Rice Rolls & Egg Stir-Fry 鸡蛋鱼松肠粉

Mornings are the most energizing and motivating. You wake up feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep, gearing to complete what is already planned for the rest of the day.

However, the motivation to make this breakfast dish did not come about after waking up from bed. It was "conceptualized" the night before.

Do you plan ahead of what to make/cook for breakfast?


For us, the no-brainer, no-plan, hassle-free breakfast is cereals/granola + milk or oatmeal. Occasionally, add a peanut butter toast and even better, plus a hard-boiled egg, then everything ends well with coffee.

Once in a while, one has to plan when change is intended.

In the US, we do not have the luxury of hawker-style breakfast such as fishball noodles, fried carrot cake and fried bee hoon. So to break the routine of cereals/granola and/or peanut butter toast breakfast, get cooking!

Continue Reading >>

Celery Cashew Nut Salad 凉拌西芹腰豆

This no-fuss three-ingredient, dressing ingredient not included, side-dish salad is easy to prepare (no stir-frying required) and if you are thinking of making more and storing in the fridge, the good news is, it also keeps well (~ two days) in the fridge.


For a non-spicy dressing, omit the chili "sauce" in this dressing. Personally, I prefer sesame oil as one of the components in a dressing for Asian-style salads or side-dishes; while using extra-virgin olive oil or flax oil for Mediterranean-style bean-based salads.

Continue Reading >>

Vegetables-Simmered Rice Vermicelli “Stir-Fry" 蔬菜焖米粉

Whenever we visit Singapore, the flight would typically be the wee hours in the morning, flying in from San Francisco. In our most recent April visit, it was an evening flight instead, coincidentally coinciding with late dinner time at my parents'.

Few days before our arrival, I had particularly requested a light dinner, preferably one-dish as I did not want extra work for my parents and their helper. As wished, our dinner was a one-dish rice vermicelli dish cooked with vegetables. Simple, light, and comforting yet very flavorful (what a perfect after-flight meal!).

I knew the flavor came from simmering the vegetables (and vermicelli) with homemade chicken stock/broth marrying the savory of chicken stock and sweetness of vegetables, then completely absorbed by the rice vermicelli.


It may be a simple dish but I believe every (Asian, or Chinese) family has its own version of "stir-fry" rice vermicelli bee hoon. Not long after I returned to California, I decided to replicate this dish, my way - a way of stir-fry bee hoon that is not greasy.

Continue Reading >>