August 10, 2020
August 9th – Singapore National Day. I was overjoyed when I found out that Singapore Connect is organizing a National Day-In-Place virtual hawker food fare. Covid has prevented us from making our annual trip home and deprived us of the hawker food that we crave so much. The organizer offered some all-time favorites from bay area Singaporean chefs. We were Read More
June 16, 2020
First Published Nov 29th 2014 My apartment mate in college gave me a box of Chinese recipe cards before we graduated. This dish came from one of the cards and it tastes so good that I have been cooking it regularly since college. Updated Jun 16h 2020 Its been six years since I last published this post. How time flies! Read More
June 13, 2020
Week 8 of shelter-in-place. I have been cooking so much lately, especially my childhood favorites. In stressful times, we seek comfort in what we love and know best. Singaporean food and snacks is what I grew up with and there is so much to love about them. As a melting pot of Chinese, Malay, Indian and western cultures, we have Read More
June 7, 2020
Jun 7th 2020 First published Dec 27th 2014 I attended my nephew’s holiday potluck party last weekend: “bring whatever food you wish to eat and share…home cooked Singapore food encouraged.” I like so many dishes from Singapore, which one should I bring? It has been a long time since I made Kueh Bengka Ubi, and it is so easy to Read More
May 31, 2020
First published May 18th 2015 I am still in my colorful-cooking mood. I managed to find sweet potato in three colors and taro. Wondering if green and red sweet potatoes ever existed? Perhaps not. I used emerald and ruby chestnut bits to make up for the missing colors. That is my colorful dessert for tonight’s dinner! Updated May 31st 2020 Read More
May 31, 2020
First Published Sep 18th 2015 I have been on a sambal mission lately. The main reason: I have these precious bottles of home-made crispy ikan bilis and peanuts couriered from Singapore. Now that I have the sambal chilli handy, it is time to whip up the Nasi Lemak. The cast: coconut rice, crispy ikan bilis and peanuts, Sambal Telur (Eggs), Read More
May 23, 2020
I had to cancel my trip back to Singapore this summer due to the covid-19 pandemic. What I miss most from Singapore are obviously the friends and family that I will not get to meet this year. I will also miss the many hawker food and traditional snacks and kuehs that I grew up with. To say I love nyonya Read More
May 9, 2020
I saw Thai Banana and Banana tempura batter mix at the Asian grocery store last weekend. I am not a fan of deep fried food, but goreng pisang (deep fried banana) is an exception. This is one of my favorite snack growing up in Singapore, and I couldn’t resist bringing both of them home. I am surprised how easy it Read More
March 30, 2020
With the self-imposed shelter-in-place practice, we have been stocking up the refrigerator and pantry; doing our little bit to minimize trips to the store. With every meal, I have to decide to do without or find substitute if some ingredients are missing. Let’s just call it ‘creative’ cooking. We are craving dessert. I pulled out some leftover frozen split peas Read More
March 22, 2020
Oven roasted vegetables is my preferred method of cooking non-leafy vegetables. Especially for eggplants, they soak up much less oil and preserves the taste and texture beautifully. Most of the sambal eggplant recipes I find online involve deep frying or stir frying the eggplants. Let’s make mine the first Oven Roasted Sambal Eggplant recipe and it’s super easy! Ingredients 3 Read More
