I have always loved and adored omelets for as long as I can remember. This goes especially to those breakfast buffet lines most Malaysia hotels serve, particularly upon me spotting the omelet kiosk usually with an inexhaustible queue. Nothing beats watching the chefs stylishly and single-handedly cracking up eggs and whipping up omelets after omelets right in front of you. Plus you do get the free smell lingering in the air while you patiently wait in the line, right until you put in your order and have it transformed to "your way omelet" piping hot and fresh on your plate minutes later. This favorite of mine has not changed a bit despite all the years growing up.
Here in the States having breakfast has somewhat become something that I really do look forward to and especially so during the weekends. I get to eat and easily spend the morning hour away, taking my own sweet time to enjoy our selection of scrumptious breakfasts - never have to rush for anything, just some moments to sit back and relax. Getting a good omelet here is never at all difficult - you get them almost everywhere you dine. In fact they easily make a full page on the menu in any diners you go to. If anything, my only problem will be to settle for just one out of the very extensive menus of theirs. Torn as I have always been, I started making my own at home. This way I get to decide and be as greedy as I can ever be, loading my omelet with just anything that tempts my palate. Being as versatile as ever, making them is never too tough a job. And with it being a homemade, you decide how healthy they should get, just exactly the way you like it. An extraordinary treat on any ordinary days, these are simply egg-a-licious!
This was made on one of those lazy nights when I actually did dread spending too much of a day in the kitchen preparing meals, when time past by so fast I would usually be left with no time to go for a grocery shopping trip at all, marinate anything in advance let alone thinking about doing anything fancy or out of the norm. Yet I knew I had that little conscience left in me still that made me not quite ready to succumb to the temptations of dining out or having carry-outs. And so that very night, this came into mind. Simple, not at all time consuming and yet it worked its miracle in pleasing our palate nonetheless throughout the meal. This is an awesome accompaniment for plain congee especially, but oh yes, pair it with rice and you will see how good they are in balancing those staples.
A lot of times it really takes not much to satisfy a stomach. Glad to be home right before the storm hit, we decided to called our weekend dine-out plan off. Looking through what we had in the kitchen obviously limited with the weekend coming to an end, this was what we had for dinner last Sunday night. Simple it sure is needing not much preparation time prior to cooking. And soon enough, we were both enjoying a plate of this fried vermicelli each topped with a sunny side-up egg, watching our favorite drama, quickly turning oblivious to the deteriorating weather outside.
A favorite local dish in Malaysia, fried vermicelli is something that can be served anytime at all throughout the day - main meals, tea time or supper, it fits well just so naturally. Relatively easier to prepare, it involves a short moment getting the dried vermicelli reconstituted in water, preparing the preferred ingredients meanwhile, and then get it whipped up! The convenience in that probably explains why the pack of vermicelli in the pantry always seems inexhaustible, its space refilled as soon as it was gone the previous night.
Fried vermicelli comes in plenty of variations, each using a different selection of ingredients with difference composition of seasoning sauces in the making. This version of ketchup fried vermicelli is one that I first when I was in a kid. Naturally attracted to ketchup as a kid, anything with ketchup always wins hands down. While the name may have suggested a ketchup overdose, you may want to try it for yourself before you will come into an agreement with me - the ketchup did nothing more than just adding the right extra zing to the plate of goodness.
When I first started in the kitchen about a couple of years ago, I
started small and simple - preparing lunch for hubby and myself for a
start. Soon it became almost an everyday routine since. I have to admit
that I certainly did not start well. It took plenty of experiments with
taste pairing and especially learning what makes a good ingredient and
which are best avoided to prevent soggy and mushy lunches especially considering these are made at least a
few hours in advance before lunch time. It certainly did take more of my husband's patience enduring through all the not-so-good ones,
finishing them each time as if they were the best he had had, and be
ever so encouraging all the same still. As with other learning aspects in life, it takes me quite a while before
it gets natural eventually.
Packing lunch for hubby to
bring to work has since been a pleasure. Although it
may mean waking up slightly earlier than he does most of the time,
sacrificing some precious beauty sleep ladies can hardly get enough of, having the assurance that
he eats well despite his busy schedule at work is a personal
satisfaction worth everything else. Plus it always is a good measure taken
because in the
process, I will always be making one for myself too, ensuring that I have a lunch as
good and healthy as he does, raher than grabbing anything on the go otherwise.
