The boy recently finished his first set of lessons for the Yamaha Junior Course at the Yamaha Music School. This took about half a year (yes, that long!) and we are on to the second set now, moving from the Primary 1 book to the Primary 2 book to learn how to play with two hands concurrently. It wasn’t easy for him. He took very long to settle in the new environment, with the new teacher and friends around who don’t interact much with one another. He tried very hard to learn the correct steps to play the piano and place his fingers appropriately on the electone. When he stepped out to perform during the last lesson at the end of September, he did a convincing and mistake-less round of Shoemaker and Frog Song, which made everyone in the class including myself very proud of him. I can also sense his own pride and joy. So glad we didn’t give up back then. 🙂
It’s not easy to get him to develop a hobby and pastime. We got him to try to learn swimming in school and he didn’t like it. We are still trying to get him to explore more about himself so that he can slowly uncover his potentials at his own time and comfort. Foodwise, it’s also been a challenge trying to get him to try different types of food as he is very conservative and unadventurous. He isn’t the kind who will eat a lot or who’s greedy about food so finding something that he likes to eat is like striking a lottery. And then when you try your luck again, it doesn’t happen anymore.
This Teochew dish of fermented black bean minced pork is a dish that we will always order alongside our Teochew porridge when we eat at the Teochew porridge eatery in the neighbourhood because it has a tasty gravy which gives flavour to the plain porridge. The boy loves to eat this with his rice and porridge which is a big relief to us. It’s actually very simple to make at home, a dish that can be made in less than half an hour.
So simple and so nice. 🙂
Ingredients:
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Fermented black bean paste: 1 tbsp
- Garlic: 2 cloves, finely chopped
- Ginger: 1 thumb-length, finely chopped
- Minced pork: 300g
- Dark soy sauce: 1 tbsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Salt: a pinch
- Ground white pepper: a pinch
Method:
- Heat oil in wok.
- Add black bean paste, garlic and ginger. Saute till fragrant.
- Add minced pork. Stir-fry for 1 min to break up the chunks.
- Stir in dark soy sauce, sugar, salt and white pepper. Mix well.
- Serve hot with plain rice or porridge.
Serving:
4 persons as side dish
