Comfort Foods

We are all familiar with our own respective comfort foods, the common factor being simple carbohydrates which makes us feel great almost immediately. Of course the downward spiral/ crash is also just as fast, leaving us feeling laggy, sleepy, and lethargic. I read that to counter this effect, simple carbohydrates should ideally be eaten together with enough protein so the  digestive system will then take a longer time to process the carb/protein combo.

So when my daughter requested for one of her favourite food, pasta, I had to make sure there’s lots of meat as well. For a simple spaghetti bolognese, it’s best to use either fresh tomatoes, or canned tomatoes, which you then dice or just pulse in the food processor. I normally add brown onions, garlic, italian herbs, and some cream (if I happen to have that in the fridge), fresh champignons, and of course premium minced beef (top side is excellent if you want lean mince). For added flavour, I sometimes use anchovy fillets.

This is what my daughter had for lunch today. (I have not observed the “abstain from meat on friday” man made rule, for a long time).

A common and ever popular comfort food would of course be this:

Folks in KK would probably go for “”sang yuk mien”, which is quite nice as the distinctive smell of lard is rather prominent.

One of my favourite comfort food, however, is poached eggs on toast or fresh bread.

Let me know your favourite comfort foods!

Have a cuppa!

Coffee drinkers in this region are certainly quite spoilt for choice. We have a choice of local roasted coffee beans, imported beans, and of course various instant coffees. With Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Starbucks (phew! we were spared their “downsizing” exercise), with their selection of coffee beans from different regions, we can even do our own espressos and cappuccinos at home, if we have invested in a coffee lover’s dream machine, say something like this:

I have an incurable weakness for kitchen gadgets, and this is a super luxury that I’m fantasizing over, for a while now. For now, when I want to get that very bold full bodied cup of coffee, I use this very simple vacuum coffee maker:

Of course, when you just want a quick cup, there’s always the dependable instant coffee.

So what’s your cuppa?