The Nation's Golden Jubilee Celebrations @ Padang Grandstand in photos

Comfort food looks like a dish of pork, potatoes and baked beans :)

 

1 large yellow onion, sliced

 2 garlic cloves, minced

4 small China potatoes, diced and parboiled

1 can baked beans

300g hind/ loin meat, sliced

 a quarter tsp salt

 1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp light soya sauce for marinate, 1 tsp for sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

 half a teaspoon of pepper

 2 tbsp of cooking oil, 0.5 tbsp of sesame oil

1. Slice the pork and marinate with 1 tsp light soya sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, pepper and sesame oil.

2. Dice the potatoes and parboil for 5 minutes on high heat. Drain water and set aside.

3. Use 2 tbsp of cooking oil and a dash of sesame oil to fry minced garlic till fragrant.

4. Add in parboiled potatoes to pan fry with the garlic.

5. Then add in the sliced onion and marinated pork to fry till the onion turns translucent.

6. Add in the can of baked beans and 1 tbsp of tomato ketchup. (Add in a pinch of sugar if the tomato ketchup/ brand of baked beans is a tad too sour), add in 1 tsp of light soya sauce and bring to a boil.

7. Serve hot with rice.

Nonya Chap Chye

Tried and tested. 

This was such a crowd pleaser that I've cooked it the very next week after my first attempt.

What a happy myriad of colours!

This week's edition was same same but different.

Using some deep fried pork belly instead.

And I added black moss (not in picture) this time :)

•  8 large dried mushrooms
•  1 litre of water, or more if necessary
•  100g haebi or dried shrimp
•  10g dried black fungus or cloud ear fungus
•  100g black moss
•  10g dried golden lily buds
•  20g tung hoon or bean vermicelli
•  20g tau kee or sweet beancurd skin
•  5Tbs cooking oil, and more oil for deep-frying the tau kee
•  200g pork belly, sliced into thin strips
•  1Tbs garlic, finely chopped
•  2 1/2Tbs tau cheo or fermented soyabean paste
•  1kg cabbage, washed and cut roughly into pieces
•  100g jicama, peeled and cut into strips about 4cm long and 1cm thick
•  10g beancurd skin
•  1Tbs concentrated chicken stock
•  Salt to taste
•  Oyster sauce to taste

1. Wash the dried mushrooms and boil in a small pot with about 400ml of water for about five to 10 minutes, until they have softened. Drain but keep the liquid (mushroom water) for use later. Cut the mushrooms into strips. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, soak the dried shrimp, black fungus, black moss, golden lily buds and tung hoon in separate bowls of water for about 10 minutes. Drain each item and set aside. Tie the lily buds into knots and trim the ends. Set aside.

3. Wipe the sheets of tau kee with a damp cloth, then cut them into 5cm squares. Deep-fry in hot oil until brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

4. Heat 5Tbs of oil in a large wok on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the dried shrimp and fry until fragrant.

5. Add the strips of pork belly and continue to fry until cooked.

6. Add the garlic, then the tau cheo and fry for about one minute.

7. Next, put in the cabbage and jicama and stir. Add about 200ml of water. Cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring intermittently.

8. Add the mushroom water that you had set aside earlier, followed by the mushrooms, black fungus and golden lily buds. Stir. Add just enough water to submerge most of the ingredients.

9. Bring the liquid to a boil. Add more water if necessary. The vegetables should be cooked and soft, but not mushy.

10. When boiling, add the tau kee and black moss. Stir gently and simmer for about five minutes. Add the beancurd skin and tung hoon.

11. Add the concentrated chicken stock, salt and oyster sauce to taste.

- See more at: http://www.soshiok.com/recipe/nonya-chap-chye#sthash.rAi3exL2.dpuf

Credits:

http://www.soshiok.com/recipe/nonya-chap-chye

Adjustments:

I used some of the reserved water from soaking the dried prawns as well.

Taking the healthier (less mess too!) option, I didn't deep fry the tau kee so I've added it in together in Step 8 to let it cook for longer.

Since I was using fermented soybean instead, I mixed the oyster sauce, salt and chicken stock cubes together before adding it in to the simmering vegetables.

If you're using chicken stock cubes instead, you'd need one to one and a half cubes.

I added in two tablespoons of oyster sauce and a quarter teaspoon of salt.

And if you're wondering if sio bak or regular pork belly is better for taste, I'd say it's really up to your own personal preference.

But if you left it to me, I'd cook with pork belly and top it off with sio bak! :)

Happy cooking!

From my kitchen to yours,

Brenda x

Remembering Mr Lee Kuan Yew - Time Nor Tide

Mr Lee Kuan Yew had been admitted to Singapore General Hospital on February 5th 2015 for severe pneumonia at the age of 91. For many, we understood the grim implications of such a news release. The Lunar New Year came two weeks after and in the course of the festivities, many had pushed this piece of news to the back of their minds till the next update came about from the Prime Minister's Office. And from then forth, with Mr Lee in critical condition and a deterioration of his health, Singaporeans waited with bated breath and hoped upon hope that there would be a miracle. Somehow. 

That he would fight back, that he would live. 

But on March 23rd 2015, this was not to be. And the man who was the hero of our times, had slipped away peacefully at 3.18am in the wee hours of the morning to be reunited with the love of his life. For the minutes that felt like hours, and days that felt like years, it was a long time in waiting, for his ashes to finally be mixed with his wife so that they could be united even in death. His attention to detail was not lost on the people around him and you would expect even more so for his wife, Mdm Kwa. His love story has made its rounds in the news from the time of Mrs Lee's departure but here, at his final parting, we again relive through the anecdotes of how indeed, a true measure of a man is in his capacity to love. 

The Just In Time package for schools arrived yesterday and was to be disseminated by the next morning. The assembly this morning was a 15 minute video of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's life and legacy produced by Mediacorp. Even after the massive media suspension and overload from the past couple of days, many of us were reduced to tears. And how were we to teach for the next two periods? I steeled myself for a torrent of tears, if I cried, then so be it. But I bore in mind that what I had to say, had far more impact on the students than my tears. I made it through, but only barely so. I can now speak eloquently and wax lyrical about the man, his life and his legacy but yet, I'm reduced to tears, touched by what he has devoted his entire life to- the land I call home. 

The place called Singapore. 

For him to call this my people, my country, my home. Only he qualifies to speak as such. Some people have wrote on how they have found the term 'founding' floundering for Mr Lee Kuan Yew but for this generation of Singapore, the man we have met and seen what he has done for us as a nation, was Mr Lee Kuan Yew, not Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. And really, that was that. I'm heartened to see that at this time, many have poured out their hearts for their gratitude towards Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Growing up, I heard unhappiness and discontent in the coffeeshop talks of many a taxi driver and the older generation about Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the People's Action Party. And who are the ones who are sending their love and tributes willingly now? These very same people I do believe. In the course of Singapore's growth as a nation, they have seen and enjoyed the fruits of his labour. We put aside our differences, we stop fighting and we are united in our mourning of this great leader's passing.

 

"Could I have lived my life differently?" Mr Lee once reflected.

"Maybe yes, but probably not. At each stage I made what was then the best choice. Having taken that decision, I changed direction and there was no turning back."

These Hard Truths that kept Singapore growing, I may not have agreed in all of the man's beliefs but for his decisions, to have born the weight of a country on his shoulders for all of his adult life, it is true and I salute that he has, at that time, made the best choice possible for us all. 

And in closing, and I have changed the gender of the character in the words of Tim Rice as lyrics for Madonna's Lament in Evita.

 I could have any prize that I desired
I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire
Or else or else I could choose time
Remember I was very young then
And a year was forever and a day
So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be?
I saw the lights and I was on my way

And how I lived! How they shone!
But how soon the lights were gone!

The choice was yours and no one else's
You can cry for a body in despair
Hang your head because he is no longer there
To shine, or dazzle, or betray.
How he lived, how he shined
But how soon the lights were gone

Eyes, hair, face, image
All must be preserved
Still life displayed forever
No less than he deserved

These words were so aptly written, for the man, who indeed, deserved no less. 

Thank you.

Thank you, Sir.