Alvin Lai

Ah, nice dinner outings with the family. Dad discovered a newly opened food store just across the street, and off we went!

Simple delectable foodfare such as..

Fried Hokkien Mee and..

Oyster Omelete.

In a separate dinner outing the next evening, we went to try out satay at kopi tiam (coffee shop) near Serangoon central.

Heavenly I tell you.

I will so miss them in America. For a whole year too. Sigh

After that feast of stingray, blachan kang kong and pig trotters, we proceeded to the supermarket to get groceries and snacks for the World Cup.

After reaching home and settling down for a while..

"Eh cook shark's fin liao! Want to take picture?"

"Okay!"

Here you are, more pictures of in progress cooking!

The ingredients

3 cans of Rabbit brand sharks fin soup base

Freshly chopped GARLIC (yum!) and just 1 beaten egg. Dad emphasizes just one egg here, unless you want to sample shark's fin porridge haha..

From this angle, Dad reflected that it would be better if the garlic were chopped up into tinier chunks.

The Chef Works

Emptying the last drops of cooking oil - just nice.

Fuuu! Sizzling garlic!

Cooking under a medium flame like this.

Looking at this, yea the garlic chunks would be better, smaller.

Pouring in the first can.

Adding water, followed by the other 2 cans.

Waiting for it to boil.

Irresistible close up shots

Dad told me to look out for this, where most of the bubbles would accumulate at the middle, where it's time to add egg.

Adding egg. As this step is critical to the texture of the soup, it was essential that it was done in a prompt manner, which explains the unfocused picture.

See the clear streaks of egg emerging? Oishi!

After turning off the stove, I once again had time to take another nice close up macro shot.

Served up nicely in a delectable orange melanin soup bowl.

Four bowls with more left in the wok for seconds. This was taken under florescent lighting, maybe this is why Steve said my pictures look disgusting :p

Shark's Fin soup, XO Brandy and black vinegar. Another lip smacking family feast!

With an uneventful day comprising of creating powerpoint slides for a client and a few games of DOTA, things turned out for a change when Dad suggested eating out.

That means...

Stingray!

Maybe rice just looks extra yummy on green plates. Maybe I'm just hungry.

Blachan Chilli Kang Kong! Fuuu!

This is THE bomb I tell you! Mom even had to instruct the stingray lady to go easy on the blachan :p

And as though that's not enough, Dad ordered Tur Kah! (Pig trotters)

Bought Mom's favourite chinese pastries from the famous Thye Lee

They've been consistently yummylicious, with the thin crisp outer skin and rich sweet inner lotus paste. Absolutely fabulous.

Then Mom returned with a red bundle of suprise.

I took one up, examined its texture.

The slightly moist reflective skin indicated ripeness. It felt a little squishy too!

I couldn't resist squeezing..

Splat! Squeezed a little too hard, sending bits of durian cream on my face and all over in the vicinity of 1 meter.

Joking.. :D I simply took a bite.

It really felt like custard pie, only creamier and sweeter!

The durian season is here!

Just as I needed to take a break from Rails, my Mom called out to me.

"Boy ah! Your father cooking crab now! Want to see?"

I've always relished Dad's fantastic culinery skills from young and he has never failed to facinate with his seemingly simple procedures.

Not forgetting my loyal blog readers, I snagged my trusty K750i camera phone on the way to the kitchen.

Dad already had the oil heated up,

which filled the entire kitchen with the aroma of sizzling garlic.

Then into the wok these babies went.

The siblings just couldn't wait for their turn.

As soon as they got partially cooked,

They were taken out and placed aside.

Looks almost eatable already :D

Scraping off the loose shells.

I can't resist this masterpiece.

Back to garlic!

The browning signalled for..

Crab Bodies: "Yippie! My turn!!"

I can't resist. Forgive me.

Getting ready Dad's specialle crab sauce..

Pouring it in..

Sizzle sizzle...

Now if only you can smell the lethal combination of thickening special sauce and power punching stir fried garlic..

After a little while..

Dad explained that as the bodies were bulkier and required longer cooking times, it was covered to retain maximum moisture. Something I've noticed successful hokkien mee hawkers employ too.

Ahhh...

Pouring in egg..

Buay tahan liao..

Same thing for the pincers..

:p

:)

The Lai family proceeded to feast and I was appointed the official crab body cruncher.

As if that's not enough, I still had century egg porridge and this afternoon's uneaten curry puff.

70.7kg.. Don't run also cannot liao..

All in all, a wonderful family dinner :)