Live to Eat – Life Before Zen (2)

Singaporeans always grumble that we lack entertainment in this small little island of ours. With not many places to go, a lot of us indulge in eating to pass time. As in most Asian countries, we can eat anytime and anywhere. Any moment you walk into a food court in any shopping mall and you’ll find people eating there regardless whether it is meal time or not. I should say anytime is a good time for eating.

Whenever friends arrange to meet, it has to be over a meal or a drink. I always find it such a hassle deciding where to eat or drink. “Where to eat huh?” is always the question posed. Can be quite a headache sometimes when several parties have different tastes and preferences and just can’t come to a consensus.

My family dine out at restaurants all the time during my younger days as my dad loved to eat good food. From a young age me and brothers had the luxury of sampling all kinds of cuisine - Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Italian, French - you name it and we would have tried it. I used to love the black pepper steak at Troika, a classy Russian restaurant located at the DBS building along Shenton Way. No other grills could do it as well as Troika. That restaurant is of course long gone but I’m sure the beef at Shashlik (located at Far East Shopping Centre) is just as good because it’s owned by some of the former staff from Troika. I also remember fondly the tender smoked duck (樟茶鴨) served at Minjiang restaurant and the teppanyaki salmon from the Shima restaurant in Goodwood Park Hotel.

Back in those days, seafood was practically a staple food for us. My dad used to eat chilli crabs at least once a week and so we all got to eat our share as well. I always tell friends that I’ve already eaten my quota of crabs and sharks’ fins for this and next life, that’s why I can’t have any more of those seafood. But I can still help you crack open a stubborn crab’s claw if you need help…hehe! Don’t worry, I won’t put the succulent crab meat into my mouth because I’ve already grown accustomed to appreciating toufu and greens while my friends from overseas savour our famous chilli and pepper crabs.

In the past, breakfast with my family on a Sunday morning very often was a big bowl of pork liver mee sua (豬肝麵線) plus bak kut teh (肉骨茶). I also enjoyed kway chap (粿汁) very much with lots of pig intestine, pig skin and the other innards which I can’t identify. Yup, I ate a lot of pork stuff back then. But ever since my experiment with a vegetarian diet, my eating habits changed. Today, if I were to walk past a pig’s organs soup (豬雜湯) or minced pork noodles (肉脞麵) stall, I will need to hold my breathe or else I may puke. I find the strong pork smell repulsive. Yes, I’ve become sensitive to pork smell but that doesn’t mean I don’t eat pork anymore. I still do but the meat should be well marinated and should not be too porky. Crystal Jade’s 小籠包 still tastes ok to me when I dip it into ginger and black vinegar.

Nowadays, because of my half-day vegetarian diet, I spend less time thinking about what to eat. I eat mainly to fill up my stomach and can eat fried vermicelli (米粉) with taukua (豆乾) everyday without much complaints. I also often have tomato cucumber sandwich for my meals. Even just having wholemeal bread dipped into olive oil is fine with me. I think maybe I’ve become a bit lazy when it comes to meals. But I do conscientiously try to have a healthier and more balanced meal like asking for brown rice at the vegetarian stalls and have a mix of vegetables and beancurd instead of ordering those rubbery mock meat.

Do I still have craving for food? Yes I do. Last night, I saw my brother eating fried chicken at around midnight. The chicken smelled so good. I told myself I must have fried chicken tonight and I really did. But not even half way through my meal, I knew that I made the wrong choice. I didn’t really enjoy the texture of the chicken meat and needed lots of chilli sauce to camouflage the taste. Luckily my brother didn’t have his dinner yet so I gave half of the chicken to him.

Ask my old buddies and they will tell you that I used to live to eat. But now, I think I eat to live. If you ask me out for a meal, I will still eat whatever’s available, even pork or chicken as I still stick to my principle of not making things difficult for people who eat with me. It doesn’t have to be a vegetarian meal but should there be a pot of vegetables mixed with meat, chances are I will pick up the vegetables rather than the meat.