40 days and 40 nights – Homemade salted eggs

My laziness contradicts itself. When people hear that I make my own kimchi, they usually respond with “Wow! You make your own Kimchi?? I just get mine at the asian shop because I’m too lazy.” The irony is that I make my own kimchi because I’m too lazy to make the trip to the asian grocer’s. Hah! When you live in the countryside and the next Asian grocer’s is a train and bus ride away, you learn to either do without some things or you learn to make your own. Like kimchi and salted eggs. Even egg tofu! But that’s another post for another day. It’s about the eggs today.

Salted eggs are traditionally used in mooncakes, rice dumplings or even steamed by itself and eaten with porridge or congee. In the last couple of years though, there’s been a salted egg craze in Asia. I THINK it started with Liu Sha Bao, a steamed bun filled with a salted egg yolk custard and you can find it on most dim sum menus. While it wasn’t exactly a new dish, it suddenly got A LOT of attention and that’s when things started going out of hand. Salted egg dishes started popping up everywhere. From salted egg prawns to salted egg potato chips  and salted egg croissants! There are lists of salted egg dishes for the brave and curious to try out.

When it rains lava – Brownie muffins

I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth. I’ve always preferred savoury food. Lately though, I often find myself rummaging through the 6-year-old’s candy stash. It’s what I do when I’m stretched to my limits; when the kids are on my last nerves; when bowls and plates REFUSE to stay in my grip and when I manage to twist both ankles coming down the stairs. I eat.

Hello. My name is Pris and I’m an emotional eater. Except I don’t just eat when I’m sad. I eat with EVERY emotion. Happy, sad, mad, bored, frustrated or depressed, I eat. I like chips when I’m bored and candy when I’m mad. But some days, candy just doesn’t cut it.  Some days, you just get so bogged down that all you want to do is to sit down and not give another shit about whatever might go wrong next. You’ve heard one too many “NO!” from your kids and you’ve knocked over one too many glasses of milk. Let it rain lava for all you care. You just want cake. Chocolate cake. A dense and rich one, with nuts and extra chocolate chips. Hey, that sounds a lot like a brownie. So that’s what I did. I made brownies and suddenly the world doesn’t seem so bad after all. Except now I’m getting fat with every bite. Goddammit!

New Moon – Buddha’s Delight 罗汉斋 Luo Han Zai

Remember how I once mentioned that the Swiss like to blame all unexplainable shifts in mood and behaviour on the full/new moon? (Yes, I’m glossing over the fact that I’ve been gone for almost two months)  That pretty much means we all go a little crazy every 15 days. I can attest to that. But I don’t JUST go crazy, I also go vegetarian. Wait….that DOES sound crazy……I kid!

There’s a new moon coming up next week. So I thought, why not share this recipe now so you’d have ample time to gather all the ingredients for it, in the event that you might want to go crazy with me and not eat meat for a day.

Buddha’s delight is usually served on Chinese New Year’s day and last I checked, it doesn’t fall in June. But really, why do people only eat certain foods during certain festivities?? Why can’t you roast a turkey in March? Or have hotpot in November? Ok, I may be opening a can of worms here aaaand I’m rambling.

I have a problem – Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings

I’ll be damned if I don’t get four posts up in February. I’m getting lazy. I mean, I’ve always been lazy but this is a whole new level of lazy. My procrastination problem is starting to be an actual real problem.  This last week, I’ve done absolutely nothing, if not the bare minimum. The house is…….I can’t even find the words. But I just can’t find it in me to get off my ass and do the things I need to do, including blog posts. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s being homesick. Maybe it’s because the chicken crossed the road. I don’t know.

In memory of Ahu – Gu Chai Kueh (Steamed Chive Dumplings)

The Lunar New Year was a sombre affair in this household this year. My grandmother, whom I called Ahu, passed away at the age of 93. But really, when I say sombre,I mean that in the most fleeting way. Yes, we were saddened by her passing and we mourned for our loss. But that was exactly it, it was OUR loss which we mourned. Because, when you look at the life she had and thought about the person she was, the only right thing to do was to celebrate her. So when I couldn’t make it back for her funeral, I decided I would at least cook her favourite dish and dedicate a post to her.

However, this has proved to be a difficult post to write and I have been struggling with it for the last 10 days. There is so much I want to tell you about my grandmother but I could not find a way to piece it all together coherently, so please bear with me. I figured I’d simply share some of the memories I have of her:

Fun fact: Ahu had 34 grandchildren and 66 great-grandchildren! Wowsey!!