Thursday, November 13, 2008

Thursday Thirteen - Food Memories

Here are 13 memories associated with food from my childhood.

1. FISH: Steamed fish with ginger, coriander, Chinese mushrooms and soy sauce was a regular at our dinner table. We must have had it 3 times a week. Definitely not one of my favorites. Thanks to this, I'm not a big fan on fish at all.

2. Lap Cheong: This is a chinese sausage made with pork. I loved it and still do. My mother used to make these at home and hang them in the front garden to dry and harden. I didn't need anything else with my rice if I had this.

3. EGGS, BOVRIL, RICE: When I was 11, my piano lessons were on Wednesday nights and it was always a real rush to get home from school, have dinner and then go out again for the lessons. To make things simple, my mother always fried an egg sunny side up and we had this with Bovril and rice. I liked this.

4. PRAWNS: The only "seafood" I like are these huge prawns from Tanjung Tualang. And actually, they aren't from the sea but from the river instead.

5. CHAR KOAY TEOW:
Each Saturday, after evening Mass, we would have Char Koay Teow for dinner at a neighborhood coffee shop. It was at this place that I first saw hail.

6. KFC: I think KFC was the only fast food restaurant Ipoh, Malaysia during my childhood. Back then, nobody in my family spoke about eating healthy and I have a vivid memory of my mother taking my brother and I there for dinner here before going to watch Superman IV in the cinema opposite the restaurant.

7. McDONALDS: The first one opened in Kuala Lumpur around the time I turned 10. I remember my father returning from a business trip to KL with cheeseburgers for my brother and I.

8. PIZZA HUT: I believe Pizza Hut came after McDonalds. We didn't get to try it out because my brother took one step in the restaurant and ran straight out again. He was nauseated by the smell of the cheese!

9. CHEE CHEONG FUN: This was my favorite breakfast growing up. Its basically a big sheet of rice noodle that is rolled up. The best place to have this was from a really grumpy guy who was a little like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld.

10. NOODLES: In the first grade, my mom would give me RM0.20 on some days so that I could buy a bowl of noodles during the break.

11. SANDWICHES WITH CRUSTS ON: On other days, I took sandwiches with peanut butter. I was always really envious of my best friend because her mother used to cut the crusts of the bread while mine always had it on.

12. SAUSAGE ROLLS: When we moved to Brisbane, I loved having sausage rolls for morning tea at school.

13. BEETROOTS: Prior to moving to Brisbane, I didn't know about beetroots. At a school camp, I was attracted to the vivid colour and filled my plate with some. Ugh! I regretted it!

7 comments:

Jenny Quld said...

I am loving EVERY word you write, especially while you are in Brisbane LOL.

I am recognizing all my old haunts.

Oh the food......4 weeks until we are in Sydney for a break.

You would not believe what is being built in Kemang at the moment...Domino's!

If you get a chance I would love a story about Westfield Chermside, oh how I miss it. Oh and Woolies and Coles and Aldi...

Anonymous said...

Reading your post made me feel hungry
!

Mike said...

Time to eat!

Kellan said...

We had KFC last night for dinner. I think I will go down to my fridge and get me a piece of cold chicken to eat for my lunch - thanks for reminding me - YUM! Have a good day, Amanda - Kellan

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Just reading this list, made my stomach growl Amanda!

Jenny Quld said...

We have a house on acreage in the foothills of the mountains due west of Chermside. It was my local mall, only about 12 minutes from home.We moved just before David Jones opened so I have yet to experience it all! (GJ even liked shopping there, though he won't admit to it lol)

My kids loved the playground you took Aaron to!

I miss it, but love Jakarta too.

Jakarta is a bit mmmm 'funny' in the last 10 days, so I am looking forward to an Aussie Christmas.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen those big (esp. the heads) river prawns in Palembang markets? I'm not sure if they're the same as what you mentioned but i only know about them when i got here in plm. We love eating them baked with chilli+shallots+tamarind juice paste, a recipe i learn from our auntie here. :)

btw, chee cheong fan is definitely one of my fave breakfast food. I like it with sesame oil and light soy sauce. reminisce of my childhood days...