Ever since I've been back, I've become the one in charge of catering, at least for the most part for dinner. Sometimes I brew some kind of soup or broth when/if I go home to shower and nap, but for the past few days I'm so uninspired and mum's appetite has been steadily declining.
So it's mostly take out I buy. Not just at any food stall on the street, but I've been going to restaurants around us mum has frequented in the past. Taiwanese, Shanghainese, Sichuan cuisine, there are three or four fancy places mum liked to eat at, and I know more or less what she likes to order. I just order, usually some kind of fried rice or noodle with a number of savoury dishes. The price always shocks me at the end... Taipei has become so expensive, but really, if every meal could be the last, what does it matter? As long as mum can eat a little, as long as mum can taste a bit of that taste that she used to so enjoy, then it is worth it.
Tonight: boneless boiled chicken, stewed sea cucumber and pork tendons in brown sauce, gingko braised tofu, stir fried kankoon, bamboo chicken soup, Sakura fried rice and dried turnip fried rice.
It's going to be another feast!
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
24 June 2012
18 June 2012
Order
"She wants drunken chicken..." brother said over the phone.
"Drunken chicken?" I asked. I know the dish well. It's chicken soaked in aged wine to give it a cool and refreshing taste. "That's what she would like?"
"Yes, drunken chicken and some stir fried vegetables."
I did not ask further. It is not a time to ask questions. As the doctor said repeatedly, give her what she likes to eat, give her what she thinks of eating. Let her eat as little or as much as she would like.
I had a place in mind where I could get these two dishes. It's restaurant we have frequented since we were children. I ordered the dishes mum wanted, and two more dishes. A spicy dish of Sichuan origin, containing aping onions, pigs blood and intestines (definitely not kosher or for the faint of heart...). Mum, my brother and I love that dish. And I also ordered some steamed "spiral buns"-- a sweet pastry that is light and easily to chew and digest. And I just spend two hours ( or actually, the rice cooker...) brewing a pungent chicken soup filled with five different kinds of mushroom.
It'll be a feast tonight in Room 20!
"Drunken chicken?" I asked. I know the dish well. It's chicken soaked in aged wine to give it a cool and refreshing taste. "That's what she would like?"
"Yes, drunken chicken and some stir fried vegetables."I did not ask further. It is not a time to ask questions. As the doctor said repeatedly, give her what she likes to eat, give her what she thinks of eating. Let her eat as little or as much as she would like.
I had a place in mind where I could get these two dishes. It's restaurant we have frequented since we were children. I ordered the dishes mum wanted, and two more dishes. A spicy dish of Sichuan origin, containing aping onions, pigs blood and intestines (definitely not kosher or for the faint of heart...). Mum, my brother and I love that dish. And I also ordered some steamed "spiral buns"-- a sweet pastry that is light and easily to chew and digest. And I just spend two hours ( or actually, the rice cooker...) brewing a pungent chicken soup filled with five different kinds of mushroom.
It'll be a feast tonight in Room 20!
Labels:
food,
mum,
Operation Eternal Happiness,
wishes
22 April 2012
Instant noodles
Brother returned this afternoon after being gone for three days. It was a sort of self-imposed quarantine, for he and his entire family fell seriously ill, and they were afraid of contaminating mum-- which in her fragile state of health would be devastating.
Brother said he was knocked out for several days, and slept almost all the time. Though he seems to better, my sister-in-law got worse, and my nephew has not been hopping and jumping around like the little energetic rabbit he normally is.
My brother dropped by the hospital and it was rare that only the three of us (original members of the family...) were together in one room. We chatted a bit, and it was then brother expressed a concern.
"You've been eating instant noodles," he said, "You know how it hurt me to hear that?" He heard from his wife, who I suspect saw wrapping in the bin a few days ago.
It's true, I've been eating instant noodles over the past two weeks, but only three times, and that's it. I rarely touch the stuff, but I've just been so tired of eating out and tired of eating more or less the same things every single meal every single day, the "next best alternative" seemed to be instant noodles. I know it's terrible food, but I do add egg and tofu and veggies when I cook it (if it makes it better...)
What was telling was my brother showing a rare sign of how he cares. He said I should eat better, like so many people, and that just because mum can't eat well, doesn't mean I have to be like her.
It's easier to say... But really I've lost a lot of appetite (but not much weight, luckily...) just from fatigue and stress, from the depression and deep sense of loneliness, that nowadays I just want to fill my stomach. And it's so hard to eat by myself, so I tend to eat out and eat very quickly.
It's so unlike me, for normally I place a lot of importance on food. But these are desperate, desperate times... And my eating habits are very disturbed, and made worse with bad stomach cramps I occasionally get from worry and stress...
Brother said he was knocked out for several days, and slept almost all the time. Though he seems to better, my sister-in-law got worse, and my nephew has not been hopping and jumping around like the little energetic rabbit he normally is.
My brother dropped by the hospital and it was rare that only the three of us (original members of the family...) were together in one room. We chatted a bit, and it was then brother expressed a concern.
"You've been eating instant noodles," he said, "You know how it hurt me to hear that?" He heard from his wife, who I suspect saw wrapping in the bin a few days ago.
It's true, I've been eating instant noodles over the past two weeks, but only three times, and that's it. I rarely touch the stuff, but I've just been so tired of eating out and tired of eating more or less the same things every single meal every single day, the "next best alternative" seemed to be instant noodles. I know it's terrible food, but I do add egg and tofu and veggies when I cook it (if it makes it better...)
What was telling was my brother showing a rare sign of how he cares. He said I should eat better, like so many people, and that just because mum can't eat well, doesn't mean I have to be like her.
It's easier to say... But really I've lost a lot of appetite (but not much weight, luckily...) just from fatigue and stress, from the depression and deep sense of loneliness, that nowadays I just want to fill my stomach. And it's so hard to eat by myself, so I tend to eat out and eat very quickly.
It's so unlike me, for normally I place a lot of importance on food. But these are desperate, desperate times... And my eating habits are very disturbed, and made worse with bad stomach cramps I occasionally get from worry and stress...
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