Chinese Food Adventures

Having never lived outside Singapore for longer than a comfortable stretch, I experienced for the first time of my life "hawker chow withdrawal symptoms". Other than going environment-imposed cold turkey, the only other thing I could have done to lessen the effects of the syndrome is to put on my own straw hat and fry my own carrot cake. 

The first obstacle to the wok was finding the main ingredient - radish. It takes staying in a four-seasonal country to realise that vegetables and fruits are indeed 'seasonal'. Radishes are uncommon during the early part of summer. They were not available at the local supermarkets then. I chanced upon them during a morning fresh produce market. They are also now in autumn cheaper here than in Singapore. Also, just like their predators, the radishes are upsized. The smallest piece I could find weighed almost a kilo! In one sitting, I made enough carrot cake to last through the winter. 

Never one to be as observant as is truly necessary to DIY things, I realise I didn't know which pack of preserved vegetables in the asian supermarket here can be a good substitute for local chai poh. Thankfully, all I had to do was to mince the strips and wash away the salt. 

As I finally got to frying the dish, the smell of home was so intense, my heart pounded as excitedly as if I was at Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre once again. 

All thanks to Prima Taste Packs, laksa, mee rebus, chicken rice et al. are within attainable cravings. Laksa was tremendously satisfying; I would wait till I'm back home to fix the deprivation of Mee Rebus though.