Rambling Rose

Home Cooking

One of the delights of life is eating with family and friends: second to that is talking about eating. People who like to cook - like to talk about food. Unlike some people, who love to go out, I love to stay home. I could wake up in the morning, make the coffee and wander outside to admire my garden. Later I could wander around the market figuring out what to cook for dinner. When I am back in Malaysia or even when I am home in New Zealand, I am drawn into grocery shops, supermarkets, the bakeries and kitchen supply shops. I love to eat out, but even more, I love to eat in. It is a depressing fact of life that we must now be so vigilant about what we eat. Not a day goes by that we are told that something else is bad for us: butter, coffee, sugar, chocolate, tap water, and recently bread!
We live in an age of convenience foods and household appliances. We do not have to slaughter pigs, pluck chickens, grow our own vegetables. We do not hand-wash clothes. Machines often wash our dishes for us - and still everyone complains that they hardly have any time.I do know that many people still like to cook for their family, but that when they rush home after a day at the office they may not have a lot of time and energy to spend on cooking.
I am no superwoman, but I like to cook and I am lucky I work at home. On the other hand, while I like a nice meal, I do not want to be made a nervous wreck in the process of producing one. I like dishes that are easy...but on weekends and special occassions I can get a little more ambitious!
Cooking is like anything else: some people have an inborn talent for it. Me? I came to cooking late in life- by this I mean after getting married! My lessons in cooking came from my mother-in-law, a wonderful cook who makes, among other things, a never-fail straighforward Hakka braised duck. As you gather courage, after cooking it a dozen times, you can begin to experiment and refine your technique. This is for now.
Extremely Easy - Old fashioned Hakka Braised Duck.
Wash and drip dry a medium size duck. Rub some salt over the body and inside the duck's cavity. Heat a cup of oil in a wok and then fry the duck until the skin turns brown. Remove the duck and discard the oil. Place 1/2 a cup of cooking oil in the wok, turn down the flame, add a few cloves of garlic with skin on, 2 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of light soya sauce and fry the garlic until the sugar has dissolved. Quickly tip in the duck, add 3-4 tbsp of thick black soy sauce (the true purpose of this is to add color and depth to the sauce) Add enough water to cook the bird. Lower the flame and slowly simmer until duck is tender. It is wise to cover the wok or pot when you cook the duck. You may also add in a couple of hard boiled eggs once the water is reduced to half. When the bird is done, remove together with the eggs and allow the sauce to cook down, stirring all the time until the sauce begins to bubble. Be careful not to burn the sauce! Chop the duck and cut the eggs into halves. Have them arranged on a plate. Drizzle with the gravy and serve.
Bon appetite!

posted by Rambling Rose @ 3:36 PM