When I was a little girl, I used to sit on the balcony to read. Since my flat was facing a restaurant kitchen, the restaurant workers tasting soup from a soup ladle and stirring the pot of soup with the same was a familiar sight to me. It was also nothing unusual to see big fat rats running in and out of the restaurant kitchen especially at night. My mom saw the rats too and she knew how the restaurant workers were doing their taste-test but she did not mind and we continued to buy food from that restaurant. Although I did not like it, I had no choice but to conform to the social norm because I had no money to buy my own food. My mother also liked to buy fried noodles and porridge at the morning market, tau foo far (soy bean pudding) and curry noodles at the nearby stalls, coconut tarts, curry puffs, and fried bananas at the weekly night market. These were my favorite foods and I have enjoyed eating them for years until my mom fell ill and I had to buy these foods myself. That was when I began to understand the meaning of food hygiene and food safety.
At the morning market, I got the shock of my life when I saw how the fried noodles were served. The hawker put the noodles on a layer of plastic which was on top of a layer of newspaper and wrapped them. Well, using newspaper as the second layer in wrapping food was fine but under that layer of newspaper was another layer of plastic followed by another layer of newspaper and so on. In other words, the hawker has arranged the plastic and newspaper alternately, one on top of the other, and it was obvious that the plastic coming into contact with the newspaper on top of it and below it would have been contaminated. Can anyone imagine how many people have read these newspapers? What if one of them had skin disease or TB? Next, the hawker put her hand into a plastic bag to open it before she put the porridge in it. Did she wash her hands before that? No, she has just collected money from one of her customers. From that day onwards, I never ate her fried noodles and porridge again even though I still bought them for my family members.
Like the porridge seller, the tau foo far seller also put his hand into the plastic bag to open it before putting the tau foo far in it. Well, I did not eat his tau foo far that day but took it home and gave it to my brother. He ate the tau foo far and said, "big germs eat small germs" which meant that he was the big germ that ate the small germs in the tau foo far. The next time I went to buy tau foo far, I brought my Corning Ware with me and asked the seller to put the tau foo far in it. With his thumb sticking in my Corning Ware, the tau foo far really washed his thumb clean for him that day. So, again I gave the tau foo far to my brother who ate it happily. He did not mind when I told him that the hawker washed his thumb with the tau foo far. As for the curry noodles, the same thing happened because it seemed that the hawkers could not open the plastic bags without putting their hands into these bags first.
Similarly, when I went to the night market to buy food for the family for the first time, I was shocked to see the hawker taking the coconut tarts with his bare hands and putting them in a plastic bag. And he has just collected money before that! The curry puff / fried banana seller was even worse. Instead of using plastic bags, she just took the curry puffs and fried bananas with her bare hands and wrapped them in a newspaper.
My first set of recipe books (Family Meals, One-course Meals, Curried and Spiced, Vegetarian Food, Healthy Asian food, Oriental Banquets, Quick Meals in a Wok, Oriental Seafood, Asian Cooking for Beginners & Snacks and Party Food) by Charmaine Solomon, the Queen of Asian Cooking in Australia
After these unpleasant experiences, I became very particular about food cleanliness. I started to cook my own food after coming back from the Teachers' Training College and have been eating only the food that I cook myself since then. I can still remember the day I bought my first set of recipe books (above), non-stick wok and stove. During those days, Charmaine Solomon's recipe books were like a Bible to me. At that time, I could not cook very well but after years of cooking various kinds of dishes through trial and error, I have become a super chef now. And with all the cooking videos on the internet today, I am having the time of my life trying out new recipes every day. The meals that I cook are not only tasty and nutritious but also very fresh and hygienic. They are also much cheaper compared to restaurant meals. Who says that you cannot eat a luxurious meal at home? You certainly can have five-star meals at home if you have good mentors and are willing to learn. Who are my mentors? Marion Grasby @ Marion's Kitchen, Natasha Kravchuk @ Natasha's Kitchen, N'Oven, and Yummy's Kitchen. These are really five-star mentors who make life more colorful for me with their mouth-watering videos and I love all their recipes. Not to forget my first cooking mentor, Charmaine Solomon, who inspired me to cook through her wonderful recipes. Although I am not a millionaire, I can still enjoy good food and I consider this a great blessing. Eating five-star foods in the comfort of my home while watching my favorite videos is really heavenly! "To eat is a necessity but to eat intelligently is an art" (Francois de la Rochefoucauld). I am glad that I have learnt the art of enjoying life to the fullest.
Of course I do eat out but this is an extremely rare occasion. When was the last time I ate out? Well, that was somewhere in December 2019 (today is 30 January 2021) when my former colleague, Geraldine, drove me and two other friends to see her new house. I brought my tupperware, spoon and fork that day because the sight of food particles sticking to the plate, spoon, and fork in the restaurant can make me vomit. I thought of going to a mixed rice restaurant and "tapau" some dishes in my tupperware but Geraldine brought us to a restaurant selling all kinds of noodles. I had no choice but to order curry noodles since that was my favorite. OMG! I nearly fainted when I saw the seller picking the yellow noodles with his hands after collecting money from one of his customers. His curry noodles were not cheap either - I had to pay RM9 for a small bowl of yellow noodles which I did not eat. The problem was - I just couldn't put the noodles in my mouth because the way he kept picking the noodles using his hands was really nauseating. Deep in my mind, I was thinking of my home-cooked purple potato curry pan mee and I felt like crying. I quarreled with Geraldine because of that. What a terrible day!
My favorite beetroot, kelp seaweed, and purple potato pan mee
In the photo above, you can see my favorite beetroot, kelp seaweed, and purple potato noodles. They are very nutritious and do not contain preservatives and coloring. At RM9.20, I can get the whole packet, not just a small bowl of yellow noodles. I don't like to eat yellow noodles because of their high levels of boric acid and benzoic acid which can cause cancer and kidney failure.
During the early days of my teaching career, I always volunteered to teach in the afternoon session so that I could cook and eat first before going to school. Since the afternoon session started at 1.00 p.m., I always had ample time to cook and enjoy my meals those days. Fridays were the best because school started at 2.45 p.m. and by 7.00 p.m., I was already on my way home to cook a delicious five-star dinner. But, since I started teaching in the morning session, I have to get up a little bit earlier to cook. I usually have noodles for brunch because I don't have much time to cook in the morning. However, I never get tired of eating noodles because my mentors have shared their best noodles recipes with me. Some of these recipes include Spicy Garlic Prawn Spaghetti, Rice Vermicelli with Prawns, Singapore Stir-fried Rice Noodles, Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken with Noodles, Korean Kimchi Vegetable Noodles, Steamed Fish with Noodles, Vegetable Hakka Noodles, Special Hokkien Noodles, Rice Vermicelli with Chicken and Potato, and Creamy Miso Mushroom Spaghetti. Cooking is an art and much would depend on our creativity. I have also invented lots of new noodles recipes myself using my favorite pan mee. I like to add lots of vegetables, meat, and prawns to the noodles. To save time, I prepare my ingredients the night before and put them in the fridge. Recently, I have been baking lots of cakes and cookies. My favorite cakes / cookies include Eggless Chocolate Steam Cake, Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, Chocolate Semolina Cake, Eggless Chocolate Poke Cake, Chocolate Sponge Cake, Mango Cake, No Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake, Chocolate Pound Cake, Chocolate Banana Steam Cake, Oreo Biscuits Cake, Peanut Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Do you know that a 1kg chocolate cake costs at least RM69 in Kuala Lumpur? But how much do the ingredients cost? If you bake it yourself, you can save a lot of money). I have been making biscuits and puddings too. Since I don't have the time to eat at home in the mornings, I bring my noodles, cakes. cookies, biscuits, and puddings to school where I can eat when I am free
As for dinner, I will cook one or two dishes and eat without rice. Most of the time, I only cook one dish but I cook a lot because I don't eat rice. If it is a meat dish, I will eat it with lettuce and tomatoes. If I have the mood to cook two dishes, I will cook one meat dish and one vegetable dish. What do I normally cook for dinner? Steamed Soy & Ginger Fish, Steamed Fish with Walnuts, Crispy Fried Fish with Sweet Sour Sauce, Poached Fish with Peanuts, Stir-fried Fish with Mustard Cabbage, Stir-fried Chicken and Capsicums, Chicken with Corn and Cashews, Chicken and Pineapple, Creamy Herb Mushroom Chicken, Chicken with Almonds and Broccoli, Thai Chicken with Snow Peas, Stir-fried Chicken Broccoli Mushroom, Stir-fried Prawns with Vegetables and Oyster Sauce, Green Beans with Prawns, Prawns with Asparagus Tips, Mapo Tofu, Stir-fried Eggs with Vegetables, Braised Shiitake Mushrooms, Steamed Potatoes, Potato Curry with Tamarind, Braised Bean Curd and Vegetables, Spinach and Pumpkin, Chinese Garlic Broccoli, Spicy Cauliflower, Cabbage / Green Peas in Coconut Milk, Thai Eggplant Curry, Stir-fried Snake Beans and Cashews, and Bean Curd with Peanuts / Peas. These are just some of my favorite dishes. There are a lot more and the list is unending (Do you know that these dishes can cost you a fortune in the restaurants?). If I am on diet, I will eat salads. Some of my favorite salads are Vietnamese Salmon Salad, Avocado Corn Salad, Avocado Tuna Salad, Broccoli Cauliflower Salad, Creamy Broccoli Apple Salad, Chicken and Cucumber / Cabbage Salad, Red Cabbage Salad with Apple, and Hot and Sour Prawn Salad. I love good food but I suppose I am the only food connoisseur who seldom eats in restaurants. Why?
I am sure many of us still remember what happened nearly two years ago when the workers at Raj's Banana Leaf restaurant in Bangsar used dirty pothole water to wash dishes. Or perhaps Malaysians forgive and forget easily. Well, three months ago, a chef at a cafe was filmed using his fingers to taste-test a dish in the kitchen. On 2 June 2018, a video illustrating rats swarming food ingredients in a restaurant kitchen has surfaced on the internet. Did the restaurant owners learn a lesson after that? On 20 February 2020, three dirty restaurants full of rats were ordered to close for 14 days. However, seeing rats running around in the restaurant is nothing compared to eating rats! What about recycled food? What would you do if you find yourselves eating recycled food? Please read Beware mamak shops selling "recycled" curry and Restoran Mamak di Kulai Jaya Basuh Makanan Untuk Dimasak Semula dengan Kuah Baru (which means Mamak Restaurant in Kulai Jaya washed and re-cooked leftovers). Recently, a video entitled lebihan sisa makanan orang tak habis dicuci dicampur dimasak semula, kedai mamak (which means "mamak restaurant cooking recycled food from customers' plates") has gone viral and I find this video very disturbing. You can watch this video here. These are just some of the more recent dirty restaurant cases in Malaysia. You can always find more on the internet.
I thought that only the poorest people in the Philippines eat pagpag but it seems that Malaysians are also eating this Filipino delicacy in the restaurants. What is pagpag? Pagpag, in Tagalog, means leftover food from restaurants scavenged from dumps and garbage. The food is then washed, cooked and sold to the poor. It is okay if the customers choose to eat pagpag because they want to save money but serving them pagpag without their knowledge and charging exorbitant prices for the recycled food is really too much. It should be noted that eating pagpag is bad for health as it can lead to stunted growth in children, food poisoning, and diseases such as Hepatitis A, cholera, and typhoid.
Do Malaysians mind eating dirty foods? Well, they do not care about the things that they cannot see. Perhaps, they don't mind as long as they have a place to lepak (hang around). When they see a rat scurrying by, they will put their feet up and squeal but after a few minutes, they cannot remember the cute little rodent anymore. That is why the restaurant business is a lucrative business. Many mamak restaurants open as early as 5.30 a.m. and operate until midnight. Sometimes I do wonder why there are so many people hanging around at the eateries late at night when they are supposed to be at home, sleep early, and prepare for work the next day. Is this a healthy habit? Eating a late night dinner is bad for health as it can lead to poor digestion and other gastric issues because the body's metabolism slows down at night. But why do Malaysians love to lepak mamak (hang around in mamak restaurants) until late at night? Perhaps it's not just the food alone as it seems more likely that they are looking for a place to meet up with friends and chat. It is no wonder the eateries have become Covid-19 infection hotspots. The more they interact with each other and the longer the interaction, the higher the risk of Covid-19.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, I have developed a phobia about restaurants. Why? According to the US health authorities, going to restaurants is much more dangerous than working in an office, shopping, or taking public transport. Restaurants are Covid-19 superspreaders because social distancing is almost impossible in the restaurants with the people sitting so close to each other without masks. Even before their food is ready, they have already taken off their masks and are busy chatting with each other. Once they start chatting, they tend to forget about social distancing. As though 4 people per small table are not enough, they have to combine the tables and chat in groups. Under such circumstances, a social distance of 1m is not possible - 0.5m or less is more likely. That is one reason why the Covid-19 cases are soaring. Each time I see people eating and chatting happily in the restaurants, I feel very worried about Covid-19. To stop restaurants from driving Covid-19 infections, indoor dining should be banned and only takeaway food allowed not only during the Movement Control Order (MCO) but until the Covid-19 pandemic is over.
With 5,728 new Covid-19 cases today, perhaps it's time to prioritize home-cooked meals as it is the world's healthiest, safest, and most hygienic meals. Studies have indicated that those who eat home-cooked meals regularly tend to be happier and healthier than those who eat out. They also live longer. Eating home-cooked meals can also boost our immunity and help to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Those on a tight budget will agree that cooking is an important skill for saving money as it helps to cut food spending since restaurant foods are not cheap nowadays. But most of all, there is no need to worry about getting Covid-19 because home is the safest place on earth. With so many new covid cases emerging each day, let us do our part to protect ourselves from the pandemic. Stay safe!
You may also like to read Cutting Your Own Hair at Home is Easy, Fun, and More Hygienic - Stay Safe and How to Enjoy a Meaningful and Healthy Lifestyle at Home during the Coronavirus Pandemic. To view the content page of this blog, please click here.
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