Nonya chap chye recipe

I must confess. Mom made this dish , not me.

I remember how my late grandpa used to share his recipes with me. Though we spoke English , when it came to food, he'd explain it all in Malay . Typically the amounts were estimated , like a pinch of the, a handful of that , just enough of this etc.

The secret to great food was always stir frying pounded shallots and garlic or rempah in oil til brown then adding in the meat, then everything else.

Here's a simple way to prepare chap chye.

1. Soak dried black fungus , rice vermicelli and dried tau kee on water to hydrate these.


2. Dry with a paper towel.


3. Peel fresh prawn


4. Slice belly pork finely


5. Peel and slice a carrot or two


6. Slice a cabbage


7. Peel and Pound a clove of garlic and five shallots.


8. Stir fry the garlic and shallots til brown


9. Add the pork and prawns and let it cook


10. Add in the cabbage, carrots, black fungus, tau kee and vermicelli


11. Season with sea salt


12. Serve hot

Beard papa chocolate lava

Lava oozing out of a chocolate lava cake on chocoholics has the same effect as blood on sharks . It sends us chocoholics into a feeding frenzy.

I had a bummer of a morning and could use a little chocolate to cheer me up. Guess what, Beard Papa's first batch of chocolate lava cake had just come out of the oven.

Unlike some places which forbid you to take photos of the food, the ladies at beard papa, bugis mrt station, when they saw me trying to photograph my lava cake from the bag, took out a tray of fresh chocolate lava delights for an impromptu shoot.

Got my photos, got my cake and the morning's disappointment was quickly forgotten. An awesome breakfast was in store for me once I'd a chance to savor it.

I couldn't wait. The rich melted chocolate in soft pastry made my day.

Biz Success

Years ago, I went into affiliate marketing, not realising that it was impossible to earn a living that way. I had no idea the competition was that keen. E.g. 90% of the sales are made by 10% of the affiliates.. or is it 99% vs 1%? I didn't know, didn't care anyway. Nor was I aware that I wasn't business inclined. Hey, how can a blur blob like me ever do business? So in my pure stupidity, I went on and created one website after another. I had no idea you were supposed to have business associates and work with partners in order to be successful so I went solo. I didn't know it was impossible to get your website listed as #1 in Google Yahoo and MSN, so I went ahead and happily got sales that way, plus hefty bonuses from affiliate marketing SEO contests, not knowing what the heck was SEO. I was happily working from home building websites, watching them rank #1-#3 in the search engines, creating more websites and automating them and banking my cheques, spending afternoons with hubby watching movies, eating at all you can eat tea buffets and being there for my kids when they game home from nursery.. kindergarten.. lower primary school.. Then I realised.. hey, you can't make money that way. Where is the money coming from? etc etc.. and I realised.. it was impossible. So my business tanked and I and I got a job and rejoined the rat race. “Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.” -Doug Larson

Flowers

Growing up in Katong, the ladies around me wore kebayas adorned with finely embroidered flowers, a testament to their patience and needlework skills

I love flowers. Though I prefer scented ones like tuberose or the tropical roses that flourished in grandpa's garden, this struck a chord with me.

Foggy memories of a kebaya with small pink flowers just like these come to mind, but I can't recall who wore it.

I don't own any kebayas. Never did. I preferred western clothes, jeans and tees when I was young and later married out of the peranakan community . I did wear cheongsam to fit into my husband's culture but now, I have a yearning for the world I was born into .. Decades ago.. When life was simpler. Happier

Mimosa

The mimosa brings back fond memories of my childhood.

I was a little girl, growing up on Katong. Daddy's girl.

Dad and mom would bring me to Katong Park, sit on a swing, chill out as we enjoy the sweet outdoors.



I remember, was it my dad or my fourth uncle who showed me the thorny weed that was so lively. Touch it and its leaves were closed, hence its name, touch-me-not.


I'd squeal in delight whenever I encountered that touchy plant and run to touch its leaves with my tiny fingers, laughing as I watched the shy leaves close.

Drunken duck noodles

Drunken duck? I imagine a drunk duck who was given too much to drink so it fell into the pot to make this

Had that at tanjong pagar hawker center. By the way , it was delicious
Om nom nom...

Prata. Crispy, a touch of salty, yummier than bread and goes perfectly with curry.

 A good prata, freshly made, eaten with curry and a cup of teh.. as in the coffee shop style tea with milk.. is a favourite breakfast in this part of the world. It's a classic. From my grandpa's time til today.

A good prata with a cup of teh tarik reminds me of innocent days gone by. I'm glad with all the changes in Singapore, the precious parts of culture we've lost, prata still remains.

 Ok, so this was shot in Cameron Highlands featuring a sporting chef who agreed to the shoot. Enjoy!