Happy 2009........

Here is wishing everyone of my readers a very happy 2009!

Dearest Santa........

As I step foot on Sunway Pyramid shopping complex ( my very first outing after weeks of confinement ) few days ago, I could hear the sweet sound of Jingle bells ringing in my ears. I could feel the joy and spirit of Christmas is everywhere. Mostly every shop was decorated with a Christmas tree to welcome this season of love and joy. Eventhough I do not celebrate Christmas I could not help feeling............

Christmas to me is the joy of seeing this brightly lit up Christmas tree....

Christmas to me is time for some fun gathering with families and friends....

Christmas to me is when I can ask Santa for..........

Dearest Santa,..can I have ALL these teddies,.....?

Christmas to me is wishing good tidings for everyone........

Christmas to me is happy holidays like this..............

Christmas to me is dreaming of snowfall and building snowman......

And most of all Christmas to me is wishing my readers here.......

And...............

No Tang Yeun For Me This Year......

Gosh, how fast another year has passby and it just came to my knowledge that today is Winter Soltice festival again. And for the first time in many many years I am not going to make this lovely syrupy colorful glutinous balls for the reason that I am too weak to even make it after 2 straight days of indigestion, vomitting, and diarrhea. To add to that 2 of my family members just recovered from food poisoning, one just days out of hospital. Moreover these glutinous rice balls is not good for the stomach if you have indigestion.So I guess this year I will be a lot younger without the 'tang yuen' as chinese belief after eating tang yuen you will be a year older.

Check out my last year's posting for 'tang yeun' here. As according to Chinese calender this year celebration falls on 21st December compared to last year's 22nd December. I would like to wish all my Chinese buddies here Happy Dong Zhi Festival.

Singapore Airlines.........

Once upon a time in Singapore, there lived a happy couple, Mr. & Mrs. Ng with their 3 lovely daughters; Elaine, Ena & Ella.

The 3 daughters were brought up in a prim-and-proper way and when they reached 20, they were still virgins.

Years passed, and it was time to get them married.

So, the parents found them the most suitable ' leng chais'(handsome guys).

They got married and were preparing to set-off on their honeymoon.

As 'concerned' (more like 'kay-poh') parents, Mr.& Mrs. Ng were curious about their daughters' first-night experience.

So, before the daughters went on their respective honeymoons, Mrs. Ng told them......'Your father and I want to know about your 1st night encounters and whether you are satisfied. Write a letter to us, but as not to raise your husbands' curiosity... you all must use a code-name to describe your 'experiences' .

So, the excited daughters were off. A week passed.

Mr. & Mrs. Ng got the first letter. It was from Elaine.

They opened the letter and found the word STANDARD CHARTERED.

They immediately took the newspaper and looked for the Standard Chartered advertisement. 'Ah! here it is!', exclaimed Mr. Ng. The motto for Standard Chartered was... 'BIG, STRONG & FRIENDLY'. Mr & Mrs. Ng were happy.

A week later, they got another letter. This time it was from Ena. The content was simple. 'NESCAFE'. So, again they took the newspaper and looked for the Nescafe ad. 'Ah! here it is. 'NESCAFE: PLEASURE TILL THE LAST DROP'. Mr. & Mrs. Ng beamed with joy.

Another week passed. A month passed. And another. There was still no letter from Ella.

The Ngs became worried.

Finally, the letter came. It was scribbled and could hardly be read, but Mrs.! Ng managed to figure it out. The code-name was 'SINGAPORE AIRLINES'.

Why Singapore Airlines? Mr.Ng rushed to the nearest store and got a newspaper. He flipped the pages frantically. 'Ah! Here it is!' Mrs. Ng grabbed the page and read aloud. Before she could finish ..THUMP!!!. ..she fell off her chair. The motto was ...'7 TIMES A WEEK. 4 TO 6 TIMES A DAY. NON-STOP'.

A Not Too Spicy Fish Curry......

I love to share here a simple fish curry that you can cook in less than an hour. This not too spicy curry will be loved by even small children by adding their favorite vegetables making it a wholesome meal by itself for those busy mothers. As I have been on a diet of chicken soup most of the time I crave for this spicy dish to whet my appetite.

Ingredients:

400 g red snapper or mackerel (deboned)

1 tbsp oil

1 onion sliced

3 cloves garlic

2 slices ginger

1 to 2 tbsp fish curry powder (lessen if cooking for small children)

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp mustard seed

2 sprigs of curry leaves

A combination of 2 -3 diced vegetables : Tomatoes, pumpkin,french beans,okra, eggplant , carrots, cucumber, or lady fingers.

1 cup UHT milk or fresh coconut milk

Fish curry cooking in pot................

Method:

Season fish with some salt and pepper, leave aside. Heat a pan with oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger til fragrant. Add in the curry powder and tumeric which have been mix into a paste with some water. Next add in washed mustard seeds and fry for a minute til fragrant

Pour in half a cup of water and bring to boil. Add in fish and vegetables to simmer for 15 minutes til fish is cooked and the vegetables tendered. Finally add in milk and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Remove immediately once it boils as longer boiling will curdle the milk. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Call It Emperor's Chicken or Beggar's Chicken...

Beggar's chicken...........

I have been cooking beggar's chicken for ages and I have yet to cook it the original way that is by wrapping this popular bird in kilos of mud or soft dough made from wheatflour and then baking it in the oven for hours. As its name imply this dish originated long ago in China as a food of the beggars with the simple chicken wrapped in mud cooked over a fire. As the story goes, an emperor who happens to taste it had such fancy and admiration for this humble dish that he made it his favorite dish in his palace. So with some herbal concoction this dish has become the emperor's chicken.

I have my own way of cooking this good for health dish the easy way of course without compromising on taste. Here is how I cook it weeks ago.

In a saucepan, cook a packet of chinese herbs consisting of tong sum, kei chee, wai sun, yuk chuk, and dong kuai. ( I do not like the smell of dong kuai so it was ommited) with a few tablespoon of water and Chinese wine for about 10 mins to get the flavor out. Leave aside to cool and then ready to be stuff in bag or just into the stomach of the whole chicken.

The boiled herbs......

I stuff the boiled herbs into a bag as I only use half chicken....

Next, rub the cleaned chicken ( I used half coz could not finish the whole chicken) with oyster sauce, black soya sauce, thin soya sauce, Shao Shin wine, pepper and salt.

Seasoning the chicken.............

Ready for wrapping........

Putting in steamer rack in pressure cooker.........

Then wrapped the chicken in transparent paper or foil and put it in a pressure cooker to steam with a bowl of water for 30 to 40 mins.