Friday, March 05, 2010



Home-cooked Food

My late mother had the wisdom to tell me to get a wife who would devote her full time to take care of my family. I was deeply touched by what she had told my late sister that as long as I was well taken care of by my wife, she would be pleased and contented. True enough, my children and I have never had to worry what to eat for the next meal.

My wife loves watching cooking shows and she never misses any cooking show on TV. Needless to say, whenever she has the time, she will be glued to her arm-chair for hours watching cooking programs on Astro, paid TV channels. These programs update her with new cooking skill as well as provide her with new recipes. She would then put into practice what she had learnt from the programs. Whenever we are at home, she never fails to cook a meal for us unless she is unwell. She would make sure every meal was ‘hot and fresh from the oven and wok’.


Just as she would update her skill with new recipes, she would improve her skill at using better cooking utensils available,as a Chinese saying put in this way, ‘工欲善其事必先利其器' [ meaning that a good tool would help to do a better job].Thirty years ago she invested on a few sets of expensive AMC cooking wares through installments.
Her purchase made many of our friends and relatives to comment that it was an unneccessary and extravagent purchase.







As my second daughter was away from home to study and later to work in Kuala Lumpur since 2002, she seldom has the chance to taste home-cooked food prepared by my wife. Whenever she came home, my wife would try to prepare dishes that my daughter could never have eating out.
















Lately, her knee problem does not permit her to stand for too long in the kitchen. But, out of love and affection for her second daughter coming back during the Chinese New Year festival, she endured the agony of knee pain due to prolong standing, to prepare a few more Hakka dishes for my daughter to bring back to Kuala Lumpur. She bore the pain quietly without letting her daughter know.

Even our Indonesia housekeeper,Fitri, whom we employed forthnightly to do the house-keeping is treated equally with the dishes she enjoys. My wife would find out from Fitri what she likes to eat before my wife goes to the market. Our housekeeper likes the home-cooked food prepared by my wife, especially the soup which my wife boils for hours to make it taste better. According to Fitri, we are the only family in the area that serve her with home-cooked meals. Other families she works for would simply buy packets of chicken rice for her to eat.

I am already pampered with eating the home-cooked food prepared by my wife. I dread to imagine the day I have to prepare it by myself unless I take up cooking soon.


10 comments:

Melanie said...

wah..all look very nice oo..

Unknown said...

Very enticing spread indeed.You are one lucky man. When we meet next time,hope your wife will share some trade secrets.A mother's love knows no boundary.

psliew said...

Me, Sin Kong's niece, very lucky to stay nearby them,..My family also has chance to taste the good foods cooked by my aunty, not only cook for us, she even 亲自送上门,我们衷心感激!

Unknown said...

Envy you! But how do you control your weight? SHe must have some secrets too.

zest-zipper said...

My former classmate,James Tan
from Melbourne,commented:

"Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts. You should be applauded for appreciating your wife’s efforts publicly."

Unknown said...

Only heard of thundering but never rains.
常听雷声响,不见雨到来.
口水已垂涏三尺,何时才有机会呢?
厨艺如何,尝食方知嘛!

Unknown said...

Agree with Pek Sim and Song Hooi 's suggestions. We are waiting for a treat from your wife and also hope she can share with us some of her recipes.

zest-zipper said...

Friends,let's be patient to wait for the rainfall.
The rain would fall on the day when I can walk confidently into the kitchen!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hope not we have to wait for another 40 yrs.