Thursday, October 18, 2007

Sinful

In an earlier post, I had commented on the irony of serving char kuay teow for a charity event raising funds for survivors of stroke (as well as our ex-Prime Minister asking for equally sinful Malaysian street food after his heart operation).

You see, the ingredient that makes char kuay teow sinfully delicious is, well, lard! But isn't this such an innocuous ingredient? It's just so white, and pristine! So harmless looking.



All you have to do is to just cut a big piece into cute little tiny cubes...



... and have them simmer in a wok over a gentle fire.



And before you can say "angioplasty, pshaw!", they've turned into lil' golden brown snacks, leaving behind the liquid that adds that indescribable extra to char kuay teow and countless other favourites. How bad can they be? ;)

Fortunately, in this health conscious age, more and more cooks are consigning this naughty booster to the realm of memory ("Oh, food tasted so different in my time"), although it is threatening to make a comeback.

Still, its widespread absence has enabled even survivors of strokes to have a plate of char kuay teow now and again without their nutritionist having a heart attack.

6 comments:

CHEAH WENG SUN said...

Eh ! Don't you diss CKT. It's my favourite dish you know. Majulah CKT !!!

Aromatic Beans said...

Aiyah, wasn't dissing at all! In fact, I pay homage to the CKT gods at least once a week! CKT Gemilang!

JL said...

You'll be happy here in Madison -- the Berkshire pork farmers at the farmers' market sell rendered lard. Sustainable and yummy.

Aromatic Beans said...

Well, if you MUST have your lard and cheese, then better it be organic!!! Meanwhile, we over here tuck into our ghee-lightful roti canai!

Colin Rajah said...

can anyone suggest the caloric content of your average roti planta? it won't stop me devouring it, but i was just curious.

Aromatic Beans said...

How about "off the charts?"? :) The average one roti canai with dhal is anything from 300-500 calories (the websites don't agree) so... Aiyoh, who counts calories when hitting hawker food, heh hee? If we knew the intake, we'd have a heart attack BEFORE we tucked in!