Meal Time

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it, or leave it. ~Buddy Hackett

I loved to cook when I was little. Anything from fried egg to… fried egg. Nowadays, cooking is an arduous affair to me with all the meal planning, preparations of ingredients and above all, the washing-ups.

My favourite ingredient remains unchanged throughout the years. Eggs. They are nutritious, delicious, and most particularly, easy to prepare.

I seldom follow a recipe. There are too many ingredients I lack. I love to come out with innovative dishes. Most originate from dishes we had from restaurants or hawker stalls. I simplified them by using basic ingredients I can find at home, which isn’t much. I just put together whatever I feel right and offer them to the Chosen Ones.

Fast cooking is the primary objective for me nowadays. I used to spend one hour preparing the ingredients and another hour whipping out the dishes. But my enthusiasm died fast and spending two hours to prepare each meal will mean that I’ll be spending four hours standing in front of the sink and stove every day! And that excludes the time required to wash up after every meal preparation and consumption, and clearing up all the spills and splatters on the countertops!

I’ve learnt to speed up my cooking with a few means. Instead of preparing one dish at a time, I can readily whip up a few at a go! That leaves me ample time to wash up and clean up the work area and still have time to sit down and stare into space.

Take for example the dinner I prepared tonight.

The first dish would be the soup as it takes some time to brew.

While the soup was simmering, I’ll proceed to prepare the steamed dish. It can be steamed egg or tofu or even fish. I made steamed minced pork egg with carrot cubes tonight. I put together all the ingredients on a shallow dish and steamed it in the rice-cooker at the same time the rice was cooking.

While the rice was cooking, the egg was steaming, and the soup was brewing, I took out the frozen fries from the freezer and deep fried them.

Scooping out the fries and while straining them on a strainer, I fried some sliced chicken in sweet dark sauce.

Finally, I dished out the chicken onto a plate; poured the fries into a huge bowl and tossed them with some salt; add some salt to my soup and turn off the stove; remove the steamed egg from the rice-cooker; dinner was served in one hour!

May I say that even my dog, Kristel, adore my exclusive blend of her dry dog food with steamed carrots and chicken pieces? She devoured it as enthusiastically as she chewed on my wooden shoe rack. Alright, nothing is considered inedible to her.

I would like to take this opportunity here to thank all my wonderful kids who never criticize or grouse on my cooking. They are absolutely magnanimous and gracious angels who lavish compliments and encouragements on me unselfishly; no matter my concoction is a success or total bungle. They never fail to show me their love and support by finishing every scrap on the plates even if it means risking their stomachs.

Thank you.

Pass me a burger please.