Family Lunch - Inspired to Cook

Home. Sense of belonging. Ties. Love. Understanding. Support. These are what comes to mind when I think about my family. They are absolutely my best source of motivation when it comes to baking and moving on in life.

Last Sunday, we gathered at my elder brother's place for lunch. Ever since my brother moved out to his new place, we have made it a point to keep in touch by gathering for meals on sundays fortnightly. Going over to his place meant one thing - getting to see my beloved little furry family member, Ashley.

Say hi to Ashley, a 2 year-old male Maltese. Yep, you must be thinking Ashley is a female. That is what most people would preceive upon hearing the name. I thought 'Tigger' would make a better name as Ashley can be quite active sometimes. While most Malteses spot long straight hair, we try to keep Ashley's fur short to facilitate ease for grooming.  

Photo of Ashley taken by my sis-in-law some time back. She uses a Canon D90.

In the morning, I accompanied my mum to Sheng Siong near the Woodlands Causeway. We managed to grab hold of bamboo clams, crabs and a red sea bream, all alive and kicking. There is no way that they can be any fresher!

The sumptous lunch includes; Simple Stir-fried Bamboo Clams, Chili Crab, Stir-fried Cauliflower and Bell Peppers with Crunchy Water Chestnut Bits, Teochew Style Steamed Red Sea Bream and lastly White Radish Duck Soup with Enoki Mushrooms. All the goodness of a complete homemade meal! Yummy is the best word to use here.

We could not find the chili crab paste that we bought and my mum had to do the sauce from scratch using condiments like tomato sauce and stuff. The chili crab sauce was slightly on the sweet side, but we definitely welcomed it as most of us take spicy food moderately and not to a point where it is fiery hot. I hardly have the chance to eat steamed sea bream and find that the meat is too soft and fine textured for my liking. There is no firmness to the bite and the flesh simply melts into the mouth. Everybody enjoyed the white radish duck soup and every bit of it was slurped up.

With inspiration from my mother's cooking, I will probably feature dishes that I cook in time to come. Bakertan would then be Cheftan for a day when the moment comes, haha. In case you wonder if bakertan knows how to cook. The answer is yes, but bakertan only knows how to prepare limited dishes like Baked Honey Chicken, Beer Battered Fish and Chips, Fried Calamari Rings, Vongole Pasta, Fried Chicken Wings with Chinese Style Marinate, Sweet and Sour Chicken etc...