Century Eggs The Traditional Way

This was how century eggs were served in my family when I was little... simply with pickled ginger. I hated the taste back then but have grown to like it a lot, likewise for pungent cheeses and innards. It is strange how tastesbuds change.

My Beautiful Amaryllis

I promised photos of my amaryllis when they bloom. There you go... 4 beautiful flowers that bloomed one at a time. Life's little pleasures.

Super Short-Cut Savoury Glutinous Rice

Pre-soak shitake mushrooms, dried shrimps and dried scallops in water for 15 minutes. Cut them up into small bits and dump into rice cooker with glutinous rice, thinly sliced chinese sausages, enough water, salt, white pepper and oyster sauce. Serve hot with sambal chili and garnished with fried shallots.

Lavender Shortbread

These cookies have aroused my curiosity for the longest time ever since I first read about them here: http://ilovemilkandcookies.blogspot.com/2007/08/this-cookies-winner.html. (The recipe was also adapted from Amai's Green Tea Sweets.) However, I could not bring myself to bake them due to the fact that in my household, lavender is very much associated with potpourri sachets. I was not sure that I'd be able to appreciate food that smells like fresh bedlinens and socks!



Nevertheless, curiousity took the better of me after I'd bought a bag of the highest quality lavender from Provence in the south of France and looking for something new to experiment on. And how did the shortbread turn out? Friends who have tasted them liked them although they had a hard time pinpointing the flavour without looking at the little lavender buds on the cookies. Moi, not a personal favourite I must admit... but then that's purely due to the psychological barrier. So who knows, if you don't have the habit of putting lavender sachets in your closets, this just may be it for you.

Fried Bee Hoon - Pad-Thai Style

Pad Thai is one of my favourite Thai dishes. Hence, even when I fry Bee Hoon, I tend to do it in the same style with lots of fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice. I like mine with ketchup as well even though it is not part of the original Pad Thai recipe. Great if you are a ketuchup lover like I am.

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My Amaryllis Is Flowering Again!

The last time it flowered was 2 years ago. I had the great pleasure of welcoming 4 humongous - larger than the size of my hand with fingers spread out - beautiful white flowers with red streaks. Sadly, due to my inexperience in caring for this plant even though I followed the instructions to the T, it didn't flower last spring and I thought it would never flower again. I am overjoyed to see it coming back.

Raspberry Brownies

Raspberries go so well with chocolate. Whilst its tanginess is offset by the sweet chocolate, the intense raspberry "perfum" is retained. Why not add them to your favourite brownie recipe?

By the way, I find brownies one of the hardest foods to photograph as the deep brown colour shows up very lacklustre in photos no matter how I vary the background colour.

Matcha - The Traditional Way

Matcha is more intense in flavour than green tea made from teabags. This stuff is supposed to be loaded with antioxidants and good for the body. I think I will try to drink it on a regular basis:)