Which Am I?

One of Pastor Philip's joke this morning: How do you tell a Jewish mother from an Italian mother??

Italian mother: "Eat it, or I'll kill you!"

Jewish mother: "Eat it, or I'll kill myself!"

I turned to Wey and asked him if I'm a Jewish or Italian mom. He rolled his eyes and said, "Of course you are______!"

So, to see how many of you really know me, tell me what you think I am. Don't be afraid, it's a 50% hit so you'll very likely get it. Either way, it will tell me if you think I am a) sacrificial but manipulative (Jewish) or b) resolute but domineering (Italian).

Happy Mother's Day II

Hello, everybody!

I'm Hong Yi, Terri's eldest punk kid. You know, the one who aims to be the next Nigella. This Mother's Day, I've decided that instead of calling her and wishing her (which is what I usually do since studying abroad), I should do something different, like hijacking her blog and writing up a surprise post for and about her.

Oh, hi Mom! Thanks for entrusting me with your password...hehe! :D

Mommy, I read your post about how much you loved the mauve-pink tulips that Auntie Yolanda gave you, all the way from Holland. When I read that, I just wanted so much to get you a bunch from the nearby florist and see your face light up when I hand them to you. I can't because we're oceans apart [Richard Marx song playing in the background]. And it's times like this when I truly miss you and wish I were back home with you.

I went to a couple of florists today and they were overflowing with gorgeous flowers! I bet you'd be oohing and aahing in admiration if you were here. They're really expensive though, these people have bump up the prices so much, graaah!! I wanted to buy a bunch of pink tulips but they were $20, instead of the usual $7.50!!! Poor intern like me cannot afford : (

Florist in Harbour City, Hong Kong

So instead of tulips, I bought pink gerberas because they were much much cheaper. I placed them in some pots and sat them on the balcony, overlooking the city. Flowers always remind me of you...simply 'coz you've always loved them so much!

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy...all the way from wet, cold Melbourne!

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And Mommy, to demonstrate how much I love you and miss you, I WILL prove it to you, in the presence of all your readers, by swallowing some soil. Yes...SOIL! Dark and fertile australian soil! Someone should really get me to be on Ripley's Believe It or Not!

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See what I'd go through for you. Hmmmf.

Okay, I shall stop scaring you all! This is another uber cool dessert I'm going to teach you (credits to Ree!) and it's bound to fascinate everyone!!! And you'll love preparing it because it's enjoyable and making it is easy-peasy lemon-squeezy! See Mommy, I wrote a recipe post for you so you can take a li'l break from posting!

What you'll need from the pantry: a few straws, gummy worms (I don't want to call them snakes coz Mom and I both HATE 'em!), cake, oreos, a tub of ice cream. Oh yes, and some flower pots too (I used porcelain ones instead of clay pots, coz I figured out it's too weird eating out of clay pots!)!

First up - chop up your cake! I used Sara Lee's orange poppy-seed cake, which tasted so-so. I couldn't find ready-made butter cake in Safeway (or Woolies for some of you)!

Next, fit a few slices of the cake onto the bottom of your pot. Don't be afraid to press them so that they fit nicely.

Then, get a straw and cut it to about the height of the pot.


Oooh yeah, ice-cream in cold cold Melbourne! Brrr!


Slap it into your pot and make sure it don't clog up your straw! Get a few more spoonfuls and fill the pot up...but remember to leave some space for the oreos (soil)!


At this stage, you can throw in the 'earthworms'. How adorable is this dessert?! *faints*


Then, smooth out the ice-cream. If you're doing this in the tropics, chances are that the ice cream's melting like mad and you're wondering why on earth you're doing this 'coz it's getting so messy. Don't fret - you can always pop this into your freezer and take them out for the next step.


See this? Do you know what you're supposed to do when you see this?!


YOU LICK IT!

Oh yeah let's jiggle our bellies together, baby!


After that, you get your oreos out and crush them using a food processor. But if you're a poor, financially independant student intern like me and can't afford a blender, you can always make do with a ziploc bag!

Crush them with your hands, with a pounder, with a rolling pin, whatever. As long as it looks like topsoil and you're happy.

I'm happy! :D

Now this is the fun bit!!! It's kinda feels like when you're plopping a cherry on top of a cake. :)
Using a spoon, carefully distribute the 'soil' on top of your ice-cream. I like to put a lot on, because I love Oreos!

Ohh don't that look like rich soil?! Once you're done, get your flowers and stick them into the straw and they're ready to be served!

Ta-da!

I had a kick out of seeing how some of my friends' delight turned into horror when I tried to swallow down the soil...seriously, do it! It's hilarious!!! One of my friends jumped and held on tightly to her hubby when I told her that there were earthworms inside...haha!

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this...and I hope you're not too mad about me intruding your blog account, Mama :) I love you and you mean the world to me. Thank you for all the joys and the tears, for all the nights you've sat up with me, for all the prayers for me, for pointing me towards the Lord, for all the advice and knowledge (and nagging!), for all the yummy food you've made for me and even the beauty tricks you've taught me, for molding me, guiding me to be the person I am today. Thank you so much for your love.


Yering Station winery

Mommy...
I thank my God every time I remember you. - Philipians 1:3

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ps: Photos above were taken with my small tattered Canon Ixus 40, hence the grainy-ness of some photos. It's quite frustrating and does no justice. Wish I had an SLR to take better ones *hint hint*!

pps: Mommy, call me when you read this! :)

ppps: Two other women I should call - my grannies! Monet's water lilies always remind me of my paternal granny

Monet's Water Lilies displayed at Musée de Orsay, Paris. 2006.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading this! And remember to call yours too! :)

Happy Mother's Day

I'm not a country song lover (although I must say some of the songs are pretty good albeit being extremely melodramatic and corny) and have never heard this song until last year. The first time I heard it, it brought tears to my eyes especially the part where Tammy Wynette sang "For the nine months I carried you, growing inside of me, no charge..."

And so one day when all three kids were in the car (Yi back on hols then), I hushed them up and played this song. I think they felt moved too, almost to tears too I suspect, so when the song was over, they tried to cover their feelings by bursting out laughing and mocking. Yi sang with a cry in her voice,"Paid in full!!" , throwing her hands out dramatically at me, which made her brothers roared and heehawed. To get back at them, I played the song non-stop until we got home.

I know it sounds corny but songs put to words so well what we as mothers (and children) feel as we travel the difficult road of parenthood (how's that for corny). There's a classic Chinese song that is titled "In The World, Only Mothers Are Good". So here are the two songs, get your tissues out, and remember to tell your mom you love her this Mother's Day.

To all mothers, long-suffering or not, Happy Mother's Day!

Word for word translation:

In the world, only mothers are good

A child with a mother is like a piece of jewel

In mama's embrace, happiness is beyond imagination

In the world, only mothers are good

A child without a mother is like a blade of grass

Without mama's embrace, where's happiness

In the world, only mothers are good

A child with a mother is like a piece of jewel

In mama's embrace, the child will smile even when he dreams/sleeps

Scones and Scons

Scones with cream, Dalfour's raspberry and pomegranates preserves and fresh strawberries. So so good...

As head of the cabin crew for Cathay Pacific flights, my friend Yolanda gets to go everywhere in the world and I often get something special from her trips. She's given me mangoes from India, superfine choc from France (and Cathay, but don't let them know!), delicious meatfloss rice crackers from Thailand, little cakes from Japan, tea from China, pure maple syrup and blueberry preserves from Canada, mooncakes from Hong Kong, mushrooms from Australia, vanilla pods from South Africa and other edible wonders from around the world. Apart from food, I've also received a nice platter from Australia, Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries (don't tell Cathay!), designer cosmetic bags and cosmetic samples. But of all the things she's given me, I remember this the most: a bunch of mauve-pink (my favorite color) tulips hand-carried all the way from Holland. Coincidentally, that was around the time my youngest bro was getting married, so I had the tulips kept by the florist for the special day but unfortunately they didn't last that long. It remains as the most special bouquet of flowers I have ever received, alongwith the long-stemmed red roses in a box that someone FTD'ed to me on my 19th birthday in the freezing Winnipeg winter. Of course, Hub's one red rose a day everyday for a month after I accepted his marriage proposal also made it to my list of most memorable flowers received. :))

So what's my point? Ah, yes. Yolanda just gave me a punnet of strawberries and a butternut squash she hand-carried back from LA, and romaine lettuce from London brought in by her friend! I know it sounds crazy, because we do get strawberries (imported and expensive), butternut squash (imported and expensive) and romaine lettuce (locally grown) here but she doesn't know because she's not in KK most of the time. Plus, only people like us who love to bring back fruits and food from overseas will understand that thrill. I've brought dragonfruits back from Singapore (before they started growing them here), straw mushrooms from HK and bean pastes from China, so there. I also used to smuggle plants in. I stopped doing that after I was caught bringing in a plant from Singapore and when Customs said the plant will be destroyed, I felt so bad for the plant. Like I said, only people like me will understand.

Where was I again? Oh yes, the strawberries. So okay, I decided to make scones to go with the berries, and let me tell you, I'm bad at making scones. A few years ago I invited 2 friends over for tea and served these huge saucer-sized scones that were so solid they could pass for rocks. My gracious guests very politely ate all I put on their plates, and the next day one of them told me that she couldn't eat dinner the night after our tea. No wonder. Between the three of us, we ate three scones made from 1/2 kg flour, that's how big and heavy my scones/stones were!

Miss Marples' scones are like cakes (upper left).

Not counting the scones I've eaten at hotel breakfasts, the first time I ate a 'real' scone was at the award-winning Gloucester Ridge Winery in Margaret River, Western Australia, 6 years ago. You know how, when you eat something for the first time, you'll always use that to measure all future tastes of that thing. I have not had a scone as good as that since. In Melbourne, people will tell you not to miss Miss Marples' scones in the Dandenong Mts. Both my daughter and I were disappointed with Miss Marples' famous scones. Although very soft (which is the most important thing about scones for me, the second important thing being the height: I love to see my scones rise, the higher the better!), the texture was cake-like (to us, that's cake, not scone) and they were baked in a whole piece and cut into smaller pieces. Still, they tasted pretty good but somehow very commercial too. Back to that scone in Margaret River. It was as big as a saucer, so now you know why I made scones that size. Anything smaller was inferior and unauthentic to me. Well, after my rock-scones, I have humbly reduced my scone size to about 2"/5 cm diameter. Btw, the Americans make something similar, strawberry shortcake, and I will always remember my first taste of that, more than 20 years ago, in a lovely town called Langley on Whidbey Island, off Seattle. I was visiting my Aunt Lucia, and she made strawberry shortcake for dessert. Simply delicious!

I think the secret to making good scones is not in the recipe, because I've tried so many given by friends, but rather in the making of them. This is a scone recipe from my friend Elaine, who's from Sydney, Australia. She makes the best, softest scones of anyone I know and although she has given me a lesson on scone-making, I have never gotten my scones as soft and fluffy as her. And she even pronounces them correctly which makes me stutter and mumble whenever I say "scones" (as in "own") because she'll go, "Oh, scons!" (as in "on") and I hope it's one of those tomato-tomato thing, not the salmon mispronounciation that everybody makes here (I get corrected for saying "seh-men" because the waiter will go always go, "Ah, sell-men!" and when he goes away I'd indignantly tell my kids, "Don't listen to him, don't pronounce the 'l'!").

One of these days when I'm in London, I will walk into Claridges and eat their scones with clotted cream. Until then, if any of you have a great scone recipe or tips on making scones, please do tell me.

I love it when my scones rise mile-high. Those horizontal lines, like stretch marks, mean these scones rose quite a bit.

Basic Scones
2 cups plain flour*
1 t bicarb of soda
2 t cream of tartar (or use 1 t + 1 t baking powder)
40 g butter, semi-soft
2 T fine sugar
150 ml fresh milk

*or use self-raising flour and omit the raising powders, which I prefer because I find that the smell of the bicarb is quite strong if I eat the scones plain.

1. Heat oven to 220 C.

2. Sift the flour with the bicarb of soda and baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until crumbly. Add the sugar, make a well, add the milk and lightly mix into a dough quickly (do not over knead).

3. Dust the work surface, roll the dough out until 1"/2.5 cm thick, use a 2"/5 cm cutter and cut into rounds.

4. Grease and flour a tray, add flour on top of scones and bake 10 minutes. Do not let the scones brown. Slice each scone in half horizontally and serve with whipped dairy cream (clotted cream if you have) and a good jam/preserves.


p.s.I'm thinking of a reader from the USA who used to drop me comments and unfortunately I don't have her blog add. It was teas and scones, something like that, but I can't get through to that website.

pps: Do you know where you can get fine porcelain for 1/5 to 1/10 of the price you pay in fancy stores? Panyi, Guangzhou, China that's where I got the cup and saucer in the pic for about RM20 to 25/US$6 to 8 (can't remember exact price). A lot of the fine porcelain (yes, all those big names) actually get their cups made in China and stamped back home. Not surprising about the high quality, after all, china/porcelain was first made in China.

final p.s: Thanks Yoland!

Fish Head Noodles

Fish head noodles

Fish head mi fen (rice noodles) is the easiest hawker food you can cook at home, and is a good choice when you don't want a heavy meat meal. It is not just easy but also quick to cook, and the taste is as good as your favourite fish head noodles shop's provided you get really fresh and good fish head. I go to the fishmonger near the Kepayan stalls along the Lintas Highway coming from the airport to Penampang. The Chinese guy who runs the stall will get you the right fish for whatever you want to cook. His prices are slightly higher than Lido's, but his fish is so much fresher than those in Lido Market. For fish head dishes, he always recommends a fish called "Joo bee" in Hakka. It looks like red snapper but has a bigger head with blown-up Angelina J-like mouth and the gelatinous parts are excellent, which is what most fish head lovers look for. If you want a more deluxe bowl of noodles, add fish maw and home-made fish balls. Serve with a good blacan lime-chili sauce. I usually fry a plate of greens to balance the meal.

Fish Head Noodles
800g to 1 kg fresh fish head, chopped into small pieces
1 1/2 T assam jawa
3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, sliced
6 thin slices of fresh ginger
1 to 2 T evaporated milk (to your liking)
1 Maggi chicken stock cube
coriander leaves & spring onions for garnish
thinly sliced pickled mustard/sen cai (optional)
5 cups water
2 T oil
salt to taste
1 packet mi fen*

*use mi fen from China that comes in pieces. It is smoother.

1. Soak mi fen in room temp. water for 1 hour until softened. Separate the strands with your hands. Blanch the mi fen with lots of boiling water and drain immediately.

2. Put 2 T oil in a large pot at high heat, add the ginger and fry for 20 seconds, then add the fish head in. If you prefer to deep-fry the fish head, do so. I just fry the fish head until it turns white, then add the water, tomatoes, assam (make sure the assam is broken up so it mixes well into the soup), pickled mustard if using, crumble the stock cube in, cover and let it come to a boil. Taste and add salt to your liking. Let the soup boil 2 to 3 minutes, then add the milk. Too much milk will render the soup too milky and you won't taste the fish soup.

3. Put a portion of mi fen/noodles into a bowl and ladle the boiling soup over. Top with the spring onions and coriander leaves.