Foodaholic

Watching this "patriotic" version of being a Singaporean, I can't help but miss the hawker centres and kopitiams, crispy roti prata at any time of the day, hainanese chicken rice literally everywhere, ice kachang on a hot day, freshly peng kang spicy otah with fragrant nasi lemak, rojak on a not-so-hungry-day, foamy teh tarik during supper and Qiji's perfect popiah with no chili. If anyone were to ask how do we define being a Singaporean, I would definitely say by his/her knowledge of where the best char kway teow is or where to find the perfect fish head noodle. Anyone who doesn't know, he is probably from Malaysia.

I miss this oh-so-casual way of eating out instead of bistros or restaurants, no tipping, no service charge. In NYC, we HAVE to tip the waitstaff 15-20% of the bill and it can really add up to a lot. That means we can't afford to eat out every other meal like back in Singapore. The limited options of food courts here also offer food by weight and they are not necessary cheaper than eating lunch specials(U.P: US$6.99) in the restaurants(I once had Indian chicken marsala and nasi briyani and it came up to US$10 on the weighing scale! GULP!!!) I swear it was the gravy that tipped the scale.

So, in my desperate search for street food that is authentic, cheap and good, I dragged my poor husband out to Red Hook in Brooklyn where there are Latin American street food stalls serving up heaps of freshly made tortillas, empanadas, pupusas, quesadillas, huaraches, tamales, ceviche, rellanos, etole(corn on cob smothered with mayonnaise and cheese), and of course the agua fresca stands selling fresh fruits and hibiscus drinks. New York Times and many other newspapers have reviewed these weekend, summer only food stalls next to the football fields and everyone have given it thumbs UP. Suddenly missing the taste of salsa verde, I made it a resolution to eat there before the authorities close them down for good by end of the summer.


[Left: Huarache. Right: Pupusas]






VERDICT: The street food concept is great but by the end of the lunch, we had spent US$23 on food, fruits and drinks for 2 persons and it is definitely not my definition of street food price. Maybe we were greedy but we had 1 huarache with beef and chorizo(US$5), 1 ceviche mixto(US$7), 2 Pupusas(with cheese and beef US$5), 1 packet of fresh mango and 1 large lemonade(US$4) and 1 large hibiscus drink(US$2). Of the lot, my favourite is the ceviche. I definitely had better latino food while I was traveling in South and Central America.

Street food is still best savoured in Asia. The streets of Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Bali and of course, Singapore, often offers delectable morsels of food that makes you go "Mmmmm....". The staggering abundance and variety of it only makes you lose self-control as you order too much(it happens to the best of people) and still find your wallet almost as full as before. No tipping is necessary, so you can go right ahead and order a second helping.

Bored of eating western food, I made a full scale chinese dinner last night. Of the lot, I must say the 2hours simmered sweet and sour baby pork ribs cooked in Shanghainese style is my favourite. The cabbage tastes like home-cooked food and I am just so happy to be eating jasmine rice instead of pasta. =)

And oh yes, I almost forgot to mention - the aubergine au gratin with bechamel sauce(made from scratch!) was a SUCCESS! Definitely a dish that I will make again and again. *big grin*

Cooking, baking and eating.

Before the baby is born, my life revolves around mainly these 3 activities. In fact, I am CONSUMED by it! Poring through my Bon Appetite magazines and scouring through all the cookbooks for fabulous dinner ideas are my daily activities. A Julia Child in the making, I hope. Keke... ;p I'm reading her memoir "My Life in France" and I can't believe you can actually attend the prestigious Parisien Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute for a 1 year professional cooking course at only US$450! Well, that was after WWII so I guess that amount is humongous in those days...but still... *envy*

In the last few weeks, I baked my favourite carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, Lemon Meringue Pie(yum-O), banana walnut cake and today, a new try-out for oatmeal raisin cookies(a fantastic bite-size success!)!!! Thanks to Kim for this recipe!


RECIPE :

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raisins

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3mins.
3. Mix beaten egg in thoroughly, then add in vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry mixture.
5. Mix in oatmeal and the raisins. Give it a final mixing.
6. Refrigerate, covered, for an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 350degrees fahrenheit. Grease cookie baking sheet with butter.
8. Roll walnut size dollops of dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, allowing about 1.5" of space for it to spread.
9. Bake for 10mins and repeat till remaining dough is used up.

TIP: If you like your cookies to be less sweet, I will reduce the sugar to about 3/4 cup and add more oats/raisins in its place.

They make great tea-time snacks! And excellent for children too! =)
Emmanuel can't resist popping them into his mouth and now we are too full to eat any dinner.... *eyes rolling*

We had just been treated to a fabulous meal at Yasmeen parent's house where Aisha cooked up simple yet mouth-watering dishes. Her moussaka is by far the best I have ever tasted, I even went back for seconds! This is one dish that is usually very "gelard" but her version was so well-balanced on the palette you can't help going back for more. As usual with great cooks, they tell you the recipe in such 1-2-3 simple steps you really wonder if that actually happened in the kitchen or did they posses any secret magic cooking wands to conjour up such delicacies? I'm gonna attempt to recreate this aubergine dish and let's see if I come any close to Aisha's. Funny, I never used to like aubergine to begin with...

On to the supermarket tomorrow! Whee!!!

C'est un petit garçon!

Spot the Petite Planel Penis Contest!

No prizes for guessing right tho'... ;p Most fathers mistake the umbilical cord as their son's penis when it is born and of course, imagine their shock when "it" dries and drops off after 10days! Ok, it will take a really dense father to do that...

I wasn't surprised when the ultrasound specialist proclaimed it is a boy. My maternal instincts had already warned me way beforehand it will be a boy(trust your instincts always) and the ancient Chinese Gender Chart also predicted the same(this calendar has a 90% accuracy rate). No more hair clips or braiding or sweet flowery frocks to look forward to. For now. :) I just hope we will not have to wait for 5 more sons before we are blessed with a daughter in our lives! *Yikes*
Emmanuel and I are totally ecstatic about the baby and I can't wait for him to start taekwondo in my tummy. In the next few weeks, I should be able to feel strong kicks and punches thrown by the little bugger. During the ultrasound, he kept moving non-stop, refusing to let the nurse capture him on screen, and was almost imitating a rotisserie chicken routine. Judging from how he was behaving in the womb, I have no doubt whose genes he inherited. *wink*

This commercial cracks me up! In a way, I think it is also preparing me for motherhood. It reminds me of my younger brother when he was a bratty kid. He was kinda like that boy in the commercial, always screaming and throwing tantrums in the stores when mom refuse to buy him the toy he wanted. A true blue classic brat. Thank god he has outgrown that "kicking legs in the air in the middle of the shopping aisle" habit by now.

And this little sweetheart is the light of any parents' lives. Ashling is the 9-months darling of Mark and Yasmeen, a very well-behaved little girl(nope, no tantrums at all) with the perfect curls and clear blue eyes. Apparently, the trick to produce such beautiful offspring is to shave your balls before conception, which if otherwise, the dire consequences will be a very ugly baby. Thanks for the tip, Mark, we will bear that in mind for our second one! Haha...

Thanks so much, you guys for such a wonderful weekend lounging by the pool and BBQing at your lovely deck. It was the perfect summer weekend.

And for those of you who keeps asking me for pics of how much I have ballooned in the last 5months, here it is! The doc says the 2kg I gained thus far is a wee bit too little so now I have the licence to eat more donuts and ice-cream as of today! It's a tough life... ;p

A taste of HOME...

Finally, I ate Teochew Porridge for like the first time in almost 2years since I left Singapore and OMG, flashes of my childhood growing up with my grandmothers and drinking Ribena came flashing back to me. Ok, ok...it was not so dramatic but almost close.

For lunch, I made my Teochew Porridge which consists of mainly plain porridge served with very simple poor man's dishes like salted fish, boiled peanuts, pickled mustard(kiam chye), pork cubes(bah tng), pork floss(bah hoo), and my mom's fried sliced potatoes with egg and tomato ketchup. Sounds like a feast, huh?!?! ;p With almost 6 different dishes to pick from, I need a Lazy Susan on my table! When you get sick of eating here in NYC where your rice will be served with only 1 meat/veg dish in Asian restaurants, you will understand why I am so thrilled with my 6 dishes. *grin*

Back home where the professional Ah Peis in Tiong Bahru or Hougang dishes up the real thing, the staggering variety of dishes will leave most people undecided, unless you are a true-blue Teochew Ah Nia(lady) like me who knows exactly what she wants with her porridge. There are steamed fish with sliced ginger and soya sauce, freshly made fish cake slices with chili flakes inside and the tangy chili dip(oh yumz!), chye poh(stewed salty vegetable), fried egg omelet with chye poh & minced pork, braised duck(if you're lucky), steamed pork with egg custard(I so miss this dish), stewed beancurd skin(tao kee), black bean minced pork, tau pok braised with eggs in black sauce, octopus with the sweet sauce dip(oh heaven!), and many more different fish dishes which I never bother cos fish is not my thing. Now that I think of it, there are a lot of pork dishes too, huh? Thank god I didn't marry a Muslim. Whew!

I love all sorts of cuisine but when certain food opens the memory gates to a special part of you from a long time ago, it is time to take a HUGE bite and savour it. =)

So, WHAT is your childhood food?

Happy tots only...

Anyone watched Sicko yet?

The new movie from Michael Moore(Fahrenheit 911) showcases the US's poor health care system against other developed countries like France and Britain and comes out a terrorist film in its own way - it makes you terrified to stay on in the US.

People are refused treatments by their own "trusted" government, went bankrupt cos of medical bills(only in the US, I believe, is this possible), had to choose which severed finger is cheaper to be sewn back on(US$12k vs US$60k), and even thrown out of insurance-run hospitals to be left on the doorsteps of a non-profit hospital by a hired taxi. I can so go on and on about the 3rd world country run health care system here in the US but like my girlfriend said: "Happy thoughts only, Jo! You are a mother-to-be! Think only happy thoughts!" So, let's leave this depressing topic to go on to more happy thoughts...

NYC SUMMER RESTAURANT WEEK
If anyone's been to Central Park, then you should know the Central Park boathouse. The restaurant there had the loveliest views of the lake, couples rowing away on the tiny wooden boats in the name of love, skyscrapers looming out of the lush, green trees and the food and service were amazing!
Emmanuel and I went there for the Restaurant Week Lunch (US$24.07 for a 3 course meal) and enjoyed the whole experience so tremendously we wanna go back for brunch while summer is still here! Definitely highly recommended. Who knows, maybe some fat tourist will tip over the boat into the lake when you are served your appetizers...keke...

NEW YORK TAXI BEACH
This is the only beach I know where you will NOT get wet! Less than a football field size, a temporary sandy beach is set up on the shores of Queens among decrepit warehouses and abandoned buildings, WITH a million-dollar view of midtown Manhattan(Empire State building and Chrysler) from across the East River. Open during the summer only, you can take the NY Water Taxi($10) to get to this "beach" or take the subway to boogie away to the sounds of DJs spinning late into the night. Reminds me a little of Zoukout with DJs and booze on Sentosa beach.

Celebrating Robert's "Forever 29th Birthday", we dropped by for some burgers, hotdogs and sangria and were disappointed to find ZERO 6-pecs hunks or toned/tanned bikini beauties.

Instead, you get your usual happy-hour working crowd hanging out in sundresses and slacks instead of your friendly neighborhood dive bar.

We are gonna miss you when you are gone, Robert! And have a blast in Suriname!

BABIES AND WEDDINGS!
This is my favorite column of late! There have been so much good news like newly formed couples, tying of knots and the arrival of the baby stork!

To Honghui & Derek in Michigan, the longest running couple I have ever met and known in my whole life. We're sorry to have missed your Chinese wedding in Singapore and do enjoy your honeymoon in Jamaica or Easter Island or wherever you have finally decided to park your ass! Congrats!

To Angie and Ferris in SG, the most "accidental couple" I have ever known! *grin* We have all known each other since 17 and never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the two of you hooked up as a couple, let alone as dive buddies for life! Angie, you must show the world your 2carats diamond ring cos if you don't, you are depriving your fiance of his money's worth! Hahaha... ;p

To Ivan and Karen in SG, a BIG congratulations on your new born, Kyra Pung! She is one huge baby and I salute you, Karen, for carrying this to 42weeks past full term! :) Very brave also to endure the natural birth process without epidural or anesthesia of any sort till the very last moment. Very commando! Keke...

To Nori-chan and Dani-chan in Montreal, the cutest couple in Canada who are expecting a baby due just a day short of my own! Felicitacions! It is so exciting to have another mom-to-be sharing an almost similar growth chart to my own! Can't wait to catch up in Montreal! =)

To Corrine and Jean-Philippe in Paris, congratulations on your 3rd child! Alexane and Vassily must be so excited to have this new addition to the family =) We are definitely working towards making a big family like yours too. You are our models. Gros bisous!

And last but not least, a big congratulations to my cousin Louis and his wife! Though you have jumped the queue with your baby Dylan, I forgive you. Next time, get in line! Hehe... ;p

And now, I gotta congratulate myself for having survived the first 3months of pregnancy which can be tougher if I have morning sickness. But then again, the loss of appetite and Singapore food cravings(when I am in New York) is really kinda cruel. Totally incapacitated, i was unable to cook or bake since the heightened sense of smell during pregnancy makes me nauseous with every little thing. Liver smells like terrible body odour, stewed beef smells like vomit, etc. You get the idea. As my husband said, I was nearly starving the baby cos I ate so little, sometimes on just fresh fruits, cookies and ice-cream.

NOW, my appetite is BACK!!! *hugs* I missed you! At 17weeks, I am starting to feel the baby's bump in my belly(no longer just gas) and can't wait to feel it move inside me. In 2 more weeks, we will find out the sex of Bebe Planel so stay tuned!

The Obesity Epidemic

The HFCS(High Fructose Corn Syrup) Conspiracy
Americans are slowly being poisoned to obesity and then death by their own food industry in the last 30 years. What has HFCS gotta do with it? Read all about it here.

Before living in the US, my impression of fat and obese Americans is usually linked to McDonald's and Coca-Cola. Somehow, this is not that far from the truth. The next time you drink your can of fizzy coke/7-Up/soda, take a good look at the list of ingredients that make up this drink. Does it contain HFCS? If yes, STOP drinking it.

Somehow, I am not so concerned about those of you living in Asia or elsewhere in the world other than the US - this poison is only approved for use mainly in the US in its food and beverage industry mainly for one reason - cheap alternative sugar. Compared to the natural cane sugar(that does NOT make us obese), this HFCS is so cheap it makes China blush.

Ever wonder how does one actually finish drinking the entire super-sized "sugar-loaded" coke when you order a McDonald's value meal? Our body was never designed to be obese so there are built-in mechanisms in place. Signals are always sent to our brain to stop eating once the body has enough food so that we can achieve a balance.

Upsize your children 20-25%!

Normally, you will only drink up perhaps 1/3 of your coke before your brain starts to send signals to your body that it has enough sugar in the system and you should stop consuming. When beverage companies started introducing HFCS into their sodas in the 80's, sales shot through the roof as costs went down(no more expensive natural cane sugar) and people started consuming more. Why? With HFCS, the process of sending signals to your brain to stop drinking, no longer functions as it simply bypasses this process. You do not stop drinking even though you are full so that the end result is that you just consume more. Innocently. Exactly what the food industry loves. HFCS tricks the body into wanting to eat/drink more and at the same time, the fat stores up. The sad thing is that they put HFCS in so much food that you consume it unknowingly these days. A single 12-ounce can of soda has as much as 13 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup. Anyone drinking more than 1 can of soda a day? Hmmm...?? Read more scary news here.

Not only is it prevalent in the beverage industry, HFCS is used in literally EVERYTHING up and down the supermarket aisles. In bread, in candies, in soups, in ketchup, in low-fat yoghurt, in potato chips, in bagels, in cereals, in almost every processed food and I can keep going with the list. It is a pain for me to shop for food cos I always have to put back the food I wanted back on the shelves once I spot the HFCS small print. Any au naturel food without HFCS - is always more expensive. Price pushes demand and the vicious cycle continues to ravage the consumer's choices and health inevitably.

Michael Pollan traced the obesity epidemic to HFCS in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and I fear not enough Americans are reading these kind of books. He is singing a song nobody wants to hear, especially the giant food corporations.

63% of Americans are obese and childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last 20years. Compared to the statistics of 555,500 deaths caused by cancer each year, obesity causes 300,000 deaths per year. I think Americans should spend their tax money more wisely instead of war to help their own people to fight their food industry giants and control the epidemic before it is too late.

Now we can only hope(and pray) that scientific facts will help push legislators to put in the correct regulations and save the Americans from further conspiratorial abuse by profit-minded corporations.

I guess one can be easily frightened into supporting government into war-mongering by fears of terrorism, BUT when one is coerced into putting harmful food into our bodies by profit-mongering corporations and lobbyists, it is time to stand up for yourselves and your loved ones.

What a waste of food!!!

4th of July in the USA usually means barbeques and fireworks. Lots of it. While we non-Americans take this holiday as just another day out of the office, some take it very seriously when it comes to food, risking all stomach and oesophagus injuries by competing in the famous Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest at Coney Island. 2007's record: 66 hotdog buns in 12minutes. Yes, you read it right! SIXTY-SIX hotdogs AND buns!!! That is at a rate of 1 hotdog every 10.9seconds! And 20,390 calories in one man's stomach!

This year, the Mustard Belt title is reclaimed by a rather skinny American, Joey Chestnut. You would think all these "Food Shove" eating contest are usually full of fat Amercians with wobbly bellies big enough to start a small earthquake BUT hell, NO! Starting with the dominant Japanese Champion, Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, his small frame and "revolutionary eating techniques" had silenced competition for 6 years until Joey Chestnut came along.

Fighting jaw pain and a fierce competition this year, the Jap still took part in the competition despite barely able to open an inch of his mouth 1-2 weeks before. Amidst chants of "U.S.A!!! U.S.A!!!" from the maddening crowd, Joey literally "inhaled" the hotdog buns(as USAToday claims), shoving and jumping and wriggling in all manners of voodoo dancing to let the dogs slide down his "super-wide oesophagus" by now. Thank god I was not near to the stage cos the close-ups of 17 fierce competitors dribbling and spewing saliva/water/bits of buns & dogs is soooo...not a pretty sight before my lunch!!!

At the very last 30seconds, these 2 were fighting dog to dog and with both at 63 hotdogs finally, the timer stopped - with no clear winner. After 5mins of reviewing the tape(ESPN covered the even "live"), they proudly declared Joey Chestnut as the winner with 66 hotdogs down! Breaking all records ever, incl. Kobayashi's record last year of 53.75 hotdogs. Kinda dodgy if you ask me but maybe the Americans really wanted to win the Mustard Belt badly. *shrug* It is National pride at stake here for sure...muahahaha... In a way, I think Chestnut is probably this generation's version of an "American Hero". Maybe he'll take home a "Popcorn" trophy at the next MTV awards.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting 12 minutes and I still find it hard to believe that this svelte and petite female who took part actually shoved down 39 hotdogs! This amazing lady, Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, is my weight and she is the US's No.3 competitive eater and the world's 4th ranking. Why in the world would she be a professional food competitor is beyond me...and how the hell did she keep that figure with all that food!?!?! I know Emmanuel and I took like 8 minutes to chow down on a pack of fries and one hotdog - and we are both not "svelte" for sure. *sigh*

Check out Sonya's Eating Records:
* Asparagus
5.75 pounds of tempura deep fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes
* Cheesecakes
11 pounds of downtown Atlantic cheesecake in 9 minutes[12]
* Chicken nuggets
80 chicken nuggets in 5 minutes
* Chicken wings
167 chicken wings in 32 minutes
* Crabcakes
46 three ounce crabcakes in 10 minutes
* Eggs
65 hard boiled eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds
* Fruitcakes
4 pounds, 14 1/4 ounces of Wegman's Fruitcake in 10 minutes
* Hamburgers
7 burgers (3/4 pound) "Thickburgers" in 10 minutes
* Jambalaya
9 pounds of crawfish jambalaya in 10 minutes
* Lobster
44 lobsters totaling 11.3 pounds of lobster meat in 12 minutes
* Oysters
46 dozen Acme Oysters in 10 minutes
* Pizza
6 extra large Baci pizza slices in 15 minutes
* Pulled pork
23 pulled pork sandwiches in 10 minutes
* Tacos
43 soft tacos in 11 minutes
* Tater tots
250 tater tots in 5 minutes
* Turducken
7 3/4 pounds Turducken.com Thanksgiving Dinner in 12 minutes[13]

Surrounded by pot-heads at Manu Chao concert

An introduction to this popular French/Spanish singer: Manu Chao.
"Many of Chao's lyrics are about love, living in ghettos and immigration, and often carry a left-wing message. This reflects Chao's own political leanings—he is very close to the Zapatista movement, whose public spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos, is sampled heavily on Radio Bemba Sound System, and is openly critical of the Bush administration in the US. He has many followers among the European left and the anti-globalization movement." (Source: Wikipedia)

Indeed, one of his songs' lyrics cried out for attention: "Are you listening, Mr. White House? Are you listening, Mr. BUSHHHHHHH.....?????" And then he whipped out a huge banner that proudly proclaims "IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT CRIMINALS", amidst huge cries of support and frenzied nods from the euphorious crowd. Of course, by that time, a cloud of marijuana is floating above my head and the unmistakable smell of this grass lingered on my hair, my clothes and my bag. Surrounded by potheads who are enthusiastically jumping up and down to Manu's eclectic mix of music, I fervently wish I can swig some alcohol into my blood stream instead of just spring water....grrr... Still, we were both grooving to the music and having fun.

His live performances in the US are exceedingly rare and we are just so exuberated to catch one of the world's best selling artiste in such a relaxing venue - the Bandshell at Prospect Park in Brooklyn - where picnickers and potheads are free to mix as they wish...Amen.