Archive
Story #3: Memory
“Who are you?”
“Your daughter.”
“Oh.”
Tomorrow.
“Who are you?”
“Born in the U.S.A., Humble Negro Cemetery, Humble, Texas 0508101245BW” by Patrick Feller
Stories Under 10 Words
Inspired by Hemmingway’s 6-word story “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn”.
More Short Shorts at Stories Under 10 | Six Word Stories (Reddit)
Story #2: Silent Nights
Silent night, crowded city.
No one heard her.
“Causeway Bay” by akwan architect
Stories Under 10 Words
Inspired by Hemmingway’s 6-word story “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn”.
More Short Shorts at Stories Under 10 | Six Word Stories
Food: Pork Rib Tea (Bak Kut Teh)
Pork Rib Tea in Singapore is really a soup made from Pork ribs, and simmered forever and forever on a slow fire. Google it and you’ll see folks in Singapore and Malaysia waxing lyrical about it.
I wanted to make this to see if I could. After all, it’s just pork, garlic, peppercorns and water. Easy enough. Not quite.
Bones make the soup. Remember it!
You’ll see why in a bit.
This recipe was mashed-up from Chinese Soup Pot | Daily Cook Quest | Makansutra | Pee Por
Google search about Pork Rib Tea
Preparation Time
2 hours 45 min
You’ll Need These Ingredients
- 1.5 kg of Pork Ribs
- 2 cups of garlic
- 1/3 cup of white peppercorns
- A bunch of herbs (see below)
- 2 tablespoon Salt
- 5L of Water
- Add ons: Beancurd Skin and Tao Pok
The Missing Ingredients
- 1 kg of Pork bones
- Prime ribs
Top Left: 1.5 kg of Pork Ribs
Top Right: Peppercorns
Bottom Left: Herbs
Bottom Right: Herb names
Bottom: Garlic
Instructions and “Did it Work?”
1. Scald the Pork Ribs
Bring a pot of water to a boil and dump your ribs in it. Leave it for 5 minutes or so.
You’ll find that there will brown gunk floating on the water. That’s blood from the ribs and we want to get rid of it to get a (relatively) clear soup.
Once blanched, extract and rinse under water.
2. Roast the Garlic and Peppercorns
Roast them with the shells. For peppercorns, smash it up a little so that you’ll get a bit of powder too. I did this to break down the flavours and give soup a wok-ky taste.
Tip: When roasting, start bringing a pot of water to boil. It’ll take some time.
Black bits are OK!
3. Boil and Simmer!
The easiest part.
Chuck garlic, peppercorns, herbs into the pot first and let them simmer for 10 minutes.
Then in go the pork ribs.
Bring to a roiling boil for 10 minutes and let simmer for 2 hours. Turn off the heat, let stand and heat up before serving.
4. Serve with Add-ons
Before serving, add whatever you want. Serve in a bowl with chilli-soy sauce.
Wending Verdict on Bak Kut Teh
It’s full of aroma from the spices and herbs. And the pork slides off the bones like butter on a hot knife.
However, the soup was thin on mouth feel. That’s why pork bones would make the difference in making all so thick and hearty.
Also, cut back on the peppercorns to 1/4 cup. Otherwise, it’ll overpower the soup with peppery pepperness.
Lessons: always make stock.
Story #1: Food
Table for 12, sat by one. Day in, day out.
“Lonely Dinner Table” by Dan Krusi
Stories Under 10 words
Inspired by Hemmingway’s 6-word story “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn”.
More Short Shorts at Six Word Stories
Food Experiment #9: Beef Balls Dim Sum (牛肉圆）
I’ve never really done up a Chinese dish. Today, I’ve decided to make one of my favourite Dim Sum dishes — Steamed Beef Ball Dim Sum (original recipe from sybaritica).
It’s an utterly Cantonese dim sum (almost on par with Siew Mai and Har Gow) that is available in any Cantonese restaurant worth its salt, soups and Spring Onions.
‘Nuff said. Onwards to balls.
You’ll Need These Ingredients
- 500g of minced beef
- 1 tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
- 1 1/2 slices of Ginger
- 1 Scallion/Spring Onion
- 2 1/2 Dried Orange Peel
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- Base: Spinach & Beancurd Skin (soak the Beancurd Skin until soft)
Top Left: Dried Orange Peel & Ginger Slice
Top Right: Minced Beef & Baking Powder
Bottom Left: Salt, Sugar, Cornstarch
Bottom Right: Spring Onion
Instructions and “Did it Work?”
1. Prep the Beef, Chop it All up
Mix the Beef with Baking Powder. Leave the mix alone while you mince up anything and everything that can be minced (see picture below).
This will take some time to do up. Best to use a sharp knife and a flat chopping board.
I just got a Zweig Kitchen Knife. And damnit, that stainless steel beast sliced through everything as if it were soft butter!
2. Put Everything Together
Mix it all up and until sticky. I do it by hand. Grab, fold over, and rotate the bowl so that it goes in one direction. I do this for 50 to 100 times. The more, the merrier, the better integrated.
Once the meat and ingredients are incorporated together.
I pick it up and slam it back into the bowl. This breaks down the meat to give it bounce – like an actual ball. Do it for 10 times or more. Eventually you’ll get a meat ball that will not stick to the sides of the bowl.
3. Prep for Steaming
Layer a deep dish with the Spinach and Beancurd Skin. I tear them into hand-sized bits and toss them around to spread it out evenly.
Take the meat chunk and shape meatballs (whatever size you fancy) and put them onto the base like so…
If you have a bamboo steamer, use it!
4. Steam for 35 min Over High Heat
Just leave it until the bell dings!
Remove from steamer and serve immediately. Like all Dim Sum, it’s best when piping hot.
5. Eat!
As you can see, the inside of the beef ball is still red. This is OK.
Texture-wise, the ball is bouncy and firm to bite. Surprisingly, it’s not overly sweet and the dried Orange Peel makes it quite fragrant. There are slightly bitter undertones and it’s nicely moist too. The Spinach & Beancurd Skin base didn’t enhance the beef balls much. Perhaps it needs some sauce or Worchestershire to go with it?
Verdict
It works!
Tokyo Roar: Beautifully Shot & Filmed
Oh damn.
This is an amazingly composed film – from the silent shots to crazy products on the shelf. I love how the Japanese gravitas and silence permeates Tom O’Bedlam’s spoken narrative.
And it shows Japan in a particularly mystical light. One that doesn’t lift with the morning rays of light.
Lovely.
Best watched for those with Tokyo plans – now or future.
Tokyo Roar from Brandon Li on Vimeo.
Sweden, a river 20km from Umeå
I wished I was back there again.
Where
Sweden, a river 20km from Umeå
Phuket: Full Moon BrewWork
In Phuket for a company retreat/value setting session.
The session was so-so. The food rather disappointing – unless I walked out to the street. But for some strange reason, they were far and few in between.
Nevertheless, there’s beer! Not the usual Singha, Chang lagers, but tasty microbrews just a stone’s throw from Bangla Road.
The Beer…
Wild Honey Coffee Stout
Oatmeal smooth with strong chocolate notes. Didn’t taste too much of the honey but I guess that’s the priming sugar uses in making the beer. I’m actually surprised by the “coffeeness” of the stout – for some reason, Thai coffee has never struck me as good.
But this beer, well it works.
Best paired with…
Nham Spare Ribs
Grilled Issan style. Anything done that way is great with beers. The best parts of the spare ribs come from chewing on the crunchy connective tissue (pleural) while swishing a good glug of beer.
Weird? Give it a go first before you pan it. 
Where
Full Moon BrewWork
193 Unit #2110, 2210 Raj-u-thit 200 Pee Road, Patong, Kathu,
Phuket, THAILAND 83150
Wend Right 