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!

A tip or two on how to make vegetables tasty

I recently watched a British documentary titled 'Fast Food Baby' on ABC. The first thought that popped into my head after the show was 'how can parents expect their children to eat those bland plain-boiled vegetables that look like they have had all the vitamines and nutrients boiled out of them'? While my heart goes out to parents who try desperately to get their kids to eat fibre, the reality is if I were a kid, I probably would not consider broccoli or zuchinni that is plain-boiled without any flavours or raw celery sticks as remotely edible. It can only be commonsense that before parents can expect to get their kids to eat veggies without them sticking a tube down their throat, they must first learn how to make them tasty. There are so many delicious child-friendly vegie recipes out there that no kid deserves to be fed tasteless strings of fibre. All it takes is some innovative spirit and basic understanding of flavour combinations to make even the least popular vegies tasty. For instance, while raw cucumber can be quite bland on its own, you can whip up a tangy sweet and sour cucumber salad with chopped cucumber, garlic (or garlic salt), rice vinegar, sugar and a dash of soy. For the adult version, add chopped red chilli for a flavour boost. Eggplant can be tasteless on its own, and take on a slightly bitter taste if overcooked, but it acts as a 'flavour sponge' when cooked with other ingredients. For example,pan-fried eggplant with garlic and balsamic vinegar makes a simple-yet-delicious child-friendly dish. If there was ever a 'most-hated vegetable for children' list, then broccoli would most certainly top that list without a doubt. A simple make-over, however, is all it takes to boost broccoli's reputation. There are so many flavours that go well with broccoli, such as stir-fried broccoli with garlic and soy, steamed broccoli (not the over-cooked broccoli that takes on a poopy-brown colour) with a garlic and cheese sauce, or simply melted butter. I could sit here all day going on about how to make vegies taste good, OR I could urge all parents to folllow this simple recipe: season vegies with a bit of commonsense, creativity and knowledge, and what comes out WILL be eaten!

My love-love relationship with country cooking

I have always had a love-love relationship with the good ol’ country cooking. My mother-in-law is a great country cook, and most things she cooks are as ‘exotic’ to me as Asian food is to her. For instance, her ‘goulash’ consists of chopped meat stewed in gravy, and if she feels extra ‘kinky’, she would throw in a couple of bay leaves. My goulash with hot paprika would prove to be too much on the exotic side for her pallet. I especially love her roast pork with mash potato. It is comforting to have a gigantic plant of meat and potato covered in a rich 80%-fat gravy-while your waist line is secretly cursing you out, your heart knows that you are very much loved.  

While most people would say country cooking is comforting because their mother used to cook that way. Well, growing up in a Chinese family with a mother who can’t cook to save her life, I am not in a position to say that. While I cannot say that country cooking reminds me of home, I can say that it reminds me of love and simplicity of the country lifestyle. Country cuisine is also comforting for someone like me with a larger-than-life appetite. Sometimes the only thing that can make me feel better is a juicy pork roast with hearty potatoes and bouncy peas-all 800 grams of them! The pork might not be seasoned with exotic spices, the potatoes might not be mashed with cream and organic butter, and the only fibre you find on the plate might be a couple of overcooked peas, dwarfed by the size of the roast and the all-mighty pile of mash potato, but you find tremendous comfort in knowing that you will feel fed, and that you don’t have to worry about food for the coming days, as there will be enough leftovers to feed an army. Just when you think you have reached your monthly red meat quota in one meal, you are served the leftover stew on toast the next morning for breakfast. Whenever I visit my mother-in-law, I constantly find myself in a ‘should-I, should-I-not’ situation. My health-conscious mind is constantly at odds with my greedy stomach, and most of the time, the smell of her stew or roast ends up too powerful for the mind to resist. So, during this festive season, enjoy your fat-dripping pork roast and leave all the dieting till next year!

A story about the humble sandwich

I have always been intrigued by the notion of a SANDWICH. My fascination with the humble sandwich has prompted me to do some online research. The humble sandwich was said to be ‘invented’ by the 4^th Earl of Sandwich, an Englishman who was fond of gambling. As the story goes, during a gambling streak, he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The inventive cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Okay, it is probably not the most exciting meal one could expect, but a sandwich could be so much more exciting than people give it credit for. The humble sandwich is often perceived to be bland and uneventful. However, a sandwich can be more than what meets the eye. I guess the saying “never judge a book by its cover” applies to the hero of my story perfectly-never judge a sandwich by its name. Sandwiches are eaten all around the world. They might not all look like sliced meat between two slices of bread, but the idea of a sandwich is a universally-endorsed concept, for example, a soft taco from Mexico, an Indian roti ‘sandwich’, or a pork and steamed bun ‘sandwich’ from Singapore. Here is an idea for your next work event, why not organize a ‘multicultural sandwich’ day, where colleagues from different cultures can showcase their culturally-distinct gastronomic delight? I think its about time that we give the humble sandwich the honour it deserves, as it is a reminder that no matter how different we think we are from the next person, we can always find something in common, in food-Everybody loves a good sandwich! Time to celebrate, peeps!