Garlic and Ginger Rice

Garlic and Ginger Rice

It is cruel when a nice sunny day dupes you into thinking that Spring is here only to send fog, rain and wind to mock you for the next few days. If we were still allowed to live out the cold and grey, it wouldn't have been so bad. Hope is painful when it is so short-lived. And it is even worse when based on past experience you know that March/April will have alot of rain - and pathetic that you are nonetheless ready to grab at any hope that this year could be different.

I needed some comfort. Thought of the smells that ginger, garlic and made-in-Singapore sesame oil would bring to my kitchen and my life. But of course I've forgotten that Hurricane Hub had swept through the kitchen over the weekend and that my enormous piece of fresh ginger had somehow all disappeared into the Lamb Korma. Luckily, I am not Singaporean for nothing. I know the meaning of stocking up for an emergency and of course I have ginger in the freezer.

The aroma is heavenly. To top it all, I'm listening to the late Danny Chan Pak Keung today. The guy may have been gay, but I've loved him. And my late aunt (bless her soul) had brought me to his Singapore concert one day and we had front-row seats. I was so awed by the Hong Kong singer that I refused to shake his hand. I've never been one to stalk movie and music stars. I do not hang love, admiration or joy on my mouth. Say it out and like a bird it may fly away and escape you forever. But criticism I know how to shoot. Free-flow and usually constructive.

His love songs and his soothing voice gave me goosebumps. Away so many years from the Cantonese language, hearing it always gives me a sense of loss. I cannot really read or write in this language, but it is the language of my heart. I feel homesick, rootless.

Ginger and Garlic Rice :

1 cup Jasmine rice

1 Tbsp good-quality Sesame oil

3-4 Garlic cloves

1 thumb-size piece Ginger

1 Tsp Salt

1 cup Water

Good-quality Dark Soy sauce (optional)

Fried Egg (optional)

Heat up the sesame oil and fry the ginger and garlic till fragrant.

Add the raw jasmine rice and stir well to coat the grains with the aromatic oil

Add the salt and water. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer till the water has almost been totally absorbed.

Without removing the cover, turn off the heat and let the rice finish cooking in its own steam.

Fluff up the rice with a fork before serving. I ate it with a fried egg with black soy sauce drizzled all over it. Yummy!