elusivek | Friday Five 2-June-2023 #2 (Reply)

thefridayfive

1. What is your favorite meal to order in a restaurant?
Depends on which restaurant really, so shall I list?
At the Coffee Shop of my workplace, I usually order these:
i. Western dish: Pork Chop in Onion Sauce with Fries
ii. Vietnam dish: Vietnamese Beef Pho
iii. Thai dish: Pork Neck with Green Mango Salad
iv. Vegan: Beetroot salad and a Lentils Soup
v. Very rarely: Impossible Burger

If it's a Thai restaurant, or basically, if the menu has a Pad Thai on it, then that's what I'll get.

Wonton noodles when it's a Chinese noodles place.

For Dim Sums I like something called 鹹水角. Basically it's a deep fried dumpling, but the shell is made of glutinous rice, so it's a bit sticky, and the stuffing inside is usually pork.

2. What is your favorite home cooked meal?
Wow, Mom makes the best 紅姜炒米粉 stir fried vermicelli with red ginger and believe it or not, just the other day during the ceramics class, a classmate, L, said to me, "Hey! I saw your Dad's picture in an internal newsletter!" and I was all like, "huh? How do you know who my Dad is?" She replied, rather exhasperatedly, "Surnames!" oh yeah. I forgot. LOL.

Then she said "He held that staff culinary class and he made my favorite 紅姜炒米粉! This dish is extinct in Macau!"

I suddenly remembered where she worked, and I do remember my Dad being invited to that place to hold a cooking class for the staff there. "Oh, I thought they invited him to teach Austrian or Western dishes. He did Macanese dishes? Then those are Mom's recipes," I replied.

"It's your grandma's recipe!" she replied. "He said he learnt it from his mother in law!"

Yeah right. Sure. Okay. Dad has a new fan LOL.

We discussed about the dish and concluded that restaurants don't normally serve this anymore but there are 2 catering companies that have this dish on the menu. And finally, as these conversations always go: "Next time your Dad makes it can I have some?"

Okay.

3. What was the best meal you ever ate?
There must have been other good things I've eaten, but, I am STILL dreaming about that Monkfish Fish and Chips in Hastings.

4. Do you ever try to re-create a meal you've eaten that someone else cooked?
Yup. When the parents are away in Europe, that's my chance to be in the kitchen. I tried to recreate Dad's portuguese oven baked fish but instead of the usual big-ass whatever fish he uses, I used an easy supermarket bought fish fillet (Bangusio? Pangusio?) instead. I made it the laziest way possible:

Line the baking sheet with an aluminium foil. Leave space, you will use the foil to wrap up everything.
Thick-sliced potatos on the lowest layer, but I usually put onion on the lowest layer (I prefer my onions very cooked and very soft, so for me I put those on the bottom), then the fish, season salt and pepper, sliced garlic, sliced tomato on top. Chopped parsley or coriander or chinese coriander (still can't tell which is which, but whatever sprigs of greens I get from the market veggie lady will do) Bit more salt and pepper to taste, then wrap up the thing but leave a tiny opening for the steam to come out (just a pin-prick size thing on the top, or make something like a chimney when wrapping up the thing. Bake. Dunno how long. 30 mins? It usually won't burn as it's all wrapped up, and with the onion or potato on the lowest layer, gives out water, so even that doesn't usually burn, and the water will then turn to steam and cook up the whole thing.

When it's cooked, you can just place the whole thing (foil package) and place it on a plate, open up, and eat. If I'm carefull and don't spill the water/sauce, then clean up is also extremely easy.

5. What's the first meal you tried cooking yourself?
Ah, it just so happened, I just described it on #4.