlic and chai poh in oil till fragrant.
2. Add fish sauce, chilli sauce, kecap manis and sugar to chai poh and stir-fry for a few more minutes. Serve on top of chwee kueh.

*Note: You may not have Maggi’s chilli sauce, so tweak the rest of the ingredients according to how salty or sweet your chilli sauce is. Add more chilli sauce if you want it to be spicy, or use chilli oil to add more kick without upping the salt or sugar content.

Enjoy!

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Outfits: The Annual CNY Wardrobe Dilemma

So….Chinese New Year is just round the corner. My home isn’t cleaned. The laundry isn’t done. I haven’t baked nearly enough CNY goodies to last two monsters (that would be M and me). I am feeling unwell with stomach flu. I have loads to study for my viva. I haven’t had the time to cut my hair. And I have nothing new to wear for CNY. To all these, The Pleasure Monger shall seek out solutions. I will do the laundry today (it’s in the washer now). I will clean up our place tomorrow (SWAT team-like operations already in place in my head). I will bake more CNY goodies when I am done studying. I will get better with more rest, fluids and meds. I will study after blogging (check out my priorities). I will snip one strand of hair to symbolise a haircut that I used to have before CNY. Ahhhh…solutions for all. But one.

As I get older, I run into an even bigger Annual CNY Wardrobe Dilemma. Before I left Singapore recently, I recall seeing a sea of red everything in boutiques, but I didn’t bother buying any new clothes for CNY. In fact, I haven’t had new CNY garb for four years now because really, there is no need to. We will be at home, watching TV, family-less and without visitors. We don’t get any holidays here, and we aren’t visiting anyone either, so why bother? I used to feel out-of-place if I didn’t get new clothes for the festival. It’s a routine that I was used to before I moved to London, and I felt uneasy that I pulled the plug on this tradition. But hey, I’m alive, and doing quite okay, so erm, maybe not having new clothes won’t bring me bad luck? *knock on wood, just in case*

So instead of having shiny new clothes, I’ve settled for wearing shades of red on the eve and the first day of CNY. To me, it’s not too unbecoming a compromise except for one teeny problem – I don’t wear red-red because I’m too old to look cute like walking angbao I once was when I was younger. I don’t own many red pieces except for the Arsenal jersey which I wear to when I watch matches at the Emirates Stadium. Because I don’t look too silly in it, the Arsenal jersey has also been officially knighted to be my CNY outfit for the past years, especially since we don’t go out. In fact, M wears his Arsenal tee too. But if I were in Singapore, or if I were going out to visit someone on CNY, I’d probably wear my latest buy from ASOS (pictured above), a peachy pink colour-block camisole with hook-eye details on the front. I was wearing it everywhere when I was in Singapore. Lightweight (read: cooling), not too girly even though it’s pinkish, slightly edgy because of the hook-eye details. My preferred style is written all over it. I liked pairing it with a colour-block jacket from Tracyeinny, which has interesting textures of grey jersey and black faux leather in the same piece, something that gives a little character to anything remotely wallflower-ish one may wear. I also like to put on a statement bracelet to complete the outfit (you can’t really see this in the picture). Shorts are a must in Singapore since it’s so warm, but if you’re visiting and don’t want to look too casual, you could don a pair of black or dark navy skinnies. I would, and I think I will, because ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been invited to my very first CNY meal at a friend’s home this Saturday! Pardon me if I am overly excited, we’re usually the hosts. Now all I have to do is get well, claw my way through the mountain of things I have to do, spend CNY in my Arsenal jersey with M on the couch, like what we did for the past years, and finally, LOOK the part of a guest this Saturday.

Please also allow my nosey self to strike – what will you be wearing for CNY? Make me green with envy and send me pictures or leave a comment!

P.S.: If you’re looking to buy the camisole from ASOS, it is no longer available in the same design. You can, however, check out variations of it here and here. The basic style is the same, only the hook-eye details have been changed.

Check out my other fashion posts!