A QUIET TEA TIME IN WINTER

Plans for heading over the hill for a late lunch or tea were scotched by the lateness, as well as the sheer number of maskless people on the streets during an earlier walk around my own neighborhood while smoking a pipe. Which takes, on average, half an hour or so. Over one hundred and thirty people without masks in those twenty side street blocks. Ninety percent of whom were Caucasian -- my people, the idiots -- but one of whom was a Sikh with his beaky nose exposed. How do I know he was a Sikh? Body language, sloppy wattan wali pag, kara. He was getting on the bus with his big schnozzle sticking out.

Sat sri akal, ji. Tum baifkuf hai?


So I stayed home and fixed myself something homestyle: 菜泡飯 ('choi pou faan'). Soupy rice with veggies and a little meat. Which is harder to describe succinctly than to make, and yields comfort food for in front of the computer reading the news.

菜泡飯

Take a small wine bowl with small dice fatty pork (blanched and rinsed before chopping), a somewhat larger quantity of chopped yau choi (stalky mustard cabbage), and a larger quantity than that of cooked rice. Plus thick slivered ginger, and a bit of rice wine or sherry. Salt, pepper.
Melt a little lard in the skillet, add the pork bits, let colour a little. Dash in some rice wine. Add the yau choi, stir to incorporate. Add the rice, plus boiling water. Cook for few minutes. A little salt and pepper and a few drops of sesame oil, and it's done.
It's basically left-over rice dolled up a bit.


Meat from that streaky cut used for mui choi kau yiuk (梅菜扣肉) is perfect, or simply have some siu yiuk (燒肉) from the siu mei dim on hand. But a strip or two of bacon can also be used, just cook it more toward crispy, (drain off some of the grease) and omit salt.

Yes of course I added some sliced chili.
You had to ask?


Me and the stuffed animals had a very nice tea time.
Them I tolerate not wearing masks.


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