Eating to Live or Living to Eat Part 1

By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy

It's impossible. Or I thought it would be.

The natural pull of Kuala Lumpur is for one to practice Living To Eat. I mean, with food and colour and textures and tastes of such intensity everywhere, it's sort of difficult just to be sensible about eating. Every meal is an opportunity for an adventure. Every meal is an opportunity for a gathering for a giggle to lift you from the mundane.

I love it.

But I've also come to love and appreciate Eating to Live. My 6 meals a day are not a chore anymore. Ooo, that rhymes doesn't it? "Not a chore anymore, Cha Boh."

Yup, I've joined the ranks of the converted. I've been circumcised (not literally) to the cult of healthy eating - for the most part - and it certainly brings with it, it's own brand of fulfilment and satisfaction. There's no evangelist more fervent than a new convert. Ask all those irritating newbies from ANY religion. Much like having that vaunted cigarette after sex, healthy eating is a viable lifestyle choice. And it's not even such an alternative one anymore that is frowned on by "right thinking" people.

My morning home-made muesli kicks off my day, with a snack of a handful of nuts or trail mix or fruit two hours later, followed by a sandwich (like the one above from Yogi Tree, Gardens) or salad for lunch - usually packed with veg, a dab of home made mayo, and at least 3 to 4 ozs of some fish or chicken - then two more snacks of trail mix/fruit/yoghurt, and we're into energy gel food for the evening workout plus a dinner of meat and veg (meat the size of a deck of cards and veg of about 2 cups).

But hey, I haven't forgotten my roots and in the last week or so, I've enjoyed caressing, fondling, and having my tastebuds fornicate with everything from strawberries and a little cream, to key lime tartlets, red velvets, Louis XVs, Coffee Devil's Food cake, Barbarian Ribs at Vintry, Dim sum at Duck King and Hokkien Hakka food at Lim Kee over off Old Klang Road. And of course, an impromptu get-together which featured Teriyaki Beef with Garlic Fried Rice and a Wafu Salad.

Dieting is truly for the birds. The feathered kind. One might as well be a cloistered Nun. No offence, Reverend Mother Aloysia.

One Sunday, I decided to cook. Cooking is therapeutic for me. The focus on the food, the satisying splud of meat, the krispy krunchy feel of cucumbers and onions, the oiliness of oil. It takes me away to a creative world where anything is possible. Sweet, red onions, sliced thin, with a Wafu salad dressing started off this meal with a cool, crisp, crunch, even without croutons. Yes, yes, I liked the alliterrrrraaaa-shun!

My "Starrrch" as the Americans so unlovingly put it, came from Garlic Rice. Rice is so much more than 'starrrrch.' *sniff*

I ran out of Gas that day. No, not in my tummy. That was producing it quite well thank you very much.

But my two helpers at home had not reminded the housekeeper to call the gasman and as such our stoves were all out of commission. To compound matters, I had wanted to grill my Teriyaki Beef on the gas grill. And what does a gas grill run on?

Since that was also the ONLY tank of gas in the house, they cleverly purloined it in the hope that on Monday (the day after Sunday) they would be able to call the gas man and put things to rights. Needless to say my whim put a spanner in the works and I had to get clever.

Stacking my wok on the gas grill's lava rocks, turning on all the flames actually gave me a very serviceable heat to fry the garlic to a nutty doneness and then add pre-cooked rice, eggs and lashings of soya sauce. Not to be confused with ginger beer(watch out for it at 4:42 and again at 9:06).

The Teriyaki Beef made from tritip striploin was duly marinated in soya sauce, mirin, sake, orange zest, and ginger and then cut into strips which were grilled until char marks appeared. The required resting over, they were stacked and whisked to table. Sweet, su-su-lent, beefy, fresh (from the orange zest) and with the garlic rice and the thickened glaze, yummo, if I do say so myself. But don't take my word for it...ask the people who came! ;-)

There have been so many more adventures this last week that I needed to split this post. Rather than write a novel.

Will continue about Vintry, Ribs by Vintry, Lim Kee, and Allan's birthday desserts in the next post.

As they used to say in the banners at Rex Cinema along Jalan Sultan..."Next Change."