k r i s a n d r o

There is particular topic that has came up quite a few times in my conversations with KKNN; the possible death of delicious hawker food.

This topic is close to KKNN’s heart as her Dad & Mum runs a prawn noodle stall at Whampoa. The receipe has been passed down for 3 generations so far and like many other hawker businesses in Singapore, we feel that they face extinction.

The level of education in Singapore has improved by leaps and bounds for the last decade or so and the pursuit of acadamic qualifications has made other interests like cooking a tertiary skill. Most of the people around my age or so (myself included) probably have the culinary skills to ruin instant noodles. Not that people like us have no interest in good food; we still want awesome food but preparing it ourselves is a place where we seldom thread.

I am sure all of you guys have favorite hawker stalls littered all over Singapore like some of mine: roti prata at The Prata House @ Thomson Road and the carrot cake in Changi Village. Go look at the people who are running the stalls now and don’t you realize that these cooks are almost all of the older generation and has no hints of a younger generation taking over. It also doesn’t help that most of them would only pass on their recipes to close members of the family.

I think it is rather safe of me to assume that most delicious hawker food will die off in my generation and the rest will also go by the next.

There is still some ray of hope for hawker families like KKNN’s as she is more than willing to take over her Dad’s stall due to her strong interest in cooking. Her dad isn’t willing to pass on the ladle to her as he wants her to experience the world first before deciding if she wants to walk in his path.

In Singlish terms he is saying, “WAH LAU EH! Spend so much money to let you study and you want to sell HEI MEE after you get your degree? YOU SIAO AH!“

I hate to say this when I can’t help the situation myself but for those who has an interest in cooking and has a family hawker business, why not consider taking over it? If you have a hawker business but have nobody to pass it on to, why not find a disciple? Getting a person with love for cooking sure beats passing the business to a son/daughter with no interest or bringing your recipes to the grave.

Save our Char Kway Teow! (So that I can still eat em..)

KuKuNehNeh expected some friends over last Saturday and so she decided to whip up a feast for us like she did the last time for me. This bunch of six girls (including KuKuNehNeh) are called “The Nuttz”. The Nuttz consists of the following members in no particular order.

1. Jacqueline the “Zebra”

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2. Yanling the “Monkey”

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3. Audrey the “Rat”

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4. Deborah the “Ladybird”

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5. Ruifang the “Tiger”

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6: Huiwen the “Panda”

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The pictures are actually from our party last Christmas but I stumbled over it and found it so funny that I have to use it in this post.

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! (They are all so going to kill me)

We had 9 people for the party including the six nuttz, and three boyfriends. We had to draw lots to see who would represent an unfortunate animal.

I was one of the 1st to be ‘painted’ and KuKuNehNeh volunteered to do it. She totally messed up and our resident artist, Audrey, had to do some touch-up but the damage was already done.

Guess what animal I was supposed to be?

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I was supposed to be a….

GIRAFFE…

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WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA!!!

I look more like a man with some skin disease lor.

Tiger eating a very disinterested Giraffe.

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I REALLY DIGRESS TOO MUCH! Anyway, back to last Saturday; We went out for an early breakfast in the morning before shopping for the ingredients and she had a shopping list.

If you see the above, it lists the ingredients for the Soup as,

1. Bah Kut

2. Corn

3. Carrot

4. Red dates

5. DOG???

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Before I explain further, these are the dishes she came up with.

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And of course the focus is on the soup which apparently has ‘DOGS’ in it!

Eh… No dog leh!

Chey!… actually ‘dog’ refers to this lar.

They are actually Chinese Wolfberry which are called “Gao Ki” in hokkien which translates as “Dog’s Teeth”. KuKuNehNeh doesn’t know the former and she only remembers it as “Dog Something”.

WAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!

KuKuNehNeh loves cooking for family and friends. She loves it when people she cooks for enjoys the food and are appreciative of her effort. Having nobody dying yet from her food also makes her pretty credible.

WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA!!! (She’s gonna kill me…)

The truth is, she is quite the cook. She doesn’t have the vast amount of recipes like my Mum has yet nor the chopping skills of YAN CAN COOK! SO CAN YOU!, but she has the right passion and love for cooking. It’s hard to find a girl who can cook these days you know! They are such a rare species these days that KuKuNehNeh might be labeled ‘Endangered’ in a few years time. I don’t want to end up visiting her at the Zoo, so can you ladies learn how to cook please!

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WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA!!! (She’s REALLY gonna kill me…)

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We had our share of fun out BBQ-ing and bowling on Sunday already and we decided to spend Monday at home. Waking up at around 11am like the pigs we were, she went to wash up and worked hard at preparing the meal for the both of us. Seeing her so hard at work, I could not just STAND BY AND WATCH.

So, I stayed in the aircon room and played with the computer.

WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA!!! (I am so dead…)

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After an hour plus of ‘battle’ in the kitchen, this is what she came up with. (Since these are from KuKuNehNeh, I can name it whatever I want!)

Dish #1: Flied Lice Velly Nice

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Dish #2: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Lands On His Face

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Dish #3: Shrimpy Decabbagelicious

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Dish #4: Fries Lor

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My favorite dish would have to be Shrimpy Decabbagelicious. It was probably the easiest to prepare but I love the simplicity of the taste and how well it goes with the Flied Lice Velly Nice.

KuKuNehNeh’s favorite will have to be the Fries Lor. She loves soggy fries unlike me. I always argue with her over McDonald’s that fries are MEANT to be CRISPY. Why? Imagine a fast food commercial on your TV with a sexy male voice saying, “Come! And try our delicious SOGGY fries!”. Doesn’t make sense right? Fries should be CRISPY!

Of course she ignores me and continue poking at every fries on the tray till she gets all the soggy ones and I get all the crispy ones with a finger dent on it.

I was still delighted with all her efforts and then proceeded to do a happy dance before I wash the dishes.

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Actually, the dance isn’t related to the food lar. But I just find it amusing and so it’s here.

Thank you KuKuNehNeh for all the effort in whipping up the delicious dishes!