I never bargained for it but...

I lost one pillow in the move(god knows how THAT happened?) but I gained a beautiful sunset view from my large living room window every evening. 

When we viewed the house, we never imagined we would have gotten this beautiful screensaver worthy view while eating dinner.  It is absolutely gorgeous and even when there is a snow storm outside, I love seeing the flurry of snowflakes right out that same window while I sip my latte, curled up on my couch with my toes tucked in.

The first week of moving was simply exhausting.  Apart from the mad cleaning and getting rid of any animal's hairy existence from every molding and window gap(I never imagined I would be using a toothpick and even chopsticks to be cleaning out cat's hairs and dirt!), Theoden got gastro, high fever, vomiting, diarrhea over a couple of days, which, thankfully, he recovered pretty quickly from my probiotics(and lots of natural yogurt) treatment. 

The weekend shot by us without any rest, up to the point where I also caught the gastro virus from Theoden(vomit, vomit, vomit) and Emmanuel got completely exhausted from the painting that he made 2 crucial mistakes.  He mistook the green paint for blue paint, and THEN, he repainted the wall that he had just finished painting with another color.  Well, that is a sign of fatigue and he gave up after that last brushstroke.  We were absolutely knackered.

It's funny how we much work we are doing to make the house liveable and nice, small little changes here and there that slowly amounts to pretty big ideas in our heads.   And the thing is, we bought this house so readily cos' it was newly renovated 1-2years ago, most of the crucial things were changed out, like new heating system, lighting, flooring, kitchen remodeled, etc.  And YET, we found more and more things to improve on each day.  I think we have to stop watching HGTV.  It plants in our heads way too many ideas.
 
Then again, the blame can't entirely be HGTV's. We're homeowners now.  And it is natural to wanna be house proud.  =)  N'est pas?

This is my last week of french classes and after that, I may wanna pick up on my painting and crafts skills that I left off in high school.  Deco ideas have been infiltrating my mind each night as I find it difficult to sleep despite my exhaustion.  Soon, my tiny head will explode with all these ideas that keep on accumulating. 

I better go buy some paint and brushes soon.  And maybe a sewing machine along the way.  Ooh, and not forgetting that power gun stapler! 

A home to call our own.

It's the beginning of a new dawn...we have officially moved into the next phase of adulthood and now we fall into ranks with most people our age - we officially owe the bank lots of money.  We have what they call - a mortgage.  A very scary financial term but in an ironic way kinda "loving" to us nonetheless cos' it give us what we call - a HOME to call our OWN.

In a way, we didn't expect to buy a house until we get our Permanent Residency in Canada next year but as luck would prove, all the stars were aligned for us to celebrate christmas in our own home this year.  In fact, I am going to buy a huge christmas tree to put next to the fireplace this weekend. 

And so, within 2 weeks of house-hunting, eager Emmanuel spotted a house fresh on the market the very morning, got the very first appointment to view the house and signed the offer on the spot.  It was a petite house that we couldn't help falling hopelessly in love with.  He had a "Millionaire's Tactic"(that he learnt off the web) he wanted to deploy on the negotiations of the purchase but somehow, we didn't get round to it.  ;)  Falling in love is a hard thing to do.

For the first time, I will officially use the Tiffany & Co. keychain my dear friend Honghui gave me when I turned 21.  I've kept it for years cos I always lose my things somewhere but now that I am 32, I think I can trust myself not to lose my own house keys.  *fingers crossed*

The good thing about owning a house is that it guarantees Emmanuel a good exercise every morning during the winter.  He'll have to shovel the snow off the entrance walkway to the car and with the crazy amount of snow we get each year, I think he's on the way to building some serious Schwarzenegger muscles.  Then, when the summer comes, he"ll have to work the lawnmower in our backyard  And when autumn comes, he'll have a go at the leaf blower, and so on and so forth....  I'm getting a new house and a new muscleman in a package deal!!!  What good fortune!  ;p

The packers are here today and we'll be shifting tomorrow.  Seems like we have a light job here but in fact, I am worried sick.  Every time we go to the house, Emmanuel gets an allergic reaction to the previous owner's cats(they have 2 dogs and 3cats).  Of course the owners cleaned the house before they left but what we worry is the air vents that they are not able to clean.  The house is heated by forced air and the air vents run throughout the house, which I believe the air is recycled in its circulation.  Unfortunately, the cats' hairs can get into the vents and continue circulating in the house. undetected  Tonight, we shall visit the house for a round of thorough cleaning and see if we can eliminate the problem.  I really don't wanna buy a house, move in and then have to sell it soon because of unwanted cat's hairs. 

And so, it is time for my coffee break and see what the packers have done so far.  Till the next time, I shall be writing from chez moi!

Desperate moments call for desperate measures...

Sometimes, we just need a little inspiration.  Or, shall we say...desperation?

Closing into my 5th month of pregnancy, I still haven't got over my desperation for Singapore or Chinese or Indian food.  I was spoilt in Chicago for 10days and now that it is back to reality, the only way I can sniff any Singapore food is if I were to cook them myself.

Thank god for PrimaTaste - I couldn't imagine where am I gonna get chicken curry in my neighbourhood(or town, or city, or province, or...let's not bother going any further) for dinner when the crave for something hearty, coconutty and spicy hits me.  Now, I feel like crying cos I just did a inventory of my pantry and realized I used the last supply of my Singapore Chicken Curry last Tuesday.  I am even out of Hainanese Chicken rice too!  These are times that I feel like sobbing my heart out.

Now that we are moving in less than 2 weeks to our new home, I have to plan ways to clear my freezer.  I think I'm gonna do some codfish tonight with the yummy Lee Kum Kee ready-to-serve sauce out of a packet(I know this is not made from scratch and all but this sauce is so yummy and ready-to-go I don't see why I should even bother!).  My forecast for tomorrow would be chinese BBQ spare ribs - I wanted to eat that tonight but I forgot I have to marinate them overnight.  I think Sunday would be perfect for some Indian Tandoori Chicken.       

And so, desperate moments call for some good home-cooked food.  Afterall, we really couldn't find a good Indian curry restaurant within 100miles of us.  If only I am in London....sigh....  C'est la vie!

Makansutra in Chicago

Hmmm...where do I begin?

Avocado Milk Bubble Tea

Green Tea Mochi Ice-Cream

Shoyu Ramen

Stir-fried Hong Kong Kai Lan

Siew Mai

Chee Cheong Fun(dim sum)

Coconut Cream Buns from Wow Bao

Fried Carrot Cake(dim sum)

Century Egg Porridge

Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice

Richard Walker's Apple Pancake & thick cut bacon

Char Kway Teow

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Tempura Shrimp Udon noodle soup

Just some of my food indulgences while we were in Chicago.  =)

I've already shortlisted a few Chinese/Japanese restaurants and supermarket to beg them to expand to Quebec City.  We'll get there soon.

On the sushi train...

As my son would say..."Choo-choooooo.....!!!"  For the last 2 weeks, I've embarked on a one-way journey on the sushi train with no return in sight.

I don't eat sashimi or any of the raw stuff most people love about sushi, I just want a simple maki roll with my grilled unagi with teriyaki sauce, crunchy cucumber slices, creamy avocado, warm sushi rice with that vinegar tang, all wrapped around the nori seaweed.  In 5mins, I can devour the whole roll dipped in soya sauce with my chopsticks and then ponder about my next meal in ernesty.

Salmon is not my favourite fish and I did try it in its various forms; smoked, grilled, sashimi-style, and in curry even!  I just can't stand the taste of this fish.  I never thought I would say this, but right now, I wish I am a salmon-eater.  If I am, then I can devour more different types of sushi instead of just my unagi maki.  Life would be a rainbow then.

This constant food mental torture during my pregnancy has definitely taken its toll on my poor soul, my overall well-being and possibly my mental state.  I miss more than ever Singapore food.  Even the simple sliced fish soup with tofu and seaweed has me moaning in agony at times.  Every waking minute of my time is consumed by mental images of these unavailable food flashing before my eyes, food that I have never even given second thought to before the whole time I lived in Singapore!  Just thinking of char siew steamed buns(available in coffeshops that you can buy ANYTIME of the day) makes me wanna rush to Montreal's chinatown to buy a whole truckload of frozen buns to stock up my fridge for days of emergency(kinda like everyday).     

I never know exactly what kinda food I can stomach these days so the days of planning ahead and cooking in large batches are over for me - I simply can't microwave food anymore.  The smell of heated food wafting in the kitchen can literally kill me in 2 sniffs.  I lost count of how many times I have actually died.

Sunday night was a night of sheer bliss and joy for us.  We went to a Japanese sushi restaurant called Samurai and gorged ourselves silly on really good sushi, delicate agedashi tofu(O.M.G!), tempura shrimps and vegetables, gyozas and miso soup;  "Just like they make them in Japan!", as my husband declared happily.  What I enjoyed very much was the fresh green tea they served, with the little rice pops mixed in with the tea leaves to give it that distinctive taste.  Ooh...j'adore!!!  We left the restaurant beaming to the moon and knowing there is a touch of Asian salvation left in Quebec afterall.

 As a tribute to my last blog entry, here is the mee hoon kueh that my dear husband made from scratch for me!!!  Lots of ikan bilis!  Mmm... the only thing missing is the authentic chilli sauce lah!  Tant pis!

Tough times...

For the poor, tough times ahead means eating fast food every day.  For the rich, it means buying less houses and diamonds.  For the pregnant maman, tough times mean alternating between heartburn and nausea every waking hour.  

For two weeks, we travelled through mid-west USA where prime beef is on every menu and you can't escape the french fries and mashed potatoes as sides.  I love beef.  I do.  But for that two weeks, I was tortured every time I had to go to a restaurant for lunch or dinner, and only order a soup or salad.  Don't get me wrong, I am not on a diet.  Hell, no.  I just can't smell, taste, chew or swallow any parts of a cow during my pregnancy.  So, soup it is.  

I tried every soup there is in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado.  There is always the trusty chicken noodle soup, vegetable and beef soup, tomato and basil soup and... an occasional treat - roasted red pepper and gouda soup!  That was during dinner at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone and I must say it blew me away(surprisingly).  

Right now, I want nothing more than to slowly slurp a steaming bowl of Qiu Lian Mee Hoon Kueh.  Or the Zhen Bu Tong mee hoon kueh or even the one at Creative's staff canteen where I used to frequent while working at Sony.  I want that clear soup tasting of ikan bilis and pork, with a cracked egg trickily  manoeuvring its way around the noodles, then slowly diminishing the green kai-lan in the bowl with my chopsticks, and of course, dipping the tender pork slices into what I love best - the chilli dip.  Every time I finish a bowl of mee hoon kueh, satisfaction slowly radiates from my tummy into my brain - sending me waves of happiness that only a bowl of mee hoon kueh can. Does this sound crazy?  Well, I suspect only a preggie can write about mee hoon kueh like this.

There is no way I can locate a bowl of mee hoon kueh in mid-west USA but I had to eat chinese food.  There is no chinatown where I live now, so I am acting the part of the  deprived pregnant woman.  C'est normale.  During the road trip, we drove past more rolling hills and mountain ranges and the only big city we encountered was Denver.  Everywhere else was small-town USA.  There were probably more cows than humans where we went.  Eating chinese seemed like a pretty bleak forecast.

After days on end of meat, soup and potatoes, salvation presented itself in Cody(big cowboy town) and another small town in Wyoming(which we drove past and I don't even remember the name).  Cos the towns are so small, it is very easy to spot a billboard with chinese food.  There is usually just one chinese restaurant in town anyway(I doubt two would survive the competition).  Usually, they are called Dragon's Beard Restaurant, Great Wall Chinese Buffet, or simply Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant.  

Both restaurants churned out superbly good chinese food and I ate as much as I could, or rather, as much space as my baby allowed me to fill in my tummy.  Home-made tofu, black bean paste chicken, beef hor fun, char siew fried rice...food that I had not tasted for a really long time.  And they actually taste authentic too!  As good as I can get back home!  I really wish I could find a chinese restaurant that good in Quebec soon, just so I know there is always an escape route if I needed one.

The chinese food experience was kinda weird in Cody.  Just after polishing off our meal, we headed to the historic Irma hotel built by Buffalo Bill for his daughter, to watch a gunslinger's show.  Basically, it is  a show of cowboys shooting up the sidewalk with a saloon in the setting and some sultry barmaids thrown in for the effect.  I think the tofu and char siew did a jump each time the guns went off.

At an unplanned stop in Deadwood(the Las Vegas of the Cowboyland), we had an excellent walleye fish with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables at the Frontier Club, and that simply blew me away.  I thought that by then I am done with mashed potatoes, but this one went all the way down to my tummy in no time.  =)  

Officially, my second child is due 9 April 2010, so technically, I am in my 10th week of pregnancy.   From my previous experience, the tough times should subside as I inch towards the second trimester.  I wish Singapore Tourism Board would bring Makansutra festival to Quebec and line the streets with hawker food. Oh, how I wish...!!!!  Hopefully, in a month's time, I can eat normal, and not gag every time I smell food heating in the microwave. 

Meanwhile, the only way I can get through MY TOUGH TIMES is probably to make my very own mee hoon kueh this weekend.  ;p

A little break.

ON VACATION: Will resume after 15 September.

Eating Nyonya Kueh in Quebec is nothing but surreal...

There is a Chinatown (or even 2)in almost every city I know - except for Quebec City.  They have a mysterious Chinese Pâté here, and a Chinese fondue where steamboat comes to mind but in fact, it is something else altogether.  I've had it on several occasions and it doesn't taste chinese to me at all.  The chinese food here must have evolved over the years to become authentic Quebecois cuisine instead.

The "Chinese food" here puzzles me.  So far, the chinese food I have eaten here are way too sweet, adapted for North American tastes and not for me.  The only way I can get my hands on any half decent chinese food, is Chez Moi(at my house).

The funny thing is, my most memorable simple home-cooking chinese food are in Europe.  They truly caught me by surprise.  Once in Munich, and another in Prague.  One restaurant was Teochew, known for their light, simple cooking and the other was from Zhejiang, also very simple and fresh.  I aspire to cook like them, since I am already Teochew, I should have it in me to actually cook like them!  

The trick to chinese cooking is all in the fire.  BUT, I have an electric cookstove in my kitchen, I ain't gonna control no fire unfortunately.  :(  And so, I am doomed to half-decent chinese food for the rest of my life. 

And so, I steam.  Yesterday, after watching a few episodes of the "Little Nyonya" and watching them taste delectable Nyonya kueh after another, I couldn't take it no more and got down to some serious steaming.  

I had never known that the Seri Muka was so easy to make.  Since I could always buy them easily from Malay vendors in Singapore or even from the islandwide Bengawan Solo cakeshops, who would even think of making it themselves?  

My first bite was out of this world.  I paired it with Gula Melaka Kaya(the Malaysian way of eating) and nearly had an overdose of Nyonya-ness altogether.  It was sooooo.....GOOD!  I had to curb my monstrous appetite - too much of a good things can indeed kill ya.

Seri Muka Recipe:

Bottom Layer:

300gm or 1.5 cups glutinous rice

50ml or 1/4 cup coconut milk

200ml or 3/4 cup water

1 tsp salt

Top layer:

3 medium or 2 large eggs

150ml or 2/3 cup coconut milk

150ml or 2/3 cup pandan juice* or 1tbsp or pandan paste + 130ml of water

180gm or 3/4 cup sugar

15gm or 1.5 tbsp cornstarch

30gm or 3 tbsp all purpose flour

* To obtain pandan juice, put pandan leaves and water in an electric blender and blend to a fine pulp. Strain the juice and measure out two tablespoonfuls for use.  Pandan paste can be bought in Asian grocery stores in a bottle.

1.  Soak glutinous rice for 2hrs min.  Drain rice well.  Put the rice in a flat baking pan suitable for steaming.  Stir in coconut milk and salt well.  Add in the water and the water level should be about 3-5mm above the rice, not more than 1cm.  

TIP: Depending on how well you drained the rice, the water level may vary, so add more if it is needed.

2.  Steam the rice on high heat for 20-30 mins until the rice turns translucent.  Remove form heat and use a fork to fluff the rice immediately.  Place the rice into an 8" round pan or a 7" square pan.  While the rice is hot, use a banana leaf to compact the rice down and level it as much as possible.  Alternatively, use a flat-bottomed glass container if you don't have banana leaf at hand.  Once compacted and leveled, return the rice to the steamer and continue to steam it while preparing the top layer. 

3.  Mix in the cornstarch and flour well into the pandan juice until the mixture is smooth.  Add in all the ingredients for the top layer into a heavy saucepan and cook on low heat.  Stir slowly and continuously until it thickens slightly.  Ensure that the mixture does not burn.  Once thickened after 4-5minutes, remove from heat.

4.  Pour the mixture over the rice and continue to steam on low heat for 25minutes.  

TIP: To ensure a smooth surface, do not use high heat.  

5.  After it is done, remove from heat and cool the kueh for 2hrs before cutting into diagonal slices or rectangle or even square slices.  

TIP:  If there are any leftovers, store the kueh in the refrigerator overnight and steam it again for 5-10mins on low heat the next day before serving.

The Little Nyonya stirring in my tummy

The Peranakan in me is awakening.

I know the show "Little Nyonya" had hit Singapore a while back, sending all the housewives on a crazy buying spree of mini kebayas for their little daughters and all the old folks spilling into Malacca on weekends for a dose of Peranakan culture and food.

Me?  I missed all the fad, of course but I did hear about it when I was back in Singapore in May.  I didn't watch the show then but I ended up coming home with 2 kebayas, hand-me-down serious Kueh-making molds from my dear grandmother, some lovely Peranakan tiles(they are known for their pain stakingly hand-painted tiles decorating their houses) and of course, a Nyonya cookbook.  

Now, a few months later, I am feeling the sleeping peranakan in me stirring slowly as I watch the show on the internet(thanks, Angie for the site!).  I can literally smell the glorious angku kueh and feel the steady rhythm of the pestle pounding the spices in the solid granite mortar.  Hell, this show makes me hungry. 

The 1st trimester always manages to kill my appetite and numbs my cooking abilities in the kitchen.  It probably was not such a good idea to start a food blog when I am experiencing nausea all day long and can't even thinking of eating.  So, I torture myself further by watching people eat and watching them eat what I would LOVE to eat myself but can't.  Self-torture is mandatory in the first trimester.  It helps me pass the time.

After the first 15mins of the show, I can't help but search for my Nyonya cookbook to sieve through the recipes for my favourite kueh(i.e. dessert or cake) - the white and green Seri Muka.  Sometimes, there will be swirling blue weaving through the white glutinous rice layer of the kueh, a striking indigo blue color derived from the butterfly pea flower.   The Peranakan pound the fresh flowers and then mix it with water to extract the natural blue after.  Somehow, it makes the kueh more tasty looking.  

When I visited Katong with my aunt and sister in May, we visited the Baba House and the kind gentleman inside gave us a tour of his family home and we caught a glimpse of him preparing the butterfly pea flower for making kueh kuehs.  I asked him where did he buy the flowers from and he replied that every morning, he just goes to pick them fresh from around the neighbourhood where they will be growing on creeping vines around fences.  Definitely my kind of shopping! 

Obviously, I don't have any butterfly pea flower growing in my neighbourhood here so I will just have to make do with a kueh kueh that is simply white and green and no blue.  

Right now, I will have to swallow my nausea down and get to work. 

A new life...

I started from never owning an oven my whole life, to not knowing how I can live without one.

There were always woks and steamers in my mom's kitchen and the closest thing to an oven we have is a toaster.  My mom married at 19 and never inherited my grandmother's gift of cooking until when she turned 40.  She was forced to cook at home cos' my grandmother got tired of cooking for us so she had no choice but to battle with the wok herself.  It was a hard time for my family.  Being guinea pigs.  However, I now know being guinea pigs are important for the cook to improve.  Without the guinea pigs, there are no good chefs left in this world.  

I think the good genes skipped one generation directly to me although I only started at 28, just 12 years earlier than my mom.  I still love your soups, mom(if you're reading this)...!!!  They are the BEST!  How I would kill for some right now.  Lotus root and sweet corn soup.  Mmm-mmm-mmm...

My early forays into the kitchen and oven started when I was just 13.  Home economics was not an optional subject in my school cos' all "proper" convent school girls should know how to cook and sew(yucks).  I always scored an A.  Easy-peasy.  By 15, I moved on to the geek division in school and took biology, chemistry(*yawn*) and physics(*double yawn*), geography, literature and history.  You see, cooking was out of the curriculum for geeks.  

It took me another 14 years before I took up residence in a kitchen again.  And I never left.

The new challenge in the kitchen every day is "What would a 19 months old toddler want to eat?"  Broccoli?  Cod?  Potatoes? Pasta?  Rice?  I thought I was a fickle-minded eater BUT my son beats me hands down on that one.  I miss the breast-feeding days, it was so easy back then. 

I always figured that as a parent, I have a right to tell my son that as long as I am the one cooking and buying the food, he really has no say in what he is eating until he goes to work and buys his own food.  However, trying to speak logic with a toddler is no easy task.  I think I would rather sew. 

Dining out has always been my favourite pastime.  Living in Singapore and New York City had utterly spoilt me with the wide array of exotic cuisine and delectable restaurants.  I loved NYC's Restaurant Week cos I believe the very first time my husband(not husband then) and I went to one, it sprinkled the magic love dust upon us and we've been inseparable ever since.  Food became our mistress and dessert is our everlasting lust.  

Welcome to my new blog on being a mother, a chef-at-home and a gourmande.