By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Instead of the usual post per restaurant, I thought something different...
So here's my experiment; one post about my favourite eats through the last couple of weeks. Including the ones that I cooked myself. This is most definitely NOT a halal post.
Hatyai Street
Honest to goodness trotters. Braised or deep fried. Sweet, succulent, juicy and decently priced. Won't break the bank. You can get away with around RM35 per person for dinner. And look at that rich braising liquid. It's like a mahogany nectar raining down on the braised trotters.
We happened to bump into the owner Vivian and she whisked out a whole passel of dishes for us to stuff down our already overstuffed gullets that night. The highlight of which were these deep fried prawn heads. Omigod. These crunchy, savoury, rich, little morsels were like peanuts. You could just keep on eating them. And on. And on. And on.
A Devil's food cake we taught in
our class. Moist, chocolatey, and above all EASY!
Hatyai Street
No. 63E, Jalan Ara One Bangsar, Bangsar, 55900 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-2283 3116
El Cerdo ReduxSpring lamb. Little Kafka couldn't bring himself to eat it because he had visions of bouncing, cute little fluffy lambs in his head. I, on the other hand, believe there's a certain order to things. I believe that we should be respectful and not waste what we buy. AND we should know the
provenance of our food. Also ask to ensure that all livestock is killed humanely, I also believe that this lamb did not give up its life for naught. It was tender, juicy, beautifully spiced, delicate, and all around just meltingly flavourful. I know the rest of us that night went almost reverentially silent when this little morsel passed our lips. Surprisingly, it was SO delicate it didn't even taste like lamb.
El Cerdo 43 & 45, Changkat Bukit Bintang 50200 Kuala Lumpur.Mum's Pork ChopsAND, my fave thing...Mum's pork chops.
Mum used to make these pork chops quite often. It's SOOOOO EASY!
A few sprigs of english parsley. The cheap English bushy one. Not the flat leaf. One small onion. One egg. 2 decent sized pork chops bone in (about 2.5 to 3cm). Nice and thick.
Sprinkle salt (about a teaspoon each) on both sides of chops and leave for an hour.
Blend parsley, onion, and egg and add a pinch of salt. Pour on top of the marinated chops and leave for another 30 minutes.
Blend stale white bread in the blender and spread it on a large plate. Take the marinated pork chops and and make sure some of the parsley/onion/egg mix on the chop and put it on the bread crumbs.
Press in firmly so the crumbs sticks thickly to the chop with the parsley onion mix.
Heat a non stick pan over high heat till hot. Take the pan off for about 15 secs and allow it to cool a bit. Turn fire down to medium low. Chuck in a glug of oil and put back on the fire. Use a large enough pan so it doesn't crowd. Leave it on medium low for 8 mins per side. Check the chop at 4 mins to make sure that it isn't burning. If it it is nicely caramelised before the time, flip it and allow the 8 mins on the other side before flipping it back to cook for the requisite time again.
My cherry tomato mozarella basil salad, Mum's pork chop and baked beans
Allow to rest for 10 mins then eat with baked beans and your yummiest salad. That Golden Brown crust is what you're going for. A small, slice of juicy, tender chop, slathered with an oozing spoonful of a potato-ey tomato-ey beans. That's my perfect bite.
This recipe came out of Mum's 45 year old Kenwood Stand Mixer recipe cum instruction book. It's something she used to make for us ever since I was a little boy. And it brings back all sorts of memories of her.
Mum, I miss you but you're always with us. In our hearts and lives. Allan's keeping me in check and he misses you too. So does Dad. But we're all doing good and we live exactly as you taught us. You'll be pleased to know nothing much has changed. The fruit drawers are still full although really only 3 of us eat. The freezer is still full. And the veg drawer is still full. And we still have 3 fridges and 1 freezer for a household (including helpers) of 5. Except Dad now does the shopping and picks up RM15 organic sesame oil for our stir fries. I don't think we'll ever learn how to shop for just what we need. :-)
But he's learning as are we all. :-)
And we're all happy.
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Was debating whether or not to post this. But since I delivered it to an unexpectedly large crowd at the church today, it's pretty much public anyway. So here it is...
'Mum was an uncommon woman. I hear this sentiment from many. It’s still hard to believe she’s gone. Even though we’ve had months to prepare for it. I also know I didn’t want to come up and do the usual thing of, well, messages of love, and to remember her as someone as just being kind, generous, giving, loving, and big hearted. She was all that. But she was much more than that.
Perhaps a little history.
Mum was born to a middle class family in Singapore. She had 2 brothers and 1 sister. Uncle Steve, who has passed away, Aunty S.K., and Uncle Richard. Not too rich. Not too poor. Of her parents, Poh Poh, my grandmother, and her mother, was an extraordinary woman who I believe, in many ways, made Mum into who she was. From all the stories I hear, I think Mum took after her.
Mum grew up during the second world war, an independent, strong willed, young lady with equally spirited friends in Convent Bukit Nenas. Some of whom, like Aunty Pek and Aunty Balbir are sitting here today. I can only imagine that she must have driven Poh Poh somewhat to distraction as she displeased the Sisters of Convent Bukit Nenas. A Sister Teofen I believe, who, I was given to understand was as stern as she was beautiful. She snatched away Mum’s autograph book because someone had written in it the lyrics of that popular song of the period, “Smoke Get’s In Your Eyes.” The strict sister scolded her with “No wonder you can’t study. Smoke Got In Your Eyes.”
From riding her Father’s Triumph Motorcycle to work in her samfu to standing in the middle of a Cambridge street quaffing a pint of beer on a bet, she wasn’t exactly what you would call run of the mill. You could already see the mother she would become when to all intents and purposes she was thrust into the role at an early age by looking after her elder brother’s children Ron, Yvonne, and Christine while he was away studying; who to all intents and purposes became my elder siblings. Taking them on trips up to Cameron Highlands or to PD in Poh Poh’s Wolsely with Aunty Pek for company through the trunk roads of the day. Not something for the faint hearted.
She demanded a reciprocity that was sometimes difficult to keep up with. But she gave with all her heart and then some. She was somewhat blinkered by habits which led her to be a bit of a worrywort over things that perhaps weren’t quite worth worrying about.
And yet, when it came time to marry and start a family, she was as blinkeredly, fiercely, protective as they come. Her pride in me knew no bounds. But her disappointment in some of the things I did also crushed her. And she showed it. She drove Dad to distraction with her need for a certain order. And she, from her actions AND words, loved him as intensely. Only someone who loves someone else that intensely can be as bothered by them. ;-)
My Mum was very much given to a measure of dramatics. She scaled the heights and plumbed some depths of emotion. And the attendant range would have been familiar to any Oscar Winner. On the subject of marriage, I can only say that she was crushed when I answered her truthfully on the matter. Only to work through her own feelings on the matter and then accept and embrace with all her heart, Allan, who to all intents and purposes became the second son she never had.
Someone asked me on the day she passed away if we’d said everything we wanted to say to her. Thinking about it then and now, I believe we had. I can’t imagine there’s anything that I’ve left unsaid; about how grateful I was. Or how much I loved her.
I think I’ve painted a picture of a person who is in my mind a very complex character. On the one hand fun-loving, loving, gregarious, spirited, generous, kind, fiercely loyal to those she loved. But also someone rooted in tradition, but not mired in it, someone who lived life to the fullest, sometimes dramatic, sometimes searching; in a word, human.
Above it all, My Mother taught me 3 things. One, that at the end of the day, when all is said and done, you need to be answerable to your own conscience and therefore to God. Her favourite saying was “you need to be able to wake up in the morning and look yourself in the mirror.” Two, be considerate of others. She was also fond of saying “try and walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” And three, was something that she showed me in later life. Something which I feel is even more profound. She showed me, us, that it’s never too late to strive for perfection. To strive to be the person God meant you to be; and in that striving to be a better person she was perfect.'
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
"Nigel, come here now!" The urgency with which Aunty Pek summoned me pulled me into the room. I had been preparing to come home and make dinner. Just a few hours earlier we had been preparing to say goodbye to Mum. I never realised it would be so soon. I had thought that it would be a few days, maybe next week. Instead we were thrown into a maelstrom of fast moving events with the death of my Mum at 8pm on 8 Sept 08.
I'm amazed I can write this so calmly.
Mum had been sick for months. Almost 7 months. In a way, I could only think that it was a blessing for her. And for Dad. Poor bloke has been her main caregiver with the nurses and Kak Kris for the entire 7 months now. And his life had really been on hold.
Only thing I do know is that for 44 years I've had the pleasure, privilege of having my one and only Mum around. For the love that she gave me, Dad, and later Allan, and the blessing she was to us, I can only be grateful and give thanks.
Thanks Mum for life, love, and her unconditional support. In short, thank you for everything you gave all of us.
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Some of you may already know that for the past few weeks, Mum has been in hospital undergoing surgery to remove her stomach due to an aggresive malignant tumour. To cut a long story short, her stomach was removed but there may be further treatment. It has not spread to the lymph nodes. Her prognosis at this time is very good.
I was actually contemplating writing updates as to her progress but it seemed a bit, well, showy and maybe immodest as well as presumptuous that people might be interested at all.
Furthermore, and more importantly, I felt that Mum, being quite a private person, would wish to preserve her privacy.
If you know me, I am not very good at making believe that something is fine when it isn't. Much of what I feel is written on my face and I believe I do say what I mean. I'm very wizzywig. See if any of you remember that one. ;-)
It's really reached a point now, when so many people know about Mum that it would seem churlish not to acknowledge the Love, the concern, and the support that we've had for Mum and for our family.
For that, Dad, Allan, and I thank all of you.
As some of you know, before Allan and his family came along, Mum, Dad, and myself muddled along in our own little nuclear way believing it best not to bother or inconvenience or burden people with our troubles. Mum especially, was very 'hark hei.' A Cantonese phrase with no direct translation. Basically, she didn't like to inconvenience or bother people and did not like to be obligated.
Since Allan and his family came along however, (and yes, you marry not just the person but the family as well) we've since come to realise we are part of a greater community who is ever willing to lend a hand or give moral support. All you have to do is ask.
And everyone has given in spades. The outpouring of kindness and generosity has moved me to tears at times and Mum feels and appreciates it too. I try and tell Mum daily about who's called to offer their love and prayers and eventually one day, after I told her that Ian and Gerry from the UK were praying for her, she lifted her right hand up in prayer and said "Lord, you better make me well, otherwise a lot of your worshippers are going to be disappointed. In Jesus name we pray. Amen"
I laughed till I cried. In relief that her spirit was so strong. In joy, because at 77 and after such a major operation, her spirit is still so strong, and in gratitude because that encapsulated what had been happening.
We are indeed blessed to be surrounded by so much love and compassion. Thank you so much from all of us to all of you.
