Thursday, February 16, 2006

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.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

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.