Posts Tagged "food"

being home

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Mar 20, 2012 in Cooking, Family, Travel | 0 comments

In January, I made a slapdash decision to go home for Chinese New Year, for a scant 6 days.

It was, as always, heartwarming to be home, especially at such an important time of year. It’s amazing how much you take for granted the feeling of being surrounded by your clan, partaking in simple rituals and traditions that unfold the same way year after year, and how easy it is to slip back into it even after you’ve been away for so long.

What I love about being home is that in a short period of time, I get a crash course in my zany, multi-cultural, super extended super close family all over again. Fully immersed in Pakir-Singh-Wee-Tan-Sim-Lee culture is just fantastic, a little nutty, and very yummy.

And then there’s the giggles, and cackles, the exuberant sharing of stories, the catchups, the goss, the loud shouts that characterizes my family, and ALL with your mouth full of amazing food. All. The. Time.

Home again in just 5 short weeks. CANNOT. WAIT.

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super healthy, super fast soup

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Oct 7, 2011 in Cooking | 2 comments

My dad is in Melbourne at the moment and one of the things I like to do is cook him a lot of the foods he doesn’t eat a lot of back home. He is an avid lover of soups, and in particular loves creamy soups that are light and fresh tasting.

Here’s a soup I whipped up the other day that met his super high standards for SOUPS, plus fulfilled the “hiding nutrition in the food” tick of approval from me.

First, saute in a little bit of olive oil some garlic, and equal amounts of broccoli and mushrooms.

Allow the mushrooms to sweat and simultaneously brown and steam the broccoli by sautéing it for a while and then covering the pan for a few minutes. Add copious amounts of black pepper, and any herbs if you wish. Don’t add salt – the next step will ensure it’s plenty flavoursome.

When everything is cooked nicely, pour enough vegetable stock over to cover it all (I used Vegeta). Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the broccoli is nice and soft.

I made mine mush by blending it in the blender (in BATCHES, don’t want hot soup exploding everywhere) but if you have a stick blender, just use that in the pot directly.

Bring it all back to a simmer once it’s all liquified, and let simmer for a few minutes.

Add a can of evaporated milk (I use the low fat stuff, but you can use fresh cream too or even just milk) and bring to another simmer, stirring gently.

And there you have it. Awesome soup. This soup is surprisingly flavourful and doesn’t taste a lot like broccoli, is super full of the goodness of vegetables (isn’t broccoli meant to be a superfood?) and is pretty low in fat if you use evaporated milk. The mushroom flavour is pretty spectacular, and because there’s mostly vegetable stock in it, it doesn’t taste gluggy but more fresh and easy to eat copious amounts of.

So there you have it, the soup of the moment in my arsenal. ENJOY!

Got any soup recipes that are super easy that you’d like to share with me? DO SO in the comments! xx

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singapore feasting

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Jul 19, 2011 in Cooking, Travel | 0 comments

Hello from sunny Singapore!

I’ve been back a scant 36 hours and have eaten what seems like a veritable mountain of food – the food here is always an experience for me, even after living here many years and a multitude of trips back. I figured this time, it would be good to document a little bit of the experience so if you ever visit this wonderful land of culinary delights, you could partake too!

Firstly, my family and I like to frequent what has been our “local” for years – a mamak stall (coffeeshop) called Al-Azhar where we’ve had literally hundreds of tehs, roti pratas and mi gorengs over the years.

 

I also had lunch at one of the Din Tai Fung restaurants – renown for their dumplings and xiao long bao. Besides their xiao long bao, we had:

 

For dinner, I ate at another local eatery near my house – Eat (Rail Mall). They are apparently known for their fish ball noodles, and they didn’t disappoint! They’re called fish ball mee pok (or kolo mee). They’re delicious.

But what stood out for me was their laksa tau pok. Essentially, this is the rich, coconutty, spicy thick broth we already know well, with pieces of fried tofu in it that just SOAKS up the laksa goodness and provides a means of transport into your mouth. Once imbibed, it all explodes on your tongue like a veritable symphony of taste sensations. Humble looking, but OH, so indescribably good.

 

Yes, i really did eat ALL OF THE ABOVE in one day. And I haven’t even displayed here photos of the copious amounts of durian and fresh lychees I’ve been scoffing down, plus the roti prata breakfasts and curry puff snacks. AY, i may very well return to melbourne a giant rolypoly, but I don’t even care.

Being home is NAICE.

 

 

 

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single happy moment: treats for breakfast

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Jul 3, 2011 in Happiness | 2 comments

My favourite time of year to visit Singapore, my home, is Chinese New Year. It’s incredibly heartwarming, being with family as we prepare the house and ourselves for the festive season, and wonderful to see my extended family come together, as we do, for endless gatherings, laughs for days on end, and meals.

Yes, the meals.

At Chinese New Year, I get the added bonus of NOT ONLY my beautiful family cooking me the foods I am most passionate about, but also some of my favourite Singapore foods being in season (Chinese New Year goodies).

It’s a decadent time of year, with parties, gluttony and celebrating being the main goal for a few days straight.

And the ultimate joy?

 

Starting each morning with a selection of totally sinful Chinese New Year treats like pineapple tarts and the such, with a huge cup of milo, lounging in the huge king sized bed next to my sister as we sip, imbibe, and surf the net. Simple pleasures.

 

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birthday month update: ladies who lunch

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Jun 3, 2011 in Lifestyle | 0 comments

I’m lucky enough to have some of the loveliest friends any girl could ask for – a diverse crew of fine young ladies who continue to inspire me more and more as the years go by. We all came together over the years, and everytime we manage to all catch up, you just know it’s going to be a good time.

For my birthday month, the incredibly clever Gemma came up with the brilliant idea of the whole group getting together and indulging in Number 8′s Sundays with Mumm menu – set lunch with free flowing Mumm champagne. BRILLIANT, I tell you.

So we all got frocked up last Sunday, and excitedly bustled our way to Crown for what was sure to be a delightful afternoon filled with giggles, tipples, stories, gossip, catchups, and just good ol’ girl time. How very Sex and the City of us.

As anticipated, it was full of hilarious moments that only got better as the champagne kept being poured. We sat there from midday to late afternoon, and Number 8 did NOT disappoint in showing us a good time. The set menu’s food was rather incredible, for starters:

We enjoyed it very very very much, along with our Brasilian accented waiter who served and pampered us rather wonderfully. Yup. *nods enthusiastically* Enjoyed it VERY VERY MUCH, especially the rather winning way in which he kept topping our champagne glasses up every time they’d subsided even a few millimetres! WINNING.

So how does it feel to have all your girlfriends sit and enjoy a lazy afternoon with you to support you through the crisis of turning dirty thirty? JUST SWELL. As we are growing up, we’re all just geting busier, and actually having an entire afternoon with all of them is rare and pure bliss. Bliss, and being surrounded by friends? Total win for me. All the ladies distracting me from GETTING OLD FEELINGS? Well, I didn’t even cry. This time.

(Yes, I’m usually notoriously bad with birthdays and feeling inadequate and like time is running out. NOW YOU ALL KNOW MY DIRTY LITTLE SECRET).

So anyway.

As we finished our meal, I heard the clink clink clink of a knife being tapped on a glass, and before I knew it, I was being showered with affection and chatter. GIFT! SOMEONE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A GIFT.

And then, there was a gorgeous wooden box laid in front of me.

And let me just tell you, I AM ONE SPOILT LADY, whose girlfriends bought me a simply lovely Samantha Wills cuff – in Anita’s words “the one Rihanna has”. FREAKING AWESOME. I recently had a few jewellery items err, lost due to err, travel, and this cuff made my day, because now I have one more sentimental piece to add to my collection. THANK YOU GIRLS, I LOVE YOU LONG TIME!

With that, I see the girls sitting across the table from me clap their hands in glee, eyes widening, and what I think is mere excitement at my happiness from gift receiving, turns into SPARKLER CLAD CREME BRULEE CARRIED OUT BY NICE ACCENTED WAITER.

HOORAY!

There was some singing (and some staring from the other patrons) and some dawning realisation that egads, 30 was most DEFINITELY HERE. I STILL managed to hold it together and not weep, though I did get a tad emotional.

Yes, I am a true LADY.

ANYWAY.

I had a glorious time. We spent a lovely few hours together, and all tottered home much happier for it, that I am incredibly sure of. And you can’t buy that kind of time or experience – you can only enjoy it immensely, and hope for its return as soon as possible.

Thank you ladies. I appreciated it SO. I’m truly SO lucky to have all of you in my life, and am constantly reflecting upon the fact that it is you all that make Melbourne my home, and a place I WANT to stay.

 

 

 

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