Week 3 of WFH + HBL done. I am not sure if I can do this for another 5 weeks. This is really tiring. The government has just announced that the Circuit Breaker will be extended for another four weeks, which, really isn’t unexpected, but I guess a lot of us are still in denial.
There was a breakthrough at home this week though. The boy and I had a squibble, and due to my pent-up frustration, I told him to sleep by himself in his own room and bed from now onwards. He, being egoistic in his own way, replied adamantly that he WILL SLEEP IN HIS ROOM, and that he will NEVER COME OVER and hop onto our bed in the middle of the night anymore. And believe it or not, that was just what he did. After so many things I did to get him to sleep in his room, the only thing that worked was a squibble and a squirt of ego. One more thing for mummy to let go of, of the boy’s innocence and childhood and the night time cuddles.
Meal times during WFH + HBL period tends to be repetitive because the boy keeps wanting to eat the same thing over and over – fried rice, sushi, fried rice, sushi. We tend to get these from the same stalls, downstairs, at Tiong Bahru Plaza, along Bukit Ho Swee, and occassionally at the market. It’s really boring, and not something that I look forward to anymore, given that there’s also a lot of chores to do after each meal – washing up, wiping the table, showering the boy to rid him of all traces of oil, mopping the floor. Gosh, it takes more than an hour for meal times now, and it’s just tiring.
Making meals at home for ourselves can sometimes help to break this monotony because I could try to make some dishes for myself that can’t be bought at any stalls (unless you go for delivery options from the classy restaurants). My three-minute meals stay as my top-favourite, and then anything else with chilli, black vinegar and coriander stay at the top of the list too.
This biang biang noodle recipe has got to be one of my favourite home-made meals, because it is similar to my three-minute meal and ticks off all the ingredients in that meal. The name itself – ‘biang biang’ – stems from a traditional Chinese word that is one of the most complex Chinese characters to write, given that there are altogether 58 strokes in one ‘biang’. In fact, it is so complicated that I can’t even write it here using my computer’s existing language and writing tools. Origins have it that it could be a character invented by a noodle store based on the sound of eating these noodles, and not an actual word that can be used anywhere else. Regardless, the name has certainly caught on the interest of the community such that it is a wide-spread and well-known dish, not just in Shaaxi Province where it was known to have originated, but also in other parts of the world.
It is quite a fascinating process to be making your own noodles from scratch, cooking it and then savouring it. I love it, especially the thick, chewy noodles. Gotta make this at least once more next month – something to look forward to soon!
Ingredients:
- Plain flour: 375g
- Water: 200ml
- Salt: 1/2 tsp
- Oil: for greasing + 2 tbsp for frying
- Minced pork: 100g
- Fish sauce: 4 tbsp
- Black vinegar: 1.5 tbsp
- Stock: 1/2 cup
- Green onion: 1 stalk, chopped
- Brown sugar: 2 tbsp
Method:
- Combine plain flour with water and salt. Knead till dough comes together.
- Divide dough into 8 pieces. Rub each dough with oil. With greased hands, continue kneading each dough till they are smooth and elastic.
- Coat with oil and leave to rest for 3hrs.
- In the meantime, prepare the sauce by heating 2 tbsp oil in wok.
- Stir-fry pork till almost cooked.
- Add fish sauce, vinegar, stock, green onions and brown sugar into wok. Heat till well-combined.
- Scoop equal portions of minced pork sauce into 3 bowls. Stir 1 tbsp laoganma chilli into each bowl. Set aside.
- Roll out each dough on greased surface. Press pin in middle to leave a depression. Using oiled hands, pick up both ends of the dough and pull apart with the depression as the opening. Stretch till thin and long. Place into boiling water and leave to cook for 5min.
- Scoop noodles into serving bowls.
- Toss well with sauce to serve.
Serving:
3 persons
