My comfort food

What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.

Remember Anton Ego, the notorious food critic in Ratatouille?

He is so hard to please but yet he wrote a positive review for a dish that reminds him of his childhood and warms his heart. That is the kind of comfort food I’m talking about, something that could trigger your fond childhood memories and at the same time nourish your body and soul without giving up for the test of time.

1. raisins

Call me a sucker but I will not give up on raisin whenever I caught a sight of it. Our love-at-first-sight happened at a small kedai runcit (traditional grocery store) around the neighbourhood. I was attracted by a box of Ligo yellow raisin which I was told by mum that it is actually grapes. So I picked one and since then I was hooked on it for life!

Scones are definitely the best companion for raisins. Life is so beautiful after all, who says you need oyster or abalone in order to feel like you are the richest person in the world?

If I were Marie Antoinette, I will say ‘let them eat scone!’

2. donut

I could still recall clearly that school holiday was the best period of time because whenever I woke up every morning I will be served with all sorts of breakfast that mom bought from the market. I remember one fine morning I woke up and saw a round fried dough with a hole in the middle and sugar on top. I immediately fell in love with its appearance and after putting in my mouth I became a happy person for the day and the rest of my life! There was no specific donut shop back then and you probably could only get donut from a stall.

I became a happier person when I went to secondary school because I could have donut everyday because there was a Malay kuih stall in the canteen that sold fantastic donut. With so much evolution going on now for the donut, say me a stuck-up but I still prefer the original donut – with only sugar sprinkled on top. Too much coating or filing will only spoil the taste of the dough and its fluffiness which are the two main things that determined how good a donut is.

3. 9-layered kuih

Another gem found in mom's breakfast take-away. It has nine layers with pink and white colors and finished off with red as top layer. I like to ask a lot when I was young and mom was very patient in answering all my doubts. I remembered asking her why called ‘9-layered kuih’. Why not 8-layered or 7-layered? Then she told me because it was really made of 9 layers only. To fulfill my own curiosity I ate it by peeling off one layer by one layer and counting it at the same time, true enough there were really 9 layers. Since then I have developed the habit of eating it by peeling one layer by one layer.

I’m quite a digger for kuih and it sits firmly on my top fav spot among so many other kuih. I’m a slave for kuih after all.

4. sponge cake (orange-flavoured only)

I love going to pasar malam when I was a kid because there was a decent roti stall which we named ‘Polite roti’ because the owner was so polite whereby he bowed to you after each transaction. Mom is a sucker for pastry as well so I think I inherited bits and pieces of hers. That was the first time I was exposed to sponge cake and the orange flavoured one is so nice till I can’t get the taste out of my head until today. It was super soft and with ample butter taste without killing the orange taste. Heaven!

5. steamed minced-pork with dried cuttlefish

It is a simple dish and my mom used to cook it for lunch because I was normally in a rush in catching the school bus and I had a bad habit of eating slowly back then. Hence a dish that was easier to chew would be a wiser choice for me. I feel so loved back then caused I got to eat home-cooked food for every single meal and mom will make sure that we have a bowl of hot soup everyday after school. Even a quick lunch like maggi mee was so tasty back then cause mom will add some veggie, fishball and slices of pork to enhance its taste.

6. home-style pork chop

mom’s secret recipe in marinating the pork and I love the presentation of the dish as mom will have a different steak plate with special fork and knife to go with it. I will help out in laying out the French fries and the green beans on the side and mom will handle the main course aka the pork. She fried it lightly and topped it with her special sauce, the pork was heavenly tender and juicy at the same time. She will normally cook that during school holiday when we were around to help her out. I ain’t a steak person but I can assure you that that is the best pork chop I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!

Mom hardly cooks nowadays due to her busy schedule and everyone else’s busy schedule but whenever she cooks I will make an effort to eat in. I’m grateful to her in developing my passion for food and strengthen my belief in good food does not equivalent to expensive food.

I ‘live to eat’ rather than ‘eat to live’.