A Singaporean In Australia

We were munching happily last night again. Penny decided to make Nasi Lemak. With Samantha's recipe in hand, Jenny was able to marinate the chicken to taste the way it should. She even took the effort to arrange her sliced cucumbers and made me feel a hard day at work was well worth it. The cucumber ended up saving our tongues by providing relief to the spiciness of the specially made chilli that would make even Singaporean Mum, M, run for her iced coke with her iron tongue charred.

Spicy as it was, the chilli was well blended with other ingredients such as sauteed onions and deep fried ikan billis. Penny managed to put aside a full box of ikan billis for the meal as well. Fried to perfection, I must say for they would be too crispy and bitter 10 seconds more, not browned enough 10 seconds less. She wasn't pleased with the rice but it wasn't too bad really. There was always room for improvement. Overall, it was a terrific meal.

I reckoned we had took easily available good food in Singapore for granted. Yeah, there were observations that the standard of cooked food has dropped over the years and great tasting, affordable meals are getting less available compared to the yester-years but the convenience is still there. Like everything else, convenience has its problems at its extreme end. It removes our knowledge about simple things in life, it deskills us and effectively dis-empower us in the long run. I'm talking about how this generation don't even have the knowledge to grow potatoes, make soap out of raw ingredients, make simple food without designer food equipment.

I was particularly impressed by Meefong's willingness to make everything herself. That coincided with the small talks with a senior researcher in food science with UWA, who comes by to my company as a casual factory worker when we need extra hands as well as Herosha's (the company's new accountant and a keen reader on food) er... account of his findings on food quality. It remains a fact that hawkers are only interested in making their food delicious, compromising our well being. In recent years, even fresh raw cooking ingredients are no longer as good as it used to be.

Everyday, I see food and health activists spam stuff on their facebook wall. The vegans are particularly aggressive. I don't have a problem with the idea of saving animals from their fate by going vegan. But tell me it is healthier to eat only veg, I don't buy it. In these times where the world is getting more capitalistic by the day, be it poultry, seafood, fruits or vegetables, farmers have done things that you don't want to know to their produce. There isn't much we can do about this unless we grow our own food and know exactly what we are eating. This is tough even living in Australia but it is realistic. A good patch in a common house can yield enough to feed a small family. We may be able to get enough eggs from 2 hens for our needs. That's vegetables, 1-2 types of fruits and eggs covered. In the long run, that's what I want to do for my family. Can't do much about meat and seafood though.