It is impossible for Americans to imagine a good ol’ hawker center breakfast.
Just as it is equally impossible for me to imagine “salad” as dinner.
What I mean to say is, “I am hungry.”
I have been hungry for the past nine years (with the exception of the year I spent teaching in Singapore).
I’m not counting all the times I went home for a visit because the food never tastes as good when I am over-stimulated and just plain jetlagged.
For the first 25-plus years of my life in Singapore, I used to eat whole hot meals for breakfast: I’m talking beehoon, cheong fun, laksa, pork chop rice, wanton noodles, prawn noodles, et cetera et cetera.
In comparison, nothing I do here is enough.
Oats? Cereal? Toast with Nutella?
NOT ENOUGH! AND NOT REAL FOOD!
What I really, reALLY, REALLY want these days is some fried beehoon topped with egg and Maling luncheon meat.
Hi Dot,
I feel you sista!
When I was studying in Australia, while eating healthy weet*UGH*bix in milk, I would dream about waking up to my dad buying a packet of fried bee hoon with fish cake … luncheon meat … the sambal chilli … dripping with peanut oil … YUM! My fantasies would escalate the week before I actually got on the plane and when I got back for the hols, I had fried beehoon till I had it coming out of my ears.
Now I cannot go back to eating cereal unless I absolutely have to lose weight or something .. hehe, if I could I would fedex you a steaming hot plate of cheecheong fun drenched in sweet sauce and sesame oil …. : )
Oh Dot!! Ditto Ditto Ditto!!!! 8years in London…I’m still waiting for the day where I’ll wake to Roti pratha kosong with fish curry and a huge mug of Teh tarik for BREAKFAST!!!! Imagine look of horror when I told my in-laws that I used to have hot spicy curries and rice for breakfast!! haahaaa priceless!!!!
What I did during my three years of living in Beijing was: I stopped eating breakfast altogether.
You could try it. Hehe. If it ain’t satisfying, don’t eat – and just have more lunch.
Another thing that might work, if you have time: cook porridge in a slow cooker. Let the rice and stock and meat simmer/stew overnight, and it’ll be ready for breakfast the next morning – just add an egg, and you can pretend it’s chok from the coffee shop.
I’ve never understood the salad-as-a-meal thing either, even though I don’t eat as much as the average Singapore.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and ideas!!! I will be going home next year, so maybe I can try to tahan until then. Hopefully, by the time I get there, I am not too jetlagged to enjoy the holiday.
Dot! Maling luncheon meat has been refused entry to Singapore by the AVA — it failed some sort of test and no one’s applied to let it in since.
I however, might be able to help with a sambal recipe!
Involves much peeling of onions, blanching of dried chillis and a good dollop of belachan. Can you even get belachan there?
Make a huge pint of it (in fact, you can keep it in the freezer in a Ben and Jerry’s carton just for fun), and use it to salve those cravings…. =)
okay people. i shall eat a hugeass packet of economic beehoon with the works tomorrow, on behalf of all of you. muahahaha
AAHHH….No have in Australia. Bee Hoon with luncheon meat, sunnyside up and fishcakes. I love!
I miss it and even if I try to make it myself, my bee hoon looks short, boring and by the time i cook it, i give up eating.
I want!
I hear you on the American breakfast thing. The only American breakfast I understand are the ones that are both hot and feature meat. Prominently. That smoke pork shank has from Veil? Delicious. But not enough meat. And WTH is the purpose of cereal?
Maling is banned?! Oh no! On belachan – I have no idea, but I think it will set off my fire alarm. And my neighbors might hate me.
Fry the beehoon! Get some Spam luncheon meat, don’t get those Maling ones i hear horror stories of them…or drive down to Vancouver for your fix haha
I have no time for breakfast now these days sigh!
HI dot
Here’s Colin Goh’s little farewell to maling: http://www.colinandyenyen.com/wordpress/2007/12/02/sunday-times-betrayed-by-my-darling-maling/
Thanks for the link! So sad. Maling!