What's the Beef - Part 2

After I was done cursing the supermarket for sneaking 550 grams of inedible fat in what I thought was 2.74 kilos of prime beef, I was ready to attempt cooking a "traditional English Sunday meal".

You know, the sort that the English supposedly eat after church each Sunday - at least in the imagination of some writers of novels and food magazines.

The first thing is to weigh the meat again. This is important to help determine the time needed to cook the beef if you don't want to end up eating leather.

Since I had thrown out 550 grams of fat, I now had only about 2 kilos of real beef left.

The cookbooks and magazines I have read all seem to agree that to get a medium rare roast it should be cooked for 25 minutes for every 500 grams of meat in a 180 degree oven.

So I calculated I needed to cook the beef for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

This turned out to be not such a good idea.

The beef became more medium than rare.

It would have been better if I had taken it out of the oven at least 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Still, it was easy enough getting to the final product.

Once you have calculated the cooking time, rub the beef with some garlic and freshly ground black pepper.

Then put it on a rack in a baking tray.

You can also put some potatoes in the tray so that they roast in the dripping from the beef.

There will be plenty of dripping.

That's more fat.

You may have cut off the visible extra fat - 550 grams in this case - but there will still be plenty that will come dripping out as the meat cooks.

But the potatoes will be happily soaking it up and turning into luscious, gleaming mounds of absolutely delicious killers as the beef sizzles away on top.

Cover the beef loosely with some foil to prevent it from turning brown too much too soon.

While the two are cooking, prepare the vegetables and yorkshire pudding.

Yes, yorkshire pudding.

Remember, this is that "traditional" English meal.

All you need is flour, milk, eggs, salt and some of the dripping from the beef.

Beat 3 eggs and mix it with 1 and a half pints of milk.

Sift 12 ounces flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.

Make a well in the flour and gradually beat in the milk and egg mixture to make a smooth batter.

Make sure there are no lumps.

Keep this batter in the fridge till the beef is done.

When the beef is out of the oven, cover it loosely with foil.

Uncover 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time to let the beef brown.

Let the roast rest for half an hour before serving.

Don't forget the potatoes.

Take them out of the tray and keep them warm.

Then, spoon some dripping into a pan and heat it for 2 minutes in the oven.

I used a 10 x 10 inch pan and also baked some in a muffin tray.

As the batter looked a bit too thick, I added a tablespoon of cold water to it and gave it a good stir before pouring it into the pan.

Bake it for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

The yorkshire pudding will puff up into something kind of ugly.



But rest assured, it will be delicious if served immediately with the roast and the potatoes.

Don't forget the vegetables.

I made glazed carrots and buttered broccoli.

And to round off the meal, a Bakewell Tart.

What's the Beef

Plenty, when a joint of prime meat has more than a little extra something that would add to your calorie and cholesterol count.

If you were to buy a 2.74 kilogram piece of roasting beef, how much excess fat would you expect it to have?

100 grams?

200?

Well, I trimmed exactly FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY grams of fat off the joint I bought from a supermarket in King Albert Park in Bukit Timah.

For those of you who are not familiar with the area, this supermarket is in the same building as the McDonald's headquarters in Singapore.

The beef was priced at just over $40 dollars per kilogram.

The whole thing cost me about $110.

According to the supermarket then, the inedible, heart-stopping fat was worth about $22.

With a fifth of the "meat" gone, I was left with only 2 kilos of beef to feed 8 people at dinner.

So it was with much regret that I said goodbye to the possibility of roast beef sandwiches for the next day.

Breaking Fast

After 8 hours of not eating anything, breaking the fast in the morning with something delicious always makes getting out of bed worthwhile.

Start with a glass of water followed by a teaspoon of Manuka honey.



Make sure it has a UMF of more than 10.

Let it work its anti-bacterial magic on the empty stomach for half an hour before eating anything.

Take that time to exercise and work up a bigger appetite.

Then have a scrumptious sandwich of avocado and bread homemade with wholemeal flour, wheat germ and a ground organic seed mix.



Let caffeine be the only vice.

Better yet, drink to the good life with a healthful cup of tea.

Belly Good Soup

Sometimes, the most expensive cuts of meat or fish may not be the best.

Take salmon.

The fillet and steak cuts look good and cost nearly $20 a kilo.

A whole salmon is cheaper by the kilo in comparison.

That's because quite a bit of the salmon has to be trimmed off to give the fillets and steaks their nice, neat shapes.

And you pay for that "value-add" put in by the supermarket.

But most of the trimmed off bits which you have partially paid for is not thrown away.

The supermarket re-packages that for sale.

Those bits would include the head which comes with part of the flesh next to it, and the tender bits around the gills.

They are delicious in curry (see recipe in "Fit for (A) Rajah", March 2006) or steamed.

But the treasure is the belly.

Strips of it are cut off so that the fillets would not have floppy bits attached to them.

Look for these belly strips which come with loads of smooth, yummy, omega-3 fat.

They are cheaper than the fillets and steaks and regarded by some as cat food.

But don't feed them to your cat.

Make soup for yourself instead.




Put some wolfberries and kelp in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Cut the strips of salmon belly into chunks and add them to the soup.

When the salmon is just cooked, lower the heat, add some romaine lettuce and let it wilt in the soup for about 30 seconds.

Turn off the heat. Do not over-cook the fish and lettuce.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve hot with a slice of buttered, wholemeal bread for a belly-warming meal.

Three-Grain Porridge

Porridge is good after a week of over-eating.

Not the kind made with white rice, no matter how fragrant it is supposed to be.

Something with more fibre, more nutrients, is infinitely more appealing.

Use kelp for its flavour and minerals. Full of iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron.

Barley, buckwheat (1) and black rice (2) - not pulot hitam - for carbohydrates, protein, phytonutrients, fibre and other good stuff.

Radish and carrots for more fibre, vitamins and beta-carotene.

Finally some wolfberries to nourish the "yin" and blood, and strengthen the eyes, liver and kidney.

Put everything into a big pot, add water and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat but keep it bubbling so that the grains won't stick to the pot.

Add more water if necessary.

When everything is soft, the porridge is ready.

Eat it steaming hot with grilled salmon for a dose of omega-3.

And some steamed cabbage and bok choy for more vitamins and fibre.




Rub the salmon with salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Line a pan with foil.

Place some shredded kaffir lime leaves on the foil, top it with the salmon followed by more leaves.

Place the fish under a grill till the skin is crispy.

When the salmon is done, place it on a bed of steamed vegetables and squeeze some lime juice over it.

For dessert, have a juicy mango.

It's rich in vitamins A, B and C.

Some people believe it aids digestion and is good for the heart and the brain.




Notes

1] Buckwheat is a fruit seed related to rhubarb and sorrel. Buckwheat flour is used to make Japanese soba. The seed form is available at the dry goods section of NTUC Fairprice Supermarket.

2] I bought the black rice at the basement supermarket in Siam Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok. Yes, I shopped for groceries when I visited Thailand.

Hum Revisited

After all the sound and fury over that non-order of cockles by the PM (read Mee Siam Mai Hum, 24 August 2006), it's time to contemplate what we can dish up if he had said "ai hum" instead.

The affirmative could have given him a lip-smacking plate of Char Kway Teow, that artery-clogging noodle dish that many Singaporeans crave, especially when they miss home.

In the days when hepatitis and cholesterol were the concerns of doctors only, and hawkers stayed true to their itinerant calling, Char Kway Teow came with almost-raw cockles, lard croutons and scrambled egg.

Then, as now, you could choose to "mai" (not want) or "ai" (want) hum (cockles), hiam (chili) or neng (egg).

Then, unlike now, the cockles were no big deal. If any fuss was made, it was only to instruct the hawker to cook them ever so lightly.

It was the egg that made the difference.

Mothers would send their children to the Kway Teow man with an egg in hand. A big brown one to replace what was considered the inferior small white-shelled variety favoured by the hawker.

The Char Kway Teow would also be cheaper if the egg came from home.

Nowadays, anyone with the temerity to do such a thing would be thrown out of the queue before stepping within sniffing distance of the hawker's wok.

But you don't have to go to a hawker centre to satisfy your craving. DIY kway teow can be just as good.

First, prepare the cockles. Scrub them and soak them in water for a minute or two to entice them to open and let out some dirt.

All the fresh, edible ones will open easily when you pull the shells apart. Discard those that don't. Wash each opened cockle individually under a running tap to get rid of any dirt clinging to the flesh. Use a teaspoon to separate the meat from the shell.

Two dollars will get you enough cockles to cook a big batch of kway teow.

Now you are ready to start frying. This is how Nephew Number Two did it.

First, heat some oil in a wok, add beaten egg to make an omelette of sorts. Push this to one side of the wok. Add more oil, then some minced garlic and fry till fragrant but not brown. Add kway teow and yellow noodles to the pan, season with sweet sauce (kicap manis), black soya sauce, and chili sauce if you "ai hiam".

Next add lots of bean sprouts for that healthy touch.


Give the whole thing a thorough stir. Sprinkle some water if the noodles are a bit dry. Adjust the seasoning. Then it's time to add the cockles - and the blood, for more flavour. It's a bit yucky but you won't regret it.

Give the noodles a quick stir and turn off the stove quickly. Do not over-cook the cockles because you want them almost raw for the best texture and taste.


Scoop the noodles into a bowl. Garnish with spring onions and sliced chili. Eat it while it's hot.

Think of what you would have missed if you had said "mai hum".

Strawberry Delight

Strawberries are in season - in the supermarket.

Some of them are so plump you would think they have GM inscribed in their genes.

So plump they can be quartered and still look luscious in a bowl of home-made ice-cream.



Strawberries are not my favourite fruit.

They are prickly and always seem to leave a sour aftertaste.

To take the edge off, I like to marinate them in whiskey and brown sugar.

Eat them with yoghurt ice-cream made with strawberries for a double dose of pink.


Strawberry Yoghurt Ice-Cream with Marinated Strawberries


500 gms strawberries, hulled and washed

250 ml plain yoghurt

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

80 gms castor sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons whiskey


To make the ice-cream, puree 180 gms of the strawberries with the lemon juice and castor sugar in a blender.

Add the yoghurt and sour cream and blend for a few seconds till everything is mixed.

Pour the mixture into an ice-cream maker and let it work for about 30 minutes.

When the ice-cream is done, transfer it to a box and let it stand in the freezer for about 2 hours before serving.

Next, cut the rest of the strawberries into halves or quarters.

Stir the brown sugar into the whiskey and pour the mixture over the cut strawberries.

Mix well and chill in the fridge.

Let the strawberries marinate for about 45 minutes, stirring them occasionally.

When ready to serve, scoop some ice-cream into a bowl and decorate with the marinated strawberries.

Steamed Pumpkin Bao

There is more to pumpkin than just pie.

It makes a great filling for Chinese dumpling too.

Organic food shops in Fortune Centre sell delicious wholemeal bao filled with pumpkin.

Here's my version of it.





Make a dough in a bread machine with 5 fluid ounces low fat milk, 8 ounces stone-ground organic wholemeal flour, half teaspoon sugar, half teaspoon salt, half ounce butter and 1 teaspoon dried yeast.

While the dough is rising in the machine, peel and clean a pumpkin and cut it into cubes. Mix 3 teaspoons curry powder with some water to make a paste. Add the curry paste to the pumpkin, stir and cook in a microwave oven for 5 minutes on high. Add salt to taste when it's done.

When the dough is ready, knock it back and divide it into 8 equal portions. Flatten each piece and roll it into a round. Place two teaspoons of pumpkin in the centre of each round of dough. Bring up the sides of the dough to cover the filling and pinch the edges to seal.

Place the buns on a plate, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Remove the cling film and steam the buns for about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Mee Siam Mai Hum

Mee Siam Mai Hum

Singaporeans once again showed they are a nation of foodies when they asked collectively on Sunday evening in their broadest Singlish, "Mee Siam got hum meh?"

What caused this puzzlement was their Prime Minister's reference to this favourite rice noodle dish in his annual National Day Rally speech that evening.

This is what he said "live" on national TV.

"You put out a funny podcast. You talk about bak chor mee. I will say mee siam mai hum."

Sms started flying immediately.

"mee siam got hum meh?"

"he mins laksa, rite?"

"char kway teow lah. mee siam where got hum."

"aiyah, shd b mee siam no hiam."

They might well be all correct.

Mee Siam is a spicy rice noodle dish that originated in Thailand - according to non other than Mrs Lee Chin Koon, the grandmother of the Prime Minister, whose recipe for it appears in her cookbook published in December 1974.

A quick check shows cockles or hum as they are called in Hokkien and Cantonese, are not one of the ingredients which include rice vermicelli, prawns, bean curd cake and bean sprouts.

So it couldn't be that Mr Lee remembered telling his grandmother, "no hum please" when offered a bowl of her delicious Mee Siam.

My view is he should have said "hiam" - thick chilli sauce that is sometimes served on the side to add extra kick, for those who like their Mee Siam hot.

Save the "hum" for Laksa or Char Kway Teow.

Or you could eat it only slightly cooked.

Scrub the cockles to get rid of the mud sticking to them.

Soak them in cool tap water for a few minutes.

When they open, wash away any dirt sticking to the flesh.

Pour boiling water over the cockles and let them stand for two to three minutes.

Pour away the water, remove the flesh from the shells and dip it in chilli sauce for a delicious bloody treat.

Another way is to marinate the cleaned raw cockles in thick black soya sauce. Add some sliced fresh chillies to the sauce and let the cockles steep for about an hour. Pour away the sauce, open the cockles and feast.

Nowadays, eating cockles this way would be like playing Russian roulette, what with the threat of Hepatitis hanging over our heads.

So it might well be prudent to follow the Prime Minister's advice and say "mai hum".

Wonder Bread

I used to bake bread the old-fashioned way.

Mix. Knead. Rise. Knock back. Rise again. Bake.

A lot of hard work.

Delicious results.

Now the bread machine does it all. At least the more tedious bits. And at a faster speed too.

The loaves always turn out looking great and tasting even better.

Egg Loaf with Rolled Oats














This is a 1 kilo white loaf with two eggs and 3 ounces of rolled oats added for extra taste and crunch.

All I did was put the ingredients in the machine and press start.

I topped it with more rolled oats just before the bake function kicked in.

A little more work and this is the result.

Onion Focaccia














There's onion on top and onion inside.

And rosemary too. Home-grown.

Slice it.

Top it with ripe avocado.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Add a dash of black pepper.

Lunch.

Focaccia with Avocado














Yummy to the last crumb.

Mushroom Mania

From Button to Portobello to Shitake and more. They are all there for the picking. It's enough to infect any occasional epicure with mushroom mania.

That wondrous hoard of juicy mushrooms can be found, not in some wooded field in a faraway land but right in the heart of Bukit Panjang at the NTUC Fairprice.

My pick, a punnet of Cremini for $3.20 and another of Portobello for $3.50.

Here's what I made with them for lunch.

Cremini and Portobello Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomatoes

5 Cremini and 5 Portobello sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons capers (salt washed off)
1 anchovy mashed
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 medium tomatoes diced
10 slices sun-dried tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
200 gms spaghetti
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper and parmesan to taste

Cook the spaghetti in salted water for about 8 minutes till al dente. Drain and keep the spaghetti warm. Set aside some of the water.

Fry garlic in olive oil for a minute, add tomatoes and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes and capers. Add mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the anchovy, rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the spaghetti to the sauce, stir and turn off the heat. If the mixture is dry, add a few spoons of the spaghetti water. Divide into plates, grate parmesan over the spaghetti and serve immediately.

I also made soup to go with the spaghetti.

Mushroom soup with Baby Cai Xin, Cherry Tomatoes and Wolfberries

3 Cremini
3 Portobello
100 gms Baby Cai Xin
10 Cherry Tomatoes
A handful of Wolfberries
2 Cups water
1 teaspoon white Miso
A few drops Sesame Oil
A dash of Pepper

Add Wolfberries and Cherry Tomatoes to the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and bring to a boil again. Then add Cai Xin and boil for a minute. Dissolve Miso in the soup, turn off the heat and add sesame oil and pepper.
Transfer soup to a bowl and serve hot.

Tea For Two (Hundred and Seventy)

More than 270 people took tea with the PAP(1). Not all at once. Individually, it would seem.

Some of those invited have now made themselves known to the public. They have passed the "tea test". They are the "new candidates" in their brand new Party whites (2). 24 in all.

There were questions aplenty when they met reporters to introduce themselves as candidates for the coming general election. In reply, everyone of them said they wanted to serve the people, give something back to society.

But no one talked about those tea sessions. What did the PAP serve? No one asked and none volunteered any information.

Those who made it to the final round could well have been invited to the Istana (3) where the hosts are justly proud of their special blend of Chinese tea. It's a smoky Lychee. Fragrant and smooth.

The chefs there do a rather good Sago Pudding with Gula Melaka (4) too. It's their signature dessert. The sago is springy, the coconut milk just the right degree of lemak (5), with the Gula Melaka rounding it off on a sweet note.

Lychee tea and Sago Pudding. Not quite right for a political talk-fest.

Teh Halia would be better. Ginger tea. Just the thing to get rid of all the hot air.

Then some pineapple tarts. The sweet that signals happy times at Hari Raya, Lunar New Year, Deepavali and Christmas (6). A reminder to those at tea of the people they will serve.

To make Teh Halia, take a palm-sized piece of ginger, scrape off the skin, bruise it with the flat of a chopper and boil it for about 20 minutes. Remove the ginger and use the water to make tea. Add condensed milk to taste. For those who prefer tea without sugar, try Teh C Halia Kosong (7) with evaporated milk instead of the condensed variety.

The pineapple tarts would be a bit more work.

Rub 4 ounces butter into 8 ounces flour, stir in 1 tablespoon icing sugar. Bind the mixture with one egg yolk and just enough cold water to form a dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill it in the fridge for an hour.

Peel and grate two pineapples, drain and set aside the excess juice (drink it), add some sugar to the pineapple and cook it over low heat, stirring continuously till it forms a jam.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll it on a lightly floured surface to the desired thickness and cut into small rounds with a cookie cutter. Spoon some of the pineapple jam on each pastry round, arrange the tarts on a tray and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees C.

A simpler way would be to buy the tarts. Try the cake stall run by a friendly couple on the top-floor food centre at Beauty World in Bukit Timah (8). A jar sells for about $8.50.

So yummy and not a bit of work. Then everyone will have more time to talk about how to make this country a better place for all.


Notes

1 The People's Action Party or PAP is the political party which has governed Singapore since 1959. It assesses potential election candidates at tea with Party leaders.

2 PAP members wear all-white at Party functions.

3 The Istana is the official residence of the President of Singapore. It is also the place where the country's Prime Minister, Senior Minister and Minister Mentor have their offices.

4 Sago is made from tapioca. The dessert is served with coconut milk and a thick syrup made from palm sugar known locally as Gula Melaka.

5 A Malay word used to describe the consistency of a sauce or gravy made with coconut milk.

6 The main festivals of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians, the four main ethnic groups that make up the population of Singapore. The pineapple tart is one festive tidbit common to all four groups.

7 Literally, Tea Carnation Ginger Zero. Tea made with Carnation Milk, a popular brand of evaporated milk, and ginger. Zero denotes without sugar.

8 A shopping centre in the western part of Singapore.

And Baby Makes Four

A baby is on the way.

It will be the fourth in four years.

Its nursery is just outside my bedroom.

On the balcony.

Now what mother would put her baby on a balcony, you might ask. But if the mother's a bird, a sunny balcony is as good a place as any.

The first time a pair of birds built a nest on my balcony was in 2003. They had visited every day for a few weeks to check out the place.

Then bit by bit, fluff, twigs and leaves appeared in a cluster on a branch of one of my plants.

What looked like rubbish blown in by the wind eventually turned into an egg-shaped nest with an opening on one side.

One day, the singing of the proud parents was answered by a softer cry.

And there they were, two little babies with their mouths wide open waiting to be fed.

I came home one evening, several weeks later, to find the nest smashed, destroyed by strong winds whipped up in an afternoon storm.

They were gone.

The same thing happened in 2004.

The pair built another nest at the same spot.

This time, only one baby.

Then another storm; and so goodbye.

Last year, their nest was destroyed by strong winds before they managed to lay any eggs.

Now I wait with bated breath.

I hope they succeed.

If they do, I will be ready to celebrate in time-honoured tradition with a pot of vinegared pig's trotters.

Just like how every Cantonese household used to when there was a birth in the family.

A pot of vinegared pig's trotters, with lots of ginger to help the new mother get rid of any wind in her tummy.

The last time my mother made the same dish was when my sister-in-law gave birth to my nephews many years ago.

The recipe was lost when my mother died.

Now, my sister has devised her own version using leaner meat.

It's a slightly healthier version, but no less delicious than what our mother cooked.

To make Sister Number Two's Vinegared Pig's Trotters, you will need:

1 pig's trotter and lean meat from 2 legs (ask the butcher to chop them up)
1 big bottle of black vinegar (best grade)
1 bottle of water (measure using the vinegar bottle)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
250 gms black sugar
500 to 600 gms ginger
10 shelled hard boiled eggs
salt to taste

Clean the trotter. Blanch it and the lean meat in hot water for a few minutes to get rid of any scum and porky smell. Cut the meat into chunks.

Scrape the ginger, cut it into big pieces and smash them to release the juice.

Heat a non-stick pan, fry the pork till quite dry. Set the pork aside.

Heat the non-stick pan again and put in the ginger, fry till quite dry.

Add the sesame oil and the pork. Fry.

Put the meat and ginger in a heavy-bottomed pot (do not use metal containers).

Add the vinegar. Fill the vinegar bottle with water and pour this into the pot.

Add the black sugar.

Bring the pot to a boil, then simmer till the meat is tender and almost falling off the bone (about 30 - 40 minutes).

Add the hard boiled eggs and bring to a boil again.

Add salt to taste.

The end result should be like pork in soup.

It can be eaten immediately but would taste better if kept in the fridge for a few days.

You can double the recipe, eat some and keep the rest to eat over several days.

Make good use of old glass jam/coffee bottles to store the end product.

It will keep for more than a month in the fridge.

But it won't be easy to pour the vinegar out of glass bottles as it turns into a gelatine once you put it in the fridge.

When you are ready to eat it, heat the bottle in a microwave oven (1 minute, High).

Then you can easily pour the vinegared pork into a pot to re-heat and serve.

Fit For (A) Raja

The Nation said good-bye last week.

It was his birthday. There was no cake. Only a fond farewell and a tearful eulogy.

His friend and comrade recalled their younger days when the future seemed less than bright and the nation they were to build was just a glimmer in their mind's eye.

They had met over dinner at a swimming club. He did not say what they ate.

Fish-head curry perhaps? The founding fathers of a nation eating what was to become one of that nation's favourite dishes.

A curry fit for (a) Raja.

Here's my version of it.

Take 1 packet of fish curry paste.

Mix with water (amount according to instructions on the curry paste packet)

Add 2 sticks of lemon grass,

3 kaffir lime leaves,

2 tomatoes (quartered),

1 slice of pineapple cut into smaller pieces,

and a few chili padi.

Bring to a boil.

Add 1 salmon head, simmer.

Add 4 ladies' fingers (steamed) when the fish is almost cooked.

When the fish is done, turn off the heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of yoghurt, and salt to taste.

Serve warm with rice, and some ice-cold beer.

Drink a toast to Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Singapore's first Foreign Minister.

Moon Rice

Moonlight has been streaming in through my bedroom window these past few nights.

Not surprising since the moon was full on Sunday.

Li Bai saw that same light too, one quiet long ago night.

What he wrote then echoes in the recesses of my mind, a fragment from a dimly remembered childhood.

My parents had recited it in Cantonese.

Might Li Bai have done it in Mandarin?

Jing(4) Ye(4) Si(1)
Chuang(2) qian(2) ming(2) yue(4) guang(1)
Yi(2) shi(4) di(4) shang(4) shuang(1)
Ju(3) tou(2) wang(4) ming(2) yue(4)
Di(1) tou(2) si(1) gu(4) xiang(1)

The bright moonlight before Li Bai's bed had looked like frost.

As he looked up, he saw only the bright moon. Looking down, he found himself drowning in a longing for home.

But how do you go home when home is long ago and far away and the people who made it home are no longer there.

Might food be the way?

Take a bowl; add some soya sauce and warm lard. Break an egg into the bowl. Fill it with hot rice. Mix.

Savour the fragrance.

Take a bite.

Home.

Apple Tart - Fenilla Style

This apple tart is something of a legend among my family and friends. Everyone loves it.

I don't make it very often because it can be quite a hassle. Way too much work, even though it's worth every bit of effort.

I showed my nephew how to do it for the New Year so now he can be the official tart maker of the family.

If you want to give it a try, here's the recipe.

Pastry
12 oz plain flour
pinch of salt
7 oz butter
2 oz castor sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons water

Custard Cream
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 oz castor sugar
1 1/4 oz plain flour
1/2 pint milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Topping
5 Granny Smith apples
2 tablespoons apricot jam

Make The Pastry
Rub butter into flour, add salt. Dissolve sugar in the egg yolk. When the flour and butter mixture is crumbly, add egg and sugar mixture. Work it into a dough. Add water to bind. Wrap the dough in plastic and put in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Make The Custard Cream
Make a well in the flour in a bowl, slowly pour in the milk and mix like you are making pancake batter. This is to prevent it from going lumpy. Beat the egg, yolks and sugar till smooth. Mix with the batter. Add the vanilla essence. Heat over a small fire. Keep stirring till it thickens. Allow the custard cream to cool.

Prepare The Topping
Peel and quarter the apples. Cut into thin slices. Sieve the apricot jam.

Assemble The Tart
Take the dough out of the fridge after 45 minutes. Cut the dough into two. Roll out one half to fit a 10.5 inch by 6.5 inch baking tin about 2 inch deep. Poke the pastry with a fork. Spread half the custard cream onto the pastry. Roll out the other half of the dough and place it on top of the cream. Spread the rest of the custard cream on the pastry. Arrange the sliced apples on the custard cream, length-wise on the baking tin in 3 rows. Spread the apricot jam on the apple.

Bake The Tart
180 degrees C for 45 minutes.

Eat The Tart
Slice and serve warm.

Rail Tale

I was at Rail Mall last night. The lottery shop was over flowing with people desperate for a last shot at winning the 10 million dollar Toto draw. My friend thought she should buy some tickets so that she could retire pronto. But we didn't think we could get to the top of the queue before it was too late. So we spent our money on some food at A-mei Kaya Toast instead.

Before getting there we checked out some of the other food places and found some cheap pub grub that might be worth a try one day. One pub had a special for the night - grilled fish with chips and salad - for 10 dollars. The special changes daily so you might just get lucky one day. I suppose the special is just the bait to lure you into drinking beer all night.

But if it's wine you want, there is another place where you sit on crates and stools to drink. No food here. Just wine by the glass. And bottle too, I suppose. This was very crowded. Full of people trying to look posh while getting drunk.

Nearby there's another shop that serves pasta and other vaguely Italian stuff which looked quite ok. All under 15 dollars.

After looking at all these, we decided to eat roti prata at A-mei. This turned out to be a mistake. The prata was soggy and the mutton curry that came with it was ringed with a thick layer of gleaming oil.. The chicken murtabak was a greasy lump of fried dough. We gave up eating.

The moral of the story - do not eat anything other than kaya toast at a kaya toast shop.

Still hungry but reluctant to leave so soon after all that trouble fighting off lottery-crazy people for a parking space, we decided to check out the farther side of Rail Mall. This is where we struck gold.

Right at the corner next to a Chinese restaurant is a deli run by a true-blue Italian. The chef and owner told us he opened two months ago. He had worked in Italian restaurants in Singapore for several years and is married to a Chinese Singaporean. Just that day, a MediaCorp crew had been for a shoot and you can see the result on 23 February. Which channel, he doesn't know except that his wife was interviewed in Mandarin while he cooked.

This is what he had on display - lasagne (different sorts), 8 dollars a portion; spinach quiche, 2.50 each; lavender cheese cake, 3.50/slice; chocolate cake also 3.50; stuffed eggplant, 2.50/100gm; pasta salad,2.50/100gm; salmon in puff pastry, roasted zucchini and peppers; roast beef, etc, etc.

I bought the quiche which I had for lunch today. It was the real deal. Not like the factory stuff you get at Deli France. You can choose whatever you want from the counter and eat in the deli. The chef told us he will soon serve lunch and dinner too. He can also do dinner parties at the deli for 30 or 50 dollars a person for a 3-course meal. He already has a booking for a party of 20 later this month.

If you are wondering where to go for lunch or dinner, give this a try. Help to keep him in business so we can eat authentic Italian food anytime without having to go to town.

The bread there is good too - we got a free loaf.