Asians like it stinky.

Over the years, I have eaten around the world and cooked countless recipes from around the globe, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Malaysian, you name it. At the end of the day, the flavours that I cannot resist are those pungent and borderline stinky. As a matter of fact, observations and research I have carried out over the years can only point to one simple yet obvious conclusion: Asians like it stinky. Question: what is the one thing the following Asian ingredients have in common? Korean kimchi, Chinese fermented tofu, century-year-old egg, Korean fermented bean paste, Malaysian shrimp paste ('Belacan'), durian and Vietnamese fish sauce. See a pattern here? Yes, the answer is: they all STINK!! I would have to take my hat off to the 'culinary pioneer' who discovered durian, which is a large south-east Asian fruit (dubbed the king of fruits’), with a thorn-covered husk. Inside the evil-looking husk are segments of cream-coloured pulp with a texture that resembles sticky custard, and odour that resembles what comes out after a bad night out at the local Indian restaurant. I wonder what had possessed the person who first discovered the fruit to open up the thick thorny husk, take a whip of that indescribably-foul-smelling flesh, and go: "hmm, I am going to stick it in my mouth"!!!! I have over the years come up with various theories (such as maybe the Malays had seen monkeys eat durian, hence decided to give it a crack themselves, or starving Malays stuck in the jungle with nothing but durians to eat, etc), but how durian became a regional favourite remains a mystery to me. When it comes to stinky Asian foods, you either LOVE them so dearly you have to have them all the time, or HATE them so passionately you cannot stay from them far enough. Like durian, Korean kimchi is also one of those things that you either love or hate. The most common Kimchi is Chinese cabbage fermented in fish sauce, salt, chilli and garlic. If you wish to understand Koreans' love affair with garlic and chilli, there is no better way to start your Korean food education than eating Kimchi. It is refreshing, tangy, spicy, salty and most importantly, STINKY. Its iconic role in the Korean cuisine is undeniable, as Koreans eat it as an essential condiment to every meal (breakfast included). You can smell a Korean coming before you can see them in flesh and blood, as the garlic breath travels far and fast. Like other fermented and pickled foods, Kimchi was invented for practical reasons-to preserve vegetables for the cold harsh winter when nothing grows, but I believe Kimchi serves other practical benefits, such as preventing the spreading of flu viruses. The reason is simple: nobody would want to go anywhere near you after you eat Kimchi!

I can go on for days about the wonderfully-addictive stinky foods of Asia. I guess those stinky foods were invented/discovered because it makes sense-stinky foods are pungent and flavoursome, and we like strong flavours. For those adventurous people out there who have never tried any of the stinky Asian foods, it is time to step out of your comfort zone and try something new and exciting. You may end up picking up a few new food addictions, like the Kimchi-loving Italian I met last week!

Chinese New Year dinner-the most important dinner of the year

I am usually not one who supports cultural stereotypes, yet, even I have to admit that the Chinese love food. The love for food runs through our veins, and eating forms an integral part of the chinese culture- 'Chinese' and 'food' belong to the same sentence, we live to eat, the Chinese wouldn't be able to pull off a hunger strike. Does not matter whether we are socializing, catching up, celebrating or chilling out, the only constant is the presence of food-and lots of it! Out of all the meals we consume in a year, the most important one would have to be the Chinese New Year dinner on NYE. While I do not celebrate Chinese New Year religiously, I can't help but feeling the festive vibe during the chinese festive season. This year I was invited to spend Chinese NYE with my childhood buddy and her lovely family. I knew straight away that it was going to one culinary experience to remember.

Time flies. On my way to dinner, I was struggling to focus on getting there, as I was trying to figure out why I could smell food in the car (there was nothing edible in the car, yet, I felt like I was surrounded by aromas of food). I managed to get there in one piece, phew~~~ I was welcomed into the house with open arms, and the irresistable smell of food coming from the kitchen. I am not imagining this time, I thought. My taste buds were savouring every ounce of the aroma coming from the kitchen, and my imagination was busy constructing the visuals to match. Everyone was watching tennis on TV, so I decided I'd join in. Even the most exciting tennis match could not distract me from what was happening in the kitchen. News break! Dinner was ready, about time (before I had to resort to nibbling on my arm!), I thought. On the dinner table sat tuna sushimi with wasabi and soy, sweet and sour cucumber salad, silken tofu with chopped century-old eggs and pickles, king prawns, hot and sour soup with sea cucumber, ginger and bacon, san choy bao, spicy mud crab, stir-fried beef, Thai-inspired lamb cutlets, fish cakes, thai prawn salad, prune wrapped in bacon, mini-open-sandwiches of pesto and roast beef, and stir-fried snake beans with spicy black bean sauce. If there was ever a food event that deserves the sentiment of 'OMG' (for those of you who still live in the 20th century, it means 'Oh My God'), then O-M-G! Food galore was what was presented in front of me! I wish I could buy an external stomach for storage! As I was savouring each mouth full of this and that, I thought picking a favourite would be as difficult as picking your favourite child, as I love all of my food babies dearly and equally! If someone pointed a gun to my head and the only way to save myself was to pick a favourite dish, my (life-saving) votes would go to the lemon-grass-infused Thai-inspired grilled lamb cutlets. The only word that could do the aromatic and melt-in-your-mouth lamb justice was 'orgasmic'. It was so perfectly tender you don't even need teeth to chew it. The beautiful cameralisation on the cutlets had the sweet Thai marinade to thank for. There is never going to be enough of those lamb cutlets in the world, as now that I have had it, I will always want it. I WANT MORE!!

3 hours later, after a 20-course dinner, I was EXHAUSTED! My stomach and I both needed to rest (and possibly fast for the next month). It was a dinner to remember. The food was plentiful, beautiful and scrumptious. The ingredients had been treated with respect and plenty of TLC. But what was more memorable was the company-it was the generosity and sincerity of the family that left a sweet and lingering aftertaste in my mouth. Here is wishing a happy 2012 to all, Chinese and otherwise! Enjoy and be good!

My no-bake (no-fuss) cheese cake with mixed berries

Food, to me, is an essential element of good living. I am particularly hopeless when it comes to food shows on TV (note: I am not just talking about cooking shows, any show that is remotely related to food is guaranteed to have my full attention). A couple of years ago, I got hooked on an Australian cooking competition show called 'My Kitchen Rules' (MKR), where teams from all around the country cook their best 3-course meal in their own home to win the judges' votes. Inspired by the show, me and a couple of foodie friends decided that we should have our own MKR dinners at each other's homes. Since there were six of us (teams of two), the hosting team will cook the main, and the other two teams will cook entree and dessert. At the end of the night, votes are cast to determine which team makes the winning dish. The monthly tradition was going strong until the second half of 2011, when busy schedules and health issues got in the way of party planning. At the end of 2011, we decided to bring back the MKR tradition in 2012. I still remember the moment, as I was marking the MKR dinner on my calendar, I started to drool because I was picturing images of beautifully-cooked and garnished food, sitting as pretty as a picture next to polished cutleries, on a lovely table for six.

The day has finally arrived. T and J are hosting the dinner, so the main is their responsibility. D and I are in charge of dessert-wait, I should rephrase, I am in charge of dessert, as D cannot even tell the difference between parmesan and ricottta. After a week of going back and forward on recipes, and weighing the uncomfortable effects of the hot weather with the importance of 'showing off', I finally locked in on a no-bake cheese cake with mixed berries. The recipe is the embodiment of simplicity and beauty-simple to make, yet, it looks as pretty as a picture, and is guaranteed to get the tastebuds excited. I started by processing 3.5 packets (roughly) 340 grams of Oreo biscuits (the cream filling and all) with 60 grams of butter to a sandy rubble in a food processor, then press the mixture into the sides and bottom of a standard tart tin. The mixture needs to be put in the freezer for 15 minutes to set, then popped in the fridge to keep cool. While the mixture is sitting comfortably in the fridge, chilled, I could only wish I was THAT chilled in the kitchen, on a hot summer afternoon. I decided that before the heat got the better of me, I need to tackle the hardest part of the recipe-melting mash mellows (anything that requires the stove is going to be a challenge, I thought). Don't get me wrong, melting mash mellows isn't difficult technically (all you have to do is melt the mash mellows with a dash of cream or a small nob of butter on low heat), but any form of COOKING would cause me discomfort and possible dehydration on such a hot day. For 400 grams of cottage cheese, you need 3/4 of a packet of mash mellows, which serves as a 'setting' agent for the cheese cake. It is perfect for no-bake cheese cakes as such, as you get both the gelentine AND the sugar in mash mellows-that is 'killing two birds with one stone' for me. Cream the cheese in a food processor/blender with the juice of one lemon, then add the melted mash mellows till all the ingredients are well combined. Pour the cheese filling into the tart base and spread it evenly. You can use whatever summer berries, but I picked blackberries, strawberries and blueberries for color and flavour. The vibrant colour of the fresh strawberries provides a sharp contrast with the deep colours of the blackberries and blueberries, and brightens the whole cheesecake with that touch of 'glamour'. Arrange the berries in a decorative manner, and pop the cheesecake back to the fridge to set for at least 4 hours. I know that it would be a struggle to have to wait that long, but trust me, it is going to be well worth it. I was opening and closing the fridge every half hour to poke, drool and admire, but I am not one to boast self control when it comes to food this yummy and beautiful. This simple recipe is going to get you plenty of brownie points from loved ones, as it looks like you had been slaving in the kitchen for hours (when the only cooking you did was melting mashies!).