Vegetable (Opps, I forgot the name)

"I love vegetables! They are cheap and healthy! 90 CENT, and I have another dish ready. "

For the loose pieces of garlic and onion, just 40 cent (actually, it should cost even lesser, since most of the garlic were used for that Bak Kut Teh dish :P) ... I am beginning to think, it's not worth the money at all, to order a green vegetable dish when eating outside. A size like this, would cost you about $8 and above :(

MY 1ST ATTEMPT ON BAK KUT TEH

I was actually looking for the Bak Kut Teh Spices Pack that starts with A something...... according to my mum, it tastes the best! So, I was hoping to buy the pack and please her. Who knows... the seemingly simple preparation instructions at the back of the pack tempted me to save the packs for myself :P

Preparation:

2kg pork ribs or meats, 8 pieces of garlic, 2 spoons of black soya sauce, 4 spoons of white soya sauce, 2 spoons of oyster sauce, salt, MSG, 10 bowls (1.5 liter) of water and two packets of A1 Bak Kut Teh Spices (35g). Reduce half of the above ingredients if only 1 kg of meat is used.

(Important: For novice like me, you might be wondering if you need to cut up the spices packets, Pls Don't! )

Cooking Instruction:

1. Rinse pork rib or meat

2. When water is boiled, put in meat and Bak Kut Teh Spices and use medium heat to cook for 30 minutes. Do not add in soya sauce, oyster sauce, MSG and salt until meat is fully cooked.

3. Add pepper before serving.

FACTS

Packing Size: 35g

Serving Size: 17g (1 packet)

Total Serving Per Packing: 2

At the wet market, the uncle told me 1 kg of pork ribs cost $14, I almost flipped! $14?!! And, I had to use 2 kg since I am expecting 4 of us for dinner..... Just the meat alone will cost $28.. if I still need other dishes.. this is going to be an expensive dinner. My budget of $2 per pax, is out......

The super nice uncle then asked how many person do I expect. I said 3 (cos, I have other dishes, so, the soup should just fill up 75% of our stomach). Uncle then said 1kg is about 300 g per pax and it's more than enough.

Hence, I bought 1kg, and, decided to go for half of the ingredient as instructed. But silly me, after I had poured in 5 bowls of water, I thought the water level looked too low to fit in the 1 kg of pork ribs. Furthermore, I'm afraid the water will dry up and we will have nothing left to drink. Hence, I went put in 75% of the stated portion for the ingredient, except for the pork ribs (50%).

What do you think?

Cooking Is Not My Cup Of Tea

I've never thought that I would have time like now, to try dishing out a decent dinner.

I have friends who love cooking, and interestingly, the better ones are the typical career males! They could go on and on.. telling me how to make really delicious dishes but I can never comprehend their passion.

After all, after a long day (or .. vicious cycle of days) of work, the last thing that I want to do, is to do any housework or spend a few hours trying to cook up a meal which I would probably have consumed within 30 to 45 mins. And, imagine, how much more time I have to spend washing the dishes, floor, etc. All in all, the time spent to cook a meal for two to three pax just doesn't make the cents and dollars count.

However, with some time now, I realise, the same task which used to look like a chore to me now adds up to a different sum. What has changed?

I wonder......