Welcome Home Dinner

Mom simply can't help herself! What was advertised to be a simple dinner when I arrived in Singapore because the food was cooked a head of time and re-heated was a really an exquisite spread of cooked food! Beginning with a fish maw (swim bladder) soup with napa cabbage and hand rolled pork meat balls (which she made "huge" for less work) and lovely broth... mom could not help herself but berate the soup because she had used pork rinds that turned out to be rancid.

Truth be known, the soup was so good, you could hardly tell that the broth was tainted with rancid pork rinds!

But wait--there's more! Much More! She also cooked one of my all time favorite dishes "Tau Yu bak" with Tofu, Pork Stew Meat and Bones in a lovely salty-sweet soy marinade.

She had to garnish it exquisitely, of course!

And then there was the chicken-mushroom stew with carrots and potato. Another legitimate meal in itself that has been devoured with large crusts of warmed baguette. But no, not tonight--it was merely another side dish to a feast made to honor my return.

The stew broth was simply delicious enough to drink. But we have to press on. The feast continued... with a lovely Papaya Salad Thai Style and amazing Fried Chicken.

How do you not continue eating yourself to harm with such a spread to do justice to the effort and care imbued in the food?!!

Thank you so much mom for throwing a feast to welcome me home, and not "killing a live animal" meanwhile.

~ Shien