Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ming's Home!

Ming arrived home at noon, one of the first to return home from Australia for the year -end holidays. Late Nov to Feb are the fun months here, when the kids come home to party and fill up the drinking joints. With Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year in between and final term holidays for the local schools too, it's a time to chill out not just for the kids but for us parents too. KK actually becomes young and lively. I love this time of the year when the kids come home and the family is complete. Can hardly wait until my girl comes home in 10 days.

The plan was to eat out but Ming requested a Chinese meal at home with lots of veg ("The only Chinese veg they have in Coles is pak choy and chinese cabbage.") and a soup ("The only meat good for making soup is beef. Australian chicken and pork give an awful smell to the soups.") I am lucky that my family loves home-cooked food and I am pleasantly surprised that unlike most kids here, who prefer western food, my kids love Chinese food and all kinds of cuisine. I think the trick is to make sure you cook both western and eastern food. Most kids who crave for western food probably do that out of pure craving because their moms do not cook enough western food. I know of a Chinese kid who only eats western food. I find it strange and pitiful.

Dinner was very everyday home-cooked Chinese dishes, made with whatever was available from my fridge and garden.

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Kampung chicken with young bamboo and winter melon soup. The winter melon was from my backyard.

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MIL came with her Lion Heads.

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Ming wanted "the angular fish that is crispy". Lucky for me (and him), I had some stocked in my freezer. Black pomfret is heavenly when wok-fried until crispy and doused with light and dark soy sauce.

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A cold dish of silken tofu and century eggs.

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Fried okra with dried shrimps, the okra from my garden.

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MIL brought her soy sauce kampung chicken, a little lean but the sauce was great.

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Kai lan with beef fillet, the kai lan from my garden.

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Two more dishes were steamed minced pork with salted eggs and a veg dish of hard bean curd strips. Nothing deep-fried and lots of greens from my garden. Dessert was juicy jambu (rose apples, Ming's fav fruits) and papaya. I was surprised when he said "I miss fruits, Australia doesn't have much fruits" because most of our fruits are imported from Australia and whenever I go to Australia, I enjoy their fruits. "There's strawberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines..." "Strawberries and all those berries aren't fruits, mom. Jambu, guava, papaya, bananas, pineapple and mangoes are fruits." Oh. I am guessing that most guys don't consider berries as fruits too.

21 comments:

Bee said...

Terri - this looks delicious! I am Chinese American and am currently living in Boston MA. This reminds me of a lot of meals we had growing up. I have a very diverse palate and like to venture out and try different cuisines, but home cooking is ALWAYS Chinese food. Thanks for always making me miss home (which right now is NYC where my parents are).

red | hongyi said...

ooooooh i am SO jealous. i wish i were back home rubbing my tummy from stuffing myself now :(

Zurin said...

oh my what a spread and all from your garden..the veggies I mean. glad to hear ur family will b complete..NICE!

Simply June said...

Oh my.. that's a good spread of delicious food! You're making me hungry!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

I love all these, homecook dishes is the best, furthermore most of the veggie were from you garden, really amazing. This give me an idea to cook Lion Head for dinner today. Thanks for sharing.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wat a nice meal to get back to..i remember the 1st meal i would have when i get back from each trip back from australia would either be hokkien mee or cantonese ying yeong with a stir fry kailan..

Dae said...

Welcome home, Ming. Wow, it has been a year since he's been in Melbourne? Looking forward to more great food postings that you will definitely have when the whole family is together. Love to all

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

I can tell really lots of GOOD FOOD! Feast for king? ha ha ha, looK! until the lions head also have to put on top of each other~

foodbin said...

what a feast-you have all the best on the table.

Rei said...

All of them look so good! I 'm feeling hungry at 4 pm. Lucky Ming! My kids prefer chinese and jap food. Soup is a must.

KatK said...

Ming is so so so lucky to have a mom like u. The dishes look so yummilicious. That's like having a feast! hahaha...

mott said...

Ming's kinda right about the fruits.

I think my kids even tho brought up in Melb, prefer chinese food more than western food too.

Unfortunately, Ming isn't "aunty' enough to go to Asian grocers where u can get many types of ingredients. :D

Enjoy your holidays!! It's scorching hot here... not very pleasant!

Anonymous said...

I wish I have a garden of greens like your and pluck what ever that are right for my plate. So green eyes over your greener fingers! BTW, is there any dressing for your silken tofu with century eggs? Would love to try making this dish.

Jade said...

Oh this post has made me miss my mum...and I completely agree...berries aren't real fruits..I miss papayas and watermelon

fishm0i said...

A good spread!! Home cooking meals are always greater than outside meals.

Min said...

amazing! can't wait to go home and have mum's cooking too. tell Ming he needs to go to richmond more often to get chinese veges. cheap, and lots of them! or at the very least, vic mart!!! :D

terri@adailyobsession said...

belinda: :) thanx for making me feel i've done my motherly duty

yi: but u prefer shopping...

zurin: :DD

june: :))

sonia: how were the lion heads?

joe: tt sounds yum:)

dae: how r u all?? any plans to come out here?

terri@adailyobsession said...

denise: hey, hav u moved yet>

foodbin: all r humble home dishes

rei: yes, soups r always popular. i can eat rice n soup only.

kathleen: smtimes i wonder if he feels the same...

mott: yes, the asian grocres hav tons mor varieties of veg n fruits than we hav here. i don't know what ming is talking about.

creating objectives: click on the highlighted title uner the silken tofu dish on my post. ai ya, u r not paying attention~

jade: good. call her n tell her wherever u r:)

aggie: high 5!

min: yes, i agree there's tons more variety in produce in melb than here.

Dae said...

was going to write when it is nearer the time n things finalized but since you asked... Penny graduates on May 21st ( already!!) and planning to take her to Tokyo to watch her old classmates graduate on 25th and after that head onto Kuching since we are "half way" to Msia already. While there, was going to make the trip to KK so sometime in June....if you guys are there.

Anonymous said...

nice and relax blog..

TeaLady said...

This looks like quite a feast. I bet Ming enjoyed all of it.

Looks delicious.

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