Doughnuts

hands kneading to silky smoothness
stretched so thin it forms skin over the timpani
make music the magic of dough.
And hear it grow


cut to circles
then in bubbling oil they go
sink,then float and rise
like golden sunshines


golden sunshines
with holes in center
eclipses that mar
the perfect wheel of life


yet little hands will grab
doughnuts with holes in the middle
and laugh at each bite
and doughnuts with holes in the middle
will fill the eclipses that
mar the perfect wheel of life


~Judy Koh~

此情无计可消除

嗨。。已经回来快一个月了，还是对香港念念不忘，而且整天心情不好，没心情工作：上班的时候就想下班，周末的时候就想到香港去，真的反常。记得上周末突然下了阵大雨，下得正大，心情非常的糟糕，有一种说不出的伤感。

这几时都在纳闷着是哪方面对我的情绪影响那么大，连最喜欢去的gym都快要放弃了。说实在的，那短短几天所接触的好朋友，美食和景点真的给我留下了很特殊的感觉和回忆，尤其是麦“不/大”记 的云吞面！而且加上应为刚回来在工作和生活上各方面的压力，造成了一种逃避的心理，所以就产生了不想面对现实而宁愿在香港的心态。承经问过自己为什么忘不了香港的那种感觉。难道新加坡没有云吞面吗？新加坡的白斩鸡就比不上香港的吗？答案是新加坡的美食都很不错，但是不能够拿来相比，更不能够拿来替换，应为它们根本是不一样的东西。漂亮的香港呀，漂亮的香港呀。。。此情无计可消除，才下眉头，却上心头。

话虽然是这么说，但是这种感情可以维持多久呢？有多少长途的感情能够经得起空间和时间的考验呢？香港对我含有的魅力会不会因空间和时间的因素而淡薄，会不会因眼前本地美食的诱惑而被遗忘了呢？贪食的胃呀，贪食的胃呀。。。到时你还会记得麦“不/大”记 云吞面的味道吗？

I left my heart in Hong Kong

I recently visited Hong Kong and had such a good time there that I did not feel like returning home. I could not bear to leave the sights, sounds and taste of Hong Kong.

I was very impressed by the changes that the former colony had undergone since I last visited it when I was a teenager. Upon arrival, the new airport was the first to greet me with its modern and spacious design. Just outside the airport was the MTR which took me to the station near my hotel in about half an hour. I was particularly fascinated by the lighted panel in the MTR which indicates the position of the train along its route. It gave me a good idea of where I was headed and how much longer to get there. What amazed me most was the improvement in the quality of service – I found that people are much more polite and helpful than in the past.

However, what is most unforgettable about Hong Kong is the food! I had the good fortune of trying out some of the popular local foods there.

Mak Ngan Kee is one of the well-known local eateries that serves Hong Kong-style wanton noodles. Even Anthony Bourdain visited it for the wanton noodles. The noodles were quite firm and springy, much more than those you would find in Singapore’s wanton mee, and the wantons were generously filled with crunchy shrimps. Both were served together in a delicious clear soup. But the reason why Mak Ngan Kee stands out from the rest is that its noodles lack the alkaline taste that is typical of Hong Kong noodles. Compared to other eateries serving similar wanton noodle, Mak Ngan Kee’s serving is smaller and the price is higher, yet its business is better than the others.

Yum Char is an integral part of Hong Kong lifestyle, and Maxim Restaurant at City Hall is one of the better known restaurants that serves a wide range of fine dim sums. The restaurant is huge – I think it can easily seat 500 people. What impressed me was the grand chandelier that makes the restaurant look like a palace. The siew mai, har kow, char siew bao, century egg porridge, yam dumpling, and fun cheong which I tried were great, and I would say that they were comparable to the dim sums served at Red Star Restaurant in Singapore. But I find that food in Hong Kong generally tend to be a little saltier than those in Singapore. As I was leaving the restaurant, I noticed that a long queue had formed and was waiting to be admitted into the restaurant, a scene not uncommon at Red Star, too.

Yung Kee Restaurant is reputed for its roast goose. When I visited the restaurant, I noticed that almost every table had an order of roast goose. The breast of goose that I had ordered was roasted to perfection with a dark, shiny, mahogany red skin. The meat was thick and tasty, but I find it a tad on the dry side.
What I liked most was the “bak chit” chicken with its supple and distinctly yellow skin, and succulent yet nicely chewy meat which was full of chicken flavor. The roast goose was a little of a disappointment but the chicken was a very memorable dish for me.

Who can visit Hong Kong without savoring its egg tart? Tai Cheong Bakery is well-known for its egg tarts which were a favorite of Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I was just too full to try it. My visit was too short - there were so many places to visit and so much food to try but I just did not have enough time. Anyway, this should give me a good reason to return to Hong Kong at the first possible chance.

I returned to Singapore reluctantly, leaving my heart, or rather my stomach, in Hong Kong.

Food & Culture @ Museum

The Food & Culture series, organized by the National Museum of Singapore, is a new line-up of lifestyle programs aimed at increasing our appreciation of food and drink and the culture and history behind them. Here are some highlights of the lectures and workshops till the end of the year that look at the pleasures of food and drink in a refreshing manner:

Modern Manners – 23 August 2007

Know Your Chocolate – 15 September 2007

Discovering Local Herbs And Spices: A Mortar And Pestle Master Class - 18 October 2007

Classic Cocktails – 15 November 2007

Dinner And A Movie Night – 15 December 2007

For more details, check out:

http://www.nationalmuseum.sg/press/Life&Living.pdf

If love like Bread

If love like bread
We knead and feel with hearts that burn
With longing
To savour, each cherished bite
And fragrance that lingers
Forever in the depths of eternity
Bring pleasure to each sense
As we knead and mould each piece
Into ropes that bind

If love like bread
We wait with patience
For it to grow

For it will grow
Unless we forget
to care and cherish

then it will die
and pain will grow

But we start once again
hoping,
never giving up
with faith in our hearts
that one day, perhaps
we will find love
that will grow
and the courage, to start,
all over, all over again…..

Judy Koh


I was very touched the first time I read this poem. It spoke volumes by distilling the essence of what I was feeling about love and relationships. It very aptly likened love to the process of breadmaking.

To make bread, we need to knead the dough first. And, we should knead it carefully as an under-knead or over-knead dough would not give the desired volume and texture. Other steps in the breadmaking process also need to be carefully managed to achieve the desired results. Proper fermentation, molding, proofing and finally baking will result in a bread of beautiful color, shape, texture, and with an aroma that lingers on long after it has been eaten. Love, like bread, when properly nurtured, is beautiful and is relished forever.

But good bread is not without a price. The process of kneading the dough is tiring, fermentation and proofing demand patience and good judgment, and baking is hot and we risk getting burned if careless. But what price would we not pay to have good bread? Alas, despite our best intentions and effort, we may still fail.

As we “knead and mold” each others’ lives, we need to manage the relationship carefully for love to survive, if not blossom. Friction, misunderstanding, undue expectations, etc. could throw a relationship into shambles. Ignoring it will finally lead to irreparable damage with no options for reconciliation.

And, love, like bread, will diminish and die. In its place, “pain will grow” and there will be no end to this pain. The pain of rejection and regret will follow us for the rest of our lives. Despair, cynicism, insecurity, depression, amongst others, will haunt us. When will it ever stop growing? Even if it can be stopped, can it be forgotten?

The deeper that we have loved, the greater is the pain. And, to pick ourselves up to love again really takes a lot of courage. Questions of inadequacy in dealing with similar situations, loss of confidence, suspicion, etc are barriers that prevent us from starting another relationship. It takes a lot of resolution, inner strength, and above all else, personal courage, to allow ourselves to start all over again.

This is the part of the poem that touched me most and I think this is the best part of the poem: only someone who has gone through life’s upheavals could relate such an experience, and Judy has put it down so poetically in just a couple of hesitant lines.

“and the courage, to start,
all over, all over again…..“

Judy is a passionate baker, chef, teacher, and above all, a successful entrepreneur. Her gift in poetry has enabled her to infuse food into her poetry, and poetry into her food. She has founded a culinary school which teaches baking and culinary arts, and beside it she has started a café where she serves popular dishes that she teaches in her culinary school. Judy has adorned the café with her literary works, inspiring her customers as they sip the reflections of love and life.

If you are interested in knowing more about Judy's culinary school, please visit: http://www.creativeculinaire.com/

Wine and Food Pairing

RM: Yo, bro, what’s up? Wha’cha thinking so seriously?

CS: I am thinking why you can’t do things right. Last time I asked you to bring champagne to my birthday party, and what did you bring? A bottle of red and a bottle of white wine!

RM: Oh, I thought it would be a good idea to pair the wines with the foods that you have at the party. It is the hip thing now, you know?

CS: Pairing white wine with white meats and red wine with red meats, and all that jazz?

RM: Well, something along that line… but it has gotten more sophisticated now.

CS: Like how?

RM: Well, there are certain rules of thumb, such as you should match tannic red wines with grilled steak or lamb chops because the fats in these meats will tone down the astringent sensation of the wine. For example, if you are eating steak you would want to select a Shiraz or Zinfandel to go with it.

CS: I see.

RM: Similarly, if you are having Japanese teriyaki, which is a little sweet, you would want to pair it with an off-dry wine such as Chenin Blanc to balance the flavor.

CS: Why?

RM: Because if you pair it with a dry wine, the wine will appear even drier.

CS: I still don’t get it. Why do we need to pair wine and food?

RM: The main objective is to heighten our enjoyment of both the wine and the food. A wine that is full-bodied will overpower a light, delicate dish, and similarly a lighter wine will not be noticed if you drink it with a hearty roast. It is like drinking water. You want to complement it so that you can enjoy both the wine and the food.

CS: Well, I beg to differ. What if I like a full-bodied wine to go with my delicate food because I like the contrast in flavors? One moment it is delicate and then another it is robust. Don’t think I am the weird one here - take for example my uncles: they enjoy having XO brandy with whatever meals that they are having. Doesn’t that overpower most foods?

RM: Well, that is the older generation, not us …

CS: For me, I don’t like to be told what I like or what I don’t like!

RM: Hey, man, cool down, why so defensive and worked up?

CS: Of course. It is an insult to have these rules telling me how to or how not to enjoy my wine and food.

RM: Hey, these are only guidelines - you don’t have to follow them if you don’t like it.

CS: Let me tell you something: In China, people are drinking Maotai with all kinds of food. Now, this is about 60% alcohol and it burns if you put a lighted match to it. And, it will definitely numb your mouth when you drink it and I am sure you won’t be able to taste the food after that. But they are enjoying themselves! Are you telling me the Chinese don’t know how to appreciate wine and food? And, we need these stupid guidelines?

RM: But this is western wine that we are talking about …

CS: Hogwash! What western and what eastern wines? What wine is not important – what is important is one’s state of mind. It is not so much the origin of the wine than one’s appreciative state of mind when drinking it. If you are in a good appreciative state of mind, it will taste good, and vice versa!

RM: Gee, we are not into zen, are we? We are talking about just the enjoyment of the wines themselves. Back to the wine, ok?

CS: Ok, in that case, whether you like the wine or not is subjective or personal. And, this liking depends on your background, culture, exposure, status in society, and things like that. These western wines have not been part of our culture and have only been around recently, so I am quite confident to say that they are something that we learned to appreciate, or rather something we have learned to like. It may not be because they taste so fantastic but maybe they are the trend now and we want to be seen as being trendy. Since you appreciate them so much, why don’t you tell me why you like them?

RM: For the Cabernet Sauvignon which I brought that day, I liked it because it was bursting with ripe black cherries with hints of perfumed floral notes on the nose. This was followed through with layers of black berries, prunes, and mocha flavors on the palate, backed by an interesting dash of mineral notes, and rounded with grainy silky tannins.

CS: Wow, so chim! You have sophisticated taste, don’t you? I didn’t know you can differentiate between so many fruit flavors. If you ask me for my opinion, I would say that they actually taste more like grape juice than real wine. Real wine to me is like maotai (茅台), shaoxing (绍兴), zhuyeqing (竹叶青), and wuliangye (五粮液). Do you know how many percent of our population are able to appreciate wine like you?

RM: No idea. Not many, I guess maybe 1% of the population. Definitely less than 10%.

CS: I guess wine and food pairing is more for this minority as they have a common knowledge and experience in wine and they know what they are talking about. So, if you are throwing a party for these people, it would be a good idea to put some thought into pairing the wine and food. And, be prepared for an expensive party ‘coz all the dishes would have different tastes and this means you need different wines to pair with different dishes. As for the rest of us poor wine dummies, just leave us alone and allow us to enjoy it our way because I feel that as long as we like it with the food, it is a good pairing.

RM: Aiyo, today why are you so touchy? Why don’t we go and drink liang teh? I buy you liang teh , lah! I think you are very heaty and need to cool down a little. You didn’t have a good time with your girlfriend last night, huh?

CS: Ya, I’m sure I’m gonna have a good time with you later.

RM: Hehe, no thanks, I got sophisticated taste and I know what I like.

CS: Really? Do you?

Patchwork of Flavors

Yesterday was the official launch of “Patchwork of Flavors”, a cookbook with a collection of 38 multi-racial recipes contributed by senior citizens. It was spearheaded by students from NTU in its social entrepreneurship effort to encourage active aging in the elderly through continuous involvement in the community. The cookbook showcases recipes on traditional home-cooked dishes which were handed down to its elderly contributors. Going at $10 each and accompanied with a goodie bag of food samples, it was a steal. There was quite a queue to buy the cookbook and all proceeds of the sale went to charitable organizations.

Recipes such as Fa Cai with Oysters, Steamed Chicken with Dried Lily Buds and Black Fungus, and Black-Eyed Beans Soup brought back nostalgic memories of times past for me. Even the Guest of Honor at the event mentioned the memories of her mother whenever she thinks of certain dishes. Indeed, food embodies powerful meanings in our lives.

One interesting feature of the cookbook, which I think is innovative, is that some of the food pictures are flanked by commercial canned or bottled drinks and accompanied by descriptions of these drinks. This is quite unusual as I have not seen a cookbook that does this. It seems that the cookbook is promoting these products.

I learnt later that these are the products of one of its sponsors. I think this is an innovative way to raise funds as social entrepreneurship seeks to tackle social issues with entrepreneurial methods so that it is sustainable in the long run. The advantage of this type of arrangement/partnership is that it is a win-win-win situation for the organizer, the sponsor, and the beneficiary. When the event is successful, the sponsor benefits from the exposure that its products get, the organizer has a higher chance of success in raising the needed funds, and the beneficiary could receive more funds.

It all seems good and well to me but I have a little naggy feeling about our motive to give – doesn’t anybody give out of altruistic reasons anymore? Must there be some benefits derived from the giving?

The people who bought the cookbooks were supporting the charitable organizations but would they do it if nothing was offered in return? What about the sponsors? I asked myself if I would give to charity without anything in return. I had to contemplate and the answer was: “Maybe once in a while.” How far have we slipped from the ideal of just giving freely from the heart without expecting anything in return except the satisfaction that one has done a good deed?

One might argue: Didn’t we give unreservedly and generously during the tsunami disaster, the earthquake disaster and other disasters?

Yes, we did. In fact, we sprang into action to help those less fortunate. But, why are we so slow or reluctant in giving to the less fortunate who live amongst us? Why do we need "benefits" to give? Have we been inundated with too many requests to give that we have become insensitized? Do we need the media to sensationalize their plight in our very own country before we take action?

Maybe.

And, maybe, the human race has never been so unreserved or so generous in helping others, never was…. we are under the illusion that we were. So, unless we are shaken vigorously, that little thing called conscience will always lay dormant, covered by layers of our other more desired pursuits. And, because of this, chances of getting enough help through appealing to this side of human nature would always be slim.

That is why there is a need to resort to appealing to the more materialistic side of human nature. Only through this could the needy be helped. I think this is one situation in which the end justifies the means as it is for a good cause. At the end of the day, it is the tangible benefits which charitable organizations gain that is important.

Ideals will always remain as ideals as long as they are espoused by many and practiced by few.