It’s not easy to plan a Friday dinner menu for people who don’t take meat on Fridays. Suzie’s family did an excellent job. They chose rojak for the appetizer and tempura for the main course. Suzie’s brother, Elijah, cooked tempura. It was really good. He deserves the “brother of the year” award. It was an advance birthday celebration party for Suzie. I was watching him cook, he was very professional! He is the youngest culinary-trained person I know and he plans to pursue a degree in business. It’s nice to meet young people who have a clear idea of what they want to do in life. Suzie can be very proud of her younger brother. I was very moved by his effort to cook tempura, despite a knee injury from playing football.
July is a holiday season for many. It’s when many people travel across the globe for new adventures. It’s a great time to make new friends and share customs and culture. I made some new friends over the past weeks. I wanted to share my culture with them, and food is definitely part of my culture. I usually prepare a Thai buffet once a year. It has always been a challenge for me when there are people who have a low or no tolerance for spicy food. I was on a course with participants from all over the world. To my surprise, the one who was looking for chili at every meal was Susi, a doctor from Spain.
My buffet challenge this year was made easier because there were others on the course who also wanted to cook. Fortunately, I had some course-mates who are culinary-trained. Lea and Gen teamed up to cook Hokkien Mee. (Lea is culinary-trained, but Gen is lawyer) It was a relief for me, because they chose to cook a non-spicy dish. I cooked two Thai curries (Massaman curry and Panang curry with kanom jeen) and I made a mango appetizer dish. It wasn’t that we were doing a Masterchef competition. It was just Sunday dinner cooking.
The spicy mango and minced chicken salad was a success. It was a relief, because it was a bit experimental for me. I have never made it before.
Kathryn, who lives in Italy, wanted to bring ingredients back to cook. She showed me the bottle of cincalok sauce (salty fermented small shrimps) she bought to take home to make an omelette. I must admit that I have never tried omelette with cincalok. At that point, I decided to give her all the Thai ingredients I had with me. Well, they came with instructions, so she should be able to cook following the instructions.
We had a Brazilian dinner one night. The main dish was Feijoada (pork and black bean stew). It looked like an Asian dish. Jane, who is from Brazil, told us how it is served in Brazil.
We had home-made laksa for one of the meals. I don’t know if many people cook laksa at home. It’s a bit laborious. I have a friend who organised a popiah party, I think a laksa party would be a good idea.
Have a great week ahead.
By Chayo, HomSkil Editor 1, 27 July 2025
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