A Singaporean In Australia

Jo of the slimrollypollywannabe.blogspot.com is a foodsmith. I could have just call her a great cook but a foodsmith will be more aussie-like as the word "smith" automatically makes her an expert in her passion like theirs of a blacksmith and locksmith. I have a few foodsmith friends in my neighbourhood in Singapore actually. One of them is Ms Maggie Teo the queen of home cooked delicacies and Baker Julia, formerly known as Julia Chia, who is finally confident enough to take cake orders.

Though Jo isn't the only foodsmith I know in Perth (too many people I will offend if I say so), she is indisputably the one who puts in pride and passion in her food. That is a rare trait to find in a woman of this age. Thus, I simply told her husband that he did a big steal by marrying her.

Well, lest some fucking feminist unexpectedly come my way and tell me off for painting a wife as a food churning machine, all I can say is that simple men are simple. A great cook is one desirable trait of a good wife. Try convincing me it isn't with your crooked reasoning. Some things are straightforward as it is and that's that. You have your rules and we have ours. 

Jo isn't an ordinary foodsmith. What sets her apart is the fact she offers me food. Like I said, I am a simple man, so Jo is good!

Over the months she gave me pineapple tarts on Chinese New Year and the Bak Zhang on the day some noble chap jumped into the river to die for all the sins of mankind long ago.

Can I say I like Bak Zhang a lot? I was really happy to receive these because it had been years since I ate homemade ones. It brought back memories of being offered my first homemade Bak Zhang made by Tucky's mum when we hardly know each other well. Over the years I would shamelessly make my way to his house whenever the it was TIME.

Needless to say, I ate. About 8 Bak Zhang over 2 days.  Thank you Jo.

Now it's time to talk about my own cooking. Over the years, I have the privilege of cooking for my family. No doubt, on some days that felt more like a chore but it does not change the fact that I enjoy the liberty of cooking every single meal for my family because I can afford the time doing so. With practice, I gradually graduated and became a cook of edible food. Though I show little passion in my cooking as compared to Jo and other peers such as Stephen and Patrick, I pride myself in being the quickest cook among them. (I welcome a challenge). With hungry wife and impatient young around, I found myself whipping up meals within minutes, often with limited ingredients or preparation time.

To give myself some credit, I managed to prepare some decent food like fried rice or noodles or even a 2-3 dishes, 1 soup meals in a really short time. There were some weird dishes along the way that fortunately didn't turn out too bad but this one should be one of the recent highlights.

It was on that day when we had to sign an important document quite late in the day. By the time we were done, it was really late and I found myself staring at an empty fridge. 

So Baked Cheese Over Otah and Noodles Egg. Weird but it works.