Another trip, another difficult Monday night

Sad fella by the water

Just back from Perth yesterday on my 4 am flight AND I went into work today...Taurus...hard worker...can't help it. Tell you what, its getting more and more difficult to leave Perth and Matt behind with each of the trips I'm making there...I had so much fun on this trip, the time really just seems to zoom by....Depression sinks in as I'm getting into the cab and the image of Matt standing there on his own by the door waving gets smaller and smaller......

When Matt and I used to live together, I cooked most weekday nights. It was a stress reliving process for me and through my food, I was able to introduce Matt to my culture and life back in Singapore. If you know me, food has always been an important part of my life, so much that I chose to make it my career. When I was ten, I was mesmerised by how this female chef from Hong Kong (Fang Tai for those of you who grew up in my era and area) was able to whip up three to four dishes in the space of half hour and make them look oohh so delicious. Since then, I was inspired to become her, or at least cook as well as she does. Along the way, I realised that you shouldn't believe everything you see on TV, especially when all six out of shot assistants she had were all cooped up in a hot sweaty back kitchen chopping up the onions and preparing the food that she "prepared earlier".

Now, as you would have known, I have moved to Singapore as part of a future life program we have both planned together, and am thus not able to sit down with Matt to have a nice home cooked dinner as we've done for the last six years.

I do miss that.

Because food to me is not just about filling your stomachs and making sure all biological systems have fuel to push ahead this aging body.

It is the love and thought added to the food that matters more than the taste itself. I have, on many occasions, kicked up a big fuss because the dish I prepared was too salty, too diluted, too runny and basically not look like what was shown on the cookbook. Matt's the more patient one, he'll still chomp it down while emphasising to me he could still taste the effort and love that went into it. True, it may not be what it looks like on the cookbook, but it was perfect for him. So every time I throw a hissy fit, he would tell me to shut the fuck up and taste what's "real" in the dish.

I mentioned earlier, we're no longer living together. And no longer eat together all the time. But that is not gonna stop me from cooking. The last 2 times I've gone to Perth, I've been cooking plenty of meals and freezing them up, so Matty can take them out and enjoy them whenever he misses me (or am hungry and couldn't be fucked to get anything outside of home).

For selfish reasons, it gives me a chance to step back into the kitchen, something I don't do very often in Singapore. There is only space for one Master Chef in every kitchen and in Singapore, its Mum.

Here's is a selection of the food I've prepared for Matt.

Stirfried Chicken in a sweet and spicy tomato paste (Sambal) served with steamed Jasmine Rice

Classic Spaghetti Bolognaise

Braised Lamb Shanks with Tomato and Red Wine for those cold nights

This one's my favourite new pan Asian creation, Stirfried Black Pepper Beef Pasta

All neatly stacked up, labelled and ready to be microwaved!

And for those of you who have heard that frozen or microwave reheated food is bad for you and causes you to have cancer, incontinence or man boobs, its all bullshit alright.

I know. I'm a food technologist, or as it is more glamorously known nowadays, a techno-chef.