Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

I almost always associated risotto with mushroom. One lunch time in the school canteen, we were served broccoli risotto and it was really good.

I had leftover fresh corn which had been cut into kernels and microwaved. So I added some into the risotto to great result. The risotto was sweet from the vegetable, rich from the stock and parmesan, and textured from the corn kernels.

While making this risotto, I was wondering. The Japanese has invented rice cooker which can do basically everything but dance and we still make risotto in this medieval way?

The recipe is modified from Asparagus, mint, and lemon Risotto from Jamie Oliver’s Cook with Jamie.

Ingredients:
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Servings: for two or three portions of noodle, with lots of leftover roast pork.

I’ve been experimenting with noodle recipes. Some turn out to be decent but not really great. I puzzle over several aspects such as the amount of water, the kneading and cutting method but recipes by Indonesian housewives are so inaccurate as they assume people know these stuffs already. And these ladies don’t entertain queries. They bite when asked like a pack of teased chihuahua. (continue…)

Servings: Four generous portions

For his birthday, my husband doesn’t want any present. He just wants me to make Fried Noodle, one of his favourite food which I hate to cook because it’s so tedious. Besides, home-cooked Fried Noodle never takes on the smoky and charred flavours so prized in the stall-bought one. Noodles tend to stick. They’re heavy. The ingredients are numerous, preparation long, etc, etc. I never bother.

But, following the mantra of dedicated wives all over the world, I’m supposed to say "Anything for my dear husband" or "The precious look on his face when he lights up eating the noodle is so worth it", right?  So I did.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that home-made noodles actually do not stick as much as their store-bought counterpart. I managed to create the charred and smoky effect too. I also discovered that with a little planning, the whole thing is actually not too difficult to make.

So, here’s the note. I’ll definitely make it again. Next year.

Ingredients: (continue…)

Servings: two generous portions

My husband suddenly craved for noodles with minced pork darkened with soy sauce. So, what’s a wife to do? Make one of course, or else the nagging wouldn’t stop.

While I prefer noodles topped with poached chicken seasoned with ginger, garlic, and sesame oil due to its light taste, I must admit that eating noodles with this rather thick and sweet topping can be a comforting alternative.

I know pork lard is bad but I like how it crunches amid lumps of ground pork. Feel free to omit this.

Ingredients:
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Servings: for three

This is my mother’s craze just before I left. I like it because it’s not thick from soy-sauce like the typical Indonesian fried rice or plain like the Chinese fried-rice: it’s the distinctively clean tumeric flavour. A twist from the normal stuff.

Ingredients:
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