Haberdashery — My Favorite Online Series

There are many good books out there. You can't possibly read them all, can you? If you have that problem too, I recommend "Digested Reads" from the Guardian — probably the first online column I followed. John Crace condenses a book in the same style it is written. It's not so much a summary as it is a literary criticism. Creative, entertaining, funny — and usually taking a piss at literature. Love. It. Here are four to get you started: Nigella Bites, by Nigella Lawson, The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton, How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom and The Associate by John Grisham.

Slate.com had "Weeklong Electric Journals" which followed someone to his or her workplace everyday for five days (usually). A fun insight at someone else's profession. I have enjoyed many of the columns including those of Neil LaBute (writer-director), David Grinspoon (astrobiologist), Ed Levine (of seriouseats.com), Dahlia Lithwick (Supreme Court and legal correspondent) and Mark Furstenberg (baker and founder of the BreadLine).

If I could ask for any talent, it would be to draw in a way that could affect people. Just like Maira Kalman. I have her book The Principles of Uncertainty. Her Elements of Style Illustrated is on my Amazon wishlist. Now, my eyes get to feast on her Pursuit of Happiness blog in The New York Times. Her monthly post provokes and idealizes and inspires. My favorites so far — May It Please The Court, Times Wastes Too Fast and Can Do.

The Guardian, again. This time a series on Writers' Rooms. There is a picture of the room in which the writer gets his or her work done, with a short write-up on the room and the process. See the workplace of Charlotte Bronte, Heston Blumenthal and Martin Amis, to get inspired.

Egg Sambal Tumis and Fried Sardines

For me, one the surprises about living in the Bay Area is the number of Singaporeans who are here. We are lucky to have made a few good friends from Singapore who, of course, share our love of good food. I cook often and enjoy inviting our friends for a meal. Usually, having guests over for a meal require some planning. But when you can make simple home-cooked food for a fellow Singaporean, little planning is necessary. For this meal, I already had eggs in the fridge. Dried chilies are a pantry staple. Then I picked-up some kangkong from the Chinese supermarket and fresh sardines from Whole Foods to complete our menu.

I made sambal belacan kangkong with the sambal belacan from my mum. The sardines were fried and the eggs were boiled for sambal tumis. This is a sambal where dried chili paste is sauteed until it turns into a deep red and then sweetened with sugar. And I love pairing this sambal with fried fish because they go so well together. My mum would serve these dishes with nasi lemak, which is white rice cooked in coconut cream with a pandan leaf or two thrown in. But for that night, we had brown rice with our simple kampung ('village') dishes.

Egg Sambal Tumis (Sambal Tumis Telur)

6 eggs
1 oz or 20 dried chilies
10 shallots
3 garlic
1-inch shrimp paste (belacan), toasted
2-inch tamarind paste
1½ cup hot water
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Make hard boiled eggs. Cool and peel the shells.

2. De-seed the dried chilies and soak in warm water for half an hour. Pound or grind to a paste. Peel the shallots and garlic, then pound or grind with shrimp paste. Put the tamarind paste into the hot water to make tamarind juice.

3. Heat oil in wok or saucepan to medium heat. Add in the shallot, garlic and shrimp paste blend. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the chili paste and continue frying for 2 minutes. Then add the tamarind juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and continue cooking until the mixture turns into a deep red, about 15-20 minutes. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves. Taste the sambal. If there is too much heat, add more tamarind juice and/or sugar.

4. Switch off the heat and add the eggs.

Fried Sardines (Ikan Tamban Goreng)

6 fresh sardines
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon salt
oil for frying

1. Gut and clean the fish (you can ask your fishmonger to do it). Dry the fish as much as possible. Then rub the sardines with turmeric powder and salt.

2. Heat about ½-inch oil in a wok or pan to high heat. Put in the sardines; in batches if necessary. Lower the heat slight. Fry until the fish turn golden brown, or about 3-4 minutes. Then turn over and fry for another 3 minutes.

3. Remove fish onto paper towel to drain the oil.

if death is kind

*ulysses' gaze theme

This morning, I heard that a friend had passed away under tragic circumstances. Time stopped for a few minutes while the news sank in. Then dread creeped through. My first thoughts were his parents - the piercing pain they must feel, outliving their child. I called my mum back in Singapore — just to hear her voice. I thought of writing about the fleetness of life, of the recent unexpected deaths of people I know. But I won't because I don't understand it and I don't know where to begin.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Deseos Imposibles

Ayer, en la clase de español, mi maestra nos pidió que la lista de las frases siguientes en orden de importancia:

Saber pilotar una avioneta
Saber mās que una enciclopedia
Ser rico
Ser "mās" guapo
Acabar con todos las guerras del munda
Saber si Dios existe
Encontrar el amor de tu vida
Ser invisible
Ser inmortal

¿Cuál es su prioridad?

Ayam Masak Merak — A Classic Malay Chicken Recipe

When I left Singapore, I left behind a gaggle of girlfriends. Oh, how I miss them. Long conversations, gossip over food, steady shoulders for a good cry. You know those sort of friends.

Moving here, I had no expectations when it came to making new friends. I was lucky because I already had one good friend, B, who lives 10 minutes away. And I grew close to one of S's friends, L. That was enough for my social life. I was busy with moving homes, settling down and studying. After my exams, we went to a Singapore network event (because we thought they would have good Singapore food) and during the reception, while we were munching on some spring rolls, another couple joined us at our table. We introduced ourselves. She's from Singapore too and just moved with her French husband. We did small talk and being Singaporeans, of course, we chatted about food.

Fast forward 18 months later, and we — D and I — are still chatting about food. In fact, we've gone beyond that - we've both set up blogs where we talk a lot about food. So to celebrate her birthday, of course, food was involved. Last night, I made dinner for her and her adoring husband, M. I decided to make one of my mum's Malay chicken dish, ayam masak merah (recipe below). Literally it means "chicken cooked red", which sounds a little strange translated. But the sauce is a blend of red dried chilies and pureed tomatoes. The only thing different I did from my mum was to roast the chickens instead of frying them. It was a nice taste of home, in the company of semi-new friends — eating, talking, laughing. So it was a celebration not just of a birthday, but of friendship, as well.

After dinner, we had dessert. I always make desserts when we have friends over. But last night, I didn't because D brought some. Why would I let the birthday girl bring her own dessert? Because she's been busy making them everyday for the last month! Yup, everyday. So let's celebrate her birthday today by looking through every single of her yummy desserts on her blog — bonvivant. Watch the drool!

Chicken in Red Sauce ("Ayam Masak Merah")

3 oz dried red chilies or ½ cup of dried chili paste
1 whole chicken
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium sized onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 inch ginger
1 inch galangal
2 lemongrass
1 cup tomato puree or diced tomato
½ cup coconut cream
1 tablespoon sugar
salt

1. De-seed and cut the each dried chili into 2-3 pieces. Soak in warm water for 30 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 400°F. Cut the chicken into 8-10 pieces. Marinate with oil, salt and turmeric. Roast for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.

3. Peel onion, garlic, ginger and galangal, cut into smaller pieces and place into food processor. Take one of the lemongrass stalks and cut the just the white part into smaller pieces, also to be placed in the food processor. Grind until you get a smooth paste (you may need to add a couple tablespoons of water to get it started). Remove spice paste from food processor. If using diced tomato, put in food processor and puree. Remove puree into a bowl. Then place the dried chilies in the food processor and grind.

4. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wok. Saute the spice paste for about 3 minutes. Take the bottom 8-inches of the remaining lemongrass and bruise with the back of your knife. Add the lemongrass, chili paste, tomato puree and coconut cream. Stir until all the ingredients are well-incorporated. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes. In the last minute, add salt and sugar. Taste - add more salt if necessary and diced tomatoes if it is too spice.

5. Put in the roasted chicken pieces and mix until the chicken pieces are well coated with the sauce.

Serve with rice and a side dish of vegetables.